Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Hawaii residents return to new normal after epic volcano eruption

For weeks on end last year, Darryl Clinton watched the Kilauea Volcano from a front-row seat on the deck of his friend's house in Kapoho on Hawaii's Big Island, only leaving after a "lava bomb" from an erupting ground fissure flew onto the porch and nearly sliced his foot off. On Monday he drove back to live at the house where he was injured after the County of Hawaii announced it had opened a makeshift road into the area, nearly a year after the historic eruption of the Kilauea Volcano forced hundreds to evacuate and destroyed more than 700 structures. Teen says he is Illinois child missing for eight years

Hopes were raised on Wednesday that an Illinois boy missing since 2011 may have been found in Kentucky, after local police agencies were asked to help track down a teen's claim that he is Timmothy Pitzen, who was last seen with his mother eight years ago. The police department in Sharonville, Ohio, was one of numerous agencies that received a request from authorities in Kentucky to help search local motels for men who the teen said had been holding him, Sharonville Police Chief Steve Vanover told Reuters. Target raises minimum wage to $13 an hour in tight labor market

Target Corp will raise its U.S. minimum wage to $13 an hour in June, from $12 currently, increasing its payroll costs and putting new pressure on rival Walmart Inc to attract retail workers in a tight labor market. Minneapolis-based Target employs over 300,000 workers and runs 1,845 stores in the United States. The discount chain is investing billions of dollars to improve its supply chain, grow its online sales and improve delivery of merchandise to shoppers' homes. Texas bans all clergy from death chamber after court stays Buddhist's execution

Texas will bar clergy of all faiths from accompanying inmates into the death chamber after the U.S. Supreme Court stayed an execution because the state did not allow the man's Buddhist spiritual adviser in, local media reported on Thursday. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice changed its policy, which had previously allowed department employees including Christian and Muslim clerics, to enter the chamber, the Houston Chronicle reported, citing a state document laying out the new policy. Uganda says kidnapped American tourist did not take armed guard

An American woman who was kidnapped with her driver at Uganda's most popular wildlife park by gunmen had failed to take an armed ranger as required by the park's regulations, a spokesman for the country's wildlife authority said on Thursday. Kimberley Sue Endecott, 35, and Ugandan driver Jean Paul were on a game drive in Queen Elizabeth National Park when four gunmen ambushed their vehicle on Tuesday evening, police said. U.S. House committee seeks Trump tax returns from IRS

The Democratic head of a powerful U.S. House committee asked the Internal Revenue Service for six years of President Donald Trump's personal and business tax returns on Wednesday, in a long-awaited move widely expected to lead to a long court battle with the White House. The request, in a letter from Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig, is viewed by Democrats in the House of Representatives as a vital first step toward oversight of Trump's income taxes and business network, which some lawmakers believe could be rife with conflicts of interest and potential tax law violations. Pope names Atlanta's Wilton Gregory as new archbishop of Washington, D.C.

Pope Francis has named Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory as the new head of the Catholic Church in Washington, D.C., the Vatican said on Thursday. The previous two holders of the post were caught up in sexual abuse scandals. Gregory, 71, becomes the first African-American to head the most influential position in the U.S. Church, and as such is likely to be made a cardinal eligible to vote in a conclave to elect the next pope after Francis dies or resigns. Los Angeles police arrest suspect in 'slasher' attacks

Los Angeles police arrested a 19-year-old man on Wednesday on suspicion he is the "slasher" who has cut the faces of at least nine people, seemingly at random, as he rode through the city on a bicycle, police said. Police said the man was detained on suspicion of attempted murder. CBS News and other media reported that police tracked him down to a homeless encampment after his parole officer recognized him from security camera images published in the media. U.S. rallies scheduled to demand release of full Mueller report

A leading progressive advocacy group plans to hold rallies in Washington and other U.S. cities on Thursday to demand the full release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russia's role in the 2016 presidential election. U.S. Attorney General William Barr, who received the confidential report last month at the close of Mueller's 22-month investigation, has said he intended to release a redacted version to Congress and the public by mid-April. San Diego County sues Trump administration over immigration policy

San Diego County has filed a federal lawsuit against the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, accusing it of leaving thousands of asylum seekers stranded without help and straining county resources, officials said on Wednesday. The suit, filed by the county's Board of Supervisors in the U.S. Distict Court in Southern California, asks a judge to issue an injunction ordering the federal government to resume its "Safe Release" program which ended in October.