ReutersHouston petrochemical fire spreads, Texas expands air monitoring
Houston officials and environmental groups raced to expand air monitoring after a raging fire at a Mitsui & Co petrochemical storage site spread on Tuesday, billowing acrid smoke that could be seen and smelled miles away. The blaze at Mitsui unit Intercontinental Terminals Co in Deer Park, Texas, has
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West Virginia sues Catholic diocese for knowingly hiring sexual abusers of children
The lawsuit alleges the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston violated consumer protection laws by failing to disclose possible unsafe conditions at schools, parishes and camps caused by the employment of people who had records of child sexual assault. The diocese denied the lawsuit's allegations and said
- Reuters
Houston petrochemical fire spreads, eight giant tanks burning: official
HOUSTON (Reuters) - A petrochemical fire at a storage facility outside Houston spread on Tuesday to engulf eight giant tanks containing liquid fuels, officials of Intercontinental Terminals Co said on Tuesday afternoon.
ReutersRecord floods inundate U.S. Midwestern states as Pence arrives
The floods inundated stretches of the two farm states along the Missouri River, North America's longest river. Nearly half of Iowa's 99 counties have been declared disaster areas. Vice President Mike Pence was scheduled to inspect the destruction across the Midwest on Tuesday, after Nebraska
ReutersTrump gets a U.S. Supreme Court victory on immigration detention
The Supreme Court on Tuesday endorsed the U.S. government's authority to detain immigrants awaiting deportation anytime - potentially even years - after they have completed prison terms for criminal convictions, handing President Donald Trump a victory as he pursues hardline immigration policies.
ReutersNo re-sentencing for Chicago policeman in Laquan McDonald murder, court rules
Van Dyke, 40, who is white, was convicted in October in the shooting death of 17-year-old McDonald in 2014 in a case that highlighted racial tensions in America's third-largest city. Van Dyke faced 20 years in prison for second-degree murder and up to 30 years for each of 16 counts of aggravated
ReutersPennsylvania prosecutor focuses on officer's motive in murder trial
A Pennsylvania prosecutor on Tuesday urged jurors in the racially-charged trial of a white police officer who shot and killed unarmed black teenager Antwon Rose in June 2018 to focus on what motivated him to pull the trigger. East Pittsburgh Police officer, Michael Rosfeld, 30, does not dispute shooting
ReutersCalifornia university says students tied to admissions scam could face expulsion
The school said on Monday night it has already "placed holds on the accounts of students who may be associated with the alleged admissions scheme," preventing them from registering for classes or acquiring transcripts. It did not name specific students, but Loughlin and her fashion designer
ReutersAsylum seekers returned from Mexico for first U.S. court hearings
The U.S. program, known as the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), turns people seeking protection in the United States around to await pending U.S. court dates in Mexican border towns. Some 240 people - including families - have been returned to Mexico since late January, according to U.S. officials
ReutersStatue of Liberty climber sentenced to community service, probation
A woman convicted of trespassing and disorderly conduct after she climbed the Statue of Liberty's stone pedestal on July 4 last year to protest U.S. immigration policy was sentenced to 200 hours of community service and five years' probation on Tuesday. Therese Patricia Okoumou arrived at her
ReutersThe curious case of tainted milk from a Maine dairy farm
For Maine dairy farmer Fred Stone, the discovery in 2016 that his cows were producing tainted milk has since brought financial ruin and threatened to shut down a century-old family business. Now state regulators and health experts are investigating whether the contamination could reflect a much broader
ReutersFar-flung job offers pose tough choices for GM Ohio workers
General Motors Co built the final Chevrolet Cruze small car at its Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant on March 6, despite demands from President Donald Trump, Ohio political leaders and the United Auto Workers union not to close the plant and leave nearly 1,500 workers laid off. Dina Mays, a 14-year veteran
ReutersPuerto Rico debt adjustment plan not 'realistic' in April: official
