U.S. News Headlines

(Reuters) - Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett has proposed a fix for his state's poorly funded public pension systems, but some say his medicine could be worse than the illness. Corbett's plan, presented as part of his fiscal 2014 budget, would add another $5 billion to the state's $41 billion-and-growing unfunded liability, …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jack Lew, President Barack Obama's pick to be U.S. treasury secretary, is expected to come under fire for the administration's budget policies and a nearly $1 million bonus he received from bailed-out bank Citigroup when he testifies on Wednesday before a Senate panel vetting him for the job. The …

RAMSTEIN AIR FORCE BASE, Germany (Reuters) - The Pentagon will have to cut the size of U.S. military forces for the second time in as many years if across-the-board spending reductions of $470 billion over 10 years take effect March 1, the top U.S. military officer said on Saturday. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the …

BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Northeast started digging itself out after a blizzard dumped up to 40 inches of snow with hurricane force winds, killing at least nine people and leaving hundreds of thousands without power. By early Sunday, utility companies were reporting roughly 350,000 customers still without electricity …

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Los Angeles police will re-examine the 2008 firing of an officer wanted in three slayings, the police chief said on Saturday as a massive manhunt for the fugitive stretched from a southern California mountaintop to the Mexican border. Police Chief Charlie Beck called on the former officer Christopher …

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The national debate over gun violence took a highly personal turn for first lady Michelle Obama when a Chicago girl was slain near Obama's family home just days after she performed at the presidential inauguration in Washington. The first lady and top federal, state and city officials joined hundreds …

(Reuters) - Truman Capote's true-crime novel "In Cold Blood" is getting renewed attention after the Wall Street Journal reported it has found evidence raising questions about some details in the celebrated book. The newspaper said it has reviewed a "long-forgotten cache" of documents from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation …

TERRELL, Texas (Reuters) - A Texas prosecutor gunned down by an unknown assailant outside Dallas last month was remembered as a tenacious advocate for justice at a memorial service on Saturday attended by hundreds of former colleagues and law enforcement officials. Mark Hasse, 57, relished putting criminals away and despite …

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Boeing Co completed what it called an uneventful flight on Saturday of a test 787 Dreamliner, its first since the airplanes were grounded more than three weeks ago after a series of battery-related problems. The test flight to gather detailed information on the airplane's lithium-ion batteries lasted …

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The federal government has prohibited a bus company from operating in the United States after one of its coaches crashed last weekend on a California mountain road, killing eight people, a federal agency said on Friday. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, a unit of the U.S. Department …

(Reuters) - A nuclear power plant in Massachusetts lost power and automatically shut down late on Friday during a massive blizzard across the northeastern United States, the nuclear regulator said. The reactor at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth closed down with no problems and there was no threat to public safety, …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama bade a fond farewell to retiring Defense Secretary Leon Panetta at a ceremony on Friday and voiced strong support for his nominated successor, Chuck Hagel, who was attacked by Republicans at a contentious Senate confirmation hearing last week. Panetta, in his 19 months as Pentagon …

BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - A record-breaking blizzard packing hurricane-force winds hammered the northeastern United States on Saturday, cutting power to 700,000 homes and businesses, shutting down travel and leaving at least five people dead. The mammoth storm that stretched from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic dumped …

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Friday that government spending cuts due to take effect March 1 would have harsh consequences for ordinary Americans and the U.S. economy, seeking to turn up pressure on Congress to come up with a plan to avoid what Washington calls "sequestration." President Barack Obama said …

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Boeing Co said a test flight of its grounded 787 Dreamliner to collect more data on potential faults in the aircraft's lithium-ion batteries had taken off from Seattle and was scheduled to return late Saturday afternoon. The 50 Dreamliners in commercial service were grounded worldwide on January 16, …

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A mountaintop search resumed on Saturday for an ex-policeman wanted in three California slayings, after authorities suspended the manhunt during the night as snow grounded their helicopters. Former Los Angeles officer Christopher Dorner, 33, has declared war on law enforcement officers and their …

AUSTIN, Tex. (Reuters) - An 1836 letter penned by the commander of the small force of Texans defending the Alamo, a pivotal battle in the Texas Revolution that led to its break from Mexico, will be displayed for the first time at the San Antonio mission. With its dramatic ending - "Victory or Death!" - the letter by William …

(Reuters) - The Secret Service is investigating the hacking of email accounts belonging to members of the Bush family that divulged correspondence, addresses, phone numbers and a picture of a self-portrait painted by former President George W. Bush standing in a shower. A report on the Smoking Gun website, said the pilfered …