Stocks fell on Thursday, giving back their gains from the last two days, after better-than-expected data on the economy fueled worries on Wall Street that the Federal Reserve may need to boost interest rates higher. Usually, good news on the economy would be good for markets, particularly when anxieties about …

RANCHO CUCAMONGA — The November elections saw Californians continue to embrace progressive leadership but voters in one of the state’s most populous counties are so frustrated with this political direction that they voted to consider seceding and forming their own state. An advisory ballot proposal approved in San Bernardino County …

The first openly transgender woman set to be executed in the U.S. is asking Missouri’s governor for mercy, citing mental health issues. Lawyers for Amber McLaughlin, now 49, on Monday asked Republican Gov. Mike Parson to spare her. McLaughlin was convicted of killing 45-year-old Beverly Guenther on Nov. 20, 2003. …

The so-called Twitter Files are the brainchild of Twitter owner Elon Musk, who has said he wants to show “what really happened” behind the scenes regarding content moderation decisions at the social media company before he bought it in October.  The Twitter Files have been released in dribs and drabs …

A judge dismissed criminal charges against former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder in the Flint water crisis, months after the state Supreme Court said indictments returned by a one-person grand jury were invalid. Snyder, a Republican who left office in 2019, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of misconduct in office. He …

Indiana’s attorney general is suing TikTok, claiming the social app collects “reams” of sensitive data on consumers and serves up inappropriate videos to children. Attorney General Todd Rokita filed a pair of lawsuits on Wednesday in state court against TikTok and its owner, Chinese company Bytedance. They are the first …

The rural community of Paradise, Texas, came together Monday night to mourn the loss of a 7-year-old Athena Strand, whose body was found two days after she was reported missing. Police said a 31-year-old delivery driver was arrested in connection with her death. Neighbors on Monday tied bows and balloons …

Four Navy sailors appear to have died by suicide over the course of less than a month in the same Navy command in Norfolk, Va., according to a Navy official. All of them were assigned to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Maintenance Center (MARMC), which repairs and maintains military ships. Most of …

New York Mayor Eric Adams is looking to pay someone with “a virulent vehemence for vermin” as much as $170,000 a year to fill the role of the Big Apple’s new rat czar. “There’s NOTHING I hate more than rats,” Adams said in posting on social media on Thursday. “If …

President Joe Biden urged Congress Monday to intervene to avert a “potentially crippling national rail shutdown,” after multiple rail labor unions shot down an agreement brokered by the White House in September.  American consumers and virtually all industries could take a hit at the beginning of the holiday season if …