US Senators, Mexico compound, Georgia: US Domestic news round-up

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. senators seek review of lead in military housing, citing Reuters

Eight U.S. senators are pushing for a federal review of the military's plans to protect children from exposure to lead, citing a Reuters report on lead poisoning in military housing. In an amendment filed this week to a defense funding bill, the senators, including senior members of the Senate Armed Services and Veterans' Affairs committees, are asking the Government Accountability Office to examine the military's handling of lead poisoning risks nationwide. Most military family housing has been privatized and is operated by corporations in partnership with the branches of the armed services.

New charges filed against New Mexico compound suspects

New charges were filed on Friday against two of five adults arrested for alleged child abuse at a New Mexico compound after autopsy results showed an abducted toddler died there and was hidden on the property, Taos County Sheriff's Office said. Jany Leveille, 35, and her husband Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, 40, were charged with abuse of a child resulting in death, as well as conspiracy to commit an abuse of a child, both of which are first degree felonies that carry potential life sentences, Sheriff Jerry Hogrefe said in a statement.

U.S. calls foreign mail system unfair in surprise win for Amazon

The U.S. State Department on Friday said it would push for foreign postal carriers to pay the U.S. Postal Service more to deliver small parcels within the United States, taking up a longtime complaint by Amazon.com, UPS and others who have alleged the current system is unfair. The State Department also said it would push foreign postal services to furnish data that would help customs officials detect opioids and other illegal shipments entering the United States. That task could also add to their costs.

Georgia blocks move to close voting sites in mostly black county

A Georgia elections board on Friday blocked a bid to close most polling places in a largely black county after critics called it a thinly-veiled attempt to undercut Stacey Abrams, who could become the country's first female, African-American governor. Both Abrams, the Democratic nominee, and her rival Republican Brian Kemp, who is white and serves as Georgia's secretary of state, had urged county officials to drop the plan.

Progress reported in uniting migrant families separated by U.S.

Lawyers for the U.S. government and families separated by border officials after they entered the United States from Mexico said 37 more children have been freed from federal custody in the last week, as both sides work out means to enable children to seek asylum. In a Thursday court filing, the lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego to let them try to work out disputed issues overnight, ahead of a scheduled Friday afternoon hearing.

Iowa college student died of 'sharp force injuries,' autopsy finds

An Iowa college student who was killed after she disappeared while jogging last month succumbed to "multiple sharp force injuries," according to the results of a preliminary autopsy released on Thursday. The Iowa State Medical Examiner has ruled that the death of Mollie Tibbetts, 20, was a homicide, the Iowa Department of Public Safety said in a statement.

Hurricane Lane brings severe flooding to Hawaii's Big Island

Hurricane Lane churned closer toward the heart of the Hawaiian islands on Friday as it weakened into a Category 2 storm while still lashing the Big Island with raging surf, torrential rains, and catastrophic flooding, weather officials said. The storm, with sustained winds topping 100 miles (161 km) per hour, was forecast to make its nearest approach to land just west of the island chain over the weekend, bringing hurricane conditions to Maui and the U.S. state's most populous island, Oahu, starting Friday night.

Former Pennsylvania altar boy says he stole from church to avenge abuse

Mike McDonnell was an altar boy who loved to sing Latin hymns at his church in suburban Philadelphia, but his Roman Catholic faith became a source of torment at age 12 when he woke up to find a priest molesting him in the vacation bed the clergyman forced him to share. "From that day forth, I would never be that same child," said McDonnell, now 49. "I went into shock mode and shut down. I would hold onto those secrets for 20-plus years."

U.S. health agency's ex-director charged with groping woman

A former director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who helped contain the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, was arrested and charged with sexual abuse on Friday after being accused of groping a woman last year. A 55-year-old woman filed a complaint in July against Thomas Frieden, who once served as the city's health commissioner, accusing him of grabbing her buttocks without permission last October at his Brooklyn apartment, said New York City Police Department spokeswoman Arlene Muniz. The woman's name was not divulged.

Three charged with toppling Confederate statue in North Carolina

University of North Carolina police charged three people in connection with the toppling of a Confederate soldier statue on the Chapel Hill campus, an official said on Friday, as the school braces for another on-campus rally over the weekend. At a rally earlier this week, protesters used a rope to pull down the statue known as Silent Sam, erected in 1913 to honor soldiers of the pro-slavery Confederacy killed during the Civil War.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)