Two U.S. service members and one American civilian were killed and three other people wounded in an ambush on Saturday by a lone member of the Islamic State group in central Syria, the the U.S. militarys Central Command said.

The attack on U.S. troops in Syria is the first to inflict casualties since the fall of President Bashar Assad a year ago.

Central Command said in a post on X that as a matter of respect for the families and in accordance with Department of Defense policy, the identities of the service members will be withheld until 24 hours after their next of kin have been notified.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X: Let it be known, if you target Americans anywhere in the world you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you.

President Donald Trump told reporters, "We will retaliate" when asked how the U.S. would respond.

The shooting took place near historic Palmyra, according to the state-run SANA news agency, which earlier said two members of Syrias security force and several U.S. service members had been wounded. The casualties were taken by helicopter to the al-Tanf garrison near the border with Iraq and Jordan.

SANA said the attacker was killed, without providing further details.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attacker was a member of the Syrian security force.

The U.S. has hundreds of troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the Islamic State group.

Last month, Syria joined the international coalition fighting against the IS as Damascus improves its relations with Western countries following the ouster of Assad when insurgents captured his seat of power in Damascus.

The U.S. had no diplomatic relations with Syria under Assad, but ties have warmed since the fall of the five-decade Assad family rule. The interim president, Ahmad al-Sharaa, made a historic visit to Washington last month where he held talks with President Donald Trump.

IS was defeated on the battlefield in Syria in 2019 but the groups sleeper cells still carry out deadly attacks in the country. The United Nations says the group still has between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq.

U.S. troops, which have maintained a presence in different parts of Syria including Al-Tanf garrison in the central province of Homs to train other forces as part of a broad campaign against IS, have been targeted in the past. One of the deadliest attacks occurred in 2019 in the northern town of Manbij when a blast killed two U.S. service members and two American civilians as well as others from Syria while conducting a patrol.

Comedy icon Dick Van Dyke celebrated his 100th birthday on Saturday, hitting the century mark some six decades after he sang and danced with Julie Andrews in Mary Poppins and starred in his self-titled sitcom.

The funniest thing is, its not enough, Van Dyke said in an interview with ABC News at his Malibu, California home. A hundred years is not enough. You want to live more, which I plan to.

Van Dyke became one of the biggest actors of his era with The Dick Van Dyke Show, which ran from 1961-66 on CBS; appeared with Andrews as a chimney sweep with a Cockney accent in the 1964 Disney classic Mary Poppins and, in his 70s, played a physician-sleuth on Diagnosis: Murder.

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Also a Broadway star, Van Dyke won a Tony Award for Bye Bye Birdie to go with a Grammy and four Primetime Emmys. In 1963, he starred in the film version of Bye Bye Birdie.

Just last year, he became the oldest winner of a Daytime Emmy, for a guest role on the soap Days of Our Lives.

In the 1970s, he found sobriety after battling alcoholism, and spoke out about it at a time when that was uncommon to do.

Now that he has hit triple digits, Van Dyke said he's gotten some perspective on how he used to play older characters.

You know, I played old men a lot, and I always played them as angry and cantankerous, he told ABC News. "It's not really that way. I don't know any other 100-year-olds, but I can speak for myself."

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She gives me energy. She gives me humor, and all kinds of support, he told ABC News.

Van Dyke was born in West Plains, Missouri, in 1925, and grew up the class clown in Danville, Illinois, while admiring and imitating the silent film comedians.

He told ABC News he started acting when he was about 4 or 5 years old in a Christmas pageant. He said he was the baby Jesus.

I made some kind of crack, I don't know what I said, but it broke the congregation up," he said. "And I liked the sound of that laughter.

And what's hard about being 100?

I miss movement, he told ABC News. I've got one game leg from I don't know what."

"I still try to dance, he said with a laugh.

Peter Greene, a character actor best known for his role as the iconic villain Zed in Pulp Fiction, has died. He was 60.

He died in his home in New York City, his manager, Gregg Edwards confirmed on Friday. His cause of death was not immediately released.

He was just a terrific guy," said Edwards. "Arguably one of the greatest character actors on the planet; Has worked with everybody.

Born in Montclair, New Jersey, Greene landed some of his first leading roles in Laws of Gravity in 1992 and Clean, Shaven in 1993, according to IMDB.

In 1994, he played the memorable villain in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction." That same year, he played another leading villain opposite Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz in The Mask."

Greene was working on two projects when he died, including a documentary about the federal government's withdrawal of funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, according to Edwards.

Weve been friends for over a decade," said Edwards. "Just the nicest man.

The United States will lift sanctions on Belarusian potash in the latest sign of a thaw between Washington and the isolated autocracy.

John Coale, the U.S. special envoy for Belarus, met the countrys authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko for talks in the Belarusian capital of Minsk on Friday and Saturday.

A close ally of Russia, Minsk has faced Western isolation and sanctions for years. Lukashenko has ruled the nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than three decades, and the country has been repeatedly sanctioned by Western countries both for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use its territory in the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

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Speaking with journalists, Coale described two-day talks as very productive, Belarus state news agency Belta reported Saturday.

The meetings focused on steps toward normalizing relations between Washington and Minsk, including lifting sanctions and releasing political prisoners in Belarus, Coale said. He also said that the relationship between the two countries was moving from baby steps to more confident steps as they increased dialogue.

The discussions also touched on Venezuela, as well as Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, Belta said.

Coale told reporters that Lukashenko had given good advice on how to address the conflict, saying that Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin were longtime friends with the necessary level of relationship to discuss such issues.

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"Naturally, President Putin may accept some advice and not others, Coale said.

A federal judge in Massachusetts on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to restore billions of dollars in canceled FEMA disaster mitigation funding, siding with 22 states and the District of Columbia that sued over the canceled grants this summer.

President Donald Trump's administration said in April it was ending the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, which helped communities with predisaster projects to harden infrastructure and improve resilience against the increasing threats of climate change.

The administration called the program wasteful and ineffective and said it would halt $3.6 billion in funding awarded but not yet paid and would not award $882 million in grants for the following fiscal year.

The program's disruption upended projects across hundreds of communities in both Republican- and Democratic-led states, thwarting plans to improve stormwater drainage, harden electrical lines and even help relocate households living in areas most vulnerable to disasters.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told The Associated Press Thursday that DHS has not terminated BRIC, but did not elaborate on the programs status.

