FRANCONIA, N.H. (AP) ' The closing of a health center in rural New Hampshire has raised concerns that the projected cuts in Medicaid are already taking a toll.

Last month, a site of the Ammonoosuc Community Health Services in Franconia, a town of around 1,000 people, closed for good.

Ammonoosuc officials and a Democratic senator have blamed Medicaid cuts for the closure of the facility that served 1,400 patients from Franconia, Easton, Lincoln and Sugar Hill. These are all tiny communities around the White Mountains, whose patients typically are older and sicker than in other parts of the state.

Threats to rural health care

The closure of the Franconia center reflects the financial struggles facing community health centers and rural health care systems more broadly amid Medicaid cuts and a feared spike in health insurance rates. The government shutdown, which ended last week, was driven by a Democratic demand to extend tax credits, which ensure low- and middle-income people can afford health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, or ACA.

More than 100 hospitals closed over the past decade, according to the Center For Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform, a policy and advocacy group, and more than 700 more hospitals are at risk of closure. A branch of the HealthFirst Family Care Center, a facility in Canaan, New Hampshire also announced it was closing at the end of October due in part to 'changes in Medicaid reimbursement and federal funding' for these facilities.

On average, the federally-funded community health centers like the one in Franconia are losing money, relying heavily on cash reserves, making service changes and sometimes closing locations to stay afloat, NACHC found. Nearly half have less than 90 days cash on hand, according to the association. And the future is even more bleak with at least 2 million community health center patients expected to lose Medicaid coverage by 2034 and 2 million more who are newly uninsured turning to the centers for care.

Hard choices for CEO

Ed Shanshala, the CEO of Ammonoosuc, said the Medicaid cuts are to blame for the closure of the Franconia center.

Shanshala runs a network of five health centers in New Hampshire which relies more than $2 million in federal funding ' out of a $12 million budget. He faced a $500,000 shortfall due to the cuts and realized closing Franconia would save about half that money. It also was the only facility where they leased space.

'Were really left with no choice,' Shanshala said, adding the closure would save $250,000. Finding additional cuts is hard, given that the centers provide services to anyone under 200% of federal poverty levels, he said. And if he cuts additional services, Shanshala fears some patients will end up in a hospital emergency room or 'stop engaging in health care period.'

Patients struggle to adjust

Susan Bushby, a 70-year-old housekeeper, talked about how much she loved the staff and feared going to a new health center. She wouldnt know her way around a larger facility and wouldnt have the same rapport with the people there.

'I was very disturbed. I was down right angry,' said Bushby, who was brought to tears as she discussed the challenges of starting over at a new health center. 'I just really like it there. I dont know, Im just really going to miss it. Its really hard for me to explain, but its going to be sad.'

Marsha Luce, whose family moved from Washington, D.C. area, in 2000, is especially concerned about the impact on her 72-year-old husband, a former volunteer firefighter who has a left ear and part of his jaw removed due to cancer. He also has heart and memory issues.

She worries about longer waits to see his doctor and the loss of relationships built up over decades in Franconia.

'Its going to be hard,' she said. 'But its a relationship thats going to be missed. Its a relationship that you can talk to people and you tell them something and you go, yeah, well, Ive had cancer. Oh, lets see. Oh, yeah. There it is in your chart. Do you know what I mean?'

WASHINGTON (AP) ' The number of major accidents involving military aircraft spiked in 2024, internal Pentagon figures show, and a series of high-profile aviation mishaps with deaths and the loss of aircraft in 2025 suggest the disturbing trend may be continuing.

Across the military, the rate of severe accidents per 100,000 flight hours rose 55% in the 2024 budget year compared with four years earlier. The Marine Corps saw the highest increase, nearly tripling its rate over the same period.

The data, which was released by the Defense Department to Congress and provided exclusively to The Associated Press, tracks Class A mishaps ' the most serious accidents, which result in death or a permanent full disability.

An aviation expert noted that broader worsening trends are unlikely the result of a single factor but rather a reflection of multiple smaller issues that accumulate to create an unsafe culture. These issues include increased operational demands, riskier aircraft like the V-22 Osprey and interruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a significant curtailing of flying time across the military.

