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Daniel Heuer/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

California Gov. Gavin Newsom veto of wildfire insurance bills leads supporters to ask: Was it payback?

Current News / News & Features /

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom’s veto of two homeowner insurance-related bills have renewed tensions with the wildfire survivor advocacy groups who fought his recent bid for sweeping reforms to how much liability electric utility companies face after their equipment starts destructive infernos.

Senate Bills 877 and 878 would have ...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Will El Niño have an upside? California tries to capitalize on big storms

Current News / News & Features /

LOS ANGELES — With a strong El Niño increasing the odds of big storms this fall and winter, California is on alert for possible flooding. But if it delivers a wet punch, it will also bring an upside: a bonanza of water.

How prepared is the state to capitalize on El Niño? And what more can it do to take advantage of an extremely wet year?

...Read more

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

California's plan to save coastal homes from El Niño could end up killing beaches

Current News / News & Features /

LOS ANGELES -- With California’s coast getting pounded by strong waves amid a strengthening El Niño, residents and government leaders are turning to big rocks and seawalls to protect homes and keep a railroad from falling into the sea.

But there is growing concern this defensive strategy will end up harming California’s famed sandy ...Read more

David Guralnick/The Detroit News/TNS

University of Michigan pauses no-grades freshmen plan after pushback

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DETROIT — The University of Michigan is pausing its proposed pilot program that would "cover" first-semester grades of freshmen in the university's College of Literature, Sciences and the Arts, the Ann Arbor university said.

"The first-semester grade covering pilot program in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts has been paused," ...Read more

Jose F. Moreno/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

State lawmakers ask Pa. attorney general to investigate Philly schools for alleged discrimination of Jewish students

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PHILADELPHIA — A group of state representatives asked Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday to whether investigate whether a “systemic pattern of discrimination” against Jewish students occurs in the Philadelphia School District.

Citing a congressional investigation into Philadelphia and other districts, and reports of antisemitic ...Read more

Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/TNS

His mom was detained by ICE. Two months later, he died by suicide

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LOS ANGELES -- In May, when Samuel Gonzalez Terrones was diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia, he started seeing a therapist and taking medication that he hoped would finally alleviate the dark thoughts that had begun creeping up so frequently he would sometimes seek help by calling the police on himself.

A month later, his mom, Minerva ...Read more

Karen Ducey/The Seattle Times/TNS

Poll: Support for repealing Washington 'millionaires tax' drops with budget impact

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SEATTLE — An initiative seeking to repeal Washington's new income tax on $1 million-plus earners trails badly in a new poll when voters are shown legally required ballot language summarizing its potential impacts on the state budget.

The statewide poll by Portland, Oregon-based polling firm DHM Research tested support for Initiative 645 with ...Read more

JOSÉ LUIS VILLEGAS/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs bills pushing back on Trump's immigration agenda

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a raft of bills designed to push back on the Trump administration's immigration enforcement in California, including bans on electric shock gloves and a revamped ban on law enforcement face coverings after a previous law was blocked by a federal judge.

The more than 20 bills approved by the ...Read more

JANE TYSKA/Bay Area News Group/TNS

4-hour class now required of new gun owners in California

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A four-hour class with range shooting will be required of new California gun owners under a law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The stricter rules for a firearm safety certificate will apply to gun owners moving to California starting in 2028 and to Californians buying new guns starting in 2029.

Previously the certificate required only a written ...Read more

After failed execution, health workers say state's rules flout medical ethics

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This story describes a lethal injection procedure used in state executions.

____

In May, a group of healthcare workers spent about an hour trying to establish complete IV access so they could inject Tony Carruthers, an inmate at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee, with a lethal dose of sedative.

Maria ...Read more

PATRICK MEINHARDT/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

'I'd rather die here than in Africa': Migrants describe violent deportation flight

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On a tarmac in Texas, federal agents repeatedly ordered a group of shackled immigrants off a bus and onto an airplane that they had heard was destined for Africa.

