The Florida attorney general’s office is investigating Andrew and Tristan Tate

The Florida attorney general’s office is investigating Andrew and Tristan Tate

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s attorney general announced Tuesday that his office has opened a criminal investigation into Andrew and Tristan Tate, who are charged with human trafficking in Romania, days after they returned to the U.S.

Attorney General James Uthmeier announced on social media that he directed his office to work with law enforcement to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the Tate brothers.

“Based on a thorough review of the evidence, I’ve directed the Office of Statewide Prosecution to execute search warrants and issue subpoenas in the now-active criminal investigation into the Tate brothers,” Uthmeier said.

After the Tates landed in Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters that the brothers weren’t welcome in Florida and that he would have the attorney general examine whether the state may have any jurisdiction over their alleged crimes.

During an appearance Monday on the PPD Podcast, Andrew Tate said the governor was caving to media pressure. Tate said he has a U.S. passport and a right to visit his home country. He said he has broken no laws and that he has never even been tried, let alone convicted, of a crime.

The Tates, who are dual U.S.-British citizens, were arrested in late 2022 and formally indicted last year in Romania on charges they participated in a criminal ring that lured women to that country, where they were sexually exploited. Andrew Tate was also charged with rape. They deny the allegations.

Andrew Tate, 38, is a former professional kickboxer and self-described misogynist who is a hugely successful social media figure, attracting millions of followers, many of them young men and schoolchildren drawn in by the luxurious lifestyle the influencer projects online. He and his 36-year-old brother, Tristan, are vocal supporters of President Donald Trump.

Andrew Tate previously was banned from TikTok, YouTube and Facebook for hate speech and his misogynistic comments, including that women should bear responsibility for getting sexually assaulted.

The Tates left Romania after Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu said this month that a Trump administration official expressed interest in the brothers’ case at the recent Munich Security Conference.

North Carolina lawmakers close in on another injection of Helene relief funds

North Carolina lawmakers close in on another injection of Helene relief funds

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina state Senate Republicans advanced a disaster recovery measure Tuesday to direct $533 million in additional spending to meet still-pressing needs from Hurricane Helene’s historic flooding and destruction last fall, but it also locates more relief funding for earlier storms.

The legislation that cleared the Senate’s budget-writing committee is wider in scope than a $500 million relief package approved unanimously last week by the House that focused on Helene’s destruction in western North Carolina.

Spending provisions within the Senate proposal locates an additional $217 million to complete lingering home construction projects for victims of Hurricanes Matthew in 2016 and Florence in 2018 in eastern North Carolina. The package also lays the groundwork to assist farmers who suffered agricultural losses last year — not just from Helene but also from drought and tornadoes.

“We feel that we need to move with urgency to get this bill across the finish line,” said Sen. Brent Jackson, a Senate Appropriations Committee chairman. “Citizens across all our 100 counties faced disasters in 2024.”

A Senate floor vote on the chamber’s bill was expected Wednesday. While House Republicans also are advancing agricultural assistance and Matthew and Florence relief in other measures, top House and Senate leaders later Tuesday said they believed they could agree upon a final supplemental disaster relief bill quickly — possibly by the end of the week — then send it to Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s desk.

“Everybody wants the same thing — to get people help,” said state Rep. John Bell, who has been shepherding the House’s $500 million measure.

Last month, Stein offered his own $1.07 billion proposal for additional Helene relief. The amount would double the money already appropriated or made available by the General Assembly for Helene recovery activities since late last year. But GOP legislators seek to spend less now, saying they want to be careful about maximizing federal matching funds and avoiding mistakes after previous storms.

North Carolina state officials reported over 100 deaths from Helene, which caused a record $59.6 billion in damages and recovery needs. More than five months later, over 5,700 households in western counties are still receiving temporary housing assistance and more than 200 public roads in the region remain closed or just partially opened, according to state data.

Legislative leaders and Stein agree that more money will be allocated for Helene relief later this year in the state budget because the needs are so great, even with billions arriving from Washington.

“The underlying message I want to leave with people is we’re making progress but it’s just a start,” Stein said of Helene recovery at the monthly meeting of statewide elected officials earlier Tuesday. “This work is long term and it’s going to be hard, and we all have to be there together.”

