The Department of Justice intervened Thursday in a lawsuit against Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom that is challenging California’s efforts to redraw the state’s congressional map in time for the next election.
DOJ Civil Rights Division lawyers argued in a complaint that race was “used as a proxy” in California to justify creating districts favorable to Democrats, a move that served to offset the redistricting showdown in Texas that resulted in more Republican-leaning districts.
“In the press, California’s legislators and governor sold a plan to promote the interests of Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections,” the DOJ lawyers wrote. “But amongst themselves and on the debate floor, the focus was not partisanship, but race.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
They added the Constitution “does not tolerate this racial gerrymander” and cited several remarks from lawmakers and others involved in the process about how they prioritized creating a Latino-majority district to counter Texas’ perceived attempt to “silence the voices of Latino voters.”
The federal government has authority to enforce the Voting Rights Act, which has a provision designed to make sure voters are not disenfranchised based on their race. But the law’s language has long been a point of controversy and is now under review by the Supreme Court in a separate redistricting case about Louisiana’s map.
California’s ballot measure, called Proposition 50, passed on Election Day, and clears the way for the state legislature to redraw districts that could flip five Republican seats. Newsom said in celebratory remarks after the measure’s passage that it was California’s answer to Trump “trying to rig the midterm elections before one single vote is even cast.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom looks on during a bill signing event related to redrawing the state’s congressional maps on Aug. 21, 2025 in Sacramento, California.(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Opponents of California Proposition 50, also known as the Election Rigging Response Act, a California ballot measure that would redraw congressional maps to benefit Democrats, rally in Westminster, Calif., on Sept. 10, 2025.(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
“One thing he never counted on, though, was the state of California,” Newsom said. “Instead of agonizing over the state of our nation. We organized in an unprecedented way, in a 90-day sprint.”
California Assembly member David Tangipa, a Republican, responded by suing, and the DOJ joined in that lawsuit Thursday.
A spokesperson for Newsom told Fox News Digital: “These losers lost at the ballot box and soon they will also lose in court.”
The legal battle comes as redistricting fights have intensified in the lead-up to the 2026 midterm elections. In addition to Texas and California, Louisiana’s fight before the Supreme Court could affect its map by the next election, depending on when the high court rules. In Utah, Republicans were just dealt a blow by a state judge who approved a new map that will tip one of the state’s four districts in favor of Democrats.
Ashley Oliver is a reporter for Fox News Digital and FOX Business, covering the Justice Department and legal affairs. Email story tips to ashley.oliver@fox.com.
Fernando Gomez Ruiz had been eating at a lunch truck outside Home Depot when agents arrested him and 10 others in early October.
The diabetic father of two, who has lived in the Los Angeles area for 22 years, was detained and then quickly transferred to California’s biggest detention facility, where he’s been unable to get insulin regularly and now nurses a worsening hole in his foot.
He fears now not only being deported, but losing a foot.
Ruiz is one of seven immigrants detained who filed a federal class action lawsuit in the Northern District of California against the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday for “inhumane” and “punitive” conditions at California City Detention Facility in the Mojave Desert.
“Conditions in California City are horrific,” said Tess Borden, a lawyer with the Prison Law Office. “The conditions are punishing and they are meant to punish.”
An image used in a class action lawsuit filed by the ACLU of the interior of the California City Detention Facility in the Mojave Desert.
(ACLU)
“Defendants are failing to provide constitutionally adequate care for the people in the facility,” Borden said. “Mr. Gomez Ruiz is just tragically one such example.”
The complaint details alleged “decrepit” conditions inside California’s newest detention facility, where sewage bubbles up shower drains, insects crawl up and down the walls of cold concrete group cells the size of parking lots, calls for medical help go unanswered for weeks and people are excessively punished.
Ryan Gustin, a spokesman for CoreCivic, which operates the facility, referred questions to DHS and ICE, but said in a statement “the safety, health and well-being of the individuals entrusted to our care is our top priority.
“We take seriously our responsibility to adhere to all applicable federal detention standards in our ICE-contracted facilities, including the [California City facility.] Our immigration facilities are monitored very closely by our government partners at ICE, and they are required to undergo regular review and audit processes to ensure an appropriate standard of living and care for all detainees.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But last month when asked about the center, Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, defended the conditions.
“ICE has higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens,” she said. “All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, and have opportunities to communicate with lawyers and their family members.”
The lawsuit alleges just the opposite: inadequate food and water, frigid conditions, forced isolation and lack of access to lawyers. It also details instances where life-threatening conditions allegedly weren’t attended to.
An image used in a class action lawsuit filed by the ACLU of the interior of the California City Detention Facility in the Mojave Desert.
(ACLU)
One of the plaintiffs, Yuri Alexander Roque Campos, didn’t get his needed heart medications. Since arriving there he has had two emergency hospitalizations for severe chest pain. The last time he was there, the doctor told him “he could die if this were to happen again,” according to the lawsuit.
“It is exemplary of the trauma and the heartbreak that people are experiencing inside,” Borden said.
The former prison opened without proper permitting in August as the Trump administration pushed to expand detention capacity nationwide. By the next month, immigrants inside the 2,500 capacity facility launched a hunger strike protesting conditions.
The lawsuit was brought by the Prison Law Office, the American Civil Liberties Union, the California Collaborative for Immigrant Justice and Keker, Van Nest & Peters.
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.
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.
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,” said Hanna Everett, 28. “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.
The company sells about 200,000 cans of formula per month. It can take up to 30 days for signs of infantile botulism infection to appear, medical experts said.
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.
Parents fretted as babies grew sicker
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.”
“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 said 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.
“I was like, ’Oh my god, we need to go to the ER,” Everett recalled.
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, Everett 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.
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Sean Jansen grew up surfing the waves at Lower Trestles – but little did he know, there was a struggling species in the nearby San Mateo Creek, the same river that helped create the surf break he’s enjoyed his entire life.
The pristine beach area near his hometown of San Clemente had given him so much, he wanted to give something in return. So he set out on a quest to follow the natural habitat of the California steelhead trout, and raise awareness about why this unique fish is facing extinction, in large part due to human urbanization.
Sean Jansen, of San Clemente, walked 86 days across Southern California to raise awareness for the steelhead trout, a struggling, endangered species that lives between rivers and the Pacific Ocean. (Photo courtesy of Jansen)
The fish is a coastal rainbow trout, and similar to salmon, it matures in the ocean and then returns to swim upstream in the river to spawn. It repeats the cycle over and over — if it can find a way back up through freshwaters.
“I felt guilty I didn’t know about it, at this wave I surf,” Jansen said. “And I realized this is not the only creek, throughout California, there are hundreds of creeks that have this fish.”
Jansen said he decided to do a walkabout covering the migration patterns of the trout, from the ocean to the mountains, along rivers that meet the sea. He started in San Clemente up to Pismo Beach, then headed to the San Bernardino mountains, where he would take the Pacific Crest Trail down to the Mexico border, then back up the coast to finish where he started.
The journey started in 2024 and happened over a total of 86 days, an estimated 1,196 miles. He took more than 2.6 million steps, burned 165,745 calories and spent 237 hours and 42 minutes walking.
His final steps this week landed him back in his hometown of San Clemente at T-Street Beach, where his adventure started.
“It hasn’t hit me yet,” Jansen said, as he walked up the beach trail, looking out at the waves rolling in.
Sean Jansen, of San Clemente, walked 86 days across Southern California to raise awareness for the steelhead trout, a struggling, endangered species that lives between rivers and the Pacific Ocean. (Photo by Laylan Connelly/SCNG)
Sean Jansen, of San Clemente, walked 86 days across Southern California to raise awareness for the steelhead trout, a struggling, endangered species that lives between rivers and the Pacific Ocean. (Photo by Laylan Connelly/SCNG)
Sean Jansen, of San Clemente, walked 86 days across Southern California to raise awareness for the steelhead trout, a struggling, endangered species that lives between rivers and the Pacific Ocean. (Photo by Laylan Connelly/SCNG)
Sean Jansen, of San Clemente, walked 86 days across Southern California to raise awareness for the steelhead trout, a struggling, endangered species that lives between rivers and the Pacific Ocean. (Photo by Laylan Connelly/SCNG)
Sean Jansen, of San Clemente, walked 86 days across Southern California to raise awareness for the steelhead trout, a struggling, endangered species that lives between rivers and the Pacific Ocean. (Photo by Laylan Connelly/SCNG)
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Sean Jansen, of San Clemente, walked 86 days across Southern California to raise awareness for the steelhead trout, a struggling, endangered species that lives between rivers and the Pacific Ocean. (Photo by Laylan Connelly/SCNG)
The journey didn’t happen in one swoop, rather three separate trips that started on April 15, 2024. He left from T-Street to head up to Santa Maria south of Pismo Beach, stopping at all the rivers the trout are known to live. That segment was 340 miles, taking three weeks.
