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Trump plans Texas trip this week to survey flood devastation

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President Donald Trump said he would travel to Texas on Friday, a trip that will allow him to survey firsthand the devastation from extreme floods that have left at least 100 people dead and scores still missing.

“We’ll be going on Friday,” Trump told reporters Monday at the White House, as he hosted a dinner for visiting Israeli Prime ...Read more

Colorado lawmaker faces sexual harassment accusations that surfaced during GOP leadership race

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Two women have accused a Loveland state lawmaker of making graphic, sexual comments about them at public events, according to statements the women sent to the House Republican caucus.

In the joint letter, the two women alleged that Rep. Ron Weinberg made unwanted and explicit sexual advances to them at public events in 2021 and 2022, before he ...Read more

Rob Nikolewski/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

EPA announces settlement on cleanup of Otay Mesa battery fire

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced a settlement with Gateway Energy Storage, LLC — the company that operates a battery facility in Otay Mesa where a stubborn fire smoldered for two weeks in May 2024.

The EPA said it will require comprehensive safety measures and monitoring “to protect nearby residents and workers�...Read more

Kevin Clark/The Seattle Times/TNS

Chinese students at Washington schools face uncertainty after visa announcement

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Chinese students studying at Washington state colleges and universities could face an uncertain future following this week’s announcement that the U.S. will start revoking some of their visas.

The U.S. State Department will work with the Department of Homeland Security to “aggressively revoke” visas for Chinese students, including those ...Read more

Purplish creature found in volcanic fjord is new species named after Darth Vader

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In the waters of Papua New Guinea’s Tufi region, known for its dramatic volcanic fjords, an unusual fish sat perched on a massive rocky coral outcrop.

The fish, with large yellow eyes and a “distinctive purplish-black coloration,” was a new species of dwarfgoby, according to a study published July 3 in the Journal of the Ocean Science ...Read more

News briefs

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AccuWeather estimates Texas floods will cost at least $18 billion

The floods that devastated Texas’ Hill Country over the weekend will also result in a hefty economic toll, according to new data released Monday.

The natural disaster that killed at least 75 in Kerr County represents a total projected economic cost between $18 billion and $22 ...Read more

MATIAS J. OCNER/Miami Herald/TNS

State abruptly drops sex case against friend of Alexander brothers due to lack evidence

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The sex case against a good friend of the Alexander brothers unraveled on the eve of trial Monday, with the Miami-Dade State Attorney saying evidence that Ohad Fisherman wasn’t at the scene of the crime was too much for state prosecutors to overcome.

The dismissal of charges against Fisherman — accused of pinning a woman down in a Miami ...Read more

Jonathan Weiss/Dreamstime/TNS

In pricey Washington, any cuts to food stamps could hit hard

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The Republican-led House passed a budget resolution last month calling for a $2 trillion reduction in spending over the next decade. To meet this goal, lawmakers could end up targeting major safety-net programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The program, also known as food stamps, helps low-income Americans afford ...Read more

Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call/ZUMA Press/TNS

Medicaid spending is under scrutiny. Here's what that means for Washington

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The Republican-led House passed a budget resolution Tuesday calling for a $2 trillion reduction in federal spending over the next 10 years. To meet that target, lawmakers are now eyeing cuts to a broad range of programs including Medicaid, which provides health coverage for millions of low-income Americans.

Any such cuts would be felt across ...Read more

Shafkat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

Ted Cruz vacationed in Europe during deadly Texas flood: report

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Texas Sen. Ted Cruz reportedly spent the weekend hitting tourists spots in Europe while a devastating Lone Star State flood killed at least 90 campers in the Hill Country.

The Republican lawmaker, who infamously fled his home state for Mexico in 2021 when a freezing winter storm shut down Texas’ power grid, was spotted in Greece checking out ...Read more

National Hurricane Center/National Hurricane Center/TNS

Chantal wasn't a hurricane but still caused big damage in NC. Here's why

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Tropical depressions may sound minor compared to hurricanes, but both weather events can cause major damage.

Chantal made landfall as a tropical storm in South Carolina and was later downgraded to a tropical depression.

The depression brought heavy rain to North Carolina late Sunday and early Monday, flooding parts of Orange, Durham and ...Read more

Jim Vondruska/Getty Images North America/TNS

In Texas, Florida and across the globe, warmer climate makes flooding 'more unprecedented'

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As the Texas flooding death toll reached 95 on Monday — at least 27 of them children — and Tropical Storm Chantal prompted dozens of water rescues in North Carolina, some Floridians were reminded of the disastrous “rain bomb” in 2023 that hit faster and harder than any hurricane in living memory.

Though no one died from the 2 feet of ...Read more

Jim Vondruska/Getty Images North America/TNS

Camp confirms worst fears as Texas flooding deaths exceed 90

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Three days after cataclysmic floods tore through a stretch of the Texas Hill Country, officials have confirmed the deaths of 27 children and counselors who had been missing from a girls’ summer camp. Authorities counted more than 90 deaths statewide and said the number was almost certain to climb as rescuers sorted through mounds of debris.

...Read more

Alex Kormann/Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Gov. Tim Walz on guns at the Capitol, lawmaker security and Minnesota's response to Trump's big bill

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says he wants to “strike a proper balance” of keeping the State Capitol open to the public while also ensuring it’s secure.

Some lawmakers have said they want Capitol security tightened after the assassination of Rep. Melissa Hortman last month. She was shot and killed in her own home alongside her husband, Mark. ...Read more

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump administration freezes millions for NC public schools during review

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The Trump administration is withholding nearly $7 billion in federal education funding, including $168.8 million that North Carolina public schools had expected to get for the new school year.

On June 30, the U.S. Education Department notified states it was freezing $6.8 billion in funding for programs such as teacher training, after-school ...Read more

Matt Stone/Boston Herald/TNS

More Georgia sheriffs partnering with ICE while metro Atlanta holds out

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At the beginning of the year, just five Georgia sheriffs were signed up for a controversial federal program known as 287(g), which allows local law enforcement officers to perform some of the functions of immigration agents.

As of June 26, that number has grown to 24, with two additional Georgia sheriffs set to join the growing list when their ...Read more

Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post/TNS

Judge fines Mike Lindell's attorneys for filing AI-generated motion during defamation case

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A judge fined two attorneys for MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell $3,000 apiece Monday for filing a motion riddled with AI-generated errors in a case that resulted in a jury finding Lindell liable for defamation over false claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.

Judge Nina Y. Wang, of the U.S. District Court in Denver, found attorneys ...Read more

Chitose Suzuki/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

The key weather ingredients that fueled Texas' deadly floods

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In Kerrville, Texas, it only rained five times in June, and July started off with just a couple of showers. In fact, the surrounding county was 100% in drought at the start of July.

Ironically, that drought helped beget the deadly floods that swept through the region on Friday. It’s one of a number of factors, including the abnormally hot ...Read more

CRAIG KOHLRUSS/The Fresno Bee/TNS

California will not block trans athletes from school sports, defying White House

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California will not ban transgender athletes from competing in K-12 school sports or change its anti-discrimination policies to exclude them, becoming the second state after Maine to defy the Trump administration over the issue.

U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon gave California 10 days from June 27 to rescind any sports prizes awarded to ...Read more

Alex Wong/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump administration plans to send Abrego Garcia to 'third country' as he awaits Tennessee trial

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GREENBELT, Md. — The Justice Department’s “current plan” is to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia again — not to El Salvador — if he is freed from federal custody as he awaits trial in Tennessee, a U.S. government attorney told a court Tuesday.

“The plan currently is to remove him to a third country,” Jonathan Guynn, the attorney, told...Read more