CHICO, Calif. — Jacob “Cody” Hull gave his life to protect the 8-year-old girl he cared for during the shooting at Chico’s Butte County Library on Monday.

That’s the understanding the girl’s uncle, Philip Brun, shared Wednesday afternoon in an interview with The Sacramento Bee at his restaurant, Nobby’s.

The pair had been ...Read more

BOSTON — After weeks of drama, the Boston City Council accepted Mayor Michelle Wu’s returned $4.9 billion budget, by passing on its authority to override Wu’s decision to reverse a $1.4 million transportation department cut to avoid layoffs.

Wu last week informed the Council of her decision to accept, rather than veto, most of its $11.5 ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose State University must reinstate Sang Hea Kil, a professor who was fired for her pro-Palestinian activism in 2025, after an arbitrator decided the school went too far in her firing.

The California Faculty Association announced the ruling Monday in a statement calling for further protections for academic speech.

The...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — The U.S. Justice Department has reached a $450 million settlement with Chemours over the company’s release of “forever chemicals” in three states that exposed residents to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS.

The federal order announced Wednesday covers four Chemours facilities across West Virginia,...Read more

WASHINGTON — Republicans on Capitol Hill had been hoping to spend the summer touting a rare bipartisan legislative feat, but Donald Trump and his growing anger toward Senate Republicans torched that effort Wednesday. And more trouble could lie ahead, if a tense in-person meeting was any indication.

Trump descended on the Capitol for a Senate ...Read more

WASHINGTON — As political battles raged elsewhere around the Capitol, lawmakers temporarily buried their differences Wednesday in order to get ready to bury a time capsule marking America’s semiquincentennial anniversary.

The project is the result of bipartisan legislation signed into law in February 2026 directing the Architect of the ...Read more

A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck north-central Venezuela on Wednesday, triggering panic in Caracas and other cities as preliminary reports of structural damage and injuries began to emerge.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake happened at 6:04 p.m. local time, with the epicenter off Venezuela’s central coast.

According to...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s executive order requiring major changes to the way Americans vote suffered another courtroom defeat, this time in a suit brought by Democratic state attorneys general who disputed the government’s claims of widespread voter fraud.

Chief U.S. District Judge Denise Casper in Boston on Wednesday issued a...Read more

Gov. JB Pritzker signed a measure into law Wednesday shielding patients from having electronic medical records related to abortion and other reproductive health services received in Illinois disclosed without their consent to out-of-state providers.

Marking the fourth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s “devastating” Dobbs decision ...Read more

WASHINGTON — NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte played to President Donald Trump’s love of praise and splashy visuals during a visit to Washington that was aimed at easing the U.S. leader’s anger over alliance nations’ reluctance to help with the campaign against Iran.

Meeting Trump in the Oval Office, Rutte displayed posters that ...Read more

What happens to animals involved in active animal cruelty cases? California legislators are considering whether they are finding loving homes quickly enough.

Assembly Bill 2344 — the Rehome Abused Animals Act — aims to fast-track the adoption process for animals removed from abusive situations. This bill would authorize shelters to put ...Read more

A powerful 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck north-central Venezuela on Wednesday, triggering panic in Caracas and other cities as preliminary reports of structural damage and injuries began to emerge.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the earthquake happened at 6:04 p.m. local time, with the epicenter off Venezuela’s central coast.

According to...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Stress on the San Andreas Fault System has reached a 1,000-year high, according to new research from the University of Hawaii.

Higher stress on a fault means the pressure that causes earthquakes is building.

But there’s no reason to be significantly more concerned than you were before hearing about the study, said Kate ...Read more

WASHINGTON — In his first two years on the job, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has become a polarizing figure on Capitol Hill, largely because of his vaccine skepticism and distrust of the status quo.

But one of his quieter pushes — ending animal testing in medical research — has earned him accolades among some ...Read more

The Pennsylvania House has approved a measure that could help reinstate the rights of parents whose children are in state custody and another that would protect the parental rights of incarcerated people.

The latter bill clarifies that a person’s incarceration status cannot be the sole reason for taking away parental rights.

It gives courts ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As early voting starts in Kansas City for the August primary election under Missouri’s new, gerrymandered election map, some voters may have received outdated information before casting their ballots. Kansas City Election Board officials say the mix-up is because they’re waiting for their license to use the state’s ...Read more

MIAMI — Florida’s record-setting pace of executions has drawn renewed opposition from the Catholic Church, which is urging Gov. Ron DeSantis to halt the scheduled execution Thursday of a 74-year-old veteran.

The appeal comes as Florida continues an unprecedented run of executions under DeSantis, who oversaw a record 19 executions last year ...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Lawyers for Alex Murdaugh filed pretrial motions Wednesday including one requesting a change of venue from Colleton County, South Carolina, where his first double-murder trial was held, and far from surrounding counties as well.

“The basis for this motion is that this is among the most heavily publicized criminal ...Read more