By Madyson Fitzgerald, Stateline.org

Self-driving vehicle technology continues to advance, prompting a wave of liability and safety regulations from state lawmakers.

This year, lawmakers in Arizona, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada and the District of Columbia enacted legislation to regulate driverless vehicles, according to a database from the National Conference of State Legislatures.

While much of the legislation aims to update existing law to include new definitions for autonomous vehicles, other measures put rules in place regarding insurance, permitting, licensing and road testing.

In total, lawmakers in 25 states introduced 67 bills related to autonomous vehicles, according to the database. California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania currently have bills under consideration. Alaska, Delaware and Washington have bills that will be carried over into the next legislative session.

Governors vetoed two measures this year. Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis shot down a measure that would have required a driver to be present in any commercial vehicle being operated by an automated driving system.

Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed a measure that would have put rules in place for “high-risk artificial intelligence systems,” but would have excluded “autonomous vehicle technology” from that category.

As of now, there are no vehicles that have achieved full autonomy, according to the Society of Automotive Engineers’ criteria. But several car companies have introduced automated driving features, allowing drivers to take their hands off the wheel.

Tesla is rolling out its Full Self-Driving feature, a system under which a vehicle can drive itself almost anywhere with minimal intervention from the driver. Tesla Autopilot, which the company made available to the public in late 2024, also helps with basic vehicle maneuvering.

And Waymo, the country’s first autonomous ride-hailing service, is currently operating in Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Los Angeles; Phoenix and San Francisco. The robo-taxi company plans to expand to Miami and Washington, D.C., next.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, vehicle safety is the main benefit of driverless cars. With higher levels of automation, there is less room for human error or driver distractions. The new technology also could improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians, according to the agency.

But driverless cars have been involved in hundreds of accidents over the past few years. Between 2021 and 2024, there were 696 accidents reported that involved a Waymo vehicle, according to an analysis by California-based law firm DiMarco — Araujo — Montevideo.

And last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began investigating Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system after multiple reports of crashes that occurred in low-visibility conditions.

©2025 States Newsroom. Visit at stateline.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By Amanda Hernández, Stateline.org

For years, state lawmakers have taken the lead on regulating kratom — the controversial herbal supplement used for pain relief, anxiety and opioid withdrawal symptoms. Some states have banned it entirely. Others have passed laws requiring age limits, labeling and lab testing.

At least half of the states and the District of Columbia have enacted some form of regulation on kratom or its components — building a patchwork of policies around a product largely unaddressed by the federal government.

But that may soon change. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is pushing to ban 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH — a powerful compound found in small amounts in kratom and sometimes concentrated or synthesized in products sold online, at smoke shops or behind gas station counters.

Federal health officials announced last month that the compound poses serious public health risks and should be classified as a Schedule I controlled substance, alongside heroin and LSD.

The move marks a significant shift in how federal regulators are approaching kratom, which they attempted to ban in 2016. It also has sparked debate about how the change could impact the growing 7-OH industry and its consumers.

This year, at least seven states have considered bills to tighten kratom regulations, including proposals for bans, age restrictions and labeling requirements.

Kratom, which originates from the leaves of a tree native to Southeast Asia, can have a wide range of mental and bodily effects, according to federal officials, addiction medicine specialists and kratom researchers. Reports of fatal kratom overdoses have surfaced in recent years, though kratom is often taken in combination with other substances.

Kratom and 7-OH are distinct products with separate markets, but they are closely connected. 7-OH is a semi-synthetic compound derived from kratom and only emerged on the market in late 2023, while kratom itself has been available for decades.

Leading kratom researchers also say more research is needed to fully understand the long-term effects of using both substances.

“There’s much we don’t know, unfortunately, on all sides,” said Christopher R. McCurdy, a professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Florida. McCurdy is a trained pharmacist and has studied kratom for more than 20 years.

Research suggests kratom may help with opioid withdrawal and doesn’t seem to cause severe withdrawal on its own. Smaller amounts seem to act as a stimulant, while larger doses may have sedative, opioidlike effects. Very little is known about the risks of long-term use in humans, according to McCurdy.

As for 7-OH, it shows potential for treating pain, but it hasn’t been studied in humans, and it may carry a high risk of addiction. Researchers don’t yet understand how much is safe to take or how often it should be used, McCurdy told Stateline.

While some leading kratom experts agree that kratom and 7-OH should be regulated, they caution that placing 7-OH under a strict Schedule I classification would make it much harder to study — and argue it should instead be classified as Schedule II like some other opioids.

A federal survey from 2023 estimated that about 1.6 million Americans age 12 and older used kratom in the year before the study. The American Kratom Association, a national industry lobbying group, estimated in 2021 that between 11 million and 16 million Americans safely consume kratom products each year.

Since gaining popularity in recent years, 7-OH has appeared in a growing number of products. Some researchers and addiction medicine specialists say many consumers, especially those new to kratom, sometimes don’t understand the difference between products.

“It’s a pure opioid that’s available without a prescription, so it’s akin to having morphine or oxycodone for sale at a smoke shop or a gas station,” McCurdy said. “This is a public health crisis waiting to happen.”

Federal crackdown targets 7-OH, not kratom

In late July, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommended that the federal Drug Enforcement Administration place 7-OH in Schedule I, citing a high potential for abuse. The classification would not apply to kratom leaves or powders with naturally occurring 7-OH.

“We’re not targeting the kratom leaf or ground-up kratom,” FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said at a news conference. “We are targeting a concentrated synthetic byproduct that is an opioid.”

Makary acknowledged that there isn’t enough research or data to fully understand how widespread 7-OH’s use or impact may be. Still, he said the Trump administration wants to be “aggressive and proactive” in addressing the issue before it grows into a larger public health problem.

While only small amounts of 7-OH occur naturally in the kratom plant, federal officials have raised concerns about U.S. products containing synthetic or concentrated forms of the compound because it’s more potent than morphine and primarily responsible for kratom’s opioidlike effects.

The FDA’s recommendation to schedule 7-OH will now go to the DEA, which oversees the final steps of the process — including issuing a formal proposal and opening a public comment period.

If finalized, the rule could affect both companies selling enhanced kratom products and consumers in states where those products are currently legal.

The DEA backed off scheduling kratom compounds in 2016 after widespread public opposition.

Kirsten Smith, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University who is studying kratom’s effects in humans, said she was surprised by the FDA’s push to schedule 7-OH.

“We don’t really have a public health signal of a lot of adverse events for either kratom or for 7-OH at this time,” she told Stateline. “I was, frankly, always surprised that kratom was pushed toward scheduling at an earlier time point. … I don’t know that we have data to support scheduling even now.”

Still, some advocacy groups, including the Holistic Alternative Recovery Trust, argue the push to schedule 7-OH is driven more by corporate interests than public health, suggesting the kratom industry is trying to sideline competition from 7-OH products.

“We think that this is just happening because of the legacy kratom manufacturers losing market share and wanting to gin up a crisis with this,” said Jeff Smith, the national policy director for the group, who said he has used 7-OH for sleep and pain management.

While his organization supports regulation and safe consumption, members worry the federal government’s move could drive people to riskier substances or push the market underground.

“It’s made a profound difference in my life,” Smith said. “We think it would be tragic to cut it off based on such a paucity of data when there’s so much potential for this product to help people.”

Public health concerns

Federal health officials say a key concern is the growing use of kratom and 7-OH products among teens and young adults.

Some officials and addiction medicine specialists have pointed out that these products often come in flavors and packaging designed to appeal to younger buyers, with few controls over where or how they’re sold. In some states without clear regulations, kratom and 7-OH products are available at gas stations or online, sometimes without any age verification.

“Whenever you go into a gas station and even though it’s behind the glass, it’s kind of eye level, and it has all of these bright colors — it has all of these things that really attract the visual of a kiddo,” said Socorro Green, a prevention specialist with Youth180, a nonprofit focused on youth substance use prevention in Dallas.

Green added that kratom and 7-OH products may be even more accessible to young people in rural communities, where gas stations and convenience stores are often among the few available retailers.

Some researchers and experts say that certain products may not clearly or accurately disclose their 7-OH content and are sometimes marketed or mistaken for traditional kratom.

Some cities, counties and states have responded by banning kratom or raising the minimum purchase age to 18 or 21. But in many areas, enforcement remains inconsistent, and some addiction specialists say clearer federal and state guidance is needed — especially as more people are using kratom and 7-OH to manage pain, anxiety or withdrawal symptoms on their own.

“There needs to be some kind of oversight, including some way of maybe helping to ensure that people know what they’re getting,” said Terrence Walton, the executive director and chief executive officer of NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals.

State regulations

At least seven states have considered or enacted legislation this year related to kratom — ranging from age restrictions and labeling requirements to outright bans.

In New York, lawmakers passed two bills: one requiring warning labels and prohibiting kratom products from being labeled as “all natural,” and another raising the minimum purchase age to 21. Neither has been sent to the governor.

In Colorado, a new measure, which was signed into law in May, prohibits kratom from being sold in forms that resemble candy or appeal to children, increases labeling requirements, limits concentrations of 7-OH, and bans the manufacture and distribution of synthetic or semi-synthetic kratom.

In Mississippi, a new law that took effect in July raised the minimum purchase age for kratom to 21. It also bans synthetic kratom extracts and products with high concentrations of 7-OH. Lawmakers in Montana and Texas introduced similar legislation this year, but neither proposal advanced.

Louisiana is the latest state to enact a kratom ban, which took effect Aug. 1. Meanwhile, in July, Rhode Island became the first state to reverse its ban. The new law establishes a regulatory framework for the manufacturing, sale and distribution of kratom products, set to take effect in April 2026.

As of this year, Washington, D.C., and seven states — Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Rhode Island (until April 2026), Vermont and Wisconsin — have banned kratom. At least half of U.S. states now regulate kratom or its components in some way.

©2025 States Newsroom. Visit at stateline.org. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By Madison Czopek, KFF Health News

For parents of school-aged children, the fall to-do list can seem ever-growing. Buy school supplies. Fill out endless school forms. Block off parent-teacher nights. Do the kids’ tennis shoes still fit?

Somewhere, at some point, you might remember flu shots. Get your flu shot. Get their flu shots. Or should you? Can you? Is that still a thing?

Amid political chatter about vaccines and the government entities that oversee them, it’s understandable to wonder where all this leaves the 2025-26 flu vaccine.

In short: Yes, the flu shot is still a thing. And doctors we spoke to said they recommend you get your flu shot this year.

Here are some answers to common questions:

Q: I heard the Trump administration could be changing vaccine recommendations. Does that apply to the flu vaccine?

There have been no substantial changes to the federal government’s flu vaccine recommendation: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still says that people 6 months old and up should get an annual flu vaccine.

That means most insurers will cover it, and it should soon be widely available.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has opposed vaccines, agreed that most people should get the flu vaccine. He followed a recommendation from the board that advises the federal government on vaccine policy; Kennedy replaced the members with his own.

The panel voted against recommending multidose flu shots that contained the preservative thimerosal, but the preservative had already been removed from most vaccines, including most flu shots.

Q: Who should not get the flu shot?

Doctors acknowledged there are always exceptions to broad guidance. For example, people with severe allergies to flu vaccine components should not get vaccines that contain those components.

You should discuss your health situation with your physician for personalized guidance.

Q: Is this season’s flu shot different from last season’s?

Yes. The flu shot was updated for the upcoming flu season, but the changes weren’t drastic. Like last year’s flu shot, this year’s vaccine is known as a three-component or trivalent vaccine that protects against three influenza viruses — two influenza A viruses and one influenza B virus.

This season’s vaccine was altered to target a specific strain of the influenza A/H3N2 virus expected to circulate this season, said Ryan Maves, a professor of medicine at Wake Forest University and a member of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Those changes align with what the World Health Organization has recommended.

Q: When is the best time to get vaccinated?

September, October, or early November. This allows your body time to build up its protective antibodies as flu season begins and ensures your protection doesn’t wane before it ends.

In the U.S., influenza infection typically peaks in February, so you want to make sure you’re vaccinated and your protection is still strong through February and into March, said William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Q: Is this season’s flu vaccine guaranteed to protect against the influenza strain that’s circulating?

Guarantee all protection? No.

Reduce risk of death? Yes.

Similar to the COVID-19 vaccine, flu vaccines are best at “protecting us from the most severe consequences of influenza,” Schaffner said. That means the flu vaccine is most effective at keeping people out of the hospital or the intensive care unit and keeping people from dying.

“A flu vaccine may not guarantee perfect protection against the flu, but skipping your flu shot simply guarantees you’ll have no protection at all,” said Benjamin Lee, a pediatric infectious diseases physician at the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital and an associate professor at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine.

