A wooden skiff believed to have been ferrying migrants toward the U.S. capsized in stormy seas near San Diego, leaving at least four people dead and four hospitalized, the Coast Guard said Saturday.
The U.S. Border Patrol found the vessel in the surf off Imperial Beach late Friday night. Six people were found on the beach just before midnight, one of whom was pronounced dead and another who was rescued after being found under the boat.
About two hours later, authorities received a report of someone in the water near Imperial Beach Pier. A Coast Guard crew responded and found three people in the ocean, all dead.
The Coast Guard said Saturday that it was continuing to search for others who may have been on board.
Several of the survivors claimed Mexican nationality, while others remained unidentified, the agency said. One person was turned over to the Department of Homeland Security.
“Our crews and partner agencies responded immediately, but this case demonstrates the severe risks posed to aliens attempting to enter the United States by sea in unstable vessels,” said Coast Guard Capt. Robert Tucker, Sector San Diego commander.
A strong storm system hit Southern California over the weekend, prompting warnings of flash flooding and mudslides. The vessel was a panga — single- or twin-engine open fishing boat that is also commonly used by smugglers.
Migrants are increasingly turning to the risky alternative offered by smugglers to travel by sea to avoid heavily guarded land borders, including off California’s coast. Pangas leave Mexico in the dead of night and sometimes chart hundreds of miles (kilometers) north.
There have been several incidents in recent years of migrant vessels capsizing en route to California.
In May, at least three people died when a panga flipped off the coast about 35 miles (56 km) north of the U.S.-Mexico border.
In 2023, eight people were killed when two migrant smuggling boats approached a San Diego beach in heavy fog and one of them capsized in the surf. It was one of the deadliest maritime smuggling incidents in waters off the U.S. coast.
A federal judge sentenced a San Diego man to 18 years in prison in 2022 for piloting a small vessel overloaded with 32 migrants that smashed apart in powerful surf off the coast, killing three people and injuring more than two dozen.
Worldwide, nearly 9,000 people died last year attempting to cross borders, according to the U.N. agency for migration. The death toll set a record for the fifth year in a row.
The U.N. Missing Migrant Project puts the number of dead and missing in the central Mediterranean at over 24,506 between 2014 and 2024, many of them lost at sea. The project says the number may be greater as many deaths go unrecorded.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Shohei Ohtani likes winning Most Valuable Player awards. He loves winning the World Series even more.
The two-way Japanese star did both for a second season in a row for the Los Angeles Dodgers, earning his fourth career MVP on Thursday night while unanimously earning the National League honor. He’s just the second to win four MVPs after Barry Bonds with seven and the only player to win unanimously more than once.
Considering Ohtani is 31, overtaking Bonds doesn’t seem out of the question. Especially if it leads to more Fall Classic opportunities.
“If I’m playing well as an individual that means I’m helping the team win, so in that sense, hopefully I can end up with a couple more MVPs,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “But at the end of the day, it’s all about winning games.”
In the American League, Aaron Judge became the New York Yankees’ fourth three-time winner, edging Seattle’s Cal Raleigh with 17 first-place votes to 13 for the switch-hitting catcher. The vote was the closest for an MVP since the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout topped Houston’s Alex Bregman by 17-13 in 2019.
Judge, who won the AL award in 2022 and 2024, joined Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra and Mickey Mantle as three-time MVPs with the Yankees. The 33-year-old outfielder led the majors with a .331 batting average and 1.144 OPS while hitting 53 homers.
When asked about his place in MLB and Yankees lore, Judge acknowledged he’s in rare company.
“It’s tough for me to wrap my head around,” Judge said. “It’s mind blowing from my side of things, because I play this game to win, I play this game for my teammates, my family, all the fans in New York.”
Later he added: “You’ve got to pinch yourself every single day. It’s truly an incredible honor.”
Ohtani won a MVP for the third straight year, his second in the NL with the Dodgers after two in the AL with the Angels. He became the first to win in each league twice after getting the AL honor in 2021 and 2023. Ohtani signed with the crosstown Dodgers the following offseason and won NL MVP in 2024 during his first season in Chavez Ravine. He’s also won the World Series in both his seasons with the Dodgers.
Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber finished second in the NL with 23 second-place votes and New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto was third with four.
Ohtani hit .282 and led the NL with a 1.014 OPS. He also had 55 homers, 102 RBIs and 20 stolen bases.
The right-hander returned to pitching in June after missing 1 1/2 seasons on the mound because of an elbow injury. He struck out 62 batters over 47 innings, slowly increasing his workload while preparing for the postseason.
Ohtani continued to shine in October with arguably the greatest single game in MLB history. He hit three homers while striking out 10 over six dominant innings on Oct. 17, leading the Dodgers over Milwaukee to finish an NL Championship Series sweep.
Schwarber, who earned a $50,000 bonus for finishing second, hit an NL-best 56 homers and led the big leagues with 132 RBIs for Philadelphia.
Soto overcame a slow start to the season to have his typically stellar offensive output. The four-time All-Star — who signed a $765 million, 15-year deal last December — had 43 homers, 105 RBIs and an NL-best 38 stolen bases. He received a $150,000 bonus for finishing third in the MVP voting.
Judge is the first AL player to win back-to-back MVPs since Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera it in 2012 and 2013.
Raleigh, nicknamed “Big Dumper,” led the big leagues with 60 homers, the most for a player primarily a catcher. He started 119 games behind the plate and another 38 at designated hitter.
The 28-year-old also had a career-high 125 RBIs, leading the Mariners to one of their best seasons in franchise history. Judge said he got to know Raleigh a little during the All-Star break and the catcher asked for some leadership tips.
“Cal’s a special player,” Judge said. “I could sit here and talk all night about the player he is, but really the kind of leader and person he is really stuck out to me at the All-Star Game.”
Cleveland’s José Ramírez finished third in the AL.
Arizona’s Geraldo Perdomo was fourth in the NL voting, earning him $2.5 million annual salary increases in 2028 and 2029 along with the price of Arizona’s 2030 club option.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — An unusually strong storm system called an atmospheric river was dousing Southern California on Saturday, prompting flood warnings in areas of coastal Los Angeles County that recently were ravaged by wildfire.
The National Weather Service in Los Angles and Oxnard reported heavy rainfall Saturday at rates as heavy as an inch (2.5 centimeters) per hour in coastal areas that are prone to flash flooding.
On Friday, more than four inches of rain fell over coastal Santa Barbara County as the storm approached Los Angeles, as the National Weather Service urged people to stay indoors amid heavy winds.
The long plume of tropical moisture that formed over the Pacific Ocean began drenching the San Francisco Bay Area on Wednesday and unleashed widespread rain over Southern California on Friday and Saturday. More than a foot of snow was predicted for parts of the Sierra Nevada.
Flood warnings extended from the Ventura County coast, through Malibu and into the City of Los Angeles.
“Due to the potential for debris flows, an Evacuation Warning remains in effect within and around all recent burn scar areas, and select vulnerable properties remain under Evacuation Orders,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a Saturday-morning social media post on X.
Evacuation orders, which are mandatory, were issued for specific high-risk properties in the Palisades and Eaton fire burn areas from Friday evening to Sunday morning. Law enforcement personnel were going to select properties in those areas to urge people to leave, Bass indicated.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The U.S. military struck its 20th alleged drug-smuggling boat, a Pentagon official confirmed for CBS News. Meanwhile, Southern California battles severe storms and possible floods.
From professional sports to high school sports, the outpouring of admiration and love for the 66-year-old former Oakland football coach who was gunned down on Thursday at Laney College and died Friday has been non-stop.
Beam coached Skyline High to 15 Oakland Athletic League championships from the 1980s to the early 2000s, then had similar success at Laney College before retiring from the sidelines last year and moving into his role as athletic director.
