News - Friday, November 8, 2024

As litigation attorney Lacey Rorex is preparing for a trial, she asks herself an exhaustive list of questions to ensure she’s in fighting shape.

“Is my paralegal ready? Is my firm ready? Is my family ready?” she’ll begin as she checks the integrity of her foundation.

A team of four lawyers from as many firms combined their skills to win the Chattanooga Bar Association’s annual golf tournament, demonstrating that attorneys from different firms can collaborate on a win for everyone.

Mark Litchford of Litchford, Pearce and Associates, Keith Grant of Robinson, Smith & Wells, Patrick Cruise of The Hamilton Firm and Bill Reider of Spears, Moore, Rebman & Williams won the annual competition, which took place Nov. 1 at Nob North.

When some people reach a certain stage of life, they begin to proclaim that their age is “just a number.” What is 60, for example, but a numeric value indicating a measure of time and not health or vigor?

Landon Bowman is already making this declaration at age 21.

When it comes to selling your home, finding the right real estate agent is essential to ensuring a smooth and successful process. The National Association of Realtors has compiled a helpful guide for sellers to better understand what questions to ask when selecting an agent.

Girl Scouts of Southern Appalachians honored Rebecca Ashford, Ed.D., president of Chattanooga State Community College, at the annual Trefoil Society Luncheon, which recognizes women who exemplify the spirit of Girl Scouting.

The luncheon was held at the Waterhouse Pavilion Nov. 6.

The City of Chattanooga is partnering with the Chattanooga Land Bank Authority to donate seven vacant city-owned properties to develop new affordable homeownership and rental housing.

Mayor Tim Kelly has led the process to restructure the Chattanooga Land Bank Authority to allow qualifying, city-owned land to be put back into productive use for affordable housing.

Nov. 14 will mark the 30th anniversary of the launch of Pioneer Frontier Park in East Ridge. To celebrate the milestone, city officials will open a time capsule that the original builders placed inside a structure at the main entrance. The ceremony will begin at 4 p.m. at the playground located at 1509 Tombras Avenue.

Hamilton County Schools teacher Brittany Haynes of Loftis Middle School is The Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center’s 2024 Katie Fields Bell Teacher Fellow recipient.

The Heritage Center presented the award to Haynes during its recent Celebration of Valor attended by Medal of Honor Recipient Britt Slabinski. Supported by the Fields and Bell families, the center’s Teacher Fellowship Program included 19 teacher fellows from Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama this year.

If there are Chattanoogans less pretentious than Scottie Bowman, I challenge you to find them.

Scottie has every right to put on airs. She’s not only the restauranteur behind The Big Chill and Grill and Scottie’s on the River, she’s also the heart and brain behind The Launch Pad, a residential sober living program for women.

Like most of us, you might someday want to enjoy a comfortable retirement. Your ability to achieve this goal will depend on how much you save – but it also matters how much you spend.

And saving and spending are certainly related: The more you can reduce your spending, the more money you could have available to save for retirement through your IRA and your 401(k) or other employer-sponsored retirement plan. Over many years, even relatively small amounts diverted from spending to saving and investing could add up substantially.

The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga broke ground on the future home of its School of Nursing – the Dorothy and Jim Kennedy Health Sciences Building – Nov. 4.

Located at the corner of Palmetto and East Third streets, the new building will be about 90,000 square feet in size and contain “state-of-the-art classrooms and a cutting-edge simulation lab,” UTC officials said during the ceremony.

When Nick Westbrook-Ikhine first made the Tennessee Titans roster as an undrafted rookie back in 2020, he knew his primary role would be on special teams and specifically as a gunner on punts.

And while Westbrook-Ikhine has had the occasional big game as a receiver during his first four seasons with the Titans, the team’s plan each offseason was always to add talent at the position and maneuver Westbrook-Ikhine back down the depth chart.