Q: Will the flu shot be readily available this year?

All signs point to yes.

The FDA passed its formula recommendations to vaccine manufacturers March 13 — early enough that the agency expected there would be “ an adequate and diverse supply.” The people and places that administer flu shots should have them soon, typically beginning in September, said Flor Muñoz, a Baylor College of Medicine associate professor of pediatrics and infectious diseases.

Q: I heard Kennedy canceled $500 million in funding for vaccine development. Could this affect future flu vaccines?

Kennedy announced the cancellation of funding for mRNA vaccine development. Some companies have been researching combined mRNA flu and COVID shots, but there are currently no approved mRNA flu vaccines.

Still, experts said the federal government’s changes — funding cuts, vaccine committee purges, deviations from existing procedures — are increasing uncertainty.

©2025 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By Lane Gillespie, Bankrate.com

Try as we might to avoid it, sudden, expensive emergencies can happen to anyone. A pet might need an unexpected vet visit, your car might need a replacement part or you may experience a layoff. That’s where emergency savings come in: By keeping a savings fund that you only use for emergencies, you can have peace of mind knowing you can tackle any big expense that comes your way.

While keeping an emergency savings fund is important, if you’re working with a tight budget, it may not be easy for you to put aside a few thousand dollars. In fact, nearly a quarter (24%) of Americans say they have no emergency savings, according to Bankrate’s Emergency Savings Report.

Americans have struggled to save for years — since 2011, the percentage of people without emergency savings has bounced between 21% and 29%, according to Bankrate’s Emergency Savings Report, which has tracked people’s emergency savings habits for 14 years. But rising prices since 2022 have made it even harder to save money. While the inflation rate has fallen since its 2022 high, Americans are still struggling with the price of their everyday purchases. Several years of rising prices have led to Americans paying 24.3% more for consumer goods since February 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began in the U.S., according to a Bankrate analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data.

Inflation wouldn’t sting as much if Americans received yearly pay raises to match, but wages over the last year haven’t grown fast enough to beat inflation, according to Bankrate’s Wage to Inflation Index. If your income has been stagnant and your everyday expenses are growing more expensive, you’ll have limited funds left over to stash away for savings.

Without emergency savings, you may need to turn to credit cards or borrow money in a pinch, and that’s what many Americans are doing when in financial need. A quarter (25%) of Americans would use a credit card to pay for an unexpected $1,000 emergency expense and pay it off over time, according to December 2024 data from Bankrate’s Emergency Savings Report. With credit card interest rates being over 20%, paying off an emergency expense with a credit card over time will cost you significantly more due to interest charges.

Snowballing economic factors are making it harder to save, especially for younger generations

In a perfect world, you would save at least 20% of your income across retirement accounts, emergency savings and other savings accounts. That’s part of the “50/30/20” rule, which advises you to spend 50% of your income on necessities, 30% on wants and 20% on savings. However, many people are likely to be spending a lot more than 50% of their income on necessities — squeezing the amount they can save.

Consumer prices rose 2.7% year-over-year in June, according to the BLS — the highest annual inflation rate since February. Americans are also squeezed on housing: Nearly half of renters spend more than 30% of their income alone on housing costs, according to the BLS. Similarly, 27% of homeowners pay more than 30% of their income on housing costs, according to product research company Chamber of Commerce.

Add in transportation costs and the rising cost of groceries, and you may easily find yourself cutting into your savings to afford necessities.

While many Americans, regardless of age, are struggling to save money, younger generations today are facing additional stressors that are making saving even more difficult. The labor market is showing signs of weakening, and recent college graduates are particularly struggling to find work as companies slow down on hiring and as AI swallows up entry-level white-collar jobs, according to the Wall Street Journal. What’s more, their spending on non-essentials hasn’t slowed down. Gen Zers (ages 18-28) are the most likely generation to spend more on travel, dining out and live entertainment year-over-year, according to Bankrate’s Discretionary Spending Survey.

Now, Gen Zers and millennials (ages 29-44) are more likely than older generations to have no emergency savings, according to Bankrate’s Emergency Savings Report:

Americans who have no emergency savings in 2025

• Gen Zers (ages 18-28): 34%
• Millennials (ages 29-44): 28%
• Gen Xers (ages 45-60): 24%
• Baby boomers (ages 61-79): 16%

The youngest American adults will likely always have less savings than older generations, since they’re relatively newer to saving. But younger Americans are starting their savings journeys today with added financial barriers that previous generations didn’t face to the same extent. Today’s young adults are kicking off their careers with fewer job prospects and high prices. This can take a toll — 46% of Gen Zers say money negatively impacts their mental health, at least occasionally, according to Bankrate’s Money and Mental Health Survey. This stress has also led to many Gen Zers feeling that planning for their future is pointless, according to CNBC. Without the motivation — or the funds — to save money, more Gen Zers year-over-year have no emergency savings, according to Bankrate:

Americans with no emergency savings, 2024

• Gen Zers: 29%
• Millennials: 34%
• Gen Xers: 31%
• Baby boomers: 16%

How to start — and maintain — an emergency fund when high prices make it harder to save

No matter your age, if you haven’t already started saving, it’s vital to start now, even if it’s only $10 or $20 a month. Building savings is a muscle you need to train — it may be difficult at first, but you’ll be glad to see your progress later.

1. Identify your ‘survival number’

An emergency savings fund should have at least three to six months of expenses stashed away, which is enough to cover most emergencies, like a job loss, car repair or emergency room bill. Saving this amount can be intimidating, but it’s more attainable than it seems.

If you spend $4,000 a month on recurring expenses, such as your rent, utilities, phone bill, groceries and transportation, that doesn’t actually mean you need to save $12,000 to $24,000 in your emergency savings fund. Your emergency fund can be based on your “survival number,” or the minimum amount of expenses you need to survive.

“Every few months or so, I like to go through my budget and identify my six-month survival number,” says Bankrate U.S. Economy Reporter Sarah Foster, who has tracked U.S. wages and inflation for the past several years. “That means including things like rent, utilities and groceries — not nice-to-have extras like streaming subscriptions or monthly facials and manicures. This number usually looks different from my regular budget, and that’s the point. It makes the goal feel more realistic.”

To know your survival number, check your budget and split your expenses into two categories: necessities and non-necessities. Necessities will include your:

• Rent or mortgage
• Utilities, phone and internet
• Insurance and health care co-pays
• Loan payments, such as a car loan, minimum credit card payments and student loans
• Basic groceries, household supplies and pet food
• Transportation costs

Non-necessities will include everything else, including subscriptions, eating and drinking out, personal grooming expenses, hobbies and more — everything you’re able to cut if you lose your job or otherwise need to fall back on your savings.

If you spend $4,000 a month on recurring expenses, you might realize you only spend $3,000 a month on necessities. That means you only need to save $9,000 to $18,000 in your emergency savings fund, which is much more attainable.

2. Start with a savings sprint

If you want to start saving for emergencies, you may need to cut down on spending to make room in your budget. But it can be challenging to suddenly cut down on everyday luxuries like ordering coffee out or getting your nails done.

The good news is, you don’t need to cut out luxuries permanently. To give yourself a head start on your savings, consider a savings sprint. Try cutting out non-essential expenses for a set period of time, such as four or six weeks. Set a savings goal, such as $500, that you can reasonably meet in that time by cutting out non-essentials. Set that money aside in a separate savings account — and don’t touch it.

When the savings sprint timeframe is up, you can go back to spending money on non-essentials — but use that time to figure out what is important for you to spend money on. For example, if after the sprint is up, you realize you actually don’t miss spending money on coffee shops, you can continue funneling that money toward your savings.

It can be hard to find the motivation to keep saving if you are only putting aside a small amount each month. However, a savings sprint gives you a jump start on your emergency savings, providing a motivational boost to watch your savings grow.

3. Make your bank account work for you

You can open a basic savings account at most banks where you keep your main checking account. But keeping your checking and savings accounts close together can make it all too easy to dip into your savings for non-emergencies.

Instead, try opening a savings account with a separate bank from the one where you keep your checking account. It takes several days to transfer funds between most banks, which will discourage you from dipping into your emergency savings too easily.

Any savings account will work to stash your savings, but you might want to consider a high-yield savings account (HYSA), which will offer a higher interest rate than a traditional savings account, which will help your savings grow even faster.

Also, try auto-depositing your savings directly into the account (also known as paying yourself first). By remaining hands-off, it’ll be easier to maintain your new savings habit.

You can keep your savings in one lump sum in a savings account, but some banks today allow you to go one step further. You can split up your funds into savings buckets, meaning you can assign roles to your funds:

Savings buckets let you know where your savings are going by separating them according to your goals, such as an emergency fund, travel fund or house down payment. Not only does this allow you to avoid touching your emergency funds when withdrawing money for a vacation, it serves as a constant reminder of the reasons why you’re saving in the first place.

The bottom line

Saving money isn’t always easy, but it’s vital for your financial health. If you don’t feel like you have enough room in your budget to save, consider cutting expenses where you can by examining your subscriptions, setting spending limits and cutting down on unnecessary spending. Or, you can try selling unwanted possessions or even picking up a side hustle.

Key takeaways:

• Nearly a quarter of Americans don’t have an emergency savings fund. If you’re one of them, that puts you at risk of taking on significant debt.
• It can be challenging to start and maintain an emergency savings fund. Determining the minimum you need to save and starting with a savings sprint can help.
• Opening a high-yield savings account will help you grow your savings without the temptation to use the funds for day-to-day spending.

©2025 Bankrate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By JESSICA DAMIANO

If you’d love to grow fruit trees but think you don’t have the space, think again. You don’t need an orchard or even a large backyard to enjoy garden-picked fruit.

Instead, use a method perfected by Louis XIV’s gardeners back in the 1600s at Versailles, when cold, windy winters, not a lack of space, inspired them to train trees to grow flat against walls. Their goal was to use the masonry as a windbreak and insulator, but the method they called “espalier” also made excellent use of a tiny footprint.

The trees’ form maximized their exposure to sunlight, and also enabled the trees to withstand chilly temperatures better than their untrained cousins. Surprisingly, perhaps, they also produced more fruit.

Which trees are good for espalier?

Most trees with long, flexible branches, such as apple, cherry, fig, peach, pear, plum and quince lend themselves nicely to the espalier method. Even ornamental trees like magnolia, firethorn and witch hazel are good candidates.

The name “espalier” comes from French, indicating something to lean a shoulder against, as the trees lean on their supports.

But the 17th century French didn’t invent espalier; it is believed to have been practiced in the Middle Ages and even as far back as ancient Egypt. The Versailles gardeners, however, gave the method a name — and fame.

How it works

Training an espalier tree requires equal parts pruning and patience. You remove undesired branches and coax the remainder to grow sideways by affixing them to walls or fencing with wires or frames until they submit to the process and adapt to the pattern.

Trees will send up shape-spoiling shoots that will continually need to be clipped, but the desired branches will take longer to establish.

To accelerate growth, apply a dose of high-nitrogen fertilizer (look for a ratio of 12-4-8 or 16-4-8 on the package label) three times per season — in mid spring, early summer and late summer.

Don’t expect flowers or fruit during this stage, which can take several years. The point of the fertilizer is to force the trees to direct most of their energy on growth, not production.

When the tree has achieved the shape and size you desire, switch to a fertilizer specifically formulated for fruit trees and cut down the frequency to just one application per year, in spring, following the dosage recommended on the package. (If growing a non-fruiting tree, seek out a product intended for the species).

The method, however, can lead to increased pest and disease problems, as growing a tree pressed against a wall will restrict air flow around it. So be sure to monitor trees closely, and address issues quickly if they arise.

All that TLC will pay off with a beautiful, living garden sculpture –- and a great story to tell as you await your juicy harvest.

Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

For more AP gardening stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/gardening.

By Julie Appleby, KFF Health News

People thinking about starting a business or retiring early — before they’re old enough for Medicare — may want to wait until November, when they can see just how much their Affordable Care Act health insurance will cost next year. Sharp increases are expected.

Premiums for ACA health plans, also known as Obamacare, which many early retirees and small-business owners rely on for coverage, are going up, partly due to policy changes advanced by the Trump administration and Congress. At the same time, more generous tax subsidies that have helped most policyholders pay for coverage are set to expire at the end of December.

After that, subsidies would return to what they were before the covid-19 pandemic. Also being reinstated would be an income cap barring people who earn more than four times the federal poverty level from getting any tax credits to help them purchase coverage. Although Congress potentially could act to extend the credits, people weighing optional life changes should factor in the potential cost if lawmakers fail to do so.

