CHICAGO — Two-year-old Cassidy Reed awoke quickly from her afternoon nap. She bounded across the colorful, toy-strewn preschool to babble with four other toddlers at a miniature table.

“She just loves it,” her great-grandmother, Rochelle Simeon, said with a smile. “I have a hard time getting her out of here.”

Simeon, 72, is the ...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. -- While most of Miami slept, two construction workers climbed into a trench in the center of a 12-lane highway.

The earth was damp from a February rainstorm the day before, making it quick to crumble. Someone should’ve noted the danger before the workers stepped inside, safety protocols say. But their employer — a company ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — San Diego may shift the second phase of the city’s Pure Water sewage recycling system to a more efficient purification method that could save billions of dollars, preventing steep jumps in local sewer and water bills.

The new method could dramatically change the size, scope and cost of the massive project’s Phase Two, which ...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government made broadband expansion to rural communities a priority. But four years later, little has been done to bring dependable, high-speed internet to these underserved areas. So what happened?

In November 2021, President Biden signed into law the Infrastructure Investment and...Read more

Kitty Grutzmacher had contended with poor hearing for a decade, but the problem had worsened over the past year. Even with her hearing aids, “there was little or no sound,” she said.

“I was avoiding going out in groups. I stopped playing cards, stopped going to Bible study, even going to church.”

Her audiologist was unable to offer ...Read more

FLORENCE, Ala. — Sometimes, in a quiet moment between appointments, Dr. Carson Cruise runs the financial numbers through his head. They make a cold but compelling case: If he dropped all of the Medicaid patients from his small-town pediatric dental practice, he could make the same money while working far fewer hours.

Cruise, 36, owns a dental...Read more

For the second time in a week, members of the San Diego Democratic congressional delegation on Monday tried to conduct an oversight inspection of an immigration detention facility inside the Edward J. Schwartz federal building in downtown San Diego, but were denied access.

U.S. Reps. Juan Vargas, Scott Peters, Mike Levin and Sara Jacobs said ...Read more

The Karen Read fallout continues — and its ripple effects are spreading beyond Canton into Boston City Hall.

Read’s attorney in a blistering letter to Mayor Michelle Wu is slamming Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox for being “caught in a lie” about ex-cop Kelly Dever, a controversial witness in the murder trial.

Read’s lawyer ...Read more

President Donald Trump hailed the U.S.’ alliance with Japan, reaffirming ties with a longstanding partner and praising new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on her plans to ratchet up defense spending as the pair met in Tokyo.

“I want to just let you know anytime you have any question, any doubt, anything you want, any favors you need, anything...Read more

Supporters of Proposition 50, California Democrats' ballot measure to redraw the state's congressional districts to help the party's effort to take power in the U.S. House of Representatives, raised more than four times the money as their rivals in recent weeks, according to campaign finance reports filed with the state by the three main ...Read more

Minnesota is sending $4 million in emergency funding to food shelves as officials brace for federal food assistance benefits to run out because of the government shutdown.

DFL Gov. Tim Walz and state officials stressed Monday that the allocation is a stopgap that will only help temporarily. It will not be enough to make up for a drop-off in ...Read more

It’s the annual naming day for the critically endangered North Atlantic right whales.

Scientists at the New England Aquarium have unveiled a new slate of named North Atlantic right whales — a tradition that helps researchers in the field identify the animals in real time.

This year’s whales include Lasagna, Scorpion, Dandelion, Athena ...Read more

On Sept. 30, the U.S. District Court ruled that Tacoma immigration judges were unlawfully declaring they can't issue bonds to many detained immigrants, often relegating them to months or years in jail-like conditions.

Yet Tacoma's immigration judges have continued to say they can't issue bonds, citing a purported lack of jurisdiction.

It's ...Read more

Ivory Coast’s octogenarian leader won a fourth term in elections that excluded his main rivals.

Alassane Ouattara, 83, was proclaimed the winner of Saturday’s ballot with 89.8% of the vote, according to results released by the country’s election commission.

Of the four candidates that were allowed to challenge Ouattara, Simone Gbagbo, a...Read more

Hurricane Melissa’s rapid intensification and its projected torrential rain are highlighting the problems for emergency responders who will have to deal with crises on several Caribbean islands simultaneously in coming days, according to the Caribbean’s top disaster management expert.

After striking Jamaica, where it’s expected to make ...Read more

Hurricane Melissa, now a Category 5 monster, began its northwest turn Monday evening, churning toward Jamaica with what will likely be the most powerful winds ever recorded on the Caribbean island.

Melissa, which also is expected to dump several feet of rain, has already been blamed for a handful of deaths in Haiti and Jamaica and the toll will...Read more

WASHINGTON — Five contenders are still standing in the high-stakes race to be the next Federal Reserve chair.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday confirmed the candidate pool has been cut roughly in half, with current Fed Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, former Governor Kevin Warsh, White House National Economic ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An investigation into the deadly July 1 fireworks explosion in Esparto led authorities to discover a cache of fireworks at a property in East Los Angeles on Monday, prompting the evacuation of a neighborhood and a nearby high school.

The search was conducted by the Arson and Bomb Unit of Cal Fire’s Office of the State ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The nation’s largest federal workers’ union have called for Congress to pass a clean funding extension to reopen the government.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) announced its new position on Monday through an article published on the organization’s website. The move marked a significant shift; many ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Maryland will no longer house foster youth in hotels, a much-criticized practice even before a 16-year-old foster girl was found dead a month ago in a Residence Inn in East Baltimore.

As of Monday, six youth remained in hotels, said Maryland Department of Human Services Secretary Rafael J. López. He has issued a directive to ...Read more