If you’re one of the 63 million Americans who went hiking last year, chances are you’ve found yourself needing to go, with no toilet in sight.

Aside from personal inconvenience, why is this such a big deal?

Human fecal contamination is a public health concern in natural areas. Pathogens in human poop can remain active for ...Read more

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office will expand its Baltimore Police “Do Not Call” list to all city law enforcement agencies, such as the Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office, in the upcoming calendar year.

The State’s Attorney’s Office hopes to begin the work by January 2027 as part of the office’s deep dive ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Tuesday he has chosen federal housing regulator Bill Pulte, who has served as a political attack dog targeting Trump's perceived enemies, to serve as acting director of national intelligence.

Pulte, a businessman with ties to Michigan, lacks national security experience, which is required by federal ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has tapped a department veteran as interim chief of police a week after Brian O’Hara resigned from the position amid findings that he interfered in an ongoing sexual misconduct investigation.

First Precinct Inspector Bill Peterson takes over from acting Chief Katie Blackwell, who’s been running ...Read more

President Donald Trump has nominated former Republican U.S. Senate candidate and Lexington businessman Nate Morris to become the next U.S. ambassador to Colombia.

Morris’ nomination was one among dozens that Trump sent to the Senate Monday evening; the Senate holds the power to confirm the president’s appointees for many key roles.

...Read more

BOSTON — The Boston City Council is considering a $3 million cut to the police budget to restore funding for a series of equity and social justice initiatives.

Councilor Ben Weber, chair of the Ways and Means Committee, which oversees the Council’s budget process, released a series of proposed amendments to Mayor Michelle Wu’s $4.9 ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Missouri judge on Monday upheld the ballot language of a Republican plan to replace the state’s income tax with expanded sales taxes in a key win for Republican lawmakers.

Cole County Circuit Court Judge Christopher Limbaugh ruled against a lawsuit brought by Kansas City resident Jill Owens. The suit sought to block the...Read more

Since 2016, when Donald Trump shattered the Democrats’ blue wall by winning working-class voters across the Midwest, a cottage industry has sprung up on the left dedicated to answering a single question: How can Democrats win back the working class?

The answers come in different forms. Sometimes it is veteran Vermont Sen. Bernie ...Read more

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida lawmakers today are taking up a modified version of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ plam to enact a massive property tax cut that would radically overhaul how local governments raise and spend money.

The proposal would ask voters in November if they want to provide up to a $250,000 exemption on non-school homesteaded ...Read more

President Donald Trump is still optimistic the U.S. can reach an interim peace deal with Iran soon, after the Islamic Republic threatened to suspend talks because of Israel’s escalating attacks in Lebanon.

“I think you’re talking about over the next week,” Trump said to ABC News late on Monday, referring to a memorandum of understanding...Read more

DENVER — Gov. Jared Polis has moved to appeal a Denver court’s order that prohibited him from telling state employees to comply with a federal immigration subpoena — his latest attempt to turn over information about the sponsors of undocumented children.

Polis’ attorneys filed the notice with the Colorado Court of Appeals last week, ...Read more

DENVER — Gov. Jared Polis vetoed a bipartisan bill requiring Colorado’s future governors to be more transparent in how they seek to shape legislation, rejecting a measure that lawmakers said was inspired by Polis’ own approach to working in the Capitol.

In his veto letter Friday, the term-limited Polis argued that signing Senate Bill 147 ...Read more

NEW YORK — City council leaders are pushing for an $4.5 million in city budget money to fund a report about 9/11 toxins — and to finally determine when city officials first learned air quality at Ground Zero was dangerous.

The elected officials made the funding request ahead of a council Oversight and Investigations Executive Budget ...Read more

George Washington knew his forces could not win the American Revolutionary War without some measure of sea power. “It follows then as certain as that night succeeds the day,” he later wrote in a letter, “that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive, and with it everything honorable and glorious.”

The ...Read more

During a Washington Nationals baseball game on May 17, 2026, three people unfurled a large banner from the upper deck of Nationals Park displaying a link to a white nationalist website.

The website, warning of the replacement of whites by people of color, called for the deportation of 100 million people from the United States.

...Read more

Imagine the following scenarios:

A surgeon prepares to amputate a patient’s foot to save his life, but the patient refuses the procedure. His decline in thinking and memory raises doubts about his ability to consent, and he has no family or friends to help with the decision.

A 17-year-old declines a liver transplant, while ...Read more

Every year in March, tens of thousands of Americans take to the streets – and bars – to celebrate St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Similarly, Mexican Americans celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico’s patron saint, in December.

But did you know that the U.S. has its own patron saint? Nearly 200 years ago, ...Read more