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No negotiations have been scheduled since contract talks with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) collapsed last Friday when union leaders rejected management's latest offer as an "insult." More than 30,000 educators represented by United Teachers Los Angeles walked off the job on Monday, demanding higher pay, smaller classes and more support staff. The mayor's office confirmed that Garcetti, who has expressed support for the teachers' cause, was speaking with both parties individually seeking to nudge them back to the bargaining table. LAUSD spokeswoman Shannon Haber declined comment on prospects for renewed talks.

Wed, 16 Jan 2019 19:30:02 -0500

The partial government shutdown is taking a toll on key safety inspection duties performed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Department of Agriculture, food safety experts said on Wednesday. Workers in public health laboratories are reporting disruptions in the analysis of DNA from food samples involved in foodborne outbreaks, and have raised concerns about a USDA program that tests agricultural commodities for unsafe levels of pesticides, they said. The shutdown is "putting our nation's food supply at risk," Connecticut Representative Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat, said at a briefing of the House Congressional Food Safety Caucus on Wednesday.

Wed, 16 Jan 2019 19:28:31 -0500

Hasher Jallal Taheb, of the Atlanta suburb of Cumming, was arrested in Gwinnett County on Wednesday and appeared briefly in federal court in downtown Atlanta in a case brought by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Byung Pak, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, told reporters. "His alleged intent was to attack the White House and other targets of opportunity in the Washington, D.C., area by using explosive devices, including an improvised explosive device, an anti-tank rocket," Pak told reporters.

Wed, 16 Jan 2019 19:14:42 -0500

Tad Cummins, 52, was sentenced in federal court in Nashville by U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger, according to emails from a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee. Cummins had faced a sentence of up to life in prison for transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activities and up to 20 years in prison for obstructing investigations, court documents said. Federal prosecutors had requested a sentence of 30 years, according to a court document.

Wed, 16 Jan 2019 18:36:51 -0500

(Reuters) - A Georgia man has been arrested and charged for allegedly plotting to destroy the White House and other government buildings in Washington, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported on Wednesday.

Wed, 16 Jan 2019 18:33:08 -0500