By CATHY BUSSEWITZ, Staff Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Jeremy Didier had taken her son to a psychologist for a possible ADHD evaluation when she spotted an article about women with the condition. As she read it in the waiting room, she thought to herself: They’re describing me.

“Lots of risk-taking, lots of very impulsive behavior growing up,” Didier said. As the magazine described, she’d excelled in school but gotten in trouble for talking too much. She’d amassed too many speeding tickets as an adult. She turned to her husband and said, “I think I might have ADHD.”

Didier is now the board president of Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, a nonprofit advocacy and support organization. Her realization mirrors the experiences of other adults who wonder if they have ADHD after a child’s diagnosis.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by inattention, hyperactivity or a combination of the two. Common symptoms such as trouble concentrating or sitting still can create challenges at work.

People with ADHD are often passed over for promotions, said Andrew Sylvester, a psychiatrist at UCHealth, a hospital in Longmont, Colorado. Difficulties with attention may lead the mind to drift during meetings, and cause someone to miss important discussion nuances. The disorder may interfere with organization, planning and remembering details.

Yet some adults think of having ADHD as a source of personality strengths and ways of thinking that benefit employers. Diagnostic manuals may call it a disorder, but it also can be a superpower, they said.

“Our brains work differently and so we’re more likely to be able to think outside the box and come up with different things, and sometimes that’s because we’ve had to do that in order to to survive,” Didier said.

Here are some ways to cope with and channel ADHD in the workplace.

Finding community

Getting diagnosed with ADHD doesn’t always lead to a quick fix. While doctors often recommend medication and therapy, not everyone can take medication, and those routes don’t necessarily eliminate all symptoms.

Didier floundered with a messy house and lots of yelling as she and four of her five children were diagnosed with ADHD. She experimented with medicine, diets and reward charts, and discovered what helped her the most: a community of parents who had children with ADHD.

“There’s nothing like talking to other people who are going through what you’re going through to help you feel … that you’re not alone,” she said.

Didier eventually became a social worker and now runs support groups for adults with ADHD, teaching skills they can use at work.

Some organizations have employee resource groups organized around neurodiversity to provide camaraderie and support to adults with ADHD, autism, dyslexia and other conditions.

GPS of the brain

People with ADHD often struggle with executive function, which Didier describes as “your brain’s GPS” for navigating your day. Executive function is a set of mental skills that includes making plans, managing time and flexible thinking. It also includes working memory, which helps us keep track of what we’re doing.

To keep from getting derailed, experts recommend breaking large tasks into chunks, writing detailed to-do lists and taking breaks.

Personal chef Bill Collins, 66, who was diagnosed with ADHD two years ago, writes structured lists when he’s making a meal for a client. He creates categories for kitchen areas — counter, stove and oven — and then lists tasks such as “chop carrots, boil water for pasta” underneath each category. Then he numbers each task so he knows exactly what to do, where and when.

“That’s how I got around my unknown ADHD early on, just making lists,” Collins said. “If it’s something I don’t want to do, I put it at the top of the list so I can be done with it.”

Another technique is called “body doubling,” which involves a pair of work colleagues meeting over Zoom or in-person to focus on completing projects. The two may choose to perform separate tasks — one might build a presentation deck while the other files tax reports — but help each other stay accountable.

“You’re just sitting there during that dedicated time, getting things done,” Didier said.

Insurance company Liberty Mutual provides an AI tool that helps break down large projects into manageable tasks and provides reminders about deadlines, to help employees with ADHD stay focused and organized, said Head of Benefits Verlinda DiMarino.

Getting through meetings

Meetings can be difficult for people with ADHD if their minds drift or they feel an urge to get up out of a chair. They also may struggle with impulse control and find it hard to wait their turn to speak.

Nicole Clark, CEO of the Adult and Pediatric Institute, a mental health practice in Stuart, Florida, suggests asking for meeting topics in advance and writing up talking points. If you think of questions during the meeting, write them down.

Some employers use a voice-to-text service, projecting what a speaker is saying on a screen, which helps people with attention difficulties stay focused, Clark said.

Sylvester, the psychiatrist, recommends practicing active listening by repeating in your head what someone just said, or taking a brief time-out from a meeting to reset.

Tell them, “’I need five minutes. I’ll be right back.’ Get up and walk out. Do what you need to do,” he said.

Mariel Paralitici-Morales, chief medical officer of the Adult and Pediatric Institute, who has ADHD, sits close to whoever will be speaking to help sustain attention.

“Having something in my hand helps,” said Paralitici-Morales, who sometimes holds a fidget spinner. “If we have to talk, I found it’s easier for me to be the first one and break the ice” to keep herself from second-guessing what she planned to say.

Seek accommodations

People with an ADHD diagnosis can request accommodations at work through the Americans with Disabilities Act. Noise-canceling headphones may help. Consider asking for the ability to take a break every 20 minutes, Sylvester said.

“Set a timer for five to 10 minutes. Get up and walk around. Make some coffee. Go play with the dog,” he said. “When that timer goes off, go back to a 15 to 20 minute hard productivity cycle.”

Employees can also request a flexible schedule or ability to work from home, which can enable time for therapy or self-care.

Antoinette Damico, 23, who coordinates events at an executive search firm in San Francisco, said she practices meditation, writes daily goals in a journal and stays off short-form media to improve her concentration.

Celebrate your strengths

Having ADHD can be an asset in the workplace, and many CEOs and entrepreneurs are neurodiverse, Didier said.

“We bring all kinds of unique talents to our workplaces. Hyper-focus, lots of energy, resilience, the ability to multitask,” she added. “There’s something about people with ADHD that seems to unmask or give us a greater capacity for creativity and innovation.”

Damico also thinks her ADHD provides some advantages. When she’s interested in a topic, she can be extremely focused, reading extensively and talking about the topic nonstop, a trait others with ADHD report.

“It can generate a real passion in you that is a bit unique,” she said. “It really creates this grit in me in terms of when I really want to accomplish something, there’s this boost of energy.”

Share your stories and questions about workplace wellness at cbussewitz@ap.org. Follow AP’s Be Well coverage, focusing on wellness, fitness, diet and mental health at https://apnews.com/hub/be-well

Nancy Forster-Holt

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Nancy Forster-Holt, University of Rhode Island

(THE CONVERSATION) Americans love small businesses. We dedicate a week each year to applauding them, and spend Small Business Saturday shopping locally. Yet hiding in plain sight is an enormous challenge facing small business owners as they age: retiring with dignity and foresight. The current economic climate is making this even more difficult.

As a professor who studies aging and business, I’ve long viewed small business owners’ retirement challenges as a looming crisis. The issue is now front and center for millions of entrepreneurs approaching retirement. Small enterprises make up more than half of all privately held U.S. companies, and for many of their owners, the business is their retirement plan.

But while owners often hope to finance their golden years by selling their companies, only 20% of small businesses are ready for sale even in good times, according to the Exit Planning Institute. And right now, conditions are far from ideal. An economic stew of inflation, supply chain instability and high borrowing costs means that interest from potential buyers is cooling.

For many business owners, retirement isn’t a distant concern. In the U.S., baby boomers – who are currently 61 to 79 years old – own about 2.3 million businesses. Altogether, they generate about US$5 billion in revenue and employ almost 25 million people. These entrepreneurs have spent decades building businesses that often are deeply rooted in their communities. They don’t have time to ride out economic chaos, and their optimism is at a 50-year low.

New policies, new challenges

You can’t blame them for being gloomy. Recent policy shifts have only made life harder for business owners nearing retirement. Trade instability, whipsawing tariff announcements and disrupted supply chains have eroded already thin margins. Some businesses – generally larger ones with more negotiating power – are absorbing extra costs rather than passing them on to shoppers. Others have no choice but to raise prices, to customers’ dismay. Inflation has further squeezed profits.

At the same time, with a few notableexceptions, buyers and capital have grown scarce. Acquirers and liquidity have dried up across many sectors. The secondary market – a barometer of broader investor appetite – now sees more sellers than buyers. These are textbook symptoms of a “flight to safety,” a market shift that drags out sale timelines and depresses valuations – all while Main Street business owners age out. These entrepreneurs typically have one shot at retirement – if any.

Adding to these woes, many small businesses are part of what economists call regional “clusters,” providing services to nearby universities, hospitals and local governments. When those anchor institutions face budget cuts – as is happening now – small business vendors are often the first to feel the impact.

Research shows that many aging owners actually double down in weak economic times, sinking increasing amounts of time and money in a psychological pattern known as “escalating commitment.” The result is a troubling phenomenon scholars refer to as “benign entrapment.” Aging entrepreneurs can remain attached to their businesses not because they want to, but because they see no viable exit.

This growing crisis isn’t about bad personal planning — it’s a systemic failure.

