Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Lead Iditarod sledder quits race when his dogs won't mush

Stuck on ice with dogs that refused to mush, lead Iditarod sledder Nicolas Petit dropped from the famed Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race late Monday. An early favorite in the world’s best-known dog-sled race, Petit had been stuck for most of the day with his dogs on a section of Bering Sea ice about 200 miles from the finish line in Nome. The dogs refused to move, and Petit ultimately had them taken off the trail by snowmobile. Coast Guard officer pleads not guilty to weapon and drug charges

A U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant accused of stockpiling weapons and plotting to attack Democratic politicians and TV journalists pleaded not guilty to weapon and drug charges on Monday in a federal courtroom in Maryland. Authorities arrested Christopher Paul Hasson, 49, on Feb. 15 and seized his stash of 15 firearms and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition from his residence in Silver Spring, Maryland. Senators ask U.S. border agency about reported tracking of journalists

Two senior U.S. senators asked U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Monday to provide information on a report that the agency inappropriately tracked seven American journalists covering the migrant caravan from Central America last year. Republican Chuck Grassley, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Ron Wyden, the panel's top Democrat, wrote a letter to CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan asking for an unclassified briefing no later than Thursday. Trump proposes e-cigarette user fee to combat youth usage

U.S. President Donald Trump is proposing adding a user fee to e-cigarettes to fund FDA oversight of new tobacco and nicotine products as part of an effort to reduce use by teenagers, according to his budget proposal released on Monday. The budget estimated that the fee could bring in as much as $100 million a year. U.S. minorities consume less but suffer more from pollution: study

U.S. air pollution is disproportionately caused by white consumers, while African-Americans and Hispanics are burdened most by the emissions, a peer-reviewed study showed on Monday. On average, African-Americans are exposed to about 56 percent more fine particulate matter pollution than is caused by their consumption of goods and services, said the study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Hispanics, on average, bear a burden of 63 percent excess exposure, it said. Mumps, other outbreaks force U.S. detention centers to quarantine over 2,000 migrants

Christian Mejia thought he had a shot at getting out of immigration detention in rural Louisiana after he found a lawyer to help him seek asylum. Then he was quarantined. MMA fighter McGregor arrested in Florida after fan's phone smashed

Conor McGregor was arrested in Miami Beach on Monday after a fan said the Irish mixed martial arts fighter smashed his phone and walked off with the shattered remains, police records show. McGregor, 30, was booked into a correctional center on suspicion of robbery and criminal mischief, according to an arrest affidavit. The incident took place shortly after 5 a.m. (0900 GMT) on Monday. Cycling-U.S. Olympic medalist Kelly Catlin dies at age 23

Olympian Kelly Catlin, who helped the United States win the women's pursuit team silver medal at the 2016 Rio Games, has died, USA Cycling said on Sunday. The three-time world champion was 23. "The U.S. cycling community suffered a devastating loss with the passing of Kelly Catlin," USA Cycling President and Chief Executive Rob DeMartini said in a statement. "Kelly was more than an athlete to us, and she will always be part of the USA Cycling family." Pennsylvania state lawmaker offers bill to save nuclear power plants

Pennsylvania state Representative Tom Mehaffie introduced legislation on Monday that would compensate the state's nuclear reactors for the zero-carbon energy they produce, in an effort to provide the plants with enough revenue to stay open. Nuclear power plants in Pennsylvania generate 42 percent of the state's electricity and provide 93 percent of its zero-carbon electricity. But they were not among the 16 forms of energy projects included in the state's Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards (AEPS) program, which requires energy suppliers to buy credits that help fund wind, solar and other projects. Jaguar claws Arizona woman who climbed zoo barrier to take a selfie

A jaguar clawed an Arizona woman who climbed over a barrier to take a picture at the Wildlife World Zoo near Phoenix, officials said, and the zoo assured animal lovers the big cat would not be put down. Cellphone video of the incident showed at least one gash on the woman's left forearm as she writhed on the ground in pain on Saturday.