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Substance use disorders are common pregnant people. Research shows a fear of stigma prevents these patients from seeking health care.  Halfpoint Images/Getty Images

How Colorado hospitals are caring for pregnant patients with substance use disorders by overcoming stigma

Current News / News & Features /

The obstetrics staff was surprised the first time it happened in June 2025. A pregnant woman who was dependent on methamphetamine arrived at the hospital in labor. She showed an image of graffiti spray-painted on a bridge in downtown Denver that read “Have your baby at Lutheran.” She was scared, and in pain, but wanted to be somewhere she...Read more

Residents of Archbald, Penn., are experiencing a contentious boom in proposed AI data center projects.  Heather Ainsworth for The Washington Post via Getty Images

How Pennsylvania towns are protecting themselves from the noise, heat and utility costs of massive data centers

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Pennsylvania has become a hot spot for data center proposals and public backlash about where to build them.

I’m a law professor and executive director of Penn State’s Center for Energy Law and Policy. I’m also a native of Archbald, a borough of 7,500 residents in the Lackawanna Valley in northeastern Pennsylvania. My hometown ...Read more

Peruvian army personnel during operations against alleged drug trafficking. Cris Bouroncle/AFP via Getty Images, CC BY

Trump’s ‘narco-terrorism’ war in Latin America evokes Reagan – then as now, it’s more about fighting leftists than drug runners

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More than any other U.S. president in decades, Donald Trump has aggressively pursued military interventions in Latin America.

On Jan. 3, 2026, U.S. special forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on charges of narco-terrorism. In the months before the operation, U.S. Southern Command began targeting small, fast-moving ...Read more

Cannabis has become a go-to-sleep aid, but safety evidence is lacking. IRA_EVVA/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Using cannabis for sleep isn’t harmless – a neurologist explains how it can trap people in a cycle of dependency

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For millions of people, cannabis has become the unofficial prescription for lost sleep. But what feels like a solution may be quietly making the problem worse.

Consider these two cases:

She is 15 and has been lying in bed for the past hour. It is past midnight, and her brain will not quiet down. Her school bus comes at 6:20 a....Read more

James Meredith looks at Aubrey Norvell, partially hidden behind foliage, after Norvell shot him in Hernando, Miss., on June 6, 1966. AP Photo/Jack Thornell

Conspiracy theories that emerged from a civil rights shooting 60 years ago resonate today

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On June 6, 1966, on a stretch of Highway 51 just south of Hernando, Mississippi, a portly, middle-aged white man named Aubrey Norvell stepped out of a gully, lifted his shotgun and fired three shots at James Meredith, a Black civil rights activist and Air Force veteran.

Famous for integrating the University of Mississippi four years ...Read more

Al Diaz/Miami Herald/TNS

'I just need somebody to help': What 911 calls reveal about Alligator Alcatraz

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MIAMI — The calls came in from all over the world — France, Illinois and nearby Miami — as people with family and friends at one of the country’s most infamous immigration detention centers dialed the one number they trusted to get help: 911.

Again and again, confused and desperate family members, unsure how to reach Alligator Alcatraz,...Read more

Atta Kenare/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Trump cancels planned Iran strikes in latest reversal

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump pulled back threatened military strikes against Iran, a stark reversal that came just hours after he vowed to hit the Islamic Republic “VERY HARD” and threatened to seize its oil infrastructure.

Trump on Thursday cited what he said were “discussions” that “have been brought to the highest level ...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

ICE retaliated against hunger striking detainees at Adelanto facility, immigration advocates say

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LOS ANGELES — Immigration attorneys and advocates are accusing Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials of retaliating against detainees taking part in hunger strikes over inhumane conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center.

The Immigrant Defenders Law Center officials said a Belizean man they represent, who has helped organize ...Read more

Win McNamee/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump taps Wall Street top cop Jay Clayton as intelligence chief

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he is nominating Jay Clayton to be the next director of national intelligence, following backlash over his selection of housing regulator Bill Pulte to serve in the role on an acting basis.

Clayton has been serving as the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan and was chairman of the Securities and ...Read more

El Niño is here, and chances are it'll be a doozy. What that means for California

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El Niño has officially arrived, the National Weather Service declared Thursday, and the latest edition is shaping up to be particularly potent.

