DETROIT — Can you imagine a better or more fitting birthday present for Tigers’ lefty ace Tarik Skubal? Or a better way to cap a sensational, breakthrough season?

On Wednesday, the day he turned 28 years old, Skubal was named the American League Cy Young Award winner for 2024 by a vote of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Happy birthday, indeed.

Skubal becomes the fifth Tigers pitcher to win the award. Denny McLain won it twice (1968 and 1969). Willie Hernandez (1984), Justin Verlander (2011) and Max Scherzer (2013) also won the prize while wearing the Old English D.

Full disclosure: I had a Cy Young Award vote this year and I did not put Cleveland’s dominant closer Emmanuel Clase on my ballot. I have been steadfast on every Cy Young vote I’ve cast over the years that it’s an award for starting pitchers. Relievers have their own award, as they should given the disparity between the two distinct roles.

The lines on this are getting blurrier as starter innings continue to shrink and bullpen roles expand. But this season, after comparing every candidate including Clase on a spreadsheet with every relevant statistical category — sabermetric and traditional — there were five starting pitchers who scored higher than Clase.

Thus, my ballot: 1. Skubal, 2. Kansas City’s Seth Lugo, 3. Seattle’s Logan Gilbert, 4. Kansas City’s Cole Ragans, 5. Baltimore’s Corbin Burnes.

Putting Skubal at the top of the ballot was a no-brainer. And not just because he became the 22nd player in MLB history to win the pitcher Triple Crown, leading the league in wins (18), ERA (2.39) and strikeouts (228).

He joins Hal Newhouser (1945) and Justin Verlander (2011) as the only Tigers to achieve the feat.

It was much more. When manager AJ Hinch said that Skubal was “everything for us,” this is what he meant:

After dealing away Jack Flaherty at the trade deadline, the Tigers were left with two starting pitchers — Skubal and rookie Keider Montero. The other three starting slots in the rotation were, for the final two months, covered by a creative and elaborate mix of openers and bulk relievers.

For that strategy to work, the Tigers needed Skubal, especially, to cover at least six innings in his starts. Here’s how Skubal responded to that challenge:

From Aug. 2 through Sept. 24, he went 6-1 and averaged 6.2 innings in 10 starts. He limited opponents to a .206/.252/.292 slash-line with 74 strikeouts and 11 walks.

He managed to be at his best exactly when his team needed him the most.

The Tigers were 21-10 in his 31 regular-season starts, a stat that held more value to Skubal than his 18 pitcher wins. He won two of his three postseason starts and threw 17 straight scoreless innings until the fatal fifth inning in Game 5 of the American League Division Series in Cleveland (see Lane Thomas homer).

Skubal limited opponents to two runs or less in 24 of his 31 regular-season starts, covering at least six innings in 21 of those.

Skubal day turned into win day for the Tigers. There is no better measure of greatness for a pitcher.

“He’s unbelievable,” said first baseman Spencer Torkelson after Skubal posted his 200th strikeouts of the season in a 2-1 win against Boston on Aug. 31. “It’s not only his stuff. It’s the conviction behind it. The intent and the confidence he has every single pitch he throws.

“You can really look up to somebody like that. He sets the tone. It builds character in our pitching staff and even in the position players.”

He set the tone for his season on the first day of live batting practice in Lakeland when he hit 99.6 mph with his four-seam fastball. He was asked about hitting 100 mph so early in camp.

“It wasn’t 100,” he said. “We don’t round up in the big leagues.”

He would hit and surpass 100 mph legitimately on May 11 against Houston, becoming the first Tigers starting pitcher to hit triple digits since Verlander in 2012.

He took the ball on Opening Day in Chicago and pitched six scoreless innings with six strikeouts. He got the start in the home opener, too, on April 5, making him the first Tigers pitcher to start both the regular-season opener and home opener since Mike Moore in 1993.

He struck out 12 in six innings at Yankee Stadium on May 5. But his most dominant strikeout performance came in Cincinnati on July 7 when he punched out 13 and got a remarkable 23 misses on 51 swings.

By the All-Star break he was 10-3 with a 2.41 ERA and a sub-1 WHIP (0.879) and earned his first All-Star berth. He threw a perfect second inning in the game, setting down Christian Yelich, Alec Bohm and Teoscar Hernandez.

“When you needed a big performance, he was our guy,” Hinch said in an interview with MLB Network earlier this month. “When you really needed a punch-out to get us out of an inning, he was our guy. We you needed someone to show incredible competitive emotion, he was our guy.

“We leaned on him for so much leadership and performance. And he delivered in all ways. He was the definition of dominant for us and across the league.”

The mantra for the Tigers’ pitching staff all season was “pound the strike zone,” and nobody pounded it more relentlessly and fearlessly than Skubal, evidenced by his 69% strike rate and 68.6% first-pitch strike rate.

To further amplify the point, he had a 30.3% strikeout rate and just a 4.7% walk rate.

Skubal’s 6.3 WAR (baseball-reference) led all big-league pitchers. His pitching run value of 40 (per Statcast) was best in baseball. His fastball run value of 26 ranked in the top 99 percentile.

Opponents hit .197 against his four-seam fastball and .207 off his two-seamer. They hit .216 off his changeup with a 46% whiff rate. His slider (.169) and knuckle curve (.158) rare got hit hard.

“Just Skub being Skub,” said Jake Rogers, who caught every one of Skubal’s starts. “I never get tired of talking about Skub. He’s been big for us all year, and every time he gets on the mound, he gives us a chance to win.

“I’m just really glad he’s on our team.”

A Florida man pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges for threatening an American Muslim organization in Michigan last year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan announced.

Michael Shapiro, 72, faced one count of transmitting threats in interstate commerce after calling six times and leaving three threatening voicemails to the Council on American-Islamic Relations Michigan.

The West Palm Beach resident also admitted to intentionally targeting CAIR-MI with threats because of the actual and perceived religion and national origin of people who work at or are assisted by the organization, officials said in a press release.

Shapiro could serve up to five years’ incarceration for his guilty plea or pay a fine of up to $250,000, according to a plea agreement filed with the court on Tuesday.

He also faces up to three years of supervised release.

“No one should be able to threaten violence and instill fear on an entire community,” U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said in a statement. “Today’s conviction should send a strong message that those who do so will be investigated, identified, and aggressively prosecuted.”

His attorney, Elizabeth Young, was not immediately available to respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Shapiro first called CAIR-MI’s Canton Township office on Dec. 8 at 6:43 p.m. and left a voicemail laughing maniacally and twice saying “I’m going to kill you bastards,” according to the plea agreement.

He left another threatening voicemail six days later, investigators reported.

“I’m going to kill you mother f******g bastards,” Shapiro said in the 1:02 p.m. voicemail. “Muslims! I’m going to kill you mother f*****s. I’m going to kill you! I’m going to kill you! I’m going to kill you!”

He also called the next day, on Dec. 15 at 6:24 p.m.

“You’re a violent people,” Shapiro said. “Why do you come to America? Why do you come to Europe? Mother f******s. You’re violent. You’re killers. You’re rapists. I’m going to kill you mother f*****s!”

When prosecutors unsealed the grand jury indictment against Shapiro, CAIR-MI officials said the threat was among others as the war in Gaza escalated.

Shapiro’s case is the third time he has been charged in the last five years with federal crimes and has been accused of threatening U.S. Capitol Police officers, a member of Congress and their child, according to federal court records reviewed by The Detroit News.

Officials with CAIR-MI are pleased with the results of the case, Amy Doukoure, a staff attorney with the organization, told The News.

“What he’s doing is very serious,” Doukoure said. “We had to close our business for several days. He was calling every day — we didn’t know where he was, whether he was serious. It was a very scary and serious incident, and we’re happy that it’s over and he has pled guilty and will be sentenced to jail time.”

Discrimination complaints to CAIR-MI rose by over 340% in the three months after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks compared to the three months leading up to it, officials said in a 2023 CAIR-MI Civil Rights Report.

Reports of anti-Muslim bias incidents, including hate crimes, education and employment discrimination, surged in 2023, according to the report. Officials attributed the increase in complaints to increased anti-Muslim sentiment following media coverage of Israel’s attacks in Gaza.

The past year brought a record number of hate crime complaints to CAIR-MI, paralleled only by reports in 2018, according to the report.

CAIR-MI officials also recently called on the University of Michigan to conduct an independent investigation into the school’s “pattern of disparate treatment” of UM Muslim and Arab students.

In other recently reported hate crime cases, a Michigan man was sentenced in June for defacing a Jewish synagogue with swastikas and white supremacist group images.

A Warren man was also charged in March for spray painting swastikas and other graffiti on a predominantly Black church and in a Warren park’s public bathroom.

Glenn Whipp | (TNS) Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — “Gladiator II,” the enjoyably dumb sequel to the brawny Ridley Scott epic that won the best picture Oscar nearly a quarter-century ago, has just finished its premiere screening on the Paramount Pictures lot. Paul Mescal, the actor charged with donning a breastplate and replacing Russell Crowe, is mingling with the crowd, who, given the movie’s length and dinner-hour start time, are almost too busy scarfing down pizza and pasta to notice.

I’m talking with a Paramount publicist who is giving me a history lesson on how the Romans filled the Colosseum with water in order to stage a naval battle. Scott orchestrates something like this in the movie, pitting the crews of two ships, one manned by Roman soldiers, the other by gladiators, against each other. Only, this being a Ridley Scott movie, he adds an extra element — sharks.

“There’s no way they used sharks in real life,” I say. The publicist protests, and another studio rep joins the conversation. “Someone asked Ridley about that and he answered, ‘Sharks are cool. Did the Romans actually use them? Who the f— cares?’”

Who the f— cares? It is a question both specific to the scene we’re discussing and, let’s be real, to the awards season in general, an overlong marathon of nonsense and vanity that ends with Oscars usually being handed out in ways that infuriate us. Which, to be clear, is a reason the Oscars remain so much fun, not to mention a valuable snapshot of what movies and performances academy voters deem worthy at a specific moment in time.

So, for the moment, let’s put aside what just happened in this country (though that may have an impact on what prevails at the Academy Awards next year), and let’s table the debate about sharks swimming around the Roman Colosseum. Actually, indulge me one last time as I note Scott’s response to that question in a recent interview: “Dude, if you can build a Colosseum, you can flood it with f— water. Are you joking? And to get a couple of sharks in a net from the sea, are you kidding? Of course they can.”

I would not include Scott as one of the year’s best directors for “Gladiator II.” But I’d be sorely tempted to include him just for that quote. Is that any worse than voting to give Brendan Fraser an Oscar because you watched “George of the Jungle” on a loop when you were a kid? I’ll leave that up to you. Like I said, the Oscars can be exasperating.

The conventional wisdom has it that, thanks to production delays caused by the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes, the pickings are slim this year, which is true provided you adhere to a narrow parameter of what defines a movie or performance being “Oscar-worthy.”

Can it be a kid-friendly animated feature, even though animated movies have a separate category? If so, then the critically acclaimed “The Wild Robot” and the charming “Inside Out 2,” Pixar’s highest-grossing film of all time, would like your attention. If not, I’d like to introduce you to Sadness and Disgust.

Might it be an international film, even if that movie failed to be submitted for the international feature Oscar by either the country financing it or the country of its filmmaker? If so, then “All We Imagine as Light,” a visually bracing portrait of female friendship in Mumbai from Indian writer-director Payal Kapadia, deserves a look. The movie won the Grand Prix at Cannes earlier this year, runner-up to Sean Baker’s “Anora,” a movie that seems destined to earn its filmmaker a long-overdue Oscar nomination.