Then he looped from Santa Maria inland to Wrightwood, then Big Bear in San Bernardino Mountains, another 300 miles that took him another three weeks.
During the summer months, he serves as a wildlife guide at Yellowstone National Park, so at that point he put the trek on hold to get back to work.
He was set to pick up where he left off in the fall of 2024, but fires ripped through the region, closing down several sections of trails he needed to access to finish the journey.
A year passed before he could pick back up in Big Bear, and on Oct. 10, he got a ride up the windy road up to where he left off. And then, again, started walking, taking the Pacific Crest Trail south.
Jansen was familiar with the route, hiking the entire 2,600-mile Pacific Crest Trail, from Alaska to Mexico, in 2015.
He packed noodles and instant meals to cook on a portable stove, used a water filter to drink from streams and rivers and when his body needed a rest, he listened.
He encountered a bear once, he said, but not a big deal – as a wilderness guide, he sees them all the time in Yellowstone and clapped it away. The rattlesnake was more of a scare, he said, striking his walking stick while he traversed a remote area.
There was the mysterious rash that crept over his body, and into his eye, that lasted about two weeks. He’s still unsure what it was from.
But more memorable were all the conversations Jansen had with random people he met, a chance to educate people on the plight of the steelhead trout, the purpose behind his journey.
“For me, it’s all about giving back,” Jansen said. “Nature has given me so much, this is my effort to return the favor.”
The largest recorded steelhead trout came from the San Juan Creek, measured at 34 inches, he said. “These are big fish, they can reach the same size as a salmon.”
The last recorded population number is 170 in all of Southern California.
Jansen carried along with him a steelhead trout stuffed animal, which he named “Steely Daniela” in a nod to the ’70s rock band, and used it as a pillow along his journey.
As he wrapped up his trek, he said one thing he was humbled by was the natural terrain of Southern California’s wilderness areas.
Sean Jansen, of San Clemente, walked 86 days across Southern California to raise awareness for the steelhead trout, a struggling, endangered species that lives between rivers and the Pacific Ocean. (Photo courtesy of Jansen)
Sean Jansen, of San Clemente, walked 86 days across Southern California to raise awareness for the steelhead trout, a struggling, endangered species that lives between rivers and the Pacific Ocean. (Photo courtesy of Jansen)
Sean Jansen, of San Clemente, walked 86 days across Southern California to raise awareness for the steelhead trout, a struggling, endangered species that lives between rivers and the Pacific Ocean. (Photo courtesy of Jansen)
Sean Jansen, of San Clemente, walked 86 days across Southern California to raise awareness for the steelhead trout, a struggling, endangered species that lives between rivers and the Pacific Ocean. (Photo courtesy of Jansen)
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Sean Jansen, of San Clemente, walked 86 days across Southern California to raise awareness for the steelhead trout, a struggling, endangered species that lives between rivers and the Pacific Ocean. (Photo courtesy of Jansen)
In the mountains, the creeks and rivers the trout can be found in are pristine, he said. But the concreted channels closer to human development are “in pretty rough shape,” he said.
“They are wilderness, protected and they are wild,” he said of the headlands. “But when they get into civilized areas, they are full of pollution and concreted. We have literally stopped the geomorphological processes.”
There are efforts, Jansen added, to remove dams in Ventura and Malibu to bring back natural sediment at the coast.
“How did we not know we can’t control nature?” he said of the concrete that has lined many once-natural waterways. “We tried and failed, and it costs millions of dollars to fix our problems. They are full of sediment or polluted. There’s no benefit. Some are necessary because of flood control. But some are unnecessary and going to be removed in the coming years.”
Jansen said he hopes one day the barriers will be removed and rivers can run free, as they did until the dams and channels were built.
“I hope that we are able to let them do what they do,” he said. “If they give them the chance, they will come back. My hope is the low number of fish can get into the tens of thousands, like they used to be. If we let them, they will come back, it’s that simple.”
If we don’t fix the problems humans created, he said, the next species will suffer, a domino effect that will throw off the balance of nature.
Now, comes the challenging part, he said, going through his photos and writing his experience for a book about his journey and the steelhead trout.
The educational journey wasn’t his first, nor his last. A few years ago, he paddled more than 1,000 miles along the Baja Peninsula to raise awareness for the endangered porpoise, writing “Paddling with Porpoise.” His next adventure will likely raise awareness about the rebounding wolf population in Yellowstone.
SAN ANTONIO – Victor Wembanyama enjoys the towering stature of a redwood tree, possesses the nimble feet of a man half his size, owns a wingspan wider than Texas and the skillset of the game’s best guards.
It’s a fantastical combination of traits and talents that the visiting Warriors knew was impossible to stop.
They only needed to make him sweat, to expend energy against men with – at least by the NBA’s outlandish standards – more reasonable proportions.
And that’s exactly what they did in Golden State’s 125-120 victory in the heart of Texas. They hurled body after body at him, invaded his space and made sure to bump him at every opportunity.
“You’ve got to make him work for everything,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “You can’t give him the easy stuff.”
Golden State employed five different individual defenders – Draymond Green, Al Horford, Jonathan Kuminga, Will Richard and Jimmy Butler – on Wembanyama in the first half alone.
His stat line was still, undeniably, impressive: 31 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists and a block in 36 minutes. It was his 17th career game with at least 30 points and 10 boards.
But compared to some of the truly outlandish performances Wembanyama has compiled over the course of his first 10 games this season, the Warriors’ defense actually won their fair share of possessions.
They forced the 21-year-old Frenchman into eight turnovers, and on the vast majority of his 22 shots, a Warrior was there to contest. Whether that raised hand actually meant something is up for debate.
“When he pulls up like that for 3, it’s hard and you try your best to challenge it,” Horford said. “I felt like we did good, and we contained him as best we could.”
As he has done so often over the course of a career that has seen him earn nine all-defense selections, Draymond Green bore the brunt of the team’s toughest assignment.
Even though Wembanyama stood nearly a foot taller than Green, the wily veteran had an advantage in both the strength, and center of gravity categories.
He used both to great effect.
Though Green may have had only one official steal, his point-of-attack defense allowed his teammates – Gary Payton II was a particular standout – to swarm the driving Wembanyama.
It was the same tactic Phoenix used to hold him to just nine points earlier in the season.
And if the Spurs center was able to get off a shot against Green, it was often a tough fallaway after the Warriors captain blunted Wembanyama’s initial drive.
Of course, Wembanyama’s prodigious offensive talent is only half of the reason he is in line to become the game’s top player. His endless wingspan and coordination have turned him into basketball’s best defender, one whose mere presence deters drives.
But on Wednesday night, Steph Curry showed no fear en route to 46 points. The Warriors star made five shots in the paint, often driving right at Wembanyama and drawing fouls if he did not finish the layup.
The Warriors (7-6) know what it takes to deal with Wembanyama. Now they’ll get to put that method to the test again on Friday, when Golden State finishes the baseball-style series in San Antonio for an NBA Cup group-stage game.
“You don’t fight it, because you know that there might be some other options on the other side,” Curry said. “His presence is crazy, but there’s other ways and other outlets to create offense if you can get into the paint.”
Authorities are continuing to search for a missing 9-year-old girl, Melodee Buzzard, a month after she was reported missing in California. Buzzard’s mother appeared in court on Wednesday to plead not guilty to a charge unrelated to the girl’s disappearance. Carter Evans has more.
WASHINGTON (AP) — For a day, at least, beleaguered Democrats are hopeful again. But just beneath the party’s relief at securing its first big electoral wins since last November’s drubbing lay unresolved questions about its direction heading into next year’s midterm elections.
The Election Day romp of Republicans stretched from deep-blue New York and California to swing states Georgia, Pennsylvania and Virginia. There were signs that key voting groups, including young people, Black voters and Hispanics who shifted toward President Donald Trump’s Republican Party just a year ago, may be shifting back. And Democratic leaders across the political spectrum coalesced behind a simple message focused on Trump’s failure to address rising costs and everyday kitchen table issues.
The dominant performance sparked a new round of debate among the party’s establishment-minded pragmatists and fiery progressives over which approach led to Tuesday’s victories, and which path to take into the high-stakes 2026 midterm elections and beyond. The lessons Democrats learn from the victories will help determine the party’s leading message and messengers next year — when elections will decide the balance of power in Congress for the second half of Trump’s term — and potentially in the 2028 presidential race, which has already entered its earliest stages.
People cheer as Democrat Abigail Spanberger walks out on stage after she was declared the winner of the Virginia governor’s race during an election night watch party Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
People cheer as Democrat Abigail Spanberger walks out on stage after she was declared the winner of the Virginia governor’s race during an election night watch party Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
“Of course, there’s a division within the Democratic Party. There’s no secret,” Sen. Bernie Sanders told reporters at a Capitol Hill press conference about the election results.
