WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service's Free File Guided Tax 
Preparation service is live and ready for taxpayers to use. Free File 
went live January 13, 2023, 10 days prior to the 2023 filing season 
start date. The IRS starts accepting individual tax returns on January 
23.

<a href="https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free">IRS Free File</a>
 marks its 21st filing season this year and is one of many free options 
available to taxpayers for filing their taxes either online or in 
person. IRS Free File is offered via a public-private partnership 
between the IRS and the Free File Inc., formerly the Free File Alliance.
 Through this partnership, leading tax software providers make their 
online products available in both English and Spanish for free.

Seven partners will provide IRS Free File online products this year 
to any taxpayer or family who earned $73,000 or less in 2022.

Because the filing season does not start until January 23, IRS Free 
File providers will accept completed tax returns and hold them until 
they can be filed electronically on that date.

Those who make over $73,000 can use the IRS's Free File Fillable 
Forms (FFFF), the electronic version of IRS paper forms beginning 
January 23. This product is best for people comfortable preparing their 
own taxes.

Each IRS Free File provider sets its own eligibility rules for products based on age, income and state residency.

Taxpayers that made $73,000 or less in 2022 will likely find a 
product that matches their needs. Some providers also offer free state 
return preparation. Active-duty military can use any IRS Free File 
products if their adjusted gross income was $73,000 in 2022 or less.

To find the right IRS Free File product taxpayers can:

No computer? No problem. IRS Free File products support mobile 
phone access. Taxpayers can do their taxes on their smart phone or 
tablet.

For 2023, the following providers are participating in IRS Free File:

For 2023, ezTaxReturn.com will provide an IRS Free File product in Spanish.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599869632873.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>IRSWASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service's Free File Guided Tax 
Preparation service is live and ready for taxpayers to use. Free File 
went live January 13, 2023, 10 days prior to the 2023 filing season 
start date. The IRS starts accepting individual tax returns on January 
23.<a href="https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free">IRS Free File</a>
 marks its 21st filing season this year and is one of many free options 
available to taxpayers for filing their taxes either online or in 
person. IRS Free File is offered via a public-private partnership 
between the IRS and the Free File Inc., formerly the Free File Alliance.
 Through this partnership, leading tax software providers make their 
online products available in both English and Spanish for free.Seven partners will provide IRS Free File online products this year 
to any taxpayer or family who earned $73,000 or less in 2022.Because the filing season does not start until January 23, IRS Free 
File providers will accept completed tax returns and hold them until 
they can be filed electronically on that date.Those who make over $73,000 can use the IRS's Free File Fillable 
Forms (FFFF), the electronic version of IRS paper forms beginning 
January 23. This product is best for people comfortable preparing their 
own taxes.<h2>How IRS Free File online works</h2>Each IRS Free File provider sets its own eligibility rules for products based on age, income and state residency.Taxpayers that made $73,000 or less in 2022 will likely find a 
product that matches their needs. Some providers also offer free state 
return preparation. Active-duty military can use any IRS Free File 
products if their adjusted gross income was $73,000 in 2022 or less.To find the right IRS Free File product taxpayers can:<ol>
 <li>Go to <a href="https://www.irs.gov/filing/free-file-do-your-federal-taxes-for-free">IRS.gov/freefile</a>,</li><li>Click on Use Free Guided Tax Preparation. Then select IRS Free File Online Lookup Tool for help in finding the right product, or</li><li>Use the Browse All Offers tool to review each offer,</li><li>Select the best product for them, and</li><li>Follow the links to the provider's website to begin their tax return.</li>
 </ol>No computer? No problem. IRS Free File products support mobile 
phone access. Taxpayers can do their taxes on their smart phone or 
tablet.<h2>IRS Free File participants</h2>For 2023, the following providers are participating in IRS Free File:<ul>
 <li>1040Now</li><li>ezTaxReturn.com</li><li>FileYourTaxes.com</li><li>On-Line Taxes</li><li>TaxAct</li><li>FreeTaxUSA</li><li>TaxSlayer</li>
 </ul>For 2023, ezTaxReturn.com will provide an IRS Free File product in Spanish.

IRS Free File launched, aims to save taxpayers hard-earned dollars

WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/jill-biden">Jill Biden'</a>&nbsp;s advocacy for curing cancer didn't start with her&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/d8f69eb645d74b7886387f713981b739">son's death in 2015 from brain cancer</a>. It began decades earlier, long before she came into the national spotlight, and could now be further energized by her own brush with a common form of skin cancer.

The first lady often says the worst three words anyone will ever hear are, “You have cancer." She heard a version of that phrase for herself this past week.

A lesion that doctors had found above her right eye during a routine screening late last year was removed on Wednesday and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-health-maryland-mexico-city-surgery-545cac7c3ddca1f095e84383fdf8cd2d">confirmed to be basal cell carcinoma</a>&nbsp;— a highly treatable form of skin cancer. While Biden was being prepped to remove the lesion, doctors found and removed another one from the left side of her chest, also confirmed to be basal cell carcinoma. A third lesion from her left eyelid was being examined.

While it's too early to know when and how Biden might address her situation publicly, her experience could inject new purpose into what has become part of her life's work highlighting research into curing cancer and urging people to get regular screenings.

Personal experiences can add potency to a public figure's advocacy.

“Nothing like ‘I’ve been there, done that' and being personally involved," said Myra Gutin, a first lady scholar at Rider University.

Biden's spokesperson, Vanessa Valdivia, said “the first lady's fight against cancer has always been personal. She knows that cancer touches us all.”

Biden's advocacy dates to 1993, when four girlfriends were diagnosed with breast cancer, including her pal Winnie, who succumbed to the disease. She said last year in a speech that “Winnie inspired me to take up the cause of prevention and education.”

That experience led her to create the Biden Breast Health Initiative, one of the first breast health programs in the United States, to teach 16-to 18-year-old girls about caring for their breasts. Biden was among staffers who went into Delaware's high schools to conduct lectures and demonstrations.

Her mother, Bonny Jean Jacobs, and father, Donald Jacobs, died of cancer, in 2008 and 1999, respectively. A few years ago, one of her four sisters needed an auto-stem cell transplant to treat her cancer.

In May 2015,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/beau-biden">Beau Biden</a>, President Joe Biden's son with his late first wife, died of a rare and aggressive brain cancer, leaving behind a wife and two young kids. Joe Biden was vice president at the time and the blow from Beau's loss led him to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-entertainment-stephen-colbert-campaign-2016-beau-biden-37fed6382cc84756929b48eaef4be9ff">decide against running for president in 2016</a>. Jill Biden, who had helped raise Beau from a young age after she married his dad, was convinced he would survive the disease and later described feeling “blinded by the darkness” when he died.

After their son's death, the Bidens helped push for a national commitment to “end cancer as we know it.” Then-President Barack Obama — Biden's boss — put the vice president in charge of what the White House named the Cancer Moonshot.

The Bidens resurrected the initiative after Joe Biden became president and added a new goal of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-cancer-initiative-122f2d0782a30d7cf766f2892fc5962a">cutting cancer death rates by at least 50% over the next 25 years</a>, and improving the experience of living with and surviving cancer for patients and their families.

“We’re ensuring that all of our government is ready to get to work,” Jill Biden said at the relaunch announcement at the White House last February. “We’re going to break down the walls that hold research back. We’re going to bring the best of our nation together — patients, survivors, caregivers, researchers, doctors, and advocates — all of you — so that we can get this done.”

In the years between Biden serving as vice president and running for president, the Bidens headed up the Biden Cancer Initiative, a charity.

Jill Biden, 71, has been using her first lady platform to highlight research into a cancer cure, along with other issues she has long championed, including education and military families.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-race-and-ethnicity-health-disparities-cancer-virginia-2d2b44953030216aeee380b4b64295b4">Her first trip outside of Washington</a>&nbsp;after the January 2021 inauguration was to Virginia Commonwealth University's Massey Cancer Center in Richmond to call for an end to disparities in health care that she said have hurt communities of color.

She has toured cancer centers, including those for children, in New York City, South Carolina, Tennessee, Costa Rica, San Francisco and Florida, among others. She joined the Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies — two of her favorite professional sports teams — for events, including during the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mlb-health-sports-jill-biden-baseball-976bb1c829fcb1284ae40ce5759038e5">World Series</a>, to highlight efforts to fight cancer through early detection and to honor patients.

For Breast Cancer Awareness Month last October, Jill Biden hosted a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-entertainment-health-jill-government-and-politics-a662294f8cdb930e5b8a26c42b07dba1">White House event with the American Cancer Society and singer Mary J. Blige,</a>&nbsp;who became an advocate for cancer screening after losing aunts and other relatives to various forms of cancer.

The first lady also partnered with the Lifetime cable channel to encourage women to get mammograms. A Democrat, she gave&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-health-jill-covid-government-and-politics-a5391541e8cf5323668dde873758916c">an interview last year to Newsmax</a>, the conservative cable news channel, to discuss the federal investment in accelerating the cancer fight.

She regularly encourages audiences to schedule cancer screening appointments they skipped during the pandemic out of fear of visiting doctor's offices.

Asked on Friday how the first lady was doing, the president flashed a thumbs-up to reporters.

