US Domestic News Roundup: US pastor, Florida wild cat sanctuary caught in hurricane's path

A tent city in the west Texas desert set up to hold immigrant children has expanded its capacity by nearly 10 times to 3,800 beds since it opened in June, officials said on Friday.

New Jersey sports betting activity nearly doubles in September

Sports betting activity in New Jersey nearly doubled in the month of September, growing to $183.9 million compared with $95.6 million the prior month, on a wave of new internet wagers and the start of football season, according to figures released on Friday. On-site sports wagers placed at casinos and racetracks rose by $5.1 million to $79 million in the month of September, a 7 per cent increase, data from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement showed.

Volunteer search teams born of prior disasters reactivated in Florida

Volunteer search-and-rescue networks formed during previous flood disasters in Texas and Louisiana sprang into action in Florida this week following Hurricane Michael, providing a boost to authorities hit by electricity and communications outages. By Friday, two days after Michael ploughed into Florida's Panhandle as one of the fiercest hurricanes ever to strike the U.S. mainland, there was no official word on the number unaccounted for in beachfront communities affected by the storm.

Texas desert tent city for immigrant children balloons in size

A tent city in the west Texas desert set up to hold immigrant children has expanded its capacity by nearly 10 times to 3,800 beds since it opened in June, officials said on Friday. The facility in the border city of Tornillo sprang up with 400 beds when the Trump administration put into place its "zero tolerance" policy that called for separating parents from children after families crossed the border from Mexico illegally.

The death toll from Michael seen rising as Florida towns remain cut off

The death toll was expected to rise this weekend in the aftermath of Hurricane Michael as hundreds remained unaccounted for along the Florida Panhandle where decimated communities remained cut off and in the dark. As of early on Saturday, state officials were reporting that at least 18 have been killed in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

Pennsylvania Republican candidate threatens to stomp on opponent's face

The Republican candidate for governor of Pennsylvania threatened to stomp on the face of his Democratic opponent in a social media video on Friday and then walked back his comments, saying he made a mistake in his choice of words. Republican Scott Wagner is trailing well behind incumbent Democrat Tom Wolf in the polls ahead of the Nov. 6 election, and the video posted on Wagner's campaign Facebook page was part of an acrimonious battle in one of most populous U.S. states.

Without captions, warnings about Hurricane Michael failed to reach disabled

When Oscar-winning deaf actress Marlee Matlin turned to the internet to view a video warning about Hurricane Michael, she was quickly reminded that sign language interpreters are often edited out of broadcast clips and closed captioning seems to be non-existent online. "There are 35 million deaf and hard of hearing people and it's amazing today that there isn't full access to them," she told Reuters through an interpreter on Friday in a telephone interview.

'Praise God!': Parents of U.S. pastor rejoice at Turkey's release of son

The parents of a U.S. pastor facing terrorism charges in Turkey rejoiced on Friday as they learned after an all-night prayer vigil that a court ordered the release of their son. A court in the western Turkish town of Aliaga on Friday sentenced Andrew Brunson, who had been charged with links to Kurdish militants and supporters of a U.S.-based Muslim cleric, to more than three years in prison but said he would not serve any further time because he had already been detained since October 2016.

Bodies of 11 babies found hidden in a former funeral home in Detroit: police

The bodies of 11 babies were found hidden at a former funeral home in Detroit on Friday after authorities received an anonymous letter leading them to the remains, police said. Police are investigating after authorities found nine badly decomposed bodies inside a box and two inside a casket, all hidden in a false ceiling at the former Cantrell Funeral Home, Detroit police Lieutenant Brian Bowser told reporters.

Florida wild cat sanctuary caught in hurricane's path

"Saint" the mountain lion was pacing nervously in his pen and crying days before Hurricane Michael cut a path of destruction through the Bear Creek Feline Center, a refuge for 23 wild cats near Florida's Panama City. "They were very agitated," said Bertie Broaddus, who runs the centre with her husband Jim Broaddus, as she inspected the damage from the powerful storm that killed at least 17 people and tore up Florida's Panhandle coastline.

U.S. intelligence watchdog says it will encourage whistleblowers to come forward

The U.S. National Security Agency's top oversight official, Robert Storch, is working to repair the spy agency's reputation with whistleblowers in an effort to encourage staff to report wrongdoing internally, rather than go public. "It's really important we encourage whistleblowers to come forward and that they feel comfortable doing so and if there are allegations of reprisal then we take that very seriously," Storch said in an interview with Reuters last week.

(With inputs from Reuters)