By SAM MEDNICK, SAMY MAGDY and WAFAA SHURAFA, Associated Press

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Two of U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoys traveled to Israel Monday to shore up the tenuous ceasefire that’s holding in Gaza, a day after the fragile deal faced its first major flareup as Israel threatened to halt aid transfers and killed dozens in strikes after it accused Hamas of killing two soldiers.

The Israeli military announced it resumed enforcing the ceasefire late Sunday. Aid deliveries will resume Monday through multiple crossings after Israeli inspection, in line with the agreement, according to an Israeli security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they weren’t authorized to speak to the media.

By early afternoon, it was not immediately clear if the flow of aid had restarted.

Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian said on Monday that U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about developments in the region.

She said U.S. Vice President JD Vance and the second lady, Usha Vance, would also be visiting the country and meeting with Netanyahu, but didn’t provide a timeline.

There was no immediate confirmation from Washington regarding the vice president’s visit.

A fragile truce

More than a week has passed since the start of the U.S.-proposed truce aimed at ending two years of war. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday that Hamas has been “quite rambunctious” and “they’ve been doing some shooting.”

He also suggested that the violence might be the fault of “rebels” within the organization rather than its leadership.

Since the ceasefire started, Hamas security forces have returned to the streets in Gaza, clashing with armed groups and killing alleged gangsters in what the militant group says is an attempt to restore law and order in areas where Israeli troops have withdrawn.

On Sunday, Israel’s military said militants had fired at troops in areas of Rafah city that are Israeli-controlled according to agreed-upon ceasefire lines.

Retaliatory strikes by Israel killed 45 people in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry, which says a total of 80 people have been killed since the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 11.

Hamas, which continued to accuse Israel of multiple ceasefire violations, said communication with its remaining units in Rafah had been cut off for months and “we are not responsible for any incidents occurring in those areas.”

The next stage of ceasefire

The next stage is expected to focus on disarming Hamas, Israeli withdrawal from additional areas it controls in Gaza, and future governance of the devastated territory. The U.S. plan proposes the establishment of an internationally backed authority.

In an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” news program on the weekend, Kushner said the success or failure of the deal would depend on whether Israel and the international mechanism could create a viable alternative to Hamas.

“If they are successful, Hamas will fail, and Gaza will not be a threat to Israel in the future,” he said.

A Hamas delegation led by chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya was in Cairo to follow up on the implementation of the ceasefire deal with mediators and other Palestinian groups.

Fears ceasefire may not hold up

Palestinians in Gaza are wary that the deal may fall apart after Sunday’s flare-up.

Funeral services were held Monday for some of the dozens of people killed earlier by Israeli strikes across the strip. Associated Press footage showed mourners lining up for funeral prayers behind bodies draped in white sheets.

“There should be concerns as long as the matters have yet to be settled,” said Hossam Ahmed, a displaced person from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

There is also concern about how much aid Israel is letting into Gaza, which is part of the agreement.

In their Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel that sparked the war, Hamas killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people as hostages.

The Israel-Hamas war has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. Israel has disputed them without providing its own toll.

Thousands more people are missing, according to the Red Cross.

Magdy reported from Cairo and Shurafa from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip.

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said on Monday that it will consider whether people who regularly smoke marijuana can legally own guns, the latest firearm case to come before the court since its 2022 decision expanding gun rights.

President Donald Trump’s administration asked the justices to revive a case against a Texas man charged with a felony because he allegedly had a gun in his home and acknowledged being a regular pot user. The Justice Department appealed after a lower court largely struck down a law that bars people who use any illegal drugs from having guns.

The Republican administration favors Second Amendment rights, but government attorneys argued that this ban is a justifiable restriction.

They asked the court to reinstate a case against Ali Danial Hemani. His lawyers got the felony charge tossed out after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the blanket ban is unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s expanded view of gun rights. The appellate judges found it could still be used against people accused of being high and armed at the same time, though.

Hemani’s attorneys argue the broadly written law puts millions of people at risk of technical violations since at least 20% of Americans have tried pot, according to government health data. About half of states legalized recreational marijuana, but it’s still illegal under federal law.

The Justice Department argues the law is valid when used against regular drug users because they pose a serious public safety risk. The government said the FBI found Hemani’s gun and cocaine in a search of his home as they probed travel and communications allegedly linked to Iran. The gun charge was the only one filed, however, and his lawyers said the other allegations were irrelevant and were mentioned only to make him seem more dangerous.

The case marks another flashpoint in the application of the Supreme Court’s new test for firearm restrictions. The conservative majority found in 2022 that the Second Amendment generally gives people the right to carry guns in public for self-defense and any firearm restrictions must have a strong grounding in the nation’s history.

The landmark 2022 ruling led to a cascade of challenges to firearm laws around the country, though the justices have since upheld a different federal law intended to protect victims of domestic violence by barring guns from people under restraining orders.

By SAMYA KULLAB, Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his reportedly tense meeting with U.S President Donald Trump last week was “positive” — even though he did not secure the Tomahawk missiles for Ukraine — and emphasized what he said is continued American interest in economic deals with Kyiv.

Zelenskyy said Trump reneged on the possibility of sending the long-range missiles to Ukraine, which would have been a major boost for Kyiv, following his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin hours before the Ukrainian leader and American president were to meet on Friday.

“In my opinion, he does not want an escalation with the Russians until he meets with them,” Zelenskyy told reporters on Sunday. His comments were embargoed until Monday morning.

Ukraine is hoping to purchase 25 Patriot air defense systems from American firms using frozen Russian assets and assistance from partners, but Zelenskyy said procuring all of these would require time because of long production queues. He said he spoke to Trump about help procuring these quicker, potentially from European partners.

According to Zelenskyy, Trump said during their meeting that Putin’s maximalist demand — that Ukraine cede the entirety of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions — was unchanged.

Zelenskyy was diplomatic about his meeting with Trump despite reports that he faced pressure to accept Putin’s demands — a tactic he has kept up since the disastrous Oval Office spat on Feb. 28 when the Ukrainian president was scolded on live television for not being grateful for continued American support.

Zelenskyy said that because Trump ultimately supported a freeze along the current front line his overall message “is positive” for Ukraine.

He said Trump was looking to end the war and hopes his meeting in the coming weeks with Putin in Hungary — which does not support Ukraine — will pave the way for a peace deal after their first summit in Alaska in August failed to reach such an outcome.

So far, Zelenskyy said he has not been invited to attend but would consider it if the format for talks were fair to Kyiv.

“We share President Trump’s positive outlook if it leads to the end of the war. After many rounds of discussion over more than two hours with him and his team, his message, in my view, is positive — that we stand where we stand on the line of contact, provided all sides understand what is meant,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy expressed doubts about Hungary’s capital of Budapest being a suitable location for the next Trump-Putin meeting.

“I do not consider Budapest to be the best venue for such a meeting. Obviously, if it can bring peace, it will not matter which country hosts the meeting,” he added.

Zelenskyy took a stab at Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, saying he does not believe that a prime minister “who blocks Ukraine everywhere can do anything positive for Ukrainians or even provide a balanced contribution.”

