News - Friday, February 14, 2025

Someone once said you can take the girl out of the city but you can’t take the city out of the girl. But what if the girl never lets the city in? Who does she become?

Michelle Johann grew up in Ringgold, Georgia, a town she poetically describes as existing at the crossroads between affluence and poverty.

The shareholders of Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel have elected Steve Barham to serve as president and managing shareholder of the firm. Barham previously served as chair of the litigation and risk management section at Chambliss and as the firm’s general counsel.

The Chattanooga law firm of Evans Harrison Hackett has expanded its roster of attorneys with the addition of Kathleen Harrison as a member and Bray Wilson as an associate.

Harrison practices transactional law focused on financing and the EB-5 industry. With her knowledge of the requirements of the EB-5 program, she advises developers seeking to use foreign capital to finance their real estate projects and regional centers navigating the regulatory landscape.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee – Chattanooga Division and the Chattanooga Chapter of the Federal Bar Association are inviting high school students in 17 area counties to participate in the annual civics essay contest.

A stroll down memory lane brings TREES co-founder Bill Whisnant to a real estate principles class at Dalton Junior College in 1975.

Whisnant was the proud owner of an engineering degree and an MBA, but when he’d purchased his first house, he’d felt like he was back in preschool trying to learn how to count. To remedy his lack of knowledge for future investments, he’d signed up for the Dalton class, which a moonlighting mortgage broker named Ron Oslin was teaching.

With recent devastating fires in California, homeowners across the country are reminded of the importance of understanding their insurance coverage. The National Association of Realtors has released a timely consumer guide on fire damage and policy coverage, helping homeowners navigate their insurance options and ensure they’re adequately protected in case of a fire.

The 2025 Neighborhood Registration Campaign is underway at the city of Chattanooga’s Neighborhood Services Division. The annual initiative invites local neighborhood associations to register with the city to ensure up-to-date contact information, meeting schedules and board member details are on file.

CBL Properties CEO Stephen Lebovitz has joined the advisory board for First Horizon Bank –Chattanooga. Stephen succeeds his father, Charles Lebovitz, who served as a member of the board for 36 years. Stephen has served as the chief executive CBL since 2010. He’s also served on CBL’s board of directors since the completion of its initial public offering in 1993. His previous roles at the company include head of developments and acquisitions and founding its New England office in 1988. Before joining CBL, Stephen was a financial analyst with Goldman Sachs.

A display of traditional Chinese lanterns will illuminate The Sculpture Fields at Montague Park during the Sea Light Festival. The festival will be open Feb. 20-April 20, Thursdays through Sundays, 5-9 p.m., at 1900 Polk St. The exhibition will consist of hundreds of Chinese lanterns made with modern LED lights combined with traditional lantern frames made from Chinese silk cloth and steel wire. The award-winning Zigong Acrobatic Troupe will perform juggling, balancing and face-changing acts. Food vendors, shops and games will also be on hand. Tickets

When a woman enters one of the finer fashion boutiques in Chattanooga, she’d better have a purse hanging at her hip if she’s looking to make a purchase.

Not so at Dress for Success. In fact, if a woman arrives without a purse, Dress for Success will give her one, along with every other accessory and article of clothing she needs to look like she dropped some decent coin on her ensemble.

Education remains a big topic for the Tennessee General Assembly even after the close of the special session that expanded school vouchers. More than 150 education bills have been filed and are in the queue for the regular session, now underway.

A few bills relate to vouchers, but most deal with other education topics, from pre-K to higher education. One key topic – alongside funding, Bible classes and library books, for example – is school safety. In 2023 and 2024, 44 state legislatures mulled a total of 353 bills on school safety, the National Conference of State Legislatures reports online. About 15% eventually passed.

Some businesses pass along part of their profits to investors in the form of dividends. If you own shares of these companies, either directly in stocks or more indirectly through mutual funds, you might have a choice: take the dividends as cash or reinvest them into the stocks or funds?

State legislators’ major mischief of the year is complete – vouchers to appease public education haters and fatten the bank accounts of private schools with tax money. So they are now free to turn their attention to other battlegrounds in the never-ending culture wars.

Sometimes, you really need a crystal ball. Looking ahead, thinking about the future, predicting markets and consumer preferences, they’re all important aspects of business.