Like the House legislation, the Senate proposal emphasizes repairs for damaged homes, private bridges and roads, assistance to farmers and rebuilding infrastructure adjacent to small businesses. The Senate plan omits a House provision that would allow $15 million to go to nonprofit organizations that could then offer grants to small businesses. Stein and fellow Democrats have pleaded for direct grants to help businesses already weighed down with loans.

The Senate plan does provide money — although not as much as Stein sought — for local school districts that closed for many weeks due to Helene to offer summer school instruction. The House plan left out the program.

Republican lawmakers have been angry with delays in the Florence and Matthew housing reconstruction program, which was created by then-Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration and funded with federal dollars.

While about 3,300 home construction projects have been completed through the state Office of Recovery and Resiliency, state funds are now needed to complete another 1,000 that remain in various stages of construction. Office leaders blamed the delays on the COVID-19 pandemic, rising construction costs, labor shortages and ultimately management mistakes. The agency’s chief operating officer left her job in November.

Both the Senate measure and a separate House bill also approved Tuesday in another committee provides the $217 million, but each bill requires significant monitoring and oversight requirements in how it’s spent. Language in both bills would ultimately shut down the Office of Recovery and Resiliency. Stein’s administration is handling Helene-related home reconstruction through a new agency.

Zelenskyy calls Oval Office spat with Trump ‘regrettable,’ says he’s ready to work for Ukraine peace

Zelenskyy calls Oval Office spat with Trump ‘regrettable,’ says he’s ready to work for Ukraine peace

By SAMYA KULLAB and HANNA ARHIROVA Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday that the Oval Office blowup with U.S. counterpart Donald Trump last week was “regrettable,” adding that he stands ready to work under Trump’s “strong leadership” to get a lasting peace.

Zelenskyy’s remarks — an apparent attempt to placate Trump — came in a social media post on X, hours after the White House announced a pause in military aid to Ukraine that is critical to fighting Russia’s invasion.

But later during his nightly address, Zelenskyy indicated that Ukraine didn’t receive direct notification from the U.S. that aid had been cut, and was seeking confirmation.

“I have instructed Ukraine’s Minister of Defense, the heads of our intelligence agencies, and our diplomats to contact their counterparts in the United States and obtain official information. People should not have to guess,” he said.

“Ukraine and America deserve a respectful dialogue and a clear position from one another. Especially when it comes to protecting lives during a full-scale war,” he added, saying that military aid had been cut once before in January for a brief period.

Zelenskyy also said Ukraine is ready to sign a lucrative deal on rare-earth minerals and security with Washington.

In an apparent reference to Trump’s criticism following the contentious White House meeting on Friday that Zelenskyy does not want a peace deal, the Ukrainian leader said: “None of us want an endless war.”

“Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians. My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts,” he said.

Asked by reporters in Moscow about Zelenskyy voicing readiness for the resumption of talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “It’s good, it’s positive.”

In his post, Zelenskyy said the Oval Office meeting “did not go the way it was supposed to be.”

“It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right,” he added. “We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive.”

The pause of U.S. military aid catapulted Ukraine into alarm and apprehension. Zelenskyy’s statement came before Trump was expected to address the U.S. Congress later Tuesday.

“Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it in any time and in any convenient format,” Zelenskyy said. “We see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively.”

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke by phone successively with Trump and Zelenskyy, Macron’s office said, and “welcomes” the Ukrainian’s “willingness to re-engage in dialogue with the U.S.” It released no details about the discussion with Trump.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer also spoke to the Ukrainian leader and “welcomed President Zelenskyy’s steadfast commitment to securing peace.”

Zelenskyy’s post came as officials in Kyiv said they were grateful for vital U.S. help in the war and want to keep working with Washington. Ukraine’s prime minister, though, said the country still wants security guarantees to be part of any peace deal and won’t recognize Russian occupation of any Ukrainian land. Those are potential stumbling blocks for Washington and Moscow, respectively.

