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From ballot boxes to the governors’ desks in Oregon and Washington, a corner of the nation that seemed poised only a few years ago to become a new energy hub is now gripped by a debate over whether transporting volatile, hazardous crude oil by rail through cities and environmentally delicate areas can ever be made safe enough.
Since the Supreme Court’s 5-to-4 ruling in the voting-rights case, Shelby County v. Holder, critics argue, the blatant efforts to keep minorities from voting have been supplanted by a blizzard of more subtle changes.
At the 11th hour, House and Senate lawmakers reached a deal on rules governing ride-for-hire services like Uber and Lyft. The final product calls for a state-run driver background check and establishing a 20-cent-per-ride fee on the companies.
Medicaid has become the safety net for millions of people who find themselves unable to pay for nursing home beds or in-home caregivers. Medicaid was never intended to cover long-term care for everyone. Now it pays for nearly 40 percent of the nation’s long-term care expenses, and the share is growing.
Finding that Republican lawmakers had discriminated against minorities, a federal judge Friday struck down parts of Wisconsin's voter ID law. The ruling came the same day a federal appeals court struck down numerous voting laws in North Carolina and a week after a different appeals court ruled a photo ID law in Texas violates voters' rights.
A new state law governing paid employee sick leave has prompted a lawsuit by more than 30 state legislators and members of several city councils across Arizona that had been debating such ordinances when Gov. Doug Ducey warned in January that cities adopting employment ordinances would lose state shared revenue.
Federal appellate judges on Friday struck down a 2013 law limiting voting options and requiring voters to show photo ID at the polls, declaring in an unsparing opinion that the restrictions “target African-Americans with almost surgical precision.”
After Congress left cities to fend for themselves, four new cases -- possibly the first to be contracted by mosquitoes in the U.S. -- suggest how difficult it is for them to combat the virus on their own.
A prosecutor in Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane's looming criminal trial told a judge Tuesday that Kane's request to tell a jury about her unearthing of offensive emails would mire jurors in "a distraction, a red herring."
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the city of Austin in Travis County district court, trying to force the city to comply with his reading of the state's open carry law and allow license holders to openly carry handguns in city hall.
Just a day after beleaguered City Manager David Chiverton stunned elected leaders by resigning his office in the course of a federal criminal investigation, Opa-locka officials announced they were close to broke and would not be able to pay their workers -- including police officers -- come September.
The six officers charged in Freddie Gray's arrest and death have been assigned to paid administrative duties until the completion of internal affairs reviews that will determine whether they should be fired or disciplined.
Boston police hired fewer than 10 percent of minority applicants who took the Civil Service exam to become a patrol officer and join the most recent class of recruits, according to data obtained by the Herald.
A drug used to sedate elephants and other large animals, 100 times as potent as the fentanyl already escalating the country's heroin troubles, is suspected in spates of overdoses in several states, where authorities say they've found it mixed with or passed off as heroin.
As the world's second-largest economy falters, pensions and tax revenues here are feeling the pinch.
America's largest state park is a battleground between conservation activists and small towns desperate for development.
Tax incentives aren't always the best way to lure businesses. Many are simply going where the talent is.
Boulder County, Colo., pioneered the movement. What can others learn from their experience?
The inability of most rural places to recover from the economic downturn is fueling political and social problems around the nation.
Officials in Maryland's Montgomery County gave unionized workers — and themselves — big raises. Now they can't afford them.
With more comprehensive information at their fingertips, public leaders could better focus the resources they have.
Frontier Town was the lifeblood of North Hudson, N.Y.'s economy. Now, like much of the town, it's empty.
In a small but growing number of states, expectant inmates are getting help dealing with the trauma of giving birth and then having to say goodbye.
Palo Alto’s city manager wants governments to rip up the IT rule book to make better investments.
Maybe, but the stigma of mental health problems keeps public officials from talking about it.
Chicago and many other municipalities are focusing on reforming the rigid and inconsistent rules of procurement.
Several factors are behind the drastic differences in funding.
Republicans have been losing the key demographics’ support since 2000. Democrats hope Donald Trump will keep that trend going.
Chris Sununu's rivals for the Republican nomination for governor assailed his vote for a Planned Parenthood contract, in one of a few heated exchanges during a debate Wednesday.
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