L.A. Times - National News

Oklahoma tornado 'was a monster'

By Hailey Branson-Potts, Hector Becerra and Julie Cart, Los Angeles Times — Tue, 21 May 2013 07:11:00 GMT

Dozens are killed, including children, in a populous Oklahoma City suburb. Frantic rescue efforts focus on elementary schools.

Rescuers sifted through debris in a desperate search for survivors Monday night after a massive tornado battered the Oklahoma City area, killing at least 51 people, including 20 children, and injuring 120. The toll was expected to rise.

FBI spied on Fox News reporter, accused him of crime

By Ken Dilanian, Washington Bureau — Tue, 21 May 2013 04:15:00 GMT

The FBI obtained a sealed search warrant to read Fox News reporter James Rosen's personal emails in a leak investigation.

WASHINGTON — The FBI obtained a sealed search warrant to read a Fox News reporter's personal emails from two days in 2010 after arguing there was probable cause he had violated espionage laws by soliciting classified information from a government official, court papers show.

Prosecutor retaliated against Fast and Furious whistle-blower

By Richard A. Serrano, Los Angeles Times — Tue, 21 May 2013 03:53:00 GMT

The former U.S. attorney in Arizona leaked an internal report about an ATF agent who had criticized the failed gun operation.

WASHINGTON — The former top federal prosecutor in Arizona retaliated against the lead whistle-blower in the Fast and Furious gun-smuggling scandal by leaking an internal report that suggested the whistle-blower once favored allowing illegal gun sales as a way to track weapons to drug cartels in Mexico, the Justice Department's inspector general's office said Monday.

Union of federal workers opposes immigration bill

By Lisa Mascaro and Brian Bennett, Washington Bureau — Tue, 21 May 2013 03:46:00 GMT

Senators move ahead on immigration overhaul legislation despite objections from a union of immigration officers.

WASHINGTON — Senators pushed forward Monday with changes to a sweeping immigration overhaul over the objections of a union of immigration officers that announced its opposition to the bill.

Supreme Court to revisit church-state separation

By David G. Savage, Washington Bureau — Tue, 21 May 2013 03:42:00 GMT

Justices will decide whether a town council violates the 1st Amendment by opening its monthly meetings with a Christian prayer.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has agreed to revisit the issue of church-state separation and decide whether a town council can begin most of its monthly meetings with a prayer from a Christian pastor.

Congress expands inquiry into IRS handling of conservative groups

By Matea Gold and Christi Parsons, Washington Bureau — Tue, 21 May 2013 03:38:00 GMT

A Senate committee widens its inquiry into IRS targeting of conservative groups and asks for detailed records going back more than three years.

WASHINGTON — Congressional investigators are broadening their inquiry into the Internal Revenue Service's mishandling of groups seeking tax-exempt status, indicating that they plan to examine how the agency dealt with a wide swath of nonprofit applications during the last three years.

Mile-wide tornado flattens school, homes near Oklahoma City

From the Associated Press — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:01:00 GMT

There are no reported deaths so far amid rubble and fire in suburban Moore, Okla.

MOORE, Okla. — A monstrous tornado as much as a mile wide roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, flattening entire neighborhoods, setting buildings on fire and landing a direct blow on an elementary school.

Invasive frogs carry amphibian-killing fungus

By Geoffrey Mohan, Los Angeles Times — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:56:00 GMT

A study links African clawed frogs, which were brought to California decades ago for use in pregnancy tests, with a deadly pathogen.

African clawed frogs were first brought to California decades ago to help doctors figure out whether their patients were pregnant. After new technology made those pregnancy tests obsolete, the creatures were let loose, and thrived for decades in the state's drainage ditches and ponds.

Scale of government's AP records seizure surprises many

By David G. Savage, Washington Bureau — Mon, 20 May 2013 03:41:00 GMT

The Obama administration has zealously prosecuted leaks involving national security, but the secret collection of records for 20 Associated Press phone lines reaches a new level.

WASHINGTON — Three years ago, the Obama administration brought criminal charges under the Espionage Act against Thomas Drake, an Air Force veteran and intelligence expert at the National Security Agency in Maryland.

UC hospital strikers' numbers to be decided by court

By Anna Gorman, Los Angeles Times — Sun, 19 May 2013 22:40:00 GMT

As patient care workers plan a two-day walkout at the five facilities, UC says it will do everything possible to ensure patient safety.

Patient care workers at the University of California's medical centers plan to stage a two-day strike next week, but the number taking part will be decided Monday in Sacramento County Superior Court.

Fluoridated water? Not all Portlanders will drink to that

By Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times — Sun, 19 May 2013 05:41:00 GMT

A ballot measure that would add fluoride to the water supply in Portland, Ore., has divided the city's powerful progressive community. Voters go to the polls Tuesday.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Proponents of fluoridating Portland's water supply had no trouble getting the local Urban League on board. Here in the biggest city in the country that still doesn't treat its water to prevent tooth decay, studies show that low-income children and kids of color have been hit hardest by untreated cavities.

In a border town, a newspaper forced to be silent

By Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times — Sun, 19 May 2013 05:11:00 GMT

After violent attacks on its offices, El Manana backs off from reporting on drug cartels. 'There's no freedom of speech in Nuevo Laredo,' says a reader.

LAREDO, Texas -- A recent wave of kidnappings in Nuevo Laredo was prominently featured in a recent Sunday edition of El Mañana, one of the largest and most long-standing Spanish-language newspapers on the border.

Medicaid opposition underscores states' healthcare disparities

By Noam N. Levey, Washington Bureau — Sun, 19 May 2013 05:06:00 GMT

In states where Republican leaders are rejecting expansion of the government health plan for the poor, residents already have lower rates of coverage.

