South Florida Local News

MIAMI — Observations and other notes of interest from Thursday night’s 126-110 victory over the Brooklyn Nets:

– With the Heat now past the quarter pole of their remaining games, coach Erik Spoelstra was asked pregame about the balance of getting his players on the court while also being mindful of not having nagging injuries linger.

– “We’re going for it,” Spoelstra said, as if reiterating his team’s every-game-matters mantra.

– He added, “I know at this time of year, everybody’s kind of dealing with something.”

– As is the case for the Heat at the moment, with Norman Powell (groin), Nikola Jovic (back) and Simone Fontecchio (groin) all out Thursday night.

– “We have some competitive, tough-minded guys in the locker room,” Spoelstra said of his players attempting to shorten timelines for absences. “We do want to be responsible. That was the case with Norm and Timo (Fontecchio).”

– So Spoelstra said a measured, proactive approach with rehab.

– “Hopefully, if you get to things early and you really attack it with the rehab, it can be shorter term,” he said of the two groin strains,

– But no, not necessarily monitoring minutes amid this stretch when every game matters for the Heat.

– “There’s going to be other cases that we just have to go for it and play bigger minutes for our main guys,” he said. “I’ve been starting to do that, anyway.”

– “It gives an opportunity for other guys to step up,” Spoelstra said of the current absences. “Hopefully, a seamless thing that won’t be long-term.”

– Spoelstra warned not to overstate 3-point shooters such as Powell and Fontecchio being out.

– “Our game isn’t solely built on the three-point ball,” he said. “We’re a paint-attacking team.”

– With Powell still out, the Heat for the third consecutive game opened with Davion Mitchell, Tyler Herro, Pelle Larsson, Andrew Wiggins and Bam Adebayo.

– The Nets opened with Nolan Traore, Terance Mann, Michael Porter Jr. , Noah Clowney and Nic Claxton.

–Kel’el Ware and Jaime Jaquez Jr. entered first off the Heat bench.

–Followed by Kasparas Jakucionis and then Dru Smith.

–With Smith returning to the rotation with Fontecchio out.

– In the wake of his team being blown out Tuesday by the Heat, Nets coach Jordi Fernandez was asked pregame what he would like to see differently Thursday.

– “I want to see more winning plays defensively,” he said. “Obviously our ball pressure has to be better.”

– Fernandez had high praise for the work assistant coach Juwan Howard, the former Heat player and assistant coach, has put in with the Nets’ big men.

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– “They have that voice right there that helps them every day,” Fernandez said of Howard. “But the most important thing, it holds them accountable and it challenges them every day.”

– The Nets again were without first-round pick Egor Demin.

– “He’s struggled with plantar fasciitis,” Fernandez said, “and the soreness has increased lately. So we’re being cautious and trying to figure out what’s the best way for him moving forward.”

– After these consecutive games against the Nets at Kaseya Center, the Heat have a pair of such consecutive games remaining against the same opponent, on March 25 and March 27 in Cleveland, and on April 7 and April 9 in Toronto.

– The game opened the 15th of the Heat’s NBA-high 17 back-to-back sets, with a Friday night game in Charlotte to follow.

The Heat go into Charlotte 10-4 on the second nights of such pairings, up 2-0 on the Hornets in the four-game season series that concludes March 17 in Charlotte.

MIAMI — On many other nights, the Miami Heat might have reached the point of peril.

Against the Brooklyn Nets, adversity merely proved to be an inconvenience Thursday night for Erik Spoelstra’s team.

So even with Bam Adebayo in foul trouble, with Norman Powell sidelined, and with an unexpected deficit in the third period, ultimately a 126-110 victory over the tanking Nets, the Heat’s sixth victory in their last eight games.

With Adebayo mostly a second-half spectator, the Heat got more than enough from replacement big man Kel’el Ware to make the fourth quarter largely ceremonial.

In backing up Tuesday’s home rout of the Nets, the Heat got 16 points, 11 rebounds, a career-high seven blocked shots and five steals from Ware, as well as 25 points from Tyler Herro, 21 from Adebayo and 18 from Jaime Jaquez Jr.

Ware’s effort had Spoelstra exiting with a smile on his face.

“He was jumping, getting off the ground. Head coach didn’t even have to tell him,” Spoelstra quipped.

“He was super active tonight.”

So up to 34-29 for Heat and down to 15-47 for the lottery-leaning Nets.

The competition now stiffens, with a Friday night road game against the sizzling Charlotte Hornets and then a Sunday home game against the East-leading Detroit Pistons.

Five Degrees of Heat from Thursday night’s game:

1. Game flow: Despite the Nets committing eight first-quarter turnovers, the Heat were limited to a 31-26 lead entering the second period. The Heat then pushed their lead to 14 in the second period, before the Nets closed within 60-56 at halftime.

The Heat then fell behind by four in the third period, before recovering to take a 95-83 lead into the fourth.

The Nets closed within nine early in the fourth, before the Heat pushed their lead into the 20s with 8:38 to play,  Spoelstra nonetheless reinserting Herro and Adebayo with 4:43 to play and the Heat up 118-103.

“We wanted to be able to get this, back-to-back set versus the same team,” Spoelstra said. “We haven’t been able to do that this year.”

2. Fast fouls: It was going quite well for Adebayo in the early stages of the third period, at that stage up to 19 points and seven rebounds.

But with 7:08 left in the third period, the Heat captain was called for his fourth foul, on a shot attempt by the Nets’ Noah Clowney, with Spoelstra opting to leave him in at the stage.

Then, on the very next possession, Adebayo was called for an offensive foul 12 seconds later, forcing him to the bench with his fifth foul.

He closed 7 of 15 from the field, 7 of 8 from the line.

“Everything’s not going to be perfect, and being able to trust one another and obviously get this win, it shows growth for this team,” Adebayo said.

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3. So then Herro: While the 3-point shot remained a work in progress, Herro stepped up with his offense when Adebayo went out.

Herro closed 9 of 16 from the field, 2 of 7 on 3-pointers, and 5 of 5 from the line, with five assists and four rebounds.

Herro has scored at least 22 points in each of the past three games.

“We just professionally came out and we all handled business,” Herro said. “I thought it was a great team effort, you know, on both sides of the floor.”

4. Still a couple: Spoelstra again made a point of getting to the Adebayo-Ware pairing early, with Adebayo checking out with 6:25 to play in the opening period, only to return 2:27 later to work alongside Ware.

“If something’s working right now,” Spoelstra said, “we’re going to lean into it.”

While Adebayo had 13 points in the first half, he also was forced to the bench with 1:46 left in the second period with his third foul.

For his part, Ware recorded five blocked shots in the first half, eclipsing by that point his previous season high of four.

He closed 7 of 9 from the field, the frequent recipient of alley-oop passes.

It was the first time a Heat player closed with at least 10 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks shots and five steals, the first time ever in the NBA by reserve.

“I feel like it was more of a vice-versa moment,” Ware said of the role reversal with Adebayo, “like last game when I was in foul trouble, he had to play most of the minutes. I feel like it’s just knowing you got to step up and provide that role of being the center out there.”

5. Smith back: With Simone Fontecchio out with a groin strain, Dru Smith was back in the Heat mix after being held out of two of the previous three games.

While Smith has fallen behind rookie first-round pick Kasparas Jakucionis, the two this time play side-by-side when starting point guard Davion Mitchell went out.

Jakucionis closed with 11 points, with Smith scoring nine.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Jet Greaves made 26 saves, Mathieu Olivier scored twice and the Columbus Blue Jackets dealt another blow to Florida’s playoff hopes with a 4-2 victory over the Panthers on Thursday night.

Two-time defending champion Florida is in danger of becoming the first Cup-winning team to miss the playoffs the following season since Los Angeles in 2014-15. The Panthers have lost the first four games of a trip that ends Friday night in Detroit.

Defenseman Ivan Provorov had a goal and two assists and Boone Jenner also scored to help Columbus, fighting for a wild-card spot in the East, win its third straight. The Blue Jackets were coming off a back-to-back sweep, beating the Rangers 5-4 in overtime in New York on Monday night and Nashville on Tuesday night to open a four-game homestand.

Defenseman Niko Mikkola and Sam Bennett scored for Florida in a 5:36 span of the third period.

Gustav Forsling appeared to tie it with 2:55 to go, but Columbus successfully challenged for goaltender interference. Olivier then put it away with an empty-netter with 1:42 left.

Provorov scored on a power play at 5:08 of the first, firing in a wrist shot from the blue line. Olivier struck on a tip with 9:10 left in the second, and Jenner beat goalie Daniil Tarasov from close range at 1:41 of the third. Jenner returned after missing a game because of a lower-body injury.

