The departure of Texas Democrats who spent two weeks in suburban Chicago evading a vote in their state on a Republican-backed redrawing of congressional district boundaries has not ended the conversation on partisan gerrymandering in Illinois.

A bipartisan pair of former high-level officials from President Barack Obama’s administration on ...Read more

The American Academy of Pediatrics updated its recommendations for immunizations Tuesday, including calling for COVID shots for healthy kids, diverging from controversial advice from the federal government.

The group said it recommends the COVID shot for children ages 6 months to 23 months. Earlier this year, Health and Human Services Secretary...Read more

The Minnesota-based Vaccine Integrity Project followed through Tuesday on a promise to provide scientific data on vaccine safety and effectiveness ― even though it contradicts President Donald Trump’s federal health advisers.

The project collected results from 590 existing studies and pooled them to see what they collectively show about the...Read more

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the state’s law banning counselors from practicing “dangerous” conversion therapy on LGBTQ+ kids.

Weiser’s office filed an 83-page brief Tuesday that argues conversion therapy — a medically discredited practice in which medical professionals try to change...Read more

A coalition of environmental groups and state lawmakers on Tuesday called on Gov. Gavin Newsom to put in place tougher rules to reduce plastic pollution in the oceans and across California’s landscape, five months after he halted proposed new regulations that plastics companies opposed.

At a news conference outside the state Capitol building ...Read more

Gov. Josh Stein declared a state of emergency for North Carolina on Tuesday, Aug. 19, ahead of Hurricane Erin.

The storm, which was about 615 miles south-southeast of Cape Hatteras as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, is not expected to make direct landfall in North Carolina. Its likeliest path takes the center of the storm between the East Coast and Bermuda...Read more

ATLANTA — Two of Georgia’s largest universities quietly removed language from their nondiscrimination policies earlier this year, a move some fear will lead to increased harassment of LGBTQ students as the new semester begins.

In March, the University of Georgia updated its policy by eliminating the terms “sexual orientation” and “...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida bear hunt opponents, unable to dissuade state wildlife commissioners last week from authorizing a sanctioned killing of the once imperiled species, are now trying their luck in court.

This year’s bear hunt, set for 23 days in December, would be the first in Florida since 2015 when hunters killed an unexpectedly high ...Read more

WASHINGTON — California is a crucial battlefront in a coast-to-coast political civil war over congressional redistricting, a war that Republicans nationally appear better positioned to win.

“If all these Republican processes go through, even if California goes through, Republicans are probably going to end up winning this redistricting war,...Read more

As Floridians breathe a collective sign of relief from escaping the worst impacts of Hurricane Erin, there’s one group of people that are particularly thrilled with the exact track of this storm — surfers.

The large and powerful hurricane is expected to stay hundreds of miles offshore, far enough to not even swipe the Sunshine State with ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida officials are accusing two publishers of systematically overcharging some school districts for textbooks, including more than $279,000 billed to Osceola County schools.

The state is taking legal action against McGraw Hill and Savvas Learning Co. to recoup the funds, Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Attorney General James ...Read more

Republican legislators asked the California Supreme Court to intervene and hit the brakes on redistricting efforts underway in the statehouse.

Legislators are making fast work this week on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to redraw the state’s congressional boundary lines ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Newsom’s effort is meant to “...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Tuesday any executive order from President Donald Trump banning mail ballots will have no impact on elections in the commonwealth.

The governor’s comments come a day after Trump announced plans to ban mail voting, a move Shapiro said would be unconstitutional.

“Donald Trump can sign ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Ridership across Metro's transit system plunged in June after federal immigration authorities conducted dramatic raids across Los Angeles County, sowing fear among many rail and bus riders.

Last month, the transit agency's passenger numbers on buses continued to dip, although the reasons are not fully clear.

Ridership on rail ...Read more

ATLANTA — A Georgia Senate committee Tuesday kicked off what could be a yearslong effort to eliminate the state’s income tax.

The committee heard testimony from advocates who say Georgia must eliminate its tax on personal (and possibly corporate) income to remain competitive with other states that plan to do the same. The most prominent ...Read more

NEW YORK — A new super PAC is funding phone bankers and canvassers to rally white working-class communities behind Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani as a broad array of independent groups involved in the mayor’s race coalesce against him.

Showing Up for Racial Justice, a national organization, registered the new pro-Mamdani PAC last...Read more

BOSTON — A top Boston Police Department official disputed claims from two city councilors that BPD radio communications were offline for nearly 30 minutes at the height of overnight violence that broke out in the aftermath of this past weekend’s Dominican Festival.

BPD Superintendent-in-Chief Phillip Owens confirmed Tuesday that the main ...Read more