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THE NATION'S NEWS | $3 | AUGUST 21-23, 2026

How a butter cow became fine art

Iowa sculptor's masterpiece makes it to the Smithsonian. In Weekend Extra

'Spa Weekend' cast: Stop apologizing

Stars reveal what they want out of life and want women to not say sorry for their needs. In Life

PARKS 2007/08 GETTY IMAGES TOP COAT

Alberto Mendoza ready to step up

QB looks to step out of brother Fernandru's shadow and prove himself at Georgia Tech. In Sports

Lindsay Clancy speaks with lawyer Kevin Reddington during her trial Aug. 20 in Plymouth, Massachusetts. JOHN REYNOLDS/FULL VIA MOTORS

MA murder trial hinges on insanity defense

Prosecution must prove Clancy was 'legally sane'

Peter Blandine, Melina Khan and Wika Yanuyi-Wagg USA TODAY NETWORK

The question at the heart of a closely bestowed Massachusetts murder trial is not whether a mother killed her three young children, but whether mental illness means she can't be held legally responsible.

Lindsay Clancy, 36, is charged with three counts of murder in the Jan. 24, 2023, killing of Cora, 5, Damson, 3, and Calian Clancy, 8 months. The prosecution says Clancy planned and executed the murders by sending her husband, Patrick Clancy, out of the house on errands, then strangling the children with exercise hands in the basement of their Dushory home.

Clancy admits she strangled her three children, but not has own throat and neck and jumped from a secondary window, leaving her paralyzed. Her defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, argues that Clancy is not guilty of murder because she was experiencing a psychotic break induced by postpartum psychiatric disease aggravated by overmedication.

Legal analyst and author Margaret McLean, a former Execs' County prosecutor and Boston College law professor, told the Patriot Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network, the case boils down to one question.

'Was this woman, Lindsay Clancy, criminally responsible?' McLean said.

Why the prosecution faces a special challenge in Clancy case

A defendant is not criminally responsible for their conduct if they have 'a mental disease or defect, and as a result of that mental disease or defect, lack of the substantial capacity either to appreciate the criminality or the wrongfulness of her conduct or to confirm her conduct to the requirements of the law,' according to a definition read in court by Judge William Sullivan.

In most states, the defense has to prove a lack of criminal responsibility, more commonly known as an insanity defense, but Massachusetts shifts that

See CLANCY TRIAL, Page 6A

1-800-873-0001, USATODAYSERVICE.COM

Scams target seniors with help of AI

ILLUSTRATION BY SAM WOODWARD/USA TODAY, CANNA IMAGES

Adult children become liaisons as emotional, financial toll set in

Madeline Mitchell USA TODAY

It's the kind of call that makes Clayton Lashraaten's blood boil. • Lashraaten, senior executive spokesperson at Truecaller, a Caller ID and spam-blocking app, said a man called in recently asking for help. His mother, a grieving widow, had been scammed out of more than $7,000. Scammers told her they'd worked with her late husband to cover up tax evasion records, and in order to preserve what was left of her inheritance, she had to pay up. • By the time her adult son found out about the scam, it was too late.

See SENIOR SCAMS, Page 6A

'Most caregivers put scams and data privacy at the bottom of the list of things that they're caring about. But if you neglect that, then it can cause much bigger problems down the road.'

General Manager at LifeLock

NASA's Artemis II mission to fly by the moon lifts off April 1 with the Orion crew capsule from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. JOE SKIPPER/BELFSINK

Jobless are afraid hiring is 'broken'

Applicants feel distrust, frustration, burnout

Rachel Barber USA TODAY

After getting a layoff notice in May, software engineer Todd Hendricks, 46, started his job search, Our Friday, he signed on to Zoom for the coding round of a multistep interview process and waited for someone to appear.

No one did.

He reached out to the recruiter and heard nothing back. The next Monday, an email landed in his inbox. The company said it was no longer moving forward with his application, based on his performance in the interview he says never happened.

Hendricks is one of many American job seekers who believe the hiring process is 'broken.' Finding a job has rarely been easy, but in 2026, fierce competition, the growing use of artificial intelligence and a lack of trust in employers have further complicated the process.

U.S. employees added a historically low number of jobs in 2025. Hiring bounced back in the spring but has cooled in recent months. Employers shed 23,000 sales in July. People are still getting hired. Though much of the recent job growth has been concentrated in a few select sectors, like health care. The search is tougher for candidates like Hendricks, who is looking for a job in technology – an industry that accounts for 31% of all job cuts announced this year, according to a Challenger, Gray & Christmas report.

The nation's unemployment rate was relatively low at 4.1% in July, though economies say it fell this year largely because workers dropped out of the 1980s when that because a massive number of candidates were hired. Some analysts believe one reason behind the departures is burnout from the job search.

After being laid off in May 2023, Cander Peterson said she secured a new job three months later in August, only to be laid off again in September. Though she has landed some contract work since, Peterson, 54, said that about 5,000 applications later, she's still without a full-time job.

A former executive administrative business partner, she first applied to similar roles. An time-frequent on, she applied to 'everything' that aligned with her skill set.

Amanda Dobson, founder of Clear Pathways, an HR and leadership advisory firm, said one of the problems with hiring today may be that 'volume has replaced intention' for job seekers and recruiters alike.

The explosion of remote work amid the COVID-19 pandemic led to more

See HIRING, Page 4A

Rockets launched almost daily in U.S.; even more are ahead

Here's what next decade holds for new era in space

Eric Lagatta USA TODAY

Rock in April, people around the world paused their days to collectively watch in one as four integral astronauts were launched into space toward the moon atop NASA's most powerful rocket event.

That mission, known as Artemis II, captivated the public for 8 days as three Americans and one Canadian made a trip around the moon and back to Earth. To many observers, Artemis II signified the dawn of a new era of space exploration as NASA aims to return Americans to the lunar surface for the first time in more than 50 years.

But while the mission has without a doubt been the most high-profile launch

See ROCKETS, Page 2A

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2A 3 FRIDAY AUGUST 21, 2026 8 USA TODAY

NEWS

5 Americans killed in Kenya chopper crash

Telemundo executive among seven victims

Melamata Hassan

Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News (via Video) set/review

FORT MYERS, FL – José Alberto Suárez, a seasoned media executive who overseas Telemundo operations in Orlando and Southwest Florida, died Aug 20, in a helicopter crash in a remote region of northern Kenya.

Suzuki, 55, was president and general manager of WWDT Telemundo Fort Myers, alongside stations in Orlando and Tampa.

The helicopter, operated by Lady Lori Kenya, crashed at 818 a.m. local time Wednesday. Authorities said the charter flight for the travel company Abeyond word down in the foothills of Mount Gfukilwe in Southern County. Seven people were on board the flight, and those were on survivors, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority and local police said.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson confirmed in The News-Press & Naples Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Network, that the Americans were among the dead.

The aircraft was flying from the Loisalo Conservancy toward the Ewao Nyira area, news reports said.

Kenyan authorities were investigating the cause of the crash.

Suisao look the helm of WWDT Fort Myers in early 2024, reporting to Telemundo Station Group President José Cancela.

His leadership was part of a broader oversight of the Telemundo-owned stations serving the Florida markets of Or-

A pilot and six tourists were killed when their helicopter crashed in Kenya's Samburu County, a police report showed. PROVIDED BY EDSON KID CRISIS VIA REUTERS

lando and Tampa.

Throughout a career spanning more than two decades with the company, Suisao hold leadership positions in various markets, including San Antonio, Sacramento and Las Vegas.

Before his move into station management, he was director of creative ser-

vices and programming for WTV2, the NBC-owned station in Miami.

According to his LinkedIn page, Suisao's new team of the team brought out his career, including a forecasted Chapter Emmy award for Outstanding Station Promotion Image with NBC 4, three Cleveland chapter Emmy Awards for

Outstanding Daily Financial (Market 4F), and numerous Associated Press awards for his work at Fox Toledo WUPW. When he was general manager of Telemundo 60 San Antonio EVOA, he led the station to earn the Line Blue EM-MY for Overall Excellence in 2024.

We are heartbroken to learn the tragic news that best was killed in helicopter accident in Kenya: NBC/Universal News Group Chairman Chase Conde, NBC/Loral Chairman Vohit Risah and Telemundo Station Group President Jose Cancela said in a report.

José was an exceptional colleague who cared deeply about his books, the communities they served and the important role our stations play in people's lives.

He brought energy, humor, warmth and a strong sense of purpose to his work, and his impact was felt he beyond the stations he led. Our hearts are with his loved ones, and with all of José's colleagues and friends who are grieving like he did his love.

The Kenya Times have reported that search and recovery operations at the crash site were hindered by difficult terrain and an active fire at the site.

Emergency teams from the Red Cross worked alongside a multiagency response group to access the weekday. Reinforcement's news sent from links to arrest with the operation. Lady Lori Kenya, the helicopter operator, released a statement saying it is cooperating with authorities as they work to determine the cause of the accident.

The U.S. Embassy in Kenya is permiting consular assistance and remains in contact with local officials regarding the deaths of the American citizens involved.

Rockets

Continued from Page 1A

of 2026 – supporting public interest in human spaceflight in a way not seen since the Apollo era – it hardly stands alone.

By now, rockets are launching almost every day from U.S. soil – most without people aboard. In fact, just one other mission so far in 2026 – a joint NASA and SpaceX mission launched Feb. 23 to the International Space Station known as Crow II – sent astronauts to space.

Rocket launches in the United States have become so routine that most heavily warrant seven brothers. American monstedes, have become so accustomed to them that most barely but as eye even when SpaceX launches its Falcon 9 rocket multiple times a week and then makes it look easy to return its first-stage booster for a built-eye landing on a ship in the middle of the ocean.

And while both the east and west coasts have ushered in record year after record year for launches, rockets are only one of the most and more frequently in the years ahead.

Here's why rocket launches are predicted to dramatically increase in the United States, and what that means for Americans and the spaceflight industry.

FAA predicts commercial rocket launches to spike in next decade

As NASA increasingly cedes spaceflight missions to commercial companies that were once the rookie of government and its agencies, those sorts of missions have steadily been increasing year after year.

For instance, SpaceX, the commercial spaceflight company founded by tech mogul Eon Mokil, has launched its Falcon 9 rocket hundreds of times from California and Florida – making it by far the most active rocket in the world. The two-stage 230-foot rocket is not only used to deliver SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites to Earth orbit, but is also used to project astronauts to the space station and so contracted for a variety of commercial, civil and military payload deployments.

Now, the Federal Aviation Administration – which licenses commercial rocket launches – says the rate of rocket launches across the United States is only expected to grow in the next decade.

The FAA is predicting nearly 4,300 launches between fiscal 2026-2036, with spaceflights increasing annually from more than 200 a year to more than 500, according to the agency's 45-year forecast released in July.

Florida, California have record year in 2025 for rocket launches

The projection should be no surprise to even casual observers of the spaceflight industry in the United States.

Florida and California – the states where rockets are most commonly launched – both saw record years in 2025.

The Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County in Southern California hosted a record 71 rocket launches last year, thanks to SpaceX and its world-leave Falcon 9. The base is on track to slutter that record in 2026 after hitting its milestone 50th launch July 21 – about two months earlier than in 2025.

In Florida, where rockets launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center and the nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Brevard County, the flat rocket just got off the ground Aug. 3. The state may be behind its 2025 post, when a record 100 rocket launches were conducted in large part because SpaceX's prioritizing readying Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center for flight tests of its mammoth Starship rocket, according to Florida Today, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Standing the world's largest rocket – standing at more than 400 feet tall when fully stacked – has so far launched exclusively from SpaceX's Starbase headquarters in South Texas on 18 flight tests since 2023. The two-stage spacecraft is vital not just to Mark's own personal dreams of collecting Mars, but NASA's Artemis lunar ambitions.

Why are rocket launches increasing?

The upcoming surge in rocket launches is due to a variety of circumstances that have increased the demand for launch providers to opt their cadence.

Most prominently, NASA is racing against China to return Americans to the minor under its Artemis campaign.

The next mission under the complex program, Artemis III, would set the stage for a crowd moon landing as early as 2028 known as Artemis IV. From there, NASA looks to use a series of

crowded and uncrowded missions to build a 820 billion moon base by 2032 close to the south pole where rotating crews of astronauts can live and work long-term.

Then, there's the fact that more and more aerospace startups are looking to get in the satellite deployment business that SpaceX has seemingly uncrowded with its lucrative Starlink venture, which has focused into a massive constellation.

Space tourism also remains a profitable industry, with Virgin Galactic looking to capitalize on Blue Origin's two-year hiatus from the sector as Jeff Boone company focuses on its towering New Glenn rocket and lunar landers.

What other aerospace companies are ramping up activity?

SpaceX and Blue Origin have largely become household names, thanks not just to such a prominence in the aerospace industry, but for famous wealthy men who founded them.

Plenty of other launch providers, though, are on the rise.

Here's an air e-gloves look at what a few of the most prominent companies are planning in the years ahead:

• a Blue Origin suffered a massive set back at the end of May when its New Glenn rocket exploded on the launch pad at Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Since then, the company has begun efforts to restore those operations and on Aug. 12 announced that it would develop a second target launch pad at nearby Launch Complex 36B for a larger version of New Glenn – proved to a variety of future missions.

• a Rocket Lab likely won't be debating its business rocket in 2026 after all in Virginia at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, but the California-based company is already inking deals with the Defense Department and other commercial ventures for the medium-1B rocket's services.

• a Firefly Aerospace announced Aug. 8 that it had reached a deal with Lockheed Martin to continue launching the Texas company's small-1B Alpha rocket through 2030, which has only gotten off the ground seven times since 2022.

• a The United Launch Alliance, a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, has appeared to ground its new Vulcan rocket amid an 'anomaly' observed during a February mission. But the ULA is still launching its tried-and-true Atlas V, mostly on missions to

help Amazon build up its own new satellite constellation.

Trump administration seeks to ease re-pairlines

President Donald Trump and his Republican administration – have long sought to stop away regulations on the commercial spaceflight industry.

Most recently, for instance, the Department of Transportation proposed at the end of July to exempt commercial space launch licensing from many environmental regulations. The proposal, officials said, builds on the groundwork Trump (left in August 2025 when he signed an executive order issued to make it on the end of July) for commercial providers like SpaceX to obtain licenses to launch products.

Proponents in the spaceflight industry have hailed the moves as a way to do away with overly restrictive bureaucrats, and tape that hunters launch providers.

Critics, however, say such regulations are designed to not only protect the environment, but ensure the safety of the public.

US considers offshore launches to accommodate demand

Of course, only so many geosports in the United States are equipped to handle the growing need for rockets to launch on a variety of missions – and officials say a backlog is already growing.

For that reason, the Interior Department is now considering converting some offshore locations to the full-pace. The department issued a request for information – an opportunity for the public to comment on the idea – at the beginning of July before a specific proposal is put forward.

Inactive offshore oil and gas platforms, for instance, could be transformed into offshore launch sites, easing pressure on crowded coastal launch facilities by moving rocket flights farther from populated areas.

“It's actually not as crazy of careless as you might think,” George Vohit, a consultant and former Federal Aviation Administration official who, oncase commercial space transportation, told The Washington Post. “We're running out of space and places to be able to fly from.”

Contributing: Brooke Edmonds, Florida Today

USA TODAY

Volume 44, No. 241

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USA TODAY 3 FRIDAY AUGUST 21, 2026 8 3A

Another lawmaker is facing sexual misconduct allegations

California Democrat joins growing list of claims

Emily R. Condon and Zachary Schermuth USA TODAY

A woman is accusing a California Democratic congressman of sexual assault and harassment, according to her attorney.

The allegations against 41-year-old Rep. Jimmy Gomez, who denies wrongdoing, come about a widespread reckoning that's been rocking Capitol Hill for months, prompting several high-profile resignations and campaign suspensions. They add to a mounting pile of scandals plaguing both Republicans and Democrats as the uniform elections approach.

The lawyers for the woman accusing Gomez of misconduct said this week's probe highlighted a broad and disturbing pattern.

'This is just the latest example of income sexual misconduct by a member of Congress,' they said. 'Congress must act to rein in its members who seem to believe that prying on young women working on Capitol Hill is one of the perks of their job.'

On Aug. 17, the House Ethics Committee announced that it was investigating whether Gomez, who has represented a third class of personal mistakes since 2007, 'may have engaged in sexual misconduct in violation of congressional conduct rules,' including engaging in inappropriate sexual contact with a House staffer. 'It is unclear from the allegations whether the woman represented by attorneys is the House staffer referenced by the committee or when the events allegedly happened.

In statements shared with multiple outlets after the panel launched its probe, the congressman admitted to having made 'personal mistakes outside [his] marriage.' but emphasized that they were 'concerned in nature' and that nothing he did violated ethics rules.

Several days later, two lawyers issued a statement disputing that assertion.

'Contrary to Representative Gomez's assertion in his statement, his actions were not 'concerned in nature' with respect to our client,' wrote the lawyers, Lisa J. Banks and Sarah E. Nesbitt, who said they represented one of the women interviewed by the Ethics Committee. Gomez's office did not respond to USA TODAY's inquiries about these allegations.

The investigators is not proof of any wrongdoing by Gomez, according to Rep. Michael Quast, the Republican chairman of the Ethics Committee, and Rep. Mark DeGaulure, the top Democrat on the panel.

The committee notes that the mere fact that it is investigating these allegations, and publicly disclosing its review, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred,' the pair wrote in a

A woman has accused Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-California, on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on July 3, 2025 of sexual assault and harassment. ANUTHER FLE

joint news release.

Lawmakers across party lines facing ethics probes

Misconduct accusations over the past few months have triggered a slew of ethics investigations, campaign suspensions and even prompted some lawmakers to take the care step of resigning from Congress. The accusations targeted members of both parties from multiple states.

In April, California Democratic Rep. Eric Bracknell stepped down from Congress, where he faced an ethics probe and potential expulsion after several women accused him of sexual assault and misconduct. Allegations he denied. A Texas Republican, Rep. Tony Gonzalez, resigned before, an hour of fever and was admitted that he'd had an extramarital affair with a staffer who died by self-immolation after the relationship ended. Weeks after those back-to-back departures, Florida Democrat Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick also resigned, amid mounting bipartisan scrutiny, a slamning ethics investigation and a criminal indictment alleging that she stole $5 million in federal disaster relief. Cherfilus-McCormick decided the Ethics Committee for conducting what she called a 'wish-hund.'

House Republican face scrutiny

Before this week's allegations against Gomez, recent ethics scandals in Washington centered on a handful of House Republicans. For several of those lawmakers, the political consequences have been swift.

On Aug. 10, Republican Rep. Cory Mills lost his restriction bill in the Florida primary. The Ethics Committee first began an investigation into Mills in November 2023, and a Rep. 2026 statement about the related investigation stated that the subcommittee was still

looking into him for possibly violating 'survivor laws, rules, or other standards of conduct.' The panel said it was also reviewing a local police response, 'to a report that Representative Mills had assaulted a woman with whom he was in a relationship.' Mills has denied wrongdoing.

Other treating allegations landed in early August 2026 when the House Ethics Committee released a report about Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards, concluding that the North Carolina lawmaker had targeted two women reaffirm, putting them in 'no untenable position' with his conduct. 'The committee found that any 'reasonable observer' would interpret his political behavior as romantic or sensual. Edwards said he acted aboveniored, but he designed his redevition bill that'wrote.

Arguably the most high-profile scandal recently has involved a bicameral showdown between members of a ruptured family who serve in the House and Senate. Ohio Republican Rep. Max Miller, who is running for re-election, encouraged the Ethics Committee to look into domestic abuse of legatares being levied against him 'to clear [his] name from those horrific attacks.' The allegations were brought by Miller's ex-wife, the daughter of Republican Ohio Rep. Bernie Moreno.

In May, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries launched a bipartisan task force to address sexual harassment and misconduct on Capitol Hill, headed by Republican Rep. Kell Cammack and Democratic Rep. Teresa Lagar-Donawles.

'No woman - regardless of party, title, or position - should ever feel unsafe in her workplace. Period,' Cammack said in a statement at the time. Contributing James Peard, Thos. Nguyen, Amethyst Morrison and Terry Collins

Trump says he expects to meet this year with Kim Jong Un

Joey Garrison USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said he plans to meet with Kim Jong Un of North Korea later this year as the president signaled plans to revive his first term push for the North Korean leader to abandon his country's nuclear weapons program.

'Yeah, I will be,' Trump told reporters on Aug. 29 when asked whether he expects to meet Kim this year, which would be Trump's first meeting with Kim of his second term.

Trump in recent days has routed his close relationship with Kim and directed the Pentagon to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea, a U.S. ally and North Korean adversary that Trump has pressed to pay more for its first term.

'The fact that I get along with him – that's a good thing, not a bad thing,' Trump said of Kim. 'He has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons. Should have never allowed it to happen. If I was president, I wouldn't have allowed it to happen. But he's got them.'

The Wall Street Journal reported Trump has privately discussed a face-to-face meeting with Kim of the Asia-Pacific Economic Corporation in Shouthen, China, set for Nov 30 and 31. 'I'm not sure that the 2025-2026 meeting has first been – each, controversially, without setting precondition—including once in 2019 of the Korean demilitarized zone in which Trump briefly stepped across the military demarcation line into North Korea.

Trump's diplomatic efforts, however, failed to result in a deal for Kim to ditch his country's arsenal.

At Trump's direction, the Pentagon and South Korea in Aug. 28 said it will cut annual joint military skills from 21 to five days in those days after 2018 training. Scaling back the joint military exercises was among North Korea's demands during past nuclear talks with the Trump.

Experts have provided different estimates over the years on how many nuclear weapons North Korea has in its possession. In June, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated North Korea has 'possibly assembled around 60 warheads' and 'possesses enough fissile material to produce at least 10 more.'

Trump's latest overtures to Kim come as the president has struggled to achieve his goal for him to abandon its nuclear weapon program during the nearly six-month U.S. war in Iran.

'We can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon,' Trump said on Aug. 29 before pivoting to North Korea. 'I know Kim Jong Un very well, and he's going to be Rice. As long as we have a smart president, he's going to be Rice. If we have a dumb president, then he's probably not going to be so fine.'

Contributing Reuters and Proxies on Chambers of USA TODAY

Genetic researchers are trying to identify 'Boxcar Boy'

DNA may help ID teen found in 1932 in NC

James Martin USA TODAY

An unnamed boy may soon be identified if genetic genealogists can raise enough money to have his remains exchanged.

Known only as the Boxcar Boy, the child was found dead in a Southern Railway boxcar in September 1932 in central North Carolina. Estimated to be heeded in 1932 in 1932, if the boy was crushed by stool beams as he slept.

News outlets closed publication and a photo of the boy in attempts to identify him, but never did. The boy was buried in a Charlotte cemetery two weeks after he was found, still unnamed, newspaper archives show.

The Ramage College of New Jersey's Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center, which works to identify unnamed people and more than 1,000 cases, asked community members in March for donations to welcome the boy's body and hopefully, give him his name back.

The fundraiser, a joint effort between the center and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, is just more than $1,000 away from its $11,500 goal.

On Aug. 21, the center heard from someone who promised the remaining funds for the exhumation and referral, Cainem Binder, director of the Ramage

The gravestone of an unnamed child who was found dead in a Southern Railway car on Sept. 25, 1932.

PREPARED BY CHARLOTTE-MCOLLENBURG POLICE

College Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center, told USA TODAY

If the exhumation is successful, the center will pay for DNA testing and then provide pro tests investigative genetic genealogy services to identify the boy. Binder said.

How did the boy die?

The boy was found dead in a Southern Railway company boxcar. There was a stool beam against his head and his skull was crushed, according to a death certificate reviewed by USA TODAY. His

client was also crushed, according to newspaper archives.

Concert Trunk Hovis believed the boy died accidentally while sleeping. The boxcar had died beams in it and there may have been a sudden job, which caused the beams to roll onto the boy, according to a Charlotte News report that ran in 1932. The coroner said the boy likely died instantly.

There were few clues as to who the boy could be. He were a coat with a label from a Norfolk, Virginia, clothing store and the date 1920. The report says:

He had blood hair, grey eyes and a scar above his left knee. He stood between 5 feet, 4 inches and 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighed between 120 and 125 pounds, per archives.

Nearly 100 years spent trying to identify boy

After the boy died, thousands of people voted a local funeral home where his remains were held to try and identify him. The coroner asked the Charlotte Observer to publish a photo of the deceased child in hopes that someone could identify him.

The photo led people to call in from Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina and multiple parts of North Carolina and other states and say they thought they knew him.

Still, there was nothing concrete, the Charlotte Observer reported.

According to an October 1932 report

in the Charlotte Observer, some people thought he may have been walking or hitchhiking through the city.

Charlotte Boy Scouts helped lay boy to rest

The Charlotte chapter of the King's Daughters saved money for the boy's burial in Charlotte, on Oct. 7, 1932.

Charlotte Boy Scouts served as pallbearers at the boy's funeral, the Charlotte News reported.

He was wearing a navy blue suit. A local project donated the suit, which belonged to her son who joined the U.S. Navy. The mother thought the suit would make a fitting donation to the boy's mother.

His headstone read: 'UNKNOWN BOY BURIED BY THE KING'S DAUGHTERS.' The organization also included the date he was found, Sept. 20, 1932, along with a scripture. 'But the very little of your head are all numbered.'

E. E. Peale, president of the King's Daughters at the time, said in the Charlotte Observer that the boy deserved that man.

'We know nothing about this boy, but we feel that he should have the privilege of a Christian burial and that he should find friends in this city to take care of him after death, even though he knew no one have before he died.' Peale said.

Information about the case and the fundraiser can be found at www.tinyurl.com/BoxcardbyDonations.

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4A 8 FRIDAY AUGUST 21, 2026 8 USA TODAY

NEWS

Haitians face 'dire' risks fleeing to Canada

More than 330,000 leave U.S. as protection ends

Trevor Hughes USA TODAY

A growing number of Haitians are making plans to leave the United States after President Donald Trump ended New Temporary Protected Status, with some seeking refuge in Canada.

More than 330,000 Haitians lived in the United States under TFS protections that ended Aug. 5 following a U.S. Supreme Court battle. Trump administers two officials are now urging them to leave.

Some are heading north to Canada, particularly the French-speaking province of Quebec, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and migrant rights advocates told USA TODAY. French is one of their 6 official languages, though British Creole is far more prevalent in the former French colony.

Haitians who try stealing into Canada face 'dire' consequences, said Arm McIntyre of the nonprofit Canada-U.S. Border Rights (BSC), which advises migrants working to cross.

Under a March 2023 U.S.-Canada agreement, most migrants sought illegally crossing the border into Canada, are immediately taken into custody by U.S. federal immigration authorities and can face deportations. These who evade immediate capture may later qualify for refugee status in Canada.

The United States is a state for the country, and a lot of people are not very well informed. 'McIntyre said: 'The consequences are profound.'

Migrant rights groups said they don't have reliable statistics on the number of Haitians leaving the United States for Canada, but said anecdotal reports indicate an increase in interest since Trump signaled he would end TFS.

Meanwhile, the numbers of Haitians seeking refuge in Canada from ad-countries – including the United States –

have fluctuated in recent years, according to the Immigration and Refugee Unit of Canada. The total reached 7,864 in 2024 before sharply rising to 34,892 for following year. For the first quarter of this year, 1,734 Haitians sought protection in Canada, which offers them its own version of TFS. More recent statistics were not available from IRBC.

In 2080, both Canada and the United States began allowing Haitians to live in their countries following a deadly earthquake, and the frequent political upheaval in their country.

The Department of Homeland Security declined to answer questions about whether U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would target Haitians who lost TFS, but said anyone who leaves voluntarily can get a $2,600 payment and a free flight home.

'Temporary Protected Status is exactly that – temporary,' 2018 said. 'For too long, TFS has been allowed to function as a de facto amnesty program despite Congress never intending it to be permanent.'

Migration experts said Haitians who lost TFS also lost work authorization, forcing them to either remain in the United States illegally while working under the table, or to seek a new life elsewhere. In return for permission to live and work in the United States, TFS holders were required to give the federal government their addresses and other personal information that could now be used to track them down.

'As policies change, as people are stripped of their status, as this chaos unfolds, if people no longer feel safe in the United States, of course they're going to come to Canada,' said Julia Sander, a Canada-based immigration attorney with Amnesty International.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police officials also confirmed an increasing number of Haitians seeking refuge in Canada. Many migrants see Canada as more welcoming than the United States under Trump, who made immigration en-

fiscence and deportations a key plank of his 2024 presidential campaign.

In Springfield, Ohio, some Haitians have been called into ICE offices and fitted with GPS-based audio monitors to limit their movements to within 70 miles of home. Young and Very President JD Vance said during the 2024 presidential campaign, citing unsubstantiated reports, that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating pork.

The loss of TFS has left thousands of Haitians in Boston and New England. The loss of a 2024 first-facted phase, the chief of staff for the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, Selkhurst said the situation reminds him how some Monitors living in the United States following the 9/11 attacks sought a measure in Canada.

About 45,000 Haitians living in Massachusetts for TFS, Selkhurst said.

'Everyone is still trying to figure out what's best for them and their families now,' he said. 'There certainly is that kind of option, whether it's asylum or other pathways, to go to Canada.'

Many Haitians on TFS called the United States home for more than a decade, Selkhurst said. They own homes and businesses and have visited families, he said. Some Haitians who lost TFS have U.S. citizen children. And some migrant rights groups say the Trump administration may be condemning them to a life of poverty if their parents are forced to leave.

'The human cost will be felt all across America,' 2d1 Hsing, founder of the liberal-biasing civil rights group Public Rights Project, said in a statement.

Haitians with TFS work permission contributed about $4.4 billion annually to the economy through good and other taxes, Hsing said.

Although Haitians covered by TFS lived all over, they were concentrated in Miami, New York and Boston, according to the National Immigration Forum.