Sanders and his chief political strategist pointed to the success of New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, as a model for Democrats across the country. But Rep. Suzan Del Bene, who leads the House Democrats’ midterm campaign strategy, avoided saying Mamdani’s name when asked about his success.
Del Bene instead cheered the moderate approach adopted by Democrats Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill in successful races for governor in Virginia and New Jersey as a more viable track for candidates outside of a Democratic stronghold like New York City.
“New York is bright blue … and the path to the majority in the House is going to be through purple districts,” she told The Associated Press. “The people of Arizona, Iowa and Nebraska aren’t focused on the mayor of New York.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a likely Democratic presidential prospect who campaigned alongside Democrats in several states leading up to Tuesday’s elections, noted the candidates hit on a common issue that resonated with voters, regardless of location.
“All of these candidates who won in these different states were focused on peoples’ everyday needs,” Shapiro said. “And you saw voters in every one of those states and cities showing up to send a clear message to Donald Trump that they’re rejecting his chaos.”
Intraparty criticism
Amid Democrats’ celebratory phone calls and news conferences, members of the party’s different wings had some sharp critiques for each other.
While Shapiro cheered the party’s success during a Wednesday interview, he also acknowledged concerns about Mamdani in New York.
Shapiro, one of the nation’s most prominent Jewish elected leaders, said he’s not comfortable with some of Mamdani’s comments on Israel. The New York mayor-elect, a Muslim, has described Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 attacks as “genocide” against the Palestinian people and has been slow to condemn rhetoric linked to anti-Semitism.
“I’ve expressed that to him personally. We’ve had good private communications,” Shapiro said of his concerns. “And I hope, as he did last night in his victory speech, that he’ll be a mayor that protects all New Yorkers and tries to bring people together.”
Meanwhile, Sanders’ political strategist, Faiz Shakir, warned Democrats against embracing “cookie cutter campaigns that say nothing and do nothing” — a reference to centrist Democrats Spanberger and Sherrill.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, a Democrat who defeated democratic socialist Omar Fateh to win a third term, said at a news conference Wednesday that “we have to love our city more than our ideology.”
“We need to be doing everything possible to push back on authoritarianism and what Donald Trump is doing,” Frey said. “And at the same time, the opposite of Donald Trump extremism is not the opposite extreme.”
Signs welcomes voters on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in Del Mar, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Signs welcomes voters on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in Del Mar, Calif. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Democrats win everywhere
Despite potential cracks in the Democratic coalition, it’s hard to understate the extent of the party’s electoral success.
In Georgia, two Democrats cruised to wins over Republican incumbents in elections to the state Public Service Commission, delivering the largest statewide margins of victory by Democrats in more than 20 years.
In Pennsylvania, Democrats swept not only three state Supreme Court races, but every county seat in presidential swing counties like Bucks and Erie Counties, including sheriffs. Bucks County elected its first Democratic district attorney as Democrats there also won key school board races and county judgeships.
Maine voters defeated a Republican-backed measure that would have mandated showing an ID at the polls. Colorado approved raising taxes on people earning more than $300,000 annually to fund school meal programs and food assistance for low-income state residents. And California voters overwhelmingly backed a charge led by Gov. Gavin Newsom to redraw its congressional map to give Democrats as many as five more House seats in upcoming elections.
Key groups coming back to Democrats
Trump made inroads with Black and Hispanic voters in 2024. But this week, Democrats scored strong performances with non-white voters in New Jersey and Virginia that offered promise.
About 7 in 10 voters in New Jersey were white, according to the AP Voter Poll. And Sherrill won about half that group. But she made up for her relative weakness with whites with a strong showing among Black, Hispanic and Asian voters.
The vast majority — about 9 in 10 — of Black voters supported Sherrill, as did about 8 in 10 Asian voters.
Hispanic voters in New Jersey were more divided, but about two-thirds supported Sherrill; only about 3 in 10 voted for the Republican nominee, Jack Ciattarelli.
The pattern was similar in Virginia, where Spanberger performed well among Black voters, Hispanic voters and Asian voters, even though she didn’t win a majority of white voters.
This combination of photos taken on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, shows Abigail Spanberger in Richmond, Va., left, Zohran Mamdani in New York, center, and Mikie Sherrill in East Brunswick, N.J. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, Yuki Iwamura and Matt Rourke)
This combination of photos taken on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, shows Abigail Spanberger in Richmond, Va., left, Zohran Mamdani in New York, center, and Mikie Sherrill in East Brunswick, N.J. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, Yuki Iwamura and Matt Rourke)
Democrats will soon face a choice
The debate over the party’s future is already starting to play out in key midterm elections where Democrats have just begun intra-party primary contests.
The choice is stark in Maine’s high-stakes Senate race, where Democrats will pick from a field that features establishment favorite, Gov. Jan Mills, and Sanders-endorsed populist Graham Platner. A similar dynamic could play out in key contests across Massachusetts, New York, Texas and Michigan.
Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who is aligned with the progressive wing of the party, said the people he speaks to are demanding bold action to address their economic concerns.
“Folks are so frustrated by how hard its become to afford a dignified life here in Michigan and across the country,” he said.
“I’m sure the corporate donors don’t want us to push too hard,” El-Sayed continued. “My worry is the very same people who told us we were just fine in 2024 will miss the mandate.”
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Associated Press reporter Mike Catalini in Newark and Joey Cappelletti in Washington contributed.
The messaging is centered around affordability, and the push comes after inflation emerged as a major vulnerability for Trump and Republicans in Tuesday’s elections, in which voters overwhelmingly said the economy was their biggest concern.
Democrats took advantage of concerns about affordability to run up huge margins in the New Jersey and Virginia governor races, flipping what had been a strength for Trump in the 2024 presidential election into a vulnerability going into next year’s midterm elections.
White House officials and others familiar with their thinking requested anonymity to speak for this article in order to not get ahead of the president’s actions. They stressed that affordability has always been a priority for Trump, but the president plans to talk about it more, as he did Thursday when he announced that Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk would reduce the price of their anti-obesity drugs.
“We are the ones that have done a great job on affordability, not the Democrats,” Trump said at an event in the Oval Office to announce the deal. “We just lost an election, they said, based on affordability. It’s a con job by the Democrats.”
The White House is keeping up a steady drumbeat of posts on social media about prices and deals for Thanksgiving dinner staples at retailers such as Walmart, Lidl, Aldi and Target.
“I don’t want to hear about the affordability, because right now, we’re much less,” Trump told reporters Thursday, arguing that things are much better for Americans with his party in charge.
“The only problem is the Republicans don’t talk about it,” he said.
The outlook for inflation is unclear
As of now, the inflation outlook has worsened under Trump. Consumer prices in September increased at an annual rate of 3%, up from 2.3% in April, when the president first began to roll out substantial tariff hikes that suddenly burdened the economy with uncertainty. The AP Voter Poll showed the economy was the leading issue in Tuesday’s elections in New Jersey, Virginia, New York City and California.
Grocery prices continue to climb, and recently, electricity bills have emerged as a new worry. At the same time, the pace of job gains has slowed, plunging 23% from the pace a year ago.
The White House maintains a list of talking points about the economy, noting that the stock market has hit record highs multiple times and that the president is attracting foreign investment. Trump has emphasized that gasoline prices are coming down, and maintained that gasoline is averaging $2 a gallon, but AAA reported Thursday that the national average was $3.08, about two cents lower than a year ago.
“Americans are paying less for essentials like gas and eggs, and today the Administration inked yet another drug pricing deal to deliver unprecedented health care savings for everyday Americans,” said White House spokesman Kush Desai.
Trump gets briefed about the economy by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other officials at least once a week and there are often daily discussions on tariffs, a senior White House official said, noting Trump is expected to do more domestic travel next year to make his case that he’s fixing affordability.
But critics say it will be hard for Trump to turn around public perceptions on affordability.
“He’s in real trouble and I think it’s bigger than just cost of living,” said Lindsay Owens, executive director of Groundwork Collaborative, a liberal economic advocacy group.
Owens noted that Trump has “lost his strength” as voters are increasingly doubtful about Trump’s economic leadership compared to Democrats, adding that the president doesn’t have the time to turn around public perceptions of him as he continues to pursue broad tariffs.
New hype about income tax cuts ahead of April
There will be new policies rolled out on affordability, a person familiar with the White House thinking said, declining to comment on what those would be. Trump on Thursday indicated there will be more deals coming on drug prices. Two other White House officials said messaging would change — but not policy.
A big part of the administration’s response on affordability will be educating people ahead of tax season about the role of Trump’s income tax cuts in any refunds they receive in April, the person familiar with planning said. Those cuts were part of the sprawling bill Republicans muscled through Congress in July.