You also know that you need to embrace change, difficult as it is. In “Rethinking Work” by Rishad Tobaccowala, that acceptance starts at the workplace, no matter where that workspace is.

The standard will never change as long as Tony Vitello is the head baseball coach at the University of Tennessee. The Vols always want to be the last team standing once the final out at the College World Series in Omaha is made.

Tennessee broke through to win the program’s first national title last season. As they begin their pursuit of back-to-back NCAA crowns, the Vols are planning for a “fresh start” and a unique identity.

When shopping for a used car, many buyers struggle to know if paying extra for a certified pre-owned one is worth it.

Buying a certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicle has benefits and drawbacks. Understanding the differences can help you make an informed choice that aligns with your budget, priorities and desire for peace of mind.

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a major reversal, the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency said he will try to rescind $20 billion in grants awarded by the Biden administration for climate and clean-energy projects.

In a video posted on X, Administrator Lee Zeldin said the EPA would revoke contracts for a still-emerging "green bank" that is set to fund tens of thousands of projects to fight climate change and promote environmental justice.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday rolled out his plan to increase U.S. tariffs to match the tax rates that other countries charge on imports, possibly triggering a broader economic confrontation with allies and rivals alike as he hopes to eliminate any trade imbalances.

Aaron Rodgers' tenure with the New York Jets began with lots of fanfare and Super Bowl aspirations.

It ended less than two years later with a disappointing thud.

The Jets slammed the door on the 41-year-old quarterback potentially returning to the team when new head coach Aaron Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey issued a joint statement Thursday saying they told Rodgers last week "that our intention was to move in a different direction at quarterback."

KNOXVILLE (AP) — Alberto Osuna's bid to play baseball for defending College World Series champion Tennessee hit a roadblock Thursday as a federal judge denied his bid for a temporary restraining order making him eligible for the start of the season.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has ordered President Donald Trump's administration to temporarily lift a funding freeze that has shut down U.S. humanitarian aid and development work around the world, and he has set a five-day deadline for the administration to prove it's complying.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Thursday to temporarily lift a three-week funding freeze that has shut down U.S. aid and development work worldwide, citing the sweeping damage that the sudden shutdown has done to the nonprofits and other organizations that help carry out U.S. assistance overseas.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Legislation to let Volkswagen-backed Scout Motors sell its electric SUVs directly to people in South Carolina, where the vehicles will be built, has stalled after fierce opposition from traditional automobile dealers.

A House subcommittee held a carefully prepared meeting this week, hearing just an hour of testimony from Scout and its supporters as well as dealers and opponents of direct sales. Then they adjourned debate on the bill, leaving it in a limbo unlikely to be resolved before the legislative session ends in May.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Back when egg prices remained securely under $2 a dozen in 2021, Nevada joined several other states concerned about animal welfare in requiring cage-free eggs.

Now four years later, a dozen eggs costs an average of nearly $5 in the U.S. because of the lingering bird flu, so Nevada passed a law the governor signed Thursday that will allow the state to suspend that law temporarily in hopes of getting residents some relief at the checkout counter.

HONG KONG (AP) — TikTok has returned to the app stores of Apple and Google in the U.S., after President Donald Trump delayed the enforcement of a TikTok ban.

TikTok, which is operated by Chinese technology firm ByteDance, was removed from Apple and Google's app stores on Jan. 18 to comply with a law that requires ByteDance to divest the app or be banned in the U.S.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. retail sales dropped sharply last month, in part because cold weather kept more Americans indoors, denting sales at car dealers and most other stores.

Retail sales fell 0.9% in January from the previous month, the Commerce Department said, after two months of healthy gains. It was a much bigger drop than economists expected and the biggest decline in a year.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union's executive branch on Friday vowed to "take firm and immediate action" against U.S. President Donald Trump's imposition of tariffs on steel and aluminum.

The European Commission said in a statement that Trump's proposed "reciprocal" trade policy goes "in the wrong direction."

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department's Office of Inspector General on Friday said it was launching an audit of the security controls for the federal government's payment system, after Democratic senators raised red flags about the access provided to Trump aide Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency team.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Many U.S. adults believe the federal government is overspending — but polling also shows that many Americans, including Republicans, think the country is spending too little on major government programs such as Social Security.