Zelenskyy also expressed skepticism about Putin’s proposal to swap some territory it holds in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions if Ukraine surrenders all of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

“We wanted to understand exactly what the Russians meant. So far, there is no clear position,” he said.

Zelenskyy said he thinks that all parties have “moved closer” to a possible end to the war.

“That doesn’t mean it will definitely end, but President Trump has achieved a lot in the Middle East, and riding that wave he wants to end Russia’s war against Ukraine,” Zelenskyy added.

He said the United States is interested in bilateral gas projects with Ukraine, including the construction of an LNG terminal in the southern port city of Odesa. Other projects of interest to the U.S. include those related to nuclear energy and oil.

By CHRISTOPHER MEGERIAN, Associated Press

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (AP) — President Donald Trump said the United States could buy Argentine beef in an attempt to bring down prices for American consumers.

“We would buy some beef from Argentina,” the Republican president told reporters aboard Air Force One during a flight from Florida to Washington on Sunday. “If we do that, that will bring our beef prices down.”

Trump promised days earlier to address the issue as part of his efforts to keep inflation in check.

U.S. beef prices have been stubbornly high for a variety of reasons, including drought and reduced imports from Mexico due to a flesh-eating pest in cattle herds there.

Trump has been working to help Argentina bolster its collapsing currency with a $20 billion credit swap line and additional financing from sovereign funds and the private sector ahead of midterm elections for his close ally President Javier Milei.

Amazon said its cloud computing service was recovering from a major outage that disrupted online activity around the world on Monday.

Amazon Web Services provides remote computing services to many governments, universities and companies, including The Associated Press.

On DownDetector, a website that tracks online outages, users reported issues with Snapchat, Roblox, Fortnite, online broker Robinhood, the McDonalds app and many other services. Coinbase and Signal both said on X that they were experiencing issues related to the AWS outage.

The first signs of trouble emerged at around 3:11 a.m. Eastern Time, when Amazon Web Services reported on its Health Dashboard that it is investigating increased error rates and latencies for multiple AWS services in the US-EAST-1 Region.

Later the company reported that there were significant error rates and that engineers were actively working on the problem.

Around 6 a.m. Eastern Time, the company said that it was seeing recovery across most of the affected services. We can confirm global services and features that rely on US-EAST-1 have also recovered, it said, adding that it is working on a full resolution.

AWS customers include some of the worlds biggest businesses and organizations.

So much of the world now relies on these three or four big (cloud) compute companies who provide the underlying infrastructure that when theres an issue like this, it can be really impactful across a broad range, a broad spectrum of online services, said Patrick Burgess, a cybersecurity expert at U.K.-based BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.

___

AP writer Mustakim Hasnath in London contributed to this report.

Today is Monday, Oct. 20, the 293rd day of 2024. There are 72 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Oct. 20, 1947, the House Un-American Activities Committee opened hearings into alleged Communist influence in the U.S. motion picture industry.

Also on this date:

In 1803, the U.S. Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.

In 1944, Gen. Douglas MacArthur waded ashore in his return to the Philippines against Japanese forces in World War II, fulfilling a promise he made (“I shall return”) after being ordered to evacuate the country in 1942 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In 1967, a jury in Meridian, Mississippi, convicted seven men of violating the civil rights of killed civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner; the seven received prison terms ranging from three to 10 years.

In 1973, in what would become known as the “Saturday Night Massacre,” President Richard M. Nixon ordered Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson to fire special Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox; Richardson refused and resigned. Deputy Attorney General William B. Ruckelshaus also refused to fire Cox and resigned. Acting Attorney General Robert Bork fired Cox.

In 1973, the Sydney Opera House was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1976, 78 people were killed when the Norwegian tanker SS Frosta rammed the commuter ferry George Prince on the Mississippi River near New Orleans.

In 1977, three members of the rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant, were killed along with three others in the crash of a chartered plane near McComb, Mississippi.

In 1990, three members of the rap group 2 Live Crew were acquitted by a jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, of violating obscenity laws with an adults-only concert in nearby Hollywood the previous June.

In 2011, Moammar Gadhafi, 69, Libya’s dictator for 42 years, was killed as revolutionary fighters overwhelmed his hometown of Sirte and captured the last major bastion of resistance two months after his regime fell.

In 2022, British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned after just 49 days in office when her plan for billions in tax cuts rocked financial markets and battered the value of the pound; Truss also resigned as head of the Conservative Party.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Japan’s Empress Michiko is 91.
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer Wanda Jackson is 88.
• Baseball Hall of Famer Juan Marichal is 88.
• Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky is 85.
• Retired MLB All-Star Keith Hernandez is 72.
• Composer Thomas Newman is 70.
• Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., is 70.
• Film director Danny Boyle is 69.
• Actor Viggo Mortensen is 67.
• Former Vice President Kamala Harris is 61.
• Actor William Zabka is 60.
• Journalist Sunny Hostin (TV: “The View”) is 57.
• Actor Kenneth Choi is 54.
• Rapper Snoop Dogg is 54.
• Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, is 53.
• Actor John Krasinski is 46.
• Rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again is 26.

After beating Washington at home over the weekend, Michigan is back in the AP Top 25, with media members ranking the Wolverines at No. 25.

Vanderbilt is a top-10 team in college football for the first time since 1947 in an Associated Press poll that got a nearly complete makeover Sunday after a weekend when nine Top 25 teams lost.

Ohio State was the only team to hold its spot, remaining No. 1 for an eighth straight week after shutting out Wisconsin 34-0 on the road.

Beyond the Buckeyes, significant revision was required with four top-10 teams losing in the same week for a third time this season. Nine Top 25 losing teams were the most since Week 5 in 2022, when 10 went down, according to Sportradar. Four of the losses this week were to unranked opponents.

The Buckeyes received 60 first-place votes, 10 more than a week ago. No. 2 Indiana pulled away from Michigan State, improved its program-record ranking by one spot and got the other six first-place votes.

Texas A&M's one-rung promotion to No. 3 gives the Aggies their highest ranking since 1995. No. 4 Alabama has its highest ranking of the season and No. 5 Georgia returned to the top five after a three-week absence.

Oregon, Georgia Tech, Mississippi, Miami and Vanderbilt round out the top 10.

The Ducks bounced back from their home loss to Indiana with a lopsided road win over Rutgers.

Georgia Tech, which won at Duke, hadn't been in the top 10 since 2014 or ranked as high since 2009. Mississippi's loss to Georgia caused it to slip three spots, and Miami fell seven after losing to unranked Louisville.

Vanderbilt rallied from its loss at Alabama two weeks ago with a 31-24 win over then-No. 10 LSU. The Commodores earned a seven-spot promotion for their first win over the Tigers since 1990. At 6-1, Vandy is off to its best start since 1950 with two wins over ranked opponents.

Texas Tech's first loss came at Arizona State and dropped the Red Raiders seven spots to No. 14.

LSU took the biggest fall, plunging 10 spots to No. 20 for its lowest ranking of the season.

In and out

No. 19 Louisville makes its season debut in the Top 25. The Cardinals, whose only loss was by three points to Virginia on Oct. 4, were 0-18 all-time against top 10 teams in true road games before knocking off the Hurricanes.

