Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Ohio legislators to hear bill to save nuclear power plants

A House of Representatives subcommittee in Ohio will hear a clean energy bill on Wednesday designed to save the state's two nuclear power plants from retirement and encourage the building of new renewable facilities. The two reactors at the Davis Besse and Perry power stations on Lake Erie are owned by FirstEnergy Corp's bankrupt FirstEnergy Solutions unit, which said it would shut the money-losing reactors in 2020 and 2021 unless they start receiving some financial support from state or federal programs. Tornadoes, thunderstorms to pummel U.S. again this week

A second wave of tornadoes and thunderstorms in less than a week is forecast to hit states in the U.S. South and Midwest on Wednesday then move eastward, with Oklahoma expecting hail bigger than golf balls. Communities in central Texas and western Louisiana hit by deadly flash flooding and twisters over the weekend will see another round of high winds, twisters and intense rain, according to AccuWeather and the National Weather Service (NWS). Columbine and other Colorado schools placed under security alert

Authorities in Colorado placed Columbine High School and more than 20 surrounding public schools under a "lockout" security alert on Tuesday, citing the investigation of an unspecified "credible threat." The alert came four days before the 20th anniversary of the April 1999 massacre at Columbine, when two heavily armed students stormed the suburban Denver high school and fatally shot 12 classmates and a teacher before committing suicide. Notre-Dame's ashes spark renewed push to rebuild torched Louisiana churches

The worldwide resolve to restore France's fire-devastated Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral provided an unexpected boost on Tuesday to a more modest campaign to rebuild three predominantly black churches in Louisiana that were torched in recent weeks. With help from some high-profile personalities on social media, including former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, the fund-raising drive for the Louisiana churches saw a spike in donations since late Monday. States say half of wetlands would lose protection under EPA proposal

Fourteen states, including New York and California, and the District of Columbia said the Environmental Protection Agency's proposal to replace an Obama-era water regulation would end federal protection for half of wetlands and 15 percent of streams across the country. The attorneys general issued a joint statement on Monday critical of the EPA's proposal to narrow the scope of protections in the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule that President Barack Obama’s administration expanded in 2015 to cover a wide range of water bodies. Man accused of tossing boy off Mall of America balcony ordered held without bond

A Minnesota judge on Tuesday ordered a man accused of critically injuring a 5-year-old boy by throwing him off a balcony at the Mall of America held in lieu of a $2 million bond until a hearing next month, prosecutors said. In his first court appearance since Friday's incident, when he allegedly dropped the boy nearly 40 feet (12 meters), Emmanuel Aranda was charged with attempted premeditated first-degree murder, Hennepin County Attorney's office spokesman Chuck Laszewski said. Oregon sued over 'overwhelmed' and 'ineffective' foster care system

Child advocates sued Oregon's governor and other top officials in federal court on Tuesday, claiming children in the state's foster care program were being denied proper care by a system that has long been "overwhelmed, under-resourced and ineffective." The 77-page lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Eugene on behalf of 10 young people in Oregon's foster care system by two child advocacy groups and a national law firm. The plaintiffs seek class action status to represent all children in the program. Lockheed Martin wins $879 million U.S. defense contract: Pentagon

Lockheed Martin Corp has won a $879 million contract for sustainment and maintenance of parts of the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. Minnesota student sues China's JD.com CEO Liu with allegation of rape

A University of Minnesota student who said she was raped last August by Richard Liu, the chief executive officer of China's e-commerce retailer JD.com Inc, filed a civil lawsuit against him in a Minneapolis court on Tuesday, nearly four months after prosecutors declined to press criminal charges. Liu, through his lawyers, maintained his innocence throughout the law enforcement investigation, which ended in December. U.S. measles cases surge nearly 20 percent in early April, CDC says

The number of confirmed cases of measles in the United States this year jumped by nearly 20 percent in the week ended April 11, in the country's second-worst outbreak in nearly two decades, federal health officials reported on Monday. As of April 11, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recorded 555 cases of the disease since the beginning of the year, up from 465 cases confirmed by April 4. The cases were found in 20 states spanning the country.