ReportWire

Tag: Collections: US

  • Trump Is Reviving Large Sales of Coal From Public Lands. Will Anyone Want It?

    [ad_1]

    BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. officials in the coming days are set to hold the government’s biggest coal sales in more than a decade, offering 600 million tons from publicly owned reserves next to strip mines in Montana and Wyoming.

    The sales are a signature piece of President Donald Trump’s ambitions for companies to dig more coal from federal lands and burn it for electricity. Yet most power plants served by those mines plan to quit burning coal altogether within 10 years, an Associated Press data analysis shows.

    Three other mines poised for expansions or new leases under Trump also face declining demand as power plants use less of their coal and in some cases shut down, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the nonprofit Global Energy Monitor.

    Those market realities raise a fundamental question about the Republican administration’s push to revive a heavily polluting industry that long has been in decline: Who’s going to buy all that coal?

    The question looms over the administration’s enthusiastic embrace of coal, a leading contributor to climate change. It also shows the uncertainty inherent in inserting those policies into markets where energy-producing customers make long-term decisions with massive implications, not just for their own viability but for the future of the planet, in an ever-shifting political landscape.


    Rushing to approve projects

    The upcoming lease sales in Montana and Wyoming are in the Powder River Basin, home to the most productive U.S. coal fields.

    Officials say they will go forward beginning Monday despite the government shutdown. The administration exempted from furlough those workers who process fossil fuel permits and leases.

    Democratic President Joe Biden last year acted to block future coal leases in the region, citing their potential to make climate change worse. Burning the coal from the two leases being sold in coming days would generate more than 1 billion tons of planet-warming carbon dioxide, according to a Department of Energy formula.

    Trump rejected climate change as a “con job” during a Sept. 23 speech to the U.N. General Assembly, an assessment that puts him at odds with scientists. He praised coal as “beautiful” and boasted about the abundance of U.S. supplies while deriding solar and wind power. Administration officials said Wednesday that they were canceling $8 billion in grants for clean energy projects in 16 states won by Democrat Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

    In response to an order from Trump on his first day in office in January, coal lease sales that had been shelved or stalled were revived and rushed to approval, with considerations of greenhouse gas emissions dismissed. Administration officials have advanced coal mine expansions and lease sales in Utah, North Dakota, Tennessee and Alabama, in addition to Montana and Wyoming.

    Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Monday that the administration is opening more than 20,000 square miles (52,000 square kilometers) of federal lands to mining. That is an area bigger than New Hampshire and Vermont combined.

    The administration also sharply reduced royalty rates for coal from federal lands, ordered a coal-fired power plant in Michigan to stay open past planned retirement dates and pledged $625 million to recommission or modernize coal plants amid growing electricity demand from artificial intelligence and data centers.

    “We’re putting American miners back to work,” Burgum said, flanked by coal miners and Republican politicians. “We’ve got a demand curve coming at us in terms of the demand for electricity that is literally going through the roof.”

    The AP’s finding that power plants served by mines on public lands are burning less coal reflects an industrywide decline that began in 2007.

    Energy experts and economists were not surprised. They expressed doubt that coal would ever reclaim dominance in the power sector. Interior Department officials did not respond to questions about future demand for coal from public lands.

    But it will take time for more electricity from planned natural gas and solar projects to come online. That means Trump’s actions could give a short-term bump to coal, said Umed Paliwal, an expert in electricity markets at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

    “Eventually coal will get pushed out of the market,” Paliwal said. “The economics will just eat the coal generation over time.”

    The coal sales in Montana and Wyoming were requested by Navajo Nation-owned company. The Navajo Transitional Energy Co. (NTEC) has been one of the largest industry players since buying several major mines in the Powder River Basin during a 2019 bankruptcy auction. Those mines supply 34 power plants in 19 states.

    Twenty-one of the plants are scheduled to stop burning coal in the next decade. They include all five plants using coal from NTEC’s Spring Creek mine in Montana.

    In filings with federal officials, the company said the fair market value of 167 million tons of federal coal next to the Spring Creek mine was just over $126,000.

    That is less than one-tenth of a penny per ton, a fraction of what coal brought in its heyday. By comparison, the last large-scale lease sale in the Powder River Basin, also for 167 million tons of coal, drew a bid of $35 million in 2013. Federal officials rejected that as too low.

    NTEC said the low value was supported by prior government reviews predicting fewer buyers for coal. The company said taxpayers would benefit in future years from royalties on any coal mined.

    “The market for coal will decline significantly over the next two decades. There are fewer coal mines expanding their reserves, there are fewer buyers of thermal coal and there are more regulatory constraints,” the company said.

    In central Wyoming on Wednesday, the government will sell 440 million tons of coal next to NTEC’s Antelope Mine. Just over half of the 29 power plants served by the mine are scheduled to stop burning coal by 2035.

    Among them is the Rawhide plant in northern Colorado. It is due to quit coal in 2029 but will keep making electricity with natural gas and 30 megawatts of solar panels.


    Aging plants and optimism

    The largest U.S. coal company has offered a more optimistic take on coal’s future. Because new nuclear and gas plants are years away, Peabody Energy suggested in September that demand for coal in the U.S. could increase 250 million tons annually — up almost 50% from current volumes.

    Peabody’s projection was based on the premise that existing power plants can burn more coal. That amount, known as plant capacity, dropped by about half in recent years.

    “U.S. coal is clearly in comeback mode,” Peabody’s president, James Grech, said in a recent conference call with analysts. “The U.S. has more energy in its coal reserves than any nation has in any one energy source.”

    No large coal power plants have come online in the U.S. since 2013. Most existing plants are 40 years old or older. Money pledged by the administration to refurbish older plants will not go very far given that a single boiler component at a plant can cost $25 million to replace, said Nikhil Kumar with GridLab, an energy consulting group.

    That leads back to the question of who will buy the coal.

    “I don’t see where you get all this coal consumed at remaining facilities,” Kumar said.

    Gruver reported from Wellington, Colorado. Associated Press writer Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • New Mexico Governor Signs Bills to Counter Federal Cuts, Support Health Care and Food Assistance

    [ad_1]

    SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a package of bills Friday aimed at shoring up food assistance, rural health care and public broadcasting in response to recently enacted federal cuts.

    The new legislation responds to President Donald Trump’s big bill as well as fear that health insurance rates will rise with the expiration of COVID-era subsidies to the Affordable Care Act exchange in New Mexico. Exchange subsidies are a major point of contention in the Washington budget standoff and related federal government shutdown.

    New Mexico would set aside $17 million to backfill the federal credits if they are not renewed, under legislation signed by the governor.

    The Democratic-led Legislature met on Wednesday and Thursday to approved $162 million in state spending on rural health care, food assistance, restocking food banks, public broadcast and more.

    Starting this year, New Mexico expects to lose about $200 million annually because of new federal tax cuts. But the state still has a large budget surplus thanks to booming oil production.

    “When federal support falls short, New Mexico steps up,” Lujan Grisham said in a statement.

    Many federal health care changes under Trump’s big bill don’t kick in until 2027 or later, and Democratic legislators in New Mexico acknowledged that their bills are only a temporary bandage.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Embattled Figure in Native American Politics Resigns as Chairman of Pueblo Governors Coalition

    [ad_1]

    SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — An embattled figure in Native American politics has resigned as chairman of the All Pueblo Council of Governors and ended his outside consulting work for the state of New Mexico days after he was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated.

    Records obtained by The Associated Press show James Mountain submitted his resignation letter Tuesday to the council, a prominent advocacy group for 19 Native American communities in New Mexico and another in Texas. He noted it was effective immediately.