<a href="https://www.cancer.org/cancer/basal-and-squamous-cell-skin-cancer.html">Basal cell carcinoma</a>, for which the first lady was treated with the procedure known as Mohs surgery, is the most common type of skin cancer, but also the most curable form. It’s considered highly treatable, especially when caught early. It is a slow-growing cancer that doesn't usually spread and seldom causes serious complications or becomes life-threatening.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.skincancer.org/blog/first-lady-jill-biden-undergoes-mohs-surgery/">Skin Cancer Foundation</a>&nbsp;says the delicate skin around the eyes is especially vulnerable to damage from the sun’s ultraviolet rays, which makes basal cell carcinoma on and around the eyelids particularly common.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673893202587.png" alt="A lesion that doctors had found above her right eye during a routine screening late last year was removed on Wednesday and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-health-maryland-mexico-city-surgery-545cac7c3ddca1f095e84383fdf8cd2d">confirmed to be basal cell carcinoma</a>&nbsp;— a highly treatable form of skin cancer.-White House photo" />
 <figcaption>A lesion that doctors had found above her right eye during a routine screening late last year was removed on Wednesday and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-health-maryland-mexico-city-surgery-545cac7c3ddca1f095e84383fdf8cd2d">confirmed to be basal cell carcinoma</a>&nbsp;— a highly treatable form of skin cancer.-White House photo</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/jill-biden">Jill Biden'</a>&nbsp;s advocacy for curing cancer didn't start with her&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/d8f69eb645d74b7886387f713981b739">son's death in 2015 from brain cancer</a>. It began decades earlier, long before she came into the national spotlight, and could now be further energized by her own brush with a common form of skin cancer.The first lady often says the worst three words anyone will ever hear are, “You have cancer." She heard a version of that phrase for herself this past week.A lesion that doctors had found above her right eye during a routine screening late last year was removed on Wednesday and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-health-maryland-mexico-city-surgery-545cac7c3ddca1f095e84383fdf8cd2d">confirmed to be basal cell carcinoma</a>&nbsp;— a highly treatable form of skin cancer. While Biden was being prepped to remove the lesion, doctors found and removed another one from the left side of her chest, also confirmed to be basal cell carcinoma. A third lesion from her left eyelid was being examined.While it's too early to know when and how Biden might address her situation publicly, her experience could inject new purpose into what has become part of her life's work highlighting research into curing cancer and urging people to get regular screenings.Personal experiences can add potency to a public figure's advocacy.“Nothing like ‘I’ve been there, done that' and being personally involved," said Myra Gutin, a first lady scholar at Rider University.Biden's spokesperson, Vanessa Valdivia, said “the first lady's fight against cancer has always been personal. She knows that cancer touches us all.”Biden's advocacy dates to 1993, when four girlfriends were diagnosed with breast cancer, including her pal Winnie, who succumbed to the disease. She said last year in a speech that “Winnie inspired me to take up the cause of prevention and education.”That experience led her to create the Biden Breast Health Initiative, one of the first breast health programs in the United States, to teach 16-to 18-year-old girls about caring for their breasts. Biden was among staffers who went into Delaware's high schools to conduct lectures and demonstrations.Her mother, Bonny Jean Jacobs, and father, Donald Jacobs, died of cancer, in 2008 and 1999, respectively. A few years ago, one of her four sisters needed an auto-stem cell transplant to treat her cancer.In May 2015,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/beau-biden">Beau Biden</a>, President Joe Biden's son with his late first wife, died of a rare and aggressive brain cancer, leaving behind a wife and two young kids. Joe Biden was vice president at the time and the blow from Beau's loss led him to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-entertainment-stephen-colbert-campaign-2016-beau-biden-37fed6382cc84756929b48eaef4be9ff">decide against running for president in 2016</a>. Jill Biden, who had helped raise Beau from a young age after she married his dad, was convinced he would survive the disease and later described feeling “blinded by the darkness” when he died.After their son's death, the Bidens helped push for a national commitment to “end cancer as we know it.” Then-President Barack Obama — Biden's boss — put the vice president in charge of what the White House named the Cancer Moonshot.The Bidens resurrected the initiative after Joe Biden became president and added a new goal of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-cancer-initiative-122f2d0782a30d7cf766f2892fc5962a">cutting cancer death rates by at least 50% over the next 25 years</a>, and improving the experience of living with and surviving cancer for patients and their families.“We’re ensuring that all of our government is ready to get to work,” Jill Biden said at the relaunch announcement at the White House last February. “We’re going to break down the walls that hold research back. We’re going to bring the best of our nation together — patients, survivors, caregivers, researchers, doctors, and advocates — all of you — so that we can get this done.”In the years between Biden serving as vice president and running for president, the Bidens headed up the Biden Cancer Initiative, a charity.Jill Biden, 71, has been using her first lady platform to highlight research into a cancer cure, along with other issues she has long championed, including education and military families.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-race-and-ethnicity-health-disparities-cancer-virginia-2d2b44953030216aeee380b4b64295b4">Her first trip outside of Washington</a>&nbsp;after the January 2021 inauguration was to Virginia Commonwealth University's Massey Cancer Center in Richmond to call for an end to disparities in health care that she said have hurt communities of color.She has toured cancer centers, including those for children, in New York City, South Carolina, Tennessee, Costa Rica, San Francisco and Florida, among others. She joined the Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies — two of her favorite professional sports teams — for events, including during the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mlb-health-sports-jill-biden-baseball-976bb1c829fcb1284ae40ce5759038e5">World Series</a>, to highlight efforts to fight cancer through early detection and to honor patients.For Breast Cancer Awareness Month last October, Jill Biden hosted a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-entertainment-health-jill-government-and-politics-a662294f8cdb930e5b8a26c42b07dba1">White House event with the American Cancer Society and singer Mary J. Blige,</a>&nbsp;who became an advocate for cancer screening after losing aunts and other relatives to various forms of cancer.The first lady also partnered with the Lifetime cable channel to encourage women to get mammograms. A Democrat, she gave&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-health-jill-covid-government-and-politics-a5391541e8cf5323668dde873758916c">an interview last year to Newsmax</a>, the conservative cable news channel, to discuss the federal investment in accelerating the cancer fight.She regularly encourages audiences to schedule cancer screening appointments they skipped during the pandemic out of fear of visiting doctor's offices.Asked on Friday how the first lady was doing, the president flashed a thumbs-up to reporters.<a href="https://www.cancer.org/cancer/basal-and-squamous-cell-skin-cancer.html">Basal cell carcinoma</a>, for which the first lady was treated with the procedure known as Mohs surgery, is the most common type of skin cancer, but also the most curable form. It’s considered highly treatable, especially when caught early. It is a slow-growing cancer that doesn't usually spread and seldom causes serious complications or becomes life-threatening.The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.skincancer.org/blog/first-lady-jill-biden-undergoes-mohs-surgery/">Skin Cancer Foundation</a>&nbsp;says the delicate skin around the eyes is especially vulnerable to damage from the sun’s ultraviolet rays, which makes basal cell carcinoma on and around the eyelids particularly common.

Jill Biden's skin cancer could fuel advocacy in cancer fight

MISSION, Kan. (AP) — When Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick asked Texas colleges to disavow critical race theory, the University of Texas faculty approved a resolution defending their freedom to decide for themselves how to teach about race.

Patrick said he took it as a message to “go to hell.”

In turn, Patrick, a Republican, said it was time to consider holding the faculty accountable, by targeting one of the top perks of their jobs.

“Maybe we need to look at tenure,” Patrick said at a news conference in November.

It’s a sentiment being echoed by conservative officials in red states across the country. The indefinite academic appointments that come with tenure — the holy grail of university employment — have faced review from lawmakers or state oversight boards in at least half a dozen states, often presented as bids to rein in academics with liberal views.

Tenure advocates are bracing for the possibility of new threats as lawmakers are back at statehouses around the country.

The trend reflects how&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-ohio-education-elections-9ff6cfd34f811e91335db2b1a20e7754">conservative scrutiny</a>&nbsp;of instruction related to race, gender and sexuality has extended from schools to higher education. But budget considerations also play a role. Tenured faculty numbers have been declining even in more liberal states. Universities are hiring more part-time, adjunct instructors amid declines in financial support from state governments.

Traditionally, tenured professors can be terminated only under extreme circumstances, such as professional misconduct or a financial emergency. Advocates for tenure say it is a crucial component of academic freedom — especially as controversy grows over scholarly discussions about history and identity.

Without tenure, faculty are “liable to play it safe when it comes time to have a classroom discussion about a difficult topic,” said Irene Mulvey, president of the American Association of University Professors.

But in difficult financial and political times, even tenured professors may not be guaranteed employment.

In Kansas, Emporia State University recently cut 33 faculty — most of them tenured — using an emergency pandemic measure that allowed universities to bypass policies on staff terminations to balance budgets.

Max McCoy, Emporia State’s sole journalism professor, penned a column that began,&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/09/13/emporia-state-university-is-about-to-suspend-tenure-heres-why-you-should-care/">“I may be fired for writing this”</a>&nbsp;— before learning this would be his last year teaching at the school.

“This is a purge,” he said. He said all the fired professors were “Democrats or liberal in our thinking.”

University spokesperson Gwen Larson said individual professors were not targeted for dismissal. She said the cuts followed a review of how demand for academic programs is changing and “where we needed to move in the future.

Attacks on higher education have been fueled by a shift in how conservatives see colleges and universities, said Jeremy Young, of the free-expression group PEN America. The share of Republicans and independent-leaning Republicans who said higher education was having a negative effect on the country grew from 37% to 59% from 2015 to 2019 in Pew Research Center polling.

In Texas, university administrators are working behind the scenes to squash anticipated legislation that would target tenure, fearful it will hurt recruitment, said Jeff Blodgett, president of the Texas Conference of AAUP.

Some people already aren’t applying for university jobs because of the discussions, said Pat Heintzelman, president of the Texas Faculty Association.

In Florida, a federal judge in November blocked the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ron-desantis-florida-discrimination-business-racial-injustice-a6f340a48989e67669418e85f2986ebf">“Stop-WOKE" Act</a>, a law pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that restricts certain race-based conversations and analysis in colleges. The governor’s office is appealing the injunction. Compliance with the law would be part of the criteria for evaluating tenured professors under a review process that the university system’s Board of Governors is weighing.

“They’ve latched onto the idea that many totalitarian regimes have done over the years, which is if you can stop students from learning about ideas that a political party in power disagrees with, that is one way to stop those ideas from existing in the society at all,” said Andrew Gothard, president of United Faculty of Florida.

DeSantis, though, has questioned the argument that tenure provides academic freedom.

“If anything, it’s created more of an intellectual orthodoxy where people that have dissenting views, it's harder for them to be tenured in the first place," he said at a news conference in April.

In Louisiana, lawmakers set up a task force to study tenure with the Republican-backed resolution noting that students should be confident that courses are free of “political, ideological, religious, or antireligious indoctrination.” Professors raised concerns until they learned the task force’s members were mostly tenure supporters.

