Archive
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected arguments by two Maine men and upheld a federal law prohibiting people convicted of domestic violence from owning guns, even if the assault that led to the charge was not intentional.
The Supreme Court on Monday overturned the bribery conviction of former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell, saying prosecutors did not prove he took significant official actions in exchange for the $175,000 in gifts and loans he received from a wealthy businessman.
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down abortion restrictions in Texas on Monday, making it likely that other states will see challenges to their own reproductive laws.
Technology is transforming the way police fight crime, making it safer for not only officers but also criminals and innocent bystanders.
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned former Gov. Bob McDonnell's corruption conviction on Monday. Before that, the case led Virginia lawmakers to set stricter ethics rules -- or so it seemed.
Missouri high school students will need to pass a civics exam and public schools must set time aside daily for the Pledge of Allegiance, under a package of education measures Gov. Jay Nixon signed into law Wednesday.
Gov. Steve Bullock and his opponent Greg Gianforte had thrown campaign jabs at each other in stump speeches and on social media, but Sunday morning was the first time they traded barbs face-to-face over issues that ranged from the economy and education to river access and refugees.
Hillary Clinton pitched herself as an example of "steady, experienced leadership" and bipartisanship Sunday, just hours after the Senate's Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, declined to say whether he thought Donald Trump was qualified to be president.
Two suspects accused in the robbery and carjacking of the mayor of Sanford early Saturday morning have been arrested, officials say.
Six wildfires were burning across California on Saturday, consuming nearly 60,000 acres.
Three West Virginia counties were declared national disaster areas Saturday, including Greenbrier and Nicholas, paving the way for federal assistance.
Governor David Ige signed the bill SB 2954 on Thursday that made Hawaii the first state to enter gun owners into an FBI database system for greater criminal record monitoring.
When a disaster strikes, skilled management can save lives and political futures.
Not that sharing economy though -- the other one.
The uncertainty of where they'll live is creating new challenges.
The 20 percent who run America need to start paying serious attention to the plight of the middle and lower classes.
The Supreme Court decision Thursday effectively blocking President Obama's immigration programs also comes as a blow to California legislators who have been fighting to offer health insurance to people living in the country illegally.
A struggling Illinois health insurance co-op is suing the federal government, claiming it is being shortchanged $72.8 million in promised payments under the Affordable Care Act.
Arkansas’ lethal-injection law is constitutional, a divided state Supreme Court said Thursday in a decision overturning a Pulaski County circuit judge’s ruling that partially struck down the law.
Restrictions on speeches and parades outside next month's Republican National Convention were struck down by a federal judge Thursday as unconstitutional.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
The Baltimore Police van driver accused of giving a "rough ride" that killed Freddie Gray was acquitted of all charges Thursday by Circuit Judge Barry Williams.
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the limited use of affirmative action by colleges and universities seeking to enroll more minority students.
A deadlocked Supreme Court could not rule Thursday on the legality of President Obama's immigration reform plan, leaving in place a lower court's order in Texas that blocked it from taking effect.
A roundup of money (and other) news governments can use.
The Ohio capital beat out 77 other cities, including techie San Francisco, with its plans to use technology to solve transportation problems.
The Los Angeles City Council gave its final approval Wednesday to a five-year, $57.6-million plan to buy thousands of police body cameras, clearing the way for the LAPD to resume rolling out the devices after a six-month delay.
State Sen. Royce West is suing Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant for allegedly trashing — to the tune of more than $60,000 in repairs — a property he had leased to Bryant.
On the same day the D.C. Public Library announced it found excessive lead contamination in four libraries, city officials said they will lower the maximum acceptable level of lead in public drinking water, making the District’s standards far stricter than those required by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Local operators are celebrating a ruling this week by a federal judge who halted implementation of U.S. Bureau of Land Management rules governing hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, by the oil and gas industry on public and tribal lands.
Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee was on the U.S. House floor as Democrats staged a sit-in to try to force a vote in that chamber on gun-control measures.