No. 23 Illinois returned despite being idle. The Illini had dropped out for the first time this season after a home loss to Ohio State.

No. 24 Arizona State, which fell out of the poll after a 32-point loss at Utah, returned following its first win over a top-10 opponent since 2019.

No. 25 Michigan's 17-point home win over Washington returned the Wolverines to the rankings after a one-week absence.

Southern California (20), Memphis (22), Utah (23) and Nebraska (25) dropped out.

Poll points

Ohio State's 10 straight appearances in the top five is the longest active streak.

Georgia's 140th consecutive week in the poll is the second-longest active streak to Alabamas 287.

Vanderbilt's top-10 ranking is its fifth in program history. The others were in 1937 (1), 1941 (1) and 1947 (2).

No. 16 Virginia's ranking is its highest since 2007.

Conference call

SEC (10) Nos. 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17, 20, 22.

Big Ten (5) Nos. 1, 2, 6, 23, 25.

Big 12 (4) Nos. 11, 14, 21, 24.

ACC (4) Nos. 7, 9, 16, 19.

American (1) No. 18.

Independent (1) No. 12.

Ranked vs. ranked

No. 3 Texas A&M (7-0) at No. 20 LSU (5-2): The home team has won the last eight meetings. LSU's Garrett Nussmeier threw three second-half interceptions and Marcel Reed came off the bench to run for three TDs in Aggies' 38-23 win last year.

No. 8 Mississippi (6-1) at No. 13 Oklahoma (6-1): Only their third all-time meeting. Rebels recorded nine sacks in 26-14 win last year.

No. 15 Missouri (6-1) at No. 10 Vanderbilt (6-1): Vandy kicker Brock Taylor has made 17 consecutive field goals since missing 31-yarder that gave the Tigers a 30-27 double-overtime win last year.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

Jordan Marshall ran for a tiebreaking touchdown late in the third quarter and Bryce Underwood threw his second touchdown pass early in the fourth to help Michigan pull away and beat Washington 24-7 on Saturday.

The Wolverines (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) took control by scoring touchdowns after picking off passes on consecutive possessions and kicking a field goal after the Huskies (5-2, 2-2) turned it over on downs.

It felt like Michigan football and what it should feel like, coach Sherrone Moore said.

Michigan's defense had a much-needed performance after giving up 31 points in last week's lopsided loss at USC.

It was pretty much we need to man up and come together as a defense, said linebacker Cole Sullivan, who had the first interception. We havent been playing the way we wanted to, and it was time to stop the bleeding. I think we took a step forward.

Washington quarterback Demond Williams Jr. threw two interceptions in a pivotal stretch of four passes in the third quarter and was picked off for a third time on the first snap of the following drive.

Just didnt feel like I did a good enough job getting him ready for the game," said Huskies coach Jedd Fisch, a former Michigan assistant.

Marshall, playing in place of injured running back Justice Haynes, had a career-high 133 yards rushing on 25 carries and his 14-yard touchdown run one snap after Williams' first interception put Michigan ahead 14-7.

Underwood was 21 of 27 for 230 yards and matched a season high with two touchdown passes to fellow freshman Andrew Marsh on a 22-yard throw late in the first quarter and a 10-yard toss to Zach Marshall in the fourth.

Theres a high standard for him, Moore said of Unerwood. Were going to keep pushing him to reach that standard, but this game was as clean as hes played.

The Huskies pulled into a 7-all tie late in the first half on Jonah Coleman's 1-yard run, then didn't score again with an offense that was held to 40 yards rushing including yards lost on sacks.

Coleman had 50 yards rushing on 16 carries and Williams was 20 of 32 for 209 yards.

We did not play well, Fisch said. Did not coach well. Did not put our guys in the best possible position to succeed and then when we had opportunities, we didnt make em.

The takeaway

Washington: Williams, a sophomore, threw one interception in his first 185 passes this season but was picked off three times in a span of five pass attempts.

Michigan: The offense has started slow in most games this season, a troubling trend for a team that fell out of the AP Top 25 after losing by 18 to the Trojans.

Injury report

Washington tight end Quentin Moore was carted off the field. Moore was responsive and moving all extremities when he was taken to a hospital for precautionary reasons.

Michigan left tackle Evan Link, who had a lower-body injury, was also carted off the field.

It doesn't look too good, Moore said.

The Wolverines played without Haynes and defensive back Rod Moore along with their top two tight ends, Marlin Klein and Hogan Hansen.

Up next

Michigan plays at rival Michigan State and Washington hosts Illinois on Saturday.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

By CATHY BUSSEWITZ, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — With the U.S. experiencing a significant hiring slowdown, it’s a daunting time to be looking for a job. Many workers are staying put instead of changing jobs to secure better pay. Artificial intelligence tools increasingly screen the resumes of applicants. Now may seem like an inappropriate time to request a raise.

But sticking around doesn’t mean wages and salaries have to stagnate. Career experts say it’s not wrong, even in a shaky economy, to ask to be paid what you’re worth. Raises aren’t even necessarily off the table at organizations that are downsizing, according to some experts.

“A lot of people think if their company has done layoffs, the likelihood of getting a raise is pretty low,” said Jamie Kohn, a senior director in the human resources practice at business research and advisory firm Gartner. “And that might be true, but the the other way to think about it is that this company has already decided to reinvest in you by keeping you on.”

When should you ask?

If you’ve taken on greater responsibilities at work and have received strong performance reviews, or if you’ve learned you’re paid substantially less than colleagues or competitors with similar levels of experience, then it may be the right time to ask for a pay adjustment.

“They know that you’re taking on more work, especially if you’ve had layoffs on your team,” Kohn continued. “At that point, it is very hard for them to lose an employee that you know they now are relying on much more.”

Another signal that it’s time to ask for an adjustment is if you’re working a second job to make ends meet or your current financial situation is causing angst that impacts job performance, said Rodney Williams, co-founder of SoLo Funds, a community finance platform.

“There’s nothing wrong with saying, ’Hey, I need to raise my financial position. I’m willing to do more,” Williams said. “I’m willing to show up earlier, I’m willing to leave later, I’m willing to help out, maybe, and do other things here.”

Some people view asking for more compensation as less risky than switching to a new job. “There is a sense of not wanting to be ‘last in, first out’ in a potential layoff situation,” said Kohn.

Know your worth

Before starting the compensation conversation, do some research on current salaries. You can find out what people with comparable experience are making in your industry by searching on websites such as Glassdoor, where people self-report salaries, or ZipRecruiter, which gathers pay data from job postings and other sources.

Three years ago, a lot of people asked for 20% pay increases because of price inflation and high employee turnover coming out of the coronavirus pandemic, Kohn said. Companies no longer are considering such big bumps.

“Right now, I think you could say that you are worth 10% more, but you’re unlikely to get a 10% pay increase if you ask for it,” she said.

Your success also depends on your recent performance reviews. “If you’ve been given additional responsibilities, if you are operating at a level that would be a promotion, those might be situations where asking for a higher amount might be worth it,” Kohn said.

Compare notes with colleagues

Many people view the topic as taboo, but telling coworkers what you make and asking if they earn more may prove instructive. Trusted coworkers with similar roles are potential sources. People who were recently hired or promoted may supply a sense of the market rate, Kohn said.

