A multi-vehicle crash closed all westbound I-4 lanes at Lakeland’s Exit 38, with two people critically injured.

Louisiana more than doubled its inspector general budget, with $3 million set aside for consultants hunting government waste. The bigger question is whether the administration will show taxpayers exactly what those savings produce.

Only about 35% of Atlanta Public Schools third graders read proficiently. A new four-school model is putting daily literacy intervention front and center.

Gov. Maura Healey’s new Massachusetts plan puts primary care, nursing recruitment and surprise billing under the cost-cutting microscope.

Al Quick Stop's Heights location will close Aug. 23 after five years, but the Montrose flagship is staying open.

A new Kiddie Academy in Roland Park can serve 163 children and bring about 50 jobs to Baltimore. A second regional location is already underway in Gambrills.

A Lake County family says a dangerously chlorinated splash pad left their 4-year-old hospitalized with internal bleeding. The lawsuit now puts Eastlake’s water-safety oversight under scrutiny.

A construction-site emergency in Madison Township triggered a technical trench rescue Monday evening. One person was stabilized, extricated and taken to a trauma center.

A St. Louis County judge is demanding police records in a disputed assault case involving three road workers and an off-duty officer.

Ald. Byron Sigcho-López is suing after Illinois officials removed him from the 4th District ballot over challenged petition signatures. The case takes aim at the state’s independent-candidate rules.

Shane’s Rib Shack has closed its Rock Hill restaurant, marking the second Charlotte-area shutdown for the barbecue chain this year.

A $12.8 million NIH grant is expanding OMRF’s cellular metabolism center and backing four early-career researchers studying chronic disease.

Jacksonville 13-year-old Yan Ning Chen won an international pageant crown with a platform rooted in mental-health advocacy and trichotillomania awareness.