Along the way, the coach went from Oakland icon to nationally known when Netflix featured Beam’s Laney College program in its “Last Chance U” series in 2020.
Here is a sampling of what the local sports community is saying about Beam:
Bob Ladouceur, former De La Salle High football coach, on X: “John was good for Skyline, good for Laney, good for teenagers/young men. For all who coach college and High School…he was one of the best. He dedicated his life to his profession of making men out of boys.”
Damian Lillard, who played at Oakland High before becoming an NBA star, on Instagram: “This man is a true Oakland (l)egend and a GREAT man. Gave me my first job at Laney football games… Hundred(s) of kids all over Oakland became the type of men they are today because of this dude and for someone from that exact world to randomly come and take his life just ain’t right… this ain’t the Oakland I grew up in. Sh** sad!”
Charlie Ramirez, Pittsburg High football coach: “It’s extremely devastating, and honestly, simultaneously horrific and every other thing you could explain it to be. It was terrible. He was a mentor to me just like he was to so many coaches in the Bay Area. We were at their seven-on-seven this year, he’s come to my coaches clinics, not to mention he recruited the heck out of our guys at Laney, got a lot of them to the next level. Even though we’re out here in Pittsburg, he had a lot of strong ties with our program and he’s going to be extremely, extremely missed.”
Greg Calcagno, St. Francis football coach: “My dad (Ron) knew him really well. St. Francis played Skyline for a long time. And my dad spoke super highly of John. I knew John. He married a St. Francis alum, so I’d see him at the reunions. Just a great quality person, and the number of people that he helped, it’s just so sad to hear the news of his passing. It puts everything in perspective. This is a football game, right? And I get to coach kids that I love and coach with people that I love and against people that I respect. But this is just a football game. We can still smile at the end, sort of. But yeah, just super sad. A lot of our guys, they work out up at Laney, and they know all those guys. And so it was a tough day for them.”
Los Gatos High Head Coach Mark Krail takes part in a moment of silence honoring Laney College coach John Beam, who was killed during a shooting on Laney College’s campus, before the start of their Central Coast Section Open Division I playoff football game against Saint Francis High in Los Gatos, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (Doug Duran/Bay Area News Group)
Mark Krail, Los Gatos football coach: “I never had the privilege (to meet him), but I certainly knew of him. And it broke my heart when we heard the news break, and then obviously the fact that he had passed was just awful. I mean, football in Oakland, his name is all over it, and it will be for a long, long time. It’s just a tragic, tragic loss for the city of Oakland, because there’s so many people that he helped their life go in the right direction. From what I understand, he was no-nonsense, and he would tell you how it was. A personality like that that is true to themselves, that’s full of integrity, that’s when guys rally around you and want to be a part of what you’re doing. And sometimes you get young kids, especially that have a tough upbringing, to see the light and see the right way of doing things. And he had 20 guys that were in the NFL, or something like that, I read. So that speaks to the success of him as a coach, but I think as a man, he was more highly regarded than that, just for his impact in the city of Oakland.”
Mike Cable, Liberty High football coach: “Coaching is so much more than X’s and O’s. It’s about the impact that you have in the lives of your players. It’s about the men that they grow up to be. He was the epitome of that.” Herc Pardi, former Pittsburg and Clayton Valley coach, in an email to Bay Area News Group: “UNBELIEVABLE!! My heart is crushed. What a tragedy. One of the more Dynamic coaches/teachers I ever met – period!! … Anytime I saw Coach down the road, we picked up right where we left off — FB chatter and some hearty laughs!! John was a CHANGE AGENT!! So sad.”
Oakland Ballers baseball team on X: “Our hearts are broken. Coach Beam was one of the first people to believe in the Oakland Ballers. He was part of our secret meetings, and he helped us make important connections within the Oakland community. As the Ballers grew, Coach Beam was a mentor, an advisor, an investor, and a friend of the team. We will miss him dearly, but his legacy and impact on the Oakland community will never be forgotten. Rest easy, Coach.”
Las Vegas Raiders on X: “The Raiders Family is tremendously saddened by the loss of John Beam, a coach, mentor, and friend to so many in Oakland and the entire Bay Area. John was an influential and guiding force both on and off the field for young athletes, and his decades of service will forever be woven into the fabric of football in the East Bay. The prayers of the entire Raider Nation are with John’s family, the Laney College community, and everyone else whose life he touched.”
Oakland Roots soccer team on X: “Today, our hearts are filled with tremendous sadness and grief at the passing of an Oakland icon, Coach John Beam. While his name was John Beam, everyone in Oakland knew him as Coach Beam – not only because he commanded deep respect, but because he was, and always will be, Oakland’s Coach. No one cared more about the past, present, and future of this great city and its youth.”
In the fall of 2023, Laney coach John Beam speaks with Oakland Section commissioner Franky Navarro before the Silver Bowl, the annual McClymonds vs Oakland Tech game and the Oakland Athletic League football championship game at McClymonds High School in Oakland. Beam was shot on Thursday and has died at the age of 66. (Joseph Dycus/Bay Area News Group) John Beam, Skyline head football coach, the All-ANG Coach of the Year Dec. 17, 2002. (D. Ross Cameron/ Tribune Archive)
[ad_2]
Darren Sabedra, Justice delos Santos, Christian Babcock
California will cancel 17,000 commercial driver’s licenses that had been issued to immigrants after officials said they extended beyond the date the drivers were allowed to work in the country — a violation of state law.
California requires driver’s licenses and work permits to have the same expiration dates, officials said. Notices were sent out on Nov. 6 to affected drivers warning their licenses would expire in 60 days.
The move comes amid an ongoing clash between the Trump administration and Gov. Gavin Newsom over California’s non-domiciled commercial driver’s licensing program. It also follows a nationwide audit of such programs after officials said a truck driver living in the U.S. illegally made a U-turn and caused a crash in Florida that killed three people.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg. My team will continue to force California to prove they have removed every illegal immigrant from behind the wheel of semi-trucks and school buses,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a written statement.
State officials, however, said the drivers were not “illegal immigrants” and that they were authorized to work in the country by the federal government.
“Once again, Sean ‘Road Rules’ Duffy fails to share the truth — spreading easily disproven falsehoods in a sad and desperate attempt to please his dear leader,” said Brandon Richards, a Newsom spokesman.
California is one of 19 states, in addition to Washington, D.C., that issues driving licenses to immigrants without legal status. Doing so allows people to work and travel safely, immigrant rights advocates argue.
But California — along with six other states, including Texas — came under scrutiny after an audit conducted by the Department of Transportation’s Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the agency responsible for preventing commercial motor vehicle-related deaths and injuries.
That audit found irregularities in the issuance of non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses.
Duffy said the audit found 25% of the licenses issued in California violated federal rules, including by extending well beyond an individual’s work permit end date.
In October, following the audit, Duffy withheld more than $40 million in transportation grants and claimed California was not only continuing to issue commercial driver’s licenses to immigrants living in the country illegally, but was also not enforcing new English language requirements for truckers.
Officials have refuted Duffy’s claims and said the state has complied with federal laws and regulations. California’s Department of Motor Vehicles said on its website that it was not issuing or renewing non-domiciled commercial driver’s licenses as of Sept. 29.
Proposed new federal rules that would include mandatory federal immigration status checks, limiting the duration of the license and limiting eligibility to certain immigration visas, were temporarily put on hold by a federal appeals court this week.
The ruling provided relief for thousands of immigrants who were at risk of losing their licenses.
PERRIS — Despite nine total interceptions it was still a one-point game in the end.