“You can say, ‘Hey, I’m trying to make sure I’m being paid equitably. Are you making over or under X dollars?’ That’s one of my favorite phrases to use, and it invites people into a healthy discussion,” Sam DeMase, a career expert with ZipRecruiter, said. “People are way more interested in talking about salary than you might think.”

You can also reach out to people who left the company, who may be more willing to compare paychecks than current colleagues, DeMase said.

Brag sheet

Keep track of your accomplishments and positive feedback on your work. Compile it into one document, which human resources professionals call a “brag sheet,” DeMase said. If you’re making your request in writing, list those accomplishments when you ask for a raise. If the request is made in a conversation, you can use the list as talking points.

Be sure to list any work or responsibilities that typically would not have been part of your job description. “Employers are wanting employees to do more with less, so we need to be documenting all of the ways in which we’re working outside of our job scope,” DeMase said.

Also take stock of the unique skills or traits you bring to the team.

“People tend to overestimate our employers’ alternatives,” said Oakbay Consulting CEO Emily Epstein, who teaches negotiation courses at Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley. “We assume they could just hire a long line of people, but it may be that we bring specialized expertise to our roles, something that would be hard to replace.”

Timing matters

Don’t seek a raise when your boss is hungry or at the end of a long day because the answer is more likely to be no, advises Epstein, whose company offers training on communication, conflict resolution and other business skills. If they’re well-rested and feeling great, you’re more likely to succeed, she said.

Getting a raise is probably easier in booming fields, such as cybersecurity, while it could be a tough time to request one if you work in an industry that is shedding positions, Epstein said.

By the same token, waiting for the perfect time presents the risk of missing out on a chance to advocate for yourself.

“You could wait your whole life for your boss to be well-rested or to have a lot of resources,” Epstein said. “So don’t wait forever.”

Responding to “no”

If your request is denied, having made it can help set the stage for a future negotiation.

Ask your manager what makes it difficult to say yes, Epstein suggested. “Is it the precedent you’d be establishing for this position that might be hard to live up to? Is it fairness to the other people in my position? Is it, right now the company’s struggling?” she said.

Ask when you might revisit the conversation and whether you can get that timeframe in writing, DeMase said.

Laura Kreller, an executive assistant at a university in Louisiana, recently earned a master’s degree and asked for her job description to change to reflect greater responsibilities and hopefully higher pay. Her boss was kind but turned her down, citing funding constraints. Kreller said she has no regrets.

“I was proud of myself for doing it,” she said. “It’s better to know where you stand.”

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

Fernando Mendoza completed 24 of 28 passes for 332 yards and four touchdowns and No. 3 Indiana celebrated its highest ranking in program history with a 38-13 rout of Michigan State on Saturday.

The Hoosiers (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten), who have won all but one game by double digits, kept pace with No. 1 Ohio State atop the conference standings with touchdowns on their first five possessions.

Mendoza threw a pair of TD passes to Elijah Sarratt, and also hit E.J. Williams Jr. and Omar Cooper Jr. for scores.

This is the sharpest we've seen him up to this point in a game, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said of Mendoza. And he continues to improve. He continues to prepare like nobody I've ever been around. He's getting better and better."

Sarratt's first touchdown on a 24-yard play put Indiana ahead 14-10 in the second quarter. His 27-yard TD reception gave the Hoosiers a 35-10 lead in the third quarter.

Mendoza praised a shirtless, towel-waving student section for pushing his candidacy for the Heisman Trophy.

That was fantastic to see that. What a great sight to see, he said. We do have a lot of season left. We have so many great players on our team. Whatever spotlight that I might get for the offensive success, I try to dish it out to my teammates.

Mendoza, a redshirt junior transfer, has 21 TD passes and just two interceptions this season.

He keeps building on his previous performances, Cignetti said. I can't say enough good things about him.

Cooper finished with eight receptions for 115 yards. Kaelon Black added a 29-yard TD rush.

Cignetti was concerned about how his Hoosiers would respond after last week's 30-20 win at then-No. 2 Oregon.

Look, you can't be a real nice guy when you have a job like mine, he said. Human nature after a win against Oregon is to be happy and relax, the support staff, coaches, players, trainers. So my job is to make sure they've got the right mindset and are ready to play. ... We've got to get better from this last game because the challenges are going to get tougher down the road."

Michigan State (3-4, 0-4) lost its fourth in a row by double digits despite twice taking first-half leads. Spartans quarterback Aidan Chiles completed 27 of 33 passes for 243 yards and one TD.

"The margin for error against a team like that, we were not able to make that up," said Spartans coach Jonathan Smith. In the second half, we've got to find a way to get a couple of stops.

Poll implications

Expect Indiana to move up a spot in the rankings after No. 2 Miami lost to Louisville on Friday.

The takeaway

Michigan State: Mired in a Big Ten slump after its 10th conference loss in 12 games, Smith is searching for any positives. The Spartans monopolized the clock with time-consuming scoring drives of 8:07 and 9:22 for a 10-7 lead in the second quarter to provide a glimmer of hope that this team can compete with the elite.

Indiana: An offensive juggernaut that averages 44.8 points per game ensured this outcome as the Hoosiers drove 75 yards on three of their first four scoring drives and 80 yards on the other. Three of those possessions lasted just 1:47, 1:51 and 2:40. The only thing that stopped the Hoosiers temporarily was a 20-minute halftime delay due to lightning.

Up next

Michigan State: Hosts Michigan next Saturday.

Indiana: At home against UCLA next Saturday.

___

AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Fernando Mendoza completed 24 of 28 passes for 332 yards and four touchdowns and No. 3 Indiana celebrated its highest ranking in program history with a 38-13 rout of Michigan State on Saturday.

The Hoosiers (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten), who have won all but one game by double digits, kept pace with No. 1 Ohio State atop the conference standings with touchdowns on their first five possessions.

Mendoza threw a pair of TD passes to Elijah Sarratt, and also hit E.J. Williams Jr. and Omar Cooper Jr. for scores.

Sarratt’s first touchdown on a 24-yard play put Indiana ahead 14-10 in the second quarter. Sarratt’s 27-yard TD reception gave the Hoosiers a 35-10 lead in the third quarter.

Mendoza, a redshirt junior transfer has 21 TD passes and just two interceptions this season.

Cooper finished with eight receptions for 115 yards. Kaelon Black added a 29-yard TD rush.

Michigan State (3-4, 0-4) lost its fourth in a row by double digits despite twice taking first-half leads. Spartans quarterback Aidan Chiles completed 27 of 33 passes for 243 yards and one TD.

Poll implications

Expect Indiana to move up a spot in the rankings after No. 2 Miami lost to Louisville on Friday.

The takeaway

Michigan State: Mired in a Big Ten slump after its 10th conference loss in 12 games, second-year coach Jonathan Smith is searching for any positives. The Spartans monopolized the clock with time-consuming scoring drives of 8:07 and 9:22 for a 10-7 lead in the second quarter to provide a glimmer of hope that this team can compete with the elite.