Mikkola scored on a tip at 9:08 of the third, and Bennett pulled the Panthers within one on a power play with 5:16 left.

Tarasov stopped 23 shots.

A day ahead of the NHL trade deadline, the Panthers sent 38-year-old defenseman Jeff Petry to Minnesota for a conditional seventh-round pick in 2026.

Up next

Panthers: At Detroit on Friday night.

Blue Jackets: Host Utah on Saturday night.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhla

With demolition slated to begin in days and construction slated to start in six months, designers for Orlando’s long-sought memorial to the victims of the 2016 Pulse shooting revealed partial images for the first time Thursday at City Hall.

The renderings largely reflected the conceptual design crafted by an advisory board in 2024 — though with a few notable changes, including about half the original number of columns supporting a metallic, arcing shade structure.

Designers said that modification worked better for the size of the property and also allows more space for reflection and grieving at the column representing each victim.

“The spatial distance between that was no longer intimate, it felt cramped, it felt confined and it wasn’t a quality we wanted to press forward,” said Dan-Michael Trbovich, the project manager for the firm Borrelli and Partners. “It opened the space up and then provides seating … so you have this private area for individuals to come to their angel, to reflect and have that personal space and connection.”

The memorial is planned for the site of the former nightclub at 1912 S. Orange Avenue, where 49 people were killed and 53 were wounded in what was then the nation’s deadliest mass shooting.

The design includes a reflection pool with a rainbow ripple design in the center, alongside an “angel ellipse” curving shade structure featuring tributes to each victim. The north side of the site has a water wall that will also have each victim’s name, along with the quote “For all those who just wanted to dance” etched in English and Spanish.

The LGBTQ nightclub was hosting a Latin Night event the night of the shooting, and more than 90% of the victims were Hispanic.

• Jorge Borrelli speaks in front of a rendering during a meeting by the City of Orlando to provide an update on the design of the permanent Pulse memorial as the project has reached the 30 percent design benchmark. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
• Dan-Michael Trbovich speaks in front of a rendering during a meeting by the City of Orlando to provide an update on the design of the permanent Pulse memorial as the project has reached the 30 percent design benchmark. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
• Renderings released of the Pulse memorial at the 30% design update meeting on March 5, 2026. Pictured is the private gathering area. (City of Orlando)
• Renderings released of the Pulse memorial at the 30% design update meeting on March 5, 2026. Pictured is the Angel Ellipse. (City of Orlando)
• Renderings released of the Pulse memorial at the 30% design update meeting on March 5, 2026. (City of Orlando)
• Renderings released of the Pulse memorial at the 30% design update meeting on March 5, 2026. Pictured is the Survivor’s Wall and Survivor’s Common. (City of Orlando)
• Renderings released of the Pulse memorial at the 30% design update meeting on March 5, 2026. Pictured is the obelisk, fountain wall and reflecting pool at night. (City of Orlando)
• Renderings released of the Pulse memorial at the 30% design update meeting on March 5, 2026. Pictured is the obelisk, fountain wall and reflecting pool. (City of Orlando)
• Renderings released of the Pulse memorial at the 30% design update meeting on March 5, 2026. Pictured is the visitor pavilion. (City of Orlando)
• Renderings released of the Pulse memorial at the 30% design update meeting on March 5, 2026. Pictured is the visitor pavilion. (City of Orlando)
• Renderings released of the Pulse memorial at the 30% design update meeting on March 5, 2026. Pictured is the Prism Plaza. (City of Orlando)
• Jay Hood speaks in front of a projected rendering during a meeting by the City of Orlando to provide an update on the design of the permanent Pulse memorial as the project has reached the 30 percent design benchmark. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
• Donna Wyche speaks during a meeting by the City of Orlando to provide an update on the design of the permanent Pulse memorial as the project has reached the 30 percent design benchmark. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
• Attendees listen during a meeting by the City of Orlando to provide an update on the design of the permanent Pulse memorial as the project has reached the 30 percent design benchmark. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
• Jorge Borrelli speaks during a meeting by the City of Orlando to provide an update on the design of the permanent Pulse memorial as the project has reached the 30 percent design benchmark. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
• Jorge Borrelli walks among renderings during a meeting by the City of Orlando to provide an update on the design of the permanent Pulse memorial as the project has reached the 30 percent design benchmark. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)
• Christine Hanadan spoke out in strong opposition during a meeting by the City of Orlando to provide an update on the design of the permanent Pulse memorial as the project has reached the 30 percent design benchmark. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel)

Show Caption1 of 17Jorge Borrelli speaks in front of a rendering during a meeting by the City of Orlando to provide an update on the design of the permanent Pulse memorial as the project has reached the 30 percent design benchmark. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel) Expand

The memorial will also include a 3,500-square-foot visitor’s center, which will have items connected with the nightclub on display. Designers also pitched the idea of a “survivor’s tree” planted at the site – potentially an olive tree, which is both physically resilient and also has represented peace and unity throughout history.

“Honestly, I think they’ve done a really, really fair job,” said Nancy Rosado, who served on the committee and provided mental health services after the shooting. “This has been unfinished business for 10 years and this is finally moving that forward and helping people to move forward.”

But both of the people who spoke during public comment were critical of the design and the process that led to the drawing. Christine Hanavan contended the city ignored victims and families who disagreed with them and said elements reusing portions of the nightclub in the memorial were insensitive.

“I’m especially concerned with the wood floor and outside patio tiles on the so-called artifact list, and that you’re going to use the unpermitted dance floor as part of the reflecting pool. Dozens of people died on those floors, another person died on that patio,” she said. “All of this is absolutely abhorrent. It shows zero empathy and consideration for the survivors and victims.”

The memorial was delayed for years after the onePulse Foundation, originally tasked to create it, collapsed amid recriminations and excessive ambition that produced a plan for a $100 million memorial and museum it had no ability to fund. The demise of the foundation left a trail of broken trust throughout the region, particularly among survivors and families.

The city ultimately purchased the Pulse property last year for $2 million, as well as a neighboring property for $1 million.

Next Tuesday, crews are expected to begin dismantling the Pulse sign outside of the nightclub. On March 18, the demolition of the nightclub building is expected to begin ahead of the planned start of construction of the memorial in September.

Its planned completion date is September 2027.

By MATT O’BRIEN and KONSTANTIN TOROPIN

The Trump administration is following through with its threat to designate artificial intelligence company Anthropic as a supply chain risk in an unprecedented move that could force other government contractors to stop using the AI chatbot Claude.

The Pentagon said in a statement Thursday that it has “officially informed Anthropic leadership the company and its products are deemed a supply chain risk, effective immediately.”

The decision appeared to shut down the opportunity for further negotiation with Anthropic, nearly a week after President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accused the company of endangering national security.

FILE – Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stands outside the Pentagon during a welcome ceremony for the Japanese defense minister at the Pentagon in Washington, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf, File)

Trump and Hegseth announced a series of threatened punishments last Friday, on the eve of the Iran war, after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei refused to back down over concerns the company’s products could be used for mass surveillance of Americans or autonomous weapons.

The San Francisco-based company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. It has previously vowed to sue if the Pentagon pursued what the company described as a “legally unsound” action “never before publicly applied to an American company.”

The Pentagon didn’t reply to questions in time for publication.

Some military contractors were already cutting ties with Anthropic, a rising star in the tech industry that sells Claude to a variety of businesses and government agencies. Lockheed Martin said it will “follow the President’s and the Department of War’s direction” and look to other providers of large language models.

“We expect minimal impacts as Lockheed Martin is not dependent on any single LLM vendor for any portion of our work,” the company said. It’s not yet clear if the designation aims to block Anthropic’s use by all federal government contractors or just those that partner with the military.

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The Pentagon’s decision to apply a rule designed to address supply threats posed by foreign adversaries was quickly met with criticism from both opponents and some supporters of Trump’s Republican administration. Federal codes have defined supply chain risk as a “risk that an adversary may sabotage, maliciously introduce unwanted function, or otherwise subvert” a system in order to disrupt, degrade or spy on it.

U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Senate Intelligence Committee, called it “a dangerous misuse of a tool meant to address adversary-controlled technology.”

“This reckless action is shortsighted, self-destructive, and a gift to our adversaries,” she said in a written statement Thursday.

Neil Chilson, a Republican former chief technologist for the Federal Trade Commission who now leads AI policy at the Abundance Institute, said the decision looks like “massive overreach that would hurt both the U.S. AI sector and the military’s ability to acquire the best technology for the U.S. warfighter.”

Earlier in the day, a group of former defense and national security officials sent a letter to U.S. lawmakers expressing “serious concern” about the designation.

