By JIM SALTER

ST. LOUIS (AP) — What is now St. Louis was once home to more than 100 mounds constructed by Native Americans — so many that St. Louis was once known as “Mound City.” Settlers tore most of them down, and just one remains.

Now, that last remaining earthen structure, Sugarloaf Mound, is closer to being back in the hands of the Osage Nation.

The city of St. Louis, the Osage Nation and the nonprofit Counterpublic announced on Thursday that an 86-year-old woman who owns a home that sits atop Sugarloaf Mound has agreed to sell it and eventually transfer the property to the tribe.

Meanwhile, the St. Louis Board of Aldermen plans to pass a resolution in January recognizing the Osage Nation’s sovereignty, Alderman Cara Spencer said. Eventually, the goal is to develop a cultural and interpretive center at the site that overlooks the Mississippi River a few miles south of downtown.

“One step for our tribal sovereignty is reclaiming the lands that we inhabited for hundreds of years,” said Andrea Hunter, director of the Osage Nation Historic Preservation Office in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. “And to be able to at least salvage one mound in St. Louis, on the west side of the Mississippi River — it means a lot to us, to regain our heritage.”

But a sticking point remains. A pharmaceutical fraternity owns the only other house on the mound, and it remains unclear if it is willing to give up the property.

Native Americans built thousands of mounds across the U.S. in the centuries prior to colonization. All were sacred ceremonial sites, but some also were used for housing or commerce. Many were burial sites. Tribal elites sometimes lived on them, Hunter said.

The mounds in the St. Louis area are believed to have been built from roughly 800 to 1450. Even today, many mounds remain in nearby Cahokia, Illinois. Experts believe that at one time centuries ago, Cahokia was home to up to 20,000 people.

Sugarloaf Mound and Big Mound were among the most prominent of the human-made structures in what is now St. Louis, said James McAnally, executive director of Counterpublic, a St. Louis nonprofit that works to affect change through art-based projects and helped facilitate the new land acquisition.

“They were built on the river specifically to be signal mounds,” McAnally said. Native Americans on the western side of the Mississippi could send smoke signals visible to those in Cahokia to let them know if people were seen coming down the waterway, Hunter said.

Mounds still stood prominently in St. Louis at its founding in 1764. Visitors — even members of European royalty — made the trip to the fledgling city just to see them, said Patricia Cleary, a U.S. history professor at California State University, Long Beach, and author of the book “Mound City: The Place of the Indigenous Past and Present in St. Louis.”

Eventually, removal treaties forced Native Americans away from St. Louis. Settlers had little use for the mounds.

“They used them to build up the bank of the Mississippi River and used them as fill for roads and railroads with total disregard for our ancestors’ graves that were in many of those,” Hunter said. “There are even accounts that as they were taking Big Mound down, they were simply throwing the bones into the Mississippi River.”

Today, St. Louis landmarks dot locations where mounds once stood, including several places in Forest Park, where mounds were demolished to make way for the World’s Fair in 1904. By the early 20th century, only Sugarloaf Mound remained.

In 2009, the Osage Nation purchased the first section of the mound, dismantled a home and began work to stabilize it. But two homes remained in private hands.

One of those homeowners, 86-year-old Joan Heckenberg, has agreed to transfer ownership to the Osage Nation once she either moves or dies.

Heckenberg has lived in the house 81 years, since her grandfather bought it and convinced his skeptical wife to move the family there.

“But they fell in love with it,” Heckenberg said of her grandparents.

The agreement with Heckenberg leaves just one other private house on the mound, a building owned by Kappa Psi, a national pharmaceutical fraternity. Heckenberg said students haven’t lived there for years, and homeless people sometimes stay there.

A spokeswoman for the fraternity said a limited liability company manages the house and that selling it would be up to the LLC. She didn’t have the name or contact information for the LLC. McAnally said the fraternity has been approached about selling the home, but “so far they haven’t taken any action.”

Spencer said the mounds are an important and overlooked part of St. Louis, and preserving Sugarloaf is vital.

“This is a really special place to the Osage history and to our Native American heritage in this country, which has largely been erased,” Spencer said.

By PHILIP MARCELO

NEW YORK (AP) — The brooding waltz was carefully composed on a sheet of music roughly the size of an index card. The brief, moody number also bore an intriguing name, written at the top in cursive: “Chopin.”

A previously unknown work of music penned by the European master Frederic Chopin appears to have been found at the Morgan Library & Museum in Manhattan.

The untitled and unsigned piece is on display this month at the opulently appointed institution, which had once been the private library of financier J. P. Morgan.

Robinson McClellan, the museum curator who uncovered the manuscript, said it’s the first new work associated with the Romantic era composer to be discovered in nearly a century.

But McClellan concedes that it may never be known whether it is an original Chopin work or merely one written in his hand.

The piece, set in the key of A minor, stands out for its “very stormy, brooding opening section” before transitioning to a melancholy melody more characteristic of Chopin, McClellan explained.

“This is his style. This is his essence,” he said during a recent visit to the museum. “It really feels like him.”

McClellan said he came across the work in May as he was going through a collection from the late Arthur Satz, a former president of the New York School of Interior Design. Satz had acquired it from A. Sherrill Whiton Jr., an avid autograph collector who had been director of the school.

McClellan then worked with experts to verify its authenticity.

The paper was found to be consistent with what Chopin favored for manuscripts, and the ink matched a kind typical in the early 19th century when Chopin lived, according to the museum. But a handwriting analysis determined the name “Chopin” written at the top of the sheet was penned by someone else.

Born in Poland, Chopin was considered a musical genius from an early age. He lived in Warsaw and Vienna before settling in Paris, where he died in 1849 at the age of 39, likely of tuberculosis.

He’s buried among a pantheon of artists at the city’s famed Père Lachaise Cemetery, but his heart, pickled in a jar of alcohol, is housed in a church in Warsaw, in keeping with his deathbed wish for the organ to return to his homeland.

Artur Szklener, director of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Warsaw, the Polish capital city where the composer grew up, agreed that the document is consistent with the kinds of ink and paper Chopin used during his early years in Paris.

Musically, the piece evokes the “brilliant style” that made Chopin a luminary in his time, but it also has features unusual for his compositions, Szklener said.

“First of all, it is not a complete work, but rather a certain musical gesture, a theme laced with rather simple piano tricks alluding to a virtuoso style,” Szklener explained in a lengthy statement released after the document was revealed last month.

He and other experts conjecture the piece could have been a work in progress. It may have also been a copy of another’s work, or even co-written with someone else, perhaps a student for a musical exercise.

Jeffrey Kallberg, a University of Pennsylvania music professor and Chopin expert who helped authenticate the document, called the piece a “little gem” that Chopin likely intended as a gift for a friend or wealthy acquaintance.

“Many of the pieces that he gave as gifts were short – kind of like ‘appetizers’ to a full-blown work,” Kallberg said in an email. “And we don’t know for sure whether he intended the piece to see the light of day because he often wrote out the same waltz more than once as a gift.”

David Ludwig, dean of music at The Juilliard School, a performing arts conservatory in Manhattan, agreed the piece has many of the hallmarks of the composer’s style.

“It has the Chopin character of something very lyrical and it has a little bit of darkness as well,” said Ludwig, who was not involved in authenticating the document.

But Ludwig noted that, if it’s authentic, the tightly composed score would be one of Chopin’s shortest known pieces. The waltz clocks in at under a minute long when played on piano, as many of Chopin’s works were intended.

“In terms of the authenticity of it, in a way it doesn’t matter because it sparks our imaginations,” Ludwig said. “A discovery like this highlights the fact that classical music is very much a living art form.”

The Chopin reveal comes after the Leipzig Municipal Libraries in Germany announced in September that it had uncovered a previously unknown piece likely composed by a young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in its collections.

Associated Press video journalist John Minchillo in New York contributed to this story.

