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  • ‘No Kings’ Protests Return as Trump Ramps up Authoritarian Practices, Organizers Say

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    Big crowds of protesters are expected Saturday in thousands of places around the U.S. in opposition to what some are characterizing as increasingly authoritarian practices by President Donald Trump.

    Some conservative politicians have condemned the protests as “Hate America” rallies, while others say that it represents a “patriotic” fight for First Amendment rights.

    Here is what to expect on Saturday.


    Organizers aim to boost political engagement

    Ezra Levin, a leading organizer of Saturday’s protests, said the demonstrations are a response to what he called Trump’s “crackdown on First Amendment rights.”

    He said those steps cumulatively represented a direct threat to constitutionally protected rights.

    Protests are planned for more than 2,500 locations nationwide — from the country’s largest city, New York, to small unincorporated, rural communities like East Glacier Ridge, Montana, with roughly 300 residents.

    Organizers will consider the day a success, Levin said, if people are galvanized to become more politically involved on an ongoing basis.


    Mostly peaceful protest in June

    The last “No Kings” protest took place on June 14 in thousands of cities and towns across the country, in large part to protest a military parade in Washington that marked the Army’s 250th anniversary and coincided with Trump’s birthday. “No Kings” organizers at the time called the parade “coronation” that was symbolic of what they characterized as Trump’s growing authoritarian overreach.

    Confrontations were isolated and the protests were largely peaceful.

    Police in Los Angeles, where protests over federal immigration enforcement raids erupted the week prior and sparked demonstrations across the country, used tear gas and crowd-control munitions to clear out protesters after the formal event ended. Officers in Portland also fired tear gas and projectiles to disperse a crowd that protested in front of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building well into the evening.


    Utah organizers focus on healing

    Four months later, no one has been charged. Experts have said state gun laws may shield both the shooter and the man who brandished a rifle but didn’t fire shots.

    Jamie Carter, an organizer of Saturday’s rally, said Utah activists considered not participating in this round of “No Kings” demonstrations, but “we also felt that we really had to get back out there.”

    Organizers are not affiliated with the groups who put on the June demonstration that turned deadly. Safety volunteers will be present but unarmed, and all have received de-escalation training, said Carter, of Salt Lake Indivisible. Attendees have been asked not to bring weapons.

    “We really want this to be a very uplifting, happy event of people coming together in a community to kind of try to erase and replace some of the bad memories,” she said.

    Trump’s crackdown against protests, especially in Democratic cities, has intensified since the June marches. He has since sent National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., and Memphis, Tenn. His efforts to deploy troops to Chicago and Portland, Oregon, have stalled in federal court.

    Organizers in Chicago are expecting tens of thousands of demonstrators at a popular Lake Michigan park, followed by a downtown march.

    Federal immigration agents have arrested more than 1,000 people in Chicago, the nation’s third largest city, with increasingly aggressive tactics since September. Protests have been frequent and well attended in recent weeks, and have boiled over in intense clashes outside a suburban federal immigration processing center.

    “People are angrier. It feels so much more immediate,” said Denise Poloyac with Indivisible Chicago. “They’re very concerned about what’s happening in Chicago and around the country.”

    The “No Kings” organizers have led numerous virtual safety trainings leading up to the protests with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union, which is listed as an official partner on the “No Kings” website.

    The trainings informed viewers about their rights during protests — such as whether you are required to carry ID or if wearing a mask is allowed (both vary according to each state) — and emphasized de-escalation techniques for encounters with law enforcement.

    Each official protest has a safety plan, which includes designated medics and emergency meeting spots.


    Mixed response from elected officials

    The protests have already drawn swift condemnation from some of the country’s top politicians, with House Speaker Mike Johnson dubbing the event the “Hate America rally” at a news conference on Wednesday.

    Some state leaders, like Texas‘ Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, have decided to activate the National Guard ahead of the protests.

    “Texas will deter criminal mischief and work with local law enforcement to arrest anyone engaging in acts of violence or damaging property,” Abbott said in a statement.

    Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom struck a more optimistic tone, saying he hopes Californians turn out in large numbers and remain peaceful. He said Trump “hopes there is disruption, there’s some violence” that he can exploit.

    Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City; Christopher Weber in Los Angeles; Juan A. Lozano in Houston, Texas; Terry Chea in San Francisco; and Sophia Tareen in Chicago.

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

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

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  • Colleges are fighting to prove their return on investment

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    WASHINGTON (AP) — For a generation of young Americans, choosing where to go to college — or whether to go at all — has become a complex calculation of costs and benefits that often revolves around a single question: Is the degree worth its price?

    Public confidence in higher education has plummeted in recent years amid high tuition prices, skyrocketing student loans and a dismal job market — plus ideological concerns from conservatives. Now, colleges are scrambling to prove their value to students.

    Borrowed from the business world, the term “return on investment” has been plastered on college advertisements across the U.S. A battery of new rankings grade campuses on the financial benefits they deliver. States such as Colorado have started publishing yearly reports on the monetary payoff of college, and Texas now factors it into calculations for how much taxpayer money goes to community colleges.

    “Students are becoming more aware of the times when college doesn’t pay off,” said Preston Cooper, who has studied college ROI at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. “It’s front of mind for universities today in a way that it was not necessarily 15, 20 years ago.”

    Most bachelor’s degrees are still worth it

    A wide body of research indicates a bachelor’s degree still pays off, at least on average and in the long run. Yet there’s growing recognition that not all degrees lead to a good salary, and even some that seem like a good bet are becoming riskier as graduates face one of the toughest job markets in years.

    A new analysis released Thursday by the Strada Education Foundation finds 70% of recent public university graduates can expect a positive return within 10 years — meaning their earnings over a decade will exceed that of a typical high school graduate by an amount greater than the cost of their degree. Yet it varies by state, from 53% in North Dakota to 82% in Washington, D.C. States where college is more affordable have fared better, the report says.

    It’s a critical issue for families who wonder how college tuition prices could ever pay off, said Emilia Mattucci, a high school counselor at East Allegheny schools, near Pittsburgh. More than two-thirds of her school’s students come from low-income families, and many aren’t willing to take on the level of debt that past generations accepted.

    Instead, more are heading to technical schools or the trades and passing on four-year universities, she said.

    “A lot of families are just saying they can’t afford it, or they don’t want to go into debt for years and years and years,” she said.

    Education Secretary Linda McMahon has been among those questioning the need for a four-year degree. Speaking at the Reagan Institute think tank in September, McMahon praised programs that prepare students for careers right out of high school.

    “I’m not saying kids shouldn’t go to college,” she said. “I’m just saying all kids don’t have to go in order to be successful.”

    Lowering college tuition and improving graduate earnings

    American higher education has been grappling with both sides of the ROI equation — tuition costs and graduate earnings. It’s becoming even more important as colleges compete for decreasing numbers of college-age students as a result of falling birth rates.

    Tuition rates have stayed flat on many campuses in recent years to address affordability concerns, and many private colleges have lowered their sticker prices in an effort to better reflect the cost most students actually pay after factoring in financial aid.

    The other part of the equation — making sure graduates land good jobs — is more complicated.

    A group of college presidents recently met at Gallup’s Washington headquarters to study public polling on higher education. One of the chief reasons for flagging confidence is a perception that colleges aren’t giving graduates the skills employers need, said Kevin Guskiewicz, president of Michigan State University, one of the leaders at the meeting.

    “We’re trying to get out in front of that,” he said.

    The issue has been a priority for Guskiewicz since he arrived on campus last year. He gathered a council of Michigan business leaders to identify skills that graduates will need for jobs, from agriculture to banking. The goal is to mold degree programs to the job market’s needs and to get students internships and work experience that can lead to a job.

