- NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — Ranch is the best-selling salad dressing in America, and it has been since it took the crown from Italian near the close of the 20th century. It’s still jazzing up iceberg and romaine. But ranch now competes with the likes of ketchup and other condiments, a creamy dip for everything from […]
- PHOENIX (AP) — The circular muzzle. The little nose tip. The button eyes and two round, fuzzy ears. What is it about the teddy bear that has kept children wrapped around its furry paws for over a century? The quintessential American toy started in 1902 as just clothing scraps and sawdust stitched together by Morris […]
- FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s former Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who was a rising star in the Democratic party several years ago before his career was derailed by sexual assault allegations, fatally shot his wife before killing himself, police said Thursday. Both were found dead at their northern Virginia home in Annandale after the […]
- WASHINGTON, April 16 (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, suggesting labor market conditions remained stable, though employers are cautious about hiring new workers as the conflict in the Middle East casts a shadow over the economy. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 11,000 to a seasonally […]
- SAN DIEGO (AP) — The smell of rotten eggs permeates Steve Egger’s Southern California home, especially at night as the nearby Tijuana River foams up with sewage from Mexico before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. Egger, 72, says he and his wife have frequent headaches and wake up congested and coughing up phlegm. Their home […]
- China urges travelers to avoid Seattle airport after 20 scholars were denied entry to the US
on April 16, 2026 at 8:18 pmSEATTLE (AP) — Chinese government officials are encouraging travelers to be wary and avoid entering the United States through Seattle, citing a pattern of continual harassment by U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel. About 20 Chinese scholars with visas flew through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport recently to attend an academic conference, but China Consular Affairs said in a post on X that the academics were “unreasonably inspected” by CBP personnel and refused entry. Emails seeking more information and comment were sent Thursday to spokespersons for the federal agency, the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., and its consulate in San Francisco. Since Chinese scholars have been continuously harassed at the airport, the foreign ministry and the embassy urged citizens with plans to visit the U.S. to do so with a mindset of safety and security and to avoid the Seattle airport, the post said. The foreign ministry also urged travelers from China to become versed with U.S. entry regulations and be prepared. “If you encounter questioning from U.S. enforcement personnel, you should deal with it calmly and rationally,” according to a translation of the tweet. Seattle ranked as the sixth largest metro area in the nation for Chinese population in 2019 with about 166,000 residents, according to the Pew Research Center. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Sen. Warren calls for greater transparency into Federal Reserve nominee’s financial holdings
on April 16, 2026 at 8:18 pmWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s nominee to run the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh, is likely to face tough questions about his vast financial holdings at a hearing next week by the Senate Banking Committee. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, the top Democrat on the panel, told reporters she had met with Warsh Thursday and urged him to disclose more information about his assets than was included in financial disclosure forms released earlier this week. Warsh, a former top official at the Fed and a wealthy investor, listed financial assets worth well more than $100 million. The figures are given in ranges so a precise value wasn’t disclosed. Warsh has large stakes in several investment funds and owns a solo financial advisory firm, Vicarage LLC. He has pledged in ethics filings to sell those holdings and stop working as an adviser if he is confirmed as Fed chair. Yet he has not disclosed the values of all his investments through the funds, or the names of some of his clients. “This is a real problem,” Warren said. “No one has gone forward in the Trump administration without disclosing fully their financial holdings.” It’s the latest hurdle for Warsh, 55, who is already facing an unusually turbulent path toward the Fed chair position, which he has sought for at least a decade. Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican and member of the Banking panel, said this week he won’t vote for Warsh until a Department of Justice investigation into current Fed chair Jerome Powell is resolved. The stand-off threatens to delay Warsh’s confirmation until after Powell’s term as chair ends May 15. But even if Warsh is confirmed, he will likely face ongoing pressure from Trump to cut the Fed’s key interest rate despite the Iran war pushing inflation higher and many other policymakers expressing skepticism about cuts. And he could end up serving while Powell remains on the Fed’s governing board, an uncomfortable arrangement that hasn’t occurred since the late 1940s. Warsh was a member of the Fed’s governing board from 2006 to 2011, and is married to Jane Lauder, the daughter of billionaire cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder, a major Republican donor. He has also worked in finance and has made roughly $10 million as an advisor to billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller’s family office, according to his disclosure form. Warren said Warsh declined in their meeting to disclose more information about his holdings, “which, frankly, raises more concerns.” She added that his extensive investments are “a red flag surrounded by fireworks and sparklers.” Warsh said in his disclosures that “pre-existing confidentiality” agreements prevent him from specifying the size of individual holdings or in some cases what they are. For example, he owns a stake in Polymarket, the prediction betting market, but did not say how large it is. He said he would comply with all ethics requirements by selling those investments if confirmed. Also Thursday, all 11 Democrats on the Banking Committee called for next week’s hearing to be postponed until the DOJ drops the investigation into cost overruns for a $2.5 billion Fed building renovation project and Powell’s role in it, as well as an effort by Trump to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook. Both moves “appear to be part of the Trump Administration’s broader effort to take control of the Fed,” the letter said. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- New York loses nearly $74 million for not revoking 33,000 illegal licenses for immigrant truckers
on April 16, 2026 at 8:18 pmNew York will lose more than $73.5 million in federal money because the Transportation Department said Thursday that state has refused to revoke nearly 33,000 questionable commercial driver’s licenses for immigrants since an audit uncovered problems last year. The department said that more than half of the 200 licenses reviewed during the audit had significant problems such as remaining valid long after an immigrant was authorized to be in the country. So the state was ordered to review all of this type of licenses and revoke illegal ones. The federal government has reviewed records related to these non-domiciled CDLs in every state since Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy put a spotlight on this issue after an August crash in Florida that killed three people. Most states have either complied or are in negotiations with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, but California has lost $200 million. Several other states — including Pennsylvania, Minnesota and North Carolina — have been warned they are at risk of losing some funding. “I promised the American people I would hold any state leader accountable for failing to keep them safe from unvetted, unqualified foreign drivers. I’m delivering on that promise today,” Duffy said. Duffy has said that immigrants account for about 20% of all truck drivers nationwide, but these non-domiciled licenses immigrants can receive only represent about 5% of all commercial driver’s licenses or about 200,000 drivers. New York issued 32,606 of them. New York officials have defended their licensing practices and said they are complying with federal law and that audits done during the first Trump administration supported that. This action related to the licenses for immigrants is just the latest in a series of battles between the federal government and officials in New York and New Jersey over transportation funding. Duffy put a hold on $18 billion in funding for a subway extension and tunnel beneath the Hudson River in August. He has also threatened to pull federal funding from New York if it does not abandon a congestion pricing fee in New York City and if crime on the subway system is not addressed. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s spokesman Sean Butler said the action related to commercial driver’s licenses seems to be part of broad effort to attack blue states. “This continues a yearlong pattern of Secretary Duffy threatening to withhold money that keeps our roads, subways, and other infrastructure safe for New Yorkers. We will fight back, and once again we will win,” Butler said. Trucking industry groups have praised the Transportation Department’s efforts to get unqualified drivers off the road, crack down on questionable trucking schools and go after trucking companies that violate the rules and then just change their names and keep operating. The industry said that too often unqualified drivers who shouldn’t have licenses or can’t speak English have been allowed to get behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound (about 39,916 kilograms) truck. But immigrant groups say that some drivers are now being unfairly targeted. The spotlight has been on Sikh truckers because the driver in the Florida crash and the driver in another fatal crash in California in October are both Sikhs. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Trump nominates Erica Schwartz, former deputy surgeon general, to serve as CDC director