SAN DIEGO — Leonard Glenn Francis, the Malaysian contractor known as “Fat Leonard” at the center of the U.S. Navy’s worst-ever bribery and corruption scandal, will appeal the 15-year prison sentence that a San Diego federal judge imposed earlier this month, according to documents filed by his attorney.

The prison term imposed by U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino at the Nov. 5 sentencing hearing was more than three years longer than what prosecutors recommended for Francis, who bilked the Navy out of at least $35 million but also provided what prosecutors called “unprecedented” cooperation in identifying corrupt Navy officers who accepted his bribes. Sammartino also ordered Francis to pay $20 million in restitution to the Navy.

As part of his plea agreements in three cases, Francis gave up his rights to appeal his convictions but had 14 days to appeal his sentence. On Tuesday, two weeks since his sentencing hearing, defense attorney Douglas Sprague filed notices of appeal in each of Francis’ cases.

The notices are simple, one-page documents that provide no details about the arguments he’ll make.

Francis, 60, remains jailed in San Diego, according to online records from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, though Sammartino recommended he serve his remaining time in custody at a medical prison facility. When accounting for credit he’ll receive from time he has already been held in custody, Francis has about 8½ more years in prison, pending the outcome of his appeal.

Francis, who was known as “Fat Leonard” because of his enormous size, spent decades bribing a rotating cast of officers from the Navy’s 7th Fleet in the Western Pacific who in turn steered ships to the Southeast Asian ports controlled by Francis and his company, Glenn Defense Marine Asia. Francis then charged the U.S. government heavily inflated prices for routine services.

Francis was arrested in 2013 in the first of what became a series of bribery, fraud and corruption cases related to GDMA. He pleaded guilty in 2015 to charges of bribery, conspiracy to commit bribery and conspiracy to defraud the United States and quickly became the government’s key witness, providing what prosecutors described as “unparalleled” cooperation that led authorities to investigate some 1,000 Navy personnel.

At his sentencing hearing this month, Francis also pleaded guilty to a charge related to his 2022 escape from house arrest. For all of his crimes, the federal sentencing guidelines recommended a prison term between 17½ and nearly 22 years. But in large part because of the cooperation Francis provided, prosecutors recommended a sentence just shy of 12 years.

Sammartino, who has presided over almost all of the cases related to Francis and the Navy corruption scandal, said she took into account Francis’ cooperation but called his corruption scheme “insidious” and said the 15-year term was more appropriate.

In a related case, an attorney for retired Navy Capt. David Haas, who pleaded guilty to taking bribes from Francis and recently spent two years in prison, filed a motion on Tuesday indicating Haas will seek to have his felony conviction reduced to a misdemeanor. The request stems from prosecutorial misconduct that has resulted in nine other defendants having felony convictions reduced or dismissed.

Earlier this year, prosecutors promised in a court filing to review the cases related to the Navy corruption scandal to determine if any defendants who already pleaded guilty and were sentenced should have their charges reduced or dismissed because of the prosecution issues.

Haas is the first known defendant to seek such relief.

Chuck La Bella, who is representing Haas, sent an email to prosecutors last month asking them to reduce Haas’ felony conviction to a misdemeanor, according to the email exchange contained in a court exhibit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Ko responded in part: “I respectfully do not see a genuine legal concern requiring … relief in his case. For that reason, we cannot agree or consent to a … motion vacating Mr. Haas’s conviction.”

In the document filed Tuesday, La Bella wrote that Haas will instead file a habeas corpus petition — essentially asking the court to review the validity of his conviction and sentence — that’s based on the prosecutorial misconduct.

©2024 The San Diego Union-Tribune. Visit sandiegouniontribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

CHICAGO — Of the many people whose lives still cast shadows on our history, one of them is that of a little boy, a 14-year-old named Emmett Till who left Chicago full of playful life and returned, as his mother, Mamie, said in 1955, “in a pine box, so horribly battered and waterlogged that someone needed to tell you this sickening sight is your son.”

I hope you know at least some of the details of that boy’s life. I have written about him before, many have, but there are good reasons to do so again, for it is now possible to meet him and learn his sad story in two powerful ways.

On Nov. 23, the Chicago History Museum is opening a new exhibition, “Injustice: The Trial for the Murder of Emmett Till.” It will feature photographs of the youngster’s life in Chicago, his funeral and original courtroom sketches of the trial.

That trial was a sham. Two men — Roy Bryant, owner of Bryant’s Grocery and Meat Market and the husband of the woman at whom Till supposedly aimed his whistle, and his half-brother, a hulking, 235-pound World War II veteran named J.W. Milam — were first charged with kidnapping. That became murder after the teenager’s dead body was found.

Neither Bryant nor Milam testified during a trial that lasted five days. In closing arguments, defense attorney Sidney Carlton told the jurors that if they did not acquit Bryant and Milam, “Your ancestors will turn over in their grave.”

The all-white, all-male jury (nine farmers, two carpenters and an insurance agent) deliberated for only 67 minutes. Reporters said they heard laughter inside the jury room. The verdict? Not guilty. One juror later told reporters, “We wouldn’t have taken so long if we hadn’t stopped to drink pop.”

The outrage at the verdict was expressed in headlines across the globe, in part because more than 100 reporters were there, from Chicago, across the country and from Europe. One of them was future Pulitzer Prize winner David Halberstam, who covered the story for a small Mississippi paper. He would come to believe that the murder/trial were “the first great media events of the civil rights movement,” and “at last (could galvanize) the national press corps, and eventually, the nation.”

It should be noted that before the year was out, Rosa Parks, a seamstress in Montgomery, Alabama, refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. Arrested and fined for violating a city ordinance, this compelled a young pastor named Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to call for a boycott of the city-owned bus company.

Another person in the courtroom during the trial was Chicago’s Franklin McMahon, who documented the proceedings in drawings that appeared in Life magazine. His stunning art is among the highlights of the museum show.

Know too that there is a new book that devotes some of its nearly 300 pages to Till but also to the larger sham of American racism. Its title says a great deal, “Ghosts of Segregation: American Racism, Hidden in Plain Sight” (Celadon Books). It is the work of former Chicagoan Richard Frishman, who traveled more than 35,000 miles across America over five years capturing with his camera such things as once-segregated bathrooms, beaches, churches, hospitals, graves and hotels.

In Chicago, he photographed the Dan Ryan Expressway; the Sunset Café, a prominent “Black and Tan” jazz club; as well as the site of the outbreak of the 1919 race riot. He also photographed Bryant’s Grocery, where Emmett’s story began, and the Black Bayou Bridge across the Tallahatchie River, where his dead body was found.

Frishman’s photos are captivating and thought-provoking. The book is beautiful in a haunting way and that was one of Frishman’s aims. In the book, he writes, “Look carefully. These photographs are evidence that structures of segregation and racist ideology are still standing in contemporary America. Our tribal instincts continue to build barriers to protect ourselves from people perceived as ‘other’ while overlooking our shared humanity.”

Critic Hilton Als has praised the book, writing, “Throughout (the book) the heart and mind are full to bursting with depth of feeling and depth of thought. I can’t imagine a more beautiful creation.”

When Emmett Till’s body was returned to Chicago, to the A.A. Rayner & Sons Funeral Home, with services held at the Roberts Temple Church of God, his mother made the brave decision to allow Jet magazine to publish a photo of the mutilated corpse and also decided to have a open casket, and so tens of thousands saw Emmett’s battered body. Some people prayed, some fainted and all, men, women and children, wept.

Now nearly 70 years later, Frishman tells me, “I am on a mission to open peoples’ eyes to the hidden and living legacies that surround us. History does not repeat itself; we repeat history.”

rkogan@chicagotribune.com

By MIKE STOBBE, AP Medical Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — For about 50 years, adding cavity-preventing fluoride to drinking water was a popular public health measure in Yorktown, a leafy town north of New York City.

But in September, the town’s supervisor used his emergency powers to stop the practice.

The reason? A recent federal judge’s decision that ordered U.S. regulators to consider the risk that fluoride in water could cause lower IQ in kids.

