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  • Unruly Passenger Prompts Plane’s Return to Houston Airport Just After Takeoff

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    HOUSTON (AP) — A flight returned to a Houston airport just after takeoff early Wednesday because of an unruly passenger, authorities said.

    There were reports that a male passenger on Flight 2557 from Houston’s Hobby Airport to Atlanta had tried to break into the cockpit, but that wasn’t the case, Delta Air Lines said in a statement. The passenger did exhibit “unruly and unlawful behavior toward other customers” and met by police after the flight returned to the airport, it said.

    A Houston police spokesperson said that when officers were called, dispatch was told that a person was trying to breach a cockpit. Officers detained one male, said the spokesperson, who hadn’t heard of any reported injuries.

    The flight departed again and arrived in Atlanta about 90 minutes behind schedule, said Delta, which didn’t go into specifics about the passenger’s behavior.

    The Federal Aviation Administration said it will investigate.

    Last year, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy launched an air travel civility campaign, noting that the FAA had seen a 400% increase of in-flight outbursts since 2019 and 13,800 unruly passenger incidents since 2021.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Over 8,000 Flights Canceled as Major Winter Storm Bears Down Across Much of the US

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    DALLAS (AP) — More than 8,000 flights across the U.S. set to take off over the weekend have been canceled as a major storm expected to wreak havoc across much of the country bears down, threatening to knock out power for days and snarl major roadways.

    Roughly 140 million people were under a winter storm warning from New Mexico to New England. The National Weather Service forecast warns of widespread heavy snow and a band of catastrophic ice stretching from east Texas to North Carolina.

    By Friday night, the edge of the storm was sending freezing rain and sleet into parts of Texas while snow and sleet were falling in Oklahoma. After sweeping through the South, the storm was expected to move into the Northeast, dumping about a foot (30 centimeters) of snow from Washington through New York and Boston, the weather service predicted.

    Governors in more than a dozen states sounded the alarm about the turbulent weather ahead, declaring emergencies or urging people to stay home.

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told residents on the social media platform X that the state Department of Transportation was pretreating the roads and told residents, “Stay home if possible.”

    More than 3,400 flights were delayed or canceled Saturday, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. More than 5,000 were called off for Sunday.

    Angela Exstrom was supposed to fly back to Omaha, Nebraska, from a trip in Mexico, but she learned her Saturday flight out of Houston had been canceled. So instead, she is going back via Los Angeles.

    “If you live in the Midwest and travel in the winter, stuff can happen,” she said.


    Frigid temperatures and ice

    Utility companies braced for power outages because ice-coated trees and power lines can keep falling long after a storm has passed.

    The Midwest saw wind chills as low as minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 40 Celsius), meaning that frostbite could set in within 10 minutes.

    In Bismarck, North Dakota, where the wind chill was minus 41 (minus 41 Celsius), Colin Cross was bundled up Friday in long johns, two long-sleeve shirts, a jacket, hat, hood, gloves and boots as he cleaned out an empty unit for the apartment complex where he works.

    “I’ve been here awhile and my brain stopped working,” Cross said.

    The storm has been a popular topic of discussion for days at Saint Paul Mini Market in Baltimore.

    “Every single person that walks in talks about the storm,” said owner Ayaz Ahmed.

    “Somehow, this time around, they did a good job letting people know that here’s a storm coming their way, and everybody knows about the storm, but how to deal with that is another thing,” Ahmed said.


    Government prepares to respond

    The federal government put nearly 30 search and rescue teams on standby. Officials had more than 7 million meals, 600,000 blankets and 300 generators placed throughout the area the storm was expected to cross, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

    President Donald Trump said via social media on Friday that his administration was coordinating with state and local officials and “FEMA is fully prepared to respond.”

    After the storm passes, it will take a while to thaw out. Ice can add hundreds of pounds to power lines and branches and make them more susceptible to snapping, especially if it’s windy.

    In at least 11 Southern states from Texas to Virginia, a majority of homes are heated by electricity, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.


    Church, Carnival and classes canceled

    Churches moved Sunday services online, and the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, decided to hold its Saturday night radio performance without fans. Carnival parades in Louisiana were canceled or rescheduled.

    Philadelphia announced schools would be closed Monday. Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr. told students, “It’s also appropriate to have one or two very safe snowball fights.”

    Some universities in the South canceled classes for Monday, including the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Mississippi‘s main campus in Oxford.

    At the University of Georgia, in Athens, sophomore Eden England stayed on campus to ride things out with friends, even as the school encouraged students to leave dorms and go home because of concerns about losing power.

    “I’d rather be with my friends,” England said, “kind of struggling together if anything happens.”

    Megnien and Amy reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writers around the country contributed.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Millions of Americans Brace for Potentially Catastrophic Ice Storm. What to Know, by the Numbers

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    ATLANTA (AP) — Millions of Americans from New Mexico to the Carolinas are bracing for a potentially catastrophic ice storm that could crush trees and power lines and knock out power for days, while many northern states all the way to New England could see enough snow to make travel nearly impossible, forecasters say.

    An estimated 100 million people were under some type of winter weather watch, warning or advisory on Wednesday ahead of the storm, the National Weather Service said.

    The storm, expected to begin Friday and continue through the weekend, is also projected to bring heavy snow and all types of wintry precipitation, including freezing rain and sleet. An atmospheric river of moisture could be in place by the weekend, pulling precipitation across Texas and other states along the Gulf Coast and continuing across Georgia and the Carolinas, forecasters said.

    Here’s a look at the approaching storm and how people are preparing for it, by the numbers:

    The number of snowplows owned by the city of Jackson, Mississippi, where a mix of ice and sleet is possible this weekend. The city uses other heavy machinery like skid steers and small excavators to clear roads, said James Caldwell, deputy director of public works. Jackson also has three trucks that carry salt and sand to spread across roads before freezing weather.

    The amount of ice — half an inch, or 1.27 centimeters — that can lead to a crippling ice storm, toppling trees and power lines to create widespread and long-lasting power outages. The latest forecasts from the National Weather Service warn of the potential for a half-inch of ice or more for many areas, including parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Tennessee.

    The number of Nashville snowplows named after country music legend and Tennessee native Dolly Parton (Dolly Plowton). Another snowplow in East Tennessee was named Snowlene after her classic hit song “Jolene” as part of a 2022 naming contest.

    The number of layers needed to keep warm in extreme cold. AP video journalist Mark Vancleave in Minnesota explains the benefits of all three — a base layer, a middle layer and an outer shell — in this video.

    The number of major U.S. hub airports in the path of the southern storm this weekend, when ice, sleet and snow could delay passengers and cargo: Dallas-Fort Worth; Atlanta; Memphis, Tennessee, and Charlotte, North Carolina. Still more major airports on the East Coast could see delays later, as the storm barrels east.

    The number of inches of snow that could fall in parts of Oklahoma.

    “You’ve got to be very weather aware, and real smart about what you’re doing,” said Charles Daniel, who drives a semitrailer across western Oklahoma.

    “One mistake can literally kill somebody, so you have to use your head,” he added.

    The number of snow and ice removal trucks operated by Memphis, Tennessee’s Division of Public Works. The city also has six trucks that spread brine, a mixture designed to melt wintry precipitation. Statewide, the Tennessee Department of Transportation has 851 salt trucks and 634 brine trucks, and most of the salt trucks double as plows.

    Parts of at least 19 states in the storm’s path were under winter storm watches by late Wednesday, with more watches and warnings expected as the system approaches. They include Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia. An estimated 55 million people are included in these winter storm watches, the weather service said.

    The degree in Fahrenheit when water freezes, equivalent to 0 Celsius. This is a magic number when it comes to winter weather, said Eric Guillot, a scientist at the National Weather Service. If the temperature is slightly above 32, it will be mostly liquid. But the colder it is below the mark, the more efficiently precipitation will freeze.

    The number of snowplow trucks at the ready in Nashville, Tennessee, according to the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure.

    The windchill value — how cold it feels to a person when winds are factored in — that is expected in parts of the Northern Plains, the weather service projects. That equates to minus 45.6 Celsius and is forecast for parts of northern Minnesota and North Dakota.

    “When the weather forecast says, ‘feels like negative 34,’ it’s just a matter of covering skin and being prepared for it,” said Nils Anderson, who owns Duluth Gear Exchange, an outdoor equipment store in Duluth, Minnesota.

