PITTSBURGH — When some Pittsburgh-area students walk into school this fall, they’ll be showing off their new blue jeans, T-shirts and hoodies rather than the monochromatic colors of school uniforms they used to wear.

Two districts in the region — Sto-Rox and Wilkinsburg — last week considered changes to their uniform policies, the ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Last June 16, armed immigration agents broke the locks to forcibly enter an Oxnard auto body shop. Juan Carlos Ramirez, a U.S. citizen, filmed as they arrested his father.

Then the agents pepper-sprayed Ramirez, slammed him onto the hoods of two vehicles, punched his face and kneed him in the side, according to a legal claim he ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — As San Diego County races to meet green energy targets, sprawling developments are transforming backcountry communities — and residents of those areas want a voice in the process before their homes are reshaped by solar, wind and battery storage projects.

Two projects in the Sonoran Desert not far from the U.S.-Mexico border ...Read more

Across the country, potholes are more than a seasonal nuisance. They are a visible symptom of aging roads and bridges that many state and local governments say they cannot afford to fully maintain.

From local streets in small towns to major urban corridors, transportation agencies are grappling with deferred maintenance, rising construction ...Read more

Gov. Wes Moore on Tuesday signed legislation banning the manufacture, sale and purchase of handguns that can be easily converted into fully automatic weapons in Maryland, prompting the National Rifle Association to immediately vow a legal challenge.

The legislation also limits access to illegal conversion devices known as auto sears, or Glock ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Former President Joe Biden is suing the U.S. Justice Department to block officials from sharing audio recordings and interview transcripts he gave for a memoir project with Republicans in Congress and a conservative advocacy group.

The extraordinary lawsuit, which pits a former U.S. president against his successor’s ...Read more

NEW YORK — New York teachers can retire five years earlier under “Tier 6” pension reforms set to pass Tuesday as part of the next state budget.

The $557-million plan, negotiated between Gov. Hochul and the New York Legislature, will lower the retirement age from 63 to 58 for all teachers who spent three decades in the classroom. It also ...Read more

One person was killed, nine were injured and nine others remain missing after a major chemical implosion at a Longview, Washington, pulp and paper mill Tuesday morning, authorities said.

The rupture of a tank was reported around 7:20 a.m. at the Nippon Dynawave Packaging facility in Longview, according to the city’s fire department. The ...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Senate killed a proposed congressional map for the 2026 election as thousands of voters went to the polls Tuesday, rebuking pressure from the White House to create seven reliably Republican districts.

With a record number of primary voters casting their ballots around the state Tuesday, the Senate’s ...Read more

MINEAPOLIS — Minneapolis police Chief Brian O’Hara has resigned from the Minneapolis Police Department following an investigative report with “concerning substantiated findings” that were to result in discipline and possible termination, according to an internal email by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

The email comes ahead of a planned ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Yuba and Sutter county boards of supervisors voted Tuesday to support California Republicans’ push to split the state into two.

The “two-state solution” was originally pitched in August by Republican Assembly Leader James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, in response to California’s redistricting measure’s Proposition...Read more

SEATTLE — Advocates with the Elwha Legacy Forests Coalition have raised $32,000 to prevent the logging of 2 acres west of Port Angeles.

The deal, which took place without input from the Department of Natural Resources, which owns the land, appears to be the first of its kind. Public donations have effectively saved trees, that had already ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. — One by one, former teens who attended unbridled, booze-soaked pandemic-era house parties hosted by a former Los Gatos woman — part of a bizarre obsession with boosting her teen son’s sex life — were joined by their parents in detailing the trauma from their experiences where binge drinking gave way to serious injuries ...Read more

California’s top education associations and labor organizations across the state gathered in Sacramento last week to denounce a controversial plan by Gov. Gavin Newsom to suspend billions in state school funding.

The governor’s revised 2026-27 budget proposal calls for temporarily withholding $3.9 billion in constitutionally mandated, voter...Read more

NEW YORK — A Brooklyn man with a history of mental illness apparently upset with reductions to safety net programs left graphic messages on the White House’s web page threatening to kill President Donald Trump at his next public speaking engagement, federal prosecutors allege.

Justin Christopher Moore, 53, wrote three screeds on the “...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Gov. Tim Walz signed a bill into law Tuesday meant to protect kids and teens from the ills of social media.

When the law takes effect next year, big platforms like Facebook and TikTok will need to figure out with high accuracy how old users in Minnesota are and whether they have verifiable parental consent for any account held ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The U.S. is planning to distribute plutonium left over from Cold War-era weapons to commercial nuclear developers as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to accelerate the rollout of new reactors.

The Department of Energy has selected Oklo Inc. and four other firms for advanced negotiations to participate in the Surplus ...Read more

JUNEAU, Alaska — The Alaska Legislature passed a bill to impose a new state tax on e-cigarettes and vapes and formally raise Alaska's legal smoking age from 19 to 21. Along with the deterrence measures, the bill also includes a provision to legalize cigar lounges.

Senate Bill 24 passed the House 24-16 and cleared the Senate on a 15-5 ...Read more