But the rising number of serious accidents has some in Congress looking for answers.

The data was released to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, in January after her office asked for the figures after a spate of deadly mishaps involving the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft. Warrens office provided the data to the AP, which reviewed it independently.

The statistics cover the full budget years 2020-2023 and then the first 10 months of the 2024 budget year, through July 31. In those 10 months of last year, 25 service members and Defense Department civilian employees were killed and 14 aircraft were destroyed.

'These accident rates are incredibly troubling and demand action,' Warren told the AP in an emailed statement. She said legislative changes to make accident reports more accessible 'are desperately needed so Congress can understand the root causes of these accidents to save service member lives.'

Several military aircraft have been especially prone to crashing

The Osprey, which flies like a plane but converts to land like a helicopter, has been among the most dangerous aircraft, as the AP has reported extensively.

In addition, the new Defense Department data shows the Apache helicopter had about 4.5 times the rate of the most serious Class A accidents during the 2024 budget year compared with four years earlier. The C-130 transport plane, a workhorse of the military, nearly doubled its rate over the same period, even as it reported safer years in between.

The Pentagon, when asked about these trends, did not immediately respond.

The Navys data on just its own aviation mishaps shows a marked increase this year. The Naval Safety Command reported eight Class A aviation mishaps in 2024. In 2025, that total has spiked to 14.

Aviation expert and former military pilot John Nance said the ever-growing demands being placed on military pilots are most likely playing a major part in the growing number of mishaps.

'Whether were talking about the end of Afghanistan, whether we talk about deployments to Djibouti, or the back and forth across Saudi Arabia to get to the Emirates, I think that as the pace (of military operations) ticks up, the mishaps are going to tick up,' Nance said.

In a statement to the AP, the Navy acknowledged the rise in mishaps and noted that its aviators regularly operate in 'incredibly complex conditions.'

'As a learning organization, we treat every flight and ground evolution as an opportunity to develop better training, create more effective procedures, and safeguard the operational readiness we work tirelessly to generate,' the statement said.

This year has seen a series of accidents

While the data does not continue into 2025, there have been multiple high-profile aviation mishaps this year, including a spate on aircraft carriers at sea and the collision between an Army helicopter and a passenger jet over Washington, D.C., in January, which killed 67 people.

Investigations found that the Black Hawk helicopters altimeter gauge was broken, there were issues with the military pilots night vision goggles, and the Federal Aviation Administration didnt address warnings about the dangers that helicopters presented in the area around the Washington airport.

Unlike their civilian counterparts, military aviators face far less predictability and routine when they fly, Nance said.

'Youve got aircraft commanders … making decisions with the best information theyve got, but on the spur of the moment and theres a level of uncertainty and a level of unpredictability that is wildly beyond anything the commercial airlines experience,' he said.

In the spring, the Navys USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier lost two F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets in the span of a few weeks ' one to a bad landing and another slipped off the deck of the ship and fell into the sea.

In December 2024, the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg mistakenly shot down an F/A-18 from the carrier.

No aviators were killed in any of these episodes. The Navy has not released the results of investigations into the causes of these mishaps.

More recently, four U.S. Army soldiers who were part of an elite team that does nighttime missions died when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed near a military base in Washington state while on a training mission in September.

Then, in October, a fighter jet and a helicopter based off the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz both crashed into the South China Sea within 30 minutes of each other, though no one was killed.

Nance didnt rule out the possibility that this spike in mishaps is the downstream effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, when military pilots had far less flying time.

'The safety buffer is impacted by a million things,' Nance said. Some things make tiny impacts and others are major. According to him, the pandemic 'was a major impact on the operational capabilities.'

Warrens office is now asking for more detailed figures from the Pentagon on aviation mishaps and over a longer period of time, from 2019 to 2025, according to a request sent to the Pentagon and reviewed by AP. The request includes questions about Class A mishaps but asks for data on the less serious Class B and C mishaps as well.