Rewriting the playbook on small business policy

A key mistake that policymakers make is to lump all small business owners together into one group. That causes them to overlook important differences. After all, a 68-year-old carpenter trying to retire doesn’t have much in common with a 28-year-old tech founder pitching a startup. Policymakers may cheer for high-growth “unicorns,” but they often overlook the “cows and horses” that keep local economies running.

Even among older business owners, circumstances vary based on local conditions. Two retiring carpenters in different towns may face vastly different prospects based on the strength of their local economies. No business, and no business owner, exists in a vacuum.

Relatedly, when small businesses fail to transition, it can have consequences for the local economy. Without a buyer, many enterprises will simply shut down. And while closures can be long-planned and thoughtful, when a business closes suddenly, it’s not just the owner who loses. Employees are left scrambling for work. Suppliers lose contracts. Communities lose essential services.

Four ways to help aging entrepreneurs

That’s why I think policymakers should reimagine how they support small businesses, especially owners nearing the end of their careers.

First, small business policy should be tailored to age. A retirement-ready business shouldn’t be judged solely by its growth potential. Rather, policies should recognize stability and community value as markers of success. The U.S. Small Business Administration and regional agencies can provide resources specifically for retirement planning that starts early in a business’s life, to include how to increase the value of the business and a plan to attract acquirers in later stages.

Second, exit infrastructure should be built into local entrepreneurial ecosystems. Entrepreneurial ecosystems are built to support business entry – think incubators and accelerators – but not for exit. In other words, just like there are accelerators for launching businesses, there should be programs to support winding them down. These could include confidential peer forums, retirement-readiness clinics, succession matchmaking platforms and flexible financing options for acquisition.

Third, chaos isn’t good for anybody. Fluctuations in capital gains taxes, estate tax thresholds and tariffs make planning difficult and reduce business value in the eyes of potential buyers. Stability encourages confidence on both sides of a transaction.

And finally, policymakers should include ripple-effect analysis in budget decisions. When universities, hospitals or governments cut spending, small business vendors often absorb much of the shock. Policymakers should account for these downstream impacts when shaping local and federal budgets.

If we want to truly support small businesses and their owners, it’s important to honor the lifetime arc of entrepreneurship – not just the launch and growth, but the retirement, too.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/no-country-for-old-business-owners-economic-shifts-create-a-growing-challenge-for-americas-aging-entrepreneurs-254537.

Elizabeth Bettini

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)

Elizabeth Bettini, Boston University; LaRon A. Scott, University of Virginia, and Tuan D. Nguyen, University of Missouri-Columbia

(THE CONVERSATION) Teachers of color positively impact all students, including students of color with disabilities. Yet, the special education teacher workforce is overwhelmingly white.

In our recent research, we found that special education teacher demographics are not keeping pace with changes in the student population.

In 2012, about 80% of U.S. public school teachers were white, including about 80% of special education teachers, while less than 20% were teachers of color. By contrast, in the same year, students of color constituted 47% of those diagnosed with disabilities.

In our recent study, we examined whether these numbers have changed. Analyzing multiple national datasets on the teacher workforce, we found the proportion of special education teachers of color has been static, even as the student population is rapidly becoming more diverse.

So, the special education teacher workforce is actually becoming less representative of the student population over time. Specifically, in 2012, 16.5% of special education teachers were people of color, compared with 17.1% in 2021. In that same span, the share of students with disabilities who are students of color rose from 47.3% in 2012 to 53.9% in 2021.

In fact, for the special education teacher workforce to become representative of the student population, U.S. schools would need to triple the number of special education teachers of color.

As scholars who studyteacher recruitment and retention and teacher working conditions, we are concerned that this disparity will affect the quality of education students receive.

Why does a diverse teacher workforce matter?

For children of color, the research is clear: Teachers of color are, on average, more effective than white teachers in providing positive educational experiences and outcomes for students of color, including students of color with disabilities.

One study found that low-income Black male students who had one Black teacher in third, fourth or fifth grade were 39% less likely to drop out of high school and 29% more likely to enroll in college.

Moreover, teachers of color are just as effective as white teachers – and sometimes more effective – in teaching white students.

Providing pathways

The U.S. has institutions dedicated to attracting and retaining educators of color: Programs at historically Black colleges and universities, Hispanic-serving institutions and other minority-serving institutions prepare a substantial number of new teachers of color annually.

Further, many local initiatives support educators of color and attract teachers who might not otherwise have opportunities to join the profession.

These include: Grow Your Own programs that recruit effective teachers of color from local communities, teacher residency programs that help schools retain teachers of color, andscholarships and loan forgiveness programs that support all teachers, including teachers of color.

However, the U.S. educator workforce faces broad challenges with declining interest in the teaching profession and declining enrollment in teacher preparation programs. In this context, our findings indicate that without significant investments, the teacher workforce is likely to remain predominately white – at significant cost to students with disabilities.

Anti-DEI movement cuts funding

While there have been long-standing challenges, recent steps taken by the Trump administration could limit efforts to boost teacher diversity.

In its push to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs, the administration has cut grant funding for programs designed to develop a diverse educator workforce.

The administration has also cut millions of dollars dedicated to training teachers to work in underfunded, high-poverty schools and has threatened additional funding cuts to universities engaging in equity-based work.

These federal actions make the teacher workforce less adept at addressing the substantial challenges facing U.S. schools, such as declining interest in the teaching profession and and persistent racial disparities in student outcomes.

Given the strong evidence of the benefits of teachers of color and the national trends that our research uncovered, federal and state investments should prioritize supporting prospective teachers of color.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/diversifying-the-special-education-teacher-workforce-could-benefit-us-schools-254916.

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) — Home-state favorite Chase Elliott passed Brad Keselowski on the final lap and won the the crash-filled NASCAR Cup Series at Atlanta on Saturday night for his 20th career victory.

“I’ve never in my whole life, this is unbelievable,” Elliott said. “This is something I’ll remember the rest of my life.”

Keselowski was second, followed by Elliott’s Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet teammate, Alex Bowman, and Tyler Reddick. Bowman helped block Keselowski following Elliott’s last-lap pass.

“The 48 and 9 just got together,” Keselowski said, referring to Bowman and Elliott. “… At they end they were able to double-team me.”

Elliott climbed into the stands to celebrate with fans after ending a 44-race winless streak.

“I’m happy for the 9 team,” Bowman said. “It’s a big win for him in his hometown. … I’m glad to have a Hendrick car in victory lane. I wish it was us.”

The race’s second crash early in Stage 2 took out many of the sport’s biggest names and left others with damaged cars. Pole-winner Joey Logano, who led the first 36 laps before light rain forced the first caution, was among the many drivers caught up in the big crash.

Among others knocked out of the race: William Byron, Austin Cindric, Ross Chastain, Josh Berry, Corey LaJoie and Daniel Suarez.

“It wrecked the whole field,” Logano said. “I still don’t know exactly how it started … but it was total chaos. Cars were sideways and on the brakes. I got hit from every corner possible.”

Added Denny Hamlin, who suffered damage to his Toyota in the crash: “Some zigged. Some zagged. Most crashed.”

The Atlanta race at EchoPark Speedway, formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway, was the debut of the 32-driver In-Season Challenge, a five-race, bracket-style tournament.

The parade of highly regarded drivers to be knocked out so early in the race showed the perils of trying to pick NASCAR winners on a March Madness-style bracket sheet. The top two seeds were among the early casualties.

Hamlin, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, finished 31st and lost to Ty Dillon, who finished eighth.

Chase Briscoe, who held off Hamlin for his first win for Joe Gibbs Racing last week at Pocono Raceway, was the No. 2 seed before being knocked out in a crash and losing to Noah Gragson in the tournament.

A $1 million prize awaits the winner as part of a new media rights deal that includes TNT.

Elliott and Keselowski were on the front row when a caution with 33 laps to go forced a decision on whether to pit for fresh tires. Both stayed on the track and Elliott faded following the restart until making his decisive charge at the very end.

Bracket busters

Ryan Blaney, the race favorite according to BetMGM Sportsbook, was knocked out on a wreck late in the first stage. Christopher Bell hit the wall, triggering the crash that ended the stage with Cindric in the lead.

Cindric was involved in the bigger crash early in Stage 2. Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace were among others involved in the crash.

Photo finish

Tyler Reddick beat Elliott to the finish line by .001 seconds to win Stage 2 in a battle between drivers looking for both their first stage win and overall win of the season.

Weather woes

Lightning and rain delayed qualifying Friday and the Xfinity race won by Nick Sanchez late Friday night. More lightning and rain threatened Saturday night’s race. Fans were encouraged to leave the stands about 90 minutes before the race due to severe weather in the area but were allowed to return as pre-race were conducted as planned.

Up next

The Cup Series moves to Chicago for the Chicago Street Race on Sunday, July 6.