“It’s too dangerous to look at and just say ‘Ah, screw it. We’ll keep going on,’” said the town supervisor, Ed Lachterman.

Yorktown isn’t alone. The decision to add fluoride to drinking water rests with state and local officials, and fights are cropping up nationwide.

Communities in Florida, Texas, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming and elsewhere have debated the idea in recent months — the total number is in the dozens, with several deciding to stop adding it to drinking water, according to Fluoride Action Network, an advocacy organization against water fluoridation. In Arkansas, legislators this week filed a bill to repeal the state’s fluoridation program.

The debates have been ignited or fueled by three developments:

• In August, a federal agency reported “with moderate confidence” that there is a link between high levels of fluoride exposure — more than twice the recommended limit — and lower IQ in kids.
• In September, the federal judge ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to further regulate fluoride in drinking water because high levels could pose a risk to the intellectual development of children.
• This month, just days before the election, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared that Donald Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day as president. Trump later picked Kennedy to run the Department of Health and Human Services.

In Durango, Colorado, there was an unsuccessful attempt to stop fluoridating the water during Trump’s first term in office. A new push came this year, as Trump saw a surge of political support.

“It’s just kind of the ebb and flow of politics on the national level that ultimately affects us down here,” said city spokesman Tom Sluis.

Fluoride is a public health success story but opposition persists

Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 1950, federal officials endorsed water fluoridation to prevent tooth decay, and the addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.

Fluoride can come from a number of sources, but drinking water is the main source for Americans, researchers say. Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population gets fluoridated drinking water, according to CDC data.

There is a recommended fluoridation level, but many communities exceed that, sometimes because fluoride occurs naturally at higher levels in certain water sources.

Opposition is nothing new, though for decades it was considered a fringe opinion. Adherents included conspiracy theorists who claimed fluoridation was a plot to make people submissive to government power.

Health officials could point to studies that showed that cavities were less common in communities with fluoridated water, and that dental health worsened in communities without it.

But fluoride isn’t just in water. Through the years it became common in toothpaste, mouthwash and other products. And data began to emerge that there could be too much of a good thing: In 2011, officials reported that 2 out of 5 U.S. adolescents had at least mild tooth streaking or spottiness because of too much fluoride.

In 2015, the CDC recommended that communities revisit how much they were putting in the water. Beginning in 1962, the government recommended a range of 0.7 milligrams per liter for warmer climates where people drink more water to 1.2 milligrams in cooler areas. The new standard became 0.7 everywhere.

Over time, more studies pointed to a different problem: a link between higher levels of fluoride and brain development. The August report by the federal government’s National Toxicology Program — summarizing studies conducted in Canada, China, India, Iran, Pakistan and Mexico — concluded that drinking water containing more than 1.5 milligrams of fluoride per liter was associated with lower IQs in kids.

“There’s no question that fluoride prevents cavities,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, who was director of the CDC when the agency changed the recommended fluoride levels. “There’s also no question we’re getting more fluoride than we were 50 years ago, through toothpaste and other things.”

Frieden said “a legitimate question” has been raised about whether fluoride affects brain development, and studies making that link “need to be looked at carefully.”

U.S. towns wrestle with what to do

Many people in health care strongly embrace water fluoridation. The American Dental Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics reaffirmed their endorsement of current CDC recommendations in the wake of the federal report and the judge’s ruling.

Colorado’s health department, which weighed in during a Nov. 5 Durango city council meeting, said in a statement that it “seeks to align its public health recommendations with the latest scientific research. The facts of this court ruling are not sufficient” to revise current fluoridation levels.

Durango officials are waiting to see what the EPA does in reaction to the recent court decision, said Sluis, the city spokesman.

“We follow the science,” he said. “It wouldn’t be in the best interest of the city to stop fluoridation based on one judge’s interpretation.”

In Yorktown, Lachterman concluded the judge’s decision was enough to halt fluoridation. He recalled a community discussion several years ago in which most people in the room clearly favored fluoridation, but recently it seems public comment has reversed.

“It’s like a total 180,” he said.

But not all public pressure these days is against the idea.

In September, Buffalo, New York, announced it would resume water fluoridation after not having it for nearly a decade. News reports had described an increase in tooth decay and families sued, seeking damages for dental costs.

The Buffalo Sewer Authority’s general manager, Oluwole McFoy declined to discuss the decision with The Associated Press, citing the litigation.

For its part, the EPA “is in the process of reviewing the district court’s decision,” spokesman Jeff Landis said this week.

Debates have become heated

In Monroe, Wisconsin, fluoridation “has become a very hot issue,” said its mayor, Donna Douglas.

The small city, near Madison, started fluoridating its drinking water in the early 1960s. But in the late summer, some residents began calling and emailing Douglas, saying she needed to do something about what they saw as a public health danger. The first call “was more like a threat,” she recalled.

Douglas said she did not take a position on whether to stop, but decided to raise it to the city council for discussion. The discussions were unusually emotional.

Few people tend to speak during public comment sessions at council meetings, said Douglas. But more than two dozen people spoke at a city council meeting last month, most of them in favor of fluoridation. At a subsequent meeting, about a dozen more people — all opposed to fluoridation — came out to speak.

“This is the first time we’ve had any debates at all” like this, Douglas said. “I didn’t realize it would be such a heated discussion.”

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AP video journalist Brittany Peterson and AP reporter Andrew DeMillo contributed to this report.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge who was nominated by Donald Trump says it would be “beyond frustrating and disappointing” if the president-elect hands out mass pardons to rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol after the 2020 election, a rare instance of judicial commentary on a politically divisive subject.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who was appointed to the bench in June 2019, expressed his criticism during a hearing Tuesday at which he agreed to postpone a Capitol riot defendant’s trial until after Trump returns to the White House in January.

During his campaign for a second term as president, Trump repeatedly referred to Jan. 6 rioters as “hostages” and “patriots” and said he “absolutely” would pardon rioters who assaulted police “if they’re innocent.” Trump has suggested he would consider pardoning former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison after a jury convicted him of orchestrating a violent plot to keep Trump in power after the 2020 election.

“Blanket pardons for all January 6 defendants or anything close would be beyond frustrating and disappointing, but that’s not my call,” Nichols said, according to a transcript. “And the possibility of some pardons, at least, is a very real thing.”

Nichols is one of over 20 judges who have presided over more than 1,500 cases against people charged in a mob’s attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Many Capitol riot defendants have asked for post-election delays in their cases, but judges largely have denied their requests and forged ahead with sentencings, guilty pleas and other hearings.

Steve Baker, a writer for a conservative media outlet, pleaded guilty last Tuesday to Capitol riot-related misdemeanors after U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper refused to pause the case until after Trump takes office. However, Cooper acknowledged that the case may never reach the punishment stage given the possibility of pardons.

Nichols commented on pardons during a hearing for Jacob Lang, a Capitol riot defendant who is jailed while awaiting a trial in Washington. Within hours of Trump’s victory this month, Lang posted on social media that he and other Jan. 6 “political prisoners” were “finally coming home.”

“There will be no bitterness in my heart as I walk out of these doors in 75 days on inauguration day,” wrote Lang, who was charged several days after the riot with repeatedly attacking police officers.

Nichols, who clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas before working for the Justice Department, said he hasn’t delayed any trial solely on the basis of possible pardons. He noted that his decision to delay Lang’s trial was based in part on matters that they privately discussed under seal.

“I agree very much with the government that there are costs to not proceeding here, both to the trial team, to the witnesses and to the victims, as well as to the public, which has an interest in a determination of guilt or innocence in a case that has been pending as long as this one,” Nichols said.

Several days after the election, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras postponed a Jan. 6 trial that had been scheduled to start on Dec. 2. The defendant, William Pope, argued that his trial would be a waste of the court’s time and resources “because there will never be a sentencing, and I will be free.”

Contreras said he didn’t want to bring in dozens of prospective jurors for a two-week trial “just to have it go for naught.”

“Of course, it’s speculative, but there is a real possibility of that happening,” the judge added, according to a transcript.

