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Just how bad are San Diego's budget problems? City may dip into reserves for 1st time in years

Current News / News & Features /

SAN DIEGO — San Diego’s steadily worsening budget picture means city officials will likely need to dip into reserve funds to cover expenses this spring — the first time they’ve needed reserve funds to balance the budget in at least a decade.

City finance officials said Wednesday that they’re facing a new $31 million budget hole thanks...Read more

Trump says US and Iran are closer to reaching a nuclear deal

Current News / News & Features /

President Donald Trump suggested the U.S. is closer to an agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear activities, prompting a sell-off in oil.

“I think we’re getting close to maybe doing a deal,” Trump said in Qatar at an event with business leaders on Thursday. “You probably read the story that Iran has sort of agreed to the terms.”

Trump ...Read more

Missing camper 'miraculously' found alive after surviving weeks in snowy California's High Sierra

Current News / News & Features /

LOS ANGELES — When Christopher Gutierrez went to check in on his remote camping resort after a long, snowy winter in the High Sierra, he was met with a shocking discovery — a starving hiker holed up inside one of his cabins.

The woman, 27-year-old Tiffany Slaton from Jeffersonville, Ga., had been missing in the Fresno County wilderness for...Read more

Staring down harsh Trump funding cuts, UC and CSU get some relief in California Gov. Gavin Newsom budget plan

Current News / News & Features /

LOS ANGELES – For months, California's public higher education institutions have braced for deep state funding cuts, fearing they would lead to reductions in student services, course offerings and even enrollment.

In Gov. Gavin Newsom's January budget proposal, the two systems were confronting $771 million in cuts. Faculty, students and staff...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

As climate hazards worsen, Trump moves to weaken FEMA and shift disaster response onto states

Current News / News & Features /

The recent firing of the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is just the latest in a string of blows for the nation’s top disaster-response agency, which has been repeatedly undercut by the Trump administration’s efforts to rein in spending and restructure the federal government.

The dismissal of acting director Cameron Hamilton...Read more

Sam Morris/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Nevada Rep. Steven Horsford on tourism, trade wars and taking on Trump

Current News / News & Features /

WASHINGTON — Asked if the ends can justify the means in politics, U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford brings it back to tariffs.

“That’s part of the problem right now. You know, tariffs are not a bad thing, but how you do it matters,” the Nevada Democrat says.

Tourism is a big industry in Nevada’s 4th District, which includes parts of Las ...Read more

Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post/TNS

Risks of psychedelic use aren't widely known. A Colorado campaign hopes to change that

Current News / News & Features /

DENVER -- When Liam Kelly first became interested in psychedelics as a teenager, they did so in a self-described “nerdy” way. Kelly, who uses nonbinary pronouns, would deeply research the drugs online to learn about their various effects and other people’s experiences. By the time they began attending college in Vermont, they were using ...Read more

Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump's pause on China tariffs is still a 'huge nightmare' for small businesses

Current News / News & Features /

President Donald Trump’s sudden move to lower tariffs on goods from China to 30% from 145% has thrown a lifeline to America’s small businesses who were running low on inventory — and cash.

But owners warn the reprieve will be limited.

Their caution goes like this: tariff rates remain sky high by historical levels and will keep pressuring...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Trump-themed shop could be closed over code issues, but owner says it's political

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A 6-foot-tall inflatable Donald Trump gives two thumbs up to passersby outside the Trump Truth Store in far northwest suburban Huntley, Illinois, which sells all varieties of Trump-themed merchandise from Make America Great Again T-shirts to DOGE baseball caps.

But the replica of the controversial 47th president — along with the business it�...Read more

Carl Juste/Miami Herald/TNS

As Holocaust survivors continue to vanish, one of the oldest in Miami shares her story

Current News / News & Features /

MIAMI -- Lucy Lowell, who survived the deadliest Nazi concentration camp to build a full life in New York City and eventually settle in Miami Beach, is among the last of an important and increasingly rare group of people.

