Declining birth rates mean fewer students.

And that means more districts grappling with whether to close or merge schools.

“The big shrink” is how Marguerite Roza, director of Georgetown University’s Edunomics Lab, described what is happening nationally.

“When there are fewer young people, obviously it’s going to change the shape ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge’s statement this week that Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner may have committed crimes while running his office came as part of a lengthy battle in a complex post-conviction case.

But the fallout is likely just beginning.

The stunning remarks by U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond — that Krasner ...Read more

When California’s groundbreaking law on single-use plastic passed in 2022 to address the growing scourge of plastic pollution, it had broad political support. There was the state Chamber of Commerce, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a powerful ocean advocate and Californians Against Waste.

But now as the law’s deadlines and requirements finally ...Read more

Nearly five years ago, Chase Johnson was cured of breast cancer — but not of the profound anxiety that it would return.

When Johnson was originally diagnosed in 2021, the resident of Cary, North Carolina, was only 31 — nearly a decade away from the age at which regular mammograms are recommended — and she had no history of breast cancer ...Read more

The revelation by the Air Force this week that the U.S. now has a weapon in space stoked speculation — but few answers — about the weapon’s capability.

“As much as you want to know, Beijing wants to know even more,” Lieutenant General Greg Gagnon, commander of the Space Force’s Combat Forces Command, which trains personnel to ...Read more

Mayor Michelle Wu said Boston’s housing crisis is so bad that in addition to enticing developers with $100 million in tax breaks, the city is now considering funding part of their construction costs to kickstart stalled projects.

Wu said the city is in negotiations with developers about reworking mitigation agreements, which could result in �...Read more

Amid powerful economic headwinds, President Donald Trump rallied loyalists Wednesday in North Carolina, aiming to drive up the Republican vote in a key Senate race in which his chosen candidate has been trailing in the polls.

Michael Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chair, has so far failed to gain traction against Democratic ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Whether it’s a sleek, low-slung Impala, a candy apple red Monte Carlo or a roaring T-top Trans Am — the classic cars of the late 1970s and the ’80s are an iconic part of California’s automotive heritage.

But many of these vehicles have been relegated to driveways and garages due to the challenge of passing a smog check. ...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Gov. Henry McMaster said Wednesday that South Carolina’s effort to improve the economy and educate the state’s children should be balanced with protecting a scenic landscape that includes ancient trees, significant salt marshes and an abundance of wildlife.

At a luncheon in Columbia, McMaster said protecting the state’s...Read more

Minnesota law enforcement arrested an ICE agent Wednesday in the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis during Operation Metro Surge last winter, culminating months of delays and legal maneuvers in efforts to bring him to the state to answer to charges.

Christian Castro, 52, was stopped by agents with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal...Read more

GASTONIA, N.C. — President Donald Trump returned to the Charlotte region to campaign Wednesday evening alongside Republican U.S. Senate candidate Michael Whatley in Gastonia.

Trump delivered remarks focused on crime and the economy at the Gastonia Municipal Airport, where he also rallied during his 2024 presidential campaign. Whatley, a ...Read more

President Donald Trump said he still had confidence in Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh and criticized what he said was a “hostile” board even after the central bank unanimously defied his calls to lower borrowing costs.

“I do, I mean I’m relying on Kevin,” Trump told reporters about his hand-picked Fed chief, speaking Wednesday ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The House voted Wednesday evening to pass sanctions legislation targeting Russia and Iran, sending the long-delayed package to the Oval Office.

The vote was 262-159 on the bill, which includes a childhood education measure that the Senate had used as a vehicle for the sanctions text. The Senate passed the sanctions package last ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal judge in Sacramento has ordered the Trump administration to designate critical habitat for the Sierra Nevada red fox, a species so rare it was erroneously thought to be locally extinct.

The bushy-tailed foxes, which once were plentiful at high elevations in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains of California ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House voted to hold billionaire Leon Black in contempt of Congress for failure to comply with two subpoenas issued in a committee’s investigation into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

The matter now goes to the Justice Department, which can decide whether to pursue charges against the co-founder of Apollo Global ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump floated hitting goods imported from the European Union with fresh tariffs or even cutting off some trade if he determined that a push to make Canada a potential associate of the bloc was harmful to the U.S.

“If they do that, if I think it’s at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Kentucky Court of Appeals on Wednesday granted emergency relief for former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, allowing him to be released from jail amid a 60-day sentence in Louisville Metro Corrections.

Online records on Wednesday night showed the court granted Bevin’s request for emergency release, but did not include details ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles federal judge has ordered immigration agents to stop making civil arrests without a warrant unless they first determine that a person is likely to escape before one can be obtained.

U.S. District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong said in an order granting a preliminary injunction that the government "is regularly ...Read more

U.S. government agencies are tracking cyberthreats against nearly 20 shipping vessels around the world, according to US officials familiar with the situation.

The Coast Guard has asked for advance notice if any of those ships plan to come into a U.S. port, said the three people, who asked not to be identified because they aren’t authorized ...Read more