A prosecutor objected to the delay, saying that “the speculative nature of what Mr. Pope hopes will be a pardon is not a sufficient reason to continue this trial.”

Judges have largely echoed that argument. U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton refused to delay a Nov. 8 sentencing hearing for Anna Lichnowski, a Florida woman who believes she would be a good candidate for a pardon. Walton, who sentenced Lichnowski to 45 days in jail, wrote that the possibility of pardons is “irrelevant to the Court’s obligation to carry out the legal responsibilities of the Judicial Branch.”

Today is Tuesday, Nov. 19, the 324th day of 2024. There are 42 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Nov. 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address at the dedication of a national cemetery at the site of the Civil War battlefield of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania.

Also on this date:

In 1959, Ford Motor Co. announced it was halting production of the unpopular Edsel.

In 1969, Apollo 12 astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean made the second crewed landing on the moon.

In 1977, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to visit Israel.

In 1985, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev met for the first time as they began their summit in Geneva.

In 1999, Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr testified before the House Judiciary Committee during impeachment hearings against President Bill Clinton.

In 2004, in one of the worst brawls in U.S. sports history, Ron Artest (now known as Metta Sandiford-Artest) and Stephen Jackson of the Indiana Pacers charged into the stands and fought with Detroit Pistons fans after a fan threw a drink at Artest, forcing officials to end the Pacers’ 97-82 win with 45.9 seconds left.

In 2017, Charles Manson, the cult leader behind the murders of actress Sharon Tate and six others in Los Angeles in 1969, died in a California hospital at the age of 83 after nearly a half-century in prison.

In 2022, five people were killed and 25 injured when a shooter opened fire at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Talk show host Dick Cavett is 88.
• Media mogul and philanthropist Ted Turner is 86.
• Fashion designer Calvin Klein is 82.
• Poet Sharon Olds is 82.
• Sportscaster and former NFL wide receiver Ahmad Rashad is 75.
• Broadcast journalist Ann Curry is 68.
• Former NASA astronaut Eileen Collins is 68.
• Writer-filmmaker Charlie Kaufman is 66.
• Actor Allison Janney is 65.
• Actor Meg Ryan is 63.
• Actor-filmmaker Jodie Foster is 62.
• Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter Gail Devers is 58.
• Entrepreneur Jack Dorsey is 48.
• Olympic gold medal-winning gymnast Kerri Strug is 47.
• Actor Reid Scott is 47.
• Film director Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight”) is 45.
• Actor Adam Driver is 41.
• NHL forward Patrick Kane is 36.

By HALELUYA HADERO

About one in five Americans — and a virtually identical share of Republicans and Democrats — regularly get their news from digital influencers who are more likely to be found on the social media platform X, according to a report released Monday by the Pew Research Center.

The findings, drawn from a survey of more than 10,000 U.S. adults and an analysis of social media posts posted this summer by influencers, provide an indication of how Americans consumed the news during the height of the U.S. presidential campaign that President-elect Donald Trump ultimately won.

The study examined accounts run by people who post and talk regularly about current events – including through podcasts and newsletters – and have more than 100,000 followers on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, X or TikTok. They include people across the political spectrum, such as the progressive podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen and conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro, as well as non-partisan personalities like Chris Cillizza, a former CNN analyst who now runs his own newsletter.

The report found that news influencers posted mostly about politics and the election, followed by social issues like race and abortion and international events, such as the Israel-Hamas war. Most of them — 63% — are men and the majority — 77% — have no affiliation, or background, with a media organization. Pew said about half of the influencers it sampled did not express a clear political orientation. From the ones that did, slightly more of them identified as conservative than as liberal.

During the campaign, both parties and presidential campaigns had courted influencers, including creators who weren’t very political, to compete for voters who are increasingly getting most of their news from non-traditional sources.

The Republican and Democratic national conventions had credentialed influencers to cover their events this past summer. Vice President Kamala Harris sat down with Alex Cooper for her “Call Her Daddy” podcast and talked a little Bay Area basketball with the fellows on “All the Smoke.” Meanwhile, Trump hung out with the bros on the “Bussin’ With the Boys,” “Flagrant” and the popular podcaster Joe Rogan as part of a series of appearances targeting young male voters.

“These influencers have really reached new levels of attention and prominence this year amid the presidential election,” Galen Stocking, senior computational social scientist at Pew Research Center, said in a statement. “We thought it was really important to look at who is behind some of the most popular accounts – the ones that aren’t news organizations, but actual people.”

Even though 85% of news influencers have a presence on X, many of them also have homes on other social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

Racial minorities, young adults and adults with a lower income were more likely to get their news from news influencers, according to the report. Most of the people surveyed by Pew said news influencers have helped them better understand current events, while roughly a quarter say what they hear has not made much of a difference. A small share — 9% — say influencers have confused them more.

Media analysts have long been concerned about how influencers – most of whom don’t have to abide by editorial standards – could fuel misinformation, or even be used by America’s adversaries to churn out content that fits their interests. On social media, though, some influencers have positioned themselves as figures presenting neglected points of view.

Pew, which is doing the study as part of an initiative funded by the Knight Foundation, said 70% of the survey respondents believe the news they get from influencers is somewhat different than what they hear elsewhere. Roughly a quarter said it was “extremely or very different.”

The report found TikTok is the only one of the major platforms where influencers who identify as right-leaning do not outnumber those who are more liberal. Pew said news influencers on the short-form video app were more likely than those on other sites to show support for LGBTQ+ rights or identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. The platform also had the smallest gender gap for news influencers.

AP media writer David Bauder contributed to this report.

Today is Monday, Nov. 18, the 323rd day of 2024. There are 43 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Nov. 18, 1978, U.S. Rep. Leo J. Ryan of California and four others were killed on an airstrip in Jonestown, Guyana, by members of the Peoples Temple; the killings were followed by a night of mass murder and suicide resulting in the deaths of more than 900 cult members.

Also on this date:

In 1928, “Steamboat Willie,” the first cartoon with synchronized sound as well as the first release of the character Mickey Mouse, debuted on screen at the Colony Theater in New York.

In 1987, an underground fire broke out in the King’s Cross St Pancras subway station in London, causing 31 deaths.

In 1991, Shiite Muslim kidnappers in Lebanon freed Anglican Church envoy Terry Waite and Thomas Sutherland, the American dean of agriculture at the American University of Beirut.

In 1999, 12 people were killed and 27 injured when a bonfire under construction at Texas A&M University collapsed.

In 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the state constitution guaranteed gay couples the right to marry, the first state supreme court to do so.

In 2005, eight months after Robert Blake was acquitted of murdering his wife at a criminal trial, a civil jury decided the actor was behind the killing and ordered him to pay Bonny Lee Bakley’s children $30 million.

In 2021, more than half a century after the assassination of Malcolm X, two of his convicted killers were exonerated; a New York judge dismissed the convictions of Muhammad Aziz and the late Khalil Islam after prosecutors and the men’s lawyers said a renewed investigation had found new evidence that undermined the case against them.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Author Margaret Atwood is 85.
• Actor Linda Evans is 82.
• Actor Delroy Lindo is 72.
• Comedian Kevin Nealon is 71.
• Football Hall of Famer Warren Moon is 68.
• Actor Oscar Nunez is 66.
• Actor Elizabeth Perkins is 64.
• Rock musician Kirk Hammett (Metallica) is 62.
• Author and lecturer Brené Brown is 59.
• Actor Romany Malco is 56.
• Actor Owen Wilson is 56.
• Commentator Megan Kelly is 54.
• Actor Chloe Sevigny (SEH’-ven-ee) is 50.
• Baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz is 49.
• Rapper Fabolous is 47.
• NASCAR driver Denny Hamlin is 44.
• Actor-comedian Nasim Pedrad (nah-SEEM’ peh-DRAHD’) is 43.
• Actor Damon Wayans Jr. is 42.
• Olympic track and field gold medalist Allyson Felix is 39.
• Fashion designer Christian Siriano is 39.
• Actor Nathan Kress is 32.
• NFL quarterback Caleb Williams is 23.