— By CHARLES ODUM, Associated Press

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dave Parker, a hard-hitting outfielder who was set to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame next month, has died, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced Saturday. He was 74.

No further details about Parker’s death were immediately available. The Pirates informed the crowd of his death just before the start of their game against the New York Mets and held a moment of silence.

“All of us who grew up in the ’70s remember how special Dave was,” Pirates owner Bob Nutting said in a statement. “He had a big personality and his passing has left a bigger void for all who knew him. Our hearts go out to his wife, Kellye, and his family.”

Parker won NL batting titles in 1977 and ’78. He finished his career as a .290 hitter with 339 homers and 1,493 RBIs. He also played for Cincinnati, Milwaukee, the California Angels and Toronto.

Parker was elected to the Hall of Fame by a special committee in December. The induction ceremony in Cooperstown, New York, is set for July 27.

“We join the baseball family in remembering Dave Parker. His legacy will be one of courage and leadership, matched only by his outstanding accomplishments on the field,” Hall chairman Jane Forbes Clark said. “His election to the Hall of Fame in December brought great joy to him, his family and all the fans who marveled at his remarkable abilities.”

Born on June 9, 1951 in Grenada, Mississippi, Parker grew up in Cincinnati and was a three-sport star at Courter Tech High School.

After playing for Pittsburgh from 1973-83, he signed with his hometown Reds and spent four seasons with the club. In 1985 he led the NL with 125 RBIs and was second in the MVP voting.

“He was such a big dude at a time when there weren’t that many ‘6-foot-5, 230-pound, dynamic defender, batting champion with power’ guys,” Hall of Famer and Reds teammate Barry Larkin said. “Everything about him was impressive.”

In a statement, the Reds said: “Dave was a towering figure on the field, in the clubhouse and in the Cincinnati community, where his baseball journey began, playing on the fields near his home and going to games at Crosley Field. Dave’s impact on the game and this franchise will never be forgotten.”

Parker was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2012.

He told reporters that he burst into tears upon learning of his selection to the Hall of Fame.

“Yeah, I cried,” Parker said after receiving the news. “It only took a few minutes, because I don’t cry.”

Parker homered for the A’s in the 1989 World Series opener and took credit for helping the Bash Brothers of Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire take the title with a four-game sweep of San Francisco.

“All of us throughout the game are deeply saddened by this loss,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “We will remember the Cobra forever, especially as his name soon officially joins the legends of our national pastime.”

Pirates veteran and 2013 NL MVP Andrew McCutchen paid tribute to Parker after Pittsburgh beat the New York Mets 9-2.

“He had to be like Superman to people when he was playing,” McCutchen said. “He was larger than life on the field and had a larger-than-life personality, too.”

Parker was a seven-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove right fielder, and when he retired after the 1991 season, he was one of only five players with at least 500 doubles, 300 homers, 150 stolen bases and 2,700 hits.

“I was a five-tool player. I could do them all,” Parker said after his Hall selection. “I never trotted to first base. I don’t know if people noticed that, but I ran hard on every play.”

— By JOHN PERROTTO, Associated Press

Today is Sunday, June 29, the 180th day of 2025. There are 185 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On June 29, 2007, the first version of the iPhone went on sale to the public; over 2.3 billion iPhones have been sold to date.

Also on this date:

In 1520, Montezuma II, the ninth and last emperor of the Aztecs, died in Tenochtitlan (tay-nohch-TEET’-lahn) under unclear circumstances (some say he was killed by his own subjects; others, by the Spanish).

In 1613, London’s original Globe Theatre, where many of Shakespeare’s plays were performed, was destroyed by a fire sparked by a cannon shot during a performance of “Henry VIII.”

In 1767, Britain approved the Townshend Revenue Act, which imposed import duties on glass, paint, oil, lead, paper and tea shipped to the American colonies. (Colonists bitterly protested, prompting Parliament to repeal the duties on each of the products — except for tea.)

In 1776, the Virginia state constitution was adopted, and Patrick Henry was made the state’s governor.

In 1967, Jerusalem was reunified as Israel removed barricades separating the Old City from the Israeli sector.

In 1970, the United States ended a two-month military offensive into Cambodia.

In 1995, the U.S. space shuttle Atlantis docked with Russia’s Mir space station as they orbited the earth.

In 2006, the Supreme Court ruled, 5-3, that President George W. Bush’s plan to try Guantanamo Bay detainees in military tribunals violated U.S. and international law.

In 2009, disgraced financier Bernard Madoff received a 150-year sentence for his multibillion-dollar fraud. (Madoff died in prison in April 2021.)

In 2022, R. Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison for using his R&B superstardom to subject young fans to sexual abuse. The singer and songwriter was convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking the previous year.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Songwriter L. Russell Brown is 85.
• Singer-songwriter Garland Jeffreys is 82.
• Actor Gary Busey is 81.
• Former actor and politician Fred Grandy is 77.
• Rock musician Ian Paice (Deep Purple) is 77.
• Singer Don Dokken is 72.
• Rock singer Colin Hay (Men At Work) is 72.
• Actor Maria Conchita Alonso is 70.
• Actor Sharon Lawrence (“NYPD Blue”) is 64.
• Actor Amanda Donohoe is 63.
• Actor Judith Hoag is 62.
• Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter is 62.
• Producer-writer Matthew Weiner is 60.
• Actor Melora Hardin is 58.
• Actor Brian D’Arcy James is 57.
• Rap DJ and record producer DJ Shadow is 53.
• Actor Zuleikha Robinson is 48.
• Rock musician Sam Farrar (Maroon 5) is 47.
• Actor Luke Kirby is 47.
• Singer and TV personality Nicole Scherzinger is 47.
• Comedian-writer Colin Jost is 43.
• Actor Lily Rabe is 43.
• NBA forward Kawhi Leonard is 34.
• Actor Camila Mendes (TV: “Riverdale”) is 31.
• Soccer player Jude Bellingham is 22.

MIDLAND, Mich. (AP) — Sarah Schmelzel and Albane Valenzuela took the third-round lead Saturday in the Dow Championship, shooting a 2-under 68 in alternate-shot play to move into position for their first LPGA Tour victories.

“You’re kind of on pins and needles most of the day, just hoping you don’t get your partner in trouble,” Schmelzel said. “Just super solid. I feel like we had really good attitudes throughout the entire day. I think both of us took every single shot as it came.”

The teams of Jin Hee Im-Somi Lee (68) and Manon De Roey-Pauline Roussin-Bouchard (69) were a stroke back.

“I’m very proud of us,” De Roey said. “We hung in there. We fought until the end.”

Jennifer Kupcho and Leona Maguire, the second-round leaders after a 60, birdied the final two holes for a 72 that left them tied for fourth at 11 under with Lauren Hartlage-Brooke Matthews (66) and Sung Hyun Park-Ina Yoon (67) . Kupcho won in 2022 with Lizette Salas.

“Just try and go low and try and post a number early and see what happens.” Maguire said. “I think it was nice to see two putts go in at the end.”

Lexi Thompson-Meghan Kang (68) and Rio Takeda-Miyu Yamashita (67) were 10 under.

Defending champions Ruoning Yin and Jeeno Thitikul, both among the top five in the women’s world ranking, were 9 under after a 67.

Schmelzel and Valenzuela parred the final seven holes. They had four birdies and two bogeys in the round.

“I feel like we had a really good day,” Valenzuela said. “Our goal in foursomes was just to get a couple under or maybe a little bit better. We had a few mistakes, and that’s going to happen in this format. We also did a lot of really good stuff.”

NFL coach Jim Harbaugh was added Friday to a lawsuit against the University of Michigan and a former assistant football coach who is accused of hacking into the computer accounts of college athletes across the U.S. to look for intimate photos.

Attorneys claim Harbaugh, who was Michigan's coach, and others knew that Matt Weiss was seen viewing private information on a computer in December 2022 but still allowed him to continue working as co-offensive coordinator in a national playoff game roughly a week later.

Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel and other officials were also added to the lawsuit in federal court in Detroit.

The university's delay in taking meaningful protective action until after a high-stakes game sends a clear message: Student welfare was secondary, said Parker Stinar, who is the lead lawyer in a class-action lawsuit arising from a criminal investigation of Weiss.

Messages seeking comment from Manuel and Harbaugh, who is currently the head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers, were not immediately returned Friday.

Separately, Weiss has been charged with identity theft and unauthorized computer access from 2015 to 2023. The indictment says he got access to the social media, email and cloud storage accounts of more than 2,000 college athletes, as well as more than 1,300 students or alumni from schools across the U.S., to find private images, primarily of women. He has pleaded not guilty.

Had Harbaugh implemented basic oversight of his staff, plaintiffs and the class would have been protected against predators such as Weiss, the updated lawsuit states. Instead, Weiss was a highly compensated asset that was promoted by and within the football program, from which position he was able to, and did, target female student athletes.

