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Texas storm
Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 7:04 PM

6 Dead, 7 Missing After Texas Tornadoes

6 Dead, 7 Missing After Texas TornadoesNBC 5
An outbreak of as many as 16 tornadoes slammed through several small communities in three North Texas counties after sundown Wednesday, killing two women and four men while injuring more than 100 others. According to officials, 14 people from Granbury were believed to be missing overnight Wednesday, though that number was reduced to seven Thursday morning. Hood County Sheriff Roger Deeds said he is confident the missing people simply haven't checked in with authorities, but that officials won't know for sure until every piece of debris is turned over. The violent spring storm scattered bodies and threw trailers onto cars while leaving many, possibly hundreds, homeless in Granbury and Cleburne when an untold number of houses were reduced to nothing more than a concrete slab and a pile of rubble. The National Weather Service said Thursday that preliminary damage estimates indicated an EF-4 tornado, with wind speeds between 166-200 mph, touched down in Granbury, while an EF-3 touched down in Cleburne. Read »
Friday, May 17, 2013 at 9:16 PM
Tobacco as the Next Biofuel

Tobacco as the Next Biofuel

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NBCNews.com
Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 4:01 PM

Obama Vows Crackdown on Military Sex Assault

AP President Barack Obama vowed Thursday to launch a "sustained effort" to curb sexual assault in the military, calling the epidemic "dangerous to our national security." His remarks came after he met with Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Martin Dempsey and military service chiefs on the issue, as well as just after a bipartisan group of senators launched a bill to remove the investigation of serious sex crimes out of the military chain of command. The bill would place the decision for the type of trial with officers holding a rank of colonel or higher, and it would give service chiefs of staff the power to establish courts, empanel juries and pick judges. It would also enshrine into law Hagel's recent proposal of barring military authorities from reducing guilty findings. The new proposal comes in the wake of two separate accusations of two officers tasked with curbing sex crimes in the military of themselves committing sexual misconduct. Just after Obama's remarks Thursday, another officer in charge of a sexual assault program was relieved of his duties for his alleged involvement in a domestic dispute. Get More at NBC News

NBCNews.com
Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 5:19 PM

IRS, AP, Benghazi: Guide to 3 White House Storms


With the White House facing several scandals — the Benghazi talking points, the subpoena of Associated Press phone records and the IRS’s political targeting of conservative groups — President Barack Obama on Wednesday tried to stop the bleeding, first by releasing emails about the crafting of the Benghazi talking points and then, about an hour later, announcing the ouster of the acting IRS commissioner. The White House also said Wednesday that it supports the re-introduction of a media-shield bill. The stakes in the scandals are high: Hillary Clinton, a presumed 2016 front-runner, is in the GOP's sights on Benghazi, and Sen. Marco Rubio said the IRS scandal could hurt immigration reform's chances of passing the Senate. In the meantime, Attorney General Eric Holder has promised a nationwide probe of the IRS scandal, and more congressional hearings are on the way. Get More at NBC News

us postal service
Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 10:34 PM

LA Worst City for Dog Attacks on Mail Carriers: Study

LA Worst City for Dog Attacks on Mail Carriers: StudyGetty Images
Los Angeles was the worst city in America for dog attacks on letter carriers last year, according a new report by the U.S. Postal Service. The Postal Service released its dog attack city rankings on Wednesday as a prelude to National Dog Bite Prevention Week and urges pet owners to help reduce the incidence of dog bites to letter carriers. “If our letter carriers deem your loose dog to be a threat, you’ll be asked to pick up your mail at the Post Office until it’s safe to deliver,” said Ken Snavely, acting postmaster of Los Angeles, where 69 postal employees were attacked last year. Nationwide, 5,879 postal employees were attacked. Click through to see the full list. Read »
NBCNews.com
Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 5:57 PM

Sisters Reunite, 17 Years Later, at High School Track Meet

Get More at NBC News

Powerball
Saturday, May 18, 2013 at 12:43 PM

Powerball: 12 Ways to Spend Your Winnings

Powerball: 12 Ways to Spend Your WinningsGetty Images
No one won Wednesday night's Powerball drawing, which is good news for somebody: There will be an even bigger drawing on Saturday night. As of Friday, the jackpot hit $600 million. That's the largest jackpot in Powerball history and the second biggest lotto drawing overall. A sole winner opting for an immediate cash payout would suddenly have an extra $376.9 million on hand, which would make that lucky gambler wealthier than both Mitt Romney and Beyoncé Knowles. There are many ways to spend that sort of fortune. Click for 12 ideas. Read »
NBCNews.com
Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 4:30 PM

House Votes to Repeal Health Care Law for 37th Time

Getty Images Thirty-seventh time's a charm? Not quite, at least not for Republicans in the House who want the 2010 Democratic health care law off the books. The House voted Thursday to repeal the Affordable Care Act, this time using the IRS scandal to bolster their charges and saying the much-criticized agency will be involved in administering the law's insurance coverage requirements. The House voted mostly along party lines, with two red-state Democrats voting with the GOP for a 229 to 195 vote. That marked the 37th time the House has voted to repeal all or part of the law, though such a repeal stands no chance of passing the Senate. Michigan House Democrat Sander Levin called repeal "a Republican obsession," and indeed the law remains highly unpopular on the right, despite the Supreme Court's decision upholding the constitutionality of the law last year. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that repealing the law would boost budget deficits by $109 billion over the next decade. Get More at NBC News

Tornado
Friday, May 17, 2013 at 2:45 AM

Tornado Survivors Recall Horrifying Night: "Never Been So Scared"

