News - Friday, September 19, 2025

When it comes to the year-old Songbirds Foundation space on Main Street, new executive director John Dooley is quick to point out, “We don’t really advertise it as a museum anymore.”

 At first glance, though, that’s exactly what it looks like. Thirty rare guitars, along with vintage pedals and amplifiers, dominate the displays in the intimate venue. A sprinkling of celebrity-owned instruments, including the Fender Dolly Parton used to write her most recent album, punctuate other exhibits. 

September marks Realtor Safety Month, and while we often focus on how to stay safe as professionals, it’s just as important to help our clients think about safety, especially when their home is on the market. 

Sellers are opening their doors to the public, which means more foot traffic and, unfortunately, more vulnerability. 

Ernest Howard Whitaker, a conservation trailblazer with deep Tennessee roots, has received the Robert Sparks Walker Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest honor in the Governor’s Environmental Stewardship Awards, presented by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

SORBA Chattanooga, Hamilton County Parks & Recreation and Outdoor Chattanooga have teamed up to bring modular bike skills features to the Riverwalk near the Hubert Fry Center. These pop-up trail elements offer a fun, accessible space for riders to build confidence and sharpen their bike handling skills. Join Outdoor Chattanooga on-site for special activation days with free access to bikes, volunteers offering tips and optional $10 Intro to Mountain Biking courses that include instruction and bike use. Friday, 5-8 p.m. Free. Riverwalk near Hubert Fry Center, 4301 Amnicola Highway, Chattanooga. Information

The Chattanooga City Council has approved Mayor Tim Kelly’s compromise budget, finalizing a property tax rate of 1.93 and unlocking $44.8 million in additional revenue. The lower rate – the lowest ever under the city’s current government structure – still results in higher tax bills for most residents due to a significant rise in assessed property values.

Hiring in 2025 has become disconnected from corporate realities. You’ve seen the news. Companies are laying people off. Things are hard. And, frankly, they have been since 2020. 

Most job seekers look for and apply to jobs online. Applications and resumes are fed into what’s called an applicant tracking system or ATS. Companies use an ATS to track applications and to put candidates through interview steps. 

Our neighbor Jim told me the other day that he’d been up early that morning and, through a window, saw a trio of visitors in our backyard, calmly munching on our tomato plants: a deer and two fawns.

Jim’s efforts to protect our harvest by spooking the visitors with noise were met only with indifference. These deer came to eat breakfast, and eat breakfast they did.

When you plan a trip, you consider the destination, the climate, activities that interest you, transportation needs, anticipated costs, best time to go and coverage for your work, home or pets. It’s a holistic approach, looking at your trip from a variety of angles.

If Ally Brown’s family had decided to travel West for a vacation in 2020, she might never have become a member of the University of Tennessee soccer team.

Brown and her family drove through Tennessee on their trip after leaving their home in Wheaton, Illinois. Once they approached Knoxville, Brown noticed all the signs for UT and started doing some research about the program. 

One of the biggest positive changes for the Tennessee Titans this year through the first two games has been the improvement on special teams.

That has been directly the result of the Titans’ hiring of John “Bones” Fassel to oversee the special teams units.

The Tennessee Titans went nowhere in the year and a-half in which Will Levis was their starting quarterback.

And while Levis was an easy scapegoat, putting the ball in harm’s way at inopportune times, he had plenty of help in the Titans’ unraveling. A big problem was offensive line play with too many penalties and sacks.

The Titans enter AFC South play Sunday as the Indianapolis Colts come to town. The 0-2 Titans need this game in the worst way, especially with the 2-0 Colts headed to Nissan Stadium. Let’s look at what the Titans need in order to win.

First down

Protect Cam Ward. Ward has already been sacked 11 times in two games, and that rate is not sustainable if they want to keep him in one piece and let him develop into a solid quarterback. Even with the offensive line injuries, the protection has to get better in order to give Ward a fighting chance.