While Lincoln’s full-size Navigator is great for big families and towing, the recently redesigned Lincoln Nautilus should have broader appeal for SUV shoppers. It’s a midsize SUV that seats five and boasts distinctive styling, many premium features and an eye-catching curved display that spans the width of the dashboard.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans have taken control of the U.S. Senate and are fighting to keep their majority in the U.S. House, which would produce a full sweep of GOP power in Congress alongside President-elect Donald Trump in the White House.

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday following an election that will send Donald Trump back to the White House, an outcome that had been strongly backed by CEO Elon Musk in the closing months of the race.

Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee's Republican legislative supermajority will remain unchanged after Democrats failed to flip seats in a handful of competitive races, but the minority party didn't give up any ground, either.

Unofficial election results show that Republicans will continue to hold 75 out of the 99 seats inside the House chamber, the same amount the GOP held before Tuesday. Over in the Senate, Republicans will have 27 members while Democrats will continue to have just six.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Special counsel Jack Smith is evaluating how to wind down the two federal cases against Donald Trump before he takes office in light of longstanding Justice Department protocol that says sitting presidents cannot be prosecuted, a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A disaffected electorate wanted former President Donald Trump to return to the White House, a blatant rejection of Vice President Kamala Harris and her nearly four years with President Joe Biden.

The Republican's victory came from a public so put off by America's trajectory that they welcomed his brash and disruptive approach. About 3 in 10 voters said they wanted total upheaval in how the country is run, according to AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of more than 120,000 voters nationwide. Even if they weren't looking for something that dramatic, more than half of voters overall said they wanted to see substantial change.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kamala Harris called President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday to concede the election and congratulate him on his victory, according to a senior adviser to the vice president.

The aide, who declined to be identified discussing a private conversation, said Harris talked about the need for a peaceful transfer of power.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States on Wednesday, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who refused to accept defeat four years ago, sparked a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The election of Donald Trump as president for a second time and the Republican takeback of the U.S. Senate could undo many of the national climate policies that are most reducing planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, according to climate solutions experts.

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans placed center Lloyd Cushenberry and veteran safety Quandre Diggs on injured reserve Wednesday and signed Mike Edwards to help replace Diggs in the secondary.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Being bowl eligible to start off November isn't enough for No. 24 Vanderbilt. No, coach Clark Lea wants much more for his 24th-ranked Commodores.

They can take yet another step toward even bigger goals Saturday by ending a a 15-game skid to South Carolina (5-3, 3-3 SEC) in a season where the Commodores (6-3, 3-2) already have ended even bigger droughts. Lea and his Commodores are eager to see just what they can accomplish now that they're closer to the top of the SEC than the cellar where this program has usually been come November.

KNOXVILLE (AP) — The seventh-ranked Tennessee Volunteers have one last chance to fix a nagging issue on their own field before hitting the road.

Scoring before halftime.

The Vols have been shut out through the first 30 minutes by Arkansas, Florida and Alabama. They rallied to beat Florida and Alabama. They managed one touchdown before halftime against Kentucky with their stingy defense keeping them close for a third straight comeback.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scoring to hand the Nashville Predators another defeat and keep his Washington Capitals rolling was not surprising to the folks on the other side who have seen him a lot over the years.

"You knew it was coming," said Predators coach Andrew Brunette, whose final seven seasons as a player overlapped with Ovechkin's first seven in the NHL. "You're on the bench and I guess I've seen him too many times. I've played against him, I've coached against him, I've watched him and he just finds that and when it's on his stick it's gone.

DANBURY, Conn. (AP) — Caroline Ellison, a former top executive in Sam Bankman-Fried 's fallen FTX cryptocurrency empire, began her two-year prison sentence Thursday for her role in a fraud that cost investors, lenders and customers billions of dollars.

WASHINGTON (AP) — If you missed the early fall push for flu and COVID-19 vaccines, it's not too late.

Health officials say it's important to get vaccinated ahead of the holidays, when respiratory bugs tend to spread with travel and indoor celebrations.

