Virginia officials have installed concrete barriers around the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on Richmond’s Monument Ave. after protesters toppled several other statues in the state's capital.Crews installed the approximately 3-foot-tall barriers along the sidewalk around the statue Wednesday, The Associated Press reported.The move comes weeks after Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announced the…

After deflecting criticism that it is not doing enough to stop the spread of political misinformation, Facebook says it’s expanding its efforts to get people to vote in the 2020 US presidential election. Starting in July and running through November, the company will begin reminding US users to register to vote with a message at…

Atlanta police disputed claims that a large number of officers had walked off the job Wednesday after prosecutors announced charges in connection with the police-involved death of Rayshard Brooks -- but acknowledged that a “higher than usual” number of officers called out of work.The department added that it still has enough resources to maintain operations…

Business owners and residents in Seattle’s so-called “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest” zone, or CHOP, are growing increasingly concerned about safety inside the area, according to local reports.Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best declared this week that there’s no “cop-free zone” in the city, but stakeholders in the neighborhood around the abandoned East Precinct police station say otherwise.And…

A massive wildfire just northeast of Phoenix continued to burn through thousands of acres of desert and forestland Wednesday, triggering evacuations as Arizona is also dealing with a spike in coronavirus cases.The so-called Bush Fire in Tonto National Forest has grown to nearly 90,000 acres — up from 64,000 on Tuesday — and was only…