Funding for Planned Parenthood, Medicaid expansion, the state’s opioid crisis, and a passenger rail line between southern New Hampshire and Boston were topics touched on by Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls at a forum held Wednesday evening at the McConnell Center in Dover.
Once derided as the world's least environmentally sustainable city, Phoenix is in the midst of a remarkable transformation.
In the wake of another mass shooting and amid congressional inaction on gun control, the state has announced plans to open the nation's first public research center dedicated to firearm violence.
Guilford County Sheriff's Deputy Matt Stalls looked on Monday as Gov. Pat McCrory signed into a law a bill that will make life-saving overdose medication available state-wide without a prescription.
The Michigan attorney general filed a lawsuit Wednesday morning against a water company and an engineering firm, plus several related companies, in connection with the Flint drinking water crisis, alleging the firms' "acts and omission constitute professional negligence, fraud and public nuisance."
Democrats have lost power in three states. But two elections are still too close to call.
In some statewide positions, people come and go fast, taking several keys to success when they leave.
Donald Trump's presidential campaign has paid $35,000 to a mysterious firm with ties to Missouri's raucous Republican gubernatorial primary race, and no one can figure out why.
Employers cannot discriminate or terminate workers for going through a divorce or separation, the New Jersey Supreme Court said in a ruling Tuesday.
Voters in a city long weary of seeing sidewalks filled with homeless camps will soon get the chance to prove just how willing they are to see them forcibly cleared.
The city's shuttered Holmesburg prison will be available during the Democratic National Convention to hold arrested protesters, if necessary.
Gov. Paul LePage says despite his proposal being rejected by the Legislature and federal government, Maine will move forward with restricting the purchase of what he calls junk foods with food stamps in Maine -- or give up administration of the program altogether.
New York City is on track to become the nation's first city to require free tampons and sanitary pads in public schools, homeless shelters and jails after lawmakers approved the idea Tuesday amid a national discussion of the costs of having a period.
States' overall budgets finally surpassed pre-recession peaks this year -- but not everywhere.
Alaska Gov. Bill Walker on Sunday made good on his threat to call lawmakers back to Juneau for another special session on his deficit-reduction package, demanding they return in July to consider tax and Permanent Fund legislation.
The good news is that funding has stabilized. But a number of factors suggest that there's trouble ahead.
An independent political PAC that has riled the race for Missouri's Republican nomination for governor is denying a report suggesting it's tied to one of the four candidates.
Republican challenger Jonathan Johnson is ratcheting up the rhetoric, calling Gov. Gary Herbert a "coward" for refusing to debate him before next week's GOP primary.
Federal officials Monday unsealed corruption charges against four NYPD officers and two businessmen linked to Mayor Bill de Blasio, popping the lid off an explosive scandal in which top cops allegedly got payoffs and prostitutes to provide help ranging from gun licenses and police escorts to closing a Lincoln Tunnel lane.
The unraveling of the Oakland Police Department was sudden and swift, and came on the heels of what should have been a shining moment in the agency's history.
The Supreme Court on Monday gave police more power to stop people on the streets and question them, even when it is not clear they have done anything wrong.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday killed a provision in state law permitting gun rights groups to sue municipalities such as Pittsburgh over local firearms ordinances and recoup court costs.
If California soon becomes the first state to let undocumented immigrants use the health insurance marketplace, will others follow?
Gov. Jay Nixon signed legislation Friday designed to crack down on cities that are making too much money off residents who violate local ordinances.
Tree limbs, broken medical equipment, crumbling walls and ankle-deep muck greeted Nori Warren the day she walked into her storm-battered veterinary clinic after the worst flood Columbia had experienced in decades.
Californians will vote in November on whether to repeal the state's long-unused death penalty law, four years after a similar measure was defeated by 4 percentage points.
Charleston Mayor Danny Jones, who has been a Republican for 45 years and has been elected mayor four times as a Republican, has left the party.
As the debate over gun control laws continues to roil the nation and Congress, the Supreme Court on Monday again decided to stay on the sidelines.