Ukraine and its allies are concerned Trump is pushing for a quick ceasefire that will favor Russia, which Kyiv says cannot be trusted to honor truces.

A White House official said the U.S. was “pausing and reviewing” its aid to “ensure that it is contributing to a solution.” The order will remain in effect until Trump determines that Ukraine has demonstrated a commitment to peace negotiations, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the assistance.

The pause in U.S. aid isn’t expected to have an immediate impact on the battlefield. Ukrainian forces have slowed Russian advances along the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line, especially in the fiercely contested Donetsk region in the east. The Russian onslaught has been costly in troops and armor but hasn’t brought a strategically significant breakthrough for the Kremlin.

Ukraine needs help to fight Russia

Ukraine, which depends heavily on foreign help to hold back Russia’s full-scale invasion that began on Feb. 24, 2022, has feared that aid could be stopped since Trump took office.

U.S.-made Patriot air defense missile systems, for example, are pivotal to protecting Ukraine. Just as vital is U.S. intelligence assistance, which has allowed Ukraine to track Russian troop movements and select targets.

“I feel betrayed, but this feeling is not really deep for some reason. I was expecting something like that from Trump’s side,” said a Ukrainian soldier fighting in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukraine launched a daring incursion in August 2024 to improve its hand in negotiations. The soldier spoke by phone to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

On the front line, where Ukraine is struggling to fend off the larger and better-equipped Russian army, another soldier said the U.S. decision would allow further battlefield gains for Moscow.

“War is very pragmatic,” he told AP, speaking on condition of anonymity in compliance with military regulations. “If we have weapons, enough ammunition, infantry, armored vehicles and aviation — great. If not, then we’re done,” he said.

He recalled a seven-month delay in U.S. aid that ended in April 2024 but opened a door for Russia’s capture of the strategic city of Avdiivka.

Olena Fedorova, 46, of the southern port city of Odesa, said she hoped Trump’s decision would be temporary because “we really need help.”

U.S. support is vital because Europe cannot fully provide what Ukraine needs in air defense systems, leading to increased civilian casualties, said lawmaker Yehor Chernov.

The suspension of U.S. military aid is already being felt at a hub in eastern Poland that has been used to ferry Western weapons into neighboring Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.

The U.S.-Ukraine relationship has taken a downturn since Trump took office and his team launched bilateral talks with Russia.

Trump had vowed during his campaign to settle the war in 24 hours, but later changed that time frame and voiced hope that peace could be negotiated in six months.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said U.S. help is “vital” and has saved “perhaps tens of thousands” of civilian and military lives. But he emphasized that any peace agreement must be “on Ukraine’s terms, as the victim country.”

Ukraine wants “concrete security guarantees” from Washington, European countries and Group of Seven leading industrialized nations, he said. Giving up territory to Russia, which occupies nearly 20% of Ukraine, “is not possible” under the U.N. Charter, he said.

European allies stress support for Kyiv

Noting that the U.S. has been “the chief supplier” of aid to Ukraine, Peskov said that if Washington suspends these supplies, “it will make the best contribution to peace.”

Poland’s Foreign Ministry said the U.S. had not consulted with or informed NATO countries before announcing the pause.

Russia will likely try to use the halt in supplies to extend its territorial gains and strengthen its position in prospective peace talks.

Andrei Kartapolov, a retired general who heads a defense committee in parliament, told Russia’s state RIA news agency that Ukraine would exhaust its current ammunition reserves within months.

“We need to keep up the pressure and continue to target their bases and depots with long-range precision weapons to destroy the stockpiles,” he said.

Ukraine’s European allies, meanwhile, reaffirmed their commitment to Kyiv.

The chief of the European Union’s executive proposed an 800-billion-euro ($841 billion) plan to bolster defenses of EU nations and provide Ukraine with military muscle.

The U.K. government, which has been leading European efforts to keep Trump from pushing to end the war on terms that could favor Moscow, said it remains “absolutely committed to securing a lasting peace in Ukraine.”

Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director-general of the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based defense think tank, said Washington’s move could encourage Russia to seek more Ukrainian concessions, including demilitarization and neutrality.

