Carolina's Greatest Hits

Reigning Stanley Cup champion Panthers get second shot at closing out Hurricanes in Eastern final

By AARON BEARD AP Sports Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Florida Panthers missed on their first chance to eliminate the Carolina Hurricanes and return to the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight year.

Closing out a playoff series isn’t easy, even for the reigning Cup champions.

The Panthers are just 4-7 in series-clinching games over the past two seasons entering Wednesday night’s visit to Carolina for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final. That includes Monday’s 3-0 home loss with a chance to sweep the Hurricanes in this round for the second time in three seasons.

Florida is 1-2 in closeout games this year, losing at home to Toronto in Game 6 of a second-round series before winning Game 7 on the road. It is trying to become the ninth franchises in NHL history to reach the Stanley Cup Final in three or more consecutive seasons.

The Hurricanes’ season-extending win in Game 4 ended a 15-game losing streak in a conference final, a run going back to sweeps in 2009, 2019 and the 2023 loss to Florida.

Trailing 3-1 in this best-of-seven series, Carolina had tied for the NHL lead with 31 regular-season home wins, then went 5-0 in two playoff rounds. But Florida won Games 1 and 2 in Raleigh by a combined 10-2 score, earning its fourth consecutive road win of this postseason and seventh overall.

Cheesy Beef Artichoke Dip

Photo Courtesy of BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com

Cheesy Beef Artichoke Dip Recipe from Beef It’s What’s For Dinner

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 20-30 minutes

Serving size: 10 servings

Ingredients

12 ounces Cooked (or Leftover) Beef Pot Roast, chopped
1 (12oz) can artichoke hearts, drained
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoon granulated garlic
3/4 cup reduced-fat dairy sour cream
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 cup reduced-fat mozzarella cheese
5 ounces fresh spinach, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F. In a large bowl mix together cream cheese, sour cream, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, pepper, and garlic. Once smooth add in spinach, chopped Beef, and artichoke hearts; combine.
Coat a 9 X 9 baking dish with non-stick spray. Place mixture into baking dish and bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until mixture is bubbling and golden brown. Serve warm along side fresh vegetables and tortilla chips.

Trump administration sues North Carolina over its voter registration records

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Trump administration accused North Carolina’s election board on Tuesday of violating federal law by failing to ensure voter registration records of some applicants contained identifying numbers.

The Justice Department sued in federal court also asking a judge to force board officials to create a prompt method to obtain such numbers.

The department alleges that the state and the board aren’t complying with the 2002 Help America Vote Act after board officials provided a statewide voter registration form that didn’t make clear an applicant must provide either a driver’s license number or the last four digits of a Social Security number. If an applicant lacks neither, the state must assign the person another unique number.

A previous edition of the state board, in which Democrats held a majority, acknowledged the problem in late 2023 after a voter complained. The board updated the form but declined to contact people who had registered to vote since 2004 in time for the 2024 elections so they could fill in the missing numbers.

According to the lawsuit, the board indicated that such information would be accumulated on an ad hoc basis as voters appeared at polling places. It’s unclear exactly how many voters’ records still lack identifying numbers.

Lawyers from the department’s Civil Rights Division contend the board must act more aggressively. They want a judge to give the state 30 days to develop a plan to contact voters with records that don’t comply with federal law, obtain an identifying number for each and add that to the electronic list.

The litigation follows similar efforts by the Republican Party and a state GOP candidate to address the registration records for the 2024 election.

The lawsuit also referred to President Donald Trump’s broad executive order on elections in March to “guard against illegal voting, unlawful discrimination, and other forms of fraud, error, or suspicion.”

“Accurate voter registration rolls are critical to ensure that elections in North Carolina are conducted fairly, accurately, and without fraud,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said in a press release. “The Department of Justice will not hesitate to file suit against jurisdictions that maintain inaccurate voter registration rolls in violation of federal voting laws.”

This month, the board’s composition changed to reflect a 2024 law approved by the GOP-dominated General Assembly that shifted the board’s appointment powers from the now-Democratic governor to Republican State Auditor Dave Boliek. A previous 3-2 Democratic majority is now a 3-2 Republican majority.

The new iteration of the board sounds open to embrace the Justice Department’s wishes.