The Biden Administration abandoned true mitigation and used BRIC as a green new deal slush fund, the spokesperson said, referring to a Democratic plan to combat climate change. Its unfortunate that an activist judge either didnt understand that or didnt care.

The order comes at a time of profound uncertainty over FEMA's future and on the same day that a long-awaited meeting of the FEMA Review Council to present a report recommending reforms to the agency was abruptly canceled by the White House because it had not been fully briefed on the latest version of the report, according to a White House official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

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Congress funded BRIC during the first Trump administration through the 2018 Disaster Recovery Reform Act, and FEMA launched the program in 2020. The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act made an additional $1 billion available for BRIC over five years, though only about $133 million had been delivered to communities by April, according to FEMA.

The program was criticized by some for being difficult to access for rural and less wealthy communities due to a complicated application process and cost-sharing requirements. But even Republican lawmakers like Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana opposed the cancellations and called for BRIC's reinstatement.

It protects families and saves taxpayer dollars in the long-run, Cassidy said on the Senate floor a week after the funding cancellation. Thats efficient in my book.

Judge Richard G. Stearns found that FEMA's actions were unlawful since Congress appropriated the money specifically for the grants and that there was an inherent public interest in ensuring that the government follows the law.

The BRIC program is designed to protect against natural disasters and save lives, Stearns wrote in the court order.

The Trump administration has slashed disaster preparedness dollars across multiple FEMA programs this year as part of its campaign to transfer more responsibility for disasters to states.

Since February, Trump has not approved any requests for hazard mitigation funding, a typical add-on that helps states, tribes and territories complete resilience projects after major disasters.

Emergency preparedness grants that states and local governments rely on to staff emergency management agencies and buy equipment are currently frozen after 12 states sued the Trump administration over unprecedented grant stipulations related to the administration's immigration agenda.

Multiple studies have shown that preemptive investments in disaster readiness can yield significant savings. A 2024 study funded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found every $1 invested in disaster preparation saved $13 in economic impact, damage and cleanup costs.

National Guard troops went door-to-door early Friday to evacuate a farming city north of Seattle as severe flooding throughout western Washington stranded families on rooftops, washed over bridges and ripped homes from their foundations.

Gov. Bob Ferguson, who has warned that as many as 100,000 people would need to evacuate statewide, said Friday the Trump administration has approved a disaster declaration.

Days of torrential rain have swelled rivers to record or near-record levels. Officials issued "go now" orders on Wednesday to tens of thousands of residents in the Skagit River flood plain, including the city of Burlington, home to nearly 10,000 people. By Friday morning, muddy water overflowed a slough and rushed into homes, prompting more urgent warnings.

"ALL RESIDENTS IN THE CITY OF BURLINGTON SHOULD EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY," Skagit County wrote on social media.

By late morning the evacuation order was lifted for part of the city, police department spokesperson Michael Lumpkin said.

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The Skagit River drains a wide swath of the rugged Cascade Range before winding west across broad, low-lying farmlands on its way to Puget Sound. Cities like Burlington sit on that flat stretch between the mountains and the sea, leaving them especially vulnerable to floods.

National Guard fans out amid flood evacuations

National Guard members knocked on hundreds of doors to tell residents about the evacuation notice and help transport them to a shelter if needed, Lumpkin said. The water was reportedly two to three feet (0.6 to 0.9 meters) deep in certain areas as it flooded homes, he said.

While water levels appeared to ease later in the morning, "it's definitely not an all clear," Lumpkin said.

The heaviest rain has ended for the region, but the impact remains widespread. The Skagit Rover will be slow to recede and some rivers in the Cascades have yet to crest, while other major rivers remain above flood stage, said Jeff Michalsky, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle.

Even as floodwaters go down, another weather system is approaching and could move through beginning Sunday, Michalsky said.

"Depending on each river, it could prolong the flooding or renew the flooding," he said.

Further north near the U.S.-Canada border, the cities of Sumas, Nooksack and Everson were evacuated after being inundated. The border crossing at Sumas was closed.

The mayor of Sumas, Bruce Bosch, said much of the city has been "devastated" by the high waters just four years after a similar flood. In a social media message, he said it would take most of Friday for water levels to drop enough to allow people back, and acknowledged that the community was anxious to return to their homes.

"Me too," the mayor wrote. "Hang in there."

Debris, mudslides and standing water have blocked roads and highways across the state, leading to closures.

Flooding rivers break records

A number of rivers were in flood stage overnight, including the Skagit. The river crested over 37 feet (11 meters) in Mount Vernon, surpassing the previous record by a few inches, according to the National Water Prediction Service.

The Snohomish River surged nearly a foot (30 centimeters) higher than its record Thursday in the picturesque city that shares its name.

The waters stopped just short of getting inside Mariah Brosa's raised riverfront home in Concrete, but the raging Skagit River still slapped debris against her home and totaled her fiance's work car, she said.

"I didn't think it would come this high," she said.

Flooding from the river has long plagued Mount Vernon, the largest city in Skagit County with some 35,000 residents. Floods in 2003 displaced hundreds of people.

A floodwall that protects downtown passed a major test in 2021, when the river crested near record levels.

Officials respond to flooding

Authorities across Washington state in recent days have rescued people from cars and homes after the weather phenomenon known as an atmospheric river soaked the region.

Helicopters rescued two families on Thursday from the roofs of homes in Sumas that had been flooded by about 15 feet (4.6 meters) of water, according Frank Cain JR., battalion chief for Whatcom County Fire District 14.

In nearby Welcome, erosion from the floodwaters caused at least two houses to collapse into the Nooksack River, he said. No one was inside at the time.

In a football field in Snoqualmie, a herd of elk swam and waded through neck-high water.

Climate change has been linked to some intense rainfall. Scientists say that without specific study they cannot directly link a single weather event to climate change, but in general it's responsible for more intense and more frequent extreme storms, droughts, floods and wildfires.

Another storm system is expected to bring more rain starting Sunday.

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President Donald Trump was sued on Friday by preservationists asking a federal court to halt his White House ballroom project until it goes through multiple independent reviews and wins approval from Congress.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately funded group, is asking the U.S. District Court to block Trumps White House ballroom project, which already has involved razing the East Wing, until it goes through comprehensive design reviews, environmental assessments, public comments and congressional debate and ratification.

