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Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Los Angeles will nearly double recycled water for 500,000 residents

Current News / News & Features /

LOS ANGELES — In a plan that will reverberate more than 300 miles north at Mono Lake, Los Angeles city leaders have decided to nearly double the wastewater that will be transformed into drinking water at the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys.

Instead of treating 25 million gallons per day as originally planned, the L.A. ...Read more

Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump's Caribbean military buildup: A war on drugs or a regime-change campaign?

Current News / News & Features /

WASHINGTON — War ships are cruising the Caribbean. U.S. missiles are obliterating motorboats in two oceans. And bombers are buzzing Venezuela, where sources say the Trump administration has identified targets on land for future strikes.

To much of the world, it all looks like a push for regime change in Venezuela, where the United States has ...Read more

Eric Thayer/Getty Images North America/TNS

Mayor Bass calls for investigation into LAFD missteps before Palisades fire

Current News / News & Features /

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has requested a full investigation into revelations that firefighters were ordered to leave a smoldering burn site days before it reignited into the Palisades fire, calling the news “tremendously alarming.”

In a letter to interim Fire Chief Ronnie Villanueva, Bass on Friday asked that he “...Read more

PAUL KITAGAKI JR./The Sacramento Bee/PAUL KITAGAKI JR.

Would California's Proposition 50 really flip 2 Central Valley seats? It's a gamble

Current News / News & Features /

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Proposition 50 could give Democrats in the southern Central Valley the boost they need to finally oust Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, for good.

But in oil-rich and water-poor Kern County, where big industries align with Republicans and many working-class Latinos stay out of politics to preserve their livelihoods, local ...Read more

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images North America/TNS

Milei replaces Cabinet chief, seeking fresh start with Congress

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Argentine President Javier Milei announced late Friday that his former spokesman Manuel Adorni will be his new Cabinet chief, as the libertarian leader seeks improved ties with Congress.

The move marks the first shake-up of his senior aides following a decisive victory in midterm elections last Sunday. Adorni replaces Guillermo Francos, who ...Read more

Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

It rained a lot in October. Is California's fire season over now?

Current News / News & Features /

This autumn brought something that isn’t always common for much of California — a decent amount of rain in October. Rather than heat waves, there have been umbrellas.

After years in which some of the worst wildfires in state history happened in the fall, a lot of people are wondering: Is fire season over?

It depends on where you live, fire...Read more

Carl Juste/Miami Herald/TNS

Miami's top Catholic leader, 75, to file retirement papers. Here's what happens next

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MIAMI — Miami’s top Catholic leader Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who turned 75 this month, will be submitting a retirement letter to the Vatican.

But that doesn’t mean he plans to go anywhere — at least just yet.

Sending the letter of intent to retire is “regular protocol” for all Catholic bishops and archbishops when they turn 75, ...Read more

MATHIEU LEWIS-ROLLAND/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Do Oregon protests need Trump's troops? Judge to rule by Sunday

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A federal judge in Oregon said she’ll rule this weekend on whether President Donald Trump can legally deploy National Guard troops to Portland to quell protests outside a federal immigration facility.

During a three-day trial, U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut heard conflicting descriptions from federal and local law enforcement officials of...Read more

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America/TNS

White House restricts access to some media offices in crackdown

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WASHINGTON — The White House restricted the ability of members of the media to access the part of the building that includes press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s office, unless they first make an appointment to do so.

The move is the latest in a series of efforts to tighten control on journalists covering the administration. Earlier this year...Read more

Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Stock bulls power S&P 500's historic winning run: Markets wrap

Current News / News & Features /

Wall Street’s bull market got fresh fuel at end of a month that’s lived up to its volatile reputation, with optimism about earnings outweighing worries about a rally that’s heavily concentrated on tech giants.

