| Obama pushes state Medicaid expansion in healthcare hub Nashville Posted: 01 Jul 2015 12:01 PM PDT  Fresh from another Supreme Court validation of his landmark healthcare law, President Barack Obama visited healthcare hub Nashville, Tennessee on Wednesday to push state governments to expand the Medicaid health program for the poor. Obamacare, as the president's law is known, envisions a major expansion of the program, but nearly half of all U.S. states, mostly Republican-controlled, have rejected that part of the law and opted out of a Medicaid expansion. The Tennessee legislature voted against an expansion in February and a total of 22 states have made such a stand.
|
| Baltimore to put cameras in police vans, review riot gear Posted: 01 Jul 2015 11:44 AM PDT  Cameras that can record will be installed in Baltimore police vans like the one in which Freddie Gray suffered a fatal injury, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said on Wednesday. "We're working through a process that will place cameras with recording capabilities in the backs of all our police vans, to ensure that we have a more complete record of what occurs there," Rawlings-Blake told reporters. The van in which Gray was transported had a non-recording camera that the driver could use to monitor the passengers, but it was not working at the time.
|
| NY prison escapee's body, unclaimed by family, may be buried by county Posted: 01 Jul 2015 10:55 AM PDT  No members of prison escapee Richard Matt's family have met a deadline to claim his body and he may now be buried by the New York county where he was gunned down by a federal agent after nearly three weeks on the run, officials said on Wednesday. Matt was no longer a ward of the state when he was killed Friday after escaping on June 6 from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, and will not be buried at the prison's cemetery, Franklin County Coroner Bryan Langdon said.
|
| Protecting dementia sufferers from scammers gains ground in U.S Posted: 01 Jul 2015 10:21 AM PDT  By Suzanne Barlyn and Elizabeth Dilts NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two years after New York socialite Brooke Astor died in 2007, her son, Anthony Marshall, was convicted of bilking her of millions of dollars. The heiress suffered from dementia, and did not know that her son, charged with her care, was paying himself exorbitant amounts from her assets. The Astor story is surprisingly common: a growing number of Americans suffer from Alzheimer's or another form of dementia, and a sizeable percentage of those patients will fall victim to scams.
|
| Clinton raises record $45 million since campaign launch Posted: 01 Jul 2015 10:04 AM PDT  More than 90 percent of the donations in Clinton's fundraising haul were for amounts of $100 or less, her campaign said.
|
| Trump loses business deals over comments about Mexicans, but gains in polls Posted: 01 Jul 2015 09:13 AM PDT  Donald Trump's comments about Mexican immigrants may be costing him a growing of number of business relationships, but they appear to have given him a bump in the polls.
|
| U.S., Cuba restoring diplomatic ties after 54 years Posted: 01 Jul 2015 08:56 AM PDT  By Daniel Trotta and Matt Spetalnick HAVANA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama affirmed to Cuban President Raul Castro their decision to restore diplomatic relations and said the former Cold War enemies could reopen embassies in each other's capitals beginning July 20, the Caribbean country said on Wednesday. Cuba's foreign ministry cited a letter, which Obama addressed to Castro, that it received from the senior U.S. diplomat in Havana.
|
| Militants attack Egyptian army checkpoints in Sinai, kill 50 Posted: 01 Jul 2015 07:16 AM PDT  Islamic militants on Wednesday unleashed a wave of simultaneous attacks, including suicide car bombings, on Egyptian army checkpoints in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula, killing at least 50 soldiers, security and military officials said.
|
| White House lifts 40-year-old ban on cameras during public tours Posted: 01 Jul 2015 05:37 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House lifted a 40-year-old ban on taking photos during public tours of the executive mansion on Wednesday and invited visitors to share their shots on Twitter using #WhiteHouseTour.
|
| Colorado movie rampage jurors to hear from expert on psychosis Posted: 01 Jul 2015 04:47 AM PDT  Calling into question his note-taking, qualifications and conclusions about gunman James Holmes, the lead prosecutor in Colorado's movie massacre trial put the defense's first expert witness through a withering cross-examination. Brauchler asked Woodcock why he did not watch all 22 hours of video interviews conducted by one of two court-appointed psychiatrists who found the defendant to be sane.
|
| Markets rally on report Greece accepts creditor terms Posted: 01 Jul 2015 03:57 AM PDT  LONDON (Reuters) - Eurozone stocks and peripheral bonds rallied on Wednesday, extending gains after a report that Greece was ready to accept most conditions from its international creditors in order to reach a deal over its debt crisis.
|
| Top Obama aides knew about Clinton's private email in 2009 Posted: 01 Jul 2015 01:51 AM PDT  WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior Obama administration officials knew as early as 2009 that Hillary Rodham Clinton was using a private email address for her government correspondence.
