With many students and educators already using widely available artificial intelligence tools, state lawmakers and school districts are playing catch-up on AI policies.

In Maryland, for example, AI usage policies for K-12 schools are “all over the map,” Democratic state Sen. Katie Fry Hester said.

In some school districts, she said, AI use...Read more

As the U.S. Supreme Court pulls back from the landmark federal law designed to safeguard the voting rights of minorities, more states are stepping in to prohibit discrimination in state and local elections.

State versions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act include some of the federal law’s approaches to fighting discrimination, including ...Read more

The ocean is home to some of the richest biodiversity on Earth. From coral reefs and mangrove forests to the deep sea, marine ecosystems sustain countless species, support coastal communities, regulate the climate and underpin global food security.

But these systems face growing pressure from overfishing, habitat loss, pollution and ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Newsoms described the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation into first partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s finances as an attack on a “public servant” who had “dedicated her life to supporting women and girls.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday the U.S. attorney’s office, at President Donald Trump’s ...Read more

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is stepping up its surveillance of New World screwworm, seeking to work with the Department of Homeland Security to contain a growing outbreak threatening the nation’s cattle herd.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a Monday press conference that the two agencies were planning to enter into an ...Read more

The National Hurricane Center on Monday increased its forecast chances a system could move into the Gulf and develop into the season’s first tropical depression or storm, and watches or warnings could be in store this week.

As of the NHC’s 8 p.m. EDT tropical outlook, the trough of low pressure was inland over northeastern Mexico producing ...Read more

Maryland Republicans say they were largely left in the dark as Maryland’s top Democrats prepare plans for a mid-July special session that could create a pathway for redrawing the state’s congressional map, potentially reshaping the balance of political power in Maryland’s congressional delegation.

Senate President Bill Ferguson’s office...Read more

HARRISBURG — So-called skill games, the slot-machine lookalikes that have proliferated by the tens of thousands around Pennsylvania bars and corner stores, are slot machines devices and should be regulated as such, the state’s highest court ruled Monday.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling clears the way for widespread taxation and ...Read more

NEW YORK — As the New York State Education Department moves forward with a years-long effort to overhaul high school graduation measures, officials on Monday announced what could be their most dramatic proposal yet, but one with many open questions.

The plan is to confer diplomas based on public school students demonstrating certain “...Read more

LOS ANGELES — More than five years after a series of mysterious "jetpack man" sightings in the airspace near LAX, another possible airborne human rattled air traffic controllers Sunday.

Shortly before landing at LAX around 2:40 p.m. on Sunday, a military transport Gulfstream jet pilot told air traffic controllers that they "just had a ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — All eight people who were on a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber that crashed at Edwards Air Force Base in California on Monday are presumed dead, officials said.

The crash occurred during a “routine test mission” just after 11 a.m. Pacific time Monday, and “initial indications are that the crash was not survivable,” military ...Read more

MIAMI — Prosecutors rested their case Monday in the trial of Doral real estate broker George Pino, who is charged in a boat crash that killed a 17-year-old girl.

Before prosecutor Laura Adams announced that the state wrapped up its case, a forensic pathologist testified about the nature of 17-year-old Luciana “Lucy” Fernandez’s injuries...Read more

LOS ANGELES — With the first tranche of money from Los Angeles County’s $4 billion sex abuse settlement scheduled to hit victims’ bank accounts next week, the county’s district attorney made a last-ditch effort Monday to stop the payouts, which he says are rife with fake claims.

Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman asked the judge presiding over ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The terms of a deal to end President Donald Trump’s war with Iran remained a secret on Monday as both sides claimed victory and the months-long conflict reached a nebulous end.

The memorandum of understanding, providing a rough framework to conclude the war, was signed digitally Sunday, with a ceremony scheduled to take place ...Read more

As city leaders and residents of Pacifica, California, continue to grapple with the future of the city’s iconic but crumbling pier, U.S. Rep. Sam Liccardo called on the federal and state governments to provide funding and support to allow the city to undertake crucial repairs and coastal resiliency projects.

In front of the pier — which was...Read more

LANSING, Mich. — The CEO of an international tech company contends a viral clip of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer "appears" to have been manipulated, but the person who recorded the video at the groundbreaking for a data center says that's not the case.

The dispute dates back to the June 1 celebration of plans for a 1.65 million-square-foot ...Read more