Executive Director Sam Hayes said late Tuesday the lawsuit was being reviewed, “but the failure to collect the information required by HAVA has been well documented. Rest assured that I am committed to bringing North Carolina into compliance with federal law.”

Local elections start in September.

The state and national GOP last year sued over the lack of identifying numbers, which they estimated could have affected 225,000 registrants. But federal judges declined to make changes so close to the general election.

The issue also was litigated after Election Day as part of formal protests filed by the Republican candidate for a seat on the state Supreme Court who challenged about 60,000 ballots he contended were cast by registrants whose records failed to contain one of the two identifying numbers.

The election board said earlier this year at least roughly half of those voters actually did provide an identifying number.

State appeals courts criticized the board’s handling of the registration records but ultimately ruled the challenged ballots had to remain in the final election tally. Democratic Associate Justice Allison Riggs defeated Republican challenger Jefferson Griffin by 734 votes out of over 5.5 million ballots cast.

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This story has been updated to corrected that the Help America Vote Act was passed in 2002, not 2003.

S&P 500 rallies 2% as Wall Street’s roller-coaster ride whips back upward after Trump delays tariffs

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street’s roller-coaster ride created by President Donald Trump’s trade policies whipped back upward on Tuesday, this time because of a delay for his tariffs on the European Union.

The S&P 500 leaped 2% in its first trading since Trump said Sunday that the United States will delay a 50% tariff on goods coming from the European Union until July 9 from June 1. The European Union’s chief trade negotiator later said on Monday that he had “good calls” with Trump officials and the EU was “fully committed” to reaching a trade deal by July 9.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 740 points, or 1.8%, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 2.5%. They more than recovered their losses from Friday, when Wall Street’s roller coaster dropped after Trump announced the tariffs on France, Germany and the other 25 countries represented by the European Union.

Such talks give hopes that the United States can reach a deal with one of its largest trading partners that would keep global commerce moving and avoid a possible recession. Trump declared a similar pause on his stiff tariffs for products coming from China earlier this month, which launched an even bigger rally on Wall Street at the time.

“We focus on actions over words,” Jean Boivin and other strategists at BlackRock Investment Institute said, “as economic constraints spur policy rollbacks.”

Caution still remains on Wall Street, of course, even if the S&P 500 has climbed back within 3.6% of its record after falling roughly 20% below the mark last month.

A worry is that all the uncertainty caused by on-again-off-again tariffs could damage the economy by pushing U.S. households and businesses to freeze their spending and investments. Surveys have already shown U.S. consumers are feeling worse about the economy’s prospects and where inflation may be heading because of tariffs.

On Tuesday, though, optimism ruled. The stock market’s gains accelerated after a report released by the Conference Board said confidence among U.S. consumers improved by more in May than economists expected.

It was the first increase in six months, and consumers’ expectations for income, business and the job market in the short term jumped sharply, though it still remains below the level that typically signals a recession ahead. About half the survey results came after Trump paused some of his tariffs on China.

The rise in confidence was widespread, covering different age and income groups, according to the Conference Board.

On Wall Street, Nvidia rallied 3.2% and was the strongest single force driving the S&P 500 higher ahead of its profit report coming on Wednesday. It’s the last to report this quarter among the “Magnificent Seven” Big Tech companies that have grown so large that their stock movements dominate the rest of the market.

Nvidia has been riding a tidal wave of growth created by the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology, but it is also facing criticism that its stock price has shot too high.

Informatica climbed 6% after Salesforce said it would buy the AI-powered cloud data management company in an all-stock deal valuing it at about $8 billion. Salesforce rose 1.5%.

They were part of widespread gains across the U.S. stock market, where 93% of the stocks within the S&P 500 rose.

One of the outliers was AutoZone, which fell 3.7% following a mixed report on its performance for the three months through May 10. Its profit fell short of analysts’ expectations, though its growth in revenue was stronger than expected.

CEO Phil Daniele said both its DIY and commercial businesses did well domestically, but shifting moves in foreign-currency values put pressure on the retailer’s operations outside the United States.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 118.72 points to 5,921.54. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 740.58 to 42,343.65, and the Nasdaq composite gained 461.96 to 19,199.16.

In the bond market, Treasury yields eased to take some of the pressure off the stock market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.44% from 4.51% late Friday. It had been rising last week, in part because of worries about the U.S. government’s rapidly increasing debt.