    A disconnect with the job market

    Bridging the gap to the job market has been a persistent struggle for U.S. colleges, said Matt Sigelman, president of the Burning Glass Institute, a think tank that studies the workforce. Last year the institute, partnering with Strada researchers, found 52% of recent college graduates were in jobs that didn’t require a degree. Even higher-demand fields, such as education and nursing, had large numbers of graduates in that situation.

    “No programs are immune, and no schools are immune,” Sigelman said.

    The federal government has been trying to fix the problem for decades, going back to President Barack Obama’s administration. A federal rule first established in 2011 aimed to cut federal money to college programs that leave graduates with low earnings, though it primarily targeted for-profit colleges.

    A Republican reconciliation bill passed this year takes a wider view, requiring most colleges to hit earnings standards to be eligible for federal funding. The goal is to make sure college graduates end up earning more than those without a degree.

    Others see transparency as a key solution.

    For decades, students had little way to know whether graduates of specific degree programs were landing good jobs after college. That started to change with the College Scorecard in 2015, a federal website that shares broad earnings outcomes for college programs. More recently, bipartisan legislation in Congress has sought to give the public even more detailed data.

    Lawmakers in North Carolina ordered a 2023 study on the financial return for degrees across the state’s public universities. It found that 93% produced a positive return, meaning graduates were expected to earn more over their lives than someone without a similar degree.

    The data is available to the public, showing, for example, that undergraduate degrees in applied math and business tend to have high returns at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, while graduate degrees in psychology and foreign languages often don’t.

    Colleges are belatedly realizing how important that kind of data is to students and their families, said Lee Roberts, chancellor of UNC-Chapel Hill, in an interview.

    “In uncertain times, students are even more focused — I would say rightly so — on what their job prospects are going to be,” he added. “So I think colleges and universities really owe students and their families this data.”

    ___

    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.

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  • Project connects Americans to the Dutch people who honor their relatives at World War II cemetery

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    DALLAS (AP) — In the decades since June West Brandt’s older brother was killed in World War II, her kind and artistic sibling who loved to play boogie-woogie on the piano has never been far from her mind. So she was delighted to discover he’s also being remembered by a Dutch couple who regularly visit a marker for him at a Netherlands cemetery.

    “It’s wonderful for me to know that someone is there,” said Brandt, 93, who lives near Houston.

    Her introduction over the summer to Lisa and Guido Meijers came by way of a new initiative aiming to increase the number of connections between the family members of those buried and remembered on the walls of the missing at the World War II cemetery and the Dutch people who have adopted each one.

    The project was spurred on by “The Monuments Men” author Robert Edsel, whose newest book, “Remember Us,” tells the story of the adoption program at the Netherlands American Cemetery. His Dallas-based Monuments Men and Women Foundation teamed with the Dutch foundation responsible for the adoptions to create the Forever Promise Project, which has a searchable database of the names of U.S. service members buried and remembered at the cemetery.

    “I’d like us to find and connect as many American families to their Dutch adopters as is possible,” Edsel said.

    Ton Hermes, chairman of the Foundation for Adopting Graves American Cemetery Margraten, said that while each of the about 8,300 graves and 1,700 markers for the missing at the cemetery near the village of Margraten have adopters, only about 20% to 30% of them are in contact with the service member’s relatives.

    When the Meijerses adopted the marker for Army Air Forces Staff Sgt. William Durham “W.D.” West Jr. several years ago, they knew only basic information about the 20-year-old whose body was never recovered after his B-24 bomber was shot down over the North Sea on a mission into Nazi Germany.

    Through talking with Brandt, they’ve learned that West was “quite a creative soul,” Lisa Meijers said.

    “That obviously makes a huge change in how to remember someone,” she said.

    Brandt said her brother loved to paint and played the piano by ear, and even though she was six years younger, they were “big buddies” growing up in the small western Louisiana city of DeRidder.

    “We loved being together, so it was very hard when he left,” Brandt said.

    Brandt’s daughter, Allison Brandt Woods, said it’s heartwarming knowing Meijerses are watching over the marker. Woods met up with them on a recent trip and hopes the connection between their families will continue with future generations.

    The cemetery, Lisa Meijers said, is among many reminders of World War II in the southern Netherlands, which was liberated by Allied forces in September 1944 after over four years of Nazi occupation.

    “We just really feel how extremely important it is to remember these things and to honor the sacrifices these people made for us,” she said.

    The Meijerses, who have a 1-year-old son, visit West’s marker about once a month, bringing flowers.

    Hermes said the program is so popular that there’s a waiting list to adopt a grave or marker.

    Names on the walls for the missing were opened up for adoption in 2008, said Frans Roebroeks, secretary for the Dutch adoption foundation. The formal adoption process for graves began to take shape during a 1945 meeting of the Margraten town council.

    “They were meeting to figure out the answer to the question: How do you thank your liberators when they are no longer alive to thank?” Edsel said.

    Many initial adopters took on the grave of someone they had gotten to know.

    “Once they heard their soldier was killed in action, the Dutch people decided to adopt his grave, to bring flowers and to correspond with the wives or mothers in the United States,” Hermes said.

    Roebroeks said many of the graves have been cared for by the same family since the end of the war, including one that’s been passed down through his family. He said Army Pfc. Henry Wolf had stayed at his grandfather’s farm and became “like a son” to him.

    Wolf’s grave has passed from Roebroeks’ grandfather to his mother and now to his sister, who will pass it to her daughter, he said.

    “That grave stays in the family,” he said.

    Edsel said that so far, over 300 families have asked to be put in touch with their adopters.

    “And we’re just starting,” he said.

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  • US Prosecutors Bring First Antifa Terrorism Charges in Texas Police Shooting Case

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    (Reuters) -Federal prosecutors in Texas have for the first time filed terrorism charges targeting antifa, FBI Director Kash Patel said on Thursday, citing President Donald Trump’s recent designation of the far-left anarchist movement as a terrorist organization.

    Cameron Arnold of Dallas and Zachary Evetts of Waxahachie, Texas, were charged on Wednesday with providing support to terrorists for their alleged role in the non-fatal shooting of a police officer at an immigration detention facility. Both men were arrested in July with eight others and charged with attempted murder and weapons offenses.

    None of the defendants has entered a plea in the case, court records show, but Arnold and Evetts are set to do so at an October 22 court hearing. Their lawyers did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

    “First time ever: the FBI arrested Antifa-aligned anarchist violent extremists and terrorism charges have been brought for the July 4 Prairieland ICE attack in Texas,” Patel said on social media.

    Arnold and Evetts were charged with supporting terrorists generally, not the legally distinct charge of supporting a terrorist organization.

    Trump and his Republican allies have accused antifa followers of fomenting political violence following the September assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and amid protests against federal immigration authorities in cities including Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland, Oregon.

    Trump signed an executive order in September calling antifa a terrorist organization, although some national security law experts said the designation was legally questionable because antifa, short for anti-fascist, has no official leadership or organizational structure.

    In an indictment filed in Texas federal court on Wednesday, prosecutors allege that Arnold and Evetts were part of an antifa “cell” that carried out a July 4 attack on a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Alvarado, Texas.

    There had been no mention of antifa in the original charging documents or accompanying announcement by prosecutors.

    Prosecutors said the alleged attackers at the Prairieland Detention Facility shot fireworks and vandalized cars before an unnamed co-conspirator allegedly opened fire on officers defending the site, striking a local police officer in the neck.

    (Reporting by Jack Queen; Editing by Edmund Klamann)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Google’s Ask Photos feature isn’t available in Texas and Illinois

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    One of Google’s Gemini-powered photo features is MIA in Texas and Illinois. The company confirmed to Engadget that Ask Photos is currently unavailable in the two states. It didn’t say why. Google Photos’ Conversational Editing is reportedly missing in those states, too.

