San Francisco launched a controversial new traffic camera program through which residents with low incomes or receiving government assistance will receive substantial discounts in fines.

City authorities turned on 33 new cameras last month, according to KABC-TV in Los Angeles, yet they will not give out citations for the first two months of the program. Instead, drivers will receive warnings during that time.

Once citations do start, however, the income level of the driver will determine how much he or she will pay.

Two months after an Iowa sheriff publicly postured that he would block Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts in his county, he and the state are in a legal duel that has all of the county’s state funding at stake.

Iowa Republican Attorney General Brenna Bird brought the hammer down on Winneshiek County last month after giving Sheriff Dan Marx weeks to retract comments made in a Feb. 4 Facebook post, according to Fox News.

In the since-deleted post, Marx said he would “make every effort to block, interfere and interrupt” ICE operations based on a detainer, which he called “simply an unconstitutional request from ICE.” Detainers are documents ICE files with police agencies to prevent illegal immigrants from being released anywhere except to ICE’s custody.

A growing number of Democratic incumbents are facing primary challenges from younger progressives, underscoring generational and ideological rifts within the party.

At least three long-serving members of the House — including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — have already drawn younger primary opponents, with more potentially on the way. The developments come amid growing speculation that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) could challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).

The primary challenges shine a fresh light on Democrats’ frustration with their leaders following the party’s losses last year, and they point to a potentially volatile campaign season leading up to the midterms.

WHY ISN'T THE REST OF THE WORLD STEPPING IN TO PICK UP WHERE USAID LEAVES OFF IS MY ONLY QUESTION.

The Trump administration fired three workers at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on Friday as they were in Myanmar to assess damage from the earthquake and to report back on ways the U.S. could help, according to The New York Times, which cited three people with knowledge of the firings.

The three aid workers received termination emails sent specifically to them on Friday, just days after arriving to the country, the Times reported. The workers were in the city of Mandalay, which has been buried in rubble, when they received the email.

The Times reported that USAID employees learned of the firings during a meeting Friday of its Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, which, according to the news outlet, sent an email to employees later Friday evening saying the situation “continued to be challenging and uncertain.”

After closing their doors amid a months-long bankruptcy process, several Big Lots stores are set to reopen under new management.

Earlier this year, Big Lots closed a previously announced sale agreement with Gordon Brothers Retail Partners. As part of the deal, Variety Wholesalers was set to acquire 200 to 400 Big Lots stores, which would retain the Big Lots branding, and two distribution centers.

Now, nine of those stores across six states are set to reopen on Thursday, April 10.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins suggested on Sunday that the European Union is using “fake science” to back up concerns over hormone use in the United States livestock to justify its restrictions on U.S. pork imports.

Rollins, in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” defended President Trump’s reciprocal tariffs announced this past week, slamming trade partners, including the EU, for imposing certain restrictions.

CNN’s Jake Tapper pushed back, noting the EU import restrictions on pork are slightly different from other tariffs imposed, noting, “just in point of fact, the reason that the European Union — even though they are our fourth biggest market for agricultural products, as you know — don’t take as much American pork as you would like is because they have issues with hormones used in pork.”

Those running around with Their Hair on Fire are usually the least educated too. Think on that. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett defended President Trump’s sweeping global tariffs that have stoked concerns about the United States economy. During a Sunday interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Hassett said he doesn’t believe there will be a “big effect on the consumer in the U.S.,” noting that over 50 countries are also “coming to the table” to negotiate. “So the fact is, the countries are angry and retaliating — and, by the way, coming to the table,” he said. “I got a report from the [U.S. Trade Representative] last night that more than 50 countries have reached out to the president to begin a negotiation, but they’re doing that because they understand that they bear a lot of the tariff.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that President Trump’s tariffs are a “one-time price adjustment,” which he stressed is different from continuous price increases caused by inflation.

In an interview on NBC News’s “Meet the Press,” moderator Kristen Welker asked Bessent about remarks from last January, when Bessent wrote, “Tariffs are inflationary.”

“Have you expressed any concerns to President Trump directly that his tariff policy could be inflationary?” Welker asked.

