MIAMI — A former state lawmaker whom Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed as Palm Beach’s clerk of courts appeared in a West Palm Beach courtroom Wednesday morning after his arrest on child sexual abuse charges.

Michael Allen Caruso, 67, who was suspended from office by DeSantis after his Tuesday arrest, will be held without bond as he awaits ...Read more

DENVER — The Colorado Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking to force the operator of the state’s sole immigrant detention center to comply with a tuberculosis investigation at the facility.

The lawsuit, filed in Denver District Court, was expected after private prison company Geo Group ignored a Monday deadline to ...Read more

OAKLAND, California — Arturo Béjar spent six years working on child safety tools at Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook, but told a jury he did not fully understand the threats posed to young users on the platform until his 14-year-old daughter signed up for an Instagram account.

“She started getting requests for sex and pictures of private ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The former Pennsylvania State University student accused of running a cocaine trafficking ring out of fraternity houses surrendered to law enforcement Tuesday morning, the state attorney general’s office announced.

Agostino Abbatiello, 24, is charged with orchestrating cocaine sales at Penn State over 2023 and 2024, while he ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — After nearly six years of debate and backlash, California’s Board of Forestry and Fire Protection voted unanimously Wednesday to adopt new landscaping requirements within five feet of homes — an area dubbed “Zone Zero” — for millions of Californians living in fire-prone areas.

The rules ban all plants within a foot of ...Read more

After 2½ years of bickering with their neighbors, the operators of Los Gatos’ only mosque will have to wait even longer for a decision after the town council on Tuesday night allowed discussions to continue to a date uncertain.

The West Valley Muslim Association applied in 2024 to update its conditional use permit with the Town of Los Gatos ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orange County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday concluded its investigation into Sloth World, finding no criminal activity linked to the deaths of at least 55 sloths at the never-opened tourist attraction on International Drive.

After an “exhaustive look” kickstarted in May, the agency said it concluded that the deaths ...Read more

NEW YORK — Mayor Zohran Mamdani is mounting a legal challenge to a bill passed by the City Council that forces New York City’s public school system to pay a $10,000 bonus to low-paid teacher aides.

The City Council passed the bill last month with enough votes to override a mayoral veto — leaving Mamdani with few practical options to stop ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — A series of human and oversight failings is being eyed by federal investigators as possible contributors to the fatal crash of a medical jet in Northeast Philadelphia last year, according to documents filed by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The federal agency does not identify a cause of the Jan. 31, 2025 crash of ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — U.S. District Court Chief Judge Dolly M. Gee excoriated the Trump administration over its treatment of migrant children in a pair of decisions this week, saying she saw no choice but to name a new enforcer to protect kids it has detained.

“Defendants cannot claim amnesia as to the history of the case,” Gee wrote Monday in a ...Read more

BOSTON — A Chinese national has been arrested on voter fraud charges after allegedly attempting to illegally register to vote in Massachusetts by impersonating another Chinese national, even successfully submitting a fraudulent voter registration and ballot in the 2024 presidential election, the feds say.

U.S. Attorney Leah Foley’s office ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Gov. Tim Walz spent much of his nearly eight years in office arguing that Minnesota’s most contentious environmental disputes should not be settled by decree.

On Tuesday, with his tenure nearing its end, Walz issued one.

“As far as my administration is concerned, the fight for the future of the Boundary Waters is over,” ...Read more

Police were spotted at the family home of Hayden Panettiere’s boyfriend as investigators wonder if criminal conduct was involved in the 36-year-old actor’s sudden death.

Law enforcement officials were spotted outside a South Carolina property tied to Brian Hickerson on Wednesday morning. That visit came as investigators remain uncertain ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Disneyland has updated signage around Tiana’s Bayou Adventure, warning guests that they will be removed from the park if they stand up while on the log-flume ride.

Matthew Desmond, who shares theme park news on the X account Disney Snoop Guy, first reported the 12 new signs around the attraction on Tuesday. “Failure to stay ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles police officer who faced multiple felonies for recording his colleagues making racist, sexist and homophobic comments will now likely avoid jail time under a new agreement with prosecutors, Los Angeles County’s district attorney said Wednesday.

District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced he would reduce 16 felony ...Read more

DETROIT — Twenty-two people were arrested Tuesday for a range of misdemeanors during a heated protest in Dearborn involving an anti-Muslim activist who has visited the city multiple times as part of what he calls a Christian "crusade."

Dozens of police from multiple agencies, some of whom were in full riot gear, were in place Tuesday evening...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — To decide where the second Alex Murdaugh murder trial will be, South Carolina state Judge Debra McCaslin must choose among a host of competing variables.

“There’s a lot of other things besides walking into a courthouse and sitting down and trying to try a case,” McCaslin told a pretrial hearing on Friday at the ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Democrats’ litany of grievances with the Iran war is growing as scandals have mounted in recent weeks and the war drags on toward the six-month mark.

Reports of unbearable living conditions aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, President Donald Trump’s threat to bomb U.S. ally Oman if it interferes with U.S. plans ...Read more

DEARBORN, Mich. — A tension-filled visit by a prominent anti-Muslim activist to Dearborn on Tuesday evening resulted in 22 arrests, though local officials applauded residents for showing "restraint" and police for keeping the situation under control.

The protest by self-described anti-Islamic activist Jake Lang drew hundreds of people, many ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he will nominate White House domestic policy adviser Heidi Overton to lead the Food and Drug Administration.

If confirmed by the Senate, Overton would oversee an agency that has dealt with massive layoffs after the administration’s widespread reduction-in-force efforts last year. The ...Read more