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California could be attacked by drones because of Iran war, memo warns. Officials downplay threat

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Law enforcement agencies across California were recently warned that the Iran war could lead to a surprise drone attack in the Golden State, but sources told the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday there’s no credible intelligence to support it.

In a memo sent to agencies that are part of a federal Joint Terrorism Task Force, the government said, ...Read more

Boston mayor's election chief whose oversight led to state receivership bounced to different department

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BOSTON — Boston’s election chief has bounced to a different City Hall department after overseeing a chaotic 2024 presidential election that led to the city’s election department being placed in state receivership for “incompetence.”

Eneida Tavares, the city’s election commissioner since 2019, departed her longtime position on Feb. ...Read more

Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images North America/TNS

Victoria Gotti begs judge not to jail son Carmine Agnello, who's giving her his kidney

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NEW YORK — John Gotti’s daughter Victoria is begging a Long Island judge to spare her fraudster son from prison time — because he’s planning on giving her one of his kidneys.

In a lengthy letter submitted Wednesday, the “Growing Up Gotti” star called her son Carmine G. Agnello her “Miracle Child,” and questioned whether he ...Read more

Amy Beth Bennett/South Florida Sun Sentinel/TNS

Lauderdale-by-the-Sea OKs adding Trump's name to its stretch of Commercial Boulevard

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — It’s official: Lauderdale-by-the-Sea has signed off on a plan to honor President Donald Trump by putting his name on the easternmost stretch of Commercial Boulevard. It’s a proposal met with vocal opposition, red-capped enthusiasm and more than one declaration that surely local officials have higher priorities.

By ...Read more

Mohammed Huwais/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Israel plans new foothold on the Red Sea to fight the Houthis

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While the Iran war rages, Israel is quietly planning for a potential base at the mouth of the Red Sea from which to strike one of the Islamic Republic's last proxies still operating at full strength: the Houthis of Yemen.

That’s thanks to Somaliland, the breakaway territory on the Gulf of Aden that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ...Read more

Geoff Stellfox/Getty Images North America/TNS

Joe Rogan denounces Trump over Iran war: 'This one's nuts'

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Conservative podcast host Joe Rogan is denouncing the Iran war as “nuts,” saying some supporters of President Donald Trump feel “betrayed” because he ran on a promise of avoiding unnecessary Middle East wars.

“It just seems so insane based on what he ran on,” Rogan said on his popular show. “This is why a lot of people feel ...Read more

Joe Raedle/Getty Images North America/TNS

Florida lawmakers to delay voter citizenship requirements until after midterms

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida lawmakers are planning to delay new voter citizenship verification requirements until next year, avoiding potential chaos for thousands of voters ahead of the midterms.

Senators on Wednesday agreed with their House counterparts to require voters to prove their citizenship and list that status on driver’s licenses...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

4 from Illinois fined, banned from Michigan's Pictured Rocks park after vandalism

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DETROIT — Four people from Illinois accused of vandalizing the cliffs at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Lake Superior in Michigan were fined and banned from entering the park for a year, the U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday.

The punishment comes after park rangers on patrol came upon several vessels along the cliffs of the ...Read more

Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune/TNS

'I was there ... trying to unbury myself': Tornadoes strike Illinois and Indiana, killing 2

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KANKAKEE, Ill. — Bob Wehrle sat in his driveway Wednesday morning and looked at the lot where his house once stood. His belongings and debris were scattered across his lawn, and his trailer was frozen in the air, pierced by a tree. It’s difficult to make out where the house ended and began.

Wehrle, 60, said he and his wife moved into their ...Read more

Daniel Mears/The Detroit News/TNS

Michigan Senate votes to cap interest, late fees on medical debt

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LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday in favor of bills that would cap late fees and interest that can be charged on medical debt and would require hospitals to develop financial assistance programs.

The measures now go to the state House for consideration. They were part of a bipartisan bid to combat rising ...Read more

SDNY/Zuma Press/TNS

Epstein questions spark shouting match in Miami retaliation lawsuit

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MIAMI — During an explosive court hearing in the lawsuit accusing former Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo of using city resources to punish political opponents, an unexpected character with little connection to City Hall took center stage this week.