The lawsuit says a staff member saw Weiss viewing private information at Schembechler Hall, headquarters for the football team, around Dec. 21, 2022, and reported it before Michigan played Texas Christian University in a playoff game days later on Dec. 31.

Weiss was fired a few weeks later in January 2023 during an investigation of his computer use.

Earlier this year, after charges were filed, Harbaugh told reporters that he didn't know anything about Weiss' troubles until after the playoff game. He said the allegations were "shocking."

Weiss worked for Harbaugh's brother, John, on the coaching staff of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens before joining the Michigan team in 2021.

The lawsuit says Weiss university computer had encryption software that had to be disabled by an external vendor as part of the investigation. Authorities disclosed in April that thousands of intimate photos and videos were found on his electronic devices and cloud storage accounts.

The Trump administration continued to reshape U.S. health policy in recent days with several moves that could change what vaccines people can get to protect themselves from common illnesses.

Some of the changes are immediate, others are still being discussed, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. must still sign off on some.

Doctors’ groups have expressed alarm at the moves made by Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist, and his appointees, who at times have ignored well-established science. Nearly 80 medical groups, including the American Medical Association, issued a statement backing vaccines against common respiratory ailments as “among the best tools to protect the public.”

“We come together as physicians from every corner of medicine to reaffirm our commitment to these lifesaving vaccines,” the groups wrote.

Here’s what to know about some of the recent vaccine policy changes:

Flu shots and thimerosal

On Thursday, a vaccine advisory group handpicked by Kennedy recommended that just about every American get a flu shot this fall.

But the group also said people should avoid shots containing thimerosal, a preservative used only in large multi-dose vials that has been proven to be safe. The ingredient isn’t used in single-dose flu shots, the type of syringe used for about 95% of U.S. flu shots last season.

Status: Kennedy must sign off on the recommendations. Read more AP coverage here.

How to get a COVID-19 shot

Universal access to updated COVID-19 shots for the fall remains unclear, even after Kennedy’s vaccine advisers were shown data showing how well the vaccines are working.

Kennedy changed CDC guidance last month, saying the shots are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women — even though doctors groups disagree. And the Food and Drug Administration has moved to limit COVID-19 vaccinations among healthy people under age 65.

Status: Upcoming advisory meetings, regulatory decisions and policies from insurers and employers are likely to influence access. Read more AP coverage here.

Expanded warnings on COVID-19 vaccine labels

At the request of the FDA, makers of the two leading COVID-19 vaccines on Wednesday expanded existing warnings about a rare heart side effect mainly seen in young men.

Prescribing information from both Pfizer and Moderna had already advised doctors about rare cases of myocarditis, a type of heart inflammation that is usually mild. The FDA had asked the drugmakers to add more detail about the problem and to cover a larger group of patients.

Status: Labels are being updated now. Read more AP coverage here.

Changes considered for the childhood vaccine schedule

On Wednesday, Kennedy’s vaccine advisers said they would be evaluating the “cumulative effect” of the children’s vaccine schedule — the list of immunizations given at different times throughout childhood.

The announcement reflected vaccine skeptics’ messaging: that too many shots may overwhelm kids’ immune systems. Scientists say those claims have been repeatedly investigated with no signs of concern.

The American Academy of Pediatrics said it would continue publishing its own vaccine schedule for children but now will do so independently of the government advisory panel, calling it “no longer a credible process.”

Status: The examination is in its early stages. Read more AP coverage here.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ, Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom sued Fox News on Friday over alleged defamation, saying the network knowingly aired false information about a phone call he had with President Donald Trump around the time the National Guard was sent Los Angeles.

The lawsuit alleges Fox News anchor Jesse Watters edited out key information from a clip of Trump talking about calling Newsom, then used the edited video to assert that Newsom had lied about the two talking.

Newsom is asking for $787 million in punitive damages in his lawsuit filed in Delaware court where Fox is incorporated. That’s the same amount Fox agreed to pay in 2023 to settle a defamation lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems. The company said Fox had repeatedly aired false allegations that its equipment had switched votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden during the 2020 election, and the discovery process of the lawsuit revealed Fox’s efforts not to alienate conservatives in the network’s audience in the wake of Biden’s victory.

“If Fox News wants to lie to the American people on Donald Trump’s behalf, it should face consequences — just like it did in the Dominion case,” Newsom said in a statement. “I believe the American people should be able to trust the information they receive from a major news outlet.”

He asked a judge to order Fox News to stop broadcasting “the false, deceptive, and fraudulent video and accompanying statements” that Newsom said falsely say he lied about when he had spoken to Trump regarding the situation in Los Angeles, where protests erupted on June 6 over Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Fox News called the lawsuit “frivolous.”

“Gov. Newsom’s transparent publicity stunt is frivolous and designed to chill free speech critical of him. We will defend this case vigorously and look forward to it being dismissed,” the company said in a statement.

The law makes it difficult to prove defamation, but some cases result in settlements and, no matter the disposition, can tie up news outlets in expensive legal fights.

Particularly since taking office a second time, Trump has been aggressive in going after news organizations he feels has wronged him. He’s involved in settlement talks over his lawsuit against CBS News about a “60 Minutes” interview last fall with Democratic opponent Kamala Harris. This week, Trump’s lawyers threatened a lawsuit against CNN and The New York Times over their reporting of an initial assessment of damage to Iran’s nuclear program from a U.S. bombing.

Newsom’s lawsuit centers on the details of a phone call with the president.

Both Newsom and the White House have said the two spoke late at night on June 6 in California, which was already June 7 on the East Coast. Though the content of the call is not part of the lawsuit, Newsom has said the two never discussed Trump’s plan to deploy the National Guard, which he announced the next day. Trump said the deployment was necessary to protect federal buildings from people protesting increased immigration arrests.

Trump later announced he would also deploy Marines to the area.

On June 10, when 700 Marines arrived in the Los Angeles area, Trump told reporters he had spoken to Newsom “a day ago” about his decision to send troops. That day, Newsom posted on X that there had been no call.

“There was no call. Not even a voicemail,” Newsom wrote.

On the evening of June 10, the Watters Primetime show played a clip of Trump’s statement about his call with Newsom but removed Trump’s comment that the call was “a day ago,” the lawsuit said. Watters also referred to call logs another Fox News reporter had posted online showing the phone call the two had on June 6.

“Why would Newsom lie and claim Trump never called him? Why would he do that?” Watters asked on air, according to the lawsuit. The segment included text across the bottom of the screen that said “Gavin Lied About Trump’s Call.”

Newsom’s suit argues that by editing the material, Fox “maliciously lied as a means to sabotage informed national discussion.”

Precise details about when the call happened are important because the days when Trump deployed the Guard to Los Angeles despite Newsom’s opposition “represented an unprecedented moment,” Newsom’s lawyers wrote in a letter to Fox demanding a retraction and on-air apology.

“History was occurring in real time. It is precisely why reporters asked President Trump the very question that prompted this matter: when did he last speak with Governor Newsom,” the letter said.

Associated Press journalist David Bauder contributed to this report.

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By COLLIN BINKLEY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Republican plan to expand private school vouchers nationwide was dealt a major setback Friday when the Senate parliamentarian said the proposal would run afoul of procedural rules.

The years-in-the-making plan would have created a federal tax credit supporting scholarships to help families send their children to private schools or other options beyond their local public schools. But in an overnight announcement, the Senate parliamentarian advised against including the proposal in President Donald Trump’s tax cut and spending bill.

It added to mounting problems for Republicans as key proposals were deemed ineligible for the filibuster-proof reconciliation package. The parliamentarian’s rulings are advisory but are rarely, if ever, ignored. It’s unclear if Republicans will try to rewrite the provisions or simply drop them from the bill.

Another education plan deemed ineligible for reconciliation would have exempted religious colleges from a federal endowment tax. The proposal sought to raise the tax rate on wealthier colleges’ endowments while carving out religious institutions like Hillsdale College, a conservative, Christian school in Michigan and an ally of the Trump administration.

Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, said, “We have been successful in removing parts of this bill that hurt families and workers, but the process is not over, and Democrats are continuing to make the case against every provision in this Big, Beautiful Betrayal of a bill that violates Senate rules.”

School voucher provision had been seen as a win for supporters

The school voucher provision was seen as a breakthrough victory for proponents who have been pushing the idea for years. A similar plan failed to gain support from Congress in 2019 when it was championed by Betsy DeVos, the education secretary during Trump’s first term. Campaigning for his second term, Trump again promised to deliver some form of “universal school choice.”

Under the reconciliation plan, donors who gave money or stock to K-12 scholarship programs would receive 100% of the contribution back in the form of a discount on their tax bills. It would allow stock holders to avoid paying taxes they would usually face if they donated or transferred their stock.