“The use of this authority against a domestic American company is a profound departure from its intended purpose and sets a dangerous precedent,” said the letter from former officials and policy experts, including former CIA director Michael Hayden and retired Air Force, Army and Navy leaders.

They added that such a designation is meant to “protect the United States from infiltration by foreign adversaries — from companies beholden to Beijing or Moscow, not from American innovators operating transparently under the rule of law. Applying this tool to penalize a U.S. firm for declining to remove safeguards against mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons is a category error with consequences that extend far beyond this dispute.”

ARCHIVO – Dario Amodei, CEO y cofundador de Anthropic, asiste a la reunión anual del Foro Económico Mundial en Davos, Suiza, el 23 de enero de 2025. (AP Foto/Markus Schreiber, Archivo)

While losing its big partnerships with defense contractors, Anthropic experienced a surge of consumer downloads over the past week due to people siding with its moral stance. Anthropic has boasted of more than a million people signing up for Claude each day this week, lifting it past OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini as the top AI app in more than 20 countries in Apple’s app store.

The dispute with the Pentagon has also further deepened Anthropic’s bitter rivalry with OpenAI, which it announced a Friday deal with the Pentagon to effectively replace Anthropic with ChatGPT in classified environments.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman later said he’s saying he shouldn’t have rushed a deal that “looked opportunistic and sloppy.”

By JACK DURA

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — The North Dakota Highway Patrol’s newest recruit has floppy ears, four legs and an amazing knack for finding people.

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Beau, a 12-week-old puppy, is joining a band of bloodhounds who are in demand for difficult cases across the upper Midwest.

They trail missing children, people with dementia and criminal suspects. The agency uses drones and aircraft to aid searches, but bloodhounds remain an age-old, low-tech solution.

“These dogs are just specifically bred to search for people,” said Trooper Steven Mayer, who handles Bleu, one of the dogs.

The nose knows

Bloodhounds are used from Maine to Florida to Texas to Arizona to California, said Danny Jones, executive director of the U.S. Police Canine Association. Drones and helicopters can work ahead of a dog, but the bloodhound is hard to beat.

“To actually get a direction and start moving in a direction, you’re going to need a dog on the ground to start that trail, and that’s the difference between the technology and actually having a dog such as a bloodhound on the ground,” Jones said.

Bloodhounds have about 300 million scent receptors in their nose, vastly more than humans and more than other dogs, Mayer said.

Their big, floppy ears and folds of skin help gather odor for the dog to trail people, sometimes after a week or more, he said. The dogs have scented from a wall someone touched, the dirt a person stumbled in and vomit on a car door.

North Dakota Highway Patrol Trooper Steven Mayer and Bleu, a bloodhound, stand for a photo, Feb. 11, 2026, near the state Capitol in Bismarck, N.D. (AP Photo/Jack Dura) Busy schedules

Highway Patrol began using bloodhounds about 14 years ago, moving away from dual-purpose dogs to singular-purpose drug dogs and trailing dogs. The state force receives about 70 calls a year for their services, including one to Montana last year to help find a man suspected in the killing of four people at an Anaconda bar.

Two pairs of handlers and dogs drove 10 hours to help. They got fairly close to the suspect, who was in the location where the dogs were indicating on, Mayer said. Other requests have come from South Dakota and Utah.

A North Dakota Highway Patrol bloodhound named Beau sits for a photo Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, outside the Highway Patrol office in Fargo, N.D. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)

Beau was born in Texas but has since moved to North Dakota’s largest city of Fargo. His early training is mostly potty and kennel training and basic commands, as well as socializing him to different places, people and environments, said Trooper Dustin Pattengale, Beau’s handler. He won’t be ready for a full or certified trail until he is about 9 months old.

“The basic training is just introducing him to scent articles and then ramping up the training to where he goes further and further and encompasses different trails, different types of environment,” Pattengale said.

Bloodhounds are high-drive, loving and caring but can be stubborn, slobbery and naughty, and they’re not a dog for an apartment, Mayer said.

His partner, Bleu, is a big, friendly dog with one eye, having lost the other following an injury playing with another bloodhound. His trailing abilities are not hindered, Mayer said.

North Dakota Highway Patrol Trooper Steven Mayer watches as Bleu, a bloodhound, sniffs the air, Feb. 11, 2026, near the state Capitol in Bismarck, N.D. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)

Beau is a growing puppy, his long ears wet from dragging on the ground as he explored a blanket of snow, sniffing constantly. He likes his beef liver treats.

“He is a very energetic young pup. He’s pretty relaxed for the most part, most days, but he is eager. He likes to work. He likes to sniff,” Pattengale said.

New tool in Omaha

In addition to searches, North Dakota has helped agencies in other ways. Last year, Mayer went to Omaha, Nebraska, for a week to help the city police department train its first bloodhound, Willow.

Omaha used to call in the closest bloodhounds, from the Chicago area, for searches, Omaha Police Sgt. Scott Warner said. The value was clear and Willow arrived early last year.

He hopes Willow becomes an asset for the region. Omaha plans to have multiple dogs and handlers someday, he said.

Willow has trailed missing people, including an elderly man on Christmas Eve, through falling darkness, steep hills, mud and water.

Finding mentors for training is crucial, Warner said. Much of the bloodhound community is word-of-mouth, he said.

“I had no idea that North Dakota had a bloodhound program. There’s not a directory that I can look at that tells me where dogs are,” Warner said.

Handlers drop everything to go

Mayer and his wife have traveled the world to help train dogs, making trips to Hungary, Italy, South Africa and Wales, with plans later this year to go to Slovenia and Austria. They charge nothing.

Beau, a bloodhound puppy, licks the face of his handler, North Dakota Highway Patrol Trooper Dustin Pattengale, on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, outside the Highway Patrol office in Fargo, N.D. (AP Photo/Jack Dura)

Handlers are a special breed of people, Mayer said.

“They drop everything at the drop of a hat and they’ll leave their family, their friends, they’ll leave Easter dinner to go find a stranger that they’ve never met before,” he said.

North Dakota’s dogs are something of a social media sensation for the Highway Patrol. Beau’s name was picked in a Facebook vote. Recent videos depict him chewing a toy bear and another bloodhound, Lorace, gallivanting in new boots.

“Everybody loves a dog, I mean, especially these little babies, these floppy-eared ones,” said Mayer, who hopes the dogs’ visibility yields earlier calls for their assistance.

“The more word we can get out about the program and the faster we get calls on it, the easier we can get out and be available to help people,” he said.

By LAURA UNGAR

Last year, President Donald Trump told pregnant women not to take Tylenol as he promoted unproven ties between the fever reducer and autism and touted an old generic drug as a treatment for the developmental condition.

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For nearly three months after that, new research found, Tylenol orders for pregnant women showing up in emergency rooms dropped and prescriptions of the generic drug for children rose. This happened despite sharp criticism of the president’s message from doctor groups saying that the drug, leucovorin, shouldn’t be broadly used for autism and Tylenol is safe during pregnancy.

“It just shows that in our country right now, health care has been politicized in a way that political messages are driving and impacting care — and not always for good,” said Dr. Susan Sirota, a pediatrician in Highland Park, Illinois, who wasn’t involved with the research.

Doctors, who published their work Thursday in The Lancet, looked at changes in drug ordering or prescribing compared with projected trends, or what might have happened if things had continued on the same path as before the White House briefing.

They found that orders for Tylenol – also known by the generic names acetaminophen and paracetamol – were 10% lower than predicted for pregnant emergency department patients aged 15 to 44. And outpatient prescriptions of leucovorin for children aged 5 to 17 were 71% higher than expected during the same study period, late September to early December.

Researchers observed no similar shifts in comparable medications, suggesting the changes were directly tied to the briefing.

The research had limitations. For example, it didn’t capture all Tylenol use by pregnant women because most people buy the painkiller over the counter outside of a hospital setting.

Still, it reflected how an unconventional news conference by a political leader could change not just patient behavior but prescribing as well, said co-author Dr. Michael Barnett.

In past administrations, “there are lots of layers of approval and expert consensus” before officials make big announcements about medical topics, said Barnett, who is with Brown University School of Public Health.

Pregnant women generally take Tylenol for pain or fever. Untreated fevers in pregnancy, particularly in the first trimester, increase the risk for miscarriages, preterm birth and other problems, according to the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. Some studies have raised the possibility that taking Tylenol in pregnancy might be associated with a risk of autism, but many others haven’t found a connection.

Leucovorin is a derivative of folic acid used for, among other things, reducing the toxic side effects of certain chemotherapy drugs and treating a rare blood disorder. It has also been studied for a neurological condition known as cerebral folate deficiency and for a subset of autistic children, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The pediatrics group doesn’t recommend routine use of the drug for autistic children. Early, small-scale studies have explored its use, “and some findings suggest potential benefit in carefully selected cases,” the group said.