Trump's project has prompted criticism in the historic preservation and architectural communities, and among his political adversaries, but the lawsuit is the most tangible effort thus far to alter or stop the president's plans for an addition that itself would be nearly twice the size of the White House before the East Wings demolition.

No president is legally allowed to tear down portions of the White House without any review whatsoever not President Trump, not President Biden, and not anyone else, the lawsuit states. And no president is legally allowed to construct a ballroom on public property without giving the public the opportunity to weigh in.

Additionally, the Trust wants the court to declare that Trump, by fast-tracking the project, has committed multiple violations of the Administrative Procedures Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, while also exceeding his constitutional authority by not consulting lawmakers.

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No more work should be done, the Trust argues, until administration officials complete the required reviews reviews that should have taken place before the Defendants demolished the East Wing, and before they began construction of the Ballroom.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not immediately respond to Associated Press questions about the lawsuit and the project, including whether the president had any intention of consulting Congress. Trump, a Republican, has emphasized since announcing the project that hes doing it with private money, including his own. But that would not necessarily change how federal laws and procedures apply to what is still a U.S. government project.

The president already has bypassed the federal governments usual building practices and historical reviews with the East Wing demolition. He recently added another architectural firm to the project.

Trump has long said a White House ballroom is overdue, complaining that events were held outside under a tent because the East Room and the State Dining Room could not accommodate bigger crowds. Trump, among other complaints, said guests get their feet wet if it rains during such events.

The White House is expected to submit plans for Trumps new ballroom to a federal planning commission before the year ends, about three months after construction began.

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Will Scharf, who was named by Trump as chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission, said at the panels monthly meeting last week that he was told by colleagues at the White House that the long-awaited plans would be filed in December.

Once plans are submitted, thats really when the role of this commission, and its professional staff, will begin, said Scharf, who also is one of the Republican presidents top White House aides.

He said the review process would happen at a normal and deliberative pace.

Besides being too late, the Trust argues, that's not nearly enough.

The Trust asserts that plans should have been submitted to the National Capital Planning Commission, the Commission of Fine Arts and Congress before any action. The lawsuit notes that the Trust wrote to those entities and the National Park Service on Oct. 21, after East Wing demolition began, urging a stop to the project and asking the administration to comply with federal law.

The National Trust received no response, the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit cites a litany of federal statutes and rules detailing the role the planning and fine arts commission and lawmakers play in U.S. government construction projects.

Among them is a statute: A building or structure shall not be erected on any reservation, park, or public grounds of the Federal Government in the District of Columbia without express authority of Congress."

The Trust notes also that the range design and environmental reviews, along with congressional deliberation, would involve public input.

This public involvement, while important in all preservation matters, is particularly critical here, where the structure at issue is perhaps the most recognizable and historically significant building in the country, the complaint says.

Besides the president, the lawsuit names as defendants the National Parks Service, the Department of the Interior, and the General Services Administration, along with leaders of those federal agencies.

The U.S. Mint unveiled the designs for coins commemorating the 250th anniversary of American independence next year. They depict the founding documents and the Revolutionary War, but so far, not President Donald Trump, despite a push among some of his allies to get his face on a coin.

The Mint abandoned designs developed during Joe Biden's presidency that highlighted women's suffrage and civil rights advancements, favoring classical depictions of America over progress toward a more inclusive society.

A series of celebrations are planned next year under the banner America 250, marking the anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. All U.S. coins show the year they were minted, but those made next year will also display 1776.

Trump, at least for now, isn't getting a coin

No design was released for a $1 coin, though U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach, whose duties include oversight of the U.S. Mint, serving as a liaison with the Federal Reserve and overseeing Treasury's Office of Consumer Policy, confirmed in October that one showcasing Trump was in the works. A draft design showed Trump's profile on the "heads" side, known as the obverse, and on the reverse, a depiction of Trump raising his fist after his attempted assassination, The words "FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT" appear along the top.

By law, presidents typically can't appear on coins until two years after their death, but some advocates for a Trump coin think there may be a loophole in the law authorizing the treasury to mint special coins for the nation's 250th birthday.

Neither the Mint nor the Treasury Department responded when asked whether a Trump coin is still planned.

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The new designs depict classical Americana

New designs will appear only on coins minted in 2026, with the current images returning the following year.

The nickel, dime and five versions of the quarter will circulate, while a penny and half dollar will be sold as collectibles.

Five versions of the quarter are planned depicting the Mayflower Compact, Revolutionary War, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and Gettysburg Address.

The dime will show a depiction of Liberty, a symbolic woman facing down the tyranny of the British monarchy, and an eagle carrying arrows in its talons representing America's fight for independence.

The commemorative nickel is essentially the same as the most recent nickel redesign, in 2006, but it includes two dates on the head's side instead of one, 1776 and 2026.

Two collectible coins are planned

A half dollar coin shows the face of the Statue of Liberty on one side. The other shows her passing her torch to what appears to be the hand of a child, symbolizing a handoff to the next generation.

The penny is essentially the same as the one in circulation, which was discontinued earlier this year and will be produced only as a collectible with two dates.

Prices for collectible coins were not released. The Mint sells a variety of noncirculating coins on its website, with a vast range of prices reflecting their rarity.

In honor of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps founding, for example, a commemorative half dollar coin is available for $61, while a commemorative $5 gold coin goes for $1,262. Up to 750,000 copies of the former will be minted, but no more than 50,000 of the latter.

The abandoned designs

Congress authorized commemorative coins in 2021. During the Biden administration, the Mint worked with a citizens advisory committee to propose designs depicting the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, abolitionism, suffrage and civil rights.

Those designs included depictions of abolitionist Frederick Douglass and Ruby Bridges, who was escorted to school by the National Guard at age 6 years amid opposition to racial integration at public schools.

Those designs represented "continued progress toward 'a more perfect union,'" said Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, quoting a phrase from the preamble to the Constitution.

"The American story didn't stop at the pilgrims and founding fathers, and ignoring anything that has happened in this country in the last 162 years is just another attempt by President Trump to rewrite our history," Cortez Masto said in a statement.