Nearly all families would qualify to receive scholarships except those making more than three times their area’s median income.

A House version of the bill allowed up to $5 billion in tax credits a year, running through 2029. The Senate version reduced it to $4 billion but included no end date.

Supporters said the proposal would expand education options for families across the country, offering alternatives to students in areas with lower-performing public schools. Opponents said it would siphon money from public schools and open the door for fraud and abuse.

Republican-led states have similar programs

Similar scholarship and voucher programs have proliferated in Republican-led states such as Texas, which recently passed a $1 billion program. States have increasingly offered vouchers to families beyond only the neediest ones, contributing to budget concerns as expenses rapidly pile up.

The Senate’s college endowment proposal sought to raise a tax on schools’ investment income, from 1.4% now to 4% or 8% depending on their wealth. It would apply only to colleges with endowments of at least $500,000 per student, and it excluded all religious institutions. It would have exempted a small number of colleges, including Hillsdale, which lobbied against it.

Some small colleges that would have been hit hard by the proposal are now hopeful that Republicans will carve out an exemption for all smaller schools.

“The religious schools exemption showed senators were concerned about the endowment tax hike’s impact on small colleges,” said Lori White, president of DePauw University, a private liberal arts school in Indiana. “After the parliamentarian’s rulings, the best way to protect those and other small institutions from that impact is now to exempt all colleges with fewer than 5,000 undergraduate students.”

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

By ALEXA ST. JOHN, Associated Press

Weather experts are warning that hurricane forecasts will be severely hampered by the upcoming cutoff of key data from U.S. Department of Defense satellites, the latest Trump administration move with potential consequences for the quality of forecasting.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it would discontinue the “ingest, processing and distribution” of data collected by three weather satellites that the agency jointly runs with the Defense Department. The data is used by scientists, researchers and forecasters, including at the National Hurricane Center.

It wasn’t immediately clear why the government planned to cut off the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s microwave data by Monday. The Defense Department referred questions to the Air Force, which referred them to the Navy, which did not immediately provide comment. NOAA did not immediately respond to a message.

Unlike traditional weather satellites, the microwave data helps peer under a regular image of a hurricane or a tropical cyclone to see what is going on inside the storm, and it is especially helpful at night.

The news is especially noteworthy during the ongoing hurricane season and as lesser storms have become more frequent, deadly and costly as climate change is worsened by the burning of fossil fuels.

Microwave imagery allows researchers and forecasters to see the center of the storm. Experts say that can help in detecting the rapid intensification of storms and in more accurately plotting the likely path of dangerous weather.

“If a hurricane, let’s say, is approaching the Gulf Coast, it’s a day away from making landfall, it’s nighttime,” said Union of Concerned Scientists science fellow Marc Alessi. “We will no longer be able to say, OK, this storm is definitely undergoing rapid intensification, we need to update our forecasts to reflect that.”

Other microwave data will be available but only roughly half as much, hurricane specialist Michael Lowry said in a blog post. He said that greatly increases the odds that forecasters will miss rapid intensification, underestimate intensity or misplace the storm.

That “will severely impede and degrade hurricane forecasts for this season and beyond, affecting tens of millions of Americans who live along its hurricane-prone shorelines,” he said.

University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy called the loss of data “alarmingly bad news” in a post on Bluesky.

“Microwave data are already relatively sparse, so any loss — even gradual as satellites or instruments fail — is a big deal; but to abruptly end three active functioning satellites is insanity.”

NOAA and its National Weather Service office have been the target of several cuts and changes in President Donald Trump’s second term. The Department of Government Efficiency gutted the agency’s workforce, local field offices and funding.

Already, hurricane forecasts were anticipated to be less accurate this year because weather balloons launches have been curtailed because of the lack of staffing.

“What happened this week is another attempt by the Trump administration to sabotage our weather and climate infrastructure,” Alessi said.

Alexa St. John is an Associated Press climate reporter. Follow her on X: @alexa_stjohn. Reach her at ast.john@ap.org.

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

By DAVID BAUDER, AP Entertainment Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The idea that Bruce Springsteen wrote, recorded and ultimately shelved entire albums of music may seem odd to the casual listener. Why put yourself through all that work for nothing?

Yet “lost albums” are embedded in music industry lore. Some were literally lost. Some remained unfinished or unreleased because of tragedy, shortsighted executives or creators who were perfectionist — or had short attention spans.

Often, the music is eventually made public, like Springsteen is doing now, although out of context from the times in which it was originally made.

So in honor of Springsteen’s 83-song “Tracks II: The Lost Albums” box set being released Friday, The Associated Press has collected 10 examples of albums that were meant to be but weren’t.

“Smile,” The Beach Boys

Back in the news with the death of Brian Wilson, this album “invented the category of the lost masterpiece in popular music,” says Anthony DeCurtis, contributing editor at Rolling Stone. Some of the material that surfaced suggested Wilson, the Beach Boys’ chief writer, was well on his way: the majestic single “Good Vibrations,” the centerpiece “Heroes and Villains” and the reflective “Surf’s Up.” Wilson succumbed to internal competitive pressure worsened by mental illness and drug abuse while making it in 1966 and 1967, eventually aborting the project. He later finished it as a solo album backed by the Wondermints in 2004. The better-known songs were joined with some psychedelic-era curios that displayed Wilson’s melodic sense and matchless ability as a vocal arranger, along with lyrics that some fellow Beach Boys worried were too “out there.”

“The Black Album,” Prince

The mercurial Prince pulled back this disc, set for release in December 1987, at the last minute. Some promo copies had already slipped out, and it was so widely bootlegged that when Warner Bros. officially put it out in limited release in 1994, the company billed it as “The Legendary Black Album.” Encased in an all-black sleeve, the project was said to be Prince’s nod to Black fans who may have felt they had lost him to a pop audience. It’s almost nonstop funk, including a lascivious Cindy Crawford tribute and the workout “Superfunkycalifragisexy.” The maestro’s instincts were well-placed, though. Coming after “Sign O’ the Times” — arguably his peak — this would have felt like a minor project.

“Cigarettes and Valentines,” Green Day

Written and recorded in 2003, Green Day’s “Cigarettes and Valentines” was actually lost; someone apparently stole the master tapes. Feeling on a creative roll, the rock trio decided against recreating what they’d done and pressed on with new material. Smart move. The result was “American Idiot,” the band’s best work. Perhaps the robbery was “just a sign that we made a crappy record and we should make a better one,” songwriter Billie Joe Armstrong told MTV. The title cut later surfaced on a 2010 live album. The rest was lost to time.

“Detox,” Dr. Dre

To say anticipation was high for Dr. Dre’s third album when he started recording in 2002 puts it mildly. The theme disc about a hitman, which Dre described as a “hip-hop musical,” had an all-star squad of contributors including Eminem, 50 Cent, Mary J. Blige, Busta Rhymes and Kendrick Lamar. “I’d describe it as the most advanced rap album musically and lyrically we’ll probably ever have a chance to listen to,” co-producer Scott Storch told MTV. But we never have. When he announced a different third album in 2015, Dre explained on his radio show what happened to “Detox”: “I didn’t like it. It wasn’t good. … I worked my ass off on it, and I don’t think I did a good enough job.”

“Black Gold,” Jimi Hendrix

A series of unfinished demos, “Black Gold” was a taste of where guitar god Jimi Hendrix might have gone creatively if he hadn’t died at 27 in 1970. He was composing a song suite about an animated Black superhero, says Tom Maxwell, whose podcast “Shelved” unearths stories behind lost music. Hendrix sent a tape of his work to longtime drummer Mitch Mitchell for advice on fleshing it out. That music was set aside at Mitchell’s home and forgotten for two decades after Hendrix died. To date, Hendrix’s estate has made only one of these recordings public, a song called “Suddenly November Morning.” Hendrix, after clearing his throat, slips in and out of falsetto while accompanying himself on an acoustic guitar.

“A Story,” Yoko Ono

Written while Yoko Ono was separated from John Lennon during his infamous “lost weekend” in 1973-74, “A Story” had the potential of changing the musical narrative around her. It was a strong album — without the avant-garde stylings that made Ono a challenge for mainstream listeners — recorded with musicians who worked on Lennon’s “Walls & Bridges.” Maxwell calls it “an emancipation manifesto” that was set aside when Ono reconciled with Lennon. She’s never publicly explained why, Maxwell says, although one song seems clearly about an affair she had while Lennon was away. Some of the material from “A Story” was included as part of the “Onobox” project that came out in 1992, and the album was released separately in 1997. Ono also re-recorded some of its songs in 1980, and Lennon was holding a tape of her composition “It Happened” when he was shot and killed. In it, she sings about an unspecified, seemingly traumatic event: “It happened at a time of my life when I least expected.” That wasn’t even the most chilling premonition. Her song “O’Oh” ended with firecrackers that sound like gunshots. It was left off the 1997 release.