    “The ability to ask Photos to edit your images is not available to users in Texas and Illinois at this time,” Google’s statement to Engadget reads. “We are working to determine how to make Ask Photos available to more users.”

    As for why that is, we don’t have confirmation. But the Houston Chronicle, which first reported the news, pointed to a pair of lawsuit settlements as a likely culprit. In 2022, Google settled an Illinois class action suit over Google Photos data privacy concerns for $200 million. Earlier this year, it settled one with Texas for $1.4 billion over collecting user data without permission.

    The common theme in both settlements was biometric data collection. Lo and behold, both of the missing AI features require “face grouping” to be turned on. That Google Photos feature uses automated facial recognition to cluster pictures of the same person.

    The tricky part comes when state laws require informed consent for data collection. 9to5Google notes that only the photographer — and not the many subjects of their pictures — have typically agreed to Google’s terms and conditions. That creates a head-spinning legal conundrum that could have easily led Google to play it safe.

    Ask Google Photos lets you type or speak queries about your picture library. For example, you could say, “What are all the cities I visited last year?” or “Show me the best photo from each national park I’ve visited.” Meanwhile, Conversational Editing lets you tweak images using natural language. It launched with the Pixel 10 series in August and expanded to other Android phones in September.

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    Will Shanklin

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  • Husband opens fire at day care, killing wife who led him from kids, TX cops say

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    The 26-year-old woman and her husband were separated, officials say.

    The 26-year-old woman and her husband were separated, officials say.

    Getty Images/iStockphoto

    A Texas woman’s last act before being killed by her husband was to keep the children around her out of harm’s way, authorities say.

    Nubia Bravo, 26, was at Neni’s Childcare #2, a day care in Donna, when her estranged husband forced his way into the building through a window on the afternoon of Wednesday, Oct. 15, the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office said, MyRGV.com reported. There were five children at the day care, deputies said.

    Deputies say the husband, 41-year-old Saul Esquivel, pursued Bravo, followed her through a back door and shot her, then died by suicide, the station reported.

    “Then we believed that he laid next to his wife, and then he took his life. This is a result of domestic violence,” Sheriff Eddie Guerra said, KVEO reported.

    Investigators believe Bravo “drew (her husband) away from the children” before running out the back, Guerra told the outlet. “No children were hurt, and we believe that they did not witness the shooting, but I’m sure that they heard all the gunshots,” Guerra added.

    Guerra said the couple separated after Esquivel was caught having an affair, KRGV reported.

    “This tragic incident is a painful reminder of how dangerous domestic violence situations can be,” Guerra said, the outlet reported. “If you are in an abusive or unsafe situation, please reach out for help. There are available resources and people ready to help.”

    Donna is a roughly 240-mile drive south from San Antonio.

    If you are experiencing domestic violence and need someone to talk to, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline for support at 1-800-799-7233 or text “START” to 88788.

    Mitchell Willetts

    The State

    Mitchell Willetts is a real-time news reporter covering the central U.S. for McClatchy. He is a University of Oklahoma graduate and outdoors enthusiast living in Texas.

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  • Mesa County’s summer measles outbreak totaled 11 cases, started with out-of-state travel

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    Mesa County’s late-summer measles outbreak started with three children who brought the virus back from an out-of-state trip, ultimately passing it on to eight other people.

    The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment previously identified seven people who contracted measles within the county, raising concerns that the virus was spreading under the radar.

    On Wednesday, the agency announced four additional cases from August, including the three who traveled and one person they infected directly. Those four previously unidentified people then spread the virus to the seven known cases.

    All four of the new cases were unvaccinated children between 5 and 17, according to the health department. It didn’t release any other information, such as which state the children traveled to or whether any of them were related.

    The department found their cases after the state they traveled to identified them as contacts of people who had tested positive there, spokeswoman Hope Shuler said.

    Measles is most dangerous for people under 5 or over 20.

    The newly identified people got sick in August, meaning they’re well past the contagious period. Most people who have measles are contagious for about four days before the rash appears and four days after.

    The vaccine schedule calls for kids to receive their first dose at about 1 and their second around 5. Some children with compromised immune systems can’t receive the vaccine and rely on the rest of the community to protect them through herd immunity, where so many people have been vaccinated that the virus can’t easily reach new hosts.

    The known cases included two unvaccinated adults who got sick in mid-August, three people who shared a household with one of them and two strangers who crossed paths with them and later tested positive. None of them needed hospital care.

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    Meg Wingerter

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  • This green energy company is leaving California for Texas

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    A San José-based tech company that sells roof shingles with built-in solar panels is the latest to announce plans to leave the Golden State for Texas.

    GAF Energy will relocate its headquarters to Georgetown, Texas, on Dec. 13, the company announced in a notification document filed with state officials. The company said its decision was motivated by better market opportunities in Texas, rather than an unfavorable business environment in California.

    The company will lay off 138 California-based employees, including technicians, engineers and managers.

    The San José headquarters, which is currently used for research, development and solar panel manufacturing, was opened in 2021. Both in-person and remote employees will be affected by its closure, the notice said.

    Required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN, the notice must be issued by a company 60 days before a mass layoff.

    GAF Energy, which is owned by Standard Industries, opened a manufacturing facility in Texas last year. The company plans to consolidate its operations at a new headquarters in the state, President Martin DeBono said.

    “In light of ongoing changes in the solar industry, we are aligning our business and our team to focus on key markets where solar is most compelling for builders and homeowners,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “This decision was not taken lightly. We are grateful to our employees in San Jose for their contributions to the business and are committed to assisting those impacted through this transition.”

    GAF Energy advertises a more practical approach to rooftop solar energy by embedding solar panels directly into shingles, rather than installing them on top of a roof.

    The consolidation to a Texas headquarters will help the company “drive efficiencies, foster stronger collaboration and partnership amongst teams, and better serve customers,” the spokesperson said.

    Though Silicon Valley is known as a premier tech hub and incubator for young companies, many firms have left the state in recent years, complaining of strict regulations, high taxes and costly labor.

    Tesla moved its headquarters out of Palo Alto in 2021, the same year that financial services firm Charles Schwab relocated from San Francisco to northern Texas. Elon Musk moved the head offices of his other companies — SpaceX and X — to Texas last year, as did Chevron, the oil giant that was started in California.

    Bed Bath & Beyond’s chief executive, Marcus Lemonis, recently took aim at California and announced that the company would not reopen stores in the state, writing on X that “California has created one of the most overregulated, expensive, and risky environments for businesses.”

    Economists said the state remains the fourth-largest economy in the world, boasts a diverse pool of talent and is a hub of technological innovation.

    GAF Energy did not point to faults in California’s business environment as a reason for moving operations to Texas. However, the company will suspend all operations in the Golden State.

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    Caroline Petrow-Cohen

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  • Government shutdown puts renewed spotlight on cracks in the U.S. aviation system

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    A startling message came over the radio from an air traffic control tower near Los Angeles less than a week into the federal government shutdown: “The tower is closed due to staffing.”

    Without enough air traffic controllers to guide planes into and out of Hollywood Burbank Airport, the tower went dark for almost six hours on Oct. 6, leaving pilots to coordinate their movements among themselves. Flight delays averaged two-and-a-half hours in one of the first visible signs that the shutdown was already taking a toll on the nation’s aviation system.

    Since the shutdown began Oct. 1, the Federal Aviation Administration has reported controller shortages in cities across the U.S., from airports in Boston and Philadelphia, to control centers in Atlanta and Houston. Flight delays have spread to airports in Nashville, Dallas, Newark and more.