The executive director of Puerto Rico's federally created financial oversight board said on Monday that a plan to restructure the U.S. commonwealth's core government debt likely cannot be done by the end of April. An attorney for the board last week told a U.S. judge who is hearing Puerto Rico
ReutersThree dead, one missing in devastating floods across U.S. Midwest
As floodwaters began to recede in much of the area inundated by the aftermath of a storm dubbed a "bomb cyclone," Nebraska officials were taking in the damage in a state where 64 of the 93 counties have declared emergencies. "This is clearly the most widespread disaster we have had in
ReutersTexas petrochemical storage fire rages, may burn for two days
Firefighters were making progress seeking to contain the blaze at Intercontinental Terminals Co (ITC), with the number of giant storage tanks on fire reduced to six from seven earlier, said ITC spokeswoman Alice Richardson. The blaze at a site along the Houston Ship Channel in Deer Park, Texas, began
ReutersAlan Krueger, economic adviser to Obama and Clinton, takes own life at 58
The statement did not elaborate about the circumstances of Krueger's death, nor did the university when confirming it earlier in the day. Krueger served in the last two Democratic administrations - as chief economist for the U.S. Department of Labor during the Clinton era and as chair of the White
ReutersFlooded U.S. Air Force base underscores climate risk to security: experts
Flooding at a U.S. Air Force base in Nebraska that damaged buildings and forced the removal of a plane integral to the nation's nuclear attack response highlight the risks climate change poses to national security, experts said on Monday. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly questioned whether
ReutersU.S. floods kill three, cut off towns as rivers rise
The Missouri River, the longest in North America, has flooded much of Nebraska between Omaha and Kansas City at the Missouri state line. It was expected to crest at 47.5 feet (14.48 m) on Tuesday, breaking the previous record, set in 2011, by more than a foot, the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency
ReutersPuerto Rico debt adjustment plan not 'realistic' in April: official
The executive director of Puerto Rico's federally created financial oversight board said on Monday that a plan to restructure the U.S. commonwealth's core government debt likely cannot be done by the end of April. An attorney for the board last week told a U.S. judge who is hearing Puerto Rico
ReutersPoppy apocalypse: Crowds descend on California city to see 'superbloom'
The rare profusion of orange poppies in Walker Canyon, set in the Temescal Mountains and accessible on foot via a trail, owes thanks to above-average rainfall in the arid region. The profusion of tourists in Lake Elsinore, located about 70 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, apparently owes thanks
ReutersPeruvian ex-president arrested for being drunk in public in California
Peru's former president, Alejandro Toledo, considered a fugitive in Peru, was arrested for being drunk in public in California and released early on Monday, authorities in California said. Since 2017, Toledo, a resident of California, has refused to heed orders by a local judge to spend up to 18
ReutersFormer UAW vice president charged in U.S. corruption probe
U.S. prosecutors in Detroit on Monday charged a former high-ranking United Auto Workers official in charge of the labor union's relations with Fiat Chrysler (FCA) of misusing funds for lavish purchases for himself and other union officials. Norwood Jewell, who headed the UAW's FCA department
ReutersU.S. top court hands defeat to Hawaii B&B that spurned lesbian couple
The justices refused to hear an appeal by Phyllis Young, who runs the three-room Aloha Bed & Breakfast in Honolulu, of a lower court's ruling that she violated a Hawaii anti-discrimination law by refusing to rent a room to Diane Cervilli and Taeko Bufford in 2007. A state court ruled that Young
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Massive fire at Houston petrochemical storage terminal may last two more days
A massive fire at a fuels storage company along the Houston Ship Channel may burn for two more days, an official said on Monday as the blaze spread a plume of black smoke across the city, shutting schools in two nearby communities. The fire began Sunday morning in a giant storage tank containing naphtha
ReutersU.S. high court takes up sentencing appeal in 'D.C. Sniper' case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider whether a man serving life in prison over his role in a deadly 2002 shooting spree in the Washington area should be resentenced because he was only 17 years old at the time. The nine justices will hear an appeal filed by the state of Virginia objecting