| No charges for truck driver in California train wreck Posted: 26 Feb 2015 01:39 PM PST  By Dana Feldman VENTURA, Calif. (Reuters) - A truck driver whose vehicle was struck by a Southern California commuter train, triggering a wreck in which 50 people were hurt, will not be charged at this time in connection with the derailment, Ventura County prosecutors said on Thursday. Jose Alejandro Sanchez-Ramirez, 54, was found walking and "in distress" more than a mile (1.5 km) from the crash site in Oxnard on Tuesday and was later taken into custody on suspicion of felony hit-and-run, police said. Sanchez-Ramirez, who had been scheduled to appear in court on Thursday, was expected to be released following the decision by prosecutors not to file charges, at least for now. "District Attorney Gregory D. Totten announced today that no charges will be filed at this time against Jose Alejandro Sanchez-Ramirez in connection with the Feb. 24, 2015, Metrolink grade-crossing collision and train derailment in Oxnard, California," the Ventura County District Attorney's Office said in a statement.
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| Dallas Cowboys' Dez Bryant linked to incident at Walmart parking lot Posted: 26 Feb 2015 01:22 PM PST  By Lisa Maria Garza and Jon Herskovitz DALLAS (Reuters) - Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant was questioned by police at the scene of a 2011 incident in which a witness reported that Bryant's girlfriend was dragged by an unidentified man across a Texas Walmart parking lot, according to police documents. Neither Bryant or the Cowboys have commented on the report that was released as the National Football League has been rocked by a series of highly publicized domestic violence incidents among players including Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson. In the 2011 incident in Texas, a Walmart security guard told police a person reported to him that a black man dragged Bryant's girlfriend Ilyne Nash from a white Mercedes, which was registered to Bryant, and across the parking lot.
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| U.S. wraps up Ebola military mission in Liberia Posted: 26 Feb 2015 11:45 AM PST  The Pentagon says around 100 American troops are to remain in the region.
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| U.S. judge rules for Vikings' Peterson in NFL discipline case Posted: 26 Feb 2015 10:23 AM PST  (Reuters) - Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, disciplined by the National Football League for hitting his 4-year-old son with a switch, had his suspension overturned on Thursday after a federal judge ruled in favor of the union in a lawsuit. U.S. District Court Judge David Doty ruled that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell acted beyond his authority in November when he suspended Peterson until at least April 15. (Reporting by Steve Ginsburg in Washington; Editing by Bill Trott)
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| Boehner won't decide on Senate security bill until it passes Posted: 26 Feb 2015 09:17 AM PST  U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday he was still waiting for the Senate to pass a Homeland Security funding bill before he decides whether to support a version of it without immigration restrictions. Senate Democratic and Republican leaders reached a tentative deal on Wednesday to proceed with a "clean" funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security.
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| Panel moves toward vote on attorney general pick Posted: 26 Feb 2015 09:02 AM PST  Lynch needs votes from only 2 Republicans and GOP Sens. Hatch and Flake say they'll support her.
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| GOP may need House Dems to help resolve DHS funding impasse Posted: 26 Feb 2015 08:27 AM PST  Speaker Boehner holds a potential escape key, if he's willing to use it: cooperative Democrats.
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| Accused Boston bomber's lawyers challenge jury-selection process Posted: 26 Feb 2015 07:37 AM PST  Lawyers for the accused Boston Marathon bomber filed on Thursday a last-gasp request to dismiss the charges against their client or delay the start of the trial next week, contending that court officials had violated their own rules during jury selection. Attorneys for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is accused of carrying out the largest mass-casualty attack on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001, argued in a court filing that after randomly assigning numbers to the more than 1,350 people who reported for initial selection early last month, the court re-ordered the jurors based on arrival time. They also contend that people who live within the Boston city limits and those under 30 and over 70 were disproportionately under-represented. The final phase of jury selection is set to take place on Tuesday, when prosecutors and defense attorneys will whittle down the field of about 70 provisionally qualified jurors to 18 people, including 12 jurors and six alternates.
