Current News

/

ArcaMax

Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Trump budget request omits funds for LA fire relief, prompting criticism from senators

Current News / News & Features /

WASHINGTON — California's two Democratic senators on Thursday criticized the Trump administration after it requested $87.6 billion from Congress to address some of the nation's most "urgent needs" but omitted funding for victims of last year's Los Angeles wildfires.

"Donald Trump's desire to punish Los Angeles and the state of California for ...Read more

Eric Lee/Pool/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Rubio rejects Hormuz tolls after touring wary Gulf nations

Current News / News & Features /

WASHINGTON — The United States wants to reach a deal with Iran to end the war but won’t do so “at any price,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday, as he reiterated that tolls in the Strait of Hormuz were unacceptable.

“You can call it a toll, you can call it a fee, whatever you want to call it — it’s a game of ...Read more

Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group/TNS

California, Santa Clara County ask court to stop construction of ICE facility near Gilroy

Current News / News & Features /

SAN JOSE, Calif. — California, joined by Santa Clara County, is asking the U.S. District Court in San Jose to block work on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility outside of Gilroy in a legal motion filed Wednesday.

The court’s decision will determine whether work on the ICE facility can continue as the lawsuit against the facility...Read more

Jill Lang/Dreamstime/TNS

North Carolina wants to ban homeless camps statewide. Here's what's in the bill

Current News / News & Features /

RALEIGH, N.C. — State lawmakers have advanced a bill that would ban homeless encampments across North Carolina.

Currently, encampments in the state are regulated through local laws. The City of Raleigh, for example, has banned homeless encampments on public property and has removed a few encampments over the past couple of years.

The bill, ...Read more

Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times/TNS

National Park staff ordered not to reveal deaths as part of new policy, report says

Current News / News & Features /

The Trump administration is reportedly ordering staff not to confirm deaths or details about severe injuries at U.S. national parks — but officials are adamant the policy is not meant to conceal information from the public.

In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, an Interior Department spokesperson said the "narrative" that the agency is ...Read more

Brook Mitchell/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Heat wave breaks French and UK records as temperatures soar

Current News / News & Features /

The heat wave baking western Europe broke records in the U.K. and France, as the region faced another day of soaring temperatures.

The U.K. recorded its hottest June day on Thursday, with daytime highs hitting 36.7C (98F) in Merryfield in southern England, according to the Met Office. France’s average daily temperature reached an all-time ...Read more

Tim O'Connor/Boston Herald/TNS

Karen Read case: Ex-Trooper Proctor finally sits for deposition, source says

Current News / News & Features /

BOSTON — Michael Proctor, the since-fired lead investigator in the John O’Keefe murder investigation, finally sat down for a deposition by Karen Read’s lawyers for the wrongful death suit against her, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The O’Keefe family filed a wrongful death suit against Read even before her second trial,...Read more

Department of Justice/ZUMA Press Wire/TNS

Jury deadlocked in Palisades fire trial

Current News / News & Features /

LOS ANGELES — The jury is deadlocked in the Palisade fire trial, in which 30-year-old ex-rideshare driver Jonathan Rinderknecht is accused of setting what eventually became the most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles city history.

More details on the jury’s note to the judge, and her response, are expected momentarily. The U.S. Attorney’...Read more

Renée Jones Schneider/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Supreme Court ruling on immigrant protections could affect thousands in Minnesota

Current News / News & Features /

The U.S. Supreme Court backed the Trump administration’s efforts to end temporary protected status, or TPS, for Haitian and Syrian immigrants on Thursday over objections that the countries remain unstable and too dangerous for immigrants to return to.

The ramifications could impact thousands of immigrants living in Minnesota under TPS.

...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Illinois to see greater protections from 'junk fees,' ticket-buying bots, Gov. JB Pritzker says

Current News / News & Features /

Illinoisans will soon see fewer unexpected “junk fees” and greater protections from robots snatching up concert tickets, lawmakers and Gov. JB Pritzker said at a signing for a handful of consumer protection bills Thursday.

