A county in California wine country is beefing up its vaccine recommendations and instituting a mask mandate, citing “greater risk” of contracting COVID-19 amid the start of the annual flu season. The Sonoma County Department of Public Health’s Interim Health Officer Dr. Karen Smith issued an order Monday requiring anyone entering certain healthcare facilities in the county to wear a mask. Facilities subject to the order include skilled...

A resurfaced social media post is adding fuel to the fire of a viral scandal that rocked the Virginia attorney general race last week after an explosive report exposed the violent 2022 text messages that were sent by the Democratic attorney general nominee to a colleague. “@ForHahns you should drop out of the race,” Jay Jones posted on X in 2021, calling on Hahns Copeland, then-Republican candidate for...

Nearly half of the IRS workforce — nearly 34,000 employees — faces furloughs as the government shutdown enters its second week, with the agency rolling out a contingency plan to keep key tax enforcement, data security, and filing-season operations running despite the lapse in congressional funding. In a letter to staff Wednesday, the agency said most operations would shut down. The contingency plan, which takes effect Wednesday and...