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  • Looking to buy a home? You may now need to factor in the cost of your agent’s commission

    Looking to buy a home? You may now need to factor in the cost of your agent’s commission

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    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Thinking of buying a home with the help of a real estate agent? You can no longer take it for granted that a seller will cover the cost of your agent’s commission.

    Home sellers have traditionally offered a blanket commission to a buyer’s agent when they listed their home on the market. But that will no longer be allowed as of this weekend, when various changes to U.S. real estate industry practices are set to take effect.

    A homebuyer may still try to negotiate such an offer from the seller. But if they decline, that would leave the homebuyer on the hook for paying for their agent’s services.

    The National Association of Realtors is behind the policy changes, which stem from its $418 million settlement earlier this year of federal class-action lawsuits that claimed U.S. homeowners were forced to pay artificially inflated real estate agent commissions when they sold their home.

    Companies behind several major real estate brokerage brands, including Keller Williams, Anywhere Real Estate, HomeServices of America, Re/Max and Redfin, also agreed to pay millions and make policy changes to make home seller lawsuits go away.

    The new rules, which go into effect nationally on Saturday, apply to brokers and agents representing clients looking to buy or sell a home advertised on a multiple listing service, or MLS, affiliated with the NAR.

    They boil down to two significant changes: Blanket offers of compensation on behalf of sellers to buyers’ agents will no longer be included in listings posted on the MLS, though they can still be made through other means. And homebuyers will be required to sign detailed representation agreements when they hire an agent.

    It remains to be seen whether the policy overhaul will lead to lower agent commissions or fewer sellers opting not to offer to cover the buyer’s agent fees.

    But the changes are likely to have the biggest impact on home shoppers — especially first-time buyers already facing elevated mortgage rates, a shortage of properties on the market and record-high home prices. They will now have to factor in the cost of hiring an agent if a seller isn’t willing to cover it.

    “This will have a negative impact on a buyer’s ability to purchase a home, and so there are going to be quite a few large scale changes in the buyer’s process,” said Bret Weinstein, CEO of Guide Real Estate, a brokerage in Denver.

    Homebuyer representation agreements

    Home shoppers who want to work with an agent will have to sign an agreement upfront that details the services that agent will provide and how much they will be paid, including whether it’s through a commission split with a seller’s agent.

    Generally, an agent who represents a buyer typically receives around 2.5%-3% commission based on the purchase price of the home. Agents then share part of their commission with their brokerage.

    Similar buyer representation agreements are already required in roughly 20 states. However, the new rules require that buyer agreements be completed before an agent begins working on a client’s behalf. That includes before the agent takes a buyer to tour a home, whether in person or virtually. A buyer can still go to an open house without signing a representation agreement.

    “The big change now is that we are required to ask the buyer to commit to us early and hire us early in the process,” said Andrea Ratcliff, a Redfin agent in Indianapolis, where the policy changes were rolled out July 1.

    One home shopper she spoke with was put off by the changes and the prospect of covering an agent’s fees, she said.

    “They definitely weren’t ready to commit to me — weren’t ready commit to any agent, because they weren’t prepared to take on that cost,” Ratcliff said.

    Removing buyer-agent compensation offers from home listings

    Traditionally, a buyer’s agent’s commission has been paid by the seller. Agents who work with homeowners to market and sell their home would list the property on an MLS and include how much their client was offering to pay a buyer’s agent, a practice known as an offer of “cooperative compensation.” That’s when a seller agrees in advance to offer a commission on the sale of their home to be split between their agent and the buyer’s representative, typically around 2.5%-3% each.

    The home sellers behind the lawsuits against the NAR and others argued sellers have had little choice but to offer to cover the buyer’s agent’s compensation in order to ensure their listing was shown to as many prospective buyers as possible.

    To address this, homes listed on an MLS will no longer include a seller’s offer to cover the cost of a buyer’s agent’s services. However, they will still be allowed to advertise them practically anywhere else, including the agent’s own website, a display at an open house, or when communicating directly with an agent representing a prospective homebuyer.

    Sellers may still elect to pay for a buyer’s agent’s compensation, but without the pressure of making a public, blanket offer on the MLS. Some may opt to pocket the savings and only cover their own agent’s commission.

    “If there’s not a clear offer of cooperative compensation from the seller through their broker to the buyer’s broker, then yeah, it’s going to be part of (the) negotiation,” said Kevin Sears, president of the National Association of Realtors. “I think that will be something that we see changing in the marketplace.”

    Where does this leave buyers and sellers?

    Much of how the industry policy changes play out for buyers and sellers will depend largely on the state of the local housing market.

    In a sluggish housing market where homes are taking longer to move and sellers are having to lower prices, it’s more likely that a buyer will be able to negotiate for the seller to cover their agent’s commission. In a hotter market, where properties are selling fast and receiving multiple offers, sellers will have the leverage to accept an offer from a buyer who isn’t asking for them to cover their agent’s fees.

    While sales of previously occupied U.S. homes have been in a slump since 2022, years of underbuilding and other factors have kept the inventory of homes for sale at near all-time lows. That’s pushed up prices and fueled multiple offers for many homes, giving a clear edge to sellers in most markets.

    Still, real estate agents say sellers should keep offering to cover the buyer’s agent commission.

    “We’ve advised that it would be wise for sellers to continue to be open to covering some or all of the buyer’s costs, because the last thing you want to do when you are selling something is to make it complicated for someone to buy it or to limit the number of people who can buy it,” said Alex McEwen, associate broker with Selling Utah in Orem, Utah.

    As for homebuyers, they will have to budget for the possibility that a seller won’t cover their agent’s fees. Those who can’t afford to do so may have to come to an arrangement with their agent to only pursue listings where the seller is offering buyer’s agent compensation.

    Will commissions come down?

    It’s unclear whether the policy changes will spur sellers or buyers to negotiate lower broker commissions, and whether they’ll succeed if they do.

    Buyer-agent commissions have eased somewhat this year: The average buyer’s agent commission fell nationally from 2.62% at the beginning of the year to 2.55% through July 14, according to an analysis by Redfin. However, because home prices have kept rising this year, the average commission paid to a buyer’s agent in dollar terms has risen about 1.7% since January to $15,377.

    Stephen Brobeck, senior fellow at Consumer Federation of America, expects that more sellers will be encouraged to negotiate with their agent lower their commission by at least half a percentage point.

    “That represents, over the course of a year in the housing market, a very large sum of money,” he said.

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  • Round 2 of US Rep. Gaetz vs. former Speaker McCarthy plays out in Florida GOP primary

    Round 2 of US Rep. Gaetz vs. former Speaker McCarthy plays out in Florida GOP primary

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    PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — The Republican primary for Florida’s 1st Congressional district is like a rematch between Rep. Matt Gaetz and the man he toppled, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

    No, McCarthy isn’t on the ballot. But a political committee he controls has spent about $3 million attacking Gaetz with claims he paid a minor for sex and used illicit drugs, while also promoting Gaetz’ opponent, former Navy pilot Aaron Dimmock.

    It might not be money well spent this election cycle — Gaetz has easily fought off primary opponents since his election to Congress from one of Florida’s most conservative districts. But Gaetz, ahead of Tuesday’s primary, is getting a taste of what he’ll face if he runs for governor in two years when Gov. Ron DeSantis has to leave office after two terms.

    “Kevin McCarthy explicitly said that the reason he’s spending millions to trash me here was to impair some future run for governor. I’ve said many times, I’m not making any plans to run for governor. I like the job I have,” Gaetz said recently after a campaign stop in Pensacola.

    The race has become particularly brutal, with McCarthy’s PAC running ads saying that “witnesses” say he had sex with a 17-year-old escort during a trip to the Bahamas with a donor and other supporters. “Our daughters are never safe with the real Matt Gaetz,” an announcer says as the ad closes.

    Gaetz led a group of eight far-right members of Congress to oust McCarthy last year, plunging the House into weeks of chaos as it sought to replace the fallen speaker. Gaetz isn’t the only one of the eight targeted by McCarthy, who gave up his California seat after losing the speaker’s chair. South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace also survived a primary against a McCarthy-backed opponent.

    The House Ethics Committee has a long-running investigation into Gaetz’s behavior. The Department of Justice also looked into allegations about the Bahamas trip. No criminal charges have been filed and Gaetz steadfastly maintains his innocence.

    McCarthy has said Gaetz led the effort to oust him because McCarthy refused to squash the ethics investigation.

    “Matt Gaetz wanted to leverage me to stop an ethics complaint that started four years prior. Illegal. I’m not going to do it,” McCarthy recently said on “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

    Gaetz and his supporters paint Dimmock as a McCarthy-picked carpetbagger who moved from Missouri just to challenge Gaetz. But Dimmock says he’s never met McCarthy and never spoken to him about the race. And while he did recently move from Missouri and still works remotely as a state employee, he said he simply returned to an area where he first had ties 28 years ago when he attended Navy flight school.

    “My mom, my brother both live here. My aunt and uncle live here. Three of our four children were born here,” Dimmock said.

    The reason he decided to challenge Gaetz, he said, is because no other Republican stepped forward and he knew the primary was the only chance to defeat the congressman. The winner will face Democrat Gay Valimont in November, but the conservative district tends to vote overwhelmingly Republican in general elections.

    “I thought a person of character and integrity needed to enter the race. No local or state current office holder was willing to do that,” Dimmock said. “There’s no way in the world this human being that has demonstrated repeated behaviors over time was going to get a free pass.”

    What to know about the 2024 Election

    While Gaetz has his loyal followers, Dimmock says other Republicans are embarrassed by his behavior and the ethics allegations. Gaetz has made a national name for himself by inflaming liberals with partisan rhetoric and for unwavering support for former President Donald Trump.

    Dimmock acknowledges defeating Gaetz will be a challenge in a district where his family is politically powerful. Gaetz’ father is former Senate President Don Gaetz and they younger Gaetz was an influential state representative previously.

    But, he said, voters appreciate his presence in the race.

    “They say, ‘Thank you so very much for running and giving us an alternative. He’s been an embarrassment so much that we absolutely need someone else in there. How can we help your campaign,” Dimmock said. “Now how many? Who knows. But we’ll see.”

