CHICAGO – One of the sons of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman could spend the rest of his life in prison after pleading guilty Friday in federal court in Chicago to helping his father and brothers run the notoriously violent Sinaloa cartel, importing thousands of tons of narcotics into the U.S., bribing public officials and using murder and ...Read more

CHICAGO – Chicago Public Schools announced a second round of summer layoffs Friday, firing 1,458 employees in the latest effort to help close the district’s $734 million budget deficit.

The layoffs include 432 teachers – representing 1.8% of the teaching staff – including 132 special education teachers. Also impacted were 311 ...Read more

Mayor Karen Bass announced a plan Friday to provide direct cash assistance to people who have been affected by the Trump administration's sweeping immigration raids.

The aid will be distributed using cash cards with a "couple hundred" dollars on them, which should be available in about a week, Bass said at a news conference.

"You have people ...Read more

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — More than two years into Gov. Ron DeSantis’ ongoing emergency declaration of a “border crisis,” Florida’s fiscal watchdog agency hasn’t audited any of the expenses and contracts issued under the order.

That’s despite a state law requiring such oversight if an emergency is extended for more than one year, ...Read more

President Donald Trump in Texas on Friday viewed firsthand the devastation left by extreme flooding that killed at least 120 people and left scores still missing in the state’s Hill Country region, seeking to reassure residents of the federal response to the disaster.

The president met with local officials and emergency workers in hard-hit ...Read more

Dennis Quaid’s teen daughter is “safe” after last week’s deadly flooding in Texas killed at least 27 people at an all-girls Christian summer camp not far from where she was a counselor.

During an appearance on Fox News Thursday, Quaid — a Texas native who himself spent two childhood summers at camp in Hill Country — said 17-year-old...Read more

For Celeste Michael, the transgender community is being used as a pawn in Missouri’s push to ban abortion.

When the 23-year-old went to vote in Lee’s Summit last November, signs outside her polling place falsely claimed an abortion rights amendment would legalize transgender surgeries for minors. Nearly 52% of voters approved the measure, ...Read more

Gov. Mike Kehoe on Thursday signed a bill into law repealing Missouri workers’ paid sick leave protections that voters overwhelmingly supported in November.

The rollback of Proposition A, which nearly 58% of voters favored, is the latest example of Missouri officials relitigating and undermining seemingly progressive policies enacted at the ...Read more

NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams took a shot Thursday at the lawyer representing four retired NYPD chiefs suing him and senior department officials over allegations of cronyism and corruption, claiming her ongoing criticism of him raises questions about the accusations.

Adams, who declined to address the substance of the ex-chiefs’ damning ...Read more

The Archbishop of Miami has some strong words about Florida’s new detention center for migrants in the Everglades.

In a statement posted to the Archdiocese of Miami website, Archbishop Thomas Wenski condemned Alligator Alcatraz, calling it “alarming” and “unbecoming of public officials.”

“It is alarming to see enforcement tactics ...Read more

ATLANTA – Georgia disability rights advocates are sounding the alarm about a change the U.S. Department of Energy is quietly trying to institute to a decades-old disability rights law.

The DOE is utilizing a rarely used process to try to rescind a building accessibility regulation for new construction funded by the agency. Though the DOE ...Read more

ATLANTA - President Donald Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill shifts a greater share of the financial burden of managing food assistance programs onto states, which means Georgia will have to either cut back on some programs or pay a larger share.

One potential target for cuts are free and reduced-price school meals, a program that ...Read more

MIAMI — With Miami-Dade County’s government facing a budget deficit of more than $400 million in 2026, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava is considering historic spending cuts, as well as increases in transit fares, tolls and a sales tax on gasoline, according to multiple sources briefed on recent versions of the spending blueprint.

In private ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Budget cuts, staff reductions and other sweeping changes from the federal government are posing real threats to California’s environment and progress against climate change, state officials said Thursday.

At a gathering of the state’s top leaders in wildfire response, water resources, natural lands and clean energy, they ...Read more

President Donald Trump headed to Texas on Friday to survey the devastation from the July 4 flooding catastrophe as the death toll rose to at least 121 and questions swirl over glaring failures in the disaster preparedness plans.

As the commander-in-chief and First Lady Melania Trump get a firsthand look at the damage and recovery effort, Trump ...Read more

The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for information about a person who appeared to “fire a gun” at ICE agents amid demonstrations in Southern California this week.

The alleged shooting unfolded on Thursday as federal officers raided a large cannabis farm in Camarillo, where they clashed with local activists blocking their access to the ...Read more

The Kurdish militant group PKK started laying down its weapons, marking the beginning of a disarmament process aimed at ending one of the Middle East’s longest-running insurgencies.

A group of 30 fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party burned their weapons at a ceremony in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region attended by observers ...Read more