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

Deputies in Missouri encountered a “bananas” situation when they came face to face with a nearly-naked suspect.

But the suspect — a spider monkey dressed in a tutu — was no match for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

The department said in a Jan. 3 post on Facebook that the spider monkey was staying at a home when it pried open ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — SpaceX is set to send up the second launch of the year from the Space Coast on Monday afternoon.

A Falcon 9 carrying 24 of the company’s Starlink internet satellites is set for liftoff during a three-hour launch window that opens at 12:21 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40. A backup ...Read more

William Pope has a bold prediction regarding his upcoming trial on charges that he was part of the mob that breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The Kansas man doesn’t believe his scheduled June 2025 trial will take place. Indeed, he expects to be exonerated of the felony and four misdemeanor counts he now stands accused of once ...Read more

CHICAGO — After an extended 18-day holiday break from testimony, the jury in the corruption trial of former House Speaker Michael Madigan will be back to work Monday to hear more defense witnesses in a case inching to the finish line.

Before the panel was sent home for the holidays on Dec. 19, the trial’s spotlight had finally turned to ...Read more

BOSTON — Despite some major strides in the last year, Boston traffic still ranks the 4th worst in the U.S. and 12th in the world, according to a new INRIX Global Traffic Scorecard released Monday.

“Overall, congestion resulted in drivers losing an average of 43 hours to traffic jams in 2024, equal to about one work week, costing $771 in ...Read more

BOSTON — Accused Boston BLM charity fraudster Monica Cannon-Grant’s last private attorney has been temporarily suspended from practicing law in the state of Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued an order of immediate temporary suspension against attorney Christopher Malcolm, a judge announced in a recent filing in ...Read more

You probably already know that how you eat before bed affects your sleep. Maybe you’ve found yourself still lying awake at 2 a.m. after enjoying a cup of coffee with dessert. But did you know that your eating choices throughout the day may also affect your sleep at night?

In fact, more and more evidence shows that overall dietary ...Read more

Hamas disclosed a list of 34 hostages it’s willing to return to Israel in the first phase of a potential ceasefire in Gaza, which the U.S. wants to achieve before President Joe Biden leaves office in two weeks.

The Palestinian militant group circulated the list to Bloomberg and other media outlets, but didn’t clarify whether each person is ...Read more

Ex-French President Nicolas Sarkozy is at the center of a trial over allegations his 2007 winning campaign was covertly funded by about €5 million ($5.2 million) in cash and offshore transfers paid by aides to Libya’s late leader, Moammar Qaddafi.

Sarkozy is accused at a Paris trial starting Monday of taking part in a criminal conspiracy to...Read more

South Korea’s corruption watchdog filed for an extension of a warrant to arrest President Yoon Suk Yeol after their first attempt last week ended in failure following an hours-long standoff with his security team.

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials also asked the police to handle the arrest on their behalf ...Read more

Austria’s far-right leader Herbert Kickl received a mandate from President Alexander Van der Bellen to form a government, putting the Freedom Party chief one step closer to becoming chancellor.

“I have not taken this step lightly,” Van der Bellen told reporters on Monday. “I will continue to ensure that the principles and rules of our ...Read more

As the H5N1 bird flu virus continues to rip throughout California’s dairy herds and commercial poultry flocks, a Central Valley state official is raising concern about the lack of wastewater surveillance in the region.

State Sen. Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) has been frustrated by what she says are gaps in tracking the bird flu’s spread in ...Read more