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Kayla Bartkowski/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Wildfire almost destroyed a pristine California island. Inside the fight to save this ecological oasis

Current News / News & Features /

SANTA ROSA ISLAND, Calif. — Just steps above a white sand beach with calm, turquoise waves, the effects of the largest fire in Channel Islands National Park history are particularly stark: Fields of island grasses and chaparral have been reduced to ash, the earth singed to black. Hillsides are colored a rusty red from desperate retardant drops...Read more

Amanda McCoy/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/TNS

Did Ken Paxton's win put down-ballot Republicans at risk? Texas Democrats see opening

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FORT WORTH, Texas — Texas is five months away from its November general election, and Republicans are fighting to keep control in Texas.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn — on the campaign trail in the primary battle of his life — warned that down-ballot GOP seats could be at risk if his Republican opponent Attorney General Ken Paxton were the ...Read more

Brett Kelman/KFF Health News/TNS

At a Tennessee hospital, a nurse stole fentanyl and AI missed it, state records say

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About a year ago at Erlanger Baroness, the largest hospital in Chattanooga, anesthesia staff noticed that a nurse was slurring his words and struggling to stay awake while on duty in the surgery center, according to a Tennessee Board of Nursing consent order.

In the days that followed, the nurse failed a drug test and was fired, the order ...Read more

Evacuations ongoing for Spring Creek fire northeast of Aspen

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People living northeast of Aspen are still under mandatory evacuation orders because of a wildfire burning near the Eagle and Pitkin county lines in Colorado’s White River National Forest, federal officials said Wednesday.

The Spring Creek fire is burning on 20 acres northeast of Ruedi Reservoir, about 15 miles northeast of Aspen, the U.S. ...Read more

Clarence Tabb Jr./The Detroit News/TNS

Trump says US won't renew USMCA, signaling yearly reviews

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he would not reauthorize the United States’ trade deal with Canada and Mexico, setting the stage for months or years of negotiations over provisions governing automobiles and other key industries.

The countries are facing a July 1 milestone to extend the pact, which Trump negotiated during his first...Read more

Gardiner Anderson/New York Daily News/TNS

Elderly serial killer Harvey Marcelin, 88, gets life without parole; he'd 'kill again,' judge says

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NEW YORK — Brooklyn serial killer Harvey Marcelin won’t get a chance to slay a fourth woman, after a judge sentenced the 88-year-old murderer to life without parole Wednesday.

A jury found Marcelin guilty last month of first-degree murder for beating a Brooklyn woman to death, dismembering her with a saw and then ditching her remains in and...Read more

Sandra Foyt/DREAMSTIME/TNS

Trump administration accuses UC Davis medical school of racial discrimination in admissions

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Following a six-month investigation, the U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday that it had determined that the UC Davis School of Medicine discriminated based on race in its admissions process. The school disagreed with the findings about its “rigorous, individualized, and merit-based” admissions process and said it remains committed to ...Read more

News briefs

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Rush to regulate AI divides Democrats in Congress

WASHINGTON — Recent proposals to regulate artificial intelligence show Democratic paths diverging between cooperation and compromise on the one hand and sweeping regulations on the other.

Growing public angst about the new technology and its impact on jobs, communities and the environment has...Read more

Atta Kenare/Getty Images North America/TNS

US launches new wave of strikes on Iran over stalled talks

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. military said it had launched strikes against “multiple” targets in Iran for the second day in a row after President Donald Trump accused the country of dragging out talks on an interim peace deal.

U.S. Central Command said it began what it called the “additional self-defense strikes” at 5:15 p.m. New York time ...Read more

Kent Nishimura/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Bill Gates turned a blind eye toward Epstein's history, lawmakers say

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WASHINGTON — Behind closed doors on Wednesday, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates told lawmakers that his relationship with accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein was one based in strategic networking and the promise of philanthropy.

U.S. Rep. Emily Randall, D-Bremerton, and fellow Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee, said ...Read more

Todd McInturf/The Detroit News/TNS

Michigan State trustee moves to sue university for at least $25 million

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DETROIT — Michigan State University Trustee Rema Vassar is threatening to sue the university for years of alleged discrimination she's faced as a board member and as its former chairperson, according to a "pre-litigation demand" document released to The Detroit News through a public records request.