    Also on Tuesday, Mountain terminated his work as a contract adviser to the state Indian Affairs Department, said Jodi McGinnis Porter, a spokesperson for New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

    Pojoaque Pueblo police arrested Mountain a week ago on suspicion of driving while intoxicated at a tribal casino. He was held over the weekend at a Santa Fe County jail after declining a field sobriety test, according to an online booking log and the Pojoaque Pueblo Tribal Court.

    The Associated Press left email and phone messages for Mountain on Friday seeking comment. The AP also left messages with the All Pueblo Council of Governors. The council’s website still listed Mountain as chairman Friday.

    It was unclear Friday whether Mountain has been formally charged, though the Pojoaque Pueblo court says an arraignment has been scheduled next week. The AP submitted a request for detailed judicial records to the court for a judge to consider.

    Mountain’s 2023 appointment as cabinet secretary to the New Mexico Department of Indian Affairs under Lujan Grisham angered Native American advocates who work to address violence and missing persons cases within their communities.

    They pointed to past sexual assault charges against Mountain, while Lujan Grisham’s office emphasized that charges against Mountain were dismissed in 2010 after prosecutors said they didn’t have enough evidence to go to trial — and urged those raising concerns about his past to “respect the judicial process.”

    Lujan Grisham also had highlighted Mountain’s leadership at San Ildefonso Pueblo as the tribe’s governor, and his expertise in state and tribal relations. But the state Senate confirmation process for Mountain stalled, and he left the cabinet post after serving less than a year to work as Lujan Grisham’s senior policy adviser for tribal affairs.

    Mountain left direct state government employment at the end of March, but he settled into similar role as a contract adviser — until Tuesday’s contract termination, McGinnis Porter said.

    Mountain served as governor at San Ildefonso Pueblo from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2015 to 2017. He oversaw the completion of the Aamodt Water Settlement, concerning the pueblo’s water rights, and the Indian Land Claims Settlement in 2006. He also ran his own state-tribal affairs consulting firm in recent years.

    Associated Press writer Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • A Black Champion Boxer Was Held by Police at Gunpoint. the Police Chief Says He Gets the Outrage

    [ad_1]

    OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The police chief of Nebraska’s largest city acknowledged Friday that police nationwide are more likely to pull Black people out of their cars at gunpoint than other racial groups as Omaha grapples with growing outrage over champion boxer Terence “Bud” Crawford being ordered out of his car at gunpoint only hours after the city held a downtown celebration in his honor.

    “Quite frankly, that is generally a true statement. The number of stops are disproportionate. That is nationwide,” Police Chief Tobb Schmaderer said at a news conference to address an internal investigation into Crawford’s traffic stop.

    The police confrontation with Crawford, who is Black, has reignited long-simmering tensions between Omaha’s Black community and its police force. Omaha Sen. Terrell McKinney, one of three Black state lawmakers in the Nebraska Legislature and a vocal critic of Omaha police and the state’s justice system, said he was disappointed — but not surprised — by the police stop.

    “I urge the people to keep speaking out and demanding real change boldly and unapologetically,” McKinney said in a Facebook post earlier this week. “Our lives are at risk, and we have endured oppression for far too long.”

    According to a U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics’ special report released in 2022, Black and Hispanic people were more likely than white people to experience the threat or use of force by police in 2020. Black people were also more likely to be shouted at by police than white people.


    Police chief long an advocate for community policing

    Schmaderer has long been an advocate of community policing that aims to build trust between officers and the public they patrol. He said Friday that he understands there is a lot of anger in the community over the treatment of Crawford — a favorite son of Omaha after making history by becoming the first male boxer to capture three unified division titles.

    “We understand the importance of this traffic stop to our community, and the implications and the impression it has given out,” he said.

    But he said a nearly completed internal investigation into the traffic stop shows the officers involved did not violate department policy.

    According to their reports, the officers spotted a high-performance sedan without license plates pull out of a downtown parking garage around 1:30 a.m. Sunday and quickly accelerate to more than twice the 25 mph (40 kph) speed limit. The officers did not know Crawford was driving the car, Schmaderer said, before they pulled it over. Two officers approached it — one on the passenger side and another on the driver’s side.

    Schmaderer said the initial interaction was cordial, which he assessed through body camera footage. Crawford, who was driving, told the officer at his window that the car was new and “had gotten away from him.”

    At that point, a member of Crawford’s security team who was in the passenger seat told the officer at his window that he was carrying a legal handgun, Schmaderer said. Crawford, who was leaning over the car’s console, told that officer he also had a legal firearm, but the officer at the driver’s side window didn’t hear that exchange, Schmaderer said.

    That is when the officer on the driver’s side spotted Crawford’s gun on the floorboard by his feet, pulled his service weapon and ordered Crawford and three other people out. Schmaderer said Crawford and the others were handcuffed for about 10 minutes. Police confirmed all occupants of the vehicle were legally permitted to carry firearms and let them go after about 30 minutes, ticketing Crawford on suspicion of reckless driving.

    Crawford’s spokesperson said Friday that the boxer had no comment.


    Video of incident won’t be released, chief says

    Schmaderer said he will not be sharing police video of the stop unless Crawford agrees to it.

    “We don’t have a fatality here. We don’t have an officer-involved shooting, and it’s generally not our protocol to release that footage under those circumstances,” he said.

    Crawford’s stop by police came after the city held a parade through downtown streets in Crawford’s honor, followed by a party to celebrate his 38th birthday at a live music venue near where the stop occurred.

    Associated Press Race And Ethnicity News Editor Aaron Morrison contributed to this report from New York.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • A Hurricane Sank a Spanish Fleet in 1715. This Summer, Salvagers Found $1M in Coins

    [ad_1]

    A team of excavators has uncovered a load of long-lost Spanish coins buried for centuries under the surf and sand along a stretch of Florida known as the “Treasure Coast.”

    This week, shipwreck salvage company 1715 Fleet – Queens Jewels LLC announced that its divers had found more than 1,000 silver and gold coins thought to be minted centuries ago in the Spanish colonies of Bolivia, Mexico and Peru. They estimate the coins are worth $1 million.

    Over the years, millions of dollars in coins have been found — and stolen — by salvagers in a stretch of Atlantic coast from Melbourne to Fort Pierce.

    Ultimately, the recent finds from this summer’s salvage season will be split between the salvage company, its subcontractors and the state of Florida, as required by state law.

    Here’s what to know about Florida’s tradition of state-sanctioned treasure hunting.


    A hurricane sunk the 1715 Fleet

    The 1715 Fleet was a convoy of Spanish ships laden with silver, gold and jewels taken from the New World. The flotilla was sailing back to Spain when a hurricane struck it on July 31, 1715, spilling the treasures into the sea.

    The Spanish recovered some of the gold and silver coins, but many of the doomed fleet’s treasures were considered lost to the ages.

    For generations, divers have combed the “Treasure Coast,” looking for the gold bars and pieces of eight lost beneath the waves. Over the years, the site has yielded a trove of, well, treasure and has helped sustain a local industry of professional treasure hunters.


    The treasure actually belongs to Florida

    Under Florida law, any “treasure trove” or archaeological artifacts that have been “abandoned” on state-owned lands or in state waters belong to the state. But the state can issue permits to qualified individuals or companies for the survey and recovery of offshore cultural resources.

    The salvagers get to walk away with most of the artifacts, following negotiations with state officials.

    State law requires that up to roughly 20% of the recovered archaeological materials be retained by the state for research collections or public display. The other 80% can be split among the salvagers.


