First Run News

Californians may awake on New Year's Day to a stronger-than-normal whiff of marijuana as America's cannabis king lights up to celebrate the state's first legal retail pot sales. The historic day comes more than two decades after California paved the way for legal weed by passing the nation's first medical marijuana law, though other states were quicker to allow the drug's recreational use. From the small town of Shasta Lake just south of Oregon to San Diego on the Mexican border, the first of about 90 shops licensed by

When the clock strikes midnight calendars won’t be the only things changing.

Chief Justice John Roberts used his annual report on the federal judiciary Sunday to promise a careful evaluation of its sexual misconduct policies and to highlight the work of court employees following the year's destructive hurricanes. Roberts touched only briefly on the issue of workplace sexual misconduct, which has in recent months brought down men in entertainment, politics and the media.

President Donald Trump predicted a "fantastic 2018" on Sunday night as he strolled down a red carpet to bid farewell to 2017 with an exclusive bash at his private club. Accompanied by first lady Melania Trump and son Barron, a tuxedoed Trump spoke to reporters as he entered the gilded ballroom at Mar-a-Lago.

DATA: Twitter Daniel McLaughlin / Globe Staff © 2018 Boston Globe Media Partners, LLC

capital source He’s back, and he is not letting a stretch in a federal penitentiary get in the way of his political activities.   For pols who shunned Donald Trump’s candidacy, 2017 has been an annus horribilis. Except, of course, for Governor Baker.

For some local politicians, Donald Trump’s presidency created opportunities they might not otherwise have.  President Trump threw a big bash at his Florida resort to mark the new year.  An unusually high number of voters — 22,852 people, or 1.6 percent of the 1.3 million people who went to the polls — opted for write-in candidates.  Ground Game For some local politicians, Donald Trump’s presidency created opportunities they might not otherwise have.  And it all came about after a night of heavy drinking at an upscale London bar.  “I don’t think we’ve ever had a president make news like t

For some local politicians, Donald Trump’s presidency created opportunities they might not otherwise have.  President Trump threw a big bash at his Florida resort to mark the new year.  An unusually high number of voters — 22,852 people, or 1.6 percent of the 1.3 million people who went to the polls — opted for write-in candidates.  Ground Game For some local politicians, Donald Trump’s presidency created opportunities they might not otherwise have.  And it all came about after a night of heavy drinking at an upscale London bar.  “I don’t think we’ve ever had a president make news like t

For some local politicians, Donald Trump’s presidency created opportunities they might not otherwise have.  President Trump threw a big bash at his Florida resort to mark the new year.  An unusually high number of voters — 22,852 people, or 1.6 percent of the 1.3 million people who went to the polls — opted for write-in candidates.  Ground Game For some local politicians, Donald Trump’s presidency created opportunities they might not otherwise have.  And it all came about after a night of heavy drinking at an upscale London bar.  “I don’t think we’ve ever had a president make news like t

Congressional efforts to secure election systems from cyberattacks are picking up steam with lawmakers under pressure to prevent hacks in the 2018 midterms. After the revelation that Russia tried to probe election systems in 21 states in the 2016 election, security experts, state officials and others demanded federal action to help states upgrade outdated voting machines and bolster security around voter registration databases. Last week, a bipartisan coalition of six senators