This individual stressed that the key challenge is bringing prices down while simultaneously having wages increase, so that people can feel and see any progress.
There’s also a bet that the economy will be in a healthier place in six months. With Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s term ending in May, the White House anticipates the start of consistent cuts to the Fed’s benchmark interest rate. They expect inflation rates to cool and declines in the federal budget deficit to boost sentiment in the financial markets.
But the U.S. economy seldom cooperates with a president’s intentions, a lesson learned most recently by Trump’s predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden, who saw his popularity slump after inflation spiked to a four-decade high in June 2022.
The Trump administration maintains it’s simply working through an inflation challenge inherited from Biden, but new economic research indicates Trump has created his own inflation challenge through tariffs.
Since April, Harvard University economist Alberto Cavallo and his colleagues, Northwestern University’s Paola Llamas and Universidad de San Andres’ Franco Vazquez, have been tracking the impact of the import taxes on consumer prices.
In an October paper, the economists found that the inflation rate would have been drastically lower at 2.2%, had it not been for Trump’s tariffs.
The administration maintains that tariffs have not contributed to inflation. They plan to make the case that the import taxes are helping the economy and dismiss criticisms of the import taxes as contributing to inflation as Democratic talking points.
The fate of Trump’s country-by-country tariffs is currently being decided by the Supreme Court, where justices at a Wednesday hearing seemed dubious over the administration’s claims that tariffs were essentially regulations and could be levied by a president without congressional approval. Trump has maintained at times that foreign countries pay the tariffs and not U.S. citizens, a claim he backed away from slightly Thursday.
“They might be paying something,” he said. “But when you take the overall impact, the Americans are gaining tremendously.”
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Associated Press writers Will Weissert and Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.
Disney’s fourth-quarter performance was mixed as a weaker performance from its television networks and some films was buffered by strength in its streaming business and theme parks.
Disney is still trying to work out a new licensing deal with YouTube after its content went dark on YouTube TV late last month, leaving subscribers of the Google-owned live streaming platform without access to major networks like ESPN and ABC.
The Walt Disney Co. earned $1.31 billion, or 73 cents per share, for the three months ended Sept. 25. It earned $460 million, or 25 cents per share, in the prior-year period.
Stripping out one time charges and costs, earnings were $1.11 per share. That’s better than the $1.03 per share that analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research predicted.
Revenue for the Burbank, California, company totaled $22.46 billion, short of Wall Street’s estimate of $22.86 billion.
Revenue for Disney Entertainment, which includes the company’s movie studios and streaming service, dropped 6%, while revenue for the Experiences division, its parks, climbed 6%.
Operating income from linear networks dropped 21% and revenue slipped 16%. Disney said that the operating income decline was driven by the Star India transaction, as Star India contributed $84 million to its year-ago results. Operating income for domestic linear networks fell 7% due to lower advertising driven by declines in viewership and political advertising.
Disney said that its movie distribution results were weaker when compared with the same period last year, which was buoyed by “Deadpool & Wolverine” and spillover receipts from “Inside Out 2.” Films released during the most recent quarter included “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” “The Roses” and “Freakier Friday.”
Disney’s direct-to-consumer business, which includes Disney+ and Hulu, posted quarterly operating income of $352 million compared with $253 million a year ago. Revenue rose 8%.
The Disney+ streaming service had a 3% increase in paid subscribers domestically, which includes the U.S. and Canada. There was a 4% rise internationally, which excludes Disney+ HotStar.
Total paid subscribers for Disney+ came to 132 million subscribers, up from 128 million in the third quarter.
Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions totaled 196 million, an increase of 12.4 million from the third quarter.
The strong streaming results come shortly after the entertainment company saw Disney+ and Hulu subscription cancellations climb in September when ABC briefly cancelled “Jimmy Kimmel Live!. ”
Walt Disney Co. owns the streaming platforms and ABC. ABC pulled the show off the air for less than a week in September in the wake of criticism over his comments related to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Prior to the incident, Disney had said in August that it anticipated that total fourth-quarter Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions would increase more than 10 million compared with the third quarter, with most of the increase coming from Hulu due to the expanded Charter deal. The company had also expected a modest increase in the number of Disney+ subscribers in the fourth quarter.
Disney also previously announced that it will stop reporting the number of paid subscribers for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ streaming services because the metric has become less meaningful for evaluating the performance of its businesses. The company will stop reporting the metric for Disney+ and Hulu beginning with fiscal 2026’s first quarter and no longer reports the figure for ESPN+ starting with fiscal 2025’s fourth quarter.
The Experiences division, which includes Disney’s six global theme parks, its cruise line, merchandise and video game licensing, reported operating income climbed 13% to $1.88 billion. Operating income increased 9% at domestic parks. Operating income surged 25% for international parks and Experiences.
Disney maintained its forecast for double-digit adjusted earnings per share growth for fiscal 2026 and fiscal 2027.
Disney’s stock fell 5% before the market open on Thursday.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo has called lawmakers back for a special session to consider a long list of legislation, including a sweeping criminal reform proposal and a plan to bring film studios to Southern Nevada.
The Republican governor announced the special session Wednesday evening, saying it will begin Thursday morning in Carson City. As the governor, Lombardo has full control on what is heard on a special session agenda, though the Democratic-majority Legislature ultimately influences what succeeds and what fails.
“Nevadans deserve action now -– not years from now -– on legislation that implements critical public safety measures, expands healthcare access, and supports good-paying jobs,” Lombardo said in statement announcing the session. “By calling this special session, we are reaffirming our responsibility to act decisively and deliver meaningful results for the people of Nevada.”
The announcement comes about five months after the Legislature concluded its regular session, which is held every other year. Lawmakers rushed to take action on bills in the waning hours of the session that ended June 3, but major bills didn’t make it across the finish line, including the governor’s sweeping crime legislation and a proposal to expand tax incentives in order to lure movie studios to Las Vegas.
Lombardo last called a special session in June 2023 to approve public funding for the Athletics’ Las Vegas ballpark, which is under active construction and anticipated to be complete by the 2028 Major League Baseball season.
Lawmakers will discuss the governor’s far-reaching crime bill, known as the Safe Streets and Neighborhoods Act, which would impose stricter penalties for DUIs and other offenses, including assault and battery against hospitality workers. It would also renew a now-defunct Resort Corridor Court to handle certain crimes originating from the Strip.
The Legislature will also consider cybersecurity legislation to establish a security operations center after the state grappled with a massive cyberattack that affected state services for weeks.
Another go at expanded film tax incentives
Also on the special session agenda is a proposal to offer $95 million in tax credits to Sony Pictures Entertainment and Warner Bros. Discovery for a new film production facility in the Vegas suburbs, as well as $25 million in credits to be available for productions elsewhere in the state.
Lombardo’s adding the proposal comes after more than a dozen labor unions launched a campaign in support of renewing the effort.
If lawmakers successfully move the bill forward this time, Las Vegas would be competing with cities like Atlanta, where the film industry has boomed for more than a decade thanks to a far more generous tax break. California, meanwhile, recently revamped its own tax incentive programs to combat a multiyear downward trend in Hollywood film production.
Some trade unions were in support of the proposal -– arguing the creation of film studios would bring more jobs and bring a much needed boost to Las Vegas’ tourism and economy -– while the state employee union were outspoken in its opposition.
The state chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees called the proposal “fiscally irresponsible and politically indefensible” and said it would only generate $0.52 in tax revenue for every $1 in credit.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A two-sport student-athlete encountered antisemitism at University High School in San Francisco and, upon transferring to another school in Marin County, was wrongly denied a hardship exemption that cost her critical time in tennis and track and field, a lawsuit filed last month in Marin Superior Court alleges.
In the case set to be heard Dec. 1, the athlete’s father, Bart Schachter, is seeking a temporary injunction that would reverse North Coast Section commissioner Pat Cruickshank’s decision to deny the waiver and allow his daughter, a 15-year-old sophomore at The Branson School in Ross, to compete without restrictions in the spring track season, which begins in February. She was already required to sit out half of the fall tennis season.
“What we thought would be a fairly routine transfer turned out not to be so,” said Bart Schachter, who filed the suit anonymously through his attorney and requested that his daughter’s name not be used. “That is the greatest hardship endured in this whole thing.”
Schachter’s daughter, who competes at the varsity level in both sports, enrolled at the private college preparatory academy in the Presidio Heights neighborhood as a freshman for the 2024-25 school year and, he said, “pretty quickly” began to experience a string of antisemitic incidents.
Schachter brought the issues to administrators at UHS and later provided the documentation to the NCS in the hardship application. When the section contacted the school to verify the information, however, administrators disputed the characterization of the allegations, and the application was denied.