SUVs are undoubtedly practical, but they can often be a bore. What if you also want sporty performance from your family-hauler? Surprisingly, your best bet might just be an electric SUV. 

Thanks in part to the inherent advantages of EV powertrain design, hair-raising acceleration is no longer exclusive to low-slung exotics. Plus, many automakers are now making well-rounded performance SUVs that also provide improved handling, stronger braking and sportier aesthetics. 

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has waged an aggressive campaign against the media unlike any in modern U.S. history, making moves similar to those of authoritarian leaders that he has often praised.

NEW YORK (AP) — Two ABC affiliate owners spoke out against late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel ahead of ABC's decision to suspend the presenter over comments he made about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Their comments highlight the influence local TV station owners have on national broadcasters such as Disney-owned ABC.

ATLANTA (AP) — Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s new vaccine advisory committee will vote Thursday on new guidance for shots against hepatitis B and chickenpox, raising worries among public health experts that the votes and discussions will create unwarranted vaccine concerns among parents.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Farm Aid — the annual fundraising concerts launched by Willie Nelson,Neil Young and John Mellencamp during the farm crisis of the 1980s — celebrates its 40th anniversary on Saturday in Minneapolis.

NEW YORK (AP) — A Harvard Business School graduate was arrested Thursday on fraud charges alleging he swindled fellow alumni of the prestigious school out of over $4 million in a Ponzi scheme, even assuring one investor they would soon "brag" about their "crazy gains" at the school's reunion.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Three members of a federal control board overseeing Puerto Rico's finances, who were recently fired by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, filed a lawsuit in federal court on Thursday alleging their firings were illegal.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department is moving closer to making President Donald Trump's " no tax on tips " promise a reality. But new guidance released Friday tends to limit the number of tipped workers who will be able to claim the benefit.

WASHINGTON (AP) — ABC took comic Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show off the air indefinitely Wednesday, just hours after Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr called his comments about Charlie Kirk's assassination "truly sick."

WASHINGTON (AP) — As late-night talk shows undergo major changes and controversy, a new poll finds that while most Americans don't watch them regularly, the ones who do make such programming part of their routine are more likely to be Democrats.

Only about one-quarter of Americans say they have watched a late-night talk show or variety show at least monthly in the last year, according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The poll was conducted after the announcement that Stephen Colbert's show was being canceled but before Jimmy Kimmel's suspension.

ATLANTA (AP) — Access to COVID-19 shots is the big question as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s new vaccine advisers meet again Friday, after putting off a controversial vote on a different vaccine for newborns.

People in many states already are reporting frustration as they they try to determine, or prove, if they qualify for updated COVID-19 vaccines — even as infections have climbed over the past month.

ATLANTA (AP) — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s hand-picked vaccine advisory committee on Thursday recommended the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention adopt new restrictions on a combination shot that protects against chickenpox as well as measles, mumps and rubella.

BANGKOK (AP) — Russia and Vietnam have developed a back-door method of concealing arms deal payments to avoid American and other Western sanctions, using the profits from joint oil and gas ventures to pay off defense contracts without any open transfers of cash through the global banking system, according to internal Vietnamese documents obtained by The Associated Press.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan's central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at 0.5% Friday, in a decision that was widely expected, given recent inflation trends that have stayed above target.

The Bank of Japan issued its decision on the overnight call rate after a two-day meeting by its policy board.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House on Friday passed a short-term spending bill to extend government funding for seven weeks and avoid a partial government shutdown on Oct. 1, but prospects looked dimmer in the Senate, where the two parties show no signs of budging on the matter.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republicans' outlook on the direction of the country has soured dramatically, according to a new AP-NORC poll that was conducted shortly after last week's assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and President Claudia Sheinbaum promised Thursday to strengthen trade relations in the face of U.S. tariff threats and pushed to keep the most important free trade agreement in the Western Hemisphere alive in the lead-up to negotiations next year.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump is talking with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday in a push to finalize a deal to allow the popular social media app TikTok to keep operating in the United States.