Agoura senior quarterback Gavin Gray was intercepted six times, but junior slotback George Hastings stepped up to finish the job as Agoura defeated Orange Vista 27-26 in overtime on Friday night in the CIF Southern Section Division 6 quarterfinals.
“I was just the right guy at the right time,” Hastings said. “I always knew we were going to rally and win this game.”
Hastings, who had six catches and three touchdowns last week in a first-round win over Summit, led the Chargers (10-2 overall) with 16 carries for 60 rushing yards and scored the game-tying touchdown in overtime before senior Luke Bussiere kicked the point-after attempt to win the game.
“We got down in the game in the second half and I think this team just wants it more,” Hastings said. “You could see everyone coming together to will us to this win.”
Senior quarterback Khalil Abdul-Aziz was just 9 for 22 with three interceptions and also fumbled twice in his final high school appearance as Orange Vista (9-3) lost for the first time since Week 1.
“We started the game off with fumble after fumble,” Orange Vista coach Shawn Fleming said. “Wet weather definitely affected our quarterback. It took a little bit away from our best player.”
Junior safety Devin Sandville returned two interceptions for touchdowns as Orange Vista battled back from a 17-6 deficit to take a 20-17 lead in the fourth quarter.
“We knew it was going to come down to the wire,” Fleming said. “Our defense played a great game to keep us in it.”
The Coyotes held that advantage until Bussiere kicked a 30-yard field goal to tie the game with less than 5 minutes remaining, and Bussiere even had a chance to win the game with a 37-yard field goal, but it was blocked as time expired in the fourth quarter.
“I feel more fortunate than I’ve ever felt,” Agoura coach Dustin Croik said. “I haven’t been a part of a game that has come down like that, and at the end we just dug it out and did what we needed to do.”
Orange Vista lost the coin flip to start overtime and took possession of the ball. Sophomore running back Bobby Greer (27 carries for 151 yards) got into the end zone in five plays for a 26-20 lead, but the PAT was blocked.
Hastings, who replaced Gray under center late in the fourth quarter, went around the left side for 20 yards in overtime to set up a game-tying 3-yard scoring plunge over the goal line.
“Everybody believes in (Hastings),” Croik said. “They call him ‘Captain America’, and for good reason. He’s the man. He rises to the occasion.”
Bussiere knocked through the ensuing PAT through the uprights to end the 3-hour, 47-minute game.
PITTSBURG — Second-seeded Pittsburg’s defense and special teams units shined on Friday night, hauling in two interceptions, recovering a forced fumble and snagging a loose ball during a kickoff en route to a commanding 42-18 victory over No. 7 Liberty in the first round of the North Coast Section Open/Division I playoffs.
Sophomore Isaiah Harrison impacted the game on both sides of the ball, recording an interception, recovering a fumble and reeling off a 23-yard touchdown run. Senior Truly Bell had an interception of his own as well.
On offense, senior Carlos Torres and sophomore Javale Jones each had a highlight-worthy touchdown pass. Torres lobbed an end zone fade to senior RJ Mosley Jr. for a one-handed snag while Jones found sophomore Kenneth Ward on a perfectly-thrown deep ball for a 62-yard score. Senior Siotame Finau had two rushing touchdowns as well.
Pittsburg’s Siotame Finau (22) celebrates scoring a touchdown against Liberty during the second quarter of the first round of the North Coast Section Open/Division I playoff game at Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
“The benefit of playing a team twice — and only a few weeks ago — is the scouting isn’t as involved,” said Pittsburg head coach Charlie Ramirez, whose team improved to 10-1. “We can really just focus on technique and our basic fundamentals, and it showed itself tonight. It’s telling the guys, ‘As long as we’re doing what we’re supposed to do, nothing else matters.’ And that’s what they stuck to.”
For Liberty (8-3), sophomore Jonathan Munoz had an interception of his own while senior running back Jaxon Bell. Junior quarterback Zander Barrows also had a pair of passing touchdowns in the game’s final minutes, one being to his brother, senior wide receiver Makoa Barros.
“I told the guys you’ve got to keep your head up high,” said Liberty head coach Mike Cable. “8-2 is a heck of a season. We deserved to be here, we deserve to play against any team. We didn’t play the best game tonight, but we had our opportunities. That’s the reality of this game: someone’s gotta win and someone’s gotta lose. Tonight just wasn’t our night.”
Pittsburg’s Pat Cassell (29) tackles Liberty’s Ben Hill (10) during the fourth quarter of the first round of the North Coast Section Open/Division I playoff game at Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. Pittsburg defeated Liberty 42-18. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
For all the postgame jubilation, Friday night’s began on a scary note.
On Liberty’s second play from scrimmage, a Pittsburg defender was knocked to the ground and required medical attention. As the player received medical attention from the team’s training staff, Pittsburg players gathered on the sidelines and collectively took a knee. An ambulance drove onto the field to retrieve the player, who had to be carted off on a stretcher.
“The biggest thing was seeing his arms and legs have strength (before he left),” Ramirez said. “I think that helped. We explained to them, ‘He’s doing good, this is out of precaution more than anything else.’ They gave the love and they felt the love, so I think that was the biggest part for them being able to transition after seeing him laying down for so long.”
Pittsburg quarterback Carlos Torres (19) throws a pass against Liberty during the first quarter of the first round of the North Coast Section Open/Division I playoff game at Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
Liberty opened up the scoring on its second possession with a field goal, but its offense received a fresh set of downs as Pittsburg committed a roughing the snapper penalty. The Lions then turned that second chance into six points as Jaxon Bell rushed for a five-yard touchdown out of the wildcat formation. The point-after attempt was blocked, but Liberty had a 6-0 lead.
Pittsburg’s offense struggled to find a rhythm over its next two possessions. On the Pirates’ second possession, the Lions’ Munoz reeled in an interception. On Pittsburg’s third possession, the offense punted the ball away.
With Pittsburg’s offense needing life, the defense proceeded to step up.
With roughly four minutes left in the first half, Harrison picked off Liberty at the Lions’ seven-yard line. On the very next play from scrimmage, Torres tossed up a fade to Mosley, who reeled in the catch with one hand for a touchdown. Pittsburg converted the point after attempt, and the Pirates had a 7-6 lead that they’d never lose.
Two plays later, the Pirates’ defense paved the way for another touchdown as Harrison recovered a fumble at Liberty’s 15-yard-line. Pittsburg quickly capitalized on the opportunity as Finau rushed for a three-yard score, upping Pittsburg’s lead to 14-6, which would be the score going into the break.
In the second half, Pittsburg turned more defense into offense. Bell hauled in an interception on Liberty’s first offensive possession of the second half, and Harrison subsequently rattled off a 23-yard run for a score. Pittsburg then recovered the ensuing kickoff at Liberty’s 23-yard line, and Finau extended the lead with a one-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 28-6.
The game already in hand, the Pirates continued padding their lead in the fourth quarter as Jones threw a perfect deep ball to Ward for a 62-yard touchdown. Zander Barros threw a pair of touchdowns for Liberty in the fourth, the Lions’ first points since the first quarter, but Pittsburg was well on its way to a victory — and a matchup against No. 1 De La Salle.
Liberty quarterback Pat McCree (7) throws under pressure by the Pittsburg defense during the third quarter of the first round of the North Coast Section Open/Division I playoff game at Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) Liberty head coach Mike Cable gestures to the officiating staff while playing Pittsburg during the first quarter of the first round of the North Coast Section Open/Division I playoff game at Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) Pittsburg head coach Charlie Ramirez yells at his players while playing Liberty during the second quarter of the first round of the North Coast Section Open/Division I playoff game at Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) Liberty quarterback Pat McCree (7) fumbles the ball against Pittsburg during the second quarter of the first round of the North Coast Section Open/Division I playoff game at Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) Pittsburg football players kneel during a moment of silence for former Laney football coach John Beam before the start of the first round of the North Coast Section Open/Division I playoff game at Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) Pittsburg’s Rolph Mosley Jr. (2) reaches for a one-handed touchdown catch over Liberty during the second quarter of the first round of the North Coast Section Open/Division I playoff game at Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 14, 2025. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from imposing a $1.2-billion fine on UCLA along with stipulations for deep campus changes in exchange for being eligible for federal grants.
