People who were wrongfully imprisoned in Illinois could see larger payouts after Gov. JB Pritzker announced Tuesday he had signed a law raising the compensation cap.

Illinois has had the most exonerations of any state for six of the past seven years, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. But until now, compensation for exonerees ...Read more

A federal judge in Miami has awarded more than $314 million in damages to three American citizens who said they were imprisoned and brutally tortured by the Venezuelan regime headed by Nicolás Maduro before they were freed in a 2023 prisoner exchange that secured the release of Maduro ally Alex Saab from U.S custody.

U.S. District Judge Darrin...Read more

Gov. Bob Ferguson kicked off a campaign to preserve the state's new high-earners income tax on Tuesday, arguing an initiative to kill the tax would have disastrous consequences for schools, small businesses and families.

Ferguson joined other foes of Initiative 645, including Democratic allies and education advocates and union activists, ...Read more

Northwest tribal nations and conservation groups sued the Trump administration Tuesday, challenging a new rule that aims to eliminate habitat protections for imperiled species.

For more than 50 years, degradation or destruction of habitat that impairs, kills or injures threatened species has been prohibited or regulated by the Endangered ...Read more

President Donald Trump backed away from his plan to impose a 20% charge on cargo shipments through the Strait of Hormuz after U.S. allies in the Gulf urged him to drop it.

Trump announced the decision on Tuesday, just one day after rolling out the fee, saying that the expected revenue would be replaced by forthcoming direct investments in the U...Read more

Gov. Gavin Newsom just announced a $20 million boost to the California Civic Media Program, which is designed to fund the state’s local news ecosystem. Individual newsrooms are eligible for up to $250,000 and applications for the grant are open until noon on Aug. 21.

“Every Californian deserves access to accurate, trusted information. By ...Read more

An intestinal parasite that causes “explosive” diarrhea is sickening people across 34 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.

Despite outbreaks affecting two states bordering Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia region so far shows no signs of widespread illness from Cyclospora cayetanensis.

Speaking to reporters, ...Read more

Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett pitched increased security funding for the Supreme Court next year at a pair of rare congressional hearings for sitting justices Tuesday that covered issues ranging from emergency cases to judicial ethics.

Kagan and Barrett focused most of their testimony on increased security concerns at the court ...Read more

Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger III, the Bay Area-based pilot who became a national hero in 2009 after he landed his US Airways flight on the Hudson River and saved 155 passengers and crew, disclosed Tuesday that he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

The 75-year-old retired pilot responsible for the “Miracle on the Hudson�...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Metropolitan Police Department body-camera video shows a police sergeant stopping Gov. Joe Lombardo for a suspected red light violation in May in Las Vegas, then letting him go without issuing a citation.

The video shows Lombardo, the former Clark County sheriff, in a Ford pickup truck being stopped near Mandalay Bay on May 15 ...Read more

City Council Speaker Julie Menin announced her support late Tuesday for a bill that would end the New York City carriage horse industry — with the Council set to hold a hearing on the legislative effort Wednesday morning.

The legislative effort — nicknamed Romanch’s Law, after the teenager killed by a bolting horse last month — would ...Read more

As the long-shot motion for a new trial remains pending, imprisoned Chicago R&B superstar R. Kelly has formally asked President Donald Trump to commute his 30-year sentence for an array of sexual misconduct convictions.

The request for clemency was made public this week by the Office of the Pardon Attorney, the Department of Justice agency that...Read more

PHILADELPHIA – Gov. Josh Shapiro on Tuesday visited Vare-Washington Elementary School in South Philadelphia to tout the $678 million in new education funding included in the state budget deal finalized over the weekend.

The new education funding — including $565 million in “adequacy funding” to aid poorer districts — represented one ...Read more

The Department of Homeland Security has ordered immigration agents to temporarily halt most vehicle stops during deportation operations, according to a department official, after a fatal shooting of a man in Maine reignited concerns about the agency’s tactics.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents will suspend vehicle stops except ...Read more

Speaker Mike Johnson narrowly freed the floor from another standstill Tuesday — but it’s not clear how long the good feeling will last.

The House adopted a rule for floor debate in a 215-211 vote after GOP leaders won over key holdouts by promising a markup of border security legislation before the August recess and taking steps to graft a ...Read more

Darline Graham was sworn in to the U.S. Senate on Tuesday afternoon, a role she will hold for about six months.

She was chosen to fill in for her older brother U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham by South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster. The appointment of Darline Graham after Lindsey Graham’s sudden death Saturday saw sweeping support from lawmakers in ...Read more

Minneapolis city leaders are grappling with a projected shortfall of up to $33 million as they put together the 2027 budget — putting them in a financial squeeze that could force some tough choices.

City Council President Elliott Payne has called the estimated gap in the general fund, the city’s operating account, “kind of alarming.”

...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The federal government agreed to temporarily hold off on construction of a planned Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Northern California.

The voluntary pause until Sept. 9 comes after the California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and Santa Clara County officials sued the Trump administration last month to block the facility ...Read more