MINCO, Okla. — A school bus carrying softball team members crashed in Oklahoma, injuring multiple people, school and police officials said.
The crash happened Monday night on U.S. Highway 152 near Minco in Grady County, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southwest of Oklahoma City.
“This evening, our Minco Softball team was in a serious accident west of Minco,” school district Superintendent Kevin Sims posted online. “Multiple individuals on the bus were severely injured.”
He said school would be closed Tuesday.
“Please keep these student-athletes, coaches and their families in your prayers,” he said.
News reports said the bus rolled over and that some people were ejected.
The exact number of people on the bus and the number of people injured were not immediately available, a dispatcher for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol’s Troop G, which covers Grady County, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
U.S. Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma posted online that he and his wife, Cindy, “join all of Oklahoma in praying for our neighbors in Minco tonight.”
The Minco First Baptist Church in the town of about 1,500 people posted online that the church sanctuary was open “if you would like to come and pray.”
MINNEAPOLIS — There are “rays of hope” for a 12-year-old girl critically injured in last week’s deadly shooting at a Catholic church in Minneapolis, though her neurosurgeon cautioned Friday it is still hard to predict whether she will survive.
Sophia Forchas was the most seriously wounded child among those who survived after a shooter opened fire at the Church of the Annunciation on Aug. 27. The church was full of students from the affiliated Annunciation Catholic School who had gathered for their first Mass of the academic year. Two students were killed, and 21 people were injured.
The shooter died by suicide, police said.
Sophia remains in intensive care at Hennepin Healthcare, a trauma hospital that has treated many of the victims. Her neurosurgeon, Dr. Walt Galicich, said at a news conference that a bullet, which remains lodged in her brain, caused severe damage, including to a major blood vessel. Surgeons had to remove the left half of her skull to relieve the pressure inside her head.
“If you had told me at this juncture, 10 days later, that we’d be standing here with any ray of hope, I would have said it would take a miracle,” Galicich told reporters. He said they are banking on the ability of young brains to heal and make up for the damage.
Sophia is still being kept in a medically induced coma most of the time to control the swelling, Galicich said. She is opening her eyes and showing some level of awareness of her surroundings, and has some slight movement in her right leg, but she’s still not responding to commands, he said.
“It’s day by day, and I can’t tell you how this is going to end,” the doctor said. “I know she’s had a stroke from that injury to that blood vessel. I don’t know what her permanent deficits are going to be. But we’re a little bit more optimistic that she’s going to survive.”
The girl’s father, Tom Forchas, called her “my precious angel.”
“Sophia is kind. She is brilliant. She is full of life,” Forchas said. “She’s an innocent child who was attacked while in prayer. Words cannot begin to describe the terror and heartbreak that come with learning such devastating details.”
Forchas said Sophia’s 9-year-old brother was also in the church but wasn’t hit. He paid tribute to his wife, Amy Forchas, a pediatric critical care nurse on the hospital staff who has not left their daughter’s side. He also expressed deep gratitude to Sophia’s care team and to the support his family has received from around the world.
“Sophia has received prayers from across the globe,” he said. “It is nothing short of miraculous to know that millions of people have lifted her name in hundreds of millions of prayers. We have heard of prayers from Oslo to Johannesburg, from Sydney to Santiago, from Vietnam to Canada, from Mount Athos, Greece, to Minneapolis, Minnesota.”
And Forchas said the courage, compassion and love of “everyone who has helped us through this nightmare” is helping to carry them through.
“Sophia is strong. Sophia is fighting. And Sophia is going to win this fight for all of humanity,” he said.
Also Friday, students across Minnesota and several other cities across the country staged walkouts to demand that state and federal lawmakers ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Many gathered at the state Capitol in St. Paul. The protests were organized by Students Demand Action, an arm of Everytown for Gun Safety.
The GOP-led House Oversight Committee says it has obtained documents and communications from the Jeffrey Epstein estate on Monday — including the Epstein “birthday book,” which is said to contain the letter that President Donald Trump allegedly signed for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003.
After Democrats on the Oversight Committee made public the alleged letter from Trump and one other page from Epstein’s 50th Brithday Book, the Republican chairman of the committee, Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., subsequently released nearly all the documents provided to the committee by the Epstein estate, including the birthday book, Epstein’s last will and testament from 2019 and some other documents that are already part of the public record.
This 238-page PDF document of the birthday book includes a “prologue” that says it was written by Ghislaine Maxwell. The contributors are divided into categories: Family, Brooklyn, Girlfriends (whose names are all redacted), Children (names all redacted), Friends, Science, Special Assistants (all redacted) and Business.
House Oversight Committee’s Ranking Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia posted a photo on X that Democrats say is the page attributed to Trump in Jeffrey Epstein’s “birthday book.” The White House is denying that the image shared by Democrats is the president’s signature.
@RepRobertGarcia/X
Donald Trump is listed among the contributors under the “Friends” category in the table of contents, which also includes: Leon Black, Jean-Luc Brunel, Bill Clinton, Alan Dershowitz, Henry Jarecki, George Mitchel (sic), Joel Pashcow, Lesley Wexner, Mort Zuckerman and others.
There is a photograph of the book’s binding that reads “The First Fifty Years.”
The book also includes dozens of photographs from Epstein’s youth, a copy of his birth certificate, a Boy Scout’s graduation certification from 1963, a photo of an 8-year-old Epstein playing the accordion on stage at a Bar Mitzvah and several photos of Epstein with various women, whose faces are redacted, except for Ghislaine Maxwell.
Ranking Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia posted a photo on X that Democrats say is the page attributed to Trump.
Trump has denied writing the letter — calling it “fake.” The president had also denied the existence of the letter, filing a $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal for its report that the birthday book contained a “bawdy” letter from Trump.
Dow Jones, the parent company of the newspaper, in response to the lawsuit said in a statement that it has “full confidence in the rigor and accuracy” of its reporting and “will vigorously defend against any lawsuit.”