___

Volodymyr Yurchuk in Kyiv, Vanessa Gera in Warsaw, Poland, and Aamer Madhani, Zeke Miller and Lisa Mascaro in Washington, contributed to this report.

ACC, Clemson, Florida State approve settlement to end legal fight, change revenue-distribution model

ACC, Clemson, Florida State approve settlement to end legal fight, change revenue-distribution model

By AARON BEARD AP Sports Writer

The Atlantic Coast Conference, Clemson and Florida State are ready to move forward together after legal fights that threatened the stability of the league.

Each approved a settlement Tuesday to end the crossfire of lawsuits between the member schools and the ACC, signing off on a deal that changes the revenue-distribution model in a way that would theoretically benefit both schools with marquee football brands. The deal also revises and clarifies the long-term costs for a school to leave the conference.

It doesn’t offer permanent security. Notably, the 2030-31 season now looms as a significant marker. But it does stabilize the coming years for a league that had heard doomsayers questioning its survival amid a growing revenue gap behind the Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten.

“Today’s resolution begins the next chapter of this storied league and further solidifies the ACC as a premier conference,” commissioner Jim Phillips said in a statement, noting the parties would dismiss pending lawsuits in Florida and the Carolinas.

“The settlements, coupled with the ACC’s continued partnership with ESPN, allow us to focus on our collective future — including Clemson and Florida State — united in an 18-member conference demonstrating the best in intercollegiate athletics.”

The approval came after the ACC’s Board of Directors — made up of university presidents and chancellors — gave its OK in a call Tuesday morning, followed by separate approval from trustees at Clemson and FSU.

Most notably, the revenue-distribution model will now incorporate TV viewership as a way for the league’s top programs to generate more revenue. That formula would see 60% of the league’s TV revenues go into a pot for distribution based on a rolling five-year formula tied to viewership ratings, while the remaining 40% would be distributed equally among the members.

The upside could be $15 million or more for top-earning schools, while it could also result in a decline of about $7 million for others, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on Monday. That person spoke on condition of anonymity because neither the league nor the schools had publicly addressed the deal terms at the time.

It’s the latest in a series of what Phillips has previously called “aggressive” efforts to generate more revenue, which has included expansion to include California, Stanford and SMU, as well as this year’s launch of the “success initiative” that allows teams to keep money generated by their own postseason success.

A slideshow presentation for Clemson’s trustees, for example, projected that the viewership and postseason-incentives wrinkles could mean more than $120 million of new revenue for Clemson in the next six years.

“At the end of the day, this innovative distribution model which further incentivizes performance and investment will help strengthen the ACC,” Clemson athletic director Graham Neff told trustees before the vote. “A strong ACC is good for Clemson. And a strong Clemson is good for the ACC.”

The growing revenue gap — which amounted to roughly $6 million less per school than in the SEC and $15 million in the Big Ten according to tax documents from the 2022-23 season — had been at the root of the unrest. Schools had signed a grant-of-rights deal to give the ACC control of their media rights through the end of the league’s TV deal with ESPN in 2036, while the league could impose massive exit fees on any school that sought to leave for another league before the expiration of that deal.

Those costs had been a key subject of FSU’s December 2023 lawsuit and Clemson’s in March 2024, while the ACC had conversely sued both schools. The settlement now provides a roadmap to how any early exit might work.

Specifically, the slideshow at the Clemson trustee meeting reported the exit fee would be $165 million for the 2026 fiscal year, but would descend by $18 million per year until leveling off around $75 million for the 2030-31 season. And despite the grant-of-rights provision, any school that paid the exit fee would be allowed to exit with its media rights, according to that presentation.

That 2031 date would largely align with expiration of media deals for the Big Ten (2029-30 season) and the Big 12 (2030-31), while the SEC’s deal runs through 2033-34. And that could set up a potential countdown for massive realignment in the rapidly changing landscape of college athletics.

Then again, it’s hard to predict much beyond the immediate future. And that’s where the ACC has strengthened its footing.

It was roughly a month ago that ESPN exercised its option to extend its media base-rights agreement, aligning that deal with a separate one that covers their partnership for the ACC Network through 2036. The league is in its first year of expansion that has created $600 million in additional incremental revenue gains through the ACC’s ESPN deal, with the new arrivals agreeing to reduced or no TV money at all for the coming years.

