California this year took the final step in opening Medi-Cal, its Medicaid program, to every eligible resident regardless of immigration status. It’s a significant expansion for an already massive safety net program.

Medi-Cal’s annual spending now stands at $157 billion, serving about 15 million low-income residents, more than a third of ...Read more

A new federal watchdog audit is ratcheting up pressure on government officials to crack down on billions of dollars in overcharges linked to Medicare Advantage home visits.

But so far, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has rejected a recommendation from the Health and Human Services Inspector General to limit payments stemming from ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Gov-elect Mike Kehoe will almost certainly free a former Kansas City police detective convicted of killing a Black man – if the current governor doesn’t do it first.

Kehoe’s election as governor last week effectively ensures Eric DeValkenaere, who killed 26-year-old Cameron Lamb in 2019, won’t serve out his...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Is it a toaster? Is it a pill on wheels? No, it's Zoox's funny-looking robotaxi, the latest fully autonomous vehicle to hit the streets of California.

Zoox's self-driving vehicles began rolling out in San Francisco's SoMa neighborhood this week, and are expected to compete with robotaxis designed by Waymo, which started ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Joe McKay tried everything medicine had to offer for the blinding headaches that began in the months after 9/11, when the former New York City firefighter spent weeks wading through the curtains of dust and smoke at the World Trade Center.

On his worst days, McKay was incapacitated by pain every few hours, feeling like someone ...Read more

ATLANTA — President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign announcement that he will propose tax breaks to ease the strain on family caregivers is welcome news to many facing that challenge.

“It’s about time that they were recognized, right?” Trump said. “They add so much to our country and are never spoken of, ever, ever, ever, but they’...Read more

BOSTON — A Massachusetts school committee member has resigned after being exposed on social media for telling Trump supporters she hopes they choke on a “piece of (expletive) covered in broken glass.”

The Millbury School Committee has confirmed to the Herald that Sarah Murray’s resignation was “tendered and accepted” on Saturday ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump has picked his former national intelligence director, John Ratcliffe, to be the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, selecting a fierce loyalist from his first administration to lead the nation’s intelligence apparatus.

Ratcliffe, 59, is expected to bring a heavy focus on countering national...Read more

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump is nominating Pete Hegseth, host of Fox News Channel’s weekend morning program and an Army National Guard officer, as his defense secretary, the president-elect said in a statement on Tuesday evening, putting another fierce loyalist in charge of the government’s biggest agency.

“Pete has spent his entire life ...Read more

North Korean soldiers have begun fighting against Ukraine alongside their Russian allies, the U.S. State Department said, after Pyongyang sent thousands of troops to Russia’s Kursk region to aid the Kremlin’s war efforts.

“Today I can confirm that over 10,000 DPRK soldiers have been sent to eastern Russia, and most of them have moved to ...Read more

The State Board of Elections is coordinating with federal officials after 15 local boards of elections received bomb threats as votes were being counted Friday, according to Maryland’s elections administrator.

“This is something that I want to see pursued, because it affects all of us as election administrators. It affected our volunteers ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s administration is setting out plans for the U.S. to triple nuclear power capacity by 2050, with demand climbing for the technology as a round-the-clock source of carbon-free power.

Under a road map being unveiled Tuesday, the U.S. would deploy an additional 200 gigawatts of nuclear energy capacity by mid-...Read more

PETERS CREEK, Alaska — The little tree in Josh Smith's yard at the base of Bear Mountain resembled an alder, the scrappy and familiar Alaskan shrub.

But the sturdy sapling with oval leaves was actually a hazelnut, a crop that Smith is hoping might also someday thrive in other yards as the state's climate changes, bringing fresh potential for ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump is nominating former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be the U.S. ambassador to Israel and appointing real estate investor Steve Witkoff as a special envoy to the Middle East, tapping two key allies to help formulate and implement his policies for the region.

Trump announced the selections Tuesday, ...Read more

SEATTLE — While most of America shifted rightward in last week's presidential election, Washington bucked the national trend — and doubled down on its landmark climate policy, the Climate Commitment Act.

Now Washington is positioned to act as a beacon of climate policy, not just in the United States but around the world, outgoing Gov. Jay ...Read more

NEW YORK — Faced with a threat of stepped-up enforcement in New York by Donald Trump’s new border czar, top New York court officials are laying down the law and saying they will continue to shut their doors to federal immigration authorities looking to round up undocumented immigrants as they seek to launch mass deportation proceedings in ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — The judge who was set to oversee the Moscow murder trial of Bryan Kohberger before he approved its move to Boise plans to retire.

Judge John Judge, of Idaho’s 2nd Judicial District in Latah County, sent a signed letter last month notifying the state of his intent, a copy of which the Idaho Statesman obtained from the state ...Read more

SPRINGFIELD — On the first day of the Illinois legislature’s brief fall session, Republicans called on Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker to promise not to raise taxes to address a projected budget deficit of more than $3 billion.

The Governor’s Office of Management and Budget made the deficit projection on Nov. 1, four months into a budget year...Read more