In Georgia, the state’s Board of Regents&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/georgia-education-27eaf233e573c0f8ace42244dff79bed">approved</a>&nbsp;a policy that made it easier to remove tenured faculty who have had a negative performance review. Elsewhere, legislation to ban or restrict tenure also has been introduced in recent years in Iowa, South Carolina and Mississippi, but failed to win passage.

The pushback follows decades of declining rates of tenured faculty. According to the AAUP, 24% of faculty members held full-time tenured appointments in fall 2020, compared with 39% in fall 1987, the first year for which directly comparable information is available.

Part-time college instructors rarely receive benefits. They frequently must travel from campus to campus to cobble together a living.

“It’s a nightmare,” said Caprice Lawless, who wrote the “Adjunct Cookbook,” replete with recipes that poorly compensated Ph.D.s can cobble together with food pantry staples.

“I’ve taken Ph.D.s to foodbanks and watched them cry because they can’t get enough food for their family,” said Lawless, who said she served as a social worker of sorts before retiring two years ago from Front Range Community College in Westminster, Colorado.

The opposition to tenure has united conservatives for different reasons: Not all share the same concerns about “woke higher education,” said Marc Stein, a San Francisco State University history professor, who has written about the shift to part-time faculty.

“But,” he said, “if you attack the ‘wokeness’ of higher education and that leads to declining funding for higher education, then economic conservatives are happy.”

Tenure exploded after World War II when it helped with recruitment as the GI Bill sent enrollment soaring, said Sol Gittleman, a former provost of Tufts University who has written on the issue. Lately, the country has overproduced Ph.D.s, said Gittleman, who predicts tenure will largely disappear in the coming decades outside the top 100 colleges and universities.

“Critical race theory — that's an excuse,” he said. “If there was a shortage of faculty, you wouldn’t hear that.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673215622068.png" alt="In Kansas, Emporia State University last fall cut 33 faculty — most of them tenured- Google image&nbsp;" />
 <figcaption>In Kansas, Emporia State University last fall cut 33 faculty — most of them tenured- Google image&nbsp;</figcaption>
 </figure>MISSION, Kan. (AP) — When Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick asked Texas colleges to disavow critical race theory, the University of Texas faculty approved a resolution defending their freedom to decide for themselves how to teach about race.Patrick said he took it as a message to “go to hell.”In turn, Patrick, a Republican, said it was time to consider holding the faculty accountable, by targeting one of the top perks of their jobs.“Maybe we need to look at tenure,” Patrick said at a news conference in November.It’s a sentiment being echoed by conservative officials in red states across the country. The indefinite academic appointments that come with tenure — the holy grail of university employment — have faced review from lawmakers or state oversight boards in at least half a dozen states, often presented as bids to rein in academics with liberal views.Tenure advocates are bracing for the possibility of new threats as lawmakers are back at statehouses around the country.The trend reflects how&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-ohio-education-elections-9ff6cfd34f811e91335db2b1a20e7754">conservative scrutiny</a>&nbsp;of instruction related to race, gender and sexuality has extended from schools to higher education. But budget considerations also play a role. Tenured faculty numbers have been declining even in more liberal states. Universities are hiring more part-time, adjunct instructors amid declines in financial support from state governments.Traditionally, tenured professors can be terminated only under extreme circumstances, such as professional misconduct or a financial emergency. Advocates for tenure say it is a crucial component of academic freedom — especially as controversy grows over scholarly discussions about history and identity.Without tenure, faculty are “liable to play it safe when it comes time to have a classroom discussion about a difficult topic,” said Irene Mulvey, president of the American Association of University Professors.But in difficult financial and political times, even tenured professors may not be guaranteed employment.In Kansas, Emporia State University recently cut 33 faculty — most of them tenured — using an emergency pandemic measure that allowed universities to bypass policies on staff terminations to balance budgets.Max McCoy, Emporia State’s sole journalism professor, penned a column that began,&nbsp;<a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2022/09/13/emporia-state-university-is-about-to-suspend-tenure-heres-why-you-should-care/">“I may be fired for writing this”</a>&nbsp;— before learning this would be his last year teaching at the school.“This is a purge,” he said. He said all the fired professors were “Democrats or liberal in our thinking.”University spokesperson Gwen Larson said individual professors were not targeted for dismissal. She said the cuts followed a review of how demand for academic programs is changing and “where we needed to move in the future.Attacks on higher education have been fueled by a shift in how conservatives see colleges and universities, said Jeremy Young, of the free-expression group PEN America. The share of Republicans and independent-leaning Republicans who said higher education was having a negative effect on the country grew from 37% to 59% from 2015 to 2019 in Pew Research Center polling.In Texas, university administrators are working behind the scenes to squash anticipated legislation that would target tenure, fearful it will hurt recruitment, said Jeff Blodgett, president of the Texas Conference of AAUP.Some people already aren’t applying for university jobs because of the discussions, said Pat Heintzelman, president of the Texas Faculty Association.In Florida, a federal judge in November blocked the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ron-desantis-florida-discrimination-business-racial-injustice-a6f340a48989e67669418e85f2986ebf">“Stop-WOKE" Act</a>, a law pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that restricts certain race-based conversations and analysis in colleges. The governor’s office is appealing the injunction. Compliance with the law would be part of the criteria for evaluating tenured professors under a review process that the university system’s Board of Governors is weighing.“They’ve latched onto the idea that many totalitarian regimes have done over the years, which is if you can stop students from learning about ideas that a political party in power disagrees with, that is one way to stop those ideas from existing in the society at all,” said Andrew Gothard, president of United Faculty of Florida.DeSantis, though, has questioned the argument that tenure provides academic freedom.“If anything, it’s created more of an intellectual orthodoxy where people that have dissenting views, it's harder for them to be tenured in the first place," he said at a news conference in April.In Louisiana, lawmakers set up a task force to study tenure with the Republican-backed resolution noting that students should be confident that courses are free of “political, ideological, religious, or antireligious indoctrination.” Professors raised concerns until they learned the task force’s members were mostly tenure supporters.In Georgia, the state’s Board of Regents&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/georgia-education-27eaf233e573c0f8ace42244dff79bed">approved</a>&nbsp;a policy that made it easier to remove tenured faculty who have had a negative performance review. Elsewhere, legislation to ban or restrict tenure also has been introduced in recent years in Iowa, South Carolina and Mississippi, but failed to win passage.The pushback follows decades of declining rates of tenured faculty. According to the AAUP, 24% of faculty members held full-time tenured appointments in fall 2020, compared with 39% in fall 1987, the first year for which directly comparable information is available.Part-time college instructors rarely receive benefits. They frequently must travel from campus to campus to cobble together a living.“It’s a nightmare,” said Caprice Lawless, who wrote the “Adjunct Cookbook,” replete with recipes that poorly compensated Ph.D.s can cobble together with food pantry staples.“I’ve taken Ph.D.s to foodbanks and watched them cry because they can’t get enough food for their family,” said Lawless, who said she served as a social worker of sorts before retiring two years ago from Front Range Community College in Westminster, Colorado.The opposition to tenure has united conservatives for different reasons: Not all share the same concerns about “woke higher education,” said Marc Stein, a San Francisco State University history professor, who has written about the shift to part-time faculty.“But,” he said, “if you attack the ‘wokeness’ of higher education and that leads to declining funding for higher education, then economic conservatives are happy.”Tenure exploded after World War II when it helped with recruitment as the GI Bill sent enrollment soaring, said Sol Gittleman, a former provost of Tufts University who has written on the issue. Lately, the country has overproduced Ph.D.s, said Gittleman, who predicts tenure will largely disappear in the coming decades outside the top 100 colleges and universities.“Critical race theory — that's an excuse,” he said. “If there was a shortage of faculty, you wouldn’t hear that.”

Conservatives take aim at tenure for university professors

ATLANTA (AP) — President Joe Biden made a historical pilgrimage Sunday to “America's freedom church” to mark&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/district-of-columbia-boston-united-states-government-atlanta-civil-rights-cb6609246b1817bbe6ce1e6dcf2f01a6">Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday</a>, saying democracy was at a perilous moment and that the civil rights leader's life and legacy "show us the way and we should pay attention.”

(Click below to watch the President's sermon)

As the first sitting president to deliver a Sunday morning sermon at King's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/race-and-ethnicity-georgia-senate-2563753b703f7a46af9a0e75565b84db">Ebenezer Baptist Church</a>, Biden cited the telling question that King himself once asked of the nation.

“He said, 'Where do we go from here?’” Biden said from the pulpit. ”Well, my message to this nation on this day is we go forward, we go together, when we choose democracy over autocracy, a beloved community over chaos, when we choose believers and the dreams, to be doers, to be unafraid, always keeping the faith.”

In a divided country only two years removed from a violent insurrection, Biden told congregants, elected officials and dignitaries that “the battle for the soul of this nation is perennial. It’s a constant struggle ... between hope and fear, kindness and cruelty, justice and injustice."

He spoke out against those who “traffic in racism, extremism, insurrection” and said the struggle to safeguard democracy was playing out in courthouses and ballot boxes, protests and other ways. ”At our best, the American promise wins out. … But I don’t need to tell you that we’re not always at our best. We’re fallible. We fail and fall.’’

The stop at Ebenezer came at a delicate moment for Biden after Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday announced the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/classified-documents-biden-home-wilmington-33479d12c7cf0a822adb2f44c32b88fd">appointment of a special counsel</a>&nbsp;to investigate how the president handled classified documents after leaving the vice presidency in 2017.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-united-states-government-district-of-columbia-0574fd762159e8cb5f31c85205df3dc0">The White House on Saturday</a>&nbsp;revealed that additional classified records were found at&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/Biden's%20home%20near%20Wilmington,%20Delaware.">Biden’s home near Wilmington, Delaware</a>.

In introducing Biden, the church's senior pastor, Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock noted that the president was “a devout Catholic” for whom "this Baptist service might be a little bit rambunctious and animated. But I saw him over there clapping his hands.”

King, “the greatest American prophet of the 20th century," as Warnock put it, served as co-pastor from 1960 until he was assassinated in 1968.