But evidence remains limited, the pediatrician group said. And in late January, the European Journal of Pediatrics retracted a study evaluating leucovorin as an autism treatment.

Still, after the federal announcement about the drug, Sirota said some families in her practice asked about getting it for their autistic children. She educated them about the evidence, told them about the potential for side effects and didn’t prescribe it. Potential side effects include irritability, nausea and vomiting and skin issues like dermatitis.

Sirota said it has been hard to deal with the repercussions of government pronouncements like the ones on autism.

“It feels like a pattern with our government, right? They keep building on these houses of cards that just fall down,” she said. “This politicizing of medicine just in general, and moving away from science, has been so challenging.”

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

General Daily Insight for March 06, 2026

Fresh courage stirs as the day begins. While romantic Venus waltzes into Aries at 5:45 am EST, we’re nudged to prioritize warmth, openness, and choices that honor our values. Once the tender Moon opposes sensitive Chiron, we can meet in the middle by naming tender spots calmly. That way, even if things are tense, we’ll be able to respect one another’s limits. As the night approaches, things should settle down. The universe is giving us space to integrate new desires without losing compassion for others.

Aries

March 21 – April 19

You set the tone with brave kindness. As desire-driven Venus lands in your sign, your sense of initiative gets a dose of Venusian charm, filling you with cosmic confidence. Even if you don’t feel that energy at the beginning of the day, you can “fake it till you make it” — act boldly to earn boldness! Go ahead and speak up in a group setting, propose plans that excite you, or introduce yourself to someone fascinating. Just remember to pace yourself to avoid burnout.

Taurus

April 20 – May 20

Yes, Taurus, you can hit the snooze button a few extra times today. That’s thanks to Venus slipping into your thoughtful 12th house, which is the perfect placement for you to indulge in quiet recharge and creature comforts. If you’re exhausted by life, you’re allowed to cancel plans — even fun ones — to restore your energy. Let some quiet music gently soothe your senses while worries drift away. Small retreats like this are like galactic gas stations, allowing you to refuel for future adventures.

Gemini

May 21 – June 20

Conversations can spur practical movements. As harmonizing Venus moves into your 11th House of Shared Dreams, friendly alliances flourish. Your quick questions can help teams coordinate projects without confusion. You might revive a group chat by proposing a shared calendar or regular meeting cadence, because both personal and professional projects can benefit from such structures. Be generous with praise for everyone’s efforts — you might just inspire the next great idea! The best way to invite collaboration is to keep the tone lighthearted.

Cancer

June 21 – July 22

Pride isn’t necessarily a bad thing at the moment. You’re allowed to be satisfied when you do good work, especially with Venus cantering into your 10th House of Respectability. Genuine courtesy strengthens your reputation across all spheres. You may polish a presentation and send a thank-you after an interview; personally, you could volunteer to spearhead a community project. If leadership duties feel heavy, though, you might need to ask a seasoned guide for feedback. Be willing to listen to criticism. You’ve got this!

Leo

July 23 – August 22

Ahoy, Leo — knowledge, dead ahead! As beauty-focused Venus sails into your 9th House of Expansion, your spirit craves knowledge of what’s around the riverbend. Focus on learning things that excite you to keep the process joyful. You could also look into alternative learning methods. For instance, if a textbook bores you, try watching a documentary! If a concept just doesn’t make sense, try explaining it out loud to a friend. Stretching your perspective builds a reliable path to an enlightened future.

Virgo

August 23 – September 22

Progress builds through careful, consistent choices. Venus is swanning into your intense 8th house, empowering you to speak about topics that require extra diplomacy, like inheritances or other financial situations that involve multiple people. Don’t let anyone stop you from asking questions, but do pay attention to the answers. You might suggest a budget review, because systems like that protect everyone’s shared interests. Some discussions may get a little heated, but sticking to the facts should cool them off before anyone gets burned.

Libra

September 23 – October 22

You find balance by naming your needs. This also benefits your closest bonds, as you’ll all be able to find happiness together. With connected Venus stepping into your 7th House of Companions, you’re being encouraged to ask kindly and listen closely. This is a time of giving and getting support, because practical care reduces friction. When disagreements arise, acknowledge everyone’s different points of view before jumping to defend your ideas. Share appreciation out loud when you notice something working well. Aim for grace!

Scorpio

October 23 – November 21

Today must be handled one thing at a time. You may not be particularly busy, but whatever you have to do will benefit from being your central focus. Even small acts of service are highlighted by Venus entering your devoted 6th house. Your concentrated effort is a great way to support the systems that help everyone contribute. You may offer a patient check-in to a stressed co-worker or do a chore that’s normally someone else’s responsibility. Quiet support builds steady trust over time.

Sagittarius

November 22 – December 21

Where will your curiosity lead your play? As pleasure-seeking Venus alights within your 5th House of Self-Expression, fun projects sparkle, and your spirited humor invites others to join a playful challenge. You might dust off an instrument and try a new melody — even if you can’t hit all the notes, what matters is that you had fun trying. Invite friends to share their recent creative ideas with you to revel in mutual inspiration. Do your best to keep the stakes low to encourage experimentation.

Capricorn

December 22 – January 19

You’re gaining ground through at-home effort. Sweet Venus begins blessing your foundation zone today, reminding you of all the thoughtful tweaks that could make your space feel calmer and more welcoming. You might reorganize a shelf that keeps snagging your attention or change your sheets — anything to refresh your space a bit. Set clear windows for work and rest at home, and protect them. A chat with family or roommates may be necessary to align home expectations. Protect domestic rhythms to nurture your soul.

Aquarius

January 20 – February 18

New ideas connect friends in surprisingly useful ways. As connection-building Venus activates your 3rd House of Communication, your inventive approach smooths discussions. People around you should respond well to honesty and appreciation. You’ll potentially be in charge of organizing shared documentation or contacting physically distant peers — either way, you’re bringing people together. Stay open to unusual solutions, and let warmth carry the message so it actually lands. Ask open questions, and reflect answers back to confirm understanding. Spartan statements move shared work forward.

Pisces

February 19 – March 20

What would help your body feel safe now? Money-minded Venus acts as an anchor to your 2nd House of Materials, boosting your ability to ground yourself in practical choices. You’ll potentially be comparing prices at different grocery stores or online retailers — remember, if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. Respect yourself by choosing quality items over the cheapest possible options, then treat those purchases with care. Prioritize lasting value, and you’ll make steady progress toward stability.

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Thursday released additional Jeffrey Epstein files involving uncorroborated accusations made by a woman against President Donald Trump that the department said had been mistakenly withheld during an earlier review.

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The department said last week that it was working to determine if any records were improperly withheld after several news organizations reported that the massive tranche of records that had been made public didn’t include some files documenting a series of interviews conducted in 2019 with a woman who made an allegation against Trump.

The accuser was interviewed by the FBI four times as it sought to assess her account but a summary of only one of those interviews had been included in the publicly released files.

On Thursday, the department said those files had been “incorrectly coded as duplicative,” and therefore were inadvertently not published along with other investigative documents related to the disgraced financier, who killed himself while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges in 2019.

“As we have consistently done, if any member of the public reported concerns with information in the library, the Department would review, make any corrections, and republish online,” the department said in a post on X.

Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein. The department noted in January that some of the documents contain “untrue and sensationalist claims against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi listens as she testifies before a House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)

The new disclosures come as Attorney General Pam Bondi faces continued turmoil over the department’s handling of the files released under a law passed by Congress after months of public and political pressure. Five Republicans on the House Oversight Committee joined Democrats in voting Wednesday to subpoena Bondi, demanding that she answer questions under oath in a sign of mounting frustration among members of the president’s own party.

The Trump administration has faced constant political headaches since the rollout of the files began in December, with critics accusing the department of hiding certain documents or over-redacting files, or in some cases, not redacting enough. In some cases, the department inadvertently released nude photos showing the faces of potential victims as well as names, email addresses and other identifying information that was either unredacted or not fully obscured.

Department officials have defended their handling of the files, saying they took pains to release the files as quickly as possible under the law while also protecting victims. Department officials have said errors were inevitable given the volume of the materials, the number of lawyers viewing the files and the speed at which the department had to release them. The department has said it’s entitled to withhold records that exposed potential abuse victims, were duplicates or protected by legal privileges, or related to an ongoing criminal investigation.

Some of the new records published Thursday pertained to a woman who contacted the FBI shortly after Epstein’s 2019 arrest and claimed that a man named “Jeff” living in Hilton Head, South Carolina, had raped her there in the 1980s when she was around 13 years old. The woman told the agents she didn’t know the man’s identity at the time, but decades later concluded he was Jeffrey Epstein when a friend texted her his photo from a news story.

