WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed veteran federal prosecutor Michael Martin to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in a bipartisan 62-36 vote.

Ten Democratic senators and one independent voted with the Republicans for Martin, including Democratic Michigan Sens. Gary Peters of Bloomfield ...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — Five candidates vying for three top-of-ballot offices made their appeal to law enforcement officers from over 200 counties on Tuesday at the annual Sheriffs Association of Texas conference in Fort Worth.

While the Republicans leaned on a long-time political loyalty from law enforcement, Democrats pulled out on the stops in...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — About 100 protesters gathered in downtown Raleigh on Wednesday to protest immigration agents’ activity around the country, and to memorialize immigrants and U.S. citizens who have died during their operations or in their custody.

The protest comes about a week after two immigrants, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Joan Sebastián ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — At the request of federal prosecutors, a judge on Wednesday dismissed the criminal case against a woman accused of crashing into immigration agents in a school parking lot during Operation Metro Surge.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert G. Tucker III on Tuesday filed the motion to dismiss Christina Rank’s case, saying that...Read more

WOODLAND, Calif. — A judge has declared Carlos Dominguez legally insane, and he will be committed to a state hospital in the stabbing deaths of two men in a 2023 Davis knife rampage.

Yolo Superior Court Judge Samuel T. McAdam ordered an Aug. 19 hearing to determine where Dominguez will be housed.

Dominguez’s sentence is 6 years, 4 months �...Read more

The federal judge overseeing the criminal case against former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, on Wednesday tentatively set June 1, 2027, as the start date for their trial in New York, while establishing a procedural schedule that will first address the defense’s expected claim that the couple is immune from ...Read more

U.S. Sen. Mark Warner said that this would be his fourth and final term in the Senate if his reelection bid is successful in November. Warner, a Virginia Democrat, has held the seat since 2009.

“I’ve been doing this for a while, and I’m so grateful to everybody,” Warner said at a campaign stop in Staunton. “I’m here to ask you to ...Read more

NEW YORK — Mayor Mamdani announced two new appointments to lead the city’s Economic Development Corporation — one city government veteran and one close ally to Mamdani — as the mayor looks to steer the nonprofit in a more democratic socialist direction.

Anthony Shorris, a former deputy mayor under Bill de Blasio and most recently a ...Read more

The Environmental Protection Agency is announcing a new exemption that the Trump administration says will loosen environmental regulations on diesel engines for U.S. commercial lobstermen.

The EPA is exempting a new lobster boat model from Tier 4 engine requirements, which were adopted in 2008. It’s something the federal agency says will, for...Read more

LAS VEGAS — As Lake Mead begins its nosedive toward historic lows, a bipartisan group of 12 Western representatives in Congress is calling for emergency funding to help fund solutions.

One of the officials who sent a letter to House leadership on Wednesday is Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., who said in a phone interview that the measure is in direct...Read more

A French model scout who arranged for models to meet Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead in his suburban Paris home.

An autopsy is expected to determine how Daniel Siad died, according to French publication Le Monde, who said the discovery occurred Monday night. He was 69.

His attorney said that if her client died from a heart attack, it will ...Read more

A Feeding Our Future fraudster already serving a nearly three-decade prison term was given an additional 10-year sentence Wednesday for his role in a $120,000 cash bribe to a juror during his 2024 trial.

Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, 37, of Savage, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in St. Paul after pleading guilty to one count of bribery of a ...Read more

College students pursuing majors, advanced degrees or certifications in fields that consistently earn low incomes will no longer be able to take out federal loans to pay for their schooling under new Trump administration rules.

Many of the degree programs that educate social workers, artists, teacher aides and especially certification programs ...Read more

As the Friday expiration date for temporary protected status looms, members of Sacramento’s Haitian community have expressed fear and uncertainty.

The U.S. government grants TPS to immigrants who cannot safely return to their home countries for reasons such as political unrest or natural disaster. The Supreme Court’s June 25 ruling in ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Gov. Andy Beshear announced Wednesday the state will use $255 million generated from savings and surpluses to reverse a proposed cut to Medicaid, the state-federal healthcare program for the poor and disabled.

In addition, Beshear said the state will use $4 million to restore some funding to a senior meals program, which ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In early May, a man walking his dog through his north Charlotte neighborhood spotted what appeared to be someone standing still by a tree in a shady churchyard.

His dog tugged him closer. As he approached, he realized to his horror the figure was a lifeless Black girl, held up by a ratchet strap around her neck. Her feet, in...Read more

NEW YORK — A group of landlords is suing the city’s Rent Guidelines Board, claiming the board, which is designed to operate independently, made a “sham” decision to implement a rent freeze.

The lawsuit, filed in Staten Island State Court, seeks to stop the freeze and force the board to reevaluate and vote for a rent increase.

The nine-...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Major corporations that do business in California would be required to disclose any past connections to slavery under a measure that could pass the Legislature next month.

Assembly Bill 2599 would force companies that have more than $100 million in sales annually across the world to search through their records for ...Read more

NEW YORK — Mayor Zohran Mamdani hit back against City Council Speaker Menin’s attacks over his administration’s handling of the Legionnaires’ outbreak — saying he was putting public health over politics.

Menin has criticized the mayor for not ordering more proactive cleaning of cooling towers on the Upper East Side, where the outbreak...Read more