Yields had been climbing for bond markets around the developed world, particularly in Japan, where a recent auction of longer-term bonds found relatively few buyers. But analysts said worries eased a bit after Japan’s finance ministry sent a questionnaire to bond investors that they took as a signal of efforts to calm the market.

In stock markets abroad, European indexes mostly rose, while Asian indexes were mixed.

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AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.

US consumer confidence rebounds after five straight months of declines amid tariff anxiety

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans’ views of the economy improved in May after five straight months of declines sent consumer confidence to its lowest level since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, largely driven by anxiety over the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose 12.3 points in May to 98, up from April’s 85.7, its lowest reading since May 2020.

A measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for their income, business conditions and the job market jumped 17.4 points to 72.8, but remained below 80, which can signal a recession ahead.

The proportion of consumers surveyed saying they think a U.S. recession is coming in the next 12 months also declined from April.

Trump’s aggressive and unpredictable policies — including massive import taxes — have clouded the outlook for the economy and the job market, raising fears that the American economy is headed toward a recession.

However, Trump’s tariff pullbacks, pauses and negotiations with some trading partners may have calmed nerves for the time being.

“The rebound was already visible before the May 12 US-China trade deal but gained momentum afterwards,” said Stephanie Guichard, senior economist at The Conference Board.

Trump had initially imposed a stunning 145% tariff on most goods from China, but agreed to a 90-day pause for negotiations. The U.S. also came to an agreement with the U.K. earlier in May.

Over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, Trump and European Union leaders announced that the president’s 50% tariff on imports from the E.U., which he announced Friday, are on hold until July 9. That announcement would not have impacted the Board’s survey, which closed on May 19.

The Conference Board said the rebound in confidence this month was broad-based across all ages and income groups.

Consumers’ assessments of the present economic situation also improved, with the exception of their view on job availability, which weakened for the fifth straight month despite another strong U.S. jobs report.

However, less than 25% of respondents said they were worried about losing their jobs, compared with the 50% of respondents who said they were concerned about not being able to buy the things they need or want.

The Labor Department earlier this month reported that U.S. employers added a surprising 177,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate remained at a low 4.2%.

Write-in responses to the survey showed that tariffs are still consumers’ biggest concern. Inflation is also still weighing on their minds, though some noted that inflation seemed to be easing, along with gas prices.

Earlier in May, the Commerce Department reported that consumer prices rose just 2.3% in March from a year earlier, down from 2.7% in February. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 2.6% compared with a year ago, below February’s 3%. Economists track core prices because they typically provide a better read on where inflation is headed.

Gas prices have hovered around $3.17 per gallon this month, down from $3.59 a year ago, but up a few pennies from April.

The slowdown in inflation could be a temporary respite until the widespread duties imposed by Trump begin to push up prices in many categories. Most economists expect inflation to start ticking up in the coming months.

Robert Frick, an economist with Navy Federal Credit Union, said that while the tariff rollbacks may have boosted Americans’ confidence this month, that optimism may be fleeting.

“When prices start rising from existing tariffs in a month or two, it will be a sobering reminder that a new inflation fight has just begun,” Frick said.

The Board’s survey Tuesday also showed that Americans’ plans to spend on homes, cars and vacations also increased from April, with significant gains coming after the May 12 China tariff pause.

Hurricanes get another home-ice shot at Panthers with Game 5 in Eastern final

By AARON BEARD AP Sports Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — It’s one win in a series otherwise going resoundingly against them. The Carolina Hurricanes still face a long and improbable climb ahead against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

For now the reward from Monday’s sweep-averting road win is simply another chance to play at home in Wednesday night’s Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final.

“I don’t really think (mentality) changes if you’re up three or down three,” coach Rod Brind’Amour said Tuesday. “Like, what, are you going to try harder? Everybody’s trying their hardest and everybody wants to win that next game.”

Carolina’s 3-0 win Monday night staved off elimination while ending a nasty conference-final losing streak (15 games dating to 2009). But playing on means keeping fleeting hope alive, even against a tested and deep champion.

Florida swept Carolina in the 2023 Eastern final with four one-goal wins that gave the Hurricanes reason to feel they were in it the whole way. This had been anything but, starting with the 5-2 loss in Game 1 followed by a 5-0 romp that drew frustrated chants from a rowdy-turned-despondent home crowd.

