Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. Boston mother, her two young children fell to their deaths in apparent murder-suicide

A mother found dead with her two young children on a Boston sidewalk outside a high-rise parking garage apparently pushed or threw the youngsters from the roof of the structure before leaping to her own death, authorities said on Thursday. The Christmas Day deaths of Erin Pascal, aged 40, her 4-year-old daughter, Allison, and her 16-month-old son, Andrew, are under investigation as a double-murder and suicide, Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins told reporters. U.S. aviation regulator proposes tracking most drones

The top U.S. aviation regulator on Thursday proposed a rule that would allow for remote tracking of most drones in U.S airspace. The Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, said the proposed rule would require all drones operating in the United States to be compliant within three years. Prosecutors claim Avenatti was over $15 million in debt during alleged Nike extortion

California attorney Michael Avenatti, known for representing porn actress Stormy Daniels in a lawsuit against U.S. President Donald Trump, was more than $15 million in debt when he allegedly tried to extort as much as $25 million from Nike Inc , U.S. prosecutors claimed. "Specifically, the Government presently estimates that the defendant's debts at that time were, conservatively, in excess of $15 million," prosecutors said in a filing late on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Phillips 66 says boiler plant fire extinguished at Los Angeles, California refinery

U.S. oil refiner Phillips 66 said a small fire at a boiler plant at its 139,000-barrel-per-day Los Angeles refinery in Wilmington, California was extinguished on Tuesday. "There were no injuries and all personnel were accounted for. The refinery is operating," the company said in a statement on Wednesday. Falling redwood kills hiker in California park on Christmas Eve

A Minnesota man visiting Muir Woods National Monument near San Francisco was killed by a falling redwood tree during a Christmas Eve hike with his sister and her boyfriend, the sheriff's department and local media reported on Thursday. The victim, identified as Subharadeep Dutta, 28, from the Minneapolis suburb of Edina, was pronounced dead by emergency personnel arriving at the scene early Tuesday evening, about a half hour after the tree collapsed, the Marin County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. Spate of shootings leaves two dead, seven wounded in North Carolina city

Police in High Point, North Carolina, searched for clues and suspects on Wednesday in a spate of shootings that have left two people dead and seven others wounded over two days, including a Christmas Eve drive-by attack outside a strip mall. Tuesday afternoon's burst of gunfire from a passing car on a group of about a dozen people gathered in a parking lot outside the shopping strip sent six men to the hospital, three of them initially listed in critical condition, police said. Veteran U.S. political and economics journalist William Greider dies

Veteran journalist William Greider, who wrote and reported on politics and economics for The Washington Post, Rolling Stone and The Nation, among several other prestigious names in U.S. media, has died at the age of 83, his former editor said. The Nation's editorial director Katrina vanden Heuvel said on Twitter http://bit.ly/37baQdy that Greider died on Christmas Day. His son said his death was caused by complications of congestive heart failure. Exclusive: FBI investigates Briton, others for Epstein links - sources

The FBI is investigating British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell and several other people linked to U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, according to two law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation. They said a principal focus of the FBI's investigation is Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein, and other "people who facilitated" Epstein's allegedly illegal behavior. Record online sales give U.S. holiday shopping season a boost: report

U.S. shoppers spent more online during this year's holiday shopping season, a report by Mastercard Inc showed on Wednesday, with e-commerce sales hitting a record high. The holiday shopping season is a crucial period for retailers and can account for up to 40% of annual sales. But this year, Thanksgiving, which traditionally starts the U.S. holiday shopping period, was on Nov. 28, nearly a week later than last year's Nov. 22, leaving retailers with six fewer days to drive sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas. U.S. Coast Guard: helicopter with seven on board missing off Hawaii

The U.S. Coast Guard said it was searching for a helicopter with seven people on board that failed to return from a tour off the Hawaiian island of Kauai on Thursday evening. The owner reported the helicopter was overdue at 6:06 p.m., the Coast Guard said in a statement on Friday http://bit.ly/2SqlOYy.