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Senators press Deloitte, other contractors on errors in Medicaid eligibility systems
Senators have launched an inquiry into companies paid billions in taxpayer dollars to build eligibility systems for Medicaid, expressing concern that error-riddled technology and looming work requirements “will cause Americans to lose Medicaid coverage to this bureaucratic maze.”
The letters, dated Oct. 10, were sent to four companies and ...Read more

Shutdown forces Medicare patients off popular telehealth and hospital-at-home programs
The federal government shutdown is forcing a reckoning for two remote health care programs because they automatically expired Oct. 1.
The telehealth and in-home hospital care programs were both temporary — but increasingly popular — options for Medicare recipients. They allowed doctors and hospitals to bill Medicare for telehealth ...Read more

How grand plans to restart oil drilling off Santa Barbara's coast hit California's green wall
LOS ANGELES — When a Texas oil company first announced controversial plans to reactivate three drilling rigs off the coast of Santa Barbara County, investor presentations boasted that the venture had "massive resource potential" and was "primed for cash flow generation."
But now, less than two years later, mounting legal setbacks and ...Read more

A billionaire's son sold investors on the 'ultimate man cave.' Was any of it real?
LOS ANGELES -- On paper, “The Bunker” was an ideal playground for Southern California’s ultrarich.
Described as “the ultimate man cave,” a $14,500 monthly membership offered access to a fleet of high-end vehicles including Ferraris, Bugattis and Porsches, according to investor decks obtained by The Times.
Members were promised ...Read more

Trump claims Democrats want to use federal funds to give undocumented residents health care. That's misleading
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Though raging thousands of miles to the east, the entrenched stalemate in Washington over federal spending and the ensuing government shutdown has thrust California’s expansive health care policies into the center of the pitched, partisan debate.
The Trump administration and the Republican leaders in Congress continue ...Read more

'Demon Copperhead' author lays foundation for women in Appalachia to beat addiction
PENNINGTON GAP, Va. — On a Saturday evening in June, people of this rural region gathered at the historic Lee Theatre to celebrate the founding of Higher Ground Women’s Recovery Residence.
Author Barbara Kingsolver opened the facility in January with royalties from her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “Demon Copperhead,” whose plot ...Read more
Why an affordable slice of LA paradise might never recover from the Palisades fire
LOS ANGELES — As local and state leaders celebrate the fastest wildfire debris removal in modern American history, the Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Home Estates — a rent-controlled, 170-unit enclave off Pacific Coast Highway — remains largely untouched since it burned down in January.
Weeds grow through cracks in the broken pavement. A ...Read more

Fighting Trump's immigration blitz in Chicago, ward by ward
CHICAGO — Chicago aldermen have traditionally measured success by potholes filled, block party bounce houses delivered, votes counted.
But with President Donald Trump’s deportation blitz in full swing, some are adding once unimaginable duties: getting tear-gassed and handcuffed, organizing legions of volunteers, leading local patrols and ...Read more

Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoes 5 bills for 'reparative justice' for Black Californians
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday night vetoed several bills that were part of the Legislative Black Caucus’ ‘Road to Repair’ priority package, intended to address a legacy of injustice toward Black Californians. Of the caucus’ 15 bills, only ten made it to the governor’s desk, and he vetoed more than half of them.
The governor vetoed bills...Read more

SpaceX knocks out final launch for competitor Amazon
After both onshore and offshore weather headaches in the past week, SpaceX was back Monday night to finish up its third of three contracted launches of competitor Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites.
A Falcon 9 on the KF-3 mission was no match for torrents of rain across Florida late Thursday on its first launch window, followed by more ...Read more
Mitt Romney's sister-in-law dead after possible fall or jump from parking structure, authorities say
The sister-in-law of former Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, Carrie Elizabeth Romney, was found dead near a Santa Clarita shopping mall on Friday.
Her cause of death remains under investigation. Investigators are speculating, however, that the 64-year-old Valencia resident fell or jumped from a five-story parking structure, according to L.A. County ...Read more

California shores up protections on transgender people amid White House attacks
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California will seal records of transgender adults who change their names and gender markers on official documents and limit data sharing with federal agencies after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a handful of bills shoring up protections for transgender and nonbinary people as the White House has targeted the community for ...Read more

Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoes bill that would have granted priority college admission for descendants of slavery
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday vetoed legislation that would have allowed public and private colleges to provide preferential admissions to applicants directly descended from individuals who were enslaved in the United States before 1900.
The governor thanked the bill’s author for his commitment to addressing disparities ...Read more

Northwestern University professor shares Nobel Prize in Economics
A Northwestern University professor has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his historical studies on sustained economic growth through technological progress.
Joel Mokyr, who has taught economics and history at Northwestern for more than a half century, was lauded by the Nobel committee Monday for demonstrating how ...Read more

Bill to study inequalities in youth sports, attacked by critics as supporting transgender athletes, signed by Newsom
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed legislation to study inequalities in youth sports, a move likely to draw ire from Republicans who believe the measure is intended to support transgender athletes.
The legislation, Assembly Bill 749, creates a commission to examine whether a new state board or department is needed to ...Read more

California's incarcerated firefighters are about to get a hefty raise
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed legislation to boost the pay of state prisoners assigned to battle California wildfires.
Assembly Bill 247, whose author is Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, D-Los Angeles, raises wages from about $1 an hour to the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. The wages remain far below the state wage of $16.50 an hour.
...Read more

While Florida Starship missions wait, SpaceX launches latest Texas test flight
SpaceX launched its 11th test flight of the powerful Starship and Super Heavy rocket from its Texas site Starbase on Monday as it moved ahead in its goals to achieve an operational rocket that could eventually launch from Florida.
Liftoff came at 7:23 p.m. EDT, looking for a repeat of the successful 10th test flight in August and avoiding the ...Read more

Tropical Storm Lorenzo forms in Atlantic, but no threat to land
The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season saw its 12th named storm form Monday with the arrival of Tropical Storm Lorenzo, but it’s a system not expected to threaten land.
As of the National Hurricane Center’s 5 p.m. Eastern time advisory, Lorenzo had 50 mph sustained winds located about 1,180 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands moving northwest ...Read more

Trump, Xi spark another standoff with world economy at risk
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s latest tit-for-tat showdown has both countries claiming the ball is now in the other’s court, with the clock ticking toward another escalation in import tariffs.
After Trump signaled openness to doing a deal with Beijing, U.S. Vice President JD Vance on Sunday declared the outcome ...Read more

Illinois lawmakers look at limiting federal immigration agents as Broadview shrinks designated protest area
CHICAGO — With the Trump administration’s ramped-up immigration enforcement efforts continuing to rile the Chicago area, officials in west suburban Broadview took steps on Monday to insulate residents from flare-ups between protesters and police as state lawmakers returning to Springfield this week look to strengthen legal safeguards for ...Read more