In Saturday’s Game 3, Florida turned a 1-1 game entering the third into a 6-2 win that moved them within a win of the Cup final.

Getting to closeout opportunities is not new for the Panthers, who won nine of their first 10 series under Paul Maurice.

Also not new: letting the first chance (or three, in one case) at that closeout win slip away. Monday’s loss dropped Florida’s record in potential closeout games since the start of the 2023 playoffs to just 9-8.

It begged this question of Maurice: Do the Panthers learn from those missed chances?

“I don’t believe in it. I don’t believe in that idea at all,” Maurice said. “If it was just a learned thing, you’d be 16-0 every year. It’s just not real. We had won seven of eight playoff games going into (Monday) night. … They were better at their game than we were at our game. We’ve managed to not have that happen very often.”

That said, he is a big believer in learning. The tape Tuesday showed there was much to learn coming out of Game 4, and players knew lessons were coming.

That’s how the day went, and then it was off to the plane. Simple.

“The first four or five minutes I would call them names. I’m mindful of the hotline now so the names aren’t nearly as good as they used to be,” Maurice said. “Then I show them the video that attaches them to the names that I’ve called them, and then we’re going to do a bunch of video on something technical about where we’ve got to be better, where we can be better, so we can see it.”

(Lengthy) injury report

Florida’s Sam Reinhart, Niko Mikkola and A.J. Greer all missed Game 4 with injuries; all skated Tuesday and are expected to skate again Wednesday morning before determinations are made for Game 5.

Reinhart left Thursday’s Game 2 in the first period after a low hit by Carolina’s Sebastian Aho. Greer appeared to injure himself delivering a hit on Jordan Staal in Game 3, while Mikkola was shaken up after crashing hard into the boards — his right shoulder hitting first — that same night.

Carolina, meanwhile, started the series with defenseman Jalen Chatfield sidelined, while Sean Walker has missed the past two games since taking a jarring open-ice hit from Greer in Game 2. That’s left the Hurricanes without two of their top six blue-liners.

Young legs

There’s been at least one promising development for Carolina in the play of its youngsters, forward Logan Stankoven and defenseman Alexander Nikishin.

The 22-year-old Stankoven, the primary return in the Hurricanes’ deadline-deal pivot out of the Mikko Rantanen business, has scored in two straight games and is tied for second on the team with five playoff goals.

His Game 4 winner came off a nifty feed from the 23-year-old Nikishin, marking the first NHL point for a top blue-line prospect pressed into three playoff games for his first NHL action due to Carolina’s blue-line injuries.

Road vs. home success

Florida has seven road playoff wins, the past four coming by a combined score of 22-4 going back to matching 6-1 wins in Games 5 and 7 of the second-round series against Toronto.

Carolina had 31 home regular-season wins to tie the Los Angeles Kings for most in the league, then went 5-0 in two playoff rounds.

Staying alive

Carolina is 6-6 under Brind’Amour when facing elimination. That includes two wins last year after falling behind 3-0 against the New York Rangers in a six-game second-round series.

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AP Sports Writer Tim Reynolds in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, contributed to this report.

Stars are out for the Memorial and US Women’s Open goes to Erin Hills

PGA Tour

THE MEMORIAL

Site: Dublin, Ohio.

Course: Muirfield Village GC. Yardage: 7,569. Par: 72.

Prize money: $20 million. Winner’s share: $4 million.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 2-6 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday, 2-5:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 5:30-7 p.m. (CBS); Sunday, 1-2:30 p.m. (Golf Channel), 2:30-6:30 p.m. (CBS).

Defending champion: Scottie Scheffler.

FedEx Cup leader: Scottie Scheffler.

Last week: Ben Griffin won the Charles Schwab Challenge.

Notes: This is the sixth of seven signature events. … Jack Nicklaus is the host of a tournament that has a 36-hole cut for the 72-man field. The winner gets $4 million and a three-year exemption on the PGA Tour. … Rory McIlroy, who had lunch with Nicklaus and sought advice on winning the Masters, is skipping the tournament for the first time since 2017. This is the second signature event McIlroy is not playing. He is playing the RBC Canadian Open next week instead. … Scottie Scheffler is 0-for-4 as defending champion this year. … Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler have received sponsor exemption into every signature event except for Bay Hill. Exemptions also went to Matt Kuchar and newly appointed Presidents Cup captain Brandt Snedeker. … The tournament is back to its normal spot in the schedule. Last year it was held a week before the U.S. Open.