    And already there has been an increase in unscheduled absences among security screeners at some airports. The union representing Transportation Security Administration employees says the absences haven’t yet caused major disruptions, but it warned longer lines at security checkpoints could soon become a reality after workers received their final paychecks over the weekend.

    Experts and union leaders say the disruptions are a stark reminder that the aviation system is already stretched too thin by chronic understaffing and outdated technology. They warn the cracks in the system could rapidly deepen the longer the shutdown drags on and critical aviation workers are without their regular paychecks.

    “It’s like having a drought the year after you had a drought,” Greg Raiff, CEO of Elevate Aviation Group, told The Associated Press.

    Problems have persisted for years

    These concerns aren’t new. In 2019, the aviation system buckled under the weight of a 35-day government shutdown — the longest in U.S. history — during President Donald Trump’s first term.

    Around the three-week mark, air traffic controllers, many of them working up to 60 hours a week, sued the government over their missed paychecks. One terminal at the Miami International Airport was forced to close because security screeners were calling out sick in large numbers. Some even quit altogether.

    “Here we are so many years later, and the problems have not been addressed,” said aviation attorney Ricardo Martinez-Cid, a Florida Bar-certified expert on aviation law who regularly represents crash victims. “Now we’re in a worse position when we had been put on notice. We had the opportunity to address it.”

    Since then, the country has faced repeated warnings. In January, a mid-air crash over the Potomac River involving a commercial jet and a military helicopter killed 67 people. A series of equipment failures and radar outages this year also highlighted the need for upgrades.

    Controller shortage at a ‘critical’ point

    Before the latest shutdown, both the FAA and TSA were already dealing with staffing shortages. That includes a shortage of about 3,000 air traffic controllers.

    Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, has said staffing levels have reached a “critical” point, the lowest in decades. The shortage is so severe that even a few air traffic controllers missing work can disrupt operations at already understaffed facilities.

    “And on top of that,” he said, “they’re working with unreliable equipment.”

    The shutdown began just as the FAA was starting to make some progress on addressing the shortage of controllers and modernizing the outdated equipment they rely on that keeps disrupting flights when it malfunctions.

    The agency says it topped its goal of hiring 2,000 controllers this year after streamlining the application process at its academy in Oklahoma City, but it will take years still to eliminate the shortage. And it had just begun looking for companies to help oversee a $12.5 billion effort to overhaul its aging and complex technology systems.

    Now, the shutdown is delaying those long-needed efforts. And union leaders say the staffing shortages may be worse by the time the government reopens.

    Shutdown could increase gaps in staffing

    Johnny Jones, secretary-treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees chapter representing TSA workers, expressed concern that the shutdown could drive even more security screeners to leave the agency, especially given the uncertainty that the workers already have faced this year. That includes the Trump administration’s attempts to revoke their collective bargaining rights.

    Daniels, meanwhile, warned it could stoke fear among newer controllers and trainees who might reconsider the career entirely to avoid working in future shutdowns.

    It’s a long-standing concern. In 2019, after the 35-day shutdown ended, a congressional committee hearing dug into the impacts on air travel.

    “All of these air traffic controllers and aviation safety professionals were used as pawns in a political fight that had nothing to do with aviation. This is wrong and must not be allowed to happen again,” warned the union leader representing air traffic controllers at the time.

    At the hearing, there were also bipartisan calls for reform to keep the FAA funded “without interruption, even when the rest of the government shuts down,” as one lawmaker put it. Stories were shared of controllers and TSA agents taking on extra jobs to pay rent, mortgage and other bills despite working longer shifts to fill the gaps in staffing.

    Lawmakers and industry officials who testified agreed: The shutdown made the aviation system less safe.

    “We implore all involved, please heed not only our warnings but the entire stakeholder community’s warnings. This vicious budgetary cycle of stops and starts with little to no stability or predictably has simply got to stop,” said Nick Calio, then-president and CEO of Airlines for America, an industry trade group representing airlines including Delta, United and Southwest.

    And yet the system remains vulnerable to shutdowns seven years later, Martinez-Cid said.

    “We’re long overdue for a wake-up call.”

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  • On Our Streaming Radar: Politics, NBA and Blue Bloodlines – Houston Press

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    As the weather cools down, the streaming slate is heating up — and this week offers a perfect mix of political intrigue, sports storytelling, small-screen reinvention, and cinematic reflection. From Keri Russell’s return in Netflix’s The Diplomat to an inside look at NBA life in Starting Five, a new chapter of crime and conscience in Boston Blue, and an intimate documentary on the legendary Martin Scorsese, there’s no shortage of binge-worthy stories to dive into. Here’s what’s new on our streaming radar this week.

    The Diplomat

    For fans of high-stakes political dramas, Netflix is back with a third season of its incredibly bingeable series The Diplomat. Keri Russell returns as Kate Wyler, who has just accused the Vice President of the United States, Grace Penn (played by the wonderfully talented Allison Janney), of orchestrating a terrorist plot — setting the stage for a volatile new chapter.

    As the dust settles, the President is dead, and Penn now occupies the Oval Office. To make matters worse, Kate’s husband Hal (Rufus Sewell) may have played a role in the President’s demise. With loyalties shifting and ambitions colliding, Season 3 explores a haunting question: does getting what you want also come with a nightmare attached?

    The Diplomat Season 3 streams this week on Netflix.

    YouTube video

    Starting Five

    Also streaming on Netflix, just in time for the upcoming NBA season, comes Starting Five — a new docu-series that delivers the kind of access sports fans crave. Think of it as Hard Knocks for the hardwood.

    The series follows five elite players through the 2024–2025 NBA season: Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics, the newest Houston Rocket Kevin Durant (documented during his final Phoenix Suns campaign), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who just led his team to an NBA Championship, Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers, and the ever-enigmatic former Rocket, James Harden.

    What makes Starting Five compelling isn’t just the highlight-reel action — it’s the human side of these athletes. We see their routines, struggles, and moments of doubt as they balance fame, fatigue, and personal sacrifice. Like actors or any working professional, they have to check their emotions at the door and perform at an elite level, even when life off the court tests them the most.

    Starting Five streams this week on Netflix.

    YouTube video

    Boston Blue

    Debuting this week is Boston Blue, the anticipated spinoff of CBS’s long-running hit Blue Bloods. Donnie Wahlberg reprises his role as Detective Danny Reagan — this time relocating from New York to Boston. There, he joins the Boston Police Department and partners with Detective Lena Silver (Sonequa Martin-Green), the eldest daughter of a storied law-enforcement family.

    Lena’s grandfather is Reverend Peters, portrayed by the legendary Ernie Hudson, who brings both spiritual weight and moral complexity to the role. When I spoke with Hudson, he said that Boston Blue is “as much about family and faith as it is about forensics — a show where the badge isn’t the only thing that defines you.”

    He says the show stands apart because it doesn’t shy away from the complicated relationship between police and community. “A lot of police shows focus on the difficulties of policing — trying to be fair, trying to get justice,” Hudson explains. “But the community often sees it from a different perspective. Sometimes the police come down hard without taking a lot of factors into consideration. Communities that feel disadvantaged need someone to champion them, to be heard. It’s the letter of the law, yes — but it’s also about balance and empathy.”

    He continues, “My character sort of represents that humanity we all share. It’s easy to judge people and separate them — to say, ‘They’re not like us, they deserve this.’ But when we see ourselves in others, that changes everything. Television can remind us of that.”

    Hudson adds that the show’s power lies in its depiction of family as a microcosm of America itself. “On Boston Blue, you’ve got this family with all these different backgrounds — my character’s a Baptist reverend, Donnie’s Catholic, my daughter married a Jewish man — and yet they still find common ground. That’s real life. That’s real America.”