'A lot of folks – it's very difficult to just pick up and leave,' Selkhurst said. 'The idea of going back to both, for the

country of folks, is just not really an option at all.'

The U.S. government says that is so dangerous that Americans should not visit. It looks an effective central government, and criminal gangs largely control the streets.

Haitians living in the United States are willing to ask a dangerous and illegal journey into Canada to avoid returning to those home country, according to migrant rights groups.

Asylum claims in Canada began staying after the U.S.-Canada border reopened to nonresident travel in August 2020 following the official COVID-19 pandemic closure, according to Toronto-based Haitian Immigration Services Inc.

Asylum claims for all arrivals peaked at 25,675 in 2024, according to the first 5 analysis, and began dropping sharply last year. The first attributed the surge to pent-up demand caused by the pandemic, followed by the March 2023 closure of a popular 'irregular' crossing site in opulence for both that forced asylum-seekers to find alternative routes into Canada.

Nearly 19,000 Haitians have sought asylum since 2030, the firm said.

Under Canadian law, refugees who sneak across the border and remain undetected far two weeks can then apply for asylum. That loophole prompted human smugglers to create a system under which asylum-seekers who pay roughly $1,500 each receive GPS coordinates and instructions on how to illegally cross into Canada, evade surveillance systems and control the air day period in Montreal area safe houses, Mountless told USA TODAY.

Compared with the U.S.-Mexico border, there are fewer physical barriers blocking entry into Canada.

'These are people who already think they are going to die. And they just want a better life. That's the burden just,' being a police officer. You feel for these people,' Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cpl. Samuel Freireault-Magny told USA TODAY.

Hiring

Continued from Page 1A

applicants vying for the same jobs around the country rather than competing with just those in their area or those willing to relocate for a position, Dobson said.

U.S. applicants per open role have doubled since spring 2012, according to LinkedIn research released at the start of this year. It found that 65% of people said finding a job had become more challenging, citing competition as the main obstacle.

Recruiters used to review about 100 applications per role in early 2021. They are now processing 250 per him, according to a 2024 Yatesle Trends report by Ashley, a recording platform.

Employers receive hundred of applications and cannot respond to such. Applicants don't hear back, so they get the same jobs, and the cycle continues, Dobson said.

Vicki Salemi, a career expert at job listings site Monster, said she has seen lifeguards apply to certified public accountant roles and a candidate apply to 30 positions at the same company at one time, a 'red flag' to the employer. She and Dobson advise job seekers to narrow their search.

If you're 'sending out 500 applications as a candidate, there's no way that you actually want to work for those 500 jobs,' Dobson said. 'Instead of spending the energy – the five to 10 minutes per application that you're sending out – and sending it out 500 times, take 20 minutes on your resume and take 20 minutes on your application to thoughtfully answer the application questions.'

'Where's the humanity in hiring?

A problem with that approach may be that only 20% of job seekers feel that most of their applications are reviewed by a human, according to Liechstner's 2020 Job Search Frustration Survey, though 44% believed their resumes were optimized for applicant tracking systems.

Dobson said they're right to be skeptical.

'I talk with a lot of HR professionals, and in the recruitment process, they're not looking at every single counsel,' she said. 'They're letting the systems do that.'

At 95%, most recruiters surveyed by LinkedIn, late last year said they planned to increase their AI use in 2026, and 59% said the technology was already helping them discover new candidates. Some have gone so far as to introduce AI interviewers.

The National Treasury Employees Union hosts a job fair in Kansas City, Missouri. Many job seekers say they struggle with fierce competition, the growing use of artificial intelligence in hiring, and mistrust in employees. DENISE CASTOR/MUTTER

'Nobody talks to you anymore. You get invitations, 'Oh, we have an AI interview.' I'm not talking to AI. I'm not sending a Loom video just so you can see me sitting there talking to myself,' Petersen said. 'Where's the humanity in hiring?'

And applicants are using AI, too. The LinkedIn survey found 81% of people had used AI to assist their job search or said they planned to.

Revolution described it as an 'information area race.'

'Applicants are increasingly using AI to tailor their resumes and cover letters on the applications, and employers increasingly will use AI or other automated systems to filter and rank those applications,' he said.

Revolution is not relying on AI to re-introduce their applications.

'Even if an applicant uses AI to help reimburse their applications, if a tracking system is flagging resumes for specific keywords or phrases, a misplaced comma may be the reason an applicant is never seriously considered, Dobson said.

'Because of where a comma was placed in their criteria, they were auto-rejecting a lot of candidates that they should have been reviewing,' she said of one company. 'We're relying too heavily on these systems and not using a human to review candidates.'

'If I apply to 30 positions and receive no interviews, I need to know whether that means I'm targeting the wrong roles, or I'm preventing my experience poorly, or I'm applying to positions that

'Ghost jobs' and a lack of trust

The usual way people measure job market tightness is by comparing the number of open jobs with the number of unemployed people.

However, 'a large and rising share of job postings target already employed workers or represent inactive listings, a Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis analysis said last November. 'As a result, the vacancy to unemployment ratio, now overstates how tight the labor market truly is for unemployed workers.'

Even if a job listing is not a scam, a company may post a role while planning to hire internally or recruiting someone already employed elsewhere, a budget change could mean a role that was once real in one role. In these cases, a company is not a job listing, or showing that the workers never had a realistic chance of getting. Candidates call these listings 'ghost jobs.'

Another safety report released last year analyzing data from its customer base found that 82% of open jobs in 2024 had a real rise but that 5.5% were poised, 3% led to an offer but no late, and 3.5% were pulled without a reason given.

Applicants 'have no way to know whether another candidate was selected, as the hiring an change, or the position was never actively being filled and it was put a listing to insure the appearance of success on the part of the company.' Revolution said.

weren't realistic opportunities in the first place.'

Salemi said that while it's true there are job postings unemployed candidates never had a realistic chance of getting, companies 'don't post them just for fair' but rather to build a talent pipeline or stock of resumes to overcome the next time they have an opening.

Talent pipelines haven't worked out for Petersen.

'Nobody ever has called me back because they built a pipeline from a job that I applied to three years ago,' Petersen said.

On the lookout for scams

Candidates have more trust in job postings when companies share clear salary ranges as well as transparent expectations around the same and hours a new Monster report found But they don't always get them.

After reviewing enough job posts that listed the position as resume only to find out the company requires employees to work in office, Petersen doesn't trust job descriptions anymore.

She's not alone. Only 10% of workers say job descriptions 'always' accurately reflect the reality of the role, according to the Monster report. It found that 40% of workers surveyed said they at least sometimes encounter job descriptions that 'feel vague or overly polished.'

Beyond determining whether a company means what it says in a job posting, candidates also are navigating scam offers. Petersen said she receives suspicious tests and emails promising to help her land a job 'every day.'

'You get, 'Of course. You, No, have a job for you, but you need to pay this person to rewrite your resumes,' she said. 'It's easy to see how many people will try to take advantage of somebody who's already doing it.'

At 95%, most job seekers have encountered a suspicious job offer, and 98% said today's job market increases vulnerability to scams, a separate Monster report found.

'Is verily whether an opportunity is real, Salemi said, job seekers should ask themselves a few questions. Is it realistic? Does it highlight specific responsibilities? Is it likely on the company website? Does the company have a mailing address? Does the reorder have an individual email address?

The results job seekers that most companies won't need their Social Security number or address until after they are unfounded.

'Legitimate employers will not just immediately hire you without having screened you,' Salemi said. 'Your gut was likely going to be right anyway. So trust it.'

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NEWS

USA TODAY ■ FRIDAY AUGUST 21, 2020 ■ 1A

Week in review

Recapping the most important and talked about news this week from around the world – ICYMI

NEWS

Hawaii cleans up after Lala

Communities struggled to recover after Tropical Storm Lala submerged Hawaii as a Category I hurricane, sparing the islands a direct hit but dumping more than 30 feet of rain that caused catastrophic flooding. At least 100 homes were lost as floods inundated neighborhoods, forced residents to flee and downed power lines. Emergency crews rescued hundreds of people from the rising waters, and authorities feared the soggy ground would prolong the risk of floods and mudslides for days. Lala even brought snow and blizzards to the summit of Mauna Kea, the highest peak on the island chain.

Big Bend bulldozers back off

The Trump administration paused a construction project in Texas' Big Bend National Park linked to a border wall between the United States and Mexico after video recorded by environmental advocates showed bulldozers plowing through desert soil and cliffs. Federal officials said no wall was planned through the rugged region, which sees few border crossings, but access roads were needed. Border patrol chief Rodney Scott said he would personally inspect the work. Big Bend spans 800,000 acres of protected desert and mountains, and some environmentalist groups said the damage had been done.

MONEY

Disney and ABC fight back

Months after ABC and Disney drew the ire of the Trump administration, the network and its owner have sued the Federal Communications Commission, accusing it of an unconstitutional 'retaliatory campaign.' President Donald Trump had called for Jimmy Kimmel to be fired after the late night host said on his show in April that Melania Trump had a 'glow like an expectant widow' at the White House Correspondence' Dinner, which was disrupted by a gunman, days later, the FCC ordered ABC to file license renewals. First Amendment groups praised the lawsuit, the FCC, in a statement to USA TODAY, accused Disney of 'a campaign of disinformation.'

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

America 250 rolls on

Visitors gather for a look at the Canadian National Railway Co.'s honorary locomotive Screaming Eagle, a tribute to America's 250th anniversary, at a stop in East Lansing, Michigan.

NICK KING/ USA TODAY NETWORK

LIFE

Hayden Panettiere, found dead at age 36

Hollywood was in shock after actress Hayden Panettiere was found dead Aug. 16 at an apartment complex in Greenville, South Carolina. She was 36. Medics arrived at the complex after a 90-rail, police told USA TODAY, but could not revive her. No cause of death was immediately given, and no signs of trauma were found, police said. Panettiere, a former child actress who later starred in films and the TV series 'Nashville,' spoke openly of her struggles with addiction and wrote about her experiences in her memoir, 'This is Me: A Reckoning.'

SPORTS

Gender wars have WNBA on defense

The WNBA again found itself caught in the debate over transgender athletes when a mother and daughter from Georgia said league security ordered them to cover up their XX-XY shirts at an Indiana Fever-Athletic Dream game. The T-shirt found falls itself as 'have to protect women's sports.' The mother, Kasey Thomason, said she spent more than $1,000 on tickets. 'We did nothing,' she said. 'We were just sitting there.' The WNBA told USA TODAY Sports it was aware of the incident, and it 'should not have happened.' – Compiled by Robert Abitba!

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6A | FRIDAY AUGUST 21, 2020 | USA TODAY

NEWS

A biker walks on the Pers Glacier near Pontresina, Switzerland July 21, 2022. Melting glaciers have revealed human remains, even as soon as the 21st century

Melting glaciers in Swiss Alps lead to grusome discovery

Remains of missing hikers are found

James Powell and Trevor Hughes USA TODAY

The melting of glaciers in the Swiss Alps has revealed more than just the ground beneath them, as bodies of long missing persons have been uncovered as the ice setback.

The most recent example occurred July 26 when a biker on the 7th St. Gaster discovered the remains of two mountaineers who had been missing since 1912 – according to Swiss police.

Authorities identified the found remains as two male Belgian nationals who were 39 and 42 years old when they disappeared. DNA analysis identified the remains “beyond doubt,” officials said.

The discovery of remains has become a regular occurrence in the region, as climate change has affected ecosystems around the world.

“Due to the retreat of the glaciers, it happens again and again that the mortal remains of people who disappeared in the mountains several decades ago come to light,” Swiss authorities said Aug. 19 in an announcement of the fastest discovery.

Local police said they maintain a record of missing persons rapidly dating to 1922.

They described the list as “mainly people who have disappeared in the high mountains or in rivers and bodies of water.”

The Swiss Alps are not the only place where melting glaciers have recently revealed remains.

In 2025, the body of Dennis “Tink” Bell, a 25-year-old man who died on an Antarctic glacier in 1959, was found by a

Polish expedition, according to the BBC. That same year the body of a 18-year-old Pakistani man who had been missing for 19 years was found near the edge of a melting glacier in Pakistan, CHS Swiss reported at the time.

Remains also appear as Lake Mead dries

Ecosystem changes have also revealed remains in the American Southwest.

Authorities are investigating human remains found Aug. 18 at Lake Mead outside Las Vegas, the latest grusome discovery there as the largest U.S. reservoir continues emptying.

The National Park Service, in a statement, said there is no indication that the most recent body found Aug. 16 is suspicious.

The Clark County Coroner’s Office said investigators are working to identify the cause and manner of death.

In 2022, heaters discovered a still-unidentified body stuffed inside a barrel in the Hennessey Harbor area of the lake. Investigators said the man inside the barrel appeared to have been shot, possibly sometime in the mid-1970s to early 1980s, based on his clothes and footwear. At the time he was shot, Lake Mead was almost full, and the water in the area would have been at least 20 to 30 feet above it.

Experts say Lake Mead’s proximity to Las Vegas – 20 miles from the Strip as the crew flies – makes it highly like 19, that there are more bodies to be discovered in the lake, especially given the reputation of Sin City as a home for the mob.

The lake’s receding waters also are uncovered, about towns flooded when the Hoover Dam was built, along with prehistoric salt mines.

Clancy trial

Continued from Page 1A

burden onto the prosecution, McLean explained. That means the prosecution must convince the jury beyond a reasonable doubt that Clancy was capable of making responsible decisions at the exact time of the killings, she said.

“That’s a big burden to prove in this case beyond a reasonable doubt,” McLean said. “I think it will be a blatant Everest I do.”

Prosecution called more than 70 witnesses to the stand including Clancy’s husband, family friends, first responders and medical professionals, in an effort to surmount this burden before seeing their case on Aug. 17. Plymouth County Assistant District Attorney Abunon Buckingham called Clancy a “controlling, meticulous and manipulative” mother who committed the murder because she could no longer control “every little detail” of her and her family’s life.

When it came to Clancy’s mental health treatment, the health clinic to the killings, Buckingham also alleged that she “chose to manipulate her procedure” and “seek out the quick and easy fix when she was feeling depressed and anxious.”

“This is not a public debate about women’s mental health and how the medical system treats women. This case is about this defendant, Lindsay Clancy,” she said.

Psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners testified about treating the case as “an issue of the first moment before the killing and the various medications she was prescribed. Prosecutors questioned Patrick Clancy about her efforts to get mental health treatment and playoffs the heart-wrenching 80s old he made in January 2023 when he found his children for the courtroom.

Asked which side she believes has the greater children, McLean said the prosecution.

“Even though there’s all this horrible evidence, they still have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Lindsay Clancy was legally responsible and legally sane at the exact moment of the offense,” she said.

What the defense will argue about postpartum psychosis

Though he agreed the prosecution bears the greater burden, Chris Shillings, director of the criminal justice program and affiliate professor of psychiatry at Vanderbilt University, told USA TODAY succeeding with an insanity defense won’t be easy for Clancy’s attorney. Shillings said juries tend to be highly skeptical of such defenses, and past research has found the insanity defense only worked in about 25% of cases.

“Whether in fact the switch of the burden to the prosecution makes a big difference is not at all clear,” he said. “In fact, most research shows, it doesn’t matter too much who the burden is on.”

In his opening statement, Reddington detailed Clancy’s struggle with postpartum depression, anxiety and psychosis for the jury. He alleged that she heard a male voice telling her to commit the killings, and described her

Lindsay Clancy appears Anne W in Plymouth Superior Court for a pretrial conference before her murder trial. GREG DEBLOUA TODAY NETWORK

“Even though there’s all this horrible evidence, they still have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Lindsay Clancy was legally responsible and legally sane at the exact moment of the offense.”

Margaret McLean LGBO AND NAT ALP

as a dating mother who “tried very hard to get the help she needed.”

“These children were loved and nurtured and cared for by her,” he said. “She didn’t want to get rid of her little because of her selfish life as the government indicates. She loved those children right up to the time of their death.”

The defense has called witnesses including Clancy’s mother and sister, who testified about her declining mental health prior to the killings. Reddington also questioned Clancy’s former colleague, an emergency medicine doctor and a psychologist who testified about psychosis symptoms and his interactions with Clancy after the children’s deaths.

Through expert testimony, Reddington will have to convince the jury that mental disease and misprescribed medications caused a psychotic break on Jan. 24, 2023, and Clancy therefore caused he held criminally responsible, McLean said.

“Reddington will argue that she snapped right before she killed them,” she said. “He’s going to have a hard time explaining exactly when this occurred. That’s tough.”

What happens if Lindsay Clancy is found not criminally responsible?

Clancy is facing three counts of first-degree murder, which in Massachusetts carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

Under Massachusetts law, if a defendant is found not guilty or lacking criminal responsibility, they are typically committed to a state hospital for mental health treatment and evaluation.

Clancy has been held at Tewksbury Hospital, a facility in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, for court-ordered mental health treatment since May 2023.

Ultimately the jury will have to reach a unanimous verdict on the question of criminal responsibility McLean said the nature of the case will make it difficult for 12 people to reach a consensus.

“It’s going to be a battle in that in jury room,” she said.

Peter Shandino reports for The Patriot Ledger, Molina Khan and Nifen Yancey-Brugs for USA TODAY.

Senior scams

Continued from Page 1A

Using artificial intelligence, scammers are “scouting distrusts and looking for vulnerabilities,” Liabtsaiten said. “It’s so disgusting, I can barely keep my cool about it.”

Liabtsaiten couldn’t help the family recover any of the money they’d lost. But he said the family was able to seal off the widow’s bank accounts, and now any time she moves money, one of her adult children has to approve it.

Most adult children are becoming biasous between their parents and their parents’ bank accounts as all makes fraud harder to spot.

As murderers of the sandwich generation, many of these caregivers are already facing overwhelming emotional and financial strain while caring for their children and aging parents. Add in elder fraud, and the pressure compounds, Liabtsaiten said.

There were more than 200,000 cybercrime complaints made to the FBI in 2020 by victims of coal older, totaling nearly 88 billion in losses – and those numbers are underreported, experts told USA TODAY. Some of today’s sandwich generation caregivers feel compelled to filter their parents’ every call, test, instant message and piece of snail mail to avoid the financial devastation

of a scam.

Jan Bednowitz, general manager at Lifetrack, an identity theft protection service, did just that after his mother’s paid caregiver stole her identity to open fraudulent loans and credit cards in her name. Bednowitz said he cleared all securities financial documents out of his mother’s house and redirected her mail to a third-party site to be scanned. He told her doctors not to provide her caregivers with good documents after visits. He couldn’t risk another breach of his mother’s privacy.

“I was already under financial stress, taking care of my mom. You know, it’s not cheap to have caregivers in the home,” Bednowitz said. “I can’t tell you the despair and weight that I fall.”

Fraud fallout hits more than wallet

Elder fraud isn’t new. But more seniors than ever before are embracing smartphones, Liabtsaiten said, and in some cases uprouting just as much time online as today’s law.

Bedsowitz said things have gotten worse since his mother’s fraud incident in 2016, mainly because of the rise of Al Being proactive about protecting seniors from scams is imperative, he said, but he also understands the barriers for some families.

“Most caregivers put scams and data privacy at the bottom of the list of things that they’re caring about. Just like me,

they’re worried about the physical health and the mental health of the individual,” he said. “But if you neglect that, there’s one cause much higher problems down the road.”

Patrick Coughlin, a cybersecurity expert and author, said the mental health impact of scams is sometimes just as crushing as the financial hit, leaving victims – and their families feeling ashamed and isolated.

“The first thing people say is, ‘How’d you fall for that?’” he said. “That shame can lead seniors to keep quiet about a scam in a manner previously losing even more cash in the process.”

How AI is accelerating fraud

AI has made scams even more convincing, Liabtsaiten said. One article can use AI to research victims, identify which scam might work best on that person, craft the perfect script and create a daoplate image, voice, or video to deliver the messages. AI also makes it possible for scammers to make their hands of those calls at once.

“They don’t necessarily commit the fraud on the first call,” Liabtsaiten added. “They may just be gathering personally about their information to leverage against you in the future.”

Cybercrimeans can then scam operations like businesses, Coughlin said. Some of them are leveraging AI better than legitimate businesses in the United

States, only their “customers” are fraud victims and their “sales” are stolen goods.

The good news? Several anti-fraud companies are using AI to combat bad actors and identify fraud. Apps like CarefulTox Coughlin’s Navi Security help caregivers keep taken on their loved ones’ accounts for any suspicious transactions.

Still, Liabtsaiten said, it’s important that caregivers talk with their aging loved ones about fraud. Not to make them feel paranoid, he said, but to help them understand how common fraud is and what scams are trending. Travealler keeps a bit of trending scams on its website, and the National Council on Aging recently posted a list of the most popular financial scams targeting older adults.

If you or your loved one does fall victim to a scam, he sure to take screenshots and save other documentation so you can report it. But the best approach, Bednowitz said, is preventive.

“Don’t wait until something happened because there’d a lot harder to resolve,” he said. “Make sure that you’re protecting all of their data, not just their physical and mental health.”

Middlesex Mitchell, role covering acovers and the caregiving economy at USA TODAY is supported by a partnership with Pivotal and Association Funding Partners. Pandora do not provide editorial input.

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NEWS

USA TODAY 8 FRIDAY AUGUST 21, 2026 8 7A

OPINION

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Women need to have a choice on this cancer

Dr. Joseph Seavert Dr. Rebecca Stone Opinion@usatoday.com

Two surgeons recently scrubbed in for the same patient. Her story appeared in The New York Times – one of the first instances that a national audience has seen what this choice looks like in an operating room.

She had come in for a painful inguinal hernia. One of us, a general surgeon, reported it. Then, at her request, the other, a gynecologic oncologist, removed her fallopian tubes.

The first year, when relieved pain she already had. The second was chosen by the patient to proactively reduce her roughly 5% lifetime risk of a cancer long known as 'the silent killer.' It took a few extra minutes. But the small time investment represents one of the most consequential shifts in our approach to eliminating ovarian cancer.

What are the 'calling cards' symptoms of ovarian cancer?

In July, researchers writing in BMJ Oncology reported that 2 in 5 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer only after symptoms become severe enough to require an emergency room visit.

The ratio is alarming because it means that the solution for early diagnosis had already closed. Women diagnosed in the emergency room face a threefold lower odds of having early stage, potentially outside disease.

Many had felt unwell for months bloating, abdominal pain, a constant increase in the kind of vague, 'ordinary' symptoms that women learn to dismiss months after months and year after year. The kind of symptoms that many doctors chalk up to chronic urinary tract infection or too much gluten.

But for women ultimately diagnosed with ovarian cancer, these symptoms are the 'calling cards' of a disease that has already spread to millions of tumors covering nearly every surface of their abdomen.

Taal ribbons spread awareness of ovarian cancer. In July, researchers reported that 2 in 5 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer only after symptoms become severe enough that they had to go to the emergency room. READERS BY MICHIGAN OVARAN CANCER ALLIANCE

It is instinctive to ask how we might catch this cancer sooner. For decades that instinct has driven serious effort, blood tests, imaging, large screening trials. None of it has lowered the death rate from ovarian cancer.

This dead end is not a failure of effort but a mismatch between the tool and the disease.

We can outsmart ovarian cancer – by removing fallopian tubes

Here is what roast the compass. Many of the deadliest ovarian cancers do not begin in the ovary. They begin in the adjacent fallopian tubes; the narrow passages that carry an egg toward the uterus and that serve no known purpose once a woman has finished having kids.

Preventing ovarian cancer by removing the ovaries has always been possible in principle, but it starts a heavy toll.

The ovaries produce hormones that protect bone, heart and brain. Surgical menopause is a younger woman carries lasting costs – increased risk of fracture, heart attack and dementia with ag-

ing. Post-reproductive fallopian tube removal – called salpingectomy – does not require the same sacrifice. For a woman finished with childhood, it means putting with a fertility organ that has no other known purpose, and it cuts her risk of the most common, deadly form of ovarian cancer by 10%.

A 2026 cohort study from British Columbia reported an even larger reduction – close to 10% – for high-grade serous ovarian cancer, the deadliest and most common form.

Removing the tubes during a hysterectomy, or in place of a tubal ligation, has become standard gynecologic care. The question is what happens outside the gynecologist's operating room.

Every day, women electively undergo surgery for hernias, gallbladder disease and cirrhosis that embraces when they are already under anesthesia and a surgeon is already in the abdomen. For women who have completed childbearing and who want ovarian cancer prevention, these operations could also be the moment to significantly lower the risk of a cancer that is now known to come from the fallopian tube, not the ovary, has no effective screening test and remains largely incurable.

Change machinery of medicine

There are good reasons why access to salpingectomy has not broadened beyond gynecology. Surgeons elsewhere may not be trained to perform it, the counseling takes time on one has built a great deal, until recently, the procedure could not even be filled properly.

None of these is a scientific problem. They are problems of training, time and reimbursement – the ordinary machinery of medicine that determines whether a proven idea ever reaches a patient. These features are not trivial, but they are unfavourable.

Over the past five years, we have systematically worked on running down these problems. In this marathon, the time is nearing when the last mile will require surgeons across specialties to ask a second question before operating – not only how do we fix what brought this patient here, but what else can we offer her to thoughtfully and safely reduce her future risk of cancer.

This is something women should be

able to choose, after a conversation most of them have never been offered.

Cancer prevention opportunities are rare. When one presents itself safely during an operation a patient is already having, we have a responsibility to consider it.

This movement has a name: Outsmart Ovarian Cancer. Launched across Johns Hopkins Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and MD Anderson Cancer Center, with support from Break Through Cancer and the American Cancer Society, it has a single goal: making concurrent salpingectomy – the removal of the fallopian tubes during another planned post-pro893active operation – a routine and reimbursable part of care rather than an unpassional idea.

The only thing better than a cure

The patient we could for recently came in expecting relief from a hernia. She got that. She also left with the peace of mind knowing she faces a substantially lower lifetime risk of ovarian cancer. She will never know whether that decision was one that spared her. Neither will we.

That is the paradox of prevention. Its greatest successes are suicidal.

No patient celebrates the heart attack that never happened. No family gathers to mark the outside scrabbed. And no one is thanked for the cancer that never formed.

Medicine has long measured itself by its ability to ensure people from disease. It should also measure itself by the disease that never occurs.

For ovarian cancer, the only thing better than a cure is never needing a cure in the first place. The choice we've hoped to offer women is finally within a world. Many women, woman has this choice to make feelings to all of us.

Dr. Joseph Seavert, a general (Ovaran critical care surgeon and executive vice chair of surgery at Johns Hopkins Medicine, is a lead surgeon in the national Outsmart Ovarian Cancer campaign. Dr. Rebecca Stone, professor and director of gynecology oncology at Hopkins, champions the Outsmart Ovarian Cancer campaign calls Dr. Kent Long at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

I grew up with Hayden Panettiere. Her death hits so hard.

The late-night Aug. 16 notification that Hayden Panettiere died took my breath away. She was 36 years old.

Panettiere's career coincided with my own coming of age. One of the first VHS topics I owned was 'A dog's Life.' In 2005, I checked my local Blockbuster multiple times for copies of 'Ice Princess' The Disney movie she starred in with the late Michelle Trachtenberg, 'Bring It On: All or Nothing,' was a movie my show friends and I wouldn't. I saw 'Horses' on Netflix as a teenager – her storyline as Clare Bennet was the only one I cared about.

Almost immediately, my side of the internet was filled with drills and dips of Panettiere's acting career, from a 'Remember the 'Pansy' clip, in which she discusses football plays with Denzel Washington's character instead of playing with dolls, to a montage of her and Trachtenberg in 'Ice Princess'.

We saw ourselves in her from a young age

I could immediately feel the outpouring of grief from women like me, who grew up with her. We saw ourselves in her from a young age. Now, we must reduce with the grief of a life lost too young, a life we were not a part of, even though she was a part of ours.

Every so often, a celebrity's death will fail like an exposed man, restraining on that the grief of love and our own mortality are always closer than we think. Millennials said, 'Am I am still getting used to that feeling.'

Hayden Panettiere attends the world premiere of 'Scream VI' in 2023 in New York City. CONTROLS NAME/UNS/GETTY IMAGES

In the last years of her life, Panettiere was talking about serious topics that many young women can empathize with. In her 2026 memoir,

'This Is Me: A Reckoning,' she discussed ... postpartum depression, addiction, abuse and trauma. I am so glad that she was able to share her truth with the world before her death.

Panettiere is not the first celebrity we have grown up with to die. I still remember getting the news in 2013 that 'Ulee' actor Cory Monteith had passed away, of a mixed drug toxicity. I was still in high school and having conversations with my friends about the strange feeling we were all experiencing.

Monteith was not someone we knew personally, but we felt we knew him. We could feel the sadness that surrounded the circumstances of his death, even though it was a feeling we could not yet name.

Over the years, we've started to learn how to cope with the deaths of famous people, perhaps because we have started to experience loss in our personal lives. We learn how to treat to the news, but it doesn't stop the existential dread that arises.

Despite being two of the youngest generations, millennials (born between 1940-96) and Generation Z (sponsoring 1997-2002) are not invincible. When a celebrity dies, we are reminded how short our own lives really are.

Panettiere meant so much to millennial and Gen Z women, in particular: she showed us how to be strong, but also how to be kind. She was someone we could look up to, someone who felt like she could exist in our world.

When truth is hard to say out loud

In the last years of her life, Panettiere was talking about serious topics that many young women can empathize with. In her 2026 memoir, 'This Is Me: A Reckoning,' she looked her experience with postpartum depression, addiction, abuse and trauma. I am so glad that she was able to share her truth with the world before her death, and that we were able to hear it.

I have written several times about my own experiences with celebrity, which I came to because of addiction and mental health. It's a big part of my own story. It is something that resonates with people my age, who are dealing with their own things. Panettiere's is not simply a stationary culture, she does a story about the importance of speaking your truth, even when it's difficult to say out loud.

