Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Former Minnesota policeman convicted in fatal shooting of Australian woman

A former Minneapolis police officer on Tuesday was found guilty of murder for fatally shooting an Australian woman from his patrol car while responding to her 2017 report of a possible sex assault near her home. Mohamed Noor, 33, was convicted of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for killing 40-year-old Justine Ruszczyk Damond outside her home near Minneapolis. The incident drew international criticism, including from Australia's prime minister, who called the incident "shocking." Evacuations in Iowa city after Mississippi flash flood

Part of downtown Davenport, Iowa, a city of over 100,000 people, was flooded on Tuesday after a temporary levee broke and water from the rising Mississippi River surged in, forcing dozens of people to evacuate. Up to six-feet (1.8 meters) of water flooded some areas of central Davenport, 80 miles southeast of Cedar Rapids, according to Dave Donovan, Scott County Emergency Management director. New Mexico opens state migrant shelter, criticizes federal inaction

New Mexico's state fairgrounds will begin to house dozens of migrant families to take pressure off border cities facing a surge in asylum seekers with no help from the federal government, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said on Tuesday. Dormitories at state-run Expo New Mexico in Albuquerque could eventually provide temporary accommodation to up to 240 people, making it one of the largest migrant shelters in the state, according to state and city authorities. Wynn Resorts keeps Massachusetts gaming license with $35 million fine

Massachusetts gaming regulators on Tuesday fined Wynn Resorts Ltd $35 million for not disclosing sexual misconduct allegations against founder and former CEO Steve Wynn but allowed the casino operator to keep the license for its new $2.6 billion casino near Boston due to open in June. The commission said it was "profoundly disturbed" by "repeated systemic failures and pervasive culture of non-disclosure" at the company. Gunman kills two, injures four at University of North Carolina, Charlotte

A gunman reported to have been a student opened fire in a building at the University of North Carolina's Charlotte campus on Tuesday, killing two people and wounding four others, three of them critically, officials said. Details of the early evening violence remained hazy hours later, but campus Police Chief Jeff Baker said his emergency dispatch office first received a call about an individual armed with a pistol who had shot several students. Five ways Trump's moves to stem asylum seekers have hit hurdles

Grappling with a ballooning number of mostly Central American families seeking asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border, President Donald Trump has suggested increasingly bold steps to limit protections for this group and stem their entry into the United States. Yet many of his administration's ideas have been hindered by legal, practical and political obstacles. Trade war and sagging prices push U.S. family farmers to leave the field

Shuffling across his frozen fields, farmer Jim Taphorn hunched his shoulders against the wind and squinted at the auctioneer standing next to his tractors.After a fifth harvest with low grain prices, made worse last fall by the U.S.-China trade war, the 68-year-old and his family were calling it quits. Farming also was taking a physical toll on him, he said; he'd suffered a heart attack 15 months before. It took less than four hours to sell off all the tractors, combines and other farm equipment at the Taphorn retirement sale, ending a family tradition that had survived nearly a century. North Carolina police charge suspect with murder after college shooting

Police charged a man with murder early on Wednesday after a gunman opened fire in a University of North Carolina (UNC) building during final exams, killing two people and wounding four. Police in Charlotte said they had charged Trystan Andrew Terrell, who is in custody, with two counts of murder and four of attempted murder. Three of the four wounded were in a critical condition. Trump directs officials to toughen asylum rules

U.S. President Donald Trump directed officials to toughen rules for asylum seekers on Monday, including by introducing a fee for their applications and barring those who entered the country illegally from working until their claims are approved. The moves are the latest effort by the Trump administration to stem a growing number of migrants crossing the U.S. southern border, many of whom then seek asylum in the United States. Many of the changes would be dramatic shifts in how asylum seekers are treated, but would also require time-intensive regulatory procedures before they go into effect, which will likely take months. Federal judge throws out ex-Penn State president’s conviction

A federal judge on Tuesday threw out the child endangerment conviction of former Penn State University president Graham Spanier, one day before he was to enter a county jail to begin serving his sentence. United States Magistrate Judge Karoline Mehalchick in Scranton, Pennsylvania said Spanier’s state conviction, which grew out of the Jerry Sandusky sex scandal in Penn State's storied football program, was unconstitutional.