(File Photo of Pins that say “Vote”)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver County, PA) The unofficial results for the 2025 Beaver County primary elections have been released. According to the Beaver County Elections office, just over 18% of Beaver County voters went to the polls. Tom Hamilton defeated Lincoln Kretchmar in the Beaver Borough Mayor primary election. Bob Knox defeated Walter Pat Duffy in the East Rochester mayor primary election. According to the Beaver County elections office, here are the other results:

Pennsylvania’s contested primary races

• Judge of the Superior Court (10 Years) – Republican
  • Maria Battista (Clarion County) – 6,034
  • Ann Marie Wheatcraft (Chester County) – 2,235
• Judge of the Commonwealth Court (10 Years) – Republican
  • Matt Wolford (Erie County) – 6,071
  • Josh Prince (Berks County) – 2,185

Beaver County’s contested primary races

• Magisterial District Judge 36-2-01 (Conway, Economy, Freedom, New Sewickley, Rochester, East Rochester) – Cross-filed (Pick one)
  • John Farmer – 576
  • Ronald Leindecker – 828
  • Adam Johnston – 407

Local offices’ contested primary races

• Ambridge Borough Council (Four Years) – Democratic (Pick four)
  • Scott Prentice – 316
  • Russell G Basalyga – 260
  • Mary Jane Jones Gilliam – 289
  • Nadine Marie Palichat – 217
  • Tony Cafarelli – 272
• Beaver Borough Mayor (Four Years) – Republican (Pick one)
  • Thomas Todd Hamilton – 393
  • Lincoln Kretchmar – 247
• Beaver Borough Council (First Ward – Four Years) – Republican (Pick two)
  • Justin Ankrom – 91
  • Margaret Mckean – 51
  • Jarrod Thomas – 96
  • Ron Stidmon – 45
• Beaver Borough Council (Second Ward – Four Years) – Republican (Pick one)
  • Ellen Kretchmar – 88
  • Phil Oshaughnessy – 132
• Beaver Borough Council (Third Ward – Four Years) – Republican (Pick two)
  • Bill Egley – 103
  • Roberta Good – 152
  • Rebecca Beem – 95
  • Whitney A Learn Conjeski – 128
• Bridgewater Borough Council (Four Years) – Republican (Pick two)
  • Anthony Ellis – 48
  • Gage Gimbus – 26
  • Charles Bates – 39
• Darlington Borough Council (Two Years) – Republican (Pick one)
  • Zander Mckeel – 8
  • Glenda L Tetemanza – 9
• East Rochester Mayor (Four Years) – Democratic (Pick one)
  • Bob Knox – 37
  • Walter Pat Duffy – 24
• Economy Borough Tax Collector (Four Years) – Republican (Pick one)
  • Amy L Miller – 511
  • Nicole Thompson – 170
• Franklin Township Supervisor (Six Years) – Republican (Pick one)
  • Steve Bailey – 146
  • Rod Richard – 293
• Midland Borough Council (Four Years) – Democratic (Pick four)
  • Patsy Esposito – 166
  • Joseph Donald Checca – 110
  • Connie Ditri Drozdjibob – 157
  • Gregory Gutierrez – 144
  • Ivee Jo Roach – 124
• Monaca Borough Tax Collector (Four Years) – Democratic (Pick one)
  • Angel Zampogna – 169
  • Barbara J Brummitt – 259
• New Sewickley Township Supervisor (Six Years) – Republican (Pick one)
  • Artie Evans III – 179
  • Jonathan Stragand – 177
  • Daniel R Plunkett – 322
  • Barbara Blake – 92
• Shippingport Borough Tax Collector (Four Years) – Republican (Pick one)
  • Kayla Carpenter – 11
  • John G. Depaolis – 4
• South Beaver Township Supervisor (Six Years) – Republican (Pick one)
  • Jake Rosenberger – 101
  • Caine A Laderer – 90

Local school boards’ contested primary races

Note: Many candidates for school boards are cross-filed in primary races.