Warrens office is also asking more questions about how the military trains its aircrews and maintenance staff.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) ' Federal agents have now arrested more than 250 people during a North Carolina immigration crackdown centered around Charlotte, the states largest city, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday.

The operation that began over the weekend is the latest phase of Republican President Donald Trumpsaggressive mass deportation efforts that have sent the military and immigration agents into Democratic-run cities ' from Chicago to Los Angeles to Portland, Oregon.

The push to carry out arrests in North Carolina expanded to areas around the state capital of Raleigh on Tuesday, spreading fear in at least one immigrant-heavy suburb.

The number of arrests so far during what the government has dubbed ' Operation Charlottes Web ' was about double the total announced by DHS officials earlier this week. The department said in a statement that agencies 'continue to target some of the most dangerous criminal illegal aliens.'

Their targets include people living in the U.S. without legal permission and those who allegedly have criminal records.

Federal officials have offered few details about those arrested. Theyve also remained quiet about the scope of the enforcement operations across North Carolina and where agents will show up next, keeping communities on edge.

The crackdown in Charlotte has been met with pockets of resistance and protests.

About 100 people gathered outside of a Home Depot store in Charlotte on Wednesday where federal agents were spotted multiple times since the surge started. Protest organizers briefly went inside the store with orange and white signs that said, 'ICE out of Home Depot, Protect our communities.'

Arrests in Charlotte have created a chilling effect in immigrant neighborhoods ' school attendance dropped, and small shops and restaurants closed to avoid confrontations between customers and federal agents.

Fear also spread in parts of Cary, a Raleigh suburb where officials say almost 20% of the population was born outside the U.S. At a shopping center home to family-run ethnic restaurants, there was little traffic and an Indian grocery store was mostly empty on Tuesday.

Just days after beginning the crackdown in North Carolina, Border Patrol agents were expected to arrive in New Orleans by the end of the week to start preparing for their next big operation in southeast Louisiana, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press and three people familiar with the operation..

Around 250 federal border agents are set to descend on New Orleans in the coming weeks for a two-month immigration crackdown expected to begin in earnest on Dec. 1.

Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol commander tapped to head the Louisiana sweep, has been on the ground in North Carolina this week, leading the operation there as well. Bovino has become the Trump administrations leader of the large-scale crackdowns and has drawn criticism over the tactics used to carry out arrests.

DHS has declined to comment on the operation. 'For the safety and security of law enforcement, were not going to telegraph potential operations,' spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said.

Associated Press reporters Erik Verduzco in Charlotte and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.

NEW YORK (AP) ' Targets third-quarter profit tumbled as the retailer struggles to lure shoppers that are being pressed by stubbornly high inflation.

The Minneapolis company said Wednesday that it expects its sales slump to extend through the critical holiday shopping season. The company also announced that its planning to invest another billion dollars next year to remodel stores, build new ones, increasing the total cost for the makeover to $5 billion.

Investors have punished Targets stock recently, sending it down 43% over the past year. Shares were essentially flat in early trading Wednesday.

Turning around the 19% profit slide in the most recent quarter is the latest challenge for incoming CEO Michael Fiddelke, a 20-year company veteran who is replacing CEO Brian Cornell in February. The handover arrives as the retailer tries to reverse a persistent sales malaise and to revive its reputation as the place to go for affordable but stylish products.

Comparable sales ' those from established physical stores and online channels ' dipped 2.7% in its latest three-month period. Thats worse then the 1.9% drop in the previous quarter and the third straight quarterly decline.

Targets troubles stand in stark contrast to rival Walmart, the nations largest retailer, which is thriving. Walmart reports on its most recent quarterly performance Thursday.

Target announced in October that it was eliminating about 1,800 corporate positions to streamline decision-making and accelerate company initiatives. The cuts represent about 8% of Targets corporate workforce.

To pump up sales, Target is offering more than 20,000 new items, twice as many as last year, and it has lowered prices on thousands of groceries and other essential items.

'The environment around us continues to evolve, whether its shifting consumer demand, changing competitor dynamics, or broader macroeconomic pressures,' Fiddelke said on an earnings call Wednesday. 'But let me be clear. We are not waiting for conditions to improve. We are driving the change ourselves right now.'

