Ten Democratic-leaning states are using their own money to help people buy Obamacare health plans, at least partially replacing the federal tax credits that expired at the end of last year.

The state assistance, some of it offered through programs that existed before the federal subsidies expired, is helping hundreds of thousands of people ...Read more

States are scrambling to meet rising demand for newly expanded school choice initiatives, pouring more money into the programs as waiting lists — and budget concerns — grow.

A further boost is expected next year, when the federal government rolls out a new policy allowing taxpayers to claim a tax credit for up to $1,700 in donations to ...Read more

Is reality finally settling in on Capitol Hill? The nation can only hope.

As the national debt rushes toward $39 trillion, and Social Security and Medicare get nearer to insolvency with each tick of the clock, pressure mounts on the White House and Congress to craft a more sustainable path forward. After decades of apathy — which has pushed ...Read more

MOJAVE DESERT — The desert tortoise, a once-resilient reptile, is a keystone species in the Mojave Desert, where other animals depend for their survival on the burrows it digs.

But it is imperiled in California thanks in part to an unusual predator: off-road vehicles that race through thousands of miles of trails — official and unofficial �...Read more

After a grueling year of chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation to treat breast cancer, Sadia Zapp was anxious — not the manageable hum that had long been part of her life, but something deeper, more distracting.

“Every little ache, like my knee hurts,” she said, made her worry that “this is the end of the road for me.”

So Zapp, a 40-...Read more

Subsidies. Love ’em or hate them, they dominated the news during the Affordable Care Act’s sign-up season, and their reduction is now hitting many enrollees in the pocketbook.

While lawmakers continue to disagree on a way forward, and the politics of affordability keeps the issue front and center, it would be understandable to think these ...Read more

Since nursing contract negotiations heated up in January 2026 at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh and at UPMC Altoona, the debate shifted from standard wage disputes to a more fundamental question of patient safety: the nurse-to-patient ratio.

The New York State Nurses Association’s approach has become a primary blueprint ...Read more

Have you ever stopped to wonder how forecasters can predict the weather days in advance, or how scientists figure out how the climate might evolve under different policies?

The Earth system is a vast web of intertwined processes, from microscopic chemical reactions to towering storms. Ocean currents circulating deep in the Atlantic, ...Read more

Scientists are philosophers, explorers, data collectors and number crunchers. They are also storytellers, placing data within a broader scientific and societal context. How they tell these stories matters.

In our work as ecologists, we find that the “hero-villain” narrative trope is a popular tool in ecology and conservation ...Read more

Representational government rests on a simple idea: that the laws the nation lives under generally reflect what the public wants. In the United States, few issues test that idea more than abortion.

In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that the Constitution does not guarantee a right ...Read more

A majority of Americans say they are “frustrated” or “angry” – or both – with Republicans and Democrats, according to the Pew Research Center. But that rarely translates into support for independent or third-party candidates.

One exception has been in the Northeast. Angus King of Maine and Bernie Sanders of Vermont are the...Read more

Cuban authorities said Wednesday a Florida-registered speedboat intercepted in its territorial waters was carrying 10 armed people who planned “a terrorist infiltration” of the island and identified some of the people who were injured or killed in a gunfire exchange with a Cuban coast guard vessel.

In a new statement, the Interior Ministry ...Read more

Not only is it a bad idea to feed birds alcohol, but to then record it and have it posted online as evidence? Well, that could get you a jail sentence.

That was the lesson a Los Angeles man learned last week when he was sentenced to 45 days in jail after he gave a Cooper's hawk a BuzzBall, a type of ready-to-serve cocktail known for its fruity ...Read more

Cuba says a boat with 10 people near its coast early Wednesday was carrying weapons, and its occupants — Cubans living in the U.S. — were intent on entering the country to fight against the government.

The Cuban Coast Guard shot and killed four of the passengers while another six were injured and detained after the Florida-registered boat ...Read more

Two Democratic secretaries of state said they were told the Trump administration isn’t planning to send federal immigration enforcement agents to polling locations during November’s congressional elections.

State officials were told during a call Wednesday with federal authorities that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents won’t be ...Read more

Residents in a small town on Colorado’s Eastern Plains were ordered to evacuate Wednesday afternoon after a grass fire sparked from a vehicle crash nearby, fueled by strong winds and dry vegetation, according to fire officials.

The fire burned between 3,500 to 4,000 acres and drew responses from departments in eastern Colorado and Nebraska.

...Read more

The Trump administration announced Wednesday it plans to halt $259 million in Medicaid payments to Minnesota over concerns about fraud in the state’s social services programs, the latest chapter in the federal government’s crackdown on the state.

The announcement comes one day after President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — President Donald Trump re-aired an allegation in his State of the Union address that $19 billion has been stolen from Minnesota programs, a demonstration of what he called “the corruption that is plundering” the nation’s tax dollars.

Trump has on several earlier occasions presented the eye-popping number to the public ...Read more

California’s marquee climate policy — rebranded last year from “cap-and-trade” to “cap-and-invest” — was back in the Capitol this week as lawmakers scrutinized proposed changes to the program.

The policy, which lets companies and investors buy and trade allowances to emit carbon dioxide, was the central point of last-minute, ...Read more