The call between the two leaders began around 8 a.m. Washington time, according to a White House official and China's Xinhua News Agency.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's administration asked the Supreme Court on Friday to let it enforce a passport policy for transgender and nonbinary people that requires male or female sex designations based on birth certificates.

The Justice Department appealed a lower-court order allowing people use the gender or "X" identification marker that lines up with their gender identity.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A Florida federal judge on Friday tossed out a $15 billion defamation lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump against The New York Times.

U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday ruled that Trump's 85-page lawsuit was overly long and full of "tedious and burdensome" language that had no bearing on the legal case.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Five men deported by the United States to Eswatini in July have been held in a maximum-security prison in the African nation for seven weeks without charge or explanation and with no access to legal counsel, their lawyers said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. attorney whose office has been investigating mortgage fraud allegations against New York Attorney General Letitia James has been told to resign or be fired, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Friday, amid a push by Trump administration officials to bring criminal charges against the perceived adversary of the president.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday extended a signature state program aimed at reducing planet-warming emissions through 2045, a move Democrats cheered but Republicans warned would raise gas prices.

The program known as cap and trade sets a declining limit on total greenhouse gas emissions in the state from major polluters. Companies must reduce their emissions, buy allowances from the state or other businesses, or fund projects aimed at offsetting their pollution. Money the state receives from the sales funds climate-change mitigation, affordable housing and transportation projects, as well as utility bill credits for Californians.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House overwhelmingly passed a resolution honoring conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Friday, but a significant number of Democrats voted against it, highlighting the deepening political divide in the wake of his assassination.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Friday confirmed Mike Waltz to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, filling the last vacancy in President Donald Trump's Cabinet after eight months of delays and the withdrawal of a previous nominee.

The bipartisan vote for Waltz came after a recent procedural hurdle sent his nomination back to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where it had to be voted on again on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate rejected competing measures on Friday to fund federal agencies for a few weeks when the new budget year begins on Oct. 1, increasing prospects for a partial government shutdown on that date.

Leaders of the two parties sought to blame the other side for the standoff. Democrats accused Republicans of not negotiating with them to address some of their priorities on health care as part of the funding measure, even though they knew some Democratic votes would be needed to get a bill to the president's desk.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said he would meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a regional summit taking place at the end of October in South Korea and will visit China in the "early part of next year," following a phone call between the two on Friday.

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Tennessee Titans came into this season knowing they would be busy rebuilding with a youth movement and a coach in Brian Callahan working with a rookie quarterback.

NASHVILLE (AP) — The Indianapolis Colts had a feeling in pregame warmups that their best start since 2009 was theirs for the taking.

They leave 3-0 for the first time since Peyton Manning led them to the AFC championship that season.

Jonathan Taylor ran for 102 yards and three touchdowns and Indianapolis never trailed, beating the hapless Tennessee Titans 41-20 Sunday.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Diego Pavia threw for 245 yards and a touchdown, and Vanderbilt, which rose to No. 18 in Associated Press poll after the win, scored its most points in 107 years Saturday night while romping to a 70-21 victory over Georgia State.

The previous time the Commodores rolled up 70 points in a game was a 76-0 win over Tennessee in November 1918 at Dudley Field in Nashville.

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese automaker Nissan is developing vehicles with self-driving technology as it works to turn around its struggling auto business.

In a recent demonstration of the technology developed by British company Wayve, a Nissan Ariya sedan outfitted with 11 cameras, five radars and a next-generation sensor called LiDAR maneuvered its way through downtown Tokyo, braking for red lights as well as pedestrians and other cars at intersections.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tech giant Oracle will receive a copy of TikTok's algorithm to operate for U.S. users, according to a senior official in President Donald Trump's administration on Monday.

Determining next steps for the algorithm, currently owned by the Beijing-based ByteDance, has been one of the most closely watched issues during negotiations over TikTok's future.