• Aliquippa School District – Democratic (Pick Four)
  • Sandra Gill – 467
  • Tina Price Genes – 434
  • Brian M Sims Sr. – 427
  • Nakita L Strickland – 258
  • Yvonne Jackson – 322
  • Ezra G Lowe Jr. – 277
  • Torri Durham Flannigan – 297
• Ambridge Area School District – Democratic (Pick Four)
  • Kelly Romasco – 1,097
  • Joshua Gill – 866
  • Kaylin Majeran – 533
  • Amy Fitsko – 1,065
  • Michael Jackson – 494
  • Thomas Samarco – 348
  • Mark D Reichard – 335
  • Kathleen A Curtis – 724
  • Jesse Hernandez – 726
  • Thomas G Short III – 379
• Ambridge Area School District – Republican (Pick Four)
  • Mark D Reichard – 346
  • Joshua Gill – 489
  • Amy Fitsko – 479
  • Jesse Hernandez – 382
  • Kathleen A Curtis – 393
  • Thomas G Short III – 341
  • Thomas Samarco – 336
  • Kelly Romasco – 493
  • Michael Jackson – 175
  • Kaylin Majeran – 213
• Beaver Area School District – Democratic (Pick Four)
  • Michael Litchfield – 451
  • Donald E Phillips – 368
  • Peter Grundberg – 285
  • Aaron Bovalino – 757
  • Celina Petronzi Hendershot – 596
  • Andrea Walker – 731
  • Steven Neeley Jr – 684
  • Karin M Pilarski – 914
• Beaver Area School District – Republican (Pick Four)
  • Donald E Phillips – 422
  • Andrea Walker – 504
  • Aaron Bovalino – 797
  • Michael Litchfield – 769
  • Peter Grundberg – 650
  • Steven Neeley Jr – 990
  • Karin M Pilarski – 611
  • Celina Petronzi Hendershot – 473
• Blackhawk School District (Region Two – Four Years) – Democratic (Pick Two)
  • Frank Makoczy – 116
  • Thomas A Wire – 188
  • Chad McMillen – 271
• Blackhawk School District (Region Two – Four Years) – Republican (Pick Two)
  • Frank Makoczy – 106
  • Thomas A Wire – 181
  • Chad McMillen – 250
• Ellwood City Area School District (Four Years) – Democratic (Pick Four)
  • Kathy C Tillia – 22
  • Robyn Nicklas – 16
  • Nick J Mancini – 28
  • Norm Boots – 14
  • Victoria Kincaid – 13
  • Brady Guy – 8
  • Claire Fauzey – 26
• Ellwood City Area School District (Four Years) – Republican (Pick Four)
  • Kathy C Tillia – 10
  • Robyn Nicklas – 5
  • Nick J Mancini – 23
  • Norm Boots – 12
  • Victoria Kincaid – 12
  • Brady Guy – 12
  • Claire Fauzey – 10
• Ellwood City Area School District (Two Years) – Democratic (Pick one)
  • Robyn Nicklas – 5
  • Brady Guy – 2
  • Victoria Kincaid – 6
  • Kathy Galbreath – 7
  • Norm Boots – 13
  • Kathy C Tillia – 10
• Ellwood City Area School District (Two Years) – Republican (Pick one)
  • Robyn Nicklas – 4
  • Brady Guy – 4
  • Victoria Kincaid – 5
  • Kathy Galbreath – 4
  • Norm Boots – 8
  • Kathy C Tillia – 3
• Freedom Area School District – Democratic (Pick Four)
  • Christian A Brenckle – 572
  • Michelle Micija -548
  • Wes Sterrett – 455
  • Laura B Stofan – 469
  • Monica Grunnagle – 564
• Freedom Area School District – Republican (Pick Four)
  • Christian A Brenckle – 707
  • Michelle Micija – 486
  • Wes Sterrett – 599
  • Laura B Stofan – 481
  • Monica Grunnagle – 587
• Hopewell Area School District (Region Three – Four Years) – Democratic (Pick one)
  • Tory Aquino Sims – 142
  • David Piroli – 263
• New Brighton Area School District (Four Years) – Democratic (Pick Four)
  • Bernadette Saiko Mattica – 346
  • Christeen Deane Ceratti – 390
  • TJ Lofaso – 171
  • Steven Powell – 311
  • Matthew Ledonne – 374
  • Katherine Crisci – 337
• New Brighton Area School District (Four Years) – Republican (Pick Four)
  • Bernadette Saiko Mattica – 200
  • Christeen Deane Ceratti – 235
  • TJ Lofaso – 140
  • Steven Powell – 229
  • Matthew Ledonne – 227
  • Katherine Crisci – 221
• New Brighton Area School District (Two Years) – Democratic (Pick one)
  • Matthew Ledonne – 137
  • Katherine Crisci – 64
  • Steven Powell – 90
  • Bernadette Saiko Mattica – 111
  • Christeen Deane Ceratti – 119
• New Brighton Area School District (Two Years) – Republican (Pick one)
  • Matthew Ledonne – 93
  • Katherine Crisci – 35
  • Steven Powell – 82
  • Bernadette Saiko Mattica – 61
  • Christeen Deane Ceratti – 53