In a correspondence to the family provided to this news organization, Cruickshank wrote that the girl was denied the “student safety hardship waiver based upon no documentation from UHS of any student safety incidents while enrolled there.” Cruickshank declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
UHS Head of School Nasif Iskander denied the allegations of antisemitism at the school to this news organization but added: “We’ve never objected to the CIF granting this student a waiver to play sports at a new school. … We explicitly supported her desire to play sports.”
Regardless of the court’s decision, Schachter’s daughter will have two years of eligibility remaining in both sports, but the father said, “It’s emotionally challenging to show up at a new school as a transfer. You make friends through sports. It’s hard to sit on the sidelines when you’re a star player.”
The lawsuit alleges that the Schachters and other Jewish families submitted “dozens” of documented safety incidents to UHS over the course of the 2024-25 school year and prior. Iskander said, “We strongly disagree with the allegations … and we have robust and effective programs and policies to provide students an uplifting learning environment that is free of antisemitism and other discrimination.”
Schachter disagreed, telling this news organization that “the fact pattern would indicate” systemic issues with antisemitism at UHS, “(and) if you’re asking about the root cause, that certainly plays a role. Normally we would move on and find a better pasture, but we hit this sports issue and it’s not over.”
In one instance described in the lawsuit, Schachter’s daughter was in the same class as two boys who repeatedly practiced the Nazi salute and “mock(ed) the physical characteristics of Jews.” A few months later, she was “pressured” to attend a meeting on the Israel-Palestine conflict “where Jewish students were mocked for their perspectives … with no meaningful response from UHS administration despite complaints.”
According to the lawsuit, that led Jewish parents to formally submit a complaint regarding “bullying and harassing environment for Jewish students” at the school. The CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council also weighed in, informing UHS that it faced “some of the most serious antisemitism issues reported among independent schools in the Bay Area.”
Iskander said the school was never informed of the first incident and disputed the characterization of the public meeting.
“We said we had no objection to her playing sports,” Iskander reiterated, “but we really disagreed with the characterization of her experience at the school.”
The Schachters filed their petition under bylaw 207.B.(5)c of the California Interscholastic Federation constitution, which waives the mandatory sit-out period for transfers “when a student is transferring as a result of a specific, documented safety incident in which the student was involved.” It requires “sufficient documentation to satisfy that CIF Section Commissioner that the circumstances meet this criteria … including but not limited to administrative records and documentation from the former school about the specific safety incident that occurred at the former school and/or police records (if any).”
The lawsuit alleges that Cruickshank validated the petition’s status under the safety-incident exception by not rejecting it outright and remarking on the “sensitive” nature of the situation upon receiving the initial application. The Schachters submitted to CIF a 72-page report documenting the harassment, correspondence with school officials and the concern from the Jewish Community Relations Council. Regardless of the school’s interpretation, the Schachters believe they met the requirements under the bylaw.
“That’s what every school would say,” Schachter said. “There’s no one who admits these kinds of issues.”
The Mega Millions jackpot jumped to nearly a billion dollars for the eighth time in the game’s history after no one won the drawing on Tuesday night.
The next drawing is scheduled for Friday, according to a Mega Millions news release. The estimated jackpot is $965 million, or $445.3 million if the winner takes a lump sum in cash.
No ticket matched all six numbers from Tuesday night’s drawing — white balls 10, 13, 40, 42 and 46, and the gold Mega Ball 1.
Friday’s drawing is the eighth-largest jackpot since the game began in 2002, according to the release. Seven billion-dollar jackpots have been awarded in the past; the most recent was the $1.269 billion prize won in California in Dec. 2024.
In Tuesday’s drawing, there were 809,030 winning tickets across all prizes, for a total of more than $27.9 million in winnings nationwide. Three tickets matched the five white balls to win the second-highest prize of $1 million. One ticket sold in Arizona had the 5X multiplier for a $5-million prize. Two other tickets, sold in Iowa and New York, had the 3X multiplier for the $3-million prize.
Twenty-seven tickets matched four white balls plus the Mega Ball to win the game’s third-highest prize.
Four Mega Millions jackpots were won earlier this year, and Friday’s drawing will be the 40th since the last win in June.
The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 290,472,336. The odds of winning any Mega Millions prize are 1 in 23.
BELÉM, Brazil — The expansive halls of the Amazon’s newly built climate summit hub echoed with the hum of air conditioners and the footsteps of delegates from around the world — scientists, diplomats, Indigenous leaders and energy executives, all converging for two frenetic weeks of negotiations.
Then Gov. Gavin Newsom rounded the corner, flanked by staff and security. They moved in tandem through the corridors on Tuesday as media swarmed and cellphone cameras rose into the air.
“Hero!” one woman shouted. “Stay safe — we need you,” another attendee said. Others didn’t hide their confusion at who the man with slicked-back graying hair causing such a commotion was.
“I’m here because I don’t want the United States of America to be a footnote at this conference,” Newsom said when he reached a packed news conference on his first day at the United Nations climate policy summit known as COP30.
Newsom has engineered his own evolution when coping with Trump — moving from sharp but reasoned criticism to name-calling and theatrical attacks on the president and his Republican allies. Newsom’s approach adds fire to America’s political spectacle — part governance, part made-for-TV drama.
On Wednesday, Newsom’s trip collided with unwelcome headlines at home after his former chief of staff was arrested on federal charges alleging she siphoned $225,000 from a dormant campaign account and claimed business tax write-offs for $1 million in luxury handbags and private jet travel. Newsom had left COP30 before the indictment was revealed, which kept the focus during his whirlwind trip to Belém on his climate policies.
California’s carbon market and zero-emission mandates have given the state outsize influence at summits such as COP30, where its policies are seen as both durable and exportable. The state has invested billions in renewables, battery storage and electrifying buildings and vehicles and has cut greenhouse gas emissions by 21% since 2000 — even as its economy grew 81%.
“Absolutely,” he said when asked whether the state is in effect standing in for the United States at climate talks. “And I think the world sees us in that light, as a stable partner, a historic partner … in the absence of American leadership. And not just absence of leadership, the doubling down of stupid in terms of global leadership on clean energy.”
Newsom has honed a combative presence online — trading barbs with Trump and leaning into satire, especially on social media, tactics that mirror the president’s. Critics have argued that it’s contributing to a lowering of the bar when it comes to political discourse, but Newsom said he doesn’t see it that way.
“I’m trying to call that out,” Newsom said, adding that in a normal political climate, leaders should model civility and respect. “But right now, we have an invasive species — in the vernacular of climate — by the name of Donald Trump, and we got to call that out.”
At home, Newsom recently scored a political win with Proposition 50, the ballot measure he championed to counter Trump’s effort to redraw congressional maps in Republican-led states. On his way to Brazil, he celebrated the victory with a swing through Houston, where a rally featuring Texas Democrats looked more like a presidential campaign stop than a policy event — one of several moments in recent months that have invited speculation about a White House run that he insists he hasn’t launched.
Those questions followed him to Brazil. It was the first topic posed from a cluster of Brazilian journalists in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city and financial hub, where Newsom had flown to speak Monday with climate investors in what he conceded sounded more like a campaign speech.
“I think it has to,” said Newsom, his talking points scribbled on yellow index cards still in his pocket from an earlier meeting. “I think people have to understand what’s going on, because otherwise you’re wasting everyone’s time.”
In a low-lit luxury hotel adorned with Brazilian artwork and deep-seated chairs, Newsom showcased the well-practiced pivot of a politician avoiding questions about his future. His most direct answer about his presidential prospects came in a recent interview with “CBS News Sunday Morning” in which he was asked whether he would give serious thought after the 2026 midterm elections to a White House bid. Newsom responded: “Yeah, I’d be lying otherwise.”
He laughed when asked by The Times how often he has fielded questions about his 2028 plans in recent days, and quickly deflected.
“It’s not about me,” he said before fishing a malaria pill out of his suit pocket and chasing it with coffee from a nearby carafe. “It’s about this moment — and people’s anxiety and concern about this moment.”
Ann Carlson, a UCLA environmental law professor, said Newsom’s appearance in Brazil is symbolically important as the federal government targets California’s decades-old authority to enforce its own environmental standards.
“California has continued to signal that it will play a leadership role,” she said.
The Trump administration confirmed to The Times that no high-level federal representative will attend COP30.
“President Trump will not jeopardize our country’s economic and national security to pursue vague climate goals that are killing other countries,” White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said.
For his part, Trump told world leaders at the United Nations in September that climate change is a “hoax” and “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.”
Since Trump returned to office for a second term, he’s canceled funding for major clean energy projects such as California’s hydrogen hub and moved to revoke the state’s long-held authority to set stricter vehicle emissions standards than those of the federal government. He’s also withdrawn from the Paris climate agreement, a seminal treaty signed a decade ago in which world leaders established the goal of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels and preferably below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). That move is seen as pivotal in preventing the worst effects of climate change.
