LOS ANGELES — A state judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva that alleged the county defamed him, violated his rights and unfairly flagged his personnel file with a "do not rehire" tag.

In a 26-page order, Superior Court Judge Gary D. Roberts on Wednesday granted a request by the county to ...Read more

The Trump administration released new plans Thursday that could push offshore oil drilling closer to Florida shores in a move that many environmental critics argue will be detrimental to the state’s coastal economy and further threaten imperiled wildlife.

The plan calls for opening up a swath of the eastern Gulf of Mexico that has been ...Read more

CHICAGO — A federal judge on Thursday issued a scathing opinion that takes a deep dive into the use of force by immigration agents during “Operation Midway Blitz,” revealing new information gleaned from body-worn cameras and other evidence showing how agents used tear gas and flash bang grenades on fleeing protesters, shot praying ...Read more

CHICAGO — A federal appeals court has temporarily halted the release on bond of hundreds of immigrants whose arrests during Operation Midway Blitz are being challenged under a consent decree that limits so-called warrantless arrests that occur without a prior warrant or probable cause.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings had allowed their ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday said he believed Democratic lawmakers who publicly urged active service members to "refuse illegal orders" amounted to seditious behavior, which he said should be punishable by death.

"It's called SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL. Each one of these traitors to our Country should be ...Read more

DENVER — A yearslong effort to purchase two of the most powerful water rights on the Colorado River has cleared another hurdle after the state water board agreed to manage the rights alongside Western Slope water officials.

The Colorado Water Conservation Board voted unanimously Wednesday night to accept the two water rights tied to the ...Read more

The Trump administration on Thursday announced plans to open the Pacific Ocean to new oil and gas leases for the first time in more than four decades.

The draft plan released by the U.S. Department of the Interior confirms rumors that have been swirling for weeks. The proposal would see as many as 34 offshore lease sales across 1.27 billion ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Two more former employees are taking legal action against Motown legend Smokey Robinson and his wife Frances Robinson, adding their allegations of sexual assault against the singer to a $50 million lawsuit filed earlier this year.

The women who sued the spouses in May for sexual assault and failure to pay overtime filed a motion...Read more

NEW YORK — The Trump administration and New York City’s public schools have reached a deal to allow some funds flow to local magnet programs while their legal battle over school gender policies plays out.

The order, which was approved Thursday by a Manhattan federal court, lets the magnet schools draw down reimbursements from $12 million in...Read more

KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he’s agreed to work on a peace plan drafted by the U.S. and Russia and expects to talk with U.S. President Donald Trump in the coming days about the proposals.

Ukraine has officially received a draft plan from Washington which the U.S. side believes could help reinvigorate ...Read more

WASHINGTON — It was business as usual Thursday at the White House as a list of American political luminaries and family members gathered across town to remember Dick Cheney, the late former vice president with the aggressive foreign policy that helped spawn the “Make America Great Again” movement.

White House aides chatted and laughed ...Read more

While it’s already known President Donald Trump flew on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane, his brother suggests in a new interview Trump may have returned the favor.

“They say Donald was on Jeff’s plane like seven times, but I question, have they checked Donald’s flight logs from those days to see how many times Jeffrey was on his plane?” ...Read more

NEW YORK — Zohran Mamdani is softening his stance on how much power the city’s Civilian Complaint Review Board should have.

While still a candidate, Mamdani said he would as mayor empower the board — which investigates and prosecutes misconduct complaints against NYPD officers — to get the final say on what sort of disciplinary action ...Read more

OAKLAND, Calif. — A Hayward man was sentenced to five years in federal prison for operating a gun trafficking ring that prosecutors say relied on a woman he was pimping to purchase guns for him to re-sell to criminals.

Najee Thompson, 32, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, ending a case that ran into a snag when ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have altered their website on autism and vaccines, removing unequivocal statements that immunizations don’t cause the neurodevelopmental disorder and replacing them with inaccurate and misleading information about the links between the shots and autism.

Until Wednesday, ...Read more

President Donald Trump on Thursday denounced as “traitors” a group of Democratic lawmakers who have called on military service members to defy orders that are illegal or violate the Constitution.

In a string of posts on his social media site, Trump derided the six Democrats, all of whom are military veterans, for their recent video message ...Read more

The Trump administration on Thursday announced plans to open federal waters in the Pacific Ocean to new oil and gas leases for the first time in more than four decades.

The draft plan released by the U.S. Department of the Interior confirms rumors that have been swirling for weeks. The proposal would see as many as 34 offshore lease sales ...Read more

The National Transportation Safety Board detailed in a preliminary report Thursday how the UPS cargo plane that crashed in Louisville, Kentucky, earlier this month didn’t get higher than about 30 feet above the ground, based on data from a flight data recorder.

The Nov. 4 crash near UPS’ cargo hub at Louisville Muhammad Ali International ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The Senate Agriculture Committee on Thursday advanced, along party lines, the nomination of Michael Selig to be chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The panel approved Selig’s confirmation to replace CFTC acting Chairman Caroline Pham, 12-11. Thursday’s vote comes on the heels of his Wednesday nomination ...Read more

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday called for Michigan U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin and other Democratic lawmakers to be arrested and possibly executed over their remarks in a recent video urging members of the U.S. military and intelligence community to refuse unspecified illegal orders.

In a remarkable message on social media, ...Read more