Federal health officials on Wednesday expanded an outbreak of infant botulism tied to recalled ByHeart baby formula to include all illnesses reported since the company began production in March 2022.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said investigators cannot rule out the possibility that contamination might have affected all ByHeart formula products ever made.

The outbreak now includes at least 51 infants in 19 states. The new case definition includes any infant with botulism who was exposed to ByHeart formula at any time since the product's release, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The most recent illness was reported on Dec. 1.

No deaths have been reported in the outbreak, which was announced Nov. 8.

Previously, health officials had said the outbreak included 39 suspected or confirmed cases of infant botulism reported in 18 states since August. That's when officials at California's Infant Botulism Treatment and Prevention Program reported a rise in treatment of infants who had consumed ByHeart formula. Another 12 cases were identified with the expanded definition, including two that occurred in the original timeline and 10 that occurred from December 2023 through July 2025.

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ByHeart, a New York-based manufacturer of organic infant formula founded in 2016, recalled all its products sold in the U.S. on Nov. 11. The company, which accounts for about 1% of the U.S. infant formula market, had been selling about 200,000 cans of the product each month.

News that ByHeart products could have been contaminated for years was distressing to Andi Galindo, whose 5-week-old daughter, Rowan, was hospitalized in December 2023 with infant botulism after drinking the formula. Galindo, 36, of Redondo Beach, California, said she insisted on using ByHeart formula to supplement a low supply of breast milk because it was recommended by a lactation consultant as very natural, very gentle, very good for the babies."

That's a hard one, Galindo said. If there is proof that there were issues with their manufacturing and their plant all the way back from the beginning, that is a problem and they really need to be held accountable."

Amy Mazziotti, 43, of Burbank, California, said her then-5-month-old son, Hank, fell ill and was treated for botulism in March, weeks after he began drinking ByHeart. Being included in the investigation of the outbreak feels like a win for all of us, she said Wednesday.

Ive known in my gut from the beginning that ByHeart was the reason Hank got sick, and to see that these cases are now part of the investigation brings me to tears a mix of relief, gratitude and hope that the truth is finally being recognized, she said.

In a statement late Wednesday, ByHeart officials said the company is cooperating with federal officials to understand the full scope of related cases.

The new cases reported by CDC and FDA will help inform ByHearts investigation as we continue to seek the root cause of the contamination, the statement said.

Lab tests detected contamination

The FDA sent inspectors last month to ByHeart plants in Allerton, Iowa, and Portland, Oregon, where the formula is produced and packaged. The agency has released no results from those inspections.

The company previously reported that tests by an independent laboratory showed that 36 samples from three different lots contained the type of bacteria that can cause infant botulism.

We cannot rule out the risk that all ByHeart formula across all product lots may have been contaminated, the company wrote on its website last month.

Those results and discussions with the FDA led CDC officials to expand the outbreak, according to Dr. Jennifer Cope, a CDC scientist leading the investigation.

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It looks like the contamination appeared to persist across all production runs, different lots, different raw material lots, Cope said. They couldn't isolate it to specific lots from a certain time period.

Inspection documents showed that ByHeart had a history of problems with contamination.

In 2022, the year ByHeart started making formula, the company recalled five batches of infant formula after a sample at a packaging plant tested positive for a different germ, cronobacter sakazakii. In 2023, the FDA sent a warning letter to the company detailing areas that still require corrective actions.

A ByHeart plant in Reading, Pennsylvania, was shut down in 2023 just before FDA inspectors found problems with mold, water leaks and insects, documents show.

Infant botulism is rare

Infant botulism is a rare disease that affects fewer than 200 babies in the U.S. each year. Its caused when infants ingest botulism bacteria that produce spores that germinate in the intestines, creating a toxin that affects the nervous system. Babies are vulnerable until about age 1 because their gut microbiomes are not mature enough to fight the toxin.

Baby formula has previously been linked to sporadic cases of illness, but no known outbreaks of infant botulism tied to powdered formula have previously been confirmed, according to research studies.

Symptoms can take up to 30 days to develop and can include constipation, poor feeding, loss of head control, drooping eyelids and a flat facial expression. Babies may feel floppy and can have problems swallowing or breathing.

The sole treatment for infant botulism is known as BabyBIG, an IV medication made from the pooled blood plasma of adults immunized against botulism. Californias infant botulism program developed the product and is the sole source worldwide.

The antibodies provided by BabyBIG are likely most effective for about a month, although they may continue circulating in the child's system for several months, said Dr. Sharon Nachman, an expert in pediatric infectious disease at Stony Brook Children's Hospital.

The risk to the infant is ongoing and the family should not be using this formula after it was recalled, Nachman said in an email.

Families of several babies treated for botulism after drinking ByHeart formula have sued the company. Lawsuits filed in federal courts allege that the formula they fed their children was defective and ByHeart was negligent in selling it. They seek financial payment for medical bills, emotional distress and other harm.

Residents packed up and prepared to flee rising rivers in western Washington state Wednesday as a new wave of heavy rain swept into a region still reeling from a storm that triggered rescues and road closures a day earlier.

In the Pacific Northwest, an atmospheric river was swelling rivers toward record levels, with major flooding expected in some areas including the Skagit River, a major agricultural valley north of Seattle. Dozens of vehicles were backed up at a sandbag-filling station in the town of Mount Vernon as authorities warned residents within the river's floodplain to be ready to evacuate.

Were preparing for what increasingly appears to be a worst-case scenario here," Mount Vernon Mayor Peter Donovan said.

In the Mount Rainier foothills southeast of Seattle, Pierce County sheriffs deputies rescued people at an RV park in Orting, including helping one man in a Santa hat wade through waist-deep water. Part of the town was ordered to evacuate over concerns about the Puyallup Rivers extremely high levels and upstream levees.

A landslide blocked part of Interstate 90 east of Seattle, with photos from Eastside Fire & Rescue showing vehicles trapped by tree trunks, branches, mud and standing water, including a car rammed into the metal barrier on the side of the road.

Officials also closed a mountainous section of U.S. 2 due to rocks, trees and mud. The state transportation department said there were no detours available and no estimated time for reopening.

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a statewide emergency Wednesday. Lives will be at stake in the coming days, he said.