The White House is denying that the image shared by Democrats is the president’s signature. In a post on X, White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich said “Time for @newscorp to open that checkbook, it’s not his signature. DEFAMATION!”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, in an official response, also denied the fact that the signature depicted in the birthday book image is Trump’s. She said that Trump’s legal team will “continue to aggressively pursue litigation” against the Wall Street Journal.
House Oversight Committee’s Ranking Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia posted a photo on X that Democrats say is the page attributed to Trump in Jeffrey Epstein’s “birthday book.” The White House is denying that the image shared by Democrats is the president’s signature.
@RepRobertGarcia/X
Vice President JD Vance posted a response to Leavitt’s statement, saying the release of the documents was “another fake scandal” and calling it a “smear.”
“The Democrats don’t care about Epstein. They don’t even care about his victims. That’s why they were silent about it for years. The only thing they care about is concocting another fake scandal like Russiagate to smear President Trump with lies,” Vance wrote. “No one is falling for this BS.”
The committee issued a subpoena in late August for information from the estate, which included a copy of the alleged birthday book compiled for the disgraced financier’s 50th birthday. The committee had requested a delivery of the documents — which includes banking and financial records, flights logs and calendars — on or before Sept. 8, 2025.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Representative James Comer of Kentucky at the US Capitol, in Washington, September 2, 2025.
Will Oliver/EPA/Shutterstock
Epstein’s former associate Ghislaine Maxwell told a top official for the Justice Department that Epstein asked her to coordinate contributions to his 50th birthday book, but said she could not recall if Trump, then a private citizen, was among those who responded, according to a transcript of Maxwell’s interview last month with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Maxwell was convicted in 2021 by a federal jury on sex trafficking and other charges. She is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for aiding and participating in Epstein’s trafficking of underage girls, which involved a scheme to recruit young women and girls for massages of Epstein that turned sexual. Federal prosecutors in New York said Maxwell helped Epstein recruit, groom and ultimately abuse girls as young as 14. In the interview with the Justice Department official, Maxwell continued to profess her innocence.
Epstein was arrested in July 2019 and charged in a federal indictment with conspiracy and child sex trafficking. He died in custody a month later, while awaiting trial. His death was ruled a suicide by hanging.
In response to the developments surrounding the birthday book and the alleged letter from Trump, Brad Edwards, an attorney for scores of Epstein survivors, said that Trump’s “hypocrisy has been most frustrating for the victims.”
“He told the public the Epstein story should ‘go away,’ yet filed a $10 billion lawsuit that only magnifies the very issue he wants silenced,” Edwards told ABC News. “With today’s release, the least he could do is withdraw that lawsuit and publicly apologize to the journalists he attacked for reporting what seems to have now proved to be true.”
After the Wall Street Journal story and the White House denials, Edwards had publicly called on lawmakers in July to issue a subpoena to the estate for the birthday book, telling ABC News that “the obvious and easy way to obtain the book” would be to get it from lawyers for Epstein’s estate.
“It’s Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday book, and like all other similar possessions, the estate is obviously in possession of it,” Edwards told ABC News in July. “Ask or subpoena the estate or their lawyers, and everyone will then have the book and can move on, which is best for the victims.”
Job seekers’ confidence in finding new employment has fallen, a new survey reveals.
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Survey of Consumer Expectations, the average “perceived probability” of finding a new job after losing one fell 5.8% points to 44.9% among heads of households surveyed in August, the lowest measure on record since 2013 when the New York Fed began collecting data.
At the same time, Americans are increasingly worried about losing their current job. Expectations that the U.S. unemployment rate will be higher a year from now crept up 1.7 percentage points to 39.1%, the New York Fed found.
The data comes as Americans adopt a dimmer view of the economy. According to a recent CBS News poll, a majority of respondents continue to say the economy is getting worse.
The labor market has been under a microscope since July employment data showed weaker-than-expected job growth and sharp downward revisions for the months of June and May. August’s data, released Friday, pointed to a slump in U.S. hiring, with employers adding only 22,000 jobs. Unemployment also ticked up to 4.3%, the highest rate since October 2022.
“Employers may be holding onto their current workers amid uncertainty, but they are not adding new positions,” Allison Shrivastava, economist at Indeed Hiring Lab, told CBS MoneyWatch. “In turn, employees have taken the hint, staying in their current jobs rather than seeking new opportunities.”
According to a recent Bankrate survey, about half of Americans are planning to search for a new job in the next year. At the same time, data shows that the number of people changing jobs has slowed significantly since 2022, when millions of people quit their jobs during the “Great Resignation.”
During this period, workers had more negotiating power because labor supply disruptions created heightened demand for workers. That balance, however, has started shifting back in favor of employers in recent years.
A recent analysis from Bank of America shows that the percentage of its customers leaving their jobs has largely trended downward from a more than 26% peak in 2022, and is now just slightly above the job change rate in 2019, at 3.3%. Experts say that’s mainly because there are fewer opportunities for people to switch jobs and general unease with the state of the labor market.
“If this stagnation continues, unemployment — and layoffs — will increase, further weakening the labor market,” said Shrivastava.
The Fed, which is tasked with maintaining a robust job market and low inflation, has acknowledged that the downside risks to employment are rising. This strengthens the likelihood that the central bank will cut rates at its next meeting, which is scheduled for Sept. 16 to 17.
Mary Cunningham is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch. Before joining the business and finance vertical, she worked at “60 Minutes,” CBSNews.com and CBS News 24/7 as part of the CBS News Associate Program.
CBS Saturday Morning’s AI music creation, named Sadie Winters, took a matter of minutes to create on platforms available to the public. Her song, “Walking Away,” has now taken off.
LOS ANGELES — Dropped into the middle of a division title chase with three weeks remaining in the regular season, Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy finds himself in his comfort zone.
Even with the team’s need for a jolt of offense, Muncy insists there is no undue pressure associated with his return.