At 103, she’s among the oldest living Holocaust survivors in the world.

It’s a population that’s disappearing with ...Read more

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/TNS

States are telling sheriffs whether they can -- or can't -- work with ICE

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Local sheriffs are on the front lines in deciding whether to participate in the Trump administration’s mass deportation plans. But states increasingly are making the choice for them.

More and more, sheriffs’ hands are tied no matter whether they do — or don’t — want to help with deportations, though they often get the blame when ...Read more

Omar Havana/Getty Images North America/TNS

Floridians Pam Bondi, Marco Rubio at forefront of Trump's controversies

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Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of State Marco Rubio both joined President Trump’s Cabinet promising to restore “integrity” to their offices. Nearly four months in, however, both prominent Floridians are neck deep in administration controversies.

Though in a role seen as independent, Bondi says she works “at the directive of ...Read more

John Autey/Pioneer Press/TNS

With no budget deal yet, special session increasingly likely at Minn. Capitol

Current News / News & Features /

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Hopes of state lawmakers passing a more than $60 billion two-year budget on time are fading at the Minnesota Capitol.

Daily marathon negotiation sessions between Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor majority Senate and the House tied 67-67 between the DFL and Republicans have failed to produce a final budget deal.

On ...Read more

Harvard researcher in ICE custody charged with smuggling frog embryos into Boston

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BOSTON — A Harvard researcher who has been in ICE custody for months has been charged with allegedly trying to smuggle frog embryos into Boston.

Russian national Kseniia Petrova, 31, who was taken into ICE custody at Logan airport in February, has now been arrested and charged by the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Petrova, who ...Read more

E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Trump EPA gutting limits on certain forever chemicals, delaying deadline to reduce others

Current News / News & Features /

In a rare acceptance of regulations adopted during the Biden administration, the Trump-led Environmental Protection Agency is backing the first national limits on a pair of toxic forever chemicals contaminating the drinking water of most Americans.

But the Trump EPA wants to eliminate standards for a handful of replacement chemicals that appear...Read more

Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

Orlando attorney John Morgan won't say he's running for governor. But he is starting a new party

Current News / News & Features /

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — People have been asking John Morgan to run for governor and talking about his potential candidacy for so long, the Orlando celebrity lawyer told a local political club, “that I became like a candidate and that’s where all this talk is coming from.”

But the high-profile Florida lawyer, who is known nationally for his ...Read more

E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Kristi Noem mocked for wanting a new jet like Trump

Current News / News & Features /

At least one Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee wants to know why her subcommittee is being asked to approve funding for a new jet to be used by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

“My committee just received a last-minute addition to the Coast Guard’s spend plan: $50 million for a new Gulfstream 5 jet for DHS...Read more

Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald/TNS

Boston City Council passes ranked-choice voting system change for local elections

Current News / News & Features /

The Boston City Council passed a home rule petition that seeks to implement a ranked-choice voting system for city elections, that would see voters rank multiple candidates by order of preference rather than cast a single vote for their top choice.

The Council voted Wednesday to approve the petition, by an 8-4 margin, after a roughly hour-long ...Read more

Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images North America/TNS

US-Saudi $142 billion defense deal sparks questions, few answers

Current News / News & Features /

The Trump administration called its $142 billion defense deal with Saudi Arabia “the largest defense sales agreement in history.” Critics aren’t so sure.

The deal, announced as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East this week, appeared ambitious and sweeping, touting purchases linked to the air force and space, ...Read more

Cellule Communication/Haiti National Police/TNS

Haiti gang leader denies ties to 400 Mawozo group, or role in kidnapping U.S. missionaries

Current News / News & Features /

Germine Joly, the Haitian gang leader who ran a gunrunning conspiracy and kidnapping racket from the inside of a Haitian jail, denied any gang affiliation or role in the kidnapping of 16 U.S. missionaries as he took the stand in his own defense on Wednesday inside a Washington federal courtroom.

Joly, wearing a black suit, tie and eyeglasses, ...Read more