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Nick Coltrain/The Denver Post/TNS

Gov. Polis warns about Medicaid cuts by Congress, criticizes tariffs on Canada, supports ICE going after criminals

Current News / News & Features /

DENVER — Gov. Jared Polis warned Thursday of the effect of potential Medicaid cuts in Colorado, reiterated his support for federal immigration authorities’ efforts in the state and criticized President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Polis, joined by a Canadian diplomat, made the comments at a news conference he called to highlight Colorado’s �...Read more

Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post/TNS

Fired federal workers can fight their dismissals, but there's a catch

Current News / News & Features /

WASHINGTON — The more than 2 million federal employees have legal rights as civil servants that are supposed to protect them from being fired unfairly, including for political reasons.

But the Trump administration’s mass firings have exposed a flaw that has left tens of thousands without protection just when they need it the most.

The ...Read more

New Jersey Forest Fire Service/TNS

New Jersey asks residents to conserve water after major wildfire scorches 190 acres

Current News / News & Features /

A 191-acre wildfire that tore through Franklin Township, Gloucester County, starting Wednesday evening was fully contained as of Thursday, according to New Jersey firefighting officials.

Initially the fire, dubbed the Scotland Run Fire, threatened about 60 buildings, including homes and an elementary school. However, none were damaged, and no ...Read more

Trans-Atlantic differences remain as Trump huddles with NATO boss

Current News / News & Features /

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Thursday presented a united front over a ceasefire plan in Ukraine, but it was clear trans-Atlantic differences remain unresolved.

The meeting came just over a week after Trump’s pick for his ambassador to NATO told senators that the U.S. commitment to the alliance...Read more

Trump administration takes birthright citizenship to Supreme Court

Current News / News & Features /

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to allow it to move forward with an executive order to restrict birthright citizenship, after a series of lower court rulings blocked the policy nationwide.

The Justice Department, in three applications about rulings in Washington, New Jersey and Maryland, asked the ...Read more

Meridian fire burning on almost 4,000 acres east of Colorado Springs, mandatory evacuations ordered

Current News / News & Features /

A wildfire is burning across nearly 4,000 acres east of Colorado Springs, Colorado, forcing mandatory evacuations as crews respond to the “rapidly moving” blaze, sheriff’s officials said.

The heart of the Meridian fire is burning near Drennan Road and South Meridian Road but flames are moving north toward Colorado 94, said Sergeant Kurt ...Read more

Dreamstime/TNS/TNS

Trump fired thousands of Social Security workers. Here's how it affects Florida

Current News / News & Features /

TAMPA, Fla. — In 2019, Jeff Meisler started feeling strange at work.

A software engineer nearing 60, Meisler was having trouble thinking clearly. He fell behind on basic tasks, working extra hours to make up the slack. Eventually, his hand was forced. He had to go to the doctor.

The diagnosis: cerebrovascular disease. Clogged arteries in his...Read more

Ulises Ruiz/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Mexican cartel mystery: Abandoned shoes, cryptic writings, charred bones

Current News / News & Features /

MEXICO CITY — Even in Mexico, where stories of massacres, kidnappings and clandestine graves provide daily news fodder, the recent revelations in western Jalisco state have caused a commotion.

Gruesome online images from a ranch apparently once used as a drug cartel training camp show hundreds of discarded shoes, backpacks, pants, shirts and...Read more

YONG KIM/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Dr. Mehmet Oz's ties to insurers may loom over his CMS confirmation hearing

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will likely face questions during his confirmation hearing Friday about his past support of expanding the Medicare Advantage program as well as his financial ties to the industry he will be tasked with overseeing.

If confirmed, Mehmet Oz, known...Read more

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

A dead sea lion was left alone 'for nature to take its course.' Someone decapitated it instead

Current News / News & Features /

Someone cut off the head of a sea lion in Northern California and rode off with it in a bag and authorities are now offering $20,000 for information that helps find the perpetrator.