Following a pause in the S&P 500’s roughly $17 trillion surge, the gauge climbed on solid outlooks from Amazon.com Inc. and ...Read more

Nick Wagner/The Seattle Times/TNS

Seattle announces up to $8 million in food aid until SNAP benefits are restored

Current News / News & Features /

SEATTLE — The city of Seattle will direct $4 million per month in food assistance toward food banks in response to the halt of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits because of the ongoing partial federal government shutdown.

Mayor Bruce Harrell declared a limited civil emergency Thursday to free up city resources and staff as ...Read more

Alex Wong/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump's White House remodel now includes marble-and-gold Lincoln Bathroom

Current News / News & Features /

President Donald Trump’s efforts to remodel the White House in his image continued on Friday with the unveiling of a shiny new Lincoln Bathroom.

The president’s social media accounts shared photos of the renovated restroom in the Lincoln Bedroom — and true to form, the makeover leans heavily on marble and gold, reflecting the aesthetics ...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

On Halloween, 'state-sponsored terror' in Chicago and its suburbs

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CHICAGO — In Albany Park, they fired pepper-spray balls to disperse an angry crowd and arrested two U.S. citizens. In Evanston, one repeatedly pointed his weapon at protesters while another knelt on a man’s back and punched him in the head.

They grabbed workers at an apartment complex in Hoffman Estates, landscapers, house painters and ...Read more

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America/TNS

House oversight chair asks Acosta to clarify Epstein testimony

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The Republican chairman of the House oversight committee on Friday asked Alex Acosta, the former U.S. attorney who signed off on disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s controversial 2007 plea deal, if he wanted to clarify his recent testimony to the panel.

Representative James Comer’s request follows a report by Bloomberg News that cited ...Read more

John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Legislature sets stage for Illinois to become a 'right-to-die' state as bill narrowly passes

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois stands to become the next state that would permit doctors to help terminally ill people end their lives after the controversial measure cleared its final legislative hurdle early Friday in a narrow state Senate vote in which opponents questioned the bill’s morality and one said it could bring “a culture of ...Read more

News briefs

Current News / News & Features /

Lawmakers spar over possible Trump third term as president leaves door open

WASHINGTON — Some Democratic senators say President Donald Trump’s recent acknowledgment of constitutional challenges to seeking a third term should end any notion that he could run again.

But some of the president’s Republican allies aren’t ruling it out. And ...Read more

Martin Bernetti/Getty Images North America/TNS

US poised to strike military targets in Venezuela in escalation against Maduro regime

Current News / News & Features /

The Trump administration has made the decision to attack military installations inside Venezuela and the strikes could come at any moment, sources with knowledge of the situation told The Miami Herald, as the U.S. prepares to initiate the next stage of its campaign against the Soles drug cartel.

Sources told the Herald that the targets — ...Read more

Travis Long/The News & Observer/TNS

North Carolina state Rep. Cecil Brockman resigns on same day lawmakers begin investigation

Current News / News & Features /

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Rep. Cecil Brockman, facing criminal charges for alleged sex crimes involving a minor, resigned his seat on Friday, the same day a House committee formed to investigate and potentially expel him.

Brockman, a Democrat, submitted his letter of resignation to the principal clerk of the N.C. House of Representatives...Read more

Pedro Portal/Miami Herald/TNS

Coast Guard navigation rules could affect Miami barge vs. fatal sailboat crash case

Current News / News & Features /

MIAMI — U.S. Coast Guard investigators Thursday recommended the Justice Department charge the operators of the push tug and barge that rammed into a Miami Yacht Club summer camp sailboat, killing three young girls, with manslaughter.

But with the Coast Guard’s detailed Rules of Navigation, which dictate maritime law, prosecuting that charge...Read more

Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Days before Palisades inferno, firefighters were ordered to leave smoldering burn site

Current News / News & Features /

LOS ANGELES — Firefighters mopping up a small brush fire that authorities say reignited as the Palisades fire five days later were ordered to leave the original burn scene even though they complained the ground was still smoldering and rocks remained hot to the touch, according to firefighter text messages reviewed by the Los Angeles Times.

...Read more