    The number of snowplows in the city of Chicago, where annual snowfall averages 37 to 39 inches (0.94 to 0.99 meters). The city also has 40 4×4 vehicles, and about 12 beet juice-dispensing trucks, according to Cole Stallard, Chicago’s commissioner of Streets and Sanitation. The natural sugars of beet juice lower the freezing point of water, allowing salt mixtures to work at much lower temperatures and preventing refreezing, while also helping salt stick to the road longer.

    The number of miles added last year to snowplow routes in Nashville, Tennessee. That was done “to get deeper into our neighborhoods — roads that had never been plowed before,” said Alex Apple, a spokesperson for Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell.

    Texas has this number of pieces of winter weather equipment, including snowplows, motor graders and brine tankers, Texas Department of Transportation spokesperson Adam Hammons said. He said the agency also works with state partners and contractors to get more equipment when needed. In the Dallas area, “right now our main focus is treating our roadways in advance of the storm,” agency spokesperson Tony Hartzel said Wednesday.

    The number of cubic yards of salt on hand at the Arkansas Department of Transportation. The state has 121 salt houses around the Arkansas, plus 600 salt spreaders and 700 snowplows, said Dave Parker, an agency spokesperson.

    Associated Press writers Jamie Stengle in Dallas; Sophie Bates in Jackson, Mississippi; Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee; Travis Loller and Kristin M. Hall in Nashville, Tennessee; Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City; John O’Connor in Springfield, Illinois; and Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho, contributed.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Forecasters Warn of a ‘Major Winter Storm’ With Ice Threat From Texas to the Carolinas

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    ATLANTA (AP) — With many Americans still recovering from multiple blasts of snow and unrelenting freezing temperatures in the nation’s northern tier, a new storm is set to emerge this weekend that could coat roads with ice and knock down power lines across the South.

    Forecasters on Tuesday expressed fears that an ice storm arriving late this week and into the weekend could weigh down power lines, sending them crashing and causing widespread power outages. Temperatures will be slow to warm in many areas, meaning ice that forms on roads and sidewalks might stick around, forecasters say.

    The exact timing of the approaching storm — and where it is headed — remained uncertain on Tuesday. Forecasters say it can be challenging to predict precisely which areas could see rain and which ones could be punished with ice.


    Cold air clashing with rain to fuel a ‘major winter storm’

    An extremely cold arctic air mass is set to dive south from Canada, setting up a clash with the cold temperatures and rain that will be streaming eastward across the southern U.S.

    “This is extreme, even for this being the peak of winter,” National Weather Service meteorologist Bryan Jackson said of the cold temperatures.

    When the cold air meets the rain, the likely result will be “a major winter storm with very impactful weather, with all the moisture coming up from the Gulf and encountering all this particularly cold air that’s spilling in,” Jackson said.


    An atmospheric river could set up across the southern U.S.

    An atmospheric river of moisture could be in place by the weekend, pulling precipitation across Texas and other states along the Gulf Coast and continuing across Georgia and the Carolinas, forecasters said.

    “Global models are painting a concerning picture of what this weekend could look like, with an increasingly strong signal for ice storm potential across North Georgia and portions of central Georgia,” according to the National Weather Service’s Atlanta office.

    If significant accumulations of ice strike metro Atlanta, it could be a problem through the weekend since low temperatures early Monday are expected to be around 22 degrees (minus 5.6 Celsius) in Atlanta. The city’s high temperature on Monday is forecast to be around 35 degrees (1.7 Celsius).


    Highway and air travel could be tangled by the storm

    Travel is a major concern, as southern states have less equipment to remove snow and ice from roads, and extremely cold temperatures expected after the storm could prevent ice from melting for several days. In Michigan, more than 100 vehicles crashed into each other or slid off an interstate southwest of Grand Rapids on Monday.

    The storm is also expected to impact many of the nation’s major hub airports, including those in Dallas; Atlanta; Memphis, Tennessee; and Charlotte, North Carolina.


    Polar air from Canada to keep northern states in a deep freeze

    Unusually cold temperatures are already in place across much of the northern tier of the U.S., but the blast of arctic air expected later this week is “will be the coldest yet,” Jackson said.

    “There’s a large sprawling vortex of low pressure centered over Hudson Bay,” Jackson said of the sea in northern Canada that’s connected to the Arctic Ocean. “And this is dominating the weather over all of North America.”


    Texas could be a harbinger for other parts of the South

    Some of the storm’s earliest impacts could be in Texas on Friday, as the arctic air mass slides south through much of the state, National Weather Service forecaster Sam Shamburger said in a briefing on the storm.

    “At the same time, we’re expecting rain to move into much of the state,” Shamburger said.

    Low temperatures could fall into the 20s or even the teens in parts of Texas by Saturday, with the potential for a wintery mix of weather in the northern part of the state.

    Forecasters cautioned that significant uncertainty remains, particularly over how much ice or snow could fall across north and central Texas.

    “It’s going to be a very difficult forecast,” Shamburger said.

    Panjwani reported from Washington, D.C.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • ICE Says an Immigrant Who Died in a Sprawling Texas Detention Facility Killed Himself

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    Victor Manuel Diaz appears to have killed himself Wednesday at the sprawling tent complex at the U.S. Army’s Fort Bill base in El Paso, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement. The federal investigation into his death continues.

    It’s the same facility where ICE said another detainee died earlier this month as staff members tried to keep him from killing himself. But a fellow detainee said at least five officers were restraining the handcuffed inmate and at least one had an arm around his neck.

    EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988.

    Diaz was swept up on Jan. 6 in the federal crackdown on immigration in Minnesota and sent to Texas, ICE said.

    Diaz entered the United States in March 2024 and Border Patrol officers took him into custody, He was released on parole pending a court date and a judge ordered him to leave the U.S. in an August hearing that Diaz did not attend, ICE said.

    Diaz was given a final order for removal on Jan. 12, two days before he was found unconscious in his room, authorities said.

    ICE did not release any other details on Diaz’s death. The agency notifies Congress and releases a statement on its website of all in-custody deaths.

    Diaz, 36, was being held at Camp Montana East where ICE said another detainee, Geraldo Lunas Campos, died as staff members tried to prevent him from killing himself.

    But a preliminary investigation by the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office found Lunas Campos, 55, died from asphyxia from chest and neck compression and said the death would likely be classified a homicide.

    A fellow detainee told the AP that Lunas Campos was handcuffed and refused to go back into his cell when at least five guards pinned him to the floor. The detainee said at least one of the guards squeezed an arm around Lunas Campos’ neck.

    ICE said it is still investigating that death.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Blast of Winter Weather Hitting Midwest, East Coast and Could Bring Snow to Florida

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    HOUSTON (AP) — A blast of winter weather was set to bring snowfall and subfreezing wind chills across the Midwest and East Coast on Saturday as well as near freezing temperatures in parts of the South, including in normally warm Florida.

    In northeastern Ohio, a snow squall — sudden bursts of heavy snow and gusty winds — was creating whiteout conditions, according to the National Weather Service. The snow squall conditions were moving into the Cleveland metro area on Saturday and expected to continue east into Pennsylvania and parts of eastern New York.

    “Expect visibilities of less than a quarter of a mile and rapid snow accumulation on roadways. Travel will be difficult and possibly dangerous in the heavy snow,” according to the National Weather Service.

    Below average temperatures were being forecast for the Central and Eastern U.S. this weekend into early next week, according to the National Weather Service.

    “The next few nights are forecast to be very cold for much of the Central and Eastern United States,” the Weather Prediction Center, part of the National Weather Service, said Saturday. “Sub-zero wind chills are forecast from the Plains to the Midwest and Northeast, with the coldest wind chills expected in the Upper Midwest on Sunday night.”

    Snowfall was expected by Sunday night to blanket Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, with some areas getting up to 4 inches (10 centimeters) of snow.

    The cold weather wasn’t going to be limited to the northern parts of the U.S. as Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida were expected to have near freezing temperatures through at least the weekend.

    In Tallahassee, Florida, residents could see some snowfall on Sunday morning, according to the National Weather Service. But if there is snow, it won’t last long.

    “So here in Tallahassee, the likelihood of any snow accumulation is not zero, but it’s very low. I mean, the ground will be just too warm for anything to stick and accumulate,” said Kristian Oliver, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s office in Tallahassee.

    If there is snowfall in the Tallahassee area on Sunday, it would be the second time in as many years that Florida has experienced such winter weather.