The polls from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research suggest that as President Donald Trump and adviser Elon Musk push for extensive cuts throughout the federal government, slashing funding for humanitarian aid and turning their attention to the Department of Education and the military, Americans may not agree with where Trump and Musk's cuts should ultimately fall.

NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk during his visit to the U.S. to meet President Donald Trump. The exact nature of the meeting is unclear, although Modi said on X that the two men "discussed various issues, including those he is passionate about such as space, mobility, technology and innovation."

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — After surviving teen homelessness and domestic violence in West Virginia, 23-year-old Ireland Daugherty was finally feeling stable: She had her own apartment, a job and was studying for a four-year degree.

Ashley Cain, 36, was celebrating four years of sobriety and working with a nonprofit that trains workers to remediate long-abandoned factories and coal mines into sites for manufacturing and solar projects.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk's Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase.

WASHINGTON (AP) — No longer in charge, Sen. Mitch McConnell has been speaking his mind, the long-serving GOP leader rejecting President Donald Trump's more high-profile Cabinet nominees — alone at times, among the Republicans, casting his no votes.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Thursday that he wants to restart nuclear arms control talks with Russia and China and that eventually he hopes all three countries could agree to cut their massive defense budgets in half.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump lamented the hundreds of billions of dollars being invested in rebuilding the nation's nuclear deterrent and said he hopes to gain commitments from the U.S. adversaries to cut their own spending.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Thursday intensified its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the nation's largest employer, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who had not yet gained civil service protection — potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in Thursday as President Donald Trump's health secretary after a close Senate vote, putting the prominent vaccine skeptic in control of $1.7 trillion in federal spending, vaccine recommendations and food safety as well as health insurance programs for roughly half the country.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Schools, colleges and states that require students to be immunized against COVID-19 may be at risk of losing federal money under a White House order signed Friday by President Donald Trump.

The order is expected to have little national impact because COVID-19 vaccine mandates have mostly been dropped at schools and colleges across the United States, and many states have passed legislation forbidding such mandates.

NASHVILLE (AP) — A Tennessee city agreed Thursday to pay $28 million to settle a lawsuit that said police deliberately botched investigations into a suspect accused in civil cases of drugging and sexually assaulting dozens of women.

If approved by a federal judge, the settlement would resolve the lawsuit filed by women under "Jane Doe" pseudonyms against the city and individual police officers over sexual assault allegations against Sean Williams from 2018 to 2021.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Americans looking to buy a newly built home this spring are likely to get a helping hand with their mortgage rate and other costs.

Many homebuilders are offering buyers valuable incentives like paying down their mortgage rate, covering closing costs or even throwing in "flex dollars" that home shoppers can put toward upgrades or other costs.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Conservatives who have spent decades promoting deep cuts to government are giving mixed reviews to the Department of Government Efficiency, the Elon Musk-led project to slash the federal workforce and reduce or end disfavored programs.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Many U.S. adults believe the federal government is overspending — but polling also shows that many Americans, including Republicans, think the country is spending too little on major government programs such as Social Security.

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Vanderbilt's Mikayla Blakes scored a Division I women's freshman record 55 points on Sunday in a 98-88 overtime victory over Auburn.

Blakes, a 5-foot-8 guard who is averaging 21.8 points, shot 15 for 28 from the field with two 3-pointers and made 23 of 24 free throws. She broke the record set by Elena Delle Donne, who scored 54 as a redshirt freshman at Delaware in a 2010 loss to James Madison.

MONTREAL (AP) — Filip Forsberg had a big star from another sport in the stands supporting him and Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle was among the fans in attendance for the Sweden-Finland game Saturday at Bell Centre. Kittle and Forsberg, both Nashville-area residents, have gotten to know each other in recent years through their wives, Clair and Erin Alvey, who are best friends and came up with the idea for the trip.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Harsh weather moved west on Monday as a polar vortex was expected to grip the Rockies and the northern Plains after winter storms pummeled the eastern U.S. over the weekend, killing at least 10 people, including nine victims in Kentucky who died during flooding from heavy rains.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative activist Ed Martin, who echoed Donald Trump's baseless claims of a stolen 2020 election and defended Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol rioters, was nominated by the president on Monday to be the top federal prosecutor in Washington on a permanent basis.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration wants the Supreme Court to permit the firing of the head of the federal agency dedicated to protecting whistleblowers, according to documents obtained Sunday that would mark the first appeal to the justices since President Donald Trump took office.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pam Bondi had insisted at her Senate confirmation hearing that as attorney general, her Justice Department would not "play politics."