    Each coin will be cleaned and documented

    The company 1715 Fleet – Queens Jewels LLC was awarded the exclusive salvage rights for the 1715 Fleet shipwrecks by a federal court, which oversees its finds and distributions each year.

    Sal Guttuso, the company’s operations director, says staff make a detailed inventory of the finds before starting the conservation process in the company’s archaeological lab, in which small batches of the coins are placed in a reverse electrolysis tank. That’s a process of running a current of electricity through the water solution to gently remove salt, metal oxides and marine growth that may have encrusted the coins over the centuries.

    Then, staffers will use magnification and high resolution photography to document the nuances of each coin, including any markings showing the date, monarch and minter associated with it, along with the weight and location where it was found. Those metrics are used to assess the coins on a point-based grade system.

    State officials then review the detailed inventory and request which artifacts they want to keep for the public, once a federal judge signs off.


    Not just anyone can go treasure hunting in Florida

    It’s against Florida law to disturb or dig publicly-owned sites without permission from the Florida Division of Historical Resources, and violations can warrant felony charges. Florida officials can issue an exploration or recovery permit to applicants that have met “stringent archaeological requirements.”

    The state does encourage residents and visitors to explore Florida’s many underwater archaeological preserves, and to help identify, record and report underwater sites — just not disturb them.

    “A shipwreck’s true ‘treasure’ is derived through public participation and interpretation,” reads an explainer on the Division of Historical Resources’ website.


    Does anyone make money doing this?

    Guttuso says running the shipwreck salvaging company is a part-time job for him. And the subcontractors who dive the site treat it as a summer job while working as a mechanic or property manager during the offseason, he said.

    Some of the divers use one season’s finds to finance next season’s hunt, Guttuso said. Others keep the coins for private collections.

    But there are some years when the hunters see a major payout, he said. In 2015, the company’s divers found more than 350 gold coins, the most precious of which sold for $250,000 a piece.

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

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • A by the Numbers Look at the Current Hispanic Population in the United States

    [ad_1]

    Hispanic Heritage Month, celebrated from Sept. 15 through October 15, offers the opportunity to recognize and celebrate the contributions of Hispanic cultures in the United States. Hispanic people in the U.S. are becoming one of the nation’s fastest growing racial and ethnic groups.

    But this growing community is far from being a monolith. From shifting identities, increasing educational attainment and growing political influence, Hispanic Americans continue to be a major part of the nation’s tapestry.

    Here’s a look at the Hispanic population in the U.S., by the numbers:

    That’s how many people in the U.S. identify as ethnically Hispanic, according to the latest census estimates.

    Hispanic was a term coined by the federal government for people descended from Spanish-speaking cultures. But, being ethnically Hispanic can reflect a diverse array of histories, cultures and national origins.

    There are several other identifiers for Hispanic people, depending largely on personal preference. Mexican Americans, the largest Hispanic subgroup, who grew up during the 1960s Civil Rights era may identify as Chicano. Others may go by their family’s nation of origin, such as Colombian American or Salvadorian American.

    That’s the median age of the Hispanic population in the U.S., according to the Census. It’s the youngest of all U.S. populations.

    In comparison, the median age for the overall U.S. population is 39.1.

    The increase in the number of Hispanic women earning advanced degrees from 2000 to 2021. The number of Hispanic men accomplishing the same increased by 199% during the same period, according to U.S. Census Bureau data analyzed by the Pew Research Center.

    Although the number of Latinos earning college degrees has increased in the last two decades, they remain underpaid and underrepresented in the workforce compared to their non-Hispanic counterparts, a reality that advocates say can change only when there are more Latinos in positions of power.

    The percentage of the U.S. Hispanic population age 5 and older who speak a language other than English at home, according to 2024 census estimates. About 28.7% of them also report speaking English “less than very well.”

    Currently, there are more than 350 languages spoken in the United States, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The most widely spoken languages other than English are Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Arabic.

    According to AP VoteCast, Hispanics made up about 10% of voters in the 2024 presidential election. Support among Hispanic voters, especially in swing states like Arizona, was an important factor to who would win the election.

    About half of Hispanic voters in the 2024 election identified as Democrats. About 4 in 10 were Republicans and roughly 1 in 10 were independents.

    Overall, Hispanic voters were about equally likely to say they have a favorable view of Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris. But there is a gender divide among Hispanic voters on Harris: About 6 in 10 Hispanic women have a somewhat or very favorable opinion of Harris, compared to 45% of Hispanic men.

    The number of Hispanic or Latino members serving in the 119th Congress. That shakes out to 10.35% of total membership, according to the official Congress profile.

    For comparison, 40 years ago in the 99th Congress there were only 14 Hispanic or Latino members, and all were male.

    Six serve in the Senate and 50 in the House of Representatives, including two delegates and the Resident Commissioner. Of the members of the House, 38 identify as Democrats and 12 as Republican, with 19 women serving.

    At the start of January, there were seven Hispanic US senators. That number decreased to six when then Sen. Marco Rubio resigned to become the Secretary of State. Of the six Hispanic senators, two are Republican and four are Democrats; one is a woman:

    2. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto

    This year also marked a new record for Latinas in state legislatures. In total, 214 Latinas or 2.9% hold a seat in a state legislature, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. Of the 214 Latinas serving in a state house, 182 are Democrats, 31 are Republican, and one identifies as nonpartisan.

    As of September 2025, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is the only active Latina governor in the U.S. Only two Latinas have been elected governor in U.S. history, and both were in New Mexico.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Iowa School District Sues Search Firm That Vetted Superintendent Arrested by ICE Last Week

    [ad_1]

    DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa‘s largest school district said they filed a lawsuit Friday against the consulting company it hired to identify superintendent candidates, alleging it did not properly vet Ian Roberts, who was arrested by immigration authorities last week.

    Des Moines Public Schools hired JG Consulting in 2022 to facilitate the leadership search, which led to the hiring of Roberts the following year.

    U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements officials have said the Guyana native was in the U.S. illegally and had no work authorization. Federal prosecutors charged Roberts on Thursday with possessing four firearms while in the U.S. illegally, including one authorities said was wrapped in a towel inside the Jeep Cherokee he was driving when agents pulled him over, according to court filings.

    The district’s complaint accused the search firm of breach of contract and negligence, and school board chair Jackie Norris said the focus is on recouping taxpayer dollars and addressing reputational damage.

    “The firm failed its duty to properly vet candidates. Ian Roberts should have never been presented as a finalist,” Norris said. “If we knew what we knew now, he would never have been hired.”

    James Guerra, president and CEO of Texas-based JG Consulting, did not immediately respond to phone calls or messages seeking comment Friday. A phone call to JG Consulting’s customer service line went unanswered.

    The arrest of Roberts after he ran from a traffic stop has shocked and confused the community. Students have walked out of their classrooms in protest. Community members have gathered to pose questions to Roberts’ lawyers, trying to reconcile the vibrant man who engaged with students and staff with the man at the center of a scandal that has grabbed national attention. The Des Moines school board has said it was “a victim of deception” throughout his tenure.

    Roberts, who is in federal custody in Des Moines, resigned as superintendent this week after a state education board revoked his license.

    Federal authorities said Roberts had a final removal order that was issued last year, and an immigration judge denied a motion to reopen Roberts’ immigration case this April. Roberts’ attorney, Alfredo Parrish, has said Roberts was under the impression from a prior attorney that his immigration case was “resolved successfully.”

    The contract between the district and JG Consulting, which has long been available on the district’s website, said the company was responsible for advertising, recruitment, application and resume review, public domain search and complete reference checks, as well as the presentation of qualified candidates.

