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Following controversy, Broadway to dim marquee lights quarterly

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NEW YORK — Broadway’s long-standing tradition of dimming marquee lights to memorialize the deaths of theater greats is getting a revamp following recent backlash.

The newly formed Broadway In Memoriam Committee announced Friday that departed theater members will now be honored quarterly as a group, while solo dimmings will continue for ...Read more

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Trump signs order seeking to reduce more federal agencies

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order aimed at reducing the scope of eight federal agencies as part of his campaign to downsize the U.S. government.

The action eliminates non-statutory functions and reduces others for these entities called “unnecessary” in a White House fact sheet.

Groups affected are ...Read more

Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Feds file immigration case against suspect in deadly catalytic converter theft

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LOS ANGELES — A suspect arrested earlier this month in connection with a fatal shooting during a catalytic converter theft in Inglewood is now facing federal charges for allegedly illegally reentering the United States after being deported.

Jose Cristian Saravia-Sanchez, 30, of El Salvador, was charged this week with being in the U.S. ...Read more

Richard Tribou/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

SpaceX launches Crew-10 to space station as Starliner astronauts wait

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A SpaceX Falcon 9 surged up through blue skies Friday to send a crew on its way to International Space Station where the pair of NASA astronauts who flew up last summer on Boeing’s Starliner have been waiting for a ride home.

The Crew-10 mission lifted off from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A at 7:03 p.m. shortly before ...Read more

Why was it so hard for the GOP to pass its spending bill?

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Facing a threat of imminent government shutdown, nine Democrats joined GOP Senate colleagues to defeat a filibuster, moving a six-month government funding bill to final passage in a late-day vote on March 14, 2025.

Since January 2025, Republicans in Washington have enjoyed what’s commonly known as a governing “trifecta”: control...Read more

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House Republican refers Boston Mayor Wu to feds for criminal probe into sanctuary policies

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BOSTON — House Republican Anna Paulina Luna formally recommended that the Department of Justice open an investigation into Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, saying that her enforcement of the city’s sanctuary policies may violate federal immigration law.

Luna, a Florida congresswoman, announced at last week’s hearing of the House Committee on ...Read more

Leon Neal/Getty Images North America/TNS

Haitians and clergy group sue Trump over decision to end protections from deportation

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Nine Haitians, a powerful labor union and a Protestant group are suing President Donald Trump and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security over their decision to cut short more than a half-million Haitians’ legal immigration protections in the United States by six months.

The lawsuit alleges that the end of the deportation protection, known ...Read more

TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

White House sought real-time updates on arrest of Columbia University grad student Mahmoud Khalil

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NEW YORK — The White House sought real-time updates on the status of pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil after his arrest by Homeland Security agents who stonewalled his lawyers until he was on the way to rural Louisiana, the Columbia University graduate student’s legal team said in new court filings.

In an amended complaint filed in ...Read more

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Fire at NJ home of Bayer pharmaceutical exec investigated as arson

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A fire at the New Jersey home of a Bayer pharmaceutical executive, sparked exactly three months after the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is actively being investigated as arson.

The blaze broke out around 7:30 a.m. on March 4 at an “occupied residence on East Lane in Madison,” the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office ...Read more

ACLU/ACLU/TNS

Video shows arrest of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil in front of pregnant wife

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NEW YORK — A video released on Friday afternoon reveals the moment Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil was taken into custody in front of his eight-months pregnant wife.

The eight-minute clip, released by his attorneys, shows plainclothes immigration authorities confronting the married couple in the lobby of their university-owned ...Read more

News briefs

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Man who says Rep. Nancy Mace lied about his sex crime involvement sues her for libel

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina man who contends Rep. Nancy Mace lied about him when she accused him of sex crimes filed a libel and defamation lawsuit against Mace in federal court Friday morning.

The 37-page lawsuit, filed by Brian Musgrave, of Fort Mill...Read more

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Rubio says South Africa envoy is 'persona non grata,' fueling feud

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WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio said South Africa’s ambassador to the U.S. “is no longer welcome” in the country after the top envoy made comments about President Donald Trump, escalating a running feud between Washington and Pretoria.

Rubio made the announcement in a post on X, linking to a Breitbart News article on a ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Denver jury awards tenants more than $10 million in lawsuit over neglected apartment complex

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DENVER — A Denver jury on Thursday awarded millions of dollars to former tenants of an apartment complex over systematic neglect and habitability concerns.

More than 2,000 residents of the Mint Urban Infinity apartment complex at 1251 S. Bellaire St. near Glendale will receive rent credits for the months they lived in the building as well as ...Read more

Renee C. Byer/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

State issues guidelines on back-to-office order. Some long-distance commuters may be exempt

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Employees previously given permission to work from home because of special needs can be exempted from the governor’s four-day return-to-office mandate, according to new guidance released by the state on Friday.

That includes state workers living more than 50 miles from home and covered by previously established telework...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Arlington Cemetery website removes links to information on minority, female veterans

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The Arlington National Cemetery website has removed links to information on prominent Black, Hispanic and female service members as part of President Donald Trump’s ongoing efforts to eliminate references to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Among the internal links that no longer appear on the website are those directing users to pages ...Read more

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Mehmet Oz testifies before Senate committee, won't commit to opposing cuts to the Medicaid program he would run

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Celebrity doctor and former Pennsylvania Senate candidate Mehmet Oz told senators he has the experience and reform ideas necessary to bring down the cost of health care and make Americans healthier in a hearing on Capitol Hill that showcased the former TV host’s penchant for charismatic salesmanship.

“My TV audience has heard me say this ...Read more

The Trump administration is investigating more than 50 colleges for alleged racial discrimination

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U.S. Department of Education officials said Friday that they had opened investigations into more than 50 universities for alleged racial discrimination.

Most of the investigations initiated by the Office for Civil Rights relate to the universities’ partnership with a program for doctoral students that limits eligibility based on race, ...Read more

Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post/TNS

At least 7 critically injured in explosion, fire at Denver retirement campus

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DENVER — At least seven people were critically injured in an explosion and fire at Eastern Star Masonic Retirement Campus in southeast Denver on Wednesday, including broken bones, burns and smoke inhalation, hospital officials said Friday.

The explosion and fire sent 10 people to the hospital and displaced 87 residents from the community’s ...Read more

Renée Jones Schneider/Star Tribune/TNS

Violence interrupter who made threats to Minneapolis council could get new contract

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MINNEAPOLIS — A prominent north Minneapolis pastor who made threatening statements to Minneapolis City Council members could get a new, $643,632 one-year city contract to interrupt violence.

The Rev. Jerry McAfee — whose nonprofit has done violence prevention work for years — interrupted a February council committee meeting and went on a ...Read more

U.S. Institute of Peace/U.S. Institute of Peace/TNS

Former Sen. Alan Simpson remembered as a giant in the Senate -- for achievements and his height

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Former Wyoming Sen. Alan K. Simpson, one of the most colorful lawmakers in recent congressional history, died Friday at age 93 while recovering from a broken hip he sustained in December.

The three-term Republican senator stood out for his candor, humor and willingness to work across party lines — not to mention his height.

At 6-foot-7, he ...Read more