TOKYO (AP) — Nissan reported Thursday a loss for the latest fiscal quarter as its vehicle sales sank while costs and inventory ballooned, prompting the Japanese automaker to slash 9,000 jobs.

Chief Executive Makoto Uchida said he was taking a 50% pay cut to take responsibility for the dismal results, while promising that a turnaround was coming.

Carbon pollution from private jets has soared in the past five years, with most of those small planes spewing more heat-trapping carbon dioxide in about two hours of flying than the average person does in about a year, a new study finds.

About a quarter million of the super wealthy — worth a total of $31 trillion — last year emitted 17.2 million tons (15.6 million metric tons) of carbon dioxide flying in private jets, according to Thursday's study in the Nature journal Communications Earth & Environment. That's about the same amount as the 67 million people who live in Tanzania,

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve officials are poised Thursday to reduce their key interest rate for a second straight time, responding to a steady slowdown of the inflation pressures that exasperated many Americans and contributed to Donald Trump's presidential election victory.

LONDON (AP) — The Bank of England cut its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.75% on Thursday after inflation across the U.K. fell significantly, relieving some pressure on borrowers who have faced elevated mortgage and loan costs.

NEW YORK (AP) — The parent company of Donald Trump's social networking site Truth Social lost $19.2 million in the last quarter, according to an earnings report released on the same day he won back the presidency.

Trump Media and Technology Group reported late Tuesday that much of that loss stemmed from more than $12 million in legal fees, along with a decline in revenue, according to the surprise Election Day earnings report. Its stock price surged Wednesday but that was more likely due to Trump's defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris to retake the presidency than on its profit prospects.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House majority hung in the balance Wednesday, teetering between Republican control that would usher in a new era of unified GOP governance in Washington or a flip to Democrats as a last line of resistance to a Trump second-term White House agenda.

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Around 50 European leaders, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, were reassessing their trans-Atlantic relations at a summit Thursday in the hope that Donald Trump's second U.S. presidency will avoid the strife of his first administration.

BERLIN (AP) — After Germany's government coalition collapsed in dramatic fashion when Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the pro-business Free Democrats, Scholz said he would lead the country with a minority government, despite calls from opposition leaders Thursday for early elections.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Thursday by a quarter-point in response to the steady decline in the once-high inflation that had angered Americans and helped drive Donald Trump's presidential election victory this week.

NEW YORK (AP) — Most U.S. stocks rose Thursday, as the Federal Reserve cut interest rates again to make things easier for the economy.

The S&P 500 climbed 0.7% to add to its surge from the day before following Donald Trump's presidential victory. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was virtually unchanged and edged down by less than a point, while the Nasdaq composite rallied 1.5%.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Amazon workers in Alabama will decide for the third time in three years whether to unionize after a federal judge ruled that the retail giant improperly influenced the most recent vote in which employees rejected a union.

Administrative law judge Michael Silverstein on Tuesday ordered the third vote for Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Birmingham, after determining that Amazon committed six violations leading up to the second election in March 2022.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican leaders projected confidence Thursday that they will keep control of the U.S. House as more races were decided in their favor, while Democrats insisted they still see a path toward the majority and sought assurances every vote will be counted.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Admirers of defensive football should be in for a treat when the Los Angeles Chargers host the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

The Chargers (5-3) — winners of two straight and three of their last four — allow a league-low 12.6 points per game. They are also the sixth club since 1990 and the first since the 2019 Patriots to allow 20 or fewer points in each of their first eight games.

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Carter Verhaeghe had two goals and an assist, Aleksander Barkov had three assists for the second time in less than a week and the Florida Panthers beat the Nashville Predators 6-2 on Thursday night for their sixth straight victory.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A man who stormed the U.S. Capitol and smashed glass panels on a door — moments before a police officer fatally shot another rioter climbing through the opening — was sentenced on Thursday to eight years in prison.

