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NFL Week 15 picks up head-to-head developments: Who will win the best game?

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NFL Week 15 picks up head-to-head developments: Who will win the best game?

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  • A loss to the Bolts would be almost fatal for the defending AFC champions.
  • Three teams will qualify for the playoffs on Sunday.
  • Super Bowl previews could feature the Packers and Broncos competing for the No. 1 playoff seed.
  • Colts quarterback Philip Rivers could return to the field after a five-year absence.

Everyone goes up on deck.

We’re into Week 15 of the 2025 season, and the NFL’s bye week is exhausting. Week 15 is full of interesting matchups, even if Thursday night’s NFC South pairing between the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers isn’t one of them.

Sunday begins with the New England Patriots sweeping the Buffalo Bills, clinching the Pats’ first AFC East title in six years. Conversely, the Kansas City Chiefs will be fighting for a playoff spot as well as trying to avoid elimination this weekend as they host the Los Angeles Chargers at home, but a loss to the Bolts doesn’t mean it’s over for good.

The view from the train window in the evening is even more beautiful. The Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos are set to meet in a potential Super Bowl 60 preview, with both teams currently competing for the No. 1 seed in their respective conferences. The Detroit Lions will try to defeat the NFC-leading Los Angeles Rams on the road in an effort to get back into the projected playoff picture. (The Rams and Broncos could both qualify for the postseason with a win.) And while the Seattle Seahawks would be outrageous favorites to beat the Indianapolis Colts, their game could mark the return of the Colts’ newly signed QB Philip Rivers for the first time in five years.

The last two prime-time games featured national brands, even if they didn’t come across as great games. The Dallas Cowboys will face the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night as they look to advance to the postseason, while the Pittsburgh Steelers will remain in first place in the AFC North on Monday if they can defeat the rising Miami Dolphins.

What will the lineup be for 16 games? Here are the stories chosen by USA TODAY Sports’ panel of NFL experts.

(Odds provided by BetMGM)

Week 15 picks, predictions and odds

All your NFL news on and off the field. Sign up for USA TODAY’s 4th Monday Newsletter.

Denmark says US is a national security risk

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Denmark says US is a national security risk

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For the first time, Danish intelligence said the United States is a potential threat to the national security of the country and the wider European region, as the Trump administration has signaled its intention to use economic and military coercion and pressure to “enforce its will” even against allies.

“The world’s great powers are increasingly prioritizing their own interests and using force to achieve their goals,” the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) country’s military intelligence agency said in its annual threat assessment released on December 10. The Danish Defense Intelligence Agency named Russia and China among the main countries posing a challenge to Denmark and Europe. However, in an unusual move, he singled out the United States, saying that “the role of the United States as a guarantor of European security” was “uncertain.”

“The United States uses economic power, including the threat of high tariffs, to enforce its will, and it no longer precludes the use of military force, even against allies,” the report said.

The U.S. Embassy in Copenhagen referred all questions about the Danish intelligence report to the U.S. State Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

President Donald Trump’s interest in controlling the resource-rich and strategically important Arctic island of Greenland, part of the Kingdom of Denmark, has exacerbated tensions between Copenhagen and Washington.

Denmark is one of the European countries that opposes the White House’s peace plan for Ukraine, which appears to favor Russia on important points, including the ceding of Ukrainian territory it had occupied by force to Russia.

Still, the report said Russia’s war against Ukraine is the main factor shaping Europe’s security environment. Denmark believes that the Russian military threat to NATO members will increase in the coming year, but does not currently see a threat of “regular military attacks” against Denmark.

The “mental burden” is pushing mothers to the brink. Here’s how to do it

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The “mental burden” is pushing mothers to the brink. Here’s how to do it

A new USA TODAY/Peacock survey of 1,600 American parents finds that women are more likely than men to say the pressure to get everything done is a challenge.

If you’re a mom reading this, you might be standing in line at Target. Or while sitting in a doctor’s office. You might be picking up NyQuil or double-checking to make sure it’s not an ear infection.

That’s because it’s after Thanksgiving and before Christmas, the busiest time of the year for most moms and comparable to the last month of school. So if you’re trying to read something, you’ll probably do it while doing other things. And I will try to keep it short enough to finish reading it.

I say mom and not parents because, let’s be honest, who picks out the sweater for the mother-in-law at the gift exchange? Even if one of them is 19, who creates the magic of Christmas like moving the elf, baking sugar cookies, scheduling family photos, and making sure each child’s stocking has the same amount of candy? It is the “mental load” of raising children, the invisible and unpaid work of planning, managing and organizing everything that women undertake to maintain their families and homes.

And women are being pushed to breaking point, according to a new USA TODAY/Peacock survey of 1,600 American parents about the emotional strain parents face. In fact, 43% of women say they feel burnt out or emotionally exhausted. And more than a third of people feel this way every day.

Who is to blame?

USA TODAY began an investigation with Peacock after the release of the thriller “All Her Fault.” Initially, the series appeared to be a mystery about the kidnapping of a young boy from a wealthy family and his culprit, but the show became a hot topic on social media, with viewers who are mothers hooked on a plot they could relate to: the mental strain of motherhood.

“All Her Fault” reflects a pivotal moment in motherhood, said Madeline Di Nonno, president and CEO of the Geena Davis Institute, which works to increase gender representation and reduce stereotyping in entertainment and media.

“It’s not all about the perfect moms we often see on TV,” she says. “Women need to see themselves on screen. There’s a lot of shame and guilt about not being the perfect mother. It’s not realistic to show this idyllic world.”

During the most important meeting of her career, Dakota Fanning’s character receives a text from her deadpan husband asking, “Where’s Jacob’s water bottle?”

“I am the original parent and you are my replacement,” Fanning tells him. “It’s not equal. It’s never equal.”

According to the USA TODAY/Peacock survey, women are more likely than men to say the pressure to accomplish everything and meet expectations is a challenge. They are also more likely to say they don’t ask anyone for advice or help.

“Women don’t want to ask for help. They want someone to know what to do. It’s not okay for men to say, ‘Please tell me what to do.’ It’s not that men are indifferent. Men aren’t raised to scan the house like their mothers did. Women are taught to anticipate their needs.”

In doing so, the mother becomes the default parent, keeping medical and dental appointments in mind, making sure the basketball uniform is clean, and not only making the lunch but also doing the grocery shopping to make sure the right grapes and goldfish crackers are purchased.

The survey found that 64% of women said they handle day-to-day childcare responsibilities, compared to 43% of men, and 44% of mothers said they felt pressured to do everything, compared to 37% of men.

The result of all those decisions? A whopping 34% of women feel overwhelmed every day. A further 32% feel this way several times a week.

Mays started helping mothers overcome emotional stress several years ago, when she was juggling a full-time job, graduate school, and raising her husband and three children. She noticed that many women’s monthly mothers’ self-care nights were interrupted by emails from their husbands asking, “What should I do to calm my baby?” Where are my pajamas? What do the kids want for dinner?

“I often talk about reminding men, ‘You guys live here, you know what you need to do.’ I’m not saying that to put men down, that’s not what it’s about at all,” she says. “It’s equal ownership.”

One mother was on the verge of divorce. She and her husband argued about the dishwasher. The cause was mental strain.

overwhelmed by childcare

Mothers have long felt the pressure, but more fathers are starting to feel the pressure, too. Our research shows that men are more likely than women to say that balancing work and family responsibilities is a challenge.

“Our collective expectations of fathers have changed. We expect fathers to be more involved with their children,” says Alison Daminger, author of “What’s on Her Mind: The Mental Workload of Family Life” and a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“At the same time, the expectations for breadwinners and fathers haven’t changed. We’ve added to their job descriptions, and I think young fathers are starting to feel that burden.”

Jonathan Gilmore’s wife wanted him to do better as a parent to their two young children. He admits he got defensive at first.

He thought he was doing his part by saying, “How can I help?”

“She told me she was overwhelmed and at a breaking point,” Gilmore, 31, said. “I thought the mental load was kind of BS.”

It wasn’t until he was laid off for a few months earlier this year and became the primary caregiver for a newborn and a 3-year-old that he really understood.

Both he and his wife now work full-time, and they have started taking on household chores instead of just “helping out.”

“She always had high expectations for me. I pushed myself to grow,” Gilmore says. Gilmore started a social media account called Do Better Jonathan to show what he’s learning and to inspire other fathers. “Some of my friends have goals of wanting to be more involved with their families. And men want to learn. That makes me want to do more.”

Although men experience more stress, most feel confident in delegating tasks to their partners. However, women struggle to let go of some menial tasks because they believe they will be judged or criticized for not being perfect. Four out of 10 women surveyed said they felt pressured to be the “perfect” parent.

“I’m having a hard time letting go of ownership, thinking, ‘Why did I do it that way? Is it easier this way?'” Mays said of her husband taking over the hair care for their three daughters and twins, ages 9 and 6.

“He had to remind me that if I wanted him to do this job, I needed to take a step back. He was going to do it, even if it wasn’t my way,” she says. “Nowadays, girls prefer having their hair cut by their fathers.”

And while some partners are finding ways to overcome the burden, Daminger says society still has certain expectations of mothers. (Our research highlights this, with 50% of women reporting that when something goes wrong, it’s their job to fix it.)

“If there is a problem, the school still calls the mother,” she says. “So for a lot of women, it’s hard to quit these things.”

Learn to balance the load

Caitlin Niles has seen firsthand how difficult it is to transition from one generation to the next. She grew up in a traditional household where her father worked and her mother took care of the children.

Once Nils got married, she took on cooking and cleaning duties, and later took on the responsibility of caring for her children, now ages 5 and 8.

“There was never a conversation about who was doing what. It was very natural,” she says. “But I had a job, I was taking care of my kids, I was working full time, and it was a pandemic, and it was just too much.”

Nils and her husband divorced.

For almost two years, they shared custody of their children. “He was a single father and literally had to do everything, including making lunches and picking up children,” said Niles, 35.

The couple reconciled over a year ago, in part because he learned to be a better partner.

Now they spend Sunday mornings planning the week and deciding who owns what tasks.

“I learned that done is better than perfect, and there’s always something else to do,” she says. “We had to let go of expectations and we had a lot of conversations. It didn’t happen overnight. We really struggled in this area for years.”

One thing is clear about mental workload. That means it’s hitting us all. The survey found that around three-quarters of all parents say family responsibilities have at least some impact on their mental health, and 40% say it has a huge impact.