    In January 2025, up to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of snow fell in parts of the Florida Panhandle. This snowfall was part of a record breaking snowstorm that impacted the deep South in late January 2025, according to the National Weather Service. Areas that don’t normally see snowfall, including Houston, New Orleans and parts of Florida, were hit by last year’s winter storm.

    “On average w Associated Press e have an event like this maybe every few years. But having two, back to back, I’d say is pretty anomalous for the area,” Oliver said.

    Up to 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) of snow could fall on Sunday in parts of central Georgia, areas located south of Atlanta.

    “Plan on slippery roads during the snow, as well as on Sunday night into Monday morning as remaining water/snow refreezes,” said the National Weather Service’s Atlanta office.

    Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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  • Joe Ely, a Texas Songwriter Whose Legacy Touched Rock and Punk, Dies Age 78

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    AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Joe Ely, the influential Texas-born singer-songwriter whose blend of honky-tonk, rock and roadhouse blues made him a favorite among other musicians and led to collaborations with Bruce Springsteen and the Clash, has died. He was 78.

    Ely died in Taos, New Mexico, of complications from Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson’s and pneumonia, with his wife and daughter by his side, according to a post on his Facebook account Monday night and later confirmed by his representatives.

    Ely was considered a key figure in the progressive country music movement as a founder of the influential country-rock band The Flatlanders with Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, and later as a solo artist.

    “Joe Ely performed American roots music with the fervor of a true believer who knew music could transport souls,” said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

    “But his true measure came through in the dynamic intensity of his powerhouse live performances, where he could stand his ground aside fellow zealots Bruce Springsteen who recorded duets with Ely, and the (Rolling) Stones and the Clash, who took Ely on tour as an opening act,” Young said.

    After signing with MCA, Ely released his first solo album in 1977. He would release more than 20 albums over his career, including “Love and Freedom” earlier this year.

    Born in Amarillo, Texas, Ely stayed connected to his Texas roots through decades of recording and performing that lacked a mainstream breakthrough but made him a favorite of other artists.

    “Every time I start a new album I head up to West Texas and drive around, you know, drive on those old cotton roads and in the wide-open spaces, and every once in a while I’ll come across a place where I’ve spent some time,” Ely told Texas Monthly in 2011.

    It was a soundcheck for a show in London that led to the collaboration with British punk band the Clash. Ely would later open for the Clash at several shows and sang backup vocals for their hit song “Should I Stay or Should I Go?”

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  • Russian Cargo Jet Grounded 16 Years in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula May Soon Fly Again

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    One of Michigan‘s most enduring sagas in the Upper Peninsula — the grounding of a Russian cargo jet marooned near Marquette for 16 years — may soon come to an end after years of lawsuits, police investigations and feuding over ownership.

    The tale that touches Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Pakistan and Texas and involves expired visas, an unpaid mechanic, multiple financiers, the local sheriff and the FBI may soon end with the plane flying again.

    All thanks to wars in Gaza and Ukraine that a representative of the plane’s owner says have dramatically boosted the aircraft’s value to $50 million from $12 million.

    “There’s been an uptick in activity, simply because of the ongoing things in the Gaza Strip and likewise with the war in Ukraine and Russia, so there’s companies out there that are investing and purchasing all kinds of air cargo airplanes,” Dwight Barnell, a broker who has maintained the plane through its multiple owners over the years, told Bridge Michigan.

    It never took off. Half of its crew was detained by immigration officials that night, including the pilot, and the local court ordered the plane grounded while at least six creditors both foreign and domestic fought over who should control the aircraft.

    Barnell said the plane’s owners have for years spent about $1,000 a month storing the plane in Gwinn amid an ownership struggle.

    Now, the plane has a clean title and its current owner, Philadelphia consulting firm Meridican Inc., is readying it for sale. He said two to three entities have expressed interest in the aircraft.

    The Ukrainian engineers needed to inspect the plane have been caught in the backlog of visa applicants since the weeks-long government shutdown that ended in mid-November.

    Once those engineers inspect the plane, a sale can be finalized, and then it’ll take three to four months to get it ready for flight, Barnell said.

    “It’s been a long time coming,” Barnell said. “We’re excited to get it off to its next chapter of life.”

    “It’s something that’s well-known about … so I’m sure it’s something that people will know that it’s gone,” David Erhart, manager of the Marquette airport, told Bridge Michigan.

    “To see it have new life is what we’d hope for for the aircraft owner.”


    ‘Cop cars coming out of everywhere’

    The messy affair came to the Upper Peninsula when the phone rang at the Marquette County Sheriff’s Office at 11 a.m. July 17, 2009.

    An attorney representing a Texas mechanic told a Marquette County deputy that a Russian plane had landed despite a Grayson County, Texas, judge’s order that the plane stay in Texas. The Texas mechanic had sued the plane’s owners over unpaid bills, according to police records Bridge Michigan obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

    As well, the caller said, some of the plane’s crew were Ukrainians in the country on expired visas.

    Barnell said that, when he and his crew disembarked in Gwinn, “all of a sudden, the whole airport lit up, cop cars coming out of everywhere.”

    When police interviewed the pilot, he told them the crew had stopped in Marquette to refuel and was enroute to Iceland and eventually Pakistan.

    Barnell told Bridge he had a lease on the plane at the time and was rightfully headed to Pakistan, where it would be used in military training. He said nobody told him the mechanic hadn’t been paid. They’d landed in Gwinn to buy $100,000 worth of fuel and to hand paperwork to US Customs that would allow the plane to leave the country.

    Later that day, a lawyer for the plane’s owner, a Delaware outfit called Air Support Systems, called police to say the plane had been stolen and its owners “had no idea who was even flying the cargo jet,” according to the police reports.

    Police initially determined they had no jurisdiction because the Texas court case was a civil matter. When calls kept coming in from Texas, however, the Sheriff’s Office decided to call the FBI.

    The FBI interviewed the crew and then called US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who detained five of the nine-member crew — including the pilot — for expired paperwork and took them to Sault Ste. Marie for processing. The plane couldn’t go anywhere.

    Barnell said the crewmembers had overstayed their visas by a few days and they turned in the proper paperwork in Gwinn.

    “We did everything absolutely, positively correctly,” he told Bridge.

    Meanwhile, the Texas mechanic hired a Marquette lawyer who obtained a restraining order from a Marquette County judge saying the plane had to stay put.

    Police called the airport manager, who provided two sander trucks and a runway snowplow to box the plane in.

    Police pinned a notice of the restraining order to the door of the plane.

    The fight was just beginning.


    Heavy debt and a battle for control

    By the time the plane landed in the UP, the drama was already four years old.

    North American Tactical Aviation, a Delaware company headed by Barnell, bought the plane for about $4 million from Tashkent Aircraft Production Corp., a Ukrainian company, in July 2005, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.

    The plane — with a 165-foot wingspan, 152 feet long and 48 feet tall, weighing capable of hauling nearly 375,000 pounds — is designed for mid-air refueling but, when the big fuel tanks are removed, it becomes a large, versatile cargo plane capable of hauling large vehicles.

    Barnell told Bridge Michigan he couldn’t find work for the plane. He explored using the plane for firefighting, but “the last thing that would ever happen is allowing a Russian tanker to come in and take away business from existing companies that utilize 100% American airplanes,” so he abandoned that idea and decided to sell the plane.

    Air Support Systems bought the plane in 2005.

    In September 2008, Air Support Systems took out a $1 million loan from Headlands Limited, a Gibraltar company that has business in everything from tech to restaurants, and put the plane up as collateral, according to the FAA records.

    But Headlands was just one of several companies who said Air Support Systems owed them money. By the time the case landed in Marquette County courts in 2009, a half-dozen outfits were clamoring for control of the plane.

    It would take eight years to sort it all out and for a judge to give Headlands the right to sell the aircraft. Meridican bought it in 2019.

    Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit, air cargo business dried up again, and Meridican sat on the plane for several more years.

    Then Russia invaded Ukraine.

    Then Hamas attacked Israel, and Israel reciprocated.

    “The value has skyrocketed in the last, I would say, 2 ½ years,” Barnell said.

    In the interim, Meridican hired Barnell to look after the plane.

    It’s regularly inspected, powered up to make sure the systems work, the engines “cold turned” with a wrench to make sure they aren’t seized up. Still, it’ll take about $500,000 to run through all the factory inspections to make sure the thing can fly again.

    “It’s in long-term preservation storage, and, even though it looks like crap on the outside, there is no major corrosion of any kind, whatsoever,” Barnell said. “We’re flying a very safe airplane, doing everything in accordance with the manufacturer.”

