Reuters US Domestic News Summary

One of the cases was filed in state court by a transgender high school girl in York County, who said she was "singled out" by one teacher who refused to use her name and pronouns and instead used only her last name. Super Bowl parade victim was Kansas City radio DJ, her son was also shot Lisa Lopez-Galvan, the woman killed in Wednesday's mass shooting at a rally to celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory, was a popular radio disc jockey who also played music she loved at weddings, her station and friends said.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

New Mexico legislature kills bill to buy treated wastewater

A plan launched by New Mexico's Democratic governor at COP28 to use $100 million in state funds to buy treated brackish or wastewater from oil and gas operations failed to get support from the state's legislature on Thursday. The southwestern state's legislature closed its 2024 session on Thursday without approving legislation to enable the state to set up a strategic water supply comprised of treated water but the state's environmental agency will move forward with a request for information on the issue with a March 31 deadline.

Factbox-Who is Stormy Daniels and what did she say happened with Trump?

Porn star Stormy Daniels is a central figure in the case that will make Donald Trump the first former U.S. president to face a criminal trial. In 2023, a 34-count felony indictment charged Trump with falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 hush money payment to Daniels before the 2016 election that made him president. A New York judge on Thursday set a March 25 trial date.

New York redistricting body approves new US House maps that may help Democrats

A New York independent commission approved a new congressional map and sent it to the state's legislature for passage, potentially giving an edge to Democrats as the parties jockey for control of the U.S. House of Representatives in November. The New York commission's new map is slightly advantageous to Democrats but not overwhelmingly so, according to experts. The lines appear to boost Democratic chances of ousting one first-term Republican while making two other districts - one held by Democrats and one by Republicans - safer for the incumbents.

Trump prosecutor Fani Willis accuses defense of 'lies' about misconduct

Fani Willis, the prosecutor overseeing the election interference case against Donald Trump in Georgia, on Thursday pushed back on claims by the former U.S. president's lawyers that her romance with a colleague presented a financial conflict of interest. Willis repeatedly accused a lawyer for Michael Roman, a Trump co-defendant who initially raised the allegations, of lying in her statements to the court by implying that Willis had lived with the colleague.

Ex-FBI informant charged with lying about Joe Biden and his son

The U.S. special counsel leading a criminal probe into Joe Biden's son said a former FBI informant was charged with lying about the president and Hunter Biden's involvement in business dealings with Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings. In a statement on Thursday, Special Counsel David Weiss said a federal grand jury had indicted Alexander Smirnov, 43, on charges of making a "false statement" and "creating a false and fictitious record" in relation to an FBI probe. Smirnov faced a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison if convicted.

Virginia sued over guidance on transgender public school students

Two transgender Virginia public school students on Thursday sued the state over recent guidance that prevents transgender students from competing on sports teams consistent with their gender identities and allows teachers to refuse to use their preferred names and pronouns. One of the cases was filed in state court by a transgender high school girl in York County, who said she was "singled out" by one teacher who refused to use her name and pronouns and instead used only her last name.

Super Bowl parade victim was Kansas City radio DJ, her son was also shot

Lisa Lopez-Galvan, the woman killed in Wednesday's mass shooting at a rally to celebrate the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory, was a popular radio disc jockey who also played music she loved at weddings, her station and friends said. KKFI radio said other members of the family of Lopez-Galvan, a mother of two, were wounded. Her son was shot in a leg and has since been released from hospital, while two daughters of her cousin were shot and recovering, KKFI said.

Exclusive-Wegovy fuels sharp rise in use of weight-loss drugs for US youth

A small but rapidly growing number of U.S. adolescents began treatment with Novo Nordisk's weight-loss drug Wegovy last year, a powerful new tool to address record rates of pediatric obesity, according to data shared exclusively with Reuters. In the first 10 months of 2023, 1,268 children ages 12 to 17 with an obesity diagnosis started taking Wegovy, according to U.S. insurance claims data compiled by health technology company Komodo Health.

Trump to stand trial on March 25 in NY criminal hush money case

Donald Trump will become the first former U.S. president to stand trial on criminal charges after a New York judge on Thursday set a March 25 trial date and denied his request to dismiss the case, which stems from hush money paid to a porn star. Justice Juan Merchan's ruling during a testy hearing in Manhattan means that Trump will stand trial in at least one of the four criminal cases he faces as he pursues the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the Nov. 5 U.S. election.

Kansas City police link Super Bowl rally shooting to dispute, not extremism

A quarrel among several people sparked the shooting spree in Kansas City, Missouri, that killed a woman and wounded 22 people after a celebration of the city's NFL Super Bowl victory, police said on Thursday, ruling out any apparent link to extremism. Two minors and an adult have been detained as "subjects" in the investigation, Police Chief Stacey Graves said at a press conference, the day after gunfire erupted in the vicinity of the city's historic downtown rail station.