us

CHICAGO – Federal records indicate the judge overseeing the hush-money case of former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert donated $1,500 to the then-Illinois congressman’s re-election campaigns. Federal Election Commission records show Thomas M. Durkin gave $500 to the “Hastert for Congress” campaign in 2002, and $1,000 in 2004. Durkin was …

Pennsylvania’s Senate on Wednesday approved hundreds of millions of dollars for universities and schools, but it rejected some House priorities as lawmakers search for agreements on elements of a state budget that have dragged on five months into the fiscal year. The Republican-controlled Senate passed a pair of budget-related bills, …

With less than two months until the end of the year, the Biden administration is running out of time to win the reauthorization of a spy program it says is vital to preventing terrorism, catching spies and disrupting cyberattacks. The tool, Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, will …

The National Park Service announced Thursday that it has delivered to Congress its long-awaited study on whether the Ocmulgee River corridor in central Georgia meets the criteria to be managed as a national park and preserve. The answer: Not quite, not yet. But supporters aren’t dismayed — they say the …

Atlanta police say they arrested a man suspected of stealing a vehicle, after officers chased him into a hospital and one of them fired his gun. POLICE, PROTESTORS CLASH NEAR SO-CALLED ‘COP CITY’ SITE IN ATLANTA When officers responded to a report of a possible stolen vehicle around 12:30 p.m. …

For a year, a special New York law has cleared the way for a wave of headline-grabbing lawsuits against famous men accused of sexual misconduct, including former President Donald Trump, hip hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and the comedian and actor Russell Brand. But when the Adult Survivors Act expires …

The Senate Judiciary deployed U.S. Marshals to serve subpoenas compelling top big tech CEOs to testify before Congress after allegedly refusing to cooperate. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., chair and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee,announced Monday that subpoenas were issued to the …

Military scientists have identified the remains of an Indiana soldier who died in World War II when the tank he was commanding was struck by an anti-tank round during a battle in Germany. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Wednesday that the remains of U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Gene F. …

Ohio’s new constitutional protections for abortion access and other reproductive rights take effect Dec. 7, a month after voters resoundingly passed them. How and when their impacts are felt remains unclear. Existing abortion-related lawsuits are moving again through the courts now that voters have decided the issue, raising questions about …

Notorious South Carolina inmate Susan Smith reportedly told one of several suitors that she would make a “good stepmom” as her first parole hearing approaches in her life sentence for drowning her two boys. Smith, 52, also told her admirer on the recorded jailhouse phone call from Leath Correctional Institution …