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| Green groups divided on Hillary Clinton's oil interest ties Posted: 26 Feb 2015 06:29 AM PST  By Timothy Gardner WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton's connections to oil and gas interests has created a dilemma for some environmental groups, troubling activists for whom she would be the natural candidate to support for president. The presumptive Democratic presidential candidate's environmental record has come under renewed scrutiny after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative have accepted large donations from major energy companies Exxon Mobil and Chevron. The groups also got money from foreign governments, including Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, and from an office of the Canadian government in charge of promoting the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would help transport crude oil from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico but is opposed by environmentalists. "It's hard to believe that they don't think they are getting something for their contributions," said Ben Schreiber, head of climate and energy at Friends of the Earth, one of the largest environmental groups in the United States.
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| Driver of truck hit by California train to appear in court Posted: 26 Feb 2015 04:21 AM PST  By Dana Feldman VENTURA, Calif. (Reuters) - The driver of a truck that was hit by a California commuter train in a wreck that injured 50 people is set to appear in court on Thursday. Jose Alejandro Sanchez-Ramirez, 54, was found walking and "in distress" more than a mile (1.5 km) from the crash site in Oxnard on Tuesday and was later taken into custody on suspicion of felony hit-and-run, police said. Sanchez-Ramirez's attorney Ron Bamieh told reporters on Wednesday that the crash was an accident and his client left the scene trying to look for help before eventually finding police. It tore apart the Ford pickup truck Sanchez-Ramirez drove onto the tracks after making a wrong turn before dawn.
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| 'Jihadi John' suspect in IS beheading videos is identified Posted: 26 Feb 2015 04:06 AM PST  The BBC says the man seen in several Islamic State videos is Mohammed Emwazi from London.
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| With 2016 on horizon, conservatives rally at CPAC Posted: 26 Feb 2015 01:05 AM PST  Thousands of American conservatives will gather just outside Washington beginning Thursday with a thinly-veiled mission: vet the Republican politicians who might soon announce bids for the White House. This week's annual CPAC convention will see the right wing rallying around core principles it hopes will shape the 2016 presidential election. The Conservative Political Action Conference is hard to put a label on. While it appeals to young ideological conservatives converging on Washington in the heart of winter -- the Potomac River, adjacent to the event's National Harbor setting in Maryland, is nearly frozen over -- CPAC attracts seasoned Republican A-listers who are virtually assured of a warm reception.
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| Tougher Internet rules to hit cable, telecoms companies Posted: 25 Feb 2015 10:45 PM PST  By Alina Selyukh WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators are poised to impose the toughest rules yet on Internet service providers, aiming to ensure fair treatment of all web traffic through their networks. The Federal Communications Commission is expected Thursday to approve Chairman Tom Wheeler's proposed "net neutrality" rules, regulating broadband providers more heavily than in the past and restricting their power to control download speeds on the web, for instance by potentially giving preference to companies that can afford to pay more. The vote, expected along party lines with Democrats in favor, comes after a year of jostling between cable and telecom companies and net neutrality advocates, which included web startups. It culminated in the FCC receiving a record 4 million comments and a call from President Barack Obama to adopt the strongest rules possible.
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| Wisconsin Senate approves right-to-work bill, sends to state Assembly Posted: 25 Feb 2015 08:34 PM PST  By Brendan O'Brien MADISON, Wis. (Reuters) - The Wisconsin Senate narrowly approved a "right-to-work" bill on Wednesday that would bar private-sector employees who work under union-negotiated contracts from being required to join their unions or pay them dues. The bill, which would make Wisconsin the 25th U.S. state with a right-to-work law on the books, cleared the Republican-led Senate on a 17-15 vote following hours of debate marked by periodic angry shouts from opponents watching in the Senate gallery. One Republican senator, Jerry Petrowski, broke with his party to vote against the measure. Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, a possible Republican presidential hopeful, is expected to sign the bill if it reaches his desk. Walker drew accolades from conservatives across the nation in 2011 when he ushered through legislation curtailing the powers of most public-sector unions in Wisconsin amid large protests at the state capitol in Madison. Supporters of the right-to-work measure contend it could attract more businesses to the Midwestern state, while opponents see it as an assault on organized labor that would limit union revenues.
