Reuters US Domestic News Summary
Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.
Male suspect in 1983 murders may be living in L.A. as a woman: police
Police who have renewed the search for a man suspected in two brutal murders in Michigan and Ohio more than 30 years ago have released a sketch of what the suspect could look like today and say he may be living in the Los Angeles area as a woman. John Kelly Gentry Jr., who would now be 63, has not been seen since the April 1983 killings of a man and a woman who he was having relationships with at the time, according to police.
Man in boxer shorts jumps fence, crashes pickup into plane: Omaha police
A man was arrested after he stripped down to his boxer shorts, scaled a fence and rammed a pickup truck into a Southwest airplane parked at Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska, on Thursday, police said. Two crew members suffered minor injuries on the Southwest Airlines flight, bound for Denver, as passengers were boarding at 9:30 p.m. local time (0230 GMT) when the man drove the truck into the plane's nose gear, said Omaha Airport Authority Chief of Police.
Judge lets ex-NY assembly speaker Silver stay free during appeal
Sheldon Silver, former speaker of the New York State Assembly, can stay free on bail while he appeals his corruption conviction, a Manhattan federal judge ruled on Thursday. U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni said Silver raised a "substantial question" of law as to whether she instructed his jury properly, in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's subsequent overturning of former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell's corruption conviction.
Colorado police use DNA to 'draw' killer in unsolved triple murder
Cold-case detectives seeking to solve the 1984 killing of three family members inside their Colorado home released on Thursday a computer-generated image of a suspect based on DNA left behind by the killer at the scene of the crime. Police in the Denver suburb of Aurora have been stymied for 32 years in their efforts to find the person responsible for the stabbing and beating deaths of Bruce Bennett, 27, his wife, Debra, 26, their 7-year-old daughter, Melissa, and the beating of their 3-year-old daughter, Vanessa, who survived.
California judge considers new physician-assisted suicide law
Attorneys for a group of doctors bringing the first legal challenge to California's new law allowing physician-assisted suicide were due in court on Friday to urge a judge to suspend the statute while their case is under review. Superior Court Judge Daniel Ottolia may also rule on a request by the state and other supporters of the so-called End of Life Option Act to dismiss the lawsuit instead, arguing the doctors lack proper legal standing to bring their case.
Judge in Stanford rape case will stop hearing criminal cases
The judge who gave a six-month jail term to a former Stanford University swimmer convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious young woman will stop hearing criminal cases, a court official said on Thursday, after a firestorm of criticism. Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky has requested to be assigned to the court's civil division, more than two months after imposing the controversial sentence on Brock Allen Turner, 20, for the January 2015 attack, Presiding Judge Risë Jones Pichon said in a statement.
Orlando hospitals won't charge nightclub shooting victims for care
Two Florida hospitals will not seek payment of medical bills from the dozens of people treated for injuries suffered in the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in June, officials at the health facilities said. The move leaves the hospitals with estimated unreimbursed costs topping $5.5 million, they said on Thursday.
Obama administration expects to close Guantanamo prison: White House
U.S. President Barack Obama is still committed to closing the U.S. prison for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and his administration expects to complete the task, White House said on Thursday. "We're going to do our best to try to get this closed and it's our expectation that that's what we'll do," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said at a news briefing.
Lawsuit opens new front in Obama immigration legal fight
Immigration advocates on Thursday mounted a long-shot effort to revive part of U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to shield millions of immigrants from deportation by filing a lawsuit challenging the national scope of a court order that blocked it. With favorable court rulings, the lawyers filing the lawsuit say it has the long-term potential to unravel decisions that blocked Obama's November 2014 plan nationwide. The White House program, if it had been fully implemented, could have allowed up to four million people with no legal immigration status to obtain work authorization.
Tornadoes slam central Indiana, demolishing homes
Several tornadoes plowed through central Indiana on Wednesday, demolishing numerous homes and a Starbucks cafe in the town of Kokomo and cutting off power to thousands of Indianapolis-area residents, but no serious injuries were reported. Governor and Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence, who cut short a campaign trip for running mate Donald Trump and returned to Indiana, said eight funnel clouds were confirmed and three touched down during a "very tough day of weather."
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