“The next frontier is for men to talk about it,” Daminger says. “This message is still being conveyed through women. I hope that over time, this will be seen less as a women’s issue and more as a couple and family issue.”

Laura Trujillo is a national columnist focused on health and wellness. She is the author of “Stepping Back from the Ledge: A Daughter’s Search for Truth and Renewal” and can be reached at ltrujillo@usatoday.com.

AI agents take over complex enterprise tasks

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AI agents take over complex enterprise tasks

New deployment data from Perplexity reveals how AI agents are driving greater workflow efficiency by taking over complex enterprise tasks.

For the past year, the technology sector has operated on the assumption that the next evolution of generative AI will move beyond conversation and into action. While large-scale language models (LLMs) act as inference engines, “agents” act as hands that can execute complex multi-step workflows with minimal supervision.

Until now, however, visibility into how these tools are being used in practice has been opaque, relying primarily on speculative frameworks and limited research.

New data released by Perplexity analyzes hundreds of millions of interactions with the Comet browser and assistant, providing the first large-scale field study of a general-purpose AI agent. Data shows that agent AI is already being deployed by high-value knowledge workers to streamline productivity and research tasks.

Understanding who is using these tools is essential to predicting internal demand and identifying potential shadow IT vectors. This study revealed significant heterogeneity in adoption. Users in countries with high GDP per capita and high educational attainment are much more likely to use agent tools.

Even more important for business planning is the breakdown of job categories. Implementations are concentrated in digital and knowledge-intensive areas. The “Digital Technology” cluster has the largest share, accounting for 28 percent of adoptions and 30 percent of queries. This is closely followed by academia, finance, marketing and entrepreneurship.

Together, these clusters represent over 70% of the total adapters. This suggests that the individuals most likely to utilize agent workflows are software engineers, financial analysts, and market strategists, who are the most expensive assets in an organization. These early adopters aren’t dabbling. Data shows that “power users” (those with pre-existing access) make nine times more agent queries than the average user, making this technology essential when integrated into workflows.

AI agents: partners for enterprise tasks, not butlers

To move beyond marketing narratives, companies need to understand the utility these agents provide. The prevailing view suggests that agents act as “digital concierges” that primarily perform mechanical administrative tasks. However, data casts doubt on this view. This means that 57 percent of the agent’s total activity is focused on cognitive tasks.

Perplexity researchers have developed a “hierarchical agent taxonomy” for classifying user intent, making the use of AI agents practical rather than experimental. The primary use case is ‘productivity and workflow’, accounting for 36% of all agent queries. This is followed by “learning and research” at 21%.

A specific anecdote from the study shows how this translates into company value. For example, procurement professionals used the assistant to scan customer case studies and identify relevant use cases before negotiating with vendors. Similarly, treasurers delegated the tasks of filtering stock options and analyzing investment information. In these scenarios, the agent handles information collection and initial synthesis autonomously, allowing humans to focus on the final decision.

This distribution provides clear metrics for operational leaders. The immediate ROI of agentic AI is to extend human capabilities rather than simply automating low-level friction. The study defines these agents as systems that “automatically cycle between three iterative phases: thinking, acting, and observing to achieve an end goal.” This feature allows it to support “deep cognitive work,” where it acts as a thought partner rather than a simple butler.

Stickiness and cognitive transfer

A key insight for IT leaders is the “stickiness” of AI agents to enterprise workflows. The data show that users exhibit strong persistence within topics in the short term. When a user asks an agent for a productivity task, subsequent queries are more likely to remain in that domain.

However, user journeys often evolve. New users often “test the waters” with low-risk queries, such as asking for movie recommendations or general trivia. Over time, metastasis occurs. The study notes that although users may access it through a variety of use cases, the share of queries tends to shift toward cognitively oriented areas such as productivity, learning, and career development.

Once users hire an agent to debug their code or summarize their financial reports, they are unlikely to return to low-value tasks. The Productivity and Workflow categories have the highest retention rates. This behavior means that initial pilot programs should anticipate a learning curve as usage matures from simple information retrieval to complex task delegation.

The “where” of agent AI is just as important as the “what.” Perplexity’s research tracked the environments in which these AI agents operate: specific websites and platforms. The intensity of activity varies by task, but the top-level environment is the primary environment in a modern enterprise stack.

While Google Docs is the primary environment for editing documents and spreadsheets, LinkedIn dominates professional networking tasks. For “learning and research,” activities are divided between course platforms such as Coursera and research repositories.

This presents a new risk profile for CISOs and compliance officers. AI agents do more than just read data. We’re actively working with it within our core enterprise applications. In this study, we specifically define agent queries as queries that involve “browser control” or actions to external applications via APIs. When an employee asks an agent to “summary a customer story,” the agent is working directly with their own data.

The concentration of environments also highlights potential for platform-specific optimizations. For example, the top five environments account for 96% of professional networking queries, primarily on LinkedIn. This high degree of concentration suggests that companies could quickly gain efficiencies by developing specific governance policies and API connectors for these high-traffic platforms.

Agent AI business planning based on Perplexity data

The proliferation of capable AI agents creates new areas of consideration for business planning. Data from Perplexity confirms that we are past the speculative stage. Agents are now used not only to exchange information but also to plan and execute multi-step actions that modify the environment.

Operations leaders should consider three immediate actions:

  1. Audit productivity and workflow friction point Within high-value teams: The data shows that this is where agents naturally find their footing. If your software engineers and financial analysts already use these tools to edit documents or manage accounts, formalizing these workflows can standardize efficiency.
  1. Get ready for augmented reality. The researchers point out that while agents have autonomy, users often break down tasks into smaller parts and delegate only subtasks. This suggests that the work of the near future will be collaborative, requiring employees to be upskilled in how to effectively “manage” their AI counterparts.
  1. Address infrastructure and security layers. The boundaries of data loss prevention expand as agents operate in an “open world web environment” and interact with sites such as GitHub and corporate email. Policies should differentiate between chatbots that provide advice and agents that run code or send messages.

Early evidence from Perplexity serves as a bellwether, as the market for agent AI is projected to grow from $8 billion in 2025 to $199 billion by 2034. The transition to AI agent-driven enterprise workflows is being driven by the most digitally capable segments of the workforce. The challenge for companies is to capitalize on this momentum without losing the governance control they need to scale safely.

See also: Accenture and Anthropic partner to power enterprise AI integration

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Has anyone won the Powerball jackpot? See results for December 10th

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Has anyone won the Powerball jackpot? See results for December 10th

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The Powerball jackpot was increased to $1 billion for the Saturday, December 13th drawing, following the Wednesday, December 10th drawing in which no one won the top prize.

2025 was a historic year for Powerball. Back in September, two tickets sold in Montana and Texas won the game’s second-largest jackpot in history, at an estimated $1.787 billion.

Here’s what you need to know about last night’s Powerball winning numbers.

Powerball winning numbers for December 10: $936 million jackpot

Powerball winning numbers for December 10, 2025

The winning numbers for Wednesday, December 10th drawing are: 10, 16, 29, 33, 69and Powerball is twenty two. The multiplier for “power play” is 3 times.

The lottery winning numbers sponsors are: Jackpocket, USA TODAY Network’s official digital lottery delivery company.

Has anyone won Powerball?

While no one won the Powerball jackpot or the $2 million Match 5 + Power Play prize, three lucky people from Maryland, Michigan, and New Jersey won the $1 million Match 5 prize.

To find a complete list of past Powerball winners, go to Click on the link to the lottery website.

When is the next Powerball drawing?

The next drawing will take place on Saturday, December 13th, just after 11:00 PM ET.

What are the top 10 Powerball jackpots?

  • $2.04 billion – acquired in California on November 7, 2022
  • $1.787 billion – won in Montana and Texas on September 6, 2025
  • $1.765 billion – acquired in California on October 11, 2023
  • $1.586 billion – acquired on January 13, 2016 in California, Florida, and Tennessee
  • $1.326 Billion – Earned in Oregon on April 6, 2024
  • $1.08 billion – acquired in California on July 19, 2023
  • $1 billion – no winner yet
  • $842.4 million – earned in Michigan on January 1, 2024
  • $768.4 million – sold in Wisconsin on March 27, 2019
  • $758.7 million – sold in Massachusetts on August 23, 2017

How to play Powerball

To play Powerball, you must purchase a $2 ticket. This can be done at a variety of locations, including local convenience stores, gas stations, and grocery stores. In some states, you can purchase Powerball tickets online.

Once you have your ticket, you have to choose six numbers. Five of them are white balls with numbers from 1 to 69. The red Powerball range is 1-26. You can also add a “Power Play” for $1, which increases your winnings on all non-jackpot prizes.

“Power Play” multipliers allow you to increase your winnings by 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, or 10x.

If you’re feeling unlucky or just want to let the computer do the work for you, you can take advantage of the “Quick Pick” option, where a computer-generated number is printed on your Powerball ticket. To win the jackpot, players must match all five white balls with the red Powerball in any order.

Powerball drawings are held on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday nights. The winnings continue to increase even if no one wins the jackpot.

Where to buy lottery tickets

Tickets can be purchased directly at gas stations, convenience stores, grocery stores, etc. Some airport terminals may also sell lottery tickets.

You can also order tickets online Jackpocket, USA TODAY Network’s official digital lottery delivery companythese states and territories of the United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Washington DC, and West Virginia. The Jackpocket app allows you to select your lottery games and numbers, place your order, view your tickets, and claim your winnings, all from your phone or home computer.

Jackpocket is the official digital lottery carrier of USA TODAY Network. Gannett may earn revenue from viewer referrals to the Jackpocket Service. Must be 18 years or older, 21 years or older in Arizona, 19 years or older in Nebraska. Not affiliated with any state lottery. Gambling problem? Call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY). 1-800-327-5050(MA); 1-877-MYLIMIT (OR); 1-800-981-0023 (PR); 1-800-GAMBLER (ALL OTHERS). visit jackpocket.com/tos Over the entire period.

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Contact us at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow us at X @fern_cerv_.

Why popular TV anchor Carissa Coderll won’t stop reading hateful comments

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Why popular TV anchor Carissa Coderll won’t stop reading hateful comments

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Carissa Codell has had a lot of bad things said to her by viewers of the Missouri news program she anchors. But she found a funny way to return the applause.

The 26-year-old reporter, who appears on KOLR 10 and FOX 49’s morning show “Ozarks First” in Springfield and Branson, Missouri, began posting on social media earlier this year after reading disrespectful online comments about her appearance on camera. At the time, she just wanted to increase her online presence by showing her personality.