Warnock, like many battleground state Democrats who won reelection in 2022,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/rev-raphael-warnock-biden-voting-rights-politics-georgia-state-government-4ab203d49a120aae1eb07d248c0579a4">kept his distance during the campaign from Biden</a>&nbsp;as the president's approval rating lagged and the inflation rate climbed.

But with the election behind him and a full six-year term ahead, Warnock fully embraced Biden at the service. Near the close, he asked Biden to come to the front of the church and asked Ebenezer's congregants to pray for the president as he listed several of Biden's legislative achievements.

“That, my friends, is God’s work,” said Warnock, adding that Biden “had a little something to do with it.”

As Biden begins to turn his attention toward an expected 2024 reelection effort, Georgia is going to get plenty of his attention.

In 2020, Biden managed to win Georgia as well as closely contested Michigan and Pennsylvania, where Black votes made up a disproportionate share of the Democratic electorate. Turning out Black voters in those states will be essential to Biden's 2024 hopes.

The White House has tried to promote Biden's agenda in minority communities. The White House has cited efforts to encourage states&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-transportation-pete-buttigieg-48e09f253781c89359d875f19fc70f9d">to take equity into account for public works projects</a>&nbsp;as they spend money from the administration's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-congress-infrastructure-bill-signing-b5b8cca843133de060778f049861b144">$1 trillion infrastructure bill.</a>&nbsp;The administration also has acted to end&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/merrick-garland-5d6ca72c3620e0ef3ecd55ec60f590a4">sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses</a>, scrapping a policy widely seen as racist.

The administration also highlights Biden's work to diversify the federal judiciary, including his appointment of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ketanji-brown-jackson-swearing-in-5a5115f58e163789dfda5a8af0b14221">the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court</a>&nbsp;and the confirmation of 11 Black women judges to federal appeals courts —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ketanji-brown-jackson-biden-politics-wisconsin-state-government-united-states-8e2e4f826096e431fcc7b1605426ec0a">more than those installed to those powerful courts under all previous presidents combined.</a>

Biden’s failure to win passage of a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-voting-rights-bill-collapses-27c888b4f9bf876520913d7036a942b0">measure that would have bolstered voting right protections</a>, a central campaign pledge, is one of his biggest disappointments of his first two years in office. The task is even steeper now that Republicans control the House.

In his remarks, the president said that for all the progress the United States has made, the country had now reached a critical point in its history. He said democracies can backslide, noting the collapse of the institutional structures of democracy in places such as Brazil.

"Progress is never easy, but it’s always possible and things do get better in our march to a more perfect union,” he said. “But at this inflection point, we know a lot of work that has to continue on economic justice civil rights, voting rights, protecting our democracy. And I’m remembering our job is to redeem the soul of America.”

This moment, he said, “is the time of choosing. … Are we a people who will choose democracy over autocracy? Couldn't ask that question 15 years ago because everybody thought democracy was settled. ... But it's not." Americans, he said, " have to choose a community over chaos. ... These are the vital questions of our time and the reason why I’m here as your president. I believe Dr. King’s life and legacy show us the way and we should pay attention.”

King, who was born on Jan. 15, 1929, was killed at age 39. He helped drive passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. Members of King's family attended the service, including his 95-year-old sister, Christine King Farris.

``I’ve spoken before parliaments, kings, queens, leaders of the world ... but this is intimidating,” Biden said in opening his sermon.

The president plans to be in Washington on Monday to speak at the National Action Network’s annual breakfast on the King holiday.

ATLANTA (AP) — President Joe Biden made a historical pilgrimage Sunday to “America's freedom church” to mark&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/district-of-columbia-boston-united-states-government-atlanta-civil-rights-cb6609246b1817bbe6ce1e6dcf2f01a6">Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday</a>, saying democracy was at a perilous moment and that the civil rights leader's life and legacy "show us the way and we should pay attention.” (Click below to watch the President's sermon)<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Tune in as I deliver remarks at Ebenezer Baptist Church, honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. <a href="https://t.co/ffRVfHTjsU">https://t.co/ffRVfHTjsU</a>&mdash; President Biden (@POTUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1614665198086008835?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 15, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>As the first sitting president to deliver a Sunday morning sermon at King's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/race-and-ethnicity-georgia-senate-2563753b703f7a46af9a0e75565b84db">Ebenezer Baptist Church</a>, Biden cited the telling question that King himself once asked of the nation.“He said, 'Where do we go from here?’” Biden said from the pulpit. ”Well, my message to this nation on this day is we go forward, we go together, when we choose democracy over autocracy, a beloved community over chaos, when we choose believers and the dreams, to be doers, to be unafraid, always keeping the faith.”In a divided country only two years removed from a violent insurrection, Biden told congregants, elected officials and dignitaries that “the battle for the soul of this nation is perennial. It’s a constant struggle ... between hope and fear, kindness and cruelty, justice and injustice."He spoke out against those who “traffic in racism, extremism, insurrection” and said the struggle to safeguard democracy was playing out in courthouses and ballot boxes, protests and other ways. ”At our best, the American promise wins out. … But I don’t need to tell you that we’re not always at our best. We’re fallible. We fail and fall.’’The stop at Ebenezer came at a delicate moment for Biden after Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday announced the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/classified-documents-biden-home-wilmington-33479d12c7cf0a822adb2f44c32b88fd">appointment of a special counsel</a>&nbsp;to investigate how the president handled classified documents after leaving the vice presidency in 2017.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-united-states-government-district-of-columbia-0574fd762159e8cb5f31c85205df3dc0">The White House on Saturday</a>&nbsp;revealed that additional classified records were found at&nbsp;<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/Biden's%20home%20near%20Wilmington,%20Delaware.">Biden’s home near Wilmington, Delaware</a>.In introducing Biden, the church's senior pastor, Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock noted that the president was “a devout Catholic” for whom "this Baptist service might be a little bit rambunctious and animated. But I saw him over there clapping his hands.”King, “the greatest American prophet of the 20th century," as Warnock put it, served as co-pastor from 1960 until he was assassinated in 1968.Warnock, like many battleground state Democrats who won reelection in 2022,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/rev-raphael-warnock-biden-voting-rights-politics-georgia-state-government-4ab203d49a120aae1eb07d248c0579a4">kept his distance during the campaign from Biden</a>&nbsp;as the president's approval rating lagged and the inflation rate climbed.But with the election behind him and a full six-year term ahead, Warnock fully embraced Biden at the service. Near the close, he asked Biden to come to the front of the church and asked Ebenezer's congregants to pray for the president as he listed several of Biden's legislative achievements.“That, my friends, is God’s work,” said Warnock, adding that Biden “had a little something to do with it.”As Biden begins to turn his attention toward an expected 2024 reelection effort, Georgia is going to get plenty of his attention.In 2020, Biden managed to win Georgia as well as closely contested Michigan and Pennsylvania, where Black votes made up a disproportionate share of the Democratic electorate. Turning out Black voters in those states will be essential to Biden's 2024 hopes.The White House has tried to promote Biden's agenda in minority communities. The White House has cited efforts to encourage states&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-transportation-pete-buttigieg-48e09f253781c89359d875f19fc70f9d">to take equity into account for public works projects</a>&nbsp;as they spend money from the administration's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-congress-infrastructure-bill-signing-b5b8cca843133de060778f049861b144">$1 trillion infrastructure bill.</a>&nbsp;The administration also has acted to end&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/merrick-garland-5d6ca72c3620e0ef3ecd55ec60f590a4">sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine offenses</a>, scrapping a policy widely seen as racist.The administration also highlights Biden's work to diversify the federal judiciary, including his appointment of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ketanji-brown-jackson-swearing-in-5a5115f58e163789dfda5a8af0b14221">the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court</a>&nbsp;and the confirmation of 11 Black women judges to federal appeals courts —&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/ketanji-brown-jackson-biden-politics-wisconsin-state-government-united-states-8e2e4f826096e431fcc7b1605426ec0a">more than those installed to those powerful courts under all previous presidents combined.</a>Biden’s failure to win passage of a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-voting-rights-bill-collapses-27c888b4f9bf876520913d7036a942b0">measure that would have bolstered voting right protections</a>, a central campaign pledge, is one of his biggest disappointments of his first two years in office. The task is even steeper now that Republicans control the House.In his remarks, the president said that for all the progress the United States has made, the country had now reached a critical point in its history. He said democracies can backslide, noting the collapse of the institutional structures of democracy in places such as Brazil."Progress is never easy, but it’s always possible and things do get better in our march to a more perfect union,” he said. “But at this inflection point, we know a lot of work that has to continue on economic justice civil rights, voting rights, protecting our democracy. And I’m remembering our job is to redeem the soul of America.”This moment, he said, “is the time of choosing. … Are we a people who will choose democracy over autocracy? Couldn't ask that question 15 years ago because everybody thought democracy was settled. ... But it's not." Americans, he said, " have to choose a community over chaos. ... These are the vital questions of our time and the reason why I’m here as your president. I believe Dr. King’s life and legacy show us the way and we should pay attention.”King, who was born on Jan. 15, 1929, was killed at age 39. He helped drive passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965. Members of King's family attended the service, including his 95-year-old sister, Christine King Farris.``I’ve spoken before parliaments, kings, queens, leaders of the world ... but this is intimidating,” Biden said in opening his sermon.The president plans to be in Washington on Monday to speak at the National Action Network’s annual breakfast on the King holiday.

🎥Biden: Americans should 'pay attention' to MLK's legacy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen notified Congress on Friday that the U.S. is projected to reach its debt limit on Thursday and will then resort to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-united-states-government-us-department-of-the-treasury-business-84ef9d1c5803bd25e8e9cc3538cd0ab2">“extraordinary measures”</a>&nbsp;to avoid default.

In a letter to House and Senate leaders, Yellen said her actions will buy time until Congress can pass legislation that will either raise the nation's $31.4 trillion borrowing authority or suspend it again for a period of time. But she said it's “critical that Congress act in a timely manner."

“Failure to meet the government’s obligations would cause irreparable harm to the U.S. economy, the livelihoods of all Americans, and global financial stability,” she said.

