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Tammy Ljungblad/The Kansas City Star/TNS

Kansas town is lucky to see no tornado deaths. But manufacturing center is 'gone'

Current News / News & Features /

OTTAWA, Kan. — Kendal Anderson had just moved from Kansas City to Ottawa two months ago, bringing his wife, Natalie, and their five children to their new home after securing a job at TruComp Pipe, a manufacturer of high-pressure gas and oil pipes.

On Monday evening, a EF-2 tornado from the west swept through four blocks of the Franklin County...Read more

Sarah A. Miller/Idaho Statesman/TNS

Gov. Brad Little embraces Turning Point USA's 'Club America' in Idaho schools

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BOISE, Idaho — Idaho officials are encouraging high school students to start or join chapters of a conservative group that has in the past advocated for political candidates including President Donald Trump and has called to mobilize the country’s most “spirited, anti-woke warriors.”

Last week, Gov. Brad Little signed a proclamation ...Read more

What Trump's approval of flood relief money means for Washington state

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SEATTLE — President Donald Trump's approval last week of federal aid for Washington's destructive December floods potentially unlocks tens of millions of dollars to reimburse the state, counties and cities for repair and recovery costs.

It also allows individual residents and families to apply to receive money to cover uninsured flood losses,...Read more

Kawnat Haju/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Israel hails Lebanon talks despite slim chances for breakthrough

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Israel and Lebanon met for their first high-level talks in more than 30 years in what the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. called a “victory for sanity,” even as officials played down hopes for an end to the war with Hezbollah.

The Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to Washington met under U.S. mediation for “productive discussions on steps ...Read more

PHOTO BY AL DIAZ/Miami Herald/TNS

Miami unions want fair pay, conditions for World Cup workers: 'Promises are not enough'

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With the World Cup kickoff less than two months out, Miami-Dade labor leaders want to ensure that the benefits of hosting games reach the people who staff them.

At a press conference Tuesday, organizers presented a letter signed by 30 labor leaders and addressed to Alina Hudak, the president of Miami’s World Cup Host Committee. In it, they ...Read more

Majid Saeedi/Getty Images North America/TNS

US, Iran pursue new talks as Tehran weighs pause in Hormuz shipments

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The U.S. and Iran are looking to arrange a second round of peace talks in the coming days, with Tehran mulling a pause in shipments through the Strait of Hormuz to help ease the path toward an agreement on time and place.

The objective is to hold more discussions before an April 7 ceasefire expires next week, according to people familiar with ...Read more

Ryan C. Hermens/Lexington Herald-Leader/TNS

Impeachment of Kentucky judge 'not about politics,' former lawmaker says

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — For the first time since filing an impeachment petition against a Fayette Circuit Judge in January, former lawmaker Killian Timoney has spoken out about the proceedings, saying he did so in pursuit of justice.

Timoney — who is seeking election again for a Lexington-area house seat — said in a Facebook post on Tuesday he ...Read more

David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/TNS

St. Louis NAACP wants deaths at city jail investigated as negligent homicides

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ST. LOUIS — The NAACP’s city branch on Tuesday called on Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore to investigate whether recent deaths of city jail inmates could be the result of criminal neglect — or even negligent homicide — by city employees and contractors.

Chapter President Adolphus Pruitt said local hospital staff told his group that inmates ...Read more

Panudda Saengsuwan/Dreamstime/TNS

Extremely contagious virus on rise in Northern California. What are noroviruses?

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Rising levels of noroviruses, a highly contagious infection, have been detected in wastewater in several California cities, testing shows.

WastewaterSCAN data shows “high concentrations” of noroviruses in Sacramento, Davis, San Francisco, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Vallejo, Novato, Redwood City, Turlock and San Rafael.

...Read more

Nancy Lane/Boston Herald/TNS

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey hides behind public records law exemption, withholds majority of ICE portal entries

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BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey is hiding behind her exemption to the public records law to withhold hundreds of entries sent to the ICE Misconduct Portal she created last month with Attorney General Andrea Campbell, as the Bay State keeps up its reputation as the least transparent state in the country.

