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☆ Three children, 3 adults shot dead by ex-student at Tennessee Christian school
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Kevin Wurm | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

NASHVILLE, Tennessee, March 27 (Reuters) - A heavily armed 28-year-old fatally shot three children and three adult staffers on Monday at a private Christian school the suspect once attended in Tennessee's capital city before police killed the assailant, authorities said. Drake said the school was singled out for attack but the individual victims were targeted at random. [1/6] Students from The Covenant School hold hands after getting off a bus to meet their parents at the reunification site following a mass shooting at the school in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., March 27, 2023. Reacting in Washington to the latest school shooting, U.S. President Joe Biden urged the U.S. Congress again to pass tougher gun reform legislation. Nashville Mayor John Cooper expressed sympathy for the victims and wrote on social media that his city "joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting."

☆ Student who shot 2 high school administrators was on probation for weapons charge
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Keith Coffman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DENVER, March 23 (Reuters) - The student who shot and wounded two Denver high school administrators and later took his own life was on probation at the time for a previous firearms offense, Reuters confirmed through a source with knowledge of the case on Thursday. As new details emerged about the youth's troubled past, education officials confirmed earlier media reports that Lyle had been expelled from Overland High School in Aurora before he was enrolled this year in Denver's East High School. In November of 2022, according to the source, Lyle was sentenced to 12 months of probation for the large-magazine possession charge, while the dangerous weapon charge was dismissed. The Denver school board had voted in 2020 to eliminate its program of assigning armed city police officers to its campuses, relying instead on the school district's own security team. Amid a public furor over Wednesday's shooting, the school board voted in emergency session on Thursday to allow armed police officers back on the grounds of East High School.

☆ Student accused of shooting two faculty members in Denver found dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Keith Coffman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DENVER, March 23 (Reuters) - The student who was accused of shooting and wounding two faculty members at his Denver high school has been found dead near his vehicle in Park County. The East High School student fled the shooting scene on foot immediately after Wednesday's violence, which unfolded just before 10 a.m. local time (1600 GMT). Neither police nor education authorities disclosed the specific conduct that led the school to adopt an individualized security protocol for the student. A wanted bulletin issued after the shooting included a photo of the student and of a car similar to one he might be driving. The dean of the school and other staff members were conducting the search when several shots were fired, and the student fled, apparently still armed with the handgun used in the attack.

☆ Denver police search for student accused of shooting two faculty members
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Keith Coffman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DENVER, March 22 (Reuters) - Police were searching on Wednesday for a Denver high school student who shot and wounded two faculty members as they were patting him down for weapons as part of a "safety plan" devised for the youth based on previous behavioral issues, officials said. The East High School student, identified by police as 17-year-old Austin Lyle, fled the shooting scene on foot immediately after Wednesday's violence, which unfolded just before 10 a.m. local time (1600 GMT). Neither police nor education authorities disclosed the specific conduct that led the school to adopt an individualized security protocol for the student. A wanted bulletin issued after the shooting included a photo of the student and of a car similar to one he might be driving. In light of Wednesday's shooting, two armed police officers will be returned to East High School, located in Denver's City Park neighborhood, for the rest of the current academic year, said Alex Marrero, the district superintendent.

LOS ANGELES, March 22 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of storm-weary Californians were without power and under evacuation warnings on Wednesday as the latest storm packing wind-blown rain and snow threatened to bring more flooding to the rain-soaked state. Any more rain that we get today is only going to cause more flooding or worsen the flooding that is ongoing," said Bill South, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Hanford, California. [1/3] Floodwaters from the Tule River inundate the area after days of heavy rain in Corcoran, California, U.S., March 21, 2023. Total snow accumulations of up to 4 feet (1.22 m) and locally up to 5 feet, were in the forecast, the weather service said. California's harsh winter has caused widespread property damage and upheaval for thousands of residents, with more than 20 deaths attributed to the storms.

☆ California braces for next bout of heavy rain, snow and high winds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

High-wind warnings and advisories were posted for a vast region stretching from the Mexico border through Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay area. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued an excessive- rainfall notice for much of the Southern California coast, warning of an at least a 40% chance of showers exceeding flash-flood conditions. Heavy showers began drenching the Los Angeles region before dawn and triggered some street flooding but tapered off by early afternoon. Up to 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) of rain was expected in coastal regions and valleys of Southern California, and as much as 6 inches in lower mountains and foothills, the NWS said. Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles.

REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo/File PhotoMarch 17 (Reuters) - Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon on Friday signed into law a bill outlawing the use or prescription of medication abortion pills that was passed by the state's Republican-controlled legislature earlier this month. The crux of the two-page Wyoming bill is a provision making it illegal to "prescribe, dispense, distribute, sell or use any drug for the purpose of procuring or performing an abortion." The measure stipulates that a woman "upon whom a chemical abortion is performed or attempted shall not be criminally prosecuted." Gordon acknowledged that abortion rights proponents who have already challenged Wyoming's "trigger" abortion ban that went into effect after the Roe v. Wade decision have filed suit to block the newly passed Wyoming ban preemptively. The governor expressed concern that enactment of the new abortion ban could muddy the legal waters, creating a new obstacle to swift resolution of the matter by the courts.

☆ Actor Lance Reddick of 'The Wire' dead at age 60
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LOS ANGELES, March 17 (Reuters) - Actor Lance Reddick, who was best known for his role as a no-nonsense police chief on the acclaimed television series "The Wire" and for his work in the "John Wick" action-film series, died on Friday at age 60, his publicist said. Reporting by Danielle Broadway in Los Angeles; Editing by Steve Gorman and Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Wet winter eases California drought, giving way to spring flood risks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Climate change is driving both wet and dry extremes," NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said in a statement. "We're not calling for catastrophic and major widespread flooding," said Ed Clark, director of NOAA's National Water Center. California's winter was marked by a punishing succession of so-called atmospheric river storms, the product of vast, dense airborne currents of water vapor funneled in from the tropical Pacific. The storms have unleashed widespread flooding, mudslides, power outages, fallen trees, surf damage, road wash-outs and evacuations since late December. "Winter precipitation, combined with recent storms, wiped out exceptional and extreme drought in California for the first time since 2020, and is expected to further improve drought conditions this spring," NOAA said.

☆ Grand jury in Georgia heard recording of Trump call to state House speaker -report
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Eric Beech | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The existence of such a recording, or that it was played for the 23-member special grand jury during the course of its eight-month investigation, has not been previously reported. Ralston and other state legislative leaders never called a special session, and the Georgia House speaker himself testified before the special Fulton County grand jury in July 2022, according to local media accounts. The George elections grand jury also is known to have examined a previously disclosed call Trump made on Jan. 2, 2021, to then-Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger falsely claiming that the November election results were fraudulent. That report, submitted to the Fulton County district attorney in January before the panel was dissolved, included who the grand jury recommended should be indicted. The special grand jury, unlike a regular grand jury, was not empowered to issue indictments, only recommendations, and the decision on whether to press charges ultimately rests with the district attorney, Fani Willis.

The Nor'easter left about 190,000 homes and businesses in New York and New England without power as of Wednesday morning, according PowerOutage.com, a tracking service. In California, about an equal number of customers had no electric service on Wednesday in the wake of the latest in a series of atmospheric river storms to churn through the state this winter. [1/3] A California plate is seen at an area affected by floods after days of heavy rain in Pajaro, California, U.S., March 14, 2023. Along California's coast and lower inland areas, the heavy rain and melting alpine snow triggered renewed flooding from rain-swollen rivers and streams, compromising levees. "It's a little too soon to say for sure if it's another atmospheric river, but the storm is coming," he said.

☆ Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel hails movie-going rebound, cracks wise about 'the slap'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LOS ANGELES, March 12 (Reuters) - Comedian Jimmy Kimmel, returning for a third stint as Oscar host, led a back-to-basics show on Sunday that sought to celebrate a moviegoing rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic while avoiding the kind of unscripted outburst that marred the 2022 telecast. "We know this is a special night for you," Kimmel told the crowd of Hollywood luminaries. Kimmel, who was cheekily promoted ahead of Sunday's telecast as an "unflappable, unslappable" Oscar host, then went on to give a mock recitation of "strict policies in place" to prevent a repeat of last year's incident. "If anything unpredictable or violent happens during the ceremony, just sit there and do what you did last year, nothing," Kimmel added. It was a departure from many years in which relatively little-seen, but critically acclaimed, films have dominated the Academy Awards.

