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(Blake Farmer/WPLN News)/KFF HEALTH NEWS/TNS

Nurse convicted in patient's death turns fatal drug error into a cautionary tale

Current News / News & Features /

When RaDonda Vaught got her first speaking request, it had been a year since that day in a Nashville courtroom, when she listened as a jury read her guilty verdict for negligent homicide and neglect of an impaired adult.

That was in 2022. Vaught was sentenced to three years of probation for administering the wrong medication and killing a ...Read more

Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

The legacy of Pulse: 'Something that always stays with you'

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Ten years ago, Orlando, best known for its medley of theme parks, was rebranded as the site of America’s deadliest mass shooting when a lone gunman burst into the Pulse nightclub on “Latin Night” and opened fire with a semi-automatic rifle.

Forty-nine patrons of the South Orange Avenue venue, long considered a safe space...Read more

Kate Wells/KFF Health News/TNS

Michigan found a way to reduce school vaccine waivers. Until it backfired

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PORT HURON, Mich. — State health officials urged parents in several counties to vaccinate babies against measles ahead of schedule this spring as cases multiplied in Michigan. The outbreaks of the highly contagious virus — which can lead to brain swelling, deafness, and death — came as parents are opting school-age kids out of vaccinations...Read more

Dion Lefler/The Wichita Eagle/TNS

U.S. Senate votes to make Kansas Bureau of Investigation director a federal judge

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The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is pursuing leads on its next director.

Tony Mattivi on Tuesday won the U.S. Senate’s approval to become a federal judge. His confirmation follows a three-year stint as KBI director and a high-profile career as a prosecutor.

“As he has throughout his career, he continued to impress me with his ...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Battle rages at LA City Hall over proposed rodeo ban

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LOS ANGELES — Rodeos are causing a circus at L.A. City Hall.

On Tuesday, rodeo lovers and animal welfare advocates descended on downtown Los Angeles to argue for and against a draft ordinance that would ban the hooved spectacles within the city.

The thing is — the ordinance wasn’t even on the agenda.

In 2023, the city council voted ...Read more

Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

US completes strikes on Iran in response to downed helicopter

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WASHINGTON — U.S. forces carried out “self-defense strikes” against Iran hours after President Donald Trump blamed Tehran for shooting down an American military helicopter off the coast of Oman.

U.S. Central Command said its forces “struck Iranian air defense, ground control stations, and surveillance radar sites near the Strait of ...Read more

Nicolas Tucat/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Thailand pushes EU free trade deal to reduce US reliance

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Thailand is racing to secure a free-trade agreement with the European Union as uncertainty over U.S. tariffs pushes countries to forge new economic partnerships, according to a top trade official.

“The reason why we’re accelerating the E.U. FTA so much is because we want to diversify as quickly as possible,” Thai Trade Representative ...Read more

Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Cuba poised for biggest US fuel shipment since Cold War embargo

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A Florida trading company is in advanced talks to send Cuba the biggest cargo of U.S. fuel since the Eisenhower administration as the island nation contends with an acute energy crisis.

Vanguard Energy already was sending small shipments of gasoline and diesel to Cuba and now is gearing up to expand those volumes, company President Matthew ...Read more

Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

'Anti-weaponization' fund challengers question its demise

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WASHINGTON — Challengers to the Trump administration’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” asked a judge Tuesday to let them seek evidence the Justice Department truly is abandoning the program.

The filing came in response to arguments the Trump administration made in filings last week that the lawsuit is unnecessary because the fund...Read more

L.E. Baskow @Left_Eye_Images/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Nevada-California border town of Primm is a spooky shell of its former self. But the gambling oasis may have found a savior

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A month away from its closure, onetime gambling oasis Primm, Nevada, located along the state border with Southern California, has a new lease on life.

The Primm family, owners of the land that includes three casino resorts and other businesses along the 15 Freeway, announced Tuesday a partnership intended to save the struggling state-line strip...Read more

Cayla Bamberger/New York Daily News/TNS

Slow down AI rollout in NYC public schools, majority of City Council says

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NEW YORK — A majority of the City Council thinks New York City public schools need to slow down the rollout of artificial intelligence in the classroom.

Twenty-nine Council members — out of a total 51 — penned a letter Tuesday asking Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his schools chancellor, Kamar Samuels, to “immediately pause” the use of ...Read more

Eric Paul Zamora/Fresno Bee/TNS

California man accused of helping terrorists is just a student, lawyer says

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The lawyer for a Porterville man accused of conspiring with a terrorist group described his client Tuesday as a student with plans to transfer to Fresno State and become a civil engineer.

“He doesn’t even have a criminal record,” said Peter Jones, who appeared with defendant Elias Shamsaldeen, 21, in court.

Shamsaldeen was arrested by ...Read more

Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

US forces strike Iran after American helicopter is downed

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WASHINGTON — American forces carried out “self-defense strikes” against Iran on Tuesday, hours after President Donald Trump blamed Tehran for shooting down an American military helicopter off the coast of Oman.

“The mission is a proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression,” U.S. Central Command said in a brief statement on...Read more

NC Legislature votes to freeze property tax assessments for some counties

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Some property owners in North Carolina may not have to pay higher taxes due to counties reassessing their homes’ property value — yet — if a bill set to pass the General Assembly becomes law.

The House on Tuesday tentatively approved Senate Bill 889, which already passed the Senate.

The House vote was 72-42. It needs a...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Advocates urge support for measure that would allow noncitizens to vote in LA elections

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LOS ANGELES — Ana Cruz was 13 when she arrived to the U.S. from Mexico with her family. But after 23 years of living in Los Angeles, raising two children and working as a community organizer, she has never been able to vote in any elections because of her status as a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient, which doesn't offer a ...Read more

NC House passes crypto ATM bill to curb scams. Will the Senate take it up?

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RALEIGH, N.C. — A bill aimed at regulating cryptocurrency kiosks, often called crypto ATMs, advanced in the North Carolina House on Tuesday.

The measure comes as the machines — which allow users to convert cash into digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum — have spread across the Triangle and the country while drawing increasing ...Read more

Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Chicago aldermen push for stiffer penalties on marijuana smoking, sales around schools and parks

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CHICAGO — Aldermen advanced a proposed ordinance Tuesday that stiffens penalties for marijuana-related offenses near Chicago schools and parks — and could include sharp punishments for smoking cannabis in public.

The measure would expand the city’s long-standing “safe passage” laws that already place steep minimum fines and jail ...Read more

Sharaf Maksumov/Dreamstime/TNS

Trump DOJ targets City University of New York over racism allegations as it takes aim at DEI programs

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NEW YORK — The Trump administration is investigating the City University of New York over allegations of racial discrimination, the U.S. Justice Department announced Tuesday.

The agency’s civil rights arm said it received reports alleging CUNY’s Black Male Initiative gives preference to some students over others on the basis of race.

“...Read more

Chris Torres/Pool/Getty Images North America/TNS

Nick Reiner seeks money for defense in his parents' killings from trust they established for him

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Nick Reiner, who is accused of killing his parents — acclaimed director Rob Reiner and film producer Michele Reiner — is asking a Los Angeles court to release funds from a trust his parents established for him, to pay for his legal defense.

A petition filed by Reiner’s civil attorneys in a Los Angeles County court on Monday says that ...Read more

News briefs

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Trump plans to skip Knicks Game 4 of NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden

NEW YORK — President Donald Trump reportedly plans to skip Game 4 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden after getting roundly booed by New York Knicks fans before Monday night’s deflating Game 3 loss.

The president has “scheduling conflicts and obligations” ...Read more