    Like its predecessor, the show balances crime-solving with deeper themes of legacy, loyalty, and personal conviction. Boston Blue premieres October 17 on CBS and streams on Paramount+.

    YouTube video

    Mr. Scorsese

    Rounding out this week’s lineup is Mr. Scorsese, a five-part documentary on one of cinema’s true icons: Martin Scorsese. Directed by Rebecca Miller, the series charts the filmmaker’s life and work — from his student films to his modern masterpieces — exploring how his experiences, influences, and worldview shaped his distinctive cinematic voice.

    Featuring reflections from Scorsese himself, never-before-seen archival footage, and commentary from some of his closest collaborators, the doc paints a vivid portrait of an artist in constant evolution. With classics like Goodfellas, Casino, The Irishman, and The Departed behind him, Mr. Scorsese offers a rare, introspective look at a director who has spent a lifetime redefining storytelling on screen.

    Mr. Scorsese premieres this week on Apple TV+.

    This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.

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  • Trump Officials Back Firm in Fight Over California Offshore Oil Drilling After Huge Spill

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    When the corroded pipeline burst in 2015, inky crude spread along the Southern California coast, becoming the state’s worst oil spill in decades.

    More than 140,000 gallons (3,300 barrels) of oil gushed out, blackening beaches for 150 miles (240 kilometers) from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles, polluting a biologically rich habitat for endangered whales and sea turtles, killing scores of pelicans, seals and dolphins, and decimating the fishing industry.

    Plains All American Pipeline in 2022 agreed to a $230 million settlement with fishers and coastal property owners without admitting liability. Federal inspectors found that the Houston-based company failed to quickly detect the rupture and responded too slowly. It faced an uphill battle to build a new pipeline.

    Three decades-old drilling platforms were subsequently shuttered, but another Texas-based fossil fuel company supported by the Trump administration purchased the operation and is intent on pumping oil through the pipeline again.

    Sable Offshore Corp., headquartered in Houston, is facing a slew of legal challenges but is determined to restart production, even if that means confining it to federal waters, where state regulators have virtually no say. California controls the 3 miles (5 kilometers) nearest to shore. The platforms are 5 to 9 miles (8 to 14 kilometers) offshore.

    The Trump administration has hailed Sable’s plans as the kind of project the president wants to increase U.S. energy production as the federal government removes regulatory barriers. President Donald Trump has directed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to undo his predecessor’s ban on future offshore oil drilling on the East and West coasts.


    Environmentalist sue to stop the project

    “This project risks another environmental disaster in California at a time when demand for oil is going down and the climate crisis is escalating,” said Alex Katz, executive director of Environmental Defense Center, the Santa Barbara group formed in response to a massive spill in 1969.

    The environmental organization is among several suing Sable.

    “Our concern is that there is no way to make this pipeline safe and that this company has proven that it cannot be trusted to operate safely, responsibly or even legally,” he said.

    Actor and activist Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who lives in the area, has implored officials to stop Sable, saying at a March protest: “I can smell a rat. And this project is a rat.”

    The California Coastal Commission fined Sable a record $18 million for ignoring cease-and-desist orders over repair work it says was done without permits. Sable said it has permits from the previous owner, Exxon Mobil, and sued the commission while work continued on the pipeline. In June, a state judge ordered it to stop while the case proceeds through the court. The commission and Sable are due back in court Wednesday.

    “This fly-by-night oil company has repeatedly abused the public’s trust, racking up millions of dollars in fines and causing environmental damage along the treasured Gaviota Coast,” a state park south of Santa Barbara, said Joshua Smith, the commission’s spokesman.


    Sable keeps moving forward

    So far, Sable is undeterred.

    The California Attorney General’s office sued Sable this month, saying it illegally discharged waste into waterways, and disregarded state law requiring permits before work along the pipeline route that crosses sensitive wildlife habitat.

    “Sable placed profits over environmental protection in its rush to get oil on the market,” the agency said in its lawsuit.

    Last month, the Santa Barbara District Attorney filed felony criminal charges against Sable, also accusing it of polluting waterways and harming wildlife.

    Sable said it has fully cooperated with local and state agencies, including the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and called the district attorney’s allegation “inflammatory and extremely misleading.” It said a biologist and state fire marshal officials oversaw the work, and no wildlife was harmed.

    The company is seeking $347 million for the delays, and says if the state blocks it from restarting the onshore pipeline system, it will use a floating facility that would keep its entire operation in federal waters and use tankers to transport the oil to markets outside California. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, the company updated its plan to include the option.


    Fulfilling the president’s energy promise

    The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said in July it was working with Sable to bring a second rig online.

    “President Trump made it clear that American energy should come from American resources,” the agency’s deputy director Kenny Stevens said in a statement then, heralding the “comeback story for Pacific production.”

    The agency said there are an estimated 190 million barrels (6 billion gallons) of recoverable oil reserves in the area, nearly 80% of residual Pacific reserves. It noted advancements in preventing and preparing for oil spills and said the failed pipeline has been rigorously tested.

    “Continuous monitoring and improved technology significantly reduce the risk of a similar incident occurring in the future,” the agency said.


    CEO says project could lower gas prices

    On May 19 — the 10th anniversary of the disaster — CEO Jim Flores announced that Sable “is proud to have safely and responsibly achieved first production at the Santa Ynez Unit” — which includes three rigs in federal waters, offshore and onshore pipelines, and the Las Flores Canyon Processing Facility.

    State officials countered that the company had only conducted testing and not commercial production. Sable’s stock price dropped and some investors sued, alleging they were misled.

    Sable purchased the Santa Ynez Unit from Exxon Mobil in 2024 for nearly $650 million primarily with a loan from Exxon. Exxon sold the shuttered operation after losing a court battle in 2023 to truck the crude through central California while the pipeline system was rebuilt or repaired.

    Flores said well tests at the Platform Harmony rig indicate there is much oil to be extracted and that it will relieve California’s gas prices — among the nation’s highest — by stabilizing supplies.

    “Sable is very concerned about the crumbling energy complex in California,” Flores said in a statement to The Associated Press. “With the exit of two refineries last year and more shuttering soon, California’s economy cannot survive without the strong energy infrastructure it enjoyed for the last 150 years.”

    California has been reducing the state’s production of fossil fuels in favor of clean energy for years. The movement has been spearheaded partly by Santa Barbara County, where elected officials voted in May to begin taking steps to phase out onshore oil and gas operations.

    Associated Press writer Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana contributed to this report.

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

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

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  • Las Vegas Sands Continues Pouring Money Into Texas Politics

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    Posted on: October 14, 2025, 10:21h. 

    Last updated on: October 14, 2025, 10:32h.

    • Las Vegas Sands remains invested in Texas politics
    • Sands wants to build a casino resort in Dallas
    • Sands is heavily backing Texas Senate candidate John Huffman

    Las Vegas Sands has contributed millions of dollars to political races in Texas over the past few years. Despite little return on the many campaign contributions, the world’s largest casino operator by market capitalization is showing no signs of folding.

    Las Vegas Sands Texas politics John Huffman
    Texas Senate candidate John Huffman posted a photograph of his family looking over the Bellagio Fountains on X. Huffman is being heavily supported by the casino lobby and Las Vegas Sands, though he wrote in July that Las Vegas is not his “style.” (Image: X)

    According to campaign finance records disclosed by the Texas Ethics Commission, Texas Sands PAC last month gave state Senate District 9 Republican candidate John Huffman $500K. Huffman, a former city councilor and mayor of Southlake in the Dallas/Fort Worth suburbs, is a self-described “true fiscal conservative” who seeks to cut taxes and reduce regulation.