The Phillips-championed “success initiative” could amount to about $25 million in a year for a school, tied mostly to performance in the expanded College Football Playoff. The viewership plan accomplishes a similar goal for Phillips: the additional money would theoretically be accessible to any league member, incentivizing a school to field a program that viewers want to watch because of its elevated success.

“I got hundreds of emails and text messages and phone calls from friends and people I didn’t know over the last 13 months encouraging us in this journey and I’m proud of where we’ve landed,” FSU trustee and former Seminoles quarterback Drew Weatherford said during that meeting.

“We made some commitments 14 months ago to make sure we could do everything in our power to compete at the highest level, and I think we’ve done that here.”

___

AP Sports Writers Will Graves in Pittsburgh and Mark Long in Florida contributed to this report.

March 4th 2025

March 4th 2025

Thought of the Day

Photo by Getty Images

I don’t always carry all the groceries on one arm, but when I do, my keys are in the wrong pocket.

Everyday Salad Dressing

Everyday Salad Dressing

Everyday Salad Dressing

Photo by Getty Images

Everyday Salad Dressing Recipe from Gimme Some Oven

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: N/A

Serving size: about 1/3 cups

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 small garlic clove, pressed or minced (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
  • 1 tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice (or red wine vinegar)
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper
Photo by Getty Images

Directions

You will need a small jar and a citrus juicer.

  1. Combine ingredients. Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl (or shake all ingredients together vigorously in a sealed jar) until completely combined.
  2. Serve. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for between 1-7 days.  If you choose to refrigerate the dressing, it will need to be stirred or shaken again prior to serving.

If you want it to be a bit sweeter, add 1 or 2 teaspoons of honey or your favorite sweetener.

This salad dressing recipe also works wonderfully with just about any kind of vinegar — red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, sherry vinegar, etc. 

Carl Dean, Dolly Parton’s husband of nearly 60 years who inspired ‘Jolene,’ dies at 82

Carl Dean, Dolly Parton’s husband of nearly 60 years who inspired ‘Jolene,’ dies at 82

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer

Carl Dean, Dolly Parton’s devoted husband of nearly 60 years who avoided the spotlight and inspired her timeless hit “Jolene,” died Monday. He was 82.

According to a statement provided to The Associated Press by Parton’s publicist, Dean died in Nashville, Tennessee. He will be laid to rest in a private ceremony with immediate family attending.

“Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy,” Parton wrote in a statement.

The family has asked for respect and privacy. No cause of death was announced.

Parton met Dean outside the Wishy Washy Laundromat the day she moved to Nashville at 18.

“I was surprised and delighted that while he talked to me, he looked at my face (a rare thing for me),” Parton described the meeting. “He seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about.”

They married two years later, on Memorial Day — May 30, 1966 — in a small ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia.

Dean was a businessman, having owned an asphalt-paving business in Nashville. His parents, Virginia “Ginny” Bates Dean and Edgar “Ed” Henry Dean, had three children. Parton referred to his mother as “Mama Dean.”

Dean is survived by Parton and his two siblings, Sandra and Donnie.

He inspired Parton’s classic, “Jolene.” Parton told NPR in 2008 that she wrote the song about a flirty a bank teller who seemed to take an interest in Dean.

“She got this terrible crush on my husband,” she said. “And he just loved going to the bank because she paid him so much attention. It was kinda like a running joke between us — when I was saying, ‘Hell, you’re spending a lot of time at the bank. I don’t believe we’ve got that kind of money.’ So it’s really an innocent song all around, but sounds like a dreadful one.”

Parton and Dean kept strict privacy around their relationship for decades, Parton telling The Associated Press in 1984: “A lot of people say there’s no Carl Dean, that he’s just somebody I made up to keep other people off me.”

She joked that she’d like to pose with him on the cover of a magazine “So that people could at least know that I’m not married to a wart or something.”

In 2023, Parton told AP Dean helped inspired her 2023 “Rockstar” album.

