BALTIMORE — On a chilly spring morning, master gardeners and volunteers tended to plant boxes, pulled weeds, spread mulch and watered vegetable sprouts, working diligently to cultivate crops for the spring and summer seasons at the Community Action Council of Howard County’s community garden.

Whitney LeBlanc, 71, of Columbia, said he had no...Read more

PHOENIX — From their modest apartment buildings alongside a block-long strip of gravel and scrub grass, the residents can see the tents and tarps and empty Mountain Dew bottles, hear the late-night fights and occasional gunshots, and smell the stringent, slightly sweet odor of burning fentanyl.

“It brings the value of the properties down,�...Read more

As a young GI at Fort Ord in Monterey County, California, Dean Osborn spent much of his time in the oceanside woodlands, training on soil and guzzling water from streams and aquifers now known to be contaminated with cancer-causing pollutants.

“They were marching the snot out of us,” he said, recalling his year and a half stationed on the ...Read more

For decades, concerns about automobile pollution have focused on what comes out of the tailpipe. Now, researchers and regulators say, we need to pay more attention to toxic emissions from tires as vehicles roll down the road.

At the top of the list of worries is a chemical called 6PPD, which is added to rubber tires to help them last longer. ...Read more

CHICAGO -- As 40,000 asylum-seekers have arrived in Chicago in less than two years, a Tribune analysis of crime data shows the impact of migrants has been mostly felt in nonviolent offenses, particularly driving-related and thefts, and few arrests for violent felonies.

The analysis of crimes since Aug. 31, 2022, when Texas’ Republican ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The needs are as simple as they are daunting. Cash to buy groceries. Money for auto repairs. Funds for tuition, books and rent.

For former foster youth without the family, financial and emotional support other students can lean on, the road to a college degree can seem insurmountable.

But an innovative guaranteed income ...Read more

A group of Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith leaders gathered at Emory University’s campus Tuesday to echo calls from students for Georgia colleges to divest from Israel and stop violence against protesters.

“We are here on this rainy Tuesday morning because our faith compels us to be here,” said the Rev. Leo Seyij Allen, part of the ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota legislators and regulators are facing increasing pressure to license marijuana growers ahead of dispensaries to ensure the market will have enough supply when it launches next year.

Under current law, the state's Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) cannot issue cultivation licenses until it has set rules for the ...Read more

Nevada lawmakers signed on to a letter with more than 30 other members of Congress Monday, calling for more federal funds to help address drought in the West, which is only expected to intensify.

A coalition that included Nevada Democratic Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto, as well as Democratic Reps. Dina Titus and Susie Lee, ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Local and state officials shared new details Tuesday on the shooting Monday that left four law enforcement officers and a suspect dead amid an hourslong standoff that locked down much of east Charlotte.

Gov. Roy Cooper, Attorney General Josh Stein and officials with the U.S. Marshals Service spoke during a news conference at...Read more

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court let Texas continue to impose age-verification requirements on porn sites, rejecting a challenge by an industry-led group that argued the law violates the constitutional rights of adults.

The order, which came without explanation or any public dissent, leaves in force a measure that has already forced one of...Read more

NEW YORK — Hundreds of NYPD officers in riot gear stormed Columbia University Tuesday evening, forcing out pro-Palestinian student protesters who had had seized an administration building and making dozens of arrests.

The NYPD was also arresting protesters gathering in the streets surrounding the Manhattan campus following the removal of ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The man who fatally shot four law enforcement officers and wounded four others in east Charlotte on Monday had been convicted of crimes across the state, a Charlotte Observer review of public records shows.

Terry Clark Hughes Jr., 39, spent time in prison in 2011 and 2013, according to the North Carolina Department of Public...Read more

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Following the Confederacy’s 1861 attack on Fort Sumter, often viewed as the event that sparked the Civil War, then-President Abraham Lincoln had to decide how to retaliate against the Southern states.

The Anaconda Plan would be the result, a critical strategy the Union employed to cut off the supply chains to the South ...Read more

WASHINGTON — After a shooting in Charlotte killed four law enforcement officers and injured four of their colleagues, President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass tougher gun regulations.

“We must do more to protect our law enforcement officers,” Biden said in a statement that came late Monday night."

He first called for more funding...Read more

ATLANTA — As leaders of colleges and universities in Georgia attempt to pivot to final exams and commencement ceremonies, the responses to Israel-Hamas war protests on some campuses remained at the center of debate Tuesday.

While students at the University of Georgia and Emory University are protesting with common goals, the response from ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — University of Pennsylvania officials said Tuesday that they were pursuing possible disciplinary action against pro-Palestinian protesters who have defied repeated orders to end their encampment, which showed every indication of extending to a seventh day on Wednesday.

“We have clearly communicated to the protesters in the ...Read more

In response to pro-Palestinian protesters refusing to settle on a compromise, Tufts University is threatening to issue trespass violations and bar seniors from walking at commencement if the encampment grows further.

Students representing the protesters and a faculty member they selected met with a pair of university deans on “two separate ...Read more

NEW YORK — Hundreds of NYPD officers in riot gear stormed Columbia University Tuesday evening, hours after administrators at the school announced Pro-Palestinian student protesters who forced their way into a campus building are facing expulsion.

It was not immediately clear from official sources if the police had entered Hamilton Hall, ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom is likely to face a budget deficit even bigger than the $38 billion he projected during his initial spending plan presentation in January.

This means it will be tougher for the governor, who must detail his revised budget proposal — updated with the most recent tax receipts — by May 14.

...Read more