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Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Pool/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Opening ceremony for Obama Center to feature Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Hudson and Bruce Springsteen

Current News / News & Features /

CHICAGO — Just ahead of the Juneteenth public opening of the Obama Presidential Center, former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama gathered nearly 500 supporters and contributors to the campus for a thank you celebration on Tuesday.

“For us to be able to give back to this community is really important to us, and that couldn...Read more

Liz Rymarev/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

Pennsylvania parents will soon have easy access to school-level vaccination data to see measles risk

Current News / News & Features /

PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania families will gain access to detailed information about vaccination rates in their schools before the new academic year, when the state health department launches a new online database to better inform the public.

More than 200 Philadelphia-area schools with kindergarten classrooms — roughly one in three — have...Read more

Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune/TNS

Minnesota election judge sentenced to jail for allowing 11 unregistered voters to cast ballots

Current News / News & Features /

MINNEAPOLIS — A northern Minnesota judge handed down a 30-day jail sentence to a head election judge this week for the felony offense of allowing 11 unregistered voters to cast ballots.

Timothy Scouton, 65, of Nevis, Minnesota, removed his glasses and closed his eyes on camera during his virtual sentencing Monday in Hubbard County District ...Read more

How 2 lawyers wanting to be judges became political footballs in SC gov's race

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Two lawyers who sought a position on the circuit court became a political football for several days as the two hopefuls for the GOP nomination for governor continue to elbow one another ahead of Tuesday’s runoff.

Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette and Attorney General Alan Wilson are facing off in the June 23 runoff for the Republican nomination for ...Read more

Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Backlog of Internal Affairs complaints hinders Minneapolis police reform efforts

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MINNEAPOLIS — More than two years into Minneapolis’ push to implement a court-ordered settlement agreement, police reform efforts lag behind — stymied by a persistent backlog of Internal Affairs cases and high staff turnover, according to an evaluator’s report released this week.

The 40-page document, from the nonprofit Effective Law ...Read more

1,650 radio dishes planned for Nevada to comprise 'World's Most Sensitive Radio Telescope'

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A California university plans to build more than 1,600 radio dishes in a remote Nevada desert to scan the sky for radio signals from stars, galaxies, black holes and other mysteries of space.

The cluster of 1,650 dishes — each with a diameter of about 20 feet — will comprise the Deep Synoptic Array project, touted as the “World’s Most ...Read more

News briefs

Current News / News & Features /

People are betting on elections in prediction markets. Congress is watching

WASHINGTON — As Spencer Pratt fell behind in the Los Angeles mayoral primary, an unexpected group began claiming election fraud: people tracking the Republican’s success on prediction markets, the increasingly popular online exchanges on which people can make bets ...Read more

Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/ZUMA Press/TNS

Education Department sheds more programs in bid to dismantle agency

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WASHINGTON — The Department of Education is dispersing its civil rights and special education responsibilities to other federal offices, a major step toward the Trump administration’s goal of dismantling the agency.

Oversight of civil rights in schools will move to the Department of Justice and special education programs will move to the ...Read more

Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Lake Mead's slow demise just sped up in latest federal study

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LAS VEGAS — The reservoir that serves as Southern Nevada’s main water supply is headed for an even more painful decline than thought due to historic drought and recent water management decisions, according to federal forecasters.

Lake Mead could plummet to 1,015.77 feet above sea level in July 2027, far below any level seen since the ...Read more

Midland Police Department/Midland Police Department/TNS

Midland mass shooter's cause of death released by Texas Department of Public Safety

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The Texas Department of Public Safety said that Victor Mata Villarreal, the suspect in the Midland mass shooting on June 12., died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The autopsy results released on Tuesday confirmed this, according to the DPS.

Villarreal was found dead in an abandoned veterinarian’s office building where he had barricaded ...Read more

Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images North America/TNS

Sean 'Diddy' Combs' prison release date moved up again

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NEW YORK — Sean “Diddy” Combs’ release from prison is now set for February 2028, weeks earlier than his previously scheduled date.

The disgraced music mogul, who is currently behind bars at New Jersey’s FCI Fort Dix, was ordered to spend 50 months in prison after he was found guilty in July 2025 of two counts of transportation to ...Read more

Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Key Bridge collapse: Judge sets 2027 trial in Baltimore; fate of missing defendant unresolved

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BALTIMORE — A federal judge on Tuesday scheduled the criminal trial connected to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore for October 2027. But as attorneys prepare for the 16-month road ahead, questions remain about who exactly will be at the highly anticipated seven-week jury trial.

At the start of a status conference on Tuesday, ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

B-52 bomber crash came as Air Force was upgrading legendary workhorse

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LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base was in the process of tests to upgrade the aging fleet of B-52 bombers with new engines and radar systems when one of the planes crashed Monday, killing eight people, officials said.

The tests, and planned upgrades for the bomber, are just the latest in what has been long history for ...Read more

KENT NISHIMURA/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

5 men allegedly involved in plot to attack White House UFC cage-fighting show

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LOS ANGELES — Five suspects have been arrested for allegedly plotting to kill government officials and others attending the UFC cage-fighting show staged at the White House last weekend, according to a criminal complaint filed by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles.

Bryan Roa, 24, of Calimesa and Michael Thomas, 32, of Pinon Hills, California,...Read more

Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

DeSantis' property tax plan could be unconstitutional. Here's why

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis’ property tax proposal has a provision meant to entice Floridians at the ballot box in November: New residents will have to wait five years to benefit from it.

It’s not a new idea. But it could be an unconstitutional one.

More than 40 years ago, the Florida Supreme Court struck down a nearly ...Read more

Pool/Getty Images North America/TNS

Suspects charged with plot to attack White House UFC event

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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department has charged five people in connection with an alleged plot to use explosives and snipers to target wealthy people and prominent politicians who attended a UFC fight Sunday on the White House lawn.

All five individuals have been arrested in connection with the planned plot, which never transpired, and ...Read more

Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune/TNS

US Attorney's Office brings conspiracy charges against 15 people involved in anti-ICE actions in Minnesota

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MINNEAPOLIS — Federal prosecutors on Tuesday unsealed conspiracy charges against 15 people they accuse of coordinating with each other to impede immigration enforcement efforts in Minnesota this year.

During a news conference, Minnesota U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen described the indictment against 15 defendants as part of a broader effort by ...Read more

Josephine Stratman/New York Daily News/TNS

Rikers Island detainees earn their school degrees as Mayor Mamdani speaks at graduation

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NEW YORK — Rikers Island for the most part makes headlines for violence and disorder, so much so that New York City has moved to close the notorious jail complex.

But on Tuesday, there was a palpable shift in the air as dozens of incarcerated students crossed the graduation stage to receive their diploma from the public high school on Rikers,...Read more

Majid Saeedi/Getty Images North America/TNS

US and Iran prepare for deal signing as financial details emerge

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The United States and Iran are preparing to formally sign an interim peace deal that has left both sides claiming victory, with details of the accord still emerging and energy insiders skeptical of how fast it can reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

The text of the so-called memorandum of understanding — which opens the way to two months of ...Read more

Pool/Getty Images North America/TNS

Suspects charged with plot to attack White House UFC event

Current News / News & Features /

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department has charged five people in connection with an alleged plot to use explosives and snipers to target wealthy people and prominent politicians who attended a UFC fight Sunday on the White House lawn.

All five individuals have been arrested in connection with the planned plot, which never transpired, and ...Read more