“No, what I have said are tariffs are a one-time price adjustment,” Bessent told Welker.

A third person in the remote California town of Mammoth Lakes has died of hantavirus, the sometimes-fatal illness that authorities say Betsy Arakawa, the wife of actor Gene Hackman, died of earlier this year.

In a statement shared Thursday, Mono County Health & Human Services confirmed that a young adult had died from the illness.

“We don’t have a clear sense of where this young adult may have contracted the virus,” Dr. Tom Boo, the county’s public health officer said. “The home had no evidence of mouse activity. We observed some mice in the workplace, which is not unusual for indoor spaces this time of year in Mammoth Lakes. We haven’t identified any other activities in the weeks before illness that would have increased this person’s exposure to mice or their droppings.”

Walmart is facing a boycott starting on Monday, April 7, over purported corporate greed, a move that also comes after it halted many diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

The company decided late last year that it would discontinue racial equity training, stop funding its racial equity center, and cease participation in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.

A group called People’s Union USA is calling for a one-week boycott on Walmart.

The tactics will be similar to the boycotts which highlighted Target over similar moves to roll back DEI, but the one over Walmart is actually about corporate greed and corruption, according to a Friday report from Supermarket News.

Mississippi and Kentucky are considering eliminating their state income taxes, joining a recent tax-cutting trend.
States experienced surging revenues after the COVID-19 pandemic, prompting aggressive tax cut proposals.
Mississippi's law reduces the income tax rate gradually to 3% by 2030, dependent on revenue benchmarks.
Governor Reeves stated that the tax repeal puts Mississippi in a class of elite, competitive states.
Analysts warn that income tax repeal could make states too reliant on sales taxes, disproportionately affecting the poor.

“China has been hit much harder than the USA, not even close. They, and many other nations, have treated us unsustainably badly. We have been the dumb and helpless ‘whipping post,’ but not any longer,” Trump wrote.

Notable tariffs Trump announced on Wednesday that are set to take effect on April 9 include a 34-percent discounted reciprocal tariff on China, a 20-percent tariff on the European Union, and a 46-percent tariff on Vietnam.

“We are bringing back jobs and businesses like never before. Already, more than FIVE TRILLION DOLLARS OF INVESTMENT, and rising fast!” he added.

A number of major companies have announced massive investments into the United States since Trump returned to office, which he says have been driven by his tariff policies.

WHAT AL GREEN FAILS TO REALIZE IS THOSE PAPERS HAVE TO GET OUT OF COMMITTEE AND THE SPEAKER IS UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO BRING THEM TO THE FLOOR.

Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) said he will bring articles of impeachment against President Trump in the next 30 days, telling protestors at an anti-Trump rally in Washington that he does not “deserve” to hold the executive office.

Republicans are largely dismissing concerns about Elon Musk’s political liability in the wake of their loss in Wisconsin, where he played a central role.

Their views so far seem to be reflected by President Trump, who has stood by Musk even as the tech billionaire has emerged as Democrats’ main foil amid sweeping anger over federal cuts made under his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

While some members of the GOP acknowledged that Musk was at least a factor in their loss in the Badger State, they generally played down any negative impact he had and expressed doubt he would be a significant factor in future elections. Meanwhile, some argued his involvement was a net positive.

A North Carolina appeals court has ruled that more than 60,000 voters who voted in the state’s Supreme Court election in November 2024 must verify that they are eligible to vote.

The ruling from the appeals court ordering “more than 65,000 voters” to prove their eligibility comes after Judge Jefferson Griffin, who ran against North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs in November, challenged the results of the election, according to NBC News.

President Trump is expected to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a visit on Monday, a White House official told NewsNation.

The meeting will take place just days after the president announced a 17 percent tariff on imported goods from the Middle Eastern country. Netanyahu would be the first international leader to visit the White House after the president’s “Liberation Day” tariffs announcement against U.S. trading partners.

Trump requested the visit via phone on Thursday during Netanyahu’s trip to Hungary, according to Axios, who first reported the potential visit. Netanyahu’s office has not confirmed the Monday meeting.