Comment on Merced's multimillion dollar renovation underway as demolition begins downtown

By HALELUYA HADERO Attorneys for Amazon and Elon Musk’s SpaceX argued in a federal appeals court Monday that the National Labor Relations Board’s structure is unconstitutional, advancing a legal fight that may last into the Trump administration where Musk is expected to oversee bureaucratic cost-cutting. A panel of three judges at the 5th U.

Fort Lauderdale finally plans to tweak its noise law after getting a surge in complaints from residents fed up with noise blaring from bars and nightclubs. “We’re making things better,” Mayor Dean Trantalis said Monday. “We went through many discussions and came up with these compromise measures in achieving our goals.

By MARC LEVY HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s state Supreme Court on Monday weighed in on a flashpoint amid ongoing vote counting in the U. S. Senate election between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican David McCormick, ordering counties not to count mail-in ballots that lack a correct handwritten date on the return envelope. The order is a win for McCormick and a loss for Casey as the campaigns prepare for a statewide recount and press counties for favorable ballot-counting decisions.

New York City on Monday issued its first drought warning in 22 years after months of little rain — and will restart the flow of drinking water from an out-of-service aqueduct as supplies run low. Dry conditions across the Northeast have been blamed for hundreds of brush fires. They had already prompted New York City and state officials to implement water-conservation protocols when Mayor Eric Adams upgraded the drought warning and temporarily halted a $2 billion aqueduct repair project that had stopped drinking water from flowing from some reservoirs in the Catskill region. Last week, a park on the northern tip of Manhattan caught fire, sending smoke billowing across the city — less than a week after a brush fire in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. “New Yorkers should not under estimate the dry weather and what it means,” Adams said at a news conference, noting the recent fires.

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS and DAVID KOENIG NEW YORK (AP) — Spirit Airlines, the largest budget carrier in the U. S., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday. The airline said customers should not see any disruption to their travel plans while the process unfolds. The filing followed years of struggles for the Florida-based airline, which is known for its no-frills, low-cost flights.

By ZEKE MILLER WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump appears to be planning to attend a SpaceX “Starship” rocket launch on Tuesday, in the latest indication of founder Elon Musk ‘s influence in the Republican’s orbit. The Federal Aviation Administration has issued temporary flight restrictions over Brownsville and Boca Chica, Texas area for a VIP visit that coincides with the SpaceX launch window for a test of its massive Starship rocket from its launch facility on the Gulf of Mexico.