“In the past, even threats that the U.S. government might fail to meet its obligations have caused real harms, including the only credit rating downgrade in the history of our nation in 2011,” she said. Yellen was referring to the debt ceiling impasse during Barack Obama's presidency, when Republicans had also just won a House majority.

In this new Congress, the debt ceiling debate will almost certainly trigger a political showdown between newly empowered GOP lawmakers who now control the House and want to cut spending and President Joe Biden and Democratic lawmakers, who had enjoyed one-party control of Washington for the past two years.

The White House has insisted that it won’t allow the nation’s credit to be held captive to the demands of GOP lawmakers.

“We have seen both Republicans and Democrats come together to deal with this issue," White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Friday. “It is one of the basic items that Congress has to deal with and it should be done without conditions.”

House Republican leaders liken the debt ceiling to a credit card limit and have said they would only raise the statutory ceiling if doing so also secures a spending overhaul.

New House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters in his first press conference that he had a “very good conversation” with Biden about the coming debt ceiling debate. “We don’t want to put any fiscal problems to our economy and we won’t, but fiscal problems would be continuing to do business as usual,” he said.

“We’ve got to change the way we are spending money.”

McCarthy has floated the kind of budget-cap deal that was engineered in the last go around on the debt ceiling during the Trump administration, which would involve capping federal spending levels in return for the House votes needed to raise the debt limit.

But any effort to compromise with House Republicans could force Biden to bend on his own priorities, whether that’s money for the IRS to ensure that wealthier Americans pay what they owe or domestic programs for children and the poor.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and new House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a joint statement Friday that “a default forced by extreme MAGA Republicans could plunge the country into a deep recession and lead to even higher costs for America’s working families on everything from mortgages and car loans to credit card interest rates.”

They said the two parties worked together to increase the debt limit three times when Trump was president and Republicans had majorities in the House and Senate. "This time should be no different,” the Democratic leaders said.

Yellen said that while Treasury can’t estimate how long the extraordinary measures will allow the U.S. to continue to pay the government’s obligations, “it is unlikely that cash and extraordinary measures will be exhausted before early June.”

Shai Akabas, director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, told reporters Friday that “this is not the time for panic, but it's certainly a time for policymakers to begin negotiations in earnest.”

“Most policymakers agree that we have a major fiscal challenge as a country, our debt is unsustainable," he said, and "there’s no reason why we couldn’t agree on measures to improve our fiscal outcome, and also ensure that we are paying all of our bills in full and on time.”

Treasury first used extraordinary measures in 1985 and has used them at least 16 times since, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a fiscal watchdog.

Those measures include divesting some payments, such as contributions to federal employees’ retirement plans, in order to provide some headroom to make other payments that are deemed essential, including those for Social Security and debt instrument

Past forecasts suggest a default could instantly bury the country in a deep recession, right at a moment of slowing global growth as the U.S. and much of the world face high inflation because of the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The financial markets could crash and several million workers could be laid off.

The aftershocks could be felt for years. Moody’s Analytics called this risk “cataclysmic” in a 2021 forecast before the previous debt ceiling increase, suggesting that the resulting chaos would be due to government dysfunction, rather than the underlying condition of the U.S. economy.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen notified Congress on Friday that the U.S. is projected to reach its debt limit on Thursday and will then resort to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-united-states-government-us-department-of-the-treasury-business-84ef9d1c5803bd25e8e9cc3538cd0ab2">“extraordinary measures”</a>&nbsp;to avoid default.In a letter to House and Senate leaders, Yellen said her actions will buy time until Congress can pass legislation that will either raise the nation's $31.4 trillion borrowing authority or suspend it again for a period of time. But she said it's “critical that Congress act in a timely manner."“Failure to meet the government’s obligations would cause irreparable harm to the U.S. economy, the livelihoods of all Americans, and global financial stability,” she said.“In the past, even threats that the U.S. government might fail to meet its obligations have caused real harms, including the only credit rating downgrade in the history of our nation in 2011,” she said. Yellen was referring to the debt ceiling impasse during Barack Obama's presidency, when Republicans had also just won a House majority.In this new Congress, the debt ceiling debate will almost certainly trigger a political showdown between newly empowered GOP lawmakers who now control the House and want to cut spending and President Joe Biden and Democratic lawmakers, who had enjoyed one-party control of Washington for the past two years.The White House has insisted that it won’t allow the nation’s credit to be held captive to the demands of GOP lawmakers.“We have seen both Republicans and Democrats come together to deal with this issue," White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Friday. “It is one of the basic items that Congress has to deal with and it should be done without conditions.”House Republican leaders liken the debt ceiling to a credit card limit and have said they would only raise the statutory ceiling if doing so also secures a spending overhaul.New House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told reporters in his first press conference that he had a “very good conversation” with Biden about the coming debt ceiling debate. “We don’t want to put any fiscal problems to our economy and we won’t, but fiscal problems would be continuing to do business as usual,” he said.“We’ve got to change the way we are spending money.”McCarthy has floated the kind of budget-cap deal that was engineered in the last go around on the debt ceiling during the Trump administration, which would involve capping federal spending levels in return for the House votes needed to raise the debt limit.But any effort to compromise with House Republicans could force Biden to bend on his own priorities, whether that’s money for the IRS to ensure that wealthier Americans pay what they owe or domestic programs for children and the poor.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and new House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a joint statement Friday that “a default forced by extreme MAGA Republicans could plunge the country into a deep recession and lead to even higher costs for America’s working families on everything from mortgages and car loans to credit card interest rates.”They said the two parties worked together to increase the debt limit three times when Trump was president and Republicans had majorities in the House and Senate. "This time should be no different,” the Democratic leaders said.Yellen said that while Treasury can’t estimate how long the extraordinary measures will allow the U.S. to continue to pay the government’s obligations, “it is unlikely that cash and extraordinary measures will be exhausted before early June.”Shai Akabas, director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, told reporters Friday that “this is not the time for panic, but it's certainly a time for policymakers to begin negotiations in earnest.”“Most policymakers agree that we have a major fiscal challenge as a country, our debt is unsustainable," he said, and "there’s no reason why we couldn’t agree on measures to improve our fiscal outcome, and also ensure that we are paying all of our bills in full and on time.”Treasury first used extraordinary measures in 1985 and has used them at least 16 times since, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a fiscal watchdog.Those measures include divesting some payments, such as contributions to federal employees’ retirement plans, in order to provide some headroom to make other payments that are deemed essential, including those for Social Security and debt instrumentPast forecasts suggest a default could instantly bury the country in a deep recession, right at a moment of slowing global growth as the U.S. and much of the world face high inflation because of the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The financial markets could crash and several million workers could be laid off.The aftershocks could be felt for years. Moody’s Analytics called this risk “cataclysmic” in a 2021 forecast before the previous debt ceiling increase, suggesting that the resulting chaos would be due to government dysfunction, rather than the underlying condition of the U.S. economy.

US to max out on debt limit this week setting up political fight

BEIJING (AP) — The World Health Organization has appealed to China to keep releasing information about its wave of COVID-19 infections&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-china-beijing-covid-425a5de577126b042d4eea915c174bc0">after the government announced nearly 60,000 deaths</a>&nbsp;since early December following&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-covid19-data-sharing-77a28c2fc02f4c01774db8836762b608">weeks of complaints</a>&nbsp;it was failing to tell the world what was happening.

The announcement Saturday was the first official death toll since the ruling Communist Party abruptly dropped anti-virus restrictions in December despite&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-china-beijing-covid-d0718b53ded7fb1a70c2db8e564ed072">a surge in infections that flooded hospitals.</a>&nbsp;That left the WHO and other governments appealing for information, while the United States, South Korea and others imposed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-china-business-covid-adef59403f10ba60b1a4cc9deb014a0f">controls on visitors from China.</a>

The government said 5,503 people died of respiratory failure caused by COVID-19 and there were 54,435 fatalities from cancer, heart disease and other ailments combined with COVID-19 between Dec. 8 and Jan. 12.

The announcement “allows for a better understanding of the epidemiological situation,” said a WHO statement. It said the WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, talked by phone with Health Minister Ma Xiaowei.

“WHO requested that this type of detailed information continued to be shared with us and the public,” the agency said.

The National Health Commission said only deaths in hospitals were counted, which means anyone who died at home wouldn’t be included. It gave no indication when or whether it might release updated numbers.

A health official said the “national emergency peak has passed” based on an 83% decline in the daily number of people going to fever clinics from a Dec. 23 high.

The report would more than double China’s official COVID-19 death toll to 10,775 since the disease was first detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019. China has counted only deaths from pneumonia or respiratory failure in its official toll, which excludes many fatalities that might be attributed to the virus in other countries.

Meanwhile, high-speed train service resumed Sunday between China's mainland and Hong Kong under restrictions that allow 5,000 passengers from each side to make the trip daily and require a negative virus test within the previous 48 hours.

The two sides are reopening travel links that were suspended under Beijing's “zero-COVID” strategy, which aimed to keep the virus out of China. Hong Kong imposed different but similarly severe restrictions that blocked most international travel.

Candice Zhong, a resident of the neighboring mainland city of Shenzhen who arrived in Hong Kong, said she planned to visit the city’s two major theme parks.

“I want to come to Hong Kong to see what it’s like now," Zhong said at the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway terminal. "I will go to Disneyland and Ocean Park.”

