City bans pot shops in backlash against Washington state legalization
OLYMPIA, Washington (Reuters) – Lawmakers in one of the largest cities in Washington state have said no to marijuana businesses, the latest in a series of backlashes by municipalities against a voter-approved recreational pot market in the northwest st…
U.S. appeals court throws Arctic drilling into further doubt
JUNEAU, Alaska (Reuters) – A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that the U.S. Interior Department wrongly awarded offshore oil leases in the Chukchi Sea near Alaska in 2008 without considering the full range of environmental risks posed by drilling …
Texas executes Mexican national despite diplomatic protests
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – A Mexican national convicted for the 1994 slaying of a Houston police officer was executed by lethal injection in Texas on Wednesday, ending a capital murder case that put him at the center of a diplomatic dispute.
University of Utah offers paternity testing for women fearing sperm swap
(Reuters) – The University of Utah on Wednesday said it is providing free paternity testing to women who conceived children at two fertility clinics that employed a lab worker suspected of artificially inseminating a patient with his own sperm.
Indiana lawmakers advance gay-marriage ban amendment
INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) – Indiana lawmakers on Wednesday took a step closer toward putting a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage before voters in November, potentially bucking a U.S. trend of states, courts and voters making gay nup…
Bitter cold lingers as U.S. northeast digs out from snow
NEW YORK/MAPLEWOOD, New Jersey (Reuters) – Residents of the northeastern United States on Wednesday dug out from a deadly winter storm that dumped more than 15 inches of snow in some places, with frigid temperatures forcing school closings and extensiv…
Detroit judge rejects request from creditors to value city art
DETROIT (Reuters) – The judge overseeing Detroit’s bankruptcy denied a request from creditors to have an official say in valuing the city’s art collection and said he will announce his decision next Tuesday on a request from Detroit retirees to block c…
U.S. military giving troops more leeway for religious clothing, beards
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon took steps on Wednesday to give individual troops greater latitude to wear turbans, head scarfs, yarmulkes and other religious clothing with their uniforms, but advocacy groups said the new policy fell short of what …
California Governor Brown urges continued fiscal restraint
SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) – California Governor Jerry Brown took credit for his state’s fiscal rebound in a state of the state address on Wednesday that also urged continued restraint by lawmakers seeking to rebuild a social safety net tattered …
Seattle-area Catholic school head quits in furor over gay educator’s firing
(Reuters) – A Seattle-area Catholic school president, who dismissed the vice principal for violating religious doctrine by marrying his same-sex partner, has resigned in the ensuing furor, a school spokeswoman said on Wednesday.