Zachary Alam was one of the first rioters sentenced since this week's electoral victory by President-elect Donald Trump, who has repeatedly vowed to pardon and free supporters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Global efforts to fight climate change stumbled but survived the last time Donald Trump was elected president and withdrew the United States from an international climate agreement. Other countries, states, cities and businesses picked up some of the slack.

Savannah Britt owes about $27,000 on loans she took out to attend college at Rutgers University, a debt she was hoping to see reduced by President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness efforts.

Her payments are currently on hold while courts untangle challenges to the loan forgiveness program. But as the weeks tick down on Biden's time in office, she could soon face a monthly payment of up to $250.

DETROIT (AP) — About 1,100 workers at the Stellantis Jeep factory in Toledo, Ohio, are facing layoffs early next year as the company takes further steps to cut high inventory at dealerships.

Stellantis said Thursday that the Toledo South plant, which makes the Jeep Gladiator midsize pickup truck, will go from two daily shifts to one as early as Jan. 5.

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine residents this week overwhelmingly approved a referendum to limit donations to political action committees that spend independently in candidate elections, setting the stage for a legal showdown over caps on individual contributions to so-called super PACs that spend freely in elections.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. presidents usually pay lip service at least to being leaders of the free world, at the helm of a mighty democracy and military that allies worldwide can rally around and reasonably depend upon for support in return.

Not so under President-elect Donald Trump, a critic of many existing U.S. alliances, whose win of a second term this week had close European partners calling for a new era of self-reliance not dependent on American goodwill.

WASHINGTON (AP) — With her selection as President-elect Donald Trump 's incoming White House chief of staff, veteran Florida political strategist Susie Wiles moves from a largely behind-the-scenes role of campaign co-chair to the high-profile position of the president's closest adviser and counsel.

Signing three of the top players available in Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei made NHL free agency look like a big win for the Nashville Predators.

They haven't had many since.

After committing more than $108 million within a few hours on July 1 and sparking Stanley Cup-contending expectations, the Predators are dead last in the league and off to their worst start in franchise history. They've lost 10 of their first 14 games and in their most recent defeat had more penalty minutes than shots.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Friday disclosed an Iranian murder-for-hire plot to kill Donald Trump, charging a man who said he had been tasked by a government official before this week's election with planning the assassination of the Republican president-elect.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The judge overseeing Donald Trump's 2020 election interference case canceled any remaining court deadlines Friday while prosecutors assess the "the appropriate course going forward" in light of the Republican's presidential victory.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks coasted to the close of their best week in a year.

The S&P 500 rose 0.4% Friday. The index posted its biggest weekly gain since early November 2023, and finished just shy of the 6,000 level. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.1%.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — When Jeffery Simmons chopped at Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert's elbow and sent the ball into the hands of Roger McCreary for an apparent defensive touchdown late in the first half, the Tennessee Titans thought they had created the break they so desperately needed.

Oregon's dominance in its first year in the Big Ten and Indiana's monumental turnaround have helped the conference stack four of its teams in the top five of The Associated Press college football poll for the first time.

The Big Ten had three teams among the top five on 16 occasions in the 88-year history of the poll, including four times this season.

DETROIT (AP) — The U.S. government's highway safety agency is investigating complaints that engines can fail on as many as 1.4 million Honda and Acura vehicles.

The probe by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration covers the 2016 through 2020 Honda Pilot and Acura MDX, as well as the 2018 through 2020 Honda Odyssey and Acura TLX. Also included is the 2017 through 2019 Honda Ridgeline.

DETROIT (AP) — Since it started selling cars in 2013, Carvana has disrupted the U.S. used vehicle market with no-haggle pricing and an online buying process that cuts out the often-dreaded salesman.

The Tempe, Arizona, company took advantage of many buyers' fear of negotiating with a dealer, letting them purchase vehicles via computer and have them delivered to their homes.

LOST HILLS, Calif. (AP) — In a sprawling plant in the heart of California's farmland, millions of shells rush down a metallic chute and onto a conveyor belt where they are inspected, roasted, packaged and shipped off to groceries around the world.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The election of Donald Trump as president for a second time and the Republican takeback of the U.S. Senate could undo many of the national climate policies that are most reducing planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions, according to climate solutions experts.