“Chinese Democracy,” Guns N’ Roses

Guns N’ Roses was at the top of the hard rock world when they began recording a new album in 1994. It didn’t go well. Inconclusive sessions slogged on for years, and all but singer Axl Rose left the group. Recording costs exceeded a staggering $13 million, by some accounts the most expensive rock album ever. One witness told The New York Times in 2005: “What Axl wanted to do was to make the best record that had ever been made. It’s an impossible task. You could go on indefinitely, which is what they’ve done.” When “Chinese Democracy” was finally released in 2008, the world yawned.

“Love Man,” Marvin Gaye

Not even a decade after the triumph of “What’s Going On,” Marvin Gaye was floundering. His “Here, My Dear” divorce album flopped, he struggled with drugs and searched for relevance in the disco era. The single “Ego Tripping Out,” meant to herald a new album, laid bare the problems: Over a melody cribbed from Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff,” the famously cool “Love Man” boasted like an insecure rapper. He scrapped the album, repurposing some its material for the 1981 disc “In Our Lifetime,” a process so fraught he bitterly left his longtime label Motown. Gaye went to CBS, made a huge comeback with “Sexual Healing,” then was shot dead by his father in 1984.

“Homegrown,” Neil Young

Neil Young rivals Prince in the volume of material left in his vault, and he’s been systematically releasing much of it. The mostly acoustic “Homegrown” was recorded as 1974 bled into 1975, during Young’s breakup with actor Carrie Snodgress. Instead of releasing it in 1975, he put out another heartbreak album, the well-regarded “Tonight’s the Night,” about losing friends to drug abuse. When Young finally dropped “Homegrown” in 2020, he wrote in his blog, “Sometimes life hurts. This is the one that got away.”

“Streets of Philadelphia Sessions,” Bruce Springsteen

Of the discs included in Springsteen’s “Tracks II” set, this was reportedly the closest to being released, in the spring of 1995. After the success of the Oscar-winning song “Streets of Philadelphia,” Springsteen recorded an album in the same vein, with a synthesizer and West Coast rap-inspired drum loops setting the musical motif. Strikingly contemporary for its time, Springsteen ultimately felt it was too similar to previous releases dominated by dark stories about relationships. “I always put them away,” he said of his lost albums. “But I don’t throw them away.”

David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.

By CORA LEWIS

NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of millions of ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ loans will soon affect credit scores for millions of Americans who use the loans to buy clothing, furniture, concert tickets, and takeout.

Scoring company FICO said Monday that it is rolling out a new model that factors the short-term loans into their consumer scores. A majority of lenders use FICO scores to determine a borrower’s credit worthiness. Previously, the loans had been excluded, though Buy Now, Pay Later company Affirm began voluntarily reporting pay-in-four loans to Experian, a separate credit bureau, in April.

The new FICO scores will be available beginning in the fall, as an option for lenders to increase visibility into consumers’ repayment behavior, the company said. Still, not all Buy Now, Pay Later companies share their data with the credit bureaus, and not all lenders will opt in to using the new models, so widespread adoption could take time, according to Adam Rust, director of financial services at the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America.

Here’s what to know.

Why haven’t the loans appeared in credit scores previously?

Typically, when using Buy Now, Pay Later loans, consumers pay for a given purchase in four installments over six weeks, in a model more similar to layaway than to a traditional credit card. The loans are marketed as zero-interest, and most require no credit check or only a soft credit check.

The main three credit reporting bureaus, Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax, haven’t yet incorporated a standard way of including these new financial products in their reports, since they don’t adhere to existing models of lending and repayment. FICO, the score of the Fair Isaac Corporation, uses data from the bureaus to calculate its own credit score, and is independently choosing to pilot a new score that takes the loans into account.

Why is this important?

BNPL providers promote the plans as safer alternatives to credit cards, while consumer advocates warn about “loan stacking,” in which consumers take on many loans at once across several companies. So far, there’s been little visibility into this practice in the industry, and the opacity has led to warnings of “phantom debt” that could mask the health of the consumer.

In a statement, FICO said that their new credit score model is accounting for the growing significance of the loans in the U.S. credit ecosystem.

“Buy Now, Pay Later loans are playing an increasingly important role in consumers’ financial lives,” said Julie May, vice president and general manager of business-to-business scores at FICO. “We’re enabling lenders to more accurately evaluate credit readiness, especially for consumers whose first credit experience is through BNPL products.”

What does FICO hope to achieve?

FICO said the new model will responsibly expand access to credit. Many users of BNPL loans are younger consumers and consumers who may not have good or lengthy credit histories. In a joint study with Affirm, FICO trained its new scores on a sample of more than 500,000 BNPL borrowers and found that consumers with five or more loans typically saw their scores increase or remain stable under the new model.

For consumers who pay back their BNPL loans in a timely way, the new credit scoring model could help them improve their credit scores, increasing access to mortgages, car loans, and apartment rentals. Currently, the loans don’t typically contribute directly to improved scores, though missed payments can hurt or ding a score.

Since March, credit scores have declined steeply for millions, as student loan payments resume and many student borrowers find themselves unable to make regular payments on their federal student loans.

What are the risks and concerns?

Nadine Chabrier, senior policy and litigation counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending, said her main concern is that the integration of the loans into a score could have unexpected negative effects on people who are already credit-restrained.

“There isn’t a lot of information out there about how integrating BNPL into credit scoring will work out,” Chabrier said. “FICO simulated the effect on credit scoring through a study. They saw that some users’ scores increased. But if you factor in something that, last week, didn’t affect your credit, and this week, it does, without having very much information about the modeling, it’s a little hard to tell what the consequences will be.”

Chabrier cited research that’s shown that many BNPL users have revolving credit card balances, lower credit scores, delinquencies, and existing debt. Women of color are also more likely to use the loans, she said.

“This is a credit vulnerable community,” said Chabrier.

Will consumers see immediate effects?

Rust, of the Consumer Federation of America, said he doesn’t expect this to be a game-changer for consumers who already have a credit profile.

“Are we at a point where using BNPL loans will dramatically alter your credit profile? Probably not,” he said. “I think it’s important that people have reasonable expectations.”

Rust said the average BNPL loan is for $135, and that repaying such small loans, even consistently, might not result in changes to a credit score that would significantly move the needle.

“It’s not about going from 620 to 624. It’s about going from 620 to 780,” he said, referring to the kind of credit score jumps that affect one’s credit card offers, interest rates on loans, and the like.

Still, Rust said that increased transparency around the loans could create a more accurate picture of a consumer’s debts, which could improve accurate underwriting and keep consumers from over-extending themselves.

“This addresses the problem of ‘phantom debt,’ and that’s a good thing,” he said. “Because it could be something that keeps people from getting too deeply into debt they can’t afford.”

The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.

By MARC LEVY

ENOLA, Pa. (AP) — Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania isn’t even up for reelection until 2028, but already a one-time primary foe, former U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, is crisscrossing Pennsylvania and social media, looking and sounding like he’s preparing to challenge Fetterman again.

At town hall after town hall across Pennsylvania, Democrats and allied progressive groups aren’t hearing from Fetterman in person — or Republicans who control Washington, for that matter.

But they are hearing from Lamb, a living reminder of the Democrat they could have elected instead of Fetterman. The former congressman has emerged as an in-demand town hall headliner, sometimes as a stand-in for Fetterman — who just might bash Fetterman.

“I thought I was going to play Senator Fetterman,” Lamb joked as he sat down in front of a central Pennsylvania crowd last Sunday.

Democrats are frustrated with Fetterman

Lamb’s reemergence comes at an in-between moment, roughly halfway through Fetterman’s six-year term, and is helping define the struggle facing Democrats in swing-state Pennsylvania.

There, Democrats figure prominently in their national effort to push back on President Donald Trump, but also in their struggle to figure out what to do about Fetterman, who is under fire from rank-and-file Democrats for being willing to cooperate with Trump.

Frustration with Fetterman has been on display on social media, at the massive “ No Kings ” rally in Philadelphia and among the Democratic Party’s faithful. The steering committee of the progressive organization Indivisible PA last month asked Fetterman to resign.

It’s quite a turnabout for the hoodies-and-shorts-wearing Fetterman, elected in 2022 with an everyman persona and irreverent wit, who was unafraid to challenge convention.

For some progressives, frustration with Fetterman began with his staunch support for Israel’s punishing war against Hamas in Gaza, an issue that divides Democrats.

It’s moved beyond that since Trump took office. Now, some are wondering why he’s — as they see it — kissing up to Trump, why he’s chastising fellow Democrats for their anti-Trump resistance and whether he’s even committed to their causes at all.

Most recently, they question his support for Trump’s bombing of Iran.