Indiana: An offensive juggernaut that averages 44.8 points per game ensured this outcome as the Hoosiers drove 75 yards on three of their first four scoring drives and 80 yards on the other. Three of those possessions lasted just 1:47, 1:51 and 2:40. The only thing that stopped the Hoosiers temporarily was a 20-minute halftime delay due to lightning.

Up next

Michigan State: Hosts Michigan next Saturday.

Indiana: At home against UCLA next Saturday.

— By PHILLIP B. WILSON, Associated Press

Amy Arnott of Morningstar

Deciding where to live later in life isn’t an easy task. Many seniors prefer to stay in their own homes but may need help managing medical issues or day-to-day tasks. Others might move in with their adult children or family members.

One potential solution is a continuing care retirement community, or life plan community.

A CCRC is a community living facility where retirees can access a spectrum of care as they age—care levels typically include independent living, assisted living, nursing care, and memory care. Most CCRCs also offer a range of amenities and activities, such as on-site fitness centers and groups for different hobbies.

There’s evidence that people living in CCRCs enjoy better health outcomes, and higher levels of social and emotional well-being. It can also be an attractive option for couples as they can continue living near each other even if one person eventually needs a higher level of care.

Moving to a CCRC requires a substantial financial commitment, and it carries the sobering possibility that it might be the last time you get to choose where you live. Here are some key things to consider:

Fees and living arrangements

People entering a CCRC generally start in independent living, with their own living quarters.

In many cases, the cost of admission could be on par with buying a house in the same area. Based on data from US News & World Report, entrance fees average about $400,000 but can range from $100,000 to more than $1 million. The hefty price tag doesn’t mean you’re buying the property you live in; instead, the money helps cover part of the costs you may incur while living there and may be partially refundable to your estate after death.

Residents also pay monthly fees, which averaged about $4,200 for independent living as of the end of 2024. Monthly fees, which often increase about 4% per year to cover inflation, generally cover housing, meals, housekeeping, maintenance, transportation, and recreational activities. Depending on your contract, monthly fees may also cover certain healthcare costs.

Three types of CCRC contracts

Type A contracts are the costliest option. They have the steepest entrance fees and the highest starting monthly fees, which generally cover comprehensive long-term-care services and remain the same (except for annual inflation increases) even if you need a higher level of care.

Type B contracts have lower upfront costs than Type A contracts, and lower monthly fees when you first move in. They provide the same access to housing and residential services as Type A contracts, but not the same level of access to healthcare services. If a resident needs a higher level of care, the monthly fee grows to cover the higher cost. In exchange for lower monthly fees at move-in, people in these contracts take the risk that their costs could significantly increase.

Type C contracts generally have the lowest upfront costs and may not include any entrance fee. Instead, the monthly fee changes to reflect the market rate for the type of healthcare needed. Monthly fees start lower when a resident first enters independent living but can grow dramatically if they need higher-level care. As with Type B contracts, people in these contracts pay lower monthly fees when they move in but may end up paying significantly more.

Other factors to consider with contracts

The upfront payments included in Type A and Type B contracts are often partially refundable after you leave the facility or pass away. Though, there fundable portion of the fee varies.

Taxes are another factor to consider.

For Type A and Type B contracts, part of the entrance fee may be eligible for a one-time tax deduction as a prepaid medical expense. A portion of the monthly fees may also be eligible for annual deductions if they’re considered a prepaid medical expense. (In both cases, deductions are only allowed if the costs are more than 7.5% of adjusted gross income.) Facilities typically provide residents with specifics on the portion of fees that may be deductible each year.

Finding the right fit

ACCRC can help seniors maintain a happy, healthy, and rewarding life. But it’s imperative to make sure the facility is not only a good fit for your needs, but financially strong before signing a contract.

The National Continuing Care Residents Association offers resources that include a Consumer Guide, a Handbook on CCRC Finance, and a Model Bill of Rights.

---

This article was provided to The Associated Press by Morningstar. For more personal finance content, go to https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance

Amy C. Arnott, CFA is a portfolio strategist for Morningstar.

By FERNANDA FIGUEROA

Authors, readers and publishing industry experts lament the underrepresentation of Hispanic stories in the mainstream world of books, but have found new ways to elevate the literature and resolve misunderstandings.

“The stories now are more diverse than they were ten years ago,” said Carmen Alvarez, a book influencer on Instagram and TikTok.

Some publishers, independent bookstores and book influencers are pushing past the perception of monolithic experience by making Hispanic stories more visible and discoverable for book lovers.

The rise of online book retailers and limited marketing budgets for stories about people of color have been major hurdles for increasing that representation, despite annual celebrations of Hispanic Heritage Month from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 in the U.S. There’s been a push for ethnically authentic stories about Latinos, beyond the immigrant experience.

“I feel like we are getting away from the immigration story, the struggle story,” said Alvarez, who is best known as “tomesandtextiles” on bookstagram and booktok, the Instagram and TikTok social media communities. “I feel like my content is to push back against the lack of representation.”

Latinos in the publishing industry

Latinos currently make up roughly 20% of the U.S. population, according to Census data.

However, the National Hispanic Media Coalition estimates Latinos only represent 8% of employees in publishing, according to its Latino Representation in Publishing Coalition created in 2023.

Brenda Castillo, NHMC president and CEO, said the coalition works directly with publishing houses to highlight Latino voices and promote their existing Latino employees.

The publishing houses “are the ones that have the power to make the changes,” Castillo said.

Some Hispanic authors are creating spaces for their work to find interested readers. Award-winning children authors Mayra Cuevas and Alex Villasante co-founded a book festival and storytellers conference in 2024 to showcase writers and illustrators from their communities.

“We were very intentional in creating programming around upleveling craft and professional development,” Cuevas said. “And giving attendees access to the publishing industry, and most importantly, creating a space for community connection and belonging.”

Villasante said the festival and conference allowed them to sustain themselves within the publishing industry, while giving others a road map for success in an industry that isn’t always looking to mass produce their work.

“We are not getting the representation of ourselves,” Villasante said. “I believe that is changing, but it is a slow change so we have to continue to push for that change.”

Breaking into the mainstream

New York Times bestselling author Silvia Moreno-Garcia, a Mexican-Canadian novelist known for the novels “Mexican Gothic” and “The Daughter of Doctor Moreau,” is one of few Hispanic authors that has been able to break to mainstream. But she said it wasn’t easy.

Moreno-Garcia recalled one of her first publisher rejections: The editor complimented the quality of the story but said it would not sell because it was set in Mexico.

“There are systems built within publishing that make it very difficult to achieve the regular distributions that other books naturally have built into them,” Moreno-Garcia said. “There is sometimes resistance to sharing some of these books.”

Cynthia Pelayo, an award-winning author and poet, said the marketing campaign is often the difference maker in terms of a book’s success. Authors of color are often left wanting more promotional support from their publishers, she said.

“I’ve seen exceptional Latino novels that have not received nearly the amount of marketing, publicity that some of their white colleagues have received,” Pelayo said. “What happens in that situation (is) their books get put somewhere else in the bookstore when these white colleagues, their books will get put in the front.”

Hispanic Heritage Month, however, helps bring some attention to Hispanic authors, she added.

