CHICAGO — As many as 120,000 Illinoisans could lose access to food assistance beginning Friday due to new work requirements from the federal government, according to the Illinois Department of Human Services.

To remain eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly referred to as SNAP or food stamps, “able-bodied” ...Read more

DENVER — A message carved into the shoe of the boy who shot two students and then himself at Evergreen High School last year makes clear the teenager was deeply entrenched in online extremist networks and that his radicalization was central to his attack, experts said.

The 16-year-old attacker had the phrase “ER SENDS HIS REGARDS” carved ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Experts who monitor far-right extremism have tracked a resurgence in California in recent years.

There are nearly 100 "hate and anti-government" groups in the state, including anti-vaxxers, doomsday prepper militias and old-school neo-Nazi outfits, according to the latest publicly available data from the Southern Poverty Law ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Driverless cars haven't always obeyed the rules of the road but, unlike vehicles with humans behind the wheel, they've gotten away with it.

That's about to change.

A slew of statewide autonomous vehicle regulations based on Assembly Bill 1777 will go into effect July 1 — including a process for law enforcement to issue a "...Read more

State officials remain uncertain on how to enforce a requirement that many adult Medicaid enrollees show they’re working — even as one state launches its program this week— and they’re taking a variety of approaches to the job, including, in a handful of states, using artificial intelligence.

A KFF survey of Medicaid officials from 42 ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Three additional measles cases were reported in South Florida in April as the state, for two consecutive months, ranks fourth in the U.S. for the highest number of cases this year.

As of April 25, the latest data available, there have been a total of 149 measles cases in the state since Jan. 1, Florida Department of ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Stanford is backing away from a program designed to support teachers of color after accusations of racial discrimination led to a federal investigation announced this week.

The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights will determine whether Stanford violated Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act — a federal law ...Read more

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacteria Treponema pallidum.

During pregnancy, this bacteria can pass from a mother with untreated syphilis, known as maternal syphilis, to her child in utero, causing the fetus to contract congenital syphilis.

In January 2026, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and ...Read more

The phrase “concentration camp” is freighted with dark historical meaning. Most people hear it and instinctively think of concentration camps used by the Nazis to exterminate Jews and other minority populations during the Holocaust.

But the use and name of concentration camps originated far earlier. In the late 1800s, Spanish ...Read more

In the summer of 2025, OpenAI released ChatGPT 5 and removed its predecessor from the market. Many subscribers to the old model had become attached to its warm, enthusiastically agreeable tone and complained at the loss of their ingratiating robotic companion. Such was the scale of frustration that Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, had to ...Read more

The U.S. Energy Information Administration expects nationwide retail gasoline prices to average near US$4.30 a gallon for April 2026 – the highest monthly average of the year. The political response has been familiar. Georgia has suspended its state gas tax, other states are weighing their own tax holidays, and the White House has issued a ...Read more

Iran’s record internet blackout is emerging as a key dividing line between the country’s powerful security apparatus and its civilian government, underlining how the war with the U.S. has extended the military’s control over daily life.

Top government officials have become increasingly vocal about their opposition to the shutdown, imposed...Read more

The U.S. government had no trouble deporting Lazaro Romero León to Mexico in February, despite a California federal judge's order that the Cuban national stay in this country.

The problem now, government officials claim, is getting him back.

First, Immigration and Customs Enforcement considered putting Romero León on a plane from the Mexican...Read more

As FIFA prepares to bring the largest-ever World Cup to Los Angeles and other parts of North America this summer, the global soccer organization is again promoting a commitment to environmental sustainability. But some of its sponsorship agreements tell a different story — including a premiere deal with the largest oil and gas company in the ...Read more

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Dozens of Mountain View homes have gone nearly a week without safe drinking water after a construction mishap contaminated a city water main, forcing families to cook, clean and care for children using bottled water.

An 11-month-old baby uses lots of water for Mountain View resident Maggie Wang. There’s the bottles ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he was sticking with a naval blockade of Iranian ports amid concerns the vital Strait of Hormuz would not reopen anytime soon.

“Their economy is crashing, the blockade is incredible,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Their economy is a disaster. So we’ll see how long they hold out.”...Read more

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a presidential permit authorizing the Bridger Pipeline expansion project meant to carry Canadian crude to Wyoming — the latest in years of back-and-forth over oil pipelines linking the countries.

The project is a quasi-revival of the canceled Keystone XL pipeline that would have ...Read more

HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut’s child advocate addressed Gov. Ned Lamont, the Department of Children and Families commission, state policymakers and the public Thursday, saying deficits in care provided by DCF to the state’s children must be “urgently remedied” and that she is “increasingly alarmed” about the quality of services.

...Read more

Novo Nordisk A/S’s obesity shot Wegovy helped people with alcoholism reduce their drinking, in the first controlled study of patients who sought help with their addiction.

Volunteers on Wegovy reported drinking heavily for five days in a 30-day period after six months of treatment, 12 fewer days than before they started. The improvement ...Read more