LOS ANGELES — Rivers that wind through Los Angeles County have a trashy reputation. Literally.

In many stretches, you’d be hard-pressed to stroll along the banks of the San Gabriel or Los Angeles rivers without meeting abandoned water bottles, candy wrappers, golf balls, sad-looking teddy bears, even shopping carts.

On the rare occasion ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — As Eileen Wang and her supporters tell it, the former Arcadia mayor was led astray by a man she trusted and loved.

After chasing her political ambitions in the San Gabriel Valley suburb, Wang, 58, won a City Council seat in 2022 with the help of a campaign adviser who was also her romantic partner. Two years later, he was ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Michele Hanisee has been doing everything in her power to expedite the arduous process of rebuilding her Altadena home.

But after navigating permitting delays, insurance stalemates and design flaws, there's still one big unresolved issue that's complicating her progress: sewage.

Hanisee owns one of nearly 700 properties in ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Drug smuggling in Kentucky’s prisons has become common, with nearly 10,000 incidents documented in the last five years, but one prison stands out from the rest.

Since 2021, Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex in West Liberty has consistently ranked highest for smuggling reports among all Kentucky’s prisons, according to...Read more

SEATTLE — To think of the closest public restroom, Lisa Howard of the Pioneer Square Alliance paused her walk along First Avenue, checked her watch and looked at the cross streets.

First to come to mind was at the waterfront, a 20-minute walk away — pretty far. A bit closer, at maybe 10 minutes walking distance, was the bathroom at Seattle ...Read more

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — It’s now up to Gov. JB Pritzker to determine whether Gangster Disciples founder Larry Hoover should be freed from more than 50 years of incarceration after making his pitch for clemency to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board.

“On April 7, the Prisoner Review Board held clemency hearings, including Mr. Hoover’s,” Liz...Read more

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday turned down an appeal from Virginia Democrats whose new voter-approved state election map was canceled by the state's Supreme Court.

The justices made no comment, and the legal outcome came as no surprise.

The U.S. Supreme Court has no authority to review or reverse rulings by state judges ...Read more

WASHINGTON — U.S. officials have discussed creating a $1.7 billion federal fund to pay victims of so-called government weaponization to resolve President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service. Million-dollar payouts the administration has already made to some of his supporters provide a roadmap for where the money might...Read more

Two San Francisco Bay Area USDA employees are among a group of federal workers suing Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, alleging she violated the First Amendment by sending agencywide messages that promoted Christianity to thousands of employees.

In an Easter email to Bay Area federal government employees Thomas MaGee, Anne Poopatanapong and...Read more

MIAMI — Gov. Ron DeSantis waved off a lawsuit accusing him of illegally soliciting special favors for Florida by giving Donald Trump’s presidential library foundation free land during a visit to Miami Dade College Friday.

He pointed to the fact that the land was granted to a nonprofit, not the president himself, as part of his dismissive ...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — The human remains that were found this week in the backyard of the Everman home where missing 6-year-old Noel Rodriguez-Alvarez lived have been positively identified as belonging to the child, District Attorney Phil Sorrells said.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office used dental records to identify Noel, who hadn...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court turned aside Friday an effort from Virginia Democrats to keep alive the commonwealth’s new congressional map, leaving in place the Virginia Supreme Court ruling holding the ballot measure process violated the Constitution.

The one-line, unsigned, unexplained order from the justices declined to pause the state ...Read more

DENVER — Elected officials from across Colorado largely ripped into Gov. Jared Polis’ Friday decision to dramatically accelerate the release of Tina Peters, accusing the governor of caving to President Donald Trump by commuting the election conspiracist’s sentence.

The condemnations were swift, with some officials saying the decision ...Read more

Weather cleared Friday for SpaceX’s third try to get a resupply mission to the International Space Station off the ground, launching on time and making a successful booster recovery back on land that brought sonic booms to parts of Central Florida.

Poor weather conditions knocked out both Tuesday and Wednesday attempts, but a Falcon 9 was ...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster denied any quid pro quo in calling a special session for redistricting in order to help Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette win President Donald Trump’s endorsement.

While speaking to news media in Summerville, McMaster responded to speculation that the White House pressured the governor into calling ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Clavicular, the “looksmaxxing” influencer and streamer whose real name is Braden Eric Peters, has reached a resolution in the misdemeanor case filed after video posted online apparently showed him repeatedly shooting an alligator while on an airboat in the Everglades.

On March 26 in the Everglades and Francis S. ...Read more

DENVER — Gov. Jared Polis reduced Tina Peters’ sentence by half on Friday, ignoring months of pleas against such an action by many other Colorado elected officials and the prosecutor who won the former county clerk’s conviction in an election data-breach scheme.

In a letter to Peters, Polis wrote that she will “be released on parole ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday turned down an appeal from Virginia Democrats whose new voter-approved state election map was canceled by the state's Supreme Court.

The justices made no comment, and the legal outcome came as no surprise.

The U.S. Supreme Court has no authority to review or reverse rulings by state judges ...Read more