On the left and right, Supreme Court justices seem to agree on a basic truth about the American system of government: No one is above the law, not even the president. “The law applies equally to all persons, including a person who happens for a period of time to occupy the Presidency,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in 2020. Less than a year earlier, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, then a federal trial judge, wrote, “Stated simply, the primary takeaway from the past 250 years of recorded American history is that Presidents are not kings.” But former President Donald Trump and his legal team are put ..read more

Eleven Republicans who submitted a document to Congress falsely declaring that Donald Trump beat Joe Biden in Arizona in the 2020 presidential election were charged Wednesday with conspiracy, fraud and forgery, marking the fourth state to bring charges against “fake electors.” The defendants include the former chair of the Arizona Republican Party, a 2022 U.S. Senate candidate and two sitting state legislators. The grand jury indictment also describes an unindicted co-conspirator who is clearly Trump. The 11 people who had been nominated to be Arizona’s Republican electors met in Phoenix on De ..read more

Waking up on Wednesday was a welcome change. Early morning temperatures were 5-15 degrees warmer than Monday and Tuesday; frost and freezing were not concerns. The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for Thursday morning. So don’t put that warmer coat in storage just yet, you’ll need it again before week’s end. Temperatures have been modestly improving day by day, but a cold front late Wednesday afternoon will usher back in the cold air, dropping temperatures once again. A Freeze Watch goes into effect overnight Wednesday into Thursday for portions of northeast New Jersey, the Hudson Valley, a ..read more

Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests. At the University of Texas at Austin, dozens of local police and state troopers formed a line to prevent students from marching through the campus, eventually clashing with the protesters and detaining multiple people. And at the University of Southern California, police removed several tents, then got into a back-and-forth tugging match with protesters over tents before falli ..read more

State and local law enforcement officers descended on an area of Long Island’s Manorville Wednesday for a search as part of their ongoing investigation into the Gilgo Beach serial killings, according to a law enforcement source with knowledge of the situation. An NYPD officer at the scene told News 4 the search area was focused at Schultz Road and North Street. The officer said an NYPD K-9 unit was on the scene, on Wading River Road near the Long Island Expressway. Dogs were set to search what the officer described as a “large, wooded area.” The officer didn’t say what they thought they might ..read more

 President Joe Biden signed into law on Wednesday a $95 billion war aid measure that includes aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan and that also has a provision that would force social media site TikTok to be sold or be banned in the U.S. The announcement marks an end to the long, painful battle with Republicans in Congress over urgently needed assistance for Ukraine. “We rose to the moment, we came together, and we got it done,” Biden said at White House event to announce the signing. “Now we need to move fast, and we are.” But significant damage has been done to the Biden a ..read more

U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr., a Democratic congressman representing New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District, has died, the governor announced Wednesday. “Tammy and I are deeply saddened by the tragic passing of our friend, and a steadfast champion for the people of New Jersey, Congressman Donald Payne, Jr. Our heartfelt prayers are with his family during this difficult time,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in an X post. On April 17, Payne’s office issued an update on his health: “Congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr. suffered a cardiac episode based on complications from his diabetes last week.  Today ..read more

President Joe Biden signed into law measures to provide aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, as well as force the divestiture of social media platform TikTok from its Chinese parent company ByteDance or face a national ban. TikTok has vowed to challenge the measure legally. Biden’s official approval ends a six-month saga of tense political battles on Capitol Hill over the foreign aid. President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed into law measures to provide aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, as well as to compel Chinese TikTok parent company ByteDance to sell the social media platform or ..read more

Days after a fire closed a South Jersey mall entering the weekend, some stores have reopened while others remained closed during cleanup. Voorhees Town Center mall businesses with outside access able to reopen Officials with the Vorhees Town Center took to Facebook on Tuesday to announce that Boscov’s, Modax, Town Hall, CNNH and Growing Smiles were given the go-ahead by the fire marshal to reopen since they have outside entrances and access. Boscov’s had already reopened with regular business hours on Sunday, according to the mall’s social media. Search for answers after fire damages NJ mall F ..read more

A 21-year-old Long Island woman has been arrested for allegedly fleeing the scene of a deadly accident — in a marked public safety vehicle that responded to it, authorities say. Rachel Lodice, of Jericho, was driving a 2023 Kia soundbound on Hicksville Road in Massapequa around 6:45 p.m. Tuesday when police say she hit a 2022 Nissan Altima moving east on Sunrise Highway. The Nissan driver, a 64-year-old woman, died of her injuries at a hospital. A 46-year-old passenger was taken there for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, police said. While on patrol, an Oyster Bay public safety offi ..read more