    Gaetz doesn’t seemed worried.

    “I’ve faced an unprecedented barrage of negative advertising funded by Kevin McCarthy,” Gaetz said. “I’ll be outspent more than three-to-one, but I’m going to win it better than two-to-one because the folks in Washington and California and Missouri don’t quite understand the connection I have with the people of northwest Florida,” Gaetz said.

    Much like Trump, the congressman’s loyal followers don’t care about the allegations made against him.

    “Dimmock is funded by McCarthy and it’s just dirty politics. Gaetz is just talking about the issues,” said Jill Torkelson, 61, sporting a Make America Great Again hat at his Pensacola campaign event. “There’s definitely a blood feud there. I just don’t trust McCarthy as far as I can throw him.”

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  • What to know about the 5 people charged in Matthew Perry’s death

    What to know about the 5 people charged in Matthew Perry’s death

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    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Five people have been charged in connection with Matthew Perry’s death from a ketamine overdose last year, including the actor’s assistant and two doctors.

    “These defendants took advantage of Mr. Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves. They knew what they were doing was wrong,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said Thursday while announcing the charges.

    The five have been charged for their respective roles in supplying Perry with large amounts of ketamine, causing his October 2023 overdose death.

    Here is what we know so far about those charged after a sweeping investigation into Perry’s death.

    Dr. Salvador Plasencia

    Plasencia, a Santa Monica area doctor, was arrested Thursday and charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, seven counts of distribution of ketamine and two counts of altering and falsifying documents or records related to the federal investigation.

    He pleaded not guilty in his first court appearance Thursday, where he wore street clothes and was in handcuffs and leg chains. A judge ruled he can be released after posting a $100,000 bond.

    An indictment filed Wednesday alleges that Plasencia, who was commonly known as “Dr. P,” used encrypted messaging applications and coded language to discuss drug deals, referring to bottles of ketamine as “Dr. Pepper,” “cans,” and “bots.” He is accused of facilitating the transfer of drugs from himself and others who have been charged to Perry’s personal assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa.

    According to the indictment, Plasencia exchanged text messages with others involved in the drug sales, sending ones that said: “I wonder how much this moron will pay” and “Lets find out.”

    After Plasencia’s court appearance, his attorney, Stefan Sacks, said: “Ultimately, Dr. Plasencia was operating with what he thought were the best of medical intentions,” and his actions “certainly didn’t rise to the level of criminal misconduct.

    “His only concern was to give the best medical treatment and to do no harm,” Sacks said. “Unfortunately harm was done. But it was after his involvement.”

    Plasencia, 42, graduated from medical school at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2010 and has not been subject to any disciplinary actions, records show. His license is due to expire in October.

    Possible sentence: Imprisonment for up to 10 years for each ketamine-related count and up to 20 years for each records falsification count.

    Jasveen Sangha

    Prosecutors allege Sangha is a drug dealer whose North Hollywood residence was a distribution point for the ketamine that killed Perry. She is known as the “Ketamine Queen,” according to court filings.

    Sangha, 41, was arrested Thursday and charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, one count of possession with intent to distribute ketamine, and five counts of distribution of ketamine.

    The indictment alleges that Sangha’s distribution of ketamine on October 24, 2023, caused Perry’s death days later.

    She pleaded not guilty on Thursday, but a magistrate judge said she should remain in custody. Her attorney derided the “media-friendly nickname” — Ketamine Queen — that prosecutors used for her client. Her attorney declined comment outside of the courtroom.

    Possible sentence: 10 years to life in prison.

    Kenneth Iwamasa

    Iwamasa worked as Perry’s live-in personal assistant and often communicated in coded language with the others charged in connection with Perry’s death to obtain ketamine, authorities said. He has admitted to administering several ketamine injections to Perry, including on the day he died.

    He has pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine causing death.

    Iwamasa, 59, did not have any medical training or specific knowledge of how to administer controlled substances, prosecutors say. He found Perry dead in his home.

    Attorneys for Iwamasa did not return requests for comment.

    Possible sentence: 15 years in prison.

    Dr. Mark Chavez

    Chavez, a doctor from San Diego, has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. Chavez sold ketamine that he had previously obtained by writing a fraudulent prescription to Plasencia, who then sold it to Iwamasa.

    Chavez, who used to run a ketamine clinic, also got additional ketamine from a wholesale distributor of controlled substances and falsified statements on forms, saying the drug would not be sold to a third party or distributed or used for any other purpose.

    Chavez, 54, graduated from medical school at UCLA in 2004 and started a company, The Health MD, that appears to be a concierge medicine practice focused on longevity and fitness. Like Plasencia, Chavez has not been subject to any disciplinary actions, according to his records. His medical license expires in 2026.

    Multiple messages left seeking comment from Chavez’s company and his personal email address have not yet been returned.

    Possible sentence: 10 years in prison.

    Erik Fleming

    Fleming, 54, was a friend of Perry’s and communicated with Iwamasa to sell drugs to him for Perry’s use. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death.

    Prosecutors say Fleming got ketamine from Sangha and distributed it to Iwamasa. In all, he delivered 50 vials of ketamine for Perry’s use, including 25 handed over four days before the actor’s death.

    Attorneys for Fleming did not return requests for comment.

    Possible sentence: 25 years in prison.

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  • JD Vance has long been on a quest to encourage more births in the United States

    JD Vance has long been on a quest to encourage more births in the United States

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    MIAMI (AP) — Five summers ago, Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance — then a 34-year-old memoirist and father of a 2-year-old boy — took the stage at a conservative conference and tackled an issue that would become a core part of his political brand: the United States’ declining fertility rate.

    “Our people aren’t having enough children to replace themselves. That should bother us,” Vance told the gathering in Washington. He outlined the obvious concern that Social Security depends on younger workers’ contributions and then said, “We want babies not just because they are economically useful. We want more babies because children are good. And we believe children are good, because we are not sociopaths.”

    Vance repeatedly expressed alarm about declining birth rates as he launched his political career in 2021 with a bid for the U.S. Senate in Ohio. His criticism then of Vice President Kamala Harris, now the Democratic presidential nominee, and other high-profile Democrats as “childless cat ladies” who didn’t have a “direct stake” in the country have drawn particular attention since Trump picked him as his running mate.

    The rhetoric could threaten the Republican ticket’s standing with women who could help decide the November election. But it’s delighted those in the pro-natalist movement that has, until now, been limited largely to policy wonks, tech executives and venture capitalists.

    Image

    “There’s no question the discussion around family life, childbearing and pronatalism has gotten a lot more popular and gotten media attention because of JD Vance,” said Brad Wilcox, the director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia and author of “Get Married.” Vance once referred to Wilcox as “one of my favorite researchers.”

    Vance’s spokespeople did not respond to messages seeking comment.

    An aspiring politician’s war against ‘anti-child ideology’

    Vance, who wrote a bestseller about his working-class upbringing, has been clear about making family formation a policy priority. He has suggested ideas such as allowing parents to vote on behalf of their children or following the example of Hungary’s Viktor Orbán of giving low-interest loans to married couples with children and tax exemptions to women who have four children or more.

    In a May 2021 interview with The Federalist’s podcast in which he said he was exploring a Senate run, Vance described a society without babies and kids as “pretty icky and pretty gross.”

    “We owe something to our country. We owe something to our future. The best way to invest in it is to ensure the next generation actually exists,” he said. “I think we have to go to war against the anti-child ideology that exists in our country.”

    Vance has suggested people without children should pay higher taxes than people who have children. That’s the spirit of the existing child tax credit at $2,000 per qualifying child, which Vance has said he’d love to see raised to $5,000. He has also mentioned in interviews he wants to ban pornography for minors, citing it as one of the causes for why people are marrying less and having fewer children.

    His anti-abortion views, he has said, are separate from his concerns on birth rates, arguing the procedure is not really driving the decline in fertility.

    What to know about the 2024 Election

    In several interviews, he’s argued policymakers should make it easier for two-parent households to be able to live on a single wage so that one of the parents can stay home with their children.

    “The ruling class is obsessed with their jobs. Even though they hate a lot of their jobs, they are obsessed with their credentials and they want strangers to raise their kids,” he told then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson in 2021. “But middle-class Americans, whatever their station in life, they want more time with their children.”

    Vance had a chaotic childhood raised mainly by his grandparents in southwestern Ohio and a mother who battled substance abuse, and her “revolving door of father figures” as he described in his book. He is now married to a trial lawyer he met at Yale Law School. The couple has three young children, who he has said attend preschool. Usha Vance left the law firm where she worked shortly after her husband was chosen as Trump’s running mate.

    Declining births in an aging America

    The U.S. was one of only a few developed countries with a fertility rate that ensured each generation had enough children to replace itself — about 2.1 kids per woman. But the number has been sliding since 2008 and in 2023 dropped to about 1.6, the lowest rate on record.

    Earlier this year, Vance cited fertility rates in arguing against American support for Ukraine.

    “Not a single country — even the U.S. — within the NATO alliance has birth rates at replacement level. We don’t have enough families and children to continue as a nation, and yet we’re talking about problems 6,000 miles away,” he said.

    Vance as well as researchers and experts on the pro-natalist movement also argue that immigrants can’t provide a long-term fix to the decline in birth rates. He has separately blamed immigrants for crime and creating “inter-ethnic conflict.”

    Demographers and other experts for years had predicted declining fertility rates would pose challenges for the Social Security system as fewer workers are supporting a growing aging population.

    Tech executives such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk and venture capitalist Peter Thiel, who donated millions for Vance’s primary race, have also been vocal about the decline in birth rates.

    “We as a nation, as a society, policymakers can’t be neutral on the question of family,” said Oren Cass, who founded a conservative think tank, American Compass, that is closely aligned with the senator.

    Cass, a former policy adviser for U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, said he has known Vance for a decade and partnered on several events but said he was not speaking on behalf of the vice presidential nominee. He criticized how progressives have celebrated what he described as a culture of “you do you” and “all choices are equally valid,” when he considered the work of forming a family and raising children an “indispensable foundation” for the country.

