Current News

/

ArcaMax

Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images North America/TNS

FBI arrests 'impostor' over ransom demand in Nancy Guthrie disappearance

Current News / News & Features /

The FBI has arrested a California man for allegedly sending a fake ransom demand amid the ongoing search for Savannah Guthrie’s missing mother, Nancy.

Derrick Callella, 42, was arrested in Hawthorne, California, on Thursday and charged with two federal crimes — one count of transmitting a demand for ransom related to a kidnapped person and ...Read more

Renee Jones Schneider/Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

State, feds to announce joint investigation into Alex Pretti's fatal shooting

Current News / News & Features /

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and FBI are set to announce a joint investigation into the killing of Alex Pretti, according to two people with direct knowledge of the agreement.

The deal marks a critical compromise from the Trump administration as state and federal leaders continue to rebuild working relationships...Read more

News briefs

Current News / News & Features /

Senate GOP blocks push for legal action over Epstein law

WASHINGTON — Senate Republican leadership blocked a Democrat-backed measure Thursday that would direct the chamber to take legal action over the Justice Department’s much-criticized handling of the Jeffrey Epstein documents.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, on the floor, ...Read more

Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images North America/TNS

Elon Musk can be questioned under oath in DOGE case, judge rules

Current News / News & Features /

WASHINGTON — Elon Musk can be forced to testify in a lawsuit brought by government workers and contractors who accused him of unlawfully directing the dissolution of the U.S. Agency for International Development while he was a senior White House adviser, a judge ruled.

“Extraordinary circumstances justify” making Musk and two former USAID...Read more

Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump touts drug cost savings as he launches TrumpRx website

Current News / News & Features /

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump launched a new website to help Americans directly buy select medicines at a discount, seeking to counter cost-of-living concerns that pose a threat to his party in November’s congressional elections.

“Starting tonight, dozens of the most commonly used prescription drugs will be available at dramatic ...Read more

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump calls for new nuclear arms treaty with Russia as new START expires

Current News / News & Features /

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump called for the creation of a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia, as the existing New START agreement between the two nations expires and fuels concern about the possibility of a new arms race.

“Rather than extend ‘NEW START’ (A badly negotiated deal by the United States that, aside from ...Read more

Darin Oswald/Idaho Statesman/TNS

Idaho Supreme Court rejects challenge to education tax credit law

Current News / News & Features /

BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Supreme Court rejected a challenge to Idaho’s $50 million tax credit program that directs public money toward private schools and homeschooling expenses.

In an opinion released Thursday, the court denied a request from a coalition of education groups and advocates asking justices to prohibit the tax credit program, ...Read more

TNS

Orlando police officer accidentally fires rifle during middle school lockdown

Current News / News & Features /

ORLANDO, Fla. — A police officer accidentally fired a rifle during a Wednesday lockdown at Lake Nona Middle School, according to the Orlando Police Department.

OPD and other partner agencies responded to the school around 5 p.m., two hours after dismissal, following a 911 call that there was possibly an armed person on campus. Officers ...Read more

Monkey Business Images/Dreamstime/TNS

3 dead, several injured after car crashes into 99 Ranch Market in LA's Westwood neighborhood

Current News / News & Features /

LOS ANGELES — Three people were killed and several others injured when a silver Mercedes sedan crashed into the 99 Ranch Market in Westwood on Thursday.

The driver, identified only as an older woman, first hit a bicyclist, then continued for about a block before crashing into the grocery store, trapping multiple people beneath her car, ...Read more

Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Virginia Senate committee advances cannabis legislation with new legal penalties

Current News / News & Features /

RICHMOND, Va. — A Senate committee advanced legislation to create a marijuana retail market this week. But along the way, the committee voted to adopt changes that some advocates say will unfairly penalize marginalized communities and undermine marijuana decriminalization efforts.

Amendments to the legislation create a felony penalty for ...Read more

Al Diaz/Miami Herald/TNS

Families of students killed in Parkland shooting blast Broward Sheriff's Office for delay tactics

Current News / News & Features /

Fred Guttenberg blames the Broward Sheriff’s Office for the murder of his 14-year-old daughter Jaime.

He and other parents of the students who died in the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High gathered Thursday, ahead of the eighth anniversary of the tragedy, and blasted BSO for their lack of accountability in the Feb. 14, 2018, ...Read more

Joe Raedle/Getty Images North America/TNS

Florida residents file petition asking court to stop DeSantis' redistricting effort

Current News / News & Features /

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Lawyers for residents in Broward and Miami-Dade counties have filed a petition challenging Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ call for a special session where lawmakers would redraw congressional boundaries mid-decade instead of every 10 years.

After months of trying to convince the Legislature to take up redistricting on its ...Read more

77 patients evacuated as fire rips through Pennsylvania hospital

Current News / News & Features /

Dozens of patients and staff were evacuated from a Pennsylvania hospital on Wednesday night as a fire tore through the facility, sending flames shooting from the roof.

The blaze at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Dickson City was called in around 9:40 p.m. and drew a massive emergency response.

Officials said the fire began in an older medical ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Commission recommends reprimand for Alaska Superior Court judge on paid leave for nearly a year

Current News / News & Features /

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct has recommended a Nome judge be reprimanded for behavior including using offensive accents to impersonate people from other ethnic groups, and keeping a courtroom of attorneys waiting for an hour while he watched a sports game.

The recommendation came after a brief hearing last ...Read more

Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office/TNS

Mamdani takes first step in launching promised 2-K child care program, though key questions remain

Current News / News & Features /

NEW YORK — Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday took the first step toward getting New York City’s planned universal child care for 2-year-olds off the ground, asking providers if they’re interested in offering the new program.

In a lively City Hall news conference featuring nearby preschool students and TikTok influencer Julian Shapiro-...Read more

Christina House/Los Angeles Times/TNS

California bill would make fossil fuel companies help pay for rising insurance costs

Current News / News & Features /

A bill that would make oil and gas companies pay for rising insurance costs due to climate-related disasters was introduced this week in the California Legislature.

SB 982, the Affordable Insurance Recovery Act, would authorize California's attorney general to file civil litigation against fossil fuel companies to recover losses from climate-...Read more

Billy Tompkins/ZUMA Press Wire/TNS

Coldplay kiss cam exec Kristin Cabot to speak at $875 PR crisis conference

Current News / News & Features /

Kristin Cabot, the scandalized HR executive embroiled in the Coldplay kiss cam controversy, has been tapped to talk about crisis management at a pricey conference in Washington, D.C.

The former Astronomer chief people officer is confirmed as a keynote speaker for PRWeek’s Crisis Comms Conference taking place on April 16 at the Ronald Reagan ...Read more

D.A. Varela/Miami Herald/TNS

Trump's DOJ is holding up $608M reimbursement for Florida's immigration campaign

Current News / News & Features /

President Donald Trump’s Justice Department is keeping Florida from recouping $608 million in taxpayer funds to pay for the Alligator Alcatraz detention center and other immigration-enforcement activities, the state’s emergency management director said Thursday.

Director Kevin Guthrie told reporters that the Federal Emergency Management ...Read more

Jan Sonnenmair/Getty Images North America/TNS

Arizona officials give update on Nancy Guthrie investigation, but ID no suspects

Current News / News & Features /

Arizona officials expressed hope Thursday afternoon that Nancy Guthrie will soon be found, but identified no suspects in her apparent abduction.

“Right now, we believe Nancy is still out there,” Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told reporters at a news conference, while acknowledging authorities have no proof that she’s alive.

The 84-year...Read more