Independent bookstores

Independent bookstores remain persistent in elevating Hispanic stories. A 2024 report by the American Booksellers Association found that 60 of the 323 new independent bookstores were owned by people of color. According to Latinx in Publishing, a network of publishing industry professionals, there are 46 Hispanic-owned bookstores in the U.S.

Online book retailer Bookshop.org has highlighted Hispanic books and provided discounts for readers during Hispanic Heritage Month. A representative for the site, Ellington McKenzie, said the site has been able to provide financial support for about 70 Latino bookstores.

“People are always looking to support those minority owned bookstores which we are happy to be the liaison between them,” McKenzie said.

Chawa Magaña, the owner of Palabras Bilingual Bookstore in Phoenix, said she was inspired to open the store because of what she felt was a lack of diversity and representation in the books that are taught in Arizona schools.

“Growing up, I didn’t experience a lot of diversity in literature in schools.” Magaña said. “I wasn’t seeing myself in the stories that I was reading.”

Of the books for sale at Palabras Bilingual, between 30% to 40% of the books are Latino stories, she said.

Magaña said having heard people say they have never seen that much representation in a bookstore has made her cry.

“What has been the most fulfilling to me is able to see how it impacts other people’s lives,” she said. “What motivates me is seeing other people get inspired to do things, seeing people moved when they see the store itself having diverse books.”

By JULIE WATSON

When the corroded pipeline burst in 2015, inky crude spread along the Southern California coast, becoming the state’s worst oil spill in decades.

More than 140,000 gallons (3,300 barrels) of oil gushed out, blackening beaches for 150 miles from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles, polluting a biologically rich habitat for endangered whales and sea turtles, killing scores of pelicans, seals and dolphins, and decimating the fishing industry.

Plains All American Pipeline in 2022 agreed to a $230 million settlement with fishers and coastal property owners without admitting liability. Federal inspectors found that the Houston-based company failed to quickly detect the rupture and responded too slowly. It faced an uphill battle to build a new pipeline.

Three decades-old drilling platforms were subsequently shuttered, but another Texas-based fossil fuel company supported by the Trump administration purchased the operation and is intent on pumping oil through the pipeline again.

Sable Offshore Corp., headquartered in Houston, is facing a slew of legal challenges but is determined to restart production, even if that means confining it to federal waters, where state regulators have virtually no say. California controls the 3 miles nearest to shore. The platforms are 5 to 9 miles offshore.

The Trump administration has hailed Sable’s plans as the kind of project the president wants to increase U.S. energy production as the federal government removes regulatory barriers. President Donald Trump has directed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to undo his predecessor’s ban on future offshore oil drilling on the East and West coasts.

Environmentalist sue to stop the project

“This project risks another environmental disaster in California at a time when demand for oil is going down and the climate crisis is escalating,” said Alex Katz, executive director of Environmental Defense Center, the Santa Barbara group formed in response to a massive spill in 1969.

The environmental organization is among several suing Sable.

“Our concern is that there is no way to make this pipeline safe and that this company has proven that it cannot be trusted to operate safely, responsibly or even legally,” he said.

Actor and activist Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who lives in the area, has implored officials to stop Sable, saying at a March protest: “I can smell a rat. And this project is a rat.”

The California Coastal Commission fined Sable a record $18 million for ignoring cease-and-desist orders over repair work it says was done without permits. Sable said it has permits from the previous owner, Exxon Mobil, and sued the commission while work continued on the pipeline. In June, a state judge ordered it to stop while the case proceeds through the court. The commission and Sable are due back in court Wednesday.

“This fly-by-night oil company has repeatedly abused the public’s trust, racking up millions of dollars in fines and causing environmental damage along the treasured Gaviota Coast,” a state park south of Santa Barbara, said Joshua Smith, the commission’s spokesman.

Sable keeps moving forward

So far, Sable is undeterred.

The California Attorney General’s office sued Sable this month, saying it illegally discharged waste into waterways, and disregarded state law requiring permits before work along the pipeline route that crosses sensitive wildlife habitat.

“Sable placed profits over environmental protection in its rush to get oil on the market,” the agency said in its lawsuit.

Last month, the Santa Barbara District Attorney filed felony criminal charges against Sable, also accusing it of polluting waterways and harming wildlife.

Sable said it has fully cooperated with local and state agencies, including the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and called the district attorney’s allegation “inflammatory and extremely misleading.” It said a biologist and state fire marshal officials oversaw the work, and no wildlife was harmed.

The company is seeking $347 million for the delays, and says if the state blocks it from restarting the onshore pipeline system, it will use a floating facility that would keep its entire operation in federal waters and use tankers to transport the oil to markets outside California. In a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, the company updated its plan to include the option.

Fulfilling the president’s energy promise

The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said in July it was working with Sable to bring a second rig online.

“President Trump made it clear that American energy should come from American resources,” the agency’s deputy director Kenny Stevens said in a statement then, heralding the “comeback story for Pacific production.”

The agency said there are an estimated 190 million barrels (6 billion gallons) of recoverable oil reserves in the area, nearly 80% of residual Pacific reserves. It noted advancements in preventing and preparing for oil spills and said the failed pipeline has been rigorously tested.

“Continuous monitoring and improved technology significantly reduce the risk of a similar incident occurring in the future,” the agency said.

CEO says project could lower gas prices

On May 19 — the 10th anniversary of the disaster — CEO Jim Flores announced that Sable “is proud to have safely and responsibly achieved first production at the Santa Ynez Unit” — which includes three rigs in federal waters, offshore and onshore pipelines, and the Las Flores Canyon Processing Facility.

State officials countered that the company had only conducted testing and not commercial production. Sable’s stock price dropped and some investors sued, alleging they were misled.

Sable purchased the Santa Ynez Unit from Exxon Mobil in 2024 for nearly $650 million primarily with a loan from Exxon. Exxon sold the shuttered operation after losing a court battle in 2023 to truck the crude through central California while the pipeline system was rebuilt or repaired.

Flores said well tests at the Platform Harmony rig indicate there is much oil to be extracted and that it will relieve California’s gas prices — among the nation’s highest — by stabilizing supplies.

“Sable is very concerned about the crumbling energy complex in California,” Flores said in a statement to The Associated Press. “With the exit of two refineries last year and more shuttering soon, California’s economy cannot survive without the strong energy infrastructure it enjoyed for the last 150 years.”

California has been reducing the state’s production of fossil fuels in favor of clean energy for years. The movement has been spearheaded partly by Santa Barbara County, where elected officials voted in May to begin taking steps to phase out onshore oil and gas operations.

Associated Press writer Matthew Brown in Billings, Montana contributed to this report.

By MARK KENNEDY, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Broadway is a tense place these days after two major labor unions authorized strike action amid ongoing contract negotiations with producers.

Actors’ Equity Association — which represents over 51,000 members, including singers, actors, dancers and stage managers — and American Federation of Musicians Local 802 — which represents 1,200 musicians — have voted in favor of a strike authorization, a strategic step ahead of any work stoppage. No strike has been called.

Members of both unions are currently working under expired contracts. The musicians’ contract expired on Aug. 31, and the Equity contract expired on Sept. 28.

