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Voters jam lawmakers' phone lines, inboxes over Musk. Here are answers they're getting
WASHINGTON — By now, many people have noticed that trying to get in touch with members of Congress might take, well, an act of Congress.
Phone lines are jammed.
Voicemails are full.
Emails are responded to with form letters.
And some constituents are questioning the accuracy of what their representatives are telling them when they do reply...Read more
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'Everybody is getting sick.' Flu is on the rise in Florida -- and here's what doctors say
MIAMI — We’re feeling it in South Florida.
Feeling the fever. The chills. The fatigue.
People with flu-like symptoms are pouring into Miami-Dade and Broward urgent care and ERs as infections across the country reach levels not seen in a decade. And for the first time since the start of the pandemic in 2020, flu-related hospitalizations and...Read more
Migrants allegedly lured to Georgia with fake job offers notch court win
ATLANTA — When three trained engineers from Mexico accepted opportunities to come work in Georgia as industrial engineers, they believed they had received tickets to white-collar work in the U.S.
But according to a lawsuit filed in Georgia federal court, the engineering job offers were fake, and the Mexican professionals were instead asked to...Read more
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Trump's halt on refugees leaves families fearful for loved ones overseas: 'There is no hope'
PHILADELPHIA -- American embassy specialist Mohibullah Hasrat was evacuated from Afghanistan as the nation fell to the Taliban, departing Kabul with the promise that his parents and sisters would join him in the United States.
Finally, three years after they took refuge in Pakistan, his family was set to arrive in Philadelphia on Feb. 9 — ...Read more
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Trump replaces a top military commander amid widespread shakeup
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles Q. Brown, as part of a broader shakeup of top military officers on Friday night.
Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform Friday night, announced that Brown, the nation’s highest-ranking military officer who was appointed by President Joe Biden...Read more
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Top Trump aide says conditions on federal aid to LA will target California Coastal Commission
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is planning to set conditions on federal disaster assistance to Los Angeles as it rebuilds from the Eaton and Palisades fires, a top aide to the president said Friday, indicating that the California Coastal Commission would be a central target of the White House.
Ric Grenell, a longtime ally to President...Read more
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3 people killed in shooting outside Kentucky driver's license branch
Three people were killed in a shooting Friday outside a driver’s license branch in Louisville, Kentucky, according to Louisville police.
The shooting happened around noon at the office on 6202 Willismore Drive near Dixie Highway. Louisville Metro Police Department said two women and one man were shot in the parking lot.
The man was declared ...Read more
Woman suspected of killing Cal Fire captain was convicted of killing her first spouse
LOS ANGELES — A woman suspected of killing her wife, a Cal Fire captain who battled the Eaton fire last month, was previously convicted of killing her first spouse, records show.
Yolanda Marodi, also known as Yolanda Olejniczak, is a suspect in the slaying of her wife, Rebecca Marodi, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. ...Read more
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'Romance scam on steroids': Woman drugged, robbed victims; 3 died, FBI says
LAS VEGAS — A Las Vegas woman with dual U.S.-Mexican citizenship ran a “romance scam on steroids” that caused the deaths of three people, FBI special agent in charge Spencer Evans said during a news conference where, with the Nevada U.S. attorney’s office, he announced the unsealing of a 21-count superseding indictment against her.
“...Read more
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Feeding Our Future founder lied to the state to keep fraud rolling, FBI agent testifies in trial
MINNEAPOLIS — Three months before federal agents burst into her home, Aimee Bock wrote an email that may come back to haunt her.
The founder and executive director of Feeding Our Future didn’t know it at the time, but the FBI was closing in on what it has called one of the largest fraud scams in Minnesota history.
Soon, every email she ...Read more
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In first for state, South Carolina death row inmate elects to die by firing squad
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina man on death row has opted to die by firing squad. Brad Sigmon, who was sentenced to death for beating his ex-girlfriend’s parents to death with a baseball bat, is the first person in South Carolina to select this method of execution since it was added as an option in 2024.
He is scheduled to be executed on...Read more
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Trump administration reinstates funds for lawyers representing 26,000 children in immigration court
The Trump administration on Friday restored a program that funds lawyers representing unaccompanied minors in immigration court, days after halting it with little explanation.
“This letter cancels the Stop Work Order issued Feb 18, 2025,” said a memo to Acacia Center for Justice, which is contracted to administer the nationwide program.
...Read more
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Supreme Court turns away -- for now -- Trump's appeal seeking to fire agency official
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday turned down President Donald Trump’s appeal seeking to fire an agency official.
Instead, the justices said they would weigh in on the matter only after a judge rules next week on whether the firing was legal.
The decision is a small but temporary setback for Trump and his lawyers,
Chief Justice ...Read more
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Trump says he's considering merging Postal Service into Commerce
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said he is weighing a move that would absorb the U.S. Postal Service, an independent agency, into the Department of Commerce, a sweeping change that comes as his administration looks to overhaul the U.S. federal government.
Asked about a move to shift the agency into the Commerce Department, Trump said the ...Read more
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signs minimum wage, sick leave laws; here's what they do
LANSING, Mich.— Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law Friday bills that will scale back planned jumps in the minimum wage for workers who receive tips and undo some looming regulations for businesses who now broadly have to provide workers with paid sick time.
The measures, which passed the state Legislature late Thursday night, were...Read more
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Kratom to be tested for addiction risk in first-ever study
Popular for its stimulating and pain-relieving properties, the herb kratom can be as easy to buy as a bag of chips in many parts of the U.S. That’s also raised questions about whether kratom should be more closely regulated.
A new U.S. Food and Drug Administration-funded clinical trial expected to begin this summer seeks to provide more ...Read more
News briefs
Illegal border crossings down 94%, Border Patrol chief says
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to ramp up action, and much of the impact of the new Trump administration can be seen at the southern border.
ICE agents are working to apprehend people who are in the country illegally — enforcement efforts that are in line with ...Read more
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H5N1 bird flu found in four Southern California rats
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has added black rats to the growing list of mammals that have been infected by H5N1 bird flu.
The rats were located in Riverside County, and news reports suggest they were living in an area where two infected poultry farms had recently been identified.
The discovery of H5N1 in black rats — a typically urban...Read more
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Ex-Proud Boy chair Tarrio arrested on assault charge in DC after news conference
MIAMI — Miami native Enrique Tarrio is in trouble again.
Tarrio, the former chairman of the Proud Boys whose 22-year prison sentence was erased by President Donald Trump a month ago, was arrested by U.S. Capitol Police on Friday.
A woman accused him of assaulting her after the group’s news conference on plans to sue the federal government ...Read more
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Brian Fitzpatrick is blasting President Trump's comments on Ukraine -- without naming him
PHILADELPHIA — On Wednesday morning President Donald J. Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social, slamming Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a “terrible leader” and claiming that the wartime president is a “dictator without elections.”
Four hours later, U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., shot off a one-sentence ...Read more
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