North Carolina Education Lottery ticket sales surged to a record $6.6 billion last year, but the percentage of revenue transferred to public schools continued to decline, according to a new state audit released Monday.

“North Carolinians have a reasonable expectation that if the Education Lottery’s ticket sales go up, money going toward our...Read more

A North Carolina house fire reportedly killed the father of NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin and critically injured his mother.

The Gaston County Office of Emergency Management and Fire Services said on Facebook that multiple fire departments were dispatched to a possible house fire “with entrapment” Sunday night.

The victims were identified ...Read more

More than a decade after a jailhouse snitch scandal rocked the Orange County district attorney's office and nearly upended the prosecution of the deadliest mass shooting in county history, federal officials announced they have ceased overseeing the department's informant program, citing recent reforms.

The decision, announced Dec. 23, ends a ...Read more

California civil liberties groups cheered a decision by the state Supreme Court that wipes out hundreds of dollars in fines for a reputed Mexican Mafia member — a move advocates say strengthens protections for indigent defendants in other cases.

"This holding is a meaningful step toward a justice system that does not punish people for ...Read more

A man was arrested for sending police on a wild goose chase by claiming he was shot inside a Manhattan subway station — only for investigators to determine his wound was self-inflicted, cops said Monday.

The suspect ventured into an off-limits section of the 57th St. station near Sixth Ave. in Midtown, where he shot himself in the chest ...Read more

Proponents can now begin collecting signatures for a measure that would prohibit children from using smartphones in schools and clamp down on artificial intelligence products, like certain chatbots, that could harm kids.

The initiative, sponsored by Common Sense Media CEO Jim Steyer, was given the official title “Child Safety Requirements for...Read more

President Donald Trump said the U.S. struck a facility inside Venezuela, in what would be a significant escalation in its campaign against alleged drug trafficking operations there.

“There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs,” Trump told reporters Monday, confirming comments from last week.

Trump...Read more

As climate change continues to threaten California in 2025 — from devastating wildfires, declining kelp forests and struggling salmon runs to shrinking snowpack in the Sierra Nevada — the state has rolled out a range of measures to confront the crisis. These efforts come at a time when the federal government has prioritized fossil fuels and ...Read more

Kentucky will receive $212.9 million from President Donald Trump’s administration over the next five years to improve rural health care, state officials said Monday.

The money will be used to address stubborn, long-term rural health care problems including maternity care deserts, limited access to mental health professionals and gaps in oral ...Read more

Venezuela started shutting wells in a region that holds the world’s largest deposits of oil in the face of a blockade by the Trump administration meant to financially squeeze the nation.

Petroleos de Venezuela SA began shuttering wells in the Orinoco Belt on Dec. 28 as the state-run refiner ran out of storage space and inventory swelled, ...Read more

The Trump administration is announcing awards to states from a rural healthcare fund, with the threat that some of that money can be clawed back if jurisdictions fail to embrace policy initiatives backed by the president.

The discretionary grants for 2026 range from $145 million to $281 million for states, according to Mehmet Oz, the head of ...Read more

A West Palm Beach woman is accused of strangling her 97-year-old mother the day after Christmas, telling detectives that the two had previously discussed ways to end the woman’s life as her mother struggled with health issues.

Martha Jo Blake, 66, is facing one count of first-degree murder in the death of her mother, Patricia Blake, whom she ...Read more

The chillier-than-usual temperatures that brought a cold-weather advisory early Monday won’t stay that way for much longer, according to the National Weather Service. The source for their eventual warmup: Yet another atmospheric river rain system.

“It’s gonna start to get a bit warmer Tuesday night into Wednesday morning,” NWS ...Read more

A Black Kansas City Police Department sergeant is suing the Board of Police Commissioners, alleging sex, race and disability discrimination in the workplace.

The suit, filed Dec. 10 in Jackson County Circuit Court, alleges a variety of issues Sergeant Johnita Harris dealt with during her tenure in the Police Department, including racial ...Read more

All they were trying to do was stay warm, friends and family said of the two unhoused individuals found dead in their tent in Fresno.

Fresno police responded to a call from an unhoused individual Friday afternoon at an encampment along the Highway 180 interchange at Abby Street, officials said. When they arrived, they found Denise Celis, 52, ...Read more

The federal government is awarding Illinois $193 million next year to support rural healthcare — money that’s part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but not enough to make up for Medicaid cuts from the measure, state health leaders say.

Illinois asked the federal government for $200 million a year for each of the next five years in its ...Read more

President Donald Trump’s campaign to end the war in Ukraine faced new complications on Monday when Vladimir Putin said he would revise his country’s negotiating position after the Russian leader claimed Ukrainian drones targeted his residence.

Putin told Trump of his decision in a call Monday, according to the Kremlin, even as Kyiv cast the...Read more

The second pilot involved in a midair helicopter collision in New Jersey has died, authorities said Monday.

Two choppers collided in the skies above Hammonton Township on Sunday morning, sending both aircraft to the ground in a horrifying wreck about 30 miles southeast of Philadelphia.

Cops identified the victims Monday as Michael Greenberg, a...Read more

WASHINGTON — Maryland will receive $168 million to bolster its rural healthcare services, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced on Monday.

The money will be allocated from CMS’ Rural Health Transformation Program. The program is a five-year, $50 billion health care fund that was included in the One Big, Beautiful Bill to ...Read more