In newly solvent California, Dems propose free preschool
SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) – A top California lawmaker unveiled a $1 billion proposal on Tuesday to fund free public preschool for all children in the most populous U.S. state, the latest challenge by Democratic leaders to fiscal restraints impos…
Florida man on death row for 40 years executed
TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) – A Florida man who spent nearly 40 years on death row for killing a Miami couple and later stabbing a prison guard to death with a sharpened spoon was executed on Tuesday, a state prison official said.
California pension reformer disputes write-up of initiative
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A controversial campaign to reform California’s public pensions faces an uncertain future after the state attorney general chose what the measure’s backers consider to be unfriendly language for their proposed ballot initiativ…
Newark hiring 100 more cops after homicides hit 23-year high
NEWARK, New Jersey (Reuters) – The mayor of Newark on Tuesday pledged to hire 100 more police officers for New Jersey’s largest city after the Christmas Day shooting deaths of two teenagers helped push the homicide rate last year to a 23-year high.
Florida woman in gun case may land back in jail
JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Reuters) – A Florida woman released on bond after a public outcry over the 20-year prison sentence she got for firing a “warning shot” during an argument with her abusive husband, may soon be headed back to prison.
Avalanche kills one person in Vail area of Colorado
DENVER (Reuters) – A large avalanche in backcountry outside the Colorado ski resort area of Vail killed a person on Tuesday and caught up three other people who survived and were being rescued, county officials said.
Eight million lives saved since U.S. alarm on smoking 50 years ago
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – More than half of American men and over a third of women were smokers on January 11, 1964, when Dr. Luther Terry delivered the first Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health outlining the links between tobacco use, lun…
Woman tries to sneak into U.S. at Arizona border inside suitcase
PHOENIX (Reuters) – A Thai woman has been caught trying to sneak into the United States from Mexico while curled up inside a suitcase in a sport-utility vehicle at a border crossing in Nogales, Arizona, a U.S. border protection official said on Tuesday…
Cheesy problem: Kraft warns of possible Velveeta shortage
(Reuters) – Kraft Foods is warning it may run short of its Velveeta cheese product, right at a time of high seasonal U.S. demand for the orangey-yellow foodstuff.
Record freeze extends to eastern United States, at least eight dead
NEW YORK/MILWAUKEE (Reuters) – A deadly blast of arctic air shattered decades-old temperature records as it enveloped the eastern United States on Tuesday, snarling air, road and rail travel, driving energy prices higher and overwhelming shelters for h…