    “That’s not to say, obviously, that you mandate or criminalize the alternative, but it is to say that we shouldn’t be neutral about it,” he said.

    Vance on the defense

    Vance’s views on birth rates have contributed to his rocky rollout as Trump’s running mate. Democrats went from labeling Trump and his Republican allies as a collective “threat to democracy” to calling both men “weird,” a strategy that coincided with Vance’s comments coming to light.

    Other unlikely critics have also piled on. Trump-backing influencer Dave Portnoy said Vance “sounds like a moron.” Former Republican congressman Trey Gowdy tried unsuccessfully to force an apology out of Vance for his denigrating of childless women on his Fox News show, introducing him with a story about a pair of Catholic nuns he met at an airport.

    Actress Jennifer Aniston, who has been open about her fertility issues, weighed in by saying she hopes Vance’s daughter does not face the same problems and she “truly can’t believe that this is coming from a potential VP of the United States.” Vance responded by calling her Instagram reaction “disgusting.”

    Trump has come to his defense, accusing Democrats of spinning things and expressing empathy for people who don’t get married or have children and are “every bit as good.”

    “He likes family. I think a lot of people like family. And sometimes it doesn’t work out,” Trump said in one interview. “But you’re just as good, in many cases a lot better than a person that’s in a family situation.”

    Vance’s wife has also tried to do some damage control, saying Vance was not referring to those who struggle with fertility or can’t get pregnant for medical reasons, though the ideas he proposes don’t make that distinction.

    “The reality is he made a quip in service of making a point he wanted to make that was substantive,” Usha Vance told an interviewer on “Fox and Friends.”

    Can Vance advance this?

    Wilcox, the author of “Get Married,” said JD Vance now needs to focus on convincing a broader audience that his ideas are worth pursuing.

    “The challenge for JD Vance is taking that attention and translating it into more of a concrete policy agenda that would be compelling to ordinary Americans and articulating a clear and positive agenda around making family formation both more affordable and more appealing,” Wilcox said.

    Supporters at a recent Trump rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, shrugged off Vance’s assertion that parents should have more of a vote than childless adults and expressed complicated feelings about his views.

    Kenneth “Nemo” Niemann, 70, said Vance might be speaking figuratively about giving parents more votes. His wife, Carol, 65, disagreed, saying Vance has been crystal clear that that is exactly what he means.

    The Niemanns had children later in life — their twins are 16 — and they spent far more of their adult lives as childless adults. And while they talked about how adults with children can have more to say when it comes to policies affecting children or they can have a different worldview about the future than childless adults, they still disagreed with Vance.

    “My sister never had children, but I can’t imagine my vote means more than hers,” Carol Niemann said.

    ___

    Associated Press writers Michelle R. Smith in Providence, Rhode Island, Mike Schneider in Orlando and Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, as well as Associated Press researcher Jennifer Farrar in New York, contributed to this report.

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  • Matthew Perry’s death leads to sweeping indictment of 5, including doctors and a reputed dealer

    Matthew Perry’s death leads to sweeping indictment of 5, including doctors and a reputed dealer

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    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nearly 10 months after the death of Matthew Perry, the long-simmering investigation into the ketamine that killed him came dramatically into public view with the announcement that five people had been charged with having roles in the overdose of the beloved “Friends” star.

    Here are key things to know about the case, including the two key figures who could be headed for trial and the possibility of the steepest of prison sentences.

    A sweeping set of indictments

    One or more arrests had been expected since investigators from three different agencies revealed in May they had been conducting a joint probe into how the 54-year-old Perry got such large amounts of ketamine.

    The actor had been among the growing number of patients using legal but off-label medical means to treat depression, or in other cases chronic pain, with the powerful surgical anesthetic.

    Recent reports suggested indictments might be imminent, but few outside observers, if any, knew how wide-ranging the prosecution would be, reaching much further than previous cases stemming from celebrity overdoses.

    When Michael Jackson died in 2009 from a lethal dose of the anesthetic propofol, his doctor was charged with providing it. After rapper Mac Miller died in 2017, two men who prosecutors described as a dealer and a middleman were convicted of providing fentanyl-laced oxycodone that helped kill him.

    But Perry’s case pulled in both, with indictments against doctors and illegal distributors who prosecutors say preyed on his long and public struggles with addiction. The investigation even went after the live-in personal assistant who prosecutors say helped him get ketamine and injected it directly into him before Perry was found dead in his hot tub on Oct. 28, 2023.

    “They knew what they were doing was risking great danger to Mr. Perry. But they did it anyway,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in announcing the charges.

    The prosecution was well under way even before the announcement. Two people including the assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, and a Perry acquaintance, Eric Fleming, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute the drug. A San Diego physician, Dr. Mark Chavez, has agreed to enter a guilty plea.

    That leaves prosecutors free to pursue their two biggest targets.

    The doctor and the ‘Ketamine Queen’

    An indictment unsealed Thursday alleges Perry turned to Los Angeles doctor Salvador Plasencia when his regular doctors refused to give him more ketamine. Prosecutors allege Plasencia cashed in on Perry’s desperation and addiction, getting him to pay $55,000 in cash for large amounts of the drug in the two months before his death.

    “I wonder how much this moron will pay,” Plasencia texted a co-defendant, according to his indictment.

    He pleaded not guilty to seven counts of distribution of ketamine in an appearance in federal court on Thursday afternoon.

    Plasencia’s attorney, Stefan Sacks, said outside court that he “was operating with what he what he thought were the best of medical intentions,” and his actions “certainly didn’t rise to the level of criminal misconduct.”

    Prosecutors allege Jasveen Sangha, whom they describe as a drug dealer known to customers as the “Ketamine Queen,” provided the doses of the drug that actually killed Perry, injected into the actor by Iwamasa with syringes supplied by Plasencia.

    Sangha also pleaded not guilty. Her attorney Alexandra Kazarian derided the “queen” moniker as made-for-media consumption during the hearing. The lawyer declined comment on the case outside court.

    Prosecutors say the other doctor in the case, Chavez, helped Plasencia obtain the ketamine he gave to Perry, while Perry’s acquaintance, Fleming, helped get ketamine from Sangha to Perry.

    Chavez could get up to 10 years in prison, Iwamasa up to 15 years and Fleming up to 25 years.

    Multiple messages seeking comment from attorneys for the three men were not returned.

    Looking ahead to trial

    Sangha could get life in prison if convicted as charged, while Plasencia could get up to 120 years. Each has a trial date in October, but it is highly unlikely any would be facing a jury by then, and the two may be tried together. They also could face testimony from the co-defendants who reached plea agreements.

    Magistrate Judge Alka Sagar ruled Sangha should be held without bond while awaiting trial, citing prosecutors’ contentions that she had destroyed evidence and funded a lavish lifestyle with drug sales even after Perry’s death.

    The judge agreed to release Plasencia after he posted a $100,000 bond.

    His attorney argued the Perry case was “isolated” and the doctor should be allowed to treat patients who depended on him at his one-man practice while awaiting trial.

    “I’m not buying that argument,” Sagar said, but agreed Plasencia could see patients so long as they signed a document in which he acknowledged the charges.

    “People have probably already heard about it from the amount of press,” Sacks told the judge, noting if they hadn’t, they would soon.

    Records show Plasencia’s medical license has been in good standing with no records of complaints, though it is set to expire in October and he could face action. He already has surrendered his federal license to prescribe more dangerous drugs.

    What is ketamine?

    Ketamine is a powerful anesthetic approved by U.S. health regulators for use during surgery. It can be given as an intramuscular injection or by IV.

    The drug is a chemical cousin of the recreational drug PCP. Ketamine itself has been used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It can cause hallucinations and can impact breathing and the heart.

    Pushing back against ketamine

    Prosecutors and police presented the Perry case as part of a major pushback against a rise in the illegal use of ketamine that has shadowed the broadening of its legal use.

    Los Angeles police said in May they were working with the U.S. Drug Enforcment Administration and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with a probe into how Perry got the drug. His autopsy, released in December, found the amount of ketamine in his blood was in the range used for general anesthesia during surgery.

    “As Matthew Perry’s ketamine addiction grew, he wanted more and he wanted it faster and cheaper. That is how he ended up buying from street dealers and stole the ketamine that ultimately led to his death,” U.S. Drug Enforcement Administrator Anne Milgram said Thursday. “In doing so, he followed the arc that we have tragically seen with many others. The substance use disorder begins in a doctor’s office and ends in the street.”

    Perry had years of struggles with addiction dating back to his time on NBC’s megahit sitcom, “Friends,” for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004. Playing Chandler Bing, he became one of the biggest television stars of his generation alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer.

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  • Prominent 2020 election denier seeks GOP nod for Michigan Supreme Court race

    Prominent 2020 election denier seeks GOP nod for Michigan Supreme Court race

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    LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A Donald Trump ally who faces felony charges of trying to illegally access and tamper with voting machines is seeking the Republican nomination for the highest court in Michigan, an epicenter of efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

    In June, attorney Matthew DePerno announced his intent to run for the state Supreme Court, almost one year after he was charged and arraigned.

    Delegates will vote on nominees Saturday, Aug. 24, at the Michigan GOP party convention for two state Supreme Court seats in a battleground state where the court has the potential final say in Michigan election matters.

    Michigan Supreme Court races are officially nonpartisan — meaning candidates appear on the ballot without party labels — but candidates are nominated at party conventions. Democratic-backed justices currently hold a 4-3 majority. Republican nominees would have to win both seats to take back majority control while Democrats stand to gain a 5-2 favorability.

    DePerno rose to prominence for pushing false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from then-President Trump. He unsuccessfully ran for Michigan attorney general in 2022 and lost a bid to be the GOP state party chair in 2023.

    DePerno was named as a “prime instigator” in the voting machine tampering case. Five vote tabulators were illegally taken from three Michigan counties and brought to a hotel room, according to documents released in 2022 by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office. Investigators found the tabulators were broken into and “tests” were performed on the equipment.

    He was charged with undue possession of a voting machine and conspiracy. A state judge has ruled it is a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison, to take a machine without a court order or permission directly from the secretary of state’s office.