“I’m happy to be back. It’s exciting,” said Muncy, who is batting .258 with a .389 on-base percentage and 17 home runs in 89 games. “I live to be out there. To come back and hopefully help this team win some games, get to come back, first game at home, that’s always a big deal to me. Get to play in front of our fans. And hopefully get everyone going.”
Using September to ramp up for the playoffs is a common occurrence for Muncy in his eight seasons with the Dodgers. To that end, Manager Dave Roberts did not hesitate to put his left-handed power hitter and walk machine into the cleanup spot for Monday night’s series opener against the Colorado Rockies.
“We’ve been waiting for this one for a long time, not to add any pressure to Max, but just kind of having his presence in the lineup, just taking the quality at-bat,” Roberts said. “Obviously adds length to our lineup, another left-handed hitter who can just do some (damage).”
Asked if he will be able to produce instantly, Muncy stopped short of making a promise. But he likes where he is physically.
“The body feels in a good spot,” Muncy said after a quick three-game rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City, where he had two hits in seven at-bats with two walks. “Pretty much checked all the boxes I needed to check when I was down there. I was getting my swing off a bunch.”
Those checked boxes included swinging at full strength with no discomfort, experiencing a swing and a miss, and seeing how his side handles a checked swing.
“I accomplished all of those, and I felt like it was a big thing,” he said. “And it all felt good. There was no lingering side effects from any of it. And next-day soreness wasn’t really there.”
In a corresponding move, catcher Chucky Robinson was optioned back to Oklahoma City without playing in the two games when he was on the major league roster.
RESET MODE
With Muncy back and hitting in the heart of the order, Andy Pages was moved to the No. 8 spot of the lineup for just the 11th time this season and the second time since Aug. 9.
Pages has a hit in 10 of the past 12 games, but he is batting just .211 over the last 22 games since Aug. 13 and has one home run over the past 10 contests.
“I think that certainly the last 30 days, the way Andy’s been swinging, and kind of scuffling (it can help) to kind of let the game come to him a little bit,” Roberts said. “I think it is a better spot for him. I think it’s good.”
ON THEIR WAY
Left-hander Alex Vesia was not activated from his own oblique injury as expected on Monday, but he is likely to rejoin the bullpen on Tuesday.
Utility man Tommy Edman (ankle) returned from a rehab assignment Monday evening and is expected to be activated Wednesday.
Vesia, who has a 2.75 ERA in 59 relief appearances this season, last pitched for the Dodgers on Aug. 21. Edman, who is batting .228 with 13 home runs, last played Aug. 3.
GETTING THERE
Right-hander Brock Stewart said a second cortisone shot had him feeling much better after a bout with shoulder inflammation, allowing him to throw a bullpen on Saturday. He will have another bullpen Tuesday and face hitters Friday before a short rehab assignment.
The Dodgers hope Stewart can return to the level that led him to a 2.38 ERA in 39 relief appearances with the Twins this season.
“I would love to help the team right now,” Stewart said. “… But I still have to focus on myself since I’m not out of the woods yet. Even. Healthy and active it’s still one day at a time.”
ALSO
Roberts said he is operating under the assumption that right-handed reliever Brusdar Graterol will not return for the regular season but has not officially ruled out an appearance in the postseason. … Asked about Shohei Ohtani’s next start on the mound, Roberts said it would be in San Francisco over the weekend before amending that and saying nothing official has been determined. … Catcher Will Smith (hand) was available off the bench Monday and could return to the starting lineup Tuesday after not playing since Wednesday in Pittsburgh.
UP NEXT
Rockies (RHP German Marquez, 3-12, 6.19 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Emmet Sheehan, 5-3, 3.59 ERA), Tuesday, 7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM
SANTA ANA — A Santa Ana pastor was convicted Monday of sexually assaulting three girls he met through churches in Riverside, Garden Grove and Santa Ana.
Carlos Ramirez Valdez, 61, was arrested in 2021. He was convicted of seven counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a minor younger than 14 and three counts of oral copulation or sexual penetration with a child 10 or younger, all felonies. Jurors also found true a sentencing enhancement for multiple victims.
Valdez was pastor of International Mission Church USA at 505 S. Main St., police said. From 2014-2017, he was a member of Iglesia De Dios Ebenezer Church at 2020 W. Chestnut Ave. in Santa Ana, police said.
At that church he lured an 8-year-old girl into a van during a service and sexually assaulted her, police said. Valdez repeatedly assaulted the girl in the van over a period of three years, police said.
The girl told investigators she was molested in second through fifth grade, with the first attack happening when the defendant took her to a van in a parking lot of the church, police said in testimony at his preliminary hearing.
Valdez also molested the girl in his home in Riverside where he showed her an adult film, police said. He would lure her into the van saying he needed to comb her hair or required help with something and then touch the victim, police said.
Another girl said the defendant began molesting her at age 9 when he was a deacon at a church, police said.
A third victim said the defendant began molesting her when she was about 6 years old at a Santa Ana church, police said at the preliminary hearing. The sexual abuse continued as they resided together in Riverside, police said.
One of the victims told Riverside police in January 2020 she was molested by Valdez in 2017 when she was 8, police said. Also in January 2020, one of the victims went to Garden Grove police saying Valdez molested her in 2015, according to police.
California’s top law enforcement official has weighed in on Monday‘s controversial U.S. Supreme Court ruling on immigration enforcement.
Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta condemned the decision, which clears the way for immigration agents to stop and question people they suspect of being in the U.S. illegally based solely on information such as their perceived race or place of employment.
Speaking at a news conference Monday in downtown L.A., Bonta said he agreed with claims the ACLU made in its lawsuit against the Trump administration. He called indiscriminate tactics used to make immigration arrests a violation of the 4th Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.
Bonta said he thinks it is unconstitutional “for ICE agents, federal immigration officers, to use race, the inability to speak English, location or perceived occupation to … stop and detain, search, seize Californians.”
