SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A California Assembly committee on Wednesday advanced a ban on law enforcement officers from coming near polling places unless they’re responding to a public safety threat — a bill supporters say is designed to insulate the state’s elections from intimidation tactics by federal agencies under President Donald Trump�...Read more

CHICAGO — The federal government is looking to stop a controversial Illinois law banning certain credit card fees, a move that appears to favor financial institutions that have fought the state law in court for more than a year.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, an independent bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, plans ...Read more

The U.S. Senate is voting today on an unprecedented move to strip mining prohibitions from an area near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Lawmakers are considering a measure under the Congressional Review Act. If passed and signed by the president, the measure would remove a 20-year ban on mining federal lands in the Superior National ...Read more

John Eastman, the former Chapman University law dean who became the legal architect of President Donald Trump’s push to hold office despite losing the 2020 election, is no longer allowed to practice law in California.

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday, April 15, declined to hear Eastman’s appeal of a lower court ruling recommending ...Read more

DETROIT — Heavy spring rainfall and lingering melt-off of winter snow and inland lake ice have left much of Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula awash in water this week, wreaking havoc on up north roadways.

Multiple roadways and small bridges were washed away by floodwaters from Grand Traverse County on Lake Michigan to Presque Isle County on...Read more

The top U.S. derivatives regulator is investigating a series of suspiciously well-timed trades in the oil futures market ahead of recent policy pivots by President Donald Trump related to the war in Iran, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is leading the probe into trading of oil futures ...Read more

Donald Trump’s bid to block Iran from using the Strait of Hormuz chokes a key Chinese energy supply and risks a showdown with Xi Jinping a month before the two leaders are set to meet in Beijing.

Xi broke his near seven-week silence over the Iran war on Tuesday, warning the world order is “crumbling into disarray,” while pledging to play ...Read more

The U.S. and Iran are considering a two-week ceasefire extension to allow more time to negotiate a peace deal, according to a person familiar with the matter, reducing the risk of a resumption of fighting despite an intensifying standoff over the Strait of Hormuz.

With the initial truce due to expire next week, mediators between the warring ...Read more

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday delayed a planned special session on redistricting by one week, while simultaneously expanding the agenda to include a revived push for artificial intelligence regulations and vaccine discussions.

In a proclamation issued Wednesday evening, DeSantis said he was pushing back the special ...Read more

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Senate voted to table impeachment proceedings against Fayette Circuit Judge Julie Muth Goodman but vowed to return to the issue if a judicial oversight commission does not act on misconduct accusations against the judge on the final day of session.

On Wednesday morning, the Senate impeachment committee voted to table ...Read more

CHICAGO — Former ComEd CEO Anne Pramaggiore and retired lobbyist Michael McClain were released from federal prison Wednesday, but their freedom comes with a future that remains uncertain.

A day after an appeals court said it would reverse their convictions in the “ComEd Four” conspiracy case and ordered them freed “forthwith,” ...Read more

Donald Trump’s bid to block Iran from using the Strait of Hormuz chokes a key Chinese energy supply and risks a showdown with Xi Jinping a month before the two leaders are set to meet in Beijing.

Xi broke his near seven-week silence over the Iran war on Tuesday, warning the world order is “crumbling into disarray,” while pledging to play ...Read more

NEW YORK — SantaCon is led by a conman who siphoned more than a million dollars raised for charity during the yearly crimson plague of drunken revelry — a grinch who “stole Christmas from tens of thousands of victims,” federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged Wednesday.

Suspected Bad Santa Stefan Pildes pleaded not guilty to wire ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Three San Jose residents backed by a national justice nonprofit have filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the city’s vast network of automated license-plate reader cameras violate the Constitution by subjecting citizens to nonstop warrantless surveillance.

The Wednesday filing, helmed on behalf of the plaintiffs by the ...Read more

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Republican-backed proposal that would have set up the framework for impeachment proceedings for Democratic Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison over fraud concerns failed to pass in a House committee on Wednesday.

There was little chance of the resolution passing in the tied House, where it was defeated on an 8...Read more

Actor Ruby Rose's public allegations of sexual assault against pop star Katy Perry have made their way to Australian officials, days after the former raised her claims on social media.

A spokesperson for the Victoria Police in Australia confirmed in a statement to The Times on Wednesday that its Melbourne Sexual Offences and Child Abuse ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Sen. Thom Tillis didn’t hold back his opinion of President Donald Trump posting an image of himself as Jesus or attacking Pope Leo.

Early Monday, Trump posted an AI-generated image of himself dressed in a white robe with a red shawl draped over it. Jesus is often depicted wearing the same garments in Western art, a symbol of ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans again fended off a Democratic attempt to force President Donald Trump to end the war in Iran, but there are signs GOP anxiety could bubble up as the conflict nears the 60-day mark.

The Senate on Wednesday voted 47-52 against a motion to discharge from the Foreign Relations Committee a joint resolution from Sen....Read more

A Republican lawmaker on Wednesday introduced a resolution declaring a recent Kentucky Supreme Court ruling that halted impeachment against a Lexington judge unconstitutional.

The resolution, introduced by state Rep. John Blanton, R-Salyersville, on the last day of Kentucky’s legislative session, called a recent high court ruling that stopped...Read more