    When he bought the plane 20 years ago, it had been sitting for 10 years, Barnell said. He went through the same exercise then to get it from Ukraine, and he had no doubts the plane would someday soon take to the skies.

    “I would not use the word ‘might,’” Barnell said. “It will take off.”

    This story was originally published by Bridge Michigan and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

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

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  • College Freshman Is Deported Flying Home for Thanksgiving Surprise, Despite Court Order

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    Concord, N.H. (AP) — A college freshman trying to fly from Boston to Texas to surprise her family for Thanksgiving was instead deported to Honduras in violation of a court order, according to her attorney.

    Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, 19, had already passed through security at Boston Logan International Airport on Nov. 20 when she was told there was an issue with her boarding pass, said attorney Todd Pomerleau. The Babson College student was then detained by immigration officials and within two days, sent to Texas and then Honduras, the country she left at age 7.

    “She’s absolutely heartbroken,” Pomerleau said. “Her college dream has just been shattered.”

    According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an immigration judge ordered Lopez Belloza deported in 2015. Pomerleau said she wasn’t aware of any removal order, however, and the only record he’s found indicates her case was closed in 2017.

    “They’re holding her responsible for something they claim happened a decade ago that she’s completely unaware of and not showing any of the proof,” the lawyer said.

    The day after Lopez Belloza was arrested, a federal judge issued an emergency order prohibiting the government from moving her out of Massachusetts or the United States for at least 72 hours. ICE did not respond to an email Friday from The Associated Press seeking comment about violating that order. Babson College also did not respond to an email seeking comment.

    Lopez Belloza, who is staying with her grandparents in Honduras, told The Boston Globe she had been looking forward to telling her parents and younger sisters about her first semester studying business.

    “That was my dream,” she said. “I’m losing everything.”

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

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  • Texas Summer Camp Owners Prepare for More Mental Health Issues Among Youth After July Floods

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    Texas officials are requiring youth camps to have weather alert systems, mandated emergency preparedness plans, and various communication methods to help children and their families feel safe when they return this summer. But one thing is still missing from the state plan that some camp leaders say would ensure complete safety at all camps — initiatives to address the mental health of those returning to a place of tragedy.

    After the devastating July 4 Hill Country floods that killed at least 137 people, including 27 campers and counselors at Camp Mystic, those who are expected to return to Texas camps this summer could be dealing with the fear of the water, extreme emotions during weather events, consistent nightmares, and more.

    One of the primary challenges in addressing the mental health needs of campers, staff and their families is that they are spread out across the state, only coming together during the summer. Resources have been poured into Texas Hill Country for flood victims, but for campers and their families who might live miles away, this does little to help.

    Camp owners say this is why camps should be better prepared for their return.

    “I am in 100% support of engaging in the physical safety, but I think it has distracted a little bit from the importance of focusing on other aspects of wellness,” Brandon G. Briery, chief program officer at Centerpoint-based Camp Camp, said.

    State lawmakers over the summer passed House Bill 1 and Senate Bill 1 requiring camps to address various safety measures including emergency preparedness plans and communication systems, but they gave no guidance to camps on how to serve the mental health needs of campers and staff.

    Keli Rabon, a Houston mother whose sons survived the flood at Camp Junta, told lawmakers three weeks after the Hill Country flood during a committee hearing in Kerrville, that for her family the storm wasn’t over. She said her son scans every room for higher ground, checks the weather constantly and battles nightmares of water dripping from the ceiling, and she has been struggling to find the mental health resources to help him.

    “I have asked the camp. I have asked FEMA. The answer is the same: ‘Sorry, we don’t know what to tell you. You are in Houston,’” Rabon said demanding that mental health care be a central, funded part of the state’s disaster response. “… I shouldn’t have to rely on a Facebook group of volunteers to find trauma care for my children.”

    Sens. Pete Flores of Pleasanton and Charles Perry of Lubbock, who were committee chair and vice chair of the flood investigation committee and authors and co-sponsors of SB 1 and HB 1, did not respond to interview requests about mental health resources. Gov. Greg Abbott ’s office forwarded questions about mental health resources for camps to Texas Health and Human Services, which did not provide information by the story’s publication.

    Even before the flood, the mental wellness of campers and staff had been a growing concern for camp leaders. As youth mental health has declined across Texas and the country over the past six years, camp directors have reported multiple campers coming in with signs of anxiety and other mental illnesses, and staff — usually college students and young adults — with signs of depression and other more severe mental health problems.

    Briery, whose six-year term on the state’s Youth Camp Program Advisory Committee ended in August, said he and several others had been advocating for the state’s camp licensing board to consider adding higher-level training requirements for staff to address mental health concerns. He said a work group had been created around the topic and was supposed to convene after the summer camp season ended, but the July 4 flood put those plans on hold — right when it was needed most.

    “While the physical safety of our camp community is what’s on everyone’s top of mind right now after the events of July, we have to look at the entire person’s safety, and that includes mental wellness,” Briery said.

    When news about the tragedy at Camp Mystic reached Laity Lodge Youth Camp in Leakey, it was like the world had been turned upside down. Laity staff members mourned the deaths as if they were their own while they answered the anxiety-riddled questions of their young campers. The portion of the East Frio River that butts up against them — a source of joy for so many of them before it was shuttered for the rest of the summer — became a grim reminder of the tragedy that unfolded just 36 miles away.

    “When I think of the summer, it is split into two parts. Pre-flood and post-flood, because everything felt so different. There was this heaviness afterwards,” said Blayze Sykes, the camp supervisor for Laity Lodge.

    Kaplow said each year, more Texas children are becoming survivors of natural disasters, creating a generation of weather anxiety-filled youth.

    A study of the Greater Houston area from 2019 to 2023 found that successive weather disasters and events had an effect on emergency department visits for depression and anxiety. It found distinct seasonal patterns, with specific periods, consistently showing higher demand for mental health services.

    Weather-related mental illness can be complex to diagnose in children at first glance because their actions mirror ADHD symptoms, Kaplow said. Children affected with weather-related trauma may be hypervigilant, which might appear as though they are easily distracted.

    Other signs can range from a student exhausted at their desk in the classroom to obvious signs of crying or becoming aggressive toward other peers.

    “It’s not enough to intervene in the immediate aftermath. We want to make sure people recognize that this will be a long-term effort to help kids heal,” said Kaplow.

    While camp can’t be the replacement for professional mental health treatment, studies have found that well-structured mental health programs at camps can counter struggles regarding depression, anxiety, feelings of hopelessness, and difficulty forming positive peer relationships in young people.

    “The time is now. Suppose there were ever a time to give attention to mental well-being at camp, to create an environment where it thrives. In that case, it’s now,” said Cary Hendricks, executive director of Laity Lodge Camping Programs.


    One approach to integrating mental health into camps

    Families seeking to disconnect their children from technology have long turned to summer camps to help them immerse in nature. Mental health experts have also promoted the benefits of nature-focused camps for children’s emotional well-being.

    But, what happens when the outdoors becomes the reason for grief?

    “We know, and frankly, take it for granted that so many camps are in the outdoors and therefore have that kind of restorative benefit for campers and staff. The events of July 4 reminded us that those elements are also hazardous and destructive,” said Laurie Pearson, the senior director of innovation and learning for the American Camp Association.

    Camps across Texas are wrestling with trying to maintain the summer-camp feel of the past for campers and staff who are now very aware of the dangers that surround them.

    “I know we have already had campers signed up who have experienced very traumatic things, so that is where we are focused on. What can we do?” said Meg Clark, owner of Camp Waldemar.

    Pearson said the CampWell program, a skills-based training course on building resilience, teaches staffers and campers how to regulate their emotions, like fear and anxiety, using methods such as breathing exercises, activities, conversation, and other non-medical means.

    Camps who go through CampWell training try to create a safe, supported and connected environment among staff who can then model and teach relevant skills to campers. This in-person program evaluates a camp’s culture, including its training and screening processes and programs, to ensure it promotes mental and physical well-being.

    Fifteen camps in Texas began implementing the CampWell program earlier this year. Little did these camp directors know how necessary this training would be for staff later that summer, when the flood required them not only to deal with their own emotions but also to address the emotions of hundreds of young campers who had a slew of questions about what happened. Those who went through the training said it helped them by teaching them emotional regulation techniques like breathing exercises and confidence building.

    Sykes said in the months after the flood, the CampWell program has helped Laity’s staff build their own community of support.