In a follow-up interview a month later, the woman added a host of other claims, including that Epstein had schemed to have her mother sent to prison, beaten her, arranged sexual encounters with other men and once flew her to either New Jersey or New York, where she claimed to have bitten Donald Trump after he tried to sexually assault her.

Agents spoke with the woman two more times, at one point asking her to provide more detail on her supposed interactions with Trump, but reported that she declined to answer additional questions and broke off contact. There’s no indication that Epstein ever lived in South Carolina and it was unclear whether Trump and Epstein knew each other during the time period involved.

The woman’s report was one of a number of uncorroborated, sometimes fantastical, reports that federal agents received from members of the public alleging misconduct by Trump and other famous people in the months and years after Epstein’s arrest.

By REGINA GARCIA CANO and MEGAN JANETSKY, Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The United States and Venezuela agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations in a major shift in a historically adversarial relationship, the State Department said on Thursday.

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The move comes after rounds of Trump administration officials have visited the South American nation following a U.S. military operation that deposed former President Nicolás Maduro in January. Since then, the Trump administration has been stepping up pressure on Maduro loyalists now in power to accept its vision for the oil-rich nation.

Relations between the two countries were cut off in 2019, during the first Trump administration, in a decision by Maduro. They closed their embassies mutually after U.S. President Donald Trump gave public support to Venezuelan opposition lawmaker Juan Guaidó, who claimed to be the nation’s interim president in January that year. That prompted U.S. diplomatic staff to move to neighboring Colombia.

The State Department in a statement on Thursday said that talks between the countries were “focused on helping the Venezuelan people move forward through a phased process that creates the conditions for a peaceful transition to a democratically elected government.”

The announcement was made at the end of a two-day visit by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum to Venezuela. The visit largely focused on the country’s mining sector. It followed a February visit by Energy Secretary Chris Wright that centered on Venezuela’s oil potential. Both secretaries are aiming to shore up foreign investment to advance the administration’s phased plan to turn around the crisis-wracked nation.

A demonstrator holds a Venezuelan flag during a student-led march calling for the release of people whose relatives and human rights groups consider political prisoners on National Youth Day in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026.(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Acting President Delcy Rodríguez, formerly Maduro’s vice president, said on state televisions that such steps “will strengthen relations between our two countries.”

Rodríguez’s government in a statement later expressed confidence that reestablishing diplomatic relations “will contribute to strengthening understanding and opening opportunities for a positive and mutually beneficial relationship.”

“These relations ought to result in the social and economic happiness of the Venezuelan people,” she said.

Since the unprecedented U.S. offensive in Venezuela, the Trump administration has pushed the government to make sweeping changes, including opening its oil sector to foreign companies. Rodríguez’s government also approved an amnesty law that has enabled the release of politicians, activists, lawyers and many others, effectively acknowledging that the government has held hundreds of people in prison for political motivations.

Trump stunned Venezuelans in and outside their home country with his decision to work with Rodríguez, instead of the political opposition, following Maduro’s ouster. On Sunday, Venezuela’s top opposition leader and winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize María Corina Machado said that she will return to Venezuela in the coming weeks and that elections will be held in Venezuela.

Such seismic shifts would have been unthinkable just months before in the South American nation. Venezuela’s main political current, known as Chavismo, has been able to dodge curve balls thrown at it for years, from U.S. sanctions to spiraling economic crisis.

Janetsky reported from Mexico City.

By TIM REYNOLDS

MEDLEY — She was a two-time state champion in high school coming out of the Syracuse area. She then was a four-time NCAA champion at UConn. She’s won three WNBA titles, three World Cup gold medals, three Olympic gold medals, even two EuroLeague titles.

And now, add an Unrivaled title to the mix — a league that she co-founded.

Breanna Stewart has won it all.

Stewart and Mist are the queens of Unrivaled for 2026, topping Phantom 80-74 in the championship game Wednesday night to cap the league’s second season. Stewart scored 32 points, setting the tone by scoring Mist’s first 12 points of the second half and her team — which went 0-2 against Phantom in the regular season — wouldn’t trail again.

“What I’ll remember the most about this Mist team is we might not be the loudest, but we’re going to work the hardest,” said Stewart, who was picked as MVP of the final — and whose team will split a $600,000 winners’ pool.

It ended somewhat controversially: an offensive foul on Stewart was overturned to a block on review, giving her a free throw to win the title. Stewart swished the shot, and confetti fell from the roof in celebration.

“Just focused on doing it for my team,” Stewart said.

Kelsey Plum carried Phantom with 40 points on 14-for-21 shooting, along with six rebounds and five assists.

It was a brilliant effort — but Stewart and Mist had just a bit too much.

“It’s hard when it ends like this,” Plum said. “But overall, it was an amazing season.”

Arike Ogunbowale had 19 and Allisha Gray scored 12 for Mist, while Kiki Iriafen scored 13 and Tiffany Hayes had 12 for Phantom.

“There was complete faith in this group,” Mist coach Zach O’Brien said. “I’m just glad we got it done.”

Stewart and Napheesa Collier are credited as the co-founders of the league, one that if nothing else has filled a void on calendar for the women’s pro game.

“I think that there was a space that wasn’t kind of being used as far as what professional women’s basketball players were doing,” Stewart said. “We used to have a seven-month blackout period where you didn’t know what these professional basketball players were doing. And now you know.”

The question is what comes next.

The WNBA and its players do not have a labor agreement for next season, one that is slated — at this point — to start in about two months. The WNBA has told the players’ union that it needs to get a deal in place by this coming Tuesday to start the season on time.

And for now, there’s no indication that’ll happen. That means the Mist-Phantom final could be the last professional women’s game in the U.S. for a while.

Some will point to poor television ratings as a sign of trouble, while others can point to crowds drawn this season in Brooklyn and Philadelphia as signs of potential for Unrivaled. Players say it works, and there’s no plans to stop now.

“People probably doubt us, that we can sustain it,” Unrivaled CEO Alex Bazzell said. “That’s what drives us and that’s also what drives these players They’re all competitors and we are, too.”

Unrivaled — a 3-on-3, full-court game played on a 72-foot floor, shorter than an NBA or college court — sells itself on being fast-paced, with an 18-second shot clock, 7-minute quarters and plenty of open space for players to create.

The title game didn’t disappoint in that regard.

They were the top two seeds entering the playoffs — Phantom 1, Mist 2 — and Wednesday was back and forth. It was 24-24 after one quarter, 43-43 at the half, neither team having led by more than seven at any point.

Mist led 68-62 going to the fourth, an untimed final quarter where 11 points get added to the leading score as the end-of-game target.

To win the title: first team to 79 wins. Mist scored the first six points of the final quarter, going up by 12. Plum answered with five straight points, pushing her total to 35 for the night and getting Phantom within 74-67.

But Mist held the lead the rest of the way, and Stewart — as she has so many times — had a title to savor.

“It was our goal from Day One to be here, to be on this podium,” O’Brien said.

___

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

By STEPHEN HAWKINS

DALLAS (AP) — Tre Donaldson scored 17 points, Malik Reneau had a double-double and No. 22 Miami beat SMU 77-69 on Wednesday night, ensuring the Hurricanes a double bye in next week’s ACC Tournament.

Reneau had 12 points and 11 rebounds while Tru Washington scored 15 for Miami (24-6, 13-4), which got its seventh win in eight games since the start of February. Freshman guard Noam Dovrat had 12 points on four 3-pointers for the second game in a row.

The Hurricanes played their first game as an AP Top 25 team since December 2023 after getting ranked on Monday. They matched their school record for regular-season wins and increased Division I’s best turnaround to 17 victories more than last season with first-year coach Jai Lucas.

Jaron Pierre Jr. had 27 points with six 3s and Boopie Miller scored 21 for the Mustangs (19-11, 8-9), who have lost three in a row after earlier this season getting double-digit wins at home over Top 25 teams North Carolina and Louisville. They haven’t been to the NCAA Tournament since 2017.

Miami never trailed and there were four ties, the last at 23-all before Dovrat’s 3-pointer with 7:34 left in the first half. Dovrat played only five minutes before halftime, but made all three of his 3-point attempts, including one at the end of the half for a 38-31 lead.

Miami stretched it to 60-44 midway through the second before Pierre hit back-to-back 3s. The Mustangs had a chance to get within six with two minutes left after a turnover by Ernest Udeh Jr., but he responded with his fourth block, denying a shot by SMU big man Samet Yigitouglu, who finished with 12 points. Udeh also had 10 rebounds.

Up next

Miami is home against Louisville on Saturday.

