Author: rpnadmin

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California families welcoming newborns will soon receive hundreds of free diapers before leaving the hospital under a first-in-the-nation program announced Friday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. During the program’s first year, it will be offered at about 65 to 75 hospitals that handle about a quarter of births in the state and largely serve low-income patients, Newsom’s office said. The initiative will expand to more hospitals statewide, though the governor’s office did not say how many. The state has partnered with nonprofit Baby2Baby to manufacture the diapers under the label “Golden State Start.” Newsom said the plan builds…

PHOENIX — The only person ever charged in the unsolved 2021 disappearance of Navajo elder Ella Mae Begay, whose case became emblematic of a crisis fueled by disproportionately high rates of violence faced by Native Americans, has been sentenced to five years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Douglas Rayes in Phoenix on Friday accepted an agreement in which Preston Henry Tolth pleaded guilty to robbing Begay. Under the agreement, Tolth was credited with three years’ time served and prosecutors dropped an assault charge and agreed not to prosecute him in the future if Begay’s case develops. The sentencing effectively…

ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. — A California sheriff said Friday that evidence suggests human remains were present at a home connected to the man convicted of killing Kristin Smart, a 19-year-old college student who went missing in 1996. San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson said they cannot say whether the remains are those of Smart or whether authorities will seek another warrant to start digging on Susan Flores’ property. Her son, Paul Flores, was convicted in 2022 of killing Smart, whose body has never been found. The search began Wednesday after authorities served a warrant Wednesday at the home in…

As the nation prepares for its 250th anniversary of independence, Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch wants Americans to understand just how much of an accomplishment that was. His new children’s book, “Heroes of 1776: The Story of the Declaration of Independence,” tries to do just that. He said notions that political rights came not from a king or country but from God and citizens enjoyed them equally were “crazy, radical ideas.” “That’s what unites us,” he said at a book launch at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California on Tuesday. The 48-page book, published by HarperCollins, is aimed…

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a video message at the Defender of Freedom Gala in Virginia’s Pentagon City last week, fondly recalled his cold morning in Minnesota years ago when he delivered joy to a veteran and his family. Mr. Hegseth was part of “Fox & Friends,” a Fox News program, when Freedom Alliance, an organization that helps military service members and veterans, asked him to help give away a mortgage-free home to the man. “I watched as his kids ran through the house,” the secretary said. “It was the first house the family had ever owned. Programs like these…

Two Southwest Airlines aircraft sustained minor wingtip damage after colliding during pushback at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport late Monday, triggering a federal investigation and raising fresh questions about ground safety procedures at one of the region’s busiest airports. The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the contact occurred on the airport ramp at approximately 10:30 p.m. on Monday. Southwest flights 1048, bound for Connecticut, and 562, bound for Houston, backed into each other while leaving their gates, causing minor damage to the wingtips. No injuries were reported among passengers or crew.  Kevin White, a passenger aboard flight 1048 who was heading…

That avocado on your sandwich costs you about $2 extra. New industry data finds U.S. restaurant dishes featuring avocado carry a median price of $14.98, roughly $2 higher than comparable dishes without it. The pricing gap applies to a category found on nearly two-thirds of American menus, making the pattern relevant well beyond the niche of avocado fans. It also focuses sharply on certain parts of the menu, with some appetizer items leaving a gap of $4 or more. A $1.98 gap that has held through inflation The $1.98 gap, between a $14.98 median for dishes with avocado and a…

New York City leaders are scrambling to keep wealthy residents and major financial firms from leaving the city amid backlash to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s tax-the-rich agenda — even as some business figures warn the exodus may already be underway. The flashpoint came on Tax Day, when Mr. Mamdani filmed himself outside Citadel CEO Ken Griffin’s $238 million penthouse at 220 Central Park South to announce what he called the first pied-à-terre tax in New York City’s history — an annual fee on luxury properties valued above $5 million whose owners do not live in the city full-time. The tax concept…

A human bone discovered near the Tucson, Arizona, home of missing 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie has been determined to be prehistoric and unrelated to her ongoing disappearance investigation, authorities said Thursday. The Tucson Police Department said the bone was found Thursday at North Craycroft Road and East River Road — roughly 7 miles from Ms. Guthrie’s residence in the Catalina Foothills neighborhood. The department classified the matter as a “prehistoric anthropological investigation” and said it was not criminal in nature. The University of Arizona Department of Anthropology and the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner assisted with the examination. According…

A bombshell Supreme Court ruling is triggering a nationwide redistricting scramble, and it could reshape the balance of power in Congress after the November election. On April 29th, the Supreme Court struck down a racially gerrymandered congressional district in Louisiana, ruling that the Voting Rights Act cannot be used to force states to add more minority districts to their maps unless there is clear evidence of racial discrimination. Republican-led states are suddenly racing to redraw their maps, and Democrats are vowing to fight back just as hard. I’m Susan Ferrechio, national politics reporter for The Washington Times. Let’s break down…