“He’s a big rock and roller,” she said. The song “My Blue Tears,” which was written when Parton was with “The Porter Wagoner Show” in the late 1960s and early ’70s, is “one of my husband’s favorite songs that I ever wrote,” she said. “I thought, ’Well, I better put one of Carl’s favorites of mine in here.” She also covered a few of his favorites on the temporary detour from country music: Lynard Skynyrd ’s “Free Bird” and Led Zeppelin ’s “Stairway to Heaven.”

Lighter winds help crews fighting wildfires in South and North Carolina

Lighter winds help crews fighting wildfires in South and North Carolina

By ERIK VERDUZCO Associated Press

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — Lighter winds Monday helped crews in South Carolina and North Carolina battle wildfires that caused evacuations and threatened hundreds of homes over the weekend.

Hundreds of firefighters from across South Carolina managed to keep a large blaze in Horry County near Myrtle Beach from destroying any homes despite social media videos of orange skies at night and flames engulfing pine trees just yards away. Volunteers distributed cases of water and food to firefighters working long hours protecting homes and other structures.

“We’re very, very proud of our first responders,” said Rick Vines, a plumber who was helping with the volunteer effort. “And we wanted them to feel how proud we were by coming out here and stepping in and making sure they had what they needed so they could focus on what they were here to do.”

Crews have made progress containing a fire in the Carolina Forest area west of the coastal resort city of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Evacuation orders were lifted there on Sunday afternoon. (AP Video)

The fire burned 2.5 square miles (6.5 square kilometers) and was about 30% contained as of Monday evening, according to Horry County Fire Rescue. The department deployed drones as well as ground crews to respond to flare-up fires, reinforce break lines and set up portable sprinkler systems.

It was the biggest fire in the area since a 2009 wildfire nearby did $42 million in damage and destroyed about 75 homes.

Officials in all of South Carolina banned almost all outdoor fires, including burning yard debris and campfires. They told residents to call 911 if they see a neighbor setting a fire.

“You can and will go to jail for starting a fire outdoors in South Carolina. Period,” Gov. Henry McMaster wrote on social media.

Burn bans were also in place in western North Carolina. Some residents in Polk County remained evacuated from their homes as fire crews Monday morning set their own blazes to burn possible wildfire fuel to make it easier to contain a 480-acre (190-hectare) fire that was about 30% contained.

Polk County is on the fringes of an area badly hit by Hurricane Helene last year. Fallen trees that have not been cleared are increasing the risk of fires across the region.

In eastern North Carolina, nearly 80 mostly small wildfires were reported in Robeson County. Emergency officials said 15 structures were damaged, but they did not give specifics on the types of buildings.

The North Carolina Forest Service reported more than 200 wildfires across the state Monday, although almost all of them were small and not threatening any structures.

Officials across the Carolinas warned of poor air quality because of smoke.

Crews have made progress containing a fire in the Carolina Forest area west of the coastal resort city of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Evacuation orders were lifted there on Sunday afternoon. (AP Video)

In a drier-than-normal winter, a weekend cold front moved through the area, bringing high winds without the usual rain that accompanies the weather systems in the South and increasing the fire danger.

The area near Myrtle Beach is one of the most dangerous for wildfires in South Carolina as hundreds of years of decomposing vegetation creates peat, which when it dries out can burn for a long time.

Pine trees and other waxy vegetation provide fuel for fires to rapidly spread in dry, windy conditions.

Horry County’s population has doubled to 400,000 people over the past 25 years. Many of those newcomers have moved into neighborhoods being rapidly built right next to the oval Carolina Bays where peat and flammable vegetation all grows together. Fires have been part of the natural landscape of the bays for centuries.

Officials have not said what caused any of the fires.

Senate confirms McMahon to lead Education Department as Trump pushes to shut it down

Senate confirms McMahon to lead Education Department as Trump pushes to shut it down

By ANNIE MA AP Education Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate voted Monday to confirm former wrestling executive Linda McMahon as the nation’s education chief, a role that places her atop a department that President Donald Trump has vilified and vowed to dismantle.

