FRESNO, Calif. — Weeks before Matias Bernal migrated to the United States from Mexico City in 2002, he and his younger sister were held at gunpoint by three strangers who ambushed them on their way to school.

The would-be abductors forced the siblings to get inside their vehicle and drove away, releasing Bernal’s sister about 15 minutes ...Read more

VALDOSTA, Ga. — Abby Jones’ first stop of the day delivering medication was the home of 90-year-old Sarah Campbell Kier.

“Come in!” yelled Kier. Jones didn’t have to knock. Kier had the screen door open and was waiting for the Barnes Drug Store driver, who also had delivered Kier’s thyroid medication the day before.

“I appreciate...Read more

Psychedelic therapy is set to launch in Colorado this spring, with the state considering licenses for healing centers, psilocybin mushroom cultivations, a product manufacturer and a testing lab.

Regulators recently began accepting applications from those interested in getting in on the ground floor of the state’s nascent industry, and while ...Read more

COLUMBIA FALLS, Mont. — Over two years ago, Kim Hilton and his partner walked out of their home for the final time. The house had sold, and the new landlord raised the rent.

They couldn’t afford it. Their Social Security payments couldn’t cover the cost of any apartments in northwestern Montana’s Flathead Valley.

Hilton’s partner was...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The ongoing hemp controversy in Sutter County comes down to two issues: shortfall and smell.

Six-figure losses are at stake on both sides of the debate between the county and its local hemp farmers, as officials weigh whether to continue their ban on industrial hemp production.

Sutter County has only a handful of ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- One morning last May, 16-year-old Abdul Anderson stood slouched against a wall at Cove Secure, a juvenile institution on the grounds of central Pennsylvania’s Torrance State Hospital. He was scheduled to be in class, but was stuck in a dayroom in a state of profound boredom.

The next moment, his head smashed into the wall ...Read more

ATLANTA — Former Atlanta Braves player turned iconic broadcaster Bob Uecker, 90, has died. His hometown team announced that “Mr. Baseball” died Thursday morning in what has become “one of the most difficult days in Milwaukee Brewers history.” Though his cause of death was not revealed, according to his family, Uecker had been battling ...Read more

PASADENA, Calif. — As Fernando Ramirez drove to work the day after the Eaton Fire erupted, smoke darkened the sky, ash and embers rained onto his windshield, and the air smelled of melting rubber and plastic.

He pulled to the side of the road and cried at the sight of residents trying to save their homes.

“I could see people standing on ...Read more

Federal employees in diversity, equity and inclusion roles will be placed on paid leave Wednesday as their offices related to those programs are being ordered to shut down after President Donald Trump’s executive orders, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed in a post on X.

Under a memorandum from the Office of Personnel ...Read more

In California, where more than 147,000 federal civilian employees worked last year, President Donald Trump’s hiring pause will likely have a big impact on the federal government’s ability to provide services, labor groups said.

One area of concern is how the hiring freeze could impact the federal government’s ability to hire and support ...Read more

PJM Interconnection, which operates the largest U.S. grid from Washington, D.C., to Illinois, issued a Level 1 emergency alert for Wednesday as cold weather boosts electricity demand.

The network operator expects energy use to near a record set almost a decade ago as dangerously low temperatures spread across the Eastern U.S., it said. PJM ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday that could designate drug cartels in Mexico as foreign terrorist organizations, a move that has some bipartisan support, while experts have expressed caution about that approach and suggested that Congress pass legislation to deal with the issue.

The order directs officials ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A judge on Tuesday ordered Southern California Edison to preserve data, equipment and evidence related to the deadly Eaton fire, a decision praised by attorneys who sued the giant utility company and suspect the fire was started at the base of an electrical tower.

Issued by L.A. Superior Court Judge Ashfaq G. Chowdhury Tuesday ...Read more

MIAMI — The U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday night that it will be surging ships, boats and aircraft to South Florida and other areas of the country to bolster anti-maritime migration efforts to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order to use the nation’s military to defend the border.

The announcement comes the same day the ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Over the past two years, the Biden administration struck a careful balance on artificial intelligence. The White House took steps to ensure the U.S. stayed ahead of China in developing the technology while also trying to address some of AI’s many potential risks.

In his first 24 hours back in Washington, Donald Trump sent a ...Read more

The World Health Organization called on the U.S. to reconsider President Donald Trump’s decision to exit the agency, suggesting the move could undermine global health security.

The planned departure would leave the WHO scrambling to replace its top donor, which contributed $1.3 billion to the organization between 2022 and 2023. Without U.S. ...Read more

Chinese leader Xi Jinping hailed his country’s ties with Russia during a video call with Vladimir Putin a day after Donald Trump’s inauguration as U.S. president, signaling a resolve to deepen their alliance.

Xi said he’s willing to work with his Russian counterpart to take bilateral relations to new heights, vowing to leverage the ...Read more

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday that could designate drug cartels in Mexico as foreign terrorist organizations, a move that has some bipartisan support, while experts have expressed caution about that approach and suggested that Congress pass legislation to deal with the issue.

The order directs officials to examine ...Read more

President Donald Trump pardoned the founder of darknet marketplace Silk Road, he said in a post to Truth Social on Tuesday night.

Ross William Ulbricht, known online as Dread Pirate Roberts, was indicted in the U.S. District Court in Maryland on charges of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, attempted witness murder and using ...Read more

Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and a top aide to President Trump, drew and quickly dismissed a raft of condemnation from Democratic lawmakers, left-wing politicians abroad and others across the internet after twice making what to some looked like a Nazi salute from an inauguration stage.

Musk — who has endorsed antisemitic remarks and ...Read more