REID: HILLARY COULD PROBABLY DO BETTER THAN BILL: LAS VEGAS (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid offered a ringing endorsement of Hillary Rodham Clinton in the event she runs for president in 2016.
Reid said in an interview with "PBS NewsHour" that he thinks Clinton's work as senator and Secretary of State was remarkable.
He said he had "such admiration" for Bill Clinton's presidency, but thinks the former first lady could top his record and "handle things probably even better" than her husband.
Reid didn't directly answer Woodruff's question about whether he'd like to see Hillary Clinton run. But he said he didn't know of anyone who was a bigger fan of her than himself.
4 DEAD IN EARLY-MORNING SHOOTING IN WEST VIRGINIA: CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia man faces four counts of first-degree murder after police say he fatally shot four people early Friday, including an elderly father and his son who were delivering newspapers when they apparently stumbled upon a drug deal gone wrong, authorities said.
Sidney A. Muller, 27, of Harrison County was arrested in Marion County, where police said he had fled after the early-morning shooting Friday in a Clarksburg neighborhood.
Harrison County Prosecuting Attorney Jack Shaffer said police and deputy sheriffs responding to a 4:30 a.m. shooting call found Todd Russell Amos, 29, of Clarksburg dead at the scene. Christopher A. Hart, 26, was found injured and died on the way to the hospital. Hart's address was listed as Locust Avenue, the scene of the shootings that Shaffer said "was directly related to drug activity."
Also found dead were two bystanders: Freddy Donald Swiger, 70, and his son, 47-year-old Fred Swiger. The two Harrison County men were delivering The Exponent Telegram, as they had done as contractors for about 30 years.
XCOUPLE BORN SAME DAY, WEDDED 75 YRS, DIE DAY APART: LONG BEACH (AP) — A Southern California husband and wife who were born on the same day and celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary last year have died just a day apart.
The couple's son Les Brown Jr. tells said Thursday that 94-year-old Helen Brown died July 16 and 94-year-old Les Brown died July 17. She had stomach cancer. He had Parkinson's disease.
The Browns were born on New Year's Eve, 1918. Their son said his parents met in high school and eloped in 1937 at age 18 because their parents thought the marriage between a wealthy man and a working-class woman would never last. Last September they celebrated their 75th anniversary.
PITT RESEARCHER IN CYANIDE CASE ARRESTED IN W.VA.: PITTSBURGH (AP) — A University of Pittsburgh medical researcher accused of poisoning his neurologist wife with a supplement she apparently thought would help them have a baby was arrested on Thursday in West Virginia, authorities said.
Dr. Robert Ferrante laced an energy supplement with cyanide and gave it to Dr. Autumn Klein, a neurologist at the university's medical school, hours after they exchanged text messages about how the supplement could help them conceive, according to a police complaint.
"Will it stimulate egg production too?" Klein, 41, asked about nine hours before she fell ill.
Ferrante, 64, responded with a smiling emoticon.
WOMAN AWARDED $775K AFTER TRIPPING AT NEV. CASINO: LAS VEGAS (AP) — A woman who tripped on a speed bump and injured her shoulder at a Nevada casino has been awarded $775,000.
The Nevada Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the judgment against Harrah's casino in Laughlin, the Las Vegas Sun reported.
Alice Swanson has been seeking compensation since 2007, when she tripped and fell on the speed bump. The Yuma woman said she had been a loyal customer for 20 years at the casino an hour south of Las Vegas, just over the Nevada-Arizona border.
She said the bump was too high, and a jury agreed. Jurors decided the casino had failed to exercise reasonable care. They awarded Swanson $375,000 for past pain and suffering and $400,000 for future pain and suffering.
Harrah's appealed, saying the jury verdict should be overturned because of a lack of evidence.
In its decision Thursday, the high court stated, "The facts presented do not clearly show error or manifest injustice, which would require reversal of the verdict."
ASSESSING PLANS FOR PLUGGING GULF GAS WELL : NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A slight sheen was visible again but quickly dissipating Friday near a damaged gas drilling rig that blew wild and burned earlier this week off Louisiana's coast, a federal agency said.
The rig blew wild Tuesday morning and the spewing gas ignited that night, burning and heavily damaging the rig owned by Hercules Offshore Inc.
Authorities believe that sand and sediment clogged the well late Wednesday, shutting off the gas flow in what is referred to as a "bridge over." Forty-four workers safely evacuated soon after the blowout and hours before the gas ignited.
The clog was holding Friday and BSEE, working with well operator Walter Gas & Oil, said assessments on how to permanently seal the well — including the possible use of another rig to drill a relief well — continued.
4 PLEAD GUILTY IN HELLS ANGELS CASE IN VEGAS : LAS VEGAS (AP) — Four Hells Angels pleaded guilty Friday in Las Vegas to a single felony charge apiece stemming from a 2008 brawl with rival Mongols motorcycle gang members that authorities said left six people hurt at a downtown wedding chapel.
The pleas by Dominic Orlando, Frederick O'Dell, Brandon Young and John Dawson brought to five the number of men who have taken plea deals to avoid a retrial on multiple charges including attempted murder, conspiracy and taking part in activities of a criminal gang.
A sixth co-defendant, Armando Porras, is due to plead guilty Aug. 2 to the same charge. Porras' lawyer, Chris Rasmussen, has said his client isn't a Hells Angels member and wants to put the case behind him.
Orlando, O'Dell, Young, Dawson and Porras will face one to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine at sentencing scheduled in December.
