Senate has only passed 3 out of 12 spending bills as deadline looms

As the deadline for Congress to agree on funding most government programs and agencies in the upcoming fiscal year draws near, the Senate has passed only three of the 12 appropriations bills in a joint “minibus” package, leaving crucial decisions pending after the holiday recess. In November, the Senate voted to extend funding through September … Read more

Biden poised to loosen restrictions on marijuana, but some say it’s not enough

Legalization advocates say reclassifying drug to schedule III from schedule I doesn’t resolve state and federal law conflicts The US government appears poised to announce next year the most sweeping changes in decades to how it handles marijuana, the psychoactive drug dozens of states allow to be sold from storefronts, but which federal law considers … Read more

Alex Murdaugh trial: court clerk accused of plagiarism

Becky Hill, who Murdaugh’s lawyers accuse of jury-tampering, alleged to have plagiarized passages in memoir from BBC article The court clerk who helped steer the murder trial of South Carolina’s Alex Murdaugh and has since been hit with accusations of jury-tampering – potentially leading to a retrial – is now embroiled in a plagiarism controversy. … Read more

Blizzard conditions hit US northern plains and upper midwest

Freezing weather affecting more than a million people expected in parts of South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado Snow, freezing rain and high winds are hitting the northern plains and upper midwest states, with the National Weather Service warning that “blizzard conditions for central South Dakota into parts of Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado [are] resulting … Read more