McMahon will face the competing tasks of winding down the Education Department while also escalating efforts to achieve Trump’s agenda. Already the Republican president has signed sweeping orders to rid America’s schools of diversity programs and accommodations for transgender students while also calling for expanded school choice programs.

At the same time, Trump has promised to shut down the department and said he wants McMahon “to put herself out of a job.”

The Senate voted to confirm McMahon 51-45.

A billionaire and former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, McMahon, 76, is an unconventional pick for the role. She spent a year on Connecticut’s state board of education and is a longtime trustee at Sacred Heart University but otherwise has little traditional education leadership.

McMahon’s supporters see her as a skilled executive who will reform a department that Republicans say has failed to improve American education. Opponents say she’s unqualified and fear her budget cuts will be felt by students nationwide.

“Americans believe in public education,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said before the confirmation vote. “They don’t want to see the Department of Education abolished. If the Trump administration follows through on cuts to education, schools will lose billions in funding.”

At her confirmation hearing, McMahon distanced herself from Trump’s blistering rhetoric. She said the goal is to make the Education Department “operate more efficiently,” not to defund programs.

She acknowledged that only Congress has the power to close the department, and she pledged to preserve Title I money for low-income schools, Pell grants for low-income college students, and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Yet she suggested some operations could move to other departments, saying Health and Human Services might be better suited to enforce disability rights laws.

Weeks before McMahon’s confirmation hearing, the White House was considering an executive order that would direct the education secretary to cut the agency as much as legally possible while asking Congress to shut it down completely. Some of McMahon’s allies pressed the White House to hold the order until after her confirmation to avoid potential backlash.

Created by Congress in 1979, the Education Department’s primary role is to disburse money to the nation’s schools and colleges. It sends billions of dollars a year to K-12 schools and oversees a $1.6 trillion federal student loan portfolio.

Trump argues the department has been overtaken by liberals who press their ideology on America’s schools.

Schools and colleges have been navigating a demand to eliminate diversity programs or risk having their federal funding pulled. The Trump administration gave them a Feb. 28 deadline to comply. The Education Department addressed questions about its guidance in a document released Saturday, saying in part that changing program names that reference “diversity” or “equity” alone is not enough if they treat students differently by race.

During the presidential campaign, Trump vowed to close the department and grant its authority to states. Schools and states already wield significantly greater authority over education than the federal government, which is barred from influencing curriculum. Federal money makes up roughly 14% of public school budgets.

Already, the Trump administration has started overhauling much of the department’s work.

Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has cut dozens of contracts it dismissed as “woke” and wasteful. It gutted the Institute of Education Sciences, which gathers data on the nation’s academic progress, and the administration has fired or suspended scores of employees.

Some of the cuts have halted work that’s ordered under federal law. At her hearing, McMahon said the agency will spend money that’s directed by Congress, and she played down DOGE’s cuts as merely an audit.

McMahon is a longtime Trump ally who left WWE in 2009 to launch a political career, running unsuccessfully twice for the U.S. Senate. She has given millions of dollars to Trump’s campaigns and served as leader of the Small Business Administration during his first term.

___

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Find the AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Trump hits ‘pause’ on US aid to Ukraine after Oval dustup, pressuring Zelenskyy on Russia talks

Trump hits ‘pause’ on US aid to Ukraine after Oval dustup, pressuring Zelenskyy on Russia talks

By AAMER MADHANI and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Monday directed a “pause” to U.S. assistance to Ukraine after a disastrous Oval Office meeting as he seeks to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to engage in peace talks with Russia.

A White House official said Trump is focused on reaching a peace deal to end the more than three-year war sparked by Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine, and wants Zelenskyy “committed” to that goal. The official added that the U.S. was “pausing and reviewing” its aid to “ensure that it is contributing to a solution.” The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the assistance.

The moment comes some five years after Trump held up congressionally authorized assistance to Ukraine in 2019 as he sought to pressure Zelenskyy to launch investigations into Joe Biden, then a Democratic presidential candidate. The moment led to Trump’s first impeachment.

Trump in the leadup to his 2024 election win vowed to quickly end the war in Ukraine. He’s expressed increasing frustration with Zelenskyy over the war, while simultaneously expressing confidence that Russian President Vladimir Putin can be trusted to keep the peace if a truce in the conflict is reached.