The decision is a major win for universities that have struggled to resist President Trump’s attempt to discipline “very bad” universities that he claims have mistreated Jewish students, forcing them to pay exorbitant fines and agree to adhere to conservative standards.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The preliminary injunction, issued by U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin of the Northern District of California, rendered moot — for now — nearly every aspect of a more than 7,000-word settlement offer the federal government sent to the University of California in August after suspending $584 million in medical, science and energy research grants to the Los Angeles campus.
The government said it froze the funds after finding UCLA broke the law by using race as a factor in admissions, recognizing transgender people’s gender identities, and not taking antisemitism complaints seriously during pro-Palestinian protests in 2024 — claims that UC has denied.
The settlement proposal outlined extensive changes to push UCLA — and by extension all of UC — ideologically rightward by calling for an end to diversity-related scholarships, restrictions on foreign student enrollment, a declaration that transgender people do not exist, an end to gender-affirming healthcare for minors, the imposition of free speech limits and more.
“The administration and its executive agencies are engaged in a concerted campaign to purge ‘woke,’ ‘left,’ and ‘socialist’ viewpoints from our country’s leading universities,” Lin wrote in her opinion. “Agency officials, as well as the president and vice president, have repeatedly and publicly announced a playbook of initiating civil rights investigations of preeminent universities to justify cutting off federal funding, with the goal of bringing universities to their knees and forcing them to change their ideological tune. Universities are then presented with agreements to restore federal funding under which they must change what they teach, restrict student anonymity in protests, and endorse the administration’s view of gender, among other things. Defendants submit nothing to refute this.”
“It is undisputed,” Lin added, “that this precise playbook is now being executed at the University of California.”
Universities including Columbia, Brown and Cornell agreed to pay the government hundreds of millions to atone for alleged violations similar to the ones facing UCLA. The University of Pennsylvania and University of Virginia also reached agreements with the Trump administration that were focused, respectively, on ending recognition of transgender people and halting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
Friday’s decision, for the time being, spares the UC system from proceeding with negotiations that it reluctantly entered with the federal government to avoid further grant cuts and restrictions across the system, which receives $17.5 billion in federal funding each year. UC President James B. Milliken has said that the $1.2-billion fine would “completely devastate” UC and that the system, under fire from the Trump administration, faces “one of the gravest threats in UC’s 157-year history.”
This is not the first time a judge rebuked the Trump administration for its higher education campaign. Massachusetts-based U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in September ordered the government to reverse billions in cuts to Harvard. But that case did not wade directly into settlement negotiations.
Those talks with UC have proceeded slowly. In a court hearing last week, a Department of Justice lawyer said “there’s no evidence that any type of deal with the United States is going to be happening in the immediate future.” The lawyer argued that the settlement offer was only an idea that had not received UC approval.
Because of that, he said, a lawsuit was inappropriate. Lin disagreed.
“Plaintiffs’ harm is already very real. With every day that passes, UCLA continues to be denied the chance to win new grants, ratcheting up defendants’ pressure campaign,” she wrote. “And numerous UC faculty and staff have submitted declarations describing how defendants’ actions have already chilled speech throughout the UC system.”
The case was brought by more a dozen faculty and staff unions and associations from across UC’s 10 campuses, who said the federal government was violating their 1st Amendment rights and constitutional right to due process. UC, which has avoided directly challenging the government in court, was not party to the suit.
“This is not only a historic lawsuit — brought by every labor union and faculty union in the UC — but also an incredible win,” said Veena Dubal, a UC Irvine law professor and general counsel for one of the plaintiffs, the American Assn. of University Professors, which has members across UC campuses.
Dubal called the decision “a turning point in the fight to save free speech and research in the finest public school system in the world.”
Asked about Friday’s outcome, a spokesperson said UC “remains focused on our vital work to drive innovation, advance medical breakthroughs and strengthen the nation’s long-term competitiveness. UC remains committed to protecting the mission, governance, and academic freedom of the university.”
Zoé Hamstead, chair of external relations and legal affairs for the Council of UC Faculty Assns., said she was “thrilled that the court has affirmed our First Amendment rights.”
The organization is an umbrella group of faculty associations across UC campuses that sued.
Hamstead, an associate professor of city and regional planning at UC Berkeley, said she was “deeply proud to be part of a coalition that represents the teachers, researchers, and workers of the University of California who are challenging rising authoritarianism in federal court.”
Anna Markowitz, an associate professor in UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies and president of the Los Angeles campus faculty association, said her chapter was “extremely pleased with this decision, which will put a pause on the current federal overreach at UC.”
“UCLA faculty are honored to stand with this coalition, which continues to show that when faced with an administration targeting the very heart of higher education, fighting back is the only option,” Markowitz said.
Lin’s injunction is not the final say on the case, which will proceed through the legal process as she determines whether a permanent injunction is warranted. The government also could appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals as it has done for other cases, including one filed by UC researchers that restored funding from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation among other agencies.
An appeals court hearing in that case was held Friday; a decision is pending.
The Trump administration cannot immediately cut federal funding to the University of California or issue fines against the school system over claims it allows antisemitism or other forms of discrimination, a federal judge ruled late Friday in a sharply worded decision.
U.S. District Judge Rita Lin in San Francisco granted a preliminary injunction sought by labor unions and other groups representing UC faculty, students and employees. She said they had provided “overwhelming evidence” that the Trump administration was “engaged in a concerted campaign to purge ‘woke,’ ‘left,’ and ‘socialist’ viewpoints from our country’s leading universities.”
“Agency officials, as well as the President and Vice President, have repeatedly and publicly announced a playbook of initiating civil rights investigations of preeminent universities to justify cutting off federal funding, with the goal of bringing universities to their knees and forcing them to change their ideological tune,” she said.
She added, “It is undisputed that this precise playbook is now being executed at the University of California.”
Messages sent to the White House and the U.S. Department of Justice after hours Friday were not immediately returned.
President Donald Trump has decried elite colleges as overrun by liberalism and antisemitism.
His administration has launched investigations of dozens of universities, claiming they have failed to end the use of racial preferences in violation of civil rights law. The Republican administration says diversity, equity and inclusion efforts discriminate against white and Asian American students.
The University of California is facing a series of civil rights investigations, according to Lin’s ruling.
In one case, the Trump administration over the summer demanded the University of California, Los Angeles pay $1.2 billion to restore frozen research funding and ensure eligibility for future funding after accusing the school of allowing antisemitism on campus. UCLA was the first public university to be targeted by the administration over allegations of civil rights violations.
It has also frozen or paused federal funding over similar claims against private colleges, including Columbia University.
UC is in settlement talks with the administration and is not a party to the lawsuit before Lin, who was nominated to the bench by President Joe Biden, a Democrat. An email to the school system after hours on Friday was not immediately returned.
University of California President James B. Milliken has said the size of the UCLA fine would devastate the UC system, whose campuses are viewed as some of the top public colleges in the nation.
The administration has demanded UCLA comply with its views on gender identity and establish a process to make sure foreign students are not admitted if they are likely to engage in anti-American, anti-Western or antisemitic “disruptions or harassment,” among other requirements outlined in a settlement proposal made public in October.
The administration has previously struck deals with Brown University for $50 million and Columbia University for $221 million.