WASHINGTON — Republican opposition in many statehouses to expanding Medicaid next year under President Obama's healthcare law — opposition that could leave millions of the nation's poorest residents without insurance coverage — will likely widen the divide between the nation's healthiest and sickest states.

How the IRS spun out of control

By Joseph Tanfani, Matea Gold and Melanie Mason, Washington Bureau — Sun, 19 May 2013 04:42:00 GMT

Little guidance from Washington and a flood of new nonprofits left the Cincinnati office overwhelmed.

WASHINGTON — Steven Miller, the top enforcement official at the Internal Revenue Service, thought he might have trouble on his hands.

What's in millennials' wallets? Fewer credit cards

By Emily Alpert, Los Angeles Times — Sun, 19 May 2013 01:05:00 GMT

Boom-bust cycles leave the millennial generation more wary of credit card debt and more prone to thrifty lifestyles.

Ringed by the posh shops of Beverly Center, Tim Ratliff said no — he didn't have a credit card. He didn't need one.

Arizona's limits on immigrant driver's licenses upheld

By Cindy Carcamo, Los Angeles Times — Sat, 18 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

A federal judge rejects a challenge to Gov. Jan Brewer's denial of driver's licenses to youths who qualify for them under the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

TUCSON — Young people granted immigration relief and work permits under a new Obama administration program still won't be able to obtain driver's licenses in Arizona, a federal judge has ruled.

Attorney angrily defends handling of O.J. Simpson case

By John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times — Sat, 18 May 2013 04:31:00 GMT

The current and former defense lawyers clash as the onetime football star seeks a retrial, claiming the attorney in his 2008 conviction was incompetent.

LAS VEGAS — Over a day of often-vitriolic cross examination, O.J. Simpson's former defense attorney faced a barrage of pointed challenges that his representation was so shoddy and even duplicitous that the fallen football star deserves a new trial in a 2008 robbery and kidnapping conviction.

Ousted IRS chief defends against partisan charges

By Matea Gold and Jim Puzzanghera, Washington Bureau — Sat, 18 May 2013 01:51:00 GMT

Outgoing acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller, facing questions from a House panel, apologizes for the agency's mistakes but calls the problem a bureaucratic failing.

WASHINGTON — The ousted head of the Internal Revenue Service apologized Friday for the agency's "foolish mistakes" in singling out conservative groups for intrusive and time-consuming scrutiny, but said that the effort was not driven by partisan motives.

Texas tornado victims vow to rebuild

By Devin Kelly, Los Angeles Times — Sat, 18 May 2013 01:45:00 GMT

Tornadoes that killed six people and injured 53 this week in north Texas also damaged dozens of homes constructed by Habitat for Humanity.

On the limb of a barren tree in the tornado-devastated north Texas community of Rancho Brazos, an American flag flaps in the wind — placed there by a firefighter.

Democrats seeking office have their eye on Sacramento

By Mark Z. Barabak and Richard Simon, Los Angeles Times — Sat, 18 May 2013 01:39:00 GMT

Lawmakers and candidates are increasingly feeling they can accomplish more at the state level than in Washington, where many would be serving in the minority.

WASHINGTON — Early this year, Leticia Perez and her husband flew here for a whirlwind 48 hours. The couple dined at the Italian Embassy, visited the Lincoln Memorial and joined the crowd on the National Mall watching as President Obama was inaugurated for a second term.

In Mexico, immigrants' relatives watch U.S. debate, and hope

By Richard Fausset, Los Angeles Times — Sat, 18 May 2013 00:59:00 GMT

Many are skeptical that Congress will pass immigration reform legislation, but if it happens, they say, it will mean the reunion of countless family members, some separated for 20 years.

TONATICO, Mexico — Armando Guadarrama was navigating his taxi through the narrow streets of this central Mexico pueblo on a recent Saturday morning, some 2,000 miles from the Beltway.

Obama tries to steer attention back to jobs

By Christi Parsons, Washington Bureau — Sat, 18 May 2013 00:41:00 GMT

The president calls for an expedited permit process for bridges and other big projects. Republicans are quick to cite his administration's delays on the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

WASHINGTON — President Obama said Friday he wanted to put more Americans to work by slashing the amount of time it takes to grant federal approval for big job-creating projects.

Interior Department offers new rules for 'fracking'

By Neela Banerjee and Wes Venteicher, Washington Bureau — Fri, 17 May 2013 04:13:00 GMT

Industry officials object to what they see as redundant regulation. Environmentalists say the federal standards do not safeguard drinking water supplies.

WASHINGTON — The Interior Department proposed new rules to regulate hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas on federal land Thursday, drawing criticism from environmentalists that it had weakened an earlier draft to placate industry.

Cause of Texas fertilizer plant fire may never be known

By Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times — Fri, 17 May 2013 03:50:00 GMT

Investigators have not been able to rule out arson or a faulty golf cart or electrical system. Officials won't comment on whether an arrested paramedic has been cleared.

A malfunctioning golf cart, a faulty electrical system or even arson could have led to the fire that triggered the deadly explosion of a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, but federal and state officials said Thursday that their $1-million investigation had yet to find the cause.

Facing walkout, UC medical centers canceling elective surgeries

By Larry Gordon, Los Angeles Times — Fri, 17 May 2013 02:31:00 GMT

Hospitals in San Diego, Irvine, L.A., San Francisco and Davis take action in face of a possible strike next week by patient care and technical workers.

SACRAMENTO — Facing a possible two-day strike next week by patient care and technical workers, the five large University of California medical centers are starting to cancel elective surgeries that had been scheduled as soon as Monday, officials said.