NATIONAL NEWS

The local water district for wealthy Southern California communities in an enclave nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains is taking a more aggressive approach to conservation as the drought drags on despite a wet winter start.

Health experts suggest stepping up protection against omicron with N95s, KN95s or similar masks.

A White House spokeswoman says an armed British man who took four people hostage during a 10-hour standoff at a Texas synagogue that ended in his death entered the United States without raising any red flags during multiple checks against law enforcement databases.

A convicted killer pardoned by Kentucky’s former governor is returning to prison to serve a 42-year federal sentence.

A man suspected of attacking and killing a 70-year-old woman at a Los Angeles bus stop has been charged with murder.

The white Chicago police officer convicted in the 2014 shooting death of Black teenager Laquan McDonald is days away from walking out of prison after just over three years behind bars.

A Kansas prosecutor says he won't file charges over the death of a Black 17-year-old who became unresponsive while being restrained after an altercation with staff at a Wichita juvenile center in September.

The federal website where Americans can request free COVID-19 tests is now accepting orders.

California prosecutors have filed two counts of vehicular manslaughter against the driver of a Tesla on Autopilot who ran a red light, slammed into another car and killed two people in 2019.

The fast-moving omicron variant may cause less severe disease on average, yet COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. are climbing.

Vice President Kamala Harris is capping off a controversial first year in office, creating history as the first woman and first Black and Indian American person in her position while fending off criticism and complaints over her focus and agenda.

The Biden administration says it will significantly expand efforts to stave off catastrophic wildfires that have been torching areas of the U.S. West by more aggressively thinning forests around “hot spots” where nature and neighborhoods collide.

California authorities say three teenage boys were killed when the car they were in hit a curb, collided with a fence and rolled over on an embankment.

The U.S. Senate’s only Black Republican is putting forth what he characterizes as a positive response to partisan rhetoric on race that he’s best-positioned to rebut.

A dangerous winter storm is whipping the East Coast with significant snowfall, strong thunderstorms and blustery winds.

A new effort to preserve historic Black churches in the United States has received a $20 million donation that will go to help congregations.

The tight-knit congregation at a Texas synagogue where four people were held hostage by an armed captor during a 10-hour standoff over the weekend traces its roots back to a gathering organized over 20 years ago by a handful of families who were new to the area.

The rabbi of a Texas synagogue where a gunman took hostages during livestreamed services says he threw a chair at his captor before escaping with two others after an hourslong standoff.

A man held people hostage for more than 10 hours at a Texas synagogue where he could be heard ranting in a livestream and demanding the release of a Pakistani neuroscientist who was convicted of trying to kill U.S. Army officers in Afghanistan.

The man who authorities say held hostages inside a Texas synagogue had demanded the release of a Pakistani woman who is imprisoned nearby on charges of trying to kill American service members in Afghanistan.

Miami rapper Wavy Navy Pooh was killed in an ambush shooting as he drove with two young children.

Governors and state lawmakers are prioritizing climate change as they write their state budgets, devoting money to lowering emissions and guarding against natural disasters such as flood and fire.

Martin Luther King III came to Arizona with harsh words for Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, whose refusal to change filibuster rules makes voting rights legislation unlikely to pass in the Senate.

The U.S. Census Bureau has begun accepting challenges from states, cities and tribal nations that want to contest the results of the 2020 census.