    Roberts has two decades of experience in education and used a doctorate title well before earning a doctoral degree from Trident University International in 2021.

    Roberts falsely claimed on a resume he submitted with his application that he earned a doctorate in urban educational leadership from Morgan State University in 2007, according to documents The Associated Press obtained through a public records request.

    Although Roberts was enrolled in that doctorate program from 2002 to 2007, the school’s public relations office confirmed in an email that he didn’t receive that degree. A background check during the hiring process said the same, flagging the discrepancy with the resume, according to the district.

    The district said the full school board only saw a resume that was revised to indicate he had not completed his dissertation, which is necessary for the degree. But the board did have access to the background check alerting members to the initial variance.

    The consulting company was required to bring all information, positive or negative, to the board’s attention but failed to do so, Norris said. “This is about accountability.”

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • The Latest: Trump Cancels Billions in Clean Energy Grants

    [ad_1]

    The Trump administration is canceling $7.6 billion in grants that supported hundreds of clean energy projects in 16 states, all of which voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in last year’s presidential election.

    The Energy Department said in a statement Thursday that 223 projects were terminated after a review determined they did not adequately advance the nation’s energy needs or were not economically viable.

    Officials did not provide details about which projects are being cut, but said funding came from the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and other DOE bureaus.

    The cuts are likely to affect battery plants, hydrogen technology projects, upgrades to the electric grid and carbon-capture efforts, among many others, according to the environmental nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council.


    Trump embraces Project 2025, which he once avoided

    Trump is openly embracing the conservative blueprint he tried to distance himself from during the 2024 presidential campaign.

    In a post on his Truth Social site Trump announced he would be meeting with his budget chief, “Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent.”

    The comments, posted on Thursday, represented an about-face for Trump, who spent much of last year denouncing Project 2025, The Heritage Foundation’s massive proposed overhaul of the federal government, which was drafted by many of his longtime allies and current and former administration officials.

    Trump has seized on the government shutdown as an opportunity to reshape the federal workforce, threatening mass firings of workers and suggesting “irreversible” cuts to programs important to Democrats.


    What are Trump’s chances of the Nobel Prize?

    U.S. President Donald Trump’s bid to win the Nobel Peace Prize has drawn added attention to the annual guessing game over who its next laureate will be.

    Longtime Nobel watchers say Trump’s prospects remain remote despite a flurry of high-profile nominations and some notable foreign policy interventions for which he has taken personal credit.

    Experts say the Norwegian Nobel Committee typically focuses on the durability of peace, the promotion of international fraternity and the quiet work of institutions that strengthen those goals. Trump’s own record might even work against him, they said, citing his apparent disdain for multilateral institutions and his disregard for global climate change concerns.

    Still, the U.S. leader has repeatedly sought the Nobel spotlight since his first term, most recently telling United Nations delegates late last month “everyone says that I should get the Nobel Peace Prize.”

    A person cannot nominate themselves.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • The Blame Game Is on at Federal Agencies, Where Political Messages Fault Democrats for the Shutdown

    [ad_1]

    NEW YORK (AP) — Army veteran Samuel Port couldn’t believe what he was reading in his latest weekly newsletter emailed from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

    In Port’s view, the finger-pointing was inappropriate from a federal agency and lacked the context that Republicans, too, could have taken steps to keep the government funded. He said it wore away any trust he had left in the VA to offer services without a political agenda.

    “This blatant propaganda being spat out was astonishing,” said Port, a Virginia-based volunteer for the progressive advocacy organization Common Defense. “Then the astonishment turned into just anger that we’re being politicized like this.”

    Port is among a growing number of Americans whose routine interactions with the federal government this week have been met with partisan messaging. As a Senate deadlock keeps the federal government unfunded, with no end in sight, some traditionally apolitical federal agencies are using their official channels to spread a coordinated political message: It’s the Democrats’ fault.

    The rhetoric, popping up in bright-red webpage banners, email autoreplies and social media posts, lays blame on the political party that is out of power in Washington when both sides are refusing to accommodate the other.

    Democrats, who have minorities in both the U.S. Senate and House, have demanded that a set of expiring health insurance tax credits be extended before they sign on to any deal. Republicans, who need several Democratic votes in the Senate, said those negotiations should wait until after the funding measure passes.

    Experts say the communication strategy from across the federal government reflects how aligned President Donald Trump’s entire administration has become in targeting his political opponents.

    Far more partisan than the straightforward alerts that typically grace agency websites during shutdowns, the messages are in keeping with Trump’s pattern of requiring loyalty and obedience at all levels of government.

    “There’s really been a consistent and sustained effort to try to pull the entire bureaucracy in sync with what the president wants,” said Don Kettl, a professor emeritus and former dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. “The big risk here is that it erodes the fundamental trust that people have in government’s ability to be impartial.”


    Several government websites blame Democrats

    Many internet users noticed the first political postings from government agencies on Tuesday, before the shutdown began. The website of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development displayed a message warning that “The Radical Left are going to shut down the government and inflict massive pain on the American people unless they get their $1.5 trillion wish list of demands.”

    That afternoon, employees across the federal government reported receiving messages from their agencies noting Trump’s general opposition to a shutdown.

    By Thursday, the second day of the shutdown, at least nine federal agencies displayed messages on their websites or social media accounts pinning it on the “radical left” or Democrats.

    The website of the Small Business Administration placed its message in a red banner that took up the entire screen on a smartphone. It said actions from Senate Democrats are preventing the agency “from serving America’s 36 million small businesses.” Other websites, including that of the Food and Drug Administration, told visitors that mission-critical activities would continue “during the Democrat-led government shutdown.”

    Several other federal agencies maintained politically neutral messages, noting simply that there might be delays in services or updates because of the lapse in funding.


    Employee out-of-office messages are changed

    At the Department of Education, out-of-office email messages were reset Wednesday with language blaming Democrats for the shutdown.

    “On September 19, 2025, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5371, a clean continuing resolution,” the message said. “Unfortunately, Democrat Senators are blocking passage of H.R. 5371 in the Senate which has led to a lapse in appropriations.”

    Some employees tried to change it to something nonpartisan only to see it reverted, according to an employee who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

    The White House isn’t shying away from the politics, displaying a by-the-second ticker on its website adding up the length of time for which “Democrats Have Shut Down the Government.”

    Concerned citizens calling the White House comment line on Wednesday also heard a political voicemail message. In the recording, press secretary Karoline Leavitt repeats Trump’s false claim that Democrats forced the government shutdown fight because they want to fund health care for illegal immigrants.


    Could the messaging violate federal law?

    Ethics watchdogs said the political messages from government agency websites and emails exceed the level of partisanship they have seen in the past from the civil service.

    Multiple experts said the messages also violate a 1939 law called the Hatch Act, which restricts certain political activities by federal employees. Kathleen Clark, a government ethics lawyer and law professor at Washington University said they are “aimed at pursuing partisan political advantages” and therefore violate the law.

    On Thursday, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee sent a letter to the Office of Special Counsel calling for an investigation into the messages for “apparent violations of the Hatch Act.”

    Donald K. Sherman, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said he doesn’t think the messages violate the Hatch Act because they discuss the Democratic Party related to a policy difference rather than an election or a candidate. Still, he said, the postings might violate other ethics laws and are “wildly inappropriate.”

    Veterans Affairs spokesman Pete Kasperowicz defended his agency’s email message, saying it was “100% factual.”

