Reuters US Domestic News Summary

09/18/2016 8:55

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

As 'Bridgegate' trial begins, New Jersey's Christie remains focus

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is not expected to attend the trial this week of two former associates charged in the 2013 "Bridgegate" scandal, but the failed Republican presidential hopeful's shadow will loom over the proceedings. Opening statements are scheduled for Monday in federal court in Newark, New Jersey. Bill Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly are charged with conspiracy and fraud in a nine-count indictment alleging they arranged lane closings that caused gridlock on the heavily traveled George Washington Bridge.

Colonial resumes work on U.S. gasoline line, pump prices rise

Colonial Pipeline Co said on Saturday it resumed repairing a leak on a key U.S. gasoline line on Friday afternoon, but pump prices continued to rise in the southeast as several states took emergency action to get fuel to filling stations more easily. Colonial shut its main gasoline and distillate lines that run from the Gulf Coast to the East Coast on Sept. 9 after a leak was discovered in Shelby County, Alabama. The damaged Line 1 can carry 1.2 million barrels of gasoline per day and runs from Houston to Greensboro, North Carolina.

Most states on track to meet emissions targets they call burden

The 27 states challenging Obama's Clean Power Plan in court say the lower emissions levels it would impose are an undue burden. But most are likely to hit them anyway. Already, Arkansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma and South Dakota appear to be meeting the CPP's early targets. And changes in the power market, along with policies favoring clean generation, are propelling most of the rest toward timely compliance, according to researchers, power producers and officials, as well as government filings reviewed by Reuters.

Man who wounded eight in knife attack at Minnesota mall made references to Allah: police

A man wearing a private security uniform wounded eight people in a knife attack on Saturday at a mall in central Minnesota before he was shot dead by an off-duty police officer, authorities said. The man made references to Allah and asked at least one person if they were Muslim before he assaulted them at the Crossroads Center mall in St. Cloud, the city's Police Chief William Blair Anderson told reporters.

Hate drove gunman to shoot Philadelphia police: officials

A gunman who wounded two Philadelphia police officers and three civilians and killed a fourth civilian appears to have been driven by hatred for the police but had no known ties to any militant groups, officials said on Saturday. Police Commissioner Richard Ross at a news conference identified the gunman as Nicholas Glenn, 25, who had a long arrest record. Glenn began a shooting spree late on Friday and later was killed by responding officers, police said.

Pipe bombing at New Jersey race probed as possible terrorism

A pipe bomb exploded in a New Jersey beach town on Saturday along the route of a charity race to benefit military veterans, but no injuries were reported in what investigators were treating as a possible act of terrorism. The explosive device went off in a trash can about 30 minutes after the scheduled start of the race, which coincidentally was delayed, in Seaside Park, a resort about 80 miles (129 km) south of New York City, officials said.

New York City shaken by 'intentional' explosion, 29 injured

An explosion rocked the bustling Chelsea district of Manhattan on Saturday night, injuring at least 29 people in what authorities described as a deliberate, criminal act, while saying investigators had found no evidence of a "terror connection." New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and other city officials said investigators had ruled out a gas leak as the cause of the blast, but they stopped short of calling it a bombing and declined to specify precisely what they believed may have triggered the explosion.

Slain black youth's BB gun called 'almost identical' to real weapon

The mayor of Columbus, Ohio, said on Friday that the air pistol brandished at police by a black, 13-year-old boy as he was shot dead by a white officer this week was nearly indistinguishable from weapons carried by members of the city's police force. Mayor Andrew Ginther appeared with Police Chief Kim Jacobs for a tense community meeting of more than 200 people, most of them African-American, who were invited to ask questions of city officials at the church gathering for just over an hour.

Florida expands Zika zone in Miami Beach after five new cases

State officials in Florida on Friday tripled the active Zika transmission zone in the trendy seaside community of Miami Beach after five new cases of the mosquito-borne virus believed to cause a severe birth defect were identified in the area. The active transmission zone grew from 1.5 square miles to 4.5 square miles and consists of a large portion of the popular tourist destination, Florida Governor Rick Scott said in a statement on Friday evening.

Football team bus crashes in North Carolina, killing four

A charter bus filled with junior college football players heading to a game crashed on an interstate highway in North Carolina on Saturday, killing four people on board and injuring more than 40 others, the state highway patrol said. The bus struck a bridge abutment on Interstate 74 near the town of Rockingham, about 70 miles east of Charlotte near the South Carolina border, in an accident triggered by a tire blowout on the vehicle, the state police said in a statement.

09/18/2016 8:55