“It hurts,” said John Abbott, who attended Sunday’s event in suburban Harrisburg.

Speaking at the flagship “No Kings” rally in Philadelphia, Indivisible co-founder Leah Greenberg name-checked Fetterman.

“We’re looking to the leaders who will fight for us, because even today there are folks among the Democratic Party who think we should roll over and play dead,” Greenberg said. “Anyone seen John Fetterman here today?”

The crowd booed.

Why is Conor Lamb crisscrossing Pennsylvania again?

In Pittsburgh, progressives trying to land an in-person town hall with Fetterman or first-term Republican Sen. David McCormick noticed when the two senators advertised an event together at a downtown restaurant to celebrate the release of McCormick’s new book.

Progressive groups organized to protest it and — after it got moved to a private location with a private invite list — went ahead with their own town hall. They invited Lamb and a local Democratic state representative instead.

More invitations for Lamb started rolling in.

By his count, he’s now attended at least a dozen town halls and party events, easily clocking more than 2,000 miles to appear in small towns, small cities and suburbs, often in conservative areas.

“Showing up matters and it really does make a difference,” said Dana Kellerman, a Pittsburgh-based progressive organizer. “Is that going to matter to John Fetterman? I really don’t know. I don’t know what he’s thinking. I don’t know if he’s always been this person or if he’s changed in the last two years.”

Fetterman has brushed off criticism, saying he’s a committed Democrat, insisting he was elected to engage with Republicans and — perhaps hypocritically — questioning why Democrats would criticize fellow Democrats.

At times, Fetterman has criticized Trump, questioning the move to “punch our allies in the mouth” with tariffs or the need for cuts to social-safety net programs in the GOP’s legislation to extend 2017’s tax cuts. Fetterman’s office didn’t respond to an inquiry about Lamb.

Is Conor Lamb running for Senate?

For his part, Lamb — a former U.S. Marine and federal prosecutor — says he isn’t running for anything right now, but he’ll do whatever he can to “stop this slide that we’re on toward a less democratic country and try to create one in which there’s more opportunity for people.”

To some Democrats, he sounds like a candidate.

“That he’s doing these town halls is a good indication that he’ll be running for something, so it’s a good thing,” said Janet Bargh, who attended the event in suburban Harrisburg.

Aside from the town halls, he spoke at the Unite for Veterans event on the National Mall. He has also been active on social media, doing local radio appearances and appearing on MSNBC, where he recently criticized the June 14 military parade ordered up by Trump.

Not long ago, it was hard to envision Lamb losing a race, ever.

In 2018, he won a heavily Trump-friendly congressional district in southwestern Pennsylvania in a special election. It was the center of the political universe that spring, drawing campaign visits by Trump and then-presidential hopeful Joe Biden.

Suddenly, Lamb was ascendant. Then he ran for Senate and lost handily — by more than two-to-one — to Fetterman in 2022’s primary.

People often ask Lamb if he’s going to challenge Fetterman again. Lamb said he reminds them that Fetterman has three years left in his term and pivots the conversation to what Democrats need to do to win elections in 2025 and 2026.

Still, Lamb is unafraid to criticize Fetterman publicly. And, he said, he’s a magnet for Democrats to air their unhappiness with Fetterman. What he hears, over and over, is frustration that Fetterman spends too much time attacking fellow Democrats and not enough time challenging Trump.

“And that is, I think, what’s driving the frustration more than any one particular issue,” Lamb said.

At the town hall, Lamb wasn’t afraid to admit he’d lost to Fetterman. But he turned it into an attack line.

“When I watch the person who beat me give up on every important issue that he campaigned on … the more I reasoned that the point of all of this in the first place is advocacy for what’s right and wrong,” Lamb told the crowd. “And advocacy for not just a particular party to win, but for the type of country where it matters if, when you stand up, you tell the truth.”

The crowd cheered.

Follow Marc Levy on X at: https://x.com/timelywriter

By JIM MUSTIAN

ASHLAND, Ky. (AP) — Pounding away on a prison typewriter, Chad Scott seemed worlds apart from President Donald Trump.

But when the disgraced narcotics agent wrote the White House seeking clemency for his corruption conviction, Scott sought to draw Trump’s attention to what they have in common.

Both men had survived a bullet wound to the ear, Scott wrote, and had been convicted of falsifying records. They were also each a victim of “political persecution,” the type of catchphrase the former agent hoped would resonate with a man who has long complained of witch hunts.

By helping him, Scott argued, Trump would be showing he had “the back of law enforcement.”

“Chad Scott is a hero in this country’s war on drugs,” his attorney wrote in a clemency petition reviewed by The Associated Press, adding it would be a “gross waste of taxpayer money” to house and feed the former U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent for six more years.

Scott’s application is hardly unique, according to prisoners, defense attorneys and officials. The White House and the Justice Department have received a wave of such requests — all carefully crafted to capture the attention and fancy of Trump or those who know his inclinations.

The flurry, legal experts said, has been sparked by Trump’s frequent and eyebrow-raising grants of clemency since retaking office in January. The Republican president has pardoned and commuted the sentences of more than 1,600 people, including many political allies, former GOP officeholders and hundreds charged or convicted in the 2021 Capitol riot. He even pardoned a pair of reality TV stars who were serving time for bank fraud and tax evasion.

In doing so, Trump has largely cast aside a process that historically has been overseen by nonpolitical personnel at the Justice Department who spent their days poring over clemency applications — thick packets filled with character references attesting to applicants’ atonement and good deeds. Only those meeting strict criteria were then passed along to the White House.

Those procedures appear to have been replaced by the caprice of a president known for his transactional approach to governance, his loyalty to supporters and his disdain for perceived enemies.

It’s created “a free-for-all” for those seeking clemency, said Liz Oyer, the Justice Department’s former pardon attorney, who was fired in March. “The traditional process and practices,” she told the AP, “all seem to have fallen by the wayside.”

Inmates believe Trump might hear them out

That has left an opening for prisoners like Eric Sanchez Chaparro, who is seeking a commutation for a drug and weapons conviction that carries a 19-year prison sentence. The optimism, he said, has never been higher for those behind bars.

“In many ways I feel like he has the same point of view that we’ve got,” Chaparro said in a telephone interview, noting that both he and the president were convicted of felonies. Trump was convicted last year on New York state charges of falsifying business records related to hush money payments to a porn star but was sentenced to no punishment.

“Even though people try to put him down,” Chaparro added, “he kept on pushing for his goal.”

The Trump administration did not disclose how many people have reached out to Trump or White House officials to seek clemency, though some have boasted of doing so in colorful ways. Last week, Joe Exotic, the former zookeeper known as the “Tiger King,” posted a song he said he wrote for Trump on social media, claiming he was “paying the time for a crime I didn’t do.” He’s serving a 21-year sentence for the failed murder-for-hire of an animal-welfare activist.

Wave of pardon applications lands at Justice Department

Since Trump retook office five months ago, his Justice Department has received more than 9,300 petitions seeking commutations of sentences or pardons. At that pace, the tally would blow past the approximately 15,000 petitions filed during the four years of President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration. The Justice Department received about 12,000 petitions in Trump’s first term.

Clemency is perhaps the most unchecked power enjoyed by a president, as actions cannot be undone by courts or other officials. Presidents can commute sentences — reducing or eliminating them — or bestow a pardon that wipes away convictions or criminal charges.

Trump is hardly the first president to generate controversy over how he has handled such powers. Biden prompted bipartisan outrage in December when he pardoned his son Hunter, sparing him a possible prison sentence for felony gun and tax convictions. And Biden was sharply criticized — mainly by Republicans — for issuing preemptive pardons to protect lawmakers, former officials and his family members from what he described as a potentially vindictive Trump administration.

Trump’s handling of pardons is unprecedented, experts say

Even so, legal scholars say, Trump’s approach to clemency has veered into unprecedented territory.

The president, for example, tapped a vociferous political supporter, Ed Martin Jr., to be the Justice Department’s pardon attorney. Martin is a former defense lawyer who represented Jan. 6 rioters and promoted false claims that the 2020 election had been stolen by Democrats. Trump gave Martin the post after pulling his nomination to be the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia in the face of bipartisan concerns over his divisive politics. Martin did not respond to requests for comment.

Much of Trump’s mercy has gone to political allies, campaign donors and fraudsters who claimed they were victims of a “weaponized” Justice Department. The pardons that have drawn the most attention include one issued to a tax cheat whose mother raised millions of dollars for Republican causes.

There was the pardon of a prolific straw donor for foreign contributions who gave $900,000 to Trump’s first inaugural committee. Trump voided the conviction of Scott Jenkins, a Virginia sheriff and vocal Trump supporter, sentenced to 10 years for deputizing several businessmen in exchange for cash payments.