Today is Sunday, Nov. 17, the 322nd day of 2024. There are 44 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Nov. 17, 2003, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Austrian-born actor who had become one of America’s biggest movie stars of the 1980s and ’90s, was sworn in as the 38th governor of California.

Also on this date:

In 1800, Congress held its first session in the partially completed U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

In 1869, the Suez Canal opened in Egypt.

In 1973, President Richard Nixon told a gathering of Associated Press managing editors at a televised news conference in Orlando, Florida: “People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I’m not a crook.”

In 1968, the last minutes of a tense NFL matchup on NBC between the New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders were preempted by the children’s film “Heidi.” The network received thousands of calls from angry viewers and formally apologized.

In 1989, an estimated 10,000-15,000 Czechoslovakian students demonstrated in Prague against Communist rule; hundreds of thousands joined the protests in the following days. Dubbed the “Velvet Revolution” for its nonviolent nature, the protests led to the resignation of the Communist Party’s leadership on Nov. 28.

In 1997, 62 people, most of them foreign tourists, were killed when militants opened fire at the Temple of Hatshepsut (haht-shehp-SOOT’) in Luxor, Egypt; the attackers were killed by police.

In 2020, President Donald Trump fired the nation’s top election security official, Christopher Krebs, who had refuted Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of electoral fraud and vouched for the integrity of the vote.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Film director Martin Scorsese (skor-SEH’-see) is 82.
• Actor-model Lauren Hutton is 81.
• Actor-director Danny DeVito is 80.
• Basketball Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim is 80.
• “Saturday Night Live” producer Lorne Michaels is 80.
• Basketball Hall of Famer Elvin Hayes is 79.
• Film director Roland Joffe is 79.
• Former House Speaker John Boehner (BAY’-nur) is 75.
• Actor Stephen Root is 73.
• TV host-entertainer RuPaul is 64.
• Actor Dylan Walsh is 61.
• TV host-model Daisy Fuentes is 58.
• R&B singer Ronnie DeVoe (New Edition; Bell Biv DeVoe) is 57.
• Actor Rachel McAdams is 46.

Today is Saturday, Nov. 16, the 321st day of 2024. There are 45 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Nov. 16, 1973, President Richard Nixon signed the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law, authorizing the construction of an 800-mile (1,290-kilometer) oil pipeline from the Alaska North Slope to the port city of Valdez.

Also on this date:

In 1907, Oklahoma became the 46th state of the union.

In 1914, the newly created Federal Reserve Banks opened in 12 cities.

In 1982, an agreement was announced in the 57th day of a strike by National Football League players.

In 1988, Benazir Bhutto was voted prime minister of Pakistan, the first woman to be elected to lead a Muslim-majority country.

In 1989, six Jesuit priests, a housekeeper and her daughter were slain by army troops at the University of Central America José Simeón Cañas in El Salvador.

In 2001, investigators found a letter addressed to Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont containing anthrax; it was the second letter bearing the deadly germ known to have been sent to Capitol Hill.

In 2001, the first film in the Harry Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” (U.S. title: “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”) debuted in theaters around the world.

In 2006, after midterm elections that saw Democrats take control of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi was nominated by the Democratic caucus to become speaker of the House. (Pelosi would officially become speaker by House vote the following January, becoming the first woman to serve in the role.)

In 2018, a U.S. official said intelligence officials had concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi (jah-MAHL’ khahr-SHOHK’-jee).

Today’s Birthdays:

• Actor Miguel Sandoval is 73.
• Video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto is 72.
• NASCAR Hall of Famer Terry Labonte is 68.
• Actor Marg Helgenberger is 66.
• Former MLB All-Star pitcher Dwight Gooden is 60.
• Jazz singer Diana Krall is 60.
• Actor Lisa Bonet is 57.
• Actor Martha Plimpton is 54.
• Olympic figure skating gold medalist Oksana Baiul (ahk-SAH’-nah by-OOL’) is 47.
• Actor Maggie Gyllenhaal (JIHL’-ehn-hahl) is 47.
• Actor-comedian Pete Davidson is 31.

Time and again during his campaign, former and future president Donald Trump made the Jan.6 rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol a centerpiece of his rallies, calling them heroes or hostages and promising pardons.

“The moment we win,” Trump told a Wisconsin crowd in September, “we will rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner unjustly victimized by the Harris regime, and I will sign their pardons on Day 1.”

Trump is now being asked to deliver.

Norm Pattis, the Connecticut lawyer defending Joseph Biggs, a member of the militant Proud Boys organization that the government says organized the violent break-in at the Capitol, has written a long letter to Trump that appeals to his grievances with the criminal justice system and argues that clemency might contribute to political unification.

“Mr. President, you are no stranger to prosecutions warped by partisan vendetta,” Pattis wrote. “Mr. Biggs also has been victimized by a cynical misuse of the law.”

The letter congratulates Trump on “your re-election to the Presidency” before turning to an exhaustive history of presidential clemency through U.S. history. Pardoning Biggs and other insurrectionists would serve “the broader public interest,” Pattis wrote, in the same way “liberal” grants of presidential pardons to confederates helped reunite the country after the civil war.

“These are divisive times. The divisions were acute in 2020, when millions believed the election was stolen and turned out to make sure electoral integrity was preserved. Suspicions and bitterness about the election lingers to this day. A pardon of Mr. Biggs will help close that wound and inspires confidence in the future” Pattis wrote.

Pattis defended Biggs at his 2023 trial in Washington and is pressing an appeal.

Biggs was one of the leaders of the militant, far-right Proud Boys on Jan. 6, 2021 when thousands of Trump supporters, inflamed by the outgoing president’s claim that the 2020 election was rigged, stormed the Capital in what the Justice Department calls an attempt to block certification of President Joseph Biden’s victory

Since then, in what has been described as the most extensive criminal investigation in U.S. history, more than 1,500 rioters have been charged and more than 600 imprisoned.

Biggs, a U.S. Army veteran from Florida, was charged with a long list of crimes including seditious conspiracy for trying to block the transfer of government power to Biden. He was sentenced to 17 years in prison, but Pattis said federal prosecutors are appealing in an effort to lengthen the sentence and have cut off his military pension because of the sedition conviction.

Biggs is the first Proud Boy to ask Trump for clemency, but others have said they also intend to seek pardons.

The government presented evidence in court that Biggs was part of a Proud Boys “Ministry of Self Defense,” the purpose of which was to “prevent, hinder and delay” the certification of the election results and “oppose by force the authority of the United States.”

The Proud Boys, federal prosecutors said, were “at the forefront of every major breach of the Capitol’s defenses, leading to the on-the-ground efforts to storm the seat of government.”

While Trump promised repeatedly during the campaign to pardon Capitol rioters, neither he nor his transition team have said how he intends to do it.

In his letter, Pattis asks Trump to issue pardons directly rather than relying on the Justice Department pardon attorney, an office Pattis said is characterized by delay and potential bias.:

“No matter how big the shake up at Justice will be come January 2025, the agency has gone all in on the theory that January 6, 2021 was a direct threat to democracy,” Pattis wrote. An agency empowered by hyperbole will with difficulty learn to hear the more subtle message that justice requires.”

“Much is written and has been said about so-called ‘lawfare,’ that is, the targeting of political opponents for legal process by those in power, Pattis wrote. “The Justice Department’s obsession with January 6, 2021, has wasted enormous resources and eroded confidence in the even-handed administration of justice.

“Mr. President, the time for a pardon is past due. We ask you to make the pardon of Mr. Biggs a top priority in your administration,” he wrote.

“We make this appeal directly to you because we believe in the power of justice and the ability of a courageous leader to make a real and sustaining difference in American life.”

By Sierra Van Der Brug, Sydney Barragan, SCNG

Four Los Angeles-area residents were arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of insurance fraud and conspiracy after allegedly falsely claiming a bear got into their vehicles and damaged them.

