In The States

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina is taking the next official step toward a bid for president in 2024. In a video released Wednesday morning, Scott announced he was forming an exploratory committee, which moves him closer... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) — Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg sued Rep. Jim Jordan on Tuesday, an extraordinary move as he seeks to halt a House Judiciary Committee inquiry that the prosecutor contends is a “transparent campaign to intimidate and attack”... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Democratic National Committee on Tuesday selected Chicago to be the host city for the 2024 Democratic National Convention. The convention is slated to be held at the city’s United Center from Aug. 19 to 22, and the... Read More

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Sen. Bob Casey will seek a fourth term in office, bringing the power of incumbency and unmatched name recognition in Pennsylvania politics to his party’s defense of a seat in a critical presidential battleground state.... Read More

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nashville officials are poised to vote Monday to reinstate one of the two Black Democratic lawmakers expelled by Republican colleagues for their gun control protest on the Tennessee House floor after a deadly school shooting — essentially, sending him back after a... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) — Legally, the most important words former President Donald Trump said after he was charged with 34 felonies by the Manhattan District Attorney last week were “not guilty.” But, politically, the most significant may be “election interference.” Trump’s repetition... Read More

DENVER — Four days after municipal elections, it appears that two moderate candidates, Kelly Brough and Mike Johnston, will compete in a June runoff election that will determine the city’s next mayor. As of Friday afternoon, Johnston, a former state... Read More

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Kansas approved a plan early Friday to end gender-affirming care for transgender youth, capping a week of intensifying efforts to roll back LGBTQ rights. The Kansas House voted 70-52 to pass a bill requiring the state's medical... Read More

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden weighed in Thursday night on the Republican-led Tennessee House's vote to expel two Democrats who halted proceedings last week to join protesters demanding tougher gun-control legislation. “Today’s expulsion of lawmakers who engaged in peaceful protest... Read More

DALTON, Ga. — Vice President Kamala Harris visited the congressional district of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on Thursday to announce the largest-ever private investment in solar power-related manufacturing in U.S. history. The $2.5 billion expansion by Qcells, a South... Read More

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Ahead of a highly anticipated presidential announcement, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will visit Michigan for his first appearance this year in the state transformed by Democratic majorities under high-profile Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The visit will put... Read More

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Democratic-backed Milwaukee judge won the high stakes Wisconsin Supreme Court race Tuesday, ensuring liberals will take over majority control of the court for the first time in 15 years with the fate of the state’s abortion ban... Read More

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A Democrat in the North Carolina state House switched to the Republican Party on Wednesday, giving the GOP veto-proof control in both chambers of the legislature and handing Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper a setback in trying... Read More

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A former aide to Maryland’s governor was shot and killed Monday evening as FBI agents tried to arrest him while he fled fraud charges. Roy McGrath was confronted by law enforcement agents after he escaped to the... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) — An extraordinary moment in U.S. history is set to soon unfold in a Manhattan courthouse on Tuesday: Former President Donald Trump, who faces multiple election-related investigations, will surrender to face criminal charges stemming from 2016 hush money payments. The booking... Read More

SALT LAKE CITY — Dominion Energy Utah launched a hydrogen blending project in Delta, Utah, this week as part of an ongoing exploration of the opportunities inherent in the zero-carbon emissions fuel.    Hydrogen is an emerging clean energy source that... Read More

WASHINGTON — Four coastal states in the southeast — Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas — will share in a windfall of over $353 million in additional energy revenues due to increased production and market trends in the 2022 fiscal year.... Read More

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — After years of setbacks, abortion-rights supporters in Republican-leaning Kentucky thought they achieved a breakthrough in November, when voters defeated a measure aimed at denying any constitutional protections for abortion. But their hopes that the state's sweeping abortion ban... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump faces the most urgent legal challenge of his life this week in New York, where he’s set to be arraigned Tuesday on charges arising from hush money payments during his 2016 campaign. But as much... Read More

WASHINGTON — Americans starting to think about spring and summer vacations as the weather warms may find their favorite water destinations unsafe for swimming. Thick layers of cyanobacteria — commonly known as blue-green algae — have closed popular local lakes... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday will visit a Mississippi town ravaged by a deadly tornado even as a new series of severe storms threatens to rip across the Midwest and the South. Last week's twister destroyed roughly... Read More

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — Two Army helicopters crashed in southwestern Kentucky during a routine training mission, causing several casualties, military officials said. The two HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, part of the 101st Airborne Division, crashed around 10 p.m. Wednesday... Read More

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina residents can now buy a handgun without getting a permit from a local sheriff, after the Republican-controlled state legislature on Wednesday overrode the Democratic governor’s veto — a first since 2018. The House voted 71-46 to... Read More

WASHINGTON — With exploitation on the rise and Republican lawmakers in some states rolling back protections, the Biden administration is stepping up its efforts to combat child labor violations. Labor Department officials say there has been a dramatic increase in... Read More

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — The state of Ohio received more than $209,000 in wellness and community resilience funding this week, the first in a series of grants awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in the wake... Read More

MADISON, Wis. — Gov. Tony Evers plans to travel across Wisconsin this week to highlight economic initiatives in his 2023-25 biennial budget, a budget that was rejected March 23 by the State Building Commission. The state panel voted 4-4 on... Read More

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison is slated to lead off opening statements expected for Tuesday in his state's lawsuit against Juul Labs – marking the first time any of the thousands of cases against the e-cigarette maker... Read More

ROME (AP) — The Florence museum housing Michelangelo’s Renaissance masterpiece the David on Sunday invited parents and students from a Florida charter school to visit after complaints about a lesson featuring the statue forced the principal to resign. Florence Mayor... Read More

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A new abortion provider is opening this year in Democratic-controlled Maryland — just across from deeply conservative West Virginia, where state lawmakers recently passed a near-total abortion ban. The Women’s Health Center of Maryland in Cumberland,... Read More

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear's veto of a bill aimed at transgender health care puts the state in the middle of a national fight, but with more immediate consequences as the state's looming election offers an early test on... Read More