MIAMI — Miami-Dade’s mayor on Friday vetoed legislation that would strip fluoride from county drinking water, setting up a showdown override vote by county commissioners over a public health practice that began in the 1950s.

Citing recommendations from doctors, dentists and national medical groups, Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said ...Read more

BOSTON — Massachusetts state Rep. Chris Flanagan of Dennis Port was arrested Friday morning on charges that he stole tens of thousands of dollars from a trade association he worked for, covered up the thefts, and then used the money to pay personal bills and fund his campaign for elected office.

Federal prosecutors indicted Flanagan, a ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A small plane crashed and burned on approach to the Boca Raton Airport on Friday morning.

Initial unconfirmed reports indicate at least three people may be dead after the plane crashed short of the runway shortly after 10 a.m., hitting a car and pushing it onto the railroad tracks near Military Trail and Glades Road, ...Read more

ATLANTA — Atlanta pharmacist Ira Katz thinks everyone in Georgia needs to know how to save the life of a stranger or loved one who has overdosed on opioids.

He has done it himself.

“It was 8:30 in the morning and people thought this kid was sleeping in a car outside of the pharmacy,” said Katz, who runs Little Five Points Pharmacy on ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS – Minnesota Senate President Bobby Joe Champion violated the chamber’s rules when he helped steer state funds to a former legal client, Senate GOP lawmakers allege in an ethics complaint filed Friday.

Champion, who also works as a private attorney, has been under scrutiny for advocating that a violence prevention nonprofit ...Read more

CHICAGO — Hoping to reduce gun violence in Chicago, the Sue Ling Gin Foundation announced a $15 million gift Friday to develop a leadership and management education program for police supervisors.

The gift, which will be made to the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago, will fund the new five-year program, working with the ...Read more

DENVER — The Colorado state budget is moving closer to finalization, but lawmakers have continued grappling over $1.2 billion in proposed cuts — with trims to a community health reimbursement program and to transportation funding among those drawing attention.

Proposed funding cuts for community health workers led to amendments and pleas ...Read more

BALTIMORE — A tumultuous Maryland legislative session was about 12 hours from ending when Gov. Wes Moore’s 20/20 hindsight kicked in.

During an hourlong interview with The Baltimore Sun’s editorial board, the governor was asked what he would do differently on spending, given the state’s $3.3 billion deficit, and what he learned from the...Read more

BOSTON — The Boston Teachers Union voted to ratify a new contract with Boston Public Schools after over a year of bargaining.

“Together, we’ve secured critical investments in student support, meaningful wage increases for educators – especially for paraprofessionals – and an inclusion model that increases resources for students with ...Read more

MIAMI — The Miami City Commission has deferred a vote on a proposal to create lifetime term limits for elected officials, with the commission’s chairwoman — the necessary swing vote — saying the concept is “too extreme.”

The proposal, spearheaded by Commissioner Damian Pardo, would limit elected officials to two terms as mayor and ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Jillian Lauren, wife of Weezer bass player Scott Shriner, was thrust into the spotlight this week after a bizarre chain of events that culminated in the bestselling author being shot by police and allegations that she tried to murder an LAPD officer.

Here’s what we know:

What are the events that led to Lauren’s arrest?

The...Read more

China retaliated against Donald Trump’s latest tariffs by hiking duties on all U.S. goods, while calling the administration’s actions a “joke” and saying it no longer considers them worth matching.

Beijing will raise tariffs on all U.S. goods from 84% to 125% starting April 12, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday, after the White ...Read more

Just 17,000 votes separated the top two candidates in the first round of Ecuador’s presidential election. A third contender raked in half a million votes, meaning supporters of his Indigenous and environmentalist party will be a deciding factor in this weekend’s runoff.

Final polling ahead of the April 13 vote showed socialist challenger ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — In his last week as L.A.'s fire recovery czar, Steve Soboroff said he was shut out of high-level planning almost from the start, raising questions about why Mayor Karen Bass chose him and whether rebuilding from the Palisades fire is on track.

The idiosyncratic longtime civic leader, who has a penchant for speaking his mind and ...Read more

A sightseeing helicopter crashed into the Hudson River on Thursday, killing all six people on board, the latest in a string of incidents in recent months that has rattled confidence in U.S. aviation safety.

“At this time, all six victims have been removed from the water. And sadly, all six victims have been pronounced deceased,” New York ...Read more

While pornography has been present throughout human history in various forms, such as ancient erotic art to more modernized motion pictures, research shows an increase in use over recent decades given the rise of technology and accessibility.

Pornography, meaning any media intended to depict or describe sexual content to heighten ...Read more

It’s a straightforward part of the Easter story: The Roman governor Pontius Pilate had Jesus of Nazareth killed by his soldiers. He imposed a sentence that Roman judges often inflicted on social subversives – crucifixion.

The New Testament Gospels say so. The Nicene Creed, one of Christianity’s key statements of faith, says ...Read more

The second Trump administration has launched the next stage in the half-century-long battle between commerce and conservation over Alaskan oil and gas development. But its moves are delivering a mixed message to the petroleum industry.

The administration has opened – or reopened – large swaths of government land in Alaska to oil ...Read more

As the federal government moves to eliminate U.S. climate rules, companies still face pressure to be better stewards of the planet from their customers, investors, employees, local communities, lenders, insurers, global trading partners and many states.

Each of those groups knows it will face increasing costs from rising temperatures ...Read more