Lin cited declarations by UC faculty and staff that the administration’s moves were prompting them to stop teaching or researching topics they were “afraid were too ‘left’ or ‘woke.’”
“The undisputed record demonstrates that Defendants have engaged in coercive and retaliatory conduct in violation of the First Amendment and Tenth Amendment,” she wrote.
Lin’s injunction bars the administration from cancelling funding to the University of California based on alleged discrimination without giving notice to affected faculty and conducting a hearing, among other requirements.
SAN ANTONIO – Wearing a white shirt emblazoned with ‘John Beam’ and a black heart on the front, Warriors coach Steve Kerr began his pregame press conference in San Antonio Friday night by sharing his thoughts on the late football coach and Oakland icon.
Beam coached in the East Bay for 40 years, first at Skyline High School and then at Laney College, before retiring from coaching in 2024 and becoming Laney’s athletic director. He was shot in the head at the college’s athletic fieldhouse on Thursday, and was pronounced dead on Friday morning.
“It’s a really difficult time for people in Oakland right now,” Kerr said. “Coach Beam was a legend … a sad day, sad day for the Bay Area, and a sad day for coach Beam’s family.”
The longtime coach was beloved by members from every corner of the Oakland community, and later became a nationally-recognized figure for his role in Netflix’s “Last Chance U” documentary that featured Beam’s Eagles.
Kerr then made a heartfelt plea to address gun violence in the city that the Warriors played in until 2019.
“Everybody knows he’s a revered figure in Oakland, who did so much for so many people,” Kerr said. “On behalf of the Warriors, I want to extend our condolences, and remind everybody we have to be the change, as a community, as citizens, we have to be the ones who insist that we address gun violence issues.”
Kerr said that he did not “know him personally,” but that the two had many mutual friends.
Kuminga status
Jonathan Kuminga will not play against San Antonio as he battles knee soreness that kept him out of the second half of Wednesday’s victory.
Kuminga is averaging 13.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game while starting 12 times before coming off the bench in the last game.
“Hopefully over the next couple of days as he visits with our training staff every day, they’ll get him on track soon,” Kerr said. “But just day to day (for now).”
NEW YORK (AP) — As workers face frozen salaries, inflation and fear of layoffs, some have decided to branch out from their traditional careers. They’re taking on side jobs to bring in additional income and provide a backup plan should they find themselves out of work, or adding second, third and sometimes fourth jobs — what some call “polyworking” — to the mix.
Take Katelyn Cusick, 29. She beautifies displays as a visual merchandiser for Patagonia at her full-time job. Then she works a side gig managing social media influencers for a German shoe brand for 10 to 15 hours per week. She also has an Etsy shop where she sells paintings. If that wasn’t enough, she ushers at concerts in the San Francisco Bay Area — a way to see live shows for free.
“Every day is different and every day feels like a new day,” Cusick said. “That is ultimately why I started doing all these side hustles, just because I wanted to switch it up. I don’t want to just do the same thing every day.”
Some are drawn to side jobs because of instability in their workplace, or the perception that they may lose their income. Still others, reluctant to trust one employer to provide a steady job that lasts, are supplementing their main roles with gig work on apps such as Uber and Grubhub.
This article is part of AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health. Read more Be Well.
“We have seen stagnant salaries, we’ve seen inflation, we’ve seen the cost of living overall increasing, even beyond our inflation measures,” said Alexandrea Ravenelle, sociologist and gig economy researcher at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “So people are looking for ways to supplement and to build themselves a little bit of a safety net.”
Some are creating “portfolio careers” where they work a variety of jobs, each building different valuable skills. In Cusick’s case, side work keeps her social media marketing skills current.
“Rather than having one job that you can have for many, many years and thinking about your career progression as a linear pathway, some people are putting together multiple side hustles based on their skills and interests and making the money work by having multiple revenue streams,” said Elaine Chen, director of the Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts University.
Career experts and those with side jobs share tips on how to get started and what to avoid if you’re considering branching out from your 9-to-5.
Follow a passion
If you’re embarking on a side business on top of a full-time job, consider picking something you’re naturally interested in, since you’ll spend a lot of free time on the venture.
“You have to love it,” Chen said. “Usually it is something that the person is really passionate about.”
For Josie White, 31, that passion was mental health. After struggling with schizoaffective disorder and finding effective treatment, she wanted to help others who have mental health challenges feel less alone.
While working full-time as a fundraiser for Shelter the Homeless, a nonprofit organization in Salt Lake City, White decided to pursue public speaking on the side and began looking for opportunities to address groups and conferences where she could share her own experiences with mental illness “to reassure people that there is hope and a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Be realistic about money
Launching a side hustle may require initial investment, and it can take a considerable amount of time before it generates income.
When White started her side business, she began by offering her speaking services as an unpaid volunteer. She landed some gigs training nonprofit staff and speaking about fundraising, which wasn’t her original goal, but those opportunities helped her gain experience.
Over the past year she’s booked 10 speaking engagements, and four of those will be paid, she said. She’s taken the money she earned so far and re-invested it into developing her public speaking skills.
“The goal is ultimately to get paid, but right now I’m putting in the legwork to reach that,” White said. “It’s starting to snowball.”
Know the risks of gig work
Some side jobs, such as gig work delivering groceries or driving passengers, may generate income right away.
Tom Ritter of Syracuse, New York, was supplementing his income as a workforce management specialist at a nonprofit by making deliveries for Instacart and Spark, Walmart’s delivery platform, on top of his full-time job. The side work helped him pay his bills, especially when he recently lost his day job.
“For me, even that extra couple hundred dollars a month went a long way, and it still does,” Ritter, 39, said.
Ravenelle cautioned against relying too heavily on gig work for income. It can be hard to transition back to full-time, permanent jobs, where workers typically wait two weeks or more for a first paycheck, and gig work carries a stigma among some employers, she said.
Plus, if gig workers are earning good wages, the platforms will typically change the algorithms so they earn less money, Ravenelle said. “The house always wins when it comes to the gig platforms,” she said.
Be skeptical
Once people are looking for side jobs, they should be cautious if an opportunity found online seems too good to be true. Some online influencers promote business ideas that are more akin to scams.
In Ravanelle’s research she’s spoken with people who saw online videos about making money selling microgreens.
“They thought they could make thousands of dollars a month, working from home, growing microgreens in their kitchen, and then selling them to high-end restaurants,” Ravenelle said. “No. The person who sells you the grow lights and gives you the classes is the person who’s making the money.”
Finding the time
Starting a second job or career can dig into personal time, reducing opportunities to exercise or be with family and friends.
White works Monday through Thursday at Shelter the Homeless, clocking 40 to 45 hours per week. With Fridays off, she spends that day practicing speaking skills or generating new business.
“I wouldn’t describe my life as balanced,” she said. “But am I enjoying it? Yes. And I think that matters.”
___
Share your stories and questions about workplace wellness at [email protected]. Follow AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health at https://apnews.com/hub/be-well
An atmospheric river sweeping California is bringing some rain to the southern part of the state, with more than 20 million people under flood watch advisories. CBS News reporter Andres Gutierrez has more from Los Angeles.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups urged the Supreme Court on Friday to block new California laws that will require thousands of companies to disclose their emissions and their impacts on climate change.
Their lawyers argue the measures violate the 1st Amendment because the state would be forcing companies to speak on its preferred topic.
“In less than eight weeks, California will compel thousands of companies across the nation to speak on the deeply controversial topic of climate change,” they said in an appeal that also spoke for the California Chamber of Commerce and the Los Angeles County Business Federation.
They say the two new laws would require companies to disclose the “climate-related risks” they foresee and how their operations and emissions contribute to climate change.
