US Domestic News Roundup: Hurricane Dorian skirts U.S. Carolinas' coast with high winds and rain

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Hurricane Dorian skirts U.S. Carolinas' coast with high winds and rain

Hurricane Dorian, downgraded to a Category 1 but still packing 90 mph (150 kph) winds, crawled north on Friday, skirting the Carolinas and flooding coastal towns a couple of days after it reduced parts of the Bahamas to rubble. The eye wall of the weakening Hurricane Dorian was scraping the edge of Cape Lookout, N.C., just 30 miles (50 km) west-southwest of the state's Outer Banks islands at 7 a.m. EDT on Friday.

Amazon's Ring camera raises civil liberties concerns: U.S. senator

U.S. Democratic Senator Edward Markey raised concerns on Thursday that law enforcement use of Amazon.com Inc's Ring doorbell camera in investigations could disproportionately affect people of color and encourage racial profiling. In a letter to Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos, Markey said sharing information from Ring's at-home camera systems with police departments "could easily create a surveillance network that places dangerous burdens on people of color" and stoke "racial anxieties" in communities where it works with law enforcement.

Trump in high-stakes balancing act between oil and corn ahead of 2020 bid

At a closed-door meeting at the White House on Aug. 19, President Donald Trump looked increasingly alarmed as his top envoy to China delivered evidence of rising Farm Belt frustration over his biofuel policy along with a stark warning: You've got a problem in Iowa. Terry Branstad, the former Iowa governor and now U.S. ambassador to China, told Trump that while farmers may have remained loyal to him despite the economic pain caused by the more than year-long trade war with China, they would not stomach policies favoring the oil industry at their expense, according to four people familiar with the substance of the meeting.

No convictions in California trial over 'Ghost Ship' warehouse fire

A California jury on Thursday acquitted one of two men charged with manslaughter in an Oakland warehouse fire that killed 36 people in 2016 and failed to reach a verdict on similar charges against the second defendant. The jury acquitted Max Harris, 29, of 36 counts of manslaughter and could not reach a verdict on the charges against Harris' co-defendant, Derick Almena, 49, defense attorneys and Alameda County prosecutors said.

California boat fire may put spotlight on Titanic's legal defense

The company that owns a scuba dive boat that caught fire and sank off California killing 34 people, may seek to limit its liability by invoking a 19th Century law that has shielded vessel owners from costly disasters such as the sinking of the Titanic. Federal investigators have interviewed https://www.reuters.com/article/us-california-fire/california-boat-fire-investigators-interview-captain-crew-idUSKCN1VP2D2 the only survivors from the fire aboard the Conception, the captain, and four crew members, as well as Glen Fritzler, whose Truth Aquatics Inc owns and operates the vessel.

Three ex-Blackwater guards get new sentences in Iraq War massacre: New York Times

Three former private security guards for the former security firm Blackwater were given new sentences on Thursday by a federal court for convictions in the 2007 massacre of 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians at a traffic stop, a case that outraged Iraqis, the New York Times reported. The ex-guards, Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty and Paul Slough, were convicted in 2014 of multiple counts of manslaughter for their roles in the massacre and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

U.S. slaps record fine on Michigan State University over Nassar abuse scandal

The U.S. Department of Education has imposed a record $4.5 million fine on Michigan State University for what it called a failure to protect students from sexual abuse and ordered the university to make changes. The Education Department had launched two separate investigations into the university after the former sports doctor for the school and USA Gymnastics, Larry Nassar, was accused of sexual abuse by more than 350 women.

U.S. Interior Department illegally used fees to keep national parks open during shutdown: GAO

The Trump administration illegally used national park fees to keep parks open during the 35-day government shutdown in December and January, the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office said on Thursday. The GAO said the Interior Department violated federal appropriations law by using entrance fees paid by visitors to national parks, which are supposed to go toward their maintenance and enhancement.

Farm loan delinquencies surge in U.S. election battleground Wisconsin

Farm loan delinquencies rose to a record high in June at Wisconsin's community banks, data showed on Thursday, a sign President Donald Trump's trade conflicts with China and other countries are hitting farmers hard in a state that could be crucial for his chances of re-election in 2020. The share of farm loans that are long past-due rose to 2.9% at community banks in Wisconsin as of June 30, the highest rate in comparable records that go back to 2001, according to a Reuters analysis of loan delinquency data published by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Former Starbucks CEO won't seek U.S. presidency in 'broken system'

Former Starbucks Corp chief executive Howard Schultz has abandoned plans for an independent presidential run, saying he did not want to split the electorate and help re-elect U.S. President Donald Trump in 2020, according to a statement on his website. "My belief in the need to reform our two-party system has not wavered, but I have concluded that an independent campaign for the White House is not how I can best serve our country at this time," he wrote.

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