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — No matter what kind of U-turn President-Elect Donald Trump will make on climate change, America's clean energy economy won't reverse into the dirty past, a combative but "bitterly disappointed" top American climate negotiator said Monday.

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — United Nations annual climate talks stuttered to a start Monday with more than nine hours of backroom bickering over what should be on the agenda for the next two weeks. It then turned to the main issue: money.

In Baku, Azerbaijan, where the world's first oil well was drilled and the smell of the fuel was noticeable outdoors, the talks were more about the smell of money — in huge amounts. Countries are negotiating how rich nations can pay up so poor countries can reduce carbon pollution by transitioning away from fossil fuels and toward clean energy, compensate for climate disasters and adapt to future extreme weather.

NEW YORK (AP) — Toy giant Mattel says it "deeply" regrets an error on the packaging of its "Wicked" movie-themed dolls, which mistakenly links toy buyers to a pornographic website.

The error gained attention on social media over the weekend, where numerous users shared photos of the URL printed on the back of the boxes for the special edition dolls, which feature characters from the movie adaptation of "Wicked" set to hit theaters later this month. Instead of linking to Universal Pictures' official WickedMovie.com page, the website listed leads to an adult film site that requires consumers to be over 18 to enter.

NEW YORK (AP) — Many veterans who've started small businesses tell a similar story: Their military service prepared them mentally for the task, but they were at a disadvantage when it came to the financial part.

"Vetrepreneurs" – veterans that start small businesses or startups -- own nearly 2 million small businesses that employ 5.5 million people in the U.S., according to the Small Business Administration. They take in about $1.3 trillion in revenue annually. Their numbers have shrunk, however, as the veteran population has aged. In a 2023 report, the SBA found veteran ownership declined from 11% of businesses in 2014 to 8.1% in 2020.

The election of Republican Kelly Ayotte as New Hampshire's governor means 13 women will serve as a state's chief executive next year, breaking the record of 12 set after the 2022 elections.

Governors hold powerful sway in American politics, shaping state policy and often using the experience and profile gained to launch campaigns for higher offices.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Keeping the federal government open. Providing more disaster aid. Passing a defense policy bill. And for Senate Democrats, confirming more judges.

It's a short but important to-do list as Congress returns to Washington this week to begin what is known as a lame-duck session — that period between Election Day and the end of the two-year congressional term.

NEW YORK (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Rep. Elise Stefanik to serve as his ambassador to the United Nations, picking a loyal ally with little foreign policy experience to represent the U.S. at the international organization.

"Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter," Trump said in a statement Monday announcing his pick for the role — his first selection that will require Senate confirmation.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has said he wouldn't be a dictator — "except for Day 1." According to his own statements, he's got a lot to do on that first day in the White House.

His list includes starting up the mass deportation of migrants, rolling back Biden administration policies on education, reshaping the federal government by firing potentially thousands of federal employees he believes are secretly working against him, and pardoning people who were arrested for their role in the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Before he comes back for good on Inauguration Day, Donald Trump will return to the White House briefly at the invitation of Democratic President Joe Biden, who had hoped to defeat his Republican predecessor a second time and reside there for four more years.

TORONTO (AP) — Shea Weber and David Poile's stories have been intertwined for more than two decades.

Poile drafted Weber when he was general manager of the Nashville Predators and eventually handed him the captaincy.

He also shipped the star defenseman out of town in a blockbuster trade.

DENVER (AP) — Samuel Girard stole the puck and scored his first goal of the season on a breakaway 2:47 into overtime as the Colorado Avalanche beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 on Monday night.

Girard was mobbed by teammates on the ice after beating Juuse Saros with a shot into the corner of the net.

KNOXVILLE (AP) — Coach Josh Heupel said No. 6 Tennessee should have quarterback Nico Iamaleava available on Saturday night when the Vols visit 11th-ranked Georgia.

