Sheldon Ekirch is used to being disappointed by her health insurance company.

That’s why Ekirch, 31, of Henrico, Virginia, was stunned when she learned Anthem would finally have to pay for life-changing medical treatment.

For two years, she had battled the company to cover blood plasma infusions called intravenous immunoglobulin, or IVIG. ...Read more

It’s hundreds of miles from the AI boom and tech billionaire class of Silicon Valley.

It maintains an image, at least in some minds, as a beachside mecca for old money, big yachts and conspicuous consumption.

And now, a new Times analysis of the highest home values in California shows Newport Beach perched at the top. Among California’s ...Read more

When Mike McKee thinks about saving money for the future, he has a few priorities. Maxing out his retirement is one. Building up his kid’s college fund is another.

Opening up a health savings account? Not so much, even though he qualifies because of his high-deductible health plan.

“I’m so frustrated with the system that has anything to ...Read more

In a Sierra Nevada canyon all but incinerated in the 2021 KNP Complex fire, a new forest of California's beloved giant sequoias is now growing. Only not yet one that is actually giant.

The seedlings and saplings are mostly knee-high to chest-high and mixed with thickets of ceanothus and other post-fire brush growing amid the true giants that ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Judges in one of the nation's largest court systems have started using artificial intelligence, testing a tool that can rapidly distill hundreds of pages of legal motions and use samples of a jurist's writing style to help reach conclusions and even draft tentative rulings.

The program, which launched last month, gave half a ...Read more

CHICAGO — A recent pledge by President Donald Trump to protect the Great Lakes from invasive carp comes as his administration continues to withhold federal funding for a key Illinois project designed to stop the spread into Lake Michigan.

Illinois officials say they welcome the president’s public support but are urging immediate action. ...Read more

A coalition of mostly Democratic-led states is suing the Trump administration over a new federal requirement that would force colleges to report detailed admissions data, including race, gender, test scores and financial aid for individual students.

The mandate is an expansion of a 40-year-old system known as IPEDS and follows the 2023 Supreme ...Read more

California lawmakers’ latest attempt to address the environmental impacts of rapidly growing data centers was introduced in January through a bill authored by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan.

Assembly Bill 1577, or the Data Center Accountability Act, would require California data centers to disclose their energy use to the California ...Read more

The Democratic primary for Illinois comptroller remained too close to call Wednesday as state Rep. Margaret Croke maintained a slim lead over state Sen. Karina Villa.

With an estimated 92% of votes counted, Croke led Villa 34.6% to 32.2%, according to unofficial results from The Associated Press. Lake County Treasurer Holly Kim, who had secured...Read more

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