With about 1,980 U.S. stores, Target has struggled to find its footing since inflation caused Americans to curtail much of their discretionary spending. At the same time, Target customers have complained of messy stores lacking the budget-priced niche that long ago earned the retailer the nickname 'Tarzhay.'

Consumer boycotts since late January, when Target joined rival Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands in scaling back its corporate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, have compounded the predicament.

Other, more recent macro headwinds, are buffeting the entire retail sector.

For almost a year, retailers have struggled to navigate President Donald Trumps wide-ranging tariffs on imports and his immigration crackdown that threatened to shrink the supply of workers available to U.S. companies.

The just ended 43-day federal shutdown is expected to be another drag on an economy. Government contract awards have slowed and many food aid recipients have seen their benefits interrupted, both of which can cut into consumer spending at places like Target.

Fiddelke told reporters that the company saw a weaker September but he said it was 'tricky for us to isolate' the different factors behind that.

The retailers profit fell to $689 million in the three-month period ended Nov. 1, or $1.51 per share. Adjusted per share results added up to $1.78. That is better than the $1.71 that Wall Street was expecting, according to a poll by FactSet, but below the $1.85 per share the company earned in the same period last year.

Sales fell 1.5% to $25.27 billion, just shy of analyst projections.

Sales gains in food and beverages were offset by continued weakness in discretionary goods, with anxious shoppers focused increasingly on buying essentials, even during the holidays.

For example, customers this year customers bought candy and costumes for Halloween, but spent less on decorations, said Rick Gomez, chief commercial officer for Target.

Gomez thinks they will make similar tradeoffs during the winter holiday season.

'We think the consumer will prioritize what goes under the tree versus what goes on the tree,' he said.

Target also announced a partnership with OpenAI on Wednesday that will let users browse Target items through the tech companys app ChatGPT. When customers are ready to buy, theyll be directed to the Target app.

For the fourth quarter, Target expects that comparable sales will decline by low single digits. For the full year, it now expects earnings per share to be in the $7 per share to $8 per share range, down from its earlier forecast of $7 to $9.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) ' A federal judge in Florida is pushing for a resolution in a lawsuit over whether detainees at an immigration center in the Florida Everglades are getting adequate access to attorneys.

U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell last Friday ordered a two-day conference to be held next month in her Fort Myers courtroom, with attorneys present who have the authority to settle. The judge asked for an update at a hearing next Monday.

'The court will not entertain excuses regarding leaving early for flights or other meetings,' the judge wrote about next months conference.

The lawsuit filed by detainees against the federal and state governments over legal access is one of three federal cases challenging practices at the immigration detention center that was built this summer at a remote airstrip in the Florida Everglades by the administration of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

In a separate environmental lawsuit, a federal appellate court panel in September allowed the center to continue operating by putting on hold a lower courts preliminary injunction ordering the facility to wind down by the end of October. The appeal was put on hold during the government shutdown but resumed last week.

A third lawsuit claims immigration is a federal issue and Florida agencies and private contractors hired by the state have no authority to operate the facility.

President Donald Trump toured the facility in July and suggested it could be a model for future lockups nationwide as his administration pushes to expand the infrastructure needed to increase deportations. While the facility was built and operated by the state and its private contractors, federal officials have approved reimbursing Florida for $608 million.

In the legal access case, attorneys representing detainees at the Everglades facility are seeking a preliminary injunction that will make it easier for their clients to meet and communicate with their individual attorneys.

They claim that detainees attorneys must make an appointment to visit three days in advance, unlike at other detention facilities where the lawyers can just show up during visiting hours; that detainees often are transferred to other facilities after their attorneys have made an appointment to see them; and that scheduling delays have been so lengthy that detainees are unable to meet with attorneys before key deadlines.

Florida officials said in a motion to dismiss that the case is now moot since the concerns initially raised by the detainees and their attorneys have been addressed. Any delays were due to trying to construct a facility for thousands of detainees in a remote area with little infrastructure, they said.