Tornado Survivors Recall Horrifying Night: AP
Earl McCoy was asleep when a tornado — one of 16 to tear through North Texas Wednesday night — arrived in Ennis. He was awoken, not by screaming wind or blaring sirens, but by a drip of water that fell from his ceiling — his only warning of what was to come. A moment later, the ceiling collapsed. "I jumped up and went to the door and then that fell," McCoy said, pointing to another section of the ceiling. "To be sound asleep, and this piece falls on top of me, and this piece falls right beside me ... it was unreal." Elizabeth Tovar of Granbury, the hardest-hit area of North Texas, rode out the storm in her tub. "We were all, like, hugging in the bathtub and that's when it started happening. I heard glass shattering and I knew my house was going," Tovar said. "We looked up and … the whole ceiling was gone." Click through for more tales of survivors. Read »
gosnell
Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 3:07 PM

Abortion Doctor Lived in "Squalor": Investigators

Abortion Doctor Lived in NBC10.com
For nearly three years, Philadelphia Police crime scene investigator John Taggart has remained silent about what he saw after stepping inside Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s two homes and West Philadelphia clinic -- nicknamed the “House of Horrors.” Now that the former Philadelphia abortion doctor has been sentenced to life in prison and the case's gag order lifted, Taggart is speaking out about what he found. Taggart and his team began searching Gosnell’s properties for fetal remains in February 2010 following an FBI raid of the doctor’s West Philadelphia clinic. “He just lived in squalor,” said Taggart. “He would leave plates of food on the floor. There was stuff everywhere in the bedroom. You couldn’t see the bed.” Gosnell sat at the piano and played Chopin as police donned bio-hazard suits to investigate the contents of his home’s basement. Taggart also recounted his time inside the Women’s Medical Society, where he found dead babies stuffed inside a refrigerator. “The smells were just unbearable,” he said. “You could tell there was death somewhere.” Read »
NBCNews.com
Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 11:39 AM

Second Suspect Arrested in Mother's Day Parade Shooting

A second suspect was arrested in connection with a shooting rampage that left 19 people injured at a Mother’s Day parade in New Orleans, police said Thursday, NBC News reported. Authorities identified the suspect as Shawn Scott, 24. His brother, Akein, was arrested late Wednesday and ordered held Thursday on $10 million bond. Each faces 20 counts of attempted murder, police said. The wounded, who were marching in what is known as a second line parade, common in New Orleans, included two 10-year-old children. Surveillance footage showed a man stepping into the street, opening fire on the crowd and running away. Get More at NBC News

NBCNews.com
Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 5:36 AM

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev Left Note Inside Boat, Sources Say

AP Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev scribbled a note while hiding inside the hull of the boat, saying that the attacks were retaliation for American action against Muslims, sources told NBC News on Thursday. In that note, Tsarnaev, bleeding and hunted by police, said many of the things he told investigators from his hospital bed days later, after his capture, the sources said. The note was first reported by CBS News. Tsarnaev was discovered hiding in the boat, in Watertown, Mass., on April 19 after a daylong manhunt and is currently in a federal prison hospital in Massachusetts. He has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction and could face the death penalty. His brother, Tamerlan, was killed in a shootout with police in Watertown. Get More at NBC News

NBCNews.com
Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 11:17 AM

"Perfect" Diamond Sells for Record $27 Million

Fabrice Coffrini / AFP - Getty Images The Harry Winston jewelry firm purchased the largest diamond ever offered at auction for a record $26.7 million in Geneva Wednesday. The raw original 236-carat, colorless stone was extracted from a Jwaneng mine in Botswana, and the cut and polish process lasted 21 months. Now, the pear-shaped, flawless-clarity diamond weighs 101.73 carats and has been named the "Winston Legacy." Rahul Kadkia, head of jewelry at Christie's Switzerland and Americas, called the piece the "most perfect diamond ever offered for sale at auction." The auction also broke records for the highest prices for pearls and sapphires, according to a Christie's auctioneer. Get More at NBC News

NBCNews.com
Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 11:22 AM

15 People, Including 6 Americans Killed in Kabul Suicide Attack

AP Six Americans were among at least 15 people killed when a suicide bomber targeted a convoy carrying foreign troops Thursday in Afghanistan's capital city of Kabul, a NATO source told NBC News. The American victims included two soldiers and four civilian contractors, the source added. Afghan officials said two children were among the Afghan victims. Forty others were injured in the blast after the attacker detonated a Toyota Corolla car, Kabul police spokesman Hashmatullah Stanikzai said. Hizb-i-Islami, an insurgent group which is allied with the Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack. Get More at NBC News

NBCNews.com
Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 10:12 AM

Tea Party Lawmakers Use IRS Scandal to Ding Health Care Reform

AP Tea party lawmakers on Thursday warned that the revelation that the IRS had targeted conservative groups could lead to further abuses of government power, specifically when it comes to implementing President Barack Obama’s health care reform law, NBC News reported. "Could there potentially be political implications regarding health care, access to health care, denial of health care - will that happen based upon a person's political beliefs or their religiously held beliefs?" asked Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, a Tea Party figurehead, in a press conference on Capitol Hill. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a Tea Party darling with presidential ambitions said he’s worried that people’s “medical records now will be evaluated by the IRS.” He added that the while acting IRS commissioner Steven Miller’s resignation was a "step in the right direction," more heads needed to roll. The press conference happened hours before House Republicans were to hold their 37th vote to repeal or replace part of the law. Get More at NBC News

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