How about body horror (“The Substance”), not-quite-horror but unsettling and heartbreaking (“I Saw the TV Glow”), a theological thriller (“Heretic”) or a movie titled “Hundreds of Beavers” that is as bizarre and delightful as its title makes it out to be? Yes, yes, yes and yes. And don’t forget Luca Guadagnino’s sexy-cool tennis-world tussle, “Challengers,” a propulsive movie I still haven’t quite recovered from, even though I saw it in April.

The point is: It’s not even Thanksgiving. Everything is in the mix! Or should be. Even a black-and-white, near-silent slapstick comedy about a 19th-century trapper battling beavers. Besides, importance is in the eyes of the beholder. Did you see “Conclave,” a pulpy entertainment that, because of its fancy trappings, seems smarter than it actually is? It works best as a comedy, a clever send-up of electoral politics. Ralph Fiennes does a lot of heavy lifting to disguise its silliness.

But “Conclave” has the feel of the sort of highbrow picture that, over the years, has landed with Oscar voters. It has been a commercial success too, which doesn’t hurt, particularly at a time when prestige films have struggled to entice grown-ups away from the comforts of home.

At the moment, “Conclave” is part of a group, including festival favorites “Anora” and “Emilia Pérez” and the ambitious American Dream saga “The Brutalist,” that have bubbled to the top of a field that, thrillingly, has no front-runner, a situation that might not resolve itself until the Oscars. Widen the frame and you’ll find Denis Villeneuve’s daring “Dune: Part Two” and the uplifting “Sing Sing,” a drama about a prison theater program. “Nickel Boys,” “A Real Pain” and “September 5” are in the mix as well. Also “Gladiator II” and its circling sharks.

James Mangold’s “A Complete Unknown,” the story of Bob Dylan going electric, will finally be unveiled next week, the last of the year’s contenders to land. It’s a story that has been told many times. But with Timothée Chalamet playing Dylan, you don’t think twice — it’s probably all right. Remember: “Bohemian Rhapsody” won four Oscars. Never underestimate boomers’ allegiance to nostalgia you can sing along with.

Finally, there’s “Wicked,” the movie adaptation of the Broadway musical that has been blanketing the planet for the last couple of months with promotional tie-ins and appearances by stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. The review embargo lifts Nov. 19. Expect plenty of hot takes, including a barrage of think pieces, seeing as, in this telling, the Wizard is an authoritarian leader using scapegoating to prey on — and stoke — people’s fears.

Let’s see where that Yellow Brick Road leads.

©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By Patrick Clarke, TravelPulse (TNS)

If it seems like the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales start earlier and earlier every year it’s because they do.

Or at least it feels that way.

But that doesn’t mean these awesome discounts and special perks on travel are to be ignored. Timing is everything.

Sure, a flooded inbox can be a turnoff but don’t let a minor annoyance cost you big-time savings this holiday season.

Airlines, cruise lines, hotels and resorts, tour operators and other travel suppliers are already offering up notable deals on travel whether you’re looking for one last getaway in 2024 or lining up your dream vacation for the New Year.

In many cases, travelers will have to be patient and book during special Black Friday and Cyber Monday windows that start just ahead of Thanksgiving and wrap up in early December.

Black Friday is November 29 and Cyber Monday is December 2 but oftentimes these offers extend beyond these dates.

Nonetheless, having a plan could net you some major deals, including an additional $1,055 in resort credits at Bahia Principe Hotels & Resorts in the Caribbean and Mexico (November 21 to December 3), for example.

Airlines like Southwest are even extending their bookable flight schedules so that fast-acting travelers can book a getaway well in advance.

It’s true that some offers require travelers to leave home by the end of the year but there’s a sea of savings for those who want to have something to look forward to in 2025 while keeping their budget intact.

Working with an experienced travel adviser could score you even more special savings and perks, as these professionals have access to additional discounts and connections that will only enhance your trip while saving you headaches this holiday season.

©2024 Northstar Travel Media, LLC. Visit at travelpulse.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By Nina Heller, CQ-Roll Call (TNS)

WASHINGTON — Despite deep partisan divides on issues like abortion and contraceptive access, lawmakers from both parties appear to have forged a cautious consensus on another women’s issue: menopause.

The agreement became evident earlier this year, when a bipartisan group of female senators introduced legislation that would increase federal research on menopause and coordinate the federal government’s existing programs related to menopause and midlife women’s health for the first time.

At a press conference with actress Halle Berry in May, Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.; Patty Murray, D-Wash.; Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; Susan Collins, R-Maine; Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., touted the bill outside of the Capitol. On Wednesday, Murray joined Denise Pines and Tamsen Fadal, national advocates for improving menopause care and executive producers of the documentary “The M Factor: Shredding the Silence on Menopause” to highlight the bill at a panel on Capitol Hill — the first time, according to Murray, that such a discussion about menopause took place in the U.S. Capitol

“As one of my Republican colleagues said, that if men were experiencing this, it would already be funded (at NIH), but it’s not,” she said.

Kathryn Schubert, the CEO of the Society for Women’s Health Research, said the issue is one drawing consensus during a time of divisiveness on other women’s issues.

“We’re seeing this as an issue where people can sort of coalesce around in the women’s health space,” she said.

Schubert said a key issue hindering research on menopause is the inability to track it to begin with. Unlike other chronic or debilitating health conditions, menopause lacks Research, Condition and Disease Categorization codes at the National Institutes of Health.

The codes are the system that sort NIH-funded projects into scientific categories for reporting to the public. The Senate bill would, among other provisions, establish new codes for chronic or debilitating conditions among women related to menopause and midlife women’s health.

Another reason advocates say there’s been a lack of research on menopause is the fallout from the Women’s Health Initiative, a series of clinical trials from the NIH that began in 1991 and focused on strategies for preventing heart disease, breast and colorectal cancer and osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.

The findings of a portion of the Women’s Health Initiative, which have since been found to be flawed, found that there was an increased risk of developing breast cancer, cardiovascular disease, stroke and pulmonary embolisms in those who took hormones.

Since then, further research has demonstrated that hormone replacement therapy does not necessarily lead to an increased risk of breast cancer and that the benefits of hormones can outweigh the risks. But the findings linking hormone therapy and breast cancer led to a drop-off in treatment for some of the more disruptive side effects of menopause, Schubert said.

“We’re pretty behind when it comes to menopause in particular, and I think now we’re having a much more open and public dialogue about that time in a person’s life and coming to the realization that we really do need to know more, but we also need to know more about the other health risks associated with healthy aging,” Schubert said.

Schubert said support for federal research on menopause spans both sides of the aisle, and other women’s health issues, like research on conditions such as endometriosis, are emerging in a similar way.

In April, California Sen. Laphonza Butler, a Democrat, and Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, a Republican, introduced a bill that would fund maternal mortality research annually for seven years as well as approve research that would target disparities associated with maternal mortality and reduce preventable causes of deaths, among the bill’s other provisions. The House has its own version of the bill.

“I do think when people hear the words ‘women’s health,’ they may think that they are politically charged,” Schubert said. “I think we have to shift the thinking on that and make sure that we all understand that we’re really thinking about health across the lifespan in a variety of different ways. It’s really not a matter of one specific disease, condition or organ, it really is all connected together.”

The focus on menopause has united members of Congress who might not typically work together. Unlike abortion, lawmakers have been able to come together on the issue without controversy and the partisan divides that often plague their work.

“It hasn’t had the same divide within the pro-choice and what others would call the pro-life community,” said Samara Daly, the co-founder and board chair at Let’s Talk Menopause, a national nonprofit focused on menopause. “It’s a different medical issue that sort of crosses literally all political, social, economic lines. It’s a natural part of one’s life … as a result, you know, we’ve really been able to have people from both sides of the aisle join forces.”

Underrepresented

Women have been underrepresented in medical research for decades — with it even being the policy at one point.

In 1977, the Food and Drug Administration created a policy to exclude women who could biologically have children from Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials unless they had a life-threatening medical condition.

After pregnant women who took the drug thalidomide gave birth to babies with limb deformities, researchers adopted a cautious approach to female participation in clinical trials. Thalidomide was a sedative that was never approved for use in the U.S. but was used widely in Europe and Canada. The resulting FDA policy recommended excluding even women who used contraception, were single or whose husbands had had vasectomies.

The NIH did not establish a policy encouraging researchers to include women in studies until 1986, and it wasn’t until 1993 that Congress passed a law that required women to be included in clinical research.

“There are other health issues that may only affect some women. This is one that’s universal. Over the last couple of decades, we’ve seen more and more stigmas drop around women’s health issues of different sorts,” said Cindy Hall, president of the Women’s Congressional Policy Institute.

A 2022 study by Harvard Medical School found that as recently as 2019, women made up roughly 40% of participants in clinical trials for the three diseases affecting women the most: cancer, cardiovascular disease and psychiatric disorders, despite women being 51% of the U.S. population.

Only roughly 30% of U.S. residency programs offer a formal menopause curriculum, according to a survey from The Menopause Society.

“We’re just actually at the very beginning of trying to figure out what we need in terms of what happens during the menopause transition, which hormone therapies work, which don’t,” said Stephanie Faubion, the medical director of The Menopause Society and the director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Women’s Health.

Another bipartisan bill would require the NIH to evaluate the results and status of completed and ongoing research related to menopause, perimenopause or midlife women’s health, as well as support that research.

“It’s really significant because it would actually mandate the NIH to review existing research, but also invest dedicated funding for additional research around not only treatments and health outcomes but also really correcting the (Women’s Health Initiative) study,” Daly said.

White House involvement

In addition to bipartisan bills in Congress, the departing Biden administration has backed increased research funding for menopause as part of President Joe Biden’s investment in women’s health. It’s unclear, however, whether the incoming Trump administration will follow up on that work.

In November 2023, Biden announced the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research, led by first lady Jill Biden and the White House Gender Policy Council.

On Oct. 23, the Biden administration announced $110 million in awards from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) to accelerate research and development for women’s health across 23 research teams.

Two of those awards focused on menopause: one aiming to construct a novel ovarian therapy to prevent disease in menopause and another aiming to develop a drug that would eliminate the adverse effects of menopause.

One award, which received $3.5 million, would fund a study to test the development of a drug to extend ovarian function and lifespan. The other, which received $10 million, would fund research on a cell therapy implant that would replace deficient ovarian function, restore normal hormonal processes, manage menopause-associated symptoms and minimize the adverse health outcomes related to menopause.

Jill Biden launched ARPA-H’s Sprint for Women’s Health in February, making it the first major deliverable of the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research.

The nature of the awards means the projects have the potential to be commercialized and widely used sooner, rather than decades down the road, according to the White House.

Advocates say they hope the shared understanding among female lawmakers of what it’s like to go through menopause will continue movement on the issue.

“It’s a universal experience. Obviously, each woman has a different individual experience of menopause, but the symptoms and the experience of embarrassing hot flashes and different symptoms that make it a tough thing to go through is kind of a uniter,” Hall said.

©2024 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Visit cqrollcall.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By Tim Henderson, Stateline.org (TNS)

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, McLean County, Illinois, was known mostly as the home of State Farm Insurance in Bloomington and Illinois State University in Normal.

Now, the area illustrates a trend that’s bringing more factories to small cities with lower costs of living: It has thousands of new jobs manufacturing Rivian electric vehicles and a new candy factory that will produce Kinder Bueno and other Ferrero candies.

