Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday pulled procedural tricks out of his hat in an effort to short-circuit right-wing stall tactics and rush the debt ceiling bill through the Senate.

Facing a Monday deadline, the New York Democrat started the clock ticking to a final passage right after the House passed the bill to avert a national default...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Epi Gutierrez owns a landscaping business that employs six people in Tampa. But two of his employees plan to leave Florida in less than a month because they and their families no longer feel safe, he said.

The reason for their sudden departures, according to Gutierrez, was an immigration measure that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — Dr. Mandy Cohen, who led North Carolina’s public health response to the coronavirus pandemic, could become a national health leader in President Joe Biden’s administration.

The Washington Post reported Thursday that Cohen is Biden’s pick for head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cohen was secretary of ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The jury deciding the negligence case against former Broward Sheriff’s Deputy Scot Peterson won’t be allowed to visit the scene where a gunman murdered 17 students and faculty, nor will jurors be allowed to stand where Peterson took cover while it was happening.

Broward Circuit Judge Martin Fein denied a defense ...Read more

Pentagon officials have canceled an upcoming drag event at the Nellis Air Force Base in Southern Nevada, even though the family-friendly show had been previously approved by the Air Force.

“Drag-u-Nellis,” first hosted at the base in 2021, brought Las Vegas-based drag performers — including former “RuPaul’s Drag Race” contestants �...Read more

PITTSBURGH — On one side of the small storage closet, chairs were stacked nearly to the ceiling. The legs of almost two dozen round card tables were folded in, the tables lined up against the back wall. Next to them, white boxes were stacked, the top one was filled with red and white faux flowers. A sign near the entrance advertised a pancake ...Read more

NEW YORK — A fired former aide of controversial Rep. George Santos now says he paid off another aide in a failed effort to get a permanent job in the congressman’s office.

Derek Myers, 31, who also claims Santos sexually harassed him, told the House ethics subcommittee this week that he sent at least $1,050 to Vish Burra, a senior aide to ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Seminole County Public Schools is offering to reprint this year’s Lyman High School yearbook and remove two pages for parents upset about LGBTQ+ content, prompting criticism that the district isn’t standing up to bigotry.

The pages highlight the school’s LGBTQ+ community and provide definitions of terms such as ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a stern message Thursday to school leaders across California — any attempt to ban books from classrooms or libraries may require them to answer to the state attorney general.

In a letter to county and district superintendents and charter school administrators, Newsom, State Superintendent Tony ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — Two Idaho families are suing to block a law that makes it a crime to provide gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

House Bill 71, passed by the Legislature this year and signed into law by Idaho Gov. Brad Little, makes it a felony for physicians to provide transition-related surgeries and medication, such as puberty ...Read more

President Joe Biden fell after handing out the final diploma during a graduation ceremony at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado on Thursday, the second time the 80-year-old has tumbled since taking office.

Biden turned to return to his seat as the ceremony neared its end when he tripped and went to both knees, his right arm breaking his ...Read more

On the first day of the Atlantic hurricane season, the National Hurricane Center says Tropical Depression Two has formed. The NHC was to begin advisories on the system in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida’s coast at 5 p.m. Eastern time.

The NHC declared an unnamed subtropical storm had formed in January, which is why this is the second named ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom sent a stern message Thursday to school leaders across California — any attempt to ban books from classrooms or libraries may require them to answer to the state attorney general.

In a letter to county and district superintendents and charter school administrators, Newsom, State Superintendent Tony ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Bill Cosby is facing another sexual assault lawsuit filed by former Playboy model Victoria Valentino, who alleges that the comedian drugged and raped her in 1969.

Valentino, 80, filed the case in Los Angeles County Superior court Thursday in accordance with a new law that temporarily lifted the statute of limitations on civil ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The family of a slain Temple University police officer has sued Miles Pfeffer, the Bucks County 18-year-old charged with his death, and his parents, asserting that the February shooting “could and should have been prevented” by those closest to Pfeffer.

Calling Christopher Fitzgerald’s death “a horrific and tragic act ...Read more

Montana’s Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte became the latest to sign several new anti-transgender laws, including one that will prevent gender-affirming medical care for minors.

One thing these new laws do not take into account is that the 12 federally recognized tribes in Montana have historically recognized multiple gender ...Read more

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday pulled procedural tricks out of his hat in an effort to short circuit right-wing stall tactics and rush the debt ceiling increase through the Senate.

Facing a Monday deadline, the New York Democrat started the clock ticking to a final passage within minutes after the House passed the bill to avert a ...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The gas station owner who shot and killed a 14-year-old on Sunday had previously shot at two people he believed were stealing from his store, according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.

Rick Chow, 58, is accused of fatally shooting Cyrus Carmack-Belton of Columbia in the back after an argument between the two ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sikhs and other people whose faith requires them to wear a turban or patka could soon be allowed to ride motorcycles in California without a helmet as mandated by state law.

The state Senate this week voted to grant a religious exemption for the headwear. The measure, Senate Bill 847 from Sen. Brian Dahle, a Bieber ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Bill Cosby is facing another sexual assault lawsuit filed by former Playboy model Victoria Valentino, who alleges that the comedian drugged and raped her in 1969.

Valentino, 80, filed the case in the Los Angeles County Superior court Thursday in accordance with a new law that temporarily lifted the statute of limitations civil ...Read more