US Domestic News Roundup: U.S. pledges to halve its emissions by 2030; Special Report-This Hot Lister advises Bill Gates ad more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

In COVID-plagued Michigan, warning signs that vaccinations are stalling

When Michigan's St. Clair County held a walk-in COV1D-19 vaccination clinic last week with 1,600 shots at the ready, only about 800 people signed up in advance. Walk-in traffic was slow. A quarter of the available shots went unused, says Jennifer Michaluk, a county health department official. St. Clair County, which sits on the Canadian border just northeast of Detroit, is a COVID hotbed. Earlier in the month, 30% of virus tests were coming back positive. Michigan has seen the biggest case spike of any state in recent weeks.

U.S. pledges to halve its emissions by 2030 as Biden opens climate summit

The Biden administration on Thursday pledged to slash U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 50%-52% from 2005 levels by 2030, a new target it hopes will spur other big emitter countries to raise their ambition to combat climate change. The goal, unveiled at the start of a two-day climate summit hosted by Democratic President Joe Biden, comes as the United States seeks to reclaim global leadership in the fight against global warming after former President Donald Trump withdrew the country from international efforts to cut emissions.

After milestone police verdict, Minneapolis lays to rest another Black man

Two days after a Minneapolis jury found a white police officer guilty of murdering George Floyd, the city will lay to rest Daunte Wright, another Black man whose violent death has raised fresh concerns over the way police treat people of color.

The funeral for Wright, 20, who was shot by a white police officer in a Minneapolis suburb on April 11 after a routine traffic stop, will be attended by a number of high-profile civil rights activists as well as family and friends.

Special Report-This Hot Lister advises Bill Gates on climate change

A yellow skiff darted across a lagoon along Australia's northeast coast, throttling down as it approached a shallow coral reef. Climate scientist Ken Caldeira piloted the craft while a younger colleague, oceanographer Manoela Romanó de Orte, sat on the bow holding a syringe filled with red dye. Romanó de Orte injected the dye into the water, then recorded the coordinates of the spot as Caldeira maneuvered away from the expanding scarlet cloud. That bloom would soon help them gauge how well this part of the Great Barrier Reef is recovering from a series of climate-change shocks.

Exclusive: Texas energy fund shuts, founder says millions squandered

The founder of a Texas oil and gas investment firm that raised about $31 million shut the business this month and acknowledged in a Reuters interview that he had squandered investors' cash on "bad" and "non-arm's-length" deals. Christopher Bentley, who founded Bellatorum Resources LLC in 2016 and raised funds from about 150 wealthy individuals, closed its doors on April 9 and contacted U.S. prosecutors. His firm bought mineral rights in Texas shale fields, betting on appreciation as oil and gas drilling rose.

Virginia governor signs bill legalising marijuana possession from July 1

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed a bill that legalizes the simple possession of marijuana, making the state the first in the U.S. south to allow the drug's recreational use, the governor said. In a bid to tackle racial disparities in the prosecution of marijuana-related crimes, the state accelerated to July 1 its timetable to pass the legislation, rather than waiting until 2024.

Black man fatally shot by sheriff's deputies serving search warrant in North Carolina

North Carolina state officials have opened an investigation into the fatal shooting of a Black man in his car by local sheriff's deputies serving him with a search warrant, authorities and local media reported on Wednesday. The shooting unfolded on Wednesday morning in Elizabeth City, a riverfront town of about 18,000 residents in Pasquotank County near North Carolina's coastal border with Virginia, and small groups of protesters took to the streets by evening.

U.S. House prepares to say yes to making Washington, D.C., the 51st state

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday is set to approve, for the second time in less than a year, legislation making the District of Columbia the 51st state in a move sure to further inflame tensions between Democrats and Republicans in Congress. The population of Washington, D.C. is heavily Democratic. As a state, it likely would elect two Democratic senators, potentially changing the balance of power in the Senate, which now has 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans.

Accused Colorado supermarket gunman faces additional attempted murder, weapons charges

Prosecutors on Wednesday charged a 21-year-old man accused of fatally shooting 10 people at a Boulder, Colorado, supermarket last month with nearly four dozen additional counts of attempted murder, assault, and weapons offenses, court documents showed. Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa was already charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder stemming from the March 22 shooting rampage at the King Soopers grocery store in Boulder, about 28 miles northwest of Denver.

L.A. develops homelessness strategy, but does it have political will?

Justine Gonzalez is a Democratic Party activist and sympathetic to the plight of the homeless. Her brother has struggled with the cycle of going from jail to the streets of Los Angeles. She once lived in transitional housing. But even her tolerance was tested by a homeless encampment that swelled to some 200 people at Echo Park Lake in Los Angeles. The 31-year-old moved from her home near the park after a man living there nearly exposed himself to her 7-year-old daughter and after, while jogging, she saw paramedics remove a body from a tent.