“I would hate for people to make a big decision now and then, in a few months, realize, ‘I’m not even going to qualify for a tax credit next year,’” said Lauren Jenkins, an insurance agent whose brokerage helps people sign up for coverage in Oklahoma. “Coupled with the rate increases, that could be significant, especially for someone at or near retirement, when it could easily cost over $1,000 a month.”

Still, how things play out in the real world will vary.

The key factor is income, as the subsidy amount people receive is primarily based on household income and local insurance costs.

People experiencing the biggest dollar increase in out-of-pocket premiums next year will be those who lose subsidies altogether because they earn more than 400% of the federal poverty level. This year, that’s $62,600 for a single person and $84,600 for a couple.

This “subsidy cliff” was removed in the legislation first enacted during the covid pandemic to create enhanced subsidies, but it will be back next year if they expire. About 1.6 million people who earn more than 400% of the poverty threshold bought ACA plans this year, many of them getting some tax credits to help with the premiums, according to KFF data. KFF is a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News.

“A lot of small-biz owners fall around that level of income,” said David Chase, vice president of policy and advocacy for the Small Business Majority, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, which is urging Congress to extend the credits.

And a good chunk of ACA enrollment consists of small-business owners or their employees because, unlike larger firms, most small businesses don’t offer group health plans.

In the Washington metropolitan area, “seven out of 10 people who qualify for lower premiums [because of the tax credits] are small-business owners,” said Mila Kofman, executive director of the DC Health Benefit Exchange Authority.

Congress must decide by the end of December whether to extend the subsidies a second time. Permanently doing so could cost taxpayers $335 billion over the next decade, but not acting could cause financial pain for policyholders and pose political repercussions for lawmakers.

Because new premiums and smaller subsidies would take effect in January, the potential fallout has some Republican lawmakers worried about the midterm elections, according to news reports.

Republican pollsters Tony Fabrizio and Bob Ward warned the GOP in a memo that extending the enhanced credits could mean the difference between success and failure in some midterm races, because support for the premium help “comes from more than two-thirds of Trump voters and three-quarters of Swing voters.”

While supporters credit the enhanced subsidies for a record 24 million sign-ups for this year’s ACA plans, critics have blamed them for instances in which sales brokers or consumers engaged in improper enrollment.

“The expanded subsidies were a temporary covid pandemic policy enacted by congressional Democrats on a party-line vote and scheduled to end after 2025,” said Brian Blase, president of the Paragon Health Institute, a conservative think tank. “They have led to tremendous fraud and waste, they reduce employer coverage, and they should be permitted to expire.”

Ed Haislmaier, a senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, acknowledged that people earning more than 400% of the poverty level would not be happy with losing access to subsidies, but he expects most to stay enrolled because they want to avoid huge medical bills that could threaten their businesses or savings.

“They are middle-class or upper-income people who are self-employed, or early retirees with significant income, which means they have a lot of assets behind that income,” he said. “These are people who view insurance as financial protection.”

He thinks lawmakers would win political support from voters in this category by addressing two of their other major ACA concerns: that annual deductibles are too high and insurers’ networks of doctors and hospitals are too small.

“If you just give these people money by extending subsidies, it’s only addressing one of their problems, and it’s the one they are least upset about,” Haislmaier said. “That is the political dynamics of this.”

Here’s how the expiration of subsidies could play out for some hypothetical consumers.

People in households earning less than four times the poverty rate would still get subsidies — just not as generous as the current ones.

For example, those whose earnings are at the lower end of the income scale — say, just over 150% of the poverty threshold, or about $23,000 — will go from paying a national average of about $2 a month, or $24 toward coverage for the year, to $72 a month, or $864 a year, according to a KFF online calculator.

On the other end of the income spectrum, a 55-year-old Portland, Oregon, couple with a household income of $85,000 would also take a big hit on the cost of their benchmark plan. They currently pay about $600 a month in premiums — about 8.5% of their household income — with subsidies kicking in about $1,000 to cover the remainder.

Next year, if the tax credits expire, the same couple would not get any federal help because they earn over four times the poverty limit. They would pay the full monthly premium, with no subsidies, which would be about $1,800, based on initial 2026 premium rates filed with state regulators, said Jared Ortaliza, a policy analyst at KFF.

People should begin to see insurance rates late this fall, and certainly by Nov. 1, when the ACA’s open enrollment season begins, said Jenkins, the Oklahoma insurance agent. That gives them time to mull over whether they want to make changes in their plan — or in their lives, such as quitting a job that has health insurance or retiring early. This year, open enrollment extends to Jan. 15. Under new legislation, that open period will shorten by about a month, starting with the 2027 sign-up period.

Those who do enroll for 2026, especially the self-employed and people retiring early, should closely track their incomes during the year, she said.

It would be easy to bust through that income cap, she said.

If they do, they’ll have to pay back any tax credits they initially qualified for. Their income might rise unexpectedly during the year, for example, pushing them over the limit. An income bump could come from drawing down more money from retirement accounts than planned, landing a new customer account, or even from winning big at the casino.

“Maybe they win $5,000 at the casino, but that puts them $500 over the limit for the year,” Jenkins said. “They might have to pay back $12,000 in tax credits for winning a few thousand at the casino.”

©2025 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By Christine Mai-Duc, KFF Health News

Jacob Sweidan has seen his patients through the federal immigration raids of the 1990s, a sitting governor’s call to abolish birthright citizenship, and the highly publicized workplace crackdowns and family separation policies of President Donald Trump’s first term.

But in his 40 years as a pediatrician in Southern California serving those too poor to afford care, including many immigrant families, Sweidan said he’s never seen a drop-off in patient visits like this.

“They are scared to come to the offices. They’re getting sicker and sicker,” said Sweidan, who specializes in neonatology and runs five clinics in Los Angeles and Orange counties. “And when they are near collapsing, they go to the ER because they have no choice.”

In the last two months, he has sent young children to the emergency room because their parents worked up the courage to call his office only after several days of high fever. He said he attended to a 14-year-old boy in the ER who was on the verge of a diabetic coma because he’d run out of insulin, his parents too frightened to venture out for a refill.

Sweidan had stopped offering telehealth visits after the COVID-19 pandemic, but he and other health care providers have brought them back as ramped-up immigration enforcement drives patients without legal status — and even their U.S. citizen children — deeper into the shadows.

Patients in need of care are increasingly scared to seek it after Trump rescinded a Biden-era policy that barred immigration officials from conducting operations in “sensitive” areas such as schools, hospitals, and churches. Clinics and health plans have taken a page out of their COVID playbooks, revamping tested strategies to care for patients scared to leave the house.

Sara Rosenbaum, professor emerita of health law and policy at George Washington University, said she’s heard from clinic administrators and industry colleagues who have experienced a substantial drop in in-person visits among immigrant patients.

“I don’t think there’s a community health center in the country that is not feeling this,” Rosenbaum said.

At St. John’s Community Health clinics in the Los Angeles area, which serve an estimated 30,000 patients without legal status annually, virtual visits have skyrocketed from roughly 8% of appointments to about 25%, said Jim Mangia, president and chief executive officer. The organization is also registering some patients for in-home health visits, a service funded by private donors, and has trained employees how to read a warrant.

“People are not picking up their medicine,” Mangia said. “They’re not seeing the doctor.”

Mangia said that, in the past eight weeks, federal agents have attempted to gain access to patients at a St. John’s mobile clinic in Downey and pointed a gun at an employee during a raid at MacArthur Park. Last month, Immigration and Customs Enforcement contractors sat in a Southern California hospital waiting for a patient and federal prosecutors charged two health center workers they say interfered with immigration officers’ attempts to arrest someone at an Ontario facility.

C.S., an immigrant from Huntington Park without legal status, said she signed up for St. John’s home visit services in July because she fears going outside. The 71-year-old woman, who asked to be identified only by her initials for fear of deportation, said she has missed blood work and other lab tests this year. Too afraid to take the bus, she skipped a recent appointment with a specialist for her arthritic hands. She is also prediabetic and struggles with leg pain after a car hit her a few years ago.

“I feel so worried because if I don’t get the care I need, it can get much worse,” she said in Spanish, speaking about her health issues through an interpreter. A doctor at the clinic gave her a number to call in case she wants to schedule an appointment by phone.

Officials at the federal Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to questions from KFF Health News seeking comment about the impact of the raids on patients.

There’s no indication the Trump administration intends to shift its strategy. Federal officials have sought to pause a judge’s order temporarily restricting how they conduct raids in Southern California after immigrant advocates filed a lawsuit accusing ICE of deploying unconstitutional tactics. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Aug. 1 denied the request, leaving the restraining order in place.

In July, Los Angeles County supervisors directed county agencies to explore expanding virtual appointment options after the county’s director of health services noted a “huge increase” in phone and video visits. Meanwhile, state lawmakers in California are considering legislation that would restrict immigration agents’ access to places such as schools and health care facilities — Colorado’s governor, Democrat Jared Polis, signed a similar bill into law in May.

Immigrants and their families will likely end up using more costly care in emergency rooms as a last resort. And recently passed cuts to Medicaid are expected to further stress ERs and hospitals, said Nicole Lamoureux, president of the National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics.

“Not only are clinics trying to reach people who are retreating from care before they end up with more severe conditions, but the health care safety net is going to be strained due to an influx in patient demand,” Lamoureux said.

Mitesh Popat, CEO of Venice Family Clinic, nearly 90% of whose patients are at or below the federal poverty line, said staff call patients before appointments to ask if they plan to come in person and to offer telehealth as an option if they are nervous. They also call if a patient doesn’t show five minutes into their appointment and offer immediate telehealth service as an alternative. The clinic has seen a roughly 5% rise in telehealth visits over the past month, Popat said.

In the Salinas Valley, an area with a large concentration of Spanish-speaking farmworkers, Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas began promoting telehealth services with Spanish radio ads in January. The clinics also trained people how to use Zoom and other digital platforms at health fairs and community meetings.

CalOptima Health, which covers nearly 1 in 3 residents of Orange County and is the biggest Medi-Cal benefits administrator in the area, sent more than a quarter-million text messages to patients in July encouraging them to use telehealth rather than forgo care, said Chief Executive Officer Michael Hunn. The insurer has also set up a webpage of resources for patients seeking care by phone or home delivery of medication.

“The Latino community is facing a fear pandemic. They’re quarantining just the way we all had to during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Seciah Aquino, executive director of the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California, an advocacy group that promotes health access for immigrants and Latinos.

But substituting telehealth isn’t a long-term solution, said Isabel Becerra, chief executive officer of the Coalition of Orange County Community Health Centers, whose members reported increases in telehealth visits as high as 40% in the past month.

“As a stopgap, it’s very effective,” said Becerra, whose group represents 20 clinics in Southern California. “Telehealth can only take you so far. What about when you need lab work? You can’t look at a cavity through a screen.”

Telehealth also brings a host of other challenges, including technical hiccups with translation services and limited computer proficiency or internet access among patients, she said.

And it’s not just immigrants living in the country unlawfully who are scared to seek out care. In southeast Los Angeles County, V.M., a 59-year-old naturalized citizen, relies on her roommate to pick up her groceries and prescriptions. She asked that only her initials be used to share her story and those of her family and friends out of fear they could be targeted.

When she does venture out — to church or for her monthly appointment at a rheumatology clinic — she carries her passport and looks askance at any cars with tinted windows.

“I feel paranoid,” said V.M., who came to the U.S. more than 40 years ago and is a patient of Venice Family Clinic. “Sometimes I feel scared. Sometimes I feel angry. Sometimes I feel sad.”

She now sees her therapist virtually for her depression, which began 10 years ago when rheumatoid arthritis forced her to stop working. She worries about her older brother, who has high blood pressure and has stopped going to the doctor, and about a friend from the rheumatology clinic, who ices swollen hands and feet because she’s missed four months of appointments in a row.

“Somebody has to wake up or people are going to start falling apart outside on the streets and they’re going to die,” she said.

This article was produced by KFF Health News , which publishes California Healthline , an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation .

©2025 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By Summer Ballentine, The Detroit News

Michael MacGillivray had planned for months to replace his gas-powered Ford Bronco with an electric vehicle.

As a certified public accountant, he followed congressional debate over President Donald Trump’s sprawling spending and tax legislation, which would end $7,500 tax credits for some first-time EV buyers. When Trump signed the legislation into law July 4, MacGillivray knew he needed to act.

“I was leaning toward the EV regardless, but the tax credit pushed me over the edge,” MacGillivray told The Detroit News while driving his new Tesla Model Y back from a road trip to Toronto.