She never imagined that this video would receive millions of views around the world and resonate with so many others.

“We brainstormed here with the team and said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it with news audio. Let’s get it in the studio. Let’s do a little production,'” Coderre told USA TODAY. “And somehow it’s just starting now. It’s still wild to me.”

“Evil” sparks debate: Everyone is talking about the astral body. Is this a slippery slope?

A newscaster reads viewers’ mean comments in an anchor voice.

In the video, Coderre can be seen standing in front of a monitor displaying the comments, reading them out in a so-called news anchor voice. Sometimes co-workers joke behind their backs, or Codell breaks out of character and jokes about their responses.

Coderre said she intentionally chose to approach the comments with humor rather than respond with hostility.

“Everything you put out into the world comes back to you, and that’s the approach I wanted to take,” she says, adding that she finds some of the “creative insults” funny.

As she continued to share the videos on social media, other users began to embrace the series, she said.

“For the most part, the tone has been very collaborative and very upbeat. It feels like a back-and-forth type of roast situation with no ill will,” Coderre said. “I still get a lot of really hurtful and mean comments, but you know, I just get them off my shoulders and I don’t really focus on them.”

Online hate isn’t always a laughing matter

Hateful comments against journalists online are widespread and not new. Although Codell’s highlighted comments were more based on her appearance, some journalists have faced physical threats against them, said Tracy Eberbach, a journalism professor at the University of North Texas.

“[Codell]was reading those comments and slamming people who were making fun of her weight and appearance. But I don’t think this article addresses the fact that there are really, really scary threats that women are receiving,” Eberbach said.

Jake Nelson, an associate professor of communication at the University of Utah who studies the relationship between journalists and their audiences, said there is no proven way for reporters like Coderre to effectively manage hate online.

“There’s a part of this social media environment where you don’t really think about who your words are going to reach,” Nelson said. “And when it comes to journalists, it’s even more exaggerated… They don’t think of journalists as human beings.”

But despite the mean nature of some of the comments, Coderre says she has learned how to ignore what is said about her.

“It can certainly be difficult to compartmentalize bit by bit, but once you get to that point, it’s really amazing how little you think about these horrible comments left about you,” she said. “I wish I had an answer for how to do it and put it into practice, but it just happens.”

Use humor to lighten the mood

Nelson also said that taking a humorous approach will likely help defuse the comments.

“Because it’s funny, people think, ‘This person seems like a real person, and he’s making light of the horrible things that happen to him every day, and I appreciate that.’ So I think there’s something fruitful in that approach,” Nelson said.

Coderre helped control the reaction by participating in the jokes, but so did being thick.

“Those things have never hurt my feelings. I know what I look like, I know who I am, and I think having that combination has helped me. I’ve always had a very thick skin,” she said.

It’s not uncommon to use humor, especially to deal with negative situations.

“Humor can improve communication, reduce stress and anxiety, reduce tension, and even promote overall recovery after some negative experience,” counseling psychologist TM Robinson Mosley previously told USA TODAY.

“It makes my heart happy.”

Besides forming what Kodell calls “a little corner on the internet for pure fun,” she has found that her videos are also helpful to others, especially young girls.

Coderre said she often receives messages from parents who say their daughters struggle with body image and her videos are helping them cope.

“Every time I see comments like this, I feel like crying,” Coderre said. “That wasn’t necessarily my goal, but I’m so glad it happened. It makes my heart so happy when I hear those words.”

Melina Khan is USA TODAY’s national trends reporter. Contact her at melina.khan@usatoday.com.

This article has been updated to correct a typo.

Powerball reaches $1 billion. What you need to know ahead of the December 13th draw.

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Powerball reaches billion. What you need to know ahead of the December 13th draw.

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Those looking to hit the jackpot in the Powerball lottery can breathe a sigh of relief. There were no winners in yesterday’s drawing, and the jackpot has grown once again.

The Powerball jackpot, which remained unclaimed as of Wednesday, December 10, is now estimated at $1 billion, according to the Powerball website. If someone wins a huge jackpot, they can choose to take home $461.3 million in one-time cash.

2025 has been a great year for gaming after the jackpot reached $1.787 billion in September, making it the second-highest jackpot in gaming history.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the game’s next draw.

When is the next Powerball drawing?

The next drawing will take place on Saturday, December 13th, just after 11:00 PM ET.

More lottery news: Did anyone win the Powerball jackpot? Check out the December 10 drawing results.

How much is the Powerball jackpot worth?

The Powerball jackpot is estimated to be worth $1 billion, with a cash value of $461.3 million.

What are the top 10 Powerball jackpots?

  1. $2.04 billion – acquired in California on November 7, 2022
  2. $1.787 billion – won in Montana and Texas on September 6, 2025
  3. $1.765 billion – acquired in California on October 11, 2023
  4. $1.586 billion – acquired in California, Florida and Tennessee on January 13, 2016
  5. $1.326 Billion – Earned in Oregon on April 6, 2024
  6. $1.08 billion – acquired in California on July 19, 2023
  7. $1 billion – no winner yet
  8. $842.4 million – earned in Michigan on January 1, 2024
  9. $768.4 million – sold in Wisconsin on March 27, 2019
  10. $758.7 million – sold in Massachusetts on August 23, 2017

How do you play Powerball?

To play Powerball, you must purchase a $2 ticket. This can be done at a variety of locations, including local convenience stores, gas stations, and grocery stores. In some states, you can purchase Powerball tickets online.

Once you have your ticket, you have to choose six numbers. Five of them are white balls with numbers from 1 to 69. The red Powerball range is 1-26. You can also add a “Power Play” for $1, which increases your winnings on all non-jackpot prizes.

“Power Play” multipliers allow you to increase your winnings by 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, or 10x.

If you’re feeling unlucky or just want to let the computer do the work for you, you can take advantage of the “Quick Pick” option, where a computer-generated number is printed on your Powerball ticket. To win the jackpot, players must match all five white balls with the red Powerball in any order.

Powerball drawings are held on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday nights. The winnings continue to increase even if no one wins the jackpot.

Where to buy lottery tickets

Tickets can be purchased directly at gas stations, convenience stores, grocery stores, etc. Some airport terminals may also sell lottery tickets.

You can also order tickets online Jackpocket, USA TODAY Network’s official digital lottery delivery companythese states and territories of the United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Washington DC, and West Virginia. The Jackpocket app allows you to select your lottery games and numbers, place your order, view your tickets, and claim your winnings, all from your phone or home computer.

Jackpocket is the official digital lottery carrier of USA TODAY Network. Gannett may earn revenue from viewer referrals to the Jackpocket Service. Must be 18 years or older, 21 years or older in Arizona, 19 years or older in Nebraska. Not affiliated with any state lottery. Gambling problem? Call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY). 1-800-327-5050(MA); 1-877-MYLIMIT (OR); 1-800-981-0023 (PR); 1-800-GAMBLER (ALL OTHERS). visitjackpocket.com/tos Over the entire period.

Julia is a trends reporter for USA TODAY, covering scientific research and trending news. Connect with her on LinkedIn ×Instagram, TikTok: @juliamaigz or email jgomez@hannett.com.

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Contact us at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow us at X @fern_cerv_.

Sherone Moore, college football, Nobel Prize, interest rates, prices, inflation, ICE: Daily Briefing

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Sherone Moore, college football, Nobel Prize, interest rates, prices, inflation, ICE: Daily Briefing

I hope you’re doing well! Welcome to the daily briefing. Let’s take a closer look at the news:

Nicole Fallato brings you the news you need to know on Thursdays. We’re talking about updates after a fired Michigan coach was arrested, a Nobel Prize winner in disguise, and a nanny who was afraid of her MAGA boss.

What you need to know about fired University of Michigan coach Sherrone Moore

Former Michigan State football coach Sherone Moore was arrested Wednesday after being fired from her position after the university found “credible evidence” that he had “an inappropriate relationship with an employee.”

Police responded to the incident at 4:10 p.m. ET on Wednesday, about 30 minutes before the state of Michigan announced Moore’s firing, “for the purpose of investigating an alleged assault.”

Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel released a statement Wednesday confirming that Biff Poggi has been named interim head football coach, effective immediately. Moore just completed his second season at the helm of the Wolverines after Jim Harbaugh left to coach the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers after the 2023 national championship season.

Follow this developing story live on USA TODAY Sports.

More news you need to know right now

  • Red states turn negative toward Trump. President Donald Trump has lost support from voters in Ohio and Iowa, states considered Republican strongholds in the 2024 election, according to a new poll. Overall, President Trump’s approval rating is a net negative, but it has improved from last month’s steep drop.
  • Why are holiday tickets so expensive? It’s simple supply and demand, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating. The cheapest day to get a Christmas ticket is December 24th, with tickets averaging $40 cheaper than at any other time during the season.
  • Officials are working on school bus safety. Every day, thousands of drivers in the United States illegally pass stopped school buses. The industry is increasingly turning to surveillance cameras and artificial intelligence to solve this problem.

Let’s take a look

Nobel laureate attends ceremony in disguise

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Colina Machado has surfaced in Norway’s capital after slipping through 10 military checkpoints in Venezuela wearing a wig and disguise to arrive on a fishing boat bound for the Caribbean island of Curaçao. From there, Machado took a private jet to Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. This is Machado’s first public appearance since January.

I want to talk to you about something.

This nanny is a citizen, but her brother was deported and her job became unbearable.

The mother of the baby she was caring for questioned her citizenship. The nanny knew about her boss’s policies even though she had never discussed them. She saw her family wearing red “Make America Great Again” hats in public and found pro-Trump flags hanging inside their home. The nanny told her boss that she needed a few days off to support her family while her brother was detained. She told USA TODAY what happened next.

before going

Have feedback about the daily briefing? Email Nicole at NFallert@usatoday.com.

Employers fear ‘exorbitant’ costs as ACA tax credits end

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Employers fear ‘exorbitant’ costs as ACA tax credits end

Half of ACA tax credit users are small business owners and employees. Your credit is about to expire

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Krisa Ostenzo expects to withdraw money from her $401,000 to pay for her $1,500-a-month health insurance plan when the Affordable Care Act’s enhanced tax credits expire next year.

She and her husband operated an optometry office in rural Wisconsin for 35 years until his death a few months ago. With tax credits, they also paid $500 in premiums. Before the tax credit was created in 2021 to help more people buy insurance during the pandemic, it cost nearly $2,000 a month.