Next week: RBC Canadian Open.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/

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United States Golf Association

U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN

Site: Erin, Wisconsin.

Course: Erin Hills GC. Yardage: 6,829. Par: 72.

Prize money: $12 million. Winner’s share: $2.4 million.

Television: Thursday-Friday, noon to 6 p.m. (USA Network), 6-8 p.m. (Peacock); Saturday, 1-3 p.m. (Peacock), 3-6 p.m. (NBC); Sunday, 2-7 p.m. (NBC).

Defending champion: Yuka Saso.

Last year: Yuka Saso won her second U.S. Women’s Open title in four years when she rallied to win at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania.

Notes: The U.S. Women’s Open has the biggest purse to match the most prominent tournament in women’s golf. … Yuka Saso last year became the first U.S. Women’s Open champion to win under two flags — the Philippines in 2021 and Japan in 2024. … Nelly Korda last year made a 10 on her third hole at Lancaster and missed the cut. She has yet to win this year after winning seven times on tour in 2024. She remains No. 1 in the women’s world ranking. … Erin Hills hosted the U.S. Open in 2017 won by Brooks Koepka. This will be its fifth USGA championship since 2008. … The U.S. Women’s Open was last held in Wisconsin in 2012 when Na Yeon Choi won at Blackwolf Run. … A European has not won the U.S. Women’s Open since Annika Sorenstam in 2006. Celine Boutier of France is the highest-ranked European at No. 12. … The LPGA has not had a multiple winner this year in 12 tournaments.

Next year: Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles.

Online: https://www.uswomensopen.com/

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European Tour

AUSTRIAN ALPINE OPEN

Site: Salzburg, Austria.

Course: Gut Altentann GC. Yardage: 6,941. Par: 70.

Prize money: $2.75 million. Winner’s share: $458,333.

Television: Thursday-Friday, 6:30-10 a.m. (Golf Channel), 10-11:30 a.m. (NBC Sports app); Saturday, 7-11 a.m. (Golf Channel), 11-11:30 a.m. (NBC Sports app); Sunday, 6:30-11 a.m. (Golf Channel), 11-11:30 a.m. (NBC Sports app).

Previous winner: John Caitlin (2021).

Race to Dubai leader: Rory McIlroy.

Last week: Kristoffer Reitan won the Soudal Open.

Notes: The tournament is back on the European tour schedule for the first time since 2021 when John Catlin won in a playoff over Max Kieffer. … The field does not have anyone in the top 100 of the world ranking. … Eleven players who have won on the European Tour this year are in the field, including Ryggs Johnston and Elvis Smylie from the Australian swing. … The tournament dates to 1990, when Bernhard Langer defeated Lanny Wadkins in a playoff. … The Austrian Open was part of the Challenge Tour schedule for eight years until retuning to the European Tour in 2006. … Sepp Straka played his first professional tournament in what is now called the Austrian Open. … Brandon Wu is playing his 11th European tour event through a category for players who finished between Nos. 126 and 200 in the FedEx Cup last year. His only top 10 was a tie for 10th in the Volvo China Open.

Next week: KLM Open.

Online: https://www.europeantour.com/dpworld-tour/

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PGA Tour Champions

PRINCIPAL CHARITY CLASSIC

Site: Des Moines, Iowa.

Course: Wakonda GC. Yardage: 6,835. Par: 72.

Prize money: $2 million. Winner’s share: $300,000.

Television: Friday, 3-5 p.m. (NBC Sports app); 9-11 p.m. (Golf Channel-Tape Delay); Saturday, 3-5 p.m. (NBC Sports app), 7-9 p.m. (Golf Channel-Tape Delay); Sunday, 2:30-5:30 p.m. (Golf Channel).

Defending champion: Ernie Els.

Charles Schwab Cup leader: Miguel Angel Jimenez.

Last week: Angel Cabrera won the Senior PGA Championship.