    HUD Secretary Scott Turner said in a Wednesday night interview with NewsNation that he’s not worried about the Hatch Act allegations against his agency. He called them a “distraction” to deflect from “irresponsible actions on the Hill” and how “Americans are being impacted greatly by this government shutdown.”

    Asked about the HUD website banner Thursday morning, House Speaker Mike Johnson said it shared “the objective truth.”

    “There are 44 Democrats in the Senate — and by the way every Democrat in the House except one — who voted to shut the government down,” Johnson said in a press conference outside his office. “They are the ones that made that decision. The White House, the executive branch, take no pleasure in this.”

    Associated Press writers Collin Binkley, Joey Cappelletti and Gary Fields in Washington, and video journalist Ty ONeil in Las Vegas contributed to this report.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • The Government Shuts Down, and Trump Goes Online — Very Online

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON (AP) — On Thursday morning, as thousands of federal employees stayed home and faced potential layoffs because of the government shutdown, President Donald Trump got right to work on social media.

    He started by sharing praise from supporters. Then he falsely claimed that “DEMOCRATS WANT TO GIVE YOUR HEALTHCARE MONEY TO ILLEGAL ALIENS.” And then he announced that he would meet with his top budget adviser to figure out where to make permanent cuts to federal programs that “are a political SCAM.”

    All that was before 8 a.m., just one flurry in a blizzard of online commentary from the president as the government shutdown entered a second day. Like so many other times when he’s faced complex crises with no easy solutions, Trump seems determined to post his way through it.

    The stream of invective and trolling has been remarkable even for a 79-year-old president who is as chronically online as any member of Gen Z. His style is mirrored by the rest of his administration, which so far seems more interested in mocking and pummeling Democrats than negotiating with them.

    Government websites feature pop-up messages blaming “the Radical Left” for the shutdown, an unusually political message for ostensibly nonpartisan agencies. When reporters email the White House press office, they receive an automated reply blaming slow answers on “staff shortages resulting from the Democrat Shutdown.”

    Trump’s White House is accustomed to take-no-prisoners political messaging, continuing its aggressive style from last year’s campaign that critics describe as callous and vindictive. The administration rarely misses an opportunity to get under the skin of its opponents.

    The president took a similar online approach to the last government shutdown, which began in December 2018 and lasted until January 2019 during his first term in office. On the 30th day of that shutdown, Politico tallied 40 tweets from Trump, including a complaint that then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was acting “so irrationally” and gratitude for federal employees for “working so hard for your Country and not getting paid.”

    Back then, Trump took most of the blame, with an Associated Press-NORC poll showing about 7 in 10 Americans saying he had “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of responsibility. He ultimately backed down from his demand for border wall funding, signed legislation allowing the government to reopen.

    It remains to be seen who will face the most blowback this time. Democrats say they won’t vote for any spending legislation unless it extends health care subsidies, used to purchase insurance through the Affordable Care Act, that are scheduled to expire at the end of the year. Republicans accuse them of being obstructionist, insisting that government operations should be funded while other policies are negotiated separately.

    A recent New York Times/Siena poll, which was conducted before the shutdown began, found slightly more registered voters would blame Trump and Republicans in Congress than Democrats. About one-third said they’d blame both sides equally.

    There was another red flag for Trump in a one-day text message poll conducted Oct. 1 by the Washington Post. The results showed 47% of Americans saying they thought the president and Republicans in Congress are mainly to blame, compared with 30% saying that of Democrats in Congress.

    Trump appears determined to move the needle — or at least blow off some steam — with his account on Truth Social, a social media platform founded by Trump after he was banned from Twitter following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

    The presidential trolling began on Monday after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries met with Trump and Republicans at the White House. Trump posted a deepfake video of the lawmakers, with Schumer saying, “nobody likes Democrats anymore.” Jeffries was depicted with a cartoon sombrero and mustache.

    “It’s a disgusting video, and we’re going to continue to make clear that bigotry will get you nowhere,” Jeffries said on MSNBC this week.

    Trump posted a clip of his appearance, but with a soundtrack of mariachi music. The sombrero and mustache were back, too.

    “Every day Democrats keep the government shut down, the sombrero gets 10x bigger,” the White House wrote on social media.

    Hours before the shutdown began on Tuesday night, the president posted photos from his meeting with Jeffries and Schumer. The pictures showed red “Trump 2028” hats on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, a nod to his talk of running for an unconstitutional third term.

    Trump did not have any public appearances scheduled on Thursday. An event to commemorate National Hispanic Heritage Month was postponed because of the shutdown.

    The White House did not respond to questions about how he was working to resolve the situation. But for at least a few hours, Trump’s social media account went quiet.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Justice Department Fires Key Prosecutor in Elite Office Already Beset by Turmoil, AP Sources Say

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department fired a top national security prosecutor amid criticism from a right-wing commentator over his work during the Biden administration, further roiling the prominent U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia after the ousting of other senior attorneys in recent weeks, according to people familiar with the matter.

    Michael Ben’Ary, who was chief of the office’s national security unit, was fired Wednesday just hours after Julie Kelly, a conservative writer and activist, shared online that he previously worked as senior counsel to Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco during the Biden administration, two people familiar with the matter said. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.

    Kelly’s post speculated that Ben’Ary may have been part of the “internal resistance” in the office to the recently charged case against FBI Director James Comey. But Ben’Ary played no role in the Comey case, one of the people said.

    His termination comes days after the firing of another prosecutor in the Alexandria, Virginia, office: Maya Song, the people said. Song had served as the top deputy to former U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert, who was nominated by President Donald Trump but pushed out last month amid pressure from the administration to bring charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James in a mortgage fraud investigation.

    The firings are the latest in a wave of terminations that have thrown the department into turmoil and raised alarm over political influence over the traditionally independent law enforcement agency and the erosion of civil service protections afforded to federal employees. While U.S. attorneys generally change with a new president, rank-and-file prosecutors by tradition remain with the department across administrations. The Trump administration, however, has fired prosecutors involved in the U.S. Capitol riot criminal cases and lawyers who worked on special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecutions of Trump, among others.

    Ben’Ary worked for the Justice Department for nearly two decades and was promoted under both Republican and Democratic administrations. He was currently prosecuting the case against the suspected planner in the suicide bombing at the Kabul airport that killed 13 American service members and roughly 170 Afghan civilians during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

    Song was fired Friday shortly after the Trump administration installed a new U.S. attorney, Lindsey Halligan, a former White House aide who had been one of Trump’s personal lawyers but had not previously served as a federal prosecutor. Halligan was put in the top job after Trump publicly pressed Attorney General Pam Bondi in an extraordinary social media post to move forward with pursuing cases against some of his political opponents.

    Days after that post, Halligan secured the indictment of Comey on allegations that he lied to Congress when he said he had not authorized anyone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports about a particular investigation. Comey, who is expected to make his initial court appearance next week, has denied any wrongdoing and said: “My heart is broken for the Department of Justice.”

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway to Pay $9.7 Billion for Occidental Petroleum’s OxyChem

    [ad_1]

    OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Warren Buffett announced his biggest deal in years Thursday with Berkshire Hathaway’s $9.7 billion acquisition of Occidental Petroleum’s chemical division.

    Berkshire’s cash pile has been steadily growing for years because Buffett has been unable to find any major acquisitions at attractive prices since completing the $11.6 billion acquisition of Alleghany Insurance in 2022. Prices for big acquisitions have been driven higher in recent years by the entry of more hedge funds into the market.

