Detroit avoids state takeover, more oversight looms

DETROIT (Reuters) - Detroit avoided a takeover by the state of Michigan on Wednesday after both a review team and the city council approved a consent agreement that will put the city's struggling finances under stricter control. The deal, which was passed by the city council in a 5-to-4 vote, "ensures that the future of Detroit is determined by Detroiters and its elected officials," Detroit's Deputy Mayor Kirk Lewis said after the late vote. ...

Detroit avoids state takeover, more oversight looms

DETROIT (Reuters) - Detroit avoided a takeover by the state of Michigan on Wednesday after both a review team and the city council approved a consent agreement that will put the city's struggling finances under stricter control. The deal, which was passed by the city council in a 5-to-4 vote, "ensures that the future of Detroit is determined by Detroiters and its elected officials," Detroit's Deputy Mayor Kirk Lewis said after the late vote. ...

Accused September 11 mastermind to face trial at Guantanamo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Accused September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four suspected co-conspirators were ordered on Wednesday to stand trial before a Guantanamo war crimes tribunal, the Pentagon said, a move that throws the politically charged case into the limelight in an election year. Convictions on the most serious charges, which include terrorism, hijacking, conspiracy and murder in violation of the law of war, could carry the death penalty. ...

Ex-student charged with murder in California shooting rampage

OAKLAND, California (Reuters) - A former nursing student was charged with murder and attempted murder on Wednesday in a shooting rampage that killed seven people and wounded three others this week at a small, Christian college he once attended in California. The suspect in the shootings at Oakland's Oikos University, 43-year-old One Goh, described by some at the school as an outsider, appeared in court in a red jumpsuit for a brief arraignment in which the charges were read to him by a judge. ...

Detroit OK's deal to avoid state takeover

DETROIT (Reuters) - Detroit's city council on Wednesday approved 5 to 4 a consent agreement that would avoid the city's takeover by the state of Michigan due to its sagging finances. A review team appointed by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder in December had also approved the deal earlier Wednesday. Both the review team and the city council took the action ahead of a Thursday deadline for sending recommendations to the governor and after a state appeals court lifted a temporary restraining order that had stopped the team from meeting. (Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

Detroit OK's deal to avoid state takeover

DETROIT (Reuters) - Detroit's city council on Wednesday approved 5 to 4 a consent agreement that would avoid the city's takeover by the state of Michigan due to its sagging finances. A review team appointed by Michigan Governor Rick Snyder in December had also approved the deal earlier Wednesday. Both the review team and the city council took the action ahead of a Thursday deadline for sending recommendations to the governor and after a state appeals court lifted a temporary restraining order that had stopped the team from meeting. (Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

Judge tosses Happy Meal lawsuit against McDonald's

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A San Francisco judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit against McDonald's over the restaurant chain's marketing of its signature Happy Meals, according to court documents. McDonald's was accused of unfairly using toys to lure children into its restaurants. The proposed class-action lawsuit in a California state court sought to stop the company from using free toys to promote its Happy Meals in the Golden State. ...

Judge tosses Happy Meal lawsuit against McDonald's

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A San Francisco judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit against McDonald's over the restaurant chain's marketing of its signature Happy Meals, according to court documents. McDonald's was accused of unfairly using toys to lure children into its restaurants. The proposed class-action lawsuit in a California state court sought to stop the company from using free toys to promote its Happy Meals in the Golden State. ...

Prison time for New Orleans ex-cops in post-Katrina killings

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Four former New Orleans policemen convicted of shootings in 2005 that killed two unarmed people and wounded four others following Hurricane Katrina were given sentences on Wednesday ranging from 38 to 65 years in prison. A fifth former police officer who did not participate in the shootings but engineered a four-year cover-up of the crimes was sentenced the six years. ...

Prison time for New Orleans ex-cops in post-Katrina killings

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Four former New Orleans policemen convicted of shootings in 2005 that killed two unarmed people and wounded four others following Hurricane Katrina were given sentences on Wednesday ranging from 38 to 65 years in prison. A fifth former police officer who did not participate in the shootings but engineered a four-year cover-up of the crimes was sentenced the six years. ...

Texas town hit by tornado saw worse in 1994

LANCASTER, Texas (Reuters) - Huddled inside a closet with his wife and 9-month-old daughter, Quental Austin could hear bricks and two-by-fours clattering as a tornado ravaged his Lancaster, Texas, neighborhood on Tuesday. During just the couple of minutes he was in that closet, the tornado - one of more than a dozen that damaged hundreds of Dallas-area homes and left tens of thousands without power - lifted the roof off his home, shattered the windows of his Yukon Denali and peeled one of the SUV's doors onto the hood. ...

Texas town hit by tornado saw worse in 1994

LANCASTER, Texas (Reuters) - Huddled inside a closet with his wife and 9-month-old daughter, Quental Austin could hear bricks and two-by-fours clattering as a tornado ravaged his Lancaster, Texas, neighborhood on Tuesday. During just the couple of minutes he was in that closet, the tornado - one of more than a dozen that damaged hundreds of Dallas-area homes and left tens of thousands without power - lifted the roof off his home, shattered the windows of his Yukon Denali and peeled one of the SUV's doors onto the hood. ...

California college chief defends use of pepper spray

SANTA MONICA, California (Reuters) - The president of a California college defended on Wednesday the use of pepper spray by campus police against students protesting higher tuition for extra summer-school classes, an incident that left as many as 30 people overcome by the caustic substance. The melee that erupted on Tuesday night at a board of trustees meeting at Santa Monica College is under investigation, college President Chui L. Tsang said in a statement. ...

California college chief defends use of pepper spray

SANTA MONICA, California (Reuters) - The president of a California college defended on Wednesday the use of pepper spray by campus police against students protesting higher tuition for extra summer-school classes, an incident that left as many as 30 people overcome by the caustic substance. The melee that erupted on Tuesday night at a board of trustees meeting at Santa Monica College is under investigation, college President Chui L. Tsang said in a statement. ...

California college chief defends use of pepper spray

SANTA MONICA, California (Reuters) - The president of a California college defended on Wednesday the use of pepper spray by campus police against students protesting higher tuition for extra summer-school classes, an incident that left as many as 30 people overcome by the caustic substance. The melee that erupted on Tuesday night at a board of trustees meeting at Santa Monica College is under investigation, college President Chui L. Tsang said in a statement. ...

Ex-student charged with murder in California shooting rampage

OAKLAND, California (Reuters) - A former nursing student was charged with murder and attempted murder on Wednesday in a shooting rampage that left seven people dead and three others wounded this week at a small, Christian college in California. The suspect in the shootings at Oakland's Oikos University, 43-year-old One Goh, appeared in court dressed in a red jumpsuit for a brief arraignment in which the charges were read to him by a judge. He is accused of opening fire on former classmates and staff at Oikos University on Monday in the deadliest gun violence at a U.S. ...