He also decried what he described as the Supreme Court’s increasing reliance on its emergency docket, which he said often obscures the justices’ decision-making.
“It’s disappointing,” he said. “And the emergency docket has been used more and more. You often don’t know who has voted and how. There’s no argument. There’s no written opinion.”
Bonta called Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh’s opinion “very disturbing.”
The Trump-appointed justice argued that because many people who do day labor in fields such as construction or farming, engagement in such work could be useful in helping immigrant agents determine which people to stop.
Bonta said the practice enables “the use of race to potentially discriminate,” saying “it is disturbing and it is troubling.”
Rivian has laid off about 200 employees as the electric vehicle maker prepares for a U.S. economy with fewer incentives to go green.
The electric truck and sport-utility vehicle manufacturer is preparing for a challenging year in which it plans to launch a more affordable model even as it gets more expensive to buy an EV.
A spokesperson at the company said that the layoffs are equivalent to about 1.5% of its total staff of nearly 15,000. The Wall Street Journal first reported the layoffs.
Rivian is among the many car companies bracing for the changes in federal tax credits.
Under President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, the $7,500 tax credit, which some buyers receive for purchasingEVs, is set to expire at the end of this month. The credit of up to $4,000 for used EVs also will end.
It’s an abrupt reversal of Biden-era efforts to address climate change emissions from gasoline cars.
Transportation is the most significant source of climate-warming emissions in California and the U.S., and experts warn that the sector must become far cleaner to avoid the worst effects of global warming.
In California, approximately one-quarter of new cars sold are either fully electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles, according to the California Energy Commission.
That progress could stall. The planned phaseout of state credits is expected to dampen EV sales, which already have slowed due to waning consumer interest and high tariffs on imported cars.
Anticipating a slowdown in demand as the incentives end, General Motors has laid off 360 workers in Detroit due to the slowed production of the GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Escalade IQ. Volkswagen plans to temporarily furlough 160 employees and slow production of its electric SUV.
Rivian’s newest model, the R2 SUV, is slated to come out next year.
“We have made some recent changes to the Commercial team as part of an ongoing effort to improve operational efficiency for R2,” a Rivian spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Times.
It will be one of the company’s more affordable options, starting at $45,000. Its current R1S SUV starts at $76,900. At this price level, Rivian will be able to compete with other EV companies such as Tesla, which also has a model starting at about $45,000.
Rivian first made a name for itself with its Earth-toned electric trucks, which debuted in 2018. The company was founded in Florida and moved to Irvine in 2020, where it is based today.
The introduction of its heavy-duty EVs initially appealed to more-affluent consumers, with some of the models sporting sticker prices above $120,000.
After taking the company public in 2021, the retailer has faced a number of challenges. It has had to grapple with supply chain issues, steep price points and order delays.
Like all EV companies, it is now struggling with policy changes out of Washington.
Because Rivian makes only EVs, the company’s sales have been derailed with changes in compliance credits. Previously, the company would sell these credits to other car companies that needed to meet fuel economy and emission standards.
In its second quarter, the company reported a loss of $1.1 billion.
Rivian shares have climbed about 5% this year. That’s less than half the gain of the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index for the same period.
On Sept. 9, 1850, California was admitted as the 31st state in the union. Here are a few things to celebrate about our 175-year-old home.
State flag history
On June 14, 1846, rebellious settlers marched on the Mexican garrison at Sonoma. They declared California to be a republic independent of Mexico. This became known as the Bear Flag Revolt, named for the hastily designed flag depicting a grizzly and a five-point star over a red bar and the words “California Republic.” The flag only flew until July 9, 1846, when it was learned that Mexico and the United States were already at war. It was adopted as the state flag in 1911.
Settling on SacramentoCalifornia’s first capital was San Jose, which was deemed inadequate due to lack of facilities for a proper capital, and a wet winter in 1850-1851 turned dirt roads into muddy streams. This map shows where the capital was before Sacramento was chosen.
Blue and gold became the official colors of the state in 1951.
California has 28 National Park Service sites that get an estimated 40 million visitors each year.
The California Department of Parks and Recreation manages 280 parks.
California has the tallest trees (coast redwoods), the biggest trees (giant sequoias) and the oldest trees (bristlecone pines) in the world. If you think 175 years is a long time, some bristlecone pines are thought to be almost 5,000 years old.
Wise choices: We have a Roman goddess on our state seal, Minerva, who symbolized wisdom and war. When the state seal was created in 1950, the designers noted that just as myth tells us Minerva sprang full-grown from the head of Jupiter, California became a state without having to go through a territorial stage.
In 1849, leaders from around the future state met in Monterey to draft the first constitution. The wording was approved Nov. 13 by a vote of 12,064 to 811. Peter Burnett was elected governor, and in January 1850, the state Legislature began its first two-year session. The state constitution had the following preamble: “We, the people of California, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings, do establish this Constitution.” It has 12 articles and can be read on the California secretary of state’s website, sos.ca.gov.
You can find a list for all the state symbols at the State Library’s site here.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, California Parks and Recreation, California State Library, California Secretary of State’s Office, California Department of Finance, California State Association of Counties
RIVERSIDE — It never was a matter of if, only when.
Arlington High School welcomed back Gary Rungo, one of the most beloved and respected coaches in Inland history, and renamed the baseball field in his honor during a ceremony attended by more than 300 people Saturday morning.
Rungo helmed the Arlington varsity baseball program for 34 seasons (1983-2016), compiling a record of 578-359-3 with the Lions. That win total ranks second in Riverside County baseball history and third all-time in the Inland Empire. Under Rungo’s watchful eye, the program qualified for the playoffs 25 times and claimed CIF Southern Section championships in 1999, 2002 and 2004.
Steve Madril, one of the many former Arlington players who attended the event, summed up Rungo’s lasting impact.