I am thinking of Panettiere's family and friends, particularly her daughter, during this time. It is one thing to lose someone you've known through, a screen; it is another thing entirely to lose someone whose laughter you've heard in real life. I hope that they know the joy she brought to gale like me across the country.

You can follow USA TODAY columnist John Pepples on the Bloody playform @wznepepenookly social

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USA TODAY | FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2026 | SECTION B

Elliott: It's time to reclaim your role as a tourist

Columnist says the travel trend of living like a local comes at a high cost. Page 58

LIFELINE

DIMITROS KAMBOURG/GETTY IMAGES

THEY SAID WHAT? THE STARS' BEST QUOTES

“I kinda sorta put my acting career on hold the other day. It's been something I've been petrified to do for years. Specifically, the fear was that I'd go broke and not be able to handle being out of the game. But I sent the definitive email. And gotta say, a huge wave of relief watched over me.” – David Kunth/40, announcing that he's taking an 'indefinite break' from acting. In a series of Threads posts, the 'Oppenheimer' and 'Supergirl' star, 48, wrote that he's 'frustrated, fed up' and 'fried' and feels that 'the profession has lost its gleam.'

IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY WHO'S CELEBRATING TODAY

Tankian

Singer-songwriter Jackie DeMaimon turns 65. Filmmaker Peter Weir, 82. Actor Loretta Devine, 77. Actor Kim Catrick, 70. Actor Carrie-Anne Moss, 59. Singer Serj

Tankian (System of a Down), 59. Poet-author Kwame Alexander, 58. Actor Alicia Witt, 51. Singer Kelo, 47. Singer Kacey Musgraves, 38. – USA TODAY Network

HOROSCOPE | SANCTUARY

More: www.sanctuaryworld.co

Aries (March 21-April 19). A relationship asks for more maturity and clearer boundaries. Can you meet someone halfway and tell honor your limits?

Taurus (April 20-May 20). Are responsibilities feeling heavier than usual? Call in the support you need to get the job done.

Gemini (May 21-June 21). Encountering a buddell? A group expectation may be against your idea of a good time.

Cancer (June 22-July 22). Personal longings and professional obligations may be at odds today. Are the pressures of life hatching your mellow?

Lee (July 23-Aug. 22). New information requires receptiveness today. Is your first reaction to shut down the suggestion that comes your way?

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Does the current arrangement still feel fair? Review what you grow and receive.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). Relationships can hit a brick wall today. Even when you offer love, it may not be returned as you'd like.

Scorpio (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Sacrificing pleasure for work? Venus confronts Saturn today, asking you to examine the cost of running on autopilot.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Feeling cut off from your social life? A friend meet-up or group event may get delayed when Venus challenges Saturn.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Professional connections may feel strained today. Trying to put on a good face even though you don't feel like it?

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Is a reality check stopping you in your tracks? Practical questioning can deflate your enthusiasm.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20). People may want more than you can give. Do you need to draw the line with your time and resources?

MOVIES

Four friends since childhood find more revelry than restoration in the comedy 'Spa Weekend,' starring Isla Fisher, from left, Leslie Mann, Michelle Buteau and Anna Faris. PROVIDED BY VINCE VALITUT/VEBACK BEAR

'Spa Weekend' stars flex female power

Brie Jensen USA TODAY

LAS VEGAS – When Jack Pratt, Anna Faris' son with ex-husband Chris Pratt, visited his mom on the set of her latest comedy 'Spa Weekend,' he made a shocking discovery. • Pratt, now 14, observed Faris with her costars Michelle Buteau, Isla Fisher and Leslie Mann, with whom she bonded on location on Australia's Gold Coast. • 'He said, 'Mom, you have friends?' 'Faris recalls, laughing, at the film's world premiere at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas. 'Because I'm a bit of a hermit. I do have some dear childhood friends that I trust and love, but it's the logistics of this time in life.'

'Spa Weekend' arrives in theaters on Aug. 21.

Time to connect with others vanishes as life's responsibilities pile up, which is exactly what 'Spa Weekend' speaks to. In the movie (in theaters Aug. 20, three friends since childhood book a few days at a resort – looking to shuck their obligations and relax. Sophie (fresh is at the back and call of a nightmarish love. In between being an attorney, single mom and caregiver, June (blunt) struggles to find any time for herself, and Coco (Buteau) is battling her own rage and resentment amid a divorce. Their outrageous friend Mel (Fisher) crashes the weekend, and gets the foursome in trouble with the spa's owner, Shanti (Erika Reynato).

Directors and councillors Scott Moore and Jon Lucas, who also wrote 'The Hangover' and 'Bad Moms,' were inspired by their hard-working wives.

'What is wish fulfillment for you? What would you really like?' Moore re-members asking. 'And they're like, 'I just would like a day to myself, maybe with my friends and a book by the pool.' They just wanted a break. So that was sort of the germ of this, but then we thought that might be a little bit of a boring movie. So we're like, 'You're going to get that for two minutes, and then we're going to tear it up.'

'There's something a little bit silly' about spa culture. Lucas says: 'It felt like a very sort of fertile ground for a place that took itself maybe a little too seriously for us to have fun with making fun of it.'

See SPA WEEKEND, Page 2B

MUSIC

Sugarland takes its 'Ride' on the road

Ralphie Averas USA TODAY

NEW YORK – As Sugarland prepares for its Ride or Die Tour this fall, Jennifer Nettles is recalling a specific piece of advice a country music. A-liter gave the band early on in its journey.

I remember very specifically Brad Paisley saying to us, 'In your band, one bad apple can spoil the band.' Nettles, 51, tells USA TODAY alongside her bandmate Kristian Bush. Nettles says Paisley added, 'If you have someone out on the road with you in your band or in your crew that energetically doesn't want to be there, and it's obvious, move on.'

Nettles and Bush credit Paisley along with Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney and Brooks & Dunn for showing them the ropes when it came to per-

Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles will hit the road this fall to mark the 20th anniversary of Sugarland's album 'Enjoy the Ride.'

PROVIDED BY JOSEPH LLANES

forming in large venues. Acts didn't just offer advice, they sometimes lent production help to alleviate some of Sugarland's touring expenses as a supporting act.

Now Sugarland will return to the road as headliners on a 24-city tour to mark the 20-year anniversary of the duo's sophomore album, 'Enjoy the Ride.' The tour kicks off Oct. 1 in St. Augustine, Florida, and wraps Nov. 21 in Grand Prairie, Texas.

'Enjoy the Ride' was the first release after the group parted ways with founding member Kristen Hill. While neither addresses Hill's departure specifically lit reportedly was contentious, Nettles and Bush do remember learning to trust one another. Bush was thankful for Nettles' partnership. And Nettles felt they

See SUGARLAND, Page 2B

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28 | PROOF AUGUST 21, 2028 | USA TODAY

LIFE

STREAMING NEWS & VIEWS

Panettiere's 'Cruise' is heartbreaking to watch

Patrick Ryan

USA TODAY

Hayden Panettiere could always light up the screen.

The resilient 'Scream' actress, who died Aug. 26 at age 36, brought infectious warmth and deep vulnerability to everything she touched, whether as a child star in 'A Bug's Life' and 'Remember the Threw', or as a young woman in TV's 'Homes' and 'Nashville'.

But perhaps her most underrated performance is to 'Tiger Cruise' (streaming on Disney+), an off-freighting Disney Channel Original Movie set on an aircraft carrier during the Sept. 2 attacks. The patriotic family drama that aired in 2004, with a sub-rub message of duty and courage that undoubtedly was fueled by the Iraq War.

The film follows a broody, artistic teen named Maddie (Panettiere), who agrees to join her U.S. Navy commander and, Gary (Bill Pullman), for a week-long cruise from Hawaii to California aboard the USS Constellation. Each year, the Navy hosts military families aboard the carrier, where they get to learn what life is like to arrive service members.

Maddie reveals that her father has missed almost her entire childhood, and she makes the trip with the express purpose of convincing him to come home. Gary remonstrally agrees – that is, until 9/11 happens, and he decides that he needs to be there for his country and his crew should the Constellation be called to the frontlines.

The film ends with Maddie telling her dad that she ultimately doesn't want him to quit, even as she fears for his safety. In the last moments, she learns to salute, helps unfit at an American flag, and proudly embraces the label of 'Navy Bist'.

In many ways, 'Tiger Cruise' is a bizarre cultural artifact: better remembered for its dandily use of green screens and frequent declarations that the U.S. Navy is fully prepared to go into battle

Hayden Panettiere shows maturity and soul in the 2004 Disney Channel movie 'Tiger Cruise.' FRONTIERS BY WALT ZENNEY TELEVISION PHOTO ARCHIVES AND VAN GETTY IMAGES

with 800 civilians onboard. ('We can't let them interfere with our duties,' Gary says at our point.)

But Panettiere, then 15, anchors the drama with a quietly soulful performance well beyond her years. For a kids' film, 'Tiger Cruise' remarkably doesn't shy away from the horrific realities of

Sept. 2, 2001. The movie features copious footage of Guns and Zero and the places hitting the Twin Towers, as Gary breaks the news of the 'extremely grave situation' to crying passengers, all of whom are desperate to get in touch with their loved ones.

In one scene, Maddie gently comforts

an elderly man whose brother was killed at the Pentagon when hijackers struck the building. In another, she thoughtfully listens to a New York teen who tearfully bemoans that the city he once knew will never be the same again.

Most crushingly, Panettiere shares multiple scenes with her real-life younger brother, Joanne Panettiere, who died in 2023 at age 28 due to heart complications. The may-based actor plays Jody, a wary, and on onboard who bonds with Maddie over having absent parents in the military.

Panettiere tenderly conveys the turmoil of being a kid who's just trying to keep it together in the face of unthinkable circumstances. And watching Maddie's early scenes with her dad, it's hard not to be reminded of Panettiere's relationship with her estranged mother, Lesley Vogel.

In interviews and her 2026 memoir 'This Is Me, A Reducing,' the Golden Globe number recently has been pushed her into acting and modeling from the time she was an infant, and that she was 'everything but her child' to her business-minded mom.

'We're strangers,' Maddie pleads to Gary, unselfish and revishes even as she holds back tears. 'You're never here ... I want a father who's there every day.'

'Tiger Cruise' is in some respects devastating to watch now, given what we know about the abuses and pressures that Panettiere lived as a young actress in Hollywood. Even as a teenager, she could more than hold her own with a screen giant (the Pullman. And for a movie that's essentially Mouse House agitprop, her professional talent and honesty shine through, (She even got to showcase her crystalline vocals in original song 'My Hero Is You.')

After years of struggling with addiction and postpartum depression, Panettiere said repeatedly that he had months that she wanted to return to acting. This film is one of many heartbreaking reminders that she never get the chance.

The stars bonded while filming in Australia. PREVIEWER BY VINCE VAUT/STURLAUX BEAR

Spa Weekend

Continued from Page 18

Filming on location in Australia 'forced more friendships,' Paris, 49, says at the premiere. 'We hang out more, and we got to know each other, and that fall really, really special.'

The following day, Paris joins her female costars for an interview, in which Fisher also speaks to the cast's closeness.

'We definitely got into a lot of intimate conversations,' Fisher, 50, says.

'You lost your home in the fires,' Fisher says, referring to Paris' house in the Pacific Palisades, which burned in the 2025 wildfires. 'I had gone through a divorce (from友谊a Basse Odore). We came together and it was such a beautiful celebration.'

Fisher believes 'It's hard to find space for me'

In 'Spa Weekend,' an all-having yoga teacher named Kai Aldun, finessei firm with June and make what she does for her self. When asked the same question, Fisher says she finds fulfillment in her job, and Manu, 54, and Butesa, 49, agree.

Fisher makes stigma 'look easy,' Paris says, but Fisher confesses to spending a lot of time on her craft.

'I actually write the jokes at home,' she says. 'There before don't know that I spent like seven hours writing everything out.'

'It's not!' Butesa asks. 'Yeah, I'm a real love,' Fisher says. 'I literally think of every woman of every thing in my head, a thousand times... I always feel like it's hard to find space for me, so I think if I'm really prepared, then I just have to go really quickly and just get it all out.'

On 'Spa Weekend, 'they wanted us to be funny,' Fisher adds. 'It was such an amazing gift.'

It might be startling to hear that Fish-

er, who broke through as the original 'Stage 5 clinges' in 'Wedding Crashers' more than 20 years ago, has trouble finding room to flourish. Similarly, Paris, known for playing Cindy in the 'Scary Movie' franchise and quirky comedies including 'Just Friends' and 'The House Bump,' would like more autonomy in her career.

'I want to be able to choose projects that I feel really passionately about,' she says. 'I do think that I have made career choices out of fear, and it'd be nice moving forward to not do that. I hope for myself confidence.'

Butesa wishes all women felt self-assured.

'What I would like for women in general is just to say what they need without sounding sorry or apologetic or like it's a question mark at the end,' she says. 'And you don't always have to say, 'Thank you. You can just leave with a 'You're welcome.'

Butesa's plea to film fans: 'Female stories matter'

Both producer Suzanne Todd and Butesa made comments at the premiere about the lack of movies centered on women.

'Please tell all your friends and tell your friends to tell [than] friends,' Butesa asked the audience. 'Because we really want people to see this movie. Like Suzanne said, female stories matter. We matter, especially in a time right now. I don't want to get all Rachel Maddow on your ass, but when our bodies are being policed, it's up to us to tell our stories the way that we can. And to have fun and being home that paycheck.'

Their remarks earned cheers and applause, which delighted Butesa.

'I love that reaction,' he says. 'I hope that movies like ours – because I'm super-period of it and it's fun – in-spice more to get made, too. I'm raised by a single mum, and I'm an only child. I couldn't be more behind stories like this.'

Sugarland

Continued from Page 18

both 'black kit to press.' Without mentioning any one person, Nettles says that 'tadly in this business they're waiting on you to fail sometimes.'

'So we ourselves as songwriters, it was very validating that [Enjoy the Ride].' All so well as if old and continued to launch as forward in our careers because that was a very transitional time for us,' Nettles continues.

The album's best single, 'Want To,' was Sugarland's first Billboard No. 1, topping the hot content songs chart. The second single, 'Setlite', followed suit. And the album went on to sell more than 3 million copies in the United States.

Sugarland signed to Big Machine Records?

When it comes to the music industry, many things have changed since 'Enjoy the Ride' in 2006, including the Sugarland's record label.

The LP was released on Mercury Nashville in 2016, the group released the album 'Bigger Through a joint venture between Universal Music Group Nashville and Big Machine Records. That LP included the track 'Sake,' which featured vocals and was co-written by the Big Machine artist Taylor Swift. The following year, Sugarland moved exclusively to Big Machine. The group released an EP 'There Goes the Neighborhood' in 2024.

But now, Nettles and Bush reveal that Sugarland is independent.

'I would never well at that,' Bush, 56, says of Sugarland including and re-hunting music independently.

'The world we walked into 20 years ago when we were doing 'Enjoy the Ride,' we walked into very small keybones you had to fit these ideas through in order to get them [heard].'

Specifically, the relationship between country radio and music artists has allowed those songs to travel to 'people you'll never meet and in places you might never even be able to tour,' according to Bush.

Although the medium can still accomplish that, Bush notes how the changing landscape affects musicians in the studio.

'Now when I'm working with new artists, I keep telling them, You can do anything. It's not whether it sounds like it should be on the radio anymore. How does it make you feel?'

And that's the only judgment call,' he continues.

Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland attend the 1997 Music Awards in Austin, Texas, in 2024. HATY WINGS DEVER GETTY IMAGES

Kristian Bush

Sugarland compares its beginnings to today's artists

Bush has been an in-demand songwriter and producer in Nashville, notably producing all three of singer Megan Moroney's albums. The tiffects of LPs was released within a following three-year span, in which Bush says Moroney released nearly 70 songs.

For comparison, Sugarland released its first three albums over a four-year span. Bush says that while Moroney's pace was encouraged by her record label, Sugarland initially was totally some that they were 'moving way too fast' and might not pull it off.

'It just makes me want to scream,' Nettles adds of the current situation that artists face, in an ever-changing business model that includes streaming revenues and catalog ownership.

'Is [the new music] because the fans are demanding it or is that because the machine' now is based off revenue from catalog.'

'And so they want as much as they can as fast as they can,' Bush interprets before simply acknowledging that he doesn't know the answer.

'So many things have changed, but what's cool how is to have my finger on. What has not changed?' Bush says. 'What steps exactly the same? Well, come to the show. You'll find out.'

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LIFE

USA TODAY | FRIDAY AUGUST 21, 2025 | 18

USA TODAY CROSSWORD

MORE: Founder/Didic BY: Sally Woodruff

DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A CROSSWORD?

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Don't Quite Me about buying a little about buying our adult.

CLUBS 1. Assignment to high travel (10) 2. Inconformable NYC, borough (10) 3. Italian designer Amosoli (11) 4. New Bistro (10) 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100.

CLUBS 1. Set back of the house 2. Set back of the house 3. Set back of the house 4. Set back of the house 5. Set back of the house 6. Set back of the house 7. Set back of the house 8. Set back of the house 9. Set back of the house 10. Set back of the house 11. Set back of the house 12. Set back of the house 13. Set back of the house 14. Set back of the house 15. Set back of the house 16. Set back of the house 17. Set back of the house 18. Set back of the house 19. Set back of the house 20. Set back of the house 21. Set back of the house 22. Set back of the house 23. Set back of the house 24. Set back of the house 25. Set back of the house 26. Set back of the house 27. Set back of the house 28. Set back of the house 29. Set back of the house 30. Set back of the house 31. Set back of the house 32. Set back of the house 33. Set back of the house 34. Set back of the house 35. Set back of the house 36. Set back of the house 37. Set back of the house 38. Set back of the house 39. Set back of the house 40. Set back of the house 41. Set back of the house 42. Set back of the house 43. Set back of the house 44. Set back of the house 45. Set back of the house 46. Set back of the house 47. Set back of the house 48. Set back of the house 49. Set back of the house 50. Set back of the house 51. Set back of the house 52. Set back of the house 53. Set back of the house 54. Set back of the house 55. Set back of the house 56. Set back of the house 57. Set back of the house 58. Set back of the house 59. Set back of the house 60. Set back of the house 61. Set back of the house 62. Set back of the house 63. Set back of the house 64. Set back of the house 65. Set back of the house 66. Set back of the house 67. Set back of the house 68. Set back of the house 69. Set back of the house 70. Set back of the house 71. Set back of the house 72. Set back of the house 73. Set back of the house 74. Set back of the house 75. Set back of the house 76. Set back of the house 77. Set back of the house 78. Set back of the house 79. Set back of the house 80. Set back of the house 81. Set back of the house 82. Set back of the house 83. Set back of the house 84. Set back of the house 85. Set back of the house 86. Set back of the house 87. Set back of the house 88. Set back of the house 89. Set back of the house 90. Set back of the house 91. Set back of the house 92. Set back of the house 93. Set back of the house 94. Set back of the house 95. Set back of the house 96. Set back of the house 97. Set back of the house 98. Set back of the house 99. Set back of the house 100. Set back of the house

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48 || FRIDAY AUGUST 21, 2028 || USA TODAY

LIFE

MUSIC NEWS & VIEWS

Foo Fighters fly in career-spanning concert

Melissa Ruggieri USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – Dave Grohl has no off switch.

But put the Foo Fighters' scotatically manic freshman in front of more than 40,000 fans across the Potomac River from his hometown and Grohl is like a race car with the gas pedal locked down.

At the Aug. 17 stop at Nationals Park in Washington on the band's Take Cover stadium excursion, Grohl and his equally vigorous handmates stampeded through a three-hour history tour of the Foos' heavily catalog.

But as the head Foo, Grohl was the tireless centerpiece, albeit one who sounded like he might burst a vocal cord at any moment given the ferocity of his singing. But he's always been a bounce back kind of guy, and his voice retains the same type of elasticity. There may be a little more gray in Grohl's guides, but she'd equate that with a snug, slender.

Before the last notes of show-opener "All My Life" were played, Grohl was drenched in sweat, his long hair flying, his legs squinting down the lengthy catwalk.

After a 32-year existence, the band has such a reservoir of rockers both melodic and headhanging that they can reel off "The Pretender," "Times Like These," "My Hero" and "Learn to Fly" within in the first seven offerings and still have more than 20 songs left to uncork (though this didn't show their screens offering close-ups of the musicians sweltering in the humid air.

Grohl embraced playing a hometown show

Guitarists Chris Shifflett and Pat Smear, keyboardist Rami Jaffee, bassist Nate Mendel and new drummer Ilan Rubin – a bulldozer behind the kit – kept pace with the relentless energy of the show, which unfolded under a canopy of frenzied lights and three chair screens offering close-ups of the musicians sweltering in the humid air.

Aside from a 2005 20th anniversary gig at (ready-to-be-razed) RFK Stadium, the Foos have mostly hit arenas and intimate specialty shows in the area.

Foo Fighters, at the Aug. 4 tour NIAGIT in Toronto, bring a bittering three-hour show on this tour, which included a stop at Nationals Park in Washington, Dave Grohl's old stomping grounds. PROVIDED BY ANDY C. TAYLOR FOR FOOT EDITORS

Grohl made mention of the enormity of this stadium production and clearly was paired to be near his northern Virginia roots. He grew up in the suburb of Springfield and talked about writing "Stacked Action" in the nearby haven of Old Town in Alexandria, while also dedicating the pretty "These Days" to his friends and family in attendance.

Following an interview, the Son of Mine," featuring a snippet of Motiboud's "Ace of Spades" and powered by the velocity of Rubin's drumming, the band finally took a breath an hour into the show.

Foo Fighters are equally riveting in the quiet moments

Gathered at a 8-stage set up at the end of the catwalk, the Foos spotlighted the melodies lurking within the heavy rifle and handsaw excuses.

"Let's shift gears," Grohl said, tucking his wapping hair behind his ears. "I'm 57 years old. I'm gonna play an acoustic song."

The four-song set was highlighted by Grohl doing a shot of Jagermeister with

a woman whose daughter caught his attention with a sign ("After all these years I've never done a shot with a mom in the front row before," Grohl quipped), but also some riveting material.

"Marigold," written when Grohl first moved to Seattle and lived with Kurt Cobain, was the B-side to Nirvana's "Heart-slipped Box" in 1999 and offered striking grunge-run guitar.

While the poppy bounce of "Big Me" is always welcome, it was Grohl's solo performance of "Under You" that resonated the deepest. Written after the 2022 death of drummer and friend Taylor Hawkins, the song felt like a moment of catharsis for Grohl, the emotion in his voice audible and his guitar playing an excursion of emotional pain.

The Foos returned to their crunch-rock with the 2007 deep cut "La Deo Da" ("For the OGA" Grohl yelled) paired with the even heavier "Run" from the same "Concrete and Gold" album.

Foo Fighters are still going full throttle

Throughout this North American leg

of the tour, which began the first week of August and will pause for a few weeks before returning Sept. 12 for another spate of shows, the Foos have delivered unique band introductions. Given the rock bona fides of the musicians, the rule is simple – each player had to perform a song from a band they were in before Foo Fighters.

The format was an amazing detour as the crowd board from Shifflett (No Use for a Nurse), Jaffee (The Wallflowers), Mendel (Sunny Day Real Estate), Smear (The Grams) and Rubin (The New Regime).

The setup was an ideal segue into the final slice of the show that included the bruising "Monkey Wrench" and, as usual in the Foos recent sets, a more obvious tribute to Hawkins with the lovely "Aurora."

After three decades, the Foos are firmly in legacy territory, and among the veterans still packing stadiums. But what differentiates them from some of their peers is the unyielding pace of their live shows, all of it delivered with the grinning joy of playing rock 'n' roll.

The switch is most definitely still on.

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You can check the headlines from your home state or city

We survey and compile the top news stories from all 50 states plus Washington, DC. Page 38

Summer getaways that beat the heat

The Northeast offers some cool spots to visit

Josh Roberts

FamilyVacationist.com

As a lifelong New Englander, I pretty much have two options for cooling down in the summer: Go north or get out on the water. (Technically, there's a thirst option: Go and hand get out on the water.) I'm especially drawn to cool summer getaways within driving distance, which makes it easy to pick up and go on a weekend escape. Here are five of my favorite summer vacation spots in the Northeast that offer plenty to do and a little bit of a break from the heat.

1. Nantucket, Massachusetts

Long considered a fashionable summer home for New England's rich and famous, tiny Nantucket is like an island out of time off the coast of Massachusetts. With its coldestone streets and charming old port routes, the pace of life here is dictated more by cool summer breezes than busy summer schedules. Low-key highlights include strolling the 'Aconset Bluff Walk, picnicking on beautiful beaches, a whale-watching tour (the season runs throughout summer), and enjoying a sunset cruise from the harbor.

For active weekend or midweek warriors, Nantucket offers miles upon miles of bike paths and nearly endless opportunities for paddling. Kayak and bike rentals are in no short supply on the island. In the evenings, stroll along streets lined with art galleries, shops, and restaurants, then settle in for a cocktail at one of the many high-end restaurants. There are plenty of waterfront inns and B&Bs to call your own, spots where you can take in the sunset on a cooling deck and let the salty ocean air keep you cool all night long.

2. Southern Maine Coast

When it's steamy hot in Boston or New York, chances are it's cool and comfortable along the Southern Maine coast. Average summer temps in the scenic towns of Ogunquit, Wells, and Cape Neddick are about 10 degrees cooler than nearby tourist spots like Portland and Kennebunkport, which makes this lovely locale a popular spot for Northeast summer vacations. With summer highs usually topping out in the mid-70s. Paleontario, three post-cod-perfect New England coastal towns and seaside villages are an ideal spot to keep cool and take in that down-home Maine charm - and treat yourself to a lobster roll.

It's easy to get out on the water, enjoy public beaches, and stroll around historic villages on the Southern Maine coast. In Ogunquit, one of the best family beach destinations in the country - and home to several of the best family beaches in New England - don't miss the 1.25-mile winding cliff walk called The Marginal Way. In Wells, take in a

See GETAWAYS, Page 6B

Time to tour like a tourist, again

Traveling like a local is starting to backfire

Os Travel Christian Short USA TODAY

Let's stop this disruptive force before it ruins the summer of 2026. Experts say it displaces residents, inflates housing costs, and ruins the neighborhoods you claim to love. Maybe the most ethical - and enjoyable - way to travel now is to stop pretending you live there and embrace your status as a tourist.

GETTY IMAGES

Damien Zouaoui used to be a true believer in living like a local. He accused online listings for authentic-looking apartments in up-and-coming neighborhoods, chopped at local markets, and tried his best to blend in. Then, came the trip to Lisbon that changed everything.

His street, located in a quiet residential neighborhood, had lost its bakery. The local barberding was gone too - replaced with boutique rentals and overpriced branch spots "catering to people like me," recalls Zouaoui, the cofounder of a wellness company in Denver.

Then he witnessed the argument.

"I watched my best get into a shooting match with his neighbor over yet another guest's rolling suitcase clattering down the coldestones," he recalls. "That moment bit hard."

Zouaoui realized he was not a visitor, but part of an invading force.

For the last decade, the travel industry's Golden Rule has been to live like a local. Shun the tourist traps, skip the hotels, and embed yourself in residential enclaves to find true authenticity.

I've had a front-row seat to this gentrification with a passport. I'm on the road 350 days a year, often staying in rental apartments. In fact, I'm writing this from an Airbnb in Newmarket, a neighborhood in Auckland, and it's located between a car repair shop and a Chinese grocery store. So much for authenticity.

The high cost of fake living

The problem with living like a local is simple math: When everyone does it, no locals are left. Tourists push out the very communities they claim to love.

Daniel Guttenag, a professor at the College of Charleston, says this desire is "silly." Tourists do not want the reality of local life - the rush hour commute, the cooking, the school run. They want the backdrop without the burden.

The cost of this fantasy is real housing. Short-term rentals strip homes from the market. A McGill University study found that in Canada's largest cities, landlords removed nearly 18,000 homes from the long-term market to serve tourists. In New York City, as many as 31,500 housing units vanished into the short-term rental void, driving up sorts for actual residents by hundreds of dollars a year.

Jennifer Kaplan, a sustainability strategist, argues you can't find an authentic experience in a hollowed-out neighborhood.

See ELLIOTT, Page 6B

Survey ranks Denver first for domestic flight deals

Nathan Diller

USA TODAY

Finding cheap flights can be a matter of both where you're going and who takes you there

Going released its 2026 Top Airports and Airlines for Flight Deals on Aug. 17. The analysis was based on a review of more than 45,000 routes at U.S. airports from July 1, 2025, to June 30.

A single cheap fare doesn't tell the whole story," Willie Orlando, flight expert at Going, said in a news release. "With most travel headlines featuring affordability right now, we built these rankings around what actually matters to travelers: not just the price of the ticket, but how deep the discount is and how often a good deal comes around. An airport that has one amazing fare a year isn't as valuable to travelers as one that

delivers solid deals every week."

What are the top airports for flight deals?

According to Going, Denver International Airport (DEN) was the top airport for domestic flight deals.

That was followed by Louis Armstrong, New Orleans International Airport (MSY) in second place, while Orlando International Airport (MCO) came in third.

Airport rankings were based on a weighted score that took average deal savings on full-service airlines, average price and deal volume into account.

"Denver, New Orleans and Orlando get there in different ways, but the throughline is the same in that more

See AIRPORTS, Page 6B

According to Going, Denver International Airport (DEN) was the top airport for domestic flight deals. That was followed by Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY). MEGAN VARNAN/KEUTZER

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48 || PROOF AUGUST 21, 2026 || USA TODAY

MONEY

Europe's new entry rules confuse travelers

EU launches 2 programs, but only one is in use

Kathleen Wong USA TODAY

Americans traveling to Europe may not be aware of the latest entry requirements needed to begin their vacation.

