Obama: Progress, but more to be done
SAN FRANCISCO -- President Barack Obama on Saturday encouraged supporters to be politically active, saying that he plans to remain so when his presidency concludes and declared, "I'm just getting started."
Obama was in California for four fundraisers, one in San Francisco and three in Los Angeles. NBA star Stephen Curry and other members of the Golden State Warriors warmed up the San Francisco crowd. Those attending the Democratic National Committee fundraiser paid between $250 and $10,000.
Obama has been using his fundraising speeches and other appearances these days to point to progress he said the country has made during the past seven years, including a drop in the unemployment rate and the addition of millions of people to the rolls of those with health insurance.
The president told the 1,000-plus people attending the fundraiser in San Francisco that Republican candidates seeking to succeed him are painting a dismal picture for voters.
"There's almost no measure by which we're not better off than when I took office and when we started this process for change," he said. "But it does kind of make you wonder. Why are so many Republican politicians so down on America? Why are they so grumpy?"
Obama got some of his loudest applause when making the case for changes in the nation's gun laws.
"We know we've got to do something to prevent the kind of gun massacres that we see with growing frequency in this country," he said.
Off-duty officer killed near Memphis
MEMPHIS -- An off-duty police officer died Sunday after being shot multiple times, authorities said.
Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong said 31-year-old Terence Olridge was taken to the Regional Medical Center in Memphis on Sunday where he later died.
Armstrong said officers got a call around 1 p.m. about a shooting at a home in the Memphis suburb of Cordova. He said a male suspect is in custody, but didn't say whether the person has been charged.
Armstrong said the investigation is ongoing and that "details are sketchy."
In August, Memphis police officer Sean Bolton was fatally shot in the line of duty.
Police have charged 29-year-old Tremaine Wilbourn, who was on probation for an armed bank robbery, with first-degree murder in Bolton's death.
More earthquakes reported in Oklahoma
CUSHING, Okla. -- A series of small earthquakes have been recorded across northern Oklahoma after two moderate earthquakes in the area Saturday.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported that nine quakes ranging in magnitude from 2.5 to 3.7 were recorded between 5:07 p.m. Saturday and 5:27 a.m. Sunday. No injuries or damage were reported. Geologists say damage is not likely in quakes below magnitude 4.0.
The latest seismic activity comes after a 4.5-magnitude temblor Saturday afternoon near Cushing and a 4.4-magnitude quake Saturday morning southwest of Medford.
Cushing is where one of the world's most important crude oil storage hub is located, used to settle futures contracts traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Cushing Emergency Management Director Bob Noltensmeyer said Sunday that no significant damage was found, only "shattered nerves."
The Oklahoma Geological Survey has said it is likely that many recent earthquakes in the state have been triggered by the injection of wastewater from oil and natural gas drilling operations.
California reduces livestock antibiotics
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California has adopted the toughest limits in the nation on the use of antibiotics in healthy livestock, barring their routine use to prevent illness or promote growth.
Calling the overuse of antibiotics "an urgent public health problem," Gov. Jerry Brown announced Saturday that he signed the legislation. The measure, Senate Bill 27, he said, will curb the overuse of antibiotics in livestock, which limits the effectiveness of the medicines in both animals and people and contributes to the spread of dangerous, drug-resistant superbugs.
"The science is clear that the overuse of antibiotics in livestock has contributed to the spread of antibiotic resistance and the undermining of decades of life-saving advances in medicine," Brown said in a statement.
-- COMPILED BY DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE STAFF FROM WIRE REPORTS
A Section on 10/12/2015