    Sands sees Huffman as a possible state lawmaker who might get on board with the idea of casino gambling as an economic stimulator that could lessen the tax burden on Texans, and keep the many millions of gaming dollars from flowing annually to Oklahoma tribal casinos and commercial casinos in Lake Charles, La. Huffman’s chief opponent for the November 9 special election — Republican Leigh Wambsganss — is on record saying she doesn’t believe gambling is good for society.

    The research is conclusive — gambling has a negative impact on families and has a detrimental effect on the community as a whole,” Wambsganss told the Texas Scorecard. “I do not think expanded gambling is right for Texas.”

    Huffman says voters — not state lawmakers — should decide whether casinos are right for Texas.

    If voters choose expansion, it should be limited, well-regulated, and focused on a small number of high-end destination resorts that create jobs and attract tourism,” Huffman said.

    Sands’ largest shareholder is billionaire Dr. Miriam Adelson, who, along with her son-in-law, Patrick Dumont, controls the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. In late 2023, the Adelsons bought a 69% position in the Mavs from Mark Cuban for about $3.8 billion. 

    Casino Lobby

    Adelson’s late husband, Sheldon Adelson, the founder and longtime chair and CEO of Sands, had sought entry into Texas for many years. Adelson is carrying on her husband’s ambitions.

    Adelson’s purchase of the Mavs is thought to give the businesswoman and philanthropist an upper hand in Austin in convincing lawmakers to consider gaming. Her crusade is supported by Cuban, who believes Texas needs to diversify its leisure travel attractions. Adelson and Cuban have suggested building a new NBA arena accompanied by an integrated resort casino.

    Adelson and Sands are the lone financiers of Texas Sands PAC. In August, she gave $9.1 million to the political action committee. Sands gave $4,500.

    Adelson is also a major backer of the Texas Defense PAC. That committee gave Huffman almost $600K. The Adelson-based committees collectively account for about 94% of Huffman’s total campaign war chest.

    Political Irony

    Huffman believes it’s quite ironic that Wambsganss opposes casinos in Texas, considering her family made money off gaming. Those claims stem from her husband previously being an investor in a skill gaming manufacturing company that primarily operated in Virginia, the state in which Wambsganss was born before moving to Texas as a child with her military parents.

    Skill games in Virginia have been illegal since July 2021, though legal challenges continue. Skill games are slot-like machines that require players to identify winning paylines.

    Huffman’s support of casinos is also a bit ironic. Last summer, he posted his family’s favorite cities across the US after being “blessed to travel to all 50 states.” His review for Las Vegas wasn’t exactly an endorsement.

    We didn’t gamble — obviously — but we walked the Strip, marveled at the Bellagio Fountains, and soaked in the sensory overload. Glad the kids saw it, but no one was in a hurry to return. Just not our style,” Huffman summarized.

    The Texas politician ranked Las Vegas No. 16 among 21 major cities they visited.

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  • Acting NASA admin says future HQ location is not priority

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    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Earlier this year, members of Florida’s congressional delegation made a big push advocating to relocate NASA’s headquarters from Washington, D.C. to the Sunshine State. But, for now, the current head of the space agency says he has ‘more important issues’ to deal with than think about any potential move. 

    What You Need To Know

    • A bipartisan group of Florida lawmakers in Congress is seeking to move NASA’s HQ from Washington, D.C. to Florida

    • They introduced legislation in March called the CAPE Canaveral Act

    • Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy tells Spectrum News he hasn’t “put one iota of mind space yet into where the headquarters should go”


    Back in March, a bipartisan group of Florida lawmakers introduced legislation in both the House and Senate called the CAPE Canaveral Act to transfer the headquarters of NASA to Brevard County.

    Proponents say the move would be a big boon for the Sunshine State. About 2,500 employees are based out of the space agency’s D.C. headquarters, but the current lease is ending in 2028. And Florida isn’t the only state vying for it.

    “So, a lot of considerations, right? Texas wants it. Florida wants it. You know, a lot of people make the argument that it should stay in Washington, D.C.,” acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy told Spectrum News in an interview last week.

    President Donald Trump selected Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to be NASA’s acting administrator in July after pulling the nomination of billionaire commercial astronaut Jared Isaacman. But as Duffy juggles leading multiple agencies, he says examining the future location for NASA’s headquarters isn’t a priority right now.

    “I’m in a place, though, where we’re in a race to get to the moon before the Chinese, and all effort has been to make that happen. So, I haven’t put one iota of mind space yet into where the headquarters should go, because I have other way more important issues that I’m navigating at NASA,” Duffy said.

    While the prospect of moving NASA’s headquarters anytime soon seems to have fizzled, some other agencies are actively being moved out of D.C., or considering moves. In June, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced plans to move its headquarters to Alexandria, Virginia.

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    Corina Cappabianca

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  • Ground Stop Alert Issued for Austin Airport Due to Staffing, US FAA Says

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    WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A ground stop alert was issued for the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Austin, Texas, due to staffing, a U.S. Federal Aviation advisory noted late on Monday.

    The ground stop was expected to stay in effect from 0101 GMT to 0215 GMT on Tuesday, with medium chance of an extension, the advisory showed.

    (Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Texas could become a national leader in dementia research if this measure passes

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    Hands holding purple ribbon, Alzheimer's disease, Pancreatic cancer, Epilepsy awareness, world cancer day, cancer survivor day, concept

    Hands holding purple ribbon, Alzheimer’s disease, Pancreatic cancer, Epilepsy awareness, world cancer day, cancer survivor day, concept

    SewcreamStudio

    When you think about memory loss, you might picture a loved one forgetting familiar faces or struggling to recall names that once came easy.

    That’s the reality for more than 400,000 Texans living with dementia today, and experts expect that number to keep growing.

    Many families across the state have been left to shoulder the emotional and financial weight of care, but this November, voters will decide whether Texas should take a bold step to change that.

    A constitutional amendment that would create a new state research institute focused on dementia is on the ballot, known as Proposition 14.

    Proposition 14 would direct billions in state funding toward research aimed at improving care and finding a cure.

    Here’s what to know.

    What would Proposition 14 do?

    If Texans vote “yes” on Proposition 14 on Nov. 4, the state would create the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (DPRIT).

    The institute would fund research and programs that explore better ways to prevent, treat and understand diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other forms of dementia.

    To get it started, the state would set aside $3 billion from its main budget to create a dementia research fund, with the option for lawmakers to add up to $300 million each year to continue the work.

    The money would support hospitals, universities and medical researchers in Texas studying brain health and dementia prevention, according to the Texas Legislature’s joint resolution on the measure.

    A nine-member oversight board would guide the institute’s direction. Three members each would be appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the Texas House.

    At least one member of the board must be a doctor or scientist with dementia-related expertise, and the group would represent Texas’ diverse communities.

    The board would decide which research projects receive funding and would make sure the process is based on science and transparency. The program would run through 2035, unless lawmakers choose to renew it.

    What are people saying about Proposition 14?

    Supporters from both political parties have called the measure a major step toward improving dementia care and research in Texas.

    Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who helped lead the proposal, said he made it a priority after meeting families affected by the disease.

    “Too many families in Texas know the ravages of dementia,” Patrick said in a statement. “With this investment, Texas will become the premier destination for dementia prevention and research, and Texans will have access to the best dementia care in the world right here at home.”

    Proponents, including the Alzheimer’s Association and several major hospital systems such as Baylor Scott & White Health and Houston Methodist, argue that establishing DPRIT would make Texas a national leader in brain research.

    They often point to the success of a similar initiative, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), as proof that state investment can drive medical breakthroughs and job growth.

