Ex-nurse behind U.S. Congress mail threat gets two years in prison
PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) – A former nurse from Vancouver, Washington, was sentenced to two years in prison on Wednesday for mailing more than 100 threatening letters containing white powder to members of Congress and media organizations in February o…
U.S. government sues Philadelphia schools over beard policy
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – The U.S. government sued Philadelphia’s school district for religious discrimination on Wednesday for demanding that a veteran Muslim police officer trim his beard.
Former Dewey law firm executives to be criminally charged: source
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Three former top executives from the bankrupt U.S. law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf are expected to be hit with criminal charges on Thursday related to their alleged misleading of lawyers and banks about the firm’s financial straits, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Veteran Alaska musher, 38, first to reach Iditarod race midpoint
JUNEAU, Alaska (Reuters) – A 38-year-old veteran Alaska musher competing to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race became the first on Wednesday to reach the halfway point on a course whose early sections have been described as among the most grueling in…
U.S. author George Saunders wins Story Prize for short fiction
(Reuters) – American author George Saunders on Wednesday won the Story Prize for his best-selling short story collection “Tenth of December,” which has been lauded for its formal innovation and keen eye to people’s darker aspects.
Chesapeake, Encana face criminal antitrust charges in Michigan
(Reuters) – Oil and gas giants Chesapeake Energy and Encana Corp were charged on Wednesday with colluding to keep oil and gas lease prices artificially low in Michigan, state Attorney General Bill Schuette said.
Murder charge filed in case of missing Tennessee nursing student
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) – A Tennessee man was charged on Wednesday with murder and aggravated kidnapping in the death of a nursing student who disappeared three years ago from the driveway of her rural home.
College-entrance SAT exam set for major overhaul in 2016
AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – An obligatory essay, arcane vocabulary words and penalties for wrong answers will be gone from the widely used SAT exam as of 2016 as administrators try to make the standardized test more reflective of a student’s readiness fo…
Arizona legislation prompts state senator to reveal he is gay
PHOENIX (Reuters) – An Arizona state senator revealed that he was gay on Wednesday, saying he felt compelled to make his sexual orientation public because of the recent battle over legislation in the state that would have allowed businesses to refuse s…
Florida congressman denies shoving his estranged wife
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) – A lawyer for U.S. Representative Alan Grayson denied accusations on Wednesday that the congressman shoved his wife during a weekend domestic dispute and said a video recording of the incident supports his account.