Ostenso, who is now working to downsize and sell the business without him, received a letter stating that without the enhanced credit, a plan that covered just her would cost $1,500 a month, with a $7,200 deductible.

“It’s insane,” she told USA TODAY. “Nothing else has increased costs like this.”

Approximately 22 million Americans will receive enhanced subsidies, lowering the cost of their ACA premiums. The subsidies will expire at the end of the year unless Congress takes action to reinstate them. If lawmakers don’t comply, premiums for the average recipient will more than double by 2026, according to KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group.

According to KFF, about half of the recipients are small business owners and employees like Mr. Ostenso, or are self-employed.

The public offering closes in mid-January, but consumers have until Dec. 15 to make a decision to start insurance in the new year, leaving little time for Congress to act.

The Senate is scheduled to vote Dec. 11 on a Democratic proposal to extend expiring tax credits for three years. It would need Republican support to reach the 60-vote threshold to avoid a filibuster, which is expected to fail.

Republicans also plan to vote on their own health care plan that does not extend any of the tax credit enhancements. Instead, it will deposit $1,000 to $1,500 into the health savings accounts of eligible consumers who purchase plans through the Marketplace.

The vote for the Democratic plan was due in part to the expiration of tax credits that Republicans promised to a handful of Democrats in November in exchange for aid to end the longest government shutdown in history.

The big picture of Obamacare

The Health Insurance Marketplace was created as part of the Affordable Care Act of 2010, often referred to as Obamacare, to allow people without access to Medicaid or employee-sponsored insurance to choose from a variety of high-quality health plans. The marketplace also offered financial assistance, such as tax credits and cost-sharing relief, based on users’ income.

The idea: Just as employer-based plans involve so many people that they can negotiate prices, more people participating lowers overall costs through market competition.

Democrats have long promoted the idea that the Affordable Care Act would give people more freedom to start businesses and become entrepreneurs without worrying about losing their health insurance. However, marketplace plans were less affordable for middle-income families who did not qualify for the initial tax credits.

Then-President Joe Biden signed a tax credit expansion in 2021 that resulted in record enrollment and historically low uninsured rates, according to KFF.

Katherine Hempstead, senior policy director at the health-focused nonprofit Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, said “that would be a really big deal” if the credit enhancement ends. “The importance of marketplaces for small businesses and the self-employed has really grown in recent years.”

In total, nearly 1 in 5 of the nation’s small business owners and self-employed people between the ages of 21 and 64 relied on the Affordable Care Act Marketplace for insurance coverage in 2022, according to the latest data available from the Treasury Department.

Hempstead expects there will be a ripple effect throughout the economy as people close their businesses or choose not to open one because health care costs are too high.

“I don’t think people are talking enough about the impact this is having on mainstream Main Street and how this is impacting job creation and other important, ripple benefits to the economic well-being of the community,” she says.

Andrew Volk, 42, of Portland, Maine, said he was comfortable taking the risk to open his own cocktail bar 12 years ago because of his access to affordable health insurance through the Marketplace. That safety benefit came a year later when her daughter had a complicated birth.

“My business wouldn’t exist without the ACA,” he said. It’s a common refrain he hears from other entrepreneurs, and he worries that without stronger tax credits, other entrepreneurs won’t be able to follow their passions.

“This is going to be a drag on the economy for years to come,” Bork said.

Republicans say tax credits are temporary

Congress originally created enhanced tax credits in 2021 to help Americans afford health insurance during the COVID-19 pandemic, and people rushed to take advantage of them.

The number of people buying insurance through the Marketplace has more than doubled since 2020. According to KFF, the majority of users live in states that voted for Trump in 2024, including Florida, Georgia and Texas.

According to KFF, about 92% of the 24.3 million Americans who use the marketplace receive some kind of subsidy. If Congress does not act and the credit expires at the end of 2025, out-of-pocket premiums would rise by more than 75% on average.

The enhanced tax credits increased the subsidies those eligible received and expanded eligibility to include those with incomes more than four times the federal poverty level. In 2025, that amount will be $62,600 for an individual and $124,800 for a family of four.

more: These people found their medical care at the center of the shutdown showdown

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that an additional 4.2 million people will be uninsured by 2034 if the expanded credit ends. Expanding the insurance premium tax credit would cost nearly $350 billion over the next 10 years, according to a study by the Congressional Budget Office.

According to KFF, up to 22 million Americans with ACA plans could see their monthly health insurance premiums jump 114% without the enhanced tax credits.

Republicans argue that the government should not subsidize health insurance for millions of Americans and that expanded tax credits are not permanent. Democrats are poised to use the midterm elections to slam Republicans for overseeing skyrocketing health insurance costs for poor and middle-class Americans.

return to work at work

Steve Gomez, 44, of Gilbert, Arizona, ran his own project management business for many years, and his wife had a job with employee-sponsored benefits.

“The deal was that I would make the money and she would benefit,” he told USA TODAY.

This was especially beneficial when my son Anthony required a heart transplant at six weeks old. Between the long hospital stay and the surgery, it would have cost millions of dollars without insurance.

Since then, his wife has also joined him and started working for herself. This allows us to be flexible with our children’s schedules and accommodate the medical needs of Anthony, who is now 10 years old. But whether it makes sense for her to return to a more rigorous company-based job because of the benefits is “in the back of our minds”.

The $2,900 gold plan offered next year by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona will no longer allow patients to have medical savings accounts and will take all of Anthony’s doctors out of network, including the only pediatric cardiologist in the Southwest, he said.

This means the family will have to incur huge medical costs, including an annual catheterization procedure to monitor Anthony’s heart function scheduled for January 7th.

Ostenso, 62, who lives in Wisconsin, is considering looking for a job just for insurance benefits until she becomes eligible for Medicare at age 65, but that idea doesn’t sit well with her.

“I’m not really crazy about the idea of ​​signing up to work 40 hours a week, even though I’ve been self-employed all my life,” she said.

How to keep poinsettias vibrant beyond the holidays

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How to keep poinsettias vibrant beyond the holidays

Approximately 70 million poinsettias are sold in the United States each year, making them one of the best-selling potted plants in the country.

Caring for poinsettias is not that difficult, but you need to understand some simple needs of poinsettias.

With proper care, poinsettias can be saved and bloom again every year. Here’s how to foster the health of your poinsettia plant, especially after the holidays.

How to choose the perfect poinsettia

By choosing healthy plants, you greatly increase your chances of growing a beautiful-looking poinsettia.

Plants with complete, undamaged, colored leaves (also called bracts) and rich, dark green foliage give the best results. According to Colorado State University, the longest-lasting plants are those with tightly closed, pollen-free flowers.

How to care for poinsettias during the holidays

With proper care, poinsettias can stay vibrant for several months. According to the University of Florida, poinsettias can maintain their color until March if the plants are not exposed to freezing temperatures.

To preserve your poinsettia’s color, you should keep it away from high-traffic areas to protect its delicate foliage. Try to keep it away from drafts, cold windows, heating vents, and fireplaces. They prefer temperatures between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

With proper care, poinsettias will continue to grow well into January and beyond. With consistent watering, indirect lighting, and stable temperature conditions, they can stay alive for months and even longer.

more: Why not get a real Christmas tree this year? How to choose and care

How the poinsettia became a symbol of the holiday

The Aztecs of Mexico were the first to cultivate poinsettias. This woody shrub or small tree is native to tropical regions of southern Mexico and Central America.

The brightly colored poinsettia was introduced to the United States in 1828 thanks to Joel Robert Poinsett, the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico, who brought the plant back to his native South Carolina and has since become an iconic part of seasonal decor.

Are poinsettias toxic to pets?

This plant may be mildly toxic to pets. According to the American Kennel Club, the dangers of these plants rarely have fatal or serious consequences. Poinsettia sap contains chemicals similar to detergents. Ingestion of large amounts of sap can cause vomiting, drooling, and possibly diarrhea. Poinsettias have low toxicity levels.

The plant may have gained notoriety in 1919, when the child of an Army officer reportedly died after eating part of a poinsettia, according to Harvard Health Publishing. It is unknown whether plants are the cause.

more: Happy Poliday! How to keep it festive with your furry family member

Sources Harvard Health Publishing, U.S. Botanical Garden, Gardeners.com, Oklahoma State University Extension, Michigan State University, Geological Society of America

Part of this article previously published on December 11, 2024

Trump’s bathroom ban could expand as transgender rollback gains momentum

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Trump’s bathroom ban could expand as transgender rollback gains momentum

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Leanne Withrow skips breakfast most workdays, eats a granola bar or spoonful of peanut butter for lunch, and tries to avoid drinking as much water as possible.

Withrow, a transgender civilian officer in the Illinois National Guard, follows this restrictive therapy to limit the number of times he goes to the bathroom at work.

No one raised concerns about her using women’s restrooms at National Guard facilities or federal buildings until President Donald Trump, in one of his first acts in office, issued an executive order recognizing only two genders, male and female, and directed federal agencies to ban transgender and intersex people from single-sex spaces that match their gender identity.

Withrow is currently suing, claiming the bathroom ban violates her civil rights. The proposed class action lawsuit seeks to represent all federal employees affected by this order.

“An executive order that micromanages the bathrooms used by government employees is discrimination, plain and simple, and must be stopped,” Michael Perloff, chief counsel at the ACLU in Washington, D.C., said in a statement.

Another lawsuit was filed last month by a transgender transportation security officer at Dulles International Airport. Daniel Mittereder accused the Department of Homeland Security of sex discrimination by banning transgender employees from security screening and access to Transportation Security Administration restrooms based on their gender identity.

In January, the Office of Personnel Management ordered federal agencies to ensure that restrooms and other “intimate spaces” are “designated by biological sex rather than gender identity.” The Justice Department did not respond to requests for comment.

These lawsuits are the first challenges to illegal sex discrimination against the Trump administration’s bathroom ban, and a showdown that could decide essential rights for transgender people in the workplace.

Whether employees have access to restrooms that match their gender identity is an unresolved legal issue at the national level.

“This issue is just beginning to move through the courts,” said Mark Girouard, an employment lawyer and business litigator at Nilan Johnson Lewis. “My sense is that the administration is hoping to take this issue to the Supreme Court and get a favorable ruling.”

