WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department reclassified state-regulated marijuana as a less dangerous drug, a major shift that could increase legal cannabis sales and help a struggling industry.

The directive signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche moved licensed marijuana products from Schedule I — the same federal category as heroin ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A cellphone belonging to David Anthony Burke, better known as the singer D4vd, contained “a significant amount of child pornography,” a prosecutor said in court Thursday morning.

Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman made the claim during a court proceeding to schedule a preliminary hearing on murder ...Read more

D4vd, the singer now potentially facing the death penalty in the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, is being held at the same jail as Nick Reiner, who could meet the same fate after authorities say he killed his parents Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner in cold blood.

The 21-year-old “Romantic Homicide” singer, born David ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Justice Department reclassified state-regulated marijuana as a less dangerous drug, a major shift that could dramatically increase legal cannabis sales in the coming years.

The directive signed by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche moved licensed marijuana products from Schedule I — the same federal category as ...Read more

NEW YORK — A swastika found scrawled on a bathroom wall at a Long Island high school led police to a cache of explosive chemicals in the teen vandal’s home purchased by the boy’s father, Nassau police said Thursday.

Now the 15-year-old Syosset resident and his 48-year-old father are facing a raft of charges stemming from the explosives ...Read more

Gov. Ron DeSantis is mocking Rep. Hakeem Jeffries over the Democratic leader’s threat to unleash “maximum war” if the Sunshine State seeks to redraw its congressional districts to benefit Republicans.

DeSantis jokingly offered to pay for the Brooklyn lawmaker to travel to Florida and campaign against the GOP as it considers a new map that...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A cellphone belonging to David Anthony Burke, better known as the singer D4vd, contained “a significant amount of child pornography,” a prosecutor said in court Thursday morning.

Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Beth Silverman made the claim during a court proceeding to schedule a preliminary hearing on murder charges ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Voters in the city of Los Angeles overwhelmingly cite the high cost of housing and homelessness as serious problems, but lack confidence in the ability of local and state government to make the city more affordable.

Those findings come from a poll commissioned by the Los Angeles Business Council and released Thursday ahead of ...Read more

U.S. and Iran tensions grew over the Strait of Hormuz with both sides maintaining their blockades of the critical waterway, creating an uneasy standoff with no new peace talks on the horizon.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the U.S. Navy to shoot any boat putting mines in the strait, while the military said it intercepted two ...Read more

U.S. and Iran tensions grew over the Strait of Hormuz with both sides maintaining their blockades of the critical waterway, creating an uneasy standoff with no sign of peace talks on the horizon.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the U.S. Navy to shoot any boat putting mines in the strait, while the military said it intercepted ...Read more

LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan House passed a nearly $75.8 billion annual spending plan late Wednesday for state departments, K-12 schools and post-secondary education institutions, ushering in a spending plan that makes steep cuts to the state's universities, increases per-pupil funding and shakes up the state's approach to economic ...Read more

The International Criminal Court’s pre-trial chamber confirmed crimes against humanity charges against former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, setting the stage for a full-blown trial.

Duterte is “criminally responsible” for alleged murder, the chamber said in a decision on Thursday, adding it also “commits Mr. Duterte to a Trial ...Read more

A highly mutated COVID-19 strain is circulating in California — raising concerns that disease activity could rise heading into the summer.

The emergence of the BA.3.2 strain, nicknamed "cicada," comes amid broader uneasiness about COVID vaccination rates among seniors — who are especially susceptible to the virus — and whether complacency...Read more

The U.S. Forest Service’s plan to close scores of research stations could threaten the nation’s wildfire readiness, many foresters fear, and erode decades of work to understand timber production, soil health, pests and diseases, watersheds and wildlife.

Late last month, the Forest Service announced plans to close 57 of its 77 research ...Read more

Congress’ move to allow mining in a national forest near a wilderness area may have broad ramifications across the country.

The U.S. Senate voted April 16 to overturn a mining ban in Minnesota’s Superior National Forest, the headwaters of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

By using an obscure tool known as the Congressional Review...Read more