PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle L. Parker picked a fight with big tech companies.

In the end, the tech companies won.

City Council on Thursday morning gave preliminary approval to a more than $7.1 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1. The plan does not include the mayor’s tax proposals meant to squeeze revenue ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court upheld on Thursday the Federal Communications Commission’s power to issue findings that companies broke the law, turning aside challenges from telecommunications giants that the agency had to go to the courts first.

The 8-1 decision found that the FCC’s forfeiture process does not run afoul of the ...Read more

The explosion of Blue Origin’s New Glenn at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station was massive, but the response by the Space Force emergency crews was quick and well-prepared.

“I had just gotten home and sat down in the living room, talking to my kids and wife, and looked out the window and saw the explosion,” said Space Launch Delta 45 ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Groups hoping to persuade the Kentucky General Assembly are spending more each year to lobby legislators.

In total, nearly $13.77 million was spent on lobbying during the 2026 legislative session, a 60-day session during which lawmakers set the state budget for the next two years, according to records from the Kentucky ...Read more

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan's new 24% wholesale tax on marijuana brought in less tax revenue than projected in the first quarter of its existence, generating less money for repairing roads, according to a state treasury report.

When lawmakers voted to implement the wholesale tax last year, a nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency analysis estimated it...Read more

CHICAGO — While crews were still putting on the finishing touches — including paving part of the parking garage entrance — Chicago and national media were given a preview of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park Wednesday ahead of it welcoming the public later this month.

The grand opening is set for June 19, following a star-...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Google took internet searches to the next level. Could it do the same for mosquito control?

The Silicon Valley-based tech giant is seeking to release up to 64 million sterilized male mosquitoes in California and Florida over two years, according to a notice in the Federal Register. It’s part of an ambitious effort to curb the ...Read more

When researchers founded Anthropic in 2021, they said the race to build powerful AI was moving too recklessly. They inserted detailed safety measures into their products and marketed their commitment to safety as the corporate quality that distinguished them from competitors – notably OpenAI, the rival company they had left. In March 2026 ...Read more

Bison are political animals. A federal decision to revoke grazing leases for bison on public lands on the rolling plains of eastern Montana is the latest manifestation of long-standing contention. The largest land animal in North America, bison are considered a “keystone” species, meaning they have high ecological and cultural importance....Read more

Tennessee set out to execute Tony Carruthers on May 21, 2026, but he lived to tell about it.

Carruthers, who was sentenced to death for a 1994 triple murder, survived his date with death when the execution team members could find only one suitable vein in which to secure an IV, but not, as USA Today reports, the “backup line, which ...Read more

In April 2026, Dr. Cerina Wanzer Fairfax was shot and killed by her husband while their divorce was pending.

She had done what she was supposed to do. She had initiated the legal process to leave Justin Fairfax, the former lieutenant governor of Virginia. It didn’t save her.

What happened to Wanzer Fairfax has a name: ...Read more

In the case of United States v. James Brien Comey Jr., the U.S. president’s security is pitted against the bedrock right to free speech enjoyed by Americans.

Two federal charges have been lodged against former FBI Director James Comey and are based on his Instagram post that depicted seashells spelling out “86 47.”

Comey...Read more

WASHINGTON — One month from America’s 250th birthday, events and celebrations to commemorate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence are as fragmented as the nation’s politics and culture in 2026.

President Donald Trump’s plans for a concert affiliated with the Great American State Fair in the weeks leading up to July 4 have ...Read more

Families and human rights organizations denounced the transfer of an undetermined number of political prisoners from El Helicoide prison to other detention facilities across Venezuela, a move that comes amid growing questions over the purported closure of the facility, long considered one of the most notorious symbols of political repression in ...Read more

WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Except for the stained-glass windows, much of the inside of Temple Israel is now unrecognizable.

Flooring that was once inside the large West Bloomfield synagogue has been removed, revealing the building's concrete foundation. The seats inside the sanctuary are gone, too. And pipes usually hidden in the ...Read more

The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent decision to downgrade the drug classification for medical cannabis will help medical marijuana businesses. Companies will be able to claim some federal tax benefits. New research can start up at state universities.

But the broader divide between federal and state marijuana policy remains largely intact,...Read more