The Latest Breaking News from Tribune News Service

The union for pilots at Southwest Airlines is asking federal labor regulators to be released from mediation with the carrier amid a three-year contract battle, moving one step closer to a strike at the nation’s largest domestic airline.

WASHINGTON — The National Integrated Group pension plan will receive more than $887 million from the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, guaranteeing benefits for more than 11,300 Michiganians who work in or have retired from manufacturing jobs, including United Auto Workers retirees.

RALEIGH, N.C. —With less than 48 hours until North Carolina’s recently passed 12-week abortion ban goes into effect, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has signed last-minute changes initiated by Republicans into law.

With reservoirs full and snow still deep across the Sierra Nevada following one of the wettest winters in recent decades, California is off to a slow start this year to fire season.