“I think he really set a new standard of how to run a program and how to treat people, not only the respect you have for your own players but also for your opponent,” Madril said. “I think a lot of programs have been molded after Arlington baseball because of what Rungo did over those years. He showed everybody the path.”
Tim Kleveno, who played for Rungo and took the reins of the program in 2017, has wanted to bestow this honor on his former coach for many years. There were a few obstacles, however. Kleveno wanted Rungo’s name to be on the scoreboard, and the booster club raised funds to erect a new one a few years ago. And there was some red tape that had to be cut, as well. The renaming ceremony originally was scheduled for Arlington’s final home game of the 2025 season, but it needed final approval from the Riverside Unified School District board. And the school board meeting was the night of that game.
Arlington athletic director Tacy Duncan decided it best to have a ceremony that coincided with Rungo’s induction into the school’s Hall of Fame. The biggest hurdle there was Rungo himself. He is on the Hall of Fame nominating committee but has rejected his own inclusion in previous years. It took a little convincing, but Rungo ultimately gave in.
Madril and Kleveno said Rungo was the biggest reason they both decided to get into education and coaching.
“We’re two of the many who have tried to pursue the same kind of legacy he had here at Arlington,” Kleveno said.
Added Madril: “He was so beloved by everyone on this campus. He also won Teacher of the Year many, many times.”
Rungo was known as a players’ coach because of how he treated anyone who suited up for the Lions.
“It didn’t matter if you were the star player or the last person on the bench, you always felt like you were an important part of the team,” Kleveno said. “Everyone had a role, and that is why we all wanted to win for him.”
Rungo, now 70, is known for quirky quotes and adages, and he used one to describe Saturday morning’s ceremony.
“Hey, even a blind dog finds a bone every once in a while,” Rungo said to kick off the interview.
Rungo was touched by all the familiar faces who showed up to pay their respects.
“Arlington was my dream job, and I got to live that dream for more than 30 years,” Rungo said. “I never wanted to go anywhere else. I have made so many lasting friendships and relationships because of Arlington High School, and that really is better than any game or championship ever won. I enjoy hearing where those players are now in life.
“It is a little overwhelming seeing my name up there, but it’s a great honor and I certainly do appreciate it.”
WASHINGTON — Global warming in the United States is amping up the country’s sweet tooth, a new study found.
When the temperature rises, Americans — especially those with less money and education — drink lots more sugary beverages and a bit more frozen desserts. That amounts to more than 100 million pounds of added sugar (358 million kilograms) consumed in the nation a year, compared to 15 years earlier, according to a team of researchers in the U.S. and United Kingdom.
When temperatures go between 54 and 86 degrees (12 and 30 degrees Celsius), the amount of sugar the average American consumes goes up by about 0.4 grams per degree Fahrenheit (0.7 grams per degree Celsius) per day, based on researchers tracking of weather conditions and consumers’ purchases. At 54 degrees, the amount of added sugar for the average American is a little more than 2 grams. At 86 degrees, it’s more than 15 grams.
Beyond that, appetites lessen and added sugar falls off, according to the study in Monday’s Nature Climate Change.
“Climate change is shaping what you eat and how you eat and that might have a bad effect on your health,” said study co-author Duo Chan, a climate scientist at the University of Southampton.
“People tend to take in more sweetened beverages as the temperature is getting higher and higher,” Chan said. “Obviously under a warming climate that would cause you to drink more or take in more sugar. And that is going to be a severe problem when it comes to health.”
The daily difference from higher temperatures doesn’t amount to even a single candy bar for the average person. But it adds up over time and has a big effect, said University of California San Francisco endocrinology professor Dr. Robert Lustig, a specialist in pediatrics and obesity who wasn’t part of the study.
Lustig wrote in an email that among poorer Americans, just one added can of sugary soft drink per day increases diabetes risk by 29% — and temperature-related thirst plays a big part in America’s obesity epidemic.
The United States’ average annual temperature has gone up about 2.2 degrees (1.2 degrees Celsius) since 1895, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
To chart the impact on sugar consumption, researchers compared it to the American Heart Association recommendations: limiting daily intake to 36 grams for men and 25 grams for women.
The team then compared wind, precipitation and humidity records to the detailed purchase records of 40,000 to 60,000 American households from 2004 to 2019, not using any data after the pandemic hit. Then they looked at the nutritional information of the items bought. That allowed them to eliminate other factors to make a causal link and come up with a calculation for how much extra sugar is consumed per person per degree, said lead author Pan He, an environmental scientist at Cardiff University.
Researcher He said she started thinking about the study when she noticed that people in the U.S. tend to grab sugary soda when they are thirsty: “From a perspective of nutrition science or environmental science, that could be a problem,” she said.
The researchers found that men consumed more sugary soft drinks, and that the amount of added sugar consumed during hot weather was several times higher for low- and very low-income families than for the wealthiest, the study found.
People who work outside drank more sugary drinks than those who work inside, and the same went for families where the head of the household was less educated. White people have the highest added sugar effect, while Asians showed no significant change in added sugar in the heat.
Lustig said sugary drinks are marketed and priced in a way to attract the poor, and in many disadvantaged communities the water tastes funny because of chemicals in them. Poor people are also less likely to have air conditioning and are more likely to work outside and need more hydration, Lustig and He said.
“It should concern us that the rate of the impact is larger in households where people make less money or are less educated,” said Dr. Courtney Howard, vice chair of the Global Climate and Health Alliance. “These groups tend to have lower baseline health status, so this is an area where climate-related changes appear to magnify existing health inequalities.”
Howard, an emergency room physician, was not part of the study.
The amount of sugar consumed is likely to soar in the future with more warming, Chan said.
But University of Washington health and climate scientist Kristie Ebi, who wasn’t part of the research, said as temperatures increase with human-caused climate change “there will be other issues of more importance than a small increase in sugary beverages.”