'In other words, there is no longer a live controversy,' Florida officials said in their court filing.

Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social.

WASHINGTON (AP) ' The Education Department is breaking off several of its main offices and giving their responsibilities to other federal agencies, an early look at how President Donald Trump could fulfill his campaign pledge to close the department entirely.

Offices that serve the nations schools and colleges would go to departments ranging from Labor to Interior. Education officials say the moves wont affect the money Congress gives states, schools and colleges. They didnt say whether current department staff would keep their jobs.

Since he took office, Trump has called for the dismantling of the Education Department, saying it has been overrun by liberal thinking. Agency leaders have been making plans to parcel out its operations to other departments, and in July the Supreme Court upheld mass layoffs that halved the departments staff.

In recent days, Education Secretary Linda McMahon has started a public campaign for the end of her department, making the case on social media that Educations grantmaking and question-answering functions could be better handled by states and other federal agencies.

While the necessity of the department is up for debate, its also unclear how well-equipped other state and federal departments are to take over the Education Departments responsibilities. The department sends billions of dollars to schools and colleges and helps decipher complex federal laws. It will be a test for the administration: Can the department be shut down smoothly, or will rural and low-income kids and students with disabilities ' the populations that most rely on federal education support ' be impacted?

Heres what the Education Department currently handles, where its responsibilities will go to other federal agencies and what will stay the same.

Money for schools and colleges

While American schools are funded primarily by state and local money, the Education Department serves as a conduit for billions of dollars of federal aid going to state and local education agencies.

Education officials say that money will continue to be awarded as allocated by Congress, but much of it will flow from another federal agency. Most notably, the Department of Labor will oversee some of the largest federal funding streams for schools and colleges, including Title I money for schools serving low-income communities. Adult education programs already were moved to Labor in June.

Another deal will put Health and Human Services in charge of a grant program for parents who are attending college. The State Department will take on money to fund foreign language programs. Interior will oversee programs supporting Native American education.

Federal student loans

One of the departments major roles is management of the $1.6 trillion federal student loan portfolio. Student aid so far will be largely unaffected, although McMahon and Trump have suggested it could be better handled by a different federal department.

Pell Grants and federal loans will continue to be disbursed, and student loan borrowers must continue making payments on their debts.

The website for the Free Application for Student Aid, or FAFSA, remains open ' a key piece of how colleges and universities provide aid packages to incoming students. The Education Department will continue to handle support for people navigating the complicated form.

The Education Department also will continue to oversee another major part of higher education: accreditation, which allows colleges to accept students federal financial aid.

Students with disabilities

For now, the department will continue to distribute money to schools to provide educational support for students with disabilities, though McMahon has suggested this function could move to the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Education Department also oversees investigations into schools and universities alleged to have violated disability rights law, along with other civil rights violations such as discrimination involving sex, race and shared ancestry.

Those responsibilities will remain with the department for now, although McMahon has suggested sending them to the Department of Justice.

In any case, since the mass layoffs in March, the Office for Civil Rights has operated under a significantly reduced footprint. The departments civil rights branch lost about half of its staff. The cuts raised questions about whether the office would be able to shrink a backlog of complaints from students who allege they have experienced discrimination on the basis of race, sex or disability status.

The departments own data has shown a decline in resolving civil rights cases, while new complaints from families have increased.

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

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) ' The Justice Department acknowledged in court Wednesday the grand jury that charged former FBI Director James Comey was not presented with a copy of the final indictment, a concession that may further imperil a prosecution already subject to multiple challenges and demands for its dismissal.

The revelation is the latest indication of a troubled presentation of the case to the grand jury by an inexperienced and hastily appointed U.S. attorney named to the job just days earlier by President Donald Trump.

Concerns about the process surfaced earlier in the week when a different judge in the case said there was no record in the transcript he had reviewed of the grand jury reviewing the indictment that was actually presented against Comey.

Lindsey Halligan, the interim U.S. attorney in charge of the case, said under questioning that only the foreperson of the grand jury and a second grand juror were present for the returning of the indictment.