Both unions want pay increases and higher contributions by producers toward employee health care costs, a key sticking point. Actors Equity also wants producers to hire more backup performers and stage managers, add protections for performers in the event of injury and put limits on how many performances in a row actors can be asked to do without a day off.

The health of Broadway — once very much in doubt due to the COVID-19 pandemic — is now very good, at least in terms of box office. The 2024-2025 season took in $1.9 billion, the highest-grossing season in recorded history, overtaking the pre-pandemic previous high of $1.8 billion during the 2018-2019 season. It has been a long road back from the days when theaters were shuttered and the future looked bleak.

The unions are pointing to the financial health of Broadway to argue that producers can afford to up pay and benefits for musicians and actors. Producers, represented by The Broadway League, counter that the health of Broadway could be endangered by increasing ticket prices.

“On the heels of the most successful season in history, the Broadway League wants the working musicians and artists who fueled that very success to accept wage cuts, threats to healthcare benefits, and potential job losses,” Local 802 President Bob Suttmann said in a statement Tuesday.

A strike would cripple most of Broadway, but some shows might continue. “Beetlejuice” and “Mamma Mia!” arrived as part of tours and so do not have a traditional Broadway contract. And shows playing at nonprofit theaters, such as the musical “Ragtime” at Lincoln Center Theater and the play “Punch” from the Manhattan Theatre Club, have separate labor agreements.

The most recent major strike on Broadway was in late 2007, when a 19-day walkout dimmed the lights on more than two dozen shows and cost producers and the city millions of dollars in lost revenue.

More than 30 members of Congress, including the entire New York delegation, have signed a letter urging all sides to bargain in good faith and avoid a strike.

“A disruption to Broadway will result in significant economic disruption to not just the New York metropolitan area but harm theater workers and patrons across the country and around the world,” the letter states.

The post D’Angelo, Grammy-winning R&B singer who became an icon with ‘Untitled (How Does It Feel),’ dies appeared first on WDET 101.9 FM.

By PATRICK WHITTLE

BOOTHBAY HARBOR, Maine (AP) — Republican lawmakers are targeting one of the U.S.’s longest standing pieces of environmental legislation, credited with helping save rare whales from extinction.

Conservative leaders feel they now have the political will to remove key pieces of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, enacted in 1972 to protect whales, seals, polar bears and other sea animals. The law also places restrictions on commercial fishermen, shippers and other marine industries.

A GOP-led bill in the works has support from fishermen in Maine who say the law makes lobster fishing more difficult, lobbyists for big-money species such as tuna in Hawaii and crab in Alaska, and marine manufacturers who see the law as antiquated.

Conservation groups adamantly oppose the changes and say weakening the law will erase years of hard-won gains for jeopardized species such as the vanishing North Atlantic right whale, of which there are less than 400, and is vulnerable to entanglement in fishing gear.

Here’s what to know about the protection act and the proposed changes.

Why does the 1970s law still matter

“The Marine Mammal Protection Act is important because it’s one of our bedrock laws that help us to base conservation measures on the best available science,” said Kathleen Collins, senior marine campaign manager with International Fund for Animal Welfare. “Species on the brink of extinction have been brought back.”

It was enacted the year before the Endangered Species Act, at a time when the movement to save whales from extinction was growing. Scientist Roger Payne had discovered that whales could sing in the late 1960s, and their voices soon appeared on record albums and throughout popular culture.

The law protects all marine mammals, and prohibits capturing or killing them in U.S. waters or by U.S. citizens on the high seas. It allowed for preventative measures to stop commercial fishing ships and other businesses from accidentally harming animals such as whales and seals. The animals can be harmed by entanglement in fishing gear, collisions with ships and other hazards at sea.

The law also prevents the hunting of marine mammals, including polar bears, with exceptions for Indigenous groups. Some of those animals can be legally hunted in other countries.

Changes to oil and gas operations — and whale safety

Republican Rep. Nick Begich of Alaska, a state with a large fishing industry, submitted a bill draft this summer that would roll back aspects of the law. The bill says the act has “unduly and unnecessarily constrained government, tribes and the regulated community” since its inception.

The proposal states that it would make changes such as lowering population goals for marine mammals from “maximum productivity” to the level needed to “support continued survival.” It would also ease rules on what constitutes harm to marine mammals.

For example, the law currently prevents harassment of sea mammals such as whales, and defines harassment as activities that have “the potential to injure a marine mammal.” The proposed changes would limit the definition to only activities that actually injure the animals. That change could have major implications for industries such as oil and gas exploration where rare whales live.

That poses an existential threat to the Rice’s whale, which numbers only in the dozens and lives in the Gulf of Mexico, conservationists said. And the proposal takes specific aim at the North Atlantic right whale protections with a clause that would delay rules designed to protect that declining whale population until 2035.

Begich and his staff did not return calls for comment on the bill, and his staff declined to provide an update about where it stands in Congress. Begich has said he wants “a bill that protects marine mammals and also works for the people who live and work alongside them, especially in Alaska.”

Fishing groups want restrictions loosened

A coalition of fishing groups from both coasts has come out in support of the proposed changes. Some of the same groups lauded a previous effort by the Trump administration to reduce regulatory burdens on commercial fishing.

The groups said in a July letter to House members that they feel Begich’s changes reflect “a positive and necessary step” for American fisheries’ success.

Restrictions imposed on lobster fishermen of Maine are designed to protect the right whale, but they often provide little protection for the animals while limiting one of America’s signature fisheries, Virginia Olsen, political director of the Maine Lobstering Union, said. The restrictions stipulate where lobstermen can fish and what kinds of gear they can use. The whales are vulnerable to lethal entanglement in heavy fishing rope.

Gathering more accurate data about right whales while revising the original law would help protect the animals, Olsen said.

“We do not want to see marine mammals harmed; we need a healthy, vibrant ocean and a plentiful marine habitat to continue Maine’s heritage fishery,” Olsen said.

Some members of other maritime industries have also called on Congress to update the law. The National Marine Manufacturers Association said in a statement that the rules have not kept pace with advancements in the marine industry, making innovation in the business difficult.

Environmentalists fight back

Numerous environmental groups have vowed to fight to save the protection act. They characterized the proposed changes as part of the Trump administration’s assault on environmental protections.

The act was instrumental in protecting the humpback whale, one of the species most beloved by whale watchers, said Gib Brogan, senior campaign director with Oceana. Along with other sea mammals, humpbacks would be in jeopardy without it, he said.

“The Marine Mammal Protection Act is flexible. It works. It’s effective. We don’t need to overhaul this law at this point,” Brogan said.

What does this mean for seafood imports

The original law makes it illegal to import marine mammal products without a permit, and allows the U.S. to impose import prohibitions on seafood products from foreign fisheries that don’t meet U.S. standards.

The import embargoes are a major sticking point because they punish American businesses, said Gavin Gibbons, chief strategy officer of the National Fisheries Institute, a Virginia-based seafood industry trade group. It’s critical to source seafood globally to be able to meet American demand for seafood, he said.

The National Fisheries Institute and a coalition of industry groups sued the federal government Thursday over what they described as unlawful implementation of the protection act. Gibbons said the groups don’t oppose the act, but want to see it responsibly implemented.

