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Minnesota lawmakers strike a deal on a 2-year state budget

Current News / News & Features /

MINNEAPOLIS — Gov. Tim Walz and legislative leaders struck a budget deal Thursday that rolls back health care coverage for undocumented immigrant adults, closes the Stillwater prison and makes other notable spending cuts.

After about two weeks of closed-door negotiations, Walz and leaders of the tied House and DFL-controlled Senate will ...Read more

Tierney L. Cross/Getty Images North America/TNS

GOP Rep. Lawler calls Marjorie Taylor Greene 'Jewish space laser lady' in SALT feud

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Rep. Mike Lawler traded insults with fellow Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in a nasty online spat over his push for a higher cap on deducting state and local taxes, or SALT.

Calling MTG “the Jewish space laser lady,” Lawler said hardline right-wing Republicans should pay more attention to winning swing seats like his Westchester ...Read more

MIKE NELSON/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Menendez brothers move closer to freedom as California Gov. Gavin Newsom drops clemency probes, sets parole hearing

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LOS ANGELES — In the wake of a Los Angeles County judge resentencing Erik and Lyle Menendez to terms of 50 years to life, Gov. Gavin Newsom has withdrawn his request for a clemency investigation, turning a hearing scheduled in June before the parole board into an opportunity for the brothers to be granted early release.

The move streamlines ...Read more

Justin Hamel/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

LA Vietnamese man came for annual ICE check-in, then nearly got deported to Libya

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LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles construction worker from Vietnam was among 13 immigrants roused by guards in full combat gear around 2:30 a.m. one day last week in a Texas detention facility, shackled, forced onto a bus and told they would be deported to Libya, two of the detainees' lawyers said.

"It was very aggressive. They weren't allowed to ...Read more

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Newsom's pitch as he seeks to pare down immigrant health care: 'We have to adjust'

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday proposed that California roll back health care for immigrants without legal status, saying the state needed to cut benefits for some to maintain core services across the board.

It’s a striking reversal for the Democrat, who had promised universal health care and called health coverage for ...Read more

(Brett Kelman/KFF Health News)/KFF Health News/TNS

Pain clinic CEO faced 20 years for making patients 'human pin cushions.' He got 18 months

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Federal prosecutors sought a maximum prison sentence of nearly 20 years for the CEO of Pain MD, a company found to have given hundreds of thousands of questionable injections to patients, many reliant on opioids. It would have been among the longest sentences for a health care executive convicted of fraud in recent years.

...Read more

Cruise ship passengers try to smuggle 150,000 cigarettes in California, feds say

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Two cruise ship passengers arriving at a Southern California port were found with 150,000 cigarettes in their luggage, federal border agents reported.

Agents found 749 cartons of cigarettes in 10 pieces of luggage in Long Beach on April 17, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a Wednesday, May 14, news release.

The two women found with ...Read more

JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Sean 'Diddy' Combs trial: Most shocking bombshells from Cassie testimony

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NEW YORK — Cassie Ventura, who dated Sean “Diddy” Combs for over a decade until 2018, appeared in court as the star witness during his high-profile sex trafficking trial.

The pregnant R&B singer took the stand this week to testify against the disgraced music mogul. Her harrowing testimony revealed graphic details on everything from freak-...Read more

Arvin Temkar/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

New judge plans to streamline sprawling training center RICO case in Atlanta

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The Fulton County judge who took over the sweeping racketeering case against more than 60 protesters who opposed the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center said he’s trying to plow through some of the issues that have delayed the case from reaching trial for more than two years.

The training center itself has already opened, but none of the ...Read more

Protesters call for release of student facing deportation after mistaken arrest in Georgia

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DALTON, Ga. — Dozens of protesters gathered at a rally Wednesday calling for the release of Ximena Arias-Cristobal, the 19-year-old Dalton College student whose arrest after a traffic stop earlier this month landed her in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“Ximena belongs, Ximena stays, we won’t look the other way,�...Read more

Win McNamee/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump says nothing will happen on Ukraine until he meets Putin

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U.S. President Donald Trump said there’ll be no resolution of Russia’s war in Ukraine until he meets with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, as a delegation from Kyiv set off to Istanbul for potential ceasefire talks with Moscow counterparts.

“Nothing’s going to happen until Putin and I get together,” Trump told reporters Thursday on ...Read more

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Missouri schools may have to enact complete cellphone ban for students

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri lawmakers passed a bill earlier this week requiring public schools to ban cellphone use during the school day.

When the bill was first filed, it called for a cellphone ban in schools during instructional time.

However, state lawmakers took a more restrictive approach, with a complete ban on cellphones during the ...Read more

Win McNamee/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump says nothing will happen on Ukraine until he meets Putin

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U.S. President Donald Trump said there’ll be no resolution of Russia’s war in Ukraine until he meets with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, as the prospects for planned peace talks in Turkey remained uncertain.

“Nothing’s going to happen until Putin and I get together,” Trump told reporters Thursday on board Air Force One as he traveled ...Read more

Colorado would lose billions in Medicaid funding under House Republicans' plan

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DENVER — More than 100,000 Coloradans could lose their health insurance and the state would face a budget shortfall in the billions if Congress passes newly proposed cuts to Medicaid, according to preliminary estimates from state agencies and nonprofit groups.

Two points in House Republicans’ plan to slash Medicaid spending would cause most...Read more

Just how bad are San Diego's budget problems? City may dip into reserves for 1st time in years

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SAN DIEGO — San Diego’s steadily worsening budget picture means city officials will likely need to dip into reserve funds to cover expenses this spring — the first time they’ve needed reserve funds to balance the budget in at least a decade.

City finance officials said Wednesday that they’re facing a new $31 million budget hole thanks...Read more

Trump says US and Iran are closer to reaching a nuclear deal

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President Donald Trump suggested the U.S. is closer to an agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear activities, prompting a sell-off in oil.

“I think we’re getting close to maybe doing a deal,” Trump said in Qatar at an event with business leaders on Thursday. “You probably read the story that Iran has sort of agreed to the terms.”

Trump ...Read more

Missing camper 'miraculously' found alive after surviving weeks in snowy California's High Sierra

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LOS ANGELES — When Christopher Gutierrez went to check in on his remote camping resort after a long, snowy winter in the High Sierra, he was met with a shocking discovery — a starving hiker holed up inside one of his cabins.

The woman, 27-year-old Tiffany Slaton from Jeffersonville, Ga., had been missing in the Fresno County wilderness for...Read more

Staring down harsh Trump funding cuts, UC and CSU get some relief in California Gov. Gavin Newsom budget plan

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LOS ANGELES – For months, California's public higher education institutions have braced for deep state funding cuts, fearing they would lead to reductions in student services, course offerings and even enrollment.

In Gov. Gavin Newsom's January budget proposal, the two systems were confronting $771 million in cuts. Faculty, students and staff...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

As climate hazards worsen, Trump moves to weaken FEMA and shift disaster response onto states

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The recent firing of the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is just the latest in a string of blows for the nation’s top disaster-response agency, which has been repeatedly undercut by the Trump administration’s efforts to rein in spending and restructure the federal government.

The dismissal of acting director Cameron Hamilton...Read more

Sam Morris/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Nevada Rep. Steven Horsford on tourism, trade wars and taking on Trump

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WASHINGTON — Asked if the ends can justify the means in politics, U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford brings it back to tariffs.

“That’s part of the problem right now. You know, tariffs are not a bad thing, but how you do it matters,” the Nevada Democrat says.

Tourism is a big industry in Nevada’s 4th District, which includes parts of Las ...Read more