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Storm brings flooding, mudslides and new evacuations for fire victims in Southern California

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LOS ANGELES — The biggest storm of the winter walloped Southern California on Thursday, but by Friday morning conditions were improving as the storm subsided.

The storm forced the closure of Pacific Coast Highway, damaged homes and vehicles and brought with it “life-threatening” debris flows just a month after fierce Santa Ana winds ...Read more

Chase Stevens @csstevensphoto/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

How will Laken Riley Act effect the Las Vegas Valley? It's complicated

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LAS VEGAS — Uncertainty over the impact of immigration crackdowns in Nevada became even more so after a new law vastly expanded opportunities for federal authorities to detain migrants who end up in police custody.

The Laken Riley Act, which was supported by every member in the state’s congressional delegation, requires the Department of ...Read more

Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post/TNS

Colorado Senate gives initial approval to semiautomatic weapons bill -- after a major change allowing purchases

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DENVER — The Colorado Senate gave initial approval to a bill that would limit the sale of certain semiautomatic firearms early Friday morning — but only after building in a loophole sought by Gov. Jared Polis and enabled by the absence of a needed Democratic senator.

When lawmakers first took to the Senate floor for a day of lengthy debate ...Read more

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America/TNS

Judge orders temporary end to freeze on foreign aid spending

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​WASHINGTON — A federal judge imposed a temporary restraining order on the Trump administration’s executive order freezing all foreign assistance funding.

Judge Amir Ali of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued the preliminary injunction Thursday, ordering a temporary end to the freeze on foreign assistance spending ...Read more

Parents can soon use QR codes to reveal heavy metal content in baby food

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Parents across the U.S. should soon be able to determine how much lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury are in the food they feed their babies, thanks to a California law, the first of its kind, that took effect this year.

As of Jan. 1, 2025, every company that sells baby food products in California is required to test for these four ...Read more

How to find climate data and science the Trump administration doesn’t want you to see

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Information on the internet might seem like it’s there forever, but it’s only as permanent as people choose to make it.

That’s apparent as the second Trump administration “floods the zone” with efforts to dismantle science agencies and the data and websites they use to communicate with the public. The targets range from ...Read more

How Americans really feel about deporting immigrants – 3 charts explain the conflicting headlines from recent polls

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President Donald Trump’s signature promise during his campaign was to carry out the “largest deportation” operation in U.S. history, targeting all migrants “who violated the law coming into this country.”

Since anyone living in the U.S. without legal permission has broken civil immigration law, Trump would have to deport all...Read more

Congress, not the president, decides on government spending − a constitutional law professor explains how the ‘power of the purse’ works

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Because of the Trump administration’s efforts to cut staff and spending, Congress’ “power of the purse” has been in the news lately. Many of these actions have been challenged in court.

I’m a law professor who has written about Congress’ power of the purse and some of the legal and constitutional issues that surround it. ...Read more

Should Washington state test human waste fertilizer for PFAS?

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SEATTLE — Farmers across Washington already spread thousands of tons of fertilizer from human waste on their crops each year, but there's a major blind spot when it comes to potential contaminants.

Fertilizers made from human waste are fairly common across the country. Depending on who you ask, they're called "biosolids" or "sludge," and they...Read more

Amy Davis/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Maryland Freedom Caucus calls for rollbacks on green energy policy: 'It isn't working'

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BALTIMORE — The Maryland Freedom Caucus railed against the cost of previously passed green energy legislation Thursday afternoon and called for repeals as utility bills for ratepayers continue to climb.

“The reckless green agenda sounds like a great idea, except that it isn’t working,” Del. Mark Fisher, a Calvert County Republican, said...Read more

K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Nevada governor wants to free up federal land for housing. But hurdles remain

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LAS VEGAS — Gov. Joe Lombardo this week pushed legislators to issue a resolution urging the federal government to release land for housing development in Nevada, though the leaders of the Democratic-majority Legislature have plans of their own to address housing.

Las Vegas Valley residents face an affordable housing crisis caused by elevated ...Read more

Public floods Missouri's Musk-inspired DOGE portal with calls to protect abortion rights

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — After Missouri lawmakers launched a new portal designed to emulate billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, emails from the public quickly rolled in.

“Please stop wasting taxpayer money on spending your time trying to overturn Amendment 3,” one read.

“MO Attorney General Andrew Bailey should ...Read more

Joel Kowsky/NASA/TNS

Overnight SpaceX launch to use booster for record 26th flight

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ORLANDO, Fla. — An overnight SpaceX launch planned for early Saturday will use a booster that’s already flown to space 25 times.

A Falcon 9 is targeting 1:14 a.m. carrying 21 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveal Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 with backup options through 2:15 a.m. as well as a Sunday launch window opening ...Read more

Lake Victoria is turning green – the deadly bacteria behind it

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Lakes, natural and man-made, provide water, food and habitats for wildlife, as well as supporting local economies. Around the world, though, there’s a growing threat to lakes: toxic bacteria which turn the water green.

This is the same green as you see on stagnant ponds. It’s caused by tiny organisms called cyanobacteria and can ...Read more

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America/TNS

Modi leaves Trump summit with a to-do list despite concessions

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was counting on a series of concessions ahead of his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump to keep his country in the U.S.’s good graces after weeks of tariff threats.

It wasn’t enough.

Now Modi heads back to New Delhi with the prospect of looming duties on Indian exports and demands that his ...Read more

Gavriil Grigorov/Getty Images North America/TNS

Putin assembles team of heavyweights to negotiate Ukraine deal

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Vladimir Putin is assembling a heavyweight team with decades of experience in high-stakes negotiations to face off against U.S. President Donald Trump’s representatives for a deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.

They include Yuri Ushakov, his chief Kremlin foreign-policy adviser who has more than half a century of involvement in diplomacy, ...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Mysterious land purchases within Joshua Tree National Park worry locals, environmentalists

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JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — The vistas are sprawling and unspoiled. Mountains rim blue-sky horizons, and scrub brush scattered across the rocky desert hills sustain mule deer, bighorn sheep and other wildlife.

Known as Whispering Pines, this roughly 2-square-mile wildland within the boundaries of Joshua Tree National Park was once ...Read more

HYOSUB SHIN/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

Health care provider bankruptcy may stick rural Georgia with state prisoners' medical bills

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ATLANTA — Macon State Prison has become one of the bloodiest correctional facilities in Georgia, and no one knows that better than the men and woman who work for Macon County EMS.

As the violence at the prison just south of Oglethorpe has intensified, so, too, have the calls for ambulance service. And because of those calls, the county now ...Read more

Sam Wood/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Could recreational marijuana really bring $1.3 billion in revenue to Pa. over five years? Here's how other states are faring

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PHILADELPHIA — Gov. Josh Shapiro again proposed legalizing recreational marijuana as part of his $51.5 billion budget pitch last week, the third time he has pushed for its legalization since he took office, and as nearly every state bordering Pennsylvania already permits adult-use cannabis sales.

But this year, Shapiro’s estimates of how ...Read more

Ruth Peterkin/Dreamstime/TNS

Shark attacks tourist off Caribbean island when she pursues it for photo, cops say

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A tourist visiting the Caribbean had to be flown to a hospital after she was attacked while trying to “engage” with a shark for a photo, according to investigators.

It happened Friday, Feb. 7, off a beach in the Turks and Caicos Islands, 600 miles southeast of Miami, and the woman is expected to survive. Her identity has not been released. ...Read more