Obama's quest for Iran deal set to collide with Capitol Hill

Obama's quest for Iran deal set to collide with Capitol Hill
Alabama man freed after nearly 30 years on death row
Man reported missing at sea for 66 days found in good health
Arkansas governor seeks fix of religion bill seen as targeting gays
California governor orders statewide water cutbacks to combat drought
'Chowchilla' California kidnapper wins initial parole approval: newspaper
Indiana, Arkansas pass revised religious objection proposals

Posted: 02 Apr 2015 09:22 PM PDT

The president has vowed to veto legislation allowing Congress to approve or reject a deal.

Alabama man freed after nearly 30 years on death row

Posted: 03 Apr 2015 09:51 AM PDT

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A man who spent nearly 30 years on Alabama's death row was freed Friday after prosecutors finally acknowledged that the only evidence they had against him couldn't prove he committed the crime.

Man reported missing at sea for 66 days found in good health

Posted: 03 Apr 2015 10:16 AM PDT

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (AP) — A man reported missing at sea two months ago was rescued on the overturned hull of his sailboat off the North Carolina coast, and he walked away from a hospital hours later in good condition, with no obvious sunburn, dehydration or other signs of distress.

Arkansas governor seeks fix of religion bill seen as targeting gays

Posted: 01 Apr 2015 07:46 PM PDT

By Steve Barnes LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Reuters) - Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson told lawmakers on Wednesday to revise a bill that rights activists and U.S. businesses said allowed discrimination against gays, and home-state corporate giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc praised his action. The state's Senate took up the challenge late on Wednesday, sending to the House of Representatives legislation that would bring the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) into line with federal statutes. Indiana's governor a day earlier said lawmakers should fix a similar RFRA. In a news conference at the Capitol in Little Rock, Hutchinson, who previously said he would sign the bill, said he was sending the act back to the Republican-controlled legislature to be rewritten so it can better balance tolerance for diversity and protections of religious freedom.

California governor orders statewide water cutbacks to combat drought

Posted: 01 Apr 2015 07:01 PM PDT

By Sharon Bernstein PHILLIPS, Calif. (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown, in his most sweeping action to combat a devastating multi-year drought, ordered residents and businesses on Wednesday to cut water use by 25 percent in the first mandatory statewide reduction in California history. The move comes as California's snowpack, which generally provides about a third of the state's water, is at its lowest level on record in a sign the state's drought, now entering its fourth year, is far from over. We're just doing it through the different water districts." Brown said the state would develop rebate plans to help families and businesses remove a planned 50 million square feet (4.6 million square meters) of lawns, and replace old appliances with newer, more water-efficient models. Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the state Water Resources Control Board, said regulators would not hesitate to issue fines of up to $10,000 a day to water districts that do not succeed in implementing the cutbacks.

'Chowchilla' California kidnapper wins initial parole approval: newspaper

Posted: 02 Apr 2015 12:33 AM PDT

(Reuters) - One of three men who kidnapped a busload of school children in California more than three decades ago and buried them alive in a van won initial approval for parole on Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reported. Although the 26 children and their bus driver all survived, kidnapper James Schoenfeld, now 63, has been in prison for 37 years for the 1976 abduction in the town of Chowchilla in central California. Schoenfeld has been considered for parole 19 times before, the Times reported, citing a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. James Schoenfeld, his younger brother Richard and accomplice Frederick Woods all pleaded guilty for their roles in the crime, which was dramatized in a 1993 made-for-TV movie "They've Taken Our Children".

Indiana, Arkansas pass revised religious objection proposals

Posted: 02 Apr 2015 04:32 PM PDT

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Lawmakers in Arkansas and Indiana passed legislation Thursday that they hoped would quiet the national uproar over new religious objections laws that opponents say are designed to offer a legal defense for anti-gay discrimination.