SAN DIEGO — Stu Hedley, a Pearl Harbor survivor who spent decades stoking the flames of remembrance about that pivotal moment in American history, died Wednesday from COVID-19. He was 99.

Short in stature but long on stamina, the San Diegan was a fixture at annual public events honoring military veterans and a frequent speaker at local ...Read more

NEW YORK — New York Mayor Bill de Blasio stepped up his attacks against Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday, excoriating him as a Trump-like “narcissist” who’s stifling New York’s pandemic recovery by staying in office despite a state attorney general report corroborating accusations that he sexually harassed 11 women.

Taking aim at the ...Read more

Richard Trumka, the longtime president of the AFL-CIO and Democratic ally, died unexpectedly on Thursday, according to a union spokesperson.

Trumka, 72, died while celebrating his grandson’s birthday, according to an email sent by his staff to labor unions.

“He was more than the head of the AFL-CIO, he was a good close personal friend,” ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The River fire in Northern California has forced 5,200 people from their homes in Nevada and Placer counties and destroyed dozens of structures.

The fire is burning about 55 miles southeast of the Dixie fire, which destroyed much of the downtown of Greenville on Wednesday.

The 2,400-acre River fire started at the Bear River ...Read more

ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York Assembly’s impeachment investigation into Gov. Andrew Cuomo is “nearing completion” as lawmakers warn they will “soon consider potential articles of impeachment against” the scandal-scarred governor.

Cuomo, who has defiantly resisted calls to resign in the wake of a report outlining sexual harassment ...Read more

MIAMI — More Florida children were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Tuesday than in any other state, reflecting a rapid rise in serious illness among an age group considered to be at the lowest risk of severe outcomes from the disease and many still not eligible for the vaccine.

A total of 46 pediatric patients were admitted to a Florida ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is no stranger to fraught congressional negotiations.

But perhaps even he has never faced a balancing act on Capitol Hill quite like this one.

As lawmakers near the final phase of a two-track legislative process this month, Biden is caught between retaining support for a bipartisan infrastructure deal and a ...Read more

A wildfire that’s been raging for weeks in California ripped through a town in the mountains north of Sacramento, gutting buildings and forcing residents to evacuate.

The Dixie Fire, which troubled utility giant PG&E Corp. said may have been sparked by one of its power lines, hit Greenville, a gold-rush era town with a population of about 1,...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Much of the tiny Plumas County community of Greenville was in ruins early Thursday, reduced to ashes by the Dixie Fire.

Cal Fire said the three-week-old fire grew to 322,502 acres overnight, driven by fierce winds, and leveled parts of Greenville, a Gold Rush-era community of about 1,000.

“Reports indicate that ...Read more

MIAMI — Two North Carolina men already jailed for the rape of a South Beach tourist who died of an overdose during spring break now also face first-degree murder charges.

A Miami-Dade grand jury indicted the men on Wednesday and added a separate first-degree murder charge against one of the defendants for the death of another man three days ...Read more

The budget blueprint Senate Democrats are preparing to unveil will likely assume, at least on paper, that the eventual reconciliation package to implement the more partisan pieces of President Joe Biden’s fiscal agenda will add hundreds of billions of dollars to deficits over the next decade.

That’s despite top Democrats’ pledge that the ...Read more

An 18-year-old TikTok star, well-known online as Timbo the Redneck, died over the weekend while performing a truck-driving stunt in his friend’s front yard in Florida.

The social media celebrity, whose real name was Timothy Hall, died on Sunday after he was tossed from his beloved pickup as he attempted to execute a series of donuts, a ...Read more

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden is expected to unveil plans Thursday to strengthen car pollution standards through 2026, putting the United States on a path to reduce greenhouse gas emissions — though not as quickly as many environmentalists say is needed.

The proposed standards, written by the Environmental Protection Agency and the ...Read more

Moderna Inc. said its COVID-19 vaccine remained 93% effective through six months after the second shot, as it reported second-quarter earnings and revenue that beat expectations.

A final analysis of the company’s late-stage study, described in a statement on Thursday, suggests the vaccine’s protection remains stable for long after ...Read more

Tokyo reported a record 5,042 new coronavirus cases Thursday, as the Olympics held under unprecedented conditions due to the pandemic entered their final few days in the Japanese capital.

The leap from the previous day brought the seven-day moving average to about 3,646, while the number of serious cases rose to 135 from 115 the previous day, ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — The conflict over critical race theory in Connecticut is shifting from arguments on Facebook to activism in the political sphere as social conservatives seek to seize control of school boards around the state.

Rebelling against the establishment and determined to remake the curriculum, Republican activists have won ...Read more