Skagit County officials were preparing to evacuate 75,000 people, said Robert Ezelle, director of the Washington Military Department's emergency management division.

Gent Welsh, adjutant general of the Washington National Guard, said hundreds of Guard members will be sent to help communities.

Flooding rivers could break records

The Skagit River is expected to crest at roughly 47 feet (14.3 meters) in the mountain town of Concrete early Thursday, and roughly 41 feet (12 meters) in Mount Vernon early Friday.

Those are both record-setting forecasts by several feet, Skagit County officials said, adding that upriver communities should evacuate to high ground as soon as possible and that those living in the floodplain should be prepared to evacuate.

Flooding from the river long plagued Mount Vernon, the largest city in the county with some 35,000 residents. In decades past, residents would form sandbagging brigades when floods threatened, but businesses were often inundated. Flooding in 2003 displaced hundreds of people.

The city completed a floodwall in 2018 that helps protect the downtown. It passed a major test in 2021, when the river crested near record levels.

But the city is on high alert. The historic river levels expected Friday could top the wall, and some are concerned that older levees could fail.

Weve seen our floodwall in action and we know it works to a large degree, said Ellen Gamson, executive director of the Mount Vernon Downtown Association. But the concern about that kind of pressure on the levy and dike system is real. It could potentially be catastrophic.

Gamson said many business owners were renting tables to place their inventory higher off the floor. Sheena Wilson, who owns a floral shop downtown, said she stacked sandbags by the doors and cleared items off the floor.

If the water comes in above table height Ive got bigger problems than my merchandise, she said.

Jake Lambly, 45, added sandbags, tested water pumps and moved valuables to the top floor of the home he shares with his 19-year-old son. Lambly said he was concerned about damage in his neighborhood, where people are just on the cusp of whether or not we can be homeowners."

This is my only asset, he said from his front porch. I got nothing else.

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Cities respond to flooding

Harrison Rademacher, a meteorologist with the weather service in Seattle, described the atmospheric river soaking the region as a jet stream of moisture stretching across the Pacific Ocean with the nozzle pushing right along the coast of Oregon and Washington.

Authorities in Washington have knocked on doors to warn residents of imminent flooding in certain neighborhoods, and evacuated a mobile home park along the Snohomish River. The city of Snohomish issued an emergency proclamation, while workers in Auburn, south of Seattle, installed temporary flood control barriers along the White River.

Climate change has been linked to some intense rainfall. Scientists say that without specific study they cannot directly link a single weather event to climate change, but in general its responsible for more intense and more frequent extreme storms, droughts, floods and wildfires.

Another storm system is expected to bring more rain starting Sunday, Rademacher said. The pattern looks pretty unsettled going up to the holidays.

The U.S. stock market neared its all-time high after the Federal Reserve cut its main interest rate to bolster the job market, and hopes strengthened for more cuts to come in 2026.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.7% and ended just shy of its all-time high set in October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%.

The rate cut was widely expected, but investors said comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell may have been less harsh about closing off the possibility of future cuts than Wall Street had been bracing for.

Wall Street loves lower interest rates because they can boost the economy and goose prices for investments, even if they have the potential of making inflation worse.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said again on Wednesday that the central bank is in a difficult position, because the job market is facing downward pressure when inflation is facing upward pressure at the same time. That creates a dilemma for the Fed, which usually makes one of those problems worse in the short term when it tries to fix the other.

At the moment, though, Powell said for the first time in this rate-cutting campaign that interest rates are close to where they're pushing neither inflation nor the job market higher or lower. That should give the Fed time to hold and reassess what to do next with interest rates as more data comes in on the job market and on inflation.

We are well positioned to wait and see how the economy evolves, Powell said. He also said no one at the Fed is expecting a hike to rates in their base case anytime soon.

After voting on Wednesday's cut of a quarter of a percentage point, Fed officials released projections for where they see the federal funds rate potentially ending 2026. The median member is penciling in one more cut by the end of next year, the same as three months earlier.

MORE ON RATES | Fed cuts interest rate for third time this year, signals only one cut in 2026

That projection is under the microscope because Fed officials had seemed unusually split about how much more help the economy may need from lower interest rates. With inflation remaining stubbornly above the Feds 2% target, some officials had been saying it was the bigger threat for the economy rather than the job market.

In Wednesday's vote, two Fed officials voted against the cut of a quarter percentage point because they saw no need to reduce rates now. Another official, meanwhile, voted against Wednesday's cut because he wanted a deeper reduction of half a percentage point.

In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury edged fell to 4.14% from 4.18% late Tuesday. The two-year yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, fell more and sank to 3.54% from 3.61%.

On Wall Street, GE Vernova flew 16.8% higher after the energy company raised its forecast for revenue by 2028, doubled its dividend and increased its program to buy back its own stock.

Palantir Technologies added 4.6% after saying the U.S. Navy will use its artificial-intelligence technology as part of a $448 million program.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store rose 3.9%. The restaurant chain caught up in a furor around its logo design reported better results for the latest quarter than analysts expected but also cut its forecast for revenue this fiscal year, as well as for an underlying measure of earnings.

On the losing end of Wall Street was GameStop, which fell 3.2% after reporting weaker revenue for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The video-game retailers profit topped forecasts, though.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed amid mostly modest movements across Europe and Asia.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the United States has seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela amid mounting tensions with the government of Venezuelan President Nicols Maduro.

WATCH THE TAKEOVER

It's the Trump administrations latest push to increase pressure on Maduro, who has been charged with narcoterrorism in the United States. The U.S. has conducted a series of deadly military strikes in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean on boats that the Republican administration has alleged are carrying drugs.

Weve just seized a tanker on the coast of Venezuela, a large tanker, very large, largest one ever seized, actually, Trump told reporters at the White House.

Trump said other things are happening, but did not offer additional details, saying he would speak more about it later.

The seizure was led by the U.S Coast Guard and supported by the Navy, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The official added that the seizure was conducted under U.S. law enforcement authority.

The Coast Guard members were taken to the oil tanker by helicopter from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, the official said. The Ford is in the Caribbean Sea after arriving last month in a major show of force, joining a fleet of other warships.

RELATED STORY | What's really behind the tension between the US and Venezuela?

Half of ship's oil is tied to Cuban importer

The official identified the seized tanker as the Skipper.