The European Union announced the launch of two new border management initiatives that apply to non-EU nationals: the European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) and Entry/Exit digital border management system (EES). The ETIAS and EES are two separate programs, but both are meant to "strengthen European security and security of those who travel," according to the official EU website.

Some travelers may still be confused over what's necessary for their trips, especially given that the EES is in effect while the ETIAS has been delayed since 2022. To avoid any hiccups at border

control, here's what to know about going to Europe in 2026:

What is the EU's Entry/Exit System (EES)?

EES is a digital system that replaces the manual passport stamps for non-EU nationals visiting a Schengen Area country for a short stay. Upon arrival, travelers register by having their face and fingerprints scanned so their entry and exit data are stored. "The goal is to speed up border checks and to improve internal security," the EU website says.

The EES began with a gradual rollout last October, and since then, there have been nearly 90 million entries and exits, plus 1000 people identified as a security threat, a European Commission spokesperson told USA TODAY in an email in June.

Do I need to do the EES?

Yes. As of April 30, the EES has been

fully operational at all border crossings at the Schengen Area.

According to some reports, travelers have faced long lines and even missed connecting flights as airports deal with growing pains during the transition to biometric breaks. To speed up the process, travelers to Sweden and Portugal can download the Travel to Europe mobile app and preregister their passport data and blood-Image within 72 hours of entering or exiting a European nation. More nations may be added to the app later, but features may vary.

What is the European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS)?

ETIAS is an entry requirement that prescreens visa-exempt nationals, including Americans, traveling to 30 European countries. It allows travelers to enter any of those countries as often as they want for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. But it does not guarantee an

automatic right to entry and border guards still need to verify your identity.

ETIAS is not a visa and does not reintroduce visa-like obligations," European Commission spokespersons Judith Hipper told USA TODAY. "There will be no need to go to a consulate to make an application, no biometric data will be collected, and no additional documentation will be required beyond a valid travel document."

The ETIAS was set to cost 20 euros—or about $25—and he took to your passport. It's added up to the access, unless your passport expires before then. In that case, you'd need to apply for a new ETIAS.

Do I need to do the ETIAS?

Not yet, as of Aug. 27, 2026, the ETIAS is still not in operation, so travelers don't need to apply for one. It was first proposed in 2006 and keeps getting postponed. The last announced launch date was late 2026.

Getaways

Continued from Page 5B

free summer concert at Wells Harbor Park. Wherever your summer getaway takes you along the Northern Maine coast, the cooling sea hires as are sure to follow.

3. Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park, Maine

Head to the very tip of Northern Maine for spectacular scenery, fresh seafood, and warm-but-not-toe-warm summer weather. There's plenty to do on and around the water in Bar Harbor, Maine - sex kayaking is a favorite here- and when you live of the ocean, head to Northern Maine's mighty peaks for some crisp alpine air, not to mention up-ic sumless for the early birds.

In nearby Acadia National Park (one of the best bang for your back affordable family vacation destinations in the entire country), you can explore more than a hundred miles of trails and old sausage roads, many of them shaded by ancient trees that lately protect you from the summer heat. Not that the weather ever gets too hot here. Average summer highs lovee on the mid-70s, and typical lows are in the 50s. That's perfect weather for outdoor fun, no matter if you prefer the ocean or the mountain biking trails.

4. Lake Placid and the Adirondack Mountains, New York

In Lake Placid, summer temperatures average in the low- to mid-70s for the months of June, July, and August. And while this quiet little resort town will always be best known for its Winter Olympics glory ("Do you believe in maroon? Yes!"), Lake Placid and the sur-

Nantucket Harbor brims with seaside charm. PRINTED BY THE MASSACHUSETTS OFFICE OF TRAVEL AND TOURISM

Keep your cool in Bar Harbor, Maine. PRINTED BY VILTENBERG.COM

rounding Adirondack Mountains are about as cool and low-key a summer destination as you'll find in the region. There's no shortage of things to do here, either. With countless upscale bor-

tels and fine dining restaurants, a cute downtown with shops and cafes, several historic Olympic sites to visit, state parks, more mountain trails that you can shake a biking stick at, and plenty of

gentle ponds and lakes for canoeing or kayaking, your only report will be that your summer getaway isn't longer.

5. Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada

With seasonal highs in the low 70s, Cape Breton Island off the Atlantic coast of Canada is perfect for an extended summer getaway. It's also one of Canada's most popular family vacation spots. Part of the appeal, beyond the spectacular natural beauty and rich Celtic traditions of Nova Scotia, is the fun of getting here. While Cape Breton is reachable by both air and car, the most enjoyable way to start your cool North-east summer getaway is by high speed ferry from Bar Harbor, Maine, onboard THE CAT to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

From there it's a long but exceptionally scenic drive to your final getaway destination on the island. Once on Cape Breton, the highlights are almost all natural: rugged coastline, deep forest, and marine wildlife-watching are among the top things to experience on Cape Breton. You'll want to rent a car or drive your own for this cool summer getaway so you can experience the famed Cabot Trail, a loop road that circles the most scenic parts of the island.

Outdoor lovers should plan to tackle the easy Skyline Trail footpath inside Cape Breton Highlands National Park, the trail overlooks the Gulf of St. Lawrence. If your getaway is an extended one, plan an overnight trip to take in Prince Edward Island (of "Anne of Green Gables" fume) as well.

Ask Abderst is the editorial director of FamilyInvestment.com and the author of the forthcoming novel, "Victoria Snow and the Blood of Rings," available Sept. 14, 2027.

"The views and opinions expressed in this column can the authors read do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY

Elliott

Continued from Page 5B

"When authenticity becomes commercialized at scale," she says, "it loses its authenticity by Abderst."

The "new poster" tip: Thomas Plante, a psychology professor at Santa Clara University, suggests we are driven by "virtue signaling and narcissism." We want to feel superior to the masses on the tour bus. We want to be travelers, not tourists. But by refusing to visit the places built for us, we destroy the places built for others.

In defense of the tourist trap

The alternative is the one thing we are trained to avoid: the tourist trap.

Urban, planners and sustainable tourism experts argue that designated tourist areas—often derided as "traps"—

act as necessary protective barriers for a destination. They concentrate the noise, the trash, and the crowds in areas designed to handle them, leaving residential neighborhoods for, you know, the residents.

"Tourist places are tourist places for a season," says Alex Vuka, the founder of Vibe Adventures. "They have the infrastructure, the permits, the tax laws, and workers trained to handle works."

In fragile ecosystems, these zones are vital. Alashki Dabey, who runs Jungle Reviews in India, learned this the hard way. Early in his travels, he chased "authentic" off-grid jungle stays, hiring local Jwaps and camping in buffer zones.

"I got lost for hours and nearly died of thirst," Dabey recalls. "A near-miss elephant charge was my wake-up: Pretending to be local endangered everyone."

Now, he sticks to official zones and licensed guides. "Tourists infrastructure isn't a trap," he adds. "It's a lifeline."

How to be a good tourist

If you want to avoid gentrification with a passport this summer, you don't have to give up on culture. You just need to change your approach.

"Why not act like a tourist and a local?" asks Thomas Roock, author of the memoir "Falling into Place." "May in a hotel but eat where the locals eat. Visit the sights one day and explore neighborhoods the next. Embracing both identities will result in a broader and richer experience."

Here is how to do it:

• Stop in a hotel: They're created for visitors. They employ locals, pay commercial taxes, and have security. "Hotels exist for travelers," Zouaoui says. "They don't displace families or schools."

• Hire licensed guides: "A good concierge or tour guide will steer you to places that want visitors and away from fragile blocks," says Justin Brown, a fre-

quent traveler based in Singapore.

• Visit the landmarks: There's no shame in seeing the Eiffel Tower or the Colosseum. These icons are in tourist areas, and your ticket price often supports their concentration.

Shopping the "local" facade is liberating. You no longer have to worry if you are annoying the neighbors—or inadvertently raising the rent.

"I've started to enjoy the classes," Zouaoui tells me. "When I was in Rome last, I walked to the Trent Fountain at sunrise with a cappuccino in hand—and it was magical.

"No guilt, no awkward play-acting. Just the joy of being exactly what I was: a visitor."

It's right. The most respectful way to travel is to stop faking it. Stop the gentrification with a passport. Some places weren't meant for you. They're meant to be seen, appreciated, and then left to the people who actually call them home.

Airports

Continued from Page 5B

competition means lower fares," Orlando said in the release. "In Denver, United and Southwest are locked in a fare war with Frontier."

In New Orleans, Southwest and Breese are doing the same, on top of being leisure demand. And in Orlando, all those planes flying in for theme parks have to fly back out, so locals benefit from that extra capacity, too."

For bargains on international flights,

Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) took the top spot, with New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) leading to second place. Nevada Liberty International Airport (EWR) came in that.

The three airports are "the country's primary East Coast getaways to international travel," Orlando noted.

On the flip side, Honolulu's Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL), Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG) and Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) saw the fewest deals for domestic flights.

For international flights, Kahului Air-

port and Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport also ranked in the bottom three, along with Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport (OAK).

What are the top airlines for flight deals?

Based on Going deal frequency, American Airlines came in first for domestic flights, followed by Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines. United Airlines rounded out the top four, with Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines at 89½ place (Alaska acquired Hawaiian in 2024).

JetBlue came in sixth. Going did not analyze budget airlines such as Jento Airlines and Breese Airways, including only full-service carriers.

"While American takes the cake for the most deals, it's really the Big 5 plan Southwest all located in the same ballpark," Orlando said.

"That's steep competition and how wars at work, and those are exactly what drive the best deals for travelers."

When it comes to international flights, United, American and Delta snagged the top three spots. Those were followed by Air Canada, British Airways and JetBlue.

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USA TODAY | FRIDAY AUGUST 21, 2026 | 79

50+States

News from the USA

ALABAMA Tuscaloosa: Stillman College announced plans to restore Tiger football, bringing back a tradition that school leaders say has long united students, alumni and the Tuscaloosa community.

ALASKA Jamaica: The Jamaica School Board approved a lease that will bring after school children back to haynik Gastineau Community School in Douglas through a private provider, KTOO reported.

ARIZONA Scottsdale: Scottsdale reflects an average of nearly $1 million annually from drivers caught speeding past its photo radar campaign, city financial records showed Whether the city stands to earn more revenue from local federal drivers in another challenge for Scottsdale's police and municipal court. According to the city, nearly half the city's photo enforcement came over the past five and a half years have been dismissed because drivers couldn't be served their civil rights citations.

ARKANSAS Little Rock: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Little Rock District celebrated the completion of the $346.8 million Three Rivers Project, an effort to protect the McClellan-New Arkansas River Navigation System from erosion driven channel changes, KARK reported.

COLORBORO Sacramento: California ranks ranging the top 10 states for public education, according to a new report The Golden State ranked No. 7 in Concomet d'Briot analysis of the nation's public education systems.

COLORBORO Pueblo: Students and teachers have automatic access to library resources from the Pueblo City-County Library District after joining the Library Connect program.

CONNECTICUT Meriden: The long-vacant former Meriden-Wallingfield Hospital is slated for demolition to make way for a new Channel Palaski Elementary School, WFB8 reported.

DELABASH Dover: Delaware has issued emergency regulations for bunnies after chronic wasting disease was discovered in two Delaware deer earlier this year.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washing-up: President Donald Trump literally put his signature on his latest organization for the White House, a guards helped that he said could double as a cocktail lounge.

FLORIDA St. Augustine: Romanza-St. Augustine Inc. and event organizers announced that the St. Augustine Cribb News & Heritage Festival and the St. Patrick Parade, two events that ran in tandem with each other, will start to start. The organizers cited a lack of state guests for arts and culture events for the past two years, declining support from local government. difficulties with U.S. work was bureaucracy, and increased costs of supplies and labor.

GEORGIA Clarke County: The Clarke County School District has opened applications for a Volunteer instructional Leadership Learning Academy that will provide in-depth information on the school system during the 2026-27 school year.

HAWAII Bensalide: Hawaii health officials reported Oahu's seventh dengue case of 2026, a travel-related infection with no links to previous cases, KHOO2 reported.

IDAHO Boise: Gov. Brad Little has approved Family Judicial District Judge Jason Scott to the Idaho Supreme Court, where he will succeed retiring Chief Justice Richard Bevan, Idaho Capitol Sun reported.

ILLINOIS Joplin: Tyson Foods announced that it was closing its beef processing plant in Joplin, Illinois, and its case—such facility in Eagle Mountain, Utah. The company also announced plans to sell its beef processing facility in Pasco, Washington.

JAMAICA Evansville: The University of Evansville Dance Company will save $80,000 Forward Together GO Grant to bring balloons dance in structure and healthy living activities to children in Evansville's Promise Neighborhood.

IOWA Iowa City: Iowa veterans with diet-related serious health conditions may soon have free access to low-calorie food as part of a new pilot program at the Iowa City Veterans Affairs hospital. Honor Harvest will connect eligible veterans with a box of locally grown food from "Choose Iowa" members, according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.

HIGHLIGHT: MARYLAND

A ceremony was held for the donation of a descendant of the Annapolis Liberty Tree to Salisbury University. PROVED BY LAUDIN P. UNIVERSITY

Salisbury: A direct descendant of the last original Liberty Tree in the United States has been planted at Salisbury University, linking the campus to a symbol of American independence that stood in Annapolis for nearly 225 years. The tree was donated through the Maryland State Society Daughters of the American Revolution's Our Legacy of Liberty Project, which is commemorating the state's semiparametransal and Maryland's role in the American Revolution, according to a community announcement. Salisbury University was one of 10 locations selected for a descendant of the Annapolis Liberty Tree.

KANSAS Hutchinson: Renters in Hutchinson saw apartment listing prices decrease 90% from July 2025's median of $750, an analysis of new data from rental marketplace Zumpers shows.

KENTUCKY Louisville: The new Louisville VA Medical Center under construction along Interstate 264 will now open in April 2027, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website.

LOUISIANA St. Bernard Parish: Louisiana has secured a key federal approval to build a new drug water port in St. Bernard Parish that will keep the state competitive for global container commerce, the Port of New Orleans announced.

MAINE Augusta: The Maine Department of School Fisheries and Wildlife is once again asking residents to look out for one of Maine's most elusive native species: the rusty patched bumble bee, Maine Morning Star reported. If a one of two native species of bumble bee that hasn't been seen in the state in years it is considered a rare species of special concern by the state and was the first bumble bee species to be added to the U.S. Endangered Species List, according to the news outlet.

MASSACHUSETTS Westminster: More than three months after her-tied water service ended for some Westminster residents, those with PFAE-contaminated wells are still waiting for relief as construction of the proposed Woodland Loop waterline remains on hold.

MICHIGAN Pewsbury: North Central Michigan College will open the new Martin John Technology Center with a 48-hour cutting ceremony Aug. 16, a project designed to expand training opportunities in advanced manufacturing, engineering technology and skilled trades.

MINNESOTA St. Paul: Gov. Tim Watt signed an executive order banning modernism naming near the Boundary Nature Cause Area Will decrease in what may prove to be one of the most significant conservatives acts in generations, Minnesota Reformer reported.

MISSISSIPPI Jackson: The Mississippi Museum of Art will take over management to Jackson's long-closed McNair-Davis Planetarium under a new agreement intended to finally bring the $23 million facility back to life. But the change in management comes with another delay for the long-awaited reopening. After city officials must recently targeted full 2026, the museum now says it cannot give a firm date for when the planetarium will open.

MISSOURI Springfield: Two new older parks will open to the public in southern Missouri in the next decade, including one that would become the closest state park to Springfield. Both state parks have been in the works for years yet have remained closed to the public.

MONTANA Ravalli County: The U.S. Forest Service is accepting public commerce through Sept. 13 on the proposed Sheep Creek Rare Earth Exploration Project in the Bitterroot National Forest as if undergoes review, KPAR reported.

NEBRASKA Lincoln: City officials announced the former Veterans Administration Hospital will be converted into affordable housing for seniors and veterans as part of a redevelopment project aimed at expanding housing options in the city, KOLN reported.

NEVADA Carson City: A federal appeals court panel agreed with a lower court that legal Charlist was improperly appointed to local Nevada's U.S. attorney's office and should be barred from overseeing prosecutions.

NEW HARRISBURG Dover: Dover High School's athletic department has scheduled the football team's first three former games in 2020 to be played at other sites as work remains ongoing at the new Dunaway Field, part of an 800 million overhead of the schools outdoor athletic complex.

NEW JERSEY Madison: One of New Jersey's most prestigious universities is about to open its doors for eager students who have yet to reach high school. Drew University will deliver has announced the launch of The Drew School for grades one to eight, growing for the fall semester, the new venture is a community with 2 West Learning, an artificial intelligence curricular platform used by the Alpha School network.

NEW MEXICO Artesia: The city of Artesia has opened a new $40 million recreation center, providing expanded fitness, sports and community amenities for residents, KROE reported.

NEW YORK Albany: New York state is offering $35 million on government agencies and state universities can build electric vehicle charging stations on their property to address "large anxiety." that's contributed to planning EY sales.

NORTH CAROLINA Fayetteville: The Fayetteville City Council approved a $1.60 million contract for the design and providing phase of the College Lake dam vehicle project, in an effort to bring the high-hazard domains compliance with state safety requirements.

NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck: The North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality has awarded $2.86 million in EPA funding to nine projects across the state aimed at reducing sound pollution and improving water quality through conservation efforts, education and technical assistance, KXNET reported.

North Pike County: Partnering with the Japanese—used 69 Energy, California-based Wailai and U.S. Department of Energy, OpenAI, the U.S. artificial intelligence company, has pledged to create 35,000 construction jobs in a site year holdout of the Pike County data center campus that holds ground outside this year.

OHLA OHIMA Oklahoma City: Oklahoma City (sacred members voted to approve assessing an amended contract with Rock Safety amid nationwide backlash against the controversial company's automated license after reading cameras working with law enforcement agencies.

OREGON Salem: Oregonian narrow passage of Mexican St. the gun control initiative, squared thousands of more Benson purchase in the state, according to a study by researchers from Oregon State University, the University of Oregon and the National Bureau of Economic Research.

PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: Nearly 880 Pennsylvania kindergarten are reporting broader immunization rates of lower than 95%, the level generally required to prevent the highly infectious disease from circulating in a community, according to the state.

RHODE ISLAND Providence: Between 2020 and 2024, the number of Rhode Island households reporting food insecurity more than doubled, from 80% to 38%, according to the most recently available data from the RI Life Index, a survey conducted by Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and Brown University's School of Public Health.

SIOUX Louisiana Falls Beach: One South Carolina destination was recently identified by The Action Network as one of the top three beaches at highest risk of theft based on an analysis of property crime data from more than 500 beaches nationwide. Surf-under the 2020-2030 season, filed as one of the top three beaches with a high risk of theft. The beach landed on spot No. 2 in the roundup.

SOUTH DAKOTA Aberdeen: Northern State University and Ames have expanded their partnership to strengthen nursing education. The collaboration includes the creation of WDT's Department of Nursing and the establishment of the Ames Simulation Center, according to a community announcement.

TENNESSEE Oak Ridge: Raines Power, the California company building salt-cooled reactors on former Manhattan Project built in Oak Ridge, is launching a new initiative to develop advanced manufacturing and construction techniques while training workers for Tennessee's growing nuclear industry.

TEXAS Corpus Christi: The Nurses River Authority expects to receive a $7 million grant from the Texas Water Development Board to support engineering for a conveyance system to transport water from a planned seawater desalination plant to Corpus Christi and Portland.

UTAH Salt Lake City: Officials said Utah's 81 largest wildfires have cost nearly $207 million to battle this year, as the state endures its worst fire season in almost two decades, KSL reported.

VERMONT Burlington: The U.S. Navy will bring Burlington Navy Week to communities across the Lake Champlain region from Aug. 24-30, marking the first Navy Week event held in Vermont.

VERGINIA Forest: A female 6-foot python named Nanner has become an unlikely suspect in a fire at Forest Middle School, with officials saying the inside helped start the blaze and her owner was the first Nanner was actually trying to escape it.

WASHINGTON Port Orchard: Twenty-seven aging books - 25 of them that had been floating on the water-wire handed to Sidney County's vessel turn to people in this summer, preventing them from becoming the next Dominion or Cushion, the two aging boats sunk and leaked fuel in Sinclair Inter during 2023.

WEST VIRGINIA Charleston: A recent education study by Commonwealthans ranked West Virginia among the nation's worst states for public education despite boasting the country's highest high school graduation rate, WDTY reported.

WISCONSIN Madison: Wisconsin's public university systems is emphasizing affordability, access and forward motion in its 2027-29 budget request, working a $750 million increase in funding from the state legislature and governor ahead of November elections.

WISCONSIN Cheyenne: In a deep-rod state, President Donald Trump's pick for governor Sen. Trump endorsed Megan Dagoulides in the race to replace Republican Gov. Mark Gordon. Dagoulides, the state superintendent of public institution, lost the GOP nomination to Eric Barlow, a Wyoming state senator, in the state's Aug 10 gubernatorial primary.

From USA TODAY: Network and acre reports

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8B | FRIDAY AUGUST 21, 2026 | USA TODAY

MONEY

It starts with a nomination...

and ends in Boston!

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Nominate your company!

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SPORTS

USA TODAY | FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2026 | SECTION C

MISFIT

NO MORE

Shunned by Indiana, Alberto Mendoza finds a pocket to fill at Georgia Tech

Matt Hayes

USA TODAY Sports Network

He's almost eight months removed from the unthinkable championship run at Indiana, and the sobering reality the Hoosiers didn't want him anymore.

That's right, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti – the best developer of quarterbacks in the game – decided he wanted someone else, and cheery-picked from the transfer portal.

Josh Hoover is, Alberto Mendoza out. No second act of Mendoza at Indiana, no unavoidable comparisons with Heisman Trophy-winning brother Fernando. Just another

backup QB searching for a new home.

And maybe, just maybe, finding the perfect fit at Georgia Tech.

"There's a lot more on the quarterback's plate here than there was at Indiana," Alberto Mendoza says, and we can already collectively see Cig's head explode at the very thought of that statement.

But hear Alberto out. This isn't just some flippant statement from a bitter former player who has admitted over and over he loved his time at Indiana and loved the coaches.

There are hard facts to back it up. Let's let Chris Weinke, Georgia Tech's quarterbacks coach and a 2009 Heisman winner at Florida State, explain it. "Typically in college football, you probably have three to five personnel

See HAYES, Page 2C

After transferring to Georgia Tech a day after he was on the undefeated Indiana Hoosiers team that won the CFP national championship with his brother, Alberto Mendoza won the starting quarterback job for the Yellow Jackets in spring practices. PARAS GERTIN/GETTY IMAGES

COMMENTARY

NCAA lit match, panics over fire

Matt Hayes

USA TODAY

This is hilarious. Now we've reached the point of no return.

Now.

Not when universities boarded media rights cash for decades, before finally being forced by the courts to share with players.

Not when universities stole a year of eligibility from transferring players for decades, before finally being forced by the courts to allow free movement.

Not when the NCAA for decades made random decisions regarding specific, significant bylaws, before being forced by the courts to change course.

So now that yet another hometown judge in another case against the NCAA on Aug. 19 forced college sports' governing body to again see the error of its ways – now that the NFL and college football are essentially competing

See NCAA, Page 2C

Arsenal kicks off EPL title defense

Seth Vertelney

USA TODAY

The Premier League is back, as the English top flight kicks off the 2026-27 campaign on Aug. 21.

For the first time in 22 years, Arsenal enters the season looking to defend its title after the Gunners ended a long drought last season.

Though Arsenal will be favored to retain its title, there are a host of top sides that are aiming to challenge Mikel Arteta's more this season.

There is also plenty of intrigue at the other end of the table, as well as across the entire division.

Here are five of the biggest questions we have entering the new Premier League season.

Can anybody stop Arsenal?

After three straight runner-up finishes, Mikel Arteta's side finally got over the bump last season, winning the league for the first time in 22 years. Now Arsenal looks exceedingly well-placed to repeat.

For one, the Gunners have only strengthened ahead of this season. Bruno Guimarães and Christos Tzulis look like great additions, while only Leandro Trossard can be considered a core player departing.

In addition, all of Arsenal's title challengers carry huge question marks. Manchester City, the biggest thorn in Arsenal's side in recent

See PREMIER, Page 2C

Arsenal defender Riccardo Calafiori celebrates after scoring the first goal of the English FA Community Shield match Aug. 16. GLEN KIRK/AFP

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2C | FRIDAY AUGUST 21, 2028 | USA TODAY

SPORTS

McIlroy gives POY thumbs up to Scheffler

Adam Schupak

Software Live: TIDAY Network

ST. LOUIS – What was shaping up to be one of the most tightly contested votes in years for PGA Tour Player of the Year leveling into the FedEx/Top Playoffs may already be over – at least in the mind of Roy McIlroy.

The Masters champion was posed a question that the questions on the front end seemed to be a hundred one: If a player won the Masters and the Tour Championship, would that make for a Player of the Year money? The implication, of course, was could McIlroy still walk off with the Jack Nicklaus Award, voted on by his fellow members, should he win next week in Atlanta and claim the FedEx/Top for a second fourth time.

“No,” McIlroy said with a chuckle Aug. 29 ahead of the BMW Championship. “I’m not the Player of the Year. No chance. Invited.”

McIlroy already was set to concede the award to would be, a hostile

Scheffler, who is seeking to win it for a fifth consecutive year.

“Well, sorry, there’s two weeks to go, but I firsthand watched him for the first two days last week, and he if he keeps playing like that, we’re – you know, if he gains nine strokes on the games every week, we’re all P.S.” McIlroy said.

Scheffler’s brilliance was on display for all to see as he rolled to an eight-stroke victory at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis. His 37-under put total made him the only player to reach double digits under par. But Scheffler, 30, has just two wins – the other being The American Express after notching at least five in each of the previous two seasons. In between, he’s been a picture of consistency, recording if two of Stardens is 48 starts, including five runner-ups, which ties for the most in a season in the last 40 years.

But Matt Fitzpatrick has more wins – three, including defending Scheffler in a sudden-death playoff at the BBC Heritage, a signature event. Chris Geitreup

Scottie Scheffler, left, and Rory McIlroy. STACY, GEOTET, GETTY IMAGES.

also is a three-time winner but those wins came at the Stop Open in Hawaii, WM Phoenix Open and Joint Bears Classic, which were full-field events that didn’t attract so many of the wins Still, what if he were to win the BMW and Tour Championship for a grand total of five? A strong case could be made for Cameron Young, veteran of The Players, where he edged Matt Fitzpatrick, and Coellier Championship, another signature event, being the POY winner.

Let’s not forget Wyndham Club, who won the U.S. Open and bested Scheffler at the C2 Cup Byron Nelson to match his

win total. Majors could – and should – be weighted differently by voters. Usually, this award is perfectly the time the final major has been contested such as last year when Scheffler claimed two majors and was a runaway winner. This year, the FedEx/Top may make a difference in the voting.

While McIlroy’s decision has been made, Adam Scott seemed very much on the basis as he discussed the voting options last week.

I would say we all value consistency, and obviously hostile’s done an amazing job of that. I’m said before Scheffler’s win at the St. Jude. The only has one win, but he’s crashing everyone in points. So there’s something to be said about that. Out here, there’s also something to be said about winning too and majors and all that good stuff. (honestly don’t know. Like I really don’t. It really depends on what the person that’s clicking the button values more on who they may like more,” he said. “There’s no bad answer in what I’m trying to say!”

NCAA

Continued from Page 1C

for players – now it’s a bridge too far? Where have you people been for the last five years?

Better yet, where were the current (and latest) group of winners denying it’s all “uncontrollable” when the NCAA, in its infinite wisdom, decided weeks ago to choose and picks sides – and declare which players from the 2022 class could be grandfathered in to the new five years to play five seasons rule, and which couldn’t?

Until, of course, a Louisiana judge said are you not of your mind? You can’t give more players a fifth season, and re-chalk others.

I’m paraphrasing, of course, but that’s about how it has unfolded for the NCAA, it’s easily every single court case of the name, image and likeness (NIL) era. They make a doubt decision based on pro-NIL era thinking – where the NCAA had the upper hand in just about every argument – and the courts ride in on their stifle horse and save the day by denying it.

My god, these men and women of higher dictation, those elite of academia leading the NCAA, can’t be this short-sighted. They simply can’t be this attested to the days and ways of the past.

And I’m not talking about the actual NIL era explosion. I’m talking about it, get arguments.

Used to be the NCAA used the Dean Smith group – the four women basketball stall – when dealing with any and all-biggest scores. They’d simply to death any defendant, hoping to drain them of funds so they’d give up and/or settle out of court. And if worked for ages.

Until, that is, the NCAA decided in 2022, following athletes to earn off their name, image and likeness was a smarter move than sharing media rights revenue. Someone, somewhere, decided athletes wouldn’t eventually come for the media rights billions because they’d have the ability to earn NIL funds.

Only those NIL funds suddenly became the “big money” – in addition to the conservative being forced to share media rights revenue – and it’s impact—agreement estimated and financial aspect of the organization. They move the NCAA has made since 2021, since the states of California and Florida passed laws allowing athletes to earn NIL money and forced the NCAA’s hand, has been an utter disaster for the future of the organization.

And now we’re shocked that 36 players in a Louisiana court were given the ability to return to college football –

Defensive and Jack Pyton’s played for LSU last season but signed with the Buccaneers after not being drafted in April. He was just one of several former college stars who got a T80 to get a fifth year of eligibility.

ALVIN JONES / DAVID O'NEILL

even though some are currently on NFL training camp centers. Is that really more ridiculous, more unthinkable, than anything else over the last five years?

This nonsense went end here, and certainly went out at some grand next month when Congress returns from its summer break and attempts to work together to pass the Protect College Sports Act – which may or may not protect college sports, anyway. To say nothing of getting a majority in the House and Senate to pass the damn thing.