Leonard Abbott of San Marcos had heard of the dangers of payday loans — the small-dollar, high-interest credit that can quickly trap borrowers in a morass of debt.
Illinois borrowed $550 million on Thursday to fund mass transit and road construction projects, paying a price in the bond market for its worst-in-the-nation credit rating and record-setting budget impasse.
Ohio could see a record number of charter schools close this year.
Texas on Thursday lost its fight against the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the state, ending a monthslong battle during which refugees from the war-torn country continued to arrive.
New figures show the number of poor people receiving temporary cash benefits in Missouri has plummeted in the past five years.
Zac Talbott sees the irony of running an opioid treatment program from a former doctor’s office.
By using data analytics to make decisions about pretrial detention, local governments could find substantial savings while making their communities safer.
In some close races, early voting cutbacks and photo ID requirements could impact the outcome.
Sometimes the most efficient thing to do is to not do something.
It's harder than ever to recruit and retain the qualified workers the public sector needs, but there are strategies that can help a lot.
Ryan had a pattern: He’d enroll in college with the best of intentions, start drinking and drugging, then drop out. Three years ago, as he prepared to enroll at the University of Miami, his fifth school, he had what he called a “white light moment.”
Like many parents of children with autism, Braulio De La Cruz sought an expensive therapy called applied behavioral analysis — or ABA – when his son Noah Leonardo was diagnosed last year.
This story was produced by Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan health policy research and communication organization not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
On the heels of Doug Burgum and Brent Sanford’s primary win, officials in Watford City are preparing for the possibility of having to replace their mayor.
Republican Bill Bryant is trying to break a three-decade Democratic lock on the governor’s office, but the former port commissioner’s fundraising is lagging behind the GOP’s last three gubernatorial contenders.
In an air-conditioned city building in Anacostia under the glare of cameras, the delegates gathered to hammer out the nitty-gritty details of self-government at a constitutional convention.
The White House is urging states to be more aggressive against health insurance companies as it looks to prevent expected and widespread premium hikes of 10 percent or more this year.
Looking to raise millions for a bold expansion of early childhood education, Philadelphia City Council on Thursday approved a 1.5-cent-per-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened and diet beverages, the first such tax imposed in a major U.S. city.
Just four weeks from the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump is scrambling to shore up support for his presidential nomination by strengthening ties with governors in states where Republican senators have criticized his campaign.
A roundup of money (and other) news governments can use.
Gov. Peter Shumlin remained steadfast in his opposition to Vermont enacting stricter gun control laws in the wake of the shooting Sunday morning at an Orlando, Florida, night club that left 49 people dead.
Republican Gov. Larry Hogan said Wednesday he's not voting for his party's presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf abruptly fired interim Police Chief Ben Fairow on Wednesday, six days after hiring him to replace a chief who resigned amid a sexual misconduct scandal in the department.
Capping a month of remarkably productive talks between Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic leaders, lawmakers on Wednesday adopted a new state budget that repeals a harsh welfare rule advocates for needy families had fought against for years.
Even as they race to control a spiraling heroin and prescription opioid crisis, doctors, public health officials and community leaders in many states are struggling to get care to addiction patients because of persistent opposition to the Affordable Care Act from local political leaders.
The federal government, which spends billions of dollars each year covering unintended pregnancies, is encouraging states to adopt policies that might boost the number of Medicaid enrollees who use long-acting, reversible contraceptives.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
It's a difficult problem for many governments. Massachusetts is beginning to get a handle on it.
Anti-corporate farming laws in North Dakota will stand after an overwhelming vote on Tuesday to keep them.
Alaska on Tuesday morning lost its only remaining top-ranked credit rating, with Fitch Ratings downgrading the state one notch from AAA to AA+.
Budget cuts have forced the closure of juvenile courts in Torrington, Danbury, and Stamford, as well as the district courthouse in Willimantic, Judicial officials announced Tuesday morning.
Many government policies have no evidence of success before or after they're implemented. A new competition seeks to change that.
