CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA, Calif. — People call it "The Pit."

It's a massive, unsightly hole in the ground — the site of a construction project in downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea whose previous owners ran out of money six years ago, leaving behind nothing but concrete, rebar and hard feelings.

In 2020, The Pit was purchased by Patrice Pastor, a ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- On a recent sweltering June afternoon, Jorge Gil Laguna smiled as he walked into his shoddy motel to greet Olglaivis Barrios.

Markers of their last year in Sacramento surround the young Venezuelan couple. Heaps of donated clothes, shoes and purses in the corners. Barrios’ laptop, gifted to her last July, lay on the small...Read more

BALTIMORE — By about this time last year, Southwest Baltimore’s Penrose/Fayette Street Outreach neighborhood had seen 15 shootings, six of which were fatal.

This year, as of June 24, the community of aging two-story rowhouses and vacant lots stretching from Grace Medical Center to the westside MARC station saw two gun homicides and one ...Read more

MIAMI — A Palm Beach County prosecutor painted two girls molested by Jeffrey Epstein as prostitutes, drug addicts, thieves and liars in front of a grand jury empaneled in 2006 to review the state’s criminal case against sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, newly released court documents show.

Palm Beach County Judge Luis Delgado unsealed the ...Read more

BOSTON — Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, the lead investigator in the Karen Read murder case, has been relieved of duty effective immediately.

Read, 44, of Mansfield, is charged with second-degree murder, leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, and manslaughter while operating a motor vehicle under the ...Read more

More than a year after the lawsuits were filed, two legal challenges targeting North Carolina’s abortion restrictions remain in court.

One case focuses on two provisions of the 12-week abortion ban GOP lawmakers passed last year. While the main thrust of that law went into effect July 2023, and has not been successfully challenged in the ...Read more

SEOUL, South Korea — Kim Jong Un said North Korea’s economy is on a “clear upturn” as his state claimed a successful test of a new tactical ballistic missile that could be sent to Russia in exchange for aid to help his regime.

During a major meeting of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, Kim said the country’s “political and ...Read more

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A wildfire that closed Denali National Park and Preserve on Sunday afternoon and Monday dashed the dreams of thousands of travelers who had the park high on their travel itinerary in Alaska.

Many had to shift their travel and lodging plans amid a lack of electricity and running water in nearby Glitter Gulch, a jumping off ...Read more

The Trump Organization announced plans for a luxury residential tower under its brand in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, expanding its relationship with a local real estate developer.

Dar Global and Trump said in a statement that the deal would build on a $200 million Trump-branded project in Oman announced in March. The companies didn’t disclose ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden called on voters to “render a judgment” on Donald Trump, after a Supreme Court ruling paved the way for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee to potentially escape prosecution for his role in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot.

Biden’s televised remarks on Monday from the White House were in part an ...Read more

President Joe Biden slammed the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity in a short address from the White House on Monday evening.

“This nation was founded on the principle that there are no kings in America,” he said from the White House. “Each of us is equal before the law. No one is above the law, not even the president of ...Read more

A group of Massachusetts senators are demanding that the governor review how many migrant families being supported by taxpayers entered the U.S. on the condition of having their expenses covered by a sponsor, and that she make those people pay up.

Eleven state senators, led by Democrat Michael Moore and Republican Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Democratic leaders are spending their last week before summer break pushing a ballot measure changing portions of Proposition 47 — even though a large chunk of their members may not support it.

On Monday, 35 Assembly members voted in favor of a last-minute initiative from Newsom and legislative leaders ...Read more

Building high-speed rail between downtown San Francisco and downtown Los Angeles has moved a step closer to reality following the last environmental clearance for the multi-billion dollar project.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority’s board of directors last week approved the final environmental document for the 38-mile segment between ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Law enforcement agencies across California have routinely made data they collect from automated license plate readers available to federal and out-of-state police departments, despite guidance from Attorney General Rob Bonta declaring the practice illegal.

Still, Attorney Bonta and his office have not taken action against...Read more

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Monday said she would push to impeach what she called “corrupt” Supreme Court justices after they granted substantial immunity to former President Donald Trump.

The progressive New York firebrand called the decision “an assault on American democracy” and vowed to remove the conservative judges.

“Today’...Read more

NEW YORK — Donald Trump is making a new push to get his New York hush money conviction tossed out after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that he has substantial immunity from criminal prosecution for actions he took while president.

The former president’s lawyers on Monday took preliminary steps to request that a New York judge set aside the ...Read more