France and Saudi Arabia hope to use this year's gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly and the increasingly horrific war in the Gaza Strip to inject new urgency into the quest for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — President Donald Trump praised Charlie Kirk as a "great American hero" and "martyr" for freedom as he and other prominent conservatives gathered Sunday evening to honor the slain conservative political activist whose work they say they must now advance.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Saturday that he would be nominating senior White House aide Lindsey Halligan to serve as the top federal prosecutor for the Virginia office that was thrown into turmoil when its U.S. attorney was pushed out Friday.

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Auburn coach Bruce Pearl announced his retirement Monday less than six months after wrapping up the Tigers' best season in program history with a trip to the Final Four.

Pearl's 38-year-old son Steven Pearl is taking over as coach of the Tigers.

Kara Lawson helped the U.S. women's basketball team win an Olympic gold medal as a player 17 years ago. Now she'll have a chance to lead it to another as the coach in the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Fans want Tennessee coach Brian Callahan fired just three games into his second season with the Titans off to a worse start than last year.

Callahan said Monday that he talks weekly with controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk, and the Titans are evaluating everything. That includes whether Callahan, both a first-time head coach and first-time play-caller, should hand over calling offensive plays to someone else.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court said Monday it will consider expanding President Donald Trump's power to shape independent agencies by overturning a nearly century-old decision limiting when presidents can fire board members.

In a 6-3 decision, the high court also allowed the Republican president to carry out the firing of Rebecca Slaughter, a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission, while the case plays out.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge ruled Monday that a nearly complete offshore wind project halted by the administration can resume, dealing President Donald Trump a setback in his ongoing effort to restrict the fledgling industry.

Work on the nearly completed Revolution Wind project for Rhode Island and Connecticut has been paused since Aug. 22 when the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a stop-work order for what it said were national security concerns. The Interior Department agency did not specify those concerns at the time. Both the developer and the two states sued in federal courts.

NEW YORK (AP) — ABC will reinstate Jimmy Kimmel's late night show in the wake of criticism over his comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, officials with the network said Monday.

"We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday," said a statement from the network.

NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of Hollywood and Broadway stars — including Robert De Niro, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Selena Gomez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep — are urging Americans "fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights" in the wake of Jimmy Kimmel's suspension.

A Seattle seafood distributor has recalled more cooked and frozen shrimp sold at Kroger grocery stores across the U.S. because of ongoing concerns about potential radioactive contamination.

Aquastar Corp. on Saturday recalled nearly 157,000 additional pounds of shrimp because of possible contamination with cesium 137, a radioactive isotope. The new recall includes nearly 50,000 bags of Kroger Raw Colossal EZ Peel Shrimp, about 18,000 bags of Kroger Mercado Cooked Medium Peeled Tail-Off Shrimp and more than 17,000 bags of AquaStar Peeled Tail-on Shrimp Skewers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's appointee to the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors said Monday that the central bank's key interest rate should be much lower than its current 4.1% level, staking out a position far different than his colleagues.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House stood behind "border czar" Tom Homan on Monday following reports that he had accepted $50,000 from undercover agents posing as businesspeople during an undercover FBI operation last year, leading to a bribery investigation that was shut down by the Trump administration Justice Department.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Since Charlie Kirk's assassination, President Donald Trump and his allies have praised the conservative organizer and provocateur as a free speech champion who set a high First Amendment standard for the "Make America Great Again" movement.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration has barred Iranian diplomats based in or visiting New York from shopping at wholesale club stores like Costco and purchasing luxury goods in the United States without specific permission from the State Department.

MEMPHIS (AP) — A Missouri woman is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday for scheming to defraud Elvis Presley's family by trying to auction off his Graceland home and property before a judge halted the brazen foreclosure sale.

U.S. District Judge John Fowlkes will sentence Lisa Jeanine Findley in federal court in Memphis. Findley pleaded guilty in February to a charge of mail fraud related to the scheme. She also had been indicted on a charge of aggravated identity theft, but that charge was dropped as part of a plea agreement.