    OxyChem makes things like chlorine for water treatment, vinyl chloride for plastics and calcium chloride that’s used to treat icy roads along with an assortment of other chemicals. It will fit nicely within Berkshire alongside Lubrizol, which Buffett bought in 2011 for $9 billion. But Berkshire generally doesn’t consolidate its subsidiaries, so OxyChem will likely continue operating independently.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • US Government Shutdown Threatens Food-Aid Program for Low-Income Americans

    [ad_1]

    By Bo Erickson and Leah Douglas

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Crucial food assistance for about 6.7 million low-income Americans has been put in jeopardy by a federal government shutdown that the deeply divided U.S. Congress shows no signs of resolving swiftly.

    The threat to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, illustrates how the effects of a shutdown that enters its second day on Thursday will reverberate out from Washington, taking more of a toll the longer that Republicans and Democrats fail to reach an agreement to reopen government agencies.

    The $7.6 billion program represents a tiny slice of the roughly $7 trillion federal budget, but unlike the Social Security retiree benefit and Medicare and Medicaid healthcare programs, WIC needs to be re-authorized by Congress every year.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture has said it will continue to administer WIC as funds allow, but Georgia Machell, president and CEO of the National WIC Association, said the program is critically low on funds given this shutdown’s timing at the end of the fiscal year on Tuesday.

    “A prolonged federal shutdown that lasts longer than one week is going to start to put babies and young children at risk,” Machell said. 

    There are no votes expected in Congress on Thursday, which ensures the shutdown will last at least another day. As it continues, President Donald Trump’s administration has begun to carry out its threats to cut programs and lay off more federal workers.

    GOVERNORS AIM TO EXTEND PROGRAM

    Outside Washington, governors, who are responsible for disbursing the federal WIC funds, have tried to reassure their constituents that they will do what they can to maintain services, which include food, nutrition counseling and other support to low-income Americans who are pregnant, breastfeeding or who have children under age 5. 

    Montana Governor Greg Gianforte’s Republican administration said WIC funding will be provided through “at least the next month” and Connecticut’s Ned Lamont, a Democrat, promised in a pre-shutdown video the state will keep WIC services for new mothers in the near term.

    U.S. Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said the WIC program was on his mind this week as he and two others in the Democratic caucus broke with the party and voted for the Republicans’ short-term extension of current funds.

    “That’s one of the reasons why I voted not to shut the government down,” Fetterman said on Wednesday, “Thankfully, our family isn’t on WIC, but I know there are people… and they depend on these things.”

    All other Senate Democrats have withheld their votes to push for healthcare fixes before the end of the year, as well as the president’s commitment to stop cuts to federal services and workers.  

    “At some point we need to take a stand,” U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, said about the strategy in relation to potential WIC impacts, “and hopefully the states will have those reserves to cover the most vulnerable.”

    DEMOCRATS, REPUBLICANS TRADE BLAME 

    The Trump administration has blamed Democrats for the shutdown and its accompanying risks to WIC.

    “The Democrat shutdown is hitting rural America HARD,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins posted to X on Wednesday, adding, “WIC and other key nutrition programs (are) at risk of running out of funding.”

    Democrats dismissed this criticism as disingenuous, pointing to the administration’s proposed $300 million cut for WIC its 2026 budget request earlier this year.

    Before the shutdown, that budget request was ignored by the Senate as it approved full WIC funding in the 2026 agriculture funding bill, but that has not become law.

    “I’m worried about long-term impacts to WIC and short term,” said U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat overseeing the program. “We have lots of women and children who are dependent on that, and without that funding they’re not going to be able to eat.” 

    The USDA could extend WIC funding by carrying over money from the prior fiscal year, using other unspent agency funds or reimbursing states for funding the program themselves, said the WIC association’s Machell. 

    The USDA did not respond to a request for comment. 

    Senator John Hoeven, a North Dakota Republican who oversees agriculture funding, said the USDA in a Wednesday briefing shared its concerns that WIC funding could run short by October 15 and that the agency is looking into other funding provisions.

    How long WIC can operate without disruption to benefits for participants will vary by state, said Katie Bergh, a WIC expert from the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

    “We are in uncharted territory at this point,” Bergh said.

    (Reporting by Leah Douglas and Bo Erickson in Washington; Editing by Scott Malone and Bill Berkrot)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • Trump Uses Government Shutdown to Dole Out Firings and Political Punishment

    [ad_1]

    Rather than simply furlough employees, as is usually done during any lapse of funds, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said layoffs were “imminent.” The Office of Management and Budget announced it was putting on hold roughly $18 billion of infrastructure funds for New York’s subway and Hudson Tunnel projects — in the hometown of the Democratic leaders of the U.S. House and Senate.

    Trump has marveled over the handiwork of his budget director.

    “He can trim the budget to a level that you couldn’t do any other way,” the president said at the start of the week of OMB Director Russ Vought, who was also a chief architect of the Project 2025 conservative policy book.

    “So they’re taking a risk by having a shutdown,” Trump said during an event at the White House.

    Thursday is day two of the shutdown, and already the dial is turned high. The aggressive approach coming from the Trump administration is what certain lawmakers and budget observers feared if Congress, which has the responsibility to pass legislation to fund government, failed to do its work and relinquished control to the White House.

    Vought, in a private conference call with House GOP lawmakers Wednesday afternoon, told them of layoffs starting in the next day or two. It’s an extension of the Department of Government Efficiency work under Elon Musk that slashed through the federal government at the start of the year.

    “These are all things that the Trump administration has been doing since January 20th,” said House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, referring to the president’s first day in office. “The cruelty is the point.”

    With no easy endgame at hand, the standoff risks dragging deeper into October, when federal workers who remain on the job will begin missing paychecks. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated roughly 750,000 federal workers would be furloughed on any given day during the shutdown, a loss of $400 million daily in wages.

    The economic effects could spill over into the broader economy. Past shutdowns saw “reduced aggregate demand in the private sector for goods and services, pushing down GDP,” the CBO said.

    “Stalled federal spending on goods and services led to a loss of private-sector income that further reduced demand for other goods and services in the economy,” it said. Overall CBO said there was a “dampening of economic output,” but that reversed once people returned to work.

    “The longer this goes on, the more pain will be inflicted,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., “because it is inevitable when the government shuts down.”

    Trump and the congressional leaders are not expected to meet again soon. Congress has no action scheduled Thursday in observance of the Jewish holy day, with senators due back Friday. The House is set to resume session next week.

    The Democrats are holding fast to their demands to preserve health care funding, and refusing to back a bill that fails to do so, warning of price spikes for millions of Americans nationwide. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates insurance premiums will more than double for people who buy policies on the Affordable Care Act exchanges.

    The Republicans have opened a door to negotiating the health care issue, but GOP leaders say it can wait, since the subsidies that help people purchase private insurance don’t expire until year’s end.

    “We’re willing to have a conversation about ensuring that Americans continue to have access to health care,” Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday at the White House.

    With Congress as a standstill, the Trump administration has taken advantage of new levers to determine how to shape the federal government.

    The Trump administration can tap into funds to pay workers at the Defense Department and Homeland Security from what’s commonly called the “One Big Beautiful Bill” that was signed into law this summer, according to CBO.

    That would ensure Trump’s immigration enforcement and mass deportation agenda is uninterrupted. But employees who remain on the job at many other agencies will have to wait for government to reopen before they get a paycheck.

    Already Vought, from the budget office, has challenged the authority of Congress this year by trying to claw back and rescind funds lawmakers had already approved — for Head Start, clean energy infrastructure projects, overseas aid and public radio and television.