“What these pardons signal — together with everything else — is that all bets are now off,” said Frank Bowman, a legal historian and professor emeritus at the University of Missouri School of Law who is writing a book on pardons. “It’s a grotesque misuse of constitutional authority of a kind that has never been seen in American history.”

Administration officials say Trump decides on clemency requests after they’re vetted by the White House Counsel’s Office, the White House pardon czar and the Justice Department. Reviewers have been focusing on nonviolent, rehabilitated criminals with compelling references, the officials said. The White House is also considering petitions from those serving unjustified sentences and what the administration deems “over-prosecution.”

“President Trump doesn’t need lectures from Democrats about his use of pardons, especially from those who supported a president who pardoned his corrupt son, shielded Dr. Fauci from accountability for the millions who suffered under his failed COVID leadership and backed the infamous ‘kids-for-cash’ judge who profited from incarcerating children,” White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in an email. “President Trump is using his pardon and commutation powers to right many wrongs, acting reasonably and responsibly within his constitutional authority.”

Felons say they have a kinship with Trump, a fellow felon

All the while, Trump’s approach has spread hope among lesser-connected prisoners who long ago exhausted their appeals, a half dozen federal prisoners told the AP in interviews.

A remedy long likened to winning the lottery seems more attainable in an administration that has dispensed with many of the traditional criteria considered in clemency, including remorse, the severity of the crime and the amount of time a prisoner has already served.

Jonathan E. Woods, an early Trump supporter and former Arkansas state senator, is serving an 18-year sentence for a bribery conviction.

The former legislator believes he has a legitimate shot at winning a commutation because, he wrote to the AP, “President Trump is viewed as someone as having a big heart, nonjudgmental and someone who has been put through hell by a very imperfect legal system.”

“Inmates view him as someone who will listen to them in hopes of going home early to their loved ones,” Woods added.

Woods, who is serving time in a prison in Texas, has also raised allegations he hopes will resonate with the president: evidence of misconduct by an FBI agent who investigated the former state senator. That agent pleaded guilty to “corruptly destroying” his government hard drive in Woods’ case.

Trump spent years blasting the FBI, particularly for how it investigated him over allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 campaign and its role in the Justice Department’s ill-fated prosecutions of Trump in the Capitol riot and his retention of classified documents at his Florida resort.

Pardon czar is playing a key role

Less political appeals have also been fruitful — thanks to the president’s advisers.

Those working to land pardons for Eddie and Joe Sotelo didn’t give up after Biden rejected their application. Instead, advocates turned to help from Alice Marie Johnson, whom Trump recently tapped as his pardon czar after commuting her sentence for federal drug and money laundering charges in 2018.

It was Johnson who intervened on behalf of the brothers, who had been serving life prison terms for a drug-trafficking conspiracy, said Brittany Barnett, founder of the Buried Alive Project, a nonprofit advocacy group that took up the Sotelos’ case. The brothers were freed late last month.

Johnson “knows firsthand the weight of a life sentence,” Barnett said. “These men were serving the same sentence as the Unabomber — on drug charges.”

Trump’s open-mindedness has sent “shock waves of hope through the prison walls for the thousands of people still serving extreme sentences,” Barnett said.

No commutation seems out of the question in prisons like FCI Ashland, the Kentucky lockup where Scott, the former DEA agent, has been held nearly four years.

Once hotshot DEA agent fell from grace

Scott, 57, was exercising in March with Brian Kelsey, when the former Tennessee state senator received word he had been pardoned just two weeks into a 21-month sentence for campaign finance fraud. Kelsey called his release a “victory for every American who believes in one impartial justice system for all.”

Last month, the president pardoned another former Ashland prisoner, P.G. Sittenfeld, a former Cincinnati city councilman who not only won office as a Democrat but sharply criticized Trump. It is unclear why Trump pardoned Sittenfeld, who also seemed surprised by the grant of clemency. “I was as stunned as I suspect you were,” he wrote supporters this month, according to the Cincinnati Business Courier.

In his own application for a commutation, Scott sought to draw Trump’s attention not only to his ear wound — sustained in a shooting that predated his law enforcement career — but also the prosecutor who handled his case. That prosecutor went on to work for special counsel Jack Smith, whose team twice indicted Trump. The charges were dropped after Trump won the November election.

“Though I do not claim to be a saint, I DID NOT commit the crimes for which I have been convicted,” Scott wrote to the president, even using all caps like Trump does on social media.

Scott had been among the most prolific narcotics agents in the country during his 17-year career at the DEA and won several awards for his work.

His downfall began in 2016, when two members of his New Orleans-based task force were arrested for stealing and using drugs, prompting a yearslong FBI inquiry. A federal jury convicted Scott in 2019 of orchestrating false testimony against a trafficker. He also was found guilty of falsifying DEA paperwork to acquire a pickup truck and, following a separate trial, stealing money and property from suspects.

Scheduled for release in 2031, he has exhausted every possible appeal. Clemency from Trump, Scott told the AP, is his “last resort.”

By all accounts, Scott has been a model prisoner and has been awarded sought-after privileges. He spends his days as FCI Ashland’s “town driver,” chauffeuring newly released prisoners to bus stops, halfway houses, hospitals and doctors’ offices in nearby cities.

And he has participated in a program called Pawsibilities Unleashed, in which he raises and trains service and therapy dogs behind bars.

He named one of his most recent canines, a Labradane, Trump.

Follow the AP’s coverage of President Donald Trump at https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump.

MIAMI (AP) — A Canadian man being held by immigration officials in South Florida has died in federal custody, officials said.

Johnny Noviello, 49, died Monday afternoon at the Bureau of Prisons Federal Detention Center in Miami, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement press release said. The cause of death was under investigation.

Noviello was being detained pending removal from the U.S., officials said. He entered the U.S. in 1988 on a legal visa and became a lawful permanent resident in 1991. He was convicted of drug trafficking and other charges in 2023 and sentenced to a year in prison, officials said.

Noviello was picked up by ICE agents at his probation office last month and charged with removability because of his drug conviction, authorities said.

Seven other immigration detainees have died in federal custody this year, with 11 deaths reported in 2024.

By BERNARD CONDON

NEW YORK (AP) — When the Trump family unveiled a new phone before a giant American flag at its headquarters earlier this month, the pitch was simple and succinct, packed with pure patriotism: “Made in the U.S.A.”

The Trumps are apparently having second thoughts.

How about “proudly American”?

Those are the two words that have replaced the “Made in the USA” pitch that just a few days ago appeared on the website where customers can pre-order the so-called T-1 gold-toned phones with an American flag etched on the back. Elsewhere on the site, other vague terms are now being used, describing the $499 phone as boasting an “American-Proud Design” and “brought to life right here in the U.S.A.”

The Federal Trade Commission requires that items labeled “Made in USA” be “all or virtually all” produced in the U.S. and several firms have been sued over misusing the term.

The Trump Organization has not explained the change and has not responded to a request for comment. Neither did an outside public relations firm handling the Trumps’ mobile phone business, including a request to confirm a statement made to another media outlet.

“T1 phones are proudly being made in America,” said Trump Mobile spokesman Chris Walker, according to USA Today. “Speculation to the contrary is simply inaccurate.”

The language change on the website was first reported by the news site The Verge.

An expert on cell phone technology, IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo, said he’s not surprised the Trump family has dropped the “Made in the USA” label because it’s nearly impossible to build one here given the higher cost and lack of infrastructure to do so.

But, of course, you can claim to do it.

“Whether it is possible or not to build this phone in the US depends on what you consider ‘build,’” Jeronimo said. “If it’s a question of assembling components and targeting small volumes, I suppose it’s somehow possible. You can always get the components from China and assemble them by hand somewhere.”

“You’re going to have phones that are made right here in the United States of America,” said Trump’s son Eric to Fox News recently, adding, “It’s about time we bring products back to our great country.”

The Trump family has flown the American flag before with Trump-branded products of suspicious origin, including its “God Bless the USA” Bibles, which an Associated Press investigation last year showed were printed in China.

The Trump phone is part of a bigger family mobile business plan designed to tap into MAGA enthusiasm for the president. The two sons running the business, Eric and Don Jr., announced earlier this month that they would offer mobile phone plans for $47.45 a month, a reference to their father’s status as the 45th and 47th president. The call center, they said, will be in the U.S., too.

“You’re not calling up call centers in Bangladesh,” Eric Trump said on Fox News. “We’re doing it out of St. Louis, Missouri.”

The new service has been blasted by government ethics experts for a conflict of interest, given that President Donald Trump oversees the Federal Communications Commission that regulates the business and is investigating phone service companies that are now Trump Mobile rivals.

Trump has also threatened to punish cell phone maker Apple, now a direct competitor, threatening to slap 25% tariffs on devices because of its plans to make most of its U.S. iPhones in India.