US News Summary: California climate satellite; Colorado prayer dispute; Storm Florence

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Clashing with Trump, California governor says to launch climate satellite

California Governor Jerry Brown on Friday pledged to launch a satellite that will track and detect the sources of climate pollutants, his state's latest effort to challenge the Trump administration's skepticism about the science of climate change. Brown, who was nicknamed "Governor Moonbeam" during his first stint as governor in the 1970s in part because of a proposal he made at the time to launch an emergency communications satellite for the state, said California was teaming up with earth imaging company Planet Labs to develop the technology.

Cargill to pay total of $1.5 million to Muslim workers in Colorado prayer dispute

Cargill Meat Solutions will pay a total of $1.5 million to 138 Muslim workers who were fired after walking off the job in a dispute over prayer breaks at a Colorado meat-packing plant in 2015, the company said on Friday. The dispute arose after the workers, mostly Somali immigrants, were dismissed after they staged a three-day walkout over what they said were insufficient prayer breaks at a plant in Fort Morgan, about 75 miles northeast of Denver.

Storm Florence weakens but epic rains still expected on U.S. east coast

Storm Florence weakened on Sunday as it swept through the Carolinas but dozens of communities are devastated and "epic" amounts of rain could still fall, officials said. The storm was downgraded to a Tropical Depression about 5 a.m. as it trudged inland early Sunday, knocking out power and causing at least eight deaths as flood waters kept rising.

Texas police arrest Border Patrol agent for murdering four women

Texas police on Saturday arrested a veteran U.S. Border Patrol agent, who is suspected of killing four women within the past two weeks and kidnapping a fifth. Juan David Ortiz, a 35-year-old who has worked for the Border Patrol for a decade, was found hiding in a Laredo parking lot after a woman he allegedly abducted was able to escape and alert law enforcement, officials said.

U.S. to 'get moving' on asylum cases of separated migrant families

A U.S. government attorney told a federal judge on Friday the Trump administration would quickly begin to implement an agreement to reconsider asylum for hundreds of families who were separated at the U.S. border with Mexico. The government agreed this week to settle three lawsuits being overseen by Judge Dana Sabraw, a move that plaintiffs' attorneys said would allow more than 1,000 immigrant parents and their children to have their asylum claims reconsidered.

Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh denies sexual misconduct allegation

U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Friday denied an allegation of sexual misconduct dating back to when he was a high school student, and a senior Republican senator said there was no reason to delay his confirmation to the court. Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said on Thursday she received information about Kavanaugh from a person she declined to identify, and that she had referred the matter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Trump administration to send U.S. cellphones a test alert on Thursday

The Trump administration will send a message to all U.S. cellphones on Thursday to test a previously unused alert system that aims to warn the public about national emergencies. The messages will bear the headline "Presidential Alert", the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said in a statement this week. Phones will make a loud tone and have a special vibration, said FEMA, which will send the alert.

Man dies after shark attack in Cape Cod: police

A man died on Saturday in what local police called a possible shark attack at Newcomb Hollow Beach in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, a town on Cape Cod that draws crowds of tourists. The victim, who was identified only as a man in his 20s, died from injuries at Cape Cod Hospital after rescuers pulled him from the water and performed emergency first aid including CPR, the Wellfleet Police Department said in a statement.

Public in dark over closure of New Mexico solar observatory

A New Mexico observatory aimed at unlocking the sun's secrets has been shut indefinitely by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation over an undisclosed security issue, leaving it at the center of its own mystery. The Sunspot Solar Observatory, near Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands Missile Range, sits atop the Sacramento mountains in southern New Mexico. It has been closed since the FBI evacuated staff on Sept. 6.

One dead, a dozen injured in gas blasts in Boston suburbs

Dozens of gas explosions killed at least one person, injured 12 more and forced thousands to evacuate from three communities north of Boston on Thursday. Some 8,000 people were displaced after the blasts leveled dozens of homes and other buildings in Andover, North Andover and Lawrence. Firefighters raced for hours from one blaze to another and utility crews rushed to shut off gas and electricity to prevent further ignitions.