Contributing Writers

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore stated Saturday that conditions remain “unsafe” for rescue divers due to weather and debris following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. “Conditions in the water make it unsafe for rescue divers. And we’re not just talking about weather and wind,” Moore said during a press conference, appearing alongside Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott, state police Superintendent Col. Roland Butler, and first responders.

President Biden appeared with his predecessors — former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton — at a star-studded fundraiser in New York City on Thursday night expected to fetch more than $25 million toward his re-election campaign. The one-night event was held at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan. More than 5,000 people were expected at the sold-out gala. The event isn’t cheap.

A U.S. judge ruled against the Biden administration in a decision about a highway climate rule on Wednesday.The rule was issued by the Department of Transportation (DOT)’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) in December 2023. It requires states to measure and report the greenhouse gas emissions from any vehicles using the U.S. highway system.The rule also asked states to establish declining carbon dioxide targets, and to report back about progress on those goals.

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed two top Democratic legislative priorities on Thursday: bills that would have allowed the recreational retail sales of marijuana to begin next year and measures mandating a minimum wage increase.The development did not come as a surprise.

Republican lawmakers in Kentucky wrapped up work Thursday on a sweeping criminal justice bill that would deliver harsher sentences to combat crime. Opponents making a last stand before final passage warned the measure would carry a hefty price tag with no assurances that a tougher approach will lower crime.The House voted 75-23 after another long debate to send the measure to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. The massive legislation is a priority for many in the GOP supermajority legislature.

Thousands of emails of North Dakota’s late attorney general have been released by his successor — long-sought records mired in controversy and previously thought gone forever.Attorney General Drew Wrigley released about 2,000 emails with redactions on Wednesday. Another 6,000 emails and untold text messages remain to be reviewed and released, he said.

Nick Akerman, a former Watergate prosecutor, said that in his 50-some years in law, he has never seen a gag order like the one imposed on former President Trump in his hush money payments case this week. New York Judge Juan Merchan issued the gag order on Tuesday following a request from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.”This is so unusual,” Akerman told CNN’s Fredericka Whitfield on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called out China’s ramped-up production in solar energy, electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries, calling it unfair competition that “distorts global prices” and “hurts American firms and workers, as well as firms and workers around the world.

Legalized statewide sports wagering in North Carolina from smartphones and desktops that began two weeks ago is off to a “strong start,” a state lottery official said on Wednesday, likely buoyed by betting on college basketball at its season’s apex.

Prosecutors went after Hunter Biden’s attorneys during an hours-long hearing Wednesday on several motions to dismiss criminal tax evasion charges against the president’s son.The first son did not appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Wednesday, but his attorney Abbe Lowell argued in favor of dismissing what he claimed were politically motivated charges. He said the government was perpetrating “the least ordinary prosecution a person could imagine.

New York’s Metro Transportation Authority (MTA) voted to impose a first-in-the-nation traffic congestion pricing program on Wednesday.The MTA will now charge $15 for vehicles driving in certain areas of the city. The move, which passed on an 11-1 vote, outraged Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., who argues the new policy is nothing more than a “cash grab.””Today’s vote was just a rubber stamp on the MTA’s unprecedented cash grab.

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has not ruled out a chance to serve under former President Donald Trump for a second time should he become the Republican presidential nominee and come out victorious in November.Pompeo served as Trump’s director of the CIA and secretary of state during his first term. On Friday, he was asked about serving under Trump for a second time during a Friday appearance on “Your World with Neil Cavuto.

Illegal migrants would be able to buy health insurance in Maryland under a new bill that recently passed in the state’s House and Senate.On Friday, the Maryland Senate approved the “Access to Care Act” on a party line vote of 34-13. The Maryland House previously passed a similar version of the legislation on a 101-34 vote in late February.Each chamber will need to vote to approve the other’s before the legislation can be sent to Democratic Gov. Wes Moore.

The Senate passed a $460 billion package of spending bills to avert a partial government shutdown ahead of the first funding deadline Friday. The package passed as the U.S. national debt has surpassed $34 trillion, a record high.Lawmakers spent the majority of Friday considering motions related to the slate of bills and debating the package following President Biden’s State of the Union address on Thursday night.

A group of House Republicans fired off a pointed letter to the Biden administration, calling for the president to “immediately terminate” a program that has flown in more than 320,000 migrants into the U.S.”We write today to express our grave concerns over the Biden administration’s actions to fly approximately 320,000 illegal immigrants from Latin American airports to 43 cities across the United States,” the letter from Rep. Russell Fry, R-S.C., to U.S.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Lawmakers often save the most important issue for the final day of their annual session. This year in Florida, that meant raising the age for strippers to 21.Oh, and they also passed a $117 billion state budget.POOL DECK LIKELY CAUSE OF SURFSIDE CONDO COLLAPSE: INVESTIGATORSBut unlike the previous two years when GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis was gearing up to run for president, he didn’t ask as much from the Legislature.

A Texas judge temporarily blocked state Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, from requiring an LGBTQ+ advocacy group to provide information about transgender children receiving gender transition treatment.The ruling on Friday came a day after PFLAG National challenged Paxton’s office in court to prevent it from collecting the information.

Former President Trump attacked his Republican opponent Nikki Haley on Saturday, claiming that former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is “a little bit” smarter than her.Trump addressed an enthusiastic crowd in Richmond, Virginia on Saturday night, days before the Super Tuesday votes are scheduled to take place. Earlier on Saturday, Trump won the Idaho, Missouri, and Michigan Republican contests.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan wrote a letter to Alphabet, Google’s parent company, on Saturday, demanding the company explain what influence the Biden administration may have had on its controversial Gemini AI program. The Judiciary Committee asked for documents on the creation and deployment of the artificial intelligence chatbot.