“Both laws are part of California’s open campaign to force companies into the public debate on climate issues and pressure them to alter their behavior,” they said. Their aim, according to their sponsors, is to “make sure that the public actually knows who’s green and who isn’t.”
One law, Senate Bill 261, will require several thousand companies that do business in California to assess their “climate-related financial risk” and how they may reduce that risk. A second measure, SB 253, which applies to larger companies, requires them to assess and disclose their emissions and how their operations could affect the climate.
The appeal argues these laws amount to unconstitutional compelled speech.
“No state may violate 1st Amendment rights to set climate policy for the Nation. Compelled-speech laws are presumptively unconstitutional — especially where, as here, they dictate a value-laden script on a controversial subject such as climate change,” they argue.
Officials with the California Air Resources Board, whose chair Lauren Sanchez was named as defendant, said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
The first-in-the-nation carbon disclosure laws were widely celebrated by environmental advocates at the time of their passage, with the nonprofit California Environmental Voters describing them as a “game-changer not just for our state but for the entire world.”
Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who authored SB 253, said at the time that the laws were “a simple but powerful tool in the fight to tackle climate change.”
“When corporations are transparent about the full scope of their emissions, they have the tools and incentives to tackle them,” Wiener said.
Michael Gerrard, a climate-change legal expert at Columbia University, described Friday’s motion as “the latest example of businesses and conservatives weaponizing the 1st Amendment.” He pointed to the Citizens United case, which said businesses have a free speech right to unlimited campaign contributions, as another example.
“Exxon tried and failed to use this argument in 2022 when it attempted to block an investigation by the Massachusetts Attorney General into whether it misled consumers and investors about the risks of climate change,” he said in an email. “Exxon claimed this investigation violated its First Amendment rights; the Massachusetts courts rejected this attempt.”
Under the Biden administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted similar climate-change disclosure rules. Companies would have been required to disclose the impact of climate change on their business and what they intended to do to mitigate the risk.
But the Chamber of Commerce sued and won a lower court ruling that blocked those rules.
And in March, Trump appointees said the SEC would retreat and not defend the “costly and unnecessarily intrusive climate-change disclosure rules.”
The emergency appeal challenging California’s disclosure laws was filed by Washington attorney Eugene Scalia, a son of the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
The companies have tried and failed to persuade judges in California to block the measures. Exxon Mobil filed a suit in Sacramento, while the Chamber of Commerce sued in Los Angeles.
In August, U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II in Los Angeles refused to block the laws on the grounds they “regulate commercial speech,” which gets less protection under the 1st Amendment. He said businesses are routinely required to disclose financial data and factual information on their operations.
The business lawyers said they had appealed to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals asking for an injunction, but no action has been taken.
Shortly after the chamber’s appeal was filed, state attorneys for Iowa and 24 other Republican-leaning states joined in support. They said they “strongly oppose this radical green speech mandate that California seeks to impose on companies.”
The justices are likely to ask for a response next week from California’s state attorneys before acting on the appeal.
Savage reported from Washington, D.C., Smith from Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — An unusually strong storm system called an atmospheric river was dousing Southern California on Friday and was expected to continue dumping heavy rain over the region for days as forecasters warned of rockslides and debris flows especially in the Los Angeles areas that were ravaged by wildfires earlier this year.
More than four inches of rain fell over coastal Santa Barbara County early Friday as the storm moved south toward Los Angeles, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters also warned of damaging winds and possibly even a tornado could form as they urged people to stay indoors.
While not usually associated with California, a tornado briefly touched down in a Los Angeles suburb during a storm in 2023, ripping roofs off a line of commercial buildings and injuring one person. A smaller one also hit a mobile home park in the Santa Barbara County city of Carpinteria, damaging about 25 residences.
The long plume of tropical moisture that formed over the Pacific Ocean began drenching the San Francisco Bay Area on Wednesday and was expected to unleash widespread rain over Southern California through Sunday with the heaviest amounts on Friday and Saturday nights. More than a foot of snow was predicted for parts of the Sierra Nevada.
Evacuation warnings were in effect for parts of Ventura County and areas that burned in and around Los Angeles in January. Evacuation orders, which are mandatory, were issued for specific high-risk properties in the Palisades and Eaton fire burn areas from Friday evening to Sunday morning. Law enforcement were going door-to-door in those areas to urge people to leave, the county said.
The heaviest rain could dump as much as an inch an hour over a large portion of the region.
“The period of most concern is tonight through Saturday Night,” the National Weather Service said. “During this time, folks should be prepared for ample traffic incidents, delays, and a few road closures. This includes a few flooded roads, freeway lanes, and on-ramps and offramps.”
While major effects of the storm have not yet been seen, a large downed tree smashed a car in an LA neighborhood Friday morning, local news outlets reported. No injuries were reported.
Canyon roads, especially the most vulnerable ones like Topanga Canyon, will likely see mudslide and rockslides, and other neighborhoods ravaged by the wildfires in the Los Angeles area earlier this year should be on high alert, according to the weather service.
More wet weather is expected early next week with another storm bringing light to moderate rain, offering only a brief break from the dousing. And yet another storm is predicted to follow that days later.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A powerful storm is pummeling California, bringing heavy rains that could help to counter the high winds fueling a fast-growing wildfire in the Sierra Nevada mountains, but they could also unleash dangerous flooding and landslides further south, where previous fires have stripped vegetation.
There were apocalyptic scenes overnight as the Pack Fire, burning near the popular Mammoth Mountain ski resort in Mono County damaged at least 15 homes.
Mandatory evacuation orders were in effect for at least two communities threatened by the Pack Fire in Mono County, which, according to the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, was zero percent contained and burning across 3,400 acres on Friday morning.
This image released by the Mammoth Lakes Police Department shows the Pack Fire burning on Nov. 13, 2025, in Mono County, Calif.
Mammoth Lakes Police Department via AP
Many more areas were under evacuation warnings, meaning people who required more time to escape were advised to do so immediately.
The Pack Fire exploded late Thursday night in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains, destroying more than a dozen homes as it spread quickly thanks to high winds from an atmospheric river. Conditions were so bad that crews grounded all firefighting aircraft overnight.
Heavy rainfall coming in with the storm off the Pacific could help crews gain control over the blaze on Friday, and scientists say the moisture laden storm could even bring an end to California’s fire season, but in the south of the state, many residents were concerned about potential mudslides in burn scar areas.
Some 23 million people were under flood watches across California on Friday morning.
Cars drive through floodwaters on the Highway 880 northbound connecting ramp to Highway 24 in Oakland, California, Nov. 13, 2025.
Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle/Getty
Officials are worried that hillsides charred by the devastating wildfires in Southern California early this year, left with no foliage to hold soil in place, could give way under significant rainfall.
The weather system pushed through some parts of California on Thursday, flooding roads and downing trees.
“It’s basically like a river,” Sierra Madre resident Gary Kelly said of the deluge. “Just pouring down when it’s like an inch in an hour.”
Kelly lives in the Eaton Fire burn scar area near Pasadena. His neighborhood has been put on notice for a heavy risk of flash flooding, so he was busy on Thursday preparing for the worst.
Thousands of burned homes lie in ruins as a powerful atmospheric river storm breaks, in a Feb. 14, 2025, file photo taken in Altadena, California, in the Eaton fire burn scar area.
Getty
For Kelly and others in the community, the scenes of devastation from flooding and landslides unleashed by storms in February, right after the wildfires, are still fresh on the mind.
“Anytime you have fire that’s spread through the hills, and then you have rain, a lot of that mud will come down, so that’s what I think everyone’s worried about,” he said.