“Our fisheries are well regulated and appropriately fished to their maximum sustainable yield,” Gibbons said. “The men and women who work our waters are iconic and responsible. They can’t be expected to just fish more here to make up a deficit while jeopardizing the sustainability they’ve worked so hard to maintain.”

Some environmental groups said the Republican lawmakers’ proposed changes could weaken American seafood competitiveness by allowing imports from poorly regulated foreign fisheries.

This story was supported by funding from the Walton Family Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By ALI SWENSON and JONEL ALECCIA

NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of federal employees working on mental health services, disease outbreaks and disaster preparedness were among those hit by the Trump administration’s mass firings over the weekend, current and laid-off workers said Monday, as the administration aimed to pressure Democratic lawmakers to give in and end the nearly two-week-long government shutdown.

The government-wide reduction-in-force initiative that began Friday roiled the massive U.S. Department of Health and Human Services just six months after it went through an earlier round of cuts and as many staffers already were disconnected from work because of the shutdown.

The situation turned even more chaotic over the weekend, when more than half of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention employees who’d gotten layoff notices learned they received them in error and were still employed with the agency.

HHS, through its agencies, is responsible for tracking health trends and disease outbreaks, conducting and funding medical research, and monitoring the safety of food and medicine, as well as for administering health insurance programs for nearly half the country. Among the HHS agencies facing staff cuts were the CDC, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA, and the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, or ASPR, according to current and laid-off employees who spoke with The Associated Press.

Former staffers and health professionals said they were concerned the layoffs could have negative health impacts and make it difficult for HHS agencies to fulfill their obligations set by Congress.

HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon said the laid off employees were deemed nonessential. He added the agency is working to “close wasteful and duplicative entities, including those that are at odds with the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again agenda.”

Nixon declined to share which HHS agencies saw layoffs or how many HHS employees were affected. However, a Friday court filing from the Trump administration gave an estimate, saying about 1,100 to 1,200 of the nearly 80,000 staffers at HHS were receiving dismissal notices.

CDC is hit with layoffs — and reversals

About 600 workers at the CDC remained fired Monday in conjunction with the federal government shutdown after hundreds more had originally been targeted, according to the American Federation of Government Employees Local 2883, which represents CDC employees in Atlanta.

Of more than 1,300 CDC employees who received reduction-in-force notices Friday, about 700 later received emails revoking their terminations, the union said.

The AFGE Local 2883 called the action a “politically-motivated stunt” to illegally fire agency workers.

“These reckless actions are disrupting and destroying the lives of everyday working people, who are constantly being used as bargaining chips,” AFGE President Yolanda Jacobs said in a statement Monday.

A federal health official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with the media said the incorrect RIF notices resulted from a glitch in the system.

Among those targeted for dismissal and then reinstated were the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, the “disease detectives” who are deployed to respond to outbreaks that threaten public health, said Dr. Anne Schuchat, former principal deputy director of the CDC, who said she was in touch with EIS officers in that situation.

“These are people who go into really scary places,” Schuchat said. “Usually you think it’s nature that’s going to be giving you a hard time, the viruses, not the government.”

Mental health services cut in sweeping dismissals at agency

SAMHSA, an agency within HHS devoted to addressing mental illness and addiction, also saw cuts, according to two employees of the agency with knowledge of the layoffs who weren’t authorized to speak publicly.

While the full scope of the firings wasn’t clear, some of the departments affected included the agency’s Office of Communications and the Center for Mental Health Services, where dozens were let go from multiple areas, according to one of the employees.

Within CMHS, one of two branches that oversaw millions of dollars in grants for community health clinics was mostly terminated, the employees said.

Dakota Jablon, a public health analyst and former employee of SAMHSA, said the loss of more staff at SAMHSA, primarily a grantmaking agency, would have “devastating ripple effects across the behavioral health field.”

“Even if the grants continue, the loss of experienced staff means those who remain will be stretched far too thin, often outside their areas of expertise,” she said.

Dr. Eric Rafla-Yuan, a psychiatrist and the chair of the Committee to Protect Public Mental Health, said staff cuts at SAMHSA could put state safety nets for people with mental illness at risk, because the agency provides significant funding and support to state programs.

Latest layoffs build on earlier cuts as HHS looks to restructure

The mass layoffs come six months after thousands of researchers, scientists, doctors, support staff and senior leaders were either laid off from HHS or took early retirement or volunteer separation offers.

The department’s staff was listed at just under 80,000 employees in a contingency plan before the government shutdown began, down more than 2,000 from its staffing level earlier in the year.

The cuts are part of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s sweeping effort to remake the department by consolidating agencies that oversee billions of dollars for addiction services and community health centers under a new office called the Administration for a Healthy America. The plan has been delayed amid ongoing legislation and congressional pushback.

Aleccia reported from Southern California. AP medical writer Mike Stobbe contributed to this report.

CHICAGO (AP) — Latino leaders expressed dismay Saturday over recent immigration enforcement operations in Chicago that resulted in a fatal shooting during a traffic stop, the arrest of an immigrant at a barbershop and a tense standoff between protesters and agents at an immigration processing facility.

An Immigration, Customs and Enforcement officer fatally shot a man who tried to evade arrest Friday by driving his car at officers and dragging one of them, officials said. The man, Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, was pronounced dead at a hospital.

On the same day, Willian Gimenez was pulled over while driving in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood and detained by ICE agents. Kevin Herrera, Gimenez’s attorney, said he believes it was retaliation for his involvement in a lawsuit against Chicago leaders, Home Depot and an off-duty police officer for their actions toward immigrant workers.

Herrera said Gimenez has a work permit and is going through the process of pursuing an asylum claim.

In a statement Saturday, immigration authorities said Gimenez was arrested for being in the country illegally.

“No one is above the law. Gimenez Gonzalez is an illegal alien with charges for criminal trespassing and a history of not showing up to court, including when he failed to appear in immigration court in April of last year, after which an immigration judge ordered him removed from the country,” the statement said.

During a morning news conference outside an ICE facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview, Rep. Chuy Garcia, a Democrat, said the incidents are troubling.

“These incidents make us all ask, if ICE can kill one of our neighbors in broad daylight … if they can arrest someone for joining a lawsuit or simply for being Latino, what’s to stop them from getting any one of us?” Garcia said.

A planned 12-hour protest Friday outside the facility included several clashes between participants and officers wearing face coverings, helmets and later gas masks. The facility has seen regular demonstrations in response to increased immigration enforcement.

Rep. Delia Ramirez, also a Democrat, said she will demand a thorough investigation of the traffic stop that led to Villegas-Gonzalez’s fatal shooting and called for community unity.

The Department of Homeland Security’s campaign, labeled “ Operation Midway Blitz,” targets so-called sanctuary laws in the state.

“This ICE operation will target the criminal illegal aliens who flocked to Chicago and Illinois because they knew Governor Pritzker and his sanctuary policies would protect them and allow them to roam free on American streets,” DHS said in a statement.

Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker has been one of the most vocal opponents of the Trump administration’s immigration operations in Chicago.

The recent incidents have also raised fears in immigrant-heavy neighborhoods about celebrations for Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 16.