SEATTLE (AP) — A federal trial beginning in Amazon's hometown this week is set to examine whether the online retailing giant tricked customers into signing up for its Prime service and made it difficult to cancel after they did so.

The Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon in U.S. District Court in Seattle two years ago and has alleged more than a decade of legal violations, including of the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act, a 2010 law designed to help ensure that people know what they're being charged for online.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore $500 million in federal grant funding that it froze at the University of California, Los Angeles.

U.S. District Judge Rita Lin in San Francisco granted a preliminary injunction on Monday, saying the government likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act, which requires specific procedures and explanations for federal funding cuts. Instead, the government informed UCLA in generalized form letters that multiple grants from various agencies were being suspended but offered no specific details.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday used the platform of the presidency to promote unproven and in some cases discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism as his administration announced a wide-ranging effort to study the causes of the complex brain disorder.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Many doctors and scientists were reeling Monday after President Donald Trump went on TV to insist that pregnant women should never take Tylenol and revive debunked theories about vaccines and autism.

Trump went beyond his own Food and Drug Administration's more modest advice that doctors "should consider minimizing" the painkiller acetaminophen's use in pregnancy — amid inconclusive evidence about whether too much could be linked to autism. His comments came as the administration also moved to make more available a possible but unproven autism treatment — and also announced more research into the disorder.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump isn't a doctor. But he played one on TV Monday, offering copious amounts of unproven medical advice that he suggested -- often without providing evidence -- might help reduce autism rates.

Trump repeatedly implored pregnant women to avoid taking the painkiller Tylenol, the bestselling form of acetaminophen. That's despite the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists long recommending acetaminophen as a safe option during pregnancy. He even weighed in on when children should be given painkillers.

NEW YORK (AP) — Jimmy Kimmel is set to return to late-night television Tuesday after a nearly weeklong suspension that triggered a national discussion about freedom of speech and President Donald Trump's ability to police the words of journalists, commentators and even comics.

NEW YORK (AP) — ABC will reinstate Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show after the network pulled the host off the air indefinitely in the wake of criticism over Kimmel's comments about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk earlier this month.

President Donald Trump's contentious relationship with U.S. news organizations has led to a host of legal battles and disputes, the latest of which came with ABC's suspension and — days later — return of the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" show.

Trump had celebrated the suspension of Kimmel, a veteran late-night comic and frequent critic of the president and his policies, calling it "great news for America."

WASHINGTON (AP) — Tech giant Oracle will spearhead U.S. oversight of the algorithm and security underlying TikTok's popular video platform under the terms of a deal laid out this week by President Donald Trump's administration.

All the final details still need to be nailed down among several joint venture partners that will include Oracle, investment firm Silver Lake Partners and possibly two billionaires — media mogul Rupert Murdoch and personal computer pioneer Michael Dell. The U.S. administration would not have a stake in the joint venture nor be part of its board, according to a senior White House official.

LONDON (AP) — Jaguar Land Rover said Tuesday that its production lines, shut down after a cyberattack in August, will remain at a halt until at least Oct. 1.

Britain's biggest automaker sent workers home from its factories in central and northwest England on Aug. 31.

The race to replace coal in Indonesia, the world's largest coal exporter, has become a contest between the U.S. and China. At stake is not only Indonesia's climate future, but also which superpower sets the terms for the next generation of energy in the developing world.

NEW YORK (AP) — Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated $70 million to the UNCF, as the nation's largest private provider of scholarships to minority students works to raise $1 billion to strengthen all 37 of its historically Black colleges and universities.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — As President Donald Trump's administration imposes new restrictions on the legal immigration system, U.S. adults are more likely than they were a year ago to think these immigrants benefit the country, according to a new poll.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The long history of bourbon production at Buffalo Trace Distillery has been connected to the Kentucky River — summed up as a blessing and curse by a plaque on the grounds.

