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Alligator Alcatraz isn't meant for minors. A 15-year-old ended up there anyway
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In the rush to open a detention camp in the Florida Everglades for “some of the most vicious” migrants illegally in the country, state and federal officers detained a 15-year-old boy with no criminal record and sent him in handcuffs to Alligator Alcatraz, the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times have learned.
The teenager,...Read more

Former NYPD head Thomas Donlon says shoddy evidence storage jeopardizes criminal cases
NEW YORK — Soon after he was named police commissioner by Mayor Eric Adams, Thomas Donlon made it a priority to examine the evidence storage practices in NYPD warehouses around the city.
He was stunned at what he found — and then shocked at the reaction from police brass, according to his blockbuster lawsuit filed Wednesday alleging top ...Read more

Trail camera snaps 'gem' of creature locally extinct for 150 years in Australia
Ecologists in Australia were treated to an “adorable” surprise while reviewing thousands of images captured by their motion sensor field cameras.
There among photos was “a female bandicoot with three young at foot,” according to a July 15 news release from the Australian Wildlife Conservancy obtained by McClatchy News.
Experts called ...Read more

Fentanyl, sedative caused mass overdose in Baltimore, scientists believe
BALTIMORE — Federal scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology have identified a combination of substances believed to be responsible for a last week’s mass overdose in Baltimore’s Penn North neighborhood.
Lab testing revealed the presence of the following drugs in samples tied to the July 10 overdose event:
—...Read more

Emboldened by Trump, El Salvador's president has jailed critics. Now journalists and human rights leaders are fleeing en masse
MEXICO CITY — They have fled to Guatemala, Mexico, Costa Rica and Spain. Most left in a hurry with few possessions, unsure of when — or whether — they would be able to return home.
As El Salvador cracks down on dissent, jailing critics of President Nayib Bukele, droves of human rights activists, journalists and other members of civil ...Read more

Pay caps are a 'slap in the face' for some in Capitol Police
WASHINGTON — Capitol Police officers who were spread thin in recent weeks amid security concerns, an unpredictable congressional schedule and the July 4 holiday say they’re in danger of missing out on money owed to them as they bump up against pay limits.
The busy period has resurfaced debates about how best to meet the staffing challenges ...Read more

EPA signals opposition to Colorado's plan to close coal power plants
DENVER — The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday signaled it no longer believes Colorado can mandate utility companies close their coal-fired power plants, leading environmentalists to accuse the Trump administration of attacking the state’s plan to shift to 100% renewable energy by 2031 to meet its climate goals.
The EPA published...Read more

Vaccine divide widens after CDC committee shake-up
WASHINGTON — Politics have largely stayed out of Julie Linton’s South Carolina pediatrician’s office over the years — that is, until recently. The Greenville physician has seen an uptick in the number of parents feeling reluctant or refusing to vaccinate their children.
Anti-vaccine messaging stemming from Washington, D.C., isn’t ...Read more

Trump lawyer Bove gets 3rd Circuit backing as Democrats walk out
WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced, 12-0, the nomination of Emil Bove for an appeals court post Thursday after Democrats walked out of the vote for a controversial figure in the administration’s aggressive shake up of the Justice Department.
Republicans brushed past outrage from Democrats over accusations that Bove ...Read more

US Rep. Garcia asks RFK Jr. to explain targeting of HIV/AIDS funding for cuts
U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., is calling on Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to explain why the Trump administration has repeatedly ordered cuts to HIV/AIDS programs both at home and abroad.
In a letter to Kennedy dated Thursday, Garcia asserted that the Cabinet secretary has a history of peddling misinformation ...Read more

Baltimore charter school can qualify for $1.4 million grant without rezoning through Trump administration
BALTIMORE — Baltimore charter school Dream Academy will open to pupils next year with an extra $1.4 million in its budget thanks to a new interpretation of grant guidelines by President Donald Trump’s administration.
That development was announced at the July 8 meeting of the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners by district CEO ...Read more

Ax murderer David Brom set to be released from Minnesota prison
MINNEAPOLIS — A change in state law has opened the way for one of Rochester’s most infamous killers to be released from prison.
David Brom, who was convicted of killing four family members in 1988 with an ax, is set to be released later this month, according to the Minnesota Department of Corrections.
Brom, who was 16 at the time of the ...Read more

Conspiracy theories helped nix proposed housing authority to rebuild after LA County wildfires
LOS ANGELES — This week, reality TV show star Spencer Pratt posted multiple videos on social media savaging a proposed state bill on wildfire rebuilding. In one, Pratt told his 2 million TikTok followers that he consulted an artificial intelligence engine about Senate Bill 549. He said it told him the legislation would allow L.A. County to buy...Read more
The mother of an LA teen who took his own life is fighting for a new mental health tool for LGBTQ+ youth
LOS ANGELES — Bridget McCarthy believes that if her son Riley Chart had quick and easy access to a suicide prevention hotline designed for queer young people, he might be alive today.
Chart, a trans teen who had once endured bullying because he was different, took his own life at the family's home during the COVID-19 lockdown in September ...Read more

Senate sends $9 billion rescissions package to the House
WASHINGTON — The Senate early Thursday narrowly passed, 51-48, a $9 billion foreign aid and public media rescissions package, sending the spending cancellations sought by President Donald Trump back to the House where the clock is ticking to get it cleared by Friday.
GOP moderates Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska broke ...Read more

Gov. Brian Kemp appoints appellate judge to Georgia Supreme Court
ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp has elevated Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Benjamin Land to a vacancy on the Georgia Supreme Court.
A lifelong Columbus resident, Land joins the court after the resignation of Chief Justice Michael Boggs and the promotion of Justice Nels Peterson to the chief role.
Kemp announced Land’s appointment to the state�...Read more

Washington state sues Trump administration for disaster funding cuts
SEATTLE — While the country reels from a series of deadly and devastating floods, Washington and a coalition of other states are suing President Donald Trump’s administration to keep money flowing so they can guard against even more natural disasters.
The lawsuit from 20 states led, in part, by Washington Attorney General Nick Brown, argues...Read more

Colorado wildfires: 4 Western Slope fires growing on thousands of acres
DENVER — The growth of one wildfire burning on Colorado’s Western Slope has slowed to a crawl, but four others continue to scorch thousands of acres, fire officials said.
Three of the four active fires in western Colorado were sparked July 10 during a lightning storm. The 2,274-acre Sowbelly fire, which hasn’t grown since Monday, was ...Read more

California lawmakers want to close licensing 'loophole' after deadly Esparto blast
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — State Sen. Christopher Cabaldon, D-West Sacramento, and Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, D-Winters, plan to introduce legislation tightening California’s explosives permitting process, the lawmakers told The Sacramento Bee. The announcement comes two weeks after an unpermitted fireworks warehouse exploded in Esparto,...Read more
UK to lower voting age to 16 before next general election
LONDON — The U.K. plans to lower the voting age to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to participate in the next general election, as part of a package of electoral reforms that also include clamping down on political donations from foreign donors.
The lower voting age will bring U.K.-wide elections in line with those in Scotland and Wales, the ...Read more
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