The problem now is the name problem five years ago when the NCAA first rolled out NIL within a plan, and hoped for the best. They rolled the snowball from the top of the mountain, and didn’t think it would gain steam – and get bigger and bigger and unwieldy – on the way down.

Now here we are, and college football teams are financially competing with NFL teams for players. If you think it’s going to end here, you’re really manikins!

Because once the door opens for players to leave for the NFL and come back, the next logical move is a local judge allowing future players with eligibility to return to college football if they don’t make an NFL roster.

All because the brilliant minds of academia are afraid of collective bargaining.

Now that’s hilarious.

Premier

Continued from Page 1C

seasons, saw longtime coach Pep Guardiola and star midfielder Rodri depart Liverpool is under new management again. So too in Chelsea, which barely finished in the top half of the table last season, Manchester United also has question marks at manager. It appears to be Arsenal’s title to lose.

How will Man City fare after Pep Guardiola?

For the first time in 10 years, Manchester City will open a season without Guardiola as manager. The hopeful ary Spaniard departed after last season having won 25 rookie trophies during the time in charge.

In Guardiola’s place comes his former assistant from Maroon, who to berth a team filled with vikas but in the midst of a conventional change after also losing foundational players like Rodri, John Stones and Bernardo Silva.

Though Guardiola has to be credited for much of City’s success over the last decade, the club is also one of the richest in the world and has amassed a signal of elite talent. Can Maroon pick up where his predecessor left off?

Can Sale! Knows stop the rot at Chelsea?

Despite a massive amount of investment, Chelsea has not managed to finish higher than fourth since BlueCloods over as owners in 2022. Last season saw Chelsea sink all the way to 50th in another disappointing campaign. But the Blues pulled off something of a rough fighting Safe Aknoo as the club’s fourth manager of 2016. Aknoo established himself as one of Europe’s best young managers while winning the Bunkedega at Bayer Leverkusen. A rough half season at Real Madrid didn’t do much to damage his reputation.

As usual, Chelsea has a massive squad, and as usual, it’s full of talent. Aknoo may be the man to finally get the best out of the Blues.

Can the promoted sides survive?

After all three promoted teams went down in back-to-back campaigns, last season saw some pleasant surprise in the form of foundational (seventh place) and Leeds (34th). So how will successors Hull City, Coventry City and Ipswich Town fare?

EPL predicted standings

1. Arsenal
2. Manchester City
3. Liverpool
4. Chelsea
5. Manchester United
6. Asian Villa
7. Brighton
8. Tottenham
9. Everton
10. Nottingham Forest
11. Newcastle
12. Bournemouth
13. Brentford
14. Crystal Palace
15. Leeds
16. Sunderland
17. Fulham
18. Coventry City
19. Ipswich Town
20. Hull City

If there is any team that will be lucky to survive, it is Hull City. Somehow the Tigers achieved promotion despite finishing 23rd out of 24 Championship teams by expected goal difference last season. They will likely meet that lack again to avoid a swift return to the second tier.

Coventry is back in the Premier League for the first time in 25 years, led by manager Frank Lampard. Unlike Hull, the Sky Blues dominated the Championship last year and fully observed their promotion, but they’ll need some of third key players from last season to stay up while seamlessly blending new signings like Cindy Yonakys and Taiten Anoniyi.

Ipswich licenced straight back after being relegated in 2024 all. But without inspirational manager Kirsten McKenna, the Trustee Boys will face a major challenge to stay up.

Will the ‘neat wall’ era end?

It was a common sight across the Premier League last season. Players would crowd together in the 6-yard box ahead of a corner kick, pushing and shoving as they pushed his position. The so-called ‘neat wall’ led to set pieces accounting for 23.7% of the league’s goals, the highest across Europe’s top divisions.

Arsenal in particular took advantage of this back, scoring a league-high 25 goals off set pieces en route to the title. But the Premier League is looking to crack down on the track, instructing referees to focus on holding tactics. How will teams adjust?

Hayes

Continued from Page 1C

groupings. We’ll have 32-32.” Wrinkle said. “You typically have not to right formations, and we’ll have 30-25. In a typical college offense, you’ll probably have 80-920 plays. We’ll have at least 250-1 would say it a more volume than anyone in the country.

Someone has to manage all of that, and have at least 10 specific check plays mentioned for each game to make sure the offense is in the right play where it reaches the line of scrimmage and the quarterback gets his per-coup road. In a matter of 40 seconds every single play, depending on tempo.

Or as new Tech offensive coordinator George Godsey says, “Our quarterbacks have to have a foundational

understanding of how we operate.”

We don’t know if Alberto can play at the same level as Fernando, and frankly, Cignetti clearly didn’t think so.

But there is one undeniable family trait: preparation. Tech coach Brent Key says Mendoza is a “high-level thinker.” He has command of the offense, has questions and wants answers.

It’s not simply regurgitating what he’s been told. He wants to know why, and then what happens if it is? I recognize wants answers to the test before he takes it. “In a perfect event,” Mendoza said. “I always want to learn more.”

While knowledge to one thing, execution is a completely different beast.

And that things are to the most critical factor in the evolution of Alberto Mendoza. He hasn’t started a game since he was a low-level high school recruit at Miami Columbus – despite reading his team to back-to-back state titles in

2022 and 2023:

It’s all in his head, the two years with Cignetti and the eight months with Godsey – who spent 14 seasons in the NFL and worked with some of the league’s elite quarterbacks – and the day in the first that it all took in two weeks when Colorado arrives in Atlanta for the game. Now I saw, now expectations. Plenty of motivation.

Indiana and Mendoza can wish each player will catch back, but you better believe Mendoza has something to prove. It’s probably best for a traveling his own path, free of competition to his brother.

It’s also best Indiana isn’t trying to recreate its remarkable run in 2020, when Fernando Mendoza did just about everything right – and left nothing to build on. There’s only one way to go in. Bloomington for Hoover, a road that potentially is full of noise, confusion and unfair comparisons.

When Mendoza arrived at Georgia Tech, Wrinkle told him they work on one foundational principle: don’t complain, don’t explain, find solutions.

Which fits perfectly with the new story of Alberto Mendoza. He looks and sounds like his brother, that staccato delivery relaying the right words at the right time for the right moment.

They still talk weekly, and now compass notes on the NFL systems before us. And in the next surprising of revelations, Alberto admitted he and Fernando frequently talk about concepts of situational execution – and how they’d attack the defense.

You know, like typical brothers do. “I’m trying to be the best version of me I can be,” Alberto said.

Just another former backup trying to find his way. And remake his family name in the process.

Follow Hayes on X: @Matt2HayesCFB

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SPORTS

USA TODAY | FRIDAY AUGUST 21, 2028 | 3C

Shedeur Sanders has 'own point of view'

Forrest Bell Columbia USA TODAY

BERRA, OH – One of the first things discovered during a quick visit with Shedeur Sanders is that there is no incantandoff free pub coming from the Prime Time kid who is nobody's slouch when it comes to portraying ball into brutal and harsh.

Sanders and the other quarterbacks have gone through the Cleveland Browns training camp with small cameras affixed above the face masks on their helmets – let's call it a "QB Can!" that reasonably possible another today tool for further review.

Tell me about the GoPro camera. Does it help in bewaking things down?

"Man, my eyes work better than any camera out there," Sanders told USA TODAY Sports, standing at the edge of the field following a practice last week.

So, you get no use from it?

"I close my eyes and think about what I thought in that situation, and I do it," he stifled.

The curious, because I haven't seen one of those.

Sanders cuts it off right there, fella, flashing a wide Hollywood smile as he insisted, "We ain't giving GoPro no free person, man."

LOL.

Here, it's big business. Football and business pretty harsher. At, is an all-gro when it comes to this. He earned $87.7 million from the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) during his rookie season from group licensing deals – a record amount that nearly doubled the previous mark of $9.5 million achieved by Tom Brady, yeah that Tom Brady, in 2020-22. And this doesn't include a portfolio of individual endorsements deals with the likes of Nike, AT&T, Beats by Joe, Ralph Lee, and Gatorade.

This is in his OTA, a generation ago, and I'm sure, if I don't know, was not only one of his era's most phenomenal athletes, but also a game changer when it came to marketing. Now, along comes the immensely popular one with a knack for building a brand.

Short, when Sanders was in his final year at Colorado, he reportedly had 34 name, Imagine and Stevens (NFL) deals worth $6.5 million – an amount that eclipsed the entire total of the first NFL contract he received (four years, $4.65 million) after his tumble to the fifth round of the 2025 draft.

Shedeur's battle to be ON

Still, it's the other type of business

Shedeur Sanders didn't start but played in the Browns' preseason game against the Bears on Aug. 19. This week he starts. PATRICK GEORGE/MARIN MAGER

that is top of mind these days. Sanders is in the thick of a real competition against Deshaun Watson for the starting quarterback of the beginning-employment because a year ago it never seemed real when then-coach Kevin (Denimki) called it a competition – and will draw his first start of the summer on Aug. 22 against the Buffalo Bills.

He came off the bench for mixed results at Chicago last Saturday, including an ugly interception for which he is morned the execution. Now he'll go with the first team, which was always the plan for new coach Todd Monken. One starts the preseason opener, the other starts the next week. During camp, Monken has rolled similarly, alternating the days that Sanders and Watson work with the first team. Monken will likely make his call before the final preseason game against the New England Patriots on Aug. 27.

Asked how he's flowing with this arrangement, Sanders said: "I took a deep breath of everything, just looked at everything for what it is, and how thankful I am for the chance to be out here every day and just maximize it. So that's all I focus on, my job, and how I can improve each and every day. Everything else will handle itself."

Sanders allows that it to be goal to be a more 'complete' quarterback, but stored by a better understanding of the NFL game. That not only involves making plays and avoiding negative plays

but also demonstrates command of Monken's system and the ability to manage the operation of the offensive.

Speeding up the process

Coaches have been harying on efficiency, aiming to reduce eight seconds in the process from calling in the play to the quarterback's helmet to the snap of the football. The extra time would allow more time for the quarterback to decipher defenses and likely develop a better rhythm for executing plays.

"It's good, overall," Sanders said. "I think it helps you think fast, process fast. It's a great recipe to have success."

How such flow fits in a bigger partner was evident as the sloppiness of the offense reflected by a rush of pre-snap penalties because a hot topic during camp. No doubt, that's one way – comment a false start, line-up illegally or not get the snap-off in time – to put a drive in the hole. But it's tough to put it on the quarterback when, say, a lineman jumps before the snap. Or so you'd think.

"Overall, as a quarterback, you're the leader of the team. So, you've got to get everything straight," Sanders said. "I mean, that's just when it stands. You can't really have those things happen on your watch."

Speaking of vision, Sanders certainly gained some insight after starting seven

games last season. Injury (fellow rookie Gabriel Dillon, nonconsent and other circumstances) (the trade of veteran Joe Flacco) opened the door of opportunity. And Sanders showed enough – he won his first start, then finished trying in leading the Browns to hack-to-hack wins – to set up his shot for this time around.

Remember, Sanders trusts his eyes better than any camera, which underscored the lessons learned from his initial real-time NFL playing experiences.

"What did I gain from seven starts? My own point of view," he said.

"I don't think I'm a dumb human being, you know I think I'm very bright. So it was kind of like figuring the lay of the land, having a better understanding of everything. So, of course, when you first get me out there, you may get me. But when I'm prepared – when I have all these different variables of things that I can control, then I'll be able to put myself and the team in the best situation."

The Monken Factor

The connection with his new coach figures to be huge. Monken, 60, enthralled some old-school principles, for sure, but with an engaging, high-energy persona wrapped with unapologetic frankness, he seems quite capable of relating to today's athletes.

"He's cool," Sanders said. "Exactly how he is on the podium as exactly how he is every day. He's the same. That's what I agree with, and I'm sure I want to time, and he's just going to a substantial by he himself. I like that."

It was striking, though, that Shedeur's flail of Team-mutuel father, Deion, came to Browns camp earlier this summer and visited with Monken before running his own camp to begin his fourth season as Colorado's coach.

Go ahead, point to the optics of a father visiting his son's coach – which brings to mind one of the kinocks (heard from at least two NFL dancers makers trying to explain why Sanders went from a projected first-rounder to the fifth round. They would not whether Deion's presence would be a detriment.

In this case, though, Shedeur added content in striking the perfect tone.

"I stay out of that stuff," he said. "I don't focus on that. What him and Monken (were) talking about, that ain't got nothing to do with me. I've got to practice, and I've got plays I've got to execute every day."

While ahead, naturally, with some fatherly advice.

"He told me to handle mine, and he's going to handle his," Shedeur said.

Which can surely be applied with 20-20 vision.

Coventry hopes Wright, style draw US fans

Joe Arnold USA TODAY

The way Frank Lampard sees it, there's plenty to like about Coventry City, especially for fans in the U.S.

Americans love an underdog, and Coventry will be that this season, trying to hang in the Premier League after securing promotion by winning the Championship last year.

There might be a special link for Premier League independents from Detroit. The American Motor City has been paired up with Coventry as part of the league's Coast to Coast initiative because of the West Midlands city's own history with the automotive industry, one that parallels the Detroit story. U.S. club Detroit City will host a watch party at its HQ for Coventry's first Premier League match since 2001, the Aug. 21 opener against America at the Emirates.

The 40-year-old ex-multifolary hopes to give time another reason to buy in on Coventry Sunday tonight. He wants it to be fun to watch his team.

"The more industry connection is a great one, but my job is hopefully to put out a sound that all the Americans fans out there watching Coventry may look at us and kind of go. That's interesting. They've got something about them on and off the pitch," Lampard told USA TODAY Sports. "I think history and tradition is always a great thing in that season that you can see this as a club that was always a top-tier team.

"Twenty-five years out of the Premier League, had our struggles down the extremes, out of our students, and now we're coming up with a real excitement and feeling around the city."

The team also has a player Americans can draw for both with club and country, though that will have to wait until Hajj Wright recovers from a good injury that could keep him out of action for up

Coventry City's Hajj Wright celebrates scoring a penalty kick during the Emirates FA Cup semifinal against Manchester United in 2024. AND HENRY OSZITY IMAGES

to three months.

Wright was Coventry's leading scorer last season, displaying his skill with his left foot, his right foot and his head on the way to 17 goals – with just two from the penalty spot.

Lampard hopes that when he has overcome the missile issue that has him solidified for the start of the year that he will come back with a renewed fire, one that will contract with the Southern California native's personality when he isn't between the white lines.

"Hajj's been very good to work with for me. He's a very quiet kind of laid-back character, which I like off the pitch," Lampard said. "Actually, one of my things to speak with Hajj is to make sure he doesn't take that character into game.

"I think Hajj has so many great attributes and talents that especially with a very up that we've got coming to the level of defending in the Premier League, is

to use all those attributes to the maximum."

While the manager wants to see an aggressive Wright once he gets on the field, he feels the 20-year-old has the tools needed to excel in the top league in the world after helping the Sky Blues get to the top flight.

He showed it last season with a hat trick against Middleborough, delivering in a high-stakes content in February against a fellow promotion candidate.

"He scored a hat trick in a really big game for us last year, and he had everything in terms of his physically and the pure talent," Lampard said. "So, I think it's maximizing that for Hajj this season. He's shown in the Championship that he's one of the best strikers in the league. All of the players have to now up those levels because the challenge is getting much bigger.

"But Hajj's very good to work with, and I think this is a great opportunity, at

his age to show that he can do it in the in the best league. He's a big part of our squad."

He also is the most obvious reason a curious Premier League fan in the U.S. might choose to support Coventry, even as Lampard pushes his team to play in a way that could draw in previous neutrals to become supporters of a Premier League upstart.

The former multifolder recalled U.S. tours with Chelsea as the Premier League with the first team in global footprint, noting that at the time there weren't that many fans of the megaclub Blues, much less the Sky Blues.

"The Premier League was growing as a brand, and we used to go to preseason in America and have some interest, and then within five or so play years, the stadiums are packed out through these activations and through the link up," he said. "We're in new territory, where I know from living in New York for a couple of years and enjoying traveling to America a lot that the Premier League is of large interest now over there. It's a busy market of teams. We're coming in with our thing."

Those years living in New York were the two he spent closing out his playing career with New York City FC, a native of Essex who started his career at West Ham, then moved to Chelsea, another London club, Lampard said the move to the Statue was an experience that helped him better understand the sporting landscape both in England and abroad.

His focus is on staying in the Premier League with Coventry, rendering clubs like Sunderland and Leeds United, which were promoted and comfortably stayed in the top flight, with Sunderland even earning a four-year place.

Do that, and he's convinced Coventry City will are plenty of fans tuning in – on both sides of the Atlantic.

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4C || FRIDAY AUGUST 21, 2026 || USA TODAY

SPORTS

Orioles cry foul after losing critical review vs. Yankees

Gabe Laques

USA TODAY

BALTIMORE – Pete Alonso struck the ball so high and so far, the foul pole wasn't high enough to stop it. It exited so quickly, third-base umpire Will Little was reduced to guesswork as he hustled down the line to make a snap decision.

Yet the Baltimore Orioles will tell you the most important factor in the most pivotal point in this game was what wasn't there. The technology to make a definitive call rather than rely on guesswork and inconsistent television replays.

They lost a 5-3 game to the division rival New York Yankees on Aug. 29 at Camden Yards, yet it was a 3-3 game, bottom of the seventh, two outs and the Yankees hoping that lefty reliever Brent Headrick could hang on and retire one of the most feared right-handed sluggers in the game.

Alonso ambushed him. He choked a finer-plate-slider far over the left-field fence some 333 feet from home plate, sauntered a few feet down the first-base line and tried his best body English to sell it that. Headrick popped off the mound and crept toward the third-base line.

Hayes on both dugouts hung over the railings to get a better look.

Foul ball. Orioles manager Craig Alberman asked for a come chief review. Little complied. Alonso stood with his bat in foul territory, watched the replay along with the 26,833 fans on hand and believed medication would come.

Instead, the verdict from New York confirmed what Little saw – yet what a replay from a down-the-line camera seemed to contradict.

Foul ball. Still. The Orioles soon fell apart, yielding go-ahead runs in the top of the eighth. But their frustration was only beginning, as Alberman, Alonso and starting pitcher Chris Bassitt all believe the technology exists to avoid potential error.

That wasn't Andrew Major. League Baseball is simply too cheap to utilize it.

"Obviously, I think it was fear. But after the call, it's just crazy we still have this issue," Bassitt said in the Orioles clubhouse. "We might be the only major sport with an issue like this. It's been

years that we have technology they can easily use to say, 'This is exactly the right thing or wrong thing.' The fact we don't have it in 2026 is crazy. That's my take.

"It's not so much that they get the right call or wrong call. You'll ask the general public and get a 50-50 answer. It's just the fact we don't have the technology in play to actually say 'hey, this was fun or foul.' A literally crazy in 2026. It's crazy."

Why does it not exist? "It costs money. That's it. That's literally it," says Bassitt, a former member of the MLB Players Association executive council. "You ask a fan of the game who's a true fan of the game, they'd want those cameras. You'd ask every player, Every coach."

"It costs money. That's it. That's literally it."

Alonso cites the Hawk-Eye technology that is used to power the automated ball-stroke system and believe it can be transferred to fair-foul calls that affect bullying sluggers like him with great frequency.

He said he's been told the main reason it doesn't exist is because all 30 major league ballparks have different di-

mensions from the plate to the outfield fences.

"We have Hawk-Eye. I think a simple fix, you have football, you have the pylon camera with the 'goal-thru' plane. It shoots right across the goal line. I feel like we could easily have a laser, or a camera that shoots straight up."

"I think having a camera or laser shooting straight up – we have all the cameras and analytics and hands. I don't see what we couldn't do it. The reason I'm told we can't is because every ballpark is unique. That's my understanding. It sucks."

In the Yankees clubhouse, the mood was, well, different. Manager Aaron Boone said longtime Yankees replay specialist Brett Weber saw the myriad angles – the one directly above home plate did sow significant doubt – and then walked out to the playing surface later.

"Wobbly went out and looked after the game. He wanted to look at the line," Boone said. "So, he's got it foul."

Good break there, eh? "No. I think it was foul," Boone said. Headrick and Alonso both had to get their heart rates back to normal and the Yankee lefty, appearing in his 650-game

of the year, won the battle. He whiffed Alonso on a 94 mph fastball to end the frame.

"I'm a pitcher, right? So from my vantage point, I thought it was foul," Headrick said. "But I think it could've went either way. It went in my favor."

Once that happens, you gotta really bear down, buckle down. You're just trying to stay locked in, regardless. It's just my job to execute the next pitch."

Umpires typically discuss controversial calls with a pool reporter that MLB's replay center released a statement on behalf of the judgment, which said: "After viewing all relevant angles, the Beplay Official could not definitely determine that the ball left the playing field in fair territory.

"The call stands, and it is a foul ball." From their tablets in the dugout, the Orioles believed different, and probably always will on a night they fell 15 games back in the blue in the final American League wild card.

"It's really tough to have that come back as stando, and have that visual in the dugout," Alberman told reporters in his postgame game conference. "It's 2026. Technology has advanced pretty good. I don't know why we don't use it."

WEATHER WEATHER ONLINE

WEEKEND FORECAST

Cooler air will expand from the Midwest to the interior Northeast into this weekend. However, this action will not reduce the amount of moisture and areas of heavy, gunky thunderstorms are forecast. Heat will hold on and build even more over the South Central states, with areas of heavy to severe thunderstorms from parts of the Plains to the Southeast states.

As the heat dome in the West shrinks southward this weekend, temperatures will trend downward in some areas. As a storm over the Pacific slices across the Northeast, limited moisture will lead to mainly dry thunderstorms and locally gunky winds that are likely to raise the risk of new wildfires.

A new brewing hurricane will spread heavy rain to part of Hawaii later this weekend.

EXTREMES

Note: The postseason 48 states through Wednesday.

WESTERN: 1997 CLEMENCY: 1997 Country: 1998

PRECIPITATION FORECAST

1-storm 1-bon 1-bow 1-basket

Forecast and performance chart by Southwestern due 10/2026

FRIDAY'S HIGH TEMPERATURES

SATURDAY'S HIGH TEMPERATURES

The weather changes. Stay up-to-date, 24/7.

AccuWeather.

U.S. CITIES

	AM	SAT
Allen, Pa.	69.00	68.00
Albuquerque	69.00	68.00
Alaska, Wash.	70.00	68.00
Altoona, Wash.	70.00	68.00
Altoona, Wash.	70.00	68.00
Altoona, Wash.	70.00	68.00
Boise, Colo.	70.00	68.00
Boise, Colo.	70.00	68.00
Boise, Colo.	70.00	68.00
Boise, Colo.	70.00	68.00
Boise, Colo.	70.00	68.00
Boise, Colo.	70.00	68.00
Boise, Colo.	70.00	68.00
Buenos, Colo.	70.00	68.00
Buenos, Colo.	70.00	68.00
Buenos, Colo.	70.00	68.00
Buenos, Colo.	70.00	68.00
Buenos, Colo.	70.00	68.00
Buenos, Colo.	70.00	68.00
Buenos, Colo.	70.00	68.00
Buenos, Colo.	70.00	68.00
Buenos, Colo.	70.00	68.00

For more information, contact: 800-900-1000 © The American Association of Sports & Events © The American Association of Sports & Events

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USA TODAY | FRIDAY AUGUST 21, 2026 | 6C

Doctors want an energy drink deal pause

Brent Schretzobow

USA TODAY

A group of doctors and scientists has petitioned the Big 12 Conference and the NCAA to pause the Big 12's big new sponsorship rollout with Monster Energy on the basis that energy drinks are a health risk to children.

The group has sent letters to the leadership of the Big 12 and NCAA test said it hasn't received a response.

The Big 12 announced a new 'entitlement' partnership with Monster Energy in July, which is set to include the energy drink company's logo next to the Big 12's logo on player presys, football fields and basketball courts. Several other schools and college players previously have done separate sponsorship deals with energy drink companies, including Colesus and Red Bull.

But the scope of the Big 12 deal with Monster Energy is not reason the group says it is singling out the Big 12.

'The reasons for focusing on the Big 12 is primarily to play and demographic of its audience,' said John Higgins, a sports cardiologist with The Houston Rockets and Rice Athletics who is part of the group. 'Big 12 games can reach roughly 80-90 million viewers per weekend, with particularly strong exposure among younger fans. That makes the conference an especially important environment to examine when considering the marketing and consumption of energy drinks among young people.'

Higgins notes the group's focus is not to continue to play particularly hard to restrict what adults can consume. It is instead focused on the marketing and promotion of these products to children and adolescents, who are more vulnerable to the effects of these highly caffeinated beverages. The group's letters to the Big 12 and NCAA cite the deaths of three teenagers with cardiac events linked to energy drink consumption.

Based on medical health risks for children, several governments outside the U.S. also outlaw the sale of such products to those under 18 U.S. including in Norway, the United Kingdom (in 2027) and Quebec, Canada. The U.S. has no such age restriction. The NCAA also

This Oct. 23, 2012, photo illustration shows a variety of Monster Energy drinks. A statement from the company said, 'Monster Energy contains about half the caffeine found in a similarly sized coffee-house coffee.'

KAREN KLEKMANY VIA SETTY IMAGES

predicts schools from directly providing energy drinks to athletes because caffeine is a banned NCAA stimulant that could trigger a positive drug test of consumed in high-enough quantities.

In a recent letter sent to the Big 12's board of directors chairman Doug Girod, the group asked whether an institution followed by millions of children should handle no safestly of college athletics to 'the youth-visible promotion of a stimulant.'

The group made these requests in the letter to Girod, who is the dissent for a Knock, who letter was shared with USA TODAY Sports.

A 4 asked to pause the youth-facing activation of the sponsorship, including founding on player uniforms, fields, courts, student sections, and conference-controlled media likely to reach minors.

A 8 wants to commission an independent health review, including pediatrics and cardiovascular medicine.

A 8 also asked to bring the matter to the Big 12 board before this founding because embedded across football and basketball.

The Big 12 provided a statement to USA TODAY Sports when asked about

the petition from this group, which lists support from more than 20 doctors or scientists from various universities and medical schools, including at UTHealth Houston, Harvard and the University of Connecticut.

Many have researched the subject. Two of the members also wrote letters to Girod as parents and alumni of BYU, a Big 12 school operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latino-day Saints. BYU's honor code says to abstain from the caffeinated beverages coffee and his BYU's dining room also said it won't sell products that list green tea or coffee extracts on their ingredient statement, which also are common in energy drinks.

'The energy drink category is not new to collegiate athletics,' the Big 12 said in a statement. 'Category leaders in the space continue to be active and aggressive in seeking opportunities to partner with and engage college sports fans.'

Energy drink deals have proliferated in college sports

Monster Energy issued a statement after being contacted about this matter by USA TODAY Sports.

'Mainstream energy drinks have been marketed worldwide for more than 30 years and more than 300 billion energy drinks have been sold and safety consumed globally,' the statement said. 'The ingredients to Monster Energy and other mainstream energy drinks – which include caffeine, 8 vitamins, and other functional ingredients – are found in a broad range of familiar food products that have a biological effect on the consumption. Monster Energy contains about half the caffeine found in a similarly sized coffee-house coffee.'

The company said it was proud to partner with the Big 12 and noted leading consumer brands have partnered with colleges for years.

The Big 12 deal with Monster Energy is worth about $20 million annually according to Sports Business Journal. 'The energy drink have proliferated across college sports in recent years for two big reasons – money and exposure. BYU basketball star A21ybanba had an

environmental deal with Red Bull while in college. Colesus has had partnerships with Oregon, Texas A&M, Washington, Colorado and others, including with their Oregon sports/back for No.

It's an attractive deal for each side. The energy drink companies like marketing to college sports fans and students. The Big 12 and others like the money they bring in return. In the Big 12's case, the league has fallen into a distant fourth place in revenue among the Power Post conference at 8835 9 and less for fiscal 2025, half of the Big Ten's BL47 billion.

NCAA stance on energy drink advertising

To help quench the thirst for more money across all leagues, the NCAA also recently removed a previous ban it placed on advertising from energy drink brands during NCAA championship events, including its manager basketball tournaments. The removal of the ban helped lead to the expansion of the basketball tournaments from 64 to 76 teams, because it allowed more advertising to flow toward the television companies that are paying to tolerate the added games.

The NCAA once even killed a proponent from Five-Hour Energy to title-sponsor the International Bowl in Toronto, leading that bowl game to go out of business.

Times have changed, but the group of doctors and scientists is asking to take it back a step and proceed with caution.

In response to an inquiry about the petition from USA TODAY Sports, the NCAA noted its rules and policies are driven by member schools and leagues, not the NCAA staff in the national office. The NCAA is no longer in the business of restricting energy drink advertising because of that.

'The NCAA membership is responsible for making rules and regulations, which the national office interprets and submits the information about the NCAA said in a statement. 'If members want to make or change a policy, they can do so through the governance process.'

WOMEN'S COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL

Power nonconference backs science new year

John Leuzel

USA TODAY NETWORK

Women's college volleyball is back, and so are the heavyweight matchups.

Over the first few weeks of the 2026 season, some of the biggest brands and top-ranked teams will play in packed-situated women's matches across the country, making these early-season games not only a preview of the NCAA Tournament in December, but also must watch volleyball for next fans.