    The Government Accountability Office has issued a series of rare notices of instance where the administration’s actions have violated the law. But the Supreme Court in a ruling late last week allowed the administration’s so-called “pocket rescission” of nearly $5 billion in foreign aid to stand.

    Associated Press writers Stephen Groves, Joey Cappelletti, Matt Brown, Kevin Freking and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Federal Government Could Resume Taking DACA Applications for Permits to Live and Work in U.S.

    [ad_1]

    McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The federal government is expected to again accept new applications for a program that grants some people without legal immigration status the ability to live and work in the United States.

    Lawyers for the federal government and immigrant advocates have presented plans before a federal judge that would open the door again to accepting applications for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, otherwise known as DACA.

    One state — Texas, where the case is being heard — however, would be exempted from providing work permits.

    It’s estimated that hundreds of thousands of people could be eligible to be enrolled in DACA, once a federal judge issues an order to formalize plans laid out by the Department of Justice in a legal filing made on Monday. The program, created under the Obama administration, grants people without legal immigration status who were brought into the country by their parents two-year, renewable permits to live and work in the U.S. legally.

    The program has allowed people who were brought to the United States as children to temporarily remain in the country and obtain work permits. It does not confer legal status but provides protection from deportation.

    Eligibility requirements include people who entered the country as children before their 16th birthday, were under 31 years old as of June 15, 2012, and have not been convicted of a felony, a significant misdemeanor, or three misdemeanors. There would be restrictions related to work permits for those who reside in Texas, which filed a lawsuit against the DACA program in 2018.

    DOJ attorneys laid out the proposal before U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen on Monday as part of the ongoing Texas lawsuit. It would allow U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to take new and renewal applications for DACA across the country, which it has not done for four years.

    In Texas, USCIS would take new and renewal applications for the DACA program but recipients residing in the state will not receive a work permit.

    Attorneys representing DACA recipients proposed adding a wind-down period that would allow Texas residents to keep their work authorization for one more renewal period.

    These proposals follow an earlier decision from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowing the program to continue with the work permit carveout in Texas.

    The federal government and attorneys for DACA recipients have two more opportunities in October to file responses to the proposals submitted this week. Hanen, based in Houston, will then decide what proposal or combination of proposals to implement in his order.

    Immigrant advocates are not celebrating yet but believe thousands may be eligible for the program. Aside from the over 533,000 who are enrolled already in DACA, about 1.1 million people may be eligible across the country, according to a 2023 estimate from the Migration Policy Institute.

    People interested in applying were urged to start preparing. “While we are still waiting for an official decision, we believe our communities and families should be prepared and begin gathering the required documents,” Michelle Celleri, Legal Rights Director for Alliance San Diego, said in a statement.

    Other advocates are cautiously optimistic. Juliana Macedo do Nascimento, a spokesperson for United We Dream, pointed to a section in the government’s proposal that could hint at changes. “These proposals do not limit DHS from undertaking any future lawful changes to DACA,” the government’s proposal said in Monday’s filing.

    “We need to be able to look at this in a fuller picture than just this case, because we’re seeing the administration detain and deport DACA recipients,” Macedo do Nascimento said on Wednesday.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Man Charged for Role in Brooklyn Bar Shoot-Out That Killed Three; Video Shows Chaotic Scene

    [ad_1]

    NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors have charged a man they say played a role in a gang-related shooting that broke out in a crowded Brooklyn bar this summer, leaving three dead and 10 others injured.

    For the first time Wednesday, prosecutors also released security camera footage of the chaotic gunfight, which unfolded Aug. 17 inside the Taste of City Lounge in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn.

    The video showed patrons scrambling for cover as bullets ricocheted across the densely-packed club, with at least 40 shots fired from five guns, prosecutors said.

    Among the shooters was Elijah Roy, a 25-year-old gang member who arrived at the club with several associates, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday.

    At around 3:30 a.m., one of those associates, Marvin St. Louis, 19, began taunting a rival gang member, Jamel Childs, 35, authorities said. The confrontation quickly escalated with, authorities said, St. Louis shooting at Childs, who returned fire. Both St. Louis and St. Louis were killed in the shoot-out, as was another man, 27-year-old Amadou Diallo, who is believed to have been a bystander.

    After ducking under a table, Roy fired two shots, according to prosecutors. It was unclear if those shots hit anyone. He is accused of violent assault in aid of racketeering and illegal possession of ammunition.

    Mehdi Essmidi, an attorney for Roy, did not respond to a voice message.

    Prosecutors described Roy and St. Louis as members of the 5-9 Brims, a subset of the Bloods. They said Childs was part of a rival gang, the Folk Nation Gangster Disciples.

    Roy was arrested last week in North Carolina, carrying $7,000 in cash, according to the criminal complaint. He was arraigned Wednesday afternoon and ordered held without bail.

    New York City has seen a year of record-low gun violence, with the fewest number of shootings and shooting victims recorded across the city during the first nine months of 2025, according to police.

    At a vigil held for the victims in August, Mayor Eric Adams said that “what happened in the Taste of the City is not a reflection of our city.”

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Woman Who Was Confronted by Michigan Church Gunman Says She Instantly Forgave Him for Killing Dad

    [ad_1]

    A woman who was inside a Michigan church when her father and three other people were killed says she and the gunman locked eyes during the chaos and she was able to look into his soul, seeing his pain and a feeling of being lost. She said she instantly forgave him “with my heart.”

    “He let me live,” Lisa Louis, 45, wrote.

    A photo of a handwritten statement that Louis wrote was posted on Facebook. She described how she encountered the shooter and she also made a plea to the public for peace.

    “Fear breeds anger, anger breeds hate, hate breeds suffering,” Louis wrote. “If we can stop the hate we can stop the suffering. But stopping the hate takes all of us.”

    Thomas “Jake” Sanford, 40, rammed his pickup truck into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel in Grand Blanc Township, near Flint, on Sunday, shot at the congregation and destroyed the building with fire, police said. Police killed him at the scene.

    Friends said Sanford had expressed hatred toward the Mormon church, as it is commonly known, after living in Utah and returning to Michigan years ago. Utah is the home state of the church.

    Louis said she was kneeling next to her mortally wounded father, Craig Hayden, 72, when Sanford approached and asked a question.

    “I never took my eyes off his eyes, something happened, I saw pain, he felt lost,” Louis wrote. “I deeply felt it with every fiber of my being. I forgave him, I forgave him right there, not in words, but with my heart.”

    She also wrote: “I saw into his soul and he saw into mine. He let me live.”

    Louis declined to be interviewed by The Associated Press. Her brother-in-law, Terry Green, wrote on Facebook that he believes her interactions with the gunman “bought precious time for others to escape.”

    Besides Hayden, William “Pat” Howard and John Bond also were killed. The shooter’s fourth victim has not been publicly identified. Eight people were wounded.

    Meanwhile, a different church said Wednesday that Sanford tried to have his 10-year-old son baptized there on Sept. 21 and was upset when he was turned down.

    Sanford did not threaten staff at The River Church in Goodrich, but he was “frustrated,” Caleb Combs, an elder, told the AP. “You could see his agitation. … He wanted it done.”

    Church staff tried to get a grasp of the boy’s belief in Jesus Christ but “came to the conclusion their son was unable to understand what he was doing,” Combs said.

    Sanford and his wife did not regularly attend the church, Combs said, but had held an event there 10 years ago to raise money for the boy’s medical care. He was born with a health condition that produced abnormally high levels of insulin.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Federal Safety Board Tells Philadelphia’s Mass Transit Agency to Shelve Railcars Implicated in Fires

    [ad_1]

    HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Federal transportation safety officials told Philadelphia’s mass transit agency this week that it should shelve an aging electric railcar model that is heavily used in its regional rail fleet until it figures out how to stop them from catching fire.