    DePerno has denied wrongdoing. He’s not due back in court until Nov. 21 after the general election and no trial date has been set. He also faces a separate complaint from the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission, threatening his law license, over accused attorney misconduct when he represented a former state lawmaker.

    DePerno in a phone interview said both the felony charges and the attorney misconduct allegations are politically motivated.

    Michigan is just one of at least three states where prosecutors say people breached election systems while embracing and spreading Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen.

    DePerno is seeking nomination to run for a partial-term seat currently held by Justice Kyra Harris Bolden, who was appointed by Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer after a Democratic-backed justice announced she was resigning by the end of 2022 with six years left on her term.

    Bolden is seeking the Democratic nomination for the seat she was appointed to in January 2023. She is the first Black woman to sit on the state’s highest bench and would be the first elected if successful in November.

    Republican-backed conservative Justice David Viviano announced in March that he would not seek reelection, opening another seat.

    The Democratic Party is holding its convention the same day as the GOP, Aug. 24.

    What to know about the 2024 Election

    Campaign finance reports showed an astounding gap between candidates seeking Democratic and Republican nominations and a serious lack of fundraising on DePerno’s part.

    Bolden, seeking the Democratic party’s backing, has raised more than $1.1 million as of Aug. 8th, while DePerno has only raised $136, according to the most recent campaign finance reports.

    DePerno has focused on shoring up delegate support, not fundraising and expressed confidence that he can out-fundraise Bolden if nominated for the general election, citing his own name recognition, he said.

    “I don’t think the other candidates in my race can raise any money in the general election,” he said.

    DePerno’s Republican competitors at the party convention include Detroit attorney Alexandria Taylor and Circuit Court Judge Patrick O’Grady. Both have outraised DePerno so far by thousands of dollars according to campaign filings.

    State Court of Appeals Judge Mark Boonstra and state Rep. Andrew Fink are competing for the Republican nomination for Viviano’s seat. Boonstra was endorsed by Trump in May. On the Democratic side, University of Michigan Law School professor Kimberly Ann Thomas is seeking nomination for the opening.

    Michigan’s Democratic Party executive committee has endorsed Bolden and Thomas and they face no nominating challengers.

    Thomas reported raising over $826,603 as of Aug. 8 in recent campaign filings, hundreds of thousands more than Fink and Boonstra.

    State Supreme Court races have taken on new meaning in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, shifting abortion policy to the states. Millions of dollars were spent in hotly contested races in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania in 2023. Supreme Court races in Ohio and Montana are expected to be heated because of potential rulings on abortion.

    “Michigan is one of only two state Supreme Courts in the country that could flip to a conservative majority this cycle — putting abortion access, unions and workers, and our very democracy at risk,” Lavora Barnes, the Michigan Democratic Party chair, said in a statement.

    Republicans in the state have framed the race as a fight to stop government overreach while Democrats say it’s a fight to preserve reproductive rights. Abortion rights were added to the state constitution by voters in 2022, months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

    “We continue to respect the laws that are in place in Michigan here,” Republican party executive director Tyson Shepard said. “We’re tired from the fearmongering from the left.”

    ___

    Associated Press writer Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

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  • Prisoner serving life for murder who escaped in North Carolina has been caught, authorities say

    Prisoner serving life for murder who escaped in North Carolina has been caught, authorities say

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    KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (AP) — A prisoner serving a life sentence for murder was captured at a North Carolina hotel early Friday, three days after his escape on the way to a medical appointment, and authorities say he had help from at least one person.

    Ramone Alston, 30, escaped from a van Tuesday as it arrived at the UNC Gastroenterology hospital in Hillsborough, where he was being taken for a medical appointment. He freed himself from his leg restraints and fled into the woods with handcuffs on, according to the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction.

    Alston was taken into custody at about 2 a.m. at a hotel in Kannapolis, near Charlotte, about 110 miles (177 kilometers) southwest of Hillsborough, the department said in a news release, and no one was injured during the arrest. Alston will be charged with felony escape from prison, according to the release.

    Alston was taken to the Granville Correctional Institution’s high-security maximum control unit, the state prison system’s most secure, to resume serving his life sentence, Department Secretary Todd Ishee said at a news conference Friday afternoon. Alston could face additional charges related to his escape.

    Online court records did not immediately list the case or an attorney who could speak on Alston’s behalf.

    “While we can’t provide specifics about how Alston was located, I can assure you it was the result of exceptional investigative work and dedication from the team that was assembled to work this escape,” Ishee said. “I’m grateful for the people standing here with me today and the hundreds of officers, deputies, agents and investigators who they represent that all worked so hard this week with great collaboration to bring Alston back into custody.”

    Officials will evaluate whether anyone is eligible for the reward offered for information leading to Alston’s capture, Ishee said, adding that the department is conducting an internal investigation and review to identify areas for improvement. The officers who were transporting Alston have not been placed on leave but were reassigned to non-transportation duties.

    Alston has been serving a life sentence at Bertie Correctional Institution in Windsor since his conviction in the killing of 1-year-old Maleah Williams, who was shot on Christmas Day in 2015 from a passing car while she was playing outside her family’s apartment in Chapel Hill. She died three days later.

    A woman described as an acquaintance of Alston’s was arrested shortly afterward in Alamance County and charged with felony aiding and abetting a fugitive, the department said. Investigators believe she drove Alston around, but it wasn’t clear when or where, or whether she was the only person doing so, department spokesman Keith Acree said by phone.

    Alston’s relationship with her began several months ago and was conducted mostly by phone, Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood said at the news conference. Officials are investigating whether anyone else was involved.

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  • The Return of Hannibal Lecter, the Trump Hack, and a ‘Hard Knocks’ Check-In With Alan Siegel

    The Return of Hannibal Lecter, the Trump Hack, and a ‘Hard Knocks’ Check-In With Alan Siegel

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    Hello, media consumers! Bryan welcomes The Ringer’s own Hollywood bureau chief, Alan Siegel. They both share some of their lukewarm takes on the media and the following subjects:

    • Donald Trump’s love affair with Hannibal Lecter (01:31)
    • The Donald Trump hack: documents sent to Politico emails (8:42)
    • A sports documentary check-in on Hard Knocks and Receiver (18:15)
    • The essence of cable news (28:01)
    • Australian B-girl Raygun breaks her silence (37:26)
    • Alan closes out with a few of his only-in-journalism words (43:22)

    Plus, David Shoemaker Guesses the Strained-Pun Headline.

    Host: Bryan Curtis
    Guest: Alan Siegel
    Producer: Brian H. Waters

    Subscribe: Spotify / Apple Podcasts / Stitcher / RSS

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    Bryan Curtis

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  • The Bento Box Returns After a Fire — and the Pandemic — Closed The Bucktown Restaurant

    The Bento Box Returns After a Fire — and the Pandemic — Closed The Bucktown Restaurant

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    A sea of restaurants has been lost since the pandemic’s start in March 2020 and it was presumed the Bento Box was one of the vanquished as Rick Spiros’ Asian restaurant ceased operations in Bucktown. But COVID’s complications were just one of the Bento Box’s concerns. A fire, just days before Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered restaurants to close their dining rooms to curb the spread of the disease, made it feel like fans would never again sample Spiros’ signature egg rolls or red curry Singapore noodles.

    Spiros, who is Greek American, has a fondness for global cuisines and cooks an assortment of cuisines. With his restaurant closed, he again focused on catering and his personal chef business. The latter became popular as diners kept away from restaurants during COVID. He began working at Trogo Kitchen & Market in Logan Square, the restaurant and cafe space inside the Green Exchange, a building overlooking the northbound Kennedy Expressway’s Diversey exit. Trogo was one of the locations where crews filmed kitchen scenes for the pilot episode of The Bear. He befriended owners Lolita Sereleas and Cian O’Mahony and serves as the chef in residence. Legendary Chicago chef Jimmy Bannos of Heaven on Seven fame has also done gumbo drops at the restaurant as he preps to open a new restaurant in suburban Skokie.

    While hosting pop-ups, Spiros says he was greeted by Bento Box regulars who weren’t subtle in their praise for the old restaurant. Their enthusiasm struck him “like a thunderbolt” and led him to mount a comeback.

    “I had very little idea how much people loved the restaurant, how much it was missed,” Spiros says.

    And so, starting on Wednesday, August 7, the Bento Box returned, open Wednesday through Friday at Trogo, giving Spiros room to continue his personal chef business, and Trogo the space to flex programming if a rare opportunity (say Jeremy Allen White and company want to film more scenes) presents itself. There will be one seating to start — around 6 p.m. Reservations will allow diners to book until around 6:30 p.m.; Spiros doesn’t care if everyone is served their meals at once. It’s a three-course prix fixe: egg rolls, green curry mussels, and red chili chicken Singapore noodles. Takeout and delivery are also available a la carte. Spiros wants to eventually add a lemongrass creme brulee for dessert.

    The last four years away from the daily operations of a restaurant have been restorative for Spiros. As they sorted through the fire’s aftermath, it became clear that he could not return to the Bento Box’s original Bucktown location, 2246 W. Armitage Avenue. It didn’t feel right trying to reopen. He didn’t even have the right equipment, like his beloved flattop that he was accustomed to using: “It came to the point where I just didn’t know if I wanted to do this right now,” Spiros says.

    Chef Rick Spiros
    The Bento Box

    The world of restaurants has changed since Bento Box debuted in 2010. It’s not the first time he’s been asked, but what is a white guy doing cooking Korean, Chinese, Indian, and Japanese food? Spiros says many of his clientele are Indian and Korean, and he’s always happy to hear praise from those groups, especially from elders. One reason for his success is that he’s respectful of origins: “I’m not going to put sesame oil in something where it doesn’t belong,” Spiros says. “We’re not a fusion restaurant.”

    “To be honest with you, I think that’s part of what makes this country awesome,” he adds. “We can have all these different cultures here and people can have an interpretation of it.”

    Spiros likens his efforts to a cover band saying that even if a band plays another group’s song “note for note,” there will be differences: “There’s still something different in the way Led Zeppelin plays Stairway to Heaven or how someone else does it.”