SMU plays at Florida State on Saturday.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

TALLAHASSEE — Small autonomous or remotely operated personal delivery devices, used to carry food and small packages, would be allowed to operate on bike lanes and road shoulders under a transportation package approved by the Florida Senate on Wednesday.

However, those robotic devices would be prohibited under the measure (SB 1220) from making such deliveries in state parks, state forests and wildlife management areas. Additionally, the devices, along with unmanned drones, would be barred from flying over special districts and theme parks without their consent.

And that’s just a small part of multiple wide-ranging transportation packages that will have to be hammered out between the chambers with just over a week remaining in the regular session.

With little comment, the Senate voted 35-1 in support of the bill by Sen. Ralph Massulo, R-Lecanto, that also in part requires seaports to identify and prioritize key supply chain components, increases the percentage of Florida’s Turnpike tolls collected in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties that must be used for turnpike projects in those counties, and makes it a second degree felony to shoot into an unoccupied autonomous vehicle.

The companion measure in the House (HB 1233) awaits action on the chamber’s floor.

Meanwhile, the House on Wednesday also passed a separate transportation package (HB 543) in a 107-1 vote that requires seaports located in counties with spaceport facilities to annually outline steps taken to support the commercial space launch industry.

“This is a really good bill,” said bill sponsor Rep. Fiona McFarland, R-Sarasota. “Most of it isn’t perfect, but nothing that’s on the special calendar today, or tomorrow, or next week will be perfect either. It will just be mostly good, which is all we can hope.”

McFarland’s measure calls for the Florida Department of Transportation to increase by 0.4 seconds the minimum “perception-reaction time” of all steady yellow traffic signals in the state located at an intersection equipped with a red-light cameras.

Another part of the bill allows local governments to approve conditions, including signs, that allow golf carts to cross a highway at an intersection with a traffic signal.

The measure also clarifies a 2025 law regarding the visibility of license plates by stating that frames or drivers with decorative borders do not commit a criminal offense when they do not obscure the numbers and letters or the registration decal.

The measure also allows vehicles displaying valid disabled parking permits or plates to occupy more than one non-handicapped parking space.

Rep. Kelly Skidmore, D-Boca Raton, voted against the bill because she said the disabled parking space measure does not address the impact on handicapped spaces created by a 2025 state law that allowed pregnant women to use parking spaces reserved for people with disabilities.

“I know that this double-parking thing is meant to be helpful, but it is not helpful when we don’t know that those vehicles still won’t be towed,” Skidmore said. “People who are getting ticketed and towed will most likely still be getting ticketed and towed, specifically if they’re in a private lot.”

McFarland, who backed allowing pregnant women to use the handicapped space, said the state needs to address the proliferation of fraudulent handicapped placards, which she put at about 26 percent.

“Whether they’re issued by a doctor that doesn’t exist, or the doctor’s signature has been Xeroxed, or they’re being used by someone who is not the issued recipient, I would rather solve the 26 percent of fraud,” McFarland said.

The House transportation proposals are spread across several bills in the Senate, with less than two weeks remaining in the regular session.

By HANNAH FINGERHUT, KONSTANTIN TOROPIN and REBECCA BOONE

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The last two names of the six U.S. soldiers killed in a Kuwait attack were released Wednesday by the Pentagon, and they are from California and Iowa.

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The soldiers identified Wednesday were Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento and Maj. Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa.

The Pentagon said Marzan was at the scene when a drone strike hit the command center in Kuwait and is “believed to be the individual who perished at the scene,” according to the statement. A medical examiner will confirm identification, the Pentagon said.

Four soldiers were previously identified by the Pentagon on Tuesday.

They died Sunday when a drone hit a command center in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, just a day after the U.S. and Israel launched its military campaign against Iran. Iran responded by launching missiles and drones against Israel and several Gulf Arab states that host U.S. armed forces.

The other soldiers identified Tuesday by the Pentagon were: Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa,; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota; Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; and Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska.

“Sadly, there will likely be more, before it ends. That’s the way it is,” President Donald Trump said of the deaths. Trump will attend the dignified transfers of the soldiers when they arrive in the U.S., the White House said Wednesday. The ritual honors service members killed in action.

A mother of two who loved gardening This undated photo provided by Joey Amor shows Nicole Amor, left, and Joey Amor smiling for a photo. (Joey Amor via AP)

Amor was just days away from returning to her husband and children.

“She was almost home,” her husband, Joey Amor, said Tuesday. “You don’t go to Kuwait thinking something’s going to happen, and for her to be one of the first — it hurts.”

Amor was an avid gardener who enjoyed making salsa from the peppers and tomatoes she grew with her son, a high school senior. She enjoyed rollerblading and bicycling with her fourth-grade daughter.

A week before the drone attack, Amor was moved off-base to a shipping container-style building that had no defenses, her husband said.

“They were in fear that the base they were on was going to get attacked and they felt it was safer in smaller groups in separate places,” he said.

Childhood friend Natalie Caruso wrote on Facebook that she was “absolutely heartbroken” about Amor’s death.

“Nicole was always up for an adventure and she had such a contagious laugh!” Caruso wrote Wednesday.

‘He loved being a soldier’ This photo provided by Andrew Coady shows his son, Declan Coady, posing for a photo on the day of his graduation at U.S. Army Training Center at Fort Sill, Okla., March 15, 2024. (Andrew Coady via AP)

Coady recently told his father he had been recommended for a promotion from specialist to sergeant, a rank he received posthumously.

He was among the youngest people in his class, trained to troubleshoot military computer systems, but he impressed his instructors, Andrew Coady said Tuesday.

“He trained hard, he worked hard, his physical fitness was important to him. He loved being a soldier,” Coady said. “He was also one of the most kindest people you would ever meet, and he would do anything and everything for anyone.”

Coady, an Eagle Scout, was close to his family and often called, even if for only a few minutes. He was studying cybersecurity at Drake University in Des Moines, and he wanted to become an officer.

“I still don’t fully think it’s real,” his sister Keira Coady said. “I just remember all of our conversations about what he was going to do when he came back.”

A calling to serve his country Andrew Coady and his daughter Keira, right, talk about his son, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, outside their home, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Khork was very patriotic and wanted to serve in the military from childhood, his family said in a statement Tuesday.

He enlisted in the Army Reserve and joined Florida Southern College’s ROTC program.

“That commitment helped shape the course of his life and reflected the deep sense of duty that was always at the core of who he was,” his mother, Donna Burhans; father, James Khork; and stepmother, Stacey Khork; said in a statement.

Khork, who loved history, had a degree in political science.

His family described him as “the life of the party, known for his infectious spirit, generous heart, and deep care for those who served alongside him and for everyone blessed to know him.”

Abbas Jaffer posted Monday on Facebook about his friend of 16 years.

“My best friend, best man, and brother gave his life defending our country overseas,” Jaffer said.

A loving father and husband This combination of images provided by the U.S. Army taken on May 16, 2025 shows, from top left, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of Des Moines, Iowa, Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minn., Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Lakeland, Fla., and Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Neb. (Sgt. Brent Newton/U.S. Army via AP)

Tietjens, who came from a military family, previously served alongside his father in Kuwait. When he returned home in February 2010, he reunited with his overjoyed wife in a local church’s gym.

“I thought he was going to be the last person in, because he hates all this (hoopla),” his wife, Michelle Tietjens, told the Lincoln Journal Star at the time.

Tietjens’ cousin Kaylyn Golike asked for prayers, especially for Tietjens’ 12-year-old son, wife and parents, as they navigate “unimaginable loss.”

“We lost a brave soldier this weekend and many hearts are broken,” Golike wrote on Facebook Tuesday.

Tietjens earned a black belt in Philippine Combatives and Taekwondo and was “an instructor who gave his time, discipline, and leadership to others,” the Philippine Martial Arts Alliance said on Facebook.

Army Staff Sgt. Jeff Coleman said Tietjens was his mentor.

“You could call him day or night,” Coleman told KETV. “He always took the time, you know, he made you feel important.”

Boone contributed from Boise, Idaho, and Toropin from Washington. Associated Press reporters Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Josh Funk and Margery Beck in Omaha, Nebraska; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; and David Fischer in Miami contributed.

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump ’s White House ballroom project is way too big and should be scaled back, an architect and member of the board of the National Trust for Historic Preservation said Wednesday — one of a number of changes he has suggested for a project he says could permanently alter the nation’s most recognizable historic home.

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David Scott Parker, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects whose firm specializes in residential design and historic preservation, shared his views with The Associated Press as a key federal agency, the National Capital Planning Commission, prepared to meet Thursday to vote on whether to approve the 90,000-square-foot project. A separate federal panel, the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, approved the project at its February meeting.

