Latest Government programs News

Gusts of activity underway by friends and foes of offshore wind energy projects

Apr. 25, 2024 12:25 PM EDT

LONG BEACH TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — Government supporters of offshore wind energy projects in New Jersey and New York are trading blows with opponents in some shore towns who say many vacationers and local residents don't want to see turbines filling the ocean horizon. Eight Jersey...

US applications for jobless claims fall to lowest level in 9 weeks

Apr. 25, 2024 08:53 AM EDT

Fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week as the labor market continues to hold up despite higher interest rates imposed by the Federal Reserve in its bid to curb inflation. The Labor Department reported Thursday that unemployment claims for the week ending April 20...

North Carolina governor seeks to halt GOP's favored policies as legislature resumes

Apr. 24, 2024 22:05 PM EDT

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina General Assembly returned Wednesday for its budget-adjustment session, receiving a spending plan from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper that seeks to halt Republicans' premier policies in recent years on taxes and school choice — proposals that GOP lawmakers are...

Connecticut Senate passes wide-ranging bill to regulate AI. But its fate remains uncertain

Apr. 24, 2024 21:16 PM EDT

HARTFORD (AP) — The Connecticut Senate pressed ahead Wednesday with one of the first major legislative proposals in the U.S. to rein in bias in artificial intelligence decision-making and protect people from harm, including manufactured videos or deepfakes. The vote was held...

Groups urge Alabama to reverse course, join summer meal program for low-income kids

Apr. 24, 2024 18:12 PM EDT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama was one of 14 states that declined to participate in a federal program that gives summer food assistance to low-income families with school age children, prompting advocates on Wednesday to urge lawmakes to reverse course and join the program. At a...

Another ex-State Department official alleges Israeli military gets 'special treatment' on abuses

Apr. 24, 2024 17:46 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former senior U.S. official who until recently helped oversee human-rights compliance by foreign militaries receiving American military assistance said Wednesday that he repeatedly observed Israel receiving “special treatment” from U.S. officials when it came to scrutiny...

About 1 in 4 US adults 50 and older who aren't yet retired expect to never retire, AARP study finds

Apr. 24, 2024 15:34 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — About one-quarter of U.S. adults age 50 and older who are not yet retired say they expect to never retire and 70% are concerned about prices rising faster than their income, an AARP survey finds. About 1 in 4 have no retirement savings, according to research...

Missouri's GOP lawmakers vote to kick Planned Parenthood off Medicaid

Apr. 24, 2024 14:58 PM EDT

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri's Republican-led Legislature on Wednesday passed a bill to ban Medicaid funding from going to Planned Parenthood, a move they have tried for years in a state where almost all abortions are banned. The bill, approved 106-48 Wednesday in the House,...

With lawsuits in rearview mirror, Disney World government gets back to being boring

Apr. 24, 2024 13:26 PM EDT

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — For the first time in more than a year, the monthly board meeting of Walt Disney World's governing district on Wednesday was back to being what many municipal government forums often are — boring. There were no rants against Disney by the board's chairman nor...

Ancestry website cataloguing names of Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II

Apr. 24, 2024 13:24 PM EDT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The names of thousands of people held in Japanese American incarceration camps during World War II have been digitized and made available for free, genealogy company Ancestry announced Wednesday. The website, known as one of the largest global online resources of...