Texas judge under fire for 45-day jail term for rape conviction
DALLAS (Reuters) – Dallas prosecutors have called for a harsher penalty for a young Texas man who admitted to raping a 14-year-old girl and was sentenced last week by a judge to 45 days in jail and five years of probation.
One wounded in Ohio hospital shooting, suspect in custody
(Reuters) – An employee at an Ohio medical center that serves U.S. veterans in Dayton was shot in the leg on Monday in a struggle with a former staff member in a basement break room, prompting a temporary lockdown, authorities said.
U.S. Supreme Court backs prayer before government meetings
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday gave local government officials across the United States more leeway to begin public meetings with a prayer, ruling that sectarian invocations do not automatically violate the U.S. Constitution.
Case of three Ohio captives prompts new laws, strategies for missing people
CLEVELAND (Reuters) – A year after three missing women escaped Cleveland’s so-called House of Horrors, the tale of their long captivity has changed the way experts look for missing persons and inspired legislation aimed at protecting the vulnerable in …
Rutgers names commencement speaker after Condoleezza Rice withdraws
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Two days after former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice backed out of delivering this year’s commencement address at New Jersey’s Rutgers University, the school said on Monday that former state Governor Thomas Kean would spe…
Utah denies petition to honor turkeys with roadside memorial
SALT LAKE CITY (Reuters) – The Utah Department of Transportation has denied a petition to erect a roadside memorial at the site where hundreds of turkeys were killed last month in a tractor-trailer accident, but animal rights activists on Monday appeal…
Occupy Wall Street protester convicted at trial of assault
NEW YORK (Reuters) – An Occupy Wall Street protester was found guilty on Monday of assaulting a police officer during a demonstration two years ago to mark the protest movement’s six-month anniversary in New York City.
Broke Shamokin, Pennsylvania, seeks state crutch that few cast off
(This May 2 story was corrected to remove erroneous reference to Senator Rob Teplitz as a co-sponsor of the legislation in the fourth paragraph)
Failed clamp caused Rhode Island circus acrobats’ plunge: officials
PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island (Reuters) – A chandelier-like circus rigging carrying eight performers plummeted to the floor when the single steel clamp that suspended it failed, officials investigating the Providence, Rhode Island, incident said on Monday.
Pentagon says U-2 spy plane flew over Los Angeles on day of glitches
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A Pentagon spokesman said on Monday that a U-2 spy plane flew over Southern California on a day last week when an air traffic control center in the area suffered a major software glitch, but he could not say whether the two even…