March 10 (Reuters) - A California man was sentenced on Friday to 25 years to life in prison for his conviction on charges of murdering college classmate Kristin Smart, whose 1996 disappearance had long ranked as one of state's most sensational unsolved crimes. The sentence pronounced for Paul Flores, who was found guilty in October of first-degree murder in the case, was announced by the San Luis Obispo County district attorney on Twitter. It was the maximum penalty Flores faced in California. Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/2] Actor Robert Blake speaks to reporters as he walks to Burbank Courthouse in Burbank, California, U.S. August 29, 2005. A wrongful death lawsuit subsequently filed against Blake by her estate led to a civil court judgment that the actor was responsible for her slaying. Blake contended his wife was a victim of her own checkered past, gunned down by an unknown assailant. Blake's acting work was overshadowed four years later by the Bakley murder, which remains unsolved. A paternity test showed that the father was Blake, not Christian Brando, son of actor Marlon Brando, who Bakley had been dating simultaneously.

[1/3] A truck drives through a flooded road after an atmospheric river storm system in Hayward, California, U.S. March 10, 2023. As much as 5 inches (13 cm) of rain has already fallen in some spots across the county, with some seeing as much as 7 inches. U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday declared an emergency in California, ordering federal assistance to help local, tribal and state officials respond to the severe weather. The heavy rains in northern and central California raised concerns that melting snow from a spate of blizzards in mid-elevation mountains could add to runoff and cause flooding downstream. Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Chicago and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles, Editing by Rosalba O'BrienOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ California flood watch issued as next atmospheric river looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LOS ANGELES, March 9 (Reuters) - Flood watch notices were posted across northern and central California for Thursday ahead of an atmospheric river storm expected to douse much of the state with heavy rain, including mountain areas still buried from a near-record snowfall. But smaller, waterfront communities along several major rivers and their tributaries also braced for the possibility of overflowing streams swollen by heavy showers and runoff of melting snow. Elsewhere, the NWS issued "prepare now" alerts for residents along the Big Sur, Carmel, Salinas and Pajaro rivers. "It's really a combination of all this heavy rainfall coming and also rapidly melting snow." The looming deluge follows a three-week barrage of nine atmospheric river storms that struck California in late December through mid-January, triggering widespread flooding as well as hundreds of mudslides, rockfalls and sinkholes across the state.

☆ Oklahoma measure to legalize recreational marijuana headed for defeat
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 7 (Reuters) - A ballot measure to legalize recreational use of marijuana for adults in Oklahoma and establish an excise tax on cannabis sales in the state appeared headed for a resounding defeat at the polls on Tuesday, according to state election returns. The vote came nearly five years after Oklahoma voters approved legalizing cannabis for medical purposes. It also would have placed a 15% tax on sales of all recreational marijuana products, with revenues divvied up between municipalities and the state's general fund, public education grants and substance abuse programs. The existing state medical marijuana authority would have been tasked with regulating and licensing commercial cannabis businesses. In addition, individuals already convicted of low-level marijuana offenses that the measure proposed to make legal could have sought re-sentencing or have their records expunged.

March 3 (Reuters) - A Michigan judge on Friday dismissed a school district and its employees as defendants in two wrongful death lawsuits stemming from a deadly 2021 mass shooting by a 15-year-old student armed with a gun his parents had bought him for Christmas. Remaining as defendants in the civil lawsuits are the gunman, Ethan Crumbley, who has since pleaded guilty to murder charges, and his parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, who have been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting. Instead, he was returned to class, and emerged from a bathroom a short time later to go on his rampage. School districts cannot be sued over "the exercise or discharge of a governmental function," and none of the exceptions recognized under statutes or case law apply, the judge wrote. Ultimately, however, "Ethan Crumbley's act of firing the gun, rather than the alleged conduct of the individual Oxford defendants" was the proximate cause of injuries, the judge held.

☆ Actor Tom Sizemore, known for tough-guy roles and scandal, dead at 61
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

March 3 (Reuters) - Actor Tom Sizemore, known as much for his struggles with drug addiction and run-ins with the law as for his tough-guy roles in such films as "Saving Private Ryan" and "Black Hawk Down," died on Friday at age 61, said his manager, Charles Lago. Sizemore's first major leading role came in the 1997 horror thriller "The Relic," again playing a police detective. On television, Sizemore won plaudits for his starring role as a police detective in the short-lived CBS television drama "Robbery Homicide Division." He was arrested again on suspicion of domestic abuse in 2016 and the following year pleaded no contest, the legal equivalent of guilty in California, and was sentenced to three year's probation. Sizemore chronicled his turbulent life in the 2013 memoir, "By Some Miracle I Made It Out of There."

