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Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Political leaders across Illinois mourn Rev. Jesse Jackson's death: 'A giant of the civil rights movement'

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CHICAGO — Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday ordered public buildings across the city and state to fly flags at half-staff in honor of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died at 84 after rising from an upstart Chicago organizer to a national leader of the Civil Rights Movement.

Their announcements joined messages from political ...Read more

Kevin Hardy/Stateline/TNS

Communities fight ICE detention centers, but have few tools to stop them

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Outrage erupted last month when Oklahoma City residents learned of plans to convert a vacant warehouse into an immigration processing facility.

Making matters worse was the secrecy of the federal government: City leaders received no communication from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement aside from a mandated disclosure related to historic ...Read more

Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Cardboard coffins, rotting garbage, end of surgeries: Images of Cuba's humanitarian crisis

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In Velasco, a town in the eastern Cuban province of Holguín, a man was buried in a cardboard box, his body carted on a wheelbarrow to the cemetery because of a lack of both of wooden coffins and fuel.

In the capital city of Holguín, residents are cooking with wood and coal outside their homes, on sidewalks and empty streets.

In Guantánamo, ...Read more

Worker for ICE accused of answering police sting ad, agreeing to pay for sex at Twin Cities hotel

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A man who’s been doing background checks for ICE during the federal government’s immigration enforcement crackdown is charged with being among many people snared in a prostitution sting in Bloomington, Minnesota.

Brashad Antwaun Johnson, 36, of St. Michael, Minn., was charged on Feb. 17 in Hennepin County District Court with a gross ...Read more

Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

Stephen Colbert calls out CBS for cutting James Talarico interview

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Stephen Colbert blasted CBS for refusing to air his interview with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico — which wound up being shared online anyway.

“We were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast,” Colbert claimed on Monday night’s episode of...Read more

Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images North America/TNS

Schumer, Hochul hit back at Trump over 'vital' Gateway Tunnel project

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Sen. Chuck Schumer is hitting back at President Trump as the pair escalate their feud over the $16 billion Gateway Tunnel rail project connecting New York and New Jersey.

After Trump denounced Gateway as a “boondoggle” that he claimed would be plagued by delays, Schumer accused him of playing politics with the sprawling public works project...Read more

Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS

Analysis: 'It doesn't matter': Trump looked very much like a second-term president this week

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump had himself a week, just not the kind political observers have become accustomed to, spending much of it behind closed doors while unable to broker a deal with Senate Democrats.

He dissed a Republican icon over trade policy. He backed down on plans to exclude Democratic governors from an annual gathering of...Read more

FBI/TNS

Someone knows who kidnapped Nancy Guthrie, authorities say. Video likely holds key

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The grainy black-and-white image has become the center of the investigation into Nancy Guthrie.

At 1:47 a.m. Feb. 1, an individual appears at the door of her Tucson home. The person is wearing a balaclava, gloves and a backpack. A gun is holstered by the person’s waist, positioned at the front of their body and easily visible.

The person ...Read more

Matt Stone/Boston Herald/TNS

High-tax Massachusetts loses 182,000 people to other states in last 5 years

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BOSTON —People are fleeing high-tax Massachusetts at a much higher rate than those moving to the Bay State, resulting in a net domestic out-migration of 182,145 over the past five years, according to a new watchdog report.

The Pioneer Institute has released a report detailing the state’s persistent challenge with losing educated working ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

NC mayor blasts 'status quo' after 6 men and kids shot in 6 days

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Hours after another shooting claimed the life of a teenage boy on Monday, Leo Williams, mayor of Durham, N.C., slammed the “status quo” of the city’s anti-violence efforts.

“Whether the headlines report a fatality or a close call, the trauma to our community is the same,” Williams wrote in a Facebook post Monday afternoon. “I know ...Read more

Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News/TNS

NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani to propose property tax hike, blasts Gov. Kathy Hochul's reluctance to tax rich

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NEW YORK — Mayor Zohran Mamdani is expected to propose raising property taxes to balance the city budget on Tuesday, in the face of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s continued resistance to raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations.

The mayor is set to reveal his preliminary budget plans Tuesday afternoon at City Hall.

“We do have a big gap to ...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

California storm closes roads, triggers flash flood warnings. Here's how long it will last

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LOS ANGELES — Californians looking to resume their weekly commute Tuesday awoke to see several major roads closed after heavy rains drenched much the state Monday — with the expected precipitation far from over.

Among the closures was a section of Highway 1 through Big Sur, which state officials just weeks ago celebrated reopening for the ...Read more

Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images North America/TNS

Schumer hits back at Trump over 'vital' Gateway Tunnel project

Current News / News & Features /

Sen. Chuck Schumer is hitting back at President Donald Trump as the pair escalate their feud over the $16 billion Gateway Tunnel rail project connecting New York and New Jersey.

After Trump denounced Gateway as a “boondoggle” that he claimed would be plagued by delays, Schumer accused him of playing politics with the sprawling public works ...Read more

Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images North America/TNS

House passes bill to track antisemitic incidents in Missouri schools

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ST. LOUIS — A bill requiring Missouri schools to investigate antisemitic incidents passed the Missouri House Monday despite criticism that the proposal carves out protections for Jewish students not afforded to other groups.

House Bill 2061 passed on a 109–21 vote. It now moves to the Senate, where a similar measure stalled last year.

“...Read more

Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images North America/TNS

Missouri House approves plan to end vehicle safety inspections

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A plan to eliminate safety inspections for most passenger cars and trucks advanced to the Missouri Senate Monday.

On a 104-43 vote, the House approved legislation to end a program in which vehicles more than 10 years old or those with more than 150,000 miles on the odometer are required to pass a state safety inspection ...Read more

Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

NASA to try Artemis II test run again, could set up March moonshot

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NASA is looking to make sure the problems with leaks in its moon rocket have been remedied with another Artemis II test run slated for Thursday night that could set up a launch in early March.

Teams tried to run through what’s called a wet dress rehearsal on Feb. 2 but ran into familiar problems with leaks of cryogenic liquid hydrogen flowing...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Illinois, Chicago to fly flags half-staff following the Rev. Jesse Jackson's death

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CHICAGO — Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday ordered public buildings across the city and state to fly flags at half-staff in honor of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died at 84 after rising from an upstart Chicago organizer to a national leader of the Civil Rights Movement.

Their announcements joined messages from political ...Read more

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signs ban on local ICE deal, first bill out of Legislative Session

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BALTIMORE — Gov. Wes Moore signed two emergency bills into law Tuesday, banning local formal cooperation with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), known as 287(g) agreements. The measure will be effective immediately, and it’s the first bill signed into law of the 2026 Maryland General Assembly session.

“We will continue to...Read more

Silas Walker/Lexington Herald-Leader/TNS

Pastor at Western KY church accused of having sexual relationship with a minor

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — A pastor at a Western Kentucky church has been arrested for allegedly having a sexual relationship with a minor, Kentucky State Police announced Monday.

David Rodgers, 40, of Utica, was arrested around 7:35 p.m. Feb. 16 after an investigation determined he had a sexual relationship with a juvenile “through a position of ...Read more

Judge's slot machine ruling upends talk of gambling expansion in Missouri

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A federal judge’s decision to declare one company’s gas station slot machines illegal muddied debate of a massive gambling expansion proposal in the Missouri House Monday.

Although lawmakers narrowly gave preliminary approval to a plan to begin taxing and regulating video lottery games in gas stations, bars and ...Read more