WASHINGTON — America's children have continued to lose ground on reading skills in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and have made little improvement in math, according to the latest results of an exam known as the nation's report card. The findings are yet another setback for U.S. schools and...
Are We All Aliens? NASA’s Returned Asteroid Samples Hold the Ingredients of Life From a Watery World
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Asteroid samples fetched by NASA hold not only the pristine building blocks for life but also the salty remains of an ancient water world, scientists reported Wednesday. The findings provide the strongest evidence yet that asteroids may have planted the seeds of life on Earth and...
Kings County Woman Found Dead, Armed Suspect Fled With Two Young Children
Update: The children have been found. Original Story Authorities in Kings County have issued an Amber Alert for two young children after deputies discovered their mother dead from a gunshot wound Tuesday afternoon, the Kings County Sheriff's Office said in a statement. Deputies responded around 4 p.m. to a welfare...
What to Know About DeepSeek and How It Is Upending Artificial Intelligence
SAN FRANCISCO — Tech stocks tumbled. Giant companies such as Meta and Nvidia faced a barrage of questions about their future. And tech executives took to social media to proclaim their fears. And it was all because of a little-known Chinese artificial intelligence startup called DeepSeek. DeepSeek caused waves all...
What California Can Learn From Texas on Rebuilding After a Natural Disaster
Can California learn from other states about housing recovery after a natural disaster? That's the idea behind Assembly Bill 239 by Assemblymember John Harabedian, a freshman Democrat from Pasadena whose district was at the center of the 14,000-acre Eaton Fire. The bill, modeled after a hurricane-response plan in Texas, aims...
Trump Is Going Woke on Energy
I understand that Donald Trump was elected to better manage our borders and curb left-wing wokeism. But have no illusions: Trump’s right-wing wokeism — impugning electric vehicles and renewable energy because they don’t conform to MAGA ideology and aren’t manly enough — is as devoid of common sense and not...
Live Horse Racing Out for 2025 Big Fresno Fair
Horse racing, at least for now, isn't in the Big Fresno Fair's future. The California Association of Racing Fairs voted not to renew applications for 2025 racing licenses for summer fair meets, according to a news release from the organization. The decision impacts the Alameda County Fair, the Big Fresno...
Fresno Councilmembers Want to End Sending of Homeless People to City
Fresno is considering another tool to limit the growth of its homeless population — stopping other government agencies from sending theirs to town. Councilmembers Mike Karbassi and Nick Richardson are introducing a new ordinance, scheduled to be heard at Thursday's city council meeting, which would fine other agencies caught sending...
Fresno Agencies Scramble for Clarity on Trump’s Ordered End to Federal Aid
Nonprofits, local governments, and other agencies are scrambling to understand what funds might be in jeopardy following a sweeping declaration from President Donald Trump pausing all federal grants, loans, and other aid. Trump clarified Tuesday through the Office of Management and Budget that his Monday memo would not affect Social...
Trump Offers All Federal Workers a Buyout With 7 Months’ Pay
WASHINGTON — The White House on Tuesday began offering buyouts worth seven months of salary to all federal employees who opt to leave their jobs by Feb. 6 — part of President Donald Trump's unprecedented overhaul of the U.S. government. A memo from the Office of Personnel Management, the government's...