This storm could deliver the Los Angeles area its wettest November in 40 years. Officials in the county have encouraged people to map out evacuation routes in the most vulnerable areas, including Malibu, where there could be intense mud flows and flooding.
Flight reductions at 40 major U.S. airports will remain at 6% instead of rising to 10% by the end of the week because more air traffic controllers are coming to work, officials said Wednesday.
The flight cuts were implemented last week as more air traffic controllers were calling out of work, citing stress and the need to take on second jobs — leaving more control towers and facilities short-staffed. Air traffic controllers missed two paychecks during the impasse.
The Department of Transportation said the flight reduction decision was made on recommendations from the Federal Aviation Administration’s safety team, after a “rapid decline” in controller callouts.
The 6% limit will stay in place while officials assess whether the air traffic system can safely return to normal operations, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said, although he did not provide a timeline Wednesday.
“If the FAA safety team determines the trend lines are moving in the right direction, we’ll put forward a path to resume normal operations,” Duffy said in a statement.
Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said Wednesday that safety remains their top priority and that all decisions will be guided by data.
Stay up to date with the news and the best of AP by following our WhatsApp channel.
Delta struck an optimistic note about how much longer flight reductions would continue, saying in a statement the airline looked forward to bringing its “operation back to full capacity over the next few days.”
Since the restrictions took effect last Friday, more than 10,100 flights have been canceled, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware. The FAA originally planned to ramp up flight cuts from 4% to 10% at the 40 airports.
The FAA said that worrisome safety data showed flight reductions were needed to ease pressure on the aviation system and help manage worsening staffing shortages at its air traffic control facilities as flight disruptions began to pile up.
Duffy has declined to share the specific safety data that prompted the flight cuts. But at a news conference Tuesday at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, he cited reports of planes getting too close in the air, more runway incursions and pilot concerns about controllers’ responses.
The FAA’s list of 40 airports spans more than two dozen states and includes large hubs such as New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Chicago. The order requires all commercial airlines to make cuts at those airports.
Airlines for America, the trade group of U.S. airlines, posted on social media that it was grateful for the funding bill. It said reopening the government would allow U.S. airlines to restore operations ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday which is in about two weeks.
How long it will take for the aviation system to stabilize is unclear. The flight restrictions upended airline operations in just a matter of days. Many planes were rerouted and aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Airlines for America said earlier Wednesday that there would be residual effects for days.
Eric Chaffee, a Case Western Reserve professor who studies risk management, says airlines face complex hurdles, including rebuilding flight schedules that were planned months in advance.
Airline and hotel trade groups had earlier Wednesday urged the House to act quickly to end the shutdown, warning of potential holiday travel chaos.
Flight cuts disrupted other flights and crews, leading to more cancelations than the FAA required at first. The impact was worsened by unexpected controller shortages over the weekend and severe weather.
The CEO of the U.S. Travel Association said essential federal workers like air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration workers must be paid if “Congress ever goes down this foolish path again” and there is a shutdown.
“America cannot afford another self-inflicted crisis that threatens the systems millions rely on every day,” Geoff Freeman said in a statement.
_____
Associated Press writer Audrey McAvoy contributed to this report.
NEW YORK (AP) — The White House says it is considering backing a 50-year mortgage to help alleviate the home affordability crisis in the country. But the announcement drew immediate criticism from policymakers, social media and economists, who said a 50-year mortgage would do little to resolve other core problems in the housing market, such as a lack of supply and high interest rates.
Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said on X over the weekend that a 50-year mortgage would be “a complete game changer” for homebuyers. FHFA is the part of the federal government that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which buy and insure the vast majority of mortgages in the country.
The 30-year mortgage is a uniquely American financial product and the default way to buy a home since the New Deal. Politicians and policymakers at the time wanted to create a standardized mortgage that borrowers could afford and pay off during their working years, when the average lifespan for an American was 66 years old.
Lower payment
Extending the life of a mortgage to 50 years does decrease a borrower’s monthly payment.
The average selling price of a home in the U.S. was $415,200 in September, according to National Association of Realtors. Assuming a standard 10% down payment and an average interest rate of 6.17%, the monthly payment on a 30-year mortgage would be $2,288 while the payment on a 50-year mortgage would be $2,022. That’s presuming a bank would not require a higher interest rate on a 50-year mortgage, due to the longer duration of the loan.
But significantly higher interest
Because even more of the monthly payment on a 50-year mortgage would go toward interest on the loan, it would take 30 years before a borrower would accumulate $100,000 in equity, not including home price appreciation and the down payment. That’s compared to 12-13 years to accumulate $100,000 in equity when paying off a 30-year mortgage, excluding the down payment.
A borrower would pay, roughly, an additional $389,000 in interest over the life of a 50-year mortgage compared to a 30-year mortgage, according to an AP analysis.
Other analysts came to a similar conclusion.
“Extending a mortgage from 30 years to 50 years could double the (dollar) amount of interest paid by the homebuyer on a median priced home over the life of the loan and significantly slow equity accumulation,” wrote John Lovallo with UBS Securities.
Broader housing issues
A 50-year mortgage does nothing to solve one critical issue when it comes to housing affordability — the lack of supply of homes. States like California and cities like New York have recently passed legislation or made regulatory changes to allow builders to build homes faster with less regulatory red tape.
There’s also the raw cost of homebuilding in the country. Products such as steel, lumber, concrete, copper and plastics that go into home construction are now subject to tariffs under President Trump. Further, many construction jobs were being done by undocumented workers, particularly in the Southwest, where deportations are impacting the ability for homebuilders to find enough labor to build homes.
“Many of the big things that would address supply right now are going in the wrong direction,” said Mike Konczal, senior director of policy and research at the Economic Security Project.”
Pulte said on X that the introduction of a 50-year mortgage was just a “potential weapon,” among other solutions the White House has considered to combat high housing prices.
Americans don’t live long enough
The average age of a first-time homebuyer has been creeping up for years and is now roughly 40 years of age. A 50-year mortgage would be difficult to underwrite for a bank for a 40-year-old first-time homebuyer, who would be 90 years old by the time that home is paid off. The average life expectancy of an American is now roughly 79 years, meaning there’s 11 years of life expectancy not covered in a 50-year loan.
“It’s typically not a goal of policymakers to pass on mortgage debt to a borrowers’ children,” Konczal said.
Others have tried longer loans
Other parts of the financial system have extended loan terms, to mixed results. The seven-year auto loan has become increasingly common as car prices have risen and Americans keep their cars longer. Despite longer loan terms, auto loan delinquencies have been rising, and the average price of a new car is now $49,740 compared to a price of $38,948 for a new vehicle five years ago.
Student loans were originally designed to be paid off in 10 years, and now there are multiple payment options that extend repayment out to 20 years.
Economists pointed out that a 50-year mortgage may do the opposite of helping with home affordability by causing home price inflation by introducing more potential buyers into a market struggling with supply.
Trump downplays idea
After significant criticism, President Trump seemed less enthused about the 50-year mortgage. When asked by Laura Ingraham of Fox News about the idea, President Trump said it “might help a little bit” but seemed to brush it off.
Under the Dodd-Frank Act, the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac cannot insure a mortgage that is longer than 30 years, so any 50-year mortgage would be considered a “non-qualifying mortgage” and would be more difficult to sell to investors. Congress would have to amend U.S. financial laws in multiple places to allow for 50-year mortgages, and there seems to be little appetite for Congress to take this on immediately.
MORGAN HILL — A dozen illicit massage parlors were shuttered in Morgan Hill for allegedly providing sexual services, authorities said Thursday.
The 12 businesses were shut down by police during an 18-month operation, according to the Morgan Hill Police Department. The parlors either had their permits revoked or were denied permits after the city changed its municipal code to tighten requirements.