    The recommendation from the National Transportation Safety Board came after it investigated five fires this year involving the Silverliner IV passenger railcars used by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, or SEPTA.

    In addition to suspending operation of the Silverliner IV fleet until it can fix the cause, the agency said SEPTA should fast-track the replacement of the Silverliner IV fleet or retrofit cars to meet modern fire safety standards and add systems to give the train crew detailed information on when dynamic brakes or other electrical systems aren’t functioning normally.

    All five fires forced everyone aboard to evacuate — in one case, as many as 350 passengers — with a few minor injuries reported. One railcar was involved in two of the fires, and two other railcars were destroyed, the NTSB said.

    SEPTA is one of the nation’s largest mass transit agencies, carrying 800,000 daily riders on buses, trolleys and rail.

    The recommendation comes at a time when SEPTA and major transit agencies around the U.S. are fighting for more public funding as they struggle with rising costs and lagging ridership.

    In its report, the NTSB was critical of SEPTA’s maintenance and operating practices.

    That, combined with the outdated design of the Silverliner IV railcars, “represents an immediate and unacceptable safety risk because of the incidence and severity of electrical fires that can spread to occupied compartments,” the NTSB said.

    The NTSB traced the fires to different components, including electrical components associated with the train’s propulsion system, the dynamic brakes and a traction motor.

    SEPTA did not immediately respond to questions about whether it would or could comply with the recommendations.

    In its budget report issued earlier this year, SEPTA reported that ballooning material, manufacturing and construction costs has made it more expensive for it to replace the Silverliner IV fleet.

    Still, it said the replacements are “long-overdue investments” and “can no longer be delayed.”

    It put the price tag at nearly $1 billion to replace its 230 Silverliner IV cars built by General Electric in the 1970s.

    However, SEPTA also projected that the design, procurement and construction timeline for the replacement would stretch until 2036.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link

  • Nirvana Again Defeats Child Pornography Lawsuit Over ‘Nevermind’ Cover

    [ad_1]

    (Reuters) -A federal judge again threw out a lawsuit by a man who accused iconic grunge rock band Nirvana of distributing child pornography by using a photograph of him as a naked, swimming baby on the cover of its breakthrough 1991 album “Nevermind.” 

    U.S. District Judge Fernando Olguin tossed out the lawsuit filed by plaintiff Spencer Elden for a second time after finding that no reasonable jury would consider the picture pornographic.

    “Other than the fact that plaintiff was nude on the album cover,” nothing “comes close to bringing the image within the ambit of the child pornography statute,” Olguin said.

    Attorneys for Elden did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. Nirvana’s attorney Bert Deixler said they were “delighted that the court has ended this meritless case and freed our creative clients of the stigma of false allegations.”

    The defendants included surviving Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, late lead singer Kurt Cobain’s widow Courtney Love and photographer Kirk Weddle.

    The lawsuit stemmed from Nirvana’s use of a photo taken by Weddle at the Pasadena Aquatic Center in California that depicted Elden swimming naked toward a dollar bill on a fishhook. Elden, now 34, first sued the band and its label Universal Music Group in 2021, accusing them of sexually exploiting him through his depiction on the cover and causing him continuing personal harm.

    Olguin dismissed the case in 2022 after finding Elden’s claims were time-barred without addressing the substance of his allegations. The 9th Circuit reversed that decision in 2023.

    Olguin determined on Tuesday that the image could not be considered child pornography, comparing it instead to a “family photo of a nude child bathing.”

    (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington; Editing by David Bario and Sergio Non)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Reuters

    Source link

  • Looming Health Insurance Spikes for Millions Are at the Heart of the Government Shutdown

    [ad_1]

    WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government shut down Wednesday, with Democratic lawmakers insisting that any deal address their health care demands and Republicans saying those negotiations can happen after the government is funded.

    At issue are tax credits that have made health insurance more affordable for millions of people since the COVID-19 pandemic. The subsidies, which go to low- and middle-income people who purchase health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, are slated to expire at the end of the year if Congress doesn’t extend them. Their expiration would more than double what subsidized enrollees currently pay for premiums next year, according to an analysis by KFF, a nonprofit that researches health care issues.

    Democrats have demanded that the subsidies, first put in place in 2021 and extended a year later, be extended again. They also want any government funding bill to reverse the Medicaid cuts in President Donald Trump’smega-bill passed this summer, which don’t go into effect immediately but are already driving some states to cut Medicaid payments to health providers.

    Some Republicans have expressed an openness to extending the tax credits, acknowledging many of their constituents will see steep hikes in insurance premiums. But the party’s lawmakers in Congress argue negotiations over health care will take time, and a stopgap measure to get the government funded is a more urgent priority.


    Health insurance rates will skyrocket for millions without congressional action

    A record 24 million people have signed up for insurance coverage through the ACA, in large part because billions of dollars in subsidies have made the plans more affordable for many people.

    With the expanded subsidies in place, some lower-income enrollees can get health care with no premiums, and high earners pay no more than 8.5% of their income. Eligibility for middle-class earners is also expanded.

    When the tax credits expire at the end of 2025, enrollees across the income spectrum will see costs spike. Annual out-of-pocket premiums are estimated to increase by 114% — an average of $1,016 — next year, according to the KFF analysis.


    Millions expected to lose Medicaid coverage without changes to Trump’s big bill

    Republicans’ tax and spending bill passed this summer includes more than $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and food assistance over the next decade, largely by imposing new work requirements on those receiving aid and by shifting certain federal costs onto the states.

    Medicaid’s programs, which serve low-income Americans, enroll roughly 78 million adults and children. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office projects 10 million additional Americans will become uninsured in the next decade as a result of Republicans’ law, between Medicaid and other federal health care programs.

    Democrats want to roll back the Medicaid cuts in any government funding measure, while Republicans have argued that cuts are needed to reduce federal deficits and eliminate what they say is waste and fraud in the system.


    Democrats say health care can’t wait

    Democrats have insisted an extension of the health subsidies needs to be negotiated immediately as people are beginning to receive notices of premium increases for next year.

    “In just a few days, notices will go out to tens of millions of Americans because of the Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Tuesday on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.

    He added the higher health care costs millions of Americans are facing are coming “in an environment where the cost of living is already too high.”

    At the White House on Monday, congressional Democratic leaders shared their health care concerns with Trump. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said after the meeting that Trump “was not aware” that so many Americans would see increases to their health care costs.


    Republicans call for stopgap funding first, and a negotiation later

    Republican leaders say they handed Democrats a noncontroversial stopgap funding measure and argue that Democrats are instead choosing to shut the government down.

    “We didn’t ask Democrats to swallow any new Republican policies,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said after Tuesday’s failed vote. “We didn’t add partisan riders. We simply asked Democrats to extend the existing funding levels, to allow the Senate to continue the bipartisan appropriations work that we started. And the Senate Democrats said no.”

    Republican leaders have offered to negotiate with Democrats on ACA health insurance subsidies — but only once they vote to keep the government open until Nov. 21.

    “I will go to the Capitol right now to talk to Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats about premium support for the Affordable Care Act, but only after they’ve reopened the government,” Vice President JD Vance said Wednesday on Fox News.

    That might be easier said than done, with many Republicans in Congress still strongly opposed to extending the enhanced tax credits.

    Swenson reported from New York.

    Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    Photos You Should See – Sept. 2025

    [ad_2]

    Associated Press

    Source link