CHICAGO — Attorneys for ex-House Speaker Michael Madigan unveiled a key point in their defense case Monday morning, saying they intend to show proof that Madigan’s offices had long-established protocols intended to prevent conflicts of interest between his government work and his private law practice.

That claim, the defense says, would ...Read more

Minnesota’s 2025 legislative session is headed toward a historically sour start.

House Democrats are considering taking the extraordinary step of not showing up for the first two weeks of the session, which starts Jan. 14, to deprive Republicans of the quorum they need to operate, two sources with knowledge of the caucus discussions said. ...Read more

Connecticut’s top federal prosecutor will resign hours before Donald Trump takes office, she announced Monday.

Vanessa Roberts Avery began her role as U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut in 2022. She plans to resign at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 17, the Justice Department announced. Trump’s inauguration is scheduled for 9 a.m. the...Read more

NEW YORK — Donald Trump is seeking to stop his sentencing from going ahead Friday as his lawyers appeal a pair of rulings upholding his historic criminal conviction for the 2016 Stormy Daniels hush money scheme.

Late Sunday — two days after Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan denied Trump’s requests to throw out the case and ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A part-time actor was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison Monday for soliciting investors in companies that prosecutors said marketed a bogus cure and treatment for COVID-19.

Keith Lawrence Middlebrook, 57, was convicted in May of 11 counts of wire fraud. Ahead of sentencing Monday morning, Middlebrook told the ...Read more

Following former President Jimmy Carter’s death on Dec. 29, President Joe Biden declared Thursday, Jan. 9 as a National Day of Mourning in honor of the late centenarian leader.

The day coincides with Carter’s scheduled state funeral in Washington, D.C., for which Biden will deliver the eulogy. Carter’s funeral procession is already ...Read more

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration passed on applying for state funding for a city-owned grocery store, raising questions about the future of the bold proposal the mayor first floated more than a year ago.

Johnson first raised the idea of a publicly owned grocery store in September 2023. He framed the idea as a way to improve ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Speaking up about his experience defending the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has made Daniel Hodges a target.

But even as Donald Trump returns to the White House, vowing along the way to pardon many of the rioters who beat Hodges and his colleagues, the Metropolitan Police officer is not lying low. On Monday, he returned to the ...Read more

Authorities believe they have found the second body of two brothers who had gone missing during a duck-hunting trip in Northern California last month.

Andruw Cornett, 19, and Wesley Cornett, 17, of Yuba County were last seen hunting in the Thermalito Afterbay downstream of Lake Oroville on Dec. 14 according to the Butte County Sheriff's Office....Read more

A new report linking fluoridated drinking water to lower IQ scores in children is sure to ratchet up the debate over a practice that's considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century.

The report published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics synthesizes the results of dozens of research studies that have been released since ...Read more

​WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump on Monday softened his push for “one powerful bill” to pass much of his agenda through the budget reconciliation process, saying he remained open to a two-bill strategy favored by Senate Republicans “as long as we get something passed as quickly as possible.”

Trump told conservative radio ...Read more

BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey ordered an inspection of all state-run emergency shelters and a “full review” of the intake process after one Dominican migrant was arrested at a site in Revere while allegedly possessing an AR-15 and about $1 million worth of fentanyl, the governor said in a statement.

“It’s outrageous that this individual ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Two decades ago, California set an ambitious employment goal: To reflect the state’s diverse population, one sixth of the government’s workforce would be filled by people with disabilities.

For years the state fell short of this objective, established by the State Personnel Board — and since the pandemic, California...Read more

BALTIMORE — Carroll lawmakers plan to support bills that would support alternative energy solutions and restrict government-granted eminent domain powers, amid the pending approval of the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, a 70-mile power line that would run through Carroll, Frederick and Baltimore counties.

The Public Service Enterprise ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer announced Monday that fellow New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand would lead the Senate Democratic campaign arm for the 2026 midterm cycle.

“Electing more Democrats to the Senate in 2026 is the most important thing we can do to limit the damage of Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Speaking up about his experience defending the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has made Daniel Hodges a target.

But even as Donald Trump returns to the White House, vowing along the way to pardon many of the rioters who beat Hodges and his colleagues, the Metropolitan Police officer is not lying low. On Monday, he plans to return to the...Read more

DETROIT — Macomb County Office of Senior Services Director Sheila Cote said her colleagues have seen more and more cases over the last few years where they're concerned about the safety of older adults in the community.

She found out that some other counties in Michigan have elder abuse taskforces and ultimately decided to create her own in ...Read more