LOS ANGELES — A former California state parks officer accused of secretly recording nearly two dozen men, some of whom were minors at the time, inside an employee locker room made his first court appearance Thursday morning.

Kevin Pearsall, 59, of Long Beach, faces five felony counts of eavesdropping, 23 misdemeanor counts of secretly filming...Read more

A beaver that bit a 19-year-old fisherman at Cunningham Falls State Park earlier this week tested positive for rabies, the Frederick County Health Department said.

This is the second beaver to contract and test positive for rabies in the past two weeks. A 13-year-old boy who was swimming at the William Houck Area’s popular North Beach needed ...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Former clerk of court Becky Hill won.

In recent years, Hill was revealed to have plagiarized parts of her book on Alex Murdaugh’s 2023 double-murder trial. She later resigned her Colleton County clerk of court’s post in disgrace. In 2025, she pleaded guilty to perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office. ...Read more

The U.S. Department of Justice says it has found that Duke University Law School discriminated against white and Asian applicants in favor of Black and Hispanic candidates in its admissions process.

The Justice Department says it found a “a deliberate effort to preserve racial outcomes” at Duke Law for the classes of 2023, 2024, and 2025 �...Read more

MIAMI — A man accused of turning off a diver’s oxygen supply after a dispute over a diving spot during lobster mini-season said the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission “cleared him” minutes after the incident.

But in a statement to The Miami Herald on Thursday, the FWC said officers located the boat that Michael Simpson ...Read more

California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a complaint Thursday alleging that a cohort of the companies that make “forever chemicals” partook in a massive corporate shell game to defraud the state and others.

In an amendment to a 2022 lawsuit filed by Bonta against the makers of these chemicals, the state now alleges that several DuPont ...Read more

MEXICO CITY — Mexico is sending 1,500 more troops to the embattled state of Michoacán after the U.S. announced this week that it temporarily stopped inspecting avocados there over security concerns, disrupting exports of the fruit.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that her government was doing everything in its power to ...Read more

SEATTLE — A man suspected of starting one of three catastrophic Spokane-area wildfires on Saturday is facing additional arson charges after allegedly admitting to starting 25 other fires around Riverside State Park since last July, according to a memorandum prosecutors filed Wednesday in Spokane County Superior Court.

By Wednesday, detectives...Read more

Iran will seek to bar U.S. and Israeli ships from the Strait of Hormuz and require compensation from hostile countries before they’re allowed to use it, according to local media reports on a proposed Iran-Oman deal to manage the crucial waterway.

The agreement has become key to expectations for a reopening of Hormuz and a resumption of energy...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Another offshore wind company has entered into an agreement with the Trump administration to walk away from projects along the coast of the United States, including one in California.

German energy giant RWE said Thursday it reached a $1.22 billion deal with the U.S. Interior Department to abandon wind leases off New York, ...Read more

The Trump administration on Thursday announced sanctions on five Cuban entities and eight individuals accused of procuring weapons and military equipment for the Cuban regime from Russia and China, the latest escalation in a months-long campaign targeting the island’s military-run economy.

The designations, announced by the State Department, ...Read more

And that, my friend, is what they call closure.

Donald Trump Jr. has officially severed romantic and business ties with Kimberly Guilfoyle.

The president’s eldest child recently paid off his ex-fiancée a cool $7.6 million for her share of the Jupiter, Florida, mansion they bought for $9.7 million in happier times (2021), The Palm Beach ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump defended Pete Hegseth after a report about a disagreement over dwindling U.S. weapons stockpiles raised questions about the Pentagon chief’s future in the administration.

“I am extremely happy with the job that Pete Hegseth is doing,” Trump said in a social media post Thursday. “Everything has been...Read more

PITTSBURGH — The attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Butler County has left a long shadow on the community.

Even two years later, Butler Mayor Bob Dandoy said the events of July 13, 2024, still cloud his efforts to improve the town of about 13,000 people.

“I’m trying to work on things like, how do I feed the people of my community...Read more

BALTIMORE — Parents in Baltimore will have another helping hand courtesy of the city government, with a $300,000 grant given to The Family Tree by the city on Wednesday to help strengthen families and prevent abuse.

The Board Estimates approved the grant on Wednesday, giving The Family Tree funding that will go directly to the Baltimore City ...Read more

A person was found dead inside a burned home as the Gann fire continued to tear through western Calaveras County, California, where the wildfire has burned more than 10,000 acres, destroyed at least seven structures and injured a firefighter, officials said Thursday.

The body was found inside a burned residence in the 4600 block of Jaquima ...Read more

Sen. Mitch McConnell was discharged from a rehabilitation center Thursday and is continuing his recovery at home following his June hospitalization, his office announced.

McConnell said in a statement that he and his wife Elaine Chao are grateful for the well-wishes from friends, colleagues and Kentuckians, as well as the care he received from ...Read more

Sen. Mitch McConnell on Thursday said he was discharged from a rehabilitation center and will continue his recovery from a recent fall and illness at home.

“Earlier today, I was discharged from the rehabilitation center to continue my recovery at home,” McConnell said in a brief statement.

The 84-year-old seven-term Kentucky lawmaker, who...Read more

LAS VEGAS — A trial slated to start next week could answer longstanding questions about the slaying of hip hop icon Tupac Shakur, one of the most notorious killings in recent Las Vegas history.

Shakur, 25, was shot four times on the night of Sept. 7, 1996, at the intersection of Flamingo Road and Koval Lane, near the Strip. He died Sept. 13 ...Read more

Iran will seek to bar U.S. and Israeli ships from the Strait of Hormuz and require compensation from hostile countries before they’re allowed to use it, according to local media reports on a proposed Iran-Oman deal to manage the crucial waterway.

The agreement has become key to expectations for a reopening of Hormuz and a resumption of energy...Read more