In The News

WASHINGTON — America's safety net programs are running out of money, and fast. All four major trust funds — Social Security Old-Age and Survivors Insurance, Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicare Hospital Insurance, and the Highway trust fund —are heading for... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Two days after an independent contractor in Illinois received a $20,000 Paycheck Protection Program loan, the Small Business Administration changed a rule governing how a business like his should document the request. Now his loan will not be... Read More

Google is once again postponing a return to the office for most workers until mid-January, in addition to requiring all employees to be vaccinated once its sprawling campuses are fully reopened. The highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus is... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — A deeply divided Supreme Court is allowing a Texas law that bans most abortions to remain in force, for now stripping most women of the right to an abortion in the nation's second-largest state. The court voted... Read More

A monthslong campaign by the Republican Party, fueled in part by the false narrative of widespread fraud in last year's presidential election, has led to a wave of new voting laws that will tighten access to the ballot for millions... Read More

WASHINGTON -- A cybersecurity expert told a congressional panel Wednesday that private industry alone cannot be expected to effectively confront the kinds of cyberattacks that have wreaked havoc on U.S. computer networks in recent years. He testified to a House... Read More

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose has directed the state’s 88 county boards of election to begin a four-year process to identify any registrations that have been inactive for at least two years or appear on the... Read More

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Jury selection is underway in the fraud trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, a one-time darling of Silicon Valley now facing felony charges alleging she duped elite financial backers, customers and patients into believing that her... Read More

Nielsen, which for decades has been providing television ratings for everything from presidential debates and political conventions to nightly newscasts, was reeling Wednesday after a key industry organization pulled its support of the company’s services. The Media Rating Council is... Read More

WASHINGTON -- A hearing held by the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging centered around whether to expand Medicare to cover eyes, ears, and teeth, a proposal from Senate Democrats that could possibly cost over $359 billion over a decade. ... Read More

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 133, an expansion of Medi-Cal that will provide coverage to undocumented Californians age 50 and over, set to go into effect in May 2022.  “Accessing health coverage through Medicaid... Read More

WINTER PARK, Fla. -- The Florida Democratic Party has named Rep. Stephanie Murphy chair of its Democracy and Voter Protection Program. In her new role, the Winter Park Democrat will work with the program’s staff, party leaders and other elected... Read More

TOPEKA, Kan. - A drug most commonly given to horses and cows as an anti-parasite medicine should not be taken by humans to treat or prevent COVID-19, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said in a Wednesday advisory. Ivermectin... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration is alerting health care personnel to stop using certain N95 respirators manufactured by Shanghai Dasheng Health Products Manufacturing Co. due to “serious concerns with [their] quality.” In a letter released last week, the... Read More

DENVER, Colo. -- Invenergy, a privately held developer of sustainable energy solutions, has begun work on a 127 megawatt project in Colorado that will generate enough electricity to power 25,000 homes while paying about $250,000 annually in local property taxes.... Read More

GENEVA (AP) — Weather disasters are striking the world four to five times more often and causing seven times more damage than in the 1970s, the United Nations weather agency reports.  But these disasters are killing far fewer people. In... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — A defensive President Joe Biden called the U.S. airlift to extract more than 120,000 Americans, Afghans and other allies from Afghanistan to end a 20-year war an "extraordinary success," though more than 100 Americans and thousands of... Read More

A federal bankruptcy judge is expected to rule Wednesday on whether to accept a settlement between OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, the states and thousands of local governments over an opioid crisis that has killed a half-million Americans over the last... Read More

MEQUON, Wis. (AP) — A loose network of conservative groups with ties to major Republican donors and party-aligned think tanks is quietly lending firepower to local activists engaged in culture war fights in schools across the country. While they are... Read More

A Texas law banning most abortions in the state took effect at midnight, but the Supreme Court has yet to act on an emergency appeal to put the law on hold. If allowed to remain in force, the law would... Read More

AUSTIN, Texas — For the Democrats who fought bitterly to prevent it, it's all over but the playing of a sad song on a honky tonk juke box. On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature sent a major overhaul of the... Read More

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Justice Department sent out an urgent request this week for attorneys nationwide to volunteer to represent an expected flood of renters trying to avoid eviction. A letter from U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland asked "the entire... Read More

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Since May 2020, new variants of the novel coronavirus have emerged that can cause COVID-19 infection, and now health experts keep encouraging individuals to get vaccinated to reduce the spread of infection and avoid the emergence of... Read More

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Researchers in Illinois have developed a smart home called the McKechnie Family LIFE Home, an interactive living space equipped with smart appliances and innovation labs to study how home-based technologies may improve health for older individuals or... Read More

WASHINGTON -- The House Rules committee will host a roundtable discussion examining food as medicine on Wednesday, Sept. 1 at 2 p.m. The event, announced by Committee Chairman James McGovern, D-Mass., is the seventh in a series of committee events... Read More

WASHINGTON - In a world where the cost of almost everything seems to go up for everybody, broadcasters got something of a treat last week. When the FCC officially set its Fiscal Year 2021 regulatory fees last week, commissioners did... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan late Monday, ending America's longest war and closing a chapter in military history likely to be remembered for colossal failures, unfulfilled promises and a frantic final exit that cost... Read More

SITES, Calif. (AP) — In 2014, in the middle of a severe drought that would test California's complex water storage system like never before, voters told the state to borrow $7.5 billion and use part of it to build projects... Read More

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Democrats on Tuesday are expected to approve new legislative boundaries over objections from Republicans and some community groups that the process was unnecessarily rushed and maps drawn behind closed doors to keep Democrats in power.  Tuesday's... Read More

WASHINGTON -- President Joe Biden tried to sound reassuring Monday afternoon but could not guarantee a quick recovery from the devastation Hurricane Ida caused to southeastern Louisiana. “We’re going to stand with you and the people of the Gulf for... Read More