Iamaleava left last week's 33-14 win over Mississippi State late in the first half after taking a hard hit from safety Isaac Smith. Iamaleava was 8 of 13 for 174 yards with two touchdowns when he left with a 20-7 lead. Backup Gaston Moore finished the game at quarterback.

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans are busy trying to plug holes left and right in a season headed toward the franchise's highest draft pick in years.

They're not good enough to overcome plays reversed on review.

Two-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Jeffery Simmons swiped the ball away from Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert with Roger McCreary scooping it up and running to the end zone for what would have been Tennessee's first defensive score this season.

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge on Tuesday postponed a decision on whether to undo President-elect Donald Trump's conviction in his hush money case as his lawyers argued that his election last week warrants dismissing the case altogether so he can run the country.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court refused Tuesday to let former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows move the election interference case against him in Georgia to federal court, where he would have argued he was immune from prosecution.

BATON ROUGE, LA. (AP) — A new Louisiana law that requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public classroom by Jan. 1 has been temporarily blocked after a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction on Tuesday.

The judge said the law is "unconstitutional on its face" and plaintiffs are likely to win their case with claims that the law violates the First Amendment.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A Dutch appeals court on Tuesday overturned a landmark ruling that ordered energy company Shell to cut its carbon emissions by net 45% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels, while saying that "protection against dangerous climate change is a human right."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Oil and natural gas companies for the first time will have to pay a federal fee if they emit dangerous methane above certain levels under a rule being made final by the Biden administration.

The Environmental Protection Agency rule follows through on a directive from Congress included in the 2022 climate law. The new fee is intended to encourage industry to adopt best practices that reduce emissions of methane — the primary component of natural gas — and thereby avoid paying.

LONDON (AP) — Facebook and Instagram users in Europe will get the option to see less personalized ads if they don't want to pay for an ad-free subscription, social media company Meta said Tuesday, bowing to pressure from Brussels over privacy and digital competition concerns.

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — After nearly a decade of negotiations, leaders during the United Nations climate conference's first day decided on some of the finer points of much-debated sticking point aimed at cutting planet-warming emissions from coal, oil and gas.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson said Tuesday that Republicans are "ready to deliver" President-elect Donald Trump's agenda after his election victory, insisting the GOP won't make the mistakes of last time and will be much better prepared for a second-term Trump White House

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to Europe for urgent meetings on Ukraine with NATO and European Union officials following last week's U.S. presidential election and the return of Donald Trump to the White House in January.

WASHINGTON (AP) — All that's left is for President-elect Donald Trump to put his name on it — if he wants.

Trump won the White House in large part because of voters' frustration with high prices and a sense that the United States needs major changes. But when he enters office in January, Trump will inherit an economy primed for growth.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress returns to a changed Washington as President-elect Donald Trump's hard-right agenda is quickly taking shape, buoyed by eager Republican allies eyeing a full sweep of power on Capitol Hill while Democrats are sorting out what went wrong.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk's super PAC spent around $200 million to help elect Donald Trump, according to a person familiar with the group's spending, funding an effort that set a new standard for how billionaires can influence elections.

The billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO provided the vast majority of the money to America PAC, which focused on low-propensity and first-time voters, according to the person, who was not authorized to disclose the figure publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Justice Department is suing to block UnitedHealth Group's $3.3 billion purchase of Amedisys, citing concerns the combination would hinder access to home health and hospice services in the U.S.

The antitrust complaint was filed in Maryland federal court Tuesday. In a statement, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the government is challenging UnitedHealth and Amedisys' proposed merger because "patients and their families experiencing some of the most difficult moments of their lives deserve affordable, high quality care options."

WASHINGTON (AP) — A writer for a conservative media outlet pleaded guilty on Tuesday to joining a mob's attack on the U.S. Capitol nearly four years ago, after a federal judge refused to pause his case until after President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

Chris Wallace says he's leaving CNN after three years and, at age 77, is eager to see what a transformed media environment has to offer.