The 25-year-old Ann Arbor resident is among a surge of what analysts call “fence sitters” buying EVs in the final weeks before the tax credit expires Sept. 30. And automakers are taking advantage of the short-term boost to clear inventory in anticipation of at least a temporary drop in interest once the credits end.

Hyundai’s electrified sales jumped 50% compared to July 2024. Combined sales of electrified Toyota and Lexus models rose 6.7% to 90,426. July was General Motors Co.’s best-ever month for its electrified fleet, according to the company, which said it sold more than 19,000 EVs, a 115% increase from July 2024.

“Everybody wants them right now before the tax credits go away,” said Walter Tutak, dealer trade inventory manager at Champion-Hargreaves Chevrolet dealership in Royal Oak.

Honda Motor Co. reaped a record July in electrified sales, in part because “the impending expiration of EV tax credits led some buyers to pull ahead across the industry,” Jessika Laudermilk, assistant vice president of U.S. sales at Honda, said in an email. The automaker’s Prologue EV recorded 6,318 sales in July, up 82.7% year over year.

“We expect to see this continuing in August and September,” Laudermilk said.

Automakers are not required to report monthly sales, and Tesla Inc. did not disclose data in response to a Detroit News inquiry.

Stellantis NV, which also did not report July sales data, is one of many automakers offering aggressive incentives on both EVs and plug-in hybrids, along with prominent language on its brand sites trying to spur customers into action: “Get your EV incentive while you can!” Jeep says on its website in a promotion for the all-electric Wagoneer S.

“Brands are going crazy with incentives, and it’s good for consumers,” said Lauren Fix, CEO of the consulting firm Automotive Aspects.

Auto reviewer Anton Wahlman, a former technology analyst, said the next few weeks will be “an inventory cleaning event.”

Sam Fiorani, industry analyst at AutoForecast Solutions, said manufacturers will compensate for the loss of the EV tax credit with their own incentives to keep prices stable: “It’s unlikely that you’ll see the prices drop, but you will see leasing deals or customer rebates.”

Analysts expect manufacturers to further scale back production of EVs to match limited interest among buyers, especially as Trump works to remove federal emissions requirements that pressured companies to make those models regardless of market demand.

Stellantis has already started dialing back production of its electrified offerings, with dealers prevented from ordering several models.

“In line with our retail priorities and the plans shared with our dealer network, we are working to ensure our production plan is in line with consumer demand,” according to a statement from the company.

After the industry more broadly scales down production over the course of several years, “they’re only going to sell some of them if they can make money on them,” Wahlman said.

“So there will be far fewer models and they will be priced much higher,” he said.

“In the midterm, you’re going to see EVs disappearing from the marketplace,” Fiorani added. “Currently, they’re encouraged by emissions (regulations) and by the federal incentives, but once those two things go away, then there’s no real incentive for a manufacturer to add a new model to the lineup in a market that’s already crowded with EVs.”

Automakers say they remain committed to EVs in the long run, although many are shifting investments toward hybrids and gas-powered, money-making trucks and SUVs.

“Toyota’s commitment to vehicle electrification is just one important element of its effort to help the world build a zero-carbon future,” Toyota Motor North America spokesperson Derrick Justin Brown said in an email. “Through the current industry shifts, including those around EV tax credits, that commitment remains strong, and there are no current plans to alter our approach.”

Laudermilk said Honda views electrification as “a marathon, not a sprint.”

“We remain focused on expanding our electrified lineup, utilizing our flexible manufacturing to produce ICE, hybrid-electric and battery electric models on the same production lines to meet the needs of our customers,” Laudermilk said.

GM executives have said the company will continue to pursue EV innovations, even as it beefs up its gas-powered fleet with investments at Orion Assembly in Michigan, Tonawanda Propulsion in New York and Toledo Propulsion Systems in Ohio.

Ford Motor Co. last year canceled plans to produce a three-row, battery-powered SUV at its Oakville Assembly Complex in Ontario, planning instead to build gas-powered Super Duty pickups there starting next year. And the Dearborn automaker this month delayed the launch of its next-generation electric van and electric full-size pickup, though it also said it would invest $2 billion to build a midsize electric pickup at Louisville Assembly.

Stellantis this summer announced plans to bring back 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 engines in Jeep SUVs and Ram light-duty pickups as Trump and a GOP-controlled Congress slashed emission and fuel economy standards that had forced the engine’s slow demise in the first place.

Despite the more favorable regulatory environment for gas engines, Fiorani said automakers neglect electrification at their peril.

“A good manufacturer will see that this is the wave of the future and will invest in it,” he said. “A short-term manufacturer will go back to building just ICE vehicles and ignore the future of EV.”

©2025 www.detroitnews.com. Visit at detroitnews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By ELAINE KURTENBACH, Associated Press Business Writer

BANGKOK (AP) — Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said Friday that the company is discussing a potential new computer chip designed for China with the Trump administration.

Huang was asked about a possible “B30A” semiconductor for artificial intelligence data centers for China while on a visit to Taiwan, where he was meeting Nvidia’s key manufacturing partner, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., the world’s largest chip maker.

“I’m offering a new product to China for … AI data centers, the follow-on to H20,” Huang said. But he added that “That’s not our decision to make. It’s up to, of course, the United States government. And we’re in dialogue with them, but it’s too soon to know.”

Such chips are graphics processing units, or GPUs, a type of device used to build and update a range of AI systems. But they are less powerful than Nvidia’s top semiconductors today, which cannot be sold to China due to U.S. national security restrictions.

The B30A, based on California-based Nvidia’s specialized Blackwell technology, is reported to operate at about half the speed of Nvidia’s main B300 chips.

Huang praised the the Trump administration for recently approving sales of Nvidia’s H20 chips to China after such business was suspended in April, with the proviso that the company must pay a 15% tax to the U.S. government on those sales. Chip maker Advanced Micro Devices, or AMD, was told to pay the same tax on its sales of its MI380 chips to China.

As part of broader trade talks, Beijing and Washington recently agreed to pull back some non-tariff restrictions. China approved more permits for rare earth magnets to be exported to the U.S., while Washington lifted curbs on chip design software and jet engines. After lobbying by Huang, it also allowed sales of the H20 chips to go through.

Huang did not comment directly on the tax when asked but said Nvidia appreciated being able to sell H20s to China.

He said such sales pose no security risk for the United States. Nvidia is also speaking with Beijing to reassure Chinese authorities that those chips do not pose a “backdoor” security risk, Huang said.

“We have made very clear and put to rest that H20 has no security backdoors. There are no such things. There never has. And so hopefully the response that we’ve given to the Chinese government will be sufficient,” he said.

The Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s internet watchdog, recently posted a notice on its website referring to alleged “serious security issues” with Nvidia’s computer chips.

It said U.S. experts on AI had said such chips have “mature tracking and location and remote shutdown technologies” and Nvidia had been asked to explain any such risks and provide documentation about the issue.

Huang said Nvidia was surprised by the accusation and was discussing the issue with Beijing.

“As you know, they requested and urged us to secure licenses for the H20s for some time. And I’ve worked quite hard to help them secure the licenses. And so hopefully this will be resolved,” Huang said.

Unconfirmed reports said Chinese authorities were also unhappy over comments by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick suggesting the U.S. was only selling outdated chips to China.

Speaking on CNBC, Lutnick said the U.S. strategy was to keep China reliant on American chip technology.

“We don’t sell them our best stuff,” he said. “Not our second best stuff. Not even our third best, but I think fourth best is where we’ve come out that we’re cool,” he said.

China’s ruling Communist Party has made self-reliance in advanced technology a strategic priority, though it still relies on foreign semiconductor knowhow for much of what it produces.

AP Videojournalist Taijing Wu in Taipei contributed to this report.

The white-washed Moorish-style oceanfront villas at Maui’s Fairmont Kea Lani are perched just above Polo Beach, a beautiful arc-shaped cove in south Maui’s Wailea resort region. There are 37 of these deluxe abodes, each wrapped in magenta-hued bougainvillea and framed by flowering plumeria trees. It’s a dreamy scene, like a seaside utopian neighborhood that doesn’t feel quite real.

In fact, these island villas are a real life fantasy, worthy of an over-the-top romantic splurge with someone special, an unforgettable trip with the kids, a special escape with friends, or a once-in-a-lifetime large family gathering. And the Fairmont is just one of a select few five-star luxury resorts in Hawaii that offer a variety of amenity-packed oceanfront villas and bungalows just steps from the sea, sand and shore.

Step inside these two, three and four-bedroom villas and you enter sanctuaries of tastefully designed rooms adorned with island-themed art, supremely comfy sofas and beds crafted from tropical wood, luxurious showers and tubs, big screen TVs, and the latest kitchen appliances. The villa’s oceanside lanais, some equipped with their own plunge pool, are perfect perches to grill it up, connect with nature, enjoy island breezes, and, of course, and to soak in spectacular Pacific Ocean sunsets. Better yet, in winter months, many of these villas are ideal for watching Hawaii’s spectacular annual gray whale migration just offshore, with binoculars included at some.

Ready for an over-the-top Hawaiian oceanfront villa or bungalow splurge? A tropical retreat without equal? Here are some of my top choices at Hawaii’s leading resorts plus a few recommendation for villas and bungalows outside the resorts that offer much of the luxury, escape and easy access to the beach as those found in the resorts.

Maui

While you won’t find bungalows suspended over ocean water like those in Tahiti, Fiji or the Maldives, south Maui’s Wailea region offers a sumptuous collection of two, three and four-bedroom oceanfront villas at three resorts: the Fairmont Kea Lani, Andaz Maui and Wailea Beach resorts.

The Fairmont Kea Lani has 30 two-story villas to supplement their luxurious 413 one-bedroom suites. Each villa spans 1,800-2,200 square feet. Twenty-one are oceanfront while the other 16 are ocean view.

The Kea Lani’s two and and three-bedroom villas are just feet from the ocean and the swaying palms of Polo Beach. Units include fully equipped kitchens with dining areas,  master bedrooms featuring spacious en-suites, marble-lined bathrooms with deep soaking tubs and walk-in showers. Private courtyards with plunge pools are ideal for sipping mai tais, taking in the sunsets over the Pacific or barbecuing for the family.

Guests are welcomed to the villa experience with a delightful basket filled with tropical fruit, Hawaiian jams, freshly baked banana bread, cream, milk, butter and snacks. Chilled waters and tropical juices are refreshed in the villas daily. Better yet, villa guests enjoy an expansive, complimentary buffet breakfast daily at Kea Lani Restaurant. Details: fairmont-kea-lani.com/stay/villas

The Wailea Beach Resort (Marriott) has four new oceanfront villas with one- to four-bedroom configurations to complement their exquisite Sundeck rooms, some of which provide immediate access to the shore. The villas feature gourmet kitchens equipped with state of the art appliances, along with dining seating for four adjacent to the island counter, allowing for private chef demonstrations or entertaining guests. Spa-like bathrooms include a standalone soaking tub and spacious showers. Details: waileabeachresort.com

Andaz Maui’s contemporary, residential-style villas offer two-, three- and four-bedroom configurations and draw their inspiration from the island’s natural beauty. The premier Makai oceanfront villas are just steps away from Mōkapu Beach while the Hema and ‘Ilikai villas are perched at the top and sides of the main resort allowing for quintessential ocean views.

Each includes a full kitchen with high-end Bosch and Miele appliances, private laundry room, marble floors and modern furnishings that truly elevate the villa experience. The private lanais feature custom-made outdoor lounges, dining tables, chairs, and Viking grills. Select villas offer a private plunge pool or hot tub. Details: villasatandazmaui.com

On West Maui’s Ka’anapali shore, the Royal Lahaina Bungalows offers several oceanfront bungalows. Although more modest than other Maui luxury resorts, you’ll still find easy beach access and comfortable, well-appointed bungalows such as the 1,200-foot Royal Beach House Suite, which sleeps 6 and has a private lanai, pool, hot tub, and gated beach access. Details: royallahaina.com

Oahu

On Oahu’s famed North Shore, the Ritz Carlton, Oahu, Turtle Bay’s Ocean Bungalows offer luxurious North Shore escapes right on the ocean. Some 42 waterfront bungalows are set alongside the resort and offer a blend of indulgence and serenity. Each includes access to the exclusive Club Lounge (a private space in the main resort), dedicated concierge service, premium all-day food and beverage offerings, and complementary included resort activities. Details: www.turtlebayresort.com

The Big Island

The Four Seasons Hualalai has three oceanfront villas, the Hawaii Loa Presidental Villa, Makaloa Villa and Ho’onanea Villa, each with private pools and spacious balconies or terraces. Details: fourseasons.com/hualalai

Just steps from the beach, the Mauna Lani’s Residence collection offers villas with two master suites and 2.5 bathrooms. Tailored to large parties, these expansive private homes sleep up to six. Begin your morning with a stroll up the coast, then return to your private pool for a soak and sunset session before dinner reservations at one of five distinct dining outlets in the resort. Details: aubergeresorts.com/maunalani/vacation-homes/residences

Beyond the resorts

Looking for villas and bungalows outside the resorts? Hawaii abounds in luxury beachfront villas, bungalows and condominium-style accommodations, some with privileges at nearby resorts.