In the 1800s, long before the Buffalo Trace name was attached to the distillery, the river served as a floating highway to bring in grain and other production essentials and to transport barrels of whiskey to markets along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Even today, river water cools down production equipment. But the river flowing past the distillery flashed its destructive side in April.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The nation's largest railroad union joined the list of companies endorsing Union Pacific's proposed $85 billion acquisition of Norfolk Southern Monday after securing promises to protect jobs, but other unions and chemical makers that rely on the railroads are still expressing concerns about the deal.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has abruptly canceled this week's planned meeting with congressional Democratic leaders, refusing to negotiate over their demands to shore up health care funds as part of a deal to prevent a potential looming federal government shutdown.

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron likes to say that he can get President Donald Trump on the phone any time he wants. In New York for the U.N. General Assembly, he proved it.

Blocked on Monday night by police officers when he sought to cross a New York street — they told the French president the road was closed to let a VIP motorcade pass — Macron fished out his phone and dialed his U.S. counterpart.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday signed an order designating a decentralized movement known as antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, though whether he can actually do that remained unclear. Trump blames antifa for political violence.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee coach Brian Callahan announced Tuesday he's handing off the offensive play-calling duties to quarterbacks assistant Bo Hardegree with the Titans off to an 0-3 start.

NEW YORK (AP) — Robot umpires are getting called up to the big leagues next season.

Major League Baseball's 11-man competition committee on Tuesday approved use of the Automated Ball/Strike System in the major leagues in 2026.

Human plate umpires will still call balls and strikes, but teams can challenge two calls per game and get additional appeals in extra innings. Challenges must be made by a pitcher, catcher or batter — signaled by tapping their helmet or cap — and a team retains its challenge if successful. Reviews will be shown as digital graphics on outfield videoboards.

The leader of the largest multimedia rights holder in college athletics is confident sponsor patches will begin appearing on team jerseys sooner than later with schools under pressure to find new ways to make money in this new era of revenue-sharing with athletes.

NASHVILLE (AP) — Bobby Cain, who helped integrate one of the first high schools in the South in 1956 as one of the so-called Clinton 12, died Monday in Nashville at the age of 85, according to his nephew J. Kelvin Cain.

Bobby Cain was a senior when he entered the formerly all-white Clinton High School in Tennessee on a court order. He had previously attended a Black high school about 20 miles (32 kilometers) away in Knoxville and was not happy about leaving his friends to spend his senior year at a new school in a hostile environment.

FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — The man who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump at a Florida golf course last year tried to stab himself in the neck with a pen shortly after being found guilty of all counts on Tuesday.

Officers quickly swarmed him and dragged him out of the courtroom.

MEMPHIS (AP) — A Missouri woman was sentenced Tuesday to more than four years in federal prison for scheming to defraud Elvis Presley's family by trying to auction off his Graceland home and property before a judge halted the brazen foreclosure sale.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday signaled a cautious approach to future interest rate cuts, in sharp contrast with other Fed officials this week who have called for a more urgent approach.

NEW YORK (AP) — Tariffs and years of teetering mall traffic have roiled much of the toy industry. But Build-A-Bear investors are continuing to reap sizeable gains.

Shares of Build-A-Bear Workshop are up more than 60% since the start of 2025, trading at just under $72 apiece as of Tuesday afternoon. That compares to just 13% for the S&P 500 since the start of the year, and marks dramatic growth from five years ago, when the St. Louis-based retailer's stock sat under $3.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Ukraine can win back all territory lost to Russia, a dramatic shift from the U.S. leader's call on Kyiv to make concessions.

Trump offered his position in a social media posting soon after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — President Donald Trump castigated the United Nations as a feckless institution in a speech to the world body on Tuesday, praising the turn America has taken under his leadership while warning Europe will be ruined if it doesn't turn away from a "double-tailed monster" of ill-conceived migration and green energy policies.

