Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti says he is not running for president

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said on Tuesday he would not join what is likely to be a crowded field of candidates vying for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. "I have decided not to throw my hat into the ring to run for president in 2020," Garcetti told a news conference at City Hall. New Mexico governor moves to limit methane emissions, combat climate change

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday ordered state officials to develop regulations to reduce methane emissions from its oil and gas industry and separately rollback statewide greenhouse gas output over the next decade. The New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department and Environment Department were directed to enact methane emission reduction "rules as soon as practicable," the executive order said. As polar vortex lingers, parts of U.S. set for record lows

Parts of the United States are bracing for record low temperatures on Wednesday, as a blast of Arctic air gripping much of the country spreads further across the Midwest and Eastern states. Temperatures could hit minus 40 Fahrenheit (minus 40 Centigrade) in parts of the Northern Plains and Great Lakes, the National Weather Service said. FBI finds no motive for Las Vegas shooting, closes probe

The FBI has found no clear motive for the killing of 58 people by a sniper firing down at an outdoor concert in Las Vegas in 2017, the agency said on Tuesday as it closed an investigation into the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. According to an FBI report, the 64-year-old gunman, Stephen Paddock, was not unlike many other mass shooters who are driven by a complex mix of issues, ranging from mental health to stress, and want to die by suicide. 'I had to get in there' says Houston officer shot for third time in career

One of several undercover police officers injured during a drug raid at a Houston home was shot for the third time in his career as he tried to rescue wounded colleagues, city police chief Art Acevedo said on Tuesday. The 54-year-old officer was one of four shot on Monday evening after Dennis Tuttle, 59, opened fire on police after they broke open the door of his home to serve a narcotics warrant, Acevedo told reporters. U.S. gun sales down 6.1 percent in 2018, extending 'Trump slump'

U.S. firearms sales fell 6.1 percent in 2018, according to industry data reported on Tuesday, marking the second straight year of declines and extending the "Trump slump" following the November 2016 election of pro-gun rights President Donald Trump. The National Shooting Sports Foundation estimated 2018 sales at 13.1 million firearms, down from 14 million the previous year and down 16.5 percent from record 2016 sales of 15.7 million. Suspect in Pittsburgh synagogue massacre faces more charges

Federal authorities on Tuesday added 19 hate-crime and firearms charges to their case against a Pennsylvania man accused of massacring 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue last October in the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history. The suspect, Robert Bowers, 46, could face the death penalty if convicted on any of 22 capital-eligible offenses contained in the full 63-count superseding indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Pittsburgh. Texas to execute man who killed policeman 30 years ago

After nearly 30 years on death row, Robert Mitchell Jennings is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in Texas on Wednesday for killing a police officer during a botched robbery. His latest appeal was rejected this week by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where he argued that inadequate legal representation had prevented him from taking full advantage of possible appeals with the U.S. Supreme Court, the anti-death penalty group, The Forgiveness Foundation, said. L.A. school board seeks pause on charter schools, after teachers' strike

The Los Angeles school board voted on Tuesday to ask state lawmakers for a moratorium on new charter schools in the area, as demanded by a union for more than 30,000 teachers in a six-day strike that ended last week. The 5-1 vote by the school board represented a dramatic shift for a panel on which at least half the members had previously supported charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately managed. U.S. federal contractors fight for back pay after shutdown

With the U.S. government shutdown over, Lila Johnson returns to work on Friday cleaning bathrooms as an employee of a federal contractor, but unlike those who work directly for the government, she is not getting any of the pay she lost during the month-long hiatus. Johnson, 71, and other union members joined congressional lawmakers on Tuesday in pushing for legislation that would provide back pay to low-wage government contract workers who went unpaid during the 35-day shutdown