SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The billionaire wealth tax started with a Zoom call.

Dave Regan, the hard-charging president of a healthcare union, wanted to raise $100 billion to address looming federal healthcare cuts. What about a one-time wealth tax on billionaires?

He’d come to the right group: a quartet of academics led by UC Berkeley economist...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — After a top aide to Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal confirmed in court last month that her scandal-plagued office had been sitting on nearly $20 million meant for public coffers, reformers renewed calls to abolish her position.

But for City Council, which has the power to initiate such a change, eliminating the antiquated ...Read more

MIAMI — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier wears his faith on his sleeve and shares it in legal opinions and threatening missives on state letterhead.

In the 20 months since he was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, Uthmeier, who is Catholic, has made religion a centerpiece of his work, expanding protections for religious organizations and ...Read more

Three children and a teacher were killed in a shooting believed to have been committed by a 16-year-old at a Bend, Oregon, elementary school Thursday, according to Bend police.

The children were 5, 8 and 11. Officials said two people, including a 7-year-old student and a 54-year-old teacher, were taken to a nearby hospital with critical ...Read more

A wildfire forced evacuations in Malibu as California endures several days of dangerously dry and windy conditions.

The Bryson Fire in Los Angeles County was 102 acres (41 hectares) at 7:07 p.m. local time, according to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

The largest fire in Southern California is the Henderson ...Read more

The Santa Ana Police Department is facing criticism after police officers arrested two female “ICE watchers” because it said it received a request for assistance from two off-duty federal agents who said they were being followed by multiple individuals.

Santa Ana remains Orange County’s only official sanctuary city, its elected leaders ...Read more

Flávio Bolsonaro and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva are locked in a close race ahead of Brazil’s runoff election, according to a new poll.

Bolsonaro would take 51% of valid votes, excluding blank and null ballots, to Lula’s 49%, according to a Datafolha survey published Thursday. The gap is within the survey’s 2-point margin of ...Read more

NEW YORK — A Brooklyn federal judge on Thursday dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit to end New York City’s sanctuary protections for undocumented immigrants.

The lawsuit, filed in July 2025, sought a “permanent injunction” to eliminate local laws that bar city resources from being used in immigration enforcement and prevent city ...Read more

A brush fire charred more than a thousand acres on Thursday and prompted the temporary closure of Interstate 5 in both directions as dry Santa Ana winds pushed the flames toward the freeway during evening rush hour.

The California Highway Patrol closed the entire 16-mile stretch of freeway running through the base, from Harbor Drive in ...Read more

SEATTLE — Three Seattle-area corporate giants, Microsoft, Amazon and T-Mobile, collectively donated $20 million to fund President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project, according to an internal spreadsheet obtained by The Washington Post.

The donations put them among the top donors of the project, estimated to cost $330 million.

...Read more

Five people are believed to be dead after a shooting at a Bend, Oregon, elementary school, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.

The shooter was also shot and killed, although it’s unclear whether the shooter was among the five people authorities believe have died so far.

Police responded to Silver Rail Elementary School after...Read more

WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Katie Zacharia appeared to acknowledge Thursday that she did not pass the California bar exam, calling the results “inconsequential” as she sought to tamp down mounting questions over her legal credentials.

Zacharia said that when she sat for the exam she was preparing to marry her now husband and...Read more

SEATTLE — With little progress on artificial intelligence legislation in Congress, some Washington leaders are looking at how the state could regulate the technology.

Early discussions are underway about bills for next year’s legislative session to set new guardrails around safety, privacy and liability for AI.

But Senate Majority Leader ...Read more

FRESNO, Calif. — Central Valley detention facilities have denied attorneys access to detainees picked up by ICE in Fresno and the region during an immigration enforcement surge that started early last week, lawyers say.

Many of those detainees have already been transferred to a Texas facility after they agreed to sign voluntary departure ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — A brush fire charred more than a thousand acres on Camp Pendleton Thursday and prompted the closure of Interstate 5 in both directions as dry Santa Ana winds pushed the flames toward the freeway.

The California Highway Patrol has closed the entire 16-mile stretch of freeway running through the base, from Harbor Drive in Oceanside ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump rejected plans to livestream the execution of a former Army major who killed 13 people in 2009, overruling Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s proposal after facing intense bipartisan backlash.

Trump said Thursday the execution would proceed, and that it may be viewed in person by the immediate families of ...Read more

Gov. JB Pritzker on Thursday cast doubt on his ambitious housing program passing in the short fall legislative session but indicated optimism about legislation to regulate data centers and support a new Bears stadium to be located in the suburbs or even stay in Chicago.

The Democratic governor’s comments on several policy priorities came less...Read more

There were no big wins at the blackjack table for Gov. JB Pritzker in 2025, according to partial tax returns released Thursday, offering a limited glimpse into the billionaire Democrat’s finances less than three weeks before the Nov. 3 election.

Pritzker — who is running for a rare third term as governor in a rematch against Republican ...Read more