As the McKinney fire barreled up the Klamath River in the last week, Billy Simms received an alert that told him it was time to get out.

It wasn’t from an announcement by Siskiyou County officials or a text message from the emergency alert system they run — he got no such notice. Billy’s warning came from the sky, in the form of golf ball...Read more

MIAMI — When a Surfside condominium tower collapsed last year killing 98 people, a wave of sympathy reached all the way to Tallahassee: Gov. Ron DeSantis and state legislators forgave the unit owners’ tax bills, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Their generosity, however, did not extend to this year.

Soon, tax bills will be sent ...Read more

WASHINGTON — As Democrats celebrated an abortion rights win last week, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke confidently from the center of an ornate room at the White House compound, surrounded by Cabinet secretaries and other top officials, with President Joe Biden chiming in remotely while sidelined by the coronavirus.

It was the kind of ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — As Kelechi Kalu books gigs as a musician, he wonders whether he is putting himself at risk for monkeypox.

He finds himself second-guessing how close people are getting to him at bars or music venues. He got nervous when his boyfriend said he had scheduled a massage. He has even avoided trying on clothes when out shopping, ...Read more

BELFAST, Tenn. — Three years ago, Mason Lester, a rambunctious toddler, tumbled off his family’s porch and broke his wrist. His mother, nine months pregnant, rushed him to a nearby hospital, where she made a confounding discovery: Their health insurance had vanished.

Alarmed, Katie Lester called the Tennessee Medicaid agency, TennCare, ...Read more

Jeni and her husband had already put together their baby nursery and drafted a list of names when she learned the baby she had been carrying for 33 weeks had a brain that had not developed properly.

A year later, Christina and her husband faced a similar diagnosis for their child at 28 weeks of gestation: excess fluid had built up in the skull,...Read more

For seven years, Timothy Jay Fowler rotated between jail, forced psychiatric hospitalization and freedom.

In 2014, the Great Falls, Montana, man was charged with assaulting two detention officers while he was in jail, accused of theft. A mental health evaluation concluded that Fowler, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, was unfit to ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Milap Kashipara spent 16 years waiting for a green card that he hoped would lead to better opportunities for his three children than in India, as well as a chance to reunite with his siblings in California.

In 2019, his petition finally arrived at the front of the line. He completed the paperwork and had reached the final step �...Read more

WASHINGTON — As the McKinney fire grew to become California’s largest of the season, leaving four people dead so far in Siskiyou County, members of Congress resigned that they could do nothing but hope:

Hope that legislative expenditures mitigate future blazes; hope that laws in place help recovery; hope that funds allocated to agencies in ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — More than a century after its completion and three years after being recognized as a cultural world treasure, Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House will soon reopen to the public.

The landmark home in East Hollywood's Barnsdall Art Park was closed for more than two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Los Angeles ...Read more

If signed into law as written, the climate bill before the U.S. Congress would change the calculus for American households thinking about going solar. The legislation stands to make that transition more affordable while also subsidizing purchases of electric cars, heat pumps, high-tech water heaters and battery-storage systems — clean-energy ...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina’s highest civilian honor has been awarded to athletes, state lawmakers, religious leaders, retired military personnel and police officers.

It’s been used to curry favor with voters and to reward longtime employees and agency directors.

Rosa Parks, Ray Charles, author Pat Conroy, L.A. Dodgers manager Tommy ...Read more

Colombia’s first leftist president was sworn in to start his four-year term on Sunday, pledging to redistribute wealth and re-think the “failed” war on drugs.

Gustavo Petro assumes control of an economy with government debt near record levels, which will make it tough for him to meet promises of more education and welfare spending while ...Read more

LAKE IN THE HILLS, Ill. — As Corrina Sac set up tables and chairs in UpRising Bakery and Cafe on Sunday morning, she said she was excited to finally be holding the family-friendly drag show that was canceled twice after harassment, vandalism and a zoning issue.

“We’re really grateful for everyone to allow us and support us with these ...Read more

Egypt mediated a deal to end three days of violence between Israel and the Islamic Jihad that left 44 people dead in the Gaza Strip, including two senior militants and 15 children, and sent thousands of Israelis into shelters to avoid the almost 1,000 rockets launched at Israel.

“We announce the start of a cease-fire starting at 11:30 p.m. ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The sister of a woman killed in a multicar crash last week has offered words of forgiveness for the driver held responsible for the collision.

Investigators arrested Nicole Lorraine Linton, 37, a registered nurse, in connection with Thursday’s high-speed crash in Windsor Hills, which left five people dead. Asherey Ryan, a 23-...Read more