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said she and six other Republican governors discussed national security, refugees and the economy with Donald Trump in New York on Tuesday.
As a federal judge ruled Tuesday that the George Washington Bridge lane closure case will go to trial, lawyers for two former allies of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie invoked the Watergate scandal to demand access to Christie's cellphone and phone records.
A person who calls 911 to save a friend who is overdosing won't be arrested or punished for minor drug offenses under a new Ohio law.
District voters ousted three D.C. Council members — including 12-year veteran Vincent B. Orange — and welcomed back former mayor Vincent C. Gray in Democratic primaries marked by concerns about violent crime and gentrification in the nation’s capital.
Fargo entrepreneur Doug Burgum cruised to a convincing win over Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem in Tuesday’s primary for the Republican nomination for governor, an improbable victory against the GOP’s endorsed candidate after trailing by nearly 50 points in a poll less than four months ago.
A nonprofit health insurer in Maryland is suing the federal government to avoid more than $22 million in fees under an ObamaCare program that the group calls “dangerously flawed.”
Nathan Bomey, author of a new book on the largest Chapter 9 filing in U.S. history, reveals the unsung heroes and true timeline of the event.
The U.S. Justice Department on Monday filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the Michigan Department of Corrections over staffing issues at the state's only women's prison, where female corrections officers have been subjected to mandatory overtime they say is excessive and harmful.
The business of collecting blood is a complex one.
Many low-income families struggle to survive without school lunch programs. Giving them extra welfare money in the summer can help.
Hundreds of Ohio's most traumatized and vulnerable teens should soon have the chance to tap into a few more years of support before they have to make it on their own.
More than half of the states have disclosed just how much higher their health care premiums could be next year under the Affordable Care Act, and some of the potential increases are jaw-dropping.
The Supreme Court turned down an appeal on Monday from American Samoans who said they deserved the right to be U.S. citizens at birth.
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Puerto Rico law that would have let its public utilities restructure their debt over the objection of creditors, leaving it to Congress to help the island resolve its fiscal crisis.
Last June, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette won a U.S. Supreme Court challenge to federal regulations on coal- and oil-fired power plants. Not so this year.
At 2:02 a.m. on a muggy night in central Florida, a gunman traded shots with an off-duty police officer, slipped into a nightclub with a rifle and killed at least 50 people in the most lethal mass shooting in U.S. history.
Florida's gun control laws are relatively lax, but most states also lack the laws that may have stopped Omar Mateen from getting his hands on deadly weapons.
The city's mayor and deputy mayor officially disavowed their affiliation with the Republican party Thursday in protest of what they called racist comments made by the presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump.
Uber and Lyft have stopped or threatened to stop serving cities around the country. When they actually do, start-ups and riders scramble to fill the hole.
In the GOP primary on Tuesday, a Donald Trump-supporting businessman has a chance of beating a career politician in the North Dakota governor's race.
ATVs aren't built for roads, but more places are making it legal for them to drive alongside other vehicles anyway.
An influential Texas lawmaker has a new side gig that’s raising a few eyebrows in capital circles.
Authorities on Sunday were trying to determine the intentions of an Indiana man with a cache of weapons, ammunition and explosive-making materials in his car and apparent plans to attend the L.A. Pride festival in West Hollywood.
As health care consolidation accelerates nationwide, a new study shows that hospital prices in two of California’s largest health systems were 25 percent higher than at other hospitals around the state.
An Oregon judge ruled Friday that a transgender person can legally change their sex to "non-binary" rather than male or female in what legal experts believe is a first in the United States.
Mourners across Orlando -- as well as the nation and world -- paused Sunday night to remember the 50 people killed and 53 injured in the Pulse nightclub shooting, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.
Funding has replaced Common Core as the major education issue in most state contests.
Baltimore prosecutors alleged Thursday that the police officer driving the van in which Freddie Gray was fatally injured gave him an intentional "rough ride," pointing to video that shows him running a stop sign and crossing the center line.
When a patient sits before Dr. Cynthia de las Fuentes, a licensed psychologist in West Austin, she says they get much more than an empathic ear.
