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By ALEXA ST. JOHN, Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — Hours after being sworn in as the new U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy took aim at the main way the federal government regulates miles per gallon for cars and pickup trucks — also a principal way that it regulates air pollution and addresses climate change. Duffy ordered the federal agency in charge of fuel economy standards to reverse them as soon as possible. The standards have been in place since the 1970s energy crisis and were intended to conserve fuel and save consumers money at the gas pump. Here are…

PHILADELPHIA — Lakers star big man Anthony Davis will be sidelined for at least one week because of a strained abdominal muscle.Davis left early in Tuesday’s blowout loss to the Philadelphia 76ers because of the injury.The Lakers said on Wednesday morning that Davis underwent an MRI that confirmed a strained abdominal muscle, adding that he’ll return Wednesday to Los Angeles and will be re-evaluated in about one week.After appearing to hold the left side of his body after the game’s first timeout, Davis subbed out at the 2:10 mark of the first quarter as part of the normal rotation and…

By COLLIN BINKLEY, AP Education WriterWASHINGTON (AP) — 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 reflect the myriad challenges that have upended education, from pandemic school closures to a youth mental health crisis and high rates of chronic absenteeism. The national exam results also show growing inequality: While the highest-performing students have started to regain lost ground, lower-performing students are falling further behind.Given every two years to a sample of…

By Naureen S. Malik, Bloomberg NewsElectricity demand on the largest U.S. grid is poised to rise so fast thanks to the AI boom that it’ll be the equivalent of installing two New England networks in the coming decade.PJM Interconnection LLC, which manages the 13-state system stretching from Washington DC to Illinois, expects peak summer demand to jump by nearly 58 gigawatts, or 38%, to about 210 gigawatts in 2035 from last year’s high, according to a report Friday. That addition is more than double the peak demand record on the New England grid.Power usage in PJM and the U.S. more…

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ, Associated PressNEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump has appealed his hush money conviction, seeking to erase the verdict that made him the first person with a criminal record to win the office.Trump’s lawyers filed a notice of appeal Wednesday, asking the state’s mid-level appeals court to overturn his conviction last May on 34 counts of falsifying business records.The case, involving an alleged scheme to hide a hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels during Trump’s 2016 Republican campaign, was the only one of his criminal cases to go to trial.A notice of appeal starts the appeals…

Angel City FC forward Alyssa Thompson moves the ball during the first half of their NWSL match against Seattle Reign FC on Friday night at BMO Stadium. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr., Contributing Photographer) Angel City FC defender Gisele Thompson controls the ball during the first half of their game against Racing Louisville FC on Wednesday night at BMO Stadium. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr., Contributing Photographer) Angel City FC defender Gisele Thompson controls the ball during the second half of their game against Racing Louisville FC on Wednesday night at BMO Stadium. (Photo by Raul Romero Jr., Contributing Photographer)…

Since his inauguration nine days ago, President Donald Trump has signed a flurry of executive orders, gotten into tiffs with Colombia and other countries and implemented a shock-and-awe approach to immigration enforcement. Americans are seeing an unprecedented level of action at the federal level. It’s left the president’s supporters cheering, but threatens to trample legitimate constitutional concerns.A federal court has already temporarily suspended Trump’s most dubious edict — an executive order banning birthright citizenship. “This is a blatantly unconstitutional order,” ruled Judge John C. Coughenour, a Reagan appointee. The obvious goal here is to spark a legal challenge to the…

If there is any policy issue on which President Donald Trump has been consistent on, it’s trade. For years, Trump has expressed his view that American greatness and international trade are at odds with each other. Other countries, he asserts, almost inevitably take advantage of America, somehow, through the international trade process. Consequently, as president in his first term, he launched a trade war even with American allies. He declared himself a “Tariff Man” and began slapping tariffs on imports under the mistaken belief that doing so would help American workers. Many of those tariffs were continued and expanded on…

By COLLIN BINKLEY, Associated Press Education WriterWASHINGTON (AP) — 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 reflect the myriad challenges that have upended education, from pandemic school closures to a youth mental health crisis and high rates of chronic absenteeism. The national exam results also show growing inequality: While the highest-performing students have started to regain lost ground, lower-performing students…

Southern California unemployment fell to a seven-month low at 2024’s end as bosses reported record-high staffing.My trusty spreadsheet, filled with new state job figures that aren’t adjusted for seasonal swings, found that the four-county unemployment rate was 5.2% in December, down from 5.4% in November and the lowest since May.However, unemployment is rising when viewed through a longer lens. This survey of workers showed combined joblessness in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties was 4.8% in December 2023 and averaged 4.7% in pre-pandemic 2015-19.In December, 454,300 people were officially out of work in the four counties, up 38,900…