|
| Recreational marijuana becomes legal in Oregon Posted: 01 Jul 2015 12:31 AM PDT  PORTLAND, Ore. (Reuters) - Recreational marijuana became legal in Oregon on Wednesday, as a voter-approved law took effect that will ultimately see it sold in shops, similar to those operating in Washington state and Colorado.
|
| Another black church in South Carolina burns; cause unknown Posted: 30 Jun 2015 11:39 PM PDT  COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — An African-American church in South Carolina that was burned down by the Ku Klux Klan in 1995 caught fire again Tuesday night, though authorities said it was too soon to say what caused the latest blaze, which broke out on a night of frequent storms. No one was believed to be inside at the time.
|
| Chicago Public Schools make full pension payment by deadline Posted: 30 Jun 2015 10:54 PM PDT  The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) made its full teachers' pension payment on Tuesday ahead of a midnight deadline, saying the move will require $200 million in spending cuts, according to a school official. Illinois law mandated a $634 million payment to the Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund, but it was uncertain whether the cash-strapped public school system, the nation's third-largest, would find the necessary money. "As we have said, CPS could not make the payment and keep cuts away from the classroom, so while school will start on time, our classrooms will be impacted," CPS Interim CEO Jesse Ruiz said in a statement.
|
| African-American church in South Carolina catches fire: newspaper Posted: 30 Jun 2015 08:41 PM PDT The fire at Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church in the city of Greeleyville comes amid a rash of fires that have erupted at black churches across the U.S. south, at least two of which have already been declared arsons by fire investigators. It also comes roughly two weeks after a white gunman opened fire inside the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston some 65 miles (105 km) away. Mark Keel, chief of the State Law Enforcement Division, told the newspaper that the blaze was still burning on Tuesday night. |
| Lead lawmaker's bill would address Chicago school pension shortfall Posted: 30 Jun 2015 07:35 PM PDT Illinois Senate President John Cullerton on Tuesday proposed legislation aimed at providing pension funding relief for the Chicago Public Schools, while meeting Governor Bruce Rauner's call for a local property tax freeze. The bill, set to be heard by the Senate Executive Committee on Wednesday, would require the state to pay a much bigger share of Chicago teachers' pensions and reduce the nation's third-largest public school district's contributions going forward. Payments due in fiscal 2018 through 2063 would be in amounts that would bring the funded ratio for the Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund to 90 percent by 2063. |
| Christie’s New Hampshire marathon begins Posted: 30 Jun 2015 06:47 PM PDT |
| U.S. heads to World Cup final with 2-0 win over Germany Posted: 30 Jun 2015 06:31 PM PDT  MONTREAL (AP) — Carli Lloyd buried a penalty kick, Hope Solo got another shutout and the United States beat top-ranked Germany 2-0 on Tuesday night to advance to the title match at the Women's World Cup.
|
| At last, de Blasio takes off gloves and hits back at Cuomo Posted: 30 Jun 2015 06:13 PM PDT  NEW YORK (AP) — Mayor Bill de Blasio, who 18 months ago in his inaugural address pledged to stand "shoulder to shoulder" with his one-time boss and friend of more than two decades Gov. Andrew Cuomo, revised his opinion of him on Tuesday in a highly unusual and extraordinarily personal news conference.
|
| U.S. names new envoy for bid to close Guantanamo prison Posted: 30 Jun 2015 05:37 PM PDT  A newly appointed special envoy to lead the Obama administration's efforts to close the Guantanamo prison said he saw a window of opportunity that could substantially reduce the detainee population there in coming months. Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday named attorney Lee Wolosky, who served in the National Security Council under the administrations of both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, to a post considered crucial to meeting President Barack Obama's long-standing promise to shut the internationally condemned jail at the U.S. naval base in Cuba.
|
| IMF: Greece misses $1.8 billion loan payment Posted: 30 Jun 2015 04:50 PM PDT  ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The latest news on Greece's financial woes (all times local):
|
| Obama to announce U.S., Cuba deal to reopen embassies Posted: 30 Jun 2015 04:00 PM PDT  The shift is part of the president's drive to wipe away Cold War-era tensions with Havana.
|
| White House fence gets spiky under security enhancement Posted: 30 Jun 2015 01:10 PM PDT  The White House fence will start to get a spiked top on Wednesday in a short-term bid to thwart intrusions at the U.S. executive mansion, authorities said. The "removable anti-climb feature" with sharp metal points will be bolted on top of the black iron fence by the U.S. Secret Service and National Park Service, the agencies said in a statement on Tuesday. The feature was designed by the Secret Service and built by the Rock Island Arsenal Joint Manufacturing and Technology Center.
|