BEIJING (AP) — The World Health Organization has appealed to China to keep releasing information about its wave of COVID-19 infections&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-china-beijing-covid-425a5de577126b042d4eea915c174bc0">after the government announced nearly 60,000 deaths</a>&nbsp;since early December following&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/china-covid19-data-sharing-77a28c2fc02f4c01774db8836762b608">weeks of complaints</a>&nbsp;it was failing to tell the world what was happening.The announcement Saturday was the first official death toll since the ruling Communist Party abruptly dropped anti-virus restrictions in December despite&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-china-beijing-covid-d0718b53ded7fb1a70c2db8e564ed072">a surge in infections that flooded hospitals.</a>&nbsp;That left the WHO and other governments appealing for information, while the United States, South Korea and others imposed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-china-business-covid-adef59403f10ba60b1a4cc9deb014a0f">controls on visitors from China.</a>The government said 5,503 people died of respiratory failure caused by COVID-19 and there were 54,435 fatalities from cancer, heart disease and other ailments combined with COVID-19 between Dec. 8 and Jan. 12.The announcement “allows for a better understanding of the epidemiological situation,” said a WHO statement. It said the WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, talked by phone with Health Minister Ma Xiaowei.“WHO requested that this type of detailed information continued to be shared with us and the public,” the agency said.The National Health Commission said only deaths in hospitals were counted, which means anyone who died at home wouldn’t be included. It gave no indication when or whether it might release updated numbers.A health official said the “national emergency peak has passed” based on an 83% decline in the daily number of people going to fever clinics from a Dec. 23 high.The report would more than double China’s official COVID-19 death toll to 10,775 since the disease was first detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019. China has counted only deaths from pneumonia or respiratory failure in its official toll, which excludes many fatalities that might be attributed to the virus in other countries.Meanwhile, high-speed train service resumed Sunday between China's mainland and Hong Kong under restrictions that allow 5,000 passengers from each side to make the trip daily and require a negative virus test within the previous 48 hours.The two sides are reopening travel links that were suspended under Beijing's “zero-COVID” strategy, which aimed to keep the virus out of China. Hong Kong imposed different but similarly severe restrictions that blocked most international travel.Candice Zhong, a resident of the neighboring mainland city of Shenzhen who arrived in Hong Kong, said she planned to visit the city’s two major theme parks.“I want to come to Hong Kong to see what it’s like now," Zhong said at the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway terminal. "I will go to Disneyland and Ocean Park.”___

WHO appeals to China to release more COVID-19 information

KANSAS CITY (AP) — When Jamieson Brill answers a crisis call from a Spanish speaker on the newly launched national 988 mental health helpline, he rarely mentions the word suicide, or “suicidio”

Brill, whose family hails from Puerto Rico, knows that just discussing the term in some Spanish-speaking cultures is so frowned upon that many callers are too scared to even admit that they’re calling for themselves.

“However strong stigma around mental health concerns is in English-speaking cultures, in Spanish-speaking cultures it is triple that,” said Brill, who helps people navigate mental health crises from a tiny brick building tucked away in Hyattsville, Maryland.

Brill works in one of more than 200 call centers fanned out around the country tasked with answering an uptick in calls day and night from people considering suicide or experiencing a mental health emergency.

With&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-lifestyle-health-business-mental-health-90a9d04a8c027a3abbd231d234ed0adf">bipartisan congressional support and just under $1 billion in federal funds</a>, the 988 mental health helpline has quickly expanded its reach in the six months since it launched — raking in over 2 million calls, texts and chat messages.

The number of centers answering calls in Spanish grew from three to seven last year. A pilot line dedicated to LGBTQ youth started taking calls in September. And plans are underway to keep the momentum going, with the federal government adding Spanish language chat and text options later this year and aiming to expand those services to a 24/7 operation for the LGBTQ line.

When the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mental-health-hotline-988-ac50f02b74b8b89be5592be3f3605ff5">around-the-clock phone launched last summer</a>, it built on the existing network that staffed the old national lifeline, 1-800-273-8255. The new 988 number is designed to be as easy to remember as 911.

It couldn’t have come at a more needed time:&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-ca-state-wire-health-ny-state-wire-ap-top-news-208872f1d9fa3a3f3b50a4a902132124">Depression rates in U.S. adults</a>, overdose deaths and suicide rates have been on the rise.

“The call volume is, in some instances, well beyond what we anticipated,” said Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, assistant secretary for mental health and substance use in the Department of Health and Human Services. “It does let us know that people are struggling, people are having a hard time. Where I feel heartened is that people are getting connected to services and supports, as oppose to struggling on their own.”

The 988 helpline registered 154,585 more calls, texts and chat messages during November 2022 compared to the old national lifeline in November 2021, according to the latest data available.

Texting has been particularly popular, with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration noting a 1,227% increase in texts to the line during that same time.

The Veterans Crisis Line — callers can press “1” after texting or calling 988 to reach it — has fielded 450,000 calls, texts and chat messages, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. By the end of the year, the line had handled a nearly 10% increase compared to 2021.

Calls show no signs of slowing into this year, with counselors answering 3,869 calls on New Year's Eve and the first day of 2023 — a 30 percent increase compared to the previous holiday. The Spanish language line saw an increase of 3,800 calls year over year from November 2021 to November 2022.

Meanwhile, some states are considering unveiling their own lines dedicated to certain communities.

In November, Washington became the first state to launch a mental health crisis line dedicated to American Indian and Alaska Native people. Callers in Washington can reach the line by calling 988 then pressing “4” to be greeted by one of the 13 counselors — all Indigenous people — who staff the phones.

Having fellow American Indians answer those calls is crucial, because those familiar with the culture can immediately decode some terms that others cannot, said Rochelle Williams, the tribal operations manager for Volunteers of America Western Washington, which oversees the call center. For example, she said, when a caller says that a relative is “bothering me,” that sends up an immediate red flag: The person is likely signaling that they’re the victim of a sexual assault.

“Who has a better understanding of native people than native people?” Williams said. “We don’t trust in a lot of government programs. Knowing you’re talking to another Indigenous person is really important.”

Williams wants to add chat and text options next. She hopes Washington’s 988 line for Native Americans becomes a model for others. She’s already given presentations in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Montana and in Canada, which is set to launch its own national 988 this year.

States are expected to receive more money to fund the line from t&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-ukraine-government-us-republican-party-health-care-costs-13f3f7bfed22bda0cbf73002d9fec273">he $1.7 trillion end-of-the year spending package</a>, which set aside another half-billion dollars for the project.

Still, long-term funding for the 988 helpline is in jeopardy in some states, which have yet to figure out a permanent funding plan for it. While the federal government has poured millions of dollars into the project, states are expected to take over the operation and funding of the 988 line — just as they do with 911 emergency call services.

So far, fewer than 20 states&nbsp;<a href="https://reimaginecrisis.org/map/">have passed legislation to permanently fund their 988 line</a>, according to the National Alliance on Mental Health Illness.

In Ohio, for example, advocates are pushing for the state legislature to sign off on a 50-cent fee that would be tacked onto cellphone bills, raising roughly $50 million to $55 million every year to operate the line, said Tony Coder of the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation.

“Quite frankly, lives depend on it,” Coder said. “The need for 988 services is more crucial than ever, simply because of the aftermath and the mental health issues from COVID.”

KANSAS CITY (AP) — When Jamieson Brill answers a crisis call from a Spanish speaker on the newly launched national 988 mental health helpline, he rarely mentions the word suicide, or “suicidio”Brill, whose family hails from Puerto Rico, knows that just discussing the term in some Spanish-speaking cultures is so frowned upon that many callers are too scared to even admit that they’re calling for themselves.“However strong stigma around mental health concerns is in English-speaking cultures, in Spanish-speaking cultures it is triple that,” said Brill, who helps people navigate mental health crises from a tiny brick building tucked away in Hyattsville, Maryland.Brill works in one of more than 200 call centers fanned out around the country tasked with answering an uptick in calls day and night from people considering suicide or experiencing a mental health emergency.With&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-lifestyle-health-business-mental-health-90a9d04a8c027a3abbd231d234ed0adf">bipartisan congressional support and just under $1 billion in federal funds</a>, the 988 mental health helpline has quickly expanded its reach in the six months since it launched — raking in over 2 million calls, texts and chat messages.The number of centers answering calls in Spanish grew from three to seven last year. A pilot line dedicated to LGBTQ youth started taking calls in September. And plans are underway to keep the momentum going, with the federal government adding Spanish language chat and text options later this year and aiming to expand those services to a 24/7 operation for the LGBTQ line.When the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mental-health-hotline-988-ac50f02b74b8b89be5592be3f3605ff5">around-the-clock phone launched last summer</a>, it built on the existing network that staffed the old national lifeline, 1-800-273-8255. The new 988 number is designed to be as easy to remember as 911.It couldn’t have come at a more needed time:&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-ca-state-wire-health-ny-state-wire-ap-top-news-208872f1d9fa3a3f3b50a4a902132124">Depression rates in U.S. adults</a>, overdose deaths and suicide rates have been on the rise.“The call volume is, in some instances, well beyond what we anticipated,” said Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, assistant secretary for mental health and substance use in the Department of Health and Human Services. “It does let us know that people are struggling, people are having a hard time. Where I feel heartened is that people are getting connected to services and supports, as oppose to struggling on their own.”The 988 helpline registered 154,585 more calls, texts and chat messages during November 2022 compared to the old national lifeline in November 2021, according to the latest data available.Texting has been particularly popular, with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration noting a 1,227% increase in texts to the line during that same time.The Veterans Crisis Line — callers can press “1” after texting or calling 988 to reach it — has fielded 450,000 calls, texts and chat messages, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. By the end of the year, the line had handled a nearly 10% increase compared to 2021.Calls show no signs of slowing into this year, with counselors answering 3,869 calls on New Year's Eve and the first day of 2023 — a 30 percent increase compared to the previous holiday. The Spanish language line saw an increase of 3,800 calls year over year from November 2021 to November 2022.Meanwhile, some states are considering unveiling their own lines dedicated to certain communities.In November, Washington became the first state to launch a mental health crisis line dedicated to American Indian and Alaska Native people. Callers in Washington can reach the line by calling 988 then pressing “4” to be greeted by one of the 13 counselors — all Indigenous people — who staff the phones.Having fellow American Indians answer those calls is crucial, because those familiar with the culture can immediately decode some terms that others cannot, said Rochelle Williams, the tribal operations manager for Volunteers of America Western Washington, which oversees the call center. For example, she said, when a caller says that a relative is “bothering me,” that sends up an immediate red flag: The person is likely signaling that they’re the victim of a sexual assault.“Who has a better understanding of native people than native people?” Williams said. “We don’t trust in a lot of government programs. Knowing you’re talking to another Indigenous person is really important.”Williams wants to add chat and text options next. She hopes Washington’s 988 line for Native Americans becomes a model for others. She’s already given presentations in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Montana and in Canada, which is set to launch its own national 988 this year.States are expected to receive more money to fund the line from t&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-politics-ukraine-government-us-republican-party-health-care-costs-13f3f7bfed22bda0cbf73002d9fec273">he $1.7 trillion end-of-the year spending package</a>, which set aside another half-billion dollars for the project.Still, long-term funding for the 988 helpline is in jeopardy in some states, which have yet to figure out a permanent funding plan for it. While the federal government has poured millions of dollars into the project, states are expected to take over the operation and funding of the 988 line — just as they do with 911 emergency call services.So far, fewer than 20 states&nbsp;<a href="https://reimaginecrisis.org/map/">have passed legislation to permanently fund their 988 line</a>, according to the National Alliance on Mental Health Illness.In Ohio, for example, advocates are pushing for the state legislature to sign off on a 50-cent fee that would be tacked onto cellphone bills, raising roughly $50 million to $55 million every year to operate the line, said Tony Coder of the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation.“Quite frankly, lives depend on it,” Coder said. “The need for 988 services is more crucial than ever, simply because of the aftermath and the mental health issues from COVID.”