Work, prayer, litigation? President Trump calls for greater religious freedom in the workplace

Toilets are a ‘powerful political tool’

How did the office bathroom, a mundane fixture of daily work life with its industrial metal cubicles and fluorescent lighting, become a major battleground in this country’s culture wars?

For generations, historian Neil J. Young said, toilets have been a proxy for political battles “on nearly every major issue in American life.”

From the Industrial Revolution to Jim Crow, he wrote in Politico, “Americans have used the toilet with deep anxiety about changing social norms and customs.”

Over the years, “toilets have proven to be an incredibly powerful political tool,” Young said.

Ladies’ rooms emerged in the 19th century as safe spaces as more women worked in factories. Massachusetts passed a law in 1887 requiring separate bathrooms for men and women. It was the first in a series of state laws rooted in the “separate sphere” ideology that women working outside the home needed protection, and safety concerns remain pervasive and controversial.

Trump has made these concerns a key part of his platform during his 2024 presidential campaign. Now, his administration is using federal power to overturn what it claims are liberal gender policies.

A study by UCLA’s Williams Institute found no evidence that allowing transgender people access to bathrooms consistent with their gender identity jeopardizes their safety and privacy. Rather, said Jody Herman, a public policy researcher at the Williams Institute, “if transgender people are forced to use the restroom according to their assigned gender at birth, they will be at increased risk of further harm.”

Anti-trans movement hotspots

In recent years, bills challenging civil rights gains for LGBTQ+ Americans have swept through red state legislatures across the country. In 2016, North Carolina became a hub for the movement, passing a bill known as the “bathroom bill.” According to the Movement Advancement Project, one in three transgender people currently live in states with some type of bathroom restriction.

After campaigning against what he called “transgender insanity,” Trump issued a directive during his second term restricting the rights of people who identify as transgender, including in the workplace.

Andrea Lucas, chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said her top priority is to “protect the biological and binary realities of sex-related rights, including women’s right to access same-sex spaces in the workplace.”

The Justice Department warned that “federally funded agencies” that allow men who identify as women access to same-sex spaces risk “compromising the privacy, safety, and equal opportunity of women and girls” and creating a hostile work environment.

He also pledged to protect religious freedom. This week, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against a Virginia county school board for allowing a transgender student to use a locker room that corresponds to his gender identity and punishing two Christian students who complained. This is the latest in a series of lawsuits over gender identity policies in schools across the country.

“Loudoun County’s decision to promote and advance gender ideology tramples on the rights of religious students who cannot accept ideas that deny biological reality,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in a statement.

The commission has previously said denying children access to the bathroom of the gender they identify runs afoul of federal court precedent.

Bathroom access is an unresolved legal issue

For more than a decade, the EEOC has maintained that discrimination based on an employee’s transgender identity is illegal. And in 2020, the Supreme Court extended federal workplace protections to LGBTQ+ employees, ruling that discrimination based on transgender status “inevitably involves discrimination on the basis of sex.”

But siding with three employees who were fired because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, the country’s top court said it did not address “toilets, changing rooms, or anything like that.”

“Whether other policies or practices constitute unlawful discrimination is a matter for future litigation,” Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote.

During the Biden administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued guidance stating that unlawful harassment in the workplace includes denying access to restrooms and other gender-segregated facilities based on a person’s gender identity.

Some courts agreed, but in May a federal judge in Texas watered down the guidance, saying the EEOC exceeded its statutory authority to “define discriminatory harassment as not accommodating a transgender employee’s bathroom, pronoun, or clothing preferences.”

After the ruling, the EEOC revised its enforcement guidelines. Former EEOC and Labor Department officials who served in several presidential administrations and formed a group called EEO Leaders criticized the move to “cover up” any references to harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Although the Supreme Court took no position on these issues, they said, “It is a gross misreading of the decision to claim that the court’s silence on these specific issues means that all harassment based on sexual orientation or gender identity is not prohibited discrimination.”

Still, lawyers expect the EEOC to rescind the guidance. Additionally, the Trump administration may seek to extend the bathroom ban to the private sector.

If the government’s bathroom rules extend to the private sector, they will affect about 2.1 million transgender adults in the country, less than 1% of the population.

“This year’s executive order focuses on transgender issues, and with Republican majorities in the House and Senate, this issue could gain attention in Congress,” said Christy Keeley, an employment attorney at Seyfarth Shaw.

What are your toilet rights?

Most employers prohibit harassment based on gender identity and strive to create an inclusive environment for transgender employees. Lawyers say they are now faced with the conundrum of whether transgender individuals have the right to use the restroom of their choice, or whether there are co-workers who object to that when deciding which employees to admit.

It is an open question whether employers “can or should restrict access to restrooms and locker rooms based on biological sex,” the law firm of Jackson Lewis recently told clients.

“Employers are left guessing and trying to adjust the balance of rights,” said Nonie Shivers, an employment lawyer at Ogletree Deakins. “We’re going to have these concerns. What should we tell people? We have an obligation to provide safe restroom access for everyone.”

Further complicating matters for employers, lawyers say, is the patchwork of state laws and city and town ordinances regulating restroom use across the country.

According to the Advocacy Project, 20 states have laws banning transgender people from using restrooms and other facilities. In 2025, nine states will pass new laws or expand existing laws. But executive director Naomi Goldberg said many states have laws that protect LGBTQ+ employees and access to “critical services.”

“Multi-jurisdictional employers face a very fine line in making business decisions about how to address this thorny issue,” said Susan Desmond, an employment lawyer at McGlinchey Stafford.

Powell said the Fed is committed to achieving affordability. Will lower interest rates help?

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Powell said the Fed is committed to achieving affordability. Will lower interest rates help?

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WASHINGTON – As consumers focus on affordability ahead of the holiday season, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said he is hearing Americans’ concerns about rising costs “loud and clear.”

Still, the Federal Open Market Committee was divided, and on Dec. 10 ordered the benchmark federal funds rate cut by another quarter of a percentage point to a range of 3.5% to 3.75%. The aim is to prevent further cooling of the labor market. But lower borrowing costs could lead to higher spending, higher demand, and possibly higher prices.

“Affordability” has become the watchword of the moment, shaping a political movement and a centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s transcontinental career, which began on December 9th. Research suggests that deep-rooted concerns about affordability shape daily decision-making for many people. A poll from the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank shared exclusively with USA TODAY, found that some Americans are skipping medical care and meals and dipping into their savings to pay for basic necessities.

In a news conference after two days of central bank meetings, Powell said consumers are facing “very high” costs and that the Fed is “working hard” to make life more affordable for Americans.

“A lot of it is not the current rate of inflation. A lot of it is just embedded in the higher costs of higher inflation in 2022 and 2023,” Powell said, adding that annual inflation, excluding tariff costs, is already hovering around the Fed’s 2% target. “The best thing we can do is get inflation back to our 2% target. Our policy is aimed at that, but it’s also aimed at having a strong economy with rising real wages.”

Powell said December’s rate cut marks a shift from restrictive to neutral policy, meaning interest rates are no longer intended to slow or stimulate the economy.

more: Will the Fed cut rates again? What to expect before the December meeting

Division continues as there is no risk-free path

Not everyone was in favor of the cuts. “There is no risk-free path” to policy, Powell said, a sentiment he shared in October.

“Different views on various labor market indicators, the impact of tariffs, and more have led to more negative votes than we’ve seen in decades,” Indeed economist Cory Stahl said in a note.

Stephen Milan, who President Trump recently appointed to the Fed board, continued to voice his opposition and supported a 0.5 point rate cut. In response to the quarter-point cut on Dec. 10, President Trump said the cut “could have been twice as large.”

Two other members, Austan Goolsby and Jeffrey Schmidt, wanted to keep interest rates on hold, warning that potential inflationary pressures from tariffs should not be ignored.

For Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, such opposition was not surprising.

“Given the lack of recent economic data and the wide disparity in estimates of the neutral rate, it is difficult to imagine the level of confidence in the economy that would lead to a unanimous Fed vote,” Shah said in a note.

How interest rate cuts affect your wallet

David Stubbs, chief investment strategist at AlphaCore Wealth Advisory, said the Fed’s quarter-point interest rate cut doesn’t mean much to Americans who want to reduce the cost of living.

He said the move won’t significantly change home affordability or lower housing costs, given that mortgages are driven by long-term interest rates, which are outside the Fed’s control.

“The housing market is facing very significant challenges, and I don’t know if a 25 basis point cut in the federal funds rate will make a big difference for people,” Powell said, adding that the U.S. is in short supply of housing and that moving will be expensive for people who took out low-interest mortgages during the pandemic.

Still, lower interest rates should mean lower borrowing costs. Stubbs said consumers with variable-rate debt, such as auto loans, are likely to see their interest rates fall. He added that savers could receive lower interest rates on short-term bond investments.

The Fed’s decision is aimed at preventing further cooling of the job market, but Ryan Sweet, chief global economist at Oxford Economics, is not confident the Fed will be able to support the labor market “because of what’s bothering the labor market.”

“A rate cut is unlikely to significantly increase the employment rate, which has been depressed by overemployment, strong productivity growth, policy uncertainty, more people holding multiple jobs, and less immigration,” Sweet said in a note. “Monetary policy cannot solve many of these problems.”

What to expect from the Fed in 2026

The Fed’s dotplot, which maps what policymakers think interest rates will be in the future, shows that the median expectation among its members is for just one quarter-point rate cut in 2026.

But Bill Adams, Comerica Bank’s chief economist, said the December dotplot could reveal a “less than normal” outlook for interest rates for two reasons.

“First, they know less than usual about the current state of the economy because the government shutdown has delayed the release of economic data,” Adams said in a memo. “Second, the Fed’s guidance does not take into account how the Fed’s approach might change after Chairman Powell’s term ends in May.”

Nevertheless, Stubbs said the division of opinion among members suggests the hurdles for further rate cuts next year are high.

“These growing disagreements place a lot of focus on the next January meeting and the ability of a future Fed chair to garner support,” Bankrate financial analyst Stephen Cates said in a note.

Sweet added that he expects the Fed may want to hold off on changing the federal funds rate for a while, given the economic impact of this and the previous two rate cuts.

Contact Rachel Barber rbarber@usatoday.com X Follow her at @rachelbarber_

401(k) changes every worker should know about in 2026

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401(k) changes every worker should know about in 2026

The rules for these employer-sponsored retirement plans have again been adjusted slightly to reflect inflation.