There was no bear, rather, a person in a bear costume was seen in video footage provided with insurance claims.

Dubbed “Operation Bear Claw,” the California Department of Insurance began an investigation after an insurance company suspected fraud when the suspects, residents of Glendale and Valley Village, in January reported a bear had gotten into their Rolls-Royce Ghost in Lake Arrowhead.

Video footage was provided to the insurance company. The footage was reviewed by investigators, who determined the video showed a person in a bear suit. A biologist from the California Department of Wildlife also reviewed the footage, concurring with investigators that the footage “was clearly a human in a bear suit,” according to a news release from the Department of Insurance. After executing a search warrant, detectives found the bear costume in the home of the suspects.

The investigation also revealed two other insurance claims made by the suspects at other insurance companies, citing the same date and location of loss and bear-related circumstances, with different vehicles, a Mercedes G63 AMG and a Mercedes E350.

“This is definitely unique, but we have seen, through our cases, that people will do a lot of things to try and get an undeserved insurance payout,” said Allison Hensley,  deputy press secretary at the Department of Insurance

Photos provided by the department showed the reported damage, puncture and scratch marks on the interior doors and seats of the vehicles.

“It isn’t the first case that we’ve seen that has baffled us, but this one definitely was the first one in a while,” Hensley said.

The financial impact on the insurance companies of the alleged fraud totaled over $140,000.

By Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is already making big bets on what take two for a White House led by Donald Trump will mean for the economy.

Since Election Day, investors have sent prices zooming for stocks of banks, fossil-fuel producers and other companies expected to benefit from Trump’s preference for lower tax rates and lighter regulation. For retailers, meanwhile, the outlook is murkier because of uncertainty about whether they’ll be able to absorb any of the higher costs created by tariffs.

Professional investors are warning about the risk of getting carried away by the momentum. While strong rhetoric on the campaign trail can cause these big swings, not all of the promises turn into actual policy. Plus, the broad U.S. stock market tends to move more on long-term growth in profits than anything else.

— Stan Choe

Here’s a look at where Wall Street is placing its bets at the moment:

Technology

Technology stocks soared in Trump’s first term, helped by the administration’s tax policies. But the relationship was tempestuous: Trump’s immigration stance threatened a source of high-skilled immigrants that comprises a significant part of the industry’s work force and his trade wars threatened international sales and supply chains.

This time around, tech could benefit from an anticipated loosening of antitrust regulation that discouraged big deals from getting done and threatened to rein in the power of Google, Apple and Amazon. What’s more, Trump is expected to clear the way for Big Tech to make more inroads in artificial intelligence technology — an area increasingly seen as a crucial battleground in the duel for global power between the U.S. and China.

Trump’s vow to impose tariffs and other restrictions on trade does pose a potential downside for chip makers, particularly stock market darling Nvidia. A possible rollback of Biden administration efforts to boost U.S. semiconductor production also is a concern.

Still, in a sign of tech’s more conciliatory attitude, Trump’s election was greeted by congratulatory posts from most of the industry’s luminaries, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

— Michael Liedtke

Retail

Trump’s victory brings a big dose of uncertainty for the retail industry.

Trump has proposed extending 2017 tax cuts for individuals and restoring tax breaks for businesses that were being reduced. He also wants to further cut the corporate tax rate. Those would be tailwinds for shoppers and businesses, analysts said.

But the president-elect’s trade proposals could have a huge downside. He’s proposed 60% tariffs on Chinese goods and tariffs of 10% to 20% on other imports. Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, a research firm, said retailers would either take a big hit on profits or be forced to increase prices.

As opposed to Trump’s first term, retailers will have a harder time absorbing tariffs this time because their costs of doing business are already higher, Saunders said.

Many companies, including Nike and eyewear retailer Warby Parker, have been diversifying their sourcing away from China. Shoe brand Steve Madden says it plans to cut imports from China by as much as 45% next year.

The National Retail Federation is forecasting higher prices for U.S. shoppers if Trump’s new tariffs are implemented. For example, an $80 pair of men’s jeans would cost $90 to $96.

— Anne D’Innocenzio

Energy

Trump has said he wants to “drill, drill, drill” starting on Day 1 of his presidency, so it’s expected that traditional fossil fuel-focused companies will get a boost and renewable energy outfits could be disadvantaged.

Oilfield services companies including Haliburton and Schlumberger would likely benefit from initiatives to expand drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska. Natural gas companies including EQT and CNX Resources could benefit from facilities and pipeline projects. Meanwhile, clean energy companies, such as First Solar and many electric vehicle makers, could have a harder time growing if Trump cuts tax credits and other incentives for the industry.

But remember Trump’s first term, says Austin Pickle, investment strategy analyst at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. The thought back then, like now, was that Trump would boost prices for oil-and-gas stocks. But energy stocks ended up struggling late in his term when the price of oil briefly went below zero during the COVID-19 pandemic.

— Damian Troise

Health Care

Drugmakers, insurers and other health care companies could benefit from fewer regulatory roadblocks to mergers and a lighter regulatory stance overall.

Insurers, in particular, may see some regulatory relief for Medicare Advantage plans, which are privately run versions of the government’s Medicare program mainly for people ages 65 and older. Under Democratic leadership, some insurers were facing smaller bonus payments tied to their Medicare Advantage plans. Some drugmakers are facing revenue hits on certain drugs covered by Medicare. Those challenges could abate under Republican rule, analysts at Morningstar noted.

A second Trump administration also may challenge health care companies.

The approval of drugs and vaccines could become less predictable, depending on the role anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plays, said Morningstar analyst Karen Andersen.

Health insurers that sell coverage on the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplaces or manage state-and-federally funded Medicaid coverage could face challenges if Republicans attempt to dismantle parts of the law, said Julie Utterback of Morningstar.

In particular, extra subsidies that help people buy marketplace coverage are slated to expire at the end of next year, which could lead to enrollment drops.

— Tom Murphy

Autos

The auto industry is another that should welcome less restrictive regulations but dread tariffs.

Trump is likely to roll back or scrap tailpipe emissions limits for 2027 through 2032 imposed by the Biden administration. Companies like General Motors, Ford and Stellantis could more easily sell larger, less-efficient vehicles without paying hefty fines.

Companies would also face less pressure to sell more electric vehicles to offset emissions from big trucks and SUVs, which make big profit margins, said Kevin Tynan, research director for The Presidio Group.

Tariffs are a different story. Trump has threatened tariffs on imported vehicles to force more production in the U.S. The threat of 100% tariffs on vehicles imported from Mexico is a big concern.

Morningstar analyst David Whiston said such tariffs could potentially cost General Motors, Stellantis and Ford billions in profits. About 30% of GM’s North American production comes from Mexico, while it’s 24% for Stellantis and about 15% for Ford.

Whiston notes that tariffs on vehicles built in Mexico would violate the U.S.-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement negotiated during Trump’s first term. But that can be reworked in July of 2026. Whiston said those tariffs would mean higher prices and many buyers already can’t afford the current average price of over $47,000.

Trump also has threatened to get rid of electric vehicle tax credits that have helped boost sales of EVs.

— Tom Krisher

Banks

Bank stocks could benefit if Trump’s policies boost the U.S. economy and more customers apply for loans. In addition, Wells Fargo banking analyst Mike Mayo believes the Trump victory can usher in a “new era” of lighter financial regulation after 15 years of stricter oversight following the financial crisis of 2008-2009. Under Biden, banks were facing requirements to set aside more capital to reduce risk, but the Trump administration is likely to take a step back.

Dealmaking could see a revival under Trump, which would help banks with large investment banking operations like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs. That also increases the odds the pending merger between Capital One Financial and Discover Financial gets federal clearance. Regional banks should benefit if a growing economy prompts the creation of new small businesses or the expansion of existing ones.

— Paul Harloff

Building materials and construction

Construction companies are looking at a mixed bag, with lighter regulations a plus but higher materials costs a potential minus.