Leaders from Chile and Colombia called Trump a liar for rejecting climate science, while Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva broadly warned that extremist forces are fabricating fake news and “condemning future generations to life on a planet altered forever by global warming.”
Terry Tamminen, former California Environmental Protection Agency secretary under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, contended that with the Trump administration’s absence, Newsom’s attendance at COP30 thrusts an even brighter spotlight on the governor.
“If the governor of Delaware goes, it may not matter,” Tamminen said. “But if our governor goes, it does. It sends a message to the world that we’re still in this.”
The U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of state leaders, said three governors from the United States are attending COP30-related events in Brazil: Newsom, Wisconsin’s Tony Evers and New Mexico’s Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Despite the warm reception Newsom has received in Belém, environmentalists in California have recently questioned his commitment.
In September, Newsom signed a package of bills that extended the state’s signature cap-and-trade program through 2045. That program, rebranded as cap-and-invest, limits greenhouse gas emissions and raises billions of dollars for the state’s climate priorities. But, at the same time, he also gave final approval to a bill that will allow oil and gas companies to drill as many as 2,000 new wells per year through 2036 in Kern County. Environmentalists called that backsliding; Newsom called it realism, given the impending refinery closures in the state that threaten to drive up gas prices.
“It’s not an ideological exercise,” he said. “It’s a very pragmatic one.”
Leah Stokes, a UC Santa Barbara political scientist, called his record “pretty complex.”
“In many ways, he is one of the leaders,” she said. “But some of the decisions that he’s made, especially recently, don’t move us in as good a direction on climate.”
Newsom is expected to return to the climate summit Wednesday before traveling deeper into the Amazon, where he plans to visit reforestation projects. The governor said he wanted to see firsthand the region often referred to as “the lungs of the world.”
“It’s not just to admire the absorption of carbon from the rainforest,” Newsom said. “But to absorb a deeper spiritual connection to this issue that connects all of us. … I think that really matters in a world that can use a little more of that.”
NEW YORK (AP) — Sally Kirkland, a one-time model who became a regular on stage, film and TV, best known for sharing the screen with Paul Newman and Robert Redford in “The Sting” and her Oscar-nominated title role in the 1987 movie “Anna,” has died. She was 84.
Her representative, Michael Greene, said Kirkland died Tuesday morning at a hospice in Palm Springs, California.
Friends established a GoFundMe account this fall for her medical care. They said she had fractured four bones in her neck, right wrist and left hip. While recovering, she also developed infections, requiring hospitalization and rehab.
“She was funny, feisty, vulnerable and self deprecating,” actor Jennifer Tilly, who co-starred with Kirkland in “Sallywood,” wrote on X. “She never wanted anyone to say she was gone. ‘Don’t say Sally died, say Sally passed on into the spirits.’ Safe passage beautiful lady.”
Kirkland acted in such films as “The Way We Were” with Barbra Streisand, “Revenge” with Kevin Costner, “Cold Feet” with Keith Carradine and Tom Waits, Ron Howard’s “EDtv,” Oliver Stone’s “JFK,” “Heatwave” with Cicely Tyson, “High Stakes” with Kathy Bates, “Bruce Almighty” with Jim Carrey and the 1991 TV movie “The Haunted,” about a family dealing with paranormal activity. She had a cameo in Mel Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles.”
Michael Douglas, left, and Sally Kirkland appear with their awards for best actor for “Wall Street” and best actress for “Anna,” at the 45th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 24, 1988. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
Michael Douglas, left, and Sally Kirkland appear with their awards for best actor for “Wall Street” and best actress for “Anna,” at the 45th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 24, 1988. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
Her biggest role was in 1987’s “Anna” as a fading Czech movie star remaking her life in the United States and mentoring to a younger actor, Paulina Porizkova. Kirkland won a Golden Globe and earned an Oscar nomination along with Cher in “Moonstruck,” Glenn Close in “Fatal Attraction, Holly Hunter in “Broadcast News” and Meryl Streep in “Ironweed.”
“Kirkland is one of those performers whose talent has been an open secret to her fellow actors but something of a mystery to the general public,” The Los Angeles Times critic wrote in her review. “There should be no confusion about her identity after this blazing comet of a performance.”
Kirkland’s small-screen acting credits include stints on “Criminal Minds,” “Roseanne,” “Head Case” and she was a series regular on the TV shows “Valley of the Dolls” and “Charlie’s Angels.”
Born in New York City, Kirkland’s mother was a fashion editor at Vogue and Life magazine who encouraged her daughter to start modeling at age 5. Kirkland graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and studied with Philip Burton, Richard Burton’s mentor, and Lee Strasberg, the master of the Method school of acting. An early breakout was appearing in Andy Warhol’s “13 Most Beautiful Women” in 1964. She appeared naked as a kidnapped rape victim in Terrence McNally’s off-Broadway “Sweet Eros.”
Sally Kirkland arrives at the Multicultural Motion Picture Association annual Oscar week luncheon in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 22, 2008. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
Sally Kirkland arrives at the Multicultural Motion Picture Association annual Oscar week luncheon in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Feb. 22, 2008. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
Some of her early roles were Shakespeare, including the lovesick Helena in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” for New York Shakespeare Festival producer Joseph Papp and Miranda in an off-Broadway production of “The Tempest.”
“I don’t think any actor can really call him or herself an actor unless he or she puts in time with Shakespeare,” she told the Los Angeles Times in 1991. “It shows up, it always shows up in the work, at some point, whether it’s just not being able to have breath control, or not being able to appreciate language as poetry and music, or not having the power that Shakespeare automatically instills you with when you take on one of his characters.”
Kirkland was a member of several New Age groups, taught Insight Transformational Seminars and was a longtime member of the affiliated Church of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, whose followers believe in soul transcendence.
She reached a career nadir while riding nude on a pig in the 1969 film “Futz,” which a Guardian reviewer dubbed the worst film he had ever seen. “It was about a man who fell in love with a pig, and even by the dismal standards of the era, it was dismal,” he wrote.
Kirkland volunteered for people with AIDS, cancer and heart disease, fed homeless people via the American Red Cross, participated in telethons for hospices and was an advocate for prisoners, especially young people.
The actors union SAG-AFTRA called her “a fearless performer whose artistry and advocacy spanned more than six decades,” adding that as “a true mentor and champion for actors, her generosity and spirit will continue to inspire.”
The Trump administration reportedly has plans to open the waters off California’s coast to new oil and gas drilling for the first time in four decades, drawing swift condemnation from Gov. Gavin Newsom, lawmakers and environmental groups who say it would be disastrous for the state’s environment, economy and clean energy targets.
Whether energy companies would be interested in such leases is another question. Experts say the resources are limited and oil majors may not clamor for leases that could ensnare them in the Golden State’s stringent environmental policies.
Trump has focused heavily on increasing fossil fuel production in the United States, yet some say offering the opportunity to drill in the Pacific is more likely a political move from an administration that has repeatedly targeted California’s green ambitions.
Details of the administration’s plan are still emerging, but maps from the Bureau of Ocean Energy identify four West Coast planning areas, three off the coast of California and one off Oregon and Washington. The administration is planning to propose up to six offshore lease sales off the coast of California between 2027 and 2030, according to internal documents first reported by the Washington Post.
Officials with the U.S. Interior Department declined to comment, citing the U.S. government shutdown. Last month, the administration also announced plans to open the entire 1.5 million-acre coastal plain of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas leasing, which Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said would create jobs and strengthen U.S. energy independence.
California has about two dozen operating oil platforms in state and federal waters, some of which are visible from the shore in different parts of Southern California. But new leases have not been granted in federal waters since 1984, in part due to strong opposition stemming from a 1969 oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara that spewed an estimated 100,000 barrels of crude oil into the water and helped jumpstart the modern environmental movement.
The years that followed saw a string of actions to protect the Outer Continental Shelf from oil and gas development, including bipartisan actions from the state, Congress and presidents including George H.W. Bush and Barack Obama. In January, President Biden signed an executive order protecting more than 625 million acres of the U.S. ocean from offshore drilling, which Trump repealed on his first day back in office.
Oil companies have expressed some interest in new offshore leases. The American Petroleum Institute and other leading oil and gas trade groups encouraged the Trump administration in a June letter to evaluate and consider all areas of the Outer Continental Shelf for oil and gas drilling, noting that “continuous exploration and drilling will be needed” to ensure long-term energy security and meet U.S. energy demands into 2050.
But the opposition from California could be strong. The state has set ambitious climate goals, including reaching 100% carbon neutrality by 2045.
“Nobody really wants offshore oil, except for maybe Texas and Louisiana,” said Clark Williams-Derry, an energy industry analyst with the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. “In my mind, this is at least in part politically motivated rather than substantively motivated.”
