Stories from United States

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is considering a proposal to conduct a department-wide audit of the city's sheriff's office. The mayor's office has not disclosed how much revenue the measure would generate. Blumenfeld noted there is currently no real money coming out of the proposal. Superintendent Maria Seuss is reviewing the possibility of closing and merging schools within the San Francisco Unified School District by the fall of 2030. Seuss sent a message to families stating the district must first modify its student placement lottery system. The district will re-evaluate school closures only after changes to the lottery system are implemented. Previous proposals for school closures in the district faced strong opposition.

The US Army has ordered over 100 IFPC Increment 2 launchers to bolster anti-drone and missile defense capabilities. The contract is valued at $617 million. This procurement aims to address the industrial scale of modern drone warfare.

Boston police officers allegedly unlawfully hit four plaintiffs during a demonstration. The initiative is expected to save homebuyers up to $31,000 over the life of a loan. The incident occurred during a Black Lives Matter protest six years ago. The group filed a lawsuit against the city and officers in federal court. Jasmine Huffman and three others sued after being subjected to police action during the demonstration. Huffman stated she was hit in the chest with a baton by a city police officer. The settlement follows allegations of misconduct during the 2020 demonstrations. The city of Boston reached a settlement with four plaintiffs yesterday regarding a lawsuit filed in May 2020. There was no admission of wrongdoing as part of the settlement. The Sackler family, owners of a company involved in the opioid crisis, must pay up to $7 billion as part of a settlement deal.

The Connecticut Avenue streetscape project in Washington DC is impacting local business revenues. Jeff Coles, owner of the Golden Age Bar on Connecticut Avenue, reported a 42 percent decrease in revenue and a 61.6 percent drop in guest counts. The project aims to build a park over the Connecticut Avenue underpass and improve the surrounding area. A business improvement district is requesting an additional $2 million to assist with construction relief.

Wall Street stocks are mixed with a sell-off occurring in the technology sector. The Nasdaq has declined by 1.25 percent while the S&P 500 is down 0.67 percent. Investors are expressing concerns regarding overspending on artificial intelligence, specifically following missed earnings and user targets by OpenAI. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up approximately 0.2 percent. Oil prices are trading near 100 dollars per barrel. The Nasdaq reached a new record high of 24,892 points, gaining 219 points. This occurred despite a net decline in shares for Nvidia, Meta, and Microsoft. The tech companies saw declines following quarterly results that were lower than anticipated. This performance marks the best monthly performance for both indices since 2020. Investors attributed the gains to strong corporate profits and a resilient US economy.

Universal Pictures has listed an untitled film produced by Nintendo and Illumination for release on April 12, 2028.

American biotechnology company Northfolk Elphi Poulius has developed a purple tomato with a shelf life twice as long as ordinary red tomatoes. The development is presented as a major asset for the industry.

The Government Accountability Office is set to launch an investigation into how the Justice Department handled files related to Jeffrey Epstein.

The EPA, FBI, CISA, and NSA issued a joint cybersecurity advisory regarding Iranian-affiliated cyber attacks targeting water systems. The advisory warns of escalating threats to critical infrastructure. CISA has added two new vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) Catalog. The advisory follows concerns over federal cyber strategy details for state and local governments.

A Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket is scheduled to launch the Starlink Group 17-36 mission. The launch is currently set for April 30, 2026, at 02:00:00 UTC. Falcon 9 Block 5 is confirmed for Starlink Group 10-38 launch with a net time of 2026-05-01T17:33:00Z.