The Southeastern Conference announced league matchups for the next four years Tuesday, including designating three annual — not permanent — opponents for each of its 16 teams. The nine-game slates retain several traditional rivalries and renew some old ones.

The Southeastern Conference announced league matchups for the next four years Tuesday, including designating three annual — not permanent — opponents for each of its 16 teams. Here are each school's three annuals and its opponents through 2029:

Alabama Crimson Tide

KNOXVILLE (AP) — Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell said Tuesday that fourth-year guard Ruby Whitehorn is back with the team after serving a suspension over an August arrest that led to her pleading guilty to a pair of misdemeanors.

NASHVILLE (AP) — A former Tennessee House speaker was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison after being convicted in a scheme with a onetime aide to win taxpayer-funded mail business from lawmakers after scandals drove the two out of their top leadership roles.

NEW YORK (AP) — YouTube will offer creators a way to rejoin the streaming platform if they were banned for violating COVID-19 and election misinformation policies that are no longer in effect, its parent company Alphabet said Tuesday.

In a letter submitted in response to subpoenas from the House Judiciary Committee, attorneys for Alphabet said the decision to bring back banned accounts reflected the company's commitment to free speech. It said the company values conservative voices on its platform and recognizes their reach and important role in civic discourse.

NEW YORK (AP) — Jimmy Kimmel offered no apologies in his return to late-night television and, in an emotional monologue where he appeared close to tears, said he was not trying to joke about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. He also paid tribute to Kirk's widow.

Thomasina Clarke has watched school after school close in her once thriving St. Louis neighborhood, which was hit by a tornado this spring and whose population has plummeted in recent decades.

"It's like a hole in the community," Clarke said. She fears a new round of closure discussions could strip the historically Black community of a storm-damaged high school, whose alumni include Tina Turner and Chuck Berry.

WASHINGTON (AP) — When President Donald Trump's administration announced it would repurpose an old, generic drug as a new treatment for autism, it came as a surprise to many experts — including the physician who suggested the idea to the nation's top health officials.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Monday that his administration is strongly recommending that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy unless medically necessary. "I want to say it like it is, don't take Tylenol," he said, encouraging women to "just fight like hell not to take it." But his comments came under intense criticism from medical experts and researchers — because there's no proof tying the painkiller to autism. He also made a number of dubious claims about autism, vaccines and treatments.

PARIS (AP) — A lifelong fan of "Tomb Raider," French gamer Romain Bos was on tenterhooks when an update of the popular video game went online in August.

But his excitement quickly turned to anger.

The gamer's ears — and those of other "Tomb Raider" fans — picked up something amiss with the French-language voice of Lara Croft, the game's protagonist.

WASHINGTON (AP) — After serving with the U.S. Marine Corps in Iraq, Julio Torres has the American flag and Marine Corps insignia tattooed on his arms to show his pride in serving a country he calls home.

And after struggling with post-traumatic stress syndrome, drug addiction and a related criminal charge following his deployment, the 44-year-old has found new purpose as a pastor preaching a message of freedom to those facing similar problems.

NEW YORK (AP) — Soon people will be able to use satellite technology and artificial intelligence to track dangerous soot pollution in their neighborhoods — and where it comes from — in a way not so different from monitoring approaching storms under plans by a nonprofit coalition led by former Vice President Al Gore.

How Charlie Kirk is being memorialized — with many conservatives and white Christians, particularly evangelicals, emphasizing his faith and labeling him a martyr — has sparked debate among Black clergy, who are trying to square a heroic view of the 31-year-old with insulting statements about people of color that were key to his political activism.

The economy was a strength for Trump in his first term. Not anymore, according to recent polling

By LINLEY SANDERS Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Recent polling shows President Donald Trump's second-term strengths look different from his first. His approval was once strengthened by economic issues, but it's now tepid on that front. His best issues now are crime, border security and immigration. Trump's overall approval has been fairly steady in Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research polling since he took office in January. This month, about 4 in 10 U.S. adults approve of how Trump is handling his job as president, back in line with his average approval rating after a slight uptick in August. During his first term, his approval also stayed within a narrow range.