Yet in the month since the Trump administration took over the building, a succession of actions has raised concerns the department is doing exactly that.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has begun firing several hundred Federal Aviation Administration employees, upending staff on a busy air travel weekend and just weeks after a January fatal mid-air collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Even as he's vowed to push the United States ahead in artificial intelligence research, President Donald Trump's threats to alter federal government contracts with chipmakers and slap new tariffs on the semiconductor industry may put new speed bumps in front of the tech industry.

Residents in the German town of Geretsried have long wanted to run their buildings with clean heat and electricity from geothermal energy instead of fossil fuels.

Their hopes were dashed about 15 years ago when a drilling company couldn't find enough hot water close to the surface to be profitable using traditional geothermal technology. That basically left them with natural gas.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Evelyn Seabrook was able to buy a home even though she had only a high school diploma. Glenn Flood worked his way up the career ladder to become a public affairs officer for former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. And Calvin Stevens had a dual military and federal service career that took him to high levels in both.

WASHINGTON (AP) — After three cuts to its key interest rate last year, Federal Reserve officials, led by Chair Jerome Powell, have signaled that they are in a new phase of watching and waiting. They'd like to see inflation fall further and gauge what impact that new policies from President Donald Trump, particularly tariffs, will have on the economy before they reduce borrowing costs further.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Germany hasn't seen significant economic growth in five years. It's a stunning turnaround for Europe's biggest economy, which for much of this century had expanded exports and dominated world trade in engineered products like industrial machinery and luxury cars.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's economy grew at a better-than-expected annual rate of 2.8% in October-December, underlined by steady exports and moderate consumption.

On a quarter-to-quarter basis, the world's fourth largest economy grew 0.7% for its third straight quarter of growth, the Cabinet Office reported Monday in its preliminary data.

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump is the president, but billionaire Elon Musk is the focus for thousands of Democratic activists launching a protest campaign this week to fight the Trump administration's push to gut federal health, education and human services agencies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — His group spent nearly $1 million on ads opposing Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump's pick to lead the nation's health agencies. He's delivering speeches urging the president to stand with longstanding foreign allies and lobbying members of Congress while aides write letters and opinion columns.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has halted the firings of hundreds of federal employees who were tasked with working on the nation's nuclear weapons programs, in an about-face that has left workers confused and experts cautioning that DOGE's blind cost cutting will put communities at risk.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration's effort to slash the size of the federal workforce reached the Food and Drug Administration this weekend, as recently hired employees who review the safety of food ingredients, medical devices and other products were fired.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's approach to ending Russia's war against Ukraine has left European allies and Ukrainian officials worried they are being largely sidelined by the new U.S. administration as Washington and Moscow plan direct negotiations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is leading a delegation to Saudi Arabia for direct talks with Russian officials in the coming days to seek an end to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, a U.S. official said Sunday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is seeking access to troves of sensitive taxpayer data at the IRS, two people familiar with the inner workings of the plan who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly told The Associated Press on Monday.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico said Monday it's awaiting a new response from Google to its request that the tech company fully restore the name Gulf of Mexico to its Google Maps service before filing a lawsuit.

President Claudia Sheinbaum shared a letter addressed to her government from Cris Turner, Google's vice president of government affairs and public policy. It says that Google will not change the policy it outlined after U.S. President Donald Trump declared the body of water the Gulf of America.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Monday questioned the authority of billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency but was skeptical of a request to block DOGE from accessing sensitive data and firing employees at half a dozen federal agencies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are weighing billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid, threatening health care coverage for some of the 80 million U.S. adults and children enrolled in the safety net program.

Millions more Americans signed up for taxpayer-funded health care coverage like Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act's marketplace during the Biden administration, a shift lauded by Democrats as a success.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is giving America's schools and universities two weeks to eliminate diversity initiatives or risk losing federal money, raising the stakes in the president's fight against "wokeness" and sowing confusion as schools scramble to comply.

