BALTIMORE — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Friday created a task force that studies scams targeting immigrants and recommends strategies to prevent them. But analysts say the governor’s actions don’t do much beyond symbolically supporting immigrant rights.

The governor signed an executive order creating the 12-month-long Maryland Immigrant ...Read more

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Oil companies on Friday once again showed little interest in the latest lease sale for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, but the results were enough to disappoint groups that have fought to protect the region along the Arctic Ocean from development.

The lease sale raised just $3.7 million with only two parties...Read more

DENVER — Lacking agreement from the seven Colorado River states, federal managers of the critical waterway are planning to implement a framework for its future that will require a renegotiation every two years as the basin faces unprecedented water supply uncertainty.

Scott Cameron, the acting commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, ...Read more

RICHMOND, Va. — Democrats in the General Assembly don’t appear to be any closer to reaching a budget deal. Money committee chairs Sen. Louise Lucas and Delegate Luke Torian met with Gov. Abigail Spanberger on Friday morning. But the conversation didn’t go well.

“Today, the Governor and House decided that they did not want to alter the ...Read more

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A mountaineering ranger died Thursday while patrolling Denali, National Park Service officials said.

Denali National Park and Preserve officials said in a statement that ranger Robin Pendery died after falling into a crevasse near the mountain’s 14,000-foot camp while on a climbing patrol at about 2 p.m. The camp is ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The U.S. and Iran remained at loggerheads over any potential truce heading into the weekend, with the conflict nearing the 100-day mark and Tehran saying that it and Oman have sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.

Following skirmishes overnight between Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon, Iran continued to insist on a ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Pacifica Municipal Pier was shut down and taped off Thursday after city workers noticed cracks running through the landmark structure and concrete chunks falling into the ocean.

It’s just one of many coastal California structures that have recently crumbled under pressure from a rising and relentless ocean.

Officials from...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Four members of the gang MS-13 were found guilty Thursday of murdering three people in the Angeles National Forest, including one victim whose body was dismembered and then thrown down a canyon, according to authorities.

Angel Amadeo Guzman, 31, of Panorama City; Fernando Garcia Parada, 28, of Panorama City; Edgard Velasquez, 43...Read more

President Donald Trump’s pick for a federal judge in Pennsylvania can move forward, and it appears Sen. John Fetterman, D., Pa., is to thank.

Fetterman, like all U.S. senators, has the ability to block the president’s nominations to the federal bench — which are lifetime appointments — in their state. The arcane courtesy, known in ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — State and federal wildfire officials have spent the past five years rapidly expanding efforts to thin out hundreds of thousands of acres of dense fire-prone forests, reduce the number of human-caused ignitions and fortify millions of homes against flames, heat and embers.

On Friday, those officials unveiled a draft plan to ramp ...Read more

DETROIT — A man from Honolulu faces federal charges for threatening to attack the state Capitol and kill Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, along with "as many people as possible," officials said.

Ronald Saville was charged Monday with sending threats by interstate communication, according to Ken Sorenson, U.S. Attorney for the District of ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli on Friday morning said his office “has multiple election fraud investigations underway,” in coordination with the FBI in Los Angeles.

Essayli’s remarks, posted to X, seemed to be in response to President Donald Trump alleging in his own social media post late Wednesday that ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — The FBI has added a Minneapolis grocer accused of defrauding a federally funded meals program to the agency’s new “Most Wanted Fraudsters” list.

Authorities allege Said Ereg, 47, fraudulently obtained millions in federal dollars meant to feed children in Minnesota through the Feeding Our Future nonprofit. The FBI is ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The last time Angelenos sacked an incumbent city attorney in the primaries, almost 30% of them were unemployed.

That was May 2, 1933, the nadir of the Great Depression, when sprawling encampments blanketed downtown, King Kong ruled movie theaters and violent crime reached a fever pitch not seen again for nearly half a century.

...Read more

LOS ANGELES — After the 2022 Los Angeles mayoral primary, developer Rick Caruso looked to have a surprising, and sizable, lead over then-U.S. Rep. Karen Bass.

The morning after the polls closed, Caruso was ahead by 5 percentage points — 42% to Bass’ 37% — and the former Republican called the early results “a victory story.”

But ...Read more

DENVER — Members of Colorado’s Black community expressed outrage Friday in the wake of a Colorado Court of Appeals ruling that overturned the convictions of two former Aurora paramedics involved in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain.

Standing on a street corner in Denver’s historically Black Five Points neighborhood, a group of activists, ...Read more

BOSTON — Canton says it placed ex-cop Sean Goode on leave upon hearing of his alleged involvement in vile and racist text message exchanges but that it “did not and still does not” have a copy of the messages.

“Claims that the Town knowingly ignored misconduct or failed to take these allegations seriously are inconsistent with the ...Read more

The United States and Iran remained at loggerheads over any potential truce heading into the weekend, with the conflict nearing the 100-day mark and Tehran saying that it and Oman have sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.

Following skirmishes overnight between Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon, Iran continued to insist on a ceasefire ...Read more