Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Snow, cold take aim at U.S. farm belt this weekend

A winter storm this weekend followed by a plunge in temperatures, coupled with another cold push late this month, could threaten livestock in the U.S. Plains and possibly winter wheat in parts of the Midwest, meteorologists said. The storm should bring 2 to 8 inches (5 to 20 centimeters) of snow from South Dakota to northern Ohio, with up to 10 inches (25 cm) in northern Iowa, according to National Weather Service maps. The agency posted winter storm warnings Thursday afternoon in South Dakota and Iowa and winter storm watches all the way to New England, where accumulations could top 12 inches.

U.S. separated 'thousands' more immigrant children than known: watchdog

The U.S. government may have separated "thousands" more immigrant children from their parents than previously known but inadequate record-keeping means the exact number is still unclear, an internal watchdog said on Thursday. The Office of Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said the agency had identified many more children in addition to the 2,737 included as part of a class action lawsuit challenging family separations brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) last year.

Ex-mistress of 'El Chapo' says she was 'traumatized' by tunnel escape

A former mistress of accused Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman told jurors in his U.S. trial on Thursday she was "traumatized" after a harrowing 2014 escape from one of his safehouses with Mexican marines in hot pursuit. Testifying for the prosecution in federal court in Brooklyn, Lucero Sanchez Lopez, a onetime local lawmaker in Guzman's home state of Sinaloa, also gave an emotional account of her relationship with Guzman, saying she at times feared for her safety.

Judge blocks Republican-backed Wisconsin early-voting law

A U.S. federal judge in Wisconsin on Thursday blocked a Republican-backed law that would limit early voting across the state to two weeks, finding the new legislation was essentially the same as a previous statute he stopped 2-1/2 years ago. The early-voting bill was part of a package of laws that the Republican-controlled legislature passed during a rare all-night lame-duck session in December, which included measures aimed at curbing the powers of incoming Democratic Governor Tony Evers.

Exclusive: Trump meets with Cabinet officials to revive infrastructure push - sources

U.S. President Donald Trump is reviving efforts to win approval for a significant infrastructure plan lasting up to 13 years, two people briefed on the matter said, as the administration seeks to bring a long-stalled campaign promise back to life. In a meeting of top advisers at the White House on Tuesday, the sources, who declined to be identified since the meeting was not public, said participants discussed aspects of a potential infrastructure plan and whether to include details of it in Trump's State of the Union address scheduled for later this month.

Female shot to death in parking lot of Houston church

A female victim was shot to death in the parking lot of a Houston-area church on Thursday and another person was wounded, the Harris County Sheriff's Office said on Twitter. The shooting occurred outside Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church, located about 20 miles (30 km) northwest of downtown Houston. No suspect has been apprehended, the sheriff's office said in the Twitter posting.

Striking Los Angeles teachers set major rally amid marathon contract talks

Union leaders urged striking Los Angeles teachers to turn out en masse for a rally on Friday marking the fifth day of their walkout against the second-largest U.S. school district, seeking to boost their bargaining position in marathon labor talks. Some 30,000 teachers who have gone without a contract for nearly a year walked off the job on Monday demanding higher pay, smaller classes and more support staff. It was the first such work stoppage to hit the Los Angeles Unified School District in three decades.

Judge to sentence ex-Chicago policeman for 2014 shooting of teen

A judge is expected to sentence on Friday white former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke after a jury found him guilty of murder last year in the 2014 shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald. Van Dyke, 40, faces up to 20 years in prison for his second-degree murder conviction and up to 30 years for each of 16 counts of aggravated battery, one count for each shot he fired at McDonald, who was carrying a knife.

$11 toothpaste: Immigrants pay big for basics at private ICE lock-ups

Detained in a California lockup with hundreds of other immigrants seeking asylum, Duglas Cruz faced a choice. He could content himself with a jailhouse diet that he said left him perpetually hungry. Or he could labor in the prison's kitchen to earn money to buy extra food at the commissary.

On Day 28, no sign of end to U.S. partial government shutdown

As the partial U.S. government shutdown hit the four-week mark on Friday, tensions mounted in Washington on either side of the standoff over President Donald Trump's demand for $5.7 billion to help fund a U.S.-Mexico border wall. That ultimatum, which congressional Democrats have rejected, has prevented Congress from approving legislation to restore funding to about a quarter of the federal government, which closed down partially on Dec. 22 when several agencies' funds expired for reasons unrelated to the border.