Reuters US Domestic News Summary

The jury awarded each of the plaintiffs $2.1 million in punitive damages and a total of $830,500 in compensatory damages for their medical expenses, lost earnings and pain and suffering. Robocalls allege U.S. congressional candidate killed her husband, campaign says A candidate for the U.S. Congress from Texas has asked federal law enforcement authorities to look into reports of robocalls alleging she murdered her husband, a former Republican congressman who died of COVID-19 in February, a campaign statement said on Friday.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

At funeral of Black teen shot by Ohio police in melee, eulogies, appeals for unity

The funeral for a Black teenager shot by police as she wielded a knife during a melee in Columbus, Ohio, last week drew family, friends and elected officials on Friday who delivered eulogies, appeals for unity and calls for an overhaul of policing. In her final moments, captured on widely seen police videos, Ma'Khia Bryant could be seen lunging at two people with a knife as officers arrived at a chaotic scene in which several people were fighting in front of her foster home.

Special Report: How Trump scored a big tax break for conserving a golf range

When Donald Trump bought his seaside golf course in a wealthy Los Angeles suburb in 2002, he vowed to surround it with “some of the most beautiful houses in California." But the 261-acre property on the Palos Verdes Peninsula had a problem. Geologists working for the city would not clear part of it for home-building because of unstable soil underlying the course, built on a landslide-prone bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Josh Duggar, former reality TV star, charged for possessing child sex abuse materials

Joshua James Duggar, the 33-year-old former star of the popular reality TV show "19 Kids and Counting," appeared in federal court on Friday to face criminal charges that he received and possessed materials that depicted the sexual abuse of children, the U.S. Justice Department said. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Arkansas confirmed that Duggar made his initial appearance in federal court and pleaded not guilty to the charges, which allege he obtained the sexually explicit material sometime between May 14 and May 16 of 2019.

Republicans ask Biden to withdraw 'divisive' proposal to teach more Black history

Dozens of Senate Republicans called on the Biden administration on Friday to withdraw what they say is a "divisive" education proposal that would place greater emphasis on slavery and the contributions of Black Americans in history and civics lessons taught in U.S. schools. In the latest salvo of a burgeoning culture war over race in America, 39 Republican lawmakers led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said the proposed Education Department policy would divert established school curricula toward a "politicized and divisive agenda" fixated on the country's flaws.

Grammy organizers change rules after allegations of corruption

The organizers of music's Grammy Awards on Friday announced an end to the so-called "secret" committees that have led to allegations that the highest honors in the industry are open to rigging. The Recording Academy said that nominations for the next Grammy Awards in January 2022 will be selected by all of its more than 11,000 voting members, instead of by committees of 15-30 industry experts whose names were not revealed.

3M hit with $6 million punitive damages by U.S. jury in first combat earplug trial

3M Co was found liable on Friday for hearing damage suffered by three U.S. military veterans who accused the company of covering up design defects in its earplugs, a blow to 3M which faces more than 200,000 similar claims. The jury awarded each of the plaintiffs $2.1 million in punitive damages and a total of $830,500 in compensatory damages for their medical expenses, lost earnings and pain and suffering.

Robocalls allege U.S. congressional candidate killed her husband, campaign says

A candidate for the U.S. Congress from Texas has asked federal law enforcement authorities to look into reports of robocalls alleging she murdered her husband, a former Republican congressman who died of COVID-19 in February, a campaign statement said on Friday. The campaign of Susan Wright, the widow of the late Representative Ron Wright, said it contacted authorities about the calls. The special election to replace the congressman is on Saturday.

More than 90 people found in Houston home in suspected smuggling case

Police responding to reports of a kidnapping said on Friday they had found more than 90 people crammed into a two-story suburban Houston home and suspected it was being used in a human smuggling operation. The 90 victims, all but about five of them men, were removed from the house and given food and water, said Daryn Edwards, assistant chief of the Houston Police Department.

Prosecutors ask judge to consider aggravating factors when sentencing Chauvin for Floyd murder

Prosecutors on Friday asked the Minneapolis judge overseeing the case against Derek Chauvin to consider several aggravating circumstances when he sentences the former police officer in June for the murder of George Floyd. State of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and lead prosecutor Matthew Frank said in a memorandum to District Court Judge Peter Cahill that Chauvin deserves a sentence stiffer than the state guidelines dictate because he held a position of authority who treated Floyd, a vulnerable victim, with cruelty.

'Amtrak Joe' Biden pushes infrastructure in Philadelphia

President Joe Biden visited an Amtrak train station on Friday to promote his $1.9 trillion infrastructure proposal, saying the United States is "way behind" in improving its transportation grid and needs to do so to keep up with China. Biden spent time on an Amtrak car at Philadelphia's 30th Street train station before climbing down to give remarks. It was a moment of nostalgia for Biden, who as a U.S. senator commuted by train for years between his home town of Wilmington, Delaware, and Washington.