LOS ANGELES — Levels of lead and other heavy metals spiked in the coastal waters off Los Angeles after January's fires, raising serious concerns for the long-term health of fish, marine mammals and the marine food chain, according to test results released Thursday by the nonprofit environmental group Heal the Bay.

For human surfers and ...Read more

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Gov. JB Pritzker, in a text exchange with Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, expressed concerns about Mayor Brandon Johnson’s ability to keep United Airlines’ headquarters in Chicago, another stark shot from the governor amid his ongoing friction with the mayor.

The back-and-forth between the two statewide public ...Read more

DETROIT — An effort to license and regulate hyperbaric oxygen chambers in Michigan appears to be picking up momentum after the death of a 5-year-old boy who was inside a chamber in Troy when it exploded, prompting plans by two lawmakers to introduce legislation this spring.

Thomas Cooper was receiving his 36th treatment in a hyperbaric ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Times filed a lawsuit Thursday against the city of L.A., accusing officials of unlawfully withholding and deleting the mayor’s text messages and other public records from January’s firestorm.

The city has already turned over many of the exchanges between Mayor Karen Bass and other officials sought by Times ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Coachella Valley Unified School District has apologized to the U.S. Border Patrol after one of its recruiters was barred from attending a high school career fair earlier this week.

The border patrol officer was denied from participating in the Coachella Valley High School career fair in Riverside County on Wednesday, which ...Read more

Vice President JD Vance jetted to Greenland on Friday as President Donald Trump continues to push for a U.S. takeover of the strategically important overseas Arctic territory of Denmark.

Vance and his wife Usha visited an American military base in Greenland’s remote icy hinterland after the second lady scaled back plans for a more public-...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Coachella Valley Unified School District has apologized to the U.S. Border Patrol after one of its recruiters was barred from attending a high school career fair earlier this week.

The border patrol officer was denied from participating in the Coachella Valley High School career fair in Riverside County on Wednesday, which ...Read more

People who most frequently encounter everyday discrimination – those subtle snubs and slights of everyday life – are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression.

What’s more, that finding remains true no matter the person’s race, gender, age, education, income, weight, language, immigration status or where they live.

...Read more

DENVER — Colorado lawmakers killed a proposal Thursday that would have prohibited lobbyists from donating to legislators, statewide elected officials or candidates for those offices.

Senate Bill 148 fell at the measure’s first hurdle on 2-3 bipartisan vote by a committee. The bill would’ve expanded a 31-year-old Colorado law that bars ...Read more

SEATTLE — For decades, toxic tire dust has choked coho salmon before they can spawn in their natal streams. Now, King County scientists say they have made a "potential breakthrough" in how to save them.

Preliminary results from a recently completed study show certain soil mixes can effectively filter a toxic chemical out of stormwater, ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Two decades ago, the Bush administration said its "war on terror" prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay were off-limits to the federal courts, but the Supreme Court disagreed.

"A state of war is not a blank check for the President," said Justice Sandra Day O'Connor in 2004. "Whatever power the U.S. Constitution envisions for the ...Read more

Hundreds of protests against Elon Musk and his role in President Donald Trump’s administration were expected to take place Friday and Saturday in the Bay Area and across the globe.

Organizers who are part of a campaign called the “Tesla Takedown” said they are hoping to spur people into non-violent action against Musk to voice their ...Read more

TACOMA, Wash. — Hundreds of union members and other protesters gathered outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Tacoma on Thursday evening to rally against the detainment of two Washington residents being held there.

The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO, called on union members and community supporters to ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has formally asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in his effort to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members using a 227-year-old wartime law.

A brief filed by Acting Solicitor General Sarah H. Harris on Friday asks the nation’s highest court to vacate the order issued by a U.S. District Court, which ...Read more

DENVER — Colorado budget writers have finalized the state government’s proposed spending plan — and they’ve done so without long-feared draconian cuts to Medicaid and education.

The powerful Joint Budget Committee, which wrapped its work Wednesday night, started the process last fall with a $1.2 billion spending hole it needed to fill. ...Read more

Israel’s military struck Beirut for the first time since a ceasefire with the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah started in November, an indication of how the deal backed by the U.S. and France is fraying.

Israel said its forces hit a Hezbollah drone-storage facility in the suburbs of Lebanon’s capital on Friday, shortly after it sent a...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Nevada lawmakers introduced a bill that would add steps needed to take over a probate case, after the Las Vegas Review-Journal found a cottage industry reaped paydays selling dead people’s homes through court but often didn’t make a dime for heirs.

The state Senate Judiciary Committee put forward a measure on March 20 that ...Read more

ATLANTA — Legislation regulating the prescription of puberty blockers for transgender minors and banning use of the State Health Benefits Plan for gender-affirming care were approved by House panels this week.

Both bills were approved on party-line votes, with Republicans supporting the measures, putting them in position to reach the floor ...Read more

A plane carrying 178 Venezuelan migrants landed in Caracas early Friday morning, marking the latest deportation effort since the Venezuelan socialist regime resumed deportation flights from the United States last week.

The returnees, 165 men and 13 women, were greeted by government officials who condemned their treatment abroad and accused the ...Read more