Some of the businesses were found to be advertising sexual services online or caught by investigators providing sex, authorities said. Others had contraception in the rooms, lied in the permit application process or were otherwise generally promoted as a place for illegal sexual activity. Police found that the alleged sexual activity occurred both after-hours and during regular business hours.
The businesses that were shut down include A&M Health Center, Angel Beauty Spa, Body Care Foot Spa, Body Care Massage, Elegant Foot Spa, Flower Day Spa, Laura Health Center, Lucky Spa, Morgan Hill Spa, New Times Massage, September Day Spa and TWNS Spa.
Police also made multiple arrests of people on suspicion off pimping, pandering, supervising prostitution activities and soliciting prostitution, authorities said.
In 2023, Morgan Hill saw an “unprecedented” increase in applications for massage business permits after similar businesses were closed across the Bay Area, officials said. The city partnered with reputable massages businesses, law enforcement, the California Massage Therapy Council and the Santa Clara County Illicit Massage Business Coalition to update the city’s municipal codes to “balance the needs of legitimate businesses with the safety of our community.”
Administrative Sgt. Christopher Woodrow said in a press release that the process of investigating illicit massage businesses is “time consuming” and “often frustrating.”
“We took a multidisciplinary approach which included developing profiles from permit applications, communicating with other agencies and working on tips from community members,” Woodrow said. “Resources were often declined and there were no victims of human trafficking willing to provide testimony against their suspected traffickers which meant our team had to work even harder to ensure our decisions were not overturned on appeal.”
Capt. Mario Ramirez said in the press release that some of the shuttered businesses left the city after their licenses were revoked, but others hired attorneys to appeal the decision.
“The hard work and dedication of our team ultimately prevailed in all instances where suspected sexual activity was occurring,” Ramirez added.
Santa Clara County is one of three counties with the highest number of illicit massage businesses in the country, alongside Los Angeles County and Orange County, authorities added. The Human Trafficking Institute has found that California is the home of more than a quarter of the estimated 10,000 illicit massage parlors operating across the United States.
“When you visit a licensed massage therapist, you’re entering a professional healthcare environment. We follow strict codes of ethics, maintain state licensure, and uphold the same professional boundaries you’d expect in any other healthcare setting,” Sarah Ellingson, owner of Rooted Republic, said in the press release. “By supporting legitimate, licensed massage therapists, our community helps protect the integrity of the profession and ensures that therapeutic touch remains a safe, respected, and valuable form of care.”
Stephen and Yurany Dexter, of Flagstaff, Arizona, said their 4-month-old daughter, Rose, had to be flown by air ambulance to a children’s hospital two hours from home and treated for several weeks this summer.
Michael and Hanna Everett, of Richmond, Kentucky, said their daughter, Piper, also 4 months, was rushed to a hospital Nov. 8 with worsening symptoms of the rare and potentially deadly disease.
“It was just absolutely terrifying,” Hanna Everett told CBS News in an interview Thursday. “You know, we just kind of felt like we failed as a parent in some ways.”
Everett said they were unaware of the recall prior to her daughter consuming the ByHeart formula.
“She had finished that entire can, literally, the day before the recall,” Everett said.
The lawsuits, filed in federal courts in two states, allege that the ByHeart formula the babies consumed was defective and that the company was negligent in selling it. They seek financial payment for medical bills, emotional distress and other harm.
“My hopes right now is that they’re able to catch it before their children get too sick, before they have to be on ventilators,” Everett said.
Yurany Dexter holds her 4-month-old daughter, who was recently hospitalized for botulism, at their home in Flagstaff, Arizona, on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025.
Cheyanne Mumphrey / AP
Both families said they bought the organic formula to provide what they viewed as a natural, healthier alternative to traditional baby formulas, and that they were shocked and angered by the suffering their children endured.
“I wouldn’t guess that a product designed for a helpless, developing human in the United States could cause something this severe,” said Stephen Dexter, 44.
“She’s so little and you’re just helplessly watching this,” Hanna previously told the Associated Press. “It was awful.”
Rose Dexter and Piper Everett are among at least 15 infants in a dozen states who have been sickened in the outbreak that began in August, according to federal and state health officials. No deaths have been reported.
Both received the sole treatment available for botulism in children less than a year old: an IV medication called BabyBIG, made from the blood plasma of people immunized against the neurotoxins that cause the illness.
Investigations into more potential botulism cases are pending after ByHeart, the New York-based formula manufacturer, recalled all of its formula nationwide on Tuesday. At least 84 U.S. babies have been treated for infantile botulism since August, including those in the outbreak, California officials said.
It can take up to 30 days for signs of infantile botulism infection to appear, medical experts said. The symptoms can include drooping eyelids, diminished suck and gag reflexes, and a weak and altered cry, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Children suspected of being sick with infant botulism should get medical attention as soon as possible, the CDC says.
ByHeart sells about 200,000 cans of formula per month. FDA commissioner Marty Makary told CBS News that the company sells about 1% of the baby formula purchased in the U.S., and that there is no risk of a formula shortage due to the recall.
A package of ByHeart brand baby formula.
Business Wire via AP
California officials confirmed that a sample from an open can of ByHeart formula fed to an infant who fell ill contained the type of bacteria that can lead to illness.
The lawsuits filed Wednesday could be the first of many legal actions against ByHeart, said Bill Marler, a Seattle food safety lawyer who represents Dexter.
“This company potentially faces an existential crisis,” he said.
ByHeart officials didn’t respond to questions about the new lawsuits but said they would “address any legal claims in due course.”
“We remain focused on ensuring that families using ByHeart products are aware of the recall and have factual information about steps they should take,” the company said in a statement.
In a separate statement provided to CBS News Thursday, the company said, “We express our deepest sympathy to the families currently impacted by the cases of infant botulism.”
In Rose Dexter’s case, she received ByHeart formula within days of her birth in July after breast milk was insufficient, her father said. Stephen Dexter said he went to Whole Foods to find a “natural option.”
In this photo provided by Stephen Dexter, his 2-month-old daughter Rose Dexter is being treated for infantile botulism at Phoenix Children’s Hospital on Sept. 4, 2025, in Phoenix, Arizona.
Stephen Dexter / AP
“I’m a little concerned with things that are in food that may cause problems,” he said. “We do our best to buy something that says it’s organic.”
But Rose, who was healthy at birth, didn’t thrive on the formula. She had trouble feeding and was fussy and fretful as she got sicker. On Aug. 31, when she was 8 weeks old, her parents couldn’t wake her.
Rose was flown by air ambulance to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, where she stayed for nearly two weeks.
Hanna Everett told the AP she used ByHeart to supplement breastfeeding starting when Piper was 6 weeks old.
“It’s supposed to be similar to breast milk,” she said.
Last weekend, Piper started showing signs of illness. Everett said she became more worried when a friend told her ByHeart had recalled two lots of its Whole Nutrition Infant Formula. When a family member checked the empty cans, they matched the recalled lots.
This photo provided by Hanna Everett shows 4-month-old Piper Everett being treated for infantile botulism on Nov. 10, 2025, in a Kentucky hospital.
Hanna Everett / AP
“I was like, ‘Oh my god, we need to go to the ER,” Everett recalled to the AP.
At Kentucky Children’s Hospital, Piper’s condition worsened rapidly. Her pupils stopped dilating correctly and she lost her gag reflex. Her head and arms became limp and floppy.
Doctors immediately ordered doses of the BabyBIG medication, which had to be shipped from California, Hanna said. In the meantime, Piper had to have a feeding tube and IV lines inserted.
In both cases, the babies improved after receiving treatment. Rose went home in September and she no longer requires a feeding tube. Piper went home this week.
They appear to be doing well on different formulas, the families said.
