PEBBLE BEACH — Twenty years later, Jack Grandcolas still remembers waking up at 7:03 that morning. He looked at the clock, then out the window where an image in the sky caught his eye — a fleeting vision that looked like an angel ascending. He didn’t know it yet, but...
US Hiring Slows to Just 235,000 Jobs After 2 Strong Months
WASHINGTON — America’s employers added just 235,000 jobs in August, a surprisingly weak gain after two months of robust hiring at a time when the delta variant’s spread has discouraged some people from flying, shopping and eating out. The August job gains the government reported Friday fell far short of...
California Senate Votes to Mail Ballots in All Elections
SACRAMENTO — Democrats advanced a major overhaul to California's elections on Thursday, voting to make sure all active registered voters will get a ballot in the mail at least 29 days before every election — even if they didn't ask for one. A majority of California voters have been casting...
Experts Call for Rigorous Audit to Protect California Recall
A group of election security experts on Thursday called for a rigorous audit of the upcoming recall election for California's governor after copies of systems used to run elections across the country were released publicly. Their letter sent to the secretary of state's office urges the state to conduct a...
Firefly Aerospace Rocket Explodes After California Liftoff
VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE — A rocket launched by Firefly Aerospace, the latest entrant in the New Space sector, exploded minutes after lifting off from the central California coast on Thursday, officials said. The Alpha rocket was “terminated" over the Pacific Ocean shortly after its 6:59 p.m. liftoff from Vandenberg...
Tahoe Evacuees Report Price Gouging Amid Caldor Wildfire
STATELINE — As fearful Lake Tahoe residents packed up belongings and fled a raging wildfire burning toward the California-Nevada border, some encountered an unexpected obstacle: price gouging. A rideshare company quoted a fee of more than $1,500 to be transported from the smoke-choked ski resort at Heavenly Valley to the...
Manchin Seeks ‘Strategic Pause’ on Biden Bill, Opposes $3.5T
WASHINGTON — Centrist Sen. Joe Manchin said Thursday that Congress should take a “strategic pause” on more spending, warning that he does not support President Joe Biden's plans for a sweeping $3.5 trillion effort to rebuild and reshape the economy. The West Virginia Democrat's pointed opposition was stronger than his past...
EXPLAINER: What to Know About New Texas Abortion Law
AUSTIN, Texas — The Supreme Court allowing a new Texas law that bans most abortions is the biggest curb to the constitutional right to an abortion in decades, and Republicans in other states are already considering similar measures. The law prohibits abortions once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity, usually...
Democrats Promote Cheney to Vice Chairwoman of Jan. 6 Panel
WASHINGTON — House Democrats have promoted Republican Rep. Liz Cheney to vice chairwoman of a committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, placing her in a leadership spot on the panel as some Republicans are threatening to oust her from the GOP conference for participating. Cheney, a fierce critic of...
More Than a Dozen Deaths After Ida Remnants Slam Northeast
NEW YORK — A stunned U.S. East Coast woke up Thursday to a rising death toll, surging rivers and destruction from the remnants of Hurricane Ida, which walloped the region with record-breaking rain days after hitting the Gulf Coast as one of the strongest hurricanes on record to strike the...