“Food and electric cars. This is not something we were known for before 2019,” said Patrick Hoban, president of Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council in McLean County.

“We’re primarily an insurance and university town that’s just now seeing a rise in manufacturing. Rivian has ramped up from 300 to 8,000 employees, and I don’t think anyone realized how fast that was going to happen,” Hoban said.

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to rebuild American manufacturing, and he won handily in most areas hollowed out by the movement of factory jobs overseas. But the rebound Trump promises has already been underway in many places: McLean County is part of an unusually strong jump in manufacturing jobs between 2019 and 2023 — the first time manufacturing employment has recovered fully from a recession since the 1970s, according to a recent report from the Economic Innovation Group, a bipartisan public policy organization in Washington, D.C.

There were about 12.9 million manufacturing jobs in 2023, slightly more than in 2019. However, the number of manufacturing jobs has declined precipitously since the all-time peak in 1979, when there were 19.4 million of them and they were a much larger share of overall employment.

Joseph McCartin, a Georgetown University professor and labor history expert, said manufacturing has been on an upswing since 2010 as the nation started recovering from the Great Recession. The pandemic interrupted the trajectory, but the United States recently saw a hopeful increase in pay for the new jobs, he said, as the Biden administration aimed to increase both wages and jobs through the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.

“The Biden administration tried to use policy to ensure that more of these would be union jobs or at least offer union-level wages,” McCartin said. “This approach is almost certainly dead due to the results of the election.”

Employers may have a hard time filling lower-paying manufacturing jobs such as meat processing if the new Trump administration deports the immigrants who fill them, said William Jones, a University of Minnesota history professor and former president of the Labor and Working Class History Association.

“These will be hard hit if Trump follows up on his deportation plan,” Jones said. “The political rhetoric is that a bunch of native-born workers will move into these jobs, that they’re getting squeezed out, but that’s actually not the case. Some of these industries are extremely dependent on immigrant labor.”

Where growth happened

Small urban areas such as McLean County got most of the increase in manufacturing jobs between 2019 and 2023, according to the Economic Innovation Group report. Rural areas lost those jobs, and large cities saw no change.

It was mostly Sun Belt and Western states that saw the increases during those years, according to a Stateline analysis of federal Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

The largest percentage changes in manufacturing jobs were in Nevada (up 14%), Utah (up 11%), and Arizona and Florida (each up 9%). The largest raw numbers of new manufacturing jobs were in Texas (up 48,200), Florida (up 35,100) and Georgia (up 22,900).

Southern states such as Alabama and Mississippi also have seen more automotive jobs as manufacturers have taken advantage of lower costs and state “right-to-work” laws that weaken unions. Vehicle manufacturing jumped by 7,800 in Alabama and 6,600 in Mississippi, the largest increases outside California.

Meanwhile, traditional Rust Belt states have seen continued declines, with manufacturing jobs down about 2% in Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and also in Illinois — despite McLean County’s success.

Manufacturing is playing a critical role in Nevada as it tries to diversify its tourist-oriented economy so it can better weather downturns such as the one during the pandemic, said Steve Scheetz, research manager for the Nevada Governor’s Office of Economic Development.

Automotive and other battery manufacturing and recycling, driven by electric carmaker Tesla and battery recycling firm Redwood Materials, account for much of the increase in Nevada manufacturing, Scheetz said.

As in Illinois, the job growth tended to be in smaller areas outside big cities, such as Storey County, just east of Reno, with a population of about 4,200.

“Fifteen years ago, this small county in rural Nevada was relatively unknown,” Scheetz said, adding that jobs and economic output has risen tenfold and the number of total jobs — including manufacturing — has grown from less than 4,000 to almost 16,000 in those 15 years. The county also is home to plants making building materials, industrial minerals and molded rubber, among other products.

The Biden administration focused on bringing more blue-collar jobs to small cities like Normal and Bloomington, said Jones, the University of Minnesota professor.

“Much of the growth is due to [President Joe] Biden’s manufacturing investments. There was a conscious strategy to focus on small towns to get the political benefit in places that tended to vote Republican,” said Jones.

If there was a play for political benefit, it got mixed results: Vice President Kamala Harris carried McLean County, Illinois, on Nov. 5, but she lost Storey County, Nevada, by the largest margin for a Democrat in 40 years.

Blue-collar wages

The decline of unions and the availability of cheaper labor overseas have dampened U.S. factory job wages in recent decades. Even so, manufacturing jobs remain an attractive path for blue-collar workers.

Manufacturing pay still ranks fairly high among the blue-collar fields at an average $34.42 per hour as of October — less than wages in energy ($39.98) or construction ($38.72), but considerably more than hospitality ($22.23) or retail ($24.76). That also was the case in 2019, and it has led many state and cities to seek more factory positions to balance out the lower-paying service jobs that have blossomed as manufacturing has waned.

But in the past year, state Republican leaders have pushed back on a burgeoning Southern labor movement that aims to bring higher wages and better benefits to blue-collar workers.

In Alabama, Republican Gov. Kay Ivey signed a new law in May that would claw back state incentives from companies that voluntarily recognize labor unions. GOP leaders in Georgia and Tennessee also passed laws pushing against a reinvigorated labor movement, viewing unions as a threat to the states’ manufacturing economies.

Much of the increase in Alabama manufacturing jobs has been in the northern part of the state, near Tennessee and Georgia. Since the pandemic began, Mazda Toyota Manufacturing came on line with the goal of hiring 4,000 vehicle production workers and another 2,000 in nearby parts factories as other manufacturers also boosted hiring. Private investment in Alabama automotive manufacturing totaled $7 billion over the same time frame, Stefania Jones, a spokesperson for state Commerce Secretary Ellen McNair, said in a statement to Stateline.

Supply-chain problems during the pandemic illustrated the advantages of American-made goods, said McCartin, the Georgetown University professor. However, without union support, today’s factory workers are unlikely to achieve the middle-class lifestyle enjoyed by earlier generations, he said.

“The growth of manufacturing itself is unlikely to become a panacea for what ails working-class America,” McCartin said.

Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a national nonprofit news organization focused on state policy.

©2024 States Newsroom. Visit at stateline.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By Lacey Pfalz, TravelPulse (TNS)

Some cruise destinations can require a little more persuasion than others to get someone to go, and this may be true about eastern Canada. Travelers who are used to sailing the warm Caribbean waters might feel hesitant to sail in the region’s colder aid, worried about seasickness or simply unsure about the destinations themselves.

I had the privilege to sail on a seven-day cruise from Quebec to New York City the last week of September. It sailed to Saguenay; Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island; Sydney, Cape Breton Island; and Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Taking my experience in hand, here are a few things you should consider about a Canadian cruise.

Quebec is a great pre-cruise port

Old Quebec City is the most beautiful city in North America.

There, I said it.

While this might just be my own opinion, Quebec City is a perfect pre-cruise port. It’s walkable, has tons of history, and oozes Old World charm. It’s a great all-season destination, worth spending two or three days exploring. Don’t worry too much about speaking French, though I recommend brushing up on your bonjour and merci, just to be polite.

It’s also famous for fans of the Korean drama “Goblin: The Great and Lonely God,” which means you’ll find travelers, especially from Asia, taking pictures at various filming locations throughout the city, providing fans a fun way to connect over shared interests.

In the fall, residents and travelers alike all enjoy dining outdoors, even in their jackets, and some streets are closed in the evenings just for this purpose. Travelers can enjoy the fall colors everywhere in the city, but especially on the Promenade and in its several parks. We were a bit too early for the colors, but I enjoyed a few red maples that had a jump on the season.

Be warned, though: make some extra room in your suitcase for souvenirs, because this little city has a whole lot to offer.

Expert Tip: It should also be noted that Quebec can be a challenging destination to fly into, depending on where you’re coming from. Some travelers prefer flying into Montreal and taking the train a few hours to Quebec. If you have the option of choosing a cruise from Montreal and are wary of taking the train, maybe just choose the Montreal cruise instead. You’ll likely make a stop in Quebec either way, and Montreal is a much larger, but also lovely, city.

The weather changes

The weather in Canada is variable, depending on when you visit. Typically, Canadian cruises run through the fall, so if you’ll be traveling then, make sure you pack a few layers, including waterproof boots and jacket. But don’t forget a tank top or a pair of shorts, either.

While I got stormed out of Saguenay (not even my umbrella could save me), I had to take off a few layers in Halifax. It was around 70 degrees and sunny that day, so I walked around in a pair of jeans and a tank top the entire day.

If you’re prone to getting sunburn, bring along some sunscreen, too, just in case.

Expert Tip: If you don’t like the idea of being unable to go up on the top deck to swim or sunbathe, maybe rethink the Canadian cruise. We weren’t really able to go up on deck until the last three days of the cruise, when it was both warm enough and dry enough to sit outside comfortably. That means that the ship you choose is also important: does it have enough indoor spaces to sit and be comfortable? What about indoor activities?

The nature is pretty cool

My ship’s route from the St. Lawrence to the Atlantic Ocean was a beautiful one, filled with islands ringed in red-earthed cliffs and dark, forested riversides. While our cruise ship sailed through St. Lawrence’s Saguenay Fjords at night, and therefore we missed seeing them, they’re hailed to be a beautiful sight.

We also sailed through a region of water called a “whale anti-collision zone,” which led many of us to find a cozy spot by a window and watch for any whale sightings. Our ship went slower through this zone so as to avoid any unintentional collisions.

I was fortunate enough to see a pod of belugas come up for air near our ship—while I couldn’t see too much, I did see their spouts and enjoyed the sign of their presence.

Expert Tip: Bring a pair of binoculars with you. It’s nerdy, I know, but you’ll love being able to view any potential whale sightings and see the fjord (if you’re lucky) and the islands you visit as your ship pulls into view.

The cities differ in size and experiences

You might be a little surprised at the destinations you visit while on a Canadian cruise. Saguenay and Sydney were small towns, and likely more suitable for a tour farther inland to a larger attraction than an exploration on their own.

Sydney is especially more of a developing destination, so don’t expect anything too impressive there (unless you’re looking for the best fish and chips of your life, then get excited and go to the Governor’s Pub & Eatery).

Halifax and Charlottetown are perfectly charming and offer plenty for travelers to do themselves.

It should be noted, however, that Charlottetown is where travelers will be able to go on an hourslong tour in honor of Lucy Maud Montgomery and her beloved series, Anne of Green Gables. Those just visiting Charlottetown will enjoy wandering around a charming, mostly flat town with ample restaurants, bookshops and other attractions.

It should also be noted that Halifax is a hilly city, and so travelers who find it hard to walk steep inclines should consider getting a bus tour or find a more accessible way to see the city. Its waterfront area is well developed and worth a stroll, and the cruise ships dock within a good distance of several museums, restaurants and shops.

Expert Tip: A Canadian cruise is sort of like a Pacific Coast cruise, a blend of larger cities and smaller towns with mild, sometimes inclement weather. If you’re unsure about the cruise, consider your likelihood of visiting these destinations on their own. If you live in an area that makes it too challenging to fly into Charlottetown, for example, maybe choose the cruise first, and if you really love a destination, plan a longer trip later on. Many of our fellow passengers on the cruise were from Germany, China, Australia and beyond, attracted by the convenience of cruising and (likely) Anne of Green Gables.

So, should you go on a Canadian cruise?