    He’s also here to offer something different. A dive serving a large menu might not have someone who can make handmade noodles. Making noodles is a labor-intensive act and it’s not cheap — an order of noodles at Bento Box costs more than $20. In the past, some have questioned Bento Box’s prices. Spiros recalls a customer complaining that he could buy similar food “for a fraction of the price” down the street. But then he returned with an apology, happy with Bento Box’s quality.

    “The guy came back and said he was wrong,” Spiros says.

    Bento Box at Trogo Kitchen & Market, inside the Green Exchange, 2545 W. Diversey Avenue, open 6 p.m. on Wednesday through Saturday, reservations via OpenTable. Carryout and delivery also available.

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    Ashok Selvam

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  • What to know about the controversy over a cancelled grain terminal in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley

    What to know about the controversy over a cancelled grain terminal in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley

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    NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An agricultural company made the surprise decision Tuesday to cancel a project to build a massive grain terminal in a historic Black town in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley,” a heavily industrialized stretch of land along the Mississippi River.

    The company, Greenfield Louisiana LLC, and its supporters — including Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry — blamed “special interest groups”, “plantation owners” and the Army Corps of Engineers for delaying construction on a grain export facility which would have brought jobs and development to St. John the Baptist Parish.

    But community organizers and environmental advocates said the company had brought the problem on itself by attempting to install a 222-acre (90 hectare) facility in an area filled with nationally recognized historic sites and cultural spaces worthy of preservation and investment.

    The Army Corps of Engineers said the company had chosen to build in the middle of an area with “environmental justice” and “cultural concerns” which required it to prove it could comply with a range of laws.

    What Greenfield promised

    Greenfield said that its $800 million grain terminal would have generated more than 1,000 construction jobs, north of 300 permanent jobs, $300 million in state tax revenue and $1.4 million in direct state and local taxes.

    The company said its facility was “expected to drive transformative social and economic benefits to the local community” and play a significant role in connecting American farmers with global markets. The facility had been designed with the potential to store 11 million tons of grain.

    On its website, Greenfield features testimony from a range of parish residents pledging their support for the facility and the economic growth they believed it would bring.

    St. John the Baptist Parish President Jaclyn Hotard described the company’s decision as “a devastating blow to economic development” and lamented the loss of hundreds of jobs at a “state-of-the art, eco-friendly facility.”

    What caused Greenfield to pull the plug?

    Greenfield’s Van Davis blamed the project’s failure to advance on “the repeated delays and goal-post moving we have faced have finally become untenable, and as a result, our local communities lost.”

    The company said the Army Corps of Engineers had recently extended the deadline for the fifth time, pushing a decision on the project’s permits to March 2025.

    But Army Corps of Engineers Public Affairs Specialist Matt Roe disputed Greenfield’s framing in an emailed statement.

    Roe said the company had to show compliance with multiple laws, including the Clean Water Act and the National Historic Preservation Act, and that “the regulations do not set forth a prescribed timeline for the process.”

    Roe said the project’s location “was in a setting with many cultural resources” and that the Corps’ review has been “timely in every respect.”

    The Corps has found the project would adversely impact historic sites. Greenfield had said it would take steps to preserve any historical sites or artifacts found during construction.

    What was at stake?

    Governor Jeff Landry pinned the blame on the Army Corps of Engineers for bringing “additional delays” by listening to “special interest groups and wealthy plantation owners instead of hardworking Louisianans.”

    Opponents included the sisters Joy and Jo Banner, whose nonprofit The Descendants Project has bought land in the area — including a former plantation — to protect their town’s heritage. They gained national recognition for their efforts to invest in preserving history of enslaved people and their descendants.

    But they are not the only people who thought there should be more focus on finding other avenues to bring jobs and growth to the historic Black town of Wallace and the surrounding parish.

    Whitney Plantation Executive Director Ashley Rogers oversees a nearby National Register Historic District which draws 80,000 visitors a year from around the world. The area surrounding the proposed grain terminal site offers two centuries of well-documented history and culture containing “huge potential” for the community to capitalize on, she added.

    There is also a National Historic Landmark, Evergreen Plantation, and the Willow Grove cemetery for descendants of the formerly enslaved which would have been adjacent to the 275-foot-high grain terminal.

    “There does need to be economic development,” Rogers said. “I just think it can be done in a way that doesn’t permanently destroy the heritage, the culture and the environment and ruin people’s livelihoods and homes, right?”

    Fighting in and out of the court

    From Greenfield’s representatives to community activists, everyone acknowledged the fight over the project had been exhausting and brutal.

    In recent months, flyers attacking local activists opposed to the grain terminal were distributed throughout the community, including images featuring racist tropes. Greenfield representatives denied the company had any connection to the flyers.

    There are multiple ongoing lawsuits related to the facility filed by the Descendants Project related to zoning changes and tax exemptions for the company.

    Joy Banner, of the Descendant Project, has also sued Parish Council Chairman Michael Wright in federal court for allegedly making threats against her at a council meeting. Wright did not respond to a request for comment.

    ___

    This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Joy Banner’s first name on first reference. It is Joy, not Joyce.

    ___

    Jack Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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  • How horses at the Spirit Horse Ranch help Maui wildfire survivors process their grief

    How horses at the Spirit Horse Ranch help Maui wildfire survivors process their grief

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    KANAIO, Hawaii (AP) — Fear. Anxiety. Anger. Depression. Overwhelmed.

    Janice Dapitan began her second counseling session by writing those words on a whiteboard, reflecting what she felt in that moment. The day fire destroyed her hometown of Lahaina — and the struggles that have followed for nearly a year — still haunted her.

    The fire killed her uncle. It burned the homes of seven family members. Her daughter narrowly escaped the blaze with her two children, but lost her house and moved to Las Vegas. The house Dapitan shares with her husband, Kalani, survived, but now it overlooks the burn zone. The view is a painful, constant reminder that the life they’d known is gone.

    “There are so many triggers,” she said on a blustery July day. Her long black braids fell over a tank top with the word “Lahaina” printed in gold. “We can be okay today, and tomorrow it could be different. Everything is uncertain. Every day is a different challenge. We want to stay joyful, but it’s a process.”

    Janice Dapitan, left, cries during an interview with husband Kalani, right, following an equine therapy session at the Spirit Horse Ranch, Tuesday, July 9, 2024, in Kula, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

    One year after the Maui fires, thousands of residents share Dapitan’s struggle. They grieve the losses of loved ones and generational homes. They are haunted by their traumatic escapes and even by the guilt of surviving. They’ve endured months of instability — switching hotel rooms, schools and jobs. An estimated 1,500 families have left Maui, forced to start over thousands of miles from home.

    But lately, Dapitan has enjoyed some relief, thanks to an equine-assisted therapy program at the Spirit Horse Ranch in Maui’s rural upcountry, an hour’s drive from Lahaina.

    “The connection with the horses is different than connecting with machines or humans,” said Dapitan. “It’s almost like instant healing.”

    After large-scale disasters, restoring a community’s mental wellness is as important as rebuilding infrastructure, experts say. And just as constructing an entire town can take years, so can healing its residents.

    “We can be so focused on the bricks-and-mortar rebuild — because that’s challenging enough as it is — that we don’t create space for that healing,” said Jolie Wills, a cognitive scientist who led the mental health response for the Red Cross after the 2010 Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand.

    While some survivors need professional support to overcome their trauma, a lot of recovery can happen outside of a clinic’s walls. Maui residents have leaned on programs that help them reconnect — to themselves, their community, land and culture.

    Horses to process trauma

    After writing down her words, Dapitan sat on a folding chair inside a horse corral. A few feet away, Maverick, a 22-year-old Tennessee Walker rolled in the dirt.

    Image

    Janice Dapitan brushes a horse named Maverick during a philanthropy-supported equine therapy program at the Spirit Horse Ranch, Tuesday, July 9, 2024, in Kula, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

    The program’s founder, Paige DePonte, sat in front of her and began a technique called brainspotting. She moved a small wand in front of Dapitan’s eyes to stimulate certain eye movements believed to help the brain process trauma. Later, Dapitan approached Maverick. She brushed his dark mane. After leading him once around the corral, she stopped, rested her arms over his back, and began to cry.

    “He just lets you lean on him,” she said. “I can feel myself healing because somebody is at least letting me lean on them.”

    For her husband Kalani, the ranch’s quiet isolation, tucked on a hillside overlooking Maui’s south coast, gives him space to process what has happened. “Before we even met the horses, I was in tears,” he said. “The peacefulness really breaks your walls down.”

    Image

    Kalani Dapitan talks to a horse named Missy during a philanthropy-supported equine therapy session at the Spirit Horse Ranch, Tuesday, July 9, 2024, in Kula, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

    Equine-assisted therapy participants don’t typically ride horses, but the animals’ presence alone can soothe people as they face their trauma. They might brush, walk and even talk to the animals, or the horses might just be nearby as facilitators take them through other methods of counseling or psychotherapy.

    “Horses are incredible healers,” said DePonte, who started the program on her family’s cattle ranch in 2021 after observing the transformational effect the animals had on her own trauma recovery. “They are in a place of coherence all the time, not thinking about tomorrow, not thinking about yesterday.”

    The program, now supported by grants from the Hawaii Community Foundation, Maui United Way, and other private donors, has provided more than 1,300 sessions for impacted residents.

    Dapitan had already begun therapy before the fire to recover from a previous trauma, but she said time at the ranch feels different. “I think I got the most out of the horses in two days versus the year that I’ve been having regular counseling.”

    Healing through connection

    Holistic programs like these have helped meet the overwhelming need for support services after the Aug. 8, 2023 fire that killed at least 102 people and displaced 12,000.

    On top of the harrowing experiences of losing homes and loved ones, survivors are stressed and exhausted from the volatility of daily life — moving hotel rooms, changing schools, losing income.

    “It’s been a pretty significant impact on people’s mental health,” said Tia Hartsock, director of Hawaii’s office of wellness and resilience. “Navigating bureaucratic systems while in a traumatic response has been very challenging.”