Notes: Angel Cabrera is the first three-time winner on the PGA Tour Champions. The Argentine has won the first two senior majors of the year. … Fred Couples is playing for only the fifth time on the PGA Tour Champions this year, and his first appearance since the final week in March. He has two top 10s this year. … Sponsor exemptions were given to Notah Begay III and Mario Tiziani. … Corey Pavin and David Frost are in the field, one week after they played in the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial as past champions. Olin Browne also played at Colonial last week. He is an alternate in Iowa. … The tournament has been part of the PGA Tour Champions schedule since 2001. … Jay Haas is a three-time winner of the Principal Charity Classic. … Cabrera has moved to No. 2 in the Schwab Cup behind Miguel Angel Jimenez. … Stephen Ames has won twice and was runner-up over the last four years at the tournament.

Next week: American Family Insurance Championship.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/pgatour-champions

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Korn Ferry Tour

UNC HEALTH CHAMPIONSHIP

Site: Raleigh, North Carolina.

Course: Raleigh CC. Yardage: 7,394. Par: 72.

Prize money: $1 million. Winner’s share: $180,000.

Previous winner: Kaito Onishi.

Television: None.

Points leader: Johnny Keefer.

Last week: Pontus Nyholm won the Visit Knoxville Open.

Next week: BMW Charity Pro-Am.

Online: https://www.pgatour.com/korn-ferry-tour

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LPGA Tour

Last week: Chisato Iwai won the Mexico Riviera Maya Open.

Next week: ShopRite LPGA Classic.

Race to CME Globe leader: Jeeno Thitikul.

Online: https://www.lpga.com/

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LIV Golf League

Last tournament: Bryson DeChambeau won LIV Golf Korea.

Next week: LIV Golf Virginia.

Points leader: Joaquin Niemann.

Online: https://www.livgolf.com/

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Other tours

Japan Golf Tour: Gateway to the Open Mizuno Open, JFE Setonaikai GC, Okayama, Japan. Defending champion: Ryosuke Kinoshita. Online: https://www.jgto.org/en/

Challenge Tour: Challenge de Cadiz, Iberostar Real Golf Novo Sancti Petri, Cadiz, Spain. Defending champion: Jonathan Goth-Rasmussen. Online: https://www.europeantour.com/hotelplanner-tour/

Sunshine Tour: Gary & Vivienne Player Challenge, Benoni CC, Gauteng, South Africa. Defending champion: Daniel van Tonder. Online: https://sunshinetour.com/

Japan LPGA: Resort Trust Ladies, Grandee Naruto GC, Tokushima, Japan. Previous winner: Akie Iwai. Online: https://www.lpga.or.jp/en/

Korea LPGA: Shuyup Bank MBN Ladies Open, The Star Hue CC, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. Defending champion: Yewon Lee. Online: https://klpga.co.kr/

NPR sues Trump administration over executive order to cut federal funding to public media

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — National Public Radio and three of its local stations sued President Donald Trump on Tuesday, arguing that his executive order cutting funding to the 246-station network violates their free speech and relies on an authority that he does not have.

Earlier this month, Trump instructed the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies to cease funding for NPR and PBS, either directly or indirectly. The president and his supporters argue their news reporting promotes liberal bias and shouldn’t be supported by taxpayers.

Retaliation is Trump’s plain purpose, the lawsuit argues. It was filed in federal court in Washington by NPR and three Colorado entities — Colorado Public Radio, Aspen Public Radio and KUTE, Inc., chosen to show the system’s diversity in urban and rural areas.

“By basing its directives on the substance of NPR’s programming, the executive order seeks to force NPR to adapt its journalistic standards and editorial choices to the preferences of the government if it is to continue to receive federal funding,” Katherine Maher, NPR’s CEO, said Tuesday.

Lawsuit says Trump is targeting a private nonprofit corporation

The lawsuit alleges that Trump is acting to contravene the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private nonprofit corporation set up to distribute federal funding to NPR and PBS, which is intended to insulate the system from political interference. Congress has appropriated $535 million yearly to CPB for 2025, 2026 and 2027.

In response to the lawsuit, White House deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said that CPB “is creating media to support a particular political party on the taxpayers’ dime,” so Trump was exercising his authority under the law. “The president was elected with a mandate to ensure efficient use of taxpayer dollars, and he will continue to use his lawful authority to achieve that objective,” Fields said.

Trump hasn’t hidden his feelings about NPR, calling it a “liberal disinformation machine” in an April social media post.