Construction companies, including homebuilders KB Home and PulteGroup, could benefit from tax incentives and more friendly regulations. A surge in development could help relieve some pressure on a housing market pressured by a lack of supply for new homes. A boost in construction could also help suppliers of raw materials including steel and aggregates used in concrete.

But the potential for overall raw material price increases is a threat. Higher costs could cut into profits for construction companies and homebuilders. Steel tariffs could help shield U.S. producers from competition, but a jump in global prices as a result could negate that benefit, while also squeezing construction companies.

Plans for an immigration crackdown could worsen an existing labor shortage and result in delays for projects.

— Damian Troise

Crypto

Trump, once a crypto skeptic, has pledged to make the U.S. “the crypto capital of the planet” and create a “strategic reserve” of bitcoin. Money has poured into crypto assets since he won. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, has surged above $86,000. Shares of crypto platform Coinbase have surged more than 60% since the election.

Crypto industry players welcomed Trump’s victory, in hopes that he would push through legislative and regulatory changes that they’ve long lobbied for. And Trump had promised that, if elected, he would remove the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler, who has been leading the U.S. government’s crackdown on the crypto industry and repeatedly called for more oversight.

— Wyatte Grantham-Phillips

By JENNIFER PELTZ and MICHAEL R. SISAK, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge on Tuesday postponed a decision on whether to undo President-elect Donald Trump’s conviction in his hush money case as prosecutors consider how to proceed in light of last week’s election and his lawyers argue for dismissal so he can run the country.

The postponement comes at a dramatic and dynamic point in the case, which focused on how Trump accounted for payments to a porn actor before the 2016 election and produced a first-ever conviction of a former commander-in-chief.

Sentencing had been set for Nov. 26. But prosecutors now say they’re reassessing, and they appear open to the possibility that the proceedings can’t go as planned.

“These are unprecedented circumstances,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo wrote in an email to the court. He said prosecutors need to consider how to balance the “competing interests” of the jury’s verdict and the presidency.

Trump lawyer Emil Bove, meanwhile, argued the case must be thrown out altogether “to avoid unconstitutional impediments to President Trump’s ability to govern.”

The messages were part of an email chain released Tuesday, when New York Judge Juan M. Merchan had been set to rule on Trump lawyers’ earlier request to toss his conviction for a different reason — because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling this summer on presidential immunity.

Instead, Merchan told Trump’s lawyers he’d halt proceedings and delay the ruling until at least Nov. 19 so that prosecutors can suggest a way forward. Both sides agreed to the one-week postponement.

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung heralded the delay. He said in a statement that the president-elect’s win makes it “abundantly clear that Americans want an immediate end to the weaponization of our justice system, including this case, which should have never been filed.”

Prosecutors declined to comment.

A jury convicted Trump in May of falsifying business records related to a $130,000 payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels in 2016. The payout was to buy her silence about claims that she had sex with Trump.

Trump says they didn’t have sex, denies any wrongdoing and maintains the prosecution was a political tactic meant to harm his latest campaign. Trump is a Republican. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office brought the case, is a Democrat, as is Merchan.

Just over a month after the verdict, the Supreme Court ruled that ex-presidents can’t be prosecuted for actions they took in the course of running the country, and prosecutors can’t cite those actions even to bolster a case centered on purely personal conduct.

Trump’s lawyers cited that ruling to argue that the hush money jury got some evidence it shouldn’t have, such as Trump’s presidential financial disclosure form and testimony from some White House aides.

Prosecutors disagreed and said the evidence in question was only “a sliver” of their case.

Trump’s criminal conviction was a first for any ex-president. It left the 78-year-old facing the possibility of a fine, probation or up to four years in prison.

The case centered on how Trump accounted for reimbursing a personal attorney for the Daniels payment.

The then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, fronted the money. He later recouped it through a series of payments that Trump’s company logged as legal expenses. Trump, by then in the White House, signed most of the checks himself.

Prosecutors said the designation was meant to cloak the true purpose of the payments and help cover up a broader effort to keep voters from hearing unflattering claims about Trump during his first campaign.

Trump said that Cohen was legitimately paid for legal services, and that Daniels’ story was suppressed to avoid embarrassing Trump’s family, not to influence the electorate.

Trump was a private citizen, campaigning for president, when Cohen paid Daniels in October 2016. He was president when Cohen was reimbursed, and Cohen testified that they discussed the repayment arrangement in the Oval Office.

Trump has been fighting for months to overturn the verdict. While urging Merchan to nix the conviction, the president-elect also has been trying to move the case to federal court. Before the election, a federal judge repeatedly said no to the move, but Trump has appealed.

Trump faces three other unrelated indictments in various jurisdictions.

But Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith has been evaluating how to wind down both the 2020 election interference case and the separate classified documents case against Trump before he takes office, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Longstanding Justice Department policy says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted.

Meanwhile, a Georgia election interference case against Trump is largely on hold while he and other defendants appeal a judge’s ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to continue prosecuting it.

---

Associated Press reporter Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report.

Today is Tuesday, Nov. 12, the 317th day of 2024. There are 49 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Nov. 12, 2019, Venice saw its worst flooding in more than 50 years, with the water reaching 6.14 feet (1.87 meters) above average sea level; damage was estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Also on this date:

In 1927, Josef Stalin became the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union as Leon Trotsky was expelled from the Communist Party.

In 1936, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge opened as President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a telegraph key in Washington, D.C., and gave the green light to traffic.

In 1948, former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and several other World War II Japanese leaders were sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal.

In 1954, Ellis Island officially closed as an immigration station and detention center. More than 12 million immigrants arrived in the United States via Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954.

In 1970, the Bhola cyclone struck East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. The deadliest tropical cyclone on record claimed the lives of an estimated 300,000-500,000 people.

In 2001, American Airlines Flight 587, en route to the Dominican Republic, crashed after takeoff from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 people on board and five people on the ground.

In 2021, a judge in Los Angeles ended the conservatorship that had controlled the life and money of pop star Britney Spears for nearly 14 years.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Actor-playwright Wallace Shawn is 81.
• Rock musician Booker T. Jones is 80.
• Sportscaster Al Michaels is 80.
• Singer-songwriter Neil Young is 79.
• Author Tracy Kidder is 79.
• Democratic Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island is 75.
• Actor Megan Mullally is 66.
• Olympic gold medal gymnast Nadia Comăneci (koh-muh-NEECH’) is 63.
• Olympic gold medal swimmer Jason Lezak is 49.
• Golfer Lucas Glover is 45.
• Actor Ryan Gosling is 44.
• Actor Anne Hathaway is 42.
• Golfer Jason Day is 37.
• NBA point guard Russell Westbrook is 36.

Today is Monday, Nov. 11, the 316th day of 2024. There are 50 days left in the year. Today is Veterans Day.

Today in history:

On Nov. 11, 1918, fighting in World War I ended as the Allies and Germany signed an armistice aboard a railroad car in the Forest of Compiègne (kohm-PYEHN’-yeh) in northern France.

Also on this date:

In 1620, 41 Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower, anchored off Massachusetts, signed the Mayflower Compact, calling for a “civil body politick, for our better ordering and preservation.”

In 1921, the remains of an unidentified American service member were interred in a Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in a ceremony presided over by President Warren G. Harding.

In 1938, Irish-born cook Mary Mallon, who’d gained notoriety as the disease-carrying “Typhoid Mary” blamed for the deaths of three people, died on North Brother Island in New York’s East River at age 69 after 23 years of mandatory quarantine.

In 1966, Gemini 12 blasted off on a four-day mission with astronauts James A. Lovell and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. aboard; it was the tenth and final crewed flight of NASA’s Gemini program.

In 1987, following the failure of two Supreme Court nominations, President Ronald Reagan announced his choice of Judge Anthony M. Kennedy, who went on to win confirmation.