Callers keep flooding 988 mental health, suicide helpline

United States Attorney Steven Russell announced that Juwan Grant, 24, of Decatur, Nebraska, was sentenced today in federal court in Omaha for sexual abuse of a minor. United States District Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Grant to imprisonment for 46 months. There is no parole in the federal system. After his release from prison, he will begin a 5-year term of supervised release and will be required to register as a sex offender.

Grant impregnated a minor victim in the early months of 2021 on the Omaha Nation Indian Reservation. The child was carried to term and was born in November of 2021. The minor victim was 12 years old at the time of the offense. Grant was 10 years older.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit&nbsp;<a href="http://www.justice.gov/psc" target="_blank">www.justice.gov/psc</a>.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/6/1559657144941.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By UNITED STATES ATTORNEY-OMAHAUnited States Attorney Steven Russell announced that Juwan Grant, 24, of Decatur, Nebraska, was sentenced today in federal court in Omaha for sexual abuse of a minor. United States District Judge Brian C. Buescher sentenced Grant to imprisonment for 46 months. There is no parole in the federal system. After his release from prison, he will begin a 5-year term of supervised release and will be required to register as a sex offender.Grant impregnated a minor victim in the early months of 2021 on the Omaha Nation Indian Reservation. The child was carried to term and was born in November of 2021. The minor victim was 12 years old at the time of the offense. Grant was 10 years older.This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit&nbsp;<a href="http://www.justice.gov/psc" target="_blank">www.justice.gov/psc</a>.This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Nebraska man sentenced for impregnating minor

United States Attorney Steven Russell announced that Andrew Isaac Abrams, 42, of Tucson, Arizona, was sentenced today in Omaha, Nebraska, for transmitting a threat to injure the person of another through an interstate communication. Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Abrams to 18 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After his release from prison, Abrams will begin a three-year term of supervised release.

On or about April 23, 2021, Abrams contacted multiple Omaha-based locations using a phone number originating in Tucson, Arizona. The first call went to Union Pacific Railroad Security, stating that a moving truck loaded with two tons of explosive material was parked near their building.&nbsp; As a precaution the building was evacuated, and Union Pacific Railroad sent their employees home for the day.&nbsp; Then Abrams contacted Douglas County Civic Center and Courthouse from the same phone number and stated that he had parked a Ryder truck filled with explosives in front of Union Pacific and that, “You guys are killing us, that’s why I’m going to blow up the civic center too!”&nbsp; Abrams placed a call to Eppley Airfield, located in Omaha, referencing “blowing up airplanes”, and mentioning several of the airlines.&nbsp; Finally, Abrams called Central High School in Omaha and left a voicemail on the school’s voicemail stating that there would be bombs and shooters in the Elkhorn, Westside, Central and Millard Schools in Omaha and mentioning the Union Pacific Railroad Headquarters.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant on Abrams’s apartment in Tucson on May 13, 2021 and seized his cellphone. Investigators reviewed the call records for the cellphone, and verified that the calls made on April 23, 2021 to the four affected locations were made from Abrams’s cellphone located in Tucson. Abrams was arrested on May 14, 2021.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Omaha Police Department, and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/8/1567093537444.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By UNITED STATES ATTORNEY-OMAHAUnited States Attorney Steven Russell announced that Andrew Isaac Abrams, 42, of Tucson, Arizona, was sentenced today in Omaha, Nebraska, for transmitting a threat to injure the person of another through an interstate communication. Chief United States District Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Abrams to 18 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After his release from prison, Abrams will begin a three-year term of supervised release.On or about April 23, 2021, Abrams contacted multiple Omaha-based locations using a phone number originating in Tucson, Arizona. The first call went to Union Pacific Railroad Security, stating that a moving truck loaded with two tons of explosive material was parked near their building.&nbsp; As a precaution the building was evacuated, and Union Pacific Railroad sent their employees home for the day.&nbsp; Then Abrams contacted Douglas County Civic Center and Courthouse from the same phone number and stated that he had parked a Ryder truck filled with explosives in front of Union Pacific and that, “You guys are killing us, that’s why I’m going to blow up the civic center too!”&nbsp; Abrams placed a call to Eppley Airfield, located in Omaha, referencing “blowing up airplanes”, and mentioning several of the airlines.&nbsp; Finally, Abrams called Central High School in Omaha and left a voicemail on the school’s voicemail stating that there would be bombs and shooters in the Elkhorn, Westside, Central and Millard Schools in Omaha and mentioning the Union Pacific Railroad Headquarters.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant on Abrams’s apartment in Tucson on May 13, 2021 and seized his cellphone. Investigators reviewed the call records for the cellphone, and verified that the calls made on April 23, 2021 to the four affected locations were made from Abrams’s cellphone located in Tucson. Abrams was arrested on May 14, 2021.This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Omaha Police Department, and the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

Man sentenced to prison for threats against Union Pacific in Omaha

By TRISHA AHMED Associated Press/Report for America

The U.S. Department of the Interior&nbsp;has given new names to five places that previously included a racist term for a Native American woman.

The renamed sites are in California, North Dakota, Tennessee and Texas, completing&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/native-americans-climate-and-environment-government-politics-004fa29f3967ae7ab74958a61fda02d2">a yearlong process to remove the historically offensive word</a>&nbsp;“squaw” from geographic names across the country.

“Words matter, particularly in our work to ensure our nation’s public lands and waters are accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. She called the word “harmful.”

Haaland, who took office in 2021, is the first Native American to lead a Cabinet agency.

In September, the Interior Department announced its final vote on proposals to change the names of nearly 650 sites that contained the word. The agency conducted an additional review of seven locations, all of which were considered unincorporated populated places. Five of those were changed in Thursday's announcement.

In western North Dakota, the new name Homesteaders Gap was selected by members of a small community as a nod to their local history.

Mark Fox, tribal chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, welcomed the change, telling&nbsp;<a href="https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/tribal-news/feds-ok-new-name-for-western-north-dakota-community-with-native-slur-in-name/article_c81653b4-9292-11ed-9a95-cfdd3d0c8756.html?utm_source=bismarcktribune.com&amp;utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletter-templates%2Fnews-alert&amp;utm_medium=PostUp&amp;lctg=7294450&amp;tn_email_eh1=e2b34e6d53524ec765564a7a8ea47bc64bdb5b4a">The Bismarck Tribune</a>&nbsp;that the slur “really causes serious and strong emotions and resistance to that term.” In a statement to The Associated Press, he said it was long overdue, and “we are pleased that the racially insensitive and offensive name has been removed.”

But Joel Brown, a member of the McKenzie County Board of Commissioners, said many residents in the area “felt very strongly” in opposition to the switch. Brown, who is white, said he and others prefer as little interference from the federal government as possible because “generally we find they’re disconnected from what the culture and economy are out here.”

Two other newly named places are the California Central Valley communities of Loybas Hill, which translates to “Young Lady,” proposed by the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians; and Yokuts Valley.

The others are Partridgeberry, Tennessee, and Lynn Creek, Texas.

The decision has long precedent. The Interior Department ordered the renaming of places with derogatory terms for Black and Japanese people in 1962 and 1974, respectively.

Last year alone, authorities&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-lakes-native-americans-green-bay-climate-and-environment-e5cdca67d2edb79f9eaf6ec6ae5c413a">renamed 28 Wisconsin sites</a>&nbsp;to remove a racist word, a panel recommended the name change of a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mountains-colorado-race-and-ethnicity-jared-polis-denver-de400f09bb5fefbb6667c2383708651c">Colorado mountain tied to a massacre,</a>&nbsp;and the federal government renamed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/native-americans-climate-and-environment-government-politics-004fa29f3967ae7ab74958a61fda02d2">hundreds of peaks, lakes, streams and other geographical features</a>&nbsp;with racist and misogynistic terms.