What do you think? I hope you have a bit more knowledge and guidance to make a choice on whether to take a cruise in Canada someday. From freshly caught fish to history tied to First Nations groups, European immigrants and Canada’s confederation, this region of the world is home to a lot worth appreciating.

Overall, my experience was positive and I enjoyed being able to introduce myself to it. Who knows? Maybe I’ll find myself on Prince Edward Island or Nova Scotia again in the future, and for a longer trip!

©2024 Northstar Travel Media, LLC. Visit at travelpulse.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Gretchen McKay | (TNS) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Meatballs are made in countries across the globe and are widely loved.

They’re often bite-sized — though they also can be rather large, most notably those Chinese “lion’s head” meatballs — and popular with kids, who love food that can be popped into their mouths.

Some say they were first made in Persia (where they are called kofta) and then spread to other regions. Wherever it started, the tradition of mixing small amounts of minced meat with breadcrumbs, rice, potatoes, cheese or eggs has been a hit with home cooks for generations.

Whether you fry or bake meatballs depends on where you live, as well as what herbs and spices are used to make them.

These Southeast Asian-style pork meatballs from Yotam Ottolenghi’s latest cookbook “Ottolenghi Comfort” (Ten Speed Press, $38) get much of their flavor from umami-rich fish sauce, a condiment widely used in Vietnamese cooking.

Beefed up with leftover cooked rice, the mix also gets an aromatic boost from fresh mint and finely chopped cilantro stems along with garlic and minced shallot. But what really sets them apart is the bright-red, totally addictive homemade nuoc cham dipping sauce that gets poured on top.

Also used to dress fresh salads, spring rolls and noodle bowls throughout Asia, the pungent condiment is made by crushing two types of red chile with a pestle in a mortar along with sugar, lime juice and fish sauce. It’s a one-two punch for home cooks: In addition to being colorful, the sauce offers a perfect balance of sour, sweet, spicy, savory and salty flavors.

While this type of meatball is often skewered and grilled over an open flame in Thailand and Vietnam, Ottolenghi chooses to pan-fry them so there’s no need for skewers.

“It also allows us to eat them with our hands in lettuce cups, which we love,” he writes in the cookbook.

Lovely as a family snack, these meatballs also can be served over rice noodles in a bowl, or tossed along with herbs and more of the dipping sauce as a salad.

To use whole iceberg lettuce leaves as wrappers, whack a head of lettuce core-side down on the counter to detach the core, pull it out and place the head upside down under a cold running tap, allowing the water to run through. The water will get between the layers and help separate them without tearing.

Meatballs with Nuoc Cham, Cucumber and Mint

PG tested

For meatballs

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 shallot, finely chopped

1/4 cup chopped cilantro stems, save leaves for garnish

1/2 cup finely chopped mint leaves

1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 cup leftover cooked rice

1 pound 2 ounces ground pork

5 tablespoons vegetable oil, for frying

Salt and white pepper

For nuoc cham

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 small red bird’s-eye chile, roughly chopped

1 large mild red chiie, roughly sliced

1/4 teaspoon flaked salt

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons lime juice

1/4 cup fish sauce

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

To serve

1 small head iceberg lettuce, separated into leaves

1/2 cucumber, thinly sliced

Make meatballs: Place garlic, shallot, cilantro, mint, fish sauce and sugar in a medium bowl with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon white pepper. Stir well to combine, until sugar dissolves, then add rice and meat.

Mix well, then form into roughly 1-ounce balls — you should get around 24. Flatten them slightly and place on a baking sheet. Keep in fridge until ready to cook

Make nuoc cham. Put garlic, chiles and flaked salt into a mortar and pestle and pound to form a wet paste.

Add remaining ingredients, then transfer to a screw top jar. Shake vigorously and keep in the fridge until ready to serve. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, place ingredients in a food processor and pulse until the chiles and garlic are broken up.

When ready to serve, prepare salad platter by stacking the lettuce cups on the side of the plate and strewing the cucumber and reserved herbs around. Pour nuoc cham into one large bowl for group dipping, or several small serving bowls so everyone has their own dipping sauce.

Put half the oil in a large frying pan and place on medium-high heat.

Add half the patties and cook for 4-5 minutes, turning them halfway, until cooked through.

Add the rest of the oil to the pan and continue with the remaining batch. Transfer to the salad patter and serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 4.

“Ottolenghi Comfort: A Cookbook” by Yotam Ottolenghi

©2024 PG Publishing Co. Visit at post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

The Jaguars are set to visit Ford Field on Sunday, but their starting quarterback won’t be available to play.

Trevor Lawrence (shoulder) was ruled out by Jacksonville head coach Doug Pederson on Wednesday, four days ahead of his team’s clash with the Detroit Lions. It’ll be the second game in a row Lawrence misses while dealing with what the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport recently reported is a “significant AC joint sprain” in his left shoulder.

Former Patriots quarterback Mac Jones started in Lawrence’s place against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 10, completing 14 of his 22 passes for 111 yards and two interceptions. Jacksonville’s lone score in the game came via a 1-yard touchdown rush from Jones in the first quarter.

Jones is slated to start once again at Detroit.

“One, he’s a veteran quarterback, so he’s played (and) he’s started in this league. He knows how to handle that,” Pederson said Wednesday when asked what Jones provides. “Two, leadership-wise with the guys, you see him communicate with the players on and off the field (and) with us as coaches as well.

“I think the third thing is how well he does communicate with us when it comes to the game plan; what he likes, what he doesn’t like. And then just his overall work ethic, how he prepares for these games. (That) really gives him the best opportunity playing in these games.”

The Jaguars have their bye week following the game against Detroit. That provides an opportunity for Lawrence to have extended rest, but Pederson noted how Lawrence is “still a question, but I’m optimistic” for his availability after the bye.

Lawrence had started the season’s first nine games for Jacksonville, passing for 2,004 yards and 11 touchdowns to go along with six interceptions while completing 61.3% of his throws.

More recognition for Bates

Make that two NFC Special Teams Player of the Week awards for rookie kicker Jake Bates.

Bates received the honor Wednesday, recognized by the league for making two clutch kicks to help his team beat the Houston Texans in Week 10. Bates nailed a 58-yarder with 5:06 remaining to tie the game, and he later won it with a walk-off 52-yarder as time expired.

A Houston-area native, Bates also won the award when he connected on a 44-yard field goal to give Detroit a two-point lead with 19 seconds to play in a win over the Minnesota Vikings on Oct. 20. On the season, Bates is 14-for-14 on field goals and 32-for-33 on extra points.

The only other Lions kickers to win NFC Special Teams Player of the Week multiple times are Jason Hanson (12) and Matt Prater (seven).

Jon Healey | (TNS) Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — To try to keep young people from becoming addicted to tobacco, Congress took two steps in 2020 to keep minors from posing as adults to buy vaping products online: It barred e-cigarette sites from delivering through the U.S. Postal Service, and it required whatever delivery service they did use to check the recipient’s ID.

The state of California added its own twist that year, banning most flavored tobacco products. That prohibition did not explicitly cover online sales, but the city of San Diego is one of a number of local governments that adopted laws to eliminate any potential loophole.

Researchers at UC San Diego, Cal State San Marcos and Stanford decided to test how well those protections were working. If the results in San Diego are any indication, they’re hardly working at all.

The team lined up eight pairs of adults to try to buy flavored nicotine vaping products from 78 online retailers in October 2023. Each team made two identical orders from each retailer, with one buyer ordering from within the city of San Diego and the other in a different city in San Diego County with no explicit restrictions on online delivery of flavored vapes. In each order, they asked for delivery by the Postal Service if it was offered.

Ideally, the researchers would have struck out completely — none of the 156 orders delivered, given the state’s ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, and certainly none delivered by the Postal Service. Failing that, at least the purchasers within the city of San Diego should have come up empty, considering the city’s explicit ban on online sales of flavored vapes.

And even if those measures failed, at the very least, each buyer’s ID should have been checked upon delivery to make sure they weren’t minors.

The results of the study, which were published online Monday by the Journal of the American Medical Assn., showed that more than two-thirds of the buyers successfully obtained flavored vapes, including almost 70% of the buyers in the city of San Diego — again, where those sales are explicitly prohibited, the study said.

Of the successful deliveries, 80% were handled by the Postal Service, which shouldn’t have carried any of them, the study found. An additional 9% came from services such as UPS and FedEx that have policies against delivering tobacco products.

Finally, 93% of the deliveries were completed with no attempt to verify the buyer’s age. In the vast majority of cases, the products were dropped off without any interaction between the buyer and the delivery person, according to the study. And in only one case did the delivery person scan the buyer’s ID, as required by federal law.

“These results demonstrated pervasive nonadherence to age verification, shipping, and flavored tobacco restrictions among online tobacco retailers,” the study’s authors wrote.

The authors also acknowledged that they examined sales in just one county. But that county has some of the toughest anti-tobacco measures in the country.

Eric Leas, an assistant professor at UCSD and director of the Tobacco E-commerce Lab, said in a statement that online sales of e-cigarettes are the largest and fastest growing sector of the tobacco industry.

“There are longstanding surveillance systems in place that help implement laws at brick-and-mortar stores, but we do not have a system in place for online retailers,” Leas said, adding, “The results of this study highlight the need for greater oversight and enforcement of online tobacco retailers.”

Representatives of the Vapor Technology Assn., a trade group for the e-cigarette industry, and Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Assn., which supports vaping, did not respond immediately to requests for comment Monday. Both groups have pushed against bans on flavored e-cigarettes and have argued that vaping is a safer way to consume tobacco than cigarette smoking.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “No tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, are safe, especially for children, teens, and young adults.”

The latest survey by the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration found that although vaping remains the most popular form of tobacco use among minors, the number of middle- and high-school students who said they were currently vaping dropped sharply from 2023 to 2024.

©2024 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

ALLEN PARK — The Detroit Lions are looking like they’ll have left tackle Taylor Decker for Sunday’s home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell on Wednesday said he feels “better” about the prospect of Decker, who missed last Sunday’s win over the Houston Texans with a shoulder injury, playing this week.

“As of right now, I do feel better about having Decker this week,” Campbell said. “He’s out there at walkthrough going through. I feel like he’s questionable, but I’m starting to feel pretty good about him. I think he’s going to be able to make it.

“Tomorrow will tell a lot, certainly. That’ll be a full-speed practice for us.”

On the flip side, it does sound like there’s still some concern over the availability of tight end Sam LaPorta, who suffered an AC joint sprain during the Texans game and did not return.

He didn’t practice Wednesday, according to Campbell.

“Everybody else is trending the right way, but LaPorta is the one guy who’s not practicing today, didn’t go through walkthrough, anything like that,” Campbell said. “Like I said, he’s day-to-day.

In Decker’s absence, the Lions started Dan Skipper at left tackle (typically viewed as the more important tackle spot) and kept All-Pro Penei Sewell at right tackle. Campbell said with a little more advance notice about Decker missing the game — he didn’t pop up on the injury report until Thursday — he might’ve considered switching Sewell to left tackle for the contest.

“Yeah, I think if (we knew) that was the case and we were not going to have Decker, I think that was probably where we would go,” Campbell said.

By Linda Gassenheimer, Tribune News Service (TNS)

Stroganoff is an old Russian stand-by usually made with beef or turkey. Here’s a modern version made with hamburger meat.

The mixture of mushrooms, tomato paste, mustard and a dash of Worcestershire sauce gives the stroganoff sauce a tangy blend of flavors and a thick texture.

HELPFUL HINT:

Any type of sliced mushrooms can be used.