The ship departed Venezuela around Dec. 2 with about 2 million barrels of heavy crude, roughly half of it belonging to a Cuban state-run oil importer, according to documents from the state-owned company Petrleos de Venezuela S.A., commonly known as PDVSA, that were provided on the condition of anonymity because the person did not have permission to share them.

The Skipper was previously known as the M/T Adisa, according to ship tracking data. The Adisa was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2022 over accusations of belonging to a sophisticated network of shadow tankers that smuggled crude oil on behalf of Irans Revolutionary Guard and Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group.

The network was reportedly run by a Switzerland-based Ukrainian oil trader, the U.S. Treasury Department said at the time.

Venezuela has the worlds largest proven oil reserves and produces about 1 million barrels a day. Locked out of global oil markets by U.S. sanctions, the state-owned oil company sells most of its output at a steep discount to refiners in China.

The transactions usually involve a complex network of shadowy intermediaries as sanctions scared away more established traders. Many are shell companies, registered in jurisdictions known for secrecy. The buyers deploy ghost tankers that hide their location and hand off their valuable cargoes in the middle of the ocean before they reach their final destination.

A day earlier, the U.S. military flew a pair of fighter jets over the Gulf of Venezuela in what appeared to be the closest that warplanes had come to the South American countrys airspace since the start of the administrations pressure campaign.

The U.S. has built up the largest military presence in the region in decades and launched a series of deadly strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.

Trump has said land attacks are coming soon but has not offered any details on location.

Among the concessions the U.S. has made to Maduro during past negotiations was approval for oil giant Chevron Corp. to resume pumping and exporting Venezuelan oil. The corporations activities in the South American country resulted in a financial lifeline for Maduros government.

Self-driving Waymo taxis have gone viral for negative reasons involving the death of a beloved San Francisco bodega cat and pulling an illegal U-turn in front of police who were unable to issue a ticket to a nonexistent driver.

But this week, the self-driving taxis are the bearer of happier news after a San Francisco woman gave birth in a Waymo.

The mother was on her way to the University of California, San Francisco medical center Monday when she delivered inside the robotaxi, said a Waymo spokesperson in a statement Wednesday. The company said its rider support team detected "unusual activity" inside the vehicle and called to check on the rider as well as alert 911.

RELATED STORY | Waymo self-driving car gets pulled over by police for an illegal U-turn

Waymo, which is owned by Google's parent company, Alphabet, declined to elaborate on how the vehicle knew something was amiss.

The taxi and its passengers arrived safely at the hospital ahead of emergency services. Jess Berthold, a UCSF spokesperson, confirmed the mother and child were brought to the hospital. She said the mother was not available for interviews.

Waymo said the vehicle was taken out of service for cleaning after the ride. While still rare, this was not the first baby delivered in one of its taxis, the company said.

RELATED STORY | Viral Waymo crashes put driverless cars in the spotlight

"We're proud to be a trusted ride for moments big and small, serving riders from just seconds old to many years young," the company said.

The driverless taxis have surged in popularity even as they court higher scrutiny. Riders can take them on freeways and interstates around San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles and Phoenix.

In September, a Waymo pulled a U-turn in front of a sign telling drivers not to do that, and social media users dumped on the San Bruno Police because state law prohibited officers from ticketing the car. In October, a popular tabby cat named Kit Kat known to pad around its Mission District neighborhood was crushed to death by a Waymo.

RELATED STORY | Waymo driverless taxi kills beloved bodega cat, KitKat, in San Francisco

Jennifer Shah, a former star on "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City," has been moved from a federal prison into a community confinement program after serving less than half of her sentence for defrauding thousands of people.

A Bureau of Prisons spokesperson confirmed that Shah was transferred Wednesday morning from the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas to the program overseen by the Phoenix Residential Reentry Management Office. The transfer means that Shah is either being held in home confinement or in a halfway house. Her projected release date is Aug. 30, 2026.

"For privacy, safety, and security reasons, we do not discuss the conditions of confinement for any individual, including reasons for transfers or release plans, nor do we specify an individual's specific location while in community confinement," BOP spokesperson Emery Nelson wrote in an email to The Associated Press.

Shah, 52, was sentenced in 2023 to 6 1/2 years in prison for defrauding people in a telemarketing scam that stretched nearly a decade. At the time, Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Sobelman said she was the most culpable of more than 30 defendants accused of participating in the nationwide fraud targeting people who were often vulnerable, older or unsophisticated electronically. The fraud involved bogus services that were promoted as enabling people to make substantial amounts of money through online businesses.

RELATED STORY | Ghislaine Maxwell transferred to Texas prison amid renewed scrutiny of Epstein case

Shah pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in July 2022, and during her sentencing she apologized to the "innocent people" she said she'd hurt and pledged to pay $6.5 million in restitution and forfeiture once she is released from prison.

Prosecutors said she used profits from the fraud to live a life of luxury that included living in a nearly 10,000-square-foot mansion in Utah dubbed "Shah Ski Chalet," an apartment in midtown Manhattan and leasing a Porsche Panamera. The government said she also seemed to mock the charges against her by claiming that the "only thing I'm guilty of is being Shah-mazing" and then she profited from it by marketing "Justice for Jen" merchandise after her arrest.

At the sentencing, Shah apologized and said the proceeds from the merchandise would go toward victims.

"I alone am responsible for my terrible decisions. It was all my fault and all my wrongdoing," Shah said, later continuing, "I wish I could have stood outside myself and seen the harm I was causing and changed course. I am profoundly and deeply sorry."

Ukraine is expected to give its latest peace proposals to U.S. negotiators Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, a day ahead of his urgent talks with leaders and officials from about 30 other countries supporting Kyiv's effort to end the war with Russia on acceptable terms.

As tension builds around a U.S. push for a settlement, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to President Donald Trump by phone Wednesday, according to officials.

Negotiations are at a critical moment, the European leaders said in official statements.

RELATED STORY | Trump calls European leaders 'weak' as Zelenskyy meets with key allies

Washingtons goal of a swift compromise to stop the fighting that followed Russias full-scale invasion in 2022 is reducing Kyivs room for maneuvering. Zelenskyy is walking a tightrope between defending Ukrainian interests and showing Trump he is willing to compromise, even as Moscow shows no public sign of budging from its demands.