    Image

    Kalani Dapitan reaches to pet a horse named Missy during an equine therapy session at the Spirit Horse Ranch, Tuesday, July 9, 2024, in Kula, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

    In a Hawaii Department of Health survey of affected families two months after the fire, almost three-quarters of respondents said at least one person in their household had felt nervous, anxious or depressed in the preceding two weeks. At the six-month anniversary, more than half of survivors and one-third of all Maui residents surveyed by the University of Hawaii reported feeling depressive symptoms.

    That’s expected after a disaster of such scale, said Wills, calling it “very normal reactions to a very abnormal situation.”

    Providers, nonprofits, philanthropic groups and the government collaborated to reduce barriers to mental health treatment, like paying for people’s therapy sessions and staffing shelters and FEMA events with mental health practitioners.

    But they knew residents also needed other options. “Clinical support wasn’t necessarily going to be right for everyone,” said Justina Acevedo-Cross, senior program manager at the Hawaii Community Foundation.

    Numerous public and private funders are supporting programs that re-engage residents with land and people, which Hartsock calls “unbelievably helpful in the healing.”

    Several are rooted in Native Hawaiian healing practices. Cultural practitioners with the organization Hui Ho’omalu offer lomilomi, or Hawaiian massage. Those sessions typically lead into kukakuka, or deep conversation, with Native Hawaiians trained in mental health support.

    Impacted families also maintain taro patches, restore native plants and take cultural classes on protected land stewarded by the organization Ka’ehu. Aviva Libitsky and her son Nakana, 7, volunteer there at least once a week, scooping invasive snails out of kalo pools and cleaning litter from the shoreline.

    Libitsky felt anxious for months after fleeing the Lahaina fire and losing the home she’d lived in since 2010. Working on the land calms her. “It helps you channel that frenetic energy and put it toward something useful.”

    Image

    The Spirit Horse Ranch founder Paige DePonte walks with Maverick, one of the horses at her equine-assisted trauma-informed care facility, Tuesday, July 9, 2024, in Kula, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

    She and Nakana recently learned how to weave bracelets from the leaves of hala trees at one of Ka’ehu’s cultural workshops. They’ve gone to Spirit Horse Ranch, too. “We just focus on new opportunities, creating new memories.”

    A new wave of need

    As Maui enters its second year of recovery, providers are preparing for a new wave of people to seek help.

    The last families are moving out of hotels and into the interim housing meant to carry them over until Lahaina rebuilds. That sudden stillness can trigger bigger emotions, said Acevedo-Cross. “They’re able to feel a bit more.”

    Many who weren’t directly affected by the fires are now experiencing its impacts, as rents skyrocket, tourism jobs disappear, and friends and family move away.

    For some, healing won’t come until Lahaina is rebuilt and the community can return home.

    Image

    Janice Dapitan, right, wipes away tears during a session, part of a philanthropy-supported equine therapy program, with Paige DePonte as a horse named Maverick stands nearby at the Spirit Horse Ranch, Tuesday, July 9, 2024, in Kula, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

    “We don’t have a hometown anymore,” said Kalani Dapitan. He misses his friends and family, and most of all his daughter. He worries constantly about what will happen to Lahaina, especially as a Native Hawaiian. “We’re unsure of our future, how our cultural aspect is going to pan out.”

    With so much still uncertain, time at Spirit Horse Ranch helps the Dapitans stay present.

    At the end of her session, Janice returned to the whiteboard to write the words that summed up her feelings. “Relaxed,” she wrote, and looked up. “That’s all.”

    _____________

    Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

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  • EPA issues rare emergency ban on pesticide that damages fetuses

    EPA issues rare emergency ban on pesticide that damages fetuses

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    ST. LOUIS (AP) — For the first time in roughly 40 years, the Environmental Protection Agency used its emergency authority to halt the sale of a weed-killing pesticide that harms the development of unborn babies.

    Officials took the rare step because the pesticide DCPA, or Dacthal, could cause irreversible damage to fetuses, including impaired brain development and low birthweight. The agency struggled to obtain vital health data from the pesticide’s manufacturer on time and decided it was not safe to allow continued sale, EPA said in an announcement Tuesday.

    “In this case, pregnant women who may never know they were exposed could give birth to babies that experience irreversible lifelong health problems,” said Michal Freedhoff, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.

    DCPA is mostly used on broccoli, cabbage and certain other crops and about 84,000 pounds were used on average in 2018 and 2020, officials said.

    In 2023, the EPA assessed the pesticide’s risks and found it was dangerous even if a worker wore personal protective equipment. The manufacturer had instructed people to stay off fields where the pesticide had been applied for 12 hours, but agency officials said it could linger at dangerous levels for more than 25 days.

    The pesticide is made by AMVAC Chemical Corp. The company did not immediately return a request for comment late Wednesday. In comments to the EPA earlier this year, the company said new protocols could help keep people safe. It proposed longer waiting periods before workers enter fields where the pesticide was applied and limits on how much of the chemical could be handled.

    Federal officials said the company’s proposed changes weren’t enough. The emergency order was necessary because the normal review process would take too long and leave people at risk, according to the agency’s statement.

    ___

    The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment

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  • 1 of last GOP congressmen who voted to impeach Trump advances in Washington’s US House race

    1 of last GOP congressmen who voted to impeach Trump advances in Washington’s US House race

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    SEATTLE (AP) — One of the last remaining U.S. House Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump and a candidate endorsed by the former president have advanced in Tuesday’s primary to the general election in Washington state’s 4th Congressional District.

    U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse is seeking a sixth term in the conservative Washington district that runs from the Canadian border to the Columbia River. He will face Republican Jerrod Sessler, a Navy veteran and former NASCAR driver, in November.

    This was a rematch for the pair from 2022, when Sessler earned a distant fourth in the primary. This time, Sessler said things have gone his way. He was endorsed by the Washington State Republican Party and nabbed Trump’s backing early on, which he called a “game changer.” He said he communicates regularly with Trump’s team, referencing a text he said he received from the GOP presidential candidate this year saying, “The country is counting on you.”

    “In ninety days, this district is going to vote overwhelmingly for President Trump,” Sessler said in a statement. “I will work hard to make sure we also elect a member of Congress who will be his greatest ally in our fight to enact a pro-Constitution, pro-MAGA agenda and heal our nation from the disaster of the Biden-Harris administration.”

    Newhouse has mostly steered clear of the subject of Trump. The third-generation farmer has instead focused on agriculture and border security in a state with millions of acres of pastures, orchards and cereal grain lands where immigrant labor is extremely important.

    In the lead-up to the primary, Newhouse’s opponents repeatedly touted his vote to impeach Trump as a huge liability. But political experts have cautioned that it’s difficult to say whether the endorsement will sway voters who already stuck with Newhouse two years ago.

    Newhouse and U.S. Rep. David Valadao, of California, are the only Republican Congressional lawmakers left among the 10 who voted to impeach Trump in 2021. Others retired or were defeated by Trump-endorsed primary challengers.

    As of July 17, Newhouse, who was endorsed by the NRA and the National Right to Life, had raised $1.6 million – far more than the $409,000 raised by Sessler.

    They prevailed over Tiffany Smiley, a former nurse who entered the race after losing to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray two years ago. She received a backing from Trump just three days before the primary, marking a unique, though not unprecedented, dual endorsement by the former president. But the backing for Smiley likely came too late to impact many voters in the vote-by-mail state.

    Under the state’s primary system, the top two vote-getters in each of the contests advance to the November election, regardless of party.

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  • In a 2020 flashback, Georgia’s GOP-aligned election board wants to reinvestigate election results

    In a 2020 flashback, Georgia’s GOP-aligned election board wants to reinvestigate election results

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    ATLANTA (AP) — Four years after the 2020 election, a newly GOP-aligned election board in Georgia is pushing to reinvestigate the state’s largest county for its handling of the vote.

    Georgia’s State Election Board voted 3-2 Wednesday to ask state Attorney General Chris Carr to investigate the Fulton County government, seeking to reopen an inquiry closed in May.

    The action shows the degree to which Republican outrage over the 2020 election continues to animate party activists and comes on the heels of a Saturday rally in Atlanta where former President Donald Trump attempted to relitigate unproven claims that he won Georgia, which President Joe Biden won that year by a narrow margin. He praised the State Election Board at the same rally.

    Spokesperson Kara Murray said Carr, a Republican who has been opposed by Trump, hadn’t yet received the request.

    “We take election integrity very seriously, and we will apply the constitution, the law and the facts as we have always done,” Murray said.

    However, Murray said the attorney general’s office doesn’t investigate or seek criminal charges in cases referred by the board.

    The resolution says that if Carr doesn’t act, the board will try to hire an outside lawyer to conduct an inquiry.

    It’s unclear what could happen if an inquiry occurs. In a hotly disputed 2021 law, the board was given the power to take over election administration in individual counties. That provision was always aimed at heavily Democratic Fulton County in the aftermath of an election that an independent monitor said was characterized by sloppy practices and poor management but with no evidence of intentional wrongdoing.

    A trio of Republican partisans aligned with Trump has cemented control of the five-member regulatory board, which has no direct role in determining election results but writes rules to ensure elections run smoothly and hears complaints about violations.

    Some activists who have long wanted action against Fulton County argue that officials should face criminal charges. Those activists have also long pushed for access to the paper ballots from the 2020 election, which could enable a citizen review similar to one that roiled Arizona in 2021.

    As part of the May resolution of the earlier inquiry, the board found that Fulton County improperly double-counted some votes. But those who brought the complaint say other issues are unresolved, such as missing electronic ballot scans.

    “It seems to me that somebody is moving heaven and earth to not allow anyone to get to the paper ballots,” said Dr. Janice Johnston, a retired obstetrician appointed to the board by the state Republican Party. “I don’t know why. I’m just interested in the data and interested in the numbers.”

    Wednesday’s decision is likely to be met with litigation. Fulton County’s election board sent a letter to the state board flatly saying the May resolution is final and the board is legally prohibited from reopening the charges.

    “We will not engage in any further discussions, investigations or other action related to this case,” Fulton County board Chair Sherri Allen said in a statement. “To do so would be a waste of taxpayer dollars and time that is best spent preparing for the upcoming general election.”