Comey has pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of making a false statement and obstructing Congress and has denied any wrongdoing.

The Justice Department has denied that the prosecution was vindictive or selective and insists that the allegations support the indictment.

Trump fired Comey as FBI director in May 2017 as Comey was overseeing an FBI investigation into potential ties between Russia and Trumps 2016 campaign. The two have been publicly at odds ever since, with Trump deriding Comey as 'a weak and untruthful slime ball' and calling for his prosecution.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that military strikes on suspected drug boats his administration has been carrying out for more than two months in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean are saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S.

He most recently cited these numbers on Monday while answering questions from reporters after announcing a new initiative that will allow foreigners traveling to the U.S. for the World Cup next year to get interviews for visas more quickly.

But experts say that this is a grossly simplistic interpretation of the situation.

Heres a closer look at the facts.

TRUMP: 'Every boat we knock out, we save 25,000 American lives.'

THE FACTS: The numbers to support Trumps claim dont add up, and sometimes dont exist. For example, people in the U.S. who die from drug overdoses each year are far fewer than the amount Trump suggests have been saved by the boat strikes his administration has carried out since September.

'The statement that each of the administrations strikes on alleged drug-smuggling boats saves 25,000 lives is absurd,' said Carl Latkin, a professor of public health at Johns Hopkins University who studies substance use. 'The evidence is similar to that of the moon being made of blue cheese. If you look carefully, you will see a resemblance. However, a close analysis of this claim suggests that it lacks all credibility.'

According to the latest preliminary data from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, there were about 97,000 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. during the 12-month period that ended June 30. Thats down 14% from the estimated 113,000 for the previous 12-month period.

Final CDC data reports 53,336 overdose deaths in 2024 and 75,118 in 2023.

The U.S. military has attacked 21 boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since strikes began on Sept. 2, most recently on Nov. 15. Using Trumps numbers, that would mean the strikes have prevented 525,000 fatal drug overdoses in the U.S ' far more than the number of overdose deaths that have occurred in recent two-month periods. This essentially implies that the administration is saving more lives than would have ever been lost.

Lori Ann Post, the director of the Institute for Public Health and Medicine at Northwestern University, explained that 'theres no empirically sound way to say a single strike ‘saves 25,000 lives,' even if the statement is interpreted more broadly to mean preventing substance use disorders and resulting ripple effects. Among the issues she pointed to are a lack of verifiable cargo data or published models linking such boat strikes to changes in drug use, as well as markets that will adapt to isolated supply losses.

'The math and the data are not there,' said Post, who studies drug overdose deaths and economic drivers of the opioid crisis.

Latkin added that claiming one lethal dose of a drug automatically translates to one death is a 'very simple way of looking at it,' as different people have different tolerances.

Trump has justified the attacks by saying the U.S. is in 'armed conflict' with drug cartels and claiming the boats are operated by foreign terror organizations that are flooding Americas cities with drugs. Neither Trump nor his administration have publicly confirmed the amount of drugs allegedly destroyed in the strikes.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly reiterated Trumps numbers when asked for evidence to support his claims about how many lives are being saved. She wrote in an email: 'President Trump is right ' any boat bringing deadly poison to our shores has the potential to kill 25,000 Americans or more. The President is prepared to use every element of American power to stop drugs from flooding in to our country and to bring those responsible for justice.'

Latkin noted that this estimate also ignores the reality that even if the Trump administration manages to shut off one source of illegal drugs with its boat strikes, there will still be others. He offered a comparison to the fast food industry, explaining that getting rid of a couple of restaurants would not greatly improve Americans health since there are so many other sources where consumers could get the same or similar products.

'Its incredibly naive to think that reducing the supply in one place will eradicate the problem because its such a massive business,' he said.

Opioids accounted for 73.4% of drug overdose deaths in 2024, according to the CDC. That includes 65.1% from illegally made fentanyl. But while the boat strikes have targeted vessels largely in the Caribbean Sea, fentanyl is typically trafficked to the U.S. overland from Mexico, where it is produced with chemicals imported from China and India.