Many complied, but some men refused. They had sought protection in the U.S. after fleeing repressive governments and asked to speak to lawyers before being deported to a faraway ...Read more

Pedro Portal/Miami Herald/TNS

Miami-Dade's Democratic mayor blasts Trump for Putin invite to G20 in Doral

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MIAMI — Miami-Dade’s Democratic mayor says President Donald Trump is wrong to invite Russian President Vladimir Putin to the G20 global summit in Doral.

In a statement, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said Putin’s invasion of Ukraine makes him the kind of brutal dictator that immigrant families in Miami-Dade fled, adding to the mistake of ...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

California's Six Flags Magic Mountain closes X2 coaster permanently after history of injuries

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LOS ANGELES — Six Flags Magic Mountain's famous X2 rollercoaster ride is permanently closed, following a history of injuries, including some that led to deaths, park officials announced on Tuesday.

The ride was first closed temporarily in July following reports of back-to-back brain injuries.

"While X2 consistently passed a multitude of ...Read more

Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

Orlando signs off on $1.88 billion budget as Amendment 3 looms

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando officials signed off Monday on a spending plan about $82 million higher than last year as the city braces for a potential reckoning on local budget revenues at the ballot box this fall.

Like the vast majority of Central Florida cities and counties, Orlando also kept its property tax rate flat at $6.65 per $1,000 of ...Read more

Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Elizabeth Holmes slammed for declaring 'I am fighting to prove my innocence'

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Elizabeth Holmes either feels emboldened by or worried about some recent major developments in her life and public image because she got on X on Sunday to lament that she has been “silenced” as she remains behind bars in federal prison.

But the convicted Theranos fraudster said she won’t stop “fighting to prove my innocence and come ...Read more

Barry Williams/New York Daily News/TNS

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, under fire for criticism of Israel, unveils plan to battle antisemitism

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NEW YORK — Mayor Zohran Mamdani, facing criticism over views on Israel seen as fostering antisemitism, is unveiling a plan that would expand educational efforts and beef up security at synagogues as part of a new “Strategy to Combat Antisemitism” report released by City Hall Tuesday.

The report’s release is slated to be accompanied by a...Read more

Nathan Howard/Getty Images North America/TNS

With bans and taunts, Trump escalates his assault on the media

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WASHINGTON — Under a light rain on Sunday at the Australian ambassador's residence in Washington, CNN hosted its third annual tennis tournament, the Kangaroo Cup, pitting Beltway journalists against administration officials. The event aims to inject some levity into an historically adversarial relationship, reminding both sides of the spirit ...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

An eroding California beach and the fight over driving on the sand

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LOS ANGELES — For Dylan Feierabend, there are few things more life-affirming than fishing for redtail surfperch and smelt at Centerville Beach in rural Humboldt County.

His favorite spot, where the Eel River meets the Pacific Ocean, is a few miles from the main road — too far to walk with fishing poles and an ice chest in tow. He instead ...Read more

Brandon Bell/Getty Images North America/TNS

Sheriffs have 'new, possible ransom note' in Nancy Guthrie kidnapping

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Nearly eight months after Nancy Guthrie was snatched from her Arizona home, authorities believe they have uncovered a “new, possible ransom note” linked to the case.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Office provided the update on X late Monday night, though they offered few specific details on the matter. It was not clear when the note was sent, ...Read more

FBI/FBI/TNS

'Most wanted' fugitive has SoCal ties, is right-hand man to a criminal kingpin, FBI alleges

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LOS ANGELES — A man with Southern California ties who goes by the alias "Goldy Brar" and is wanted by federal agents for numerous alleged crimes including murder, extortion and drug distribution has been added to the FBI's "Most Wanted Fugitives" list.

Satinderjeet Singh, who is believed to be in his early 30s and is known to reside in ...Read more