The pattern developed over the past month and is expected to strengthen throughout the year, with the weather service’s Climate Prediction Center assessing a 63% chance of a “very strong” El Niñ...Read more

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images North America/TNS

ICE agents detain individuals outside Baltimore school during pre-k graduation

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BALTIMORE — Federal immigration agents detained individuals outside a Southeast Baltimore school during a pre-kindergarten graduation ceremony Thursday, disrupting the event and alarming families and educators.

The operation also drew swift condemnation from Maryland officials, who called the enforcement action near young children “...Read more

David Guralnick/The Detroit News/TNS

Whitmer hopes Gordie Howe bridge opening can get 'back on track'

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DEARBORN, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told reporters Thursday that Michigan’s leaders were ready to “move forward” with opening the Gordie Howe International Bridge and were still hoping the new Detroit River span can be opened to traffic in “the next few days or weeks.”

“I’m hopeful that we can get it back on track and open ...Read more

Leila Navidi/Star Tribune/TNS

Vance Boelter pleads guilty, will serve life in prison for his attacks on Minnesota lawmakers

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MINNEAPOLIS — Nearly one year after carrying out one of the most shocking acts of political violence in Minnesota's history, Vance Boelter pleaded guilty Thursday to killing state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and shooting state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.

Boelter acknowledged that in agreeing to the plea deal, he ...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

FDA's greenlight of old chemical offers chance to restore faith in sunscreen

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Officials, environmental health advocates, and skin care industry groups are expressing hope that the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of a sunscreen ingredient this week — after consideration for two decades, and global use for nearly as long — will help restore Americans’ wavering faith in sunscreen.

“Bemotrizinol has been ...Read more

James Keivom/New York Daily News/TNS

NYC lawyer wrongfully arrested for contraband drugs defamed by Rikers Island union, lawsuit says

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NEW YORK — A public defender lawyer arrested on Rikers Island and turned into the poster child for drug smuggling is suing the correction officers union and its president — after the supposedly pot-laced papers he brought into the jail turned out to be drug free.

Correction officers and their union head, Benny Boscio, made a public show of...Read more

Mario Tama/Getty Images North America/TNS

University of California to consider reinstating SAT, ACT tests after faculty say students are deficient in math

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LOS ANGELES — Six years after dropping SAT and ACT test requirements, members of an influential University of California admissions board said Thursday that the group will reconsider requiring the standardized tests, a major move favored by faculty who have complained that many students are severely deficient in math.

The potential reversal ...Read more

Jason Redmond/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Father of child pepper-sprayed during Seattle BLM protest settles lawsuit

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SEATTLE — The father of a child who was doused with pepper spray by Seattle police during the early days of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests in Downtown Seattle has settled a federal civil rights lawsuit for $150,000.

The incident sparked national outrage after video and photos showed volunteer medics and other protesters pouring water ...Read more

Yaks graze underneath the panels of a solar farm.
              Sanggay Tashi, CC BY-ND

How the development of solar and wind farms on the Tibetan Plateau is affecting local communities

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China is building some of the world’s largest solar farms on the Tibetan Plateau, where nomadic people have grazed herds of animals for millennia.

It’s not the first time Tibetan regions have become a major source of renewable energy in China. Since the mid-1990s, many Tibetan communities have lived alongside hydropower stations.<...Read more

Leila Navidi/Star Tribune/TNS

Vance Boelter pleads guilty, will serve life in prison for his attacks on Minnesota lawmakers

Current News / News & Features /

MINNEAPOLIS — Nearly one year after carrying out one of the most shocking acts of political violence in state history, Vance Boelter pleaded guilty on Thursday to killing Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and shooting Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.

Boelter acknowledged that in agreeing to the plea deal, he will face two ...Read more

Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Amid slew of corporate tax ideas, California Gov. Gavin Newsom chose one likely to hit people's premiums

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For much of this year, progressive lawmakers, labor unions and advocacy groups have pushed Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Legislature to shore up the state’s healthcare system against federal cuts by taxing corporations more.

After all, proponents argued, Republicans in Washington, D.C. cut into healthcare ...Read more