Overdose death rates began steadily climbing in the 1990s because of opioid painkillers, followed by waves of deaths led by other opioids like heroin and ' more recently ' illicit fentanyl. New numbers from the CDC show that a decline that began in 2023 has continued. Experts arent certain about the reasons for the decline, but they cite a combination of possible factors. Among them are the end of the COVID-19 pandemic; years of efforts to increase the availability of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone and addiction treatments; and changes to the drugs themselves.

Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck

Bradley Gene Funk of San Juan Capistrano was found by witnesses about two to three miles away from the crash site and taken into custody by deputies, Orange County sheriffs officials said.

The crash occurred just after 8:15 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 19, near Park Lantern and Dana Point Harbor Drive. The boy, Luis Adrian Morales-Pacheco of San Juan Capistrano, was walking with his brother to school and died at a hospital, officials said.

Funks truck hopped the curb and struck the sixth-grader with Funk continuing to drive on, sheriff’s Sgt. Lizbeth Gwisdalla said. When his truck was found, it was missing a tire.

Court records show Funk had two previous DUI convictions stemming from cases filed two months apart, in November 2020 and in January 2021. As a result of the last case, Funk was sentenced to five years of probation.

A probation-violation hearing was scheduled in that case for Thursday, Nov. 20.

For Tuesday’s collision, he was arrested on suspicion of murder, hit-and-run driving and driving under the influence, officials said.

After a disruptive U.S. government shutdown, federal SNAP food assistance is again flowing to low-income households. But in the months ahead, many participants will have to abide by new work requirements.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides monthly benefits ' averaging around $190 per person ' to about 42 million people nationwide. During the first couple weeks of November, many of those recipients missed their regular allotments as President Donald Trumps administration battled in court over whether tap into reserves to fund the program while the government was shut down.

Heres what to know about SNAP:

The benefits are available across the country after lapses

For the first part of the month, the situation was chaotic after the federal government said SNAP would not be funded because of the government shutdown.

Some states replenished the electronic benefit cards used in the program either fully or partially, using their own funds or federal dollars that were part of court orders. Others didnt.

Most states boosted food charities, but lines were long and some shelves were empty.

As soon as the government reopened on Nov. 12, many states rushed to get out benefits.

By Tuesday, all states either had loaded full November benefits onto peoples electronic spending cards or were working on it, according to an Associated Press review. Participants should receive December SNAP benefits according to their normal schedule.

More SNAP recipients will face work requirements

A massive tax and spending bill signed into law in July by Trump expanded requirements for many adult SNAP recipients to work, volunteer or participate in job training for at least 80 hours a month. Those who dont are limited to three months of benefits in a three-year period.

The work requirements previously applied to adults ages 18 through 54 who are physically and mentally able and dont have dependents. The new law also applies those requirements to those ages 55 through 64 and to parents without children younger than 14. It repeals work exemptions for homeless individuals, veterans and young adults aging out of foster care. And it limits the ability of states to waive work requirements in areas lacking jobs.

The Trump administration waived the work requirements in November, but the three-month clock on work-free SNAP benefits will be in full force in December.

The new requirements are expected to reduce the average monthly number of SNAP recipients by about 2.4 million people over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Agriculture secretary casts doubt about SNAP

In the aftermath of the shutdown, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, whose department administers SNAP, has cast doubt on the program. Rollins has said it is rife with fraud, including deceased people receiving benefits and some people receiving multiple benefits.

Rollins suggested that everyone who receives SNAP be required to reapply. But its not clear whether Rollins was suggesting an additional requirement or referring to the current one that mandates people to periodically recertify their income and other information.

An Agriculture Department spokesperson didnt clarify but instead said in a statement that the standard recertification processes for households is part of a plan to eliminate fraud, abuse and waste.

Under federal law, most households must report their income and basic information every four to six months and be fully recertified for SNAP at least every 12 months. Full recertification can occur every 24 months for households where all adults are age 60 and above or have disabilities.

But states can require more frequent eligibility verifications. Last year, 27 states required at least some households to be fully recertified every four to six months, depending on their household circumstances, according to a USDA report.