Ken Stanford

The gunman in the mass shootings at the Washington Navy Yard, Aaron Alexis, had a history of violent outbursts, was at least twice accused of firing guns in anger and was in the early stages of treatment for serious mental problems, according to court records and U.S. law enforcement officials.

Clear skies and receding floodwaters have allowed many Colorado flood victims to return home to submerged houses and upended vehicles with the realization that rebuilding their lives will take months. And rescue crews said Tuesday that emergency calls were dropping after they rescued hundreds more people stranded by floodwaters.

The nation's poverty rate remained stuck at 15 percent last year despite America's slowly reviving economy, a discouraging lack of improvement for the record 46.5 million poor and an unwelcome benchmark for President Barack Obama's recovery plans.

President Barack Obama's spokesman on Tuesday criticized lawmakers who have stood in the way of expanded background checks for gun purchases and said the White House will continue to push the cause in the wake of the Washington Navy Yard shooting.

Almost 1 in 10 U.S. high school seniors have engaged in recent extreme binge drinking - downing at least 10 drinks at a rate that barely budged over six years, according to a government-funded report.

Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS) is among this year

The former Navy reservist who slaughtered 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard had been hearing voices and was being treated for mental problems in the weeks before the shooting rampage, but was not stripped of his security clearance, officials said Tuesday.