Oahu: Ke Iki Beach Bungalows on the famed North Shore. Located on one of the top beaches on Oahu’s North Shore, these bungalows offer simplicity, sunsets and solace. Check out the  complimentary yoga classes held beneath two 100-year-old monkey pod trees.Details: keikibeach.com

The Big Island: A wide variety of spectacular private oceanfront and oceanview villas in the Mauna Kea, Mauna Lani, Hualalai and Kohala Coast resort regions. Details: bigislandvillas.com

Kauai: The ground level, two-bedroom condominium suites at Hanalei Colony Resort offer sweeping views of Hanalei Bay and Kauai’s lush mountains and are set in traditional low-rise plantation-style buildings. The sand is just steps away. Details: hcr.com

Kauai: The lawn level condos at Whaler’s Cove in Poipu, offer unique, sweeping views interrupted only by swaying coconut palms. The resort’s curved oceanfront architecture makes it feel like you are on a cruise ship, hovering above a panoramic ocean view. Details: whalerscoveresort.com

Maui: Wailea Elua Village on Maui’s south Shore has luxurious on-three bedroom oceanfront condos among their collection. Oceanfront units are just steps from pristine Ulua Beach and the Wailea resort’s wonderful shoreline walking path. Details: coraltreeresidencecollection.com/wailea-elua-village

Maui: Kapalua Bay Villas has deluxe one and two-bedroom villas perched on sunny, secluded Kapaula Bay, far from the hoi polloi. Details: hawaiivacationcondos.outrigger.com/hawaii/maui/the-kapalua-villas-maui

By Alan Behr, Tribune News Service

The sun drifted teasingly toward the Norwegian Sea, an amber ball suspended as if from a string. It touched down gently on a low peninsula as the Richard With turned to starboard. The finger of land threatened to obstruct the view from those of us standing on a high deck astern, but we checked by our watches: For the second time on our cruise north along Norway’s western coast, we had viewed the sun at midnight. Nods and words of agreement rose in Norwegian, English and other languages.

Here was another bonus for having taken this trip not long after the summer solstice. My primary purpose was to sail the fjords — the long, glacier-formed inlets that jut into Norway’s expansive western coastline. Along the route north, the fjords shelter harbor towns over which verdant mountains rise like castle walls. In front of many, a modest lighthouse stands sentry.

You can tour the fjords by road, but for me, that would be like visiting Paris by helicopter; the point of Paris is to walk it and to feel it, and the point of the fjord communities is to steam into them and to come to know them by sea and by land.

I had boarded my ship, the MS Richard With of the Hurtigruten line, in Bergen, an old trading city with a famous harbor-front row of historic, wood-framed merchant houses. I had wisely allowed myself an overnight at a new and luxurious hotel, the Skostredet, to better manage jet lag and also to treat myself to a funicular ride up the nearby Mount Floyen for dinner at the gourmet Floirestauranten. There, I had checked my backpack for my essentials: a 1961 Leica 280mm telephoto lens retrofitted to a contemporary Leica M11 digital camera; binoculars from the same German source; and a very particular flag, carefully unwrapped around its pole.

By dinnertime the next day, I was aboard my ship and was underway.

Two years earlier, in Oslo, I had struggled to find things that were uniquely Norwegian, so cosmopolitan and diverse had the nation’s capital become. Hurtigruten’s six-night Northern Express would now give me the chance to see Norway among Norwegians. That is in good part because, like others in the line’s fleet, the Richard With is a cruise ship with all the amenities and comforts that the idea of cruising implies, but it is also a ferry, taking locals to ports of call up and down the coastline. At mealtimes, and on shore excursions, I had the chance to get to meet couples and families who were just passing through, to and from homes nearby. All the while, however, I kept secret my purpose for having chosen this northbound route and why the flag furled inside my backpack was part of my visit.

Excursions by bus helped me understand the experience of living and working by the sea, and it was good to walk into towns and along the countryside through which the fjords pushed seawater so imposingly inland. But the biggest thrill came when a group of us donned protective suits in the port of Bode and boarded a flotilla of rigid inflatable boats. Our captain and guide was a solid, agreeable young woman who looked to have lived and worked before the mast since childhood. She steered us up the Salstraumen, a small strait that quickly led us into one of the world’s strongest tidal currents.

Our boat pitched and rocked, our motor seeming at times to wrestle with the strait for control of our destiny as we poured in at high speed under a gray dome of unmoving cloud. We slowed to a swimmer’s pace, and around us seagulls climbed and then dove onto broad whirlpools — the maelstroms — famous vortices of such mythical strength that writers from Edgar Allen Poe to Jules Verne promised that to sail as close to any as we did was to risk being sucked into the depths. Our faces and goggles were now sprayed with water; it was a rugged, yet somehow ethereal thrill — rather as if consciousness had intruded itself upon a darkening dream just enough to offer peace.

Not long after, aboard the Richard With, we celebrated our crossing of the Arctic Circle. When my father had crossed the equator in service with the United States Army in World War II, he had been subjected to an elaborate (and rather rude) initiation ceremony — and got a certificate that I still have. Here was I, decades later, welcomed into my own geographic rite of passage by our ship’s captain, who poured ladles of ice down my back to the cheers of fellow passengers. And I got a certificate. That evening, we welcomed the midnight sun.

71°10’21”N: Our largest excursion group of the trip arrived at the North Cape, the northernmost point on the European continental landmass. A pedestal-mounted skeletal globe marks the spot. I took turns with a father-son team from Poland, snapping each other’s pictures beside the landmark.

We returned to the Richard With and steamed eastward through the Barents Sea. Nearly 1,000 feet below us lay the mangled wreck of the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst — sunk by the Royal Navy on Boxing Day (Dec. 26), 1943. Our final meal aboard ship was dinner, served to me quietly by my waiter as I enjoyed my final view of the sea from my table just below prow-facing picture windows.

We disembarking passengers left early the next morning, along with our luggage, for Kirkenes, population 3,400. The town, which lies on Norway’s short eastern border with Russia, is supported by two notable sources of trade: tourism and espionage. It enjoys an international reputation as a quiet and inviting den of spies, with Russian agents trying to keep an eye on NATO, and with the West appropriately returning the favor.

During the Second World War, when Norway was occupied by the Germans, the Soviet Union bombed the town often; appropriately, the first stop on our tour was the large, dark and cold bunker that could house a good portion of the population during raids.

Then we came at last to the border crossing with Russia. The fjords had topped my European bucket list for years along with one other destination: St. Petersburg.

Scruples now prevent me from visiting what had been Leningrad and that, for all I know, will soon be called Putingrad, so this could well be as close as I will ever get. To remind myself and anyone else who cared to notice why I would not cross the border, from my backpack I withdrew and gently unfurled the flag I had so carefully packed: the blue and yellow national banner of Ukraine. I gave it a good wave in case any Russian border guard was looking and then, with the help of another passenger, planted it in the ground just below the last meters of Norwegian territory.

I spent the night in the Snowhotel, an ice hotel of the kind where you literally can sleep in a large igloo. And, I chose a conventional, comfortable cabin instead, heated to room temperature. After helping to feed the hotel’s resident reindeer, I then flew back to Oslo.

There, I returned to the Munch Museum, where the works of Norway’s famously gloomy (and brilliant) artist Edvard Munch, are on permanent display. On this occasion, however, there was a large temporary exhibition on the themes of illness, injury and death — which is about as an appropriate Munch experience as a curator can offer.

It all seemed to fit, oddly enough. From the fjords, with their majesty, maelstroms, reindeer and tales (and numerous statues) of trolls, to the modern interruption of good daily life brought on by Russia’s merciless war, to the brooding, humanizing power of great Nordic art. I had finally done what I had set out to do two years before: I had seen and at last got an authentic understanding of this austere and yet graceful nation

If you go

At sea: Hurtigruten. The line operates the MS Richard With and similar ships, all to a fine standard. +1-888-969-8297; www.hurtigruten.com/en-us/; reservations@hurtigruten.com. Tip: Book as many shore excursions as you have time to enjoy.

In Bergen: Skostredet Hotel.  Domkirkegaten 6, 5017 Bergen, Norway; +47-55-30-40-50; booking@skostredethotel.no.

In Kirkenes: Snowhotel Kirkenes. Sandnesdalen 14, 9910 Bjørnevatn Tromsog Finnmark, Norway; +47-78-97-05-40; info@snowhotelkirkenes.com

Caution: Beware that third-party reservation services have tarted themselves up to look like they offer the official sites of these and other Norwegian hotels; they are not, and they may charge excessive additional fees.

©2025 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

SAN DIEGO — Sometimes, all it takes is a few sharp notes to create an era-defining guitar riff. Joey Santiago, lead guitarist for the Pixies, knows this well: his angular, melodic playing has defined some of the Promethean alt-rock band’s most memorable songs, from “Where Is My Mind” to “Monkey Gone to Heaven.”

Though frontman Charles Thompson (known on stage as Black Francis and Frank Black) is considered the Pixies’ creative powerhouse, Santiago has been a steady and vital ingredient to the band’s consistent success. Santiago and Black, once college roommates, founded the band nearly 40 years ago in Massachusetts (the Pixies’ 1993 to 2004 hiatus notwithstanding). Drummer David Lovering — a career magician on the side — has been with the band since the beginning. Original bassist and background-singer Kim Deal left in 2013 due to reported creative discord, finding success with The Breeders and in her solo career. Paz Lenchantin followed in her footsteps, playing for over a decade before being replaced by Emma Richardson just last year.

Even with that changing roster of bassists, the Pixies have not appeared to lose their musical footing. In 2024, they released a fresh batch of spooky surf-rock tunes on “The Night the Zombies Came,” sonically fitting in with their extensive discography. They have been touring regularly since their 2004 reunion, they are now on tour with the Austin-bred rock band Spoon and singer-songwriter Fazerdaze from New Zealand, including a show in San Diego on Aug. 27.

Santiago recently answered questions in a phone interview. His answers have been edited for length and clarity.

Q: What does touring actually look like for you these days? Do you have any spots that you like to hit when you’re in San Diego?

A: We’re in the bus together. It’s actually the preferred way to do it. You know, after the show, we leave around one or two in the morning and we wake up in the next city, right? It’s like time travel. As for San Diego, my son goes to San Diego State University. He’s going to be a junior, and I’m going to be helping him move in. He’s actually going to go to the San Diego show, because he’s right there.

Q: You have two kids, correct? What kind of music are they into?

A: They’re more into rock, now, especially my son. He’s gravitating towards playing the guitar more. And my daughter’s kind of the same thing.

Q: Have you been trying to teach him, or did he kind of pick it up on his own?

A: I’ve taught him a little bit. I didn’t think I had much to teach him. But it’s funny — I do know more more theory than I thought I did.

Q: With touring, emotionally speaking, is it just kind of like another day at the office? Are there coping mechanisms you need to use?

A: At the end of the day, you’ve got to take yourself out of the equation. There are people coming in. I was reminded of that with my kids — they gave me some perspective. You know, people plan for this, these tickets were on sale for a while, they got babysitters, or their friends are coming in, and people are making a night of it. Those thought processes help.

Q: How’s it been playing with the with Emma Richardson? She joined you guys last year and played on your newest album. Does it feel solid?

A: Yeah, that’s what I was going to say, that she’s solid. She’s always on it. You know, her harmonies are right on the button, everything about her. She’s a joy to be around.

Q: Has it been a coincidence so far that the Pixies have really only had female bassists, or is that something that you guys sought out? Does it play to that nostalgia factor?

A: Well, we originally wanted a female bass player. From then on, the female backing vocals were recorded. So it just makes sense to always have that element.

Q: The Pixies seem to have some newer, younger fans that are joining the masses. Your opening riff of “Where is My Mind” kind of caught fire on social media, on TikTok —  tens of thousands of videos have used that sound. I’m curious about what you think of that as an artist. Do you think it’s cool that people are getting into you that way? Or is it kind of isolating that song from you guys, or cheapening it?