Kylie Hagen, CFP
|The Motley Fool

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You may think you already know everything there is to know about how a 401(k) works. After all, the premise of such an account is quite simple. You choose to contribute a percentage of each paycheck, and that money is invested in a fund of your choice. You can write off your contributions for the year you file your tax return (unless you use a Roth account), and your money will grow tax-free until you withdraw it, perhaps in retirement.

These basics remain the same from year to year, but other rules may change from year to year. Here are three of the most important updates coming to employees in 2026.

1. Increase in contribution limits

The government reviews 401(k) contribution limits annually to decide whether to increase them, and they are expected to increase next year. The limit depends on your age at the end of 2026. Here’s how your 401(k) limits will compare in 2025 and 2026:

year

2025 401(k) contribution limits

2026 401(k) contribution limit

Under 50 years old

$23,500

$24,500

50-59 years old or 64 years or older

$31,000

$32,500

60～63

$34,750

$35,750

Source: IRS.

The additional $8,000 that individuals aged 50 to 59 or 64 and older can save and the additional $11,250 that individuals aged 60 to 63 can save are known as catch-up contributions. These are intended to help workers make up for lost time who may not have saved enough for retirement when they were younger.

These limits apply to your combined traditional and Roth 401(k) contributions for the year. So, for example, if you’re under 50 and contribute $14,500 to a traditional 401(k) next year, you can only put up to $10,000 into a Roth 401(k).

These limits are higher than most workers can reach. But high-income earners will appreciate the opportunity to stash more money in tax-advantaged investment accounts. If you plan to max out your account, calculate what percentage of your salary you need to contribute by dividing the applicable limit by the number of pay periods in 2026. Then, check back from time to time throughout the year to make sure you haven’t accidentally exceeded your annual contribution limit.

2. Increase in the annual addition limit

The government also sets annual additional limits that dictate the maximum total amount you and your employer can contribute to your 401(k). $70,000 in 2025, increasing to $72,000 in 2026. So, for example, if you’re under 50 and max out your 401(k) next year, your employer can only contribute up to $47,500 on your behalf.

Older workers should note that catch-up contributions do not count towards the annual additional limit. So, if you’re between 50 and 59, your actual annual additional limit is $80,000 after factoring in your $8,000 catch-up contribution in 2026.

3. Change in annual compensation limit

The annual compensation limit determines the amount of annual compensation that an employer takes into account when calculating the maximum 401(k) match. In 2025, the limit is $350,000 and increases to $360,000 in 2026. This could allow high-income earners to collect an even larger 401(k) match in 2026.

Check with your employer for additional changes to your plan

The changes described above are being made at the federal level and apply to all 401(k) plans, but additional changes may be made to plans. For example, the Company may adopt, discontinue, or modify its 401(k) matching program. Or they may start offering a different set of investment options.

Your employer must notify you if these changes occur. Take the time to understand the implications and make any necessary adjustments, such as increasing your contributions or choosing new investment options, to stay on track to reach your retirement goals.

The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The Motley Fool is a USA TODAY content partner providing financial news, analysis and commentary designed to help people take control of their financial lives. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.

The $23,760 Social Security bonus that most retirees completely overlook

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One Easy Trick Could Pay You Up to $23,760…Every year! By learning how to make the most of your Social Security benefits, we think you can retire confidently with the peace of mind we all desire. participate stock advisor To learn more about these strategies,

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Trump mocks ‘affordability’, but new poll paints a dire picture of the economy

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Trump mocks ‘affordability’, but new poll paints a dire picture of the economy

As President Trump mocks the term “affordability,” a new poll finds Americans are making huge sacrifices to maintain the cost of living.

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MOUNT POCONO, Pa. – As President Donald Trump touts economic recovery and downplays affordability concerns, the latest polls show most Americans aren’t seeing any improvement and some are making huge sacrifices to save money.

The results of a poll released Dec. 11 by the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank, shared exclusively with USA TODAY show that rising prices are hitting American families hard, with the working class bearing the brunt of what the group calls the “price crisis.”

Nearly three in 10 voters surveyed said they had refrained from seeking medical care in the past year because of cost. One third said they had skipped a meal. Two-thirds of respondents said they were buying cheaper food or buying less food, and half said they were dipping into savings to cover basic expenses.

more: Trump’s economy could become an electoral liability. Will it sell on PA trips?

Polls show that Americans without a college degree, younger Americans, people of color, and women feel the cost of living hardship the most.

Less than a year after the 2026 midterm elections, the Century Foundation briefed several Democratic members of Congress on the poll results to counter President Trump’s claims that affordability concerns amplified by Democrats are a “fraud” and “Democrat fraud.”

President Trump blamed former President Joe Biden for Americans’ housing affordability challenges, emphasizing that costs have fallen from post-pandemic highs under his predecessor.

more: President Trump: “Affordability is a scam by Democrats”

As the White House insists a stronger economy will emerge in 2026, President Trump this week claimed that “inflation is essentially eliminated” and gave the U.S. economy an “A-plus-plus-plus-plus” rating. But year-over-year inflation remains above pre-pandemic levels, and polls found that two-thirds of Americans think the economy is not doing well. This includes the 43% of Americans who voted for Trump in the 2025 election.

“People are communicating to us in all kinds of ways the economic pain they’re feeling in their lives,” said Angela Hanks, director of policy programs at the Century Foundation. “You can downplay it, but it doesn’t change how people experience the economy.”

Americans are less optimistic than Trump about economic recovery

The poll, conducted by Democratic polling firm GQR among 1,425 registered voters from Oct. 14 to Oct. 24, does not have historical comparative data to assess current affordability challenges versus those of the Biden presidency.

Democrats have used “affordability” as an underlying campaign message as they performed well in elections across the country, en route to double-digit wins in off-year gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia. Democrats hope to regain control of the House and Senate during the final two years of President Trump’s White House and are poised to double down on affordability policies in the 2026 midterm elections.

To mark his return to the road, President Trump visited Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania on Dec. 9, kicking off a tour aimed at addressing the economic concerns of ordinary Americans. In a 95-minute speech inside a casino ballroom, President Trump unleashed his biggest attacks and complaints, claiming that prices are trending down. He derided “affordability” as a campaign issue invented by Democrats and said they were to blame for soaring prices under the Biden administration.

more: ‘Punches customers in the face’ Farm concerns over President Trump’s tariffs could fuel 2026 election

“They have a new word. You know, they always have hoaxes. The new word is ‘affordable.’ So they go on camera and say, “This election is all about affordability,” Trump said.

President Trump later added, “I agree that the prices are too high, so I can’t call it the ‘affordability hoax.'” “So you can’t say ‘make it up’ because they’ll misunderstand it. But they use the word affordable, and that’s the only word they have. They say ‘affordable.'” And everyone says, “Oh, that must mean Trump’s prices are high.” No, prices have dropped significantly. ”

more: President Trump slams ‘stupid people’, defends economic performance at Pennsylvania rally

But a Century Foundation poll suggests many Americans face a much bleaker economic picture.

  • 29% of registered voters said they had delayed or missed medical care in the past year. That includes 49% of voters under 30, 37% of Hispanic voters, and 32% of black voters.
  • 24% said they had delayed or not purchased medicines prescribed by their doctor.
  • 64% of poll respondents said they had switched to cheaper groceries or cut back on their grocery purchases. That includes 79% of voters under 30, 74% of black voters, 72% of women, and 71% of Hispanic voters.
  • Thirty-four percent of registered voters said they had skipped a meal to save money, including 54% of voters under 30, 44% of black voters, 41% of Hispanic voters, and 39% of women.
  • Forty-eight percent of poll respondents said they use savings to cover everyday expenses, including 59% of voters under 30, 57% of Hispanic voters, 55% of Black voters and 52% of women.

Polls show Americans are also less optimistic than the president about improving conditions, with 82% of Americans expecting prices to rise in the next few years. The poll was conducted before the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline fell below $3 in December for the first time in four years.

Melissa Halstead, a Trump supporter from East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, who watched the president’s speech, called Trump “one of the best presidents we’ve ever had” and praised him for lowering gas prices. But even this Trump supporter added, “I wish house prices would go down and interest rates would go down a little bit. The cost of living here is just astronomical.”

Keith Transue, 51, owner of a trucking and logistics company in Mount Pocono, said he is encouraged by cheaper gas at the pump and believes costs will no longer “rise as quickly as they did in the past.” Still, spending is still on the rise, he said.

“I don’t think the momentum is stopping. I think the momentum is slowing,” Transu said just before Trump began his speech.

The working class feels the burden of living the most.

Trump defeated Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election after calling for immediate price cuts. But the president has struggled to deliver on that promise, with steep tariffs on imports and a refusal to support an extension of expired Obamacare subsidies, giving Democrats the blame for increasing the cost of his policies.

more: Poll: President Trump loses faith in economy as 100th day approaches

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said of the poll, “This evidence suggests that the real ‘con artist’ is Donald Trump, who promised to cut costs on ‘Day 1.'” “While President Trump focuses on building a golden ball for himself and his corporate donors, workers are skipping meals, delaying medical care, and falling behind on utility bills.”

Following the poll results, White House Press Secretary Khush Desai told USA TODAY, “President Trump and all members of his administration are fully aware of how Joe Biden’s generational inflation crisis has left American families behind. Turning the page on the Biden disaster was a first-day priority for the Trump administration.”

Polls show that working-class voters without college degrees, who have long formed Mr. Trump’s political base, are the most likely to feel the affordability burden.

They were more likely than college-educated voters (41% vs. 23%) to say they had skipped a meal, foregone medical care (34% vs. 21%), cut back on medication purchases (30% vs. 14%), or tapped into savings (54% vs. 36%). Furthermore, 42% of working-class Americans without a college degree say they have paid a bill late in the past year, compared to 23% of Americans with a college education.

As a result, the poll found that working-class voters were more likely to choose riskier “buy now, pay later” payment mechanisms to spread out purchases and payday loans (19% vs. 10%) than college-educated voters (36% vs. 24%).

“In effect, working-class people are the ones who need these risky, expensive financing tools to pay their bills, while also being the ones least able to afford these risky, expensive options in the long run,” the Century Foundation said in a report on its findings.

The working class is also likely to accuse corporations and the wealthy of economically “rigging the system.” For example, 31% of working-class voters say health insurance companies denying treatments prescribed by doctors is a big problem, compared with 20% of college-educated voters.

However, polls showed that both groups expressed support for policies aimed at cutting costs for businesses.

