Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Houston's Venezuelan expats eager for more action against Maduro

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is set to speak in Houston on Friday carrying a tough message against Venezuela's government to an expatriate community eager for more actions to oust the country's president, Nicolas Maduro. An estimated 50,000 Venezuelans live in greater Houston, the second-largest expat community outside of south Florida. Many support U.S. efforts to rid Venezuela of Maduro, having fled the socialist politics of former leader Hugo Chavez for a home in Houston's energy industry.

Accused killer of rapper Nipsey Hussle pleads not guilty in Los Angeles

A Los Angeles man pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges that he killed Grammy-nominated rapper Nipsey Hussle and was ordered held on $5 million bail. Eric Ronald Holder, 29, entered his pleas to murder and attempted murder charges through his attorney during a brief hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Active shooter 'contained' at Virginia naval base, one person injured

One person was injured in an incident involving an active shooter at the Naval Air Station Oceana Base in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Friday, and a suspect has been "contained," the Navy said. The base was placed on lockdown for about an hour after it received reports of the active shooter, according to Jeffery Hood, a Navy Region Mid-Atlantic spokesman, told Reuters.

Exclusive: Only 6 percent of those subject to Trump travel ban granted U.S. waivers

The U.S. government granted waivers to just 6 percent of visa applicants subject to its travel ban on a handful of countries during the first 11 months of the ban, new data reviewed by Reuters shows. Trump administration officials have pointed to the waiver process embedded in the travel ban as proof it was not motivated by animus toward Muslims, as critics have charged, but rather serves to protect the United States.

U.S. aid helped Guatemalan farmers stay rooted to their lands

After a U.S.-funded program gave Guatemalan farmer Rigoberto Leon and his neighbors tools to plant new crops like tomatoes and chili peppers, many of them stayed to live off their drought-prone lands even as droves of villagers left for the United States. More programs like the climate change adaptation scheme backed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) that helped Leon are in jeopardy after U.S. President Donald Trump said he will end Washington's aid to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. He has accused the Central American countries of failing to halt an influx of migrants to the United States.

DNA test to confirm if teen found in Kentucky is boy who disappeared in 2011: reports

Illinois police on Thursday were running a DNA test to determine if a 14-year-old boy found wandering in Kentucky a day earlier is Timmothy Pitzen, who disappeared in 2011 around the time his mother committed suicide, according to local media reports. The teenager told authorities in Newport, Kentucky that he had been held by two white men he described as "body-builder types" for seven years, and had escaped from them and run across a bridge from Ohio into Kentucky. He said his name was Timmothy.

California man, 67, falls to death at Grand Canyon

A 67-year-old California man died when he fell over a ledge while visiting the Grand Canyon, marking the third death in eight days at the popular Arizona tourist destination, park officials said on Thursday. The man was visiting Grand Canyon National Park alone at about 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday when he reportedly fell off the edge at a viewing spot on the South Rim, said spokesman Murray Shoemaker.

Police arrest local man in quadruple North Dakota murder

Police arrested a 44-year-old man on Thursday on charges that he killed four people at a business in a North Dakota town, officials said. Chad Isaak of Washburn, North Dakota, was arrested in connection with killings on April 1 at RJR Maintenance and Management in Mandan, a suburb of Bismarck, Mandan Police Chief Jason Ziegler said at a press conference late on Thursday.

Chicago will sue actor Jussie Smollett after he refuses to pay for police overtime

Chicago will sue actor Jussie Smollett for the costs of police overtime spent investigating his claims that he was the victim of a hate crime, which prosecutors say were false, a city official said on Thursday. The lawsuit was being prepared after Smollett, 36, refused a demand by the city for $130,000, said Bill McCaffrey, a spokesman for the city's Department of Law.

Mystery deaths of 'Hart Tribe' family in California ruled murder-suicide

A family of eight known as the "Hart Tribe" died last year in a murder-suicide when their sports utility vehicle plunged off a 100-foot (30 m) cliff in northern California, a coroner's inquest said on Thursday. The mystery over why the family from Washington state perished in March last year on a scenic cliffside highway, about 180 miles (290 kms) north of San Francisco, garnered national attention.