    “Looking back at it, the greatest resource we had was each other,” Sykes, staff manager at Laity Bird Lodge campgrounds, said.

    Hendricks said lawmakers have the opportunity to lay the foundation for a better future for youth mental health, and it should start with youth summer camps.

    “The same way that the state requires us to do proper lifeguard training and food services, what if mental health were equally as important, and what if camps were required to do some mental well-being training? We would love to see that future,” he said.

    Jessica Shuran Yu contributed reporting.

    This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

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

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  • One of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre’s Last Survivors, Viola Ford Fletcher, Dies Age 111

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    DALLAS (AP) — Viola Ford Fletcher, who as one of the last survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in Oklahoma spent her later years seeking justice for the deadly attack by a white mob on the thriving Black community where she lived as a child, has died. She was 111.

    Her grandson Ike Howard said Monday that she died surrounded by family at a Tulsa hospital. Sustained by a strong faith, she raised three children, worked as a welder in a shipyard during World War II and spent decades caring for families as a housekeeper.

    Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols said the city was mourning her loss. “Mother Fletcher endured more than anyone should, yet she spent her life lighting a path forward with purpose,” he said in a statement.

    She was 7 years old when the two-day attack began on Tulsa’s Greenwood district on May 31, 1921, after a local newspaper published a sensationalized report about a Black man accused of assaulting a white woman. As a white mob grew outside the courthouse, Black Tulsans with guns who hoped to prevent the man’s lynching began showing up. White residents responded with overwhelming force. Hundreds of people were killed and homes were burned and looted, leaving over 30 city blocks decimated in the prosperous community known as Black Wall Street.

    “I could never forget the charred remains of our once-thriving community, the smoke billowing in the air, and the terror-stricken faces of my neighbors,” she wrote in her 2023 memoir, “Don’t Let Them Bury My Story.”

    As her family left in a horse-drawn buggy, her eyes burned from the smoke and ash, she wrote. She described seeing piles of bodies in the streets and watching as a white man shot a Black man in the head, then fired toward her family.

    She told The Associated Press in an interview the year her memoir was published that fear of reprisals influenced her years of near-silence about the massacre. She wrote the book with Howard, her grandson, who said he had to persuade her to tell her story.

    “We don’t want history to repeat itself so we do need to educate people about what happened and try to get people to understand why you need to be made whole, why you need to be repaired,” Howard told the AP in 2024. “The generational wealth that was lost, the home, all the belongings, everything was lost in one night.”

    “For as long as we remain in this lifetime, we will continue to shine a light on one of the darkest days in American history,” Fletcher and Randle said in a statement at the time. Van Ellis had died a year earlier, at the age of 102.

    The city has been looking for ways to help descendants of the massacre’s victims without giving direct cash payments. Some of the last living survivors, including Fletcher, received donations from groups but have not received any payments from the city or state.

    Fletcher, born in Oklahoma on May 10, 1914, spent most of her early years in Greenwood. It was an oasis for Black people during segregation, she wrote in her memoir. Her family had a nice home, she said, and the community had everything from doctors to grocery stores to restaurants and banks.

    Forced to flee during the massacre, her family became nomadic, living out of a tent as they worked in the fields as sharecroppers. She didn’t finish school beyond the fourth grade.

    At the age of 16, she returned to Tulsa, where she got a job cleaning and creating window displays in a department store, she wrote in her memoir. She then met Robert Fletcher, and they married and moved to California. During World War II, she worked in a Los Angeles shipyard as a welder, she wrote.

    She eventually left her husband, who was physically abusive, and gave birth to their son, Robert Ford Fletcher, she wrote. Longing to be closer to her family, she returned to Oklahoma and settled north of Tulsa in Bartlesville.

    Fletcher wrote that her faith and the close-knit Black community gave her the support she needed to raise her children. She had another son, James Edward Ford, and a daughter, Debra Stein Ford, from other relationships.

    She worked for decades as a housekeeper, doing everything in those homes from cooking to cleaning to caring for children, Howard said. She worked until she was 85.

    She eventually returned to Tulsa to live. Howard said his grandmother hoped the move would help in her fight for justice.

    Howard said the reaction his grandmother got when she started speaking out was therapeutic for her.

    “This whole process has been helpful,” Howard said.

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

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  • Federal Prosecutors Say 2 Texas Men Made Plans to Take Over a Haitian Island

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    DALLAS (AP) — Federal prosecutors say two Texas men plotted to take over a Haitian island, one going so far as joining the U.S. military to acquire training for an armed attack, with the goal of killing all the men and using the women and children for sex.

    Gavin Rivers Weisenburg, 21, and Tanner Christopher Thomas, 20, who are from the Dallas area, were indicted Thursday on charges of conspiracy to murder, maim or kidnap in a foreign country, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Texas. They were also charged with production of child pornography over allegations they persuaded a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct.

    Attorneys for both men said Friday they will enter not guilty pleas.

    “They never tried to do any of this,” said John Helms, who is Thomas’ attorney.

    An indictment filed in a Texas federal court accuses the men of planning to recruit the homeless to join their coup in Haiti, buy a sailboat and seize power on Gonave Island, which has about 87,000 residents. It covers roughly 290 square miles (751 square kilometers) square miles and is the largest island surrounding Hispaniola.

    Helms said that while he has not yet seen the government’s evidence, he thinks prosecutors “are going to have a real hard time” trying to prove that Weisenburg and Thomas actually intended to carry out such a plot.

    David Finn, Weisenburg’s attorney, said he encourages everyone to “tap the breaks” and reserve judgment. He said people have been telling him it is “the craziest thing” they have heard, and his response has been: “Yeah, it is.”

    According to the indictment, the two men worked on the plot from August 2024 through July and that preparations included researching weapons and ammunition and plans to buy military-type rifles. Prosecutors also allege that both men tried to learn the Haitian Creole language.

    Weisenburg allegedly enrolled in a fire academy around Dallas to receive training that would be useful in the attack but failed out of the school. He then allegedly traveled to Thailand and planned to learn to sail, only to never end up enrolling in lessons because of the cost.

    Thomas enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in January, according to the indictment, and told Weisenburg in a social media message that he had joined the military to further their planned attack. While in the Air Force, Thomas changed his assignment to Andrews Air Base in Maryland to help in the recruiting of homeless people in Washington, D.C., the indictment said.

    The U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations was among the investigating agencies, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The Air Force did not immediately respond to an inquiry about Thomas’ service on Friday.

    The men face up to 30 years in prison if convicted on the child pornography charge and up to life in prison if convicted on the conspiracy charge.

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

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  • States Are Pushing for More Scrutiny of Antisemitism in Schools

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    In the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas two years ago, high school teacher Josh Hirsch posted comments on social media in support of Israel. It was unrealistic for Hamas to expect a ceasefire, he wrote, as long as they were holding hostages.

    Soon afterward, a former student called for his firing. A note taped outside the door of his Adams County, Colorado, classroom contained his wife’s name and their home address. And a sticker that appeared on his chair read: “Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.”

    The reaction startled Hirsch, the only Jewish teacher in his school building. For the first time in his 14-year career, he considered quitting. He stayed and joined an educators’ advocacy network created by the Anti-Defamation League, a way he saw to make schools more inclusive of diverse viewpoints.

    “I’ve been a teacher and tried to keep my focus on being the best teacher I could,” he said.

    Tensions over the Israel-Hamas war have spilled into schools around the U.S., with advocates reporting a rise in antisemitic harassment since the 2023 surprise attack on Israel. While some argue school leaders have failed to take the threat seriously, others warn criticism of Israel and the military campaign in Gaza are interpreted too often as hate speech.

    The Trump administration has not punished school systems the way it has hit colleges accused of tolerating antisemitism, but schools are still facing pressure to respond more aggressively. Several states have pressed for new vigilance, including legislation that critics say would stifle free speech.


    Both conservative and liberal states apply more scrutiny

    Lawmakers in Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Tennessee have passed measures to increase school accountability for complaints of antisemitism, and a law signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, will provide training to identify and prevent antisemitism in schools. In Arizona, the Democratic governor vetoed a bill on how to deal with reports of antisemitism in schools, calling it an attack on educators.

    Many of the measures, including one signed by Oklahoma’s Republican governor, call for adoption of a definition of antisemitism that casts certain criticism of Israel as hate speech.

    “These bills make it clear that Oklahoma stands with our Jewish communities and will not tolerate hatred disguised as political discourse,” said Kristen Thompson, a Republican state senator in Oklahoma who authored the legislation.

