BALTIMORE — Gov. Wes Moore directed hundreds of millions of dollars toward lowering utility bills when he signed Maryland’s fiscal 2027 budget into law, drawing sharp criticism from Maryland Republicans and mixed reactions from environmental advocates.

“This budget puts $100 million back into people’s pockets through utility fee relief,...Read more

BOSTON — Karen Read’s lawyer David Yannetti will represent the Boston police officer accused of manslaughter in the on-duty shooting of carjacking suspect Stephenson King.

Yannetti wrote that he was honored to defend Officer Nicholas O’Malley, who he described as “a good man who finds himself falsely accused of manslaughter,” in a ...Read more

The California Teachers Association lashed out at Gov. Gavin Newsom this week, as they reported that more than 100 California school districts have issued 2,400 preliminary layoff notices in the last month.

The controversial plan, included in Newsom’s 2026-27 budget proposal, would withhold $5.6 billion in constitutionally mandated, voter-...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A Kentucky Court of Appeals judge has denied former Gov. Matt Bevin’s request to overturn a ruling from last year that allowed his son to file for child support.

In an opinion issued April 8, Court of Appeals Judge Will Moynahan said there is a legitimate question in the case if Jonah Bevin, who is now 19 and one of four ...Read more

The United States and Iran prepared for peace talks in Pakistan with a fragile ceasefire largely holding, though issues such as Israel’s offensive in Lebanon and the opening of the Strait of Hormuz remain unresolved.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance is expected to lead the American delegation in discussions scheduled for Islamabad on Saturday, ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Maryland officials said Thursday they have reached a settlement in principle with the owner and operator of the cargo ship involved in the 2024 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, resolving a portion of the state’s claims but stopping short of a final, binding agreement.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown announced...Read more

NEW YORK — As New York City prepares to launch free child care for 2-year-olds, Mayor Zohran Mamdani plans to open most of the first 2,000 seats in the initiative, known as “2-K,” in programs that operate on a full-day year-round schedule, he’s set to announce Thursday in Brooklyn.

The extended days and hours are meant to ease the ...Read more

NEW YORK — ICE agents operating in New York City and Long Island have conducted scores of suspicionless stops and unlawful arrests of Latinos based solely on the color of their skin, a massive class action suit filed in Brooklyn federal court Thursday claims.

The lawsuit filed by the Legal Aid Society, the NYCLU, Make the Road NY, and others ...Read more

CHICAGO — City Council progressives are among those expressing fresh gripes over Mayor Brandon Johnson’s move to make them cover pension costs for their part-time aides, the latest City Hall rift as fiscal woes and political divisions from the fight over this year’s budget continue to fester.

North Side Ald. Maria Hadden on Wednesday ...Read more

CHICAGO — In Illinois, the line between legal politics and bribery has always seemed a blurry one.

Through the years, it’s been debated in bars, argued in newspapers, litigated in court, decided by juries and appealed all the way to the Supreme Court.

Over the next two weeks, the heavyweight fight over what constitutes legal political ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — You're going to hear a lot about El Niño this year.

The term refers to warmer-than-average waters along the equatorial Pacific that can influence weather across the globe, raising the odds of searing drought in some regions and torrential rain in others. Indicators increasingly suggest such an event will develop later this ...Read more

The U.S. and Iran prepared for peace talks in Pakistan at the weekend with a fragile ceasefire largely holding, though pivotal issues such as control over the Strait of Hormuz and Israel’s offensive in Lebanon remain unresolved.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance is expected to lead the American delegation in Islamabad on Saturday, with Iranian ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Survivors of the devastating Eaton fire called on state lawmakers on Wednesday to pass a bill requiring audits of spending by Southern California Edison and the state's two other big for-profit electric companies on wildfire prevention.

The survivors pointed to an investigation by The Times that found that Edison had not spent ...Read more

U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to keep troops in the Persian Gulf ahead of talks with Iran that are planned to firm up a fragile truce, while the Strait of Hormuz remained effectively shut as shipowners await clarification on the status of the key waterway.

Both sides accused each other of violating the ceasefire that was announced Tuesday ...Read more

OAKLAND, Calif. — Rosa María Carranza leaned forward to hold a 3-year-old’s back as the girl climbed a rock in the forested hills of northeast Oakland.

Dressed in hiking gear and beaded necklaces, Carranza, 67, maneuvered between trees and children on a sunny morning in December. “Hold on to that branch,” she said in Spanish. “You ...Read more

ST. LOUIS — As data center projects have popped up across the St. Louis region, driven by the growth of industrial-scale computing for artificial intelligence, one of the primary concerns raised by residents is about water — as in, will data centers consume vast amounts of the local water supply?

Data centers — essentially huge warehouses...Read more

MIAMI — Driver’s licenses and ID cards that meet REAL ID requirements in Florida will indicate the legal status of their holders beginning in 2027 under a new state law.

House Bill 991 was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis as part of the Florida SAVE Act legislative package, which focuses on election “security.”

Under the law, new, ...Read more