Trisha Ahmed is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reportforamerica.org/">Report for America</a>&nbsp;is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/TrishaAhmed15">@TrishaAhmed15</a>

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673616594464.png" alt="“Words matter, particularly in our work to ensure our nation’s public lands and waters are accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. -photo U.S. Dept. of Interior" />
 <figcaption>“Words matter, particularly in our work to ensure our nation’s public lands and waters are accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. -photo U.S. Dept. of Interior</figcaption>
 </figure>By TRISHA AHMED Associated Press/Report for AmericaThe U.S. Department of the Interior&nbsp;has given new names to five places that previously included a racist term for a Native American woman.The renamed sites are in California, North Dakota, Tennessee and Texas, completing&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/native-americans-climate-and-environment-government-politics-004fa29f3967ae7ab74958a61fda02d2">a yearlong process to remove the historically offensive word</a>&nbsp;“squaw” from geographic names across the country.“Words matter, particularly in our work to ensure our nation’s public lands and waters are accessible and welcoming to people of all backgrounds,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. She called the word “harmful.”Haaland, who took office in 2021, is the first Native American to lead a Cabinet agency.In September, the Interior Department announced its final vote on proposals to change the names of nearly 650 sites that contained the word. The agency conducted an additional review of seven locations, all of which were considered unincorporated populated places. Five of those were changed in Thursday's announcement.In western North Dakota, the new name Homesteaders Gap was selected by members of a small community as a nod to their local history.Mark Fox, tribal chairman of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, welcomed the change, telling&nbsp;<a href="https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/tribal-news/feds-ok-new-name-for-western-north-dakota-community-with-native-slur-in-name/article_c81653b4-9292-11ed-9a95-cfdd3d0c8756.html?utm_source=bismarcktribune.com&amp;utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletter-templates%2Fnews-alert&amp;utm_medium=PostUp&amp;lctg=7294450&amp;tn_email_eh1=e2b34e6d53524ec765564a7a8ea47bc64bdb5b4a">The Bismarck Tribune</a>&nbsp;that the slur “really causes serious and strong emotions and resistance to that term.” In a statement to The Associated Press, he said it was long overdue, and “we are pleased that the racially insensitive and offensive name has been removed.”But Joel Brown, a member of the McKenzie County Board of Commissioners, said many residents in the area “felt very strongly” in opposition to the switch. Brown, who is white, said he and others prefer as little interference from the federal government as possible because “generally we find they’re disconnected from what the culture and economy are out here.”Two other newly named places are the California Central Valley communities of Loybas Hill, which translates to “Young Lady,” proposed by the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians; and Yokuts Valley.The others are Partridgeberry, Tennessee, and Lynn Creek, Texas.The decision has long precedent. The Interior Department ordered the renaming of places with derogatory terms for Black and Japanese people in 1962 and 1974, respectively.Last year alone, authorities&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-lakes-native-americans-green-bay-climate-and-environment-e5cdca67d2edb79f9eaf6ec6ae5c413a">renamed 28 Wisconsin sites</a>&nbsp;to remove a racist word, a panel recommended the name change of a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/mountains-colorado-race-and-ethnicity-jared-polis-denver-de400f09bb5fefbb6667c2383708651c">Colorado mountain tied to a massacre,</a>&nbsp;and the federal government renamed&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/native-americans-climate-and-environment-government-politics-004fa29f3967ae7ab74958a61fda02d2">hundreds of peaks, lakes, streams and other geographical features</a>&nbsp;with racist and misogynistic terms.___Trisha Ahmed is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reportforamerica.org/">Report for America</a>&nbsp;is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on Twitter:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/TrishaAhmed15">@TrishaAhmed15</a>

US renames 5 places that used racist slur for a Native woman

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for President Joe Biden found more classified documents at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, than previously known, the White House acknowledged Saturday.

White House lawyer Richard Sauber said in a statement that a total of six pages of classified documents were found during a search of Biden’s private library. The White House had said previously that only a single page was found there.

The latest disclosure is in addition to the discovery of documents found in December in Biden’s garage and in November at his former offices at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, from his time as vice president. The apparent mishandling of classified documents and official records from the Obama administration are under investigation by a former U.S. attorney, Robert Hur, who was appointed as a special counsel on Thursday by Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Sauber said in a statement Saturday that Biden’s personal lawyers, who did not have security clearances, stopped their search after finding the first page on Wednesday evening. Sauber found the remaining material Thursday, as he was facilitating their retrieval by the Department of Justice.

“While I was transferring it to the DOJ officials who accompanied me, five additional pages with classification markings were discovered among the material with it, for a total of six pages,” Sauber said. “The DOJ officials with me immediately took possession of them.”

Sauber has previously said that the White House was “confident that a thorough review will show that these documents were inadvertently misplaced, and the president and his lawyers acted promptly upon discovery of this mistake.”

He reiterated Saturday that the White House would cooperate with Hur’s investigation.

The Justice Department historically imposes a high legal bar before bringing criminal charges in cases involving the mishandling of classified information, with a requirement that someone intended to break the law as opposed to being merely careless or negligent in doing so. The primary statute governing the illegal removal and retention of classified documents makes it a crime to “knowingly” remove classified documents and store them in an unauthorized way.

The circumstances involving Biden, at least as so far known, differ from a separate investigation into the mishandling of classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s private club and residence in Florida.

In Trump’s case, special counsel Jack Smith is investigating whether anyone sought to obstruct their investigation into the retention of classified records at the Palm Beach estate. Justice Department officials have said Trump’s representatives failed to fully comply with a subpoena that sought the return of classified records, prompting agents to return to the home with a search warrant so they could collect additional materials.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673546739694.png" alt="Biden backing his Corvette into the garage next to stacks of boxes where classified documents were found-image from a 2020 Biden for President campaign ad " />
 <figcaption>Biden backing his Corvette into the garage next to stacks of boxes where classified documents were found-image from a 2020 Biden for President campaign ad </figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for President Joe Biden found more classified documents at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, than previously known, the White House acknowledged Saturday.White House lawyer Richard Sauber said in a statement that a total of six pages of classified documents were found during a search of Biden’s private library. The White House had said previously that only a single page was found there.The latest disclosure is in addition to the discovery of documents found in December in Biden’s garage and in November at his former offices at the Penn Biden Center in Washington, from his time as vice president. The apparent mishandling of classified documents and official records from the Obama administration are under investigation by a former U.S. attorney, Robert Hur, who was appointed as a special counsel on Thursday by Attorney General Merrick Garland.Sauber said in a statement Saturday that Biden’s personal lawyers, who did not have security clearances, stopped their search after finding the first page on Wednesday evening. Sauber found the remaining material Thursday, as he was facilitating their retrieval by the Department of Justice.“While I was transferring it to the DOJ officials who accompanied me, five additional pages with classification markings were discovered among the material with it, for a total of six pages,” Sauber said. “The DOJ officials with me immediately took possession of them.”Sauber has previously said that the White House was “confident that a thorough review will show that these documents were inadvertently misplaced, and the president and his lawyers acted promptly upon discovery of this mistake.”He reiterated Saturday that the White House would cooperate with Hur’s investigation.The Justice Department historically imposes a high legal bar before bringing criminal charges in cases involving the mishandling of classified information, with a requirement that someone intended to break the law as opposed to being merely careless or negligent in doing so. The primary statute governing the illegal removal and retention of classified documents makes it a crime to “knowingly” remove classified documents and store them in an unauthorized way.The circumstances involving Biden, at least as so far known, differ from a separate investigation into the mishandling of classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s private club and residence in Florida.In Trump’s case, special counsel Jack Smith is investigating whether anyone sought to obstruct their investigation into the retention of classified records at the Palm Beach estate. Justice Department officials have said Trump’s representatives failed to fully comply with a subpoena that sought the return of classified records, prompting agents to return to the home with a search warrant so they could collect additional materials.

White House: More classified docs found at Biden’s home

WASHINGTON —Weeks after announcing that the U.S. would send a Patriot air defense battery and associated munitions to Ukraine, a Pentagon official confirmed Ukrainian soldiers will come to the U.S. to train on the Patriot system so they'll be ready to use it when it's delivered, according to a media release from the Department of Defense.

"Training for Ukrainian forces on the Patriot air defense system will begin as soon as next week at Fort Sill, Oklahoma," Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said. "The training will prepare approximately 90 to 100 Ukrainian soldiers to operate, maintain and sustain the defensive system over a training course expected to last several months."&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673396256887.png" alt="Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder speaks during a press conference at the Pentagon, Jan. 10, 2023. photo courtesy Dept. of Defense" />
 <figcaption>Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder speaks during a press conference at the Pentagon, Jan. 10, 2023. photo courtesy Dept. of Defense</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON —Weeks after announcing that the U.S. would send a Patriot air defense battery and associated munitions to Ukraine, a Pentagon official confirmed Ukrainian soldiers will come to the U.S. to train on the Patriot system so they'll be ready to use it when it's delivered, according to a media release from the Department of Defense."Training for Ukrainian forces on the Patriot air defense system will begin as soon as next week at Fort Sill, Oklahoma," Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said. "The training will prepare approximately 90 to 100 Ukrainian soldiers to operate, maintain and sustain the defensive system over a training course expected to last several months."&nbsp;<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/1/1673396092973.png" alt="A Patriot launcher is staged at Fort Sill, Okla., Oct. 25, 2019. Last month, the U.S. committed to sending a Patriot air defense battery and associated munitions to Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers will train to use the system at Fort Sill Photo courtesy U.S. Defense Department" />
 <figcaption>A Patriot launcher is staged at Fort Sill, Okla., Oct. 25, 2019. Last month, the U.S. committed to sending a Patriot air defense battery and associated munitions to Ukraine. Ukrainian soldiers will train to use the system at Fort Sill Photo courtesy U.S. Defense Department</figcaption>
 </figure>In the past few months, the Russians have increased their aerial bombardment of Ukraine, Ryder said, and the Patriot will help the Ukrainians stand up to that assault.&nbsp;"The Patriot will contribute to the air defense capabilities that Ukraine already has," he said. "It's something that will enable them to take down ... ballistic missiles, adversary aircraft; [it's] really up to them on how they employ it. But this is part of a broader effort by the United States and the international community to provide Ukraine with the air defense capabilities that it needs to defend its population and its armed forces."&nbsp;Fort Sill is home to the schoolhouse where the Army trains its soldiers and service members from allied and partner nations on using the Patriot system. Now, Ukrainian soldiers will train there, as well.Ryder said training for those Ukrainian soldiers will include classroom work, hands-on training with the Patriot systems, as well as a simulation lab. It will also focus on what the Ukrainians will need once they are back home.&nbsp;"The training will be tailored to provide relevant tactics, techniques and procedures based on the battlefield conditions in Ukraine to enable them to employ that to maximum effect once they are back in Ukraine," Ryder said.&nbsp;Since Russia's invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, the United States has provided Ukraine with more than $24.2 billion in security assistance. That assistance has included ammunition, vehicles, aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, radar systems, small arms, artillery, air defense systems, anti-aircraft and anti-armor systems.&nbsp;Next week, Ryder said, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark A. Milley will travel to Germany to host another meeting of the Ukraine contact group of international defense chiefs. Ryder said the group has helped identify, synchronize and ensure delivery of the capabilities the Ukrainians have needed to defend against Russian aggression."The secretary looks forward to meeting with defense leaders from the approximately 50 nations [comprising] this important group dedicated to Ukraine self-defense," he said.