    Dozens of states have adopted the definition promoted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which is also recognized by the U.S. State Department. It lists 11 examples of antisemitic conduct, such as applying “double standards” to Israel or comparing the country’s policies to Nazism.

    While supporters of this definition of antisemitism say it is necessary to combat evolving forms of Jewish hate, civil liberties groups warn it suppresses pro-Palestinian speech.


    Trump administration approach contrasts with attacks on colleges

    The Trump administration has leveraged antisemitism investigations in its efforts to reshape higher education, suspending billions of dollars in federal funding to Harvard, Columbia and other universities over allegations they tolerated hate speech, especially during protests over the Israel-Hamas war.

    The White House has not gotten as involved at the K-12 level. At congressional hearings, House Republicans have taken some large school systems to task over their handling of antisemitism, but the administration largely has left it to the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights to address complaints.

    In one of the cases under investigation, a complaint described students at the Berkeley Unified School District in California asking Jewish classmates what “their number is,” referring to numbers tattooed on Jews during the Holocaust. It also said teachers made antisemitic comments and led walkouts that praised Hamas.

    The district did not respond to a request for comment.

    In another California case, the family of a 14-year-old girl filed a federal lawsuit last year alleging she had to leave University Preparatory Academy, a charter school in San Jose, in 2023 because of antisemitic bullying. After the Hamas attack, she said students called her names, including “terrorist.” The California Department of Education and the school said they could not comment on pending litigation.

    Nationwide, the ADL recorded 860 antisemitic incidents in non-Jewish schools last year, ranging from name-calling and swastikas etched on lockers to antisemitic materials being taught in classrooms. The number was down from over 1,100 recorded in 2023, but well above numbers in prior years, according to the ADL.

    A Massachusetts state commission formed last year to combat antisemitism found it was a “pervasive and escalating problem” in schools.

    At one meeting, a commission co-chair, Democratic state Rep. Simon Cataldo, said the Massachusetts Teachers Association was sharing antisemitic resources with teachers, including a kindergarten workbook that describes Zionists as “bullies” and an image of a Star of David made of dollar bills. The union said those were singled out among hundreds of images in art and posters about Palestinians, and links to those materials were removed.

    The union said it has engaged in efforts to confront increases in both antisemitism and Islamophobia and accused the commission of “offensive political theater.”

    “Those who manipulate antisemitism to achieve political objectives — such as undermining labor unions and public educators — are following the lead of the Trump administration,” the union said in a statement.

    Margaret Litvin, an associate professor of Arabic and comparative literature at Boston University, said the commission was “deliberately conflating criticism of Israel with prejudice against Jews and bias against Jews.” That approach will be used to justify “heavy-handed” interference by the state in school district affairs, said Litvin, co-founder of the Boston-area Concerned Jewish Faculty and Staff group.


    Controversy reaches the biggest teachers union

    The tension reached the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union, which this summer weighed a proposal to drop ADL classroom materials that educators use to teach about the Holocaust and bias. Backers said the ADL had an outsize influence on school curricula and policy, with an underlying pro-Israel viewpoint.

    Delegates at the union’s representative assembly narrowly voted to approve the proposal, but they were overruled by the NEA board of directors. Union President Becky Pringle said the proposal “would not further NEA’s commitment to academic freedom, our membership, or our goals.”

    In the aftermath, the ADL invited K-12 educators to join a new network called BEACON: Building Educator Allies for Change, Openness, and Networks, which it said is intended to help educators learn from each other how to address and combat antisemitism and other forms of hate.

    Hirsch, the teacher in Colorado, was among hundreds who expressed interest.

    Some of the blowback he faced stemmed from his online commentary about local activist organizations. After donating money to Black Lives Matter groups and supporting them with a sign in his yard, he expressed feelings of betrayal to see the groups expressing support for Palestinians and not Israel.

    He said he was surprised by the reaction to the posts in his predominantly Hispanic school community. A former debate coach, he aims through his work with the ADL network to help students share their opinions in constructive ways.

    “If we’re giving them the opportunity to hate and we’re giving them the opportunity to make enemies of someone, it really is counterproductive to what we’re trying to do as a society,” he said.

    The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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

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  • Infant Botulism in 10 US States Linked to Formula Being Recalled

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    Federal and state health officials are investigating 13 cases in 10 states of infant botulism linked to baby formula that was being recalled, authorities said Saturday.

    ByHeart Inc. agreed to begin recalling two lots of the company’s Whole Nutrition Infant Formula, the Food and Drug Administration said in a statement.

    All 13 infants were hospitalized after consuming formula from two lots: 206VABP/251261P2 and 206VABP/251131P2.

    The cases occurred in Arizona, California, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Washington.

    No deaths were reported. The FDA said it was investigating how the contamination happened and whether it affected any other products.

    Available online and through major retailers, the product accounted for an estimated 1% of national formula sales, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    People who bought the recalled formula should record the lot number if possible before throwing it out or returning it to where it was purchased, the CDC said in a statement.

    They should use a dishwasher or hot, soapy water to clean items and surfaces that touched the formula. And they should seek medical care right away if an infant has consumed recalled formula and then had poor feeding, loss of head control, difficulty swallowing or decreased facial expression.

    Infant botulism is caused by a bacterium that produces toxins in the large intestine.

    Symptoms can take weeks to develop, so parents should keep vigilant, the CDC said.

    A ByHeart spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Saturday.

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  • California Legislation Could Lead to Better Online Privacy Nationwide

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    The privacy changes web browsers will be required to make under a new California law could set the de facto standard for the entire country, changing how Americans control their data when using the internet, according to experts.

    Assembly Bill 566, recently signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom, requires companies that make web browsers to offer users an opt-out “signal” that automatically tells websites not to share or sell their personal information as they browse.

    It will likely be easier for companies to roll out the service for the entire country, rather than for users only in California.

    “It’s such a trivial implementation,” said Emory Roane, associate director of policy at Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, an organization that pushed for the legislation. “It’s really not that difficult technically.”

    The legislation, a first of its kind in the country, was sponsored by the California Privacy Protection Agency, the state’s consumer privacy watchdog, as well as several consumer advocacy and privacy rights groups.

    Under the law, browsers like Google’s Chrome and Microsoft’s Edge will have until the beginning of 2027 to create a way for consumers to select the signal. Combined with recent changes from other states, the new law could be a tipping point in how web traffic is treated in the United States.

    “We expect it to have a national impact,” Roane said.

    California already offers privacy protections under the California Consumer Privacy Act, including customers’ right to opt out from having their information sold.

    But advocates for the new law point out this still puts the burden on the consumer to navigate to web pages and individually select web pages to opt out from. The new tool will effectively automate that process, giving consumers a single toggle to keep their data protected.

    “I would argue if you have to go to every individual website and click the link saying you ‘don’t want your information sold or shared,’ that’s not really a meaningful privacy right,” said Caitriona Fitzgerald, deputy director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, another organization that pressed for AB 566.

    Already, some browser makers have voluntarily offered similar settings under a framework called the Global Privacy Control. Mozilla’s Firefox, for example, includes a setting called “tell websites not to sell or share your data.” With that setting on, the browser communicates to sites that the visitor wants the site to respect the user’s preference.

    But until now, browsers haven’t been required to offer a setting that uses the Global Privacy Control or another standard to communicate users’ preferences. “There are browser extensions but those aren’t very widely used,” said Nick Doty, senior technologist at the Center for Democracy and Technology.

    Since it would likely be burdensome for companies to carve out a way to only allow the signal to be used by Californians, according to experts, the tool will likely be available across the country. How, exactly, that will look still remains to be seen. The legislation doesn’t require browser makers to use a specific standard.

    Spokespeople for Google and Microsoft declined to comment on the companies’ plans.

    There’s still a risk that some websites may try to detect which state a visitor is from, and only respect the signal if they find the visitor is from a state that mandates it.

    This is legally risky, though, according to Roane, who points out that AB 566 applies to residents of California, regardless of whether they’re using the web from California.

    “If I’m safe saying I’m a resident and you’re assuming I’m not and you’re flagrantly not respecting my privacy wishes, that is a violation of the law,” Roane said.


    Pushback from Google and the industry

    The law didn’t get across the finish line without friction. As CalMatters reported in September, despite not being publicly against the legislation, Google organized opposition to the bill through a group it backs financially.

    AB 566 also wasn’t the first attempt at such legislation. Newsom vetoed a similar, but slightly more expansive, version of the bill in 2024.

