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By AMANDA SEITZ and LISA MASCARO, Associated PressWASHINGTON (AP) — Calling Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a “predator” who is addicted to power, Caroline Kennedy urged the U.S. Senate in a Tuesday letter to reject the nomination of her cousin to be President Donald Trump’s health secretary.In a letter to Senators, Ms. Kennedy, who previously served as a U.S. ambassador to Australia and Japan and is the daughter of former President John F. Kennedy, etched a damning sketch of her cousin, the latest condemnation Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has received from members of his own, prominent Democratic family.Several denounced her cousin’s…

Toni Eakes evacuated her home with about a dozen dogs during the chaotic afternoon of the ferocious Palisades fire. She thought she’d be returning a couple of days later, and only packed a light bag for herself.On Tuesday, Jan. 28 – three weeks later – she was among the hundreds of people who were finally allowed to return to the rubble of what once was their homes.“This was the first time I was able to get up here and I wanted to see if I could find anything that was salvageable at all,” Eakes, 58, said. “And I wanted to…

By MORIAH BALINGIT, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — As the White House paused federal grants and loans in a far-reaching executive order, early childhood education centers and states discovered Tuesday they could no longer access money they rely on to provide care for some of the nation’s neediest families and children. Staff encountered problems with Medicaid and Head Start payment websites around the country. The administration of President Donald Trump said those programs were not affected by the funding freeze and called the Medicaid problem an outage. The freeze was halted by a federal judge but the chaos showed how…

PHILADELPHIA — Just one night after the Lakers had a 12-minute stretch where it felt like everything was going their way, they had an even more prolonged stretch on Tuesday when it felt like everything was unraveling.The Lakers’ winning streak not only ended with a 118-104 blowout loss to the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers, but star big man Anthony Davis left the game in the first quarter with an abdominal injury.Similar to Monday’s road win against the Charlotte Hornets, the Lakers got off to a good start against the 76ers (18-27), grabbing an 18-9 lead midway through the first.The start was…

By ZEKE MILLER, Associated PressWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order aimed at cutting federal support for gender transitions for people under age 19, his latest move to roll back protections for transgender people across the country.“It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures,” the order says.The order directs that federally-run insurance programs, including TRICARE for military families and Medicaid,…

On a cold November morning, I dropped off my four-year-old daughter at the bus stop and hugged her tight. I waved as the bus took her to kindergarten. But inside I was a mess. I was on my way to a court hearing to face a series of misdemeanor crimes from my teen years.  That afternoon, I was taken into custody and a few months later, a judge would sign my deportation order. I couldn’t have imagined it would be 14 years before I would see my child again.I’m sharing my family’s story because as the threat of mass deportation looms,…

The Trump administration’s plan to implement a sweeping freeze of federal aid sparked immediate confusion, uncertainty and downright panic among nonprofits, local governments and other groups, many of which provide aid and services to some of the most at-need residents in Southern California.By mid-afternoon Tuesday, Jan. 28, a federal judge blocked the freeze, estimated to total trillions of dollars, just minutes before it was set to go into effect. U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan, a Biden appointee, paused the freeze until Monday.Even so, local organizations and lawmakers rushed Tuesday morning to make sense of what was initially a vague…

By MARK SHERMAN, Associated PressWASHINGTON (AP) — 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 human resources agency, lists four directives that it says Trump is mandating for the federal workforce, including that most workers return to their offices full-time.It includes a “deferred resignation letter” for federal employees wishing to participate.“If you choose not to continue in your current role in…

In the wake of a spate of fires at battery storage facilities across the state, the California Public Utilities Commission will soon vote on establishing new standards for maintaining and operating them.If passed, the proposal also increases oversight for emergency response at energy storage sites that use batteries.The announcement comes shortly after a dramatic fire broke out Jan. 16 at a 750-megawatt battery plant in the Northern California community of Moss Landing that led to the evacuation of 1,200 residents. The blaze burned for two days and closed a section of Highway 1 for three days.Emergency crews and the plant’s…

Former CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta is leaving CNN after being stripped of his morning show and offered a midnight (Eastern time) program in its place.CNN last week announced major lineup changes that included veteran newsman Wolf Blitzer moving his 6 p.m. ET “Situation Room” to the 10 a.m. ET spot currently occupied by Acosta. Former CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy, who first reported shakeups at CNN that included roughly 200 layoffs, reported Monday that Acosta didn’t see a future with CNN.The 53-year-old Washington D.C.-area native appeared to confirm those sentiments Tuesday when he announced the end of his…