BEIJING (AP) — China has said it would no longer seek the special treatment given to developing countries in World Trade Organization agreements — a change long demanded by the United States.

Commerce Ministry officials said Wednesday the move was an attempt to boost the global trading system at a time when it is under threat from tariff wars and protectionist moves by individual countries to restrict imports.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian judge fined telecommunications giant Optus 100 million Australian dollars ($66 million) Wednesday for unconscionable conduct selling services to hundreds of vulnerable customers including in Indigenous communities outside the range of its coverage.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers and activists across the political spectrum called on American tech firms to stop selling surveillance equipment to Chinese police and for Congress to examine the issue after The Associated Press reported that U.S. technology had played a far greater role than previously known in enabling human rights abuses by Beijing.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington's hottest new club has everything — Cabinet secretaries, a new stone patio, food from the White House kitchen and even a playlist curated by President Donald Trump.

But good luck getting a spot on the guest list. So far, only some of the president's political allies, business executives and administration officials have been invited.

NEW YORK (AP) — Some countries' leaders are watching rising seas threaten to swallow their homes. Others are watching their citizens die in floods, hurricanes and heat waves, all exacerbated by climate change.

But the world U.S. President Donald Trump described in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday didn't match the one many world leaders in the audience are contending with. Nor did it align with what scientists have long been observing.

MIAMI (AP) — Hundreds of federal employees who lost their jobs in Elon Musk's cost-cutting blitz are being asked to return to work.

The General Services Administration has given the employees — who managed government workspaces — until the end of the week to accept or decline reinstatement, according to an internal memo obtained by The Associated Press. Those who accept must report for duty on Oct. 6 after what amounts to a seven-month paid vacation, during which time the GSA in some cases racked up high costs — passed along to taxpayers — to stay in dozens of properties whose leases it had slated for termination or were allowed to expire.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump stopped short Tuesday of promising Argentina's President Javier Milei a financial bailout from the Latin American country's economic turmoil.

"We're going to help them. I don't think they need a bailout," Trump told reporters. He sat alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Milei on Tuesday afternoon on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge has thrown out a former FBI agent's claims that he was illegally fired after sending disparaging text messages to a colleague about President Donald Trump.

Peter Strzok, a former top counterintelligence agent who played a crucial role in the investigation into Russian election interference in 2016, alleged in a federal lawsuit that the FBI caved to "unrelenting pressure" from Trump when it fired him and that he was unfairly punished for expressing his political opinions.

NEW YORK (AP) — At least two senior Justice Department officials likely broke court rules governing the conduct of prosecutors by reposting comments President Donald Trump made about Luigi Mangione, the man accused of assassinating the CEO at UnitedHealthcare, a federal judge said Wednesday.

DALLAS (AP) — A shooter with a rifle opened fire from a nearby roof onto a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement location in Dallas on Wednesday, killing one detainee and wounding two others before taking his own life, authorities said.

The suspect has been identified by a law enforcement official as 29-year-old Joshua Jahn. The official could not publicly disclose details of the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

NEW YORK (AP) — Jessica Chastain says she disagrees with Apple TV+'s decision to postpone the release of the political thriller series "The Savant" following the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Government Efficiency's remaking of the federal workforce has battered the Washington job market and put more households in the metropolitan area in financial distress, according to a report released Wednesday.

The number of homes for sale in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia region, also known as the DMV, is up by 64% since June 2024, and the region's unemployment rate is the highest in the nation, according to the DMV Monitor, a real-time data interactive created by the Brookings Institution with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

In his speech before the U.N. General Assembly, President Donald Trump promoted a second-term talking point about his efforts to settle multiple conflicts around the world.

"In a period of just seven months, I have ended seven unendable wars. They said they were unendable." he said Tuesday, repeating a claim he frequently makes.