Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Ex-University of Texas tennis coach in college admissions scandal pleads guilty

The former head coach of the men's tennis team at the University of Texas at Austin pleaded guilty on Wednesday as part of deal to cooperate with prosecutors in their ongoing investigation of the U.S. college admissions scandal. Michael Center, 55, is among several sports coaches at universities including Yale and Georgetown who federal prosecutors in Boston say took bribes to designate students as fake athletic recruits as part of a $25 million scheme. Floods stall fertilizer shipments in latest blow to U.S. farmers

Farm supplier CHS Inc has dozens of loaded barges trapped on the flood-swollen Mississippi River near St. Louis - about 500 miles from the company's two Minnesota distribution hubs. The barges can't move - or get crucial nutrients to corn farmers for the spring planting season - because river locks on the main U.S. artery for grain and fertilizer have been shuttered for weeks. High water presents a hazard for boats, barges and lock equipment. Trump immigration plan may increase visas for highly skilled workers: sources

A merit-based immigration proposal being put together by White House senior adviser Jared Kushner could lead to an increase in U.S. visas for highly skilled workers, sources familiar with the effort said on Wednesday. Kushner is expected to present the comprehensive plan next week to President Donald Trump, who will decide whether to adopt it as his official position or send it back for changes, the sources said. Leader of self-styled U.S. citizen border patrol attacked in jail

The leader of an armed militia that spent two months rounding up migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border before he was arrested on federal weapons charges was hospitalized after a jailhouse attack, his lawyer and authorities said on Wednesday. Larry Hopkins, 69, whose group of self-styled citizen border cops drew condemnation from civil liberties advocates, suffered broken ribs in the beating by fellow inmates on Tuesday at the Dona Ana County Detention Center in Las Cruces, New Mexico, according to his attorney, Kelly O'Connell. NRA sues Los Angeles over law requiring disclosure of ties to gun rights group

The National Rifle Association sued Los Angeles on Wednesday over a new law requiring that contractors disclose their ties to the gun rights group as a condition of obtaining business from the second most-populous U.S. city. Los Angeles was accused of trying to "silence NRA's voice, as well as the voices of all those who dare oppose the city's broad gun-control agenda," by cutting off revenue streams the group needs to advocate for the right to bear arms. Body of missing Illinois boy found in shallow grave, parents arrested

The body of a 5-year-old boy who was reported missing from his Illinois home last week was discovered buried in a shallow grave on Wednesday and his parents were arrested on murder charges, local police said. The remains of Andrew "AJ" Freund, wrapped in plastic, were found in a community near his home town of Crystal Lake, based on information provided to investigators by his mother and father, Crystal Lake Deputy Police Chief Tom Kotlowski said in a statement. R. Kelly's accuser wins judgment in suit singer failed to answer

A woman who accused R. Kelly of sexual abuse has won a civil case by default against the singer, after he failed to respond to her lawsuit and was a no-show in court. The woman, who accused Kelly of repeatedly having sex with her when she was 16 years old, filed the case in Chicago in February, a day before Kelly was arrested on 10 charges of sexual abuse. White supremacist executed in Texas for dragging death of black man

A white supremacist convicted of killing James Byrd Jr. in 1998 by dragging the 49-year-old black man behind a truck in one of the most notorious U.S. hate crimes of modern times was executed in Texas on Wednesday. John William "Bill" King, 44, was put to death by lethal injection and pronounced dead at 7:08 p.m. (0008 GMT Thursday) at the state’s death chamber in Huntsville, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice said in a statement. Chipotle receives subpoena related to Ohio illness incident

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc said on Thursday it received another subpoena from U.S. federal prosecutors, seeking information related to an outbreak that left hundreds of people sick last year in an Ohio restaurant. Over the past three years, the company has faced a number of subpoenas regarding sicknesses linked to its restaurants following an E. Coli, salmonella and norovirus outbreaks at the company's outlets dating back to late 2015 that affected hundreds across several states. U.S. measles cases hit highest level since eradication in 2000

The United States has confirmed 695 measles cases so far this year, the highest level since the country declared it had eliminated the virus in 2000, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. The resurgence, which public health officials blamed in part on the spread of misinformation about the safety of vaccines, has been concentrated mainly in Washington state and New York with outbreaks that began late last year.