TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida judge who took unusual steps to question the legality of surrogacy is getting a promotion.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sept. 4 appointed Judge Marlon Weiss to the 4th District Court of Appeal, according to an appointment letter posted by his office.

Weiss was the judge who oversaw a South Florida surrogacy case that ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A former Missouri election integrity director alleges Secretary of State Denny Hoskins fired him after he reported plans to manufacture a whistleblower complaint and threats against local election officials.

In a lawsuit filed Monday in Cole County Circuit Court, Nicholas La Strada accuses Hoskins of terminating him one ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The battle over data centers and the artificial intelligence they power has officially reached Philadelphia City Hall.

A coalition of activist groups and environmental advocates gathered at City Hall Monday to call on local lawmakers to pass a moratorium on data center construction in the city, the opening salvo for the group�...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz was finally taking decisive action.

It was summer 2025. Federal agents had just raided businesses tied to the state’s Medicaid programs for the second time in eight months, this time investigating a “massive scheme” to defraud a program that helped people at risk of homelessness.

Walz and his ...Read more

NEW YORK — A dozen website domains that unlawfully shared and sold sexually explicit “deepfake videos” of celebrities, athletes and politicians have been shut down and seized, Manhattan prosecutors said Monday.

In what was described as the largest seizure of websites focused on AI-generated illegal pornography, law enforcement agents ...Read more

Federal authorities probing the death of Hayden Panettiere are focusing their investigation in Los Angeles and looking into whether the actor procured nonprescription pills from an area dealer.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents and local investigators have questioned several people about the circumstances of her Aug. 16 death, focusing on ...Read more

NEW YORK — The Trump administration’s plans to target immigrants for deportation for lawfully using public benefits could have fatal consequences by deterring those in need of food or healthcare from using available services, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Monday as he and New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a set of lawsuits in ...Read more

States, cities and counties filed a pair of lawsuits Monday challenging new federal rules that will allow immigrants’ use of safety net resources to be taken into account for green cards and other applications to stay in or enter the country.

The new federal policy goes into effect Friday and broadens the discretion of immigration officers ...Read more

Bruce Davis, who was Charles Manson’s so-called “right-hand man,” died in a California prison hospital late last week at the age of 83, corrections officials said Monday.

Davis was pronounced dead by a registered nurse at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville at 11:03 p.m. Friday, according to Mary Xjimenez, a spokeswoman for the ...Read more

DETROIT — A Wayne County judge on Monday declined to dismiss a civil lawsuit filed by a Grosse Pointe billionaire and school board member who is suing one of his constituents over a social media post.

Judge Kevin J. Cox in Wayne Circuit Court heard nearly an hour of arguments from attorneys for Sean Cotton, an elected trustee on the Grosse ...Read more

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Monday that she's participating in a trade mission to South Korea, her fourth official trip overseas of 2026.

Whitmer, a Democrat in her final year as governor, and other members of the Michigan delegation plan to meet with business, government and industry leaders to attract ...Read more

A meeting between Iran and several Gulf Arab nations over a temporary shipping lane through the Strait of Hormuz was postponed, highlighting tensions with the Islamic Republic.

Talks were set to take place in Oman on Monday but was delayed “for now” after a request from Saudi Arabia, according to Iran’s foreign ministry. That was partly ...Read more

A coalition of states Monday is suing to block the Trump administration from implementing a new rule that would make it easier to deny legal residency to immigrants deemed likely to use public assistance.

The lawsuit, filed Monday morning in federal court in New York, argued that the administration exceeded its authority by attempting to ...Read more

MIAMI — The state-run immigration detention center in the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz” violated a host of federal and state detention standards, according to a new government report.

At the center, which cost an estimated $1 billion and closed on June 25, detainees lacked adequate living space, access to showers, ...Read more

MIAMI — Amazon has suspended ties with a cargo airline operating the plane that crashed at Miami International Airport a week ago.

Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration lifted a ground delay advisory at the airport as flight operations improved Monday morning for travelers.

“Operations are normal,” as far as the FAA is concerned...Read more

Hayden Panettiere most likely died after ingesting a single oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl, according to a new report.

While toxicology results are still pending, the lethal combination is law enforcement’s working theory, TMZ reported, citing sources close to the investigation.

The 36-year-old “Heroes” and “Nashville” star was ...Read more

U.S. companies getting refunds after the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s import tariffs are using the temporary windfall in a range of creative ways.

The refunds are being used to cover rising costs, supplement employee retirement accounts and repay debt. Some are sharing the bounty with vendors. And a number of consumer ...Read more

DETROIT — The University of Michigan spent over $1 million for legal services in connection with the internal investigation of a former university executive, according to documents released to The Detroit News through an open records request.

Five invoices spanning from Sept. 19, 2025, to Dec. 3, 2025, showed the university paid the New York-...Read more

CHICAGO — A new report released Monday by Chicago’s leading anti-hunger organization indicates a worsening hunger crisis across the city and its surrounding areas, exacerbated by affordability challenges, cuts to assistance programs and economic pressures that are making it harder for families to put food on the table.

Data compiled by the ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — After a lull in activity, the National Hurricane Center on Monday continued to track a system now with an increased chance to develop into the season’s next tropical depression or storm.

As of the NHC’s 8 a.m. tropical outlook, a trough of low pressure in the central subtropical Atlantic about 1,000 miles east-southeast of...Read more