US Domestic News Roundup: Michael storms, Justice Kavanaugh, New York crash

As 'monster' Michael storms in, no fear at the Lighthouse Motel

For Mary Grasberger, even the threat of the worst storm to hit the Florida Panhandle in recorded history could not persuade her to leave her pets and evacuate the Lighthouse Motel, her home in the beach town of Panacea for the last four years. “We have nowhere to go," said Grasberger, 50, who lives in the motel with her 30-year-old daughter, Brenda, and their dogs and cats. "We have animals so we’re not leaving without them."

Justice Kavanaugh unlikely to heed calls for recusal

Justice Brett Kavanaugh is unlikely to heed calls by critics to step aside from certain politically charged U.S. Supreme Court cases in which his fairness and independence might be questioned after a divisive confirmation fight, according to legal experts. U.S. law requires justices to step aside when there is a conflict of interest or genuine question of bias, but it leaves the recusal decision in the hands of the individual justices.

California man who sold stolen identities sentenced to prison in Russia probe

A California man accused by U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office of operating an online auction service for stolen identities was sentenced to one year of incarceration on Wednesday in a federal district court. Richard Pinedo, who pleaded guilty to one count of identity fraud in February, could serve half the sentence at home, U.S. Judge Dabney Friedrich said.

Trump will probably travel to storm zone after Hurricane Michael

U.S. President Donald Trump will probably travel to the area hit by Hurricane Michael on Sunday or Monday after the storm passes, he told reporters on Wednesday. The hurricane was closing in on the northwest coast of Florida on Wednesday, carrying top winds of 150 miles per hour (241 km per hour), making it a very dangerous Category 4 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, the National Hurricane Center said.

Limo company operator in New York crash charged with homicide

The operator of a limousine company that owned the vehicle involved in a crash that killed 20 people in upstate New York was charged on Wednesday with criminally negligent homicide, court officials in Cobleskill, New York, said. Nauman Hussain, 28, was charged with one felony count related to the deadliest U.S. transportation accident in nearly a decade. All 20 victims were listed on the charging document.

FBI chief says threats from drones to U.S. 'steadily escalating'

FBI director Christopher Wray told a U.S. Senate panel on Wednesday that the threat from drones "is steadily escalating" even as Congress gives agencies new tools to address threats. Wray told the Senate Homeland Security committee that the FBI assesses that "given their retail availability, lack of verified identification requirement to procure, general ease of use, and prior use overseas, (drones) will be used to facilitate an attack in the United States against a vulnerable target, such as a mass gathering."

Hurricane Michael heads northeast, leaving devastation in Florida

Hurricane Michael, the third most powerful storm ever to strike the U.S. mainland, headed northeast on Thursday, weakened but still set to soak Georgia and the Carolinas after devastating the Florida Panhandle. A man was killed when a tree toppled onto his house in Florida and a girl died when debris fell into a home in Georgia, officials said and local media reported.

Trump appointees hold keys in Supreme Court immigration case

The outcome of the latest immigration case involving President Donald's Trump administration to come before the U.S. Supreme Court could hinge on his two appointees, conservative Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. The nine justices on Wednesday heard the administration argue for sweeping government authority to detain immigrants awaiting deportation after they complete sentences for criminal convictions, even years after leaving prison.

'I should have left' - Hurricane Michael terrified those who stayed

Andrew Lamonica, 64, a retired power company worker and lifelong Panama City Beach resident, ignored orders to evacuate ahead of one of the strongest hurricanes ever to hit the United States and waited out the storm in his rented bungalow. With a mighty crack, a tall pine crashed onto his house, drenching the interior as rain leaked through the shattered roof. Two other trees on his property came down, but his 2011 Cadillac - “my baby” - survived without a scratch.

Colorado man pleads guilty to three murder counts in Walmart shooting

A man accused of fatally shooting three people inside a Denver-area Walmart pleaded guilty on Wednesday to multiple counts of murder in the deaths, under a deal that allows him to avoid execution, prosecutors said. Scott Allen Ostrem, 48, admitted in Adams County District Court to killing Pamela Marques, 52, Carlos Moreno, 66, and Victor Vasquez, 26, in the Denver suburb of Thornton, District Attorney Dave Young said in a statement.

(With inputs from Reuters)

(With inputs from agencies.)