A: No. I think it’s cool that people I know think it’s cool, if that makes sense. Directly, if I saw it, that’s just the way it is. It is what it is.

Q: The Pixies have often been cited as one of the most influential rock bands of all time. You guys are credited with pioneering the whole quiet, loud, quiet dynamic. Do you think that that’s an accurate credit?

A: Yeah. I mean, that is very nice to hear. It really is. But you know, at the same time, we got influenced by other artists too. So it’s nice to be part of that vocabulary. If our band spurs other people to start a band, then kudos.

Q: Who were your influences? Did you have an ideal trajectory or ideal sound when you and Frank Black first started playing together in college?

A: Just different. We just wanted to be just different and interesting, really. What we listened to probably didn’t translate to what we sound like. For me and (Charles) too, it’s, you know, The Beatles’ “White Album.” You know, that classic stuff. Later on we got into the more alternative stuff. But our DNA, my DNA, is with that kind of genre.

Q: You had writing credits on a couple of the songs off the Pixies’ newest album — “Hypnotised” and “I Hear You Mary.” Do you see yourself doing more songwriting in the future?

A: I mean, the music thing, I just did that. I just presented it to the producer, and he liked it — I’m sure Charles liked it too — but I do that kind of stuff at home anyway. I never really presented it, because Charles just wanted to be the main songwriter at the time, which is fair enough, I guess. But lyric wise, I’m shocked that he asked me to do that.

Q: Are you guys working on new music actively?

A: Yes. We’ve worked out some demos and some maybe-keeper backing tracks, and we’ve worked out some recordings already that we’re going to want to finish up.

Q: And you’re sticking to that signature Pixies sound, or shaking it up?

A: We’ll see. That is a good question, and I do want to explore. But it’s all still going to end up sounding like the Pixies.

By Meredith Deeds, The Minnesota Star Tribune

MINNEAPOLIS — Long before becoming a global Instagram sensation, the spritz had humble, effervescent roots in the northern regions of Italy, where locals mastered the art of turning a simple drink into a ritual that embodies la dolce vita.

At its core, the spritz cocktail has become synonymous with effortless elegance and sociable sipping; a celebration of balance, where bitter and sweet flavors meet the playfulness of bubbles. Traditionally, a spritz combines a bitter liqueur, a splash of sparkling wine, soda water and plenty of ice, often garnished with a slice of citrus.

In recent years, the spritz has experienced a renaissance. The Aperol Spritz has dominated cocktail menus and social media feeds, becoming a “drink of the summer” not just in Italian cities, but in cities around the world. Its popularity has been fueled by clever marketing, the drink’s versatility and the growing appetite for lower-alcohol cocktails.

Bartenders and home enthusiasts alike have embraced the spritz. It’s easy to make and easy to drink. What’s not to love?

The spritz can vary by region or bartender, but the modern classic — most famously the Aperol Spritz — follows a simple 3-2-1 ratio: 3 parts prosecco, 2 parts bitter apéritif (like Aperol, Campari or Select) and 1 part soda water.

While the formula is deceptively simple, it disguises a world of creativity.

Tea time

Jake Jarecki, the bar manager at Pink Ivy Kitchen & Bar in Hopkins, Minnesota, puts that creative spark to work by always including a spritz on the restaurant’s cocktail menu.

This summer, it’s the Earl Grey Duck Spritz, a name inspired by the Minnesota version of the popular children’s game. The drink itself, though, is not child’s play.

“Whenever I’m developing a spritz for the restaurant, I start out with a really good, well-balanced cocktail,” says Jarecki. In this case, that cocktail includes tea-infused vodka, honey syrup and a splash of lemon juice. “Then I turn it into a spritz by adding bubbles.”

In almost every spritz, those bubbles are a combination of soda water and prosecco, a nod to the cocktail’s Italian roots. And it’s usually the bubbles that make the drink refreshing and light, but that’s not always the case.

The dark side

At Red Rabbit, you’ll find the Midnight Spritz on the extensive spritz menu, and it takes a decidedly darker turn thanks to Italy’s wide varieties of amaro — and beverage director Ian Lowther.

Amaro is a bittersweet Italian herbal liqueur known for its complex, often bitter, and slightly sweet flavor profile. It’s typically made with a blend of botanicals, including herbs, roots, spices and citrus peels. Each brand of amaro (like Aperol and Campari) has its own recipe, resulting in a wide range of flavors and colors.

“In Italy, amaro can be anywhere from very light to very dark in color and flavor, and Italians drink with the sun,” Lowther said. “The darker the sky, the darker the spirit.”

Welcome to the Midnight Spritz.

Red Rabbit’s dark, sexy cocktail starts as most do, with amaro. In this case it’s Cynar, which is made with a blend of herbs and plants. But the artichoke ( Cynara scolymus ) is the most prominent and gives the liqueur its name. Lavender syrup and a little lemon is added, and the drink is topped off with the sparkling red wine Lambrusco instead of prosecco. The result is darker than most spritz cocktails, but still delightfully refreshing, even when the sun is shining.

Combining classics

While the Aperol spritz may be the most popular classic Italian effervescent drink, the negroni might be its most iconic cocktail.

Known for its bitter and sophisticated flavor profile, negronis are typically made with gin, Campari and sweet vermouth, and it makes the perfect base for a spritz. That’s why Robb Jones, bar director at ie – Italian Eatery by Travail, includes a Negroni Sbagliato — negroni with bubbles — on the spritz menu. (Jones also owns Meteor bar in Minneapolis.)

“Balance is key to any cocktail, and our negroni is a beautiful balance between alcohol, acidity, sweetness and bitterness,” says Jones, who finds bitterness to be one of the most important elements to consider when developing a cocktail. “Without bitterness, every other flavor would be one note. The bitterness pushes the other flavors forward.”

Going spirit-free

The term “spritz” can be applied to a wide variety of beverages, and not all have alcohol. At Diane’s Place in Minneapolis, you’ll find a nonalcoholic rhubarb spritz (called Rhuby Tuesday) on the menu. And it happened organically, as many things do for chef-owner Diane Moua.

When Moua was the lucky recipient of several cases of rhubarb, delivered by her father from his small family farm, she immediately turned that bounty into a spiced rhubarb compote to use in one of her memorable pastries.

To use the compote in baking, Moua had to drain off the excess liquid, which created a flavorful syrup. Not one to let something so tasty go waste, Moua gave the rhubarb syrup to bar manager Sarah Atkinson, who turned it into a sophisticated version of an Italian soda by mixing it with a little lime juice and soda water.

So why turn it into a spritz? “We’re all a little dehydrated in the summer,” Atkinson says, “and all you really need for a good spritz is a sunny day, a little bit of ice cold bubbles, and maybe a patio.”

Which is why, more than any other drink, a good spritz tastes like the essence of summer. A spritz offers more than refreshment — it invites a pause, a moment of connection and a taste of la dolce vita, whether you’re enjoying a late afternoon aperitivo in Rome or at a backyard patio with these DIY recipes for Earl Grey Duck Spritz, Midnight Spritz, Negroni Sbagliato and Rhuby Tuesday Spritz.

Pink Ivy’s Earl Grey Duck Spritz

Makes 1 cocktail.

While this fun and inventive cocktail from Jake Jarecki at Pink Ivy takes a couple of steps to make, they are both ultra quick and easy and well worth the effort.

• 6 to 8 blueberries
• 3 tbsp. (1.5 oz.) Earl Grey vodka (see recipe)
• 2 tbsp. (1 oz.) honey syrup (see recipe)
• 1 ½ tbsp. (.75 oz.) lemon juice
• 4 tbsp. (2 oz.) prosecco
• Soda water
• Lemon slice, for garnish

Directions

Muddle the blueberries in a cocktail shaker. Add the vodka, honey syrup and lemon juice and several ice cubes and shake for 10 seconds. Pour into a wine glass. Add more ice, pour in the prosecco and top with soda water. Garnish with a slice of lemon.

Earl Grey Vodka

Makes 1 liter.

Feel free to cut this recipe for tea-infused vodka in half, but keep in mind that any leftovers could change your Arnold Palmer game forever!

• 1 liter vodka
• 8 bags Earl Grey tea

Directions

Pour vodka into a pitcher. Add tea bags and steep for 20 minutes. Remove and discard tea bags.

Honey Syrup

Makes 1 cup.

• ½ c. honey
• ½ c. hot water

Directions

In a measuring cup, stir together the honey and hot water until well combined. Cool.

Red Rabbit’s Midnight Spritz

Makes 1 cocktail.

Looking for a unique spritz that incorporates a dark, full-flavored amaro? This drink recipe from Ian Lowther of Red Rabbit has you covered with a spritz that’s as lovely to look at as it is to drink. Cynar is an Italian apéritif and is widely available.

• 4 tsp. (.66 oz.) lavender syrup (see recipe)
• 4 tsp. (.66 oz.) lemon juice
• 2 tbsp. (1 oz.) Cynar
• ½ c. (4 oz.) Lambrusco
• 3 tbsp. (1 ½ oz.) soda water
• Lemon wheel, for garnish

Directions

Mix the lavender syrup, lemon juice and Cynar together in a wine glass, add ice. Top with Lambrusco and soda water. Garnish with a lemon wheel.

Lavender Syrup

Makes about 2 ¼ cups.

• 1 c. water
• 2 c. sugar
• 2 tbsp. dried lavender flowers

Directions

Bring water to a boil and add sugar. Stir until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and stir in lavender flowers. Chill in refrigerator overnight. Strain out lavender flowers and store syrup in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator.

IE’s Negroni Sbagliato

Makes 1 cocktail.

For a spritz that couldn’t be easier or more refreshing, look no further than Italian Eatery’s version of this classic cocktail from Robb Jones.

• 1 tbsp. (.5 oz.) Campari
• 1 tbsp. (.5 oz.) London dry gin
• 2 tbsp. (1 oz.) Italian sweet vermouth
• Prosecco
• Soda water
• Orange peel

Directions

Pour the Campari, gin and vermouth into an ice-filled wine glass. Top with prosecco and soda water, to taste. Squeeze a 1-inch strip of orange peel over the glass and drop into the cocktail as garnish.

Diane’s Place Rhuby Tuesday Spritz

Makes 1 cocktail.

You won’t miss the alcohol in the light and fruity NA spritz from Sarah Atkinson of Diane’s Place.

• 1.5 oz rhubarb syrup (see below)
• 0.75 lime juice
• Soda water

Directions

Mix the rhubarb syrup and lime juice together in a wine glass. Add ice and top with soda water. Garnish with a spoonful of the cooked rhubarb (from the syrup) or a slice of lime.

Rhubarb Syrup

Makes about 1 cup.

Diane’s Place uses the leftover syrup from making their rhubarb compote. It has cinnamon, ginger, coriander, vanilla and orange zest in the mix. Feel free to add any or all of these ingredients to the pot while you’re cooking your syrup. Or experiment with your own favorite flavors.

• 4 c. chopped rhubarb
• 1 c. granulated sugar
• 1 c. water

Directions

Combine rhubarb, sugar and water together in a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until the fruit is soft and the liquid has thickened slightly, about 20 minutes.

Set a fine-mesh strainer over a large bowl. Pour the rhubarb through the strainer until most of the liquid is in the bowl. Press the solids a little with the back of a spoon to extract more syrup.

If desired, save the cooked rhubarb to use for baking or as a garnish for the drink. Store syrup in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator.

©2025 The Minnesota Star Tribune. Visit at startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By Julie Appleby, KFF Health News

Medicare enrollees who buy the optional Part D drug benefit may see substantial premium price hikes — potentially up to $50 a month — when they shop for next year’s coverage.

Such drug plans are used by millions of people who enroll in what is called original Medicare, the classic federal government program that began in 1965 and added a drug benefit only in 2006. The drug plans are offered through private insurers, and enrollees must pay monthly premiums.

It’s not known whether insurers will pursue the maximum increase allowed, as premium prices for next year won’t be revealed until closer to open enrollment, which starts Oct. 15.

Increases are expected to mainly affect stand-alone Part D plans, not the drug coverage offered as part of Medicare Advantage, the private sector alternative to original Medicare. More on that later.

Policy experts say premiums are likely to go up for several reasons, including increased use of some higher-cost prescription drugs; a law that capped out-of-pocket spending for enrollees; and changes in a program aimed at stabilizing price increases that the Trump administration has continued but made less generous.

One thing is surer than ever, say many policy experts: Beneficiaries should not simply roll over their existing stand-alone Medicare drug plans.