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| Las Vegas pet shop owner gets at least 5 years for fire that imperiled puppies Posted: 25 Feb 2015 07:15 PM PST (Reuters) - A woman who pleaded guilty to charges that she and an accomplice set her Las Vegas pet store on fire with 25 puppies inside in an insurance scam was sentenced on Wednesday to at least five years in prison, a court official said. Gloria Lee, who pleaded guilty last October to charges of arson, insurance fraud and attempted animal cruelty in connection with the Jan. 27, 2014, blaze, revealed in court she is pregnant, Clark County Courts spokeswoman Mary Ann Price But Clark County Judge David Barker sentenced Lee to a maximum of 14 years in prison, with her eligibility for parole beginning after she spends five years behind bars, Price said. Twenty-seven dogs of various breeds, including 25 puppies, were in Lee's Prince and Princess Pet Shop at the time. |
| California train crash was an accident, lawyer for truck driver says Posted: 25 Feb 2015 05:42 PM PST  By Dana Feldman VENTURA, Calif. (Reuters) - A lawyer for the driver whose truck was hit by a California commuter train in a wreck that injured 50 people said on Wednesday the crash was an accident and that his client left the scene only to try to find help. Jose Alejandro Sanchez-Ramirez, 54, was found walking and "in distress" more than a mile from the accident on Tuesday and was later taken into custody on suspicion of felony hit-and-run for leaving the scene, police said. Ventura County prosecutors said they expected to file formal charges against Sanchez-Ramirez on Thursday before his initial court appearance. Ron Bamieh, an attorney for Sanchez-Ramirez, told a news conference on Wednesday: "What we've found in the time we've had this case is that this was an accident, all this was an accident." Bamieh confirmed his client had been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in 1998 but said there was no indication he was intoxicated at the time of the rail crash.
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| U.S. refinery strike continues with no steps toward settlement Posted: 25 Feb 2015 03:34 PM PST  The largest U.S. refinery strike since 1980 continued through its 25th day on Wednesday with no movement toward renewed talks to end a walkout by 6,550 union workers at 15 plants, including 12 refineries accounting for one-fifth of domestic capacity. A spokesman for lead refinery owner representative Shell Oil Co, the U.S. arm of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, said no face-to-face meetings have been scheduled with the United Steelworkers union (USW) as of Wednesday. Talks for a new three-year contract covering 30,000 USW members at refineries and chemical plants broke off on Friday, after which the USW ordered strikes at three Motiva Enterprises refineries, which are co-owned by Shell. Talks on local issues are set to begin again on Friday between LyondellBasell and the USW local union representing workers at the company's Houston refinery, said sources close to the negotiations.
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| The FCC will vote to regulate net neutrality Thursday—it's time to understand what that means Posted: 25 Feb 2015 03:16 PM PST  The Federal Communications Commission is set to vote Thursday on a new set of Internet service rules. For all those who've avoided the net neutrality conversation, it's not too late! In fact, there's no better time to start paying attention.
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| ‘American Sniper’ guilty verdict draws brisk, blunt reactions from Texans Posted: 25 Feb 2015 03:00 PM PST  STEPHENVILLE, Texas — The "American Sniper" murder trial was closely followed in this rural town, but also drew international attention in part because of the Oscar-winning blockbuster film based on Chris Kyle's memoir of his four tours in Iraq. Late Tuesday, a jury took a little more than two hours to find an ex-Marine guilty of gunning down Kyle and his friend, Chad Littlefield, two years ago. "Most people around here, if you talk to them, would say that they think he's guilty," Lana Karlberg said.
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| California train crash was an accident: lawyer for truck driver Posted: 25 Feb 2015 02:26 PM PST By Dana Feldman VENTURA, Calif. (Reuters) - A lawyer for the driver whose truck was hit by a California commuter train in a wreck that injured 50 people said on Wednesday the crash was an accident and that his client left the scene only to try to find help. Jose Alejandro Sanchez-Ramirez, 54, was found walking and "in distress" more than a mile from the accident on Tuesday and was later taken into custody on suspicion of felony hit-and-run for leaving the scene. "What we've found in the time we've had this case is that this was an accident, all this was an accident," Ron Bamieh, an attorney for Sanchez-Ramirez, told a press conference Wednesday. Bamieh confirmed his client had been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in 1998 but said there was no indication he was intoxicated at the time of the rail crash. |
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