MEMPHIS, Tenn. — For many years, Rose Sims had no idea what was going on inside a nondescript brick building on Florida Street a couple of miles from her modest one-story home on the southwestern side of town.

Like other residents, she got an unwelcome surprise in October 2022 at a public forum held by the Environmental Protection Agency at ...Read more

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Supporters of a Florida amendment that would protect abortion access have already passed several hurdles, including getting nearly one million petitions and a signoff from the state’s conservative Supreme Court.

But getting 60% of Florida voters to approve the amendment in November will likely still not be the last ...Read more

State Sen. Norm Needleman championed the 2021 legislation designed to lure major data centers to Connecticut.

The Democratic lawmaker hoped to better compete with nearby states, bring in a growing industry, and provide paychecks for workers tasked with building the sprawling server farms.

But this legislative session, he’s wondering if those...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — Five people have been transported to hospitals after they were shot at an apartment complex in west Fort Worth on Wednesday night.

One patient reportedly was in critical condition, one in serious condition and three in good condition, according to MedStar.

Several of the injured were taken to Cook Children’s Medical ...Read more

Should Big Tech be taxed to pay for more California journalists?

A California lawmaker has introduced a bill that would levy a “data extraction mitigation fee” on companies such as Google and Meta in order to provide media outlets in the state with a tax credit meant to pay for more journalists.

Senate Bill 1327, by Sen. Steve Glazer, D-...Read more

Billionaires Howard Lutnick, John Paulson and Woody Johnson are among the wealthy donors hosting a Manhattan fundraiser for Donald Trump later this month as the presumptive Republican nominee looks to build his 2024 war chest while a criminal trial limits his campaigning.

Lutnick, the chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald, is heading up...Read more

A bill aimed at barring landlords from using algorithms to set rents died in the Colorado Senate on Wednesday after a group of moderate Democrats joined Republicans to reject a more forceful House version of the measure.

The crux of the disagreement was an adopted amendment that bill backers charged had been written by a software company ...Read more

The U.S. and Saudi Arabia are nearing a historic pact that would offer the kingdom security guarantees and lay out a possible pathway to diplomatic ties with Israel if its government brings the war in the Gaza Strip to an end, people familiar with the matter said.

The agreement faces plenty of obstacles but would amount to a new version of a ...Read more

NEW YORK — The pro-Gaza encampment at Columbia University that had exploded into a national phenomenon has been dismantled, leaving an unsettling quiet on campus Wednesday and questions about how the school can move forward.

NYPD cleared the tent city as part of an operation to stop the student occupation of Hamilton Hall. A total of 109 ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Some congressional Democrats said this week the Biden administration's move to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug would not stop them from pressing for further changes.

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., heralded the development in a statement, promising to continue work on legislation to permit banking...Read more

LAS VEGAS — The executor of OJ Simpson’s estate began probate proceedings on Wednesday afternoon.

Malcolm LaVergne, Simpson’s longtime Las Vegas attorney, filed a petition to name himself as special administrator of the estate, formally starting probate proceedings following Simpson’s death at his Las Vegas home in early April.

...Read more

SPRINGFIELD — Illinois House Democrats approved legislation Wednesday aimed at boosting turnout by party faithful in the Nov. 5 election by offering voters nonbinding advisory questions on securing in vitro fertilization, protecting election workers and targeting those earning $1 million a year or more with higher taxes to pay for property tax...Read more

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Angela Alsobrooks is testing how far money can go in a Senate race.

“Ask yourself: Would you spend $47 million trying to fight somebody who you didn’t think was a formidable candidate?” the Democrat asked supporters at a get-out-the-vote event last week at a bar here, referencing what she says her opponent, Rep. ...Read more

NEW YORK — Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein will be retried as soon as this fall following the stunning overturning of his rape and sexual assault conviction, Manhattan prosecutors said Wednesday.

The decision was announced at a Manhattan Supreme Court hearing attended by Weinstein and Jessica Mann, one of two women who he was found ...Read more

NEW YORK — The late-night NYPD raid of an occupied administration building at Columbia University resulted in the arrest of more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters amid a growing debate over who was behind the violent turn of events in the weekslong campus protest.

NYPD officers, some wielding chainsaws, climbed in through windows Tuesday ...Read more

NEW YORK — A fraud investigator for the New York City Department of Homeless Services stole homeless people’s personal information during the COVID pandemic, then sold that info to an identity theft scammer, federal authorities allege.

Brooklyn resident Olabanji Otufale, 41, abused his position by accessing names, dates of birth, Social ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The U.S. House has approved legislation that would create a federal definition of antisemitism, an effort to respond to the outbreak of pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses across the nation.

The bill passed overwhelmingly and with bipartisan support, but there were 71 Democrats and 21 Republicans who opposed the measure....Read more

ATLANTA — A group of students gathered at Emory University on Wednesday following a walkout demonstration in front of the school’s entrance. It is the eighth day of protests on the campus.

At one point, protesters flooded into one of the university’s administration buildings near the quad but were asked by Emory police to leave due to the...Read more

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday bashed President Joe Biden and his administration for accepting Palestinian refugees from the war-torn Gaza Strip.

“There was a report out that Joe Biden is contemplating importing a bunch of Palestinian Arabs from the Gaza Strip into the United States of America. And I didn’t even think Biden was crazy enough...Read more