In Fresno, California, social media rumors about impending immigration raids at the city's schools left some parents panicking — even though the raids were all hoaxes. In Denver, a real immigration raid at an apartment complex led to scores of students staying home from school, according to a lawsuit. And in Alice, Texas, a school official incorrectly told parents that Border Patrol agents might board school buses to check immigration papers.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Huawei on Tuesday held a global launch for the industry's first tri-foldable phone, which analysts said marked a symbolic victory for the Chinese tech giant amid U.S. technology curbs. But challenges over pricing, longevity, supply and app constraints may limit its success.

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil's government on Tuesday approved joining OPEC+, a group of major oil-exporting nations, signaling the country's evolution into a major oil state just nine months ahead of hosting the United Nations' annual climate summit.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. tech giants have quietly empowered Israel to track and kill many more alleged militants more quickly in Gaza and Lebanon through a sharp spike in artificial intelligence and computing services. But the number of civilians killed has also soared, fueling fears that these tools are contributing to the deaths of innocent people.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australia's central bank on Tuesday reduced its benchmark interest rate for the first time since October 2020 as the nation's inflation cools.

The Reserve Bank of Australia reduced the cash rate by a quarter percentage point from 4.35% to 4.1% at its first board meeting for the year.

NEW YORK (AP) — Small business owners that rely on eggs for their products are facing sticker shock because the usually reliable staple is in short supply.

Avian flu is forcing farmers to slaughter millions of chickens a month, causing U.S. egg prices to skyrocket. The average price of a dozen Grade A eggs in U.S. cities reached $4.95 in January, eclipsing the previous record of $4.82 set two years earlier and more than double the low of $2.04 that was recorded in August 2023. The Agriculture Department predicts prices will soar another 20% this year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — There's the executive in a U.S. supply-chain company whose voice breaks while facing the next round of calls telling employees they no longer have jobs.

And a farmer in Missouri who grew up knowing that a world with more hungry people is a world that's more dangerous.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Social Security Administration 's acting commissioner has stepped down from her role at the agency over Department of Government Efficiency requests to access Social Security recipient information, according to two people familiar with the official's departure who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

The Associated Press national player of the week in women's college basketball for Week 15 of the season:

Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt

The freshman guard set the NCAA freshman single-game scoring record with 55 points against Auburn. It was the ninth most points scored in NCAA history and joined Patricia Hoskins of Mississippi Valley State as the only players to score 53 or more points twice in the same season. She averaged 34.5 points in the Commodores two games while shooting 63.6% from the field. She made 23 of 24 free throws in her 55-point game.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans are weighing billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid, threatening health care coverage for some of the 80 million U.S. adults and children enrolled in the safety net program.

Millions more Americans signed up for taxpayer-funded health care coverage like Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act's marketplace during the Biden administration, a shift lauded by Democrats as a success.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says billionaire Elon Musk is not the administrator of the Department of Government Efficiency team that is sweeping through federal agencies, but is rather a senior adviser to President Donald Trump.

Musk's exact role could be key in the legal fight over DOGE's access to government data as the Trump administration moves to lay off thousands of federal workers. Defining him as an adviser rather that the person in charge of day-to-day operations at DOGE could help the administration beat a lawsuit arguing Musk has too much power for someone who isn't elected or Senate-confirmed.

FireAid, the benefit concert that raised an estimated $100 million for those impacted by the Los Angeles fires last month, announced $50 million in grants on Tuesday to dozens of community-based organizations assisting in disaster recovery.

The initial round of grantmaking will support immediate needs like temporary housing, rental assistance, food access, and disaster case management, according to a FireAid statement. Each organization will receive at least $100,000.

MILAN (AP) — Italian prosecutors said Wednesday they will seek to drop a tax evasion investigation against Google after the tech giant agreed to pay a 326 million euro ($340 million) settlement.

Milan prosecutors had opened an investigation against Google for failure to pay taxes on earnings in Italy from 2015-2019. The investigation focused on revenues from the sale of advertising, and cited the presence of servers and other infrastructure in Italy.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Airbnb is suing the City of New Orleans for requiring the company and short-term rental platforms ensure properties they market are in compliance with city laws.

"What we're looking at now due to Airbnb's lawsuit is that they do not want to be regulated," City Council President J.P. Morrell said in a late afternoon Tuesday statement.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Tuesday stopped support for legal representation in immigration court for children who enter the United States alone, a setback for those fighting deportation who can't afford a lawyer.