“Everyone should shop plans in open enrollment,” said Stacie Dusetzina, a professor of health policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Here are three reasons prices would rise.

1. It’s the Spending!

Every year, insurers keep an eye on what they’re spending on drugs so they can build that into their premium estimates. Spending covers both the prices charged by drugmakers and volume, meaning how many people take the medications and how often.

And it’s up. Spending by insurers and government programs for prescription drugs in 2024 across the market grew more than 10%, which is slightly greater than in recent years, according to a research report published in last month’s issue of the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy. Estimates are not yet available for this year’s trends.

Still, in 2024, researchers found that drug prices overall decreased slightly. Spending rose because of drugs coming on the market and increased utilization, especially for pricey weight loss drugs and another category of medications that treat various autoimmune conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Such increased use is evident in Medicare. Many beneficiaries, for example, are treated for autoimmune conditions. And even though Medicare doesn’t cover treatment for weight loss, many members have diabetes or other conditions that a new type of weight loss drugs can treat.

The Trump administration, according to The Washington Post, is considering a five-year pilot program in which Medicare Part D plans could voluntarily expand access to the drugs, which can cost more than $1,000 a month without insurance. Details have not yet been provided, but the pilot program would not begin in Medicare until 2027.

Another wild card for insurers is the Trump administration’s tariffs on businesses that purchase products made overseas, which could boost drug prices because the U.S. imports a lot of its pharmaceuticals. Much, however, remains unknown about whether drugmakers will pass along any additional tariff costs to consumers.

So, while rising spending is one factor, it isn’t the only reason next year’s premium prices are expected to go up.

2. New Out-of-Pocket Caps for Consumers

Changes made to Medicare aimed at helping people with high out-of-pocket costs for expensive medications may be a bigger factor.

Here’s why: Starting this year, Medicare enrollees have a limit on how much they must pay out-of-pocket for prescription drugs. It’s capped at $2,000, a threshold that will rise each year to cover inflation.

Lawmakers in Congress set those changes in the Inflation Reduction Act under President Joe Biden. The law also shifted a larger share of the cost of drugs used by Medicare beneficiaries from the federal program to insurers.

That $2,000 cap is a big change from previous years, when people taking expensive drugs had a higher threshold to meet annually and were on the hook to pay 5% of the drug’s cost even after meeting that amount. Those additional 5% payments ended last year under the provisions of the IRA.

Before that law passed, “people would spend $10,000 or $15,000 out-of-pocket each year just for a single drug,” Dusetzina said. “The Inflation Reduction Act was necessary to make Part D proper health insurance, but there’s a cost to do so.”

While the cap is a big help for affected consumers, the reduced amounts paid by some beneficiaries — coupled with the cost shift to insurers — could lead plans to spread their increased expenses across all policyholders through higher premiums. A growing number of health plans have also begun to require enrollees to pay a percentage of a drug’s cost, rather than a flat-dollar copay, which can lead to larger-than-expected costs at the pharmacy counter, Dusetzina said.

While consumers not currently taking high-cost specialty drugs may not see a benefit in the $2,000 cap initially, they might one day, say policy experts, who note that drugmaker prices continue to rise and that enrollees could fall ill with a condition like cancer or multiple sclerosis for which they need a very high-priced drug.

“It’s important to think not just in context of those groups who hit the cap every year, but also people are paying more in premiums to protect their future selves as well,” said Casey Schwarz, the senior counsel for education and federal policy at the Medicare Rights Center, an advocacy group.

The new prescription drug cap and other changes apply to both the stand-alone Part D drug plans and Medicare Advantage plans. But those Medicare Advantage plans are not expected to increase the drug portion of their premiums, partly because the private sector plans are paid more per member than what it costs taxpayers for the traditional program.

That means Advantage plans have far more money to add benefits, such as vision and dental coverage, which traditional Medicare does not include, or to use them to cushion the impact of rising spending on drug costs, thus limiting premium increases.

Those additional benefits are advertised to attract customers to Medicare Advantage, which also sometimes offers plans with minimal or no monthly premium costs. There are other differences between traditional Medicare and private sector plans. For example, Advantage members must stick to doctors and hospitals in the plan’s networks, and they may face more prior authorization or other hurdles than in the traditional program.

The growing difference between premiums — fueled by the extra rebates flowing to the private sector plans — “is increasingly tilting coverage toward Medicare Advantage and making traditional Medicare plus a stand-alone PDP [prescription drug plan] unaffordable for many enrollees,” said Juliette Cubanski, deputy director of the program on Medicare policy at KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News.

3. Trump Administration Reduced Funding Meant To Slow Premium Growth

The final factor in the premium increase equation is a program set up to slow the rise of premiums in stand-alone Part D plans.

It began under the Biden administration to offset premium increases tied to changes in the Inflation Reduction Act by temporarily injecting additional federal dollars to help insurers adjust to the new rules.

That plan sent just over $6 billion this year to Part D insurers.

And it had an effect.

The average monthly premium for a stand-alone Part D drug plan dropped 9%, from $43 last year to $39 this year, according to KFF, even when factoring in that some plans raised prices by up to $35 a month, the maximum increase allowed under the stabilization plan for this year.

In a memo released in late July, the Trump administration said it would continue the program for next year, while shaving about 40% of the funding. A government official told The Wall Street Journal that the administration felt that keeping the full funding would have mainly benefited the insurers and cost taxpayers an “enormous, excess amount.”

The stabilization effort next year will send $10 a month per enrollee to Part D insurers to help keep premiums in check, down from $15 this year. Among other changes, it allows insurers to raise premiums by as much as $50 a month, up from the $35 allowed this year.

That would be a substantial increase, Cubanski noted, although it is not clear just how many insurers would pursue the full amount.

“We did see some plans this year were taking premium increases of that $35 amount in 2025, and I fully expect we will see some plans with increases up to $50 a month” next year, she said.

Another reason to take a close look at all the options once open enrollment begins.

©2025 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By KATHERINE ROTH

NEW YORK (AP) — Summer can be a time of big transitions for kids. It’s often the season for moving to a new home or preparing for a different school. And that brings worry and stress.

Parents and families can help make things feel more manageable. If kids feel supported, they might even look forward to some of the changes and gain confidence, experts say.

“When routines, familiar places and even knowing where things are in the house are suddenly gone, it forces youth to relearn their daily lives from scratch,” which can be stressful, says Victoria Kress, a professional counselor and president of the American Counseling Association.

At the same time, “this can invite exciting opportunities for growth,” she says.

Author Nadine Haruni’s book “Freeda the Frog is on the Move” aims to help school-age kids deal with moving. Haruni, who guided her own family through moves and changes, tells the story of a mother frog who helps her little tadpoles adjust as they leave their hometown and settle in a new one.

“It’s really important to recognize that transitions take time and that is totally normal. It’s OK to feel nervous and sad and anxious and maybe all of those things all at once, and even adults feel that way sometimes,” says Haruni.

“If you listen, you might be surprised. What matters to a child is not always what you might think it is,” she says.

Moves can be especially difficult if accompanied by other significant changes, such as a death, divorce or loss of family income.

Haruni’s book was inspired by her family’s big, multifaceted transition. She was moving from Manhattan to New Jersey with her then-5-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son, and getting married all in the same week, a big transition for her kids and three teenage stepdaughters. In addition, the kids were starting at a new school the following week.

“The kids were very sad and worried at first. Life is about change, and it’s really hard to address that sometimes. Luckily, the kids discovered that they loved having more space and, like the tadpoles in the book, they happily adapted,” she says.

Here are some tips to reduce the stress of a move or other big transition for kids:

Talk it out

“Communicating and listening can alleviate a lot of anxiety,” Haruni says. “Let kids share their feelings and know that they are being heard, so they know that they matter. That really helps them feel like they have some control.”

Explain why a move is necessary, and preview what’s ahead. Discuss the destination ahead of time, especially its good points. Familiarity can help kids feel more confident, the experts say.

Even sharing some photos or a map is helpful in easing jitters.

“Can they meet a few kids in the new neighborhood ahead of time?” Haruni asks.

Involve kids in the move itself

“Involving children in age-appropriate moving tasks — such as packing their own belongings or helping to choose new room decorations — can give them a sense of control and security during an uncertain time,” says Kress.

Kids can help plan meals, organize their space or continue family traditions.

“Frame it as an adventure,” says Haruni. “Let them help choose things for their new room if they are moving, but also bring a few items that feel familiar and comforting.”

Keep up daily routines

Sticking to some daily routines creates structure when things feel new and scary.

“The thing with moves is they disrupt everyone’s life. Too much change at once discombobulates everybody, so keeping meals at the same time and bedtime rituals the same can really help a lot,” says George M. Kapalka, a clinical psychologist and professor at the California School of Professional Psychology.

Arrange common areas similarly to how they were before the move, says Kress. Place favorite toys, blankets or pictures where your child expects to find them.

Consider getting help from a professional

Adapting to change takes time, and patience. Let kids know that’s normal, that they will get through it, and that they are being heard and have some control over things, says Haruni.

And know when to seek help.

“Some sadness, worry, or adjustment difficulties are normal after a move. But if symptoms persist for more than a few weeks, worsen over time, or disrupt daily life, then counseling is advisable,” says Kress.

By James Royal, Ph.D., Bankrate.com

The cryptocurrency industry has lately begun to heavily promote tokenized stocks, but what exactly are they? More importantly, what advantages do tokenized stocks offer — especially when investors already have safe, no-cost fractional share trading at many brokers?

A tokenized stock is a fancy way of saying that ownership of a stock can be transferred via blockchain, the technology behind cryptocurrency. Tokenizing, or digitizing, assets such as stocks, ETFs and other securities allows them to be traded on a specialized digital exchange and potentially directly between investors without the need for an exchange. These tokens are held in a digital wallet, much as crypto coins are, similar to a traditional brokerage account.

“The news cycle for crypto is all about representing traditional financial assets on a blockchain,” says Hilary Allen, professor, American University Washington College of Law. But Allen points out that investors and financial markets will endure major costs for doing so: “There are a lot of protections that are given up by this move.”

In order to establish a tokenized stock, these steps are needed:

— Taking custody of the asset: The asset that will be tokenized needs to be held in custody by a custodian, whose job is to safeguard it on behalf of the token creator.

— Creating the token: A financial institution such as an investment bank or fintech company then creates the digitized token, which corresponds to the asset in custody.

— Setting up smart contracts: Each token is programmed with self-executing smart contracts that give the token’s owner the same rights as stock ownership, including dividend distributions and voting rights, among others.

Once the stock is tokenized, traders can exchange it among themselves on crypto platforms, other decentralized finance platforms or even potentially a traditional stock brokerage. For example, crypto exchange Kraken has created tokenized stocks that it calls xStocks, and now allows trading in 60 major stocks. Meanwhile, brokerage Robinhood launched token trading in the European Union in June, offering access to more than 200 U.S. stock and ETF tokens.

Asset managers BlackRock and Franklin Templeton already offer tokenized money market funds. Goldman Sachs and BNY are teaming up to launch their own tokenized money market funds, too. More firms are exploring the idea of tokenized stocks.

In short, you could think of a tokenized stock as one that trades via blockchain. So what’s the big deal for individual investors? The cryptocurrency industry is breathlessly hyping this as a huge leap forward – as it has done for crypto coins – but the benefits are modest for individual investors, especially buy-and-hold types, and the risks of tokenized stocks are high. In fact, the best stock brokers already offer many of these same benefits to investors at no cost.

The crypto industry touts the following benefits of tokenized stock trading, many of which are already features at top brokers or may soon be features.

Benefits of tokenized stocks

— Increased accessibility through fractional shares: Tokenized stocks let investors trade portions of a share, meaning that high-priced stocks are accessible to even those with a little money.

— Lower cost: The crypto industry touts the potentially lower cost of transactions by eliminating intermediaries via blockchain.

— Transparency: The industry says thatby recording ownership on the blockchain, tokenization ensures that ownership is established.

— Security: Proponents say that blockchain-enabled trading also increases security because ownership is irrevocably established on the blockchain.

— 24/7 trading: Because tokenized stocks are held on a blockchain, they can be traded at any hour.

— Immediate settling of trades: Proponents also point to the immediate settling of trades via tokenized stocks, in contrast to next-day settlement in the U.S.

— More direct access between investors and firms: Tokenization may bypass existing financial intermediaries, letting companies raise money more directly from investors.

Others note the serious risks in tokenizing stocks, particularly in the area of investor protection.

Risks of tokenized stocks

— Potentially irrevocable transactions: Like cryptocurrency transactions, a tokenized stock transaction may be irrevocable. Once it’s done, it’s done, and it may be all but impossible to undo.

