US Domestic News Roundup: NRA members give leader LaPierre vote of confidence despite struggles; Trump loses bid to thwart New York AG's probe of his businesses and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

NRA members give leader LaPierre vote of confidence despite struggles

National Rifle Association members overwhelmingly supported longtime leader Wayne LaPierre with a vote of confidence on Saturday, even as the gun-rights group struggles with allegations that millions of dollars were misspent. The NRA is holding its annual meeting in Houston, about 280 miles (450 km) east of the site of a mass shooting on Tuesday, when an 18-year-old man armed with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle killed 19 children and two teachers at a Texas elementary school.

Trump loses bid to thwart New York AG's probe of his businesses

Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday lost a bid to stop New York state Attorney General Letitia James' probe of his business practices, allowing the three-year investigation to move forward. Trump, a Republican, last year sued James in federal court in upstate Albany, arguing the civil investigation into whether the Trump Organization misled banks and tax authorities about the valuations of its assets should be halted because he felt James, a Democrat, was using the case to further her political career.

Proud Boys leader Tarrio loses the latest bid for release from jail

A judge has denied the latest request by Enrique Tarrio, the former top leader of the right-wing group the Proud Boys, for release from jail while he awaits trial on criminal charges relating to last year's attack on the U.S. Capitol. In an order issued late on Friday night, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly said the evidence against Tarrio is "very strong" and that measures like a bond and home confinement "do not adequately mitigate the threat of dangerousness Tarrio poses."

Biden heads to Texas town crushed by deadliest mass school shooting in a decade

President Joe Biden on Sunday headed to a Texas town to comfort families ripped apart by the largest U.S. school shooting in a decade amid lingering questions about whether law enforcement's failure to act swiftly contributed to the death toll. Biden’s familiar role as consoler-in-chief will be complicated by local anger over a decision by law enforcement in Uvalde, Texas, to allow the shooter to remain in a classroom for nearly an hour while officers waited in the hallway and children in the room made panicked 911 calls for help.

As U.S. states restrict abortions, pro-choice lawmakers look to Mexico

Pro-choice U.S. lawmakers visiting Mexico said Americans are turning to their southern neighbor to access abortions as some states tighten restrictions on the procedure and with the Supreme Court expected to strike down the right to an abortion. "As Texas has taken a step back into the dark, I am so grateful that so many people here in Mexico have opened their arms to pregnant Texans and helped them access the care they need," said Texas state representative Erin Zwiener at a news conference in the northern Mexican city of Monterrey on Friday.

Investigators question delayed police response in Texas school shooting

Investigators in Texas on Saturday sought to determine how critical mistakes were made in the response to the deadly Uvalde school shooting, including why nearly 20 officers remained outside a classroom as children placed panicked 911 calls for help. Why the officers waited in the hallway nearly an hour before entering and fatally shooting the gunman is at the heart of a probe by the Texas Department of Public Safety into the massacre of 19 children and two teachers in the deadliest U.S. school shooting in nearly a decade.

Chevron California refinery workers ratify contract; ending strike -sources

Striking union workers at Chevron Corp's Richmond, California, refinery voted on Saturday to ratify the latest contract offered by the company, ending a 10-week strike without achieving their goal of additional pay to counter rising health care costs, said sources familiar with the vote. About 500 workers represented by United Steelworkers (USW) union Local 12-5 began the strike on March 21 in a dispute over pay to match the rising cost of health care over the past few years in the San Francisco Bay area where the 245,271-barrel-per-day refinery is located.

After massacre, some in gun-friendly Uvalde favor tougher gun laws

Guns are part of everyday life in Uvalde, Texas, a Republican-leaning corner of the state's Hill Country where hunting is a common pastime and gun stores abound. Support for the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution still runs strong here, even after an 18-year-old gunman killed 19 elementary school children and two teachers with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle this week.

U.S. doctors reconsider Pfizer's Paxlovid for lower-risk COVID patients

Use of Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 antiviral Paxlovid spiked this week, but some doctors are reconsidering the pills for lower-risk patients after a U.S. public health agency warned that symptoms can recur after people complete a course of the drug, and that they should then isolate a second time. More quarantine time "is not a crowd-pleaser," Dr. Sandra Kemmerly, an infectious disease specialist at Ochsner Health in New Orleans, told Reuters. "For those people who really aren't at risk ... I would recommend that they not take it."

Forest Service says it started all of New Mexico's largest wildfire

Two blazes that grew into New Mexico's largest-ever wildfire were both started by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the agency said on Friday, prompting the state's governor to demand the federal government take full responsibility for the disaster. Forest Service investigators determined the Calf Canyon Fire was caused by a "burn pile" of branches that the agency thought was out but reignited on April 19, the Santa Fe National Forest said in a statement.