The Acacia Center for Justice says it serves 26,000 migrant children under its federal contract. The Interior Department gave no explanation for the stop-work order, telling the group only that it was done for "causes outside of your control" and should not be interpreted as a judgment of poor performance. The halt remains in effect until further notice.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge refused Tuesday to immediately block billionaire Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing government data systems or participating in worker layoffs.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan found that there are legitimate questions about Musk's authority but said there isn't enough evidence of grave legal harm to justify a temporary restraining order.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday questioned President Donald Trump's motives for issuing an executive order that calls for banning transgender troops from serving in the U.S. military, describing a portion of the directive as "frankly ridiculous."

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top supervisor in the federal prosecutors' office in Washington said she was forced to resign following a dispute with her boss over a directive that she scrutinize the awarding of a government contract during the Biden administration, according to a letter reviewed by The Associated Press.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans' confidence in air travel and the federal agencies tasked with maintaining air safety has slipped a little from last year, following a recent crash in Washington, according to a new poll, but most still believe air transportation is generally safe.

WASHINGTON (AP) — To earn the vote he needed to become the nation's top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a special promise to a U.S. senator: He would not change the nation's current vaccination schedule.

But on Tuesday, speaking for the first time to thousands of U.S. Health and Human Services agency employees, he vowed to investigate the childhood vaccine schedule that prevents measles, polio and other dangerous diseases.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — With egg prices soaring, the Trump administration is planning a new strategy for fighting bird flu that stresses vaccinations and tighter biosecurity instead of killing off millions of chickens when the disease strikes a flock.

The federal government will seek "better ways, with biosecurity and medication and so on" rather than the current standard practice of destroying all the birds on a farm when an infection is detected, Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, said Sunday on the CBS program "Face the Nation."

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has fired about 1,000 newly hired National Park Service employees who maintain and clean parks, educate visitors and perform other functions as part of its broad-based effort to downsize government.

The firings, which weren't publicly announced but were confirmed by Democratic senators and House members, come amid what has been a chaotic rollout of an aggressive program to eliminate thousands of federal jobs. The plan is led by billionaire Elon Musk and the new Department of Government Efficiency, an outside-government organization designed to slash federal spending. Adding to the confusion, the park service now says it is reinstating about 5,000 seasonal jobs that were initially rescinded last month as part of a spending freeze ordered by President Donald Trump.

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will continue to restrict The Associated Press' access to his events and news conferences until the news outlet goes along with his renaming of the Gulf of Mexico in its reports. He acknowledged that the move was a presidential retaliation against the news agency's editorial policy.

BERLIN (AP) — The United States was Germany's biggest single trading partner last year for the first time since 2015, displacing China from the top spot as exports to the Asian power declined, official figures showed Wednesday.

Trade between the U.S. and Germany, which has Europe's biggest economy, ticked up 0.1% compared with 252.8 billion euros ($264.3 billion) in 2023, Germany's Federal Statistical Office said.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Long-haul carrier Etihad Airways announced Wednesday it made a record $476 million profit in 2024, part of a financial rebound for the Abu Dhabi-based airline.

While still a slender profit compared to rival Emirates' record profits of $4.7 billion in 2023, it continues to a major turnaround for Etihad.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Fried Chicken is being uprooted from its ancestral home state in a shake-up announced Tuesday by its parent company that will relocate the chain's U.S. corporate office to Texas.

The food chain now known as KFC — launched by Colonel Harland Sanders and his secret blend of 11 herbs and spices — will be based in Plano, Texas, and about 100 KFC corporate employees will be relocated in the next six months, said Yum Brands, which owns KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is formally designating eight Latin American crime organizations as "foreign terrorist organizations," upping its pressure on cartels operating in the U.S. and on anyone aiding them.

The move, carrying out a Jan. 20 executive order by President Donald Trump, names Tren de Aragua in Venezuela, MS-13 in El Salvador and others. The designation will be published in Thursday's edition of the Federal Register, according to a notice Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Senate on Wednesday confirmed Kelly Loeffler, a Georgia businesswoman and former senator, to lead the Small Business Administration, returning a stalwart supporter of President Donald Trump to Washington.

