NEW YORK — Mayor Zohran Mamdani doubled down Wednesday on his belief that the mass snowball fight in Washington Square Park that left two cops hospitalized should not result in criminal charges — drawing a deeper line in the snow between himself and NYPD officials looking to make arrests.

Speaking at an unrelated press conference, Mamdani ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Outrage over parole being granted to a convicted serial child molester who lured children with candy has renewed calls to reform California’s elderly parole program under which violent offenders and sexual predators as young as 50 can become eligible for release.

On Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported that David Allen ...Read more

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida House on Wednesday unanimously passed a bill that would prohibit the diversion of money to a third party in a state settlement— a direct response to the DeSantis administration’s maneuvering during the 2024 election.

State Rep. Alex Andrade, a Republican Pensacola lawyer who runs the House budget committee,...Read more

NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is tapping a Pennsylvania administrator to lead his Department of Social Services, he announced Wednesday.

Erin Dalton, who previously led the Allegheny County Department of Human Services in Pittsburgh, will start in her role as commissioner on Monday.

Mamdani’s Department of Social Services ...Read more

The H5N1 bird flu virus that devastated South America’s elephant seal populations has been confirmed in seals at California’s Año Nuevo State Park, researchers from the University of California, Davis and the University of California, Santa Cruz announced Wednesday.

The virus has ravaged wild, commercial and domestic animals across the ...Read more

LANSING, Mich. — House Speaker Matt Hall is proposing a targeted 6% sales tax on certain discretionary services that he hopes will generate about $4.7 billion and partially offset nearly $5 billion in property tax cuts that the Kalamazoo County Republican is floating.

Hall's service tax proposal, first reported by WLNS-TV, would target ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Despite Republicans’ repeal of much of the 2022 landmark climate reconciliation law, former Sen. Joe Manchin III stands by the legislation despite the price he paid in his home state of West Virginia.

Manchin spoke Tuesday at the National Press Club about his book, “Dead Center: In Defense of Common Sense,” in which he ...Read more

U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla of California delivered a forceful rebuke to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, accusing him of lying about the economy, trying to manipulate elections and terrorizing communities with aggressive immigration enforcement.

Padilla’s comments were released in a video speech minutes after the president ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Clairemont High School’s new mascot will be the Captains, after a name change process prompted by a state law addressing names and mascots derogatory to Native Americans.

The San Diego Unified school board voted unanimously Tuesday evening to change the mascot from the Chieftains.

The choice of Captains pays homage to the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Federal authorities are raiding the home and office of Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, the FBI confirmed.

According to the FBI, agents are executing search warrants in both locations, although it was not immediately clear why.

LAUSD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Federal authorities are raiding the home and office of Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, the FBI confirmed.

According to the FBI, agents are executing search warrants at Carvalho’s home and LAUSD headquarters, although it was not immediately clear why.

An LAUSD spokesperson declined to ...Read more

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s Department of Health is using emergency rules to cut about 12,000 people off from affordable access to their HIV/AIDS medication starting Sunday.

The Department’s emergency rules were filed Tuesday, one day ahead of a hearing in a legal challenge to the state over changes to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. ...Read more

NASA astronaut Mike Fincke announced Wednesday that it was his medical incident aboard the International Space Station in January that prompted the agency to return the SpaceX Crew-11 mission to Earth early.

“On Jan. 7, while aboard the International Space Station, I experienced a medical event that required immediate attention from my ...Read more

President Donald Trump headed into Tuesday night's State of the Union speech projecting confidence in his personal power to "Make America Great Again," despite the woes he says he's been saddled with by his Democratic predecessors.

He also stood in a uniquely precarious position — facing some of his lowest approval ratings ever, plummeting ...Read more

NEW YORK — Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates issued an apology for his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a townhall for the Gates Foundation, during which he also confessed to having two affairs while married to his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, according to reports.

Speaking to foundation staffers on Tuesday, Gates ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Handle this with care: there could be glass in fried rice at Trader Joe's.

The manufacturer, Ajinomoto Foods North America, recalled more than 3 million pounds of frozen chicken fried rice that "may be contaminated with foreign material, specifically glass," according to an alert issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's ...Read more