Among them, 88% of respondents expressed support for banning health insurance companies from denying treatment recommended by doctors, 86% said they supported banning corporate money in politics, and 84% said they supported banning Wall Street banks and hedge funds from purchasing single-family homes.

“People aren’t just hurting, they’re angry about it,” said Julie Margetta Morgan, president of the Century Foundation. “They want accountability, and I think we’ll see how that plays out in the election. People want a relentless focus on lowering prices, but that message is better received by actually identifying who is in charge.”

more: Fueled by base anger, Democrats gear up for competitive 2026 primaries

The poll’s findings suggest that Democrats may implement economic populist policies targeting corporations and Wall Street in the 2026 midterm elections. This approach has long been embraced by the party’s left wing, but less so by moderate Democrats.

“Democrats have an opportunity to prove that we are the party that is fighting for the poor and the middle class,” said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., one of the Democrats briefed on the poll. “But we must be prepared to dismantle concentrated corporate power and return that power to the American people.”

Contributor: Max Augugliaro of Pocono Record

X Contact Joey Garrison at @joeygarrison.

Suspect in Kentucky State University shooting identified. 1 person died

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Suspect in Kentucky State University shooting identified. 1 person died

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The parent of a Kentucky State University student has been charged in connection with a shooting on campus that left one student dead and another seriously injured, police announced Tuesday.

Jacob Lee Byrd, 48, was formally charged with murder and first-degree assault, according to the Frankfort Police Department. The Evansville Courier & Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported earlier in the day that jail records show Byrd was arrested on preliminary charges.

Police said Byrd was on the Kentucky State University campus in Frankfort, Kentucky, on Dec. 9 when he fired shots at two victims near a dormitory. Two students were shot and transported to a local hospital by Frankfort Fire and EMS.

The gunman attacked children who were praying. Has America hit a new low?

One student, identified as Dejon Darrell Fox Jr., 19, of Indianapolis, died from his injuries at a hospital, police said. The other student remains in critical condition.

“Frankfort Police believe this is an isolated incident and there are no active safety concerns on campus at this time,” police said in a statement.

Police say the investigation into the shooting is still ongoing.

How did the Kentucky State University shooting happen?

Frankfort Police said they received a report of a shooting on campus around 3:10 p.m. local time on December 9. Kentucky Campus Police already had a suspect in custody when officers arrived on the scene around 3:14 p.m.

Two students suffered gunshot wounds and were taken to a local hospital, police said. According to the latest information from the university, one student has died and the other is in stable but serious condition.

According to Frankfort police, the incident occurred on the south side of campus near the residence halls.

University officials said the school is “in close contact” with the family and “providing all possible support.” Counseling and support services are also available for students, faculty and staff.

The university announced on Dec. 9 that it was canceling all classes, activities, and final exams for the remainder of the week. The school said, “Students can return to their home countries if they wish.”

December 12th was scheduled to be the last day of final exams before the university’s winter break. According to the school’s academic calendar, the first day of the spring semester is scheduled for January 12, 2026.

Who died in the shooting?

Frankfort Police Deputy Chief Scott Tracy confirmed on Dec. 10 that Fox, a student at Kentucky State University, was killed in the shooting.

Early on December 10, the Franklin County Coroner’s Office identified the deceased student as Fox. Fox was pronounced dead at 4:33 p.m. local time on Dec. 9 at Frankfort Regional Medical Center, county Coroner William Harrod said.

An autopsy will be performed on the morning of Dec. 10, and final results are expected within 14 to 16 weeks, Harrod said.

“The Frankfort Police Department extends its deepest condolences to Mr. Fox’s family and friends,” police said in a statement.

Frankfort police said the identity of the second victim is not being released at this time, but the victim remains in intensive care at the hospital.

Who is the suspect in the shooting?

Police have not released details about what led to the shooting or a possible motive. Police said Byrd is a resident of Evansville, Indiana, about 285 miles west of Frankfort.

Police said an investigation revealed that Byrd is the parent of a student at Kentucky State University. According to the arrest warrant, Byrd was involved in a “physical altercation” on campus during which he “grabbed a handgun and shot and killed two other people.”

Byrd is currently being held at the Franklin County Regional Jail, police said. He is scheduled to appear for an arraignment hearing on December 11th.

Who owns guns in the United States? For conservatives, the gender gap is narrowing.

“Senseless tragedy”

State and local officials said the shooting appears to be an isolated incident and there is no ongoing threat to the community.

“This was not a mass shooting or a random incident,” Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said in a video message posted on social media. “The suspected shooter is now in custody. So, while this was a frightening incident, there is no ongoing threat and we believe our family is safe.”

The governor asked Kentucky families to pray for the families of the victims and the Frankfort community.

During a press conference on December 9th, Kentucky State University President Kofi Akakpo called the incident a “senseless tragedy.”

“We are grieving the loss of one of our students. As a parent, I can’t imagine receiving the phone call I made to parents today,” Akakpo said. “Our students need prayers. Kentucky State University needs prayers.”

At a press conference on December 10, he added that he was in contact with the victim’s family and was visiting a second victim in the hospital. “I was there late last night and I went there again this morning and met the student,” he said.

Contributor: Michael Loria, USA TODAY

David Letterman calls President Trump ‘stupid’ during Jimmy Kimmel appearance

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David Letterman calls President Trump ‘stupid’ during Jimmy Kimmel appearance

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David Letterman thinks America’s late-night TV world is in good hands, considering his ongoing feud with President Donald Trump.

The TV talk show icon visited “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and praised the host during the Dec. 9 episode. “Are people aware of the fact that you’re the leader of the resistance?” he said to Kimmel. “Regardless of party or political ideology, if the leader of the free world is a fool, then the leader of the free world should anticipate and consider all the ridicule he will receive.”

President Trump celebrated the end of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and called for the firing of the “Late Night with Seth Meyers” host.

In September, ABC suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live” after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr threatened regulatory action against ABC and Disney after Kimmel joked about President Trump’s response to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Trump then suggested that Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon should be the next TV hosts.

“I’m so glad to be out of this mess, because people like you, people like Stephen, people like Seth are doing a great job of defending our democracy,” Letterman said.

Letterman also congratulated Kimmel on extending his one-year contract for ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” for another year.

Watch Jimmy Kimmel with Disney+ Bundle

What vices did Kimmel learn from Letterman?

Letterman is also an influence on Kimmel outside of comedy. “When I was about 15 years old, I started smoking cigars because I saw you smoking them,” Kimmel revealed during the conversation.

Letterman responded, “Well done, America!”

“Next Guest Needs No Introduction” Season 6 Guest

Letterman appeared on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” to promote Season 6 of his Netflix series “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman.”

The season will premiere on December 16th and consist of three episodes with guest appearances by Michael B. Jordan, Mr. Beast (Jimmy Donaldson), and Jason Bateman.

Watch David Letterman’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live”

Watch below as Letterman talks about hugging a chiseled Michael B. Jordan, the epic experience of smoking a cigar for the first time in over 20 years, and how he powerfully starred in a scene in Jason Bateman’s Netflix series Black Rabbit.

Contact Midwest Connect reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cjackson@usatodayco.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her at X.com: @cherylvjackson or Bluesky: @cherylvjackson.bsky.social.

Doughy Chocolate Chip Cookie packaging withdrawn due to salmonella concerns

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Doughy Chocolate Chip Cookie packaging withdrawn due to salmonella concerns

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Packages of edible chocolate chip cookie dough sold nationwide have been recalled due to possible salmonella contamination.

According to an enforcement report from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Doughy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough has been discontinued by its manufacturer, Hudson River Foods. The recall applies to 12-ounce packages with a best before date of July 4, 2026, and is ongoing.

I recall that this lawsuit was filed on November 20th, and on December 5th it was deemed a class that presented a reasonable probability of causing serious health harm or death.

No press release was issued regarding the recall. USA TODAY reached out to Hudson River Foods for comment on the recall on Dec. 10, but did not immediately receive a response.

Here’s what you need to know about the Doughy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough recall.

Track food recalls: See the latest products pulled from the USA TODAY recall database

Where was the recalled Doughy’s edible cookie dough sold?

The recalled cookie dough was sold in 15 states.

  • arizona
  • California
  • colorado
  • florida
  • illinois
  • maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • montana
  • new jersey
  • new york
  • north carolina
  • ohio
  • Oregon
  • pennsylvania
  • texas

Symptoms and treatment of salmonellosis

Salmonella is a bacterium that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, the frail and elderly, and people with weakened immune systems, according to the FDA. Signs of salmonella poisoning include:

  • Diarrhea that is bloody or that persists for more than 3 days without improvement
  • Diarrhea and fever greater than 102 degrees Fahrenheit
  • Excessive vomiting, especially if you can’t keep fluids down
  • Signs of dehydration, such as dry mouth and throat, less frequent peeing, and dizziness when standing up
  • stomach cramps

These symptoms most commonly occur between 6 hours and 6 days after exposure. Most people recover in four to seven days, but people with weakened immune systems, such as children under 5 and adults over 65, can experience more severe symptoms that require treatment and hospitalization.

Millions of cars speed past school buses, cries for help

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Millions of cars speed past school buses, cries for help

Every day, thousands of drivers in the United States illegally pass stopped school buses. Authorities are increasingly relying on surveillance cameras and artificial intelligence to solve the problem.

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WASHINGTON – In a packed conference room in the nation’s capital, dozens of people held their breath as video monitors showed the frighteningly common sight of a car speeding past children approaching a school bus.

“Terrible,” one person said as images of children hit by cars but not seriously injured appeared on the screen.

Some people looked away from the screen. Some people were holding back tears.

The clip was played during the first National School Bus Safety Summit on Dec. 10. The summit brought together hundreds of federal, state and local leaders, as well as safety and transportation experts, to discuss the epidemic of reckless drivers that endanger children across the country.

more: Thousands of school buses have a record of bad drivers. Tickets can be expensive.

Officials say thousands of drivers illegally pass school buses every day, despite flashing lights and stop arms. And with over 500,000 school buses on the road, millions of violations occur each year.

The illegal operation ended in tragedy.

In 2018, a driver in Rochester, Indiana, overtook a parked school bus and fatally struck a 9-year-old girl and her 6-year-old twin brother. This incident has led to reforms, with calls for tougher penalties for violators.

Self-driving cars have been in the spotlight lately, especially after a driverless Waymo taxi in Austin, Texas, was caught swerving around a stopped school bus at least 20 times, prompting a federal investigation and calls for the taxi service to be shut down.