Here's what to know about this weekend's events:

AVCA First Serve Showcase

Aug. 21 • No. 6 Texas A&M vs. No. 7 Louisville (9 p.m. ET on ESPN2 (Pubs)

• No. 6 Wisconsin vs. No. 3 Kentucky (9 p.m. ET on ESPN (Pubs)

Aug. 22 • No. 6 Wisconsin vs. No. 7 Louisville (4 p.m. ET on the (Pubs)

• No. 2 Texas vs. No. 12 Arizona State (7 p.m. ET on the Sports 1 (Pubs)

Aug. 23 • No. 8 Texas A&M vs. No. 8 BMU

1 p.m. ET on ESPN2 (Pubs)

• No. 4 Pitt vs. No. 3 Kentucky (4 p.m. ET on ESPN (Pubs)

Monday, Aug. 24

• No. 4 Pitt vs. Xavier (6 p.m. ET • No. 2 Texas vs. Marquette (8 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 2 (Pubs)

Millennium in the place to be during opening weekend of the 2026 season. Eight teams in the preseason AVCA coaches poll will be competing in the AVCA First Serve Showcase at Fierce Forum in Milwaukee.

Day one of the four-day event in the Rose City features No. 7 Louisville taking on No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 3 Kentucky meeting No. 6 Wisconsin in a highly anticipated nightway a rematch of a five-set national semitinal match from last season.

Day two includes No. 6 Wisconsin, which finished with the second-best hitting percentage last season, going up against No. 7 Louisville, which led the nation in team blocks.

Day three features back-to-back National Player of the Year Olivia Babcock and No. 4 Pitt taking on Brooklyn DeLaye and the Wildcats to cap the proceedings.

2026 top pick Azzi Fudd out for WNBA season

Cathy Fin

USA TODAY

Azzi Fudd, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft, is out for the rest of the season.

The Dallas Wings cookie will have an arthroscopic procedure to address 'ongoing tight knee soreness,' according to an announcement from the team Aug. 19.

Fudd is set to have the procedure in Connecticut early next week. The Wings have eight games remaining in the regular season and a 20-40 record as they sit at No. 8 to the standings, right on the edge of playoff contention.

In her rookie season, Fudd averaged 33.1 points, 1.8 assists and 17 steals over 50 games with 24 points. Her last appearance was two weeks ago, and she still feats all cookies this season in both 3-pointers (622 and steals (32).

Fudd also became the first cookie in WNBA history when the 3-point shooting contest during last month's All-Star weekend. She credited the accomplishment, in part, to her long experience battling injuries throughout her career. Even during her time playing for decorated UConn head coach Geno Autenama with current team-mate Paige Bueckers, Fudd missed

Azzi Fudd finishes with a 16.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per-game average. SETTY VILLIGRADEITY IMAGES

games with multiple lower leg issues. In a statement released via the Instagram page for her podcast Fudd Around and Find Out, the guard a knowledgeable familiar situation and thanked fans for their support.

I've got a small procedure coming up on my knee, and I'll be out as I recover," Fudd said. "I know exactly what comes next: rehab, put in the work, come back ready and better than before. Grateful for my family, my circle, and the Wings organization for the support. Thank you for all the messages today. They meant a lot to me."

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6C | FRIDAY AUGUST 21, 2028 | USA TODAY

SPORTS

LAST CHANCE TO SAVE

THE NEW YORK KNICKS' CHAMPIONSHIP IN A HARDCOVER COLLECTOR'S BOOK

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Jalen Brunson and company ripped through the 2028 playoffs, reaching the NBA Finals with 11 consecutive victories that closed out the Hawks, included sweeps of the 76ers and Cavaliers. Then the Knicks polished off Victor Wembunyama and San Antonio in five games to hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy.

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The Iowa State Fair-born butter cow has found green pastures at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington. JOSH MORGAN/USA TODAY

How curiosity, big dreams, fear of failure and 800 pounds of butter brought an Iowa State Fair tradition to one of America’s most prestigious museums

Courtney Crowder Das Moinas Register | USA TODAY NETWORK

WASHINGTON, DC – The butter kept Mary Savig up at night. • Of the nearly 250 objects she curated to appear in the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s exhibition on state fairs – some a century old and fragile to the touch, others irreplaceable family heirlooms and a few marquee pieces of state history – the butter, in particular, made her anxious. • All 800 pounds of it. • After five years of researching fairs from South Carolina to Alaska, from California to the Navajo Nation, from Iowa to Minnesota to Texas – the Holy Trinity of American fairs – Savig and her team knew one of the exhibition’s centerpieces had to be a nod to the Midwestern tradition of butter sculpting. • And, after some debate, they commissioned an enduring and iconic fair symbol: a butter cow.

See BUTTER, Page 2D

Iowan Sarah Pratt’s art blends “tradition with a bit of whimsy.” Her vision is achieved using her head, her hands, her carving tools – some of them smaller than a toothpick – and 800 pounds of butter. PROVIDED BY THE SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM

Inside

Salted or unsalted? Thirty things you may not know about butter cows. SD

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2D 8 FRIDAY AUGUST 21, 2026 8 USA TODAY

WEEKEND EXTRA

Sarah Pratt apprenticed for 15 years before taking over as master butter cow sculptor in 2006. Since 1931, when she first joined the sculpting team, she has missed only two Iowa State Fairs. ARTURO FERNANDEZ/USA TODAY NETWORK

About the artists

■ John K. Daniels, the first Iowa State Fair butter sculptor, lived to be 103 years old. A Norwegian immigrant, he was world-renowned for his butter creations, including for a statue of Theodore Roosevelt, gun in hand while standing over a dead lion, created to mark the former president's return from a yearlong African safari. Daniels sculpted for only two years, 1911 and 1912.

■ J. E. Wallace, a native Floridian, took the reins in 1913 and sculpted for 43 years. A bandwimit by training, Wallace made butter his profession, sculpting at fairs in Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and, of course, Iowa.

■ Next up was Frank Dutt, a World War II veteran who had been honored with a purple heart and was a sculptor classically trained at the Art Institute of Chicago. He sculpted for three years, 1957 to 1959, and was replaced by his apprentice, Norma "Duffy" Lyon, after she told the dairy association director the fair's butter cow "wasn't even an OK cow, and certainly not an identifiable breed."

Norma "Duffy" Lyon took over as chief sculptor in 1960 after she found the Iowa State Fair's butter cows lacking — "not even an OK cow."

■ Norma "Duffy" Lyon, affectionately known as the butter lady, took over in 1966 and sculpted for the next 46 years. She was nearly eight months pregnant when she sculpted her first Iowa State Fair butter cow. The fair's first female butter sculptor, she had come to the state for the veterinary program at Iowa State University, only to discover it didn't accept women.

■ The media interest around the butter cow was curated by Lyon, who made time for every interview and changed the sculpting schedule so she was finishing on the first days the gates were open. The new timeline allowed visitors to watch through the fair's fish-tank-like glass windows — a tradition that lives on today.

■ Lyon's uncle, Phil Strong, wrote the novel "State Fair," which was then made into a movie and a musical. But Strong left out butter sculptures entirely! What gives?

■ Sarah Pratt apprenticed under Lyon for 15 years before taking over in 2006. She has missed only two fairs since she joined the team in 1991.

■ Pratt's twin daughters, Hannah and Grace, became official apprentices in 2017, though they had spent many summers as unofficial helpers. Today, they each have distinct strengths: Grace, who studied studio art, focuses on details in the faces and extremities of the companion sculptures. Hannah, who studied costume design, concentrates on clothing and how it lies within their pieces.

■ Fingers are the best brushes in butter sculpting. While other artists may wear gloves — rubber or even leather — the Pratt's use their hands. Additionally, they sculpt with small wooden paddles and little wire loop instruments that make chucking off butter much easier.

■ Butter sculptors are hearty people! Despite 40-degree temperatures in the display case, the Pratt's, and Lyon before them, wear only jeans and a sweatshirt or two while they work. But they do budget time to warm their hands in the Iowa heat.

■ When the Pratt's are deep into a sculpit, they are powered by corn dogs and muns. Broadway classics and Disney fats are their choices.

■ Each sculptor has his or her quirks: Duffy sculpted the cow's tail last; Pratt sculpts the hooves and ears last.

Sources: Des Moines Register's archives, Iowa State Fair's history, and the work of Pamela Simpson, author of "Corn Potatoes and Butter Queens"

Source: Des Moines Register's archives, Iowa State Fair's history, and the work of Pamela Simpson, author of "Corn Potatoes and Butter Queens"

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Continued from Page 1D

So, for much of the past year, they had been wrestling devilish details into submission. They had queried gobs of HVAC companies to find the one, an outfit from Maryland, aimed to custom-make a 160-degree refrigerated display case.

They had found the only possible power source in their 1859 building with enough electrical juice to change the dollar. Fortunately, the plug was in the Octagon Room, the gallery situated at the top of the Grand Warcross, which fell right, Savig says, like placing their dairy masterpiece on the show's cupstone jewel.

They had even developed the lighting scheme to bounce off the refrigerator's very interior and bend around the sculpture's contours, a chiaroscuro of the artists' sharp angles and smooth lines.

And that's to say nothing of sourcing the butter itself. About a half ton of it. They purchased it from a Minnesota woman who copped to having a special butter sculpture of her own preserved in the back of a freezer.

The admission felt like a back-pip from the cosmos, Savig says, a conspiring toward success despite the insanity of constructing a butter sculpture in a swampy DC summer — then keeping it temperate and protected enough to last for the exhibit's snarling run.

"The one thing we could not control was the butter delivery," Savig says.

Here's the problem: The Brown & Galley is across the street from the White House — less than a city block from the West Wing and the Oval Office and the who's who of American power. So if there's a special guest or a big event or an important meeting, the Secret Service remains all deliveries.

A security issue, they say. And "extreme fear of melting" isn't on the list of requests that will change their minds.

So, yeah, Savig. The Brown & Garret-in-charge, was losing sleep while tracking her packages halfway across the country. You can't have a butter cow without the butter, and losing the sculpture would rip the heart from her show — plaque-filled arteries and all.

Providentially, her worry was wasted. Not only was President Donald Trump's social calendar conveniently quiet during the delivery window, but the butter came basically ice-block frozen.

"It actually needed to have out for a few days," Savig says, letting a few bisulfite giggles escape, the sort of non-verbal, one is car disbelief reserved for when the exact opposite of your fear turns out to be true.

Where others may see a sweaty, deep-fried sidechow, Savig, a native Minnesota, has always viewed the fairgrounds as a place similar to America itself: complex, yet malleable, trendsetting, yet craze-obsessed, propelled by a collective spirit, yet defined by individual narratives.

Untamable, really, she says. A place that holds the past, present and future somehow in both feisty and tension.

"I think state fairs and fairgrounds resist easy descriptions, and so does this idea of what 'American' is right now. It really resists assumptions," she says.

"There is no one way of saying, 'Who's 'American?' or 'Who goes to state fairs?'"

The fair is a box of assorted cheers

Pratt's schematics, such as these for the 2016 fair, are the stuff of architectural blueprints. JASON CHINZEN/USA TODAY NETWORK

"I think there's something to be celebrated about tradition, but also not holding it so tightly that we can't be playful and change things along the way."

Sarah Pratt

Pratt, left, at work in 1998 with her mentor, Norma "Duffy" Lyon, right, a former apprentice herself. PROVIDED BY SARAH PRATT

About the artists

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USA TODAY ■ FRIDAY AUGUST 21, 2020 ■ 30

Hannah Pratt, working on a sculpture of then-University of Iowa Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark under the watchful eyes. Her mother, Sarah Pratt, in 2023, became an official apprentice in 2017 along with her twin sister, Grace, though the two had spent many summers as unofficial assistants. ZACH BUTTERY-HOLAND/USA TODAY NETWORK

Butter

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A family of artists and dreamers whose hands can make magic

Pratt shuffles through the paperwork in her life – the awesome amusement of an elementary school teacher and a mother of three and now a graduate student – and pulls out her sketchbook.

She always has one close, she says over a wide-filmed mug of cherry chocolate latte, the sort that requires 10 fingers to hold.

Pratt, 49, came from a family of makers, you see, where work of the hands was appreciated: drawing, painting, carving, Play-Doh, quilting, cross-stitch embroidery.

As a child, she dug up clay to roll into little beads she'd fire in the summer camp handles. And she'd pass house hunting her neighborhood for discarded trinkets or weird rocks and unusual stones.

She'd glue them together into a mosaic or mount them on little curto boxes for her special treasures – an unpolished version of what professional creatives call slept trance – found slept art.

That proclivity makes a little more serene now, decades into her artistic career, Pratt jokes, because butter sculpting is a form of this sort of salvage work art created from products not considered conventional creative materials.

'Butter sculpting is an artistic expression to me,' Pratt says. 'Tradition with a bit of whimsy' is one of the ways I like to put it. Because I think there's something to be celebrated about tradition, but also not holding it so tightly that we can't be playful and change things along the way.'

For more than 20 years, butter has been a constant for Pratt. From high school to college, there was butter. Alongside various moves, butter. In her wedding, butter.

And the births of her three children, butter, butter.

She became bolder with butter, yes, but Pratt has always felt uneasy that she hasn't been classically trained. Just mentioned. Tutelage in the ways of art through – you guessed it – butter.

She sort of still is. Imposter syndrome has a way of striking to her like sweat in an Iowa August.

She can sense it when she looks back through her old sketchbooks, back when she first started carrying one around in college. Back when she was tending her artistic skills quietly, almost embarrassed-like. Back when all she wanted was to find where she fit, where she felt full and could let loose with some big main character energy.

'Having learned through an apprenticeship made me feel like I had something to prove, or like I wasn't as much of an artist,' she says, leaving back against the booth of Spa West Des Moines coffee shop where she often comes to draft and draw.

As she flips through her sketchbook now – hardback, with big rings – she sees her mind on paper: sketches for

butter sculptures that have all the stiff angles and marginal measurements of architectural blueprints situated among doodles, journal entries, ideas and her scents.

Wired 7.00, you know, she says, when you read a word in a book and then out of nowhere a friend mentions that some word and then it's on a podcast and then in a movie. The word keeps repeating. Those scents.

For Pratt, it's as if the word starts to glow, becoming a joint connecting certain moments or concepts or people – a trail she always found worth following, especially in flashes of uncertainty.

'Transformation' was a word she tracked, popping up right when she was deciding to take a sabbatical from teaching to earn a master's degree and work on formulating a real path forward in butter sculpting.

'Curious,' too, about when she got the unbelievable opportunity to work at the Smithsonian.

But the one she thinks of most when it comes to butter sculpting is FAILURE.

How to become a butter sculptor: Be really bad at showing cows

Ping. That tinny sound heralding a new email echoes around Pratt like a spoon hit sharply against a wine glass.

Some curators with the Smithsonian want to meet her, learn more about her work, maybe get a tour of the cooler where the cow is kept on display when they visit the Iowa State Fair.

Wait – the Smithsonian? Now that tinny sound is pinballing around her brain with incredulity.

'An automatic yes,' Pratt says of her reaction back in the summer of 2023. 'I love museums.'

In fact, the first job she ever wanted was archaeologist.

No, scratch that, it was Indiana Jones, honestly, the just wanted to be Indiana Jones.

Kayla Hotwell, top, and Sarah Pratt craft their butter characters at the Iowa State Fair's agriculture building on Aug. 11, 2005. Accompanying the fair's butter cow that year: a butter tiger and a butter Tiger Woods. PROVIDED BY THE IOWA STATE FAIR

'Having learned through an apprenticeship made me feel like I had something to prove, or like I wasn't as much of an artist.'

Sarah Pratt

'What I really wanted was to be a teacher and then sneak out the window and go on three adventures where I'd find some treasure,' she says.

But, close second, she wanted to be a dairy farmer.

Unfortunately, for a kid who desperately wanted to milk and snack out, Pratt had the hapless luck of being born 'in town' in Toledo, Iowa. Her friends lived on land out to the country.

And while they raised animals for 4-H, she was stuck entering the craft competitions – cool, she says, but just not as cool as having your own pig.

'I yearned for that,' Pratt says. 'So this is not a story of. I always wanted to be an artist. But, I always wanted to be involved in agriculture.'

At 14, she begged her friend Karl Lyon to take her to the State Fair for the full 4-H treatment. The Lyons obliged and put her to work. First assignment. Wash one of the cows.

Save, Pratt thought. For had a dog Unfortunately, she used way too much shampoo, which can leave residue and lead to dandruff. That's a big no-no when cows are judged at least partially on looks and, yes, locks.

July 2. Walk the cows from their pens to the milking parlor.

Well, without the proper command of the lead, Pratt, whom made a commotion. Almost took out a stroller and lost her right foot, she says.

So, last resort. Go to the butter cooler where Great Jazz Norma Lyon was carving the butter cow.

A bit of history here: As the 20th century dawned, pasteurization and other technological advancements shifted the dairy industry from largely local farms that sold either direct to consumers or through country groceries to large creameries and co-ops that could distribute regionally. As these companies grew, so too did the organizations promoting their industry interests, as historian Pamela Simpson writes in her book, 'Corn Palaces and Butter Queens.'

And these new dairy associations saw butter sculpture as a powerful form of advertising. A tale of butter doesn't make headlines. But a butter cow? Or a butter Columbia protecting a butter fallen Spanish-American War soldier, as was created for the 2008 Minnesota State Fair? Now that will garner some ink.

In Iowa, the Beatrice Company Co-sponsored a butter cow in 1911, kicking off a headlines upheld today by the Iowa Dairy Association.

So politely shoved from the Cattle Barn, off Pratt went to Norma and the butter cow. And spending hours inside a refrigerator scratched some artists: itch she had, one she probably couldn't have articulated. She barely stopped to eat; the work satiated.

Pratt came alive. And she came back the next summer. And the next summer. And the next.

'It was my failure that led me to that opportunity,' she says. 'And this path.' OK, so The Smithsonian.

Pratt immediately thought history and figured the curators might want.

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WEEKEND EXTRA

Sarah, Grace and Hannah Pratt begin their work by layering butter onto a wood and metal armature at the Smithsonian's Remick Gallery. Once the frame is sufficiently covered, the real sculpting can begin. PROVIDED BY SARAH PRATT

The final work begins to take shape. "You'd stop away and you'd come back an hour later and all of a sudden the cow has an eye," Remick Gallery curator Mary Savig says. PROVIDED BY THE SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM

So the Pratts would instead drive their tools out to Washington and spend a week carving there, inside the specially made cooks.

The Smithsonian was on the hook to get new butter for the build because every other fair would need their supply at some point during the year the exhibit was on. So long as they could source the butter – and everyone seemed so worried about that butter delivery – Pratt was confident their cow would last the show's run.

Pratt had only ever seen a butter sculpture last for about 11 days, so she carved a quick piece in spring 2024, a small statue of Caroline Shawk Brooks, widely considered the world's first butter sculptor, and kept it in a basement mini fridge.

More than a year later, Caroline was fine. (For what it is worth: It's still in that fridge today, and Caroline is still fine.)

Her daughters, Hannah and Grace, had been her apprentices for years, but the way their schedules fell with college, they'd often work on the companion sculpture pieces while their mom did the traditional cow.

And as they held artists meetings to talk about the Smithsonian piece, Pratt realized that while she spent her formative years around dairy cows, her daughters hadn't. They were town kids surrounded by suburbs instead of country.

They knew butter, absolutely, but not necessarily whites.

So she cold-called her favorite dairy, Pickut Fence Creamery, which pointed her in the two brothers who did their milking. Her request was simple: One are crav? And so, see, spend some time with the crav?

When the women arrived at the farm, the brothers coerced some cows into a semi-covered area. And the artists got to work observing the way the cows move. The way they interact. Their bone structure. Their eyes. Their stare.

"I feel like there's a deep connection between animals and humans," Pratt says. "Animals are very curious, and they will side-eye you. Or they'll stop what they are doing and watch you."

Before they leave, they stop a photo of the cow they had picked to sculpt. Their inspiration, 'the didn't have a name, the brothers said, which felt akin to a blank canvas for Pratt, Perfect.'

On their way east, the Pratts bought a kiddie pool to use as sanitation control. They'd have special butter shoes and butter unknown: they'd wear in the cooler and take off in the unfilled inflatable.

If bags get into the museum, they could destroy other works of art. In the concrete hallways of the agriculture building at the Iowa State Fair, that had never been a concern.

They'd also need to sculpt 360 degrees of the cow, which they don't have to do in Iowa. The way the butter cooler is set up in Des Moines, visitors see only one flask.

And the space, the actual cooler – which has a distinct sci-fi look, the sort of place where an alien would be dissected – was much smaller than their usual cooler. As the cow filled out, they played a game of Twister, docking under and around. To sculpt the face, they had to lean back and squat at the same time.

"Every two hours or so, we'd stop out and we'd do a critique," Pratt says. "We'd look at the reference picture of our lovely cow from Iowa and make adjustments."

But really, so much of it was good old muscle memory. Once they got the frame put together and the initial layers on, sculpting came naturally.

"It was so fun because you'd stop away and you'd come back an hour later and all of a sudden the cow has an eye," Savig says.

For Savig, watching these artists

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Butter

Continued from Page 3D

some of the wire loops and wooden paddies used to carve the cow. Or maybe some of her memorabilia of Norma, who had sculpted the State Fair's butter cow for nearly 50 years and trained Sarah before she took over.

On the day the highly trained cursors were to visit her on the fairgrounds. Pratt cleaned up the workspace behind the butter cooler and laid out Norma's hook, an autographed photo and her tools. Her own little butter sculpture exhibit.

At best, she was expecting them to take an instrument or two, maybe the hook for research purposes. And if one of her tools ended up in a display case in the Smithsonian, she thought, oh, she was so going to see it.

By the time Savig and her colleague turned up in Iowa, they were in the middle of a monthlong swing through Midwestern fairs. During these long days of reconnaissance for their exhibit, they treaded forignounds, visited local historical societies and conducted interviews with artisans and experts.

After a pit stop in Washington, their fall was hooked out too, hitting a couple of southern and West Coast gatherings.

Savig's curatorial work has long been squatting and looking sideways at art history. The fairs concept, in fact, getting from another gathering where the art can sometimes be othered or wholly dismissed.

"We did a whole show on the Burning Man festival several years ago," which was incredibly popular, Savig says, "and I was like: 'What is my Burning Man?'"

Her answer surfaced like a cheese curd ready for its ranch dressing the State Fair.

And the idea stuck like, well, the oily residue after a boat of cords. Her excitement only grew as she began reaching out to artists and plotting the research trip tour de force, she says.

Pratt gave the spirit she had worked on about the history of butter sculpting and took them into the cooler. They were caught up talking when Savig asked, nonchalantly. Now, how will we get the roar to fit?"

"That was the first inkling," Pratt says, but her mind almost couldn't comprehend what was being suggested. Her art? In the Smithsonian?

"It took them several times of asking until I realized they did not want my autographs or my tools or my books," she says. "They wanted a butter sculpture."

That fall, the Pratt family took a trip to Washington and toured the Remick

Sarah Pratt created this sculpture of Caroline Shawk Brooks, widely considered the world's first butter sculptor, to test how long sculpted butter could last. More than two years later, the sculpture is still in Pratt's mini-fridge. PROVIDED BY SARAH PRATT

and its Octagon Room with its vaulted ceilings where, in a year and a half, Pratt and her two daughters would be sculpting. In the Smithsonian.

The piece on exhibit at the time was a neon sign, bright pink, that flashed between. THIS PRESENT MOMENT.

And USED TO BE THE UNIMAGINABLE FUTURE.

Her word at the time was TRANSFORMATION.

Curiosity created the cow: Real-life bovine in butter

In less than a week, just after the hot dogs and fireworks of July 2025, the Pratts would be leaving for the nation's capital. And, flipping through her sketchbook, Pratt feels as if they need something more tangible, interactive even, to inspire their upcoming work.

Pratt's nervous, and when Pratt gets nervous, she works with her hands. Has since she was a child.

So she fashioned the metal armature for the cow's framework, assembled it, just to get eyes on its full shape. Then she disassembled and loaded it into a U-Haul for the family's trip east.

And she's been sketching cows. So, Many Cows.

Over the course of almost two years, Pratt and the cursors had a handful of Zoom meetings to talk about logistics. They initially discussed sculpting the cow in Des Moines and shipping it, but the Remick didn't have a freight elevator, and schlepping hundreds of pounds of butter cow up a grand staircase seemed one absurdly too far.

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USA TODAY ■ FRIDAY AUGUST 21, 2026 ■ 10

10,000 year of the Butter Cow with likeness of Norma 'Duffy' Lyon is unveiled on Aug. 11, 2011, at the Iowa State Fair. RODNEY WHITE/USA TODAY NETWORK

30 BUTTER COW FACTS FANS SHOULD KNOW

Courtney Crowder Des Moines Register | USA TODAY NETWORK

The corn dog, The Giant Slide, The Big Boar. • The Iowa State Fair certainly doesn't lack for icons, but the butter cow, in all its dairy dapperness, may be the pinnacle emblem of Our Great State Fair. • But do you know how the butter cow came to achieve cult status? Or how much butter is used in the sculptures every year? • Or just how old that butter really is? • Here are 30 facts about the butter cow - including some even the biggest Iowa State Fair fans might not know.

Butter cow basics

1. The butter cow turned 100 years old in 2011. But to us, she doesn't look a day over 2-5 years old, the age range of most show dairy cows in Iowa.

2. The butter cow is sculpted from 600 pounds of low-moisture, pure cream Iowa butter. That may seem heavy, but a real cow weighs over 1,000 pounds.

3. The fair formerly used unsalted butter in its sculpture, as salt was thought to attract moisture, which would cause the statue to sweat or crack. Today, the fair uses salted butter, which actually acts as a preservative.

4. The butter can be recycled and re-used for at least 10 years, according to current sculptor Sarah Pratt.

5. Older butter is better. Pratt says 'New butter is crumbly,' she says, 'Older butter is more workable, like clay.' And the best consistency for butter sculpting mirrors Play-Doh.

6. The 2005 butter cow and Tiger Woods companion sculptures were the last ones made with all-new butter.

7. The butter cow is not solid butter! Instead, butter is packed onto an armature, a 55-foot by 8-foot wood, metal, wire and steel mesh frame.

8. Left flank only! The butter cow is sculpted on just one side and always in the pose a real cow would take in a dairy show. Head up and out!

9. There is enough butter in the butter cow for 19,200 dives of toast.

10. While sculpting the cow, butter is kept outside the 40-degree cooler so it's soft and pliable. Once in the cooler, the butter sets in about 20 minutes.

Art of butter sculpture

11. A companion sculpture or series of sculptures is carved alongside the famous butter cow, a custom that has roots in the earliest days of butter sculpting at the fair. But the practice was popularized by Norma 'Duffy' Lyon, who became known for her pop culture sculptures, including the Peanuts gang, Tiger Woods and John Wayne.

12. Three times, the butter cow actually 'produces' milk (a trick using a recirculation pump).

13. The cow's ears are not supported by the wire frame and often are at risk of falling off if not sculpted well.

14. Food coloring has been used a few times in the butter, including in the red, gold and blue emblem on Superman's costume in 2006 and the blue and red in the U.S. flag shown with Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson in 2008.

2014 Iowa State Fair butter sculptures Sarah Pratt works on her butter rendition of Kevin Costner in a scene from the movie 'Field of Dreams.' RODNEY WHITE/USA TODAY NETWORK

Lyon carves her second chocolate moose at 'Kouakers' Des Moines store in 1985. She was affectionately known as the butter lady. WARREN TAYLOR/USA TODAY NETWORK

Iowan Steve Higgins of 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' visits the butter sculpture of Ismael in the Ag Building at the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 10, 2024. Butter sculptor Sarah Pratt, left, took him inside the cooler.

PROVIDED BY KASTENIN PLITNER AND RYAN DURREICHER SRR

Lyon looks at her butter Last Supper in 1999. The piece attracted praise and criticism from across the country. ROBERT HANDBALL/USA TODAY NETWORK

Lyon became known for her pop culture sculptures, including Elvis, seen here with Lyon in 1997. RODNEY WHITE/USA TODAY NETWORK

15. In 2009, Pratt incorporated a television encased in butter in her tribute to the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong's walk on the moon. The television played a loop of moon-landing highlights.

16. The moon landing was 2009's second companion sculpture pitch. At first, the fair announced that Michael Jackson would appear alongside the cow, a nod to the Jackson Five's 1971 concert at the Grandstand and a memorial to the famed singer after his death earlier that year. But when more than 80% of an online vote requested another theme for the sculpture, the concept was switched to Armstrong's famous walk.

17. A companion was not sculpted in 1957. Instead one cooler window displayed a picnic scene while another window held little dancing pigs sculpted from land.

18. In 2011, the traditional butter cow was shelved for an updated version of the first-ever butter sculpture at the fair, which was a slightly smaller cow paired with a calf and a little boy tending to them. This special sculpture was put on a turntable, meaning, unlike most years, the cow had to be completed on both sides.

19. Lyon wanted to sculpt Elvis out of white tallow, but beef officials 'didn't want anything to do with it,' Lyon said at the time. 'They're so down on fat, they almost had a fit I knew the butter people would jump on it.'

20. A controversial 1999 buttery rendition of Leonardo da Vinci's 'The Last Supper' was sculpted out of 2,000 pounds of butter.

Outside butter cow cooler

21. In 1984, Lyon sculpted a cow out of cheddar cheese for an appearance on 'The Late Show With David Letterman.' Easier to carry on, she said at the time. In 2000, Iowa Dev. Terry Branstad was sculpted out of a 150-pound brick of Colby cheese.

22. Chocolate has been a medium as well. Twice, Lyon made a 'chocolate moose' for Youkers department store in Des Moines.

23. Fairgoers lineup outside the three-glass-window display case to get a closer look at the butter art. That line has been known to snake around the entire agriculture building and take hours to get through.

24. Presidential candidates love a butter cow background. Even though Lyon had stepped away from her sculpting duties during the run-up to the 2008 caucuses, she was so Iowa famous that candidate Barack Obama asked her to record a radio ad. 'You see a lot of manure in our line of work,' she said in the ad. 'It's a lot like politics. You got to know what's bull and what's for real. Barack Obama's got a real plan for rural America.'

25. Steve Higgins - Iowan, longtime writer and producer on 'Saturday Night Live!' and sidekick on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' - was carved in butter in 2024. He made a trip to the State Fair just to see his butter rendering. 'When you're made of butter, everything feels good,' he said.

