Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. R&B Singer R. Kelly pleads not guilty to new felony sexual assault counts

Singer R. Kelly pleaded not guilty to 11 new felony counts of sexual assault and abuse at a Chicago court hearing on Thursday, after prosecutors expanded an indictment against the Grammy Award winner dogged by abuse allegations for decades. The new counts, unveiled last week in an indictment by a Cook County grand jury, involve alleged abuse of a victim between the ages of 13-16, according to documents posted on the Chicago Sun-Times' website. Missouri secretary of state blocks 'heartbeat' abortion law referendum

A move to authorize a referendum over Missouri's recently enacted ban on abortions after the eighth week of pregnancy hit a roadblock on Thursday when the secretary of state rejected petitions filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri and others to get the issue to the ballot. The rejection of the petitions by Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft was immediately challenged by abortion rights advocates, who sued Ashcroft on Thursday for "trying to deprive Missourians of their right to weigh in on the abortion question with a vote," said Tony Rothert, executive director of the ACLU. U.S. EPA top career auto official moving to head climate office

The top career official at the Environmental Protection Agency in charge of the office overseeing vehicle emissions and biofuel standards will swap roles at the agency on Aug. 4, an EPA spokesman said on Thursday. Chris Grundler, who currently serves as director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality, will become director of the Office of Atmospheric Programs that oversees the agency's climate change programs and other functions, switching roles with Sarah Dunham, who has held that role since 2011. California urges possible sex abuse victims of Mexican church leader to come forward

California's attorney general appealed on Thursday for more victims to come forward who may have been sexually abused by the head of a Mexico-based church charged with multiple counts of human trafficking, child pornography and rape of a minor. "If you are a survivor of abuse in this particular case or you have information about the misconduct of anyone involved in this case, we want to hear from you," Attorney General Xavier Becerra told a news conference in Sacramento. West Point cadet killed when military vehicle flips at training site

One cadet from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, died and 22 cadets and soldiers were injured on Thursday when a tactical vehicle carrying them flipped over during a training mission, officials said. The accident occurred near the Camp Natural Bridge, a summer training site for cadets, the academy said. Video from a news helicopter showed the vehicle overturned with its wheels up in a heavily wooded area. House Democrats move towards court action versus Barr, McGahn

The U.S. House of Representatives Rules Committee, advancing House Democrats' wide-ranging probes of President Donald Trump, on Thursday unveiled a measure authorizing federal court action to enforce subpoenas issued to Attorney General William Barr and former White House Counsel Don McGahn over the Mueller report. In a step that would throw another aspect of the widening confrontation between Trump and House Democrats into the courts, the Rules Committee also set the terms for possible court action by other House committees investigating the president. Democrats ask Trump to rethink Independence Day speech as his plans proceed apace

Democrats in the U.S. Congress have asked President Donald Trump to reconsider plans for a speech at the Lincoln Memorial during annual Independence Day celebrations, saying it could turn a traditionally non-partisan event into a campaign rally. Trump, a Republican, announced on Twitter in February that he would host an event including fireworks on the Fourth of July holiday in Washington and include "an address by your favorite President, me!" New York police commissioner apologizes for Stonewall raid in 1969

The New York Police Department on Thursday apologized for the first time for the raid on the Stonewall Inn gay bar 50 years ago and anti-gay laws of the time that gave rise to the modern LGBT rights movement, describing them as discriminatory and oppressive. Gay rights advocates welcomed the apology, which they had sought from the NYPD for years. Beto O'Rourke, a Democratic darling in 2018, struggling on national stage

Beto O’Rourke, the former Texas congressman who nearly won a U.S. Senate seat last year in the reliably conservative state, is struggling in his White House bid and has lost support from young voters and minorities, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos national poll. The public opinion poll released on Thursday shows support for O’Rourke among registered Democratic and independent voters slipped by 3 percentage points since a May survey to 3% overall. Ex-Florida deputy charged with neglect in school shooting freed on bond

A former sheriff's deputy charged with felony child neglect for failing to enter a Florida high school building to intervene during a deadly mass shooting there last year posted bond and was freed from jail on Thursday following an initial court appearance. Scot Peterson, 56, who legal experts described as one of the nation's few law enforcement officers, if not the first, ever to be criminally prosecuted for failing to take some action, had been in custody since his arrest on Tuesday.