    But now that the door is open, some advocates say they are going to continue to push to further expand privacy preferences.

    Roane notes that legislation could be drafted that requires connected smart devices to offer an opt-out preference, or for vehicles that gather data on drivers to respect opt-out preference requests.

    “We are finally, finally starting to have real privacy rights,” Roane said, “but we’re far away from them being really easy to exercise across the country and across the border and even in states like California where we have these rights.”

    This story was originally published by CalMatters and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

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  • Musk the Trillionaire? Debate Over His Tesla Pay Package Rages

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    NEW YORK (AP) — Elon Musk turned off many potential buyers of his Tesla cars and sent sales plunging with his foray into politics. But the stock has soared anyway and now he wants the company to pay him more — a lot more.

    Shareholders gathering Thursday for Tesla’s annual meeting in Austin, Texas, will decide in a proxy vote whether to grant Musk, the company’s CEO and already the richest person in the world, enough stock to potentially make him history’s first trillionaire.

    Several pension funds have come out against the package, arguing that the board of directors is too beholden to Musk, his behavior too reckless lately and the riches offered too much.

    Supporters say Musk is a genius who is the only person capable of ushering in a Tesla-dominated future in which hundreds of thousands of self-driving Tesla cars — many without steering wheels — will ferry people and humanoid Tesla robots will march around factories and homes, picking up boxes and watering plants. The pay is necessary to incentivize him, they say, and keep him focused.

    Musk has threatened to walk away from the company if he doesn’t get what he wants and has blasted some of the package’s critics as “corporate terrorists.”

    To get his Tesla shares, Musk has to secure approval from a majority of the company’s voting shareholders. Improving the odds, Musk gets to vote his own shares, worth 15% of the company.

    Shareholders first heard about the pay package in September when the board of directors proposed it in a detailed filing to federal securities regulators. The document, running 200 pages, also contains other proposals up for a vote at the meeting, including whether to allow Tesla to invest in another Musk company, xAI, and who should serve on the board in the future.


    How Musk can get $1 trillion

    Musk won’t get necessarily get all of that money, or even a cent of it, if the package is approved. He first has to meet several operational and financial targets.

    To get the full pay, for instance, he has to deliver to the car market 20 million Teslas over 10 years, more than double the number he has churned out over the past dozen years. He also has to massively increase the market value of the company and its operating profits and deliver one million robots, from zero today.

    If he falls short of the biggest goals, though, the package could still hand him plenty of money.

    Musk will get $50 billion in additional Tesla shares, for example, if he increases the company’s market value by 80%, something he did just this past year, as well as doubling vehicle sales and tripling operating earnings — or hitting any other two of a dozen operational targets.

    Musk is already the richest man in the world with a net worth of $493 billion, according to Forbes magazine, and well ahead of some of the wealthiest of years past.

    He’s worth more than two Cornelius Vanderbilts, the shipping and railroad magnate of the 19th Century whose inflation-adjusted wealth hit $200 billion or so at its peak. The steel giant, Andrew Carnegie, was once worth $300 billion, according to the Carnegie Corp., well below Musk’s wealth, too.

    Musk is still trailing John D. Rockefeller, but he’s closing in fast. The railroad titan hit peak inflation-adjusted wealth of $630 billion in 1913, according to Guinness World Records.


    What really drives Musk, or so he says

    Musk says it’s not really about the money but about getting a higher Tesla stake — it will double to nearly 30% — so he can control the company. He says that’s a pressing concern given all the power Tesla may soon have, specifically something he referred to in a recent investor meeting as its future “robot army.”

    That was a reference to Tesla’s Optimus division, which makes humanoid workers that will be so numerous that, as Musk put it recently, he wouldn’t want anyone else but himself to control them.

    Many investors have come out in support of the package, including Baron Capital Management, whose founder called Musk indispensable to the company. “Without his relentless drive and uncompromising standards,” wrote founder Ron Baron, “there would be no Tesla.”

    Critics include the biggest in the U.S. public pension fund, Calpers, and Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest. They argue the pay is excessive, with the Norway fund expressing concern that the board that designed it, which includes Musk’s brother, is not independent enough. Two giant corporate watchdogs, Institutional Shareholder Service and Glass Lewis, said they are voting against it, too.

    Even the Vatican has weighed in, decrying the wealth gap in the world and blasting the trillion dollar offer in particular.

    “If that is the only thing that has value anymore,” said Pope Leo XIV, “then we’re in big trouble.”


    Musk’s record at Tesla is mixed

    Judging from the stock price alone, Musk has been spectacularly successful. The company is now worth $1.5 trillion.

    But a lot that runup reflects big bets by investors that Musk will be able deliver things that are difficult to pull off, and the way Musk has run the company recently doesn’t inspire confidence. He has broken numerous promises, and his tendency to say whatever is on his mind has sabotaged the company.

    Just this year, for instance, he vowed to deliver driverless taxis in several cities, secure regulatory approval in Europe for his self-driving software and push sales up 20% or 30%.

    Instead, his driverless robotaxis in Austin and San Francisco have human safety monitors inside. Europeans still haven’t approved his software. And Tesla sales continue to plunge, with new figures out Monday showing a stunning 50% drop last month in Germany alone.

    That said, Musk has pulled off the impossible before. His company a half dozen years ago was widely feared to be near bankruptcy because he wasn’t making enough cars, but then he succeeded and the stock soared.

    “He frequently teeters on the edge of disaster,” said Tesla owner and money manager Nancy Tengler, “and then pulls back just in the nick of time.”

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

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  • SNAP Has Provided Grocery Help for 60-Plus Years; Here’s How It Works

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    Originally known as the food stamp program, it has existed since 1964, serving low-income people, many of whom have jobs but don’t make enough money to cover all the basic costs of living.

    Public attention has focused on the program since President Donald Trump’s administration announced last week that it would freeze SNAP payments starting Nov. 1 in the midst of a monthlong federal government shutdown. The administration argued it wasn’t allowed to use a contingency fund with about $5 billion in it to help keep the program going. But on Friday, two federal judges ruled in separate challenges that the federal government must continue to fund SNAP, at least partially, using contingency funds. However, the federal government is expected to appeal, and the process to restart SNAP payments would likely take one to two weeks.

    Here’s a look at how SNAP works.

    There are income limits based on family size, expenses and whether households include someone who is elderly or has a disability.

    Most SNAP participants are families with children, and more than 1 in 3 include older adults or someone with a disability.

    Nearly 2 in 5 recipients are households where someone is employed.

    Most participants have incomes below the poverty line, which is about $32,000 for a family of four, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which administers the program, says nearly 16 million children received SNAP benefits in 2023.

    People who are not in the country legally, and many immigrants who do have legal status, are not eligible. Many college students aren’t either, and some states have barred people with certain drug convictions.

    Under a provision of Trump’s big tax and policy law that also takes effect Nov. 1, people who do not have disabilities, are between ages 18 and 64 and who do not have children under age 14 can receive benefits for only three months every three years if they’re not working. Otherwise, they must work, volunteer or participate in a work training program at least 80 hours a month.


    How much do beneficiaries receive?

    On average, the monthly benefit per household participating in SNAP over the past few years has been about $350, and the average benefit per person is about $190.

    The benefit amount varies based on a family’s income and expenses. The designated amount is based on the concept that households should allocate 30% of their remaining income after essential expenses to food.

    Families can receive higher amounts if they pay child support, have monthly medical expenses exceeding $35 or pay a higher portion of their income on housing.

    The cost of benefits and half the cost of running the program is paid by the federal government using tax dollars.

    States pay the rest of the administrative costs and run the program.

    People apply for SNAP through a state or county social service agency or through a nonprofit that helps people with applications. In some states, SNAP is known by another, state-specific name. For instance, it’s FoodShare in Wisconsin and CalFresh in California.

    The benefits are delivered through electronic benefits transfer, or EBT, cards that work essentially like a bank debit card. Besides SNAP, it’s where money is loaded for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, program, which provides cash assistance for low-income families with children, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.

    The card is swiped or inserted in a store’s card reader at checkout, and the cardholder enters their PIN to pay for food. The cost of the food is deducted from the person’s SNAP account balance.

    SNAP benefits can only be used for food at participating stores — mostly groceries, supermarkets, discount retail stores, convenience stores and farmers markets. It also covers plants and seeds bought to grow your own food. However, hot foods — like restaurant meals — are not covered.

    Most, but not all, food stores participate. The USDA provides a link on its website to a SNAP retail locator, allowing people to enter an address to get the closest retailers to them.

