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Major legal brawl may decide what types of cars Americans can buy

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Blue states are bracing for a battle with the Trump administration over their authority to limit tailpipe emissions, a showdown that will have major repercussions on the types of cars and trucks sold to American drivers.

All sides expect President-elect Donald Trump to try to revoke states’ authority to adopt California’s strict rules on ...Read more

(Matt Volz/KFF Health News)/KFF Health News/TNS

Medicaid expansion debate will affect other health policy issues before Montana Legislature

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HELENA, Mont. — A last-minute change to a 2019 bill put an end date on Montana’s Medicaid expansion program, setting the stage for what is anticipated to be the most significant health care debate of the 2025 Montana Legislature.

In recent interviews, legislative leaders predicted a vigorous debate over keeping the Medicaid expansion ...Read more

Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images North America/TNS

Librarians gain protections in some states as book bans soar

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Karen Grant and fellow school librarians throughout New Jersey have heard an increasingly loud chorus of parents and conservative activists demanding that certain books — often about race, gender and sexuality — be removed from the shelves.

In the past year, Grant and her colleagues in the Ewing Public Schools just north of Trenton updated ...Read more

Patrick T. Fallon/Getty Images of North America/TNS

Trump's immigration plans could imperil long-term care workforce

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WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump’s vowed crackdown on immigration could strain an already struggling elder care workforce that relies on foreign-born workers in nursing homes and home health settings.

Industry players and experts argue that increasing the long-term care workforce requires more immigration, and Trump’s plans could...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Ex-Speaker Michael Madigan is walking a tightrope by testifying. Will the gamble pay off?

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In the world of Illinois politics, longtime House Speaker Michael Madigan developed a reputation that people at the statehouse could count on his word.

The secretive Southwest Side Democrat didn’t necessarily give it freely. He wanted to know every angle of an issue before saying he would embrace an idea or go all in. And he sometimes took ...Read more

Todd Maisel/New York Daily News/TNS

City pushes to dismiss FOIA case over 9/11 Ground Zero toxin studies

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The city is trying to quash a lawsuit seeking pivotal data on the toxins that hovered over lower Manhattan following the 9/11 terror attacks, claiming it doesn’t have the important documents and that the search for the long-sought records is nothing more than a “fishing expedition,” the Daily News has learned.

In court papers filed late ...Read more

Minnesota home care workers reach tentative deal with state with improved wages, benefits

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Minnesota home care workers have reached a tentative union contract with the state that would increase wages and benefits, including taking initial steps toward the creation of a retirement contribution program for Minnesota’s most in-demand profession.

SEIU Healthcare, which represents about 35,000 Minnesota home care workers, announced on ...Read more

Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Hang-gliding pioneer tried to save Topanga home. His friends never heard from him again

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A hang glider for four decades, 69-year-old Arthur Simoneau was a calculated risk-taker. And so, as residents fled the Pacific Palisades fire Tuesday, Simoneau headed closer to the inferno.

He was returning from a ski trip in Mammoth when he learned of the evacuation orders for his Topanga home in the Santa Monica Mountains, said Steve Murillo,...Read more

Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Los Angeles fires rage as high winds set to return this week

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At least two rounds of vicious, dry Santa Ana winds are expected to blast through Southern California early this week, bringing powerful gusts that will challenge fire crews struggling to contain two destructive blazes and likely force thousands more residents to evacuate.

After a brief respite from the winds over the weekend, a shifting ...Read more

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Trump's cabinet picks will begin confirmation hearings this week – here's the schedule

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The U.S. Senate will get down to the business of confirming President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks this week, when several nominees will face an uphill battle as they work to convince a majority of lawmakers that they are fit to serve in the position to which they’ve been nominated.

Here is the hearing schedule thus far, as published ...Read more

KIM WON JIN/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Zelenskyy seeks to exchange North Korean soldiers for Ukrainians

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Ukraine is ready to return captured North Korean soldiers if leader Kim Jong Un can facilitate an exchange for Ukrainian soldiers being held in Russia, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Ukraine has said it captured two North Koreans fighting for Russia in the Kursk region. Zelenskyy said this is likely just the beginning, as ...Read more

Alfredo Estrella/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Mexico isn't subordinate, Sheinbaum says as Trump takes office

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Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, in a speech to crowds of supporters days before Donald Trump is sworn in as U.S. head of state, vowed her country would not be subordinated by its northern neighbor.

Ties between both nations will stay strong and dialogue will prevail, Sheinbaum said during the speech in a Mexico City square on Sunday to ...Read more

JASON CONNOLLY/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Apex predators captured in Canada to be flown to Colorado and released. Here's why

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Wildlife experts are in the process of capturing gray wolves from Canada in order to release them in Colorado, effectively doubling the state’s small, recently reintroduced population.

Until recently, gray wolves were virtually extinct in Colorado, but state officials are going to great lengths to change that.

As many as 15 gray wolves will ...Read more

ERIK GALICIA/The Fresno Bee/TNS

Immigrant parent fears '100%' real after Border Patrol raids in Central Valley, leaders say

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As elected officials came together in Fresno on Saturday to discuss this week’s immigration raids, they spoke with uncertainty about future enforcement operations in the Central Valley.

U.S. Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, reported during a Saturday news conference that his office has been inundated with concerned calls from the Central Valley’s ...Read more

Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/TNS

How wind-driven wildfires stormed the LA area

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A look at how intense gusts rarely before seen in Southern California stoked blazes in urban areas in and around Los Angeles.

Los Angeles has experienced one of its worst disasters as powerful Santa Ana winds, sometimes at hurricane strength, swept down the surrounding mountains and pushed wildfires into several neighborhoods starting Tuesday. ...Read more

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Biden banned new oil and gas leases on California's Central Coast. Could Trump revoke protections?

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Donald Trump chanted "drill, baby, drill" like a mantra on the campaign trail last year, but the incoming president will have a difficult time fulfilling that promise in federal waters — especially on the Central Coast.

On Monday, President Joe Biden banned new leases for offshore oil and gas extraction on about 625 million acres on the ...Read more

Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News/TNS

No cell phones in schools, free meals for children, a state flood authority: Here are some of Alaska lawmakers' first ideas ahead of the legislative session

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An initial batch of proposed legislation was unveiled Friday, revealing some of Alaska lawmakers' personal priorities ahead of a legislative session that will begin later this month.

The state's House and Senate are both expected to be led by bipartisan coalitions that bring together Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans all hoping ...Read more

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Trump aide floats push for Ukraine to lower military draft age

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A top aide in President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration signaled that Ukraine will be asked to lower the conscription age to strengthen its battlefield position ahead of any settlement with Russia.

Michael Waltz, a former Army Green Beret and combat veteran of Afghanistan whom Trump tapped as his White House national security ...Read more

Ana Ramirez/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Trains, cars, drugs, floods: 495 homeless people died last year in San Diego County

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The Toyota Tacoma would have looked out of place even if a leg hadn’t been sticking out of an open door.

The surrounding neighborhood gleamed with two-story homes and curated gardens cut into the hillsides of unincorporated El Cajon. Yet the truck, parked on a dirt lot in a cul-de-sac, featured dented metal and a bed filled with blankets. A ...Read more

Ana Ramirez/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Trump has threatened to end CBP One, making asylum appointments more coveted than ever

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The clock could be ticking for thousands of asylum seekers who have been waiting months for an appointment to show up at a U.S. port of entry, as President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration approaches.

At the Juventud 2000 migrant shelter in Tijuana, some people have already given up.

The uncertainty comes as Trump has signaled that he will ...Read more