DENVER — The Elizabeth School District has yet to return 19 books that a federal judge last month ordered be put back on library shelves as district leaders appeal the ruling — and despite a law firm’s unsolicited donation of the titles in question.

The order followed a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado and...Read more

BALTIMORE — Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott unveiled Wednesday his $4.6 billion budget plan to close the city’s $85 million deficit for the upcoming 2026 fiscal year.

The mayor’s proposal seeks to fill the gap between revenues and expenditures by increasing fees on landfill use, emergency medical services transports and ride-sharing/taxi ...Read more

BALTIMORE — The Maryland House of Delegates gave preliminary approval Tuesday to legislation creating a statewide reparations commission to study and make recommendations on benefits to Marylanders whose ancestors were enslaved or impacted by inequitable government policies.

“Maryland has a long history of racial inequities, from slavery to...Read more

NEW YORK — A federal judge on Wednesday permanently dismissed the sweeping public corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams — outright denying “with prejudice” an effort by Donald Trump’s Justice Department to keep open the possibility of bringing them again.

Manhattan Federal Judge Dale Ho’s decision was not based on the merits ...Read more

Gov. Andy Beshear has declared a state of emergency before a severe and life-threatening storms arrives in Kentucky Wednesday and lingers through Saturday.

The storms are expected to arrive in the farthest areas of Western Kentucky around 6 p.m. EDT and push eastward across the state, according to the National Weather Service. A few Western ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — In early 2020, Albert Jones was sitting in his cell on San Quentin's death row, as he had every day for nearly three decades, when reports of a mysterious respiratory illness started to circulate.

In the following months, hundreds of death row inmates fell sick as COVID-19 swept through San Quentin State Prison's east block, ...Read more

BOSTON — Day two of the Karen Read murder retrial has begun, with attorneys hoping to add more members to the final jury pool.

On Tuesday, the first day, attorneys agreed to two potential jurors, a man and woman, to add to the final jury pool.

Read, 45, is accused of striking John O’Keefe, her boyfriend of two years and a 16-year Boston ...Read more

The 2025 Los Angeles wildfires reduced more than 15,000 structures to ash in a matter of days. Among the devastation were 11 public and private schools and 30 child care facilities. In all, the fires disrupted the education and daily lives of over 700,000 students.

The fires first erupted on Jan. 7, 2025, in the Pacific Palisades, a ...Read more

During confirmation hearings, Mike Huckabee, President Donald Trump’s nominee as ambassador to Israel, told senators that he would “respect and represent the President,” not his own views. But the Baptist minister’s views on the Middle East – and their religious roots – came through.

“The spiritual connections between ...Read more

Nearly 90% of U.S. Christian religious leaders believe humans are driving climate change. When churchgoers learn how widespread this belief is, they report taking steps to reduce its effects, as we found in our research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

We examined data collected in 2023 and 2024 from a...Read more

As soon as the genetic testing company 23andMe filed for bankruptcy on March 23, 2025, concerns about what would happen to the personal information contained in its massive genetic and health information database were swift and widespread. A few days after, a U.S. judge ruled that the company could sell its consumer data as part of the ...Read more

Israel is expanding military operations in Gaza, days after ordering people in southern parts of the Palestinian territory to leave in preparation for more intense conflict with Hamas.

On Wednesday, Defense Minister Israel Katz said troops will broaden ground incursions and that land seized by Israel in Gaza will be turned into buffer zones. ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A convicted rapist has been rearrested in Ventura on suspicion of spray-painting swastikas throughout the city and then documenting the hate crimes on social media in an effort to sow fear, authorities said.

John Williams, 30, was arrested Sunday and booked at the Ventura County Jail on suspicion of vandalism, a hate crime and a...Read more

France’s National Rally plans to protest against what it has called the “tyranny of judges” even after an appeals court said in a surprise statement late Tuesday that it should be able to rule by mid-2026 on a challenge by Marine Le Pen over her conviction this week.

Le Pen was found guilty of embezzlement on Monday and given an immediate...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The year may have started with a dry spell, but the end of California’s storm season has brought more fresh snow to the Sierra Nevada, pushing the state’s snowpack to 96% of average on April 1, when the snow season typically reaches its peak.

The near-average snowpack has given the state a third straight year of ample water ...Read more

CHICAGO — Muslim students who eat halal usually only have a few options in the school cafeteria line once they’ve passed the hamburgers, chicken nuggets and deli sandwiches: a slice of cheese pizza, maybe a salad, fruit, yogurt, a carton of milk.

“Just not a lot of healthy, filling choices to pick from,” said Khadija Basith, whose ...Read more

Legislation that would make it legal for people to shoot down drones over their property, introduced in March by U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett, is drawing fire from law enforcement and other users of unmanned aerial vehicles.

The bill, dubbed the Defense Against Drones Act, “permits individuals to use a legally obtained shotgun to shoot down a drone...Read more

HENRICO, Va. — Sheldon Ekirch spends a lot of time on hold with her health insurance company.

Sometimes, as the minutes tick by and her frustration mounts, Ekirch, 30, opens a meditation app on her phone. It was recommended by her psychologist to help with the depression associated with a stressful and painful medical disorder.

In 2023, ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Dean and Denise Wenner were sweet on the Cape Cod-style home from the moment they found it in 2019. It had five bedrooms spread over three levels, with decks that hung over Santa Monica Bay.

When the tide was up, you felt almost like you were on an ocean liner, with views that swept from Palos Verdes to Point Dume.

Now the ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Citing public attention, a judge ruled Tuesday that she would separate the battery cases of the man alleged to have orchestrated hip hop icon Tupac Shakur’s killing and another inmate.

Rochlon Hamilton, 53, and Duane “Keffe D” Davis, 61, were indicted in February on counts of battery by a prisoner and challenging someone to ...Read more