State News

State and local government revenues were not hit as hard as expected by the pandemic, but the looming uncertainty of its long-term impact points to the need for more federal aid, leading economists say..  At the start of the pandemic,... Read More

TOPEKA, Kan. – This week, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced legislation to expand Medicaid, known as KanCare, and provide health insurance for 165,000 Kansans. The legislation also establishes a regulatory framework to make Kansas the 48th state to legalize medical... Read More

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A hacker's botched attempt to poison the water supply of a small Florida city is raising alarms about just how vulnerable the nation's water systems may be to attacks by more sophisticated intruders. Treatment plants... Read More

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — During last year's Carnival season, tourists at the Elysian Fields Inn gathered over breakfast to talk about parades from the night before. At NOLA Art Bar, they sipped cocktails and watched a parade go by. At... Read More

Former Rep. Anthony Brindisi, D-N.Y., a star among moderates in his party, has conceded to Republican challenger and former Rep. Claudia Tenney, at long last ending the 2020 election cycle. Brindisi had been expected to appeal a New York State... Read More

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Less than two months after the fatal shooting of an unarmed Black man by a Columbus police officer, the City Council last week passed a comprehensive police reform policy it hopes will reduce the number of police-involved... Read More

WASHINGTON – A new city program will all allow local businesses to aggregate into larger buying groups, enabling them to lower their energy costs by taking advantage of bulk purchase prices, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Tuesday. The new program, "District... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Hing Yiu Chung lives in a racially diverse San Francisco neighborhood hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. While vaccines have been difficult to come by, the 69-year-old got one by showing proof she lives where she... Read More

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's secretary of state's office on Monday opened an investigation into a phone call between Donald Trump and the state's top elections official in which the then-president said he wanted to "find" enough votes to overturn his... Read More

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Justice Department on Monday withdrew its 2018 legal challenge to the state of California’s net neutrality law after the Trump administration had asked a court to block it. Under then-President Donald Trump, the Justice Department argued... Read More

About Padilla:  Alex Padilla, California’s then-secretary of state, was appointed to fill the Senate seat held by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in late December 2020.  Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s selection of Padilla, a longtime friend and political ally, ended months of jockeying for the appointment among Democratic factions across the state.  It also... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom's office on Saturday issued revised guidelines for indoor church services after the Supreme Court lifted the state's ban on indoor worship during the coronavirus pandemic, but left in place restrictions on singing... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Liz Cheney, the third-ranking House GOP leader, said Sunday she was undeterred by a censure from Wyoming Republicans and criticism from some House colleagues over her vote to impeach Donald Trump, and will not resign or... Read More

BLUEFIELD, W.Va. (AP) — If you're Christian in Bluefield — and most everyone is, in this small city tucked into the Blue Ridge Mountains — you have your choice. You can follow Pastor Doyle Bradford of Father's House International Church,... Read More

Republican Claudia Tenney will be certified as the winner of New York’s 22nd Congressional District race, a judge ruled Friday, ending a three-month ordeal in the only undecided House race in the country. Despite the ruling, the legal saga is... Read More

RICHMOND, Va. - Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Friday that he wants Virginia school systems to begin offering options for in-person learning by March 15. “Children learn better in classrooms. And that’s where they need to be,” he said during... Read More

After an election season dominated by conspiracy theories and false claims about voting, top election officials across the country say they already are bracing for what comes next. They are grappling with ways they can counter waves of misinformation in... Read More

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers issued a new statewide mask order on Thursday, an hour after the Republican-controlled Legislature voted to repeal his previous mandate saying he didn't have authority to make such a decree. Evers and... Read More

SALEM, Ore. — Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced the first of a series of negotiations Wednesday in a collaborative effort between conservation leaders, fishing organizations and forestry representatives to adapt statewide forest practices.  Brown brokered an agreement between the conservation... Read More

WASHINGTON -- Signs of hope are emerging to end the COVID-19 pandemic but they will continue only if the United States speeds up its rate of vaccinations, state health officials told a congressional subcommittee Tuesday. The number of vaccinations administered... Read More

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Impeachment fever has struck Kentucky, where grievances over coronavirus restrictions and the outcome of the Breonna Taylor death investigation have spurred petitions to oust both the governor and the attorney general. It's a card rarely played... Read More

President Joe Biden says he wants most schools serving kindergarten through eighth grade to reopen by late April, but even if that happens, it is likely to leave out millions of students, many of them minorities in urban areas. “We’re... Read More

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republican lawmakers in statehouses across the country are moving swiftly to attack some of the voting methods that fueled the highest turnout for a presidential election in 50 years. Although most legislative sessions are just getting underway, the Brennan... Read More

SAN DIEGO, Calif. - This week, Rep. Scott Peters, D-Calif., reintroduced the bipartisan Ocean Pollution Reduction Act II, legislation that simplifies the city of San Diego’s required permitting process to operate the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant. The legislation will... Read More

WOODSTOCK, Ohio (AP) — In this don't blink-or-you'll-miss-it, one-stoplight town, dozens of residents still fly “Trump 2020” and “Make America Great Again” flags. But it's a now-shuttered bar that brought the FBI and other investigators to Woodstock, Ohio, around 40... Read More

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan House Appropriations Committee Chairman Thomas Albert announced Republicans’ rebuttal to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s proposed COVID-19 recovery plan.  The House Republicans’ plan would provide roughly $3.5 billion in federal and state funds for employers, families, schools and... Read More

In a Monday webinar hosted by Iowa Democrat Rita Hart, Hart’s attorney Marc Elias disputed Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks' recent motion of dismissal for Hart’s contention with the state’s 2nd Congressional District election results.   Hart, who ran for the House of... Read More

Answering growing frustration over vaccine shortages, President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. is ramping up deliveries to hard-pressed states over the next three weeks and expects to provide enough doses to vaccinate 300 million Americans by the end of... Read More

WASHINGTON — New Census Bureau estimates show 16 states saw population declines last year as the nation experienced its slowest overall growth since the Great Depression, a new Pew Charitable Trusts analysis shows. According to the analysis, which first appeared... Read More

WASHINGTON - Rita Hart is vowing to continue her fight to have every vote counted in the nail-biter of a race in Iowa's 2nd District in which she trails by just six votes. On Thursday, Hart's opponent, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks,... Read More