☆ SpaceX capsule delivers latest four-member crew to International Space Station
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Steve Gorman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

March 3 (Reuters) - A SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule arrived safely at the International Space Station (ISS) after a brief delay early on Friday, carrying two U.S. astronauts, a Russian cosmonaut and a United Arab Emirates astronaut on a six-month science mission. The autonomously flying spacecraft dubbed Endeavour docked with the space station shortly after 1:40 a.m. EST (0640 GMT) on Friday, about 25 hours after launching from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Docking maneuvers fell behind schedule as the Crew Dragon was making its final approach to the station. The ISS crew also is responsible for performing maintenance and repairs aboard the station, and to prepare for the arrival and departure of other astronauts and cargo payloads. Rounding out the four-man Crew 6 was Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, 42, who like Alneyadi is an engineer and spaceflight rookie.

[1/5] NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 mission, that includes NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Woody Hoburg, the United Arab Emirates Sultan Al-Neyadi and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev, launches to the International Space Station from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., March 2, 2023. The SpaceX launch vehicle, consisting of a Falcon 9 rocket topped with an autonomously operated Crew Dragon capsule called Endeavour, lifted off at 12:34 a.m. EST (0534 GMT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Fellow NASA astronaut Warren "Woody" Hoburg, 37, an engineer and commercial aviator designated as the Crew 6 pilot, was making his first spaceflight. The Crew 6 team will be welcomed aboard the space station by seven current ISS occupants - three U.S. NASA crew members, including commander Nicole Aunapu Mann, the first Native American woman to fly to space, along with three Russians and a Japanese astronaut. An empty replacement Soyuz to bring them home arrived at the space station on Saturday.

[1/2] A Falcon 9 rocket is readied for another launch attempt for NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 mission after a technical delay, which will take four crew members to the International Space Station, from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., March 1, 2023. The SpaceX launch vehicle, consisting of a Falcon 9 rocket topped with an autonomously operated Crew Dragon capsule called Endeavour, was set for liftoff at 12:34 a.m. EST (0534 GMT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The four-man crew should reach the International Space Station (ISS), orbiting some 250 miles (420 km) above Earth, about 25 hours after launch, early on Friday morning. Crew 6 also is notable for its inclusion of UAE astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, 41, only the second person from his country to fly to space and the first to launch from U.S. soil as part of a long-duration space station team. The Crew 6 team will be welcomed aboard the space station by seven current ISS occupants - three U.S. NASA crew members, including commander Nicole Aunapu Mann, the first Native American woman to fly to space, along with three Russians and a Japanese astronaut.

[1/3] A Falcon 9 rocket is readied before launch on NASA's SpaceX Crew-6 mission, which will take four crew members to the International Space Station, from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., February 26, 2023. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket topped with a Crew Dragon capsule had been scheduled for liftoff at 1:45 a.m. EST (0645 GMT) from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Neither NASA nor SpaceX immediately said how long it might actually take before they would be ready to try again. Had Monday's launch been a success, it was expected to take the crew about 25 hours to reach their destination at the International Space Station (ISS), a laboratory orbiting about 250 miles (420 km) above Earth. Reporting by Joe Skipper in Cape Canaveral and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Will Dunham, John Stonestreet and Gerry DoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Prosecutors presented sufficient evidence to proceed with their case against Anderson Lee Aldrich on all charges filed in the Nov. 19 shooting rampage at Club Q club in Colorado Springs, the El Paso County district judge ruled. Besides multiple counts of first-degree murder, Aldrich faces dozens of counts of attempted murder and assault, as well as hate-crimes charges alleging the attack was motivated by prejudice against victims' sexual or gender identities. Thursday's ruling capped a two-day preliminary hearing in which prosecutors outlined their case for trying Aldrich on all charges. A hand-sketched map of Club Q was also found in a search of the defendant's home, Gasper said. Two patrons with military training subdued Aldrich and held the suspect until police arrived, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

☆ Florida TV journalist fatally shot while reporting on a murder scene -police
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 22 (Reuters) - A gunman opened fire on two television journalists reporting on a murder scene near Orlando, Florida, on Wednesday, killing one and injuring the other, authorities said. The two journalists shot in Pine Hills, a suburb of Orlando, were a reporter and a photographer for central Florida cable TV outlet Spectrum News 13, which is owned by Charter Communications (CHTR.O), Mina said. The suspect, who has a lengthy arrest record, already has been charged with killing the woman in her 20s, who was shot in a vehicle hours earlier, Mina said. Mina said no motive had been determined for any of the shootings, but he said Moses was believed to be an acquaintance of the first victim. Reporting by Steve Gorman and Costas Pitas in Los Angeles; Editing by Eric Beech and Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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