Over the course of the one-day summit, policy leaders and safety experts discussed some of the enforcement tactics currently gaining attention across the country and ways to improve education about school bus safety.

The most popular enforcement tools are surveillance cameras and artificial intelligence.

A growing number of school buses nationwide are equipped with high-definition cameras and AI models specifically trained to record drivers who illegally pass stopped school buses.

The new wave of high-tech bus surveillance is being led by BusPatrol, the nation’s largest stop-arm camera provider. The company hosted the summit with support from nonprofit organizations Governors Highway Safety Association and Safe Kids Worldwide.

Since its launch in 2017, BusPatrol’s cameras have been installed on more than 40,000 school buses in nearly 20 states, and the for-profit company controls about 90% of the market share.

The company has installed cameras on one in 10 school buses nationwide, and is sounding the alarm on the problem of near misses between cars and schoolchildren, which it calls an “endemic” problem.

“This is the first time in history that we’ve had enough sensors in this country to really see how big a problem this is,” Justin Myers, Bus Patrol’s president and chief innovation officer, said in an interview with USA TODAY before the summit.

“The number of close calls that our cameras have captured is literally unfathomable,” he says. “The main reason we convened this summit…is a cry for help.”

How many drivers illegally passed school buses?

This year, the National Association of Pupil Transportation Services Officials released a survey of 114,000 school bus drivers asking them to report violations.

Drivers reported more than 67,000 illegal overtakings a day. The study projects across the entire school year and suggests more than 39 million violations occur annually.

The fines and harsh penalties drivers face for violations are becoming increasingly hefty, from $1,000 fines to license suspensions and points, resulting in an alarming number of violations.

For example, some states, such as Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, and Delaware, apply six demerit points to an offender’s driver’s license, which can lead to suspension, increased insurance premiums, and even loss of license.

If the driver causes injury or death, the penalties are even more severe, resulting in higher fines, felonies, and jail time.

Safety experts at the summit said more could be done to deter violations, including better tracking of repeat offenders and tougher penalties depending on the situation.

“We need a law that gradually changes the penalties when school buses are involved,” said Ohio appellate judge Kate Huffman.

School buses and educational inequality

Several panelists emphasized the role of education in curbing traffic violations.

“A lot of people don’t know what to do around school buses,” said Adam Jussi, automated enforcement supervisor for the Howard County Police Department in Maryland.

The county recently ran a messaging campaign explaining the responsibilities of drivers around stopped school buses, posting images on social media and attaching school bus safety instructions to residents’ water bills.

At the federal level, panelists praised the efforts of Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Rep. Todd Young (R-Ind.). This year, he introduced a bill that would direct the Department of Transportation to “develop and distribute a national public safety campaign about the dangers of illegally passing a stopped school bus.”

The bill, called “Brake for Kids,” is modeled after the famous “Click It or Ticket” campaign, which significantly increased awareness and compliance rates of seat belt safety.

However, not all bus programs are the same. In large cities like Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia, most children take public transportation or walk to school. Additionally, some areas do not provide bus service to students who live within a one-mile radius of the school.

Marisa Jones, managing director of the Safe Routes to School Partnership, a nonprofit that aims to make alternatives to school buses safer, said it’s essential for parents and educators to teach students how to ride safely as pedestrians and cyclists.

“We have to teach our children, and they have to learn safe behavior,” she said, adding that the “responsibility” lies with adults to make children’s journeys to school safer.

Role of surveillance cameras

In 2018, the National Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation after a fatal crash in Indiana that killed three children, and subsequently released a list of recommendations to prevent similar accidents from happening again.

One of the recommendations encouraged states to enact laws that would allow stop-arm cameras on school buses to identify violators and issue citations to them.

Since then, at least 24 states have passed such laws, allowing companies like BusPatrol to begin rolling out their technology across the country.

The results were promising. According to Bus Patrol, 90% of people who are ticketed after being identified by the company’s cameras do not reoffend.

“There are millions of reports where it works and the person never commits another violation,” Myers said, suggesting that automated enforcement “changes driver behavior permanently.”

Ubiquitous camera enforcement has led to safer driving habits than ever before. Consider speed cameras and red light cameras. Both have been shown to be effective in improving driver safety.

How does a stop arm camera work?

BusPatrol installs multiple 4K cameras on the front, back, and sides of school buses. The camera is only turned on when the bus is in operation and is connected to Ava, a proprietary AI trained to spot vehicles illegally moving around stopped buses.

When the software detects a potential breach, it stitches together relevant footage from all angles to create a 30-second evidence package.

The video is sent to the BusPatrol processor, who reviews the footage multiple times before sending the evidence to local law enforcement, who ultimately decide whether to issue a ticket.

The company doesn’t sell high-tech equipment to local governments. Instead, they rent out cameras and collect a portion of the money generated through tickets and fines issued by local police.

“We guarantee each community that taxpayers will never foot the bill,” Myers said. “This is a completely offender-funded program” – and it’s a program poised to continue to grow.

Several states, including New Jersey, Kentucky, and Ohio, are actively considering legislation that would allow storm arm camera technology on school buses.

Real-time violation pairs

Before the summit began, several officials toured first-hand some of the technology being installed on school buses across the country.

Shortly after 8 a.m., state and local officials, including D.C. Metropolitan Police Department Deputy Chief Carlos Heraudo, boarded a yellow school bus equipped with Bus Patrol cameras.

As Myers explained how the system monitors for violations, the driver circled several blocks in downtown Washington, D.C., not far from the White House.

The bus immediately slowed down and stopped. The driver turned on the flashing lights and deployed the stop arm.

Moments later, two cars wrapped around the back of the bus and sped down the road as staff watched through the windows.

Contributor: Phaedra Trethan

Powerball winning numbers for December 10th drawing: $930 million jackpot

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Powerball winning numbers for December 10th drawing: 0 million jackpot

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The Powerball jackpot rose to $930 million for the Wednesday, December 10th drawing after no one won the top prize on Monday, December 8th.

If the ticket matches all five numbers and the Powerball in the 11 p.m. ET drawing, the winner can opt for a one-time cash payment of $429 million before taxes.

2025 was a historic year for Powerball. Back in September, two tickets sold in Montana and Texas won the game’s second-largest jackpot in history, at an estimated $1.787 billion.

Here’s what you need to know about winning numbers.

more: As Powerball approaches $1 billion, these tools could give you an edge

Powerball winning numbers for December 10, 2025

The winning numbers for Wednesday, December 10th drawing are 10, 16, 29, 33, 69 and 22 for Powerball. The “power play” multiplier is 3x.

The lottery winning numbers sponsors are: Jackpocket is the official digital lottery carrier of the USA TODAY Network.

Has anyone won Powerball?

Powerball winners will be posted here as soon as they are announced by lottery officials.

To find a complete list of past Powerball winners, go to Click on the link to the lottery website.

When is the next Powerball drawing?

The next drawing will take place on Saturday, December 13th, just after 11:00 PM ET.

How to play Powerball

To play Powerball, you must purchase a $2 ticket. This can be done at a variety of locations, including local convenience stores, gas stations, and grocery stores. In some states, you can purchase Powerball tickets online.

Once you have your ticket, you have to choose six numbers. Five of them are white balls with numbers from 1 to 69. The red Powerball range is 1-26. You can also add a “Power Play” for $1, which increases your winnings on all non-jackpot prizes.

“Power Play” multipliers allow you to increase your winnings by 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, or 10x.

If you’re feeling unlucky or just want to let the computer do the work for you, you can take advantage of the “Quick Pick” option, where a computer-generated number is printed on your Powerball ticket. To win the jackpot, players must match all five white balls with the red Powerball in any order.

Powerball drawings are held on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday nights. The winnings continue to increase even if no one wins the jackpot.

Where to buy lottery tickets

Tickets can be purchased directly at gas stations, convenience stores, and grocery stores. Some airport terminals may also sell lottery tickets.

You can also order tickets online Jackpocket, USA TODAY Network’s official digital lottery delivery companythese states and territories of the United States: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Washington DC, and West Virginia. The Jackpocket app allows you to choose your lottery games and numbers, place your order, check your tickets, and claim your winnings, all using your phone or home computer.

Jackpocket is the official digital lottery carrier of USA TODAY Network. Gannett may earn revenue from viewer referrals to the Jackpocket Service. Must be 18 years or older, 21 years or older in Arizona, 19 years or older in Nebraska. Not affiliated with any state lottery. Gambling problem? Call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY). 1-800-327-5050(MA); 1-877-MYLIMIT (OR); 1-800-981-0023 (PR); 1-800-GAMBLER (ALL OTHERS). visit jackpocket.com/tos Over the entire period.

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Contact us at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow us at X @fern_cerv_.

Sherone Moore arrested, suspect in assault investigation after Michigan shooting

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Sherone Moore arrested, suspect in assault investigation after Michigan shooting

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Former Michigan State football coach Sherone Moore, who was fired on Dec. 10, was arrested hours after her firing.

Moore was taken into custody at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 10, and booked into the Washtenaw County Jail in Michigan, according to online court records. As of 10:30 p.m. ET, Moore remained in custody and no charges were listed against him.

Police in Pittsfield Township, which is located just south of Ann Arbor and where the University of Michigan is located, said in a statement that they were called to the scene at 4:10 p.m. local time “to investigate an alleged assault.” Pittsfield police said one suspect in the incident was taken into custody, but did not release the suspect’s name.

“This incident does not appear to be random in nature and there appears to be no ongoing threat to the community,” the statement said. “The suspect is being held at the Washtenaw County Jail pending review of the charges by the Washtenaw County Prosecutor. The investigation is ongoing at this time.”

Police responded to the incident at 4:10 p.m. ET, about 30 minutes before Michigan State announced it had fired Moore.

News of the arrest came after ESPN reported that Moore was taken into custody and turned over to Pittsfield Township Police.

Moore was fired for cause. Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said in a statement that the university’s investigation found “credible evidence” that “Coach Moore had an inappropriate relationship with a staff member.”

Moore just completed his second season at the helm of the Wolverines after Jim Harbaugh left to coach the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers after the 2023 national championship-winning season. Moore was an assistant on Harbaugh’s staff when he was involved in the program’s sign-stealing scandal, which resulted in Moore being suspended for three games (two in 2025 and one more in 2026).

Officials are prohibited from releasing further details, adding that further details about the incident “will be released as soon as permitted.”

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