— Uncertain legal protections: The legal treatment of tokenized stocks is way behind where the crypto industry is trying to go, exposing investors to plenty of risks. For example, who is considered the issuer of a tokenized stock: the firm that tokenized it or the stock’s original issuer? What happens if an asset is hacked?

— Inflexible smart contracts: Smart contracts programmed into tokenized stocks will not cover all circumstances, says Allen. “It’s not clear how they’ll operate in unexpected environments.”

— Circumventing investor protections: Private investments are private partially to protect investors, not merely to limit investments to the well-heeled, but tokenizing stocks can allow financial players to get around the rules. “It’s absolutely built as an end run around securities laws,” says Allen. “Crypto is built as an end run around securities laws.”

— Loss of trust in American financial markets: One of the potential long-term effects of not enforcing existing securities laws is the erosion of trust in American capital markets. If securities laws aren’t enforced or are enforced inconsistently, then markets simply become a place to rip off investors.

Bankrate reached out to Kraken and Robinhood for further comment but has not heard back.

What’s behind the push for tokenized stocks?

The crypto industry and some traditional financial institutions have talked a big game about tokenization of stocks and some players have moved toward tokenization. But what’s in it for individual investors? Many of tokenization’s supposed benefits touted by the crypto industry are already available for individual investors in the current system.

— Fractional shares already exist: Individual investors can already access fractional shares — on thousands of stocks and ETFs — at the best brokers for fractional shares.

— Stock trading is already commission-free: For individual investors, trading stocks is already free at every major online broker, so there’s no added benefit to using tokenized stocks.

— Transparency and security: Existing brokers already have high levels of security with a proven security process. In fact, it’s the crypto exchanges and other DeFi platforms that have been beset by lax security, fraud and theft.

— After-hours trading: Many brokers already offer after-hours, overnight and pre-market trading on existing stocks. While this is not 24/7 trading, brokers have been expanding access in recent years. Moreover, all-hours access to trading does not benefit long-term investors, who build wealth through the long-term success of the underlying business. Study after study shows that active trading underperforms passive investing.

— “Democratization” of investing: Proponents of tokenization say that it gives access to private investments that are being hoarded by the wealthy. But giving a means to trade a stock — tokenizing it — does not mean that anyone will want to sell it to you. In fact, you should be skeptical when someone wants to sell you what they say is a great investment. (If it’s such a great investment, why are they letting you in on it? It’s not out of the kindness of their heart.)

So, while tokenization may offer a few incremental benefits to individual investors, albeit with significant risks, what’s the real driver of tokenization? Who is actually going to benefit here? It’s the crypto industry trying to make inroads into traditional finance, say experts.

“The crypto industry is waging a multi-pronged battle to get integrated into the financial system,” says Allen. The industry is working to “attract deep pockets” and bring more money into the fold, and tokenized stocks are part of that push, she explains.

So much of the crypto world is about hyping digital currency as “the next big thing.” Part of that process is projecting bombastic price targets for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, ones that are always rising over time. Such hype can make cryptocurrency seem inevitable.

As with cryptocurrency, one of the biggest use-cases for stock tokenization is (illegally) getting around existing laws (in this case, securities laws). So the full-bore adoption of stock tokenization has many potentially destructive effects, including the erosion of investor protections and robust securities laws that protect financial markets. Without these laws, it’s “scammer take all.”

“Investors lose the benefit of the securities laws,” says Allen. She points out that what the crypto industry wants to run roughshod over are the very laws that they claim are roadblocks to their profits. ”We saw what happened in the 1920s and the lack of securities laws.”

Bottom line

Tokenization presents significant risks to individual investors and the financial markets as a whole, while offering few benefits to investors that don’t already exist. Those who try out tokenized stocks should remain wary of their many risks amid an uncertain legal framework.

©2025 Bankrate.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By JIM VERTUNO, SOPHIE AUSTIN, TRÂN NGUYỄN and NICHOLAS RICCARDI, Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — California has landed its counterpunch. The national tug-of-war over redistricting and voters in the 2026 midterm elections shifts once again back to Texas, where it all started.

California lawmakers voted mostly along party lines Thursday to approve legislation calling for a special election in November to approve a redrawn congressional map designed to help Democrats win five more U.S. House seats next year.

That move came a day after Texas Republicans advanced their own redrawn map to pad their House majority by the same number of seats at the urging of President Donald Trump.

Texas lawmakers meet again Friday, when the Republican majority in the Senate could give final approval to their map, sending it to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott for his signature.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had rallied Democrats in his state to counter Texas’ initial moves, quickly signed the special election bill in a tit-for-tat gerrymandering battle that is rippling through several states.

“This is not something six weeks ago that I ever imagined that I’d be doing,” Newsom said at a press conference, pledging a campaign for the measure that would reach out to Democrats, Republicans and independent voters. “This is a reaction to an assault on our democracy in Texas.”

California Republicans have filed a lawsuit and called for a federal investigation into the plan. They promise to fight the measure at the ballot box as well.

California Assemblyman James Gallagher, the Republican minority leader, said Trump was “wrong” to push for new Republican seats elsewhere, contending the president was just responding to Democratic gerrymandering in other states. But he warned that Newsom’s approach, which the governor has dubbed “fight fire with fire,” was dangerous.

“You move forward fighting fire with fire and what happens?” Gallagher asked. “You burn it all down.”

A battle for the US House control waged via redistricting

On a national level, the partisan makeup of existing districts puts Democrats within three seats of a majority. The incumbent president’s party usually loses congressional seats in the midterms.

The president has pushed other Republican-controlled states including Indiana and Missouri to also revise their maps to add more winnable GOP seats. Ohio Republicans were also already scheduled to revise their maps to make them more partisan.

Redistricting typically occurs once a decade, immediately after a census. While some states have their own limitations, there is no national impediment to a state trying to redraw districts in the middle of the decade.

The U.S. Supreme Court has also said the Constitution does not outlaw partisan gerrymandering, only using race to redraw district lines.

Democrats have sought a national commission for redistricting

Republicans and some Democrats championed the 2008 ballot measure that established California’s nonpartisan redistricting commission, along with the 2010 one that extended its role to drawing congressional maps.

Newsom backed the initial redistricting commission ballot measures. On Thursday, he contended his state was still setting a model.

“We’ll be the first state in U.S. history, in the most democratic way, to submit to the people of our state the ability to determine their own maps,” Newsom said before signing the legislation.

Former President Barack Obama, who has also backed a nationwide nonpartisan approach, has also backed Newsom’s bid to redraw the California map, saying it was a necessary step to stave off the GOP’s Texas move.

California’s plan is temporary

The measure would have the California map last only through 2030, after which the state’s commission would draw the next decade’s map. Democrats are also mulling reopening Maryland’s and New York’s maps for mid-decade redraws.

However, more Democratic-run states have commission systems like California’s or other redistricting limits than Republican ones do, leaving the GOP with a freer hand to swiftly redraw maps. New York, for example, can’t draw new maps until 2028, and even then, only with voter approval.

In Texas, outnumbered Democrats left the state for 15 days to block a vote. Once they returned, they were assigned round-the-clock police monitoring.

California Republicans didn’t take such dramatic steps but complained bitterly about Democrats muscling the package through the statehouse.

“What you’re striving for is predetermined elections,” Strickland said. “You’re taking the voice away from Californians.”

Riccardi reported from Denver. Austin and Nguyen reported from Sacramento, California.

By ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI is searching the Maryland home and Washington office of John Bolton, who served in President Donald Trump’s first administration as national security adviser but later became critical of the president, as part of an investigation into the handling of classified information, a person familiar with the matter said Friday.

Bolton was not detained and has not been charged with any crimes, said the person, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation by name and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

After the search at Bolton’s home started, he was spotted Friday morning standing in the lobby of the Washington building where he keeps an office and talking to two people with “FBI” visible on their vests. He left a few minutes later and appeared to have gone upstairs in the building. Agents were seen taking bags into the office building through a back entrance.

The searches appear to be the most significant public step the Justice Department has taken against a perceived enemy of the president, and they’re likely to elicit fresh criticism that the Trump administration is using its law enforcement powers to go after the Republican’s foes. The searches of Bolton’s home and office come as the Trump administration has taken steps to examine the activities of other critics, including by authorizing a grand jury investigation into the origins of the Trump-Russia probe.

Messages left with a spokesperson for Bolton were not immediately returned, and a lawyer who has represented Bolton had no immediate comment.

The White House did not comment and referred questions about the probe to the FBI. The Justice Department also had no comment, but leaders appeared to cryptically refer to the search of Bolton’s home in a series of social media posts Friday morning.

FBI Director Kash Patel, who in a 2023 book he wrote included Bolton in a list of “members of the Executive Branch Deep State,” posted on X: “NO ONE is above the law… @FBI agents on mission.” Attorney General Pam Bondi shared his post, adding: “America’s safety isn’t negotiable. Justice will be pursued. Always.”

The Justice Department is also conducting mortgage fraud investigations into Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who brought a civil fraud lawsuit against Trump and his company, and ex-Trump prosecutor Jack Smith faces an investigation from an independent watchdog office. Schiff and James have vigorously denied any wrongdoing through their lawyers.

In an ABC interview earlier this month, Bolton was asked about whether he was worried about the Trump administration taking action against him. Bolton said Trump had “already come after” him by taking away his security detail, and he added: “I think it is a retribution presidency.”

Bolton served as Trump’s third national security adviser for 17 months and clashed with him over Iran, Afghanistan and North Korea. He faced scrutiny during the first Trump administration over a book he wrote about his time in government that officials argued disclosed classified information, but the Justice Department in 2021 abandoned its lawsuit and dropped a separate grand jury investigation.

Bolton’s lawyers have said he moved forward with the book after a White House National Security Council official, with whom Bolton had worked for months, said the manuscript no longer contained classified information.

On his first day back in office this year, Trump revoked the security clearances of more than four dozen former intelligence officials, including Bolton. Bolton was also among a group of former Trump officials whose security details were canceled by Trump earlier this year.

Bolton’s scathing book, “The Room Where It Happened,” portrayed Trump as grossly ill-informed about foreign policy and said he “saw conspiracies behind rocks, and remained stunningly uninformed on how to run the White House, let alone the huge federal government.”

Trump responded by slamming Bolton as a “crazy” war-monger who would have led the country into “World War Six.”

Bolton served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush and also held positions in President Ronald Reagan’s administration. He had considered running for president in 2012 and 2016.

In 2022, an Iranian operative was charged in a plot to kill Bolton in presumed retaliation for a January 2020 U.S. airstrike that killed the country’s most powerful general. Bolton had by then left the Trump administration but tweeted, “Hope this is the first step to regime change in Tehran.”

Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price, Jill Colvin, Nathan Ellgren and Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration can slash hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of research funding in its push to cut federal diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, the Supreme Court decided Thursday.

The high court majority lifted a judge’s order blocking $783 million worth of cuts made by the National Institutes of Health to align with Republican President Donald Trump’s priorities. The high court did keep Trump administration guidance on future funding blocked, however.

The court split 5-4 on the decision. Chief Justice John Roberts was along those who would have kept the cuts blocked, along with the court’s three liberals.

The order marks the latest Supreme Court win for Trump and allows the administration to forge ahead with canceling hundreds of grants while the lawsuit continues to unfold. The plaintiffs, including states and public-health advocacy groups, have argued that the cuts will inflict “incalculable losses in public health and human life.”

The Justice Department, meanwhile, has said funding decisions should not be “subject to judicial second-guessing” and efforts to promote policies referred to as DEI can “conceal insidious racial discrimination.”

The lawsuit addresses only part of the estimated $12 billion of NIH research projects that have been cut, but in its emergency appeal, the Trump administration also took aim at nearly two dozen other times judges have stood in the way of its funding cuts.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer said judges shouldn’t be considering those cases under an earlier Supreme Court decision that cleared the way for teacher-training program cuts. He says they should go to federal claims court instead.

But the plaintiffs, 16 Democratic state attorneys general and public-health advocacy groups, argued that research grants are fundamentally different from the teacher-training contracts and couldn’t be sent to claims court. Halting studies midway can also ruin the data already collected and ultimately harm the country’s potential for scientific breakthroughs by disrupting scientists’ work in the middle of their careers, they argued.

U.S. District Judge William Young judge in Massachusetts agreed, finding the abrupt cancellations were arbitrary and discriminatory. “I’ve never seen government racial discrimination like this,” Young, an appointee of Republican President Ronald Reagan, said at a hearing in June. He later added: “Have we no shame.”

An appeals court left Young’s ruling in place.