Standing on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday morning that his office is launching a lawsuit against the state of Delaware over millions of dollars he argued are owed to Texas and 20 other states.
In a major victory for gun control advocates, a federal appeals court on Thursday upheld California's handgun license law, saying there is no constitutional right to carry concealed weapons in public and setting the stage for a potential showdown in the U.S. Supreme Court.
The face government presents to the public is far too complex. If the public sector isn't to become increasingly irrelevant, that has to change.
A roundup of money (and other) news governments can use.
Gov. John Bel Edwards has signed into law a bill that intends to give ex-convicts a greater chance at re-entering the workforce.
Actor Steven Michael Quezada, best known for his role on the popular TV show "Breaking Bad," is running as a Democrat to become a New Mexico County commissioner.
One state's rejection of Medicaid expansion can hurt health-care systems in another state, according to a new study.
The most important election news and political dynamics at the state and local levels.
The most recent star of ABC's "The Bachelor" might just be looking for love from Colorado voters this year. Ben Higgins, who gave his final rose to flight attendant Lauren Bushnell on the season finale of "The Bachelor's" 20th season in March, is eyeing a seat in the Colorado House of Representatives.
Medical students cram a lot of basic science and medicine into their first two years of training. But most learn next to nothing about the intricacies of the health care system they are soon to enter.
One lawmaker called it "electioneering." Another grew emotional as she recounted being snubbed by a priest. A third wrote a Facebook screed that became the buzz of the House of Representatives.
Short-term rental companies like Airbnb could face big fines and criminal charges if they advertise hosts who haven't registered with the city, under legislation unanimously passed by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
Marijuana will be legal for medical use in Ohio starting in September.
Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, as promised and predicted, vetoed the 2017 state budget that took lawmakers three weeks to devise.
Longtime head of the New York City correction officers union Norman Seabrook was arrested Wednesday by federal authorities and charged with taking kickbacks in a case potentially linked to investigations of Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Measure AA, a landmark $12 annual parcel tax in all nine Bay Area counties to fund wetlands restoration and flood control projects around San Francisco Bay's shoreline, appears to have won approval from voters.
Ohio Republicans lost another federal lawsuit today over their attempts to restrict Ohioans' voting rights.
Depending on whether you work for states and localities, the federal government or the private sector, your job satisfaction may differ.
Gov. Sam Brownback will call Kansas lawmakers back to Topeka later this month in an effort to prevent the closure of the state's schools.
The Travis County GOP has voted to limit the power of incoming chairman Robert Morrow, a controversial figure whose surprise election earlier this year shook up local politics in Texas' fifth-largest county.
The state transportation department said Tuesday it was rolling back recent speed limit increases on some highways, including a stretch where a Madras woman and her three children were killed in crash last month.
Washington, D.C., will be the next major city to implement a $15 minimum wage rate following a unanimous vote Tuesday by its city council.
Despite opposition from the pharmaceutical industry, Vermont late last week became the first state in the country to require drug makers to justify price hikes for medicines.
In analyzing criminal cases in Baltimore last year, Maryland lawyer and software programmer Matthew Stubenberg found 23,386 instances in which people convicted of crimes could have had their records expunged.
Despite support from Gov. Greg Abbott, officials in Brewster County have agreed to ban the display of Christian crosses on sheriff's vehicles to settle a lawsuit from the national Freedom From Religion Foundation.
In working to become a truly "smart city," San José is tackling issues that confront communities everywhere.
Former Democratic Assemblyman Tom Calderon on Monday pleaded guilty to one felony count of money laundering as part of an agreement in which federal prosecutors offered to seek a prison sentence of no more than 12 months.
The state Supreme Court made it likely Monday that Californians will vote in November on Gov. Jerry Brown's crime initiative, which would allow prisoners convicted of nonviolent felonies to be considered for early parole.
The Supreme Court said Monday that it will reconsider two Texas death penalty cases and rule on whether evidence of racial bias and mental impairment calls for removing the defendants from death row.