Trump — who received record donations from oil and gas companies during his 2024 presidential campaign — has moved to block clean energy projects in the state and repeal its authority to set strict tailpipe emissions standards, among other challenges.
Williams-Derry noted that offshore oil drilling is a speculative and risk-laden venture for oil companies, and prospects are better in fracking basins in Texas and New Mexico.
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s most recent federal assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in the Outer Continental Shelf estimates there are about 9.8 billion barrels of untapped oil off the coast of California — the majority off Southern California — compared with about 29.6 billion barrels in the Gulf of Mexico.
Offshore oil platforms often send oil ashore, requiring pipelines and other infrastructure. California isn’t likely to cooperate with that onshore work, and in fact has built up something of a “blue wall” of opposition to offshore drilling through local resolutions and legislative efforts, according to Richard Charter, senior fellow with the nonprofit Ocean Foundation.
A network of state laws such as the longstanding California Coastal Sanctuary law, the California Coastal Act, the California Environmental Quality Act and a 2025 assembly bill would effectively prevent oil companies from using existing oil and gas infrastructure in state waters to export or bring ashore new production from federal offshore leases, Charter said. State waters are the first three miles offshore.
“I think we have as many layers of protection as it is possible to get — certainly more than any other state,” he said, adding that “the limited petroleum potential is not worth the effort and the risk.”
However, it’s possible that interested oil companies could bypass the state altogether by loading crude onto tankers and shipping it elsewhere, something the Sable Offshore Corp. is now considering for its controversial project to restart oil drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara.
Energy companies have also been making use of floating oil processing centers that dramatically reduce the need for pipelines.
Rumors of the Trump administration’s plans drew sharp criticism from state leaders, including Sen. Alex Padilla, who led an Oct. 30 letter signed by more than 100 lawmakers demanding the administration reverse course to open up the Outer Continental Shelf.
“This is a matter of national consequence for coastal communities across the country, regardless of political affiliation,” the letter said. “It puts our economies, national security, and our most vulnerable ecosystems at severe risk.”
The lawmakers noted that the U.S. already leads the world in oil and gas production, and the industry already holds more than 2,000 offshore leases covering more than 12 million acres of federal waters, but fewer than 500 of those leases are actively producing oil and gas.
“There is no justification for opening vast swaths of our oceans to leasing when existing leases remain largely unused, while imposing mounting environmental and economic costs on coastal communities,” they wrote.
At the same time, any expanded drilling would meet with weakened oil spill prevention and response programs at the the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which have lost about 30% of its staff to layoffs and buyouts and face a potential 50% budget cut.
The Trump administration has caved to at least some political pressure on the issue: The administration largely backed off plans to open the Atlantic Ocean for drilling after reports drew the ire of Republican coastal state leaders.
But advocacy groups say the administration is less likely to give favor to California, where Gov. Gavin Newsom — a 2028 presidential contender — has repeatedly sparred with Trump over energy and the environment. Newsom is currently at the United Nations climate conference in Brazil, which Trump opted not to attend.
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. airlines canceled more than 2,700 flights on Sunday as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that air traffic across the nation would “slow to a trickle” if the federal government shutdown lingered into the busy Thanksgiving travel holiday season.
The slowdown at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports began to cause more widespread disruptions in its third day. The FAA last week ordered flight cuts at the nation’s busiest airports as some air traffic controllers, who have gone unpaid for nearly a month, have stopped showing up for work.
In addition, nearly 10,000 flight delays were reported on Sunday alone, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks air travel disruptions. More than 1,000 flights were canceled Friday, and more than 1,500 on Saturday.
The FAA reductions started Friday at 4% and were set to increase to 10% by Nov. 14. They are in effect from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time and will impact all commercial airlines.
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta stood to have the most cancellations Sunday, followed by Chicago O’Hare International, where wintry weather threatened. In Georgia, weather could also be a factor, with the National Weather Service office in Atlanta warning of widespread freezing conditions through Tuesday.
Traveler Kyra March finally arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson on Sunday after a series of postponements the day before.
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“I was coming from Tampa and that flight got delayed, delayed, delayed. Then it was canceled and then rebooked. And so I had to stay at a hotel and then came back this morning,” she said.
The FAA said staffing shortages at Newark and LaGuardia Airport in New York were leading to average departure delays of about 75 minutes.
Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Michigan was mostly empty Sunday morning, with minimal wait times at security checkpoints as delays and cancellations filled the departures and arrivals boards.
Earlier Sunday, Duffy warned that U.S. air traffic could decline significantly if the shutdown persisted. He said additional flight cuts — perhaps up to 20% — might be needed, particularly if controllers receive no pay for a second straight pay period.
“More controllers aren’t coming to work day by day, the further they go without a paycheck,” Duffy told “Fox News Sunday.”
“As I look two weeks out, as we get closer to Thanksgiving travel, I think what’s going to happen is you’re going to have air travel slow to a trickle as everyone wants to travel to see their families,” Duffy said.
With “very few” controllers working, “you’ll have a few flights taking off and landing” and thousands of cancellations, he said.
“You’re going to have massive disruption. I think a lot of angry Americans. I think we have to be honest about where this is going. It doesn’t get better,” Duffy said. “It gets worse until these air traffic controllers are going to be paid.”
The government has been short of air traffic controllers for years, and multiple presidential administrations have tried to convince retirement-age controllers to remain on the job. Duffy said the shutdown has exacerbated the problem, leading some air traffic controllers to speed up their retirements.
“Up to 15 or 20 a day are retiring,” Duffy said on CNN.
Duffy said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth texted him with an offer to lend military air traffic controllers, but it’s unclear whether the staff is certified to work on civilian systems.
Duffy denied Democratic charges that the flight cancellations are a political tactic, saying they were necessary due to increasing near-misses from an overtaxed system.
“I needed to take action to keep people safe,” Duffy said. “I’m doing what I can in a mess that Democrats have put in my lap.”
Airlines for America, a trade group representing U.S. carriers, said air traffic control staffing-related delays exceeded 3,000 hours on Saturday, the highest of the shutdown, and that staffing problems contributed to 71% of delay time.
From Oct. 1 to Nov. 7, controller shortages have disrupted more than 4 million passengers on U.S. carriers, according to Airlines for America.
“I had no idea how to dress casually until I moved to California,” says Kelsey Keith, who previously lived in NYC for a decade. “I still wear all black to school pick-up, so it’s not like the New Yorker has left the building, but now I also own a pair of hiking shoes.” Kelsey, the creative director of MillerKnoll, also writes one of our favorite design Substacks. Here, the Berkeley resident shares five outfits she wore in a week, plus secondhand shopping tips…
“I usually only turn to mall brands for basics, but Banana Republic has gotten really good recently. I love this shirt — it’s well-made, and the ripstop material is nice. Their pull-on black pants are also perfect. I try not to buy new pieces very often, but there are severalotherthings on their site I’ve got my eye on.”
Necklace: similar. Bracelet: “designed by midcentury designer Fran Hosken, available through the Hosken Archive.”
“During college, I studied abroad in Paris. While there, I made my way to Venice, then took a 24-hour ferry to Greece — I had a deck ticket. But Greece is amazing, so however you can get there works. I bought this Bees of Malia pendant on that trip. It’s a replica of a relic dated to 1650 B.C.”
Cardigan: Agnes B., “bought secondhand.” Pants: Banana Republic. Clogs: Rothy’s, “these are my house slippers, and they’re nuts comfortable.”
“If something costs more than I want to pay, I’ll try to find it on a resale site. I use Gem to set an alert in my size so that I get an email if they come up for sale. I’m very, very patient. Gem alerts are also a great way to get clarity on an item’s average price on the secondhand market.”
Rings: “Engagement ring by Lola Brooks, wedding bands by J. Hannah, antique quilt band ring from Oko in Portland.”
“Before we got engaged, my husband and I looked at options together and narrowed it down, and then he made the final choice. My engagement ring is from Lola Brooks, and I think it looks like a galaxy.”
“Part of the reason why texture is so interesting is that the craft is evident. With a thick wool sweater or a delicately embroidered shirt, you can see the material and the construction. If I’m dressing in one color, there’s usually a textural shift in what I’m wearing.”
“On a given week, 10 pieces of clothing will end up piled on a chair, and I’ll swap things in or out. I don’t like to be precious with clothing. I’m looking for stuff that’s well-made and will hold up to a lot of wear.”
“Claire McCardell was a mid-century American fashion designer, who pioneered things like pockets in women’s clothing, even though male designers didn’t understand why women would need them. [She also made zippers easy to reach because a woman ‘may live alone and like it, but you may regret it if you wrench your arm trying to zip a back zipper into place.’] This new book about her is amazing. Everyone should read it.”