The court fight seemed preordained, given that the heads of NPR and PBS both reacted to Trump’s move earlier this month with statements that they believed it was illegal. The absence of PBS from Tuesday’s filing indicates the two systems will challenge this separately; PBS has not yet gone to court, but is likely to soon.

“PBS is considering every option, including taking legal action, to allow our organization to continue to provide essential programming and services to member stations and all Americans,” PBS spokesman Jeremy Gaines said Tuesday.

Trump is in other legal disputes with news organizations

The president’s attempts to dismantle government-run news sources like Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty have also sparked court fights.

The administration has battled with the press on several fronts. The Federal Communications Commission is investigating ABC, CBS and NBC News. The Associated Press also went to court after the administration restricted access to certain events in response to the organization’s decision not to rename the Gulf of Mexico as Trump decreed.

The lawsuit says 11% of Aspen Public Radio’s budget is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. It is 6% for the Colorado Public Radio, a network of 19 stations, and 19% of KUTE’s budget. That station was founded in 1976 by the Southern Ute Indian Tribe.

NPR notes that the order attempts to prohibit individual stations in NPR’s system from using any federal money to buy NPR programming, like “All Things Considered,” the most listened-to afternoon radio news program in the country, its early counterpart “Morning Edition” and cultural programming like the Tiny Desk concerts.

The order “directly interferes with editorial independence by requiring them to seek programming elsewhere,” the lawsuit said.

NPR says it also provides infrastructure services to hundreds of public radio stations and without it, their coverage area would shrink. It also provides the backbone for emergency alert systems across the country.

“Public broadcasting is an irreplaceable foundation of American civic life,” Maher said. “At its best, it reflects our nation back to itself in all our complexity, contradictions and commonalities and connects our communities across differences and divides.”

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Trump administration moves to cut $100 million in federal contracts for Harvard

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE and COLLIN BINKLEY Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration asked federal agencies Tuesday to cancel contracts with Harvard University worth about $100 million, intensifying the president’s clash with the nation’s oldest and wealthiest university.

The government already has canceled more than $2.6 billion in federal research grants for the Ivy League school, which has pushed back on the administration’s demands for changes to several of its policies.

A letter sent Tuesday from the General Services Administration, which oversees contracting and real estate for the federal government, directed agencies to review contracts with the university and seek alternate arrangements.

The New York Times first reported on the letter.

President Donald Trump has railed against Harvard, calling it a hotbed of liberalism and antisemitism. The school filed a lawsuit April 21 over the administration’s calls for changes to the university’s leadership, governance and admissions policies. Since then, the administration has slashed the school’s federal funding, moved to cut off enrollment of international students and threatened its tax-exempt status.

Contracts include scientific research, executive training

The administration has identified about 30 contracts across nine agencies to be reviewed for cancellation, according to an administration official who was not authorized to speak publicly and provided details on the condition of anonymity.

The contracts total roughly $100 million, according to a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations. The contracts include executive training for Department of Homeland Security officials, research on health outcomes related to energy drinks and a contract for graduate student research services.

Agencies with contracts that are deemed critical are being directed not to halt them immediately, but to devise a plan to transition to a different vendor other than Harvard.

The letter applies only to federal contracts with Harvard and not its remaining research grants.

Trump threatens to give Harvard’s funding to trade schools

Trump laid into Harvard on social media over the weekend, threatening to cut an additional $3 billion in federal grants and give it to trade schools across the United States. He did not explain which grants he was referring to or how they could be reallocated.

The president also accused Harvard of refusing to release the names of its foreign students. In a new line of attack, he argued that students’ home countries pay nothing toward their education and that some of the countries are “not at all friendly to the United States.”

International students are not eligible for federal financial aid, but Harvard offers its own aid to foreign and domestic students alike.

“We are still waiting for the Foreign Student Lists from Harvard so that we can determine, after a ridiculous expenditure of BILLIONS OF DOLLARS, how many radicalized lunatics, troublemakers all, should not be let back into our Country,” Trump said on social media.

It was not clear exactly what the president was referring to. The federal government already has access to visa information and other records on foreign students at Harvard and other universities.

The Department of Homeland Security has demanded that Harvard turn over a trove of files related to its foreign students, including disciplinary records and records related to “dangerous or violent activity.”