    Items commonly found in a grocery and other participating stores that can’t be bought with SNAP benefits include pet food, household supplies like toilet paper, paper towels and cleaning products, and toiletries like toothpaste, shampoo and cosmetics. Vitamins, medicines, alcohol and tobacco products are also excluded.

    Sales tax is not charged on items bought with SNAP benefits.


    Are there any restrictions?

    There aren’t additional restrictions today on which foods can be purchased with SNAP money.

    But the federal government is allowing states to apply to limit which foods can be purchased with SNAP starting in 2026.

    All of them will bar buying soft drinks, most say no to candy, and some block energy drinks.

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

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  • Texas Freezes Program to Help Minority-Owned Businesses Compete for State Contracts

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    The state program intended to give additional exposure to businesses owned by women, minorities and disabled veterans seeking state contracts was frozen by the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts’ office this week, the latest instance of Republican state officials targeting a program perceived as promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.

    Information regarding the Historically Underutilized Business program was removed from the comptroller’s website and the office said it was pausing the issuance of all new and renewed certifications for state procurement, according to a statement by the comptroller’s office.

    The office said it was freezing the program to allow for a review to ensure it is constitutional and complies with Gov. Greg Abbott’s January executive order banning DEI programs from state agencies.

    “Businesses deserve a level playing field where government contracts are earned by performance and best value — not race or sex quotas,” acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock wrote on social media Tuesday. “We must END ALL DEI in Texas!”

    Hancock’s social media posts were coupled with a memo to state agencies and universities saying they are prohibited from granting contracts on the basis of race, ethnicity or sex.

    While his office has stopped issuing new certifications, Hancock does not have the power to end the program altogether.

    The program, in its current form, was written into state law over the course of several legislative sessions during the 1990s. Doing away with the program would require either a court ruling it unconstitutional or the Legislature repealing the law.

    State Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, co-authored the 1999 bill that codified the program into state law and said its opponents misunderstand the program’s intent and effectiveness.

    “The program is not a quota program,” West said Thursday. “This program was passed when (George) W. Bush was governor of Texas, and he was not a governor that would have accepted a quota program. We were able to strike what we thought was a good compromise, a fair program that made sure agencies would go out and make an effort to seek procurement opportunities.

    “All it does is create opportunities for smaller, disadvantaged businesses to be part of the procurement network for the state of Texas,” West added.

    That legislation placed the program under the purview of the comptroller’s office, which is tasked with certifying HUB businesses and monitoring other state agencies for compliance in their procurement processes. A business can be certified under the program if a majority of its ownership is determined to be an “economically disadvantaged person,” defined by the state as Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, women, Asian Pacific Americans, Native Americans and disabled veterans.

    The law sets requirements for state agencies to solicit bids from a set number of HUB-certified businesses, but does not require that a HUB-certified business must be selected for a given contract.

    The law also set statewide goals for HUB participation in state contracts based on the 2009 State of Texas Disparity Study. That study was also removed from the comptroller’s office on Tuesday.

    Michael Adams, a professor and director of the Master of Public Affairs Graduate Program at Texas Southern University, said programs seeking to increase the participation of women and minority-owned businesses in the public procurement process are present in all levels of government across the country.

    With government representation of minorities still lagging behind their population, programs like Texas’ HUB program were seen as a way of helping historically disenfranchised groups by taking advantage of government’s status as the nation’s largest employer to fight discrimination, Adams said.

    “How do you move beyond the public welfare state if you don’t have the opportunity to strike out and create a business and create opportunity for yourself?” Adams said. “In terms of policy outputs, the HUBs have been a way of doing that.”

    West said the program has not been a political issue throughout most of its existence, arguing the recent attention is a result of Republican attempts during President Donald Trump’s second term to roll back decades of progress toward societal equity.

    “It’s all part of the Project 2025 plan,” West said, referencing an ultra-conservative political initiative published by Heritage Foundation in preparation for Trump’s second term. “Many of the cultural wars in America start in Texas … Now we’re trying to further Trump’s goals to do away with any programs that give people a hand up, not a hand down.”

    West noted that women-owned businesses are by far the biggest benefactor of the HUB program, “but the focus by Republicans has been on the poster child, which are African American owned businesses.”

    Hancock took office in July in an acting role after former Comptroller Glen Hegar was named chancellor of the Texas A&M University System. Hancock said the review of the program has been a top priority since he took office.

    The decision comes after Austin-based recruiting company Aerospace Solutions sued the state last November arguing the HUB program puts it at a disadvantage when bidding for state contracts because it is not a HUB-certified company.

    This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

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

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  • Ohio Panel Unveils Proposed US House Map That Could Help Republicans Win More Seats

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    Ohio’s Republican-led redistricting commission unveiled a proposed U.S. House map Thursday that could give Republicans a chance at winning two more seats in next year’s midterm elections, bolstering President Donald Trump’s efforts to hold on to a slim congressional majority.

    Ohio’s redistricting plan comes amid a nationwide battle for partisan advantage ahead of next year’s congressional elections. Trump kick-started the fray this summer by urging Republican-led states to reshape their U.S. House districts in an attempt to win more seats. Republican lawmakers in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina already have done so.

    Democrats in California have countered with their own redistricting plan being decided by voters in a Tuesday election. And other states, including Republican-led Indiana and Virginia‘s Democratic-led General Assembly, are convening in special sessions aimed at redistricting.

    Unlike those other states, which are voluntarily redrawing districts, Ohio is required by its state constitution to enact new congressional districts before the 2026 elections because the current map was adopted by Republican officials without bipartisan support. Republicans currently hold 10 of Ohio’s 15 congressional seats, but some Republicans view the mandatory redistricting as opportunity to expand upon that.

    The proposed map appears to increase Republican chances in the districts held by Democratic U.S. Reps. Greg Landsman in Cincinnati and Marcy Kaptur around Toledo, an area that gave Trump a majority in the 2024 presidential election. Kaptur won a 22nd term last fall by about 2,400 votes, or less than 1 percentage point. Landsman was reelected with more than 54% of the vote last year.

    Each seat could be pivotal, because Democrats need to gain just three seats nationally in next year’s elections to win control of the House from Republicans and impede Trump’s agenda. The president’s party historically has lost seats in midterm elections.

    The Ohio Redistricting Commission faces a Friday deadline to adopt a new map, which would require support from at least two Republicans and two Democrats on the seven-member panel.

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

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  • Lawsuit Seeks to Overturn Dallas Ordinances Plaintiffs Say Violate Law Banning Progressive Policies

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    Two years after state lawmakers passed a sweeping law aimed at preventing Texas cities from adopting progressive policies, that law may finally get its first major test.

    Three Dallas residents sued the city in Denton County District Court Wednesday to strike down dozens of local ordinances they allege violate the law, dubbed the “Death Star” law by opponents. The law made it illegal for cities and counties to enact local laws that go further than certain broad areas of state law.

    “Cities don’t get to pick and choose which state laws they follow,” said Matthew Chiarizio, a senior attorney for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the influential conservative think tank, who is representing the plaintiffs. “For too long, Dallas has piled unnecessary and duplicative regulations on its citizens. The Legislature has rightly preempted those rules, and this lawsuit is about protecting Texans’ freedom to live and work without being smothered by layers of needless local regulation.”

    A representative for the city of Dallas declined to comment, citing litigation.

    Some 83 ordinances could be wiped out if a judge sides with the plaintiffs. Among them are a slew of local protections for LGBTQ+ people, rules that city contractors pay employees a living wage and noise regulations for public parks and recreational facilities.

    Dallas officials could also be prevented from regulating ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft that operate at Dallas Love Field Airport, valet parking services and gas drilling and production within city limits.

    State lawmakers passed the legislation in 2023. Gov. Greg Abbott, GOP legislators and business groups had long sought such a measure, which they said was necessary to undo a “patchwork” of local regulations across the state they say burden businesses and hamper the state’s economic growth. The bill’s passage also marked the culmination of Republican lawmakers’ attempts over the last decade to undercut the state’s largest urban areas, often governed by Democrats.

    Critics of the bill countered it would prevent cities and counties from enacting protections for its residents, including water breaks for construction workers and noise regulations.

    Houston, San Antonio and El Paso sued to block the law a month after it passed. A Travis County judge ruled the law unconstitutional in 2023. In July, the Third Court of Appeals overturned that decision and cleared the way for the Dallas lawsuit.

    This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

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

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