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(Andrew Jones/KFF Health News)/KFF HEALTH/TNS

The newest federally recognized tribe wants better healthcare. It may be on its own

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LUMBERTON, N.C. — Soybean fields surround Angie Lowery’s home in Robeson County, on a plot of rural land in southeastern North Carolina. Dozens of antique gas station signs, 20 feet tall, dominate her front yard. A framed re-creation of "The Last Supper," Lone Ranger posters, and a 3-foot-wide tobacco harvesting basket adorn the walls of her...Read more

Harmon Dobson/The Denver Post/TNS

As Colorado universities align with ChatGPT, student AI resisters take a stand against the 'plagiarism machine'

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Mirakle Wright thought her peers’ opposition to generative artificial intelligence in a world increasingly beset with the technology evoked the convictions held by wartime pacifists.

“People have such negative feelings about AI. They’re becoming resisters — conscientious objectors,” said Wright, a University of Colorado, Boulder ...Read more

Scott Takushi/TNS

Minnesota has spent millions trying to stem the tide of police PTSD retirements. It isn't working

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MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota police officers began leaving their jobs in droves in 2020 — after George Floyd’s killing by police — with many retiring early because of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Since then, more than 1,000 Minnesota police and firefighters have retired early because of a disability like PTSD — about as many as in the ...Read more

Nancy Lane/Boston Herald/TNS

ICE fears are keeping some Maryland witnesses out of court, prosecutors say

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BALTMORE — Some Maryland prosecutors say heightened federal immigration enforcement is making it harder to hold offenders accountable, as fears of possible immigration arrests leave witnesses reluctant to report crimes or testify in court.

The concerns, voiced by prosecutors in some of the state’s largest jurisdictions, come after changes ...Read more

Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

Florida is executing prisoners at a rapid clip. How did we get here?

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The window shade rose promptly at 6 p.m. The gallery was silent, apart from the humming of an air conditioning unit. A man lay flat on a gurney, covered in a white sheet and bound by six leather straps.

Twenty-seven people watched as he took his last breath.

On July 28, Dominick Occhicone became the 12th inmate to die by lethal injection in ...Read more

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Michigan candidate Abdul El-Sayed and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders at

Democrats have a working-class voter problem that progressives like Abdul El-Sayed are still struggling to solve

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Since 2016, when Donald Trump shattered the Democrats’ blue wall by winning working-class voters across the Midwest, a cottage industry has sprung up on the left dedicated to answering a single question: How can Democrats win back the working class?

The answers come in different forms.

Sometimes it is veteran Vermont Sen. ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Ridge fire prompts evacuation orders near Gorman, closes 5 Freeway for hours

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LOS ANGELES — A brush fire jumped over the 5 Freeway after igniting in Gorman on Friday afternoon, prompting evacuation orders, lane closures and heavy traffic delays through the Grapevine.

The blaze, dubbed the Ridge fire, was reported around 3 p.m. near the 39000 block of Gorman Post Road and quickly burned about 100 acres of surrounding ...Read more

Brendan Smialowski/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Canada races for deal before Trump's 50% tariff inflames feud

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Canadian negotiators are trying to secure a deal with the United States before 50% tariffs on a wide range of goods threatened by President Donald Trump kick in on Aug. 19, while warning of an ugly new phase of the trade dispute if the levies are imposed.

After months with little progress, a flurry of high-level meetings has given some Canadian...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Ridge fire prompts evacuation orders, closes 5 Freeway near Gorman

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LOS ANGELES — A brush fire that ignited in Gorman on Friday afternoon has jumped over the 5 Freeway, prompting evacuation orders, lane closures and heavy traffic delays through the Grapevine.

The blaze, dubbed the Ridge fire, was reported around 3 p.m. near the 39000 block of Gorman Post Road and quickly burned about 100 acres of surrounding ...Read more

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images North America/TNS

Massive flight delays, cancellations at NYC-area airports as thunderstorms cause chaos

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NEW YORK — Travelers flying into and out of LaGuardia, JFK and Newark airports Friday evening faced grueling delays as dozens of flights were canceled amid thunderstorms.

Virtually all flights out of the three airports were either canceled or faced hours-long delays as the city’s Emergency Management Department warned of flash flooding in ...Read more

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images North America/TNS

RFK Jr. criticizes US COVID-19 response at CDC shooting memorial

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Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told staff members at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the U.S. would have done better in the COVID-19 outbreak by listening to “dissenting voices,” according to a recording of the event reviewed by Bloomberg News.

At the one-year memorial for a deadly shooting at ...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Illinois Gov. Pritzker signs bill that aims to protect 340B drug discount program

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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed a bill into law Friday that places guardrails on a drug discount program that hospitals and other healthcare providers say they rely on to help them care for vulnerable patients.

The new law prohibits drugmakers from restricting the number or types of pharmacies that hospitals and other providers can contract ...Read more

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/ZUMA Press/TNS

White House ballroom must be approved by Congress, court rules

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday upheld a ruling that the Trump administration must receive congressional approval before it continues construction on a ballroom on the former site of the White House’s East Wing.

The 2-1 ruling affirmed the preliminary injunction granted in March by Judge...Read more

Drew Angerer/Getty Images North America/TNS

Long-stalled Russia sanctions bill passed by Senate

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WASHINGTON — The Senate on Friday passed a bill aimed at punishing Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, a long-delayed effort that senators raced to finish in recent weeks as a tribute to the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

The bill, which would also levy penalties on Iran, was passed in a bipartisan 86-11 vote, overcoming Democratic angst ...Read more

Al Seib/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Bomb threat at Pasadena hospital linked to violent extremist group

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LOS ANGELES — Huntington Hospital was the scene of a massive law enforcement response Friday morning after a person claiming to be part of a global online network of extremists made a 911 call threatening a bomb and other violence, authorities said.

The threat at the Pasadena hospital was received from an IP address at 5:40 a.m., prompting ...Read more

News briefs

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Jan. 6 defendants ramp up claims for million-dollar US payouts

WASHINGTON — Dozens of people who were charged or convicted in connection with the violent riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, have filed lawsuits seeking millions of dollars from the U.S. government after the Trump administration walked back the sprawling prosecution ...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

DA faces backlash after charging LAPD officer who recorded colleagues' racist remarks

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LOS ANGELES — In the days since he charged a Los Angeles police officer with a crime for capturing evidence of his co-workers’ racist remarks, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman has been the subject of withering criticism from Mayor Karen Bass, former cops and even some of his own prosecutors.

The chorus of voices decrying ...Read more

Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

US fuel exports to Cuba's private sector reach $96 million amid island's energy crisis

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Amid a crippling energy crisis in Cuba, U.S. companies have exported about $96 million in fuel to the island’s private sector in the first half of this year while the Trump administration has cut off oil supplies to the island’s government, according to U.S. port data.

According to the data compiled by the U.S. Cuba-Trade and Economic ...Read more

John Autey/Pioneer Press/TNS

State, Ramsey County sue gangs to prevent Minnesota State Fair violence

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ST. PAUL, Minn. — Ramsey County and state officials are suing two Somali gangs to try to stop violence at the Minnesota State Fair, alleging they have previously created a public nuisance in and around the Fairgrounds through fights and shootings.

Two civil complaints filed jointly Wednesday in district court by the Ramsey County Attorney’s...Read more

SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump again moves to fire Cook, reviving Fed independence fight

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President Donald Trump has revived his threat to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over unproven allegations of mortgage fraud, according to a letter seen by Bloomberg, a move that could renew a legal fight over the central bank’s independence.

In a letter dated Wednesday, Cook was told that Trump is “considering removing” her and ...Read more