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Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/TNS

California, other states file suit to prevent shutdown of federal consumer agency

Current News / News & Features /

California joined 20 other states and the District of Columbia on Monday in a lawsuit that seeks to prevent the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from being defunded and closed by the Trump administration.

The legal action filed in U.S. District Court in Eugene, Ore. by the Democratic attorneys general accuses Acting Director Russell...Read more

Drew Angerer/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

US must arrange return of deported Venezuelans, judge rules

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A judge ruled that President Donald Trump’s administration must arrange for the return of a group of alleged Venezuelan gang members deported to a prison in El Salvador.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ruled that about 137 men sent in March to the notorious CECOT prison deserve to return to the U.S. to contest in court how they were ...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Democratic Illinois lawmakers visit ICE facility in Broadview after judge confirms they cannot be denied access

Current News / News & Features /

On Monday morning, a group of Democratic Illinois lawmakers made it inside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center in Broadview after months of being denied access.

U.S. Reps. Jesús “Chuy” García, Danny Davis, Delia Ramirez and Jonathan Jackson arrived carrying a federal court order confirming that members of ...Read more

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump to host defense firms to urge less spending on buybacks

Current News / News & Features /

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced he’ll meet next week with executives from major U.S. defense contractors in a bid to force them to spend more money on weapons development, not stock buybacks, executive pay and dividends.

“We make the best equipment in the world but they don’t make them fast enough,” Trump said. “We don...Read more

Ellen M. Banner/The Seattle Times/TNS

Federal judge releases disabled Washington veteran from ICE custody

Current News / News & Features /

TACOMA, Wash. — A federal judge on Monday morning ordered the immediate release of a disabled U.S. Army veteran who has been held at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma since August.

Muhammad Zahid Chaudhry, who is originally from Pakistan and has been living in the United States since 2000, was detained by U.S. Immigration and ...Read more

Why Washington state is building 'stepdown' mental health facilities

Current News / News & Features /

SEATTLE — Four people sat at a table, coloring with crayons and singing along as rock music played from a TV behind them. First Lynyrd Skynyrd, then The Eagles.

The calm, soothing repetition of coloring and the upbeat music was meant to help them practice mindfulness, one of the therapy activities for residents at the Lacey-based mental ...Read more

News briefs

Current News / News & Features /

Abrego Garcia can remain free at least through end of the month

Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia will remain free at least through the end of the month after a federal judge sought more information on whether the U.S. plans to detain or deport him again.

Judge Paula Xinis in Greenbelt, Maryland, asked the Department of Justice for additional ...Read more

Shari L. Gross/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS

Feds seek $5.2 million restitution from founder of Feeding Our Future

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ST. PAUL, Minn. — Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to order the ringleader of the $250 million Feeding Our Future scandal, the largest known pandemic-era fraud scheme in Minnesota, to pay millions of dollars in restitution.

Aimee Bock, 45, should pay $5.2 million for her involvement in the scheme, prosecutors said in a Dec. 19 court ...Read more

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump announces new class of 'battleships' named after himself

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is naming a new class of ships after himself as part of his so-called Golden Fleet vision for revamping the Navy.

In a speech at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Monday, Trump said the Navy will build two ships in a new class of what he described as “battleships” that he is calling the “Trump class...Read more

SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Slow release of Epstein files triggers victim outcry, legal threats from Congress

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The top Democrat in the Senate threatened legal action against the Trump administration Monday over its slow and incomplete rollout of the so-called Epstein files. The Department of Justice has so far failed to release any additional new documents from its investigation into the deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Senate Minority Leader ...Read more

Jesus Vargas/Getty Images North America/TNS

Sanctioned tankers still load Venezuelan oil despite US pressure

Current News / News & Features /

More than a dozen tankers have loaded oil off Venezuela’s coast since the Trump administration intensified efforts to curb Caracas’ crude revenue by targeting vessels.

Since Dec. 11, roughly 14 vessels have loaded, and at least six of them were under sanctions, according to data from maritime intelligence firm Kpler. The majority of the ...Read more

ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump unveils warship named after himself in shipbuilding push

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump announced the Navy will build a new “Trump-class” battleship as part of the White House push to modernize a fleet that’s been hobbled by years of cost overruns and delays.

A poster displayed at the event at Trump’s gilded Mar-a-Lago estate featured an artist’s rendering of a sleek-looking warship ...Read more

Legionnaires' disease warnings appear at Orange federal courthouse

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Signs posted around the George C. Young Federal Annex Courthouse in downtown Orlando warn court staff and visitors to be wary of the water because of the presence of the bacterium which causes Legionnaires’ disease — the latest incident in Orange County, which has the state’s highest tally of confirmed cases of the potentially deadly ...Read more

Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/TNS

NYPD lieutenant injured in BLM protest slams judge after protester gets community service

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NEW YORK — The last protester charged in connection with the 2020 Black Lives Matter George Floyd demonstrations in New York City was sentenced to 50 hours of community service on Monday for his role in a violent clash during which an NYPD lieutenant was seriously hurt, sparking an angry response from the injured officer.

The term was handed ...Read more

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images North America/TNS

Heritage Foundation suffers defections as MAGA tensions grow

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WASHINGTON — More than a dozen staffers departed the Heritage Foundation over the weekend to join a rival organization, the latest sign of ideological tumult at the think tank once considered the central node in Washington’s conservative ecosystem and an intellectual bastion for President Donald Trump.

The departures included the entire ...Read more

Dai Sugano/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Judge halts Trump administration plan to divert billions of dollars from homeless housing

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A federal judge has halted the Trump administration’s plan to divert billions of dollars in homelessness spending away from permanent housing, a decision that California officials and homeless advocates welcomed as a win for preventing thousands of formerly unhoused people from being forced back to the street.

The judge’s order temporarily ...Read more

The Denver Post/The Denver Post/TNS

ICE releases immigration activist Jeanette Vizguerra from detention

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DENVER — Nine months after she first entered an Aurora detention center, Jeanette Vizguerra walked out of the facility and “into the loving arms of her family” Monday afternoon, her supporters said.

Vizguerra’s family posted $5,000 bail for the detained immigrant rights activist following a Sunday order by an immigration judge that ...Read more

John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS

6 alleged Chicago gang members indicted in federal racketeering case alleging 13 homicides

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CHICAGO — A federal grand jury has indicted six purported Chicago gang members for racketeering conspiracy, accusing the gang of involvement in 13 homicides as well as spates of other violence across the city in service of protecting their South Side territory.

In a sweeping indictment unsealed on Friday, the alleged Faceworld street gang ...Read more

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America/TNS

Abrego Garcia can remain free at least through end of the month

Current News / News & Features /

Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia will remain free at least through the end of the month after a federal judge sought more information on whether the United States plans to detain or deport him again.

Judge Paula Xinis in Greenbelt, Maryland, asked the Department of Justice for additional details and set a schedule through Dec. 30. Abrego Garcia ...Read more

Aubin Mukoni/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Health officials confirm mpox in Anchorage adult who traveled out of state

Current News / News & Features /

State health officials this week confirmed a case of mpox in an adult Anchorage resident with a history of recent out-of-state travel.

The Alaska Section of Epidemiology said no additional cases or evidence of local community transmission were identified as of Monday, according to a public health alert.

The patient, who is isolating and ...Read more