California governor blocks parole of ex-Mexican Mafia prison gang leader
(Reuters) – California Governor Jerry Brown blocked parole for a former leader of the Mexican Mafia prison gang who went on to become an informant for police, his office said on Friday.
FBI probes fatal Utah police shooting of man carrying sword: paper
(Reuters) – Federal prosecutors and the FBI are reviewing the fatal police shooting of a 22-year-old black Utah man who was holding a sword when he was killed, the Salt Lake Tribune reported on Friday.
California Exxon plant halts gasoline production since blast: manager
TORRANCE, Calif. (Reuters) – Gasoline production at an Exxon Mobil Corp refinery near Los Angeles has been halted since an explosion there on Wednesday, a plant manager said on Friday, raising the possibility of higher fuel prices in parts of Southern …
Thirty-five years after escape, fugitive returned to Mississippi prison from Utah
(Reuters) – A man who escaped from a minimum security prison in Mississippi 35 years ago was captured in Utah and returned to Mississippi to serve out the remainder of his sentence, officials said on Friday.
Linguistic gap may have contributed to U.S. farmworker slaying, group says
PASCO, Wash. (Reuters) – A Hispanic immigrant rights group said on Friday that cultural and linguistic differences may have inflamed tensions between police and a Mexican farm laborer shot dead in Washington state last week in a killing that raised que…
Meningitis bacteria to blame for Oregon student’s death
PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) – A bacterial infection related to meningitis is to blame for the death of a University of Oregon student-athlete who was found unresponsive in her dorm room earlier this week, public health officials said on Friday.
Northeast travel agents warm to winter as vacation booking surge
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The record-breaking winter weather that has put the U.S. Northeast in a deep freeze this month and brought mountains of snow is making most people miserable but travel agents are learning to love it.
Suspect in Vegas road rage killing confessed to friends: police report
(Reuters) – The 19-year-old man charged with killing a mother of four following a confrontation on the streets of Las Vegas excitedly told friends hours later that he had shot some “kids” who had been after him, arrest warrants made public on Friday sh…
Eastern U.S. bitter cold snap brings pain, grimaces and wonder
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Millions of people awoke to painfully cold weather in the eastern United States on Friday, with temperatures frigid enough in New York City and Washington to break decades-old record lows for Feb. 20.
Los Angeles schools chief to seek halt to computers-for-all program
(Reuters) – Los Angeles schools chief Ramon Cortines on Friday signaled he is ready to abandon a troubled plan to provide a computer to every student in the second-largest U.S. public school district, a reversal of a policy championed by his predecesso…