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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
NEW YORK — PNC Financial said Monday that it plans to buy Colorado-based FirstBank for $4.1 billion, giving PNC a substantial presence in the Colorado banking market as well as Arizona.
Based in Lakewood, Colorado., FirstBank, which is also branded as 1stBank, is a midsized bank that operates 120 retail branches with $26.7 billion in assets. The bank is privately held, but the banks disclosed that the stockholders of FirstBank who collectively own 45.7% of the shares have already voted in favor of the merger.
“Its deep retail deposit base, unrivaled branch network in Colorado, growing presence in Arizona, and trusted community relationships make it an ideal partner for PNC,” said Bill Demchak, chairman and chief executive officer of PNC, in a statement.
PNC has been on an acquisition streak in the last few years that has made the Pennsylvania bank one of the biggest players in retail banking in the country, as PNC executives like to say “a coast-to-coast banking franchise.” PNC bought the U.S. operations of Spanish bank BBVA shortly after the pandemic for $11.6 billion. The bank has also been opening new branches in multiple markets, but particularly in the Southwest.
The FirstBank acquisition will make PNC the largest bank in the Denver market, and will give PNC more than 70 branches in Arizona. PNC will also grow to roughly $575 billion in assets.
The FirstBank purchase will put PNC closer in size to Capital One and U.S. Bank, who are PNC’s closest rivals. U.S. Bank, in particular, operates heavily in the Colorado and Arizona market.
Alex Overstrom, head of retail for the bank, said PNC may consider additional acquisitions to build out its franchise.
“We are not slowing down our organic growth but may consider opportunities as they arise,” Overstrom said, in an interview.
PNC is typically referred to as a super regional bank, a group of large national banks that are significant in size, often hundreds of billions in assets and hundreds of branches, but are dwarfed in size by the banking giants Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, who have size and scale that the super regionals cannot replicate.
The super regionals have been growing considerably in recent years in order to better compete with the Wall Street titans in various businesses. For example, Capital One bought Discover Financial, which jointly created the nation’s largest credit card company. Huntington Bancshares bought Detroit’s TCF back in 2021.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — An elderly California jewelry shop owner was violently shoved to the floor after a vehicle was used to crash into the store, and more than a dozen hooded and masked robbers smashed glass display cases and made off with merchandise.
The robbery occurred about 2 p.m. Friday, according to San Jose police, who added that “multiple suspects entered the store with at least one suspect armed with a firearm.”
Store surveillance video shows the owner standing behind a glass display case when the rear of an SUV bursts through the shop’s glass windows and door.
About 16, mostly black-clad robbers, then rush through the busted storefront. One uses a clawlike hammer to smash the case directly in front of the shop owner.
Another member of the group can be seen pushing the man down as he attempts to stop them from taking merchandise. Within seconds, the display cases and store shelving are emptied.
As some of the group leave the shop, one can be seen pointing a handgun at another employee who is standing along a wall. Another robber then appears to check the employee’s pockets.
The entire group quickly flees once a vehicle horn outside is heard blaring.
“The suspects fled the scene in multiple vehicles prior to police arrival,” police said in a release. “The suspects are unidentified and remain at large.”
Chris Moore, a board member of an area rental housing association, posted on the social platform X that the 88-year-old owner of Kim Hung Jewelry suffered a stroke and was taken to a hospital. The man also suffered cuts from broken glass, Moore wrote.
Responding to Moore’s tweet, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan called the robbery “appalling.”
“Watching this senior get assaulted made my blood boil,” Mahan wrote Saturday on X. “These people need to face the harshest possible consequences for their actions. I’ve been in touch with our police chief … and will be following the investigation closely.”
The Associated Press left a phone message Monday seeking comment from Moore.
WASHINGTON — A self-described science nerd is the latest American to get an experimental pig kidney transplant, at a crucial point in the quest to prove if animals organs really might save human lives.
The 54-year-old New Hampshire man is faring well after his June 14 operation, doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital announced Monday.
“I really wanted to contribute to the science of it,” Bill Stewart, an athletic trainer from Dover, New Hampshire, told The Associated Press.
That’s not the only milestone the Mass General team is marking: A pig kidney has kept another New Hampshire man, Tim Andrews, off dialysis for a record seven months and counting. Until now, the longest that a gene-edited pig organ transplant was known to last was 130 days.
Based on lessons from the New Hampshire men and a handful of other one-off attempts, the Food and Drug Administration approved pig producer eGenesis to begin a rigorous study of kidney xenotransplants.
“Right now we have a bottleneck” in finding enough human organs, said Mass General kidney specialist Dr. Leonardo Riella, who will help lead the new clinical trial.
More than 100,000 people are on the U.S. transplant list, most who need a kidney, and thousands die waiting. As an alternative, scientists are genetically altering pigs so their organs are more humanlike, less likely to be immediately attacked and destroyed by people’s immune system.
Initial experiments, two hearts and two kidneys, were short-lived and included very ill patients. Chinese researchers also recently announced a kidney xenotransplant but released little information. Then an Alabama woman whose pig kidney lasted 130 days before rejection prompted its removal, sending her back to dialysis, helped researchers shift to not-as-sick patients.
In New Hampshire, high blood pressure caused Stewart’s kidneys to fail but he had no other health problems. It can take up to seven years for people with his blood type to find a matching kidney from a deceased donor, and some would-be living donors didn’t qualify. After two years in dialysis, he heard about Mass General’s most recent xenotransplant recipient – Andrews – and applied to be the next candidate.
“I’ve always been a little bit of a science nerd,” Stewart said. Conscious of how new these experiments are, he sought out Andrews for advice and ultimately decided, “worst case scenario, they can always take it out.”
Thrilled to no longer have his time and energy sapped by dialysis, Stewart said he’s easing back into desk duties at work and visited his old dialysis clinic to “let everyone know I’m doing all right and maybe kind of give some people some hope.”
