A deadly avalanche buried a group of backcountry skiers and guides near Lake Tahoe in California’s Sierra Nevada as an intense storm brought heavy, wet snow to the region on Feb. 17, 2026. Six of the skiers were rescued, but eight others didn’t survive and another was missing. The region had been under an avalanche warning that was rated ...Read more

Mark Zuckerberg was sharply questioned on the witness stand about whether he and other leaders at Meta Platforms Inc. are aware of the volume of children under age 13 who use Instagram.

During a landmark trial over social media addiction, Zuckerberg described the “very difficult” task of enforcing the platform’s age requirement. He said ...Read more

Another ransom note demanding $6 million in cryptocurrency in exchange for the safe return of Nancy Guthrie was sent to TMZ on Wednesday.

This note, the latest in a series, demanded the money in a cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin, which the previous notes had requested, according to the outlet.

The latest ransom note includes “a highly ...Read more

Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg made an extended, pugnacious appearance in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, defending his company from the witness stand against a lawsuit that alleges social media harms children.

The Meta boss appeared in a dark suit and gray tie, his signature chestnut curls slightly mussed, darting occasional ...Read more

MIAMI – One lot of baby food has been recalled after testing found elevated levels of patulin, a toxin that can cause health problems such as “immune suppression, nerve damage, headache, fever, and nausea.”

That’s from Initiative Foods’ FDA-posted recall notice about Tippy Toes Apple Pear Banana fruit puree, which said the baby food ...Read more

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — With an eye toward this election year and possibly the next, Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker used his State of the State and budget address to outline a message of resistance to President Donald Trump and the need to push affordability against the economic moves of his White House.

Speaking before a joint session of the ...Read more

Eight backcountry skiers were killed in the deadliest avalanche in state history Tuesday in the Sierra Nevada mountains near Truckee, authorities said.

Six skiers — one guide and five participants in a three-day backcountry ski expedition — were rescued alive Tuesday, said Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon at a press conference Wednesday ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California Attorney General Rob Bonta, joined by the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development and the California Energy Commission, filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Trump administration, challenging the federal government’s decision to withdraw funding for California’s hydrogen hub, the Alliance ...Read more

In November 2025 the Trump administration announced a special park pass commemorating the nation’s 250th anniversary that featured images of two presidents: George Washington and Donald Trump.

Featuring the current president – in place of the National Park Service’s usual landscape pictures – triggered both a lawsuit and a ...Read more

The negative public reaction to Operation Metro Surge – the violent immigration dragnet in Minnesota – was “MAGA’s Gettysburg,” wrote New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie on Jan. 28.

Bouie, of course, was comparing ICE’s setbacks to the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg, the battle often credited with turning the tide of ...Read more

The Trump administration announced on Feb. 12, 2026, that it is ending Operation Metro Surge, its deployment of more than 3,000 federal immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis, St. Paul and the surrounding metro area. Federal officials say some agents will remain in the area and have vowed that similar immigration sweeps are coming soon...Read more

Jesse Jackson’s two campaigns for president, in 1984 and 1988, were unsuccessful but historic. The civil rights activist and organizer, who died on Feb. 17, 2026, helped pave the way for Barack Obama’s election a generation later as the nation’s first – and so far only – African American president.

Jackson’s campaigns ...Read more

The $205 million held since October by the Trump administration in a political spat over the region’s largest infrastructure project has been restored, the Gateway Development Commission said Wednesday in a statement.

The money, part of nearly $15 billion earmarked by Congress for the construction of the $16 billion Hudson River Tunnel, was ...Read more

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. teamed up with Kid Rock to shoot a workout video set to the tune of the latter’s 1999 song “Bawitdaba.”

The 90-second spot begins with footage of the men posing shirtless in front of what appears to be a taxidermied bear. It then shows slow-motion imagery of a shark, a military ...Read more

NEW YORK — Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday named six appointees to the city’s Rent Guidelines Board, in a move that brings him a step closer to fulfilling his campaign promise of freezing the rent for tenants in New York City’s roughly 1 million rent-stabilized apartments.

Implementing the rent freeze for four years was one of Mamdani�...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Moments before handyman Pablo Nieves was detained outside a Home Depot in Plymouth, he called his daughter, Valeria.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent had shot and killed Renee Good in south Minneapolis the day before, and Valeria was queasy about going to school. Pablo tried to assuage her fears, telling her he’d ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said Wednesday that with or without federal cooperation, state prosecutors are in “good shape” to make charging decisions against the federal agents who shot and killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

While noting that her office continues to lack crucial evidence taken by the federal ...Read more