The body of the mutilated animal was found at Doran Regional Park in Bodega Bay on Christmas, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries ...Read more

D.A. Varela/Miami Herald/TNS

Trump travel ban: 'no exceptions' for Cubans, Venezuelans. Other islands may join Haiti on list

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MIAMI — Damir Ortiz, a 10-year-old with leukemia and a rare genetic disease that has caused a tumor in his left eye, was medevaced Wednesday from Cuba to the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, after overcoming bureaucratic obstacles and the reluctance of the Cuban government.

Last month, 79-year-old Martha Beatriz Roque, a prominent ...Read more

News briefs

Current News / News & Features /

Protesters storm Manhattan’s Trump Tower demanding Palestinian Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil’s release

NEW YORK — Dozens of protesters stormed Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan on Thursday, demanding the release of Palestinian Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil.

The protesters chanted “Free Mahmoud! Free them all!” by the ...Read more

Michael Lycklama/Idaho Statesman/TNS

Idaho teacher stands firm after she's told to remove 'Everyone is welcome here' signs

Current News / News & Features /

BOISE, Idaho — West Ada School District administrators have instructed a teacher that she must remove two signs from her classroom out of concern that they “inadvertently create division or controversy,” the district told the Idaho Statesman.

In doing so, district administrators appear to have inadvertently drummed up division and ...Read more

Alex Kent/Getty Images North America/TNS

Columbia University expels students, revokes degrees of Hamilton Hall takeover Gaza protesters

Current News / News & Features /

NEW YORK — Columbia University has expelled some students for occupying Hamilton Hall last spring, school officials announced Thursday.

In a university-wide email, Columbia said that the outcomes of a months-long investigation also included multi-year suspensions and the temporary revoking of other students’ degrees.

“Today, the Columbia...Read more

Michigan Department of Natural Resources/Michigan Department of Natural Resources/TNS

Cougar cubs spotted in Michigan wild for first time in more than 100 years

Current News / News & Features /

A Michigan resident in the western part of the Upper Peninsula recently discovered something not seen in Michigan for more than a century — cougar cubs in the wild.

State biologists on Wednesday confirmed the sighting of two spotted cubs, believed to be 7 to 9 weeks old. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources said a resident, who wished...Read more

Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Johns Hopkins to slash nearly 2,000 jobs after losing $800 million in federal grants

Current News / News & Features /

BALTIMORE — More than 2,000 positions related to global health are being cut from the Johns Hopkins University after the Baltimore institution saw $800 million in federal grants disappear, a spokesperson confirmed Thursday.

Hopkins’ medical school; the Bloomberg School of Public Health, including its Center for Communication Programs; and ...Read more

Putin stops short of endorsing immediate Ukraine ceasefire

Current News / News & Features /

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he wants to discuss a proposed ceasefire in Ukraine with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump, though he warned that any truce should lead to a long-term resolution of the war.

“The idea itself is correct and we certainly support it, but there are issues that we need to discuss,” Putin said at a Moscow ...Read more

Can a green card holder be deported? A look at the complex process amid Trump threats

Current News / News & Features /

When Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested Palestinian activist and Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, saying his student visa had been revoked, that wasn’t the end of the story.

Khalil was residing in the United States on a green card, NBC News reported.

His green card, in addition to documents held by other authorized ...Read more

Did Zelenskyy disrespect Trump? Or the other way around? What Americans said in poll

Current News / News & Features /

Was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy disrespectful toward President Donald Trump during their contentious Oval Office meeting?

Actually, more Americans think the reverse is true, according to new polling.

In the latest YouGov/Economist poll, 51% of respondents said Trump was disrespectful to Zelenskyy, while 29% said he was not. In ...Read more

Election monitors report well-run 2024 election in Georgia's Fulton County but seek improvements

Current News / News & Features /

ATLANTA — A monitoring team reported vast improvements in Fulton County since the contentious 2020 election, observing an “organized and orderly election process” last fall despite 32 bomb threats.

The monitors also cited several problems Thursday in a meeting with the county election board, including a lack of voter privacy in many ...Read more