Trump earlier on Monday slammed Zelenskyy for suggesting that the end of Russia’s war against Ukraine likely “is still very, very far away.”

The comments come as prominent Trump allies escalate pressure on Zelenskyy to dramatically change his approach to the U.S. president, who has made quickly ending the war a top priority, or step aside.

The long complicated relationship between the leaders has reached a nadir following the disastrous White House meeting in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance excoriated Zelenskyy for not being sufficiently thankful for U.S. support for Ukraine since Putin ordered the February 2022 invasion.

“This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy, and America will not put up with it for much longer!” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform about the comments Zelenskyy made late Sunday while speaking to reporters in London.

Trump at an event at the White House later on Monday referred to Zelenskyy’s reported comments, and asserted the Ukrainian leader “better not be right about that.”

“If somebody doesn’t want to make a deal, I think that person won’t be around very long,” Trump added. “That person will not be listened to very long.”

Trump took issue with Zelenskyy suggesting it would take time to come to an agreement to end the war. The Ukrainian leader also tried to offer a positive take on the U.S.-Ukraine relationship in the aftermath of last week’s White House meeting.

Asked by a reporter about the outlines of a new European initiative to end Russia’s war, Zelenskyy said: “We are talking about the first steps today, and, therefore, until they are on paper, I would not like to talk about them in great detail.”

“An agreement to end the war is still very, very far away, and no one has started all these steps yet,” he added.

But Trump was only further irritated by Zelenskyy’s suggesting it will take time for the conflict to come to a close.

“It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelenskyy, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the U.S. — Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia,” Trump added in his post. “What are they thinking?”

Zelenskyy took to social media soon after Trump’s latest criticism. He did not directly refer to Trump’s comments, but underscored that it “is very important that we try to make our diplomacy really substantive to end this war the soonest possible.”

“We need real peace and Ukrainians want it most because the war ruins our cities and towns,” Zelenskyy added. “We lose our people. We need to stop the war and to guarantee security.”

Trump’s national security adviser said Zelenskyy’s posture during Friday’s Oval Office talks “put up in the air” whether he’s someone the U.S. administration will be able to deal with going forward.

“Is he ready, personally, politically, to move his country towards an end to the fighting?” Mike Waltz said on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” earlier Monday. “And can he and will he make the compromises necessary?”

Waltz added another layer of doubt about U.S. support as other high-profile Trump allies have suggested that the relationship between Trump and Zelenskyy is becoming untenable.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that Zelenskyy “needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude or someone else needs to lead the country” for Ukraine to continue pursuing a peace deal negotiated by the United States.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally who has been a vociferous supporter of Ukraine, said soon after the Oval Office meeting that Zelenskyy “either needs to resign and send somebody over that we can do business with, or he needs to change.”

Angela Stent, a former national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia at the National Intelligence Council, said Putin is likely in no rush to end the war amid the fissures between Trump and Zelenskyy and Europe and the U.S. about the way ahead.

“He is not interested in ending the war,” said Stent, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. “He thinks Russia is winning. … And he thinks that as time goes on, the West will be more fractured.”

Trump administration and Ukrainian officials had been expected to sign off on a deal during Zelenskyy’s visit last week that would have given the U.S. access to Ukraine’s critical minerals in part to pay back more than $180 billion in aid the U.S. has sent Kyiv since the start of the war. The White House has also billed such a pact as a way to tighten U.S.-Ukrainian relations in the long term.

The signing was scrapped after the leaders’ Oval Office talks went off the rails and White House officials asked Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian delegation to leave.

Trump on Monday, however, suggested he hasn’t given up on the economic pact, calling it “a great deal.” He added that he expected to speak to the deal during his Tuesday address before a joint session of Congress.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican who co-chairs the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, spoke with Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, on Monday about getting the mineral rights deal back on track.

Fitzpatrick after the lengthy call predicted the “deal will be signed in short order.”

—

AP journalist Tracy Brown contributed reporting.

Recent News

Powered By SoCast