Ukraines European allies are backing Zelenskys effort to ensure that any settlement is fair and deters future Russian attacks, as well as accommodating Europes defense interests.

The French government said Ukraines allies dubbed the Coalition of the Willing will discuss the negotiations Thursday by video. Zelenskyy said it would include those countries leaders.

We need to bring together 30 colleagues very quickly. And its not easy, but nevertheless we will do it, he said late Tuesday.

Zelenskyy said discussions with the U.S. were scheduled later Wednesday to focus on a document detailing plans for Ukraines postwar reconstruction and economic development. Also, Ukraine is finalizing work on a separate, 20-point framework for ending the war. Zelenskyy said Kyiv expects to submit that document to Washington soon.

Zelenskyy says he's ready for an election

After Trump called for a presidential election in Ukraine, Zelenskyy said his country would be ready for such a vote within three months if partners can guarantee safe balloting during wartime and if its electoral law can be altered.

Zelenskyy's openness to an election was a response to comments by Trump in which he questioned Ukraines democracy and suggested the Ukrainian leader was using the war as an excuse not to stand before voters. Those comments echo similar remarks often made by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | No compromise: Zelenskyy stands firm against U.S. push to give Russia territory

Zelenskyy said late Tuesday he is ready for an election but needs help from the U.S. and possibly Europe to ensure its security. He suggested Ukraine could hold balloting in 60 to 90 days if that proviso is met.

To hold elections, two issues must be addressed: primarily, security how to conduct them, how to do it under strikes, under missile attacks; and a question regarding our military how they would vote, Zelenskyy said. And the second issue is the legislative framework required to ensure the legitimacy of elections.

Zelenskyy pointed out previously that balloting cant legally happen while martial law imposed due to Russias invasion is in place. He has also asked how a vote could occur when civilian areas of Ukraine are being bombarded and almost 20% of the country is under Russian occupation.

Zelenskyy said he has asked lawmakers from his party to draw up legislative proposals allowing for an election while Ukraine is under martial law.

Ukrainians have on the whole supported Zelenskyys arguments, and have not clamored for an election. Under the law that is in force, Zelenskyys rule is legitimate.

Putin has repeatedly complained that Zelenskyy cant legitimately negotiate a peace settlement because his five-year term that began in 2019 has expired.

US seeks closer ties with Russia

A new U.S. national security strategy released Dec. 5 made clear that Trump wants to improve Washingtons relationship with Moscow and reestablish strategic stability with Russia. The document also portrays European allies as weak.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov praised Trumps role in the Ukraine peace effort, telling the upper house of parliament that Moscow appreciates his commitment to dialogue. Trump, Lavrov said, is the only Western leader who shows an understanding of the reasons that made war in Ukraine inevitable.

WATCH | A peace deal for Ukraine is taking shape, but critical details are still in the dark

Trumps peace efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands from Moscow and Kyiv.

The initial U.S. proposal was heavily slanted toward Russias demands. To counter that, Zelenskyy has turned to his European supporters.

Zelenskyy met this week with the leaders of Britain, Germany and France in London, the heads of NATO and the European Union in Brussels, and then went to Rome to meet the Italian premier and Pope Leo XIV.

Military aid for Ukraine declines

Europes support is uneven, however, and that has meant a decrease in military aid since the Trump administration this year cut off supplies to Kyiv unless they were paid for by other NATO countries.

Foreign military help for Ukraine fell sharply over the summer, and that trend continued through September and October, a German body that tracks international help for Ukraine said Wednesday.

Average annual aid, mostly provided by the U.S. and Europe, was about $48.4 billion between 202224. But so far this year Ukraine has received just $37.8 billion, the Kiel Institute said.

This year, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden have substantially increased their help for Ukraine, while Germany nearly tripled its average monthly allocations and France and the U.K. both more than doubled their contributions, the Kiel Institute said.

On the other hand, it said, Spain recorded no new military aid for Kyiv in 2025 while Italy reduced its low contributions by 15% compared with 20222024.

The Trump administration must stop deploying the California National Guard in Los Angeles and return control of the troops to the state, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco granted a preliminary injunction sought by California officials who opposed President Donald Trump's extraordinary move to use state Guard troops without the governor's approval to further his immigration enforcement efforts. But he also put the decision on hold until Monday.

California argued that conditions in Los Angeles had changed since Trump first took command of the troops and deployed them in June. The administration initially called up more than 4,000 California National Guard troops but that number had dropped to several hundred by late October. Only a 100 or so troops remain in the Los Angeles area.

RELATED STORY | Judge says Trump administration's National Guard deployment in DC violates the Constitution

The Republican administration extended the deployment until February while also trying to use California Guard members in Portland, Oregon as part of its effort to send the military into Democratic-run cities over the objections of mayors and governors.

U.S. Justice Department lawyers said the administration still needed Guard members in the Los Angeles area to help protect federal personnel and property.

An email to the White House seeking comment on Wednesday's ruling was not immediately returned.

Trump took command of the California National Guard following protests over his stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws. The call up was the first time in decades that a state's national guard was activated without a request from its governor and marked a significant escalation in the administration's efforts to carry out its mass deportation policy. The troops were stationed outside a federal detention center in downtown Los Angeles where protesters gathered and later sent on the streets to protect immigration officers as they made arrests.

California sued, and Breyer issued a temporary restraining order that required the administration to return control of the Guard members to California. An appeals court panel, however, put that decision on hold.

ICYMI | Trump's use of National Guard during Los Angeles immigration protests is illegal, judge rules

California argued that the president was using Guard members as his personal police force in violation of a law limiting the use of the military in domestic affairs.

The administration said courts could not second-guess the president's decision that violence during the protests made it impossible for him to execute U.S. laws with regular forces and reflected a rebellion, or danger of rebellion.

In September, Breyer ruled after a trial that the deployment violated the law. Other judges have blocked the administration from deploying National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon, and Chicago.

WATCH: Trump eyes Democratic cities after arming National Guard in Washington, DC

Secret grand jury transcripts from Jeffrey Epsteins 2019 sex trafficking case can be made public, a judge ruled Wednesday, joining two other judges in granting the Justice Departments requests to unseal material from investigations into the late financiers sexual abuse.

