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Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune/TNS

Man charged with threatening to kill Minnesota senator, inflict violence at State Capitol

Current News / News & Features /

A northern Minnesota man is accused of calling Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office and threatening to execute everyone at the State Capitol the day after he posted threats online about killing a Republican state senator.

John Tobias, 58, of Park Rapids, was arrested Tuesday, Feb. 24, and appeared in court Wednesday on two felony charges ...Read more

Gavriil Grigorov/Pool/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

North Korea's Kim vows to build more nukes, but opens door to US

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SEOUL, South Korea — Kim Jong Un pledged to build more nuclear weapons and upgrade his missile programs but said it could also be possible to improve relations with the U.S. if Washington recognizes North Korea as a nuclear power.

Speaking at the country’s first ruling party congress in five years, Kim laid out plans for weapons development...Read more

Christina House/Los Angeles Times/TNS

FBI raids of LA Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho's home and office appear tied to AI chatbot probe

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LOS ANGELES — Federal authorities raided the home and office of Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Alberto Carvalho on Wednesday morning in what appears to be a probe related to a company that developed an AI chatbot for the nation’s second-largest school system.

Authorities have not provided any details about the ...Read more

Jeffrey F. Bill/The Baltimore Sun/TNS

Maryland lawmakers look to control ICE detention facilities

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BALTIMORE — Maryland lawmakers are attempting to regulate and restrict incoming immigration detention facilities, as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other private owners try to add more centers in the state.

The Maryland House of Delegates is set to vote on two bills later this week, one to attempt to restrict the opening ...Read more

Katy Kildee/The Detroit News/TNS

Mich. Gov. Whitmer spotlights literacy, housing, medical debt in final State of the State

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LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer focused her final State of the State speech Wednesday on ways to improve education and make housing and health care more affordable in an address to a joint session of the Michigan Legislature.

The governor, at the start of her address, called Michigan's ranking as 44th in the nation for 4th grade ...Read more

CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump lashes out at 'criminal' Robert De Niro, suggests he leave the US

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President Trump on Wednesday dubbed Robert De Niro a “criminal” and suggested he leave the U.S. after the Oscar-winning actor headlined a “State of the Swamp” campaign that aired live on YouTube at the same time as Tuesday night’s State of the Union address.

De Niro joined actor and activist Mark Ruffalo, many Democratic politicians ...Read more

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

Trump: 'Deranged' Reps. Tlaib and Omar should be sent 'back from where they came'

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President Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, saying the two Muslim members of Congress should be sent "back from where they came — as fast as possible."

Trump's comments, posted on his Truth Social platform, came after the two Democratic lawmakers could be seen shouting at him during Tuesday's State ...Read more

Tasha Poullard/Lexington Herald-Leader/TNS

New Kentucky House GOP budget fixes insurance issue, ups education spending

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In their latest version of the state executive branch budget bill, House Republicans put more money into education and fixed an issue that could have hurt state employees’ health insurance, according to a copy reviewed by the Herald-Leader.

House Appropriations and Revenue Chair Jason Petrie, R-Elkton, unveiled a committee substitute on House...Read more

Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post/TNS

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis moves to end his monthslong effort to comply with an ICE subpoena

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Denver — Gov. Jared Polis has moved to drop his nine-month effort to comply with a federal immigration subpoena, arguing that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials apparently no longer need the employment records the governor had sought to turn over.

Attorneys representing Polis informed a Denver judge Friday that the governor ...Read more

Tasha Poullard/Lexington Herald-Leader/TNS

Kentucky House GOP fast-tracks bill enrolling state in federal tax credit scholarship program

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Kentucky House Republicans are fast-tracking a bill that would incentivize donations to school scholarship programs in exchange for tax credits.

