The Department of Justice on Thursday launched civil rights investigations into prison systems in California and Maine over policies allowing transgender inmates to be housed in women’s facilities, citing concerns about female inmates’ safety. The probes will examine whether the states are engaged in a “pattern or practice” of violating inmates’ rights, part of a broader federal push targeting what officials call a growing national issue. Attorney General...

Former Dolton Mayor and Thornton Township supervisor Tiffany Henyard urged Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to accept federal assistance to help clean up crime, noting in a statement that her father had become a gun violence victim. Henyard opened her statement by calling herself “SuperMayor Tiffany A. Henyard.” “Yes, it is true, my family has been directly affected by the senseless gun violence that...