A letter that appears to have been written by Jeffrey Epstein to serial sex abuser Larry Nassar, a former Michigan State University doctor, is among a batch of documents released this week by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The short message references President Donald Trump and, according to another released file, was submitted by the Federal ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — For the 46th consecutive drawing, no one matched all six numbers of the Powerball lottery on Monday, although several new millionaires were created, game officials announced.

Nationwide, nine different tickets matched five of the six winning numbers, missing only the red “Powerball” number. Each ticket is worth $1 million ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — A man has been convicted of killing three people at a Minneapolis homeless encampment and remains accused of shooting another man at a sober living facility the next day before being shot and arrested by St. Paul police.

Earl Bennett, 41, was found guilty on Dec. 22 in Hennepin County District Court on three counts of second-...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Atop the aerial ladder of a bright red fire engine, a firefighter wrangles a hose. From the spout pours not water but syrup, pumped from an enormous bottle. The stream of viscous liquid is aimed at a giant stack of pancakes 9 feet high.

"Pancake Breakfast" is one of the dozens of floats expected to roll through Pasadena on New ...Read more

SAN FRANCISCO — Fueled by a new viral strain, flu is hitting California early — and doctors are warning they expect the season may be particularly tough on young children.

Concentrations of flu detected in wastewater have surged in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the test positivity rate is rising in Los Angeles County and Orange County, ...Read more

WASHINGTON — A Democratic member of the House on Monday challenged in federal court the administration’s effort to rename the Kennedy Center after President Donald Trump.

Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that the center’s board stepped outside the law when it ...Read more

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson announced Tuesday he will not veto the 2026 budget passed by aldermen, conceding a historic struggle that reached the brink of a government shutdown and burned his goodwill with the City Council.

Speaking to TV cameras from his ceremonial office, Johnson confirmed he will not veto the $16.6 billion ...Read more

MIAMI — A South Florida man who owned a chain of medical equipment companies and an associate were found guilty on Monday of committing healthcare fraud by paying bribes to generate patients so they could bill $34 million to the federal Medicare program for unnecessary services.

Michael Kochen, 42, of Aventura, and Sandro Herek, 55, of Coral ...Read more

The U.S. Justice Department released another tranche of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, including some that add fresh pressure on President Donald Trump over his past relationship with the late, disgraced financier.

The trove includes thousands of additional pages of material related to investigations of Epstein, including a 2020 email from a...Read more

DETROIT — Detroit Mayor-elect Mary Sheffield will host a public swearing-in ceremony for her new job as the city's first female leader at a free event the Detroit Opera House on Jan. 9.

The "public investiture" is free and will also include the swearing-in of Detroit City Council members, police commissioners and City Clerk Janice Winfrey. ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A major atmospheric river storm walloping the state with heavy rains, strong winds and major snow has made its way to Southern California, bringing what forecasters say may become the region's worst Christmas storm in recent memory.

"This is a long-duration event, so we're going to be having the cumulative effects of rain," said...Read more

The Department of Justice on Tuesday released its biggest tranche to date from the Epstein Files, the department’s investigative cases into the deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

The more than 10,000 files show internal deliberations between federal prosecutors, attorneys for victims and attorneys for Epstein.

The files also include ...Read more

A New Jersey actor whose credits include HBO’s hit “The Sopranos,” as well as the films “J. Edgar” and “The Prestige,” has been indicted on charges related to a road rage incident, during which he shot a woman in the face near Stockton University, police said.

Ernest Heinz is facing 31 counts in connection with the violent rampage...Read more

Clashes erupted between Syria’s army and a U.S.-backed Kurdish group on Monday in the country’s north, an escalation that undermines their planned unification by the end of the year.

The government in Damascus and Kurdish-led armed group Syrian Democratic Forces accused each other of instigating the fighting in the Aleppo province. At least...Read more

Russian forces launched a missile and drone attack across Ukraine, killing civilians and hitting energy targets as negotiators pressed ahead with talks to end the nearly four-year war.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the strikes on several Ukrainian regions, with some 650 drones and more than 30 missiles, took place “in the midst of ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — San Diego public officials continued to rely on their elected positions throughout 2025 to solicit donations to favored causes from companies and others with interests before the city.

The so-called behested payments — donations to charities made at the request, or behest, of elected officials — totaled more than $150,000 this...Read more

The U.S. Justice Department released another tranche of files related to late, disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, as the Trump administration faces mounting pressure to comply with a new transparency law.

The trove includes thousands of additional pages of material related to investigations of Epstein. It’s heavily redacted like the ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Russell "Rusty" Trubey said he was compelled by God to preach the words that helped set off a national battle over religion at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Reading from a sermon titled "When Culture Excludes God," Trubey, an Army Reserve chaplain, sermonized to a congregation of veterans at the Coatesville VA ...Read more

If you are pregnant or a new mother who is struggling with depression or anxiety, you can call or text the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline, 24/7: 833-TLC-MAMA (833-852-6262). Postpartum Support International can help connect you with a local mental health provider at 800-944-4773 or psidirectory.com.

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Before giving birth to her ...Read more

The 20th century was horrible for the Everglades. The broad shallow river, one of the most unique ecosystems on the planet, was labeled wasteland and ruthlessly dammed, carved into parcels, dried out and diverted into near oblivion.

But at the end of the century, 25 years ago this month, Democrats and Republicans from Florida and Washington, D....Read more