Riella, the kidney specialist, said Stewart had his anti-rejection drugs adjusted to counter an early concern and that Andrews has needed similar adjustments. He said it’s far too early to predict how long pig kidneys might be able to last — but it would be useful even if initially they can buy people time off dialysis until they get a matching human organ.
“A year, hopefully longer than that – that’s already a huge advantage,” he said.
The new eGenesis trial will provide gene-edited pig kidney transplants to 30 people age 50 or older who are on dialysis and the transplant list. Another developer of gene-edited pig organs, United Therapeutics, is about to start enrolling people in a similar FDA-approved study.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
“We’d love to go into Chicago and straighten it out,” President Donald Trump said as he delivered remarks at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.
China’s exports grew last month but at a slower pace than in recent months, the country’s customs agency said Monday.
Exports reached $321.8 billion in August, a 4.4% increase compared to the same month last year. That was down from a 7.2% jump in July. Meanwhile, imports totaled $219.5 billion, a 1.8% rise.
China’s large trade surplus has become a contentious issue with major trading partners including the U.S. and the European Union. Low-priced Chinese imports are a boon for consumers but can lead to job cuts in manufacturing.
In the first eight months of the year, China’s exported $785.3 billion more in goods than it imported from other countries, the monthly customs data showed.
President Donald Trump also has imposed 30% in additional tariffs on imports from China since taking office early this year. He backed down from even higher tariffs after China retaliated with import taxes of its own. The two countries are in talks to try to reach a trade agreement.
The tariffs from both sides and the possibility they could be raised again are having an impact on two-way trade. Chinese exports to the U.S. plunged 33% in August to $47.3 billion, while its imports from the U.S. dropped 16% to $13.4 billion.
Exports to the EU rose 10.4% to $46.8 billion, while imports from the 27-member bloc edged down slightly to $22.8 billion.
Overall, China’s exports grew at the slowest pace since the January-February period, when they rose just 2.3%. The first two months of the year are reported together to smooth out distortions from the long Lunar New Year break.
China’s exports of rare earths rose on a monthly basis to $55 million in August, up from $41 million in July, but down 25.6% compared to the same month last year.
Rare earth magnets, which can withstand high heat, are vital to many products including washing machines, cars and fighter jets.
China dominates the global market for processing rare earths, and a clampdown on their export in April temporarily halted production at some factories in Europe and the U.S. and raised fears of shutdowns at others.
The issue became a focal point of a round of U.S.-China trade talks in London in June. China agreed to approve more export permits for rare earths in return for the U.S. lifting curbs on the sale of chip design software and jet engines to China.
End of de minimis
President Trump in May also ended a de minimis loophole for imports from China and Hong Kong. The exemption — which applied to parcels valued at $800 or less — had allowed retailers such as Shein and Temu to ship ultra low-cost apparel and other goods to the U.S. tax-free.
However the platforms have since found ways to work around U.S. tariffs without the loophole, Wired magazine reported recently. “And it turns out, the elimination of de minimis hasn’t stopped their overall growth: The Chinese publication LatePost reported that global sales for Shein and Temu are higher this year compared to 2024.”
A suspension of the de minimis loophole on worldwide exports to the U.S. went into effect on Aug. 29.
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The nonprofit Every Cure is using AI to look for opportunities to repurpose medications already on the market to treat rare illnesses. President and co-founder Dr. David Fajgenbaum explains his personal inspiration for the nonprofit.
Johannesburg — Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), on the Blue Nile is scheduled to open Tuesday to major fanfare in Ethiopia. The $5 billion dam project has been a uniting force for Ethiopians both at home and abroad, who have helped to fund the project.
Funding calls had gone out since the project was launched in 2011, with the government also issuing bonds to fund construction of the mile-long, 475-foot-high structure.
The celebrations in Ethiopia, however, will not extend further down the mighty river into neighboring Sudan or Egypt, both of which have warned that the dam could bring grave consequences.
After years of failed talks, there was still no agreement in place a day before the dam was due to commence operations on how the water will flow through the mammoth structure to ensure adequate supplies in Egypt and Sudan.
A general view shows the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Guba, Ethiopia, in a Feb. 19, 2022 file photo.
AMANUEL SILESHI/AFP/Getty
Only 54% of Ethiopia’s roughly 120 million inhabitants have access to reliable power, and Ethiopian officials have said the 5,150-megawatt capacity dam is expected to double national electricity generation capacity.
Egypt and Sudan’s opposition to the dam
In a joint statement last week, Egypt and Sudan said the dam “breached international law and would cause grave consequences to the two downstream countries.”
Both nations have said they now consider water security a national security concern.
The Blue Nile flows from Ethiopia to Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, where it joins the White Nile before flowing into Egypt as the Nile.
The Nile River and its tributaries in Ethiopia and Sudan are shown on a map.
Egypt’s government, noting that more than 90% of the country is desert, has said most of its population lives along the Nile, and it has raised concern for years that the dam will reduce water flow and cause shortages — and officials have warned they will take measures in response if that happens.
“Anyone who imagines that Egypt will turn a blind eye to an existential threat to its water security is mistaken,” Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said in August, calling it a potential “existential” threat to his country.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and take all measures provided for under international law to safeguard our people’s existential resources,” El-Sisi said.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been widely quoted as saying the dam will benefit everyone in the region, through power purchase agreements and flood control.
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed speaks during the first power generation ceremony at the site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) in Guba, Ethiopia, in a Feb. 20, 2022 file photo.
AMANUEL SILESHI/AFP via Getty
“To our neighbours downstream — Egypt and Sudan — our message is clear: The Renaissance Dam is not a threat, but a shared opportunity. It is a symbol of regional cooperation and mutual benefit. The energy and development it will generate stand to uplift not just Ethiopia, but the entire region,” he said in remarks on July 3.
In a social media post on Sept. 2, Abiy called seeing the dam completed “a historic milestone in Ethiopia,” adding that for him personally it was a “final prayer and it was my ultimate wish.”