COUNTDOWN:

Place water for noodles on to boil.

Start stroganoff recipe.

Boil noodles.

While noodles cooks, complete stroganoff.

Drain pasta and place on plates. Serve stroganoff on top of noodles.

SHOPPING LIST:

To buy: 3/4 pound 95 percent lean ground beef, 1 large green bell pepper, 1/2 pound sliced button mushrooms, 1 container unsalted chicken broth, 1 small can tomato paste, 1 jar Dijon mustard, 12 small bottle Worcestershire Sauce, 1 carton reduced-fat sour cream, 1 bunch fresh parsley, 1/4 pound flat eff noodles.

Staples: olive oil, onion, black peppercorns.

Burger Stroganoff

Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer

• 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided use
• 3/4 pound 95 percent lean ground beef
• 1 cup fresh diced onion
• 1 cup diced green bell pepper
• 1/2 pound sliced button mushrooms, (about 3 cups)
• 3/4 cup fat-free, unsalted chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons no-salt-added tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream, divided use
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Heat one teaspoon of oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and break it up into small pieces with the sides of a cooking spoon, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Add the second teaspoon of oil to the skillet along with the onion and green bell pepper. Saute 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and continue to saute for 3 minutes more. Add broth, tomato paste, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Mix thoroughly. Simmer 2 to 3 minutes. Taste. You may need to add a little more mustard. There should be a delicate blend of flavors. Return the ground beef to the skillet and add 1 tablespoon sour cream and black pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly. Divide in half and serve over the egg noodles. Sprinkle with chopped parsley. Place 1 tablespoon sour cream on top of the stroganoff on each plate.

Yield 2 servings.

Per serving: 405 calories (37 percent from fat), 16.8 g fat (6.2 g saturated, 6.7 g monounsaturated), 117 mg cholesterol, 44.0 g protein, 20.3 g carbohydrates, 4.7 g fiber, 402 mg sodium.

Egg Noodles

Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer

• 1/4 pound flat egg noodles (about 2 1/2-cups)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons water from noodles
• Freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot 3/4 full of water to a boil. Add the noodles. Boil 10 minutes. Remove 3 tablespoons cooking liquid to a mixing bowl and add oil to the bowl. Drain noodles and add to the bowl. Add pepper to taste. Toss well. Divide in half and place on 2 dinner plates.

Yield 2 servings.

Per serving: 259 calories (24 percent from fat), 7.0 g fat (1.3 g saturated, 2.9 g monounsaturated), 48 mg cholesterol, 8.1 g protein, 40.6 g carbohydrates, 1.9 g fiber, 12 mg sodium.

(Linda Gassenheimer is the author of over 30 cookbooks, including her newest, “The 12-Week Diabetes Cookbook.” Listen to Linda on www.WDNA.org and all major podcast sites. Email her at Linda@DinnerInMinutes.com.)

©2024 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

Morayo Ogunbayo | (TNS) The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

You probably have a cabinet full of rapid COVID-19 tests you’ve accumulated. The expiration dates have come closer and closer, with some tests even reaching them.

The Food and Drug Administration, however, has said those expiration dates are subject to change, providing a list of the tests that have had their dates extended.

COVID-19 rapid antigen tests allow people to check for SARS-CoV-2 infections without help from professionals. They provide positive or negative results for the virus, typically within 15 minutes.

Rapid COVID tests list their shelf life — how long the test should work as expected — and expiration date — the date through which the test is expected to perform accurately — on the box. According to the FDA, expiration dates can be extended when the manufacturer provides data showing the shelf life is longer than originally expected.

Finding the shelf life, called stability testing, often takes a long time for test manufacturers, with the FDA opting to give them a shelf life of four to six months instead of waiting. After the test maker finds the true results of stability testing, they will contact the FDA with their new date.

The FDA has extended the expiration date for hundreds of tests, available to search here.

When should you take a rapid COVID test?

It can be hard to know when exactly to break out one of the tests, but it is often better to be safe than sorry.

According to the FDA, you should take a test when you start having symptoms, such as shortness of breath, fever or chills, sore throat, congestion, new loss of taste and smell, or nausea and vomiting. Headaches, body aches and diarrhea can also be signs to look for.

Respiratory virus season will begin later this month, with the probability of COVID-19 or RSV infections getting higher. It is important to stay mindful of these possible symptoms, and even if you are not in possession of an at-home rapid test, stay home if you are feeling ill until you can get one.

©2024 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Visit at ajc.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Greg Stohr | (TNS) Bloomberg News

A U.S. Supreme Court transformed by Donald Trump now sits as one of the few potential checks on his authority as he returns to the White House.

The president-elect has vowed to impose a 10% to 20% tariff on all imported goods, execute a mass deportation of undocumented immigrants and undo what the court left of Joe Biden’s environmental initiatives. But Trump hasn’t always gotten his way and he may need the court’s help to fulfill those ambitions.

Trump in the past has netted important victories before the Supreme Court for his policies on trade, immigration and the environment. With the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett just before he lost to Biden in 2020, three of the Supreme Court’s nine justices are Trump appointees.

Still, the president-elect and the court have had a complicated relationship. More than once, Trump as president blasted his own appointees for voting against him, including when they refused to question his 2020 election defeat. More recently, the Republican-appointed majority gave him a major victory by partially backing his claims of immunity from prosecution for trying to reverse that 2020 defeat.

His previous administration had the lowest win rate at the Supreme Court in modern history, according to a database compiled by professors at Washington University in St. Louis and Penn State University. And Trump’s campaign pledges go well beyond his first-term policies and are certain to face fierce legal pushback.

Ultimately, the range of issues will depend in part on how much Trump follows through on campaign-trail promises and whether Republicans keep their House majority, giving them control of both congressional chambers to more easily pass legislation. Here are some of the areas that could test how accommodating the Supreme Court will be in Trump’s second term:

Tariffs

During Trump’s first term, the Supreme Court twice declined to question the 25% tariffs he placed on imported steel products. Trump relied on a provision known as Section 232, which gives the president broad discretion to impose tariffs on national security grounds.

Using that legal authority will be harder with an across-the-board tariff. “The bigger that Trump goes with this, the bigger of a challenge he’ll face,” said Ilya Shapiro, director of constitutional studies at the conservative Manhattan Institute. But he added that courts “have generally given a lot of discretion” to presidents who levy tariffs.

Trump also has other tools at his disposal, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which gives the president broad leeway to address crises.

Ultimately, the question may be whether the court concludes Trump has gone beyond the authority granted by Congress. The court could also consider whether lawmakers have unconstitutionally ceded their legislative authority by giving the president so much discretion.

Immigration Crackdown

Trump has also promised the biggest mass deportation in U.S. history. The fate of the plan is likely to hinge on how quickly he moves and how much latitude the court concludes he has under the nation’s immigration laws and the Constitution’s due process clause.

“If the Trump administration is trying to effectively remake immigration law without congressional authorization, I would expect the court would be a significant constraint on that,” said Jonathan Adler, an administrative law professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. But as with tariffs, the president “probably has more authority than in some other areas” when it comes to immigration.

Trump could face even tougher scrutiny should he try to fulfill his pledge to end birthright citizenship for the children of undocumented immigrants. The Constitution has long been understood as making anyone born on U.S. soil an American citizen.

“It would be extraordinarily difficult to take away birthright citizenship without amending the Constitution,” said David Cole, a Georgetown University law professor who served as national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union. “It would be very likely that the court would invalidate such efforts.”

Trump had a mixed record on immigration issues the first time around. In its first major ruling, the Supreme Court upheld his travel ban, which barred entry into the country by more than 150 million people, most of them from predominantly Muslim countries.

Later on, the court blocked Trump from including a citizenship question on the 2020 census and from ending a Barack Obama-era program that prevents deportation of hundreds of thousands of young undocumented immigrants. But both those decisions turned on a single vote, and they came before Trump gave the court a sixth conservative by appointing Barrett.

Energy and Environment

Trump’s sweeping agenda is likely to include the elimination of incentives for electric vehicle sales, the scrapping of regulations limiting power plant emissions and the dismantling of rules governing environmental, social and governance initiatives.

Some of those moves could hit an ironic set of obstacles: Biden-era Supreme Court rulings that put major new limits on the power of regulatory agencies.

The court in 2022 enshrined the so-called “major questions doctrine,” forbidding agencies from deciding matters of sweeping political or economic significance without clear congressional authorization. Then in June the court overturned decades of precedent and slashed the leeway of regulators to put their own gloss on unclear federal statutes.

Those rulings now could be wielded against the incoming administration even though it’s not clear how much force they will have, said Tara Leigh Grove, a professor who teaches constitutional law at the University of Texas. The court, for example, hasn’t said whether the major-questions doctrine applies when an agency is engaged in deregulation.

“In general, judges try to be principled,” Grove said. “I think that some members of the court will actually prove to be a check on excesses of any administration, but I think it’s hard to know for sure about anyone.”

©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Matt Vasilogambros | (TNS) Stateline.org

America’s voting system was under siege for four years.

Former President Donald Trump’s false claims about fraud in the 2020 election exposed the people who operate our elections to threats and harassment in the run-up to this one. They fortified their offices against potential violence, adjusted to last-minute, politically driven changes in election laws, and fought a relentless stream of lies and disinformation. Going into Election Day, officials and pro-democracy advocates braced for the worst.

What a difference a day — and a result — makes.

Aside from a few hiccups, the U.S. voting process went smoothly this year. The winner of the presidential election was declared early the next morning, few people claimed widespread voter fraud, and the losing candidate conceded defeat.

It was a triumph for democracy, said David Becker, founder and executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, a nonpartisan organization that advises local election officials nationwide.

But he wondered what would have happened had Trump, now president-elect, lost again.

“It’s somewhat telling that we’ve seen fewer fraud claims in the aftermath of an election which former president and future President Trump won,” he said. “But if we can get to the point now where President Trump and his supporters believe in the integrity of our elections, believe in the reality of our integrity of the elections, I will take it.”

Those who study the election process say they have questions: With Trump heading back to the White House, will faith in American democracy rebound? Will Republican lawmakers continue to use the myth of widespread voter fraud to implement further restrictions on mail-in and early voting? And will the threats that have hounded state and local election officials continue?

There’s a lot of uncertainty ahead for U.S. elections, said Kathy Boockvar, the former Democratic secretary of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. But what is certain is that by fueling distrust in elections, Trump and his allies have done permanent damage in this country, she said.

“Will there be a bump, maybe, because some of these folks now saw their candidate that they wanted to win? Sure,” she told Stateline. “There may be a bump in trust, but it’s not going to erase years and years of intentional dividing American against American, and intentional fueling of distrust of institutions and media.”

What happened to the election fraud?

In his victory speech on Tuesday night, Trump said his win was “a massive victory for democracy.” He made no mention of widespread voter fraud and gave no indication that there were any attempts to steal the election.

He had struck a different tone just hours before.

Earlier in the day, Trump falsely asserted in a Truth Social post that there was a heavy law enforcement presence in Philadelphia and Detroit. Officials in both cities debunked that claim. He also claimed without evidence that there was “massive CHEATING” in Philadelphia, which local officials, including Republicans, denied.

Trump would go on to win the critical swing states of Michigan and Pennsylvania in his landslide victory.

Election officials faced some falsehoods and disruptions Tuesday. Michigan officials called out what they said was an inauthentic video, allegedly showing boxes of ballots being carried into Detroit’s election office late Tuesday evening. The FBI warned of fabricated videos circulating online and of noncredible bomb threats at polling places in several states, including Michigan, originating out of Russia.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, told reporters at a news conference Wednesday morning those incidents of disinformation felt like things she saw in 2020, as Trump and his allies began to contest his loss.