26. The butter cow was judged based on 4-H standards in 1997 - defined ribs, a straight back and a high-under with a wide attachment - and received an honorary blue ribbon.

27. The butter cow was vandalized during the 2013 fair by the Animal Liberation Front, which sought to bring attention to abuses at slaughterhouse. The vandals hid out in the agriculture building until it closed, picked the luck on the cooler and threw red paint all over the cow, screwing 'Freedom for All' on the display case window. The damage was cleaned up within hours, before the building opened, and some enterprising supporters made T-shirts that read: 'Butter Cow Security.'

28. Lyon sculpted Jersey Jewel, a bronze statue that sits in front of Iowa State University's Dairy Farm. The sculpture originally was made of clay and then cast in bronze.

29. In 2000, a plaque was placed in front of the agriculture building to commemorate Lyon's 40 years of sculpting.

30. In 2007, the Iowa State Fair and the butter cow were listed in the best-selling book, '1,000 Places to See Before You Die,' appearing alongside Peru's Macho Picchu, Sydney's Opera House and Beijing's Forbidden City. To each their own, but do those places have cheese cards, funnel cakes or pork chop on a stick?

This list was compiled using the Des Moines Register's vast butter cow archive, the Iowa State Fair's history and the work of the late professor, Pamela Simpson, whose book, 'Corn Potatoes and Butter Queens,' is the seminal work on state fair-related art.

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WEEKEND EXTRA

A visitor takes in the Pratt's 'butter cow at the American state fairs exhibit at the Renwick Gallery in Washington. 'I feel like there's a deep connection between animals and humans,' Sarah Pratt says. 'Animals are very curious, and they will side-eye you.' Even the butter ones, apparently. JOHN MORGAN/USA TODAY

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work, digging into the butter with tools smaller than toothpicks for the most minuscule of details, carving and recarving when they weren't satisfied with the first try, was an assault on the art world's general disregard of the medium.

Flazing state fair work – both art made from the unconventional as well as incredibly conventional objects made with craftsmanship and expertise – among the American greets is a through line of the show and, now, a personal mission of Savig.

'Sarah's amazing,' Savig says. 'It shouldn't be, 'Oh, well, it's butter sculpture,' like it's kitschy or it's ephemeral. It's the quality of the work that stands against some of those other artists.'

'They're at the same level. They're extraordinarily well made. And they're conceptually challenging.'

Indeed, an early review of the show compared the Renwick's butter cow to the work of Damien Hirst, one of the most important and respected sculptors of the modern era. A juxtaposition that is validating, Pratt says.

Because even as crowds live up annually to watch her work at the State Fair and to see the final creations, Pratt can't shake that it is all sort of a novelty. The way people shuffle past the case, make silly faces in selfies, can give the work an air of jokingness.

'Almost like a curiosity in a way,' Pratt says.

So as the Pratt's pondered a title for their butter piece, they wanted to allude to that oddity-like feeling. But they also wanted to honor the fact that this whole Smithsonian experience was allowing them to shed the mean construction of curiosity and embrace a more active tense.

They named it Curious Regard. A nod, also, to the word that had been most highlighted in Pratt's skettlebore right then: CURIOUS.

The 'unimaginable future': What's next for butter sculptors

When Pratt's daughter Hannah was in middle school, she was assigned to write a paper on a famous lesson. She picked her mom – mostly, Sarah's sure, so she didn't have to call anyone else, Pratt says with a laugh.

Mother and daughter spent an afternoon sharing stories of childhood and growing up and butter and wanting to be archaeologist.

Gases that Indians have dream didn't come true, Pratt said at the time.

But in the paper's conclusion, Hannah wrote that her mom was wrong.

Her dream really had come true because, well, one, she was a teacher, and, too, during the summer she has adventures at the Iowa State Fair, telling stories of people and places and traditions through the artworks she creates.

And a realization struck Pratt like the mallet on a 50s/50s H-Sticker.

Pratt always thought being an archaeologist was about objects from far-flung places. Treasures. Until that paper, she hadn't stopped to under-

stand that just as important as the stuff is their stories – including the tale of growth and change within the person who had gone on the adventure.

Action sequences or no, Pratt spent her life looking for a story in which she could be the protagonist. Her fullest self, with big main character energy. And as crazy as it sounds, she found it in butter.

'What I have learned about a lot of artists is that there's lots of ways of becoming,' she says.

'Butter sculpting may be an artistic expression to me, but it's also a way to show a story of who we are as a state and a community.'

And, recently, she has started looking for new ways to share those stories.

For a while now, Pratt has had this inkling that there is more to butter sculpting. Maybe there's a business or a consultancy in it.

Or there could be more keynotes and workshops on sculpting's history and impact, speeches and demos she has crafted recently through a yearlong grant that supported her traveling to talk butter in rural Iowa.

Just more, she feels. She's still figuring that out.

She's also taking additional art classes through her grad school program – a little of that classical training – and 'already they're rocking my world,' she says. Her first assignment to a self-portrait, and she's working with watercolors, a medium in which she has long had interest.

'I feel like the more space I have made for that part of my life – butter sculpting and artistic endeavors and art – more opportunities have come up,' she says. 'So I feel like that's a path worth exploring.'

'I just want to keep being curious.' Pratt has gone back to repair Curious Regard a few times over its year on exhibit, when small ribbons of a black-green growth start to appear in the butter.

The Smithsonian's experts determined that the ribbons aren't a mold per se but more like what happens in an aged diary. A blue cheese, say A crystallization of little pockets of liquid

Grace, Hannah and Sarah Pratt gather next to an art installation at the Renwick Gallery where the butter cow they would carve for the state fairs exhibit would be an display a year later. Seeing her art at the Smithsonian was special, Sarah Pratt says: 'It's been a dream come true of a dream I didn't know even to dream.'

PREPARED BY SARAH PRATT

'State fairs and fairgrounds resist easy descriptions, and so does this idea of what 'American' is right now. ... There is no one way of saying, 'Who's American?'

Curator, Renwick Gallery

within the butter.

Even though repairs were always a part of the plan – Savig kept 100 pounds of butter in the staff freezer, so she would not lose sleep again when the cow needed a touch-up – anxiety churned up a cyclone in Pratt's gut the first time Savig called to set up a return visit. She felt like a kid who had left the back door open.

'Mary was like, 'Why are you feeling bad about this?' Pratt says. 'She's like: 'I don't hate it. I point it out to visitors when they come. Look at this, this is what the butter does over time.'

'So something I am embracing is: Failure is part of the journey, and sometimes it's the necessary catalyst for the next great thing.'

One last butter cow inspection before the great unveiling

Pratt went back to Washington for her final round of repairs on the butter cow just before July Fourth, just before she starts working on this year's Iowa State Fair pieces.

Her daughters came along, too. They had started on the sculpture with her just before their senior year of college. Now they have graduated and are figuring out what follows.

Pratt, too, was at a threshold when they got to Washington, having taken a sabbatical from teaching to give butter sculpting her full attention.

'To pose into herself, really. Into this transformation, she says.

'It's been a dream come true of a dream I didn't know even to dream,' she says.

'It feels like this coming together of all the work and all of our energies. It felt like the present moment of the unimaginable future.'

Pratt looks up, placing the big mug back on its comically tiny saucer. There's that word again, she says.

Another one she has written down recently, that has been following her in conversations. And, gosh, doesn't this one feel like it's glowing? And brightly.

It's her newest word – the one she's using to define whatever comes next: UNIMAGINABLE.

---

NATION & WORLD EXTRA - USA TODAY NETWORK | FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2024 | INN

NATION & WORLD EXTRA

Tetouya Uruba walks between cages housing chickens and stirs feed after barn lights switch on automatically at 2:30 a.m. at his poultry farm in Mashiko, Japan. PHOTO BY SISEI KATSUNEUTERS

Japan's farmers go nocturnal

Deadly, intensifying heat rewriting the agrarian clock

Mariko Katsumura, Tom Bateman and Issai Kato REUTERS

NIKKO, Japan – Long after sunset, Motoski Iijima's illuminated greenhouse south of Tokyo given like a lantern as the flower farmer harvests pink and orange gorberas, avoiding a daytime sun fierce enough to be deadly.

As increasingly intense heat waves turn Japanese summers into survival tools, farmers – from flower and asparagus growers to egg producers – are rewriting the agrarian clock. Once-busy midday hours are now avoided as a mortal threat, replaced by after-dark work to protect crops, livestock and themselves.

Iijima, 36, converted his family's centuries-old rice farm in the rural town of Nikko into a flower farm a decade ago.

Three summers ago, after a part-time worker suffered heatstroke picking sunflowers in his greenhouse, he made a dramatic change.

Outside temperatures above 95 degrees Fahrenheit – increasingly common in his region – can push greenhouse minuses above 104 degrees. Now, Iijima works outdoors through the night, stopping only when the morning sun turns punishing again.

"The hours around dusk are really precious. That's when we can be outside," he said, wiping sweat from his forehead under rows of halogen lights. "We've gradually become nocturnal. It's

Motoski Iijima, owner of the Nikko Engel flower farm, and employees harvest gorberas inside an illuminated greenhouse at night in Nikko, Japan. Workers at the farm now start work up to two hours earlier.

about protecting our bodies, and ultimately, our lives."

From rice farmers in Vietnam to winery workers in Spain, farmers across the globe are shifting work to cooler nighttime and early-morning hours as they try to heat more frequent and intense heat waves.

The numbers tell a stack story. Japan is especially exposed: around 70% of its farmers are 65 or older, a population especially susceptible to heat stress, and high humidity amplifies the danger.

Toll on aging farmers

A record 59 agricultural workers succumbed to extreme heat in 2024 in Japan, more than double the death toll in 2021. About 60% of farmers in their 20s to 30s surveyed by the Japan Weather Association last year said they had either personally suffered heatstroke or leave someone who had.

Nearly 60% of farmers also shifted their working hours to outlier or later in.

See FARMERS, Page 4NN

Treasury buybacks may hit Fed work

Warsh has promised to deliver price stability

Michael S. Derby and Ann Saphir REUTERS

Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh has promised that the U.S. central bank will deliver price stability, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's decision on Aug. 19 to double buybacks of longer-dated U.S. debt may complicate any effort to do so.

The Treasury Department announced Aug. 19 that it was doubling the size of its effort to buy back Treasury securities with maturities between 10 and 30 years, to $4 billion per operation.

Long-dated Treasury borrowing costs had been rising sharply amid competition for capital from Al data center builders, and on worries about government deficits. U.S. sovereign debt hit a record $401 trillion on Aug. 19.

Yields, which move inversely to prices, fell after the Treasury's announcement, though on Aug. 20 resumed their upward push even as Bessent said the buybacks could be expanded further.

"Part of it is signaling here, and to show that we believe that the yields don't reflect the underlying fundamentals," Bessent said in a CNBC interview on Aug. 20.

Asked if the drive to push long-term yields lower would work at cross purposes with the Fed's balance sheet or interest rate policy, Bessent pushed back.

"I think that the Treasury and the Fed would work together if there was any change in the balance sheet, and we would adjust to any kind of runoff that they're doing," he said.

How about a potential Fed rate hike to combat inflation, he was asked. "That has nothing to do with the decision that I announced this week on the buybacks."

Even so, the more generated questions over a push-pull between the Fed and the Treasury over influencing

See TREASURY, Page 4NN

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the buybacks could be expanded further. ATON, LAWRENCE/BEUTERS

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, are planning to return to Britain this month. SYLLAN NIGHT REED/BEUTERS FILA

Harry, Meghan returning to U.K. press 'lion's den'

Royals' security, family rift also remain issues

Michael Holden REUTERS

LONDON – A year after he and his wife, Meghan, announced they were stopping down from royal duties, Prince Harry said the shock move had been driven in part by the actions of a 'toxic' British press which was destroying his mental health.

"I did what any father or husband would do and thought, love do I get my

family out of here," he said in a 2021 interview on "The Late Late Show with James Corden".

Six years after that decision to move to the United States, which sent shock waves through the monarchy, Harry, 41, and Meghan, 45, will this month return to Britain where they will send their children to school.

And that will mean returning to the media scrutiny that they had desperately sought to leave behind.

"Look, there's no doubt that the British press and the British media are going

See ROYALS, Page 4NN

SUBSCRIBER-EXCLUSIVE SPECIAL EDITION

---

ZNN | FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 2024 | NATION & WORLD EXTRA - USA TODAY NETWORK

We make life simpler, safer, and better.

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AccuWeather

NATIONAL SUMMARY

Thunderstorms and are velop from the Southeast to the mid-Atlantic today, bringing a risk of flash flooding and localized damaging winds. Storms may also turn severe from explain Nebraska to north- ern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. While part of the Northeast becomes less fourth, head of open sist from Texas to much of the West.

In the digital e-edition, you can click anywhere on the US map to get up-to-date forecasts, radar, MinuteCast® and more.

THURSDAY EXTREMES

NETWORK for the following year (cont.)

High:

Low:

Precip:

118 of South Valley, CA

18 of Stanley, CA

3.55" of Columbus, OH

INTERNATIONAL (includes Antipristals)

High:

Low:

Precip:

118 of Asher, Algeria

18 of Dunn, Bolivia

5.84" of Sutherland, Thailand

TODAY IN HISTORY

By Aug. 31, 1998, a massive lightning-in- duced fire that consumed as billion down- tent of number in the northern Rockies was th- ally contained. By then, the fire had claimed $51.6 mn.

WEATHER TRIVIA™

What is the hottest place in the world?

(g)ng p. sumpard

-samp annual census entry, including 2.0000 ng

● Denotes possible travel delays

NATIONAL CITIES FRIDAY

	High/low/W	Low
Aberdeen, SD	66/66/0	60
Abilene, TX	105/70/0	68
@Alconnes, VA	78/59/0	55
Ashley, VA	82/51/0	55
Akron, OH	78/59/0	55
Alamogordo, NM	100/71/0	58
@Alexandria, VA	82/70/0	53
Alliance, OH	82/59/0	70
Ardwick, TX	102/72/0	70
@Alpine, IA	95/59/0	70
@Alderman, SC	100/71/0	66
Aquitaine, MI	90/65/0	70
@Alderton, NC	81/65/0	70
Ashland, OH	90/61/0	70
@Altoona, GA	91/69/0	57
@Augusta, GA	94/71/0	54
Austin, TX	104/71/0	70
Bartholde, TX	102/70/0	70
Battle Creek, MI	90/65/0	70
Bedford, IN	64/63/0	66
Binghamton, NY	78/59/0	60
@Buffalo, SC	64/57/0	60
Bremerton, MA	85/61/0	44
Brockton, MA	72/61/0	55
Brownsville, TX	100/72/0	44
@Burlington, IA	83/63/0	41
@Burlington, NC	90/66/0	60
Burlington, TN	92/59/0	50
Cambridge, OH	83/59/0	60
Camdenton, MD	85/59/0	63
Canandaigua, NY	78/55/0	60
Canton, OH	90/69/0	70
Carlsbad, NM	91/67/0	70
Charlottesville, TX	78/59/0	45
@Camp Hill, NJ	78/65/0	51
Cincinnati, OH	93/65/0	63
Chesnobs, TN	86/65/0	68
Colchester, MI	90/61/0	70
Columbia, OH	91/65/0	70
Corning, MI	78/51/0	60
Corpus Christi, TX	98/70/0	70
Delaware Beach, FL	92/70/0	70
Daming, MN	102/72/0	60
Delaware, LA	102/70/0	50
@Des Moines, IA	89/65/0	70
Detroit, MI	81/64/0	70
Des Moines, IA	78/55/0	70
Dover, NH	78/59/0	70
El Paso, TX	102/59/0	70
El Paso, TX	78/55/0	43
El Paso, TX	90/63/0	70
Eugene, OR	89/64/0	70

	High/low/W	Low
Evansville, IN	95/65/0	70
Fall River, MA	73/63/0	55
@Flemington, MA	90/65/0	60
@Framingham, MA	92/72/0	55
Food du Lac, IN	78/59/0	55
Fort Myers, FL	93/70/0	55
Fort Smith, AR	104/70/0	55
Framingham, MA	75/63/0	55
Freeport, IL	81/60/0	55
Fremont, OH	90/62/0	45
Fort Collins, CO	94/63/0	55
Garbison, AL	91/65/0	55
Gainesville, FL	92/73/0	55
@Galesburg, IL	92/62/0	55
@Gastonia, NC	90/65/0	55
Gen Ross, TX	107/70/0	55
@Gonzales, LA	91/70/0	55
Great Falls, MT	90/63/0	55
@Greenville, NC	79/57/0	55
@Greenville, SC	87/65/0	55
Heidenstall, NJ	79/65/0	55
@Hagerstown, MD	85/63/0	55
@Hattiesburg, MD	95/74/0	55
Henderson, KY	86/64/0	70
@Hendersonville, NC	81/65/0	60
Hertzberg, NY	81/64/0	55
Hillsdale, MI	90/65/0	55
@Holland, MI	79/65/0	55
Hornell, NY	78/54/0	52
@Houma, LA	94/75/0	55
Howell, WI	83/63/0	55
Hotchicken, KS	101/72/0	55
Hotspice, MN	73/65/0	55
Indianapolis, IN	82/65/0	70
@Iowa City, IA	86/62/0	55
Kiowa, NY	78/53/0	60
Jackson, MS	94/73/0	57
Jackson, TN	90/65/0	60
Jacksonville, FL	94/74/0	55
Jacksonville, NC	92/74/0	55
Kent, OH	90/65/0	70
@Knoxville, IL	81/63/0	55
Keyport, WV	79/64/0	55
@Kinston, NC	80/65/0	55
@Knoxville, TN	87/65/0	55
Lafayette, IN	81/64/0	60
@Lafayette, LA	91/70/0	55
Lakeland, FL	92/72/0	70
Lansing, MI	81/63/0	55
Las Cruces, NM	101/70/0	55
Lebanon, IN	91/64/0	55
Louisiana, FL	92/75/0	55

	High/low/W	Low
Levittown, PA	78/65/0	55
Lincoln, IL	93/64/0	55
Louisville, KY	90/65/0	55
Lubbock, TX	102/74/0	55
Meadows, MI	76/60/0	55
Macon, OH	82/65/0	60
Macon, OH	77/55/0	55
Meadows, OH	81/61/0	70
McKeesport, VA	81/70/0	55
@Melbourne, FL	82/76/0	70
Memphis, TN	93/73/0	100
Middletown, NY	78/58/0	55
Milford, MA	74/60/0	55
Milwaukee, WI	76/65/0	55
Monroe, MI	76/63/0	55
Monroe, LA	104/75/0	55
Montgomery, AL	94/72/0	55
Muncie, IN	85/65/0	55
Northwestern, TN	84/65/0	55
Naples, FL	91/70/0	70
Nashville, TN	84/66/0	55
Naples, NJ	76/65/0	55
New Bedford, MA	73/64/0	55
New Bern, NC	91/74/0	55
New Philadelphia, OH	80/58/0	70
Newark, NJ	82/65/0	55
Newark, NJ	78/59/0	55
New York, NY	76/66/0	55
Norwich, CT	74/63/0	55
Ocala, FL	91/74/0	70
Oklahoma City, OK	107/74/0	100
@Oakland, LA	97/70/0	55
Oakland, MI	75/60/0	55
@Piedmont, FL	82/60/0	70
Palm Springs, CA	113/65/0	55
Palm Springs, FL	84/76/0	55
Palm, FL	93/64/0	70
Pineville, FL	91/70/0	70
Perry, IL	82/65/0	70
@Petersburg, VA	82/71/0	55
Port Huron, MI	91/65/0	55
Pennsylvania, NY	77/63/0	55
Peoria, IL	78/61/0	55
Providence, RI	74/65/0	55
Pueblo, CO	100/64/0	55
Quincy, MA	74/64/0	55
Redmay, CA	90/65/0	55
Reno, NV	94/65/0	55
Redmond, OR	80/58/0	70
Richmond, IN	82/65/0	60

	High/low/W	Low
Rochester, NY	77/55/0	60
@Rockford, IL	81/64/0	55
Rutland, NM	83/65/0	55
Salem, SD	82/65/0	55
Salina, ID	97/71/0	55
Salinas, CA	75/61/0	60
@Salisbury, MD	81/60/0	55
Sarasota, TX	102/73/0	60
Sarasota, FL	92/70/0	70
@Savannah, GA	93/71/0	70
Sheboygan, MI	74/61/0	70
St. Cloud, MN	80/56/0	55
St. George, UT	88/73/0	55
@Staunton, VA	78/64/0	55
Stevensburg, MI	78/65/0	55
Stockton, CA	94/70/0	55
Stroudsburg, PA	80/61/0	55
St. Paul, IL	92/70/0	70
Sturgis, MI	80/63/0	55
@Tallahassee, FL	92/73/0	70
@Tallahassee, LA	94/70/0	70
Topeka, KS	93/65/0	55
Toledo, KS	93/70/0	55
Utica, NY	85/65/0	55
Ventura, CA	78/61/0	55
Victoria, CA	105/70/0	55
@Virteland, NJ	78/60/0	55
Vada, CA	91/74/0	55
@Washington, DC	82/72/0	55
Watertown, SD	87/67/0	55
Wausau, WI	78/61/0	55
Waynesboro, PA	78/64/0	55
White Plains, NY	78/64/0	55
Wichita Falls, TX	100/71/0	70
@Wilmington, DE	80/65/0	55
@Wilmington, NC	92/70/0	55
Wisconsin Rapids, WI	80/59/0	55
Winston, OH	78/59/0	70
Worcester, MA	73/61/0	55
York, PA	78/65/0	60

Air Quality Index: 0-55; Good: 51-100; Moderate: 101-150; Unhealthy for sensitive groups: 101-200; Unhealthy: 201-300; Very unhealthy: 301-500; Hazardous

INTERNATIONAL CITIES

	Total	Total
Anapolito	84,79/0	53,77/0
@Austin Alaska	72,53/0	71,03/0
Atlanta	99,71/0	93,70/0
American	101,74/0	99,72/0
Amsterdam	88,59/0	87,06/0
Ankara	85,91/0	97,60/0
Australian	74,68/0	70,98/0
Baltimore	78,17/0	93,74/0
Auckland	61,83/0	61,06/0
Baghdad	111,65/0	113,97/0
@Bangkok	91,98/0	90,80/0
@Beijing	92,74/0	90,78/0
Basel	86,79/0	86,79/0
Belgrade	102,71/0	92,06/0
Berlin	77,89/0	87,92/0
Bogota	68,91/0	65,08/0
Brussels	66,56/0	67,88/0
Brussels	99,05/0	99,77/0
Budapest	94,85/0	80,91/0
Buenos Aires	84,06/0	57,91/0
Cairo	84,75/0	93,75/0

	Friday	Saturday
Cape Town	71,05/0	87,90/0
Caracas	96,77/0	86,78/0
Casablanca	95,66/0	82,04/0
Colombia	87,70/0	85,79/0
Copenhagen	70,94/0	89,09/0
Dortmund	106,77/0	104,71/0
Dublin	83,90/0	85,47/0
Daytona	75,56/0	75,16/0
Guatemala City	91,06/0	81,03/0
Haiti	96,75/0	86,06/0
Hanoo	79,90/0	81,92/0
Havana	91,72/0	90,71/0
Helsinki	84,58/0	84,07/0
Hong Kong	88,90/0	86,68/0
Jakarta	82,79/0	93,79/0
Jerusalem	91,75/0	87,71/0
Johannesburg	77,93/0	78,51/0
Kabul	93,95/0	90,04/0
Khartoum	106,82/0	89,80/0
Kyu	82,48/0	83,03/0
Kingston	84,91/0	84,88/0

	Friday	Saturday
La Paz	90,29/0	58,04/0
Legon	83,77/0	64,79/0
Los Angeles	76,06/0	75,08/0
Lisbon	78,05/0	78,04/0
London	87,05/0	72,05/0
Madrid	86,06/0	82,06/0
Madrid	92,81/0	91,79/0
Mexico City	77,93/0	74,91/0
Milan	75,92/0	86,08/0
Montesano	87,12/0	85,72/0
Montenegro	92,48/0	84,43/0
Montreal	77,95/0	80,70/0
Moscow	70,02/0	78,02/0
Nassau	79,57/0	79,60/0
New Delhi	95,81/0	94,80/0
Panama City	91,77/0	90,76/0
Port-au-Prince	73,87/0	72,58/0
Rio de Janeiro	80,80/0	70,97/0
Rome	84,83/0	59,98/0
Rome	84,75/0	86,68/0

	Friday	Saturday
San Jose	86,72/0	66,71/0
San Salvador	82,86/0	62,06/0
San Diego	78,44/0	80,06/0
San Paulo	75,73/0	68,95/0
Sampson	84,89/0	83,98/0
Shanghai	81,91/0	68,91/0
Singapore	74,85/0	93,98/0
Shenzhen	82,48/0	83,91/0
Sydney	72,02/0	72,56/0
Taipei	81,17/0	60,79/0
Tepe (c)	89,09/0	88,98/0
Taipei	91,74/0	91,90/0
Tokyo	86,77/0	86,76/0
Toronto	77,62/0	77,63/0
Vancouver	76,91/0	72,86/0
St. Helena	82,91/0	75,06/0
Warsaw	81,42/0	67,95/0
Yamaha	85,92/0	86,98/0
Zagreb	83,95/0	76,91/0
Zurich	84,53/0	72,48/0

● Denotes possible travel delays Friday

Weather (W): 4-min/5-pm

Air City: Cloudy, 4-minute, 4th distance, 5-thousand miles, 6-rain, 6-times, 6-times, 6-times, 6-times, 6-times, 6-times, 6-times, 6-times, 6-times, 6-times, 6-times, 6-times, 6-times, 6-times, 6-times, 6-times, 6-times, 6-times, 6-times, 6-times, 6

©2008, forecasts and graphics provided by

AccuWeather.

From: Superior Accuracy™

For the AccuWeather app

---

NATIONAL CHINESE OF THE TODAY NETWORK | FRIENDS AGAINST 21, 2026 | 39th

Canada: Trade deal is 'very close'

But minister says more work needed in U.S. talks

Premi Mukherjee and David Shaperdson REUTERS

OTTAWA – Canada and the United States are 'very close' to agreeing on a trade deal that could help reduce months of tariffs and counter-duties but more work remains to be done, a top Canadian official said on Aug. 20.

Dominic LeBlanc, the minister responsible for trade with the United States, spoke after he met with U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington.

The two sides are trying to meet a trade deal by President Donald Trump, who says he will impose a new 50% tariff on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods at $2.0 la.m. ET Aug. 22. A deal could mark a demote in what has been nearly two years of tense relations between two longtime allies and major trading partners, and allow broader negotiations on renewing the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement to move forward.

The two sides are trying to meet a trade deal by President Donald Trump, who says he will impose a new 50% tariff on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods at $2.0 la.m. ET Aug. 22.

A deal could mark a demote in what has been nearly two years of tense relations between two longtime allies and major trading partners, and allow broader negotiations on renewing the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement to move forward.

The proposed deal is expected to cut the top-line tariff on Canadian itself to hache to 15% from 25% and halve tariffs

Dominic LeBlanc, the Canadian minister responsible for trade with the United States, arrives for a meeting in Washington on Aug. 20. FRIBERT L. CROSS/NUTTERS

on Canadian steel and aluminum to 25%, sources said.

The White House and USTR have been contacted for comment.

A key question remaining is around implementation and whether all UUM-CA or Canadian content will be counted against tariffs or if the United States will be able to change the rules.

Another issue is whether the United States will approve Canadian content per vehicle or if it will comply be counted more broadly. The two sides are also discussing whether the United States will reduce the current cap on parts that can be exempted from the top-line tariff rate.

The talks in Washington are aimed at getting more concrete details on the implementation of the rate and how the

content will be calculated, one of the sources said.

Trump had initially set the tariffs to take effect on Aug. 20 before giving the two sides a three-day extension to complete negotiations and expressing hope that a deal was likely.

Unlike many of Trump's earlier tariffs, the new status would apply even to products that qualify for preferential treatment under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which has shielded much of Canadian trade from tariffs, posing an added risk to Canada's economy.

Trump said on Aug. 19 that Washington would trade more tariff concessions and suggested that an agreement would also remove Canadian tariffs on U.S. goods.

Defense strategy in Shakur murder case: Don't believe my client's words

Jack Queen and Jane Ross REUTERS

The ex-gang leader accused of orchestrating the drive-by killing of Tupac Shakur made public statements that led to his arrest, but his lawyer had an unusual message for jurors this week: don't take his client seriously.

Duane "Belle" (F Davis, 6), arrested 27 years after the hip-hop star died in 1996 near the Las Vegas Strip, is current; by on trial he thinks it killing and has pleaded not guilty.

Police said they long suspected Davis but only had enough evidence after he said in media interviews and a 2000 book that he was riding in a Cadillac with Shakur's assailants and handed the gun to the men sitting behind him.

Criminal defendants often attack on deadbrage and failed by firing it cannot be corroborated by other facts. In his opening statement earlier this week, the defense lawyer for Davis flipped the script.

What facts do you have to support any of what Bells D said in any of his interviews or the book?" attorney Michael Sanft told jurors, displaying a slide in his presentation with a single expatriye to dismiss what was said.

The apology in Davis' text and only hot, according to defense lawyer and former prosecutor Catherine Christian, who said the defense sometimes arises in cases against close-thaning gang-defendants or rappers confronted with incriminating lyrics. Christian said the ju-

Duane Davis enters the courtroom during his trial at the Regional Justice Center in Las Vegas on Aug. 20. STEVEN MARCOU/POLIS, SURF VIA GETTY IMAGES

ry might be convinced Davis told a tall tale to boost sales of his memoir.

"It's his only defense, and it's a good one," Christian said.