“Everything here feels inflated,” said Parker, who has been an architect for more than 35 years. “The net effect of this is to adversely impact what is the most important historic — the most identifiable historic — house in the entire United States. This is permanent, what it will do to the White House.”

Trump announced last summer he would be add a ballroom to the White House, citing the need for space other than a tent on the lawn to entertain important guests. He demolished the East Wing in October with little warning and underground construction to prepare the site has been underway since then. White House officials have said above-ground construction would not start before April, at the earliest.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a private, nonprofit group, asked a federal judge to temporarily halt construction until the White House submitted the construction plans to both federal panels and to Congress for approval, and allowed the public to comment. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon rejected the request last week, and the Trust has said it plans to file an amended lawsuit.

Parker’s architectural analysis was based on renderings and other information the White House submitted to the fine arts commission last month.

President Donald Trump speaks about the new ballroom construction before a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Monday, March 2, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

The ballroom itself takes up about 22,000 square feet of the total space, and Parker said that is far larger than needed for the 1,000 guests Trump has said it would accommodate. The industry standard for a ballroom allots 15 square feet per person, Parker said. By that measure, Trump’s ballroom could be 47% smaller — or no bigger than 15,000 square feet, he said.

The proposal includes a 4,000-square-foot, south-facing porch and staircase. Parker said these are unnecessary since they don’t provide guests with direct access to the interior of the building. He said the porch doesn’t comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The White House said Wednesday that the ballroom will comply with the federal law requiring accommodations for people with disabilities, but did not provide further comment on Parker’s critique.

The proposed portico is significantly larger than the portico on the south side of the White House and the south side of the Treasury Department building nearby.

Artist renderings and diagrams of the new White House East Wing and Ballroom, briefly posted on the National Capital Planning Commission’s website ahead of a March 5, hearing, are photographed Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

Concerns about the project’s size have followed it from the start. At nearly twice the size of the main White House itself, which is 55,000 square feet, critics have argued the addition would overwhelm the mansion and throw off the symmetry of the complex.

Parker said his other main concern is that the addition would stick out just enough so that it impedes the line of sight along Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and the Capitol as it was purposely designed hundreds of years ago by Pierre L’Enfant, who was hired by George Washington to lay out the U.S. capital.

“It’s hard to fathom that … one addition could have so many adverse impacts, symbolically, architecturally and historically,” Parker said. “This literally violates the Founding Fathers’ intentions.”

Parker is listed among more than 100 people registered to speak at Thursday’s commission meeting, which is scheduled to be conducted online, according to the agency’s website. Thousands of people submitted comments in advance and many were opposed to Trump’s project.

By SARA CLINE and NICHOLAS RICCARDI

It remained unclear Wednesday whether ballots cast during extended polling place hours in Texas’ primary will be counted in two counties that saw mass confusion over voting locations.

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Such votes have been set aside in Dallas County after the Texas Supreme Court stepped in Tuesday night, staying a lower court’s ruling. As of Wednesday afternoon, county election officials were still waiting for direction on whether the ballots should be included in vote totals.

The same issue affected Williamson County, north of Austin, which had hours extended at two polling places and has since had the last-minute ballots set aside.

But for Democrats in deeply blue Dallas County, the state’s second most populous, they say their hopes are dwindling. Terri Burke, executive director of the Texas Democratic Party, said the Supreme Court’s action was expected because it’s hard to get poll hours extended under Texas law.

“In a lot of ways, nobody was surprised by the writ from the Supreme Court last night,” Burke said. She added it’s likely the late ballots won’t be counted.

It is unclear exactly how many ballots were cast during the extended hours. According to data on the Dallas County Elections Department’s website, 2,316 in-person “provisional” ballots were rejected or pending, a number that includes any ballots flagged for a variety of issues as well as those the high court ordered to be segregated. A total of nearly 280,000 people voted in the county’s election, based on unofficial figures from the department.

Of greater concern, Burke said, was the chaos unleashed by the precinct-only voting system that Dallas County was forced to use because of a change by local Republicans, who refused to use a system that allowed voters to cast a ballot anywhere in the county, as they had done since 2019. Voters instead could cast ballots only at their assigned precinct. Under state law, Democrats had to use the same method.

Confused and frustrated, some voters were turned away from polling places on Tuesday and directed to other locations.

“There is a case to be made, and we can document it, there were people who were disenfranchised,” Burke said.

Primary voters line up to cast ballots at a voting center in Dallas, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

She said she will attempt to push the legislature to repeal the 2006 law that requires both parties to hold a joint primary to prevent this sort of chaos: “If one party wants to wreck their primary, they should be able to do that but they should not be able to wreck someone else’s.”

In Dallas County, a judge ordered polls to remain open for two hours past the scheduled 7 p.m. closing time, citing “voter confusion so severe” that it caused the website of the county election office to crash. The judge was acting on a petition filed by the local Democratic Party in a heavily left-leaning county. The extension applied only to Democratic voting precincts.

There was initial concern that it could affect the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate because Dallas is the home base of Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, but she later conceded to James Talarico, a state lawmaker.

The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who advanced to a runoff Tuesday against Sen. John Cornyn for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, challenged the lower court’s ruling. Shortly after, the state Supreme Court stayed both decisions in Dallas and Williamson counties. Its brief orders said ballots cast by voters in both counties who were not in line by the 7 p.m. scheduled close of polls should be separated.

Emily French, the policy director for Common Cause Texas, a voting advocacy group, said it is standard for ballots that are cast during extended poll hours to be set aside. In El Paso, for example, voting was extended for an hour on Tuesday after problems with voter check-in systems earlier in the day. French said she expects them to ultimately be tallied if no one is contesting the extension.

Anthony Gutierrez, the executive director of Common Cause Texas, said the organization is continuing “to monitor this situation and will be weighing all options to ensure every Texan is able to have their vote counted.”

By MARY CLARE JALONICK

WASHINGTON (AP) — A protester and three U.S. Capitol Police officers were treated for injuries in a Senate office building on Wednesday after the protester resisted arrest for disruptive behavior and grabbed onto a doorway as the officers and a Republican senator tried to drag him out of the room.

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The protester, Brian C. McGinnis of North Carolina, was arrested and faces three counts of assaulting a police officer and three counts of resisting arrest and unlawful demonstration, the Capitol Police said in a statement.

“This afternoon, an unruly man who started to illegally protest during a hearing put everyone in a dangerous position by violently resisting and fighting our officer’s attempts to remove him from the room,” Capitol Police said in a statement.

Multiple videos show that McGinnis stood up and started shouting during the Senate Armed Services hearing and that police officers immediately grabbed him and tried to remove him from the room. McGinnis was protesting the U.S. military campaign in Iran, shouting, “America does not want to send its sons and daughters to war for Israel!”

The officers pulled McGinnis toward the exit as he violently resisted them and grabbed onto a doorway while they were trying to pull him out. Montana Sen. Tim Sheehy, a Republican member of the Armed Services panel who is a former Navy SEAL, ran over to assist and pull the protester’s arm off the door as other protesters yelled that McGinnis’ hand was stuck.

Capitol Police said in the statement that McGinnis “got his own arm stuck in a door to resist our officers and force his way back into the hearing room,” and said he was treated for his injuries.

Sheehy said in a statement on social media that he was trying to de-escalate the situation.

“This gentleman came to the Capitol looking for a confrontation, and he got one,” Sheehy said, “I hope he gets the help he needs without causing further violence.”

A video posted on an X account under the name Brian McGinnis appears to show the same man standing outside the Capitol on Wednesday morning before the hearing. The account’s description says he is a “Green Party Candidate for US Senate.”

He says in the video that he was “here in D.C. trying to speak out against the Senate” to ask them about sending the country into war.

“Anyone who feels disillusioned and betrayed by our government, you are not alone,” he says in the video.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection has opened an internal investigation into whether Gregory Bovino, the one-time architect of President Donald Trump’s large-scale immigration crackdown, made disparaging comments about the Jewish faith of the U.S. attorney for Minnesota.

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“Following a letter from a Congressman inquiring about reporting on anonymous allegations, CBP opened an internal inquiry to determine the full story,” a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in an emailed statement Tuesday. “This is standard procedure and does NOT indicate any confirmation of wrongdoing.”

Customs and Border Protection is part of Homeland Security.

The investigation comes after The New York Times and then CBS News reported on remarks Bovino allegedly made during a Jan. 12 phone call held to coordinate a Saturday meeting to discuss the deployment of immigration agents in the Minneapolis area.

During the call, the reports said, Bovino allegedly complained that Attorney for the District of Minnesota Daniel N. Rosen was unreachable for part of the weekend because of the Sabbath, which in Judaism is observed from sunset Friday to nightfall Saturday.

