CHICAGO — While Chicagoans were alarmed to learn the spotted lanternfly had been found in Illinois last year, experts say spring is the time to take action against that insect — as well as another damaging invasive species that has made far more inroads and gotten less attention.

The spongy moth, formerly known as the gypsy moth, has been ...Read more

Southern California’s rivers and creeks once teemed with large, silvery fish that arrived from the ocean and swam upstream to spawn. But today, these fish are seldom seen.

Southern California steelhead trout have been pushed to the brink of extinction as their river habitats have been altered by development and fragmented by barriers and dams...Read more

My father, who served as a Navy officer in the South Pacific, shared fascinating World War II stories with me. With ensuing history classes, I became troubled by America’s slow response to Hitler’s atrocities in Europe and incredulous that Christians in Germany blindly followed their deranged dictator.

While pursuing a master of divinity ...Read more

As a massive heat dome lingered over the Pacific Northwest three years ago, swaths of North America simmered— and then burned. Wildfires charred more than 18.5 million acres across the continent, with the most land burned in Canada and California.

A new study has revealed the extent to which human-caused climate change intensified the ...Read more

BOSTON — A panel of lawmakers tasked with delivering a compromise on a spending bill that includes hundreds of millions for the state-funded shelter system appears no closer to a deal as the cash left to pay for services dwindles.

Two top Beacon Hill budget writers are privately hashing out the differences between legislation that taps ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — A primary election day that was wall-to-wall splendid around here with unimpeded sun and a generous ration of April warmth was absolutely perfect for voting. And evidently for not voting.

With nominees already essentially chosen for president — and not everyone is happy with them — and U.S. Senate and a general absence of ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Senate cleared a war funding package Tuesday night for President Joe Biden’s certain signature, capping a six-month struggle over Ukraine aid that divided GOP lawmakers, delayed Western weapons deliveries and gave Russia some breathing room in a military offensive against its neighbor.

The 79-18 vote to aid Ukraine, Israel ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Officials shut down the campus of Cal Poly Humboldt on Monday night after masked pro-Palestinian protesters occupied an administrative building and barricaded the entrance as Gaza-related demonstrations roiled campuses across the nation.

Three students were arrested after law enforcement officers wearing helmets and riot shields...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A plan to kill all the mule deer on Catalina Island using aerial sharpshooters from helicopters was strongly opposed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

The controversial program as proposed by the Catalina Island Conservancy aims to eradicate up to 2,000 deer on the island that the conservancy says are ...Read more

NEW YORK — The future is looking sunny for Kennedy Airport’s long-term parking lot No. 9.

Construction began Tuesday on a solar array meant to cover some 21 acres of the lot while maintaining the car park beneath.

“If that sounds big, it is,” said Rick Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

“It ...Read more

The interim president and provost of the University of Pennsylvania will host a “community listening session” on campus Thursday as encampments and protests over Israel’s treatment of Gaza have surfaced on college campuses elsewhere, resulting in arrests.

“Our campus is deeply impacted by external events, as the past months have ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The new presidential helicopter has been demoted to backup duty because Lockheed Martin Corp. still can’t figure out how to keep it from scorching the White House’s South Lawn.

The VH-92 Patriot is landing only on paved runways for now, flying missions with White House officials or Secret Service staff instead of carrying ...Read more

NEW YORK — During a devastating day for Donald Trump at his Manhattan hush money trial, a jury heard damning testimony from his decades-long ally David Pecker about a wide-ranging plan to hoist him out of obscurity and into the White House — and the presiding judge said his lead lawyer was “losing all credibility with the court.”

Before...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican Dave McCormick won uncontested primaries in Pennsylvania Tuesday, launching what is expected to be one of the most expensive and politically consequential Senate contests in state history.

McCormick lost the 2022 Republican Senate primary to celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz by less than half a...Read more

DENVER — One of 10 gray wolves reintroduced to Colorado in December was found dead in Larimer County, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service confirmed.

Federal officials found out about the wolf on Thursday, agency spokesperson Joe Szuszwalak said in an email Tuesday night.

Initial evidence shows the wolf likely died of natural causes, ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mayor Quinton Lucas clapped back Tuesday at local and state officials who distorted his remarks from last week welcoming migrants with legal work permits. His critics wrongly suggested, instead, that Lucas was promoting Kansas City as a place that would support an influx of people who entered the United States illegally.

�...Read more

NEW YORK — In a video circulating on social media, a young woman accosted Mayor Eric Adams on a flight to Miami on Sunday, accusing him of “supporting the genocide in Palestine” and “partying all the time.”

Adams flew to Miami for the 2024 Concordia Americas Summit, a gathering of public officials and businesspeople from North America...Read more

ANAHEIM, California — Nine more couples have filed lawsuits against a Newport Beach fertility clinic, claiming their embryos were destroyed when an employee used hydrogen peroxide in an incubator instead of a sterile solution.

The couples join two others who filed lawsuits against Ovation Fertility last week, with one couple claiming they ...Read more