"When I look at the media landscape right now, the people who are going independent, whether it's podcasting or streaming, that seems to be where the action is," he said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — One week after Election Day, control of the U.S. House rests on just over a dozen races where winners have not yet been determined.

Nine states have at least one uncalled House race, some of which are so close they are headed to a recount.

Undefeated Oregon stayed on top in the second batch of College Football Playoff rankings, while Tuesday's poll shoved Georgia completely out of the bracket after its lopsided loss to Mississippi.

Led by the Ducks, then Ohio State, the Big Ten captured four of the top five spots — a string interrupted only by Texas of the Southeastern Conference, which was slotted in at No. 3 and would receive a first-round bye.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — An insurance magnate who was once a big political donor in North Carolina is in federal custody after pleading guilty in connection to what prosecutors call a $2 billion scheme to defraud insurance regulators, policyholders and others through a myriad of companies from which he skimmed funds for personal benefit.

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump's election victory created a profound conundrum for the judge overseeing his criminal case in New York. Can he go ahead and sentence the president-elect, or would doing so potentially get in the way of Trump's constitutional responsibility to lead the nation?

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Donald Trump's election win is clouding the outlook for mortgage rates even before he gets back to the White House.

The president-elect campaigned on a promise to make homeownership more affordable by lowering mortgage rates through policies aimed at knocking out inflation. But his proposed economic agenda could potentially set the stage for mortgage rates to move higher, some economists and analysts say.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation in the United States ticked up in October, driven by costlier rents, used cars and air fares, a sign that price increases might be leveling off after having slowed in September to their lowest pace since 2021.

Consumer prices rose 2.6% from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Wednesday, up from 2.4% in September. It was the first rise in annual inflation in seven months. From September to October, prices edged up 0.2%, the same as the previous month.

MILAN (AP) — Global sales of personal luxury goods are forecast to shrink in 2025 for the first time since the Great Recession, according to a Bain consultancy study released Wednesday. The outlook could worsen if the sector is hit by tariffs promised by Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump made a victor's return to Washington on Wednesday, visiting the White House for an Oval Office meeting with Democratic President Joe Biden and committing to a smooth transition of power as the Republican president-elect moves quickly to build out his new administration.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump stunned the Pentagon and the broader defense world by nominating Fox News host Pete Hegseth to serve as his defense secretary, tapping someone largely inexperienced and untested on the global stage to take over the world's largest and most powerful military.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Speaker Mike Johnson is beginning the hard fight for his gavel, a weeks-long campaign that starts Wednesday during internal House Republican leadership elections and will establish the new power centers in Congress for a Washington dominated by President-elect Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican senators will gather behind closed doors Wednesday to decide who will replace longtime Senate leader Mitch McConnell and lead their new majority next year — a decision that could shape the future of the Senate, and the party, as Donald Trump reclaims the presidency.

BRUSSELS (AP) — President Joe Biden intends to bolster U.S. military support to Ukraine in the final months of his administration, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday, after Russia launched a sophisticated missile and drone attack on Kyiv.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday said Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a new "Department of Government Efficiency" — which is not, despite the name, a government agency.

The acronym "DOGE" is a nod to Musk's favorite cryptocurrency, dogecoin. Trump said in a statement that Musk and Ramaswamy will work from outside the government to offer the White House "advice and guidance" and will partner with the Office of Management and Budget to "drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before." He added that the move would shock government systems.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has long viewed the nation's spy services with suspicion, accusing them of trying to undermine his first term and campaigns. Now that he's returning to the White House, Trump's promises to overhaul the U.S. intelligence agencies put him on a collision course with one of most secretive and powerful parts of government.

LIMA, Peru (AP) — If things had gone differently last week, U.S. President Joe Biden could have arrived at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru on Thursday projecting confidence and pledging his successor's cooperation with eager Latin American partners. No longer.