    The state board’s nonpartisan chair, John Fervier, tried to block the action, citing a letter from Carr’s office that he said also warned the move would be illegal. The Associated Press wasn’t immediately able to obtain a copy of the letter.

    “We are putting this board in legal jeopardy by approving that motion,” Fervier said.

    Johnston, who led a successful effort to overturn Fervier’s ruling blocking consideration of the move, said a lawyer for the state GOP had advised her that the board could legally go ahead. Janelle King, whose appointment tipped the balance of power on the board, said she is not afraid of a potential lawsuit.

    “We’ve got to make sure we’re not scared to make moves because of the fear of that, because in some cases it’s just the right thing to do,” said King, a conservative political commentator

    It’s at least the second recent time that state Republican Party officials or employees directly advised the board on a course of action. Party Chairman Josh McKoon recently sent two proposed rules and talking points to another GOP-aligned member of the board, former state Sen. Rick Jeffares.

    Part of the deal made in May was that Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the State Election Board and Fulton County would agree on a monitoring team. On Wednesday, though, the board refused to vote on the team proposed by Raffensperger and Fulton County. That’s in part because it included the former chief lawyer for Raffensperger’s office and the man who monitored Fulton’s 2020 election.

    Raffensperger’s office declined to comment on the board’s actions. He was removed as a voting member of the board in 2021 and from his nonvoting capacity by lawmakers this year, largely driven by GOP anger at his defense of Biden’s 2020 victory in Georgia.

    At the Saturday rally, Trump said the three GOP-aligned board members “are all pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory” while criticizing Fervier and the Democrat on the panel. He in particular singled out Johnston, who was in the second row and stood to acknowledge Trump’s praise.

    “My courage was contagious?” Trump said. “Well, your courage is contagious, too.”

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  • Minnesota Supreme Court upholds law restoring right to vote to people with felony convictions

    Minnesota Supreme Court upholds law restoring right to vote to people with felony convictions

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    The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a 2023 state law that restores voting rights for felons once they have completed their prison sentences.

    The new law was popular with Democrats in the state, including Gov. Tim Walz, who signed it and who is Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in the presidential race. The timing of the decision is important because early voting for next week’s primary election is already underway. Voting for the Nov. 5 general election begins Sept. 20.

    The court rejected a challenge from the conservative Minnesota Voters Alliance. A lower court judge had previously thrown out the group’s lawsuit after deciding it lacked the legal standing to sue and failed to prove that the Legislature overstepped its authority when it voted to expand voting rights for people who were formerly incarcerated for a felony. The high court agreed.

    Before the new law, felons had to complete their probation before they could regain their eligibility to vote. An estimated 55,000 people with felony records gained the right to vote as a result.

    Minnesota Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison had been pushing for the change since he was in the Legislature.

    “Democracy is not guaranteed — it is earned by protecting and expanding it,” Ellison said in a statement. “I’m proud restore the vote is definitively the law of the land today more than 20 years after I first proposed it as a state legislator. I encourage all Minnesotans who are eligible to vote to do so and to take full part in our democracy.”

    Minnesota was among more than a dozen states that considered restoring voting rights for felons in recent years. Advocates for the change argued that disenfranchising them disproportionately affects people of color because of biases in the legal system. An estimated 55,000 Minnesota residents regained the right to vote because of the change.

    Nebraska officials went the other way and decided last month that residents with felony convictions could still be denied voting rights despite a law passed this year to immediately restore the voting rights of people who have finished serving their felony convictions. That decision by Nebraska’s attorney general and secretary of state, both of whom are Republicans, has been challenged in a lawsuit.

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  • What investors should do when there is more volatility in the market

    What investors should do when there is more volatility in the market

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    NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are bouncing back after the market experienced its worst day in two years on Monday, but the average investor may still be understandably spooked. Over a three day losing streak, the S&P 500 dipped more than 6% before rallying again Tuesday, up 1.6% in midday trading.

    “This is what an emotion-driven market looks like,” said Mark Hackett, head of investment research for Nationwide. “You had a three day period that was really very challenging. But the drop was not justified by the data that was out there, which is why you then have a day like today.”

    For everyday people, what are the best ways to handle market volatility? The top advice is to do nothing, but ultimately your response depends in part on your circumstances and financial goals.

    What to do in general

    “It’s important to remember that investing in the stock market is a long game. There’s going to be volatility, so be wary of having a knee-jerk reaction and pulling your money out at the first sign of a drop,” said Courtney Alev, consumer advocate for CreditKarma. “Selling stocks frequently or incrementally can come with fees for each transaction and those can add up fast.”

    Caleb Silver, editor in chief of Investopedia, echoed this, cautioning that sellers may also end up owing taxes on any gains.

    “For everyday investors, volatility is the price you pay to be invested in the stock market,” Silver said. “But it’s very unsettling when we see big market drops of two to three percent… It’s a little unnerving for people who have their money in 401(k)’s or IRA’s or retirement funds to watch this magnitude of volatility.”

    Silver urged investors to remember that “a market falls into a correction, ten percent or more, once a year on average,” and that “usually the market reverts to the mean, and the mean is an average annual return of eight to ten percent a year going all the way back to the 1950s.”

    What to do if you’re a young or new investor

    For younger people just beginning to invest, declines in the stock market are an opportunity to add to your portfolio at cheaper prices, by buying in when the market is falling or has fallen a lot, according to Silver.

    “You’re reducing the average price you pay for the securities, stocks, mutual funds, or index funds that you own (when you buy in a down market),” he said. “So when the market itself reverts to the mean and rises again, you take advantage of having bought at cheaper prices, and that adds to the value of your portfolio.”

    In terms of selling, though, he said the best advice for most investors is to do nothing and wait for the volatility to cool down.

    What to do if you’re near retirement

    “Whenever you invest in stocks it’s important to be mindful of your time horizon,” said Alev. “For instance, do you expect you’ll need to liquidate in the near future? In that case, you’re likely better off opting for a less volatile and more risk-averse mode of growing your money, such as a high-yield savings account.”

    Silver agreed.

    “I don’t believe it when people say, ‘Don’t look at your 401(k),’” he said. “You should absolutely look and see what you own and see that it matches your risk appetite.”

    If it doesn’t, you can move your investments to products that can shield you from the ups and downs of the market or unforeseen events. Silver said that High Yield Savings Accounts, Certificates of Deposit, and money market accounts are all currently seeing returns of about 4% to 5% for the more cautious or conservative investor.

    Nationwide’s Hackett said it makes sense to periodically rebalance the exposure one has in their portfolio in general – whether quarterly or annually – to make sure there isn’t more risk than one would want related to, say, technology stocks or another sector.

    “If your exposures get out of line with your long-term plan, get them back in line,” he said. Even so, Hackett added that he sees the trend of tech stocks outperforming as one that may extend further into the future.

    What to do if you have debt

    Experts agree that, for investors with debt, it’s important to focus on paying off loans, especially high-interest ones, before making major investments. That said, “if you are able to simultaneously pay off your loans and invest a little bit at the same time, you are effectively paying your future self for being responsible about your debt while growing your investments over time,” Silver said.

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    The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.

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  • New York City’s freewheeling era of outdoor dining has come to end

    New York City’s freewheeling era of outdoor dining has come to end

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Outdoor tables saved thousands of New York City restaurants from ruin when they were forced to close their dining rooms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    But four years into an experiment that transformed New York’s streetscape — briefly giving it a sidewalk cafe scene as vibrant as Paris or Buenos Aires — the freewheeling era of outdoor dining has come to an end.

    Over the weekend, restaurants hit a deadline to choose between abiding by a strict set of regulations for their alfresco setups or dismantling them entirely — and thousands chose to tear down the plywood dining structures that sprouted on roadways in the pandemic’s early days.

    Fewer than 3,000 restaurants have applied for roadway or sidewalk seats under the new system, a fraction of the 13,000 establishments that participated in the temporary Open Restaurants program since 2020, according to city data.

    Mayor Eric Adams said the new guidelines address complaints that the sheds had become magnets for rats and disorder, while creating a straightforward application process that will expand access to permanent outdoor dining.

    But many restaurant owners say the rules will have the opposite effect, dooming a vestige of the pandemic that gave them unusual freedom to turn parking spaces into rent-free extensions of their dining rooms with minimal red-tape.

    “They’ve found a middle ground to do one thing while saying another thing,” said Patrick Cournot, the co-founder of Ruffian, a Manhattan wine bar. “They’ve managed us out, essentially.”

    Ramshackle plywood dining structures seemed to sprout from New York City’s streets almost overnight in the early days of the COVID pandemic.

    With its crowded sidewalks and traffic-choked streets, the city had never really been known previously for an outdoor dining scene. But with customers banned from congregating indoors for months, the city gave restaurants a green light to expand dining areas onto public sidewalks and roadways.

    Simple sheds for outdoor seating were soon replaced or expanded into more elaborate constructions, which have remained standing long after the days of social distancing and disinfected groceries. Restaurants added planters, twinkling lights, flowers and heating lamps so people could dine outdoors well into the cold weather. Other outside dining spaces appeared inside heated igloos, or with open fire places and under tiered rooftops.

    Now, these structures must conform to uniform design standards, with licensing and square footage fees that could total thousands of dollars a year, depending on size and location.

    But the most significant change, according to many restaurants, is a requirement that the roadside sheds be taken down between December and April each year.

    That’s a deal-breaker for Blend, a Latin Fusion restaurant in Queens that once won an Alfresco Award for its “exemplary” outdoor set-up.

    “I understand they want to keep it consistent and whatever else, but it’s just too much work to have to take it down every winter,” said manager Nicholas Hyde. “We’re not architects. We’re restaurant managers.”

    Blend’s 60 outdoor seats “kept us alive” during the pandemic and remained well-used with diners who “since COVID just want to be able to enjoy themselves outside,” Hyde said. But after looking over the application, they decided to remove the curbside structure, opting instead to apply for sidewalk seating that can remain year-round.

    Of the 2,592 restaurants that have applied for the new program, roughly half will forgo roadway set-ups in favor of sidewalk-only seating, according to the city.