“Corporations have become more and more creative in finding ways to charge consumers more while telling them less ...Read more

Jim Vondruska/Getty Images North America/TNS

Gov. Gavin Newsom releases first-in-the-nation tool to track AI-related job losses

Current News / News & Features /

As the artificial intelligence industry continues to grow, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced a first-in-the-nation tracker to monitor AI-related job losses, with the initial released data showing no statewide surge in unemployment in at-risk fields.

The tool stems from a May executive order by Newsom to prepare California for “economic ...Read more

Department of Justice/ZUMA Press Wire/TNS

Jury appears deadlocked in Palisades fire arson trial, signaling possible mistrial

Current News / News & Features /

LOS ANGELES — A federal jury hearing the arson case against Jonathan Rinderknecht, a 30-year-old former Uber driver, accused of setting what would become the deadliest wildfire in Los Angeles history, said on Thursday they were “at a standstill” and “unsure how to proceed” after more than 13 hours of deliberations.

The jury sent a ...Read more

Liz Rymarev/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

Measles detected in two more counties in Pennsylvania as health department recommends early vaccination

Current News / News & Features /

Pennsylvania health officials have now detected measles cases in York and Northumberland Counties as cases in Lancaster County, the center of an ongoing outbreak, continued to rise.

And the state health department is now recommending early measles vaccinations for infants beginning at six months in affected areas in an effort to protect them ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Massachusetts reports first West Nile virus mosquito case of year

Current News / News & Features /

BOSTON — Time to pull out the bug spray.

Bay State health officials have announced that West Nile virus was detected in mosquitoes for the first time this year.

The presence of WNV was confirmed by the Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory in a mosquito sample collected in Clarksburg — out in Berkshire County.

The Department of ...Read more

Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News/TNS

Family suspects antisemitism in mysterious murder of 75-year-old rabbi in Queens park

Current News / News & Features /

NEW YORK — A religious 75-year-old grandfather mysteriously gunned down by a Queens lake last month may have been the victim of an antisemitic hate crime, the victim’s shattered family said Thursday as detectives continue to hunt for clues and a clear motive in the killing.

Albert Itzkowtiz was enjoying a warm Spring day by Kissena Lake in ...Read more

DEI now banned in NC public schools. Will it have a 'chilling' effect on teachers?

Current News / News & Features /

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina public schools are raising concerns about how they’ll be affected by a new state law that bans diversity, equity and inclusion programming in K-12 public schools.

Senate Bill 227 became law after state House Republicans overrode Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s veto on Wednesday, The News & Observer previously ...Read more

Hector Gabino/Miami Herald/TNS

Florida moves to restrict undocumented students from public universities

Current News / News & Features /

Florida’s public universities moved a step closer Thursday to barring undocumented students from enrolling, after the Florida Board of Governors unanimously advanced an admissions change that could take effect in the 2027-28 academic year.

The proposal targets universities that, in the two most recent academic years, didn’t admit all ...Read more

Chandan Khanna/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Alligator Alcatraz closes as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declares victory, critics slam cost

Current News / News & Features /

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday confirmed the Alligator Alcatraz immigrant detention center is closing, but insisted the collection of reinforced tents in the middle of the Everglades proved effective in bolstering President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts in Florida.

“Alligator Alcatraz fulfilled the role that it was designed to ...Read more

Baltimore term limits stay in place after repeal bill stalls

Current News / News & Features /

BALTIMORE — Baltimore lawmakers will not ask voters this year to reconsider the city’s voter-approved term limits, after legislation seeking to repeal the measure stalled and missed a state deadline to qualify for the November ballot.

A proposal by District 3 Councilman Ryan Dorsey to overturn Baltimore’s term limits law has failed to ...Read more

Federico Parra/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Florida Venezuelans frantic over family missing, feared dead after quakes

Current News / News & Features /

MIAMI — Nilka Simosa Verde, a Venezuelan-American living in Miami Beach, has been hoping and praying to hear from her family since two earthquakes jolted Venezuela’s Caribbean coast Wednesday evening.

In La Guaira, a coastal state neighboring Caracas where her family lives — and one of the hardest-hit areas of the 7.2 and 7.5 earthquakes ...Read more