PINEY POINT, Fla. — The end may finally be near for cleanup of a toxic industrial site that triggered a public emergency and environmental crisis on Florida’s Gulf Coast five years ago.

Piney Point, an abandoned fertilizer processing plant in northern Manatee County on the edge of Tampa Bay, is approaching the end of a state-supervised ...Read more

This fall, voters in at least nine states will decide whether to cut, cap or raise taxes through ballot measures that will give them a direct hand in steering state tax policy in a conservative or progressive direction.

Some states, such as California, will weigh whether to tax — or untax — their wealthiest residents. Others, such as ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — When Nelson Contreras-Gelves arrived at an immigration appointment in June, he worriedly "already saw myself being back in Venezuela."

The threat of deportation had loomed ever since he arrived in the United States in March 2022, surrendering at the border and requesting asylum. It hung over conversations he and Ariel Whaley ...Read more

OAK HILL, W.Va. — Each day at New River Health in Oak Hill, Lisa Emery finds disheartening signs of what she describes as a slow-motion repeat of the Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster.

Emery is director of New River’s Breathing Center and chair of the National Coalition of Black Lung and Respiratory Disease Clinics.

The disaster she’s reminded ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Nearly 300 new laws will take effect Oct. 1, changing rules for Marylanders involving housing, gun ownership, grocery pricing and other areas of daily life.

The measures were passed during the 2026 legislative session and were signed into law by Gov. Wes Moore. Some laws are entirely new, while others update existing laws.

The ...Read more

OpenAI on Tuesday apologized for its AI models breaching Australian government websites and promised to set up a new task force as part of reforms after the incident.

The San Francisco-based company said it will fund cyber defenses in Australia and help manage the risk of increasingly capable artificial intelligence, as it navigates the fallout...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After dividing lawmakers and barely clearing the Legislature last month, a bill pushing for greater transparency on the implementation of campus protest rules at California’s public universities has been vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Assembly Bill 2551, authored by Assemblymember Sade Elhawary, D-Los Angeles, would have ...Read more

Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed two bills targeting the health effects of the Tijuana River sewage crisis. One orders the state’s first update in more than a half-century to its hydrogen sulfide air standard. The other requires workplace protections for lifeguards, park rangers and others working outdoors in the Tijuana River Valley.

Senate Bill...Read more

NEW YORK — Cornell University said it supports a decision by prosecutors to reopen a criminal investigation into allegations of sexual assault and rape at a campus fraternity, pushing back on criticism of how it handled the case.

The Ivy League school defended its handling of the allegations, which first surfaced two years ago, after Tompkins...Read more

Gov. Bob Ferguson announced Monday the state was submitting a request to issue a major disaster declaration for Washington’s summer wildfires — including the Spokane Complex fires — saying federal assistance is needed to help thousands of residents recover from $188 million worth of damage.

A state’s assessment found 649 primary ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A suspect believed to have shot and killed a Kentucky State Police trooper Monday has been taken into custody, according to law enforcement.

Trooper Hayden Phillips, Unit 369, was shot and killed Monday afternoon while patrolling Interstate 65 near the 38-mile marker. Police issued a BLUE Alert shorty after the shooting, ...Read more

Police in Northern California are investigating the circumstances around the killing of a 40-year-old New York Times executive who was fatally shot by his in-laws in a parking lot over the weekend, officials said.

Officers found Jonathan McKinsey, a resident of Dublin, Calif., in the parking lot with gunshot wounds and pronounced him dead at ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Fireworks companies operating in California will face tighter licensing and regulatory requirements under a bill signed Sunday by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The bill, Senate Bill 828, was introduced in the months after more than 1 million pounds of fireworks exploded in a warehouse in Esparto, killing seven people. The bill, ...Read more

BOSTON — Nor’easter conditions tapered out around the region Monday, leaving flooding and storm damage across the area ahead of drier weather on Tuesday.

“We’ve got a few lingering showers,” said NWS meteorologist Francis Tarasiewicz. “Very isolated areas can see upwards of additional inch or so rain, but the storm is weakening, and...Read more

BOSTON — Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is facing backlash after it was revealed that the city has been using taxpayer funds to teach immigrants, including those without legal status, how to politically organize for progressive causes.

The program, Immigrants Lead Boston, offers $575 “scholarships” to immigrants who reside in Boston and “wish...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Proposition 45 would create streamlined procedures for a range of construction projects, from transportation and water infrastructure to green energy development, to receive approval under the California Environmental Quality Act, the state’s signature land use law.

The measure is pushed by business, construction and ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California is switching early to winter-blend gasoline as Gov. Gavin Newsom directs the suspension of summer fuel as a way to combat high gas prices, his office announced Monday.

Gas prices usually drop when the seasonal winter gasoline blends are reintroduced since they are generally cheaper. State agencies are being ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney is pushing back on a government study reporting that shortcomings at shipyard repair and maintenance yards are creating years of delay and billions in costs at a time when the U.S. Navy is racing to accelerate expansion of the country’s submarine fleet.

In a letter to colleagues, the 2nd District ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — A security officer at MacDill Air Force Base fired on a civilian intruder Saturday after the person breached the Tampa base’s perimeter, officials said.

The incident happened about 1 p.m. when an “assailant” armed with a wrench breached the base’s perimeter, according to information released Monday by the public affairs ...Read more