    But not everyone agrees the model should be repeated. Conservative groups such as Texas Policy Research and Texas Right to Know have publicly opposed the amendment, calling it an unnecessary expansion of government spending.

    “While dementia research is an important issue and affects a large number of Texans and their families, this legislation creates yet another bloated bureaucracy, mirroring the failed Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas,” Texas Policy Research said in a statement.

    The group argued that Proposition 14 gives bureaucrats “unlimited spending power and little oversight,” warning that lawmakers are “doubling down on a proven formula for government waste and inefficiency.”

    State Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Waxahachie, shared similar concerns, saying the $3 billion would be better spent outside government.

    “What good could be done in the private sector with the $3 billion instead of the government taking it and handing it to bureaucrats?” Harrison told Community Impact. “This is corporate welfare on steroids.”

    The amendment passed the Texas Legislature earlier this year with unanimous Democratic support and backing from nearly 80% of Republicans, according to legislative records.

    Have Texans voted on any similar amendments before?

    Yes. Texas voters approved a similar constitutional amendment in 2007 to create the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, the same model Proposition 14 is based on.

    That earlier measure, known as Proposition 15, passed with about 61% of the vote and allowed the state to issue $3 billion in bonds to fund cancer research and prevention programs, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s election records.

    In 2019, voters approved Proposition 6, which doubled CPRIT’s bond funding from $3 billion to $6 billion to continue its operations.

    While CPRIT has funded thousands of cancer research projects, it also faced early criticism over transparency and spending, the same concerns some critics are raising now about the dementia research proposal.

    Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Tiffani Jackson

    Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Tiffani is a service journalism reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She is part of a team of local journalists who answer reader questions about life in North Texas. Tiffani mainly writes about Texas laws and health news.

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  • Tropical Storm Lorenzo forms in the central Atlantic

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    Tropical Storm Lorenzo formed this morning in the central tropical Atlantic becoming the 12th named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season.

    What You Need To Know

    • This is the 12th named storm of the season

    • Lorenzo will remain a tropical storm

    • No threats to the U.S.


    Lorenzo is a tropical storm with maxium sustained winds at 45 mph moving northwest at 17 mph. Tropical storm Lorenzo will continue to churn in the open waters of the Atlantic posing no threat to any land over the next 5 days.



    The cone of uncertainty displays where the center of a storm could be located. It does not predict what areas may feel the storm’s impact. Anyone outside, but near the cone, should be on alert and make storm preparations.


    Spaghetti models or plots show a series of individual computer forecast models together on one map. They are useful to give insight into whether multiple models are in agreement on the path of the storm but they do not address the storm’s forecast intensity, winds, flooding and storm surge potential or other data. Tap here for more details on how to best use these models.

    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

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  • Former Lincoln, Nebraska, Schools Superintendent Did No Work While Receiving Emeritus Pay

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    When Paul Gausman announced his surprise retirement as superintendent of Lincoln Public Schools in December 2024, the district said he would be staying on in an as-needed advising capacity through June. And in that superintendent emeritus role, he would continue receiving his monthly salary.

    It doesn’t appear he did any work.

    A series of records requests submitted by the Flatwater Free Press shows Gausman didn’t exchange any emails with school board members, assistant superintendents or the interim superintendent from Dec. 28, 2024, to June 30, 2025.

    In response to questions from Flatwater, the school board’s president confirmed that Gausman — who earned $333,720 annually — was not needed during the transition.

    Few other details have emerged about the abrupt end of Gausman’s tenure with LPS, which culminated last month in the district naming interim Superintendent John Skretta as its new permanent superintendent.

    A national expert said Gausman’s emeritus designation — agreed to amid ongoing scrutiny of superintendent pay in Nebraska — differed from typical circumstances where a district taps an outgoing superintendent to serve in an emeritus role.

    LPS Board President Bob Rauner declined an interview request. But in a written statement, he said that Skretta and the rest of the district’s leadership team capably handled the additional workload, making Gausman’s input unneeded.

    “Dr. Skretta’s work was exemplary during the first six months of 2025 and he did not need any assistance, which is in part why the board decided to remove interim from his title and make him our superintendent,” Rauner wrote. “We are fortunate to have a dedicated and highly-skilled executive team at Lincoln Public Schools.”

    In a written statement, Gausman said he was proud to serve as superintendent, and he wished everyone in the district the best in the future.

    “In our agreement, the District wanted assurance that my expertise and experience would be available to them via an on-call basis, through the remainder of my term as Superintendent Emeritus,” he wrote. “I was happy to serve in that manner under that agreement.”

    The former superintendent joined LPS in the summer of 2022, after a four-month national search process that the district said included extensive recruiting and thorough background checks. When he started, his base salary was the highest of any superintendent in Nebraska.

    His resignation, announced in the middle of the school year and more than a year before his contract was up, was unexpected. At the time, Gausman said he wanted to explore other opportunities “after 20 years in the public eye as a superintendent of schools.” During his final board meeting as superintendent, Gausman touted the district’s accomplishments during his tenure, including growth in high school enrollment.

    “We have initiated positive programs to impact staff retention, recruitment and culture,” he said. “We have expanded early childhood programming and facilities, and there’s still more on the way to better serve our community.”

    After board members approved his negotiated retirement/resignation agreement, both they and Gausman repeatedly declined to answer questions from local media about his departure.

    Under the agreement, Gausman was placed on paid leave Dec. 27 and reassigned to superintendent emeritus status. The district agreed to pay him an additional $83,430 in separation pay in the form of retirement plan contributions. The document also said Gausman was prohibited from school property without permission from the district.

    In a press release, the district said Gausman’s emeritus role was designed to ensure a smooth transition and minimize disruption caused by his retirement.

    Rachel White, an associate professor of educational leadership and policy at the University of Texas at Austin, said that each year, around 2,000 superintendents nationwide leave their positions. Of those, she estimated only about 10 end up in a superintendent emeritus role.

    Emeritus positions typically arise when a longtime superintendent retires and the successor is someone who could benefit from their coaching and institutional knowledge, White said. Gausman’s relatively short tenure with the district, combined with Skretta’s lengthy career in Nebraska education, buck that trend.

    “This is a unique case in that all of the puzzle pieces don’t match what we typically see for why a school board may choose to keep someone on in an emeritus position,” she said.

    Gausman’s time at LPS was far briefer than that of his predecessor, Steve Joel, who helmed the ship for 12 years before retiring. It was also briefer than his own time in Sioux City, Iowa, where he served as superintendent for 14 years before accepting the Lincoln role.

    But his tenure at Sioux City came under scrutiny in 2023 after it was revealed that the district had filed a complaint with the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners alleging he had tried to bribe incoming school board members to back his pick for board president. At the time, the LPS board expressed continued confidence in Gausman.

    Gausman later filed a lawsuit against several Sioux City school board members, alleging they had violated open meetings laws by improperly calling two closed sessions to discuss filing the complaint against him. A judge ruled that one session violated the law, while the other did not, according to reporting from the Sioux City Journal.

    In January 2025, a month after Gausman’s retirement announcement, the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners found probable cause to proceed with two more ethics complaints against Gausman filed by the Sioux City school district.

    The Flatwater Free Press submitted an open records request seeking emails sent by LPS school board members or associate superintendents that mentioned Gausman from Nov. 1, 2024, to Dec. 31, 2024, in an attempt to learn more about conversations conducted in the weeks before and after the retirement announcement.

    Lincoln Public Schools released 178 pages of emails and attachments, but many were either substantially or completely redacted. The district cited exceptions to Nebraska’s open records law concerning attorney-client privilege and personal information.

    While Rauner praised Gausman’s accomplishments during his final meeting, Rauner and other board members declined to speak to the press afterward. Emails indicate the board decided not to speak to the media in the interest of fairness after Gausman said he would not do any interviews.