on April 16, 2026 at 8:18 pmPresident Donald Trump on Thursday nominated Erica Schwartz, a former deputy surgeon general, to be the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a social media post, Trump described Schwartz as “incredibly talented” and said, “She is a STAR!” The Atlanta-based CDC, which is charged with protecting Americans from preventable health threats, has been in turmoil since Trump returned to office more than a year ago, with a succession of mostly temporary leaders. The agency is overseen by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who had promised not to change the nation’s vaccination schedule. But shortly after taking office, Kennedy said he was going to investigate the childhood vaccine schedule and went on to attempt a substantial rewrite of vaccine recommendations for kids. Some of those efforts were put on hold recently by a federal judge. The administration’s first pick to run the CDC was former Florida congressman Dr. David Weldon, but his March 2025 Senate confirmation hearing was canceled an hour before it was to begin. Weldon said at the time that he’d been told not enough senators were willing to vote for him. The White House then moved on to Susan Monarez, who had been serving as the CDC’s acting director. Monarez was confirmed by the Senate, but she was ousted in less than a month. Trump administration officials said she wasn’t aligned with their agenda so they terminated her. Several key CDC scientific leaders resigned in protest, saying Monarez’s dismissal dashed their hopes that a CDC director would be able to guard against political meddling in the agency’s scientific research and health recommendations. Since then, there’s been a revolving door in agency leadership, with the short-term role of acting director being passed from one Washington-based HHS official to another. National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya has been overseeing the CDC the past several weeks. During a House Appropriations Committee hearing Thursday, Kennedy said the new team the CDC is bringing in is “extraordinary.” “I think this new team is really going to be able to revolutionize CDC and get it back on track,” he said. The Schwartz nomination comes as Dr. Casey Means, Trump’s pick for another key health-related role, U.S. surgeon general, has had difficulty getting confirmed. Means’ languishing nomination after appearing for a confirmation hearing in February reflects the skepticism that lawmakers of both parties have expressed toward the direction Kennedy has taken his department. ___ AP writer Ali Swenson contributed to this report. __ 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. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Zohran Mamdani’s wife Rama Duwaji apologizes for the ‘harmful’ social media posts she made as a teen
on April 16, 2026 at 8:18 pmNEW YORK (AP) — Rama Duwaji, the wife of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, has apologized for “harmful” social media posts she made as a teenager, responding publicly after a conservative news outlet combed through her online profiles and resurfaced material, including a post in which she used an anti-gay slur. In an interview with the arts website Hyperallergic, Duwaji, an illustrator, said she felt “a lot of shame being confronted with language I used that is so harmful to others,” adding “being 15 doesn’t excuse it.” “I’ve read and seen a lot of what others have had to say in response, and I understand the hurt I caused and am truly sorry,” she said in the interview, published Wednesday, in response to a question about adjusting to life as a public figure. Duwaji did not specify which comments she was referring to, nor did she address other, more recent social media activity regarding Israel that has attracted heavy scrutiny as Mamdani tries to ease concerns among some in the city’s Jewish community over his own criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Last month, The Washington Free Beacon reported on years of Duwaji’s online activity across a handful of social media platforms, finding she had shared posts praising female Palestinian militants who participated in plane hijackings and bombings in the 1960s and early 1970s. In 2015, she shared a post in which someone else wrote that Tel Aviv was occupying Palestinian land and “shouldn’t exist.” Duwaji also once used a racial slur for Black people while affectionately addressing a friend and used an abbreviated slur for gay people in 2013. The mayor has previously said his wife is a “private person” who does not hold a formal position in City Hall. Asked Thursday about which specific posts his wife regretted, Mamdani demurred. “She shared some of her reflections in this interview. I won’t add much to them, what I will say, however, is that she is someone of incredible integrity,” Mamdani told reporters. He added that questions about Duwaji’s social media activity were “part and parcel” of his own choice to run for mayor, “a decision that has ramifications for those that I love.” Separately, Duwaji has also come under criticism for liking an Instagram post that appeared to cheer Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 surprise attack on Israel. The Free Beacon has also reported that Duwaji provided an illustration for an essay by an author who described the Oct. 7 attack as “spectacular” and had called Jewish Israelis “rootless soulless ghouls.” Mamdani has previously said his wife had been commissioned to illustrate an excerpt of a book by a third party, and said she had never engaged or met with the author, and that Duwaji had not seen the author’s previous comments. He called the author’s rhetoric “patently unacceptable” and “reprehensible.” ___ AP writer Jake Offenhartz contributed Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
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