Bovino allegedly used the term “chosen people” in a disparaging way and asked, in a sarcastic tone, whether Rosen understood that some Orthodox Jewish people don’t take the Sabbath off work, the reports said.

“Do Orthodox criminals also take off on Saturday?” he asked, according to CBS.

The Times reported Rosen delegated the call to a deputy and that he himself was not part of the conversation.

The Times first reported on the investigation. It said an investigator with Customs and Border Protection’s office of professional responsibility wrote in an email that he had opened an “official inquiry into the allegation” that Bovino made “unprofessional comments.”

Bovino was the public face of the Trump administration’s city-by-city immigration sweeps until late January. The Border Patrol chief led agents in Los Angeles, Chicago and New Orleans before he headed to Minnesota in December for what Homeland Security called its largest-ever immigration enforcement operation.

The administration removed Bovino from his leading role after federal officers in Minneapolis fatally shot 37-year-old mother Renee Good and 37-year-old nurse Alex Pretti on different days, leading to nationwide demonstrations and criticisms of Homeland Security’s use-of-force policies.

On Monday, a Minnesota prosecutor said her office would investigate Bovino and other federal officers for misconduct. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said she would look into an instance in which Bovino threw a smoke canister at protesters on Jan. 21. Homeland Security said in a statement that states cannot prosecute federal officers.

By MEAD GRUVER

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday approved its first construction permit for a commercial nuclear reactor in eight years, one that will allow a Bill Gates-backed company to build a sodium-cooled reactor in western Wyoming.

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TerraPower filed for the permit in 2024 and construction is now set to begin within weeks. Completion of the up to $4 billion plant is targeted for 2030, according to TerraPower. Microsoft co-founder Gates, who is eyeing nuclear generation as a power source for the electricity-hungry data centers behind artificial intelligence, is a founder of TerraPower and its primary investor.

“We have spent thousands of manpower hours working to achieve this momentous accomplishment,” TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque said in a statement.

The TerraPower plant is set to be built near a coal-fired power plant that is being converted to burn natural gas outside Kemmerer, a town of about 2,500 people some 130 miles northeast of Salt Lake City.

Gates and his energy company are seeking to develop a next-generation nuclear plant that would “revolutionize” how power is generated. The 345-megawatt reactor is expected to produce up to 500 megawatts at its peak, enough energy for up to 400,000 homes.

Construction at the TerraPower plant site — though not on the reactor itself — began in 2024.

The reactor construction permit for a TerraPower subsidiary is the NRC’s first approval for a non-light-water commercial reactor in more than 40 years, the NRC said in a statement.

Virtually all of the world’s commercial nuclear reactors use water to control reactions and transfer heat to drive turbines and produce electricity.

The NRC last issued a construction permit for a conventional light-water reactor to Florida Power & Light Company for a power plant south of Miami in 2018. That project has yet to be built.

The TerraPower reactor would use molten sodium, not water, as a coolant.

The last commercial non-light-water reactor in operation in the U.S. was the Fort St. Vrain nuclear plant in northern Colorado. The problem-plagued, helium-cooled plant produced electricity from the mid-1970s until it was shut down in 1989.

In October, Gates told reporters he thinks nuclear power will be a “gigantic contributor” to powering data centers. He had recently met with Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and various members of Congress and said the government was “very involved” in the TerraPower reactor.

“I wish I could deliver nuclear fission like three years earlier than I can, because then we’d have a perfect match to the current demand pattern of these data center guys,” he said.

The plant would use a highly enriched form of uranium that in recent years has been obtainable only from Russia. TerraPower has been lining up other sources to produce the fuel domestically and in South Africa, according to the company.

While the Trump administration pushes toward nuclear power, the federal government has yet to address the thousands of tons of spent fuel that have been piling up for decades at nuclear plants nationwide. New Mexico and Texas have dug in their heels to keep from becoming dumping grounds in the absence of a permanent solution.

In January, the U.S. Department of Energy announced it was taking what it called a first step toward possible partnerships with states to modernize the fuel cycle, including reprocessing spent fuel and disposing of waste. The agency gave states until April 1 to step forward if they’re interested in participating.

The TerraPower reactor would produce relatively less nuclear waste than conventional reactors, according to the company.

Jennifer McDermott in Providence, Rhode Island, and Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed to this report.

By COLLEEN SLEVIN and NICHOLAS RICCARDI

DENVER (AP) — Colorado’s Democratic governor, facing a pressure campaign from President Donald Trump, is signaling his openness to granting clemency to a former county clerk who was convicted in a scheme that attempted to find proof of fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

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A social post by Gov. Jared Polis brought swift rebuke Wednesday from the state’s attorney general, secretary of state and the association representing local election officials, who said such an action by the governor would send the wrong message to anyone seeking to interfere with elections ahead of this year’s midterms.

In his post on Tuesday, the governor compared the case of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who is serving a nine-year prison sentence, to that of a former state lawmaker who was recently sentenced to probation and community service after being convicted of one of the same crimes. Polis was echoing a concern he raised in January that the sentence for Peters, who didn’t have a criminal history, was “harsh.”

“Justice in Colorado and America needs to be applied evenly, you never know when you might need to depend on the rule of law. This is the context I am using as I consider cases like this that have sentencing disparities,” Polis wrote on the social platform X.

Peters’ lawyers welcomed the governor’s comments and hoped they would lead to her sentence being reduced to the nearly 17 months she has already served. They want her to be released from prison while they continue to try to get her convictions overturned in the state appeals court.

“Action takes real courage,” said one of her lawyers, John Case.

He said he could not discuss whether he had any conversations with the governor or his office about clemency because he said the process is confidential.

Governor’s post creates backlash from other Colorado officials

Peters has become a hero to many who support Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, especially those who have been pushing unfounded conspiracy theories.

Trump threatened “harsh measures” against Colorado unless the state releases Peters, and his administration has cut off funding to the state.

Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat who is running for state attorney general, said Polis’ comments were “shocking and worrisome” and that he was wrong to make a comparison between the case of Peters and former state Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis. Lewis and Peters were each convicted of attempting to influence a public servant, but also convicted of additional, different crimes.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, whose office helped prosecute Peters, said Peters has not demonstrated any remorse for her actions.

“Clemency should be based on remorse, rehabilitation, and extenuating circumstances — not on political influence, favor, or retribution,” Weiser, a Democrat who is running to succeed the term-limited Polis, said in an emailed statement.

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, who is hoping to replace Polis as governor, also said Peters shouldn’t be pardoned or have her sentence commuted.

“Donald Trump may be seeking revenge on Colorado, but surrendering to his political pressure will not make our state stronger or safer,” the Democrat said.

Clemency could signal that it’s OK to ‘undermine our elections’

Matt Crane, executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association, said there are few similarities between Peters’ and Lewis’ cases.

“It seems he’s tying himself in knots trying to find a way to commute her sentence,” he said of the governor.

He also said he worried that an early release would send the wrong message before this year’s midterm elections.

“The signal is it’s OK to work to undermine our elections because, whether it’s President Trump or Jared Polis, you’ll get a get-out-of-jail free card,” Crane said.

In response, a Polis spokesperson, Shelby Wieman, said the governor has been skeptical of Peters’ sentence and was comparing it with the one given to the former state lawmaker who was sentenced Friday.

In contrast to some other Democratic governors, Polis, who prides himself on being a political iconoclast, has taken a sometimes accommodating stance toward Trump. As Trump entered office, Polis praised the idea of the Department of Government Efficiency, then run by billionaire Elon Musk, and the nomination of vaccine critic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to run the Department of Health and Human Services.

He also has criticized Trump’s stance on tariffs and immigration, among other issues.

Two cases with significant differences

Peters and Lewis were both convicted of attempting to influence a public servant, a crime that involves using deception or a threat to try to get a public official to act in a certain way.

Lewis was convicted of one count of that and three counts of forgery. Prosecutors said she forged letters of support in the middle of a legislative ethics investigation over whether she had mistreated her staff. Her attorney, Craig Truman, declined to comment on her case.

Peters was convicted of state crimes for sneaking in an outside computer expert to copy images of her county’s election computer system before and after state officials updated it in 2021. A photo and video of confidential voting system passwords were later posted on social media and a conservative website. She said she had a duty to preserve the information as clerk.

Peters was found guilty of three counts of attempting to influence a public servant and one count each of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failure to comply with the requirements of the secretary of state.

Peters’ lawyers said the judge violated her First Amendment rights by punishing her with a stiff sentence for making allegations about election fraud. The judge called her a “charlatan” and said she posed a danger to the community for spreading lies about voting and undermining the democratic process.

Appeals court judges seemed sympathetic to the free speech argument during oral arguments in January.