House Bill 1, which would allow the state to enroll in the federal Education Freedom Tax Credit Scholarship program, passed the House on a 79-17-1 vote. All 17 “no” votes were from Democrats, and ...Read more

Elizabeth Flores/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Flights, court filings and encounters indicate fewer federal agents in Minnesota, observers remain wary

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Since mid-February, the planes Nick Benson watches on the frosty tarmac of the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport are mostly empty, with federal agents on average loading less than a dozen immigration detainees on board. It’s a far cry from last month, where he looked on, stunned, as they boarded as many as 127 detainees — the ...Read more

California Department of Fish and Wildlife/California Department of Fish and Wildlife/TNS

Rare Sierra Nevada red fox spotted near Tahoe, may be making a comeback

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A rare and threatened species of red fox has been spotted in the Tahoe Basin for the first time since the mid-1900s, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced.

The Sierra Nevada red fox strolled through the Blackwood Canyon area in Placer County, sniffing at some downed tree branches before heading off into the night — his ...Read more

Kenny Holston/Getty Images North America/TNS

Push for a 'talking filibuster' stalls in Senate GOP conference

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WASHINGTON — A handful of House Republicans have flooded social media and brought a MAGA influencer to Capitol Hill in a pressure campaign for Senate Majority Leader John Thune to move forward on passing their voter ID bill with a simple majority.

President Donald Trump even pressed Thune specifically to get the bill passed during the State ...Read more

Courtesy Taunton Police Department/TNS/TNS

Massachusetts mother rescues toddler during Taunton house explosion, fire chief says

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BOSTON — A Taunton mother and her toddler suffered life-threatening burns during a house explosion, as the woman went inside the engulfed structure to rescue her 2-year-old child, according to authorities.

The mother and child were being treated at local hospitals for burn injuries that Taunton Fire Chief Steven Lavigne described at the scene...Read more

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

Ilhan Omar's State of the Union guest arrested by Capitol Police during Trump's speech

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One of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s guests at the State of the Union was arrested by U.S. Capitol Police on Tuesday evening after she stood up in the gallery in protest during President Donald Trump’s speech.

Omar’s office said Aliya Rahman, a south Minneapolis resident, was removed from the House chamber after she stood up silently following ...Read more

Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Charges dropped against 3 Minnesotans accused of assaulting federal agents

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MINNEAPOLIS — Three Minnesotans accused of assaulting federal law enforcement officers during Operation Metro Surge had their charges dismissed this month.

The new dismissals are in addition to at least three other instances of protesters who had charges dismissed in January and February.

Madeline Tschida, a 24-year-old from Becker, was ...Read more

News briefs

Current News / News & Features /

Trump delivers longest State of the Union address in modern history

LOS ANGELES — President Donald Trump, speaking for well over an hour, shattered the record on Tuesday for the length of a State of the Union address.

Speaking for about 100 minutes, the nation's leader touched upon a broad range of domestic and international topics, bragged ...Read more

John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Bill would ban prop bets on sports apps in Colorado as lawmakers seek to curb gambling addictions

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DENVER — Colorado lawmakers who are concerned about rising gambling addiction and betting scandals in professional sports filed a bill Wednesday that would prohibit sports betting apps from offering proposition bets on individual athletes’ performances.

The bipartisan responsible gaming bill — SB26-131 — would also attempt to slow down ...Read more

Tom Gralish/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Philadelphia opens new LGBTQ+ visitor center, one of few in country

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PHILADELPHIA — It is a simple, sleek storefront in the Gayborhood. And it is now a welcoming spot.

On Wednesday, Gov. Josh Shapiro, city tourism and marketing leaders, and LGBTQ+ advocates officially opened the Philadelphia Pride Visitor Center, one of the country’s first LGBTQ+ visitor centers.

“We need happy things in the world,” ...Read more

CUNY professor Allyson Friedman caught on hot mic making racist comments, placed on leave

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NEW YORK — Hunter College professor Allyson Friedman, who made racist remarks caught on a hot mic at an Upper West Side school board meeting, has been placed on leave, Hunter President Nancy Cantor said Wednesday.

The announcement came one day after City University of New York Chancellor Félix Matos Rodríguez revealed Friedman was still in ...Read more