Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Major airlines and administration officials have held talks for months over a long-standing effort by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to mandate the collection and reporting of tracing information from passengers arriving to the United States from foreign destinations.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Pence previews Republican counterattack after Democrats savage Trump at convention

After hearing Democrats brand President Donald Trump a threat to U.S. democracy, Republicans will paint his challenger Joe Biden as beholden to the radical left at a convention of their own next week, Vice President Mike Pence said on Friday. This week's Democratic National Convention, held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic, for four days showcased scathing criticism of Trump's character and the more than 170,000 people who have died from the outbreak under his watch. U.S. postmaster promises timely election mail, 'dramatic' changes after

U.S. Postmaster Louis DeJoy on Friday told lawmakers the Postal Service would deliver ballots "securely and on time" in the November presidential election, but indicated he would pursue dramatic operational changes after that date. DeJoy faced pointed questions at a Senate hearing from Democrats, who have accused the wealthy Republican donor of trying to tilt the election to President Donald Trump. U.S. closes lanes, adds checks at Mexico border to contain coronavirus

The United States on Friday closed lanes at select ports of entry at the border with Mexico and will conduct more secondary checks to limit non-essential travel and the spread of coronavirus, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection official said. Non-essential travel has been restricted at the border since March, but the restrictions have mostly been applied to Mexican citizens. The new measures appeared to be aimed at U.S. citizens and legal residents living in Mexico. Three arrested in Portland amid scuffles with police

About 100 people blocked traffic, vandalized an immigration building, set fires to dumpsters, and threw rocks and glass bottles at police in the Oregon city of Portland on Thursday night, police said, adding they had arrested three people. The gathering, declared unlawful by the police, followed successive nights of the police declaring a riot in parts of the northwestern city, including on Wednesday around the same Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building. Two storms head for U.S. Gulf in rare hurricane season event

A pair of tropical cyclones forecast to become hurricanes early next week are headed for the U.S. Gulf Coast and will spin over the Gulf's warm waters simultaneously, a rare weather event that could cause massive disruption as they make landfall. There have never been two hurricanes in the U.S Gulf of Mexico at the same time, according to the National Hurricane Center. The closest event was in 1933, when a major hurricane made landfall in south Texas while a separate hurricane weakened to a tropical storm after crossing the Florida Peninsula, the NHC said. Limited transmission of COVID-19 found in U.S. childcare study, CDC says

Transmission of COVID-19 from children or adults to other people in Rhode Island childcare programs occurred on only a limited basis, a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed on Friday. CDC Director Robert Redfield told reporters on a call that the findings indicated that there is a path "to get these childcare programs to reopen, which are very important for our country." 'The bogeyman gone': California's 'Golden State Killer' sentenced to life in prison

A former California police officer who lived a double life as the "Golden State Killer" was sentenced to life in prison on Friday for a string of 1970s and '80s murders and rapes that were solved through the use of public genealogy websites. A Sacramento County judge granted prosecutors' request that Joseph James DeAngelo, 74, serve life in prison without the possibility of parole following emotional statements from victims or their family members in open court. California lightning fires advance on towns

California's lightning-sparked wildfires more than doubled in size into some of the largest in state history on Friday with charred debris floating into Santa Cruz as flames advanced to the edge of the coastal city. At least six people have died, 43 fire fighters and civilians have been injured, and over 500 homes and other structures destroyed as fires have burned an area larger than the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Lori Loughlin apologizes for college scam as actress, husband get prison sentences

"Full House" actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli were sentenced on Friday to respective prison terms of two months and five months for participating in a vast U.S. college admissions fraud scheme. Loughlin, 56, choked up as she apologized to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel Gorton in Boston for the "awful decision" she made to help her daughters gain an "unfair advantage" in the college admissions process and get into their preferred school. U.S. international airline passenger contact tracing plan stalls, sources say

The Trump administration's efforts to require airlines to collect contact tracing information from U.S.-bound international passengers has stalled, five people briefed on the matter told Reuters on Friday, adding such a mandate is unlikely this year. Major airlines and administration officials have held talks for months over a long-standing effort by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to mandate the collection and reporting of tracing information from passengers arriving to the United States from foreign destinations.