The Boston Herald had requested the first ...Read more

Tyger Williams/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Biden's Justice Department was overly aggressive in prosecuting a Pa. anti-abortion activist, Trump administration says

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The Justice Department on Tuesday said federal prosecutors under former President Joe Biden “weaponized” the law to target people with anti-abortion views, and said one of the key examples was a case in which the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia charged a Bucks County activist with seeking to intimidate workers and patients outside a...Read more

Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Appeals court says it will reverse convictions, orders two 'ComEd Four' defendants released from prison

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CHICAGO — Just hours after hearing arguments, a Chicago federal appeals court on Tuesday announced it will grant new trials to former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore and lobbyist Michael McClain and ordered them released from prison on bond.

The extraordinary development comes nearly three years after Pramaggiore and McClain were convicted as part...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

University of Minnesota research counters claims that fluoride in water lowers IQs

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MINNEAPOLIS – A new study by University of Minnesota researchers found no evidence to support fears that childhood consumption of fluoride and fluoridated water reduces intelligence.

Utah and Florida in 2025 banned the use of fluoride in public water supplies, despite its well-documented benefits for oral health, after a report showed an ...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

New accuser claims Rep. Eric Swalwell drugged, raped and choked her

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A Los Angeles woman came forward Tuesday with new sexual assault accusations against Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-California, deepening the onetime rising political star’s legal woes.

As Swalwell prepared to resign from Congress in disgrace, accuser Lonna Drewes said Swalwell attacked her following a Hollywood meeting in 2018. She also believes he ...Read more

Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Convictions in 'ComEd Four' bribery trial appear to be on thin ice

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CHICAGO — Three years after the historic “ComEd Four” bribery trial, the convictions of former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore and lobbyist Michael McClain appeared to be on thin ice Tuesday as a federal appeals court indicated recent Supreme Court rulings could force a retrial.

During consolidated arguments for McClain and Pramaggiore before ...Read more

Glen Stubbe/Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Gov. Tim Walz signs bill honoring late Minnesota House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman

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MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota lawmakers renamed a solar energy program prized by the late House Democratic-Farmer-Labor leader Melissa Hortman in her honor following her killing.

Gov. Tim Walz announced Tuesday that he had privately signed the legislation but said more public efforts to recognize Hortman were yet to come.

The legislation renames ...Read more

Tammy Ljungblad/The Kansas City Star/TNS

After tornado hits Kansas town, daylight shows wreckage. 'You could hear the roar'

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OTTAWA, Kan. — Randy and Gwen McCurdy stood on their porch off Main Street on Monday night in Ottawa, Kansas, scanning the sky for signs of the storm.

Then the sirens sounded.

“There was no rain,” said Randy McCurdy, 70. But then it descended. In sheets. “You couldn’t see the other side of the street.”

Moments later, they ...Read more

Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Mexico's new top diplomat: A gay millennial with deep knowledge of the US

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MEXICO CITY — The junior Mexican diplomat, part of an official delegation to Washington, was caught in an undiplomatic moment: munching on peanuts piled on a napkin as he sat with political heavyweights including Mexican Cabinet secretaries and then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The 2019 image of the peanut-chomping envoy quickly went viral, ...Read more

Al Seib/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Ex-UCLA doctor admits to sexually abusing 5 patients after previous conviction overturned

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LOS ANGELES — A former UCLA gynecologist pleaded guilty Tuesday to sexually abusing five of his patients during examinations, and the once-renowned cancer expert was sentenced to 11 years in state prison.

James Heaps, 70, pleaded guilty to 13 felonies, including multiple counts of sexual penetration of an unconscious person, and must register...Read more

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America/TNS

Analysis: Can Senate Republicans buck midterm history again?

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WASHINGTON — Eight years ago, President Donald Trump’s mediocre job approval rating created a difficult national political environment for Republicans, who lost more than 40 seats in the House. But GOP senators bucked the midterm backlash and gained two seats. Could they do it again?

The April 20, 2018, edition of Inside Elections led with ...Read more