“I worry and imagine that there was much more planned to drop, potentially, to create confusion and chaos in the hours following the election in an effort to potentially lay seeds to challenge results in the future,” she said. “Of course, we didn’t see that play out.”

U.S. national security officials praised how elections were conducted nationwide this year, as they had in 2020. Jen Easterly, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said the election was peaceful and secure, and that malicious activity had no significant impact on the integrity of the process.

“Our election infrastructure has never been more secure and the election community never better prepared to deliver safe, secure, free, and fair elections for the American people,” she said in a press release Wednesday.

Election officials did a heroic job this year, said Pamela Smith, president and CEO of Verified Voting, a nonprofit that works with state and local election officials to keep voting systems secure. Officials’ work was built on years of beefing up election procedures, audits and security, and coordinating with nonprofit advisers. Elections are resilient, Smith said.

But she added: “What will it take to get belief in the trustworthiness of elections to a point where it’s true for all of us, all the time? And maybe that is a lofty goal, but it’s worth having.”

There are some challenges that need to be addressed, including long lines on college campuses, how to decrease the number of absentee ballots rejected over incorrect signatures, and how to address the continued threats from foreign bad actors such as Russia.

But the crisis of the past four years did force state and local election officials to be more prepared for all threats, said Boockvar, who is president of Athena Strategies and a member of the Committee for Safe and Secure Elections. The committee’s bipartisan group of election and law enforcement officials developed pocket-size guides to election laws for police officers to carry.

“The good news is we have much more cross-sector support,” she said.

Future legislation

After Trump cast his ballot on Election Day in Florida, he went to his campaign headquarters in Palm Beach and laid out what he wished the voting process looked like.

“They should do paper ballots, same-day voting, voter ID and be done,” he said. “One day, same day.”

The makeup of Congress is still unknown as local election offices continue to count ballots. But Republicans have shown a willingness to tackle federal voting legislation, as they did with their failed attempt to insert into a larger funding bill a ban on voting by noncitizens (which already is illegal).

But some of Trump’s ideas, especially moving the country to a system in which voters can only cast a ballot on Election Day, is unlikely, said Walter Olson, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. But other suggestions are possible, he added.

There is broad, bipartisan support among voters for mail-in and early voting, along with other protections such as voter list maintenance and audits, Olson said. For example, Georgia is a Republican-run state with robust early and mail-in voting and high voter turnout, with paper ballots, post-election audits and voter ID requirements.

Connecticut voters just approved a constitutional amendment that allows for no-excuse absentee voting. Nevada voters approved a ballot measure that now requires an ID to vote by mail and in person. Voters in eight states, including North Carolina and Wisconsin, also approved ballot measures to make noncitizen voting illegal under state law.

Republican state lawmakers still seem keen to continue finding new ways to tighten procedures in the name of “election integrity.”

This election ran smoothly because of the legislation and proactive lawsuits from the conservative movement, argued Arizona state Rep. Alexander Kolodin, a Republican who was sanctioned by the State Bar of Arizona for his role in challenging the 2020 election.

“Look, there were a lot of vulnerabilities still, but it was a more secure election than the ones we’ve had in the past,” he said in an interview.

Kolodin introduced legislation this year to keep vote centers open longer and give voters more notice to fix signature or date errors on their absentee ballots, among other provisions. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs signed it in February.

He expects Trump to keep election integrity in the public consciousness and continue to pressure conservatives to work on it. For his part, Kolodin will push to scrap Arizona’s larger vote centers and opt for precinct-level polling places for better efficiency.

Before the election, Michigan state Rep. Luke Meerman, a Republican, told Stateline that he would love to see measures that require some sort of ID to vote in person and by mail.

“Something to prove that whoever filled that ballot out was the person that was supposed to be filling it out probably would be at the top of my list,” he said.

Despite Trump’s win, the false narratives around the supposed insecurity of U.S. elections — in which noncitizens and dead people are voting in droves — will likely continue, said the Cato Institute’s Olson; it is baked into the movement that brought the former president back into power.

“Given that so much of this was about Trump’s desire for personal vindication, maybe it’s over, and maybe we won’t face the same kind of systematic attempt to delegitimize the honesty of elections,” Olson said. “But that’s the optimistic view.”

Stateline is part of States Newsroom, a national nonprofit news organization focused on state policy.

©2024 States Newsroom. Visit at stateline.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Gretchen McKay | (TNS) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

HARPERS FERRY, W. Va. — Nestled along two converging rivers, with the Blue Ridge Mountains’ precipitous cliffs offering a backdrop, Harpers Ferry has long been praised for its rugged natural beauty.

Thomas Jefferson was definitely a fan. After visiting the West Virginia town at the height of fall color in October 1783, he wrote that “the passage of the Patowmac (Potomac) through the Blue Ridge is perhaps one of the most stupendous scenes in Nature…. It is as placid and delightful as that is wild and tremendous….This scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic.”

The town named for millwright Robert Harper in 1747 soon became one of our third president’s favorite retreats, and today, the mound of Harpers shale on which he stood to survey the water gap below is a popular destination along the Appalachian Trail.

George Washington was more impressed by the small town’s “inexhaustible supply of water,” though for reasons other than today’s passion for tubing, rafting and kayaking on white water. Its gushing natural resources led the former president and wealthy landowner to choose Harpers Ferry for a new national armory in 1796. It turned what had been a somewhat sleepy hamlet into a prosperous industrial village. Between 1801 and 1861, the town produced 600,000 muskets, rifles and pistols for the Army.

Yet this easternmost town in West Virginia didn’t gain national fame until the Civil War.

It was here, in 1859, that abolitionist John Brown and his small group of men seized the armory in hopes of starting an uprising in the South against slavery. The raid itself was unsuccessful. His party was surrounded by federal troops, taking heavy casualties, and Brown was hanged in December 1859 after being convicted of murder, treason and inciting enslaved people to revolt. Many believe that it was the “spark” that ignited the Civil War.

If you love history, it lives on at Harpers Ferry, which became a national historic park in 1963. It focuses not just on John Brown’s raid, and the Civil War — Stonewall Jackson captured more than 12,500 Union troops here, the largest single capture of Federal forces in the entire war — but also shines a light on African American history, industry, transportation and natural heritage.

And if you find joy in hiking, cycling, mountaineering or paddling? You will find lots to do in and around this picturesque town on the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers. There also are numerous shops and restaurants, including in nearby Bolivar, if eating, drinking and shopping are high on your to-do list.

Food for thought

History buffs love Harpers Ferry because it played an important role in the Civil War. And walking around charming Lower Town gives the feeling of stepping back in time. One of the most visited historic sites is the only Armory building to escape destruction during the Civil War: John Brown’s Fort, where the abolitionist and several followers barricaded themselves during the final hours of their doomed raid. In 1891, it was dismantled and transported to Chicago for the World’s Fair.

Other buildings reach even further into the past.

When Robert Harper established a ferry across the Potomac River in 1761, it made the town a starting point for settlers moving into the Shenandoah Valley and further west. They included members of the famed Lewis and Clark expedition, who in 1803 made preparations here for their historic exploration of the western portion of the country after the Louisiana Purchase.

In addition to buying supplies and weapons, Meriwether Lewis had craftsmen design a lightweight iron frame for a boat he’d need once he got to shallower water out west. The boat, which was later outfitted with animal hides, was a disaster, sinking right away. But as you learn in the park’s exhibit space on Potomac Street, across the street from the town’s historic Victorian train station, that was the fault of the animal hides — not the ironwork of the town’s (excellent) craftsmen.

Harpers Ferry had become a ghost town by the 1950s and was reconstructed by the Park Service in the ’60s as a “multi-leveled interpretive proving ground.”

Wearing comfortable shoes? National Park Service rangers lead free tours detailing the history of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. Or, take a self-guided Black heritage walking tour that includes 34 stops.

It starts at Lockwood House, which overlooks what was Harper Cemetery. Originally built in 1848 as housing for the armory paymaster, it transitioned after the Civil War into living quarters for formerly enslaved men and women at Storer College, a historically Black college that operated from 1867 to 1955.

Lower Town also includes an industry museum, a 19th-century “landscape” that will fascinate the kids and both Civil War and Black History museums. And if you climb the rocky set of 44 steps that were carved into the hillside in 1810 behind the museums, you can take in a view of the city below from the stone patio of St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church.

The great outdoors

West Virginia is famous for its variety of outdoor activities on both land and water, and Harpers Ferry does not disappoint. The Appalachian Trail, one of America’s most famous footpaths, passes through Lower Town, and visitors can trek or bike the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath that runs along the banks of the Potomac River. (You’ll find maps at the Visitors Center.)

If you don’t mind breaking a sweat and have a few hours, a moderately strenuous but rewarding hike follows the Maryland Heights trailhead to Overlook Cliff. The climb is both steep (1,154 feet uphill) and long (a 4.5-mile loop). But when you get to the top, the view of Harpers Ferry below is bucket-list spectacular. And be forewarned: It takes fluids to get to the top and there are no restrooms (or water) on the trail. You’ll have to hold it for hours, especially if you pack a lunch!

The cliffside overlook also can be dangerous if you’re hiking with small children or are wearing the wrong shoes. There’s no fencing to stop anyone from toppling over the rocks — and people can get pretty close to the edge for that perfect Instagram photo.

Also Insta worthy, but on more solid ground: the rock climbers that can frequently be spotted scaling the southern face of a 300-foot vertical cliff leading to Maryland Heights.

Less challenging (but not accessible to those with physical limitations) is the hike up the Stone Steps to St. Peter’s church, past the ruins of St. John’s Episcopal Church, to Jefferson Rock.

You’re not allowed to climb onto the Harpers shale slab that gave Jefferson such pleasure, but you’ll share his terrific view. Continue up the hill a little farther and you’ll hit the Appalachian Trail on your way to Camp Hill, the 32-acre site that once housed Storer College and is now owned by the Park Service.

Harpers Ferry is considered the halfway point of the trail, and during the season weary-looking hikers are a common sight around town and on the towpath across the Potomac. Many stop at the trail’s hikers’ lounge on Washington Street to rest or take a picture on its front porch. So far in 2024, visitor center rep Dave Tarasevich has counted more than 1,240 northbound hikers.

“It’s one of the few places where the trail goes through town, literally,” he said.

Water sports, including fishing, are also popular here. Some people canoe and kayak through October; there’s also white water rafting in season. You also can go horseback riding.

Shop, eat, drink

After all that walking and history learning, you’re going to want to unwind with some good food and drink. While you won’t find big-city gourmet eats, you can get a pretty good meal at several places around town.

I had a tasty salad made with microfarm hemp hearts, greens, tomatoes and avocado on the patio at The Rabbit Hole, and a pretty good burger at Coach House Bar and Grill.

For coffee, fresh-baked pastries and sandwiches, head to Battle Grounds Bakery & Coffee. If you don’t eat meat, West Virginia’s very first vegan restaurant — Kelley Farm Kitchen in Bolivar — has got you covered with salads, Impossible burgers, hoagies and ramen bowls.

Some places are dog-friendly, including my favorite spot for pizza and a beer — Harpers Ferry Brewing in neighboring Purcellville, Va. Perched on the side of a mountain next to Harpers Ferry Adventure Center, it offers an awesome view along with local craft brews and live music on weekends through November.

