WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is likely to face legal obstacles if it argues against refunds for the tariffs struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court — thanks to statements by Justice Department lawyers.

In a 6-3 decision last week, the justices declared President Donald Trump’s use of an economic emergency powers law illegal. The ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For a number of California departments, overtime is an unfortunate necessity. Paying employees time and a half inflates state agencies’ payroll costs, but often the practice is unavoidable to fill critical staffing gaps.

Last year, five California departments each paid more than $100 million in overtime costs, according...Read more

CHICAGO — Chicago’s newest name for a snowplow will be “Abolish ICE,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said Monday.

Johnson announced the name as the winner of a citywide contest. He had earlier given it a “full and complete” endorsement.

Other winning names include Stephen Coldbert, Pope Frío XIV, The Blizzard of Oz, Svencoolie and Caleb ...Read more

A Republican member of the Michigan State Board of Education is asking the federal government to investigate the Michigan Department of Education's policies regarding gender and sex education instruction.

In a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice, Nikki Snyder called the state Department of Education the "root problem in education" for ...Read more

Craig Chamberlain planned to have a leisurely breakfast with his wife at Los Muertos beach in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, on Sunday. But when they spotted plumes of smoke billowing from the heart of town as they drove into the city, they decided to turn around.

About a minute later they were stopped on the road, and an armed man wearing a black ...Read more

More than a month after U.S. forces removed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro from power, and amid a tighter U.S. embargo on Cuba and heightened boat strikes in the region, Caribbean leaders are preparing to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week.

Rubio is scheduled to attend the 50th annual meeting of the heads of governments ...Read more

A majority of Illinoisans are opposed to and concerned about Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in their communities and near schools, according to newly released survey data from the Illinois Education Association, a union of more than 135,000 members statewide.

More than half of the 1,000 respondents worry about ICE arresting them, ...Read more

The most well-compensated state workers — apart from the football and basketball coaches of University of California teams — are the investment managers and executives of the Golden State’s public pension funds. And as of last year, those highly paid civil servants are making even more.

According to the latest payroll data, the top 10 ...Read more

The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating an incident in which a swastika was reportedly drawn on a bathroom wall at the Coast Guard’s training center in Cape May, New Jersey.

“Following discovery of a hate symbol drawn on a bathroom wall in a building at Training Center Cape May, the Coast Guard immediately referred the matter to the Coast ...Read more

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A new report examining fraud risk in Minnesota government programs describes longstanding vulnerabilities dating back to the 1970s and repeated inaction by state leaders despite nearly a half-century of warnings.

Gov. Tim Walz’s director of Program Integrity, Tim O’Malley, on Monday released what he described as a “...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Santana High School shooter Charles “Andy” Williams will continue to remain in custody as the courts sort out his case, which sits in a legal limbo between adult and juvenile courts.

A San Diego Juvenile Court judge revealed during a hearing Monday that another judge has put on pause Williams’ bid to be released from custody...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Yuba Water Agency and state officials reported encouraging water-quality test results following the large pipe rupture at the New Colgate Powerhouse in Yuba County.

In a Friday news release, the agency said samples collected downstream in the Yuba River and at Englebright Lake showed no “concerning results.”

The ...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The late Rev. Jesse Jackson will lie in state at the South Carolina State House as part of the arrangements honoring the civil rights leader who died on Feb. 17.

Jackson will lie in state Monday, March 2.

Further details have yet to be finalized.

Gov. Henry McMaster also will order flags to be lowered to half-staff March 2 ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown sued the Trump administration on Monday in an effort to stop plans to convert a Washington County warehouse into a 1,500-bed immigration detention facility.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for Maryland, is largely based on the Department of Homeland Security’s alleged ...Read more

BALTIMORE — As local governments in Maryland clash with the Trump administration’s plans for new federal immigration facilities, the issue is reviving a long-running constitutional question: When the federal government buys or uses property, does it have to obey state and local zoning and land use laws?

Legal scholars say the short answer ...Read more

MEXICO CITY — A top-secret special forces operation that killed the world’s most wanted drug trafficker Sunday was meant to highlight the Mexican government’s prowess in combating crime.

But retaliatory violence by angry cartel members who torched cars, killed dozens of soldiers and spread mayhem in 20 of Mexico’s 32 states instead ...Read more

A law firm representing religious groups is suing the Trump administration over claims that federal agencies are blocking faith leaders from ministering to immigrants detained in Minnesota.

The suit, filed by Saul Ewing and Groundwork Legal, asserts that ICE has violated the First Amendment and Religious Freedom Restoration Act by barring ...Read more

NEW YORK — The worst of the snowfall in and around New York City was winding down Monday, but the odds for a workable Tuesday morning commute remained unclear for Long Island and New Jersey straphangers reliant on commuter rail.

Metro-North service — which continued with delays through Monday’s storm — was expected to continue into ...Read more

BRUSSELS — The European Union froze ratification of its U.S. trade deal until President Donald Trump solidifies his upended tariff plans, injecting economic turbulence into an already strained relationship.

EU lawmakers on Monday suspended legislative work on approving the deal. The move came days after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down ...Read more