“If your feet hurt, you won’t enjoy yourself, no matter what else is going on. Wallabies, an old-man classic, are extremely comfortable. They go with everything because they’re kind of anti-fashion. Whenever I need a new-to-me pair, I’ll find them on a resale site like eBay — a good tip for classics, if you know your size!”
“Living in California, surrounded by nature, you end up being pretty outdoorsy by default, and because you’re always doing outdoor things, you dress casually. Merrell needs to bring back these Wildwood Aerosports immediately.”
“My youngest child is now out of diapers, so I don’t have to schlep everything everywhere. Sometimes I’m like, I’m only taking what fits in a little pouch!”
“I spent many years as a design editor, and I apply that mindset to clothes, too. I’m ruthless about making sure I only have things that I really like to wear. That’s the trick for me.”
Note: If you buy something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission or have a sponsored relationship with the brand, at no cost to you. We recommend only products we genuinely like. Thank you so much.
Voter anger over the cost of living is hurtling forward into next year’s midterm elections, when pivotal contests will be decided by communities that are home to fast-rising electric bills or fights over who’s footing the bill to power Big Tech’s energy-hungry data centers.
Electricity costs were a key issue in this week’s elections for governor in New Jersey and Virginia, a data center hotspot, and in Georgia, where Democrats ousted two Republican incumbents for seats on the state’s utility regulatory commission.
Voters in New Jersey, Virginia, California and New York City all cited economic concerns as the top issue, as Democrats and Republicans gird for a debate over affordability in the intensifying midterm battle to control Congress.
Already, President Donald Trump is signaling that he’ll focus on affordability next year as he and Republicans try to maintain their slim congressional majorities, while Democrats are blaming Trump for rising household costs.
Front and center may be electricity bills, which in many places are increasing at a rate faster than U.S. inflation on average — although not everywhere.
“There’s a lot of pressure on politicians to talk about affordability, and electricity prices are right now the most clear example of problems of affordability,” said Dan Cassino, a professor of politics and government and pollster at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey.
Rising electric costs aren’t expected to ease and many Americans could see an increase on their monthly bills in the middle of next year’s campaigns.
Higher electric bills on the horizon
Gas and electric utilities are seeking or already secured rate increases of more that $34 billion in the first three quarters of 2025, consumer advocacy organization PowerLines reported. That was more than double the same period last year.
With some 80 million Americans struggling to pay their utility bills, “it’s a life or death and ‘eat or heat’ type decision that people have to make,” said Charles Hua, PowerLines’ founder.
In Georgia, proposals to build data centers have roiled communities, while a victorious Democrat, Peter Hubbard, accused Republicans on the commission of “rubber-stamping” rate increases by Georgia Power, a subsidiary of power giant Southern Co.
Monthly Georgia Power bills have risen six times over the past two years, now averaging $175 a month for a typical residential customer.
Hubbard’s message seemed to resonate with voters. Rebecca Mekonnen, who lives in the Atlanta suburb of Stone Mountain, said she voted for the Democratic challengers, and wants to see “more affordable pricing. That’s the main thing. It’s running my pocket right now.”
Now, Georgia Power is proposing to spend $15 billion to expand its power generating capacity, primarily to meet demand from data centers, and Hubbard is questioning whether data centers will pay their fair share — or share it with regular ratepayers.
Midterm battlegrounds in hotspots
Midterm elections will see congressional battlegrounds in states where fast-rising electric bills or data center hotspots — or both — are fomenting community uprisings.
Analysts attribute rising electric bills to a combination of forces.
That includes expensive projects to modernize the grid and harden poles, wires and substations against extreme weather and wildfires.
Also playing a role is explosive demand from data centers, bitcoin miners and a drive to revive domestic manufacturing, as well as rising natural gas prices, analysts say.
“The cost of utility service is the new ‘cost of eggs’ concern for a lot of consumers,” said Jennifer Bosco of the National Consumer Law Center.
In some places, data centers are driving a big increase in demand, since a typical AI data center uses as much electricity as 100,000 homes, according to the International Energy Agency. Some could require more electricity than cities the size of Pittsburgh, Cleveland or New Orleans.
Meanwhile, communities that don’t want to live next to one are pushing back.
It’s on voters’ minds
An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll from October found that electricity bills are a “major” source of stress for 36% of U.S. adults.
Still, the impact is still more uneven than other financial stressors like grocery costs, which just over half of U.S. adults said are a “major” source of stress.
And electric rates vary widely by state or utility.
For instance, federal data shows that for-profit utilities have been raising rates far faster than municipally owned utilities or cooperatives.
In the 13-state mid-Atlantic grid from Illinois to New Jersey, analysts say ratepayers are paying billions of dollars for the cost to power data centers — including data centers not even built yet.
Next June, electric bills across that region will absorb billions more dollars in higher wholesale electricity costs designed to lure new power plants to power data centers.
That’s spurred governors from the region — including Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro, Illinois’ JB Pritzker and Maryland’s Wes Moore, all Democrats who are running for reelection — to pressure the grid operator PJM Interconnection to contain increases.
High-rate states vs. lower-rate rates
Drew Maloney, the CEO of the Edison Electric Institute, a trade association of for-profit electric utilities, suggested that only some states are the drivers of higher average electric bills.
“If you set aside a few sates with higher rates, the rest of the country largely follows inflation on electricity rates,” Maloney said.
Examples of states with faster-rising rates are California, where wildfires are driving grid upgrades, and those in New England, where natural gas is expensive because of strained pipeline capacity.
Still, other states are feeling a pinch.
In Indiana, a growing data center hotspot, the consumer advocacy group, Citizens Action Coalition, reported this year that residential customers of the state’s for-profit electric utilities were absorbing the most severe rate increases in at least two decades.
Republican Gov. Mike Braun decried the hikes, saying “we can’t take it anymore.”
___
Associated Press reporter Jeff Amy in Atlanta contributed to this report.
If you have a ceiling fan, turn it on and look up at it. Which direction are the blades spinning? If they’re going counterclockwise, it’s time to change direction.
What You Need To Know
Clockwise-turning fans circulate warm air around
Counterclockwise-turning fans give a cooling breeze
Changing the fan’s spin direction can lower your energy bill
Get the most out of your fan with the right size and position
You may have noticed that your ceiling fan blades have slight angles. There’s a reason for that! They’re designed to move the room’s air a certain way, depending on which direction the fan is spinning.
Which way?
In the summer, a counterclockwise-spinning ceiling fan will push air down and out, creating a small cooling breeze.
In the winter, a clockwise-spinning ceiling fan on low-speed will draw up the air and circulate it so that it mixes. Warm air rises, so it’ll make use of the warmer air that’s hanging above your head.
To change your fan’s spin direction, check the manual to make sure you do it correctly. Most likely, the switch is on the body of the fan fixture or inside the light globe. If your fan has a remote or wall panel, check for a fan direction button there.
This little trick of running your ceiling fan the right way can also lower your energy bill. Since your fan is returning warm air down, you may find yourself turning your thermostat down.
Is your fan doing its best work?
One other note: make sure your ceiling fan is right for the room.
Ceiling fan blades work best when they’re 10 to 12 inches below the ceiling, 7 to 9 feet above the floor and at least 18 inches away from walls.
Fans with a diameter of 44 inches or less are good for circulating rooms up to 225 square feet. Larger rooms should use larger fans, often 52 inches or bigger.
Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.
If you have a ceiling fan, turn it on and look up at it. Which direction are the blades spinning? If they’re going counterclockwise, it’s time to change direction.
What You Need To Know
Clockwise-turning fans circulate warm air around
Counterclockwise-turning fans give a cooling breeze
Changing the fan’s spin direction can lower your energy bill
Get the most out of your fan with the right size and position
You may have noticed that your ceiling fan blades have slight angles. There’s a reason for that! They’re designed to move the room’s air a certain way, depending on which direction the fan is spinning.
Which way?
In the summer, a counterclockwise-spinning ceiling fan will push air down and out, creating a small cooling breeze.
In the winter, a clockwise-spinning ceiling fan on low-speed will draw up the air and circulate it so that it mixes. Warm air rises, so it’ll make use of the warmer air that’s hanging above your head.
To change your fan’s spin direction, check the manual to make sure you do it correctly. Most likely, the switch is on the body of the fan fixture or inside the light globe. If your fan has a remote or wall panel, check for a fan direction button there.
This little trick of running your ceiling fan the right way can also lower your energy bill. Since your fan is returning warm air down, you may find yourself turning your thermostat down.
Is your fan doing its best work?
One other note: make sure your ceiling fan is right for the room.
Ceiling fan blades work best when they’re 10 to 12 inches below the ceiling, 7 to 9 feet above the floor and at least 18 inches away from walls.
Fans with a diameter of 44 inches or less are good for circulating rooms up to 225 square feet. Larger rooms should use larger fans, often 52 inches or bigger.
Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.