In 2020, Georgia’s secretary of state announced an audit of presidential election results that he said would be done with a full hand tally of ballots because the margin was so tight; President-elect Joe Biden led President Donald Trump by about 14,000 votes out of nearly 5 million votes counted in the state. (The audit would affirm Biden’s win.)

Today’s Birthdays:

• Music producer Mutt Lange is 76.
• Actor Stanley Tucci is 64.
• Actor Demi Moore is 62.
• Actor Calista Flockhart is 60.
• TV personality Carson Kressley is 55.
• Actor Leonardo DiCaprio is 50.
• Musician Jon Batiste is 38.
• Actor Tye Sheridan is 28.

Today is Sunday, Nov. 10, the 315th day of 2024. There are 51 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Nov. 10,1969, the children’s educational program “Sesame Street” made its debut on National Educational Television (now PBS).

Also on this date:

In 1775, the U.S. Marines were organized under authority of the Continental Congress.

In 1898, in Wilmington, North Carolina, a mob of as many as 2,000 white supremacists killed dozens of African Americans, burned Black-owned businesses and forced the mayor, police chief and aldermen to resign at gunpoint, before installing their own mayor and city council in what became known as the “Wilmington Coup.”

In 1954, the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial, depicting the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima in 1945, was dedicated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Arlington, Virginia.

In 1975, the Great Lakes freighter SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank after being caught in a severe storm on Lake Superior; all 29 crew members were lost.

In 2019, Bolivian President Evo Morales resigned after weeks of public protests in response to alleged election fraud in Bolivia’s general election the previous month.

In 2021, Kyle Rittenhouse took the stand in his murder trial, testifying that he was under attack and acting in self-defense when he shot and killed two men and wounded a third during a turbulent night of street protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (He would be acquitted of all charges.)

Today’s Birthdays:

• Lyricist Tim Rice is 80.
• Country singer Donna Fargo is 79.
• Film director Roland Emmerich is 69.
• Actor-comedian Sinbad is 68.
• Actor Mackenzie Phillips is 65.
• Author Neil Gaiman (GAY’-mihn) is 64.
• Actor Hugh Bonneville is 61.
• Actor-comedian Tommy Davidson is 61.
• Long jump world record holder Mike Powell is 61.
• Country singer Chris Cagle is 56.
• Actor-comedian Tracy Morgan is 56.
• Actor Ellen Pompeo (pahm-PAY’-oh) is 55.
• Rapper-producer Warren G is 54.
• Actor Walton Goggins is 53.
• Football Hall of Famer Isaac Bruce is 52.
• Rapper-actor Eve is 46.
• Country singer Miranda Lambert is 41.
• Actor Josh Peck is 38.
• Actor Taron Egerton is 35.
• Golfer Jon Rahm is 30.
• Actor Kiernan Shipka is 25.
• Olympic gold medal pole vaulter Armand Duplantis is 25.
• Actor Mackenzie Foy is 24.

By AAMER MADHANI

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden’s name wasn’t on the ballot, but history will likely remember Kamala Harris’ resounding defeat as his loss too.

As Democrats pick up the pieces after President-elect Donald Trump’s decisive victory, some of the vice president’s backers are expressing frustration that Biden’s decision to seek reelection until this summer — despite long-standing voter concerns about his age and unease about post-pandemic inflation as well as the U.S.-Mexico border — all but sealed his party’s surrender of the White House.

“The biggest onus of this loss is on President Biden,” said Andrew Yang, who ran against Biden in 2020 for the Democratic nomination and endorsed Harris’ unsuccessful run. “If he had stepped down in January instead of July, we may be in a very different place.”

Biden will leave office after leading the United States out of the worst pandemic in a century, galvanizing international support for Ukraine after Russia’s invasion and passing a $1 trillion infrastructure bill that will affect communities for years to come.

But having run four years ago against Trump to “restore the soul of the country,” Biden will make way after just one term for his immediate predecessor, who overcame two impeachments, a felony conviction and an insurrection launched by his supporters. Trump has pledged to radically reshape the federal government and roll back many of Biden’s priorities.

“Maybe in 20 or 30 years, history will remember Biden for some of these achievements,” said Thom Reilly, co-director of the Center for an Independent and Sustainable Democracy at Arizona State University. “But in the shorter term, I don’t know he escapes the legacy of being the president who beat Donald Trump only to usher in another Donald Trump administration four years later.”

The president on Wednesday stayed out of sight for the second straight day, making congratulatory calls to Democratic lawmakers who won downballot races and to Trump. Biden invited Trump for a White House meeting, and the president-elect accepted.

Biden is set to deliver a Rose Garden address Thursday about the election. He issued a statement shortly after Harris delivered her concession speech Wednesday, praising Harris for running an “historic campaign” under “extraordinary circumstances.”

Some high-ranking Democrats, including three advisers to the Harris campaign, expressed deep frustration with Biden for failing to recognize earlier in the election cycle that he was not up to the challenge. The advisers spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

Biden, 81, ended his reelection campaign in July, weeks after an abysmal debate performance sent his party into a spiral and raised questions about whether he still had the mental acuity and stamina to serve as a credible nominee.

But polling long beforehand showed that many Americans worried about his age. Some 77% of Americans said in August 2023 that Biden was too old to be effective for four more years, according to a poll by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs.

The president bowed out on July 21 after getting not-so-subtle nudges from Democratic Party powers, including former President Barack Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California. Biden endorsed Harris and handed over his campaign operation to her.

Yang argued that Democratic Party leaders also deserve blame for taking too long to push out Biden. With few exceptions, most notably Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips, Democrats shied away talking publicly about Biden’s age.

“Why was this not coming from any Democratic leaders?” Yang said. “It’s a lack of courage and independence and an excess of careerism, if I just keep my mouth shut, we’ll just keep on trucking along.”

The campaign was also saddled by anger among some Arab American and young voters over its approach to Israel’s conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an ally of Biden and Harris, said in a statement that Democrats lost the thread on working class Americans’ concerns.

“Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign?” the Vermont independent said. “Will they understand the pain and political alienation that tens of millions of Americans are experiencing?”

Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison took to social media Thursday to push back on Sanders’ critique, saying that Biden was “the most-pro worker President of my life time.”

Harris managed to spur far greater enthusiasm than Biden was generating from the party’s base. But she struggled to distinguish how her administration would differ from Biden’s.

Appearing on ABC’s “The View” in September, Harris was not able to identify a decision where she would have separated herself from Biden. “There is not a thing that comes to mind,” Harris said, giving the Trump campaign a sound bite it replayed through Election Day.

The strategists advising the Harris campaign said the compressed campaign timetable made it even more difficult for Harris to differentiate herself from the president.

Had Biden stepped aside early in the year, they said, it would have given Democrats enough time to hold a primary. Going through the paces of an intraparty contest would have forced Harris or another eventual nominee to more aggressively stake out differences with Biden.

The strategists acknowledged that overcoming broad dissatisfaction among the American electorate about rising costs in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic and broad concerns about the U.S. immigration system weighed heavy on the minds of voters in key states.

Still, they said that Biden had left Democrats in an untenable place.

Harris senior adviser David Plouffe in a posting on X called it a “devastating loss.” Plouffe did not assign blame and said the Harris campaign “dug out of a deep hole but not enough.” The post was later deleted.

At the vice president’s concession speech on Wednesday, some Harris supporters said they wished the vice president had had more time to make her pitch to American voters.

“I think that would have made a huge difference,” said Jerushatalla Pallay, a Howard University student who attended the speech at the center of her campus.

Republicans are poised to control the White House and Senate. Control of the House has yet to be determined.

Matt Bennett, executive vice president at the Democratic-aligned group Third Way, said this moment was the most devastating the party has faced in his lifetime.

“Harris was dealt a really bad hand. Some of it was Biden’s making and some maybe not,” said Bennett, who served as an aide to Vice President Al Gore during the Clinton administration. “Would Democrats fare better if Biden had stepped back earlier? I don’t know if we can say for certain, but it’s a question we’ll be asking ourselves for some time.”

Associated Press writer Matt Brown contributed to this report.