Just know that everything in this small town, even the brewery, shutters pretty early. The only life downtown after dark is The Barn of Harpers Ferry, a music venue and bar that offers live music every night Wednesday through Saturday.

Want to take a piece of West Virginia home with you? In boutiques along High Street and Public Way, you’ll find everything from original art and distinctive jewelry crafted by regional hands to old-fashioned candy and confections, antiques and hokey souvenirs.

Getting there

Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, is about a 3 1/2-hour drive from Pittsburgh on mostly highway roads (Interstates 76 and 70). If you’d rather be chauffeured, it’s about a six-hour ride on Amtrak, and the train drops you off right in town. A one-way fare runs $65-$220, depending on class. Once there, it’s easy to get around town by foot or bike.

An avid cyclist? Harpers Ferry is at mile 60.7 on the C&O Canal Towpath.

If you do drive, it costs $20 to enter the park (for three consecutive days) and both metered parking and park parking are extremely limited in Lower Town; on weekends it’s best to park at the Visitors Center at 171 Shoreline Drive and take the free shuttle into town.

Lodging options include bed and breakfasts, campgrounds, a hostel and locally and nationally owned motels. For a guide on where to eat, seasonal events and other attractions, visit wherealmostheavenbegins.com.

©2024 PG Publishing Co. Visit at post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Gretchen McKay | (TNS) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

PITTSBURGH — Most every restaurant worth its salt (and sugar) has a killer dessert on the menu that assures diners will leave the table on a sweet and happy note.

If it’s prepared on site, that often entails employing a professional pastry chef, which can prove expensive for places that are new and trying to keep costs down while getting established.

That was Cory Hughes’ quandary when he opened Fig & Ash on East Ohio Street in Pittsburgh’s North Side Deutschtown neighborhood with his brother-in-law, Alex Feltovich, in 2020.

Hughes — a former Marine who was an executive chef at Google’s Pittsburgh campus and has also cooked in several restaurants around town including Six Penn Kitchen, Eleven Contemporary Kitchen and Spoon — knew he wanted an approachable dessert that would be easy to plate and, perhaps, lend itself to sharing.

But with limited staff, he also knew he couldn’t go super fancy, at least not right out of the gate.

What he and his culinary staff ended up deciding on after considerable deliberation was a confection that most people have loved since they were kids: an upscale version of a thick and gooey chocolate brownie.

Or as he frames it, “We wanted to do something nostalgic.”

Originally, Hughes thought they might be able to create the dessert using the restaurant’s wood-fired oven. When that proved unsuccessful for various reasons, they opted for the next best thing — making it “camping-style” by cooking it in individual cast-iron skillets.

While the first couple of batches were tasty enough, Hughes says the dessert didn’t prove great until he tweaked the batter with a better chocolate — he uses Callebaut dark chocolate pistoles crafted in Belgium — and added a little Kahlua, a liqueur made with rum, sugar and arabica coffee beans.

“It gave it the flavor I was looking for,” he says. “What goes better after dinner than coffee?”

The result is a gooey brownie with a cakey exterior that reminds Hughes of the chocolate batter he used to lick off a spoon when he was a kid.

Today, the dessert is a Fig & Ash mainstay, a dessert so beloved that on the rare occasion Hughes takes it off the menu, “people complain.”

To keep it fresh, the restaurant occasionally changes up the flavor of local ice cream that goes on top. Currently, it’s being served with Millie’s Homemade Coffee Break, which is made in the company’s Homestead production facility using freshly brewed, sustainably sourced coffee and Pennsylvania sweet cream.

The dessert is further elevated by a sprinkle of Maldon sea salt flakes, which adds a crackle of salty flavor.

“It’s just a really feel-good dessert,” says Hughes of the lovely salty-sweet combo.

Fig & Ash Cast-Iron Kahlua Brownies

PG tested

This recipe is a (very) scaled-down version of the dessert that’s been made at Fig & Ash since its opening in 2020. It requires individual-sized (10-ounce) cast-iron skillets.

Pistoles look like slightly larger, slightly flatter chocolate chips. They melt more quickly and don’t need to be chopped.

1 pound butter, diced

18 ounces chocolate pistoles

8 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 tablespoon salt

2 cups white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon Kahlua coffee liqueur

Vanilla or coffee ice cream, for topping

Flaky salt for garnish, such as Maldon

Melt butter in saucepan. Once melted, stir in the chocolate pistoles. Let sit until you have a melty pool of chocolate.

In large bowl, whisk eggs completely. Fold in vanilla, salt, sugar, brown sugar and melted chocolate, and whisk until incorporated.

Add in flour and stir until fully incorporated.

Spray 8 individual-sized (10-ounce) cast iron skillets with shortening to prevent sticking.

Divide batter among skillets.

Bake at 350 degrees for 22 minutes. Remove from oven and top with a scoop of vanilla or coffee ice cream and a sprinkle of flaky salt, such as Maldon.

Serve immediately.

Serves 8.

— Cory Hughes, Fig & Ash

©2024 PG Publishing Co. Visit at post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Brett Kelman, Anna Werner, CBS News | (TNS) KFF Health News

Becky Carroll was missing a few teeth, and others were stained or crooked. Ashamed, she smiled with lips pressed closed. Her dentist offered to fix most of her teeth with root canals and crowns, Carroll said, but she was wary of traveling a long road of dental work.

Then Carroll saw a TV commercial for another path: ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers. The company advertises that it can give patients “a new smile in as little as one day” by surgically replacing teeth instead of fixing them.

So Carroll saved and borrowed for the surgery, she said. In an interview and a lawsuit, Carroll said that at a ClearChoice clinic in New Jersey in 2021, she agreed to pay $31,000 to replace all her natural upper teeth with pearly-white prosthetic ones. What came next, Carroll said, was “like a horror movie.”

Carroll alleged that her anesthesia wore off during implant surgery, so she became conscious as her teeth were removed and titanium screws were twisted into her jawbone. Afterward, Carroll’s prosthetic teeth were so misaligned that she was largely unable to chew for more than two years until she could afford corrective surgery at another clinic, according to a sworn deposition from her lawsuit.

ClearChoice has denied Carroll’s claims of malpractice and negligence in court filings and did not respond to requests for comment on the ongoing case.

“I thought implants would be easier, and all at once, so you didn’t have to keep going back to the dentist,” Carroll, 52, said in an interview. “But I should have asked more questions … like, Can they save these teeth?”

Dental implants have been used for more than half a century to surgically replace missing or damaged teeth with artificial duplicates, often with picture-perfect results. While implant dentistry was once the domain of a small group of highly trained dentists and specialists, tens of thousands of dental providers now offer the surgery and place millions of implants each year in the U.S.

Amid this booming industry, some implant experts worry that many dentists are losing sight of dentistry’s fundamental goal of preserving natural teeth and have become too willing to remove teeth to make room for expensive implants, according to a months-long investigation by KFF Health News and CBS News. In interviews, 10 experts said they had each given second opinions to multiple patients who had been recommended for mouths full of implants that the experts ultimately determined were not necessary. Separately, lawsuits filed across the country have alleged that implant patients like Carroll have experienced painful complications that have required corrective surgery, while other lawsuits alleged dentists at some implant clinics have persuaded, pressured, or forced patients to remove teeth unnecessarily.

The experts warn that implants, for a single tooth or an entire mouth, expose patients to costs and surgery complications, plus a new risk of future dental problems with fewer treatment options because their natural teeth are forever gone.

“There are many cases where teeth, they’re perfectly fine, and they’re being removed unnecessarily,” said William Giannobile, dean of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine. “I really hate to say it, but many of them are doing it because these procedures, from a monetary standpoint, they’re much more beneficial to the practitioner.”

Giannobile and nine other experts say they are combating a false public perception that implants are more durable and longer-lasting than natural teeth, which some believe stems in part from advertising on TV and social media. Implants require upkeep, and although they can’t get cavities, studies have shown that patients can be susceptible to infections in the gums and bone around their implants.

“Just because somebody can afford implants doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re a good candidate,” said George Mandelaris, a Chicago-area periodontist and member of the American Academy of Periodontology Board of Trustees. “When an implant has infection, or when an implant has bone loss, an implant dies a much quicker death than do teeth.”

In its simplest form, implant surgery involves extracting a single tooth and replacing it with a metal post that is screwed into the jaw and then affixed with a prosthetic tooth commonly made of porcelain, also known as a crown. Patients can also use “full-arch” or “All-on-4” implants to replace all their upper or lower teeth — or all their teeth.

For this story, KFF Health News and CBS News sought interviews with large dental chains whose clinics offer implant surgery — ClearChoice, Aspen Dental, Affordable Care, and Dental Care Alliance — each of which declined to be interviewed or did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The Association of Dental Support Organizations, which represents these companies and others like them, also declined an interview request.

ClearChoice, which specializes in full-arch implants, did not answer more than two dozen questions submitted in writing. In an emailed statement, the company said full-arch implants “have become a well-accepted standard of care for patients with severe tooth loss and teeth with poor prognosis.”

“The use of full-arch restorations reflects the evolution of modern dentistry, offering patients a solution that restores their ability to eat, speak, and live comfortably — far beyond what traditional dentures can provide,” the company said.

Carroll said she regrets not letting her dentist try to fix her teeth and rushing to ClearChoice for implants.

“Because it was a nightmare,” she said.

‘They Are Not Teeth’

Dental implant surgery can be a godsend for patients with unsalvageable teeth. Several experts said implants can be so transformative that their invention should have contended for a Nobel Prize. And yet, these experts still worry that implants are overused, because it is generally better for patients to have their natural teeth.

Paul Rosen, a Pennsylvania periodontist who said he has worked with implants for more than three decades, said many patients believe a “fallacy” that implants are “bulletproof.”

“You can’t just have an implant placed and go off riding into the sunset,” Rosen said. “In many instances, they need more care than teeth because they are not teeth.”

Generally, a single implant costs a few thousand dollars while full-arch implants cost tens of thousands. Neither procedure is well covered by dental insurance, so many clinics partner with credit companies that offer loans for implant surgeries. At ClearChoice, for example, loans can be as large as $65,000 paid off over 10 years, according to the company’s website.

Despite the price, implants are more popular than ever. Sales increased by more than 6% on average each year since 2010, culminating in more than 3.7 million implants sold in the U.S. in 2022, according to a 2023 report produced by iData Research, a health care market research firm.

Some worry implant dentistry has gone too far. In 10 interviews, dentists and dental specialists with expertise in implants said they had witnessed the overuse of implants firsthand. Each expert said they’d examined multiple patients in recent years who were recommended for full-arch implants by other dentists despite their teeth being treatable with conventional dentistry.

Giannobile, the Harvard dean, said he had given second opinions to “dozens” of patients who were recommended for implants they did not need.

“I see many of these patients now that are coming in and saying, ‘I’ve been seen, and they are telling me to get my entire dentition — all of my teeth — extracted.’ And then I’ll take a look at them and say that we can preserve most of your teeth,” Giannobile said.

Tim Kosinski, who is a representative of the Academy of General Dentistry and said he has placed more than 19,000 implants, said he examines as many as five patients a month who have been recommended for full-arch implants that he deems unnecessary.

“There is a push in the profession to remove teeth that could be saved,” Kosinski said. “But the public isn’t aware.”

Luiz Gonzaga, a periodontist and prosthodontist at the University of Florida, said he, too, had turned away patients who wanted most or all their teeth extracted. Gonzaga said some had received implant recommendations that he considered “an atrocity.”

