To veto, or not to veto?

That is the question facing Mayor Brandon Johnson as an alternative budget plan from defiant aldermen marches toward a vote. And his public absence Wednesday spoke volumes.

The mayor’s office canceled an afternoon news conference less than an hour before it was supposed to start, citing “ongoing meetings and budget...Read more

A white Columbia area man has been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with a case where a Black man out jogging near Spring Valley was fired upon, according to a Justice Department news release.

The federal grand jury, based in Columbia, has returned an indictment charging Jonathan Andrew Felkel, 34, with violating the housing ...Read more

China’s top diplomat expressed support for Venezuela on Wednesday, criticizing one-sided coercion hours after President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of oil tankers to ratchet up pressure on the South American nation.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Venezuelan counterpart Yvan Gil that Beijing opposes “unilateral bullying” and...Read more

WASHINGTON — The dark-money arm of Donald Trump’s sprawling political operation entered 2025 with $84 million in the bank, highlighting the president’s fundraising prowess and offering insight into his war chest ahead of crucial midterm elections.

Securing American Greatness, a 501(c)4 organization, raised $275 million in 2024, according ...Read more

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a lawsuit Wednesday in federal court alleging Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have violated the rights of Minnesotans who’ve observed this month’s enforcement actions.

The 63-page lawsuit against ICE includes a long list of alleged encounters between ICE agents and “...Read more

An independent federal office is launching an investigation into the U.S. Department of Energy after it canceled $8 billion in funding for clean energy projects in California and other Democratic-leaning states.

The Energy Department Office of the Inspector General agreed to audit the agency after nearly 30 California lawmakers wrote a letter ...Read more

RICHMOND — Gov. Glenn Youngkin presented his final budget plan to the General Assembly’s money committee’s Wednesday. It’s a less ambitious proposal than in years past, which historically included the elimination of the car tax.

But the magnitude of meeting the commonwealth’s spending obligations next year was such that it crowded out...Read more

Filmmaking couple Rob and Michele Reiner died of “multiple sharp force injuries,” according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office, which has ruled their deaths a homicide.

The official determination comes three days after the “Princess Bride” director and his wife were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home on ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Nick Reiner made his first appearance in a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday morning, roughly three days after allegedly killing his parents — beloved Hollywood figures Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner — inside their Brentwood home.

Flanked by his attorney, Alan Jackson, and two other lawyers, Reiner was barely visible ...Read more

If federal subsidies for marketplace health insurance plans expire at the end of the year, Idahoans on the most “vulnerable fringes” will feel the effects first, Idaho state Rep. Ilana Rubel, a Boise Democrat, said Tuesday.

But it won’t be long until the loss of those subsidies, which keep insurance premiums low for people on Affordable ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked Department of Homeland Security guidance that placed new limits on members of Congress seeking to visit and inspect immigration detention facilities.

Judge Jia M. Cobb of the U.S. District Court for the District of Colombia sided with Democratic lawmakers, in an opinion that found ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Democratic congressman and twice-elected state insurance commissioner on Wednesday slammed the current officeholder, Ricardo Lara, who he accused of failing in his duty to California consumers.

Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., became the first person elected to the office in 1990 after voters turned it into an elected ...Read more

A “blockade” of tankers under sanctions that are carrying Venezuelan oil, as President Donald Trump warned this week, will ratchet up pressure on Nicolás Maduro’s regime, but won’t likely be enough to push him out, experts told the Miami Herald.

In a social media post on Tuesday evening, Trump announced “A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE...Read more

FRESNO, Calif. — Fresno State is investigating three incidents of hate-based vandalism where campus property has been defaced with antisemitic messaging, according to a campuswide statement from president Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval.

The incidents are being investigated collectively and not as isolated incidents because they occurred within a ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — In the first 90 days after the Palisades and Eaton fires erupted in January, the caseload at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s emergency room looked different from the norm.

There were 46% more visits for heart attacks than typically occurred during the same time period over the previous seven years. Visits for respiratory ...Read more

MEXICO CITY — President Trump has ordered a partial blockade on oil tankers going to and from Venezuela, potentially crippling the nation’s already battered economy, and accused Caracas of stealing “oil, land other assets” from the United States — a significant escalation of Washington’s unrelenting campaign against the government ...Read more

NEW YORK — FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino is stepping away from the job he started in February.

“I will be leaving my position with the FBI in January,” he confirmed on social media early Wednesday evening. “I want to thank President Trump, AG Bondi and Director Patel for the opportunity to serve with purpose. Most importantly, I want ...Read more