    Karen Jackson, a teacher, was going to lunch indoors Tuesday at Gee Whiz diner in Tribeca, one of the restaurants that took its outdoor shed down ahead of the deadline.

    Jackson said she has mixed feelings, recalling how having coffee outside in a shed was one of the few entertainment options available early in the pandemic.

    “Some of them were really cute,” but others were unattractive and rat-infested, Jackson said.

    “Unfortunately I think the places with more money were able to build the cute sheds and the places that were struggling couldn’t,” she said.

    Andrew Riggie, the executive director of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, said the city should examine why so few eligible restaurants have applied, and consider how costly it will be to take down, store and rebuild the structures each year.

    Applications for roadway dining structures must also undergo a review from local community boards, where some of the fiercest debates over outdoor dining have played out. Opponents have complained that the sheds eliminate parking, contribute to excessive noise and attract vermin.

    On the Lower East Side, a row of sheds owned by a sushi counter, a coffee shop, a Mexican eatery and a Filipino restaurant stand side-by-side.

    Paola Martinez, a manager at Barrio Chino, the Mexican restaurant, acknowledged the trash headaches and neighborhood conflict — on one particularly busy night, an angry neighbor hurled glass at the structure from an upstairs window, she said. But her restaurant has applied to stay in the roadway.

    “It attracts a lot more people to the area,” she said. “It’s been great for business.”

    City officials say restaurants who missed the deadline are welcome to apply in the future, while those that haven’t will soon be fined $1,000 each day their set-ups remain.

    Watching contractors take a crowbar to his once-vibrant dining shed, Cournot described a sense of relief. He said the sheds had come to symbolize an incredibly challenging period when a coworker died from the virus and a drop in sales nearly ended his East Village wine bar.

    “When people say it’s the end of an era, I think it’s the end of a uniquely awful era for restaurants in New York,” Cournet said. “Like going through any kind of extended group trauma, the positives that we feel collectively are a little bit of a mirage.”

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  • Day passes at hotels and resorts offer downtime, relaxation on the cheap

    Day passes at hotels and resorts offer downtime, relaxation on the cheap

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    NEW YORK (AP) — As an independent business consultant, Jen Ford in Austin, Texas, is the master of her own schedule. Twice a month, she blocks out “me” time. In the sweltering summer, that means poolside at one of her hometown’s many hotels and resorts.

    Rather than check in, Ford relies on day passes, an increasingly popular option for locals and travelers alike in popular destinations around the U.S., the Caribbean and a range of other countries.

    She enjoys the experience so much she now books “daycations” with her two teenage daughters, out-of-town visitors and groups of friends.

    “It’s like being a tourist in my own city,” said the 46-year-old Ford.

    Vista Encantada Spa Resort & Residences in Cabo San Lucas. (ResortPass via AP)

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    A lazy river at Tidal Cove Waterpark in Miami. (ResortPass via AP)

    Spa amenities without the travel

    The pandemic saw the day pass industry leap to life at resorts, spas, water parks and hotels, from luxury to lower end, as more people craved a way to break the isolation monotony while trying to maintain social distance.

    The passes are a win-win-win. Locals soak up some rest time on the cheap, travelers don’t have to commit to an overnight stay, and properties make use of available spaces knowing day passers spend freely at restaurants and bars while on site for pool or spa time.

    Flyers with long layovers also use day passes to wait out the time, especially if they have young children who need naps. So do travelers with late flights who are forced to check out of their rooms at 11 a.m. or noon.

    This article is part of AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health. Read more Be Well.

    Among the more popular third-party bookers, ResortPass lists about 1,600 hotels and other properties in 27 countries, from the five-star Fairmont Grand Del Mar in San Diego to the trendy French Leave Resort on Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas.

    The bulk of the site’s users are locals, said CEO Michael Wolf. The company, which launched in 2016, has sent about 3 million people out on day passes, most in the last two years.

    “The hotel industry looks a lot at the airline industry and has seen that it has successfully monetized so many different parts of traveling,” Wolf said. “Hotel amenities are dramatically underutilized.”

    An economical way to recharge

    About 70% of the day passes ResortPass offers are under $65. In addition to locals, users include cruise ship guests and even cruise ship workers looking for some downtime while in port.

    Cole Stanbra, 39, is an ice skater who performs on cruise ships. He also has toured the U.S. with the Disney on Ice show.

    “I look for places where I can chill and not really have to worry about doing a vigorous hike or a lot of walking. I just want to relax on my days off,” he said.

    He’s turned many a fellow crew member on to day passes.

    Image

    The Pool Club at Virgin Hotels Dallas. (ResortPass via AP)

    Image

    The Omni Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Texas. (ResortPass via AP)

    Day passes cover pool time, spas and, sometimes, fitness centers. Add-ons for an additional cost might include a poolside day bed, a cabana or a day room. Some passes offer food and drink credits. Day passes may or may not include a guaranteed beach chair and parking.

    Travel experts suggest a good look at cancellation policies. ResortPass allows for cancellation with a full refund as late as midnight the night before.

    Other companies include DayPass, Daycation, Resort for a Day, which caters to cruise ship guests, and Swimply, which includes bookings at private pools by the hour.

    A day pass seeker can also simply call a property directly.

    A nice setting for remote work

    Aaron Sutherland curates bespoke luxury travel. He has also seen a surge in day pass use, including business travelers looking to work while experiencing swanky amenities, without the hefty cost of an overnight stay.

    “The work-from-home society has grown exponentially. Now, instead of just working from home, I can go to a gorgeous property and I can just set up there all day long and work from there,” Sutherland said.

    He urges users to touch base with the properties themselves just before heading out to make sure all promised amenities are available day of.

    “The pool may be under maintenance. There may be a private event at the beach. It’s always good to double check.”

    Day passes aren’t just for low-traffic periods like mid-week off-season, Wolf said. They can be booked six months to a year in advance at some hotels with no blackouts for holidays.

    “July Fourth was our busiest day in company history. We sent well over 20,000 people to hotels,” he said.

    For the properties, day passes go a long way in filling gaps, said Mary D’Argenis-Fernandez, president and founder of industry training and strategic consulting firm MDA Hospitality Solutions.

    “For example, the resort may be occupied by guests attending a conference. These guests will likely not spend time at the pool, beach or areas where the resort pass could be used,” she said.

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  • ‘David Makes Man’ actor Akili McDowell is charged with murder in man’s shooting in Houston

    ‘David Makes Man’ actor Akili McDowell is charged with murder in man’s shooting in Houston

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    HOUSTON (AP) — Actor Akili McDowell, who starred in the television series “David Makes Man” and had roles in “Billions” and “The Astronaut Wives Club,” has been charged with fatally shooting a man in the parking lot of a Houston apartment complex, authorities said.

    McDowell, 21, was charged last week with murder in the July 20 shooting death of Cesar Peralta, 20, the Harris County sheriff’s office said. McDowell remained in jail Monday on $400,000 bond on the murder charge. The attorney listed for him in court records did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

    “This is an unfortunate situation and I am in prayer for Akili and those impacted by this tragedy,” said his manager, Jonell Whitt, adding that she had no further comment.

    The sheriff’s office said deputies found an unresponsive man with gunshot wounds after responding to a call about a shooting at an apartment complex on July 20. The sheriff’s office said several witnesses told deputies the man had been in a physical altercation with another man, who fled on foot after the shooting.

    “David Makes Man,” which aired on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN, followed a teen named David, played by McDowell, who tried to juggle relationships between his magnet school friends and drug dealers in his impoverished South Florida neighborhood.

    According to the entertainment database IMDb, McDowell appeared in some episodes of “Billions” and “The Astronaut Wives Club,” and has a role in the recently released movie “The Waterboyz.”

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  • Pitbull Stadium is the new home of FIU football. The artist has bought the naming rights

    Pitbull Stadium is the new home of FIU football. The artist has bought the naming rights

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    Welcome to Pitbull Stadium, the home of your FIU Panthers.

    Florida International announced what could end up as a 10-year agreement on Tuesday with international recording artist, Grammy winner and entrepreneur Armando Christian Pérez — the Miami native better known as Pitbull — to put his name on their on-campus stadium.

    Pérez will pay $1.2 million annually for the next five years, the university said, for the naming rights. He will have an option in August 2029 to extend the deal for another five years and continue the rebranding.

    “Yes, we’re going to create history in Pitbull Stadium,” Pérez said during a news conference in Miami. “This isn’t just an announcement. This is a movement. This is truly history in the making.”

    FIU said it is the first agreement where an artist possesses the naming rights to a stadium. Pérez will also be involved with FIU’s efforts in the name, image and likeness space, athletic director Scott Carr said.

    “This is a historic day for FIU athletics to uniquely partner with a world-renowned artist and amazing person who truly values relationships and his community,” Carr said. “Armando’s financial support is program-changing, but him providing a microphone to amplify FIU will be even more beneficial to growing our brand.”

    As part of the deal, Pérez gets use of the stadium for 10 days each year rent-free, with some tickets to those events to be set aside for FIU students. A vodka brand he owns will be a preferred brand at the stadium going forward, he will receive use of two suites and 20 VIP parking passes for FIU football home games, and he’s being asked to create an “FIU Anthem” to be played at the school’s athletic contests.

    “It’s a true blessing, a true honor,” Pérez said. “Let’s make history.”

    Pitbull — who also goes by “Mr. 305,” a nod to Miami’s area code — kicked off his music career in the South Florida rap scene around 2004, eventually becoming one of the world’s most recognized artists.

    “Pitbull’s career trajectory mirrors FIU’s ascent as one of the nation’s top public research universities,” FIU President Kenneth A. Jessell said. “Like FIU, he started out very 305 and became worldwide.”

    Pérez has been a longtime proponent of supporting education in South Florida. FIU said he founded the first SLAM! (Sports Leadership, Arts, and Management) tuition-free public charter school in Miami in 2012.

    “This is about uniting everybody,” he said. “This is about bringing everybody together. … Hard work is what pays off. They tell me, ‘You so lucky.’ Well, the harder I work, the luckier I get.”

    ___

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    AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

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