Jeffrey Epstein, the multimillionaire who was indicted on sex trafficking charges before his ...Read more

Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Minneapolis Mayor Frey vetoes eviction pause; state Senate considers $40 million to help renters after ICE surge

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MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Wednesday vetoed a plan to give residents more time to pay their rent in the wake of the 12-week federal immigration surge that left many people scrambling to pay their bills.

Also Wednesday the Minnesota Senate began debating $40 million in emergency rental assistance for people who were affected...Read more

Nelvin C. Cepeda/San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Navy clarifies that sailors can wear their uniforms despite tensions due to war with Iran

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SAN DIEGO — There has been some confusion in San Diego and other Navy towns about whether sailors can wear their uniforms in public while the U.S. is at war with Iran, leading to a fleet-wide advisory on Tuesday.

“There is no directive on uniform wear for Sailors in the continental United States traveling to and from work, out in town, or ...Read more

Carl Juste/Miami Herald/TNS

FIU charges 'may lead to suspension or expulsion' for racist group chat members

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MIAMI — Florida International University is accusing the members of a racist group chat among Miami campus Republicans of Student Code of Conduct violations that could lead to suspension or expulsion, the school’s president announced this week.

One member of the group chat — William Bejerano, who posted some of the most violent, racist ...Read more

Barry Williams/New York Daily News/TNS

Before the ISIS-inspired NYC bombing, suspects led quiet lives in pleasant Pennsylvania suburbs

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Terror suspects Ibrahim Kayumi and Emir Balat, who became the focus of worldwide attention this week after allegedly of hurling two homemade bombs at an anti-Islam protest outside Gracie Mansion, had led relatively quiet lives in quaint, well-kept, Pennsylvania suburbs with their immigrant parents.

Kayumi, 19, lived with his parents in a $2.24 ...Read more

At the end of a bitter winter at Valley Forge, George Washington ordered an extra glass of grog on St. Patrick’s Day for every man, 'and thus all made merry and were good friends.' iStock/Getty Images Plus

Patriots and loyalists both rallied around St. Patrick’s Day during the Revolutionary War

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The Continental Army’s winter encampment at Valley Forge, between December 1777 and June 1778, is the stuff of legend. Chased out of Philadelphia by the British Army, George Washington and over 12,000 American troops retreated to Valley Forge, where they spent six long months harried by hunger, disease and the bitter cold.

In this ...Read more

What power does the U.S. Congress have over the president's war in Iran? Douglas Rissing, iStock/Getty Images Plus

Congress still has ways to throttle back Trump’s war with Iran – and to ask questions

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Despite the scale of its military assault on Iran, the Trump administration’s reasons for entering into war have been inconsistent and vague, from regime change to the destruction of nuclear weapons, preempting military action by Israel, or the more chilling decree of following “God’s divine plan.”

Politicians, pundits and ...Read more

Voces Unidas/Voces Unidas/TNS

ICE agents who left 'death cards' in immigrants' cars removed from field duty, senior official testifies

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DENVER — Immigration agents who were involved in leaving “death cards” in the abandoned cars of arrested immigrants have been removed from field work and placed on office duty, a senior official in Denver’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office said Wednesday.

Gregory Davies, the assistant field office director, ...Read more

Darin Oswald/Idaho Statesman/TNS

Idaho nears required minute of silence at school. One option for students: Prayer

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BOISE, Idaho — Idaho schools may soon be required to hold a moment of silence at the beginning of each school day.

A bill making its way through the Legislature requires that teachers in all public school classrooms implement a minimum of 60 seconds of silence every morning. Students can spend the time reflecting, meditating, praying or doing...Read more

Sarah A. Miller/Idaho Statesman/TNS

Court review of Idaho execution procedures would end under proposed law

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BOISE, Idaho — The director of the Idaho prison system has exclusive authority to set and revise the state’s protocols for carrying out the death penalty, and a lawmaker wants to ensure those decisions are not subject to judicial review.

In January, Rep. Bruce Skaug, a Nampa Republican, proposed the change in law and described it as a “...Read more