The United States Environmental Protection Agency awarded $39 million to Chesapeake Bay watershed states, including Maryland, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded $800,000 in funds for state flood-mitigation projects.

The EPA shifted money from coordination activities to field-tested projects, according to its announcement ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge on Thursday ordered the government to release a man arrested by ICE last week amid his involvement in a class action lawsuit challenging immigration raids in Los Angeles.

U.S. District Judge Michelle Williams ordered the government to immediately release Isaac Antonio Villegas Molina, a Pasadena resident who was ...Read more

A U.S. Army special forces soldier who participated in planning the operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro has been charged with using classified information to place bets on the outcome of that mission, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Gannon Ken Van Dyke, 38, allegedly made more than $400,000 by wagering ...Read more

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois Democrats failed Thursday to advance a proposed constitutional amendment that would have asked voters in November to impose an additional tax on residents who earn more than $1 million a year, exposing divisions within the party over education funding and dealing a blow to their election-year message on ...Read more

SEATTLE — Thousands of feet in the air on an Alaska Airlines flight that took off from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the crew grappled with how to handle a strange situation.

Shortly before takeoff, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers had put a man on the wrong plane.

After months in detention at the Northwest ICE ...Read more

OAKLAND, Calif. — Despite multiple public allegations of sexual misconduct against former U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell, no one in Alameda County has reported abuse to law enforcement — a gap fueling a dispute between the county’s current and former district attorneys over how potential victims should come forward.

District Attorney Ursula ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Virginia Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments for Monday over a challenge to the validity of the redistricting referendum, the latest step in a fast-moving court battle over the commonwealth’s congressional map.

Monday’s oral arguments, stemming from a challenge brought by Republican Virginia Senate Minority Leader ...Read more

A Minneapolis man has been sentenced to 8½ years in prison for trying to join the terrorist group ISIS.

Abdisatar Ahmed Hassan, a 23-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen, received his sentence Wednesday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul after previously pleading guilty to attempting to provide material support to a designated terrorist ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A Justice Department watchdog office announced Thursday it will audit the department’s compliance with a bipartisan law that ordered the release of records on deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

For months, lawmakers and survivors of Epstein’s abuse have slammed the Justice Department’s messy handling of the files and ...Read more

The prospect of Iran agreeing to more in-person peace talks with the U.S. is being hindered by President Donald Trump’s threats and brash social media posts, according to several officials with knowledge of the diplomatic efforts to end their war.

Trump’s Truth Social posts — as well as his decision to continue with a naval blockade of ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — The pivotal piece of evidence that tied Bryan Kohberger to the Moscow crime scene changed hands several times among law enforcement before it arrived for lab testing, and may have been challenged at his murder trial over its documentation.

Forensic scientist Brent Turvey, who worked as a crime scene analysis expert for ...Read more

Amal Khalifa "felt human" for the first time after she fled Egypt in 2019 for the United States and found kind treatment from police when she reported being a victim of domestic violence.

"When I walked into that precinct I felt like a human being for the first time in my whole life," Khalifa said. "I like the system here — it is there to ...Read more

DEDHAM, Mass. — Karen Read wants access to “staggeringly” offensive texts between disgraced former Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor — who investigated her for murder — and Canton Police Sgt. Sean Goode.

That is to support her lawsuit against the MSP and one she will be filing “in the coming weeks,” according to ...Read more

Nearly one-fifth of Americans relied on drinking water systems with elevated and potentially dangerous levels of nitrate in recent years, according to a new study released Thursday.

The nonprofit Environmental Working Group examined test data collected by water systems across the country between 2021 and 2023, the most recent data available.

...Read more

FRESNO, Calif. — The Fresno City Council unanimously approved reverting Cesar Chavez Boulevard to the streets’ original names three years after the signs were hung in honor of the late civil rights leader.

The vote Thursday came one month after The New York Times investigation reported that Chavez, who died at 66 in 1993, allegedly groomed ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — When federal, state and local law enforcement agencies descended on the small town of Wilder, Idaho, last year as part of an investigation into an illegal horse gambling operation that was used to round up scores of immigrants, four protesters were also arrested.

And when these protesters showed up to try to get answers about ...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — Former FedEx driver Tanner Horner’s mother shared details of his troubled childhood in a Tarrant County courtroom Wednesday as defense attorneys began presenting their case in Horner’s capital murder trial.

Horner, 34, has already pleaded guilty to kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Athena Strand after delivering a ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he would investigate federal employees placing bets on event-betting platforms, indicating concerns with prediction markets amid worries that individuals are using confidential government information to profit.

Trump was asked Thursday about reports that federal authorities had arrested a special ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Some of the nation’s top Black business leaders want to see Gov. Wes Moore return for a second term as Maryland’s governor.

In its first round of 2026 endorsements, the political arm of the Black Economic Alliance PAC (BEA PAC) on Thursday endorsed Moore’s reelection bid, a week ahead of the governor’s official campaign ...Read more