McDonald’s serves 69 million people daily in 37,000 restaurants located in over 100 countries around the world. Due to their scale, environmental-protection efforts (and lack of effort) have significant influence in worldwide progress. How are they taking on this responsibility?

William Perry Pendley was recently re-appointed as acting director of the Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Interior Secretary David Bernhardt used his power to extend Pendley’s appointment and once again side-step the requirement of a confirmation from Congress. Pendley was first made acting director in the summer of 2019, and his current appointment will last until January 3, 2020. Many environmentalist groups have raised concerns about this appointment due to Pendley’s history of anti-public land sentiment.

Black ant guacamole. Grasshopper tacos and cricket quesadillas. Silkworm cookies and mealworm brownies. The menu appeared to be out of a fictional story, but insect-chef Joseph Yoon of Brooklyn Bugs was quite serious as he described the unique and vivid flavors each insect would bring to the dishes we were preparing at UW-Madison’s “Swarm to Table: Cooking with Insects Workshop.”

When Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy called for the Legislature's next special session to be held in Wasilla, some agreed with him that a change of venue would be good for lawmakers struggling to finish their work after a drawn-out five months at the state capital. Others called it a means of intimidation or cited security and logistical concerns.

While the Winter Olympics still has issues attracting bidders, two candidates have stayed on Monday's ballot to pick the 2026 host. The contest is formally a choice between Milan-Cortina and Stockholm-Are. Effectively it is northern Italy against Sweden and Latvia as the costs and duties of Olympic hosting shift from cities to regions and multiple nations.

A decade after seemingly wrapping up "The Hunger Games," Suzanne Collins is bringing readers back to Panem. A prequel, set 64 years before the beginning of her multimillion-selling trilogy, is coming next year. The novel, currently untitled, is scheduled for release on May 19, 2020. Collins said in a statement Monday that she would go back to the years following the so-called "Dark Days," the failed rebellion in Panem.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation Wednesday closing a “double jeopardy” loophole and weakening presidential pardon powers.

The state Senate Committee on Higher Education will hold a series of public hearings across the state to discuss the cost of public higher education, financial aid programs, state support, TAP/GAP, student borrowing and other challenges to affordability and accessibility.

New York Attorney General Letitia James, along with a coalition of 30 states and local governments, filed a motion to intervene in an industry lawsuit in order to defend the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to establish meaningful emission limits on greenhouse gases produced by power plants and other industrial sources.

A Florida animal trapper says he corralled a large alligator by playing with it until it got tired after it hopped into a residential swimming pool.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to surmount U.S.-led sanctions he says have inflicted "many hardships and trials" on his country, state media reported Wednesday, days after his country's first nuclear negotiations with the U.S. in more than seven months fell apart.

A Northern California pumpkin hobbyist has won first place at the 46th annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh Off, setting a record for the largest in California.