US Domestic News Roundup: U.S. mail bomber case, New Jersey viral outbreak, net neutrality law

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Kentucky supermarket shooting investigated as hate crime

The shooting of a black man and woman at a Kentucky supermarket was being investigated as a possible hate crime, a federal prosecutor said on Friday. Gregory Bush, 51, a white man, has been charged with shooting Maurice Stallard, 69, in front of his grandson as they shopped in a Kroger Inc grocery store in Jeffersontown, some 15 miles (24 km) from downtown Louisville. According to an arrest citation, he then went to the parking lot and shot Vickie Jones, 67.

Mirai botnet hacker ordered to pay $8.6 million in damages

A 22-year-old hacker was ordered on Friday to pay $8.6 million in damages and serve six months of house arrest for helping launch a series of massive cyber attacks, the office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey said. Paras Jha was one of three people responsible for the Mirai Botnet, a network of more than 100,000 infected internet-connected devices. These corrupted systems were primarily used for financial gain in the form of advertising fraud but the botnet was also used to launch cyberattacks against business websites by flooding them with internet access requests.

U.S. mail bomber case prompts call for better postal screening

The arrest on Friday of a man accused of mailing at least 14 explosive devices to prominent Democrats and critics of U.S. President Donald Trump has prompted concern about how the U.S. Postal Service screens against deadly deliveries. "We've got to do a better job of screening the mail," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told CNN after Cesar Sayoc, 56, was arrested in Florida. Sayoc was charged with five federal crimes including threats against former presidents and faces up to 48 years in prison if found guilty.

Trump to go on eight-state blitz ahead of Election Day

President Donald Trump will campaign in eight states in the final days before Nov. 6 U.S. congressional elections, putting most of his attention on tight races in which Republicans have a shot at winning Senate seats, White House officials said on Friday. From Wednesday until Election Day, the president will make campaign stops in Florida, Missouri, West Virginia, Indiana, Montana, Ohio, Georgia and Tennessee, the officials said.

Mattis approves U.S. troops at border with Mexico

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has authorized the use of troops and other military resources at the U.S.-Mexico border, U.S. officials said on Friday, bolstering President Donald Trump's battle against migrants trekking toward the United States. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Mattis' authorization did not include a specific number of troops, something that would be determined at a later point, and was not itself a "deployment order."

Eighth child dies at New Jersey center hit by viral outbreak

An eighth child has died at a New Jersey rehabilitation centre where 23 people have been infected in a deadly viral outbreak, state health officials said on Friday. The outbreak of adenovirus at the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Haskell, New Jersey, was first reported by the New Jersey Department of Health on Tuesday with the deaths of six children with compromised immune systems. The seventh death was announced the next day.

Florida man charged in connection with 14 bombs sent to Trump critics

A man suspected of sending at least 14 bombs to prominent critics of U.S. President Donald Trump in the run-up to elections next month was arrested on Friday in Florida and charged with five federal felonies. Cesar Sayoc, 56, a former stripper and professional wrestler once charged with threatening to bomb an electric company for trying to shut off his lights, was taken into custody outside an auto parts store in Plantation, Florida, near Miami.

California will not enforce state net neutrality law pending appeal

The state of California on Friday agreed not to enforce its own state net neutrality law until a final court decision on the Trump administration's decision to overturn the 2015 Obama-era open internet rules. The move likely means the California net neutrality law, which was set to take effect on Jan. 1, now will be on hold for a year or longer. The law has been challenged by the U.S. Justice Department and trade groups representing providers including AT&T Inc, Verizon Communications Inc and Comcast Corp.

U.S. Postal Service patent dispute heads to Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to take up a dispute involving a small Alabama company that accused the U.S. Postal Service of infringing its patented mail processing system and improperly convincing a federal tribunal to cancel the patent. The justices will hear an appeal by Return Mail, Inc of a lower court ruling that upheld the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office tribunal's 2015 determination that the company's patent covering a system for processing undeliverable mail was invalid.

Early voting surges ahead of U.S. elections, and complaints follow

Hope Norris showed up two weeks early to vote in Marietta, Georgia and waited 45 minutes to cast a ballot for Democrat Stacey Abrams, who could become the first black woman governor elected in U.S. history. The 55-year-old social service worker was far from alone in voting well ahead of the Nov. 6 elections that will determine control of the U.S. Congress. Four states have already received more early ballots than they did in all of 2014, according to a Florida researcher who tracks the practice.

(With inputs from Reuters)