At SBA, Loeffler will oversee the entity that describes itself as the only Cabinet-level federal agency "fully dedicated to small business" by providing "counseling, capital, and contracting expertise as the nation's only go-to resource and voice for small businesses." Typically, the agency — which was founded in 1953 — offers Economic Injury Disaster Loans to help meet working capital needs caused by a disaster, loans that can be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other expenses that would have been met if not for the disaster.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Relations between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Donald Trump deteriorated rapidly Wednesday as Zelenskyy said Trump was living in a Russian-made "disinformation space" and Trump called Zelenskyy "a dictator without elections" in comments that were sure to complicate efforts to end the war.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of federal government employees have been shown the door in the first month of President Donald Trump's administration as the White House and its Department of Government Efficiency fire both new and career workers, tell agency leaders to plan for "large-scale reductions in force" and freeze trillions of dollars in federal grant funds.

NEW YORK (AP) — Union leaders have described President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Labor as a friend of organized labor. But as her confirmation hearing begins Wednesday, advocates for workers' rights question whether Lori Chavez-DeRemer will be able to uphold that reputation in an administration that has fired thousands of federal employees.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Months into his first term as president, Donald Trump was furious with the snowballing Russia investigation and ordered White House counsel Don McGahn to make sure that special counsel Robert Mueller got fired.

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union envoys have approved a new raft of sanctions against Russia, with the measures set to enter into force next week on the third anniversary of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a top EU official and diplomats confirmed on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is falsely claiming that tens of millions of dead people over 100 years old are receiving Social Security payments.

Over the past few days, President Donald Trump and billionaire adviser Elon Musk have said on social media and in press briefings that people who are 100, 200 and even 300 years old are improperly getting benefits — a "HUGE problem," Musk wrote, as his Department of Government Efficiency digs into federal agencies to root out waste, fraud and abuse.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans pushed ahead late Tuesday on a scaled-back budget bill, a $340 billion package to give the Trump administration money for mass deportations and other priorities, as Democrats prepare a counter-campaign against the onslaught of actions coming from the White House.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Department of Government Efficiency staffers were at the Pentagon on Tuesday and receiving lists of the military's probationary employees, U.S. officials said.

However, it was not clear that all probationary personnel would be let go — instead, some might be exempted due to the critical nature of their work. The military services each had until end of business Tuesday to identify their probationary employees.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate confirmed wealthy financier Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary Tuesday, putting in place a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump's hardline trade polices.

At the Commerce Department, Lutnick, who was CEO at the investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald, will oversee 50,000 employees who do everything from collecting economic statistics to running the census to issuing weather reports. But he's likely to spend a lot of time — along with Jamieson Greer, Trump's nominee to be the top U.S. trade negotiator — managing the president's aggressive plans to impose import taxes on U.S. trading partners, including allies and adversaries alike.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's administration has said no one at the Federal Aviation Administration with a "critical safety" position has been fired as it cuts the federal workforce, but some FAA jobs that were eliminated had direct roles in supporting safety inspectors and airport operations, according to their union and former employees.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The heads of four major labor unions on Wednesday called on President Donald Trump to boost American shipbuilding and enforce tariffs and other "strong penalties" against China for its increasing dominance in that sphere.

The presidents of the United Steelworkers, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers argue that China's efforts have hurt American workers and national security.

WASHINGTON (AP) — No sooner had Senate Republicans voted to begin work on $340 billion budget bill focused on funding the White House's mass deportations and border security agenda than President Donald Trump threw it into turmoil.

Trump on Wednesday criticized the approach from the Senate Budget Committee chairman, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and sided with the House GOP's broader, if politically difficult, plan that includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and other priorities. Senators wanted to address those later, in a second package.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is moving to give the White House direct control of independent federal regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission.

MIAMI (AP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that he "better move fast" to negotiate an end to Russia's invasion of Ukraine or risks not having a nation to lead.

The rhetoric from Trump toward Ukraine comes amid an escalating back-and-forth between the two presidents and rising tensions between Washington and much of Europe over Trump's approach to settling the biggest conflict on the continent since World War II.

NEW YORK (AP) — Members of a Senate committee grilled Labor Secretary-designate Lori Chavez-DeRemer on Wednesday about her past support of pro-union legislation, her position on raising the federal minimum wage and her willingness to disagree with President Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The new head of the Social Security Administration said Wednesday that deceased centenarians are "not necessarily receiving benefits," contradicting claims that tens of millions of dead people over the age of 100 are getting payments from the agency.