U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman reversed his earlier decision to keep the material under wraps, citing a new law that requires the government to open its files on Epstein and his longtime confidant Ghislaine Maxwell. The judge previously cautioned that the 70 or so pages of grand jury materials slated for release are hardly revelatory.

RELATED STORY | Judge authorizes public release of hundreds of EpsteinMaxwell case files

On Tuesday, a different Manhattan federal judge ordered the release of records from Maxwells 2021 sex trafficking case. Last week, a judge in Florida approved the unsealing of transcripts from an abandoned Epstein federal grand jury investigation in the 2000s.

The Justice Department asked the judges to lift secrecy orders after the Epstein Files Transparency Act, passed by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump last month, created a narrow exception to rules that normally keep grand jury proceedings confidential.

Rejoice, New Years dieters: Oreos are getting a sugar-free option.

Mondelez said Tuesday that Oreo Zero Sugar and Oreo Double Stuf Zero Sugar will go on sale in the U.S. in January. Theyre a permanent addition to the companys Oreo lineup.

Its the first time Mondelez has sold sugar-free Oreos in the U.S. Theyre already sold in Europe and China, the company said.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | San Francisco compares ultraprocessed food industry to big tobacco in landmark suit

Mondelez said consumers are increasingly seeking what it calls mindful indulgence," and the new Oreos will fill an existing gap in the market for sugar-free sandwich cookies.

Others have also noted the trend toward healthier snacks. In a report earlier this year, the market research company Circana found that a majority of Americans are seeking out snacks they consider good for them. Conagra Brands, which makes popcorn and Slim Jim meat snacks, said in a recent snacking report that Millennials and Generation Z consumers, in particular, are seeking portion-controlled and wellness-focused snacks.

Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, which was introduced in 2017, saw sales jump 9% last year, while original Coke sales grew just 2%. Mondelez is also facing competition from Hershey, which sells zero sugar versions of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups and other candies, and Voortman, a sugar-free wafer cookie brand.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT | Campbell's IT chief on leave after lawsuit claims he said company's food is for 'poor people'

Mondelez said it spent four years developing no-sugar Oreos so it could ensure the cookies still tasted like the originals. For sweetening, the Oreos contain maltitol, a type of sugar alcohol thats also found in some fruits and vegetables; polydextrose, a soluble fiber; sucralose, a sweetener derived from sugar; and acesulfame potassium, a synthetic sweetener.

Comparing the nutrition data on Zero Sugar and regular Oreos is tricky, since the serving sizes differ.

A serving of Oreo Zero Sugar cookies, which is defined as 22.6 grams, has 90 calories, 4.5 grams of fat and 16 grams of carbohydrates. A serving of regular Oreos, which is defined as three cookies or 34 grams, has 160 calories, 7 grams of fat and 25 grams of carbohydrates.

The biggest difference: a serving of regular Oreos contains 13 grams of added sugars, or 26% of the recommended daily amount. Zero Sugar Oreos contain none.

Rod Paige, an educator, coach and administrator who rolled out the nation's landmark No Child Left Behind law as the first African American to serve as U.S. education secretary, died Tuesday.

Former President George W. Bush, who tapped Paige for the nation's top federal education post, announced the death in a statement but did not provide further details. Paige was 92.

Under Paige's leadership, the Department of Education implemented No Child Left Behind policy that in 2002 became Bush's signature education law and was modeled on Paige's previous work as a schools superintendent in Houston. The law established universal testing standards and sanctioned schools that failed to meet certain benchmarks.

"Rod was a leader and a friend," Bush said in his statement. "Unsatisfied with the status quo, he challenged what we called 'the soft bigotry of low expectations.' Rod worked hard to make sure that where a child was born didn't determine whether they could succeed in school and beyond."

Roderick R. Paige was born to two teachers in the small Mississippi town of Monticello of roughly 1,400 inhabitants. The oldest of five siblings, Paige served a two-year stint the U.S. Navy before becoming a football coach at the high school, and then junior college levels. Within years, Paige rose to head coach of Jackson State University, his alma mater and a historically black college in the Mississippi capital city.

There, his team became the first with a 1967 football game to integrate Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium, once an all-white venue.

After moving to Houston in the mid-1970s to become head coach of Texas Southern University, Paige pivoted from the playing field to the classroom and education first as a teacher, and then as administrator and eventually the dean of its college of education from 1984 to 1994.

Amid growing public recognition of his pursuit of educational excellence, Paige rose to become superintendent of the Houston Independent School District, then one of the largest school districts in the country.

He quickly drew the attention of Texas' most powerful politicians for his sweeping educational reforms in the diverse Texas city. Most notably, he moved to implement stricter metrics for student outcomes, something that became a central point for Bush's 2000s bid for president. Bush who later would dub himself the "Education President" frequently praised Paige on the campaign trail for the Houston reforms he called the "Texas Miracle."

And once Bush won election, he tapped Paige to be the nation's top education official.

As education secretary from 2001 to 2005, Paige emphasized his belief that high expectations were essential for childhood development.

"The easiest thing to do is assign them a nice little menial task and pat them on the head," he told the Washington Post at the time. "And that is precisely what we don't need. We need to assign high expectations to those people, too. In fact, that may be our greatest gift: expecting them to achieve, and then supporting them in their efforts to achieve."

While some educators applauded the law for standardizing expectations regardless of student race or income, others complained for years about what they consider a maze of redundant and unnecessary tests and too much "teaching to the test" by educators.

In 2015, House and Senate lawmakers agreed to pull back many provisions from "No Child Left Behind," shrinking the Education Department's role in setting testing standards and preventing the federal agency from sanctioning schools that fail to improve. That year, then-President Barack Obama signed the sweeping education law overhaul, ushering in a new approach to accountability, teacher evaluations and the way the most poorly performing schools are pushed to improve.

After serving as education secretary, Paige returned to Jackson State University a half century after he was a student there, serving as the interim president in 2016 at the age of 83.

Into his 90s, Paige still publicly expressed deep concern, and optimism, about the future of U.S. education. In an opinion piece appearing in the Houston Chronicle in 2024, Paige lifted up the city that helped propel him to national prominence, urging readers to "look to Houston not just for inspiration, but for hard-won lessons about what works, what doesn't and what it takes to shake up a stagnant system."