WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats walked out of a briefing with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche that was intended to cover the Justice Department’s handling of files related to sex trafficking investigations of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Representative Robert Garcia of California ...Read more

FRESNO, Calif. — A proposal by a Central Valley lawmaker calls for renaming Cesar Chavez Day, a state holiday, to Farmworker Day after rape allegations against the labor leader came to light Wednesday.

Cesar Chavez Day, held annually on March 31 to honor Chavez’s birthday, was established as a state holiday in 2000 in California, and ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Labor leader Cesar Chavez is accused of sexually assaulting two underage girls in the 1970s as well as fellow farmworker leader Dolores Huerta in the 1960s, according to an investigation from the New York Times.

The allegations have sparked public outcry from elected leaders and spurred a wider reckoning of a towering figure in ...Read more

Dozens of California schools, streets, parks and libraries bear the name of Cesar Chavez — on top of the statues erected and holiday established in his honor.

But in the wake of new sexual abuse allegations against the iconic labor leader, some elected officials and organizations are calling for change.

A steady stream of leaders from ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — An immigration judge has denied the asylum claims of a Columbia Heights family whose 5-year-old son became a national symbol of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota, their attorney told Minnesota Public Radio News on Wednesday.

Liam Conejo Ramos — the preschooler photographed in a blue bunny hat and ...Read more

A deaf 6-year-old boy snatched by immigration agents from Northern California and deported to Colombia this month needs to be returned to the U.S. immediately or he could die, a lawyer representing the child said Wednesday.

Attorney Nikolas De Bremaeker said the boy, Joseph Lodano Rodriguez, was “at risk every day that he is not getting his ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Maryland’s beleaguered foster care system received approval Wednesday to spend almost $900 million to add more placements and strengthen standards of care for youth with the greatest health and behavioral needs.

Contracts approved by the Board of Public Works will build a foster system “that is more compassionate, effective ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Unified's two largest labor groups — the teachers union and service employees — announced Wednesday they will join forces and both go on strike April 14 if no contract deal is reached before then, actions that would effectively shut down schools in less than a month.

The strike would affect close to 400,000 ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — A married couple on Wednesday pleaded guilty ahead of trial next month to their roles defrauding the federal Feeding Our Future child nutrition program.

Ikram Yusuf Mohamed, 42, and her husband, Shakur Abdinur Abdisalam, 46, are the latest defendants to enter pleas in the massive $300 million pandemic fraud case that’s seen 79...Read more

Travelers from two more countries in the Western Hemisphere will be required to pay steep fees to come to the United States after being added to the State Department’s ‘visa bond’ program, the agency announced on Wednesday.

Citizens from Grenada, the eastern Caribbean island, and Nicaragua are now among the foreign nationals in 50 ...Read more

WASHINGTON — U.S. intelligence leaders testified on Wednesday that Iran’s clerical leadership has been damaged but not ousted from power, and the mullahs may rebuild their degraded military capabilities over the next several years despite ongoing U.S. and Israeli strikes.

The top civilian witnesses before the Senate Select Intelligence ...Read more

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — When he’s not at work, Sam Dove drives a Chevy Silverado 1500. But on the job, he gets behind the wheel of a 16-million-pound behemoth that’s been transporting NASA’s rockets for more than 60 years.

Dove gets to drive the crawler-transporter 2 (CT-2), which was one of two tracked vehicles originally designed to ...Read more

An attorney for California gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa is threatening “legal remedies” if ABC and the University of Southern California do not include the former Los Angeles mayor in an upcoming debate, a move that comes amid criticisms that candidates of color were not invited to participate in the event later this month.

...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A majority of the Sacramento City Council declared support for renaming Cesar E. Chavez Plaza after allegations of sexual abuse were published Wednesday against the civil rights leader.

Mayor Kevin McCarty and Council members Karina Talamantes, Phil Pluckebaum, Caity Maple, Eric Guerra and Mai Vang in comments to The ...Read more

NEW YORK — Mayor Mamdani announced Wednesday that he is reversing a controversial Adams-era policy that allowed the NYPD to issue criminal summons to e-bike riders and bicyclists for infractions that were not considered criminal when committed by drivers.

“Every New Yorker on our roads, whether driving or biking, deserves to be treated ...Read more

CHICAGO — The respiratory illness RSV is still going strong in Chicago — an unusually late showing for the virus, which can strike infants especially hard.

RSV activity has moved from moderate to high in Chicago, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health. Though it’s typical for RSV to spread more widely in the winter — ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Labor leader Cesar Chavez is accused of sexually assaulting two underage girls in the 1970s as well as fellow farmworker leader Dolores Huerta in the 1960s, according to an investigation from The New York Times.

The allegations have sparked public outcry from elected leaders and spurred a wider reckoning of a towering figure in ...Read more

The fate of two oil tankers believed to be carrying desperately needed fuel to Cuba is emerging as a key test of Washington’s escalating pressure campaign — and of Havana’s ability to withstand it.

At the center of the uncertainty is the Sea Horse, a Hong Kong-flagged tanker whose unusual movements have raised questions about whether it ...Read more

DETROIT — Federal prosecutors found more than $13,000 in a Comerica Bank account during an ongoing hunt for money that could be applied toward $823,649 former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick owes taxpayers as part of the disgraced politician's public corruption conviction, according to a court filing Wednesday.

In the filing, a bank official ...Read more