Trump’s criticism and the U.S. stance on GERD
The U.S. government has long tried to balance the concerns and needs of the countries in the region when it comes to the dam project. During the Biden administration in 2024, then Assistant Secretary of State Molly Phee told reporters the U.S. had “underscored our recognition of” Egypt’s water needs “and the importance of the Nile to Egypt,” along with “Sudan’s concerns about dam operations and safety, and Ethiopia’s compelling development needs.”
She said the U.S. was “committed to helping all these parties discuss how agreements related to water management, use, and access can contribute to security and stability” in the region, and she said the administration remained “ready to engage diplomatically in support of such efforts.”
More recently, President Trump has criticized the dam, claiming several times without offering evidence or clarification, most recently in late July — that the project was “stupidly” funded “with United States money, largely,” and noting specifically Egypt’s concerns over its Nile water supply.
A satellite image shows the massive reservoir created in Ethiopia by the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which can be seen at center-left, on the Blue Nile River, Oct. 31, 2023.
Gallo Images/Orbital Horizon/Copernicus Sentinel Data
The coordination body established by Ethiopia’s government to drum up funding for the project has vehemently denied Mr. Trump’s assertions, insisting the dam was built “without any foreign aid.”
Ethiopia will be hosting the Second Africa Climate Summit from Monday, and Abiy has voiced hope that African leaders attending the summit will also attend Tuesday’s GERD grand opening celebrations.
The dam is expected to bring in $1 billion in revenue annually, according to Abiy, who has pledged that the money will help finance other infrastructure projects.
Sarah Carter is an award-winning CBS News producer based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has been with CBS News since 1997, following freelance work for organizations including The New York Times, National Geographic, PBS Frontline and NPR.
This week on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan,” White House Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett discusses the latest jobs report and the Federal Reserve, while Democratic Sen. Mark Warner discusses the deadly strike on a Venezuelan ship that was allegedly carrying drugs.
HARRISON, N.J. — Kennedy Fuller scored in the 2nd minute, but Angel City FC fell 3-1 to Gotham FC on Sunday at Sports Illustrated Stadium.
Fuller opened the scoring with a right-footed shot from outside the box. Gabi Portilho equalized in the 47th minute from close range off a pass from Midge Purce.
Rose Lavelle put Gotham ahead four minutes later, and Jaelin Howell added insurance in the 68th minute with a strike from outside the box off a pass from Geyse.
With the result, Gotham improved to 7-6-6 while Angel City moved to 6-5-8.
INGLEWOOD — As the Texans’ plane descended upon Los Angeles ahead of their Week 1 game against the Rams, C.J. Stroud’s eyes gazed downward. Landmarks that signified his childhood, fields he competed at throughout high school, caught his eye, he said.
Stroud is forever indebted to the area that raised him.
“I love where I’m from,” the Rancho Cucamonga native said in the hollows of SoFi Stadium after his first NFL game in LA. “California has really backed me in a lot of ways.”
For better or worse, Stroud’s local upbringing shaped him into a jaded 23-year-old, a third-year quarterback who might as well be a veteran after all he’s overcome. At 13, Stroud became the man of his household. In high school, a two-bedroom apartment at the storage facility his mom, Kim, worked at was where he and his family called home.
He didn’t ask for these obstacles, but they’re certainly at the core of his stoic nature — transcendent beyond the football field. Stroud was forced to mature quickly, a happenstance that’s helped him roll with the punches that NFL quarterbacks are inherently thrown.
On Sunday, that maturation process was present. With the Rams’ defense presenting a shell to prevent downfield throws, Stroud took what the defense gave him. He threw for 188 yards and ran for 32 more, including a nifty scramble that set up a go-ahead field goal just before halftime. Stroud, operating without wide receivers Christian Kirk and Tank Dell, and an offensive line that returned one starter, in right tackle Tytus Howard, kept Houston in striking distance.
“I’m really proud of the way C.J. played,” Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said. “He managed the offense well. Unfortunately, we came up short, but he made some nice plays under pressure.”
A gunslinging playmaker, Stroud didn’t deliver many signature highlights on Sunday. Not like the ones he made the last time he played in Los Angeles, when he threw for 573 yards and six touchdowns to lead Ohio State to a 48-45 win over Utah in the Rose Bowl. Not like the ones he made throughout his junior and senior years of high school when he took Rancho Cucamonga to the CIF Southern Section playoffs twice.
But that’s all part of his growth because those early years littered with success were also laden with forced throws and youthful mistakes.
For Stroud, football, life, none of it’s ever been smooth.
“It helped him know to take nothing for granted,” his high school football coach, Mark Verti, told the Southern California News Group. “He’s overcome obstacles, and every season he has to overcome obstacles, and that just kind of built his character up. He’s gone through things so tough that the things he has to go through in the NFL season aren’t quite as tough.”
Through just 33 games as an NFL starter, Stroud’s lived a career full of experiences. His arrival was celebrated as he paced all rookies with 23 passing touchdowns and ended Houston’s three-year playoff drought. His sophomore slump was ridiculed as his completion percentage dropped and his interception percentage rose. He has playoff scars. A Pro Bowl. A captain’s badge.
None of the lows get too low, the highs too high.
“He had to deal with a lot,” Verti said. “It was just him and his sister and mom at home. So, maybe that’s why he’s a good leader.”
In his third NFL season, Stroud is presenting an example of steadiness both on and off the field. He’s seeking a middle ground between stardom and slumping. He’s using his platform to uplift and inspire, returning to Rancho Cucamonga in the offseason, and creating an organization that supports single mothers, low-income families, and children of incarcerated parents.
Stroud’s tangible humility offsets his larger-than-life stature. It’s a persona constructed by the experiences and the community that raised him.
“I love LA, but I wish we got the dub here,” Stroud joked after the Texans’ 14-9 defeat.
Just another lesson from the place that gave him both nothing and everything.
