WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order on Friday to rename the Department of Defense the "Department of War," a White House official said on Thursday. The order would authorize Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, the Defense Department, and subordinate officials to use secondary titles such as...
Fresno County Fire Near Coalinga Expands to 17,600 Acres, 7% Contained
A wildfire burning in Fresno County grew to 17,638 acres Thursday afternoon with just 7% containment as crews faced triple-digit heat and steep terrain, CalFire said. The Salt 14-2 Fire, which started Tuesday near Jacalitos Creek Road in Coalinga, is burning in the footprint of the 2017 Garza Fire. Officials...
Madera County Authorities Investigate Report of Man Offering Ride to Child Near School
Authorities are investigating after a 10-year-old student reported being approached by a man offering him a ride near Sierra View Elementary School in Madera on Thursday morning, the Madera County Sheriff’s Office said. The fifth grader told deputies that around 7:44 a.m., a light gray Jeep Gladiator pulled up alongside...
US Appeals Court Rejects Trump Bid to Restore Passport Policy Targeting Transgender People
A federal appeals court on Thursday declined to allow U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to refuse to issue passports to transgender and nonbinary Americans that reflect their gender identities. A three-judge panel of the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to put on hold an injunction issued by...
US Appeals Court Pauses Restrictions on Trump’s Use of Troops in Los Angeles
NEW YORK — A U.S. appeals court on Thursday paused a lower court ruling that restricted President Donald Trump's use of troops to support federal law enforcement and immigration raids in Los Angeles, preserving the status quo while the Trump administration appeals. U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer ruled on...
Trump Asks Supreme Court to Let Him Remove Democratic FTC Member for Now
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump's administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to let him temporarily remove a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission as the legal fight over the Republican president's dismissal of her plays out. The Justice Department made the request after Washington-based U.S. District Judge Loren...
Judge Orders Davis to Pay Harris Construction $1.7M in Epic FUSD Lease-Leaseback Lawsuit
Fresno County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Hamilton Jr. has ordered Fresno contractor Stephen Davis to shell out nearly $1.7 million to Harris Construction to cover its legal fees in the long running lawsuit over the lease-leaseback contract to build a Fresno Unified middle school. But Hamilton stayed the order pending...
Trump Signs Executive Order Implementing Trade Deal With Japan, White House Says
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday implementing the U.S.-Japan trade agreement, the White House said. "Under the Agreement, the United States will apply a baseline 15 percent tariff on nearly all Japanese imports entering the United States, alongside separate sector-specific treatment for automobiles and automobile...
US Imposes Sanctions on Palestinians Who Asked for Israel War Crimes Probe
The United States has imposed sanctions on three Palestinian human rights groups that asked the International Criminal Court to investigate Israel over allegations of genocide in Gaza, according to a notice posted to the U.S. Treasury Department's website on Thursday. The three groups - Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights...
US Justice Department Opens Criminal Mortgage Fraud Probe Into Fed Governor Cook
The U.S. Justice Department has launched a criminal mortgage fraud probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and has issued grand jury subpoenas out of both Georgia and Michigan, according to documents seen by Reuters and a source familiar with the matter. The investigation, which followed a criminal referral from Federal...