    “There’s sort of a balance here, of holding school board members accountable for effective and efficient use of taxpayer dollars, while also understanding that this is a human being that we’re talking about,” White said. “And there may be things that happened that cannot be talked about for legal reasons that sort of justify the decision that was made.”

    Superintendent pay remains a hot-button issue in Nebraska. Earlier this year, state Sen. Dave Murman, who chairs the Legislature’s Education Committee, introduced a bill seeking to cap superintendent pay at five times the salary and benefits of a first-year teacher. The bill faced opposition from some lawmakers who characterized it as government overreach on an issue that local districts should decide.

    In April, State Auditor Mike Foley released a report stating the median and average superintendent salaries in Nebraska are well above their national counterparts. Foley declined to comment on Gausman’s retirement/resignation agreement.

    White noted that schools across the U.S. face complicated financial considerations, navigating unpredictable shifts in state and federal funding even as their core mission remains the same.

    “This may very well be a good use of dollars,” White said. “But I would hope that the school board was able to have these conversations about how this money is being spent in the context of the broader sort of budget problems that our public schools are facing.”

    In March, Gausman filed for an LLC to start his own educational consulting firm, InspirED Vibe Leadership. In addition, he works as a consultant for two other firms — Zeal Education Group in Delaware and McPherson & Jacobson in Nebraska. His predecessor at LPS, Joel, has worked at McPherson & Jacobson since 1996. Gausman joined the firm in 2007.

    When asked whether the district felt the superintendent emeritus agreement with Gausman was necessary in retrospect, Rauner said each situation is unique, and the board has to make decisions based on information it has available at the time.

    “At that time, that was the decision the Board made based on the information and circumstances,” he wrote in an email. “It is impossible to predict what future circumstances or Board decisions will be.”

    This story was originally published by Flatwater Free Press 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.

    Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

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  • DHS rips Houston Halloween display depicting hanging of ICE agents, demands ‘sanctuary politicians’ stand down

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    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) called on “sanctuary politicians” to “tone down their rhetoric” against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers following the emergence of a Halloween display in Houston that depicts the hanging of agents. 

    The display — located in the predominantly Hispanic Second Ward neighborhood of Houston, Texas — features multiple mannequins. Two of the figures — dressed in red hats, black shirts, khaki pants and black masks — are seen hanging from ropes around their necks on wooden gallows topped with a Mexican flag, video showed. 

    “Effigies of ICE agents dressed in black shirts with red hats were hung from homemade gallows with zip ties in their pockets,” DHS said. “The display, surrounded by coffins, barbed wire, and featuring a Mexican flag, was a mock execution ground.” 

    “Following a weekend of domestic terrorists attacking federal law enforcement officers, the Department of Homeland Security is calling for sanctuary politicians and the media to tone down their rhetoric about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement law enforcement,” DHS added. “Our officers are facing a more than 1000% increase in assaults against them and their families are being doxxed and threatened online.” 

    BORDER PATROL CHIEF FIRES BACK AFTER PRITZKER CALLS FEDERAL OPERATIONS ‘UNCONSTITUTIONAL INVASION’ 

    A Halloween display in Houston, Texas, where “effigies of ICE agents dressed in black shirts with red hats were hung from homemade gallows with zip ties in their pockets,” according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). (Department of Homeland Security (DHS))

    Homeland Security also condemned alleged threats that have been sent to the families of ICE agents. 

    “One agent’s spouse was sent this Facebook message by Robert Buckley of Lakeville, Massachusetts: ‘Your husband, the ICE man is a f— and retribution will come your way eventually,” according to DHS. 

    “In Texas, an ICE officer’s spouse received a call saying, ‘I don’t know how you let your husband work for ICE, and you sleep at night. F— you, f— your family. I hope your kids get deported by accident. How do you sleep? F— you. Did you hear what happened to the Nazis after World War II? Because it’s what’s going to happen to your family,” DHS added. 

    5 TIMES DEMOCRATS BLASTED ICE WITH HARSH RHETORIC 

    A Halloween display in a neighborhood in Houston, Texas, is drawing controversy throughout the community and online.

    A Halloween display in a neighborhood in Houston, Texas, is drawing controversy throughout the community and online.  (FNTV)

    DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, “These type of threats against our brave ICE law enforcement officers and their families are disgusting.” 

    “These officers risk their lives every day to arrest murderers, pedophiles, rapists, terrorists, and gang members from our communities. Comparing ICE day-in and day-out to the Nazi Gestapo, the Secret Police, and slave patrols has consequences,” McLaughlin continued.  

    Federal agents gather before operation in Washington, D.C.

    Federal agents, several with Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), a part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), regroup before heading out on an operation on Monday, Sept. 29, 2025, in northwest Washington, D.C.  (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

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    “The men and women of ICE and CBP are fathers and mothers, sons and daughters. They get up every morning to try and make our communities safer. Like everyone else, they just want to go home to their families at night,” she also said. “The violence and dehumanization of these men and women who are simply enforcing the law must stop.” 

    Fox News Digital’s Sophia Compton contributed to this report. 

    Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

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  • Subtropical Storm Karen won’t survive long in the northern Atlantic

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    Subtropical Storm Karen isn’t expected to last long in the northern Atlantic. Karen formed on Oct. 9, becoming the 11th named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season.

    What You Need To Know

    • Karen is not expected to last long

    • It’s moving over cold water

    • Karen will have no impact on the U.S.


    Subtropical Storm Karen will remain in the northern Atlantic before transitioning into a post-tropical cyclone on Saturday. It’s moving over cold waters. Karen will not pose a threat to any land.


    The cone of uncertainty displays where the center of a storm could be located. It does not predict what areas may feel the storm’s impact. Anyone outside, but near the cone, should be on alert and make storm preparations.


    Spaghetti models or plots show a series of individual computer forecast models together on one map. They are useful to give insight into whether multiple models are in agreement on the path of the storm but they do not address the storm’s forecast intensity, winds, flooding and storm surge potential or other data. Tap here for more details on how to best use these models.

    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

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    Spectrum News Weather Staff

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  • Wayward hunk of NASA equipment found on a Texas farm

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    When Ann Walter looked outside her rural West Texas home, she didn’t know what to make of the bulky object slowly drifting across the sky.

    She was even more surprised to see what actually landed in her neighbor’s wheat field: a boxy piece of scientific equipment about the size of a sport-utility vehicle, attached to a massive parachute, adorned with NASA stickers. She called the local sheriff’s office and learned that NASA, indeed, was looking for a piece of equipment that had gone lost.

    “It’s crazy, because when you’re standing on the ground and see something in the air, you don’t realize how big it is,” she said. “It was probably a 30-foot parachute. It was huge.”

    Walter said she soon got a call from NASA’s Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility, which launches large unmanned, high altitude research balloons more than 20 miles into the atmosphere to conduct scientific experiments.

    Officials at NASA, which is impacted by the ongoing government shutdown, did not return messages Thursday. A message left with the balloon facility also was not immediately returned.

    A launch schedule on the balloon facility’s website shows a series of launches from Fort Sumner, New Mexico, about 140 miles west of where the equipment landed.

    Hale County Sheriff David Cochran confirmed that NASA officials called his office last week in search of the equipment.

    Walter said she ultimately spoke with someone at the balloon facility who told her it had been launched a day earlier from Fort Sumner, and uses telescopes to gather information about stars, galaxies and black holes.

    “The researchers came out with a truck and trailer they used to pick it up,” she said.

    But not before Walter and her family, who live in Edmonson, Texas, were able to capture some photos and videos.

    “It’s kind of surreal that it happened to us and that I was part of it,” she said. “It was a very cool experience.”

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