Vassar, through her attorney Martin ...Read more

Samuel Corum/Getty Images North America/TNS

Wall Street Journal says Trump libel suit should be dismissed 'once and for all'

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The Wall Street Journal asked a judge to dismiss President Donald Trump’s revised $10 billion defamation lawsuit over an article on his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, arguing that the new complaint isn’t an improvement on the original version that was tossed out.

Trump’s revised lawsuit still fails to explain how the article — about a “...Read more

Travis Long/The News & Observer/TNS

NC Gov. Josh Stein asks Congress for $10 billion for Helene relief

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North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein visited Congress to ask for billions more in Helene relief funding on Wednesday.

The storm, which caused $60 billion in damage in 2024, has left the state to slowly pick up the pieces as federal and state funding has come in waves.

Stein is requesting about $10.15 billion from Congress, $3 billion less than his ...Read more

Atta Kenare/Getty Images North America/TNS

US launches fresh wave of strikes against Iran, straining truce

Current News / News & Features /

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military said it had launched strikes against “multiple” targets in Iran for the second day in a row after President Donald Trump accused the country of dragging out talks on an interim peace deal.

U.S. Central Command said it began what it called the “additional self-defense strikes” at 5:15 p.m. New York time ...Read more

Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declares June 'Faith and Family' month to honor the 'Biblical family unit'

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis just gave the month of June — which is widely recognized as Pride Month — a conservative rebrand.

On Monday, DeSantis announced June 2026 as “Faith and Family Month” in Florida — a largely symbolic gesture that emphasizes the importance of a “Biblical family unit” and the role that fathers play in the...Read more

FBI/FBI/TNS

Feeding Our Future fugitive on FBI's 'most wanted fraudsters' surrenders

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MINNEAPOLIS — Federal authorities arrested a Minneapolis grocer who recently landed on the FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters list for allegations that he bilked a federally funded meals program.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota on Wednesday announced the surrender of Said Ereg, 47, on charges alleging his participation in the sprawling ...Read more

Jeff Gritchen/The Orange County Register/TNS

Disneyland license plate seeks DMV approval after 'tremendous interest'

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Disneyland fans have spoken, and their overwhelming love for the Happiest Place on Earth has prompted California state officials to move forward with plans for a specialized license plate that pays tribute to the Anaheim theme park.

The California State Treasurer’s Office has received “tremendous interest” from more than the minimum ...Read more

A fallen log serves as a nursery for a new hemlock tree in British Columbia, Canada, hence the nicknames nursery log or nurse log. Seeds often struggle to establish themselves on the ground, but decaying trees provide soft, nutrient-rich environments with less competition or risk from soil fungus.
              Wing-Chi Poon, CC BY-SA

Life after death: From burned trees to bleached corals, how dead organisms live on as the building blocks of new life

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People’s knee-jerk reaction to seeing death in nature is often not positive. The burn scar left by wildfire on a once-forested hillside, or a ghostly white coral reef, may evoke tragedy and despair. But in nature, most plants and animals are recycled back into new life.

The fallen branches and leaves that crunch under your boots as ...Read more

Tim O'Connor/Boston Herald/TNS

Massachusetts State Police is asked for info on every case investigated by former Trooper Michael Proctor

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BOSTON — The Committee for Public Counsel Services is asking Mass State Police to turn over information for all cases, open or closed, that former State Trooper Michael Proctor investigated, citing shocking texts revealed in a lawsuit filed by Karen Read.

The request from CPCS, which oversees the process of representing the state’s indigent...Read more

Yuri Gripas/Yuri Gripas/TNS

Judge declines action on 'weaponization' fund while warning DOJ

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WASHINGTON — A federal judge in Washington agreed with the Trump administration that a legal fight over a controversial $1.8 billion fund for alleged political “weaponization” victims was likely obsolete in light of U.S. assurances that the plan won’t go forward.

However, U.S. District Judge Richard Leon asked probing questions of a ...Read more