“You don’t go to the hospital and tell them ‘I broke my finger a couple of times. This is bothering me. Can you please cut my finger off?’ No one will do that,” Gonzaga said. “Why would I extract your tooth because you need a root canal?”

Jaime Lozada, director of an elite dental implant residency program at Loma Linda University, said he’d not only witnessed an increase in dentists extracting “perfectly healthy teeth” but also treated a rash of patients with mouths full of ill-fitting implants that had to be surgically replaced.

Lozada said in August that he’d treated seven such patients in just three months.

“When individuals just make a decision of extracting teeth to make it simple and make money quick, so to speak, that’s where I have a problem,” Lozada said. “And it happens quite often.”

When full-arch implants fail, patients sometimes don’t have enough jawbone left to anchor another set. These patients have little choice but to get implants that reach into cheekbones, said Sohail Saghezchi, an oral and maxillofacial surgeon at the University of California-San Francisco.

“It’s kind of like a last resort,” Saghezchi said. “If those fail, you don’t have anywhere else to go.”

‘It Was Horrendous Dentistry’

Most of the experts interviewed for this article said their rising alarm corresponded with big changes in the availability of dental implants. Implants are now offered by more than 70,000 dental providers nationwide, two-thirds of whom are general dentists, according to the iData Research report.

Dentists are not required to learn how to place implants in dental school, nor are they required to complete implant training before performing the surgery in nearly all states. This year, Oregon started requiring dentists to complete 56 hours of hands-on training before placing any implants. Stephen Prisby, executive director of the Oregon Board of Dentistry, said the requirement — the first and only of its kind in the U.S. — was a response to dozens of investigations in the state into botched surgeries and other implant failures, split evenly between general dentists and specialists.

“I was frankly stunned at how bad some of these dentists were practicing,” Prisby said. “It was horrendous dentistry.”

Many dental clinics that offer implants have consolidated into chains owned by private equity firms that have bought out much of implant dentistry. In health care, private equity investment is sometimes criticized for overtreatment and prioritizing short-term profit over patients.

Private equity firms have spent about $5 billion in recent years to buy large dental chains that offer implants at hundreds of clinics owned by individual dentists and dental specialists. ClearChoice was bought for an estimated $1.1 billion in 2020 by Aspen Dental, which is owned by three private equity firms, according to PitchBook, a research firm focused on the private equity industry. Private equity firms also bought Affordable Care, whose largest clinic brand is Affordable Dentures & Implants, for an estimated $2.7 billion in 2021, according to PitchBook. And the private equity wing of the Abu Dhabi government bought Dental Care Alliance, which offers implants at many of its affiliated clinics, for an estimated $1 billion in 2022, according to PitchBook.

ClearChoice and Aspen Dental each said in email statements that the companies’ private equity owners “do not have influence or control over treatment recommendations.” Both companies said dentists or dental specialists make all clinical decisions.

Private equity deals involving dental practices increased ninefold from 2011 to 2021, according to an American Dental Association study published in August. The study also said investors showed an interest in oral surgery, possibly because of the “high prices” of implants.

“Some argue this is a negative thing,” said Marko Vujicic, vice president of the association’s Health Policy Institute, who co-authored the study. “On the other hand, some would argue that involvement of private equity and outside capital brings economies of scale, it brings efficiency.”

Edwin Zinman, a San Francisco dental malpractice attorney and former periodontist who has filed hundreds of dental lawsuits over four decades, said he believed many of the worst fears about private equity owners had already come true in implant dentistry.

“They’ve sold a lot of [implants], and some of it unnecessarily, and too often done negligently, without having the dentists who are doing it have the necessary training and experience,” Zinman said. “It’s for five simple letters: M-O-N-E-Y.”

Hundreds of Implant Clinics With No Specialists

For this article, journalists from KFF Health News and CBS News analyzed the webpages for more than 1,000 clinics in the nation’s largest private equity-owned dental chains, all of which offer some implants. The analysis found that more than 70% of those clinics listed only general dentists on their websites and did not appear to employ the specialists — oral surgeons, periodontists, or prosthodontists — who traditionally have more training with implants.

Affordable Dentures & Implants listed specialists at fewer than 5% of its more than 400 clinics, according to the analysis. The rest were staffed by general dentists, most of whom did not list credentialing from implant training organizations, according to the analysis.

ClearChoice, on the other hand, employs at least one oral surgeon or prosthodontist at each of its more than 100 centers, according to the analysis. But its new parent company, Aspen Dental, which offers implants in many of its more than 1,100 clinics, does not list any specialists at many of those locations.

Not everyone is worried about private equity in implant dentistry. In interviews arranged by the American Academy of Implant Dentistry, which trains dentists to use implants, two other implant experts did not express concerns about private equity firms.

Brian Jackson, a former academy president and implant specialist in New York, said he believed dentists are too ethical and patients are too smart to be pressured by private equity owners “who will never see a patient.”

Jumoke Adedoyin, a chief clinical officer for Affordable Care, who has placed implants at an Affordable Dentures & Implants clinic in the Atlanta suburbs for 15 years, said she had never felt pressure from above to sell implants.

“I’ve actually felt more pressure sometimes from patients who have gone around and been told they need to take their teeth out,” she said. “They come in and, honestly, taking a look at them, maybe they don’t need to take all their teeth out.”

Still, lawsuits filed across the country have alleged that dentists at implant clinics have extracted patients’ teeth unnecessarily.

For example, in Texas, a patient alleged in a 2020 lawsuit that an Affordable Care dentist removed “every single tooth from her mouth when such was not necessary,” then stuffed her mouth with gauze and left her waiting in the lobby as he and his staff left for lunch. In Maryland, a patient alleged in a 2021 lawsuit that ClearChoice “convinced” her to extract “eight healthy upper teeth,” by “greatly downplay[ing] the risks.” In Florida, a patient alleged in a 2023 lawsuit that ClearChoice provided her with no other treatment options before extracting all her teeth, “which was totally unnecessary.”

ClearChoice and Affordable Care denied wrongdoing in their respective lawsuits, then privately settled out of court with each patient. ClearChoice and Affordable Care did not respond to requests for comment submitted to the companies or attorneys. Lawyers for all three plaintiffs declined to comment on these lawsuits or did not respond to requests for comment.

Fred Goldberg, a Maryland dental malpractice attorney who said he has represented at least six clients who sued ClearChoice, said each of his clients agreed to get implants after meeting with a salesperson — not a dentist.

“Every client I’ve had who has gone to ClearChoice has started off meeting a salesperson and actually signing up to get their financing through ClearChoice before they ever meet with a dentist,” Goldberg said. “You meet with a salesperson who sells you on what they like to present as the best choice, which is almost always that they’re going to take out all your natural teeth.”

Becky Carroll, the ClearChoice patient from New Jersey, told a similar story.

Carroll said in her lawsuit that she met first with a ClearChoice salesperson referred to as a “patient education consultant.” In an interview, Carroll said the salesperson encouraged her to borrow money from family members for the surgery and it was not until after she agreed to a loan and passed a credit check that a ClearChoice dentist peered into her mouth.

“It seems way backwards,” Carroll said. “They just want to know you’re approved before you get to talk to a dentist.”

CBS News producer Nicole Keller contributed to this report.

(KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs of KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism.)

©2024 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — If you’re looking for moral victories, this was your game. Otherwise, there’s plenty not to like about where Michigan’s season has gone and is going.

The Wolverines were double-digit underdogs against Indiana, put up a defensive fight in the second half, but lost, 20-15, at Memorial Stadium on Saturday. Indiana, a program that had beaten Michigan twice since 1987, remains unbeaten under first-year head coach Curt Cignetti as the Hoosiers.

Now the Hoosiers, No. 8 in the first College Football Playoff rankings and built in large part by taking experienced players from the transfer portal, including quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who made his 43rd career start, are 10-0 overall, 7-0 in the Big Ten and have next weekend off before traveling to Ohio State for a pivotal Big Ten game. Michigan also is off next weekend before playing its final home game, against Northwestern, its best chance to reach bowl eligibility before playing at Ohio State.

This was the third straight game without cornerback Will Johnson, hardly ideal against a team that ranked No. 2 nationally in scoring and eighth in offense (476.2), but Michigan’s defense played well in the second half. Rourke was 17 of 28 for 206 yards and two touchdowns, was intercepted by Zeke Berry and was sacked four times, including twice by T.J. Guy.

Michigan quarterback Davis Warren was 16 of 32 for 137 yards and no touchdowns. The Wolverines had 34 carries for 69 yards rushing, including two for minus-17 from Warren. Dominic Zvada had three field goals for Michigan and Kalel Mullings had the only touchdown.

Indiana was held to 246 yards, including 18 in the second half.

The Wolverines had a final opportunity, starting its final drive with 2:29 left, to win the game after Indiana, shut down most of the second half, made a field goal to stretch the lead to five points. Davis Warren threw incomplete three straight plays and on fourth-and-10, Warren connected with Peyton O’Leary for nine yards, just short of the first down to turn the ball over on downs with 1:35 left.

Michigan, with 10 minutes left in the game, scored a touchdown for the first time in the game as Mullings scored from a yard. The drive was set up by Guy’s sack on the last play of IU’s drive followed by a 25-yard punt that gave Michigan the ball on the IU 34-yard line. Michigan tried to tie the game but did not convert the two-point conversion when Warren missed O’Leary in the end zone making it 17-15.

With 5:20 left, Michigan punter Tommy Doman, whose first four punts averaged 50 yards, didn’t have such a positive punt on his fifth of the game. It went 35 yards and IU’s Ke’Shawn Williams returned it 22 yards to the Michigan 39-yard line. The Hoosiers reached the 23 but settled for a field goal making it 20-15 with 2:34 left.

Michigan had an early opportunity in the second half to cut into Indiana’s 17-3 lead when Berry intercepted Rourke to give the Wolverines prime field position at the Hoosiers’ 7-yard line. But Michigan ran three times, with no gain on the first carry by Ben Hall and the third by backup quarterback Alex Orji. It was the Wolverines’ second red-zone trip and they came away with a field goal from Dominic Zvada, this time from 23 yards to make it 17-6. Zvada entered the game 10 of 11 on field goals.

Zvada added a third on a 56-yarder, tying a career long, to make it 17-9. Michigan dominated the third quarter in terms of possession time and had the ball 13:09. The Wolverines, whose defense stepped up its play in the second half, outgained the Hoosiers 66-7 and outscored them 6-0.

The Hoosiers built a 17-3 lead heading into halftime and outgained Michigan 228-94. Indiana ran 32 plays and averaged 7.1 yards, while Michigan had 31 plays and averaged three yards a play. The Wolverines were held to 11 yards rushing, including the 17 yards lost by Warren.

Michigan had five drives in the first half, and after scoring a field goal on the first, had three punts and a fumble by Orji.

Warren was 7 of 18 for 83 yards. Rourke, meanwhile, was 14 of 18 for 190 yards and had touchdown passes of seven and 36 yards. Indiana had four big-play passes of 15 yards or more in the first half, including the 36-yard touchdown and a 41 yarder.

Michigan settled for a 3-0 lead on its opening drive after reaching the IU 3-yard line and unraveling in the red zone. Edwards gained two yards then Orji entered the game and fielded a high snap and handed to running back Hall, who gained a yard. On third-and-3, Warren fumbled and left tackle Myles Hinton recovered at the 21-yard line. Zvada made a 39-yarder.