Harvard says it complied, but the agency said its response fell short and moved to revoke the university’s ability to enroll foreign students. A federal judge in Boston temporarily blocked the move after Harvard sued.

Other nations respond

Japan’s government said Tuesday that it’s looking for ways to help Harvard’s foreign students. Education Minister Toshiko Abe told reporters she planned to ask Japanese universities to compile measures to support international students.

The University of Tokyo, Japan’s top school, is considering temporarily accepting some Harvard students hit by the Trump sanctions.

Universities in other countries have made similar moves, including two in Hong Kong that recently extended invitations to Harvard students.

On Harvard’s campus, law student Carson Durdel said he was proud of the university for standing up to Trump. He said intellectual independence has historically made the United States strong.

“It’s the reason we are like a beacon for the rest of the world,” he said. “I think that undermining those things, cutting those things is not only a bad short-term view but a horrendous long-term view.”

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Associated Press reporter Leah Willingham in Cambridge, Massachusetts, contributed to this report.

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‘Duck Dynasty’ patriarch and conservative cultural icon Phil Robertson dies

WEST MONROE, La. (AP) — Phil Robertson, who turned his small duck calling interest in the sportsman’s paradise of northern Louisiana into a big business and conservative cultural phenomenon, died Sunday, according to his family. He was 79.

Robertson’s family announced in December on their Unashamed With the Robertson Family podcast that the patriarch of the clan had Alzheimer’s disease. The statement on social media from Robertson’s daughter-in-law didn’t mention how he died.

“Thank you for the love and prayers of so many whose lives have been impacted by his life saved by grace, his bold faith, and by his desire to tell everyone who would listen the Good News of Jesus. We are grateful for his life on earth and will continue the legacy of love for God and love for others until we see him again,” Korie Robertson wrote.

Phil Robertson skyrocketed to fame in the early 2010s when the A&E network created a reality show, presented like a sitcom. It followed the adventures of Robertson, his three sons — including Willie, who runs the family’s Duck Commander company, their wives and a host of other relatives and friends.

Phil Robertson and his boys were immediately recognizable by their long beards and their conservative, Christian and family-oriented beliefs.

That got Robertson into trouble, too. He told a magazine reporter in 2013 that gay people are sinners and African Americans were happy under Jim Crow laws.

A&E suspended him from “Duck Dynasty” but reversed course in a few weeks after a backlash that included Sarah Palin.

At the time, Robertson’s family called his comments coarse, but said his beliefs were grounded in the Bible and he “is a Godly man.” They also said that “as a family, we cannot imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm.”

A lifelong Louisiana man

Robertson was born in north Louisiana and spent his life in the woods and lakes that make up the region called Sportsman’s Paradise.

Robertson played football at Louisiana Tech and taught school. He also loved to hunt and created a duck call in the early 1970s that he said replicated the exact sound of a duck.

The calls were the centerpiece of the Duck Commander business Robertson would grow into a multimillion-dollar enterprise before A&E came calling.

The family just didn’t sell outdoor and hunting gear, but a lifestyle.

“The Robertsons face everything from beavers to business deals in their own special way — with a twist of downhome practicality and a sharp sense of humor,” A&E wrote in its promotion for “Duck Dynasty.”

Tributes pour in

Appreciations for Robertson appeared on social media shortly after this death was announced, largely from conservative politicians.

Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas wrote on X, “The great #PhilRobertson passed today. He loved Jesus & he was utterly fearless. One of my fondest memories was duck hunting with Phil — he was the best shot I ever met. And, in 2016, he recorded this amazing commercial for me. Rest in peace, my friend.”

“Saddened to hear of the passing of Phil Robertson — a man of deep faith, bold conviction, and unwavering love for his family,” wrote Ben Carson, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary, also on X. “I’ll never forget the time I spent with Phil and his wonderful family at their homestead in West Monroe, LA. We rode through the swamp stopping at his favorite duck blinds before being welcomed by Miss Kay with a warm, home-cooked meal, surrounded by their extended family and close friends.”

A&E shared their own tribute to the “Duck Dynasty” X account, writing: “We are saddened to hear of the passing of Phil Robertson, a hunting industry pioneer and the patriarch of the beloved Robertson family. Our thoughts are with them during this difficult time. We extend our deepest condolences and respect their privacy as they grieve.”