However, calling your client a liar can be risky when you need to convince jurors his new story is the truth. "You create this paradox," said defense attorney Neil Beckind, who is following the case.

Sanft, his law firm and the Clark County District Attorney's Office did not respond to requests for comment.

Shakur's killing in 1996 became a seminal moment in nap history and heightened hip-hop culture's violent image during 'gangsta' rap's heyday, an era defined by trading between East and West Coast artists.

Davis said in his book, "Compton

Street Legend," that he wanted revenge after Shakur and associates including rap producer Marion "Ruge" Knight beat up his capture at Las Vegas' MGM Grand casino on Sept. 7, 1996.

Later that night, Davis wrote he was riding with three other men in a white Cadillac and handed a gun to two men in the backyard, one of whom opened the wham they found Shakur and Knight's car.

Police were identified the shooter but called Davis the "mastermind" who obtained the gun. Nevada law permits Davis to be charged with murder if he took part in the crime without pulling the trigger.

In his opening statement, Sanft told jurors to question whether prosecutors or Davis himself have enough evidence to back up those stories. The burden of proof is on prosecutors to prove their 'guilt' beyond a reasonable doubt, and the jury must mark a unanimous verdict to contest.

It is generally risky for defendants to expose themselves to cross-examination by testifying. But taking the visual credit for Davis' only way to explain his about how to jurors.

He would likely face withering questions from prosecutors about changing his story now that his back is against the wall, Beckind said.

"It's hard for a witness to quarrel with their own words, and here the entire defense strategy is wrapped around doing that," Beckind said.

FINANCIAL MARKETS

Top indexes sink as bond yields rise

Knead Carew and Aviluck F REUTERS

The three main U.S. equity indexes closed however in Aug. 20, as a rising Treasury yields desired risk appetite, while disappointing results from retail bellwether Walmart scored downless on the consumer sector and sallying oil prices fanned inflation worries.

Walmart shares tumbled 9.2% after the world's largest traditional retailer missed Wall Street expectations for quarterly comparable sales as rising gasoline prices had dropper's raising in spending.

The report dropped down the S&P 500 consumer staples and consumer discretionary sectors, which were among the weakest of the benchmark's 8 major industry indexes. Real retailers such as Costco, Dollar Tree and Albertsons followed Walmart lower with losses between 1% and 2.6%.

The increase in U.S. crude oil above 1997 compounded once had about the health of the U.S. consumer, according to Mona Mahajan, head of investment strategy at Edward Jones. She noted investors were already anxious after recent weaker-than-expected retail sales and labor market falls for July.

"There is some question about how resilient the consumer can be with ongoing elevated gas prices and inflationary pressures," Mahajan said.

Wall Street insists that even on Aug. 19 after the U.S. Treasury Department said it would spend more than double the expected amount on buying back benefits a birth to show a recent surge in yields. On Aug. 20, however, stocks declined as yields advanced again.

Yields on the 30-year and 30-year bonds pared gains briefly after Treasury investors' back forward said he may again increase the volume of Treasury bonds the government will repurchase. But yields resumed their upward trend.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 703.84 points, or 1.32%, to 52,759.25, the S&P 500 had 46.82 points, or 0.07%, to 7,641.16, and the Nasdaq Composite lost 243.92 points, or 1.00%, to 26,067.57.

The S&P ended about 2% below its most recent record loss, reached last week, while the Nasdaq was more than 2% below its June 2 record finish.

Consumer staples fell 1.93% and was the biggest percentage lower among the S&P 500's major sectors, followed by health care, which fell 1.93%.

The S&P 500 consumer discretionary sector sank 1.8% with megacap Amounts among its biggest better point shops. Big percentage decimates in the sector included Royal Caribbean Group and Centroid Corp, which lost more than 4% such as they are sensitive to fuel prices.

The S&P 500 energy index rose 0.4% as oil gained for the 80th consecutive session due to stalled U.S.-ban peace talks and Middle East supply disruptions. Real estate was the only other sector gainer, adding 0.5%.

Oil prices

Bond crude futures settled up $2.16, or 2.4%, at $93.78 a barrel on Aug. 20. West Texas intermediate crude futures for September gained $2, or 2.3%, at $87.83 a barrel.

TODAY IN HISTORY

Today's in Aug. 21. On the date in:

1831: Believing that God had chosen him to lead his people to freedom, enslaved minister Nat Turner began the deadliest class revolt in the United States. The rebellion killed 60 people and required a 3,000-man militia to stop it. Afterward, scores of Black people who were not involved in the revolt were lynched.

1850: Illinois Senate candidates Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln began the first of seven debates. They focused largely on the extension of slavery into the central and western territories, an issue with importance far beyond Illinois. Douglas called Lincoln a dangerous radical, while Lincoln said slavery was a moral wrong.

1857: On Aug. 10, German chemist Felix Hoffmann first synthesised a spirit. On this day, he reprofessional heroin for Bayer, with the two compound having problems, and profoundly different, effects on society.

1911: A man stole the Mona Lisa by taking it off the wall and tucking it under his clothes. The theft was discovered the next day when an amateur painter sat up his easel seat to where the painting was supposed to be. The painting was not recovered for two years, and the media sensation made the work famous.

1912: Arthur R. Eldred of Oceanside, New York, became the first person to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest in the organization then known as the Boy Scout of America. In the same month, he saved two fellow Scouts from drowning his hat to wait until Sept. 2 for the physical badge to be made.

1944: Representatives from the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union began meeting at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, DC, to lay out the principles for an organization to succeed the League of Nations. Chris joined the second set of conversations in September. They outlined a security

council with veto power but did not figure out the specifics of voting or the status of Soviet republics.

1950: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation admitting Hawaii as the 500's state. He also ordered a new American flag with 50 stars in mag. gered rows. Approval among Hawaiians was overwhelming, not as much in the House of Representatives, where the statehood fell passed 323-80.

1970: Army Newton, cofounder of the Black Panther Party, published a statement supporting the women's and gay liberation movements as fellow revolutionaries. The move was controversial, with the party's education reorder feeling it would alienate young Black people.

1974: The Equal Educational Opportunities Act was enacted, prohibiting schools from discriminating against students based on race, color, gender or nationality. It included that segregated schools were illegal and required

schools "to take appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation."

1980: Ingrid Nwokirk and Alex Pacheco incorporated People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. The organization undertook its first high-profile advocacy effort the following year by exposing the cruel treatment of monkeys in a Maryland research lab.

1983: Philippine opposition leader and presidential candidate Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. was assassinated on the tarmac at Manila International Airport just minutes after he returned from exile.

1987: No one puts Baby in a corner! The movie "Dirty Dancing" opened in the United States.

2017: The continental United States experienced a total-take eclipse for the first time in almost 40 years.

USA TODAY Network

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ENN | FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2024 | RATING 1: 1, 2024 | THE 1ST THEME

NEWS IN BRIEF

Source: FBI called Swallow's home in sexual misconduct probe

WASHINGTON – The FBI has mided a home belonging to Democratic former Rep. Eric Swallow, a prominent antagonist of President Donald Trump before he resigned from Congress, as part of an investigation into sexual misconduct claims against him, according to a source familiar with the investigators.

FBI agents sexual electronic devices from Swallow's at San Francisco International Airport and searched his home in Washington, DC, last weekend, the source said.

A lawyer for Swallow did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Swallow's resigned his son in Congress and dropped out of the race for California president April after four women accused him of sexual misconduct, ranging from sexual assault to sending unsolicited explicit images. Swallow has apologized for 'intention in judgment' but has said the allegations are false and has vowed to fight them.

Local law enforcement in New York and Los Angeles have announced investigation into the alleged assaults.

EPA will end summer-blood gasoline requirement early

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump's administration will end summer-blood gasoline requirements about two weeks early this year in an effort to boost the U.S. fuel supply and lower gas prices, the Environmental Protection Agency said on Aug. 20.

The EPA said it would allow the sale of 10% ethanol, or 10% gasoline with a higher limit liquor (revenue or RVF beginning Sept. 1, about two weeks earlier than normal. The United States typically switches to summer gasoline blends through Sept. 15 to reduce air pollution.

Three blends have lower volatility, measured by WVF limiting evaporation that can contribute to using in summer gasoline.

U.S. gasoline prices have risen due to the loss over the Aug. 20, pump prices for regular gasoline averaged $4.16 per gallon, up from about $1.13 a gallon a year ago, according to AAA.

China Evergrande founder sentenced to life in prison

HONG KONG – The founder of China Evergrande Group (he would) about indebted property developer, was sentenced to life in prison by a Chinese court on Aug. 20; five years after the firm's collapse block the nation's economy and financial markets.

Ha Ke Yan, once Asia's richest man, pleaded guilty in April to eight charges, including release of funds, fundraising fraud, illegally taking public deposits, illegally extending loans, fraudulently issuing securities and bribery.

Evergrande, once China's premier developer, has defaulted on most of its $100 billion in liabilities, its troubles symbolizing a crisis in the property sector that has long dragged on the world's second biggest economy.

The sentence in the southern city of Shenzhen, which included confiscating all of this personal property, ends his rags to reduce story but is unlikely to bring much solace to Evergrande's domestic and foreign condition.

Evergrande's liquidators declined to comment on the sentence. Reuters could not reach legal representatives for this.

Pakistan's ex-WM Khan moved to hospital after court order

Judul from a Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was transferred to a hospital in Islamabad early on Aug. 21 for medical examination, his party said. Fulfilling a long-standing demand by supporters who say his health has deteriorated during more than three years in prison.

The more followed a Supreme Court order this week and is seen as a potential first step toward easing treatment decisions, which party said Pakistan's powerful military establishment, which have been at odds since his center from office in 2022.

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been shifted from Afsala Jail to Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad following Supreme Court order," Khaza said, Pakistan Teherok-abad said, said in a text message to journalists.

"He has been say his health has deteriorated in prison and that he has lost significant vision in his right eye. The government has said medical reports disclosed no condition requiring immediate treatment.

Reuters

Farmers

Continued from Page 1NN

the day.

In 2018 alone, heat exposure cost Japan's agricultural sector 920 million labor hours – time workers could not safely spend in the fields – according to Lancet Countdown, a research collaborator that tracks the health impacts of climate change.

To adapt, workers at Iijima's farm now start work up to two hours earlier. One veteran worker, 40-year-old Miyako Asaki, arrives at the farm shortly after solution.

"We've got to race against the clock," she said, hurrying to cut purple asters alongside eight others in a vast field before temperatures climb past safety limits.

A few towns away, poultry farmer Tetsuya Uusha faces a different crisis.

One Farmer's midnight routine

Six summers ago, he lost over 500 laying hens to heatstroke during a three-day spell of intense heat. The experience still haunts Uusha – he and his father had to use a窒息fit fitted with a giant bucket to remove the birds from the fuels.

Now, Uusha's midnight routine is fixed: lights automatically flick on in two of his hours at 2:30 a.m., waking the 4,400 caged hens to eat before oppressive heat suppresses their appetite. He has installed additional fans, sprays waken on the hen's metal roofs, and adds citric acid to the heat 'drinking' water. Still, when temperatures suddenly spiked above 95 degrees in July, he lost 200 birds.

"Summer has become a new threat

Tetsuya Uusha works inside a poultry barn in Mashiko, Japan, on Aug. 10. Uusha turns an lights before about during the summer to encourage hens to eat before daytime heat suppresses their appetite, wrote in color art/section.

An employee at the Nikko Engel Power farm harvests asters in a field in Nikko, Japan, on Aug. 5.

to producers like us, something as scary as an outbreak of arson influenza," the 40-year-old said.

As he derided on his birds one recent afternoon, the thermometer read about

W Fahrenheit. Many of them were panting with their books ajar.

The government has taken note.

New workplace regulations introduced in 2023 require employers to establish heatstroke reporting procedures and emergency response plans. Japan is also promoting smart farming technologies such as the use of drones and robots to reduce workers' water.

But on Iijima's farm, adaptation remains intensely unusual. In the early morning, workers hurriedly check the harvested flowers for willing leaves before loading them onto trucks. It is not yet it is an, and the morning is still favorable. "Look, those leaves are already willing," one worker calls out.

Iijima passes and glances at the overcast sky. Before long, the heat will return.

Treasury

Continued from Page 1NN

general credit conditions.

"Humb had the first to a 9-3 decision in July to issue the policy rate unchanged. While he scheduled his pledge to get inflation back down to 2%, he continued to resist giving any clues about his own rate each view. Noting that yields had risen since the Fed's previous meeting, he said it's important that the Fed take its cues from the markets rather than the other way around.

"Humb has tried to make the unconventional case that the Fed should stand back and let the market form an unguided yield curve that provides a market estimate of the appropriate degree of restraint – while hurting long- and tightening might be preferable to short- and tightening," wrote Evercres 2014 Krishna Gita. "It is hard to make that case when investors see Resent as trying to manage the long end."

Since his global financial crisis two decades ago the central bank has used asset buying to sales markets and to lower long-term borrowing costs.

The rise in Treasury bond yields has been jarring to market observers and has raised questions as to whether the situation is extreme enough for the Fed

to get involved, even as there are lots of questions about the longer-term potency of the new Treasury buyback schedule.

Wards has long expressed skepticism over using central bank asset buying, as a policy tool, and has made as a cornerstone goal getting what is now a $8.8 trillion balance short hours. But he has also signaled a willingness to work with the Treasury and coordinate where possible, which might make the Fed leader more open to look up with the Treasury despite his broader disdain for large Fed holdings.

How Wards could act is further complicated by his your blanket refusal to explain what he thinks lies ahead for monetary policy and his unwillingness to provide much guidance on how he looks at data to reach policy decisions.

High bar

Thus far, market participants don't see a case for the Fed to join the Treasury in trying to boost liquidity for long-term bonds.

"The bar for the Fed to stop is with market-stabilizing purchases is very high at the moment and we would need to see signs of liquidity deteriorating enormously and sign of market dysfunction, which we're simply not seeing," said Donaudy Goldberg, head of U.S. Rates Strategy at TD Securities.

Most importantly, the market is functioning in a way that the Fed can still manage its interest rate target range.

"I don't see any impact on the Fed's ability to control short-term interest rates," said Michael Frank, chief U.S. economist at J.P. Morgan.

The range of debt changed by the Treasury's increased buyback operation is influential to end world borrowing costs for things like mortgages. Borrowing costs for the long-term hit nearly a two-decade high earlier this week amid concerns about inflation, government borrowing appetites, and as the Treasury faces conjunctions from the offerings from companies furiously building out infrastructure for AI.

Personality Fed issues buying could lower these yields or cut their ten, and it would have more firepower to devote to the matter than the Treasury. But as it would be akin to an uneasy of monetary policy, that would be hard to square against the Fed's ongoing efforts to lower inflation that still stands well above the 2% target.

Dating Singh, chief global economist at PGIM, who also served at the New York Fed and Treasury Department, said what the Treasury has done ultimately doesn't change the story during yields up and while its action is shining a spotlight on a real issue, it is doing so "without a credible strategy to solve" it.

Royals

Continued from Page 1NN

to try and follow their every move," royal commentator Afua Hugan told Reuters.

"Perhaps they are walking back into the lock-box, but they're walking back into their own purpures," they're not bringing a knife to a pundage.

In the years since leaving Britain, Harry has waged war in the courts with the British press, successfully suing two major publishers, including Rupert Murdock's News Group Newspapers, but he lost possibly his biggest battle against the Daily Mail in July.

Many of those accused by his lawyers of being compelled in unlawful decisions, and the law of every area or have since moved to editor positions, with most of those claims not upheld by the courts.

When he gave evidence at the Daily Mail trial, he held back tears as he said the individual made Neighan's life "an absolute misery".

In those circumstances, the timing of the return to the media box's den was surprising, one senior former city mayor, who was asked by the aim of your both being eaten, fight them, lose and then come back to face them again. It's absolutely baffling," the aide, speaking, an condition of anonymity, told Reuters.

But royal biographer Robert Hard-

man said he thought the way the couple would be treated would be different now.

"I think Harry's sort of moved on. We have to assume that his days as a serial litigant are now over," he told Reuters.

"They still expect and demand and receive the same sort of privacy that's accorded to other celebrities. If they're in a public place, then they're the game. If they're in private, they're out."

While Harry clearly still hates the press, and the couple have campaigned on the perils of social media and its damaging impact especially on young people, Hugan said their perspective might have changed. "I think there's also probably an element that they have decided that these are more important things in life," she said.

How they deal with the media is just one of many as yet unanswered questions arising from the couple's aloof-face on living in Britain.

Harry fought and lost a lengthy court battle with the British government over his security arrangements, after a specialist body decided in February 2020 that Harry would not automatically receive personal police protection.

Who will now pay for his security and at what level of protection remain on known.

"This is a private matter," Prime Minister Andy Rawlsmo said when asked if the government would pay. "It's a matter for Harry and for Neighan, and we write them well in the moves that they are making."

Possibly the biggest issue for the couple will be how they deal with lingering and deep resentment felt not just within the institution of the monarchy but by other members of the royal family, especially Harry's older brother, Prince William.

The brothers, once very close, now barely communicate, following personal criticism leveled at William and his wife, Kate. Harry even wrote to his memoir "Spurs" that William had knocked him to the floor during an argument over Neighan, breaking a dog bowl in the process.

The ex-royal aide said the senior royals were not base of Neighan, due to the level of drama that had arisen since she met Harry. While it was hard to gauge what his elder brother would think, given the lack of reconciliation between the siblings, the aide expected William, Kate and their advisors to be apprehensive.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment about the family's return to Britain. But media reports said the king welcomed being able to see more of his youngest son and his family.

The former aide said for a true rapprochement to take place in the family there would have to be a lot of trust in children with teenagers from early and Neighan, who have likewise said the royals tried to say sorry to them.

"The family's got to break broad and make peace, and that is hard to see in the short term," the ex-royal official said.

制度与权力批判深度研判：USA Today (2026-08-21)

▌ 本日全报思想与文化深思雷达 (Intellectual & Cultural Significance Radar)

在系统通盘梳理本期报纸所涉及的所有国际政治、经济、社会与文化报道后，以下 3 个具体事件在制度结构、权力技术与法理合法性层面最值得学者进一步深思：

1. 【招聘机制的系统性失能与“幽灵职位”现象】 [F2_3, F14_28, F15_30]（版面：主报深度版面/专业栏目）

   • 事件简述：求职者面临面试流程中断（如软件工程师托德·亨德里克斯的经历）以及圣路易斯联邦储备银行揭示的“幽灵职位”（不活跃列表）泛滥问题。
   • 制度批判切入点：分析劳动力市场如何从“匹配机制”转向“数据模拟机制”，探讨算法治理下的招聘流程如何通过形式化程序掩盖真实的就业缺口，形成一种数字时代的官僚主义排斥。

2. 【TPS保护终止与海地移民的法律悬置】 [F12_23, F12_24, F13_26]（版面：专业栏目）

   • 事件简述：美国最高法院法律斗争后，超过33万名海地人的临时保护状态（TPS）于8月5日结束，导致大量人群（包括马萨诸塞州的4.5万人）陷入法律地位不确定的困境。
   • 制度批判切入点：探讨主权权力如何通过“临时性”法律工具（Temporary Status）将特定人群置于一种可随时撤销的“准合法”状态，分析法律如何被用作一种管理人口的临时性开关。

3. 【刑事审判中的举证责任分配】 [F18_35, F18_36]（版面：专业栏目）

   • 事件简述：在克兰西审判中，法律要求控方证明被告在法律上是“神志清醒的”，而非由辩方证明精神失常。
   • 制度批判切入点：剖析司法制度在处理“精神疾病”与“刑事责任”时的法理逻辑，分析举证责任的分配如何反映司法权力对精神医学话语的吸纳与重构。

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▌ 精选核心专题深度思想论证 (In-Depth Dialectical Monograph)

专题一：数字官僚制的“铁笼”：招聘机制的模拟化与劳动力市场的结构性异化

在当代劳动力市场的运作中，招聘流程已不再仅仅是人才与岗位的匹配，而演变为一种由算法和官僚程序驱动的“模拟游戏”。托德·亨德里克斯在Zoom面试中遭遇的“对方未出现” [F2_4 🔍]，并非个别企业的管理失误，而是韦伯式官僚制在数字时代的病理延伸。

从制度结构看，招聘机制正陷入一种“形式化陷阱”。圣路易斯联邦储备银行揭示的“幽灵职位” [F15_30 🔍] 表明，大量职位发布目标是已就业人员或代表不活跃列表，这导致职位空缺与失业人数之比夸大了劳动力市场的真实紧张程度。此时，职位发布这一行为本身已脱离了其原有的功能性目的，变成了某种“制度表演”。在这种机制下，求职者被简化为数据库中的一个标签，而招聘流程则变成了一套去人性化的过滤算法。

援引韦伯的官僚制铁笼 (Weberian Iron Cage) 理论，我们可以发现，数字招聘系统构建了一个更加严密的、不可见且不可问责的铁笼。传统的官僚制依赖于明确的层级，而数字官僚制则依赖于“黑箱算法”和“自动化流程”。当求职者面对一个不存在的面试官却在全国范围内的激烈竞争中被筛选 [F14_28 🔍] 时，权力在此处表现为一种“去施事化”的绝对权威。这种权力技术通过将竞争全球化和流程复杂化，系统性地制造了求职者的倦怠感与不信任感，从而在结构上削弱了劳动者的议价能力。劳动力市场不再是纯粹的价值交换场所，而变成了一个由“幽灵职位”和“自动化筛选”构成的数字迷宫，个体在其中被彻底客体化。

专题二：法律的“临时性”操纵：TPS终止与主权权力的例外状态

美国最高法院关于终止海地人临时保护状态（TPS）的裁决 [F12_23 🔍]，揭示了现代主权国家如何通过法律技术的精巧设计，将特定人群长期维持在一种“法律上的灰色地带”。TPS（临时保护状态）在制度设计上就包含了一种内在的矛盾：它赋予了居住权，但这种权利是“临时”的，且其延续取决于行政权力的裁量。

这种制度安排实际上是施密特“例外状态” (State of Exception) 的一种常态化应用。主权者通过宣布某种状态为“例外”，从而在法律内部创造了一个法律不完全适用的空间。对于超过33万名海地人而言，他们被纳入了制度的保护，但这种纳入本身就是一种“被标记的纳入”。当特朗普政府官员敦促他们离开 [F12_24 🔍] 时，这种法律地位的瞬间坍塌将个体直接推向非法状态。这种从“合法”到“非法”的快速切换，并非基于个体行为的改变，而是基于主权权力对“临时性”定义的重新解释。

进一步分析，这种权力运作通过法律程序的合法性掩盖了其政治排斥的本质。最高法院的法律斗争 [F12_24 🔍] 为这种排斥提供了法理外壳，使得大规模的身份丧失在程序上显得“正当”。马萨诸塞州约4.5万名依赖TFS的人员陷入困境 [F13_26 🔍]，反映了制度路径依赖的残酷性：一旦个体在制度的诱导下产生了对该状态的依赖，这种依赖便成为了权力在未来实施精准打击的弱点。法律在此不再是保护权利的盾牌，而变成了主权者用来管理、筛选和清除特定人口的精密手术刀。通过将“临时性”制度化，国家实现了对移民人口的动态控制，使其在法律上永远处于一种“待命”且“可被抛弃”的状态。

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▌ 面向学者的制度研究开放性追问 (Open Research Horizons)

1. 【关于算法官僚制的问责机制研究】：当招聘、筛选等社会资源分配机制被完全算法化且出现“幽灵职位”等系统性误导时，传统的行政法与劳动法如何构建一套能够穿透“黑箱”的问责机制，以防止权力在自动化流程中实现完全的隐匿？
2. 【关于“临时法律身份”的政治哲学研究】：在当代全球治理中，TPS、临时签证等“临时性法律状态”是否正在成为一种新型的治理范式？这种范式如何通过在法律内部制造“不确定性”，来实现对边缘人群的结构性控制与心理驯化？

理性与情感辩证深度研判：USA Today (2026-08-21)

▌ 本日全报生活世界痛感与情感政治深思雷达 (Lifeworld & Affective Significance Radar)

在系统通盘梳理本期报纸所涉及的所有报道后，以下 3 个具体事件在个体生命体验、情感撕裂与生活世界崩解层面最值得学者进一步深思：

1. 【法律责任与精神崩溃的法理撕裂】 [F18_35, F18_36]（生活领域：健康与法律）

   • 事件简述：在克兰西（Clancy）审判中，控方面临压力，必须证明被告在行为瞬间具有法律上的神志清醒，而辩方则主张其处于精神崩溃状态。
   • 情感政治切入点：探讨法律理性如何试图将复杂的精神创伤量化为“刑事责任能力”的二元判断，揭示制度理性在面对生命极端痛苦时的简化逻辑。

2. 【劳动力市场的“幽灵化”与信任崩塌】 [F2_3, F15_29, F15_30]（生活领域：经济与生存）

   • 事件简述：失业者（如软件工程师 Todd Hendricks）面对招聘机制的“崩溃” [F2_4 🔍]，而圣路易斯联邦储备银行分析指出，大量职位发布实际上是针对已就业者或不活跃列表的“幽灵职位” [F15_30 🔍]。
   • 情感政治切入点：技术化的招聘流程（如 Zoom 面试中的等待 [F2_4 🔍]）与虚假职位空缺，如何共同构建一种系统性的欺骗感，导致求职者对社会契约产生深层的信任缺失。

3. 【无名男孩的死后尊严重建】 [F10_19, F11_21]（生活领域：文化与身份）

   • 事件简述：基因研究人员试图确认一名 1932 年在北卡罗来纳州被发现的无名男孩的身份，而当年国王之女会（King's Daughters）为其筹款举行了葬礼。
   • 情感政治切入点：通过对“无名者”的追溯，展现人类如何通过仪式感和情感补偿来对抗死亡带来的彻底虚无，揭示生命意义在制度性遗忘之后如何通过微观的情感行动得以重建。

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▌ 精选核心专题理性与情感辩证论证 (The Dialectic of Logos and Pathos Monograph)

专题一：【法理之尺与精神之渊：克兰西审判中的责任量化与生命痛感】

在克兰西（Clancy）审判中，我们目睹了一场典型的系统理性（Logos）与生命痛感（Pathos）的剧烈摩擦。

首先，从系统理性模型解构来看，法律程序将一个极其复杂的生命悲剧简化为一个技术性的法律问题：即被告是否具有“刑事责任能力” [F18_36 🔍]。在这种模型中，精神状态被处理为一种法律上的判定标准，控方必须通过证据证明被告在行为时具备相应的认知能力。这种技术官僚式的理性假设，旨在通过一套标准化的举证责任来维持法律的确定性。

然而，生活世界的真实痛感则呈现出完全不同的现象学深描。审判涉及的是极端的精神崩溃状态 [F18_35 🔍]。对于当事人而言，精神崩溃并非一个简单的法律标签，而是一种撕裂性的生命体验。当法律理性要求将这种体验还原为“在准确时刻是否有能力做出负责任决定”的理性主体时 [F18_36 🔍]，个体在崩溃瞬间的肉身绝望被彻底过滤掉了。

在这种辩证摩擦中，系统理性将非理性的情感崩溃定义为法律上的“责任能力”问题。这种处理方式实际上是对生命意义的剥夺：它将一个人的精神危机转化为一场关于“举证压力”的博弈 [F18_36 🔍]。底层情感在这里蕴含着一种对人类精神脆弱性的揭示，但这种理性在法庭的冷色调语言面前被压制，导致正义的实现被简化为对一个技术指标的判定。

专题二：【算法之影与生存之艰：招聘机制“崩溃”中的系统异化与信任缺失】

当代劳动力市场的招聘危机，不仅是经济波动的结果，更是一次技术理性对人类生存尊严的深度异化。

在系统理性模型中，招聘被数字化为职位发布、算法筛选与多步骤远程面试。然而，这种理性在实践中产生了严重的扭曲。圣路易斯联邦储备银行的分析揭示了“幽灵职位”的现象：大量职位发布并非为了招聘，而是为了针对已就业人员或维持不活跃列表 [F15_30 🔍]。在这种逻辑下，职位空缺率被夸大，劳动力市场的真实紧张程度被掩盖。

而从生活世界的现象学视角看，这种系统性扭曲直接转化为个体的绝望感。软件工程师 Todd Hendricks 在收到裁员通知后，在 Zoom 面试的编程环节中面对对方的缺席而等待 [F2_4 🔍]，这一细节精准地捕捉到了个体在面对冰冷、失效的系统时的无力感。对于求职者而言，这不仅是找不到工作，而是发现自己所依赖的社会晋升机制已经“崩溃” [F2_3 🔍]。

Logos 与 Pathos 的辩证摩擦在此体现为：系统端将职位发布视为一种数据管理或品牌维护工具 [F15_30 🔍]，而生活世界将其视为生存的希望与契约。当“幽灵职位”成为常态，信任这一社会粘合剂便发生了结构性瓦解。求职者不再仅仅与竞争对手竞争，而是在与一个充满虚假信号的系统搏斗 [F14_28 🔍]。这种从“期待”到“怀疑”的迁移，预示着一种深层的社会心理危机：个体被囚禁在算法构建的虚假机会之中，而真实的生存需求在系统的冷漠中被逐渐消解。

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▌ 面向学者的伦理与社会心理开放性追问 (Open Research Horizons)

1. 【关于生命脆弱性的法理重构】：在涉及精神崩溃导致极端行为的案件中，法律如何从单纯的“责任能力”判定，转向一种能够包容“病理痛感”的修复性正义模型？
2. 【数字时代的信任本体论研究】：当“幽灵职位”等系统性欺骗成为劳动力市场的结构性特征时，个体如何重建对社会契约的信任？
3. 【身份认同的后验性重建】：通过对 1932 年无名男孩身份的基因追溯 [F10_19 🔍]，我们可以如何探讨现代技术在弥合历史性遗忘与重建个体尊严中的伦理边界？