• South Side Area School District – Republican (Pick Four)
  • Craig Stewart – 316
  • Jonathan Glenn – 261
  • Michael W Rounds – 233
  • Cynthia Cusato – 337
  • Jesse Streeter – 264
• Western Beaver County School District – Democratic (Pick Four)
  • Shawn Roman – 107
  • Daniel Trent – 149
  • Samantha Trimble – 203
  • Ronald J Bender – 117
  • Michael Smith – 81
  • Erin Majors – 160
  • Peter Kadilak – 163
• Western Beaver County School District – Republican (Pick Four)
  • Shawn Roman – 133
  • Daniel Trent – 238
  • Samantha Trimble – 247
  • Ronald J Bender – 205
  • Michael Smith – 91
  • Erin Majors – 192
  • Peter Kadilak – 165

(File Photo of the Central Valley School District logo)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Center Township, PA) On Wednesday, May 21st and Thursday, May 22nd, the teachers and administrators of Central Valley School District are helping their community here in Beaver County. Some of the activities they are doing are picking up trash around their school, putting flags on a local cemetery and volunteering at Family Matters Food Pantry in Monaca for both collecting and distributing food. Nicolina’s Wishes and Club Hope will receive encouragement messages and cards from them those days and community children at Communicycle will receive built bikes from them on those days. They will also be assisting at a local YMCA with their activities, going to Brady’s Run to plant saplings and performing yard work outdoors at the Women’s Center of Beaver County and at the Monaca Library.

(File Photo of Police Lights)

LONDON, Ky. (AP) — Storms that swept across part of the Midwest and South killed least 27 people including 18 in Kentucky, where another 10 were hospitalized in critical condition, authorities said.

A devastating tornado in Kentucky damaged homes, tossed vehicles and left many people homeless. Seventeen of the deaths were in Laurel County, located in the state’s southeast, and one was in Pulaski County: Fire Department Maj. Roger Leslie Leatherman, a 39-year veteran who was fatally injured while responding to the deadly weather.

Parts of two dozen state roads were closed, and some could take days to reopen, according to Gov. Andy Beshear, who announced the toll of dead and critically injured on Saturday. He also said the death toll could still rise.

“We need the whole world right now to be really good neighbors to this region,” the governor said.

State Emergency Management Director Eric Gibson said hundreds of homes were damaged,

Kayla Patterson, her husband and their five children huddled in a tub in their basement in London, the county seat, as the tornado raged around them.

“You could literally hear just things ripping in the distance, glass shattering everywhere, just roaring like a freight train,” she recalled Saturday. “It was terrible.”

The family eventually emerged to the sounds of sirens and panicked neighbors. While the family’s own home was spared, others right behind it were demolished, Patterson said.

Rescuers searched for survivors all night and into the morning, the sheriff’s office said. An emergency shelter was set up at a high school and donations of food and other necessities were arriving.

Resident Chris Cromer said he got the first of two alerts on his phone around 11:30 p.m., about a half-hour before the tornado struck. He and his wife grabbed their dog, jumped in their car and sought shelter in the crawlspace at a relative’s nearby home because their own crawlspace is small.

“We could hear and feel the vibration of the tornado coming through,” said Cromer, 46. A piece of his roof was ripped off, and windows were broken, but homes around his were destroyed.

“It’s one of those things that you see on the news in other areas, and you feel bad for people — then, when it happens, it’s just surreal,” he said. “It makes you be thankful to be alive, really.”

The storm was the latest severe weather to cause deaths and widespread damage in Kentucky. Two months ago at least 24 people died in a round of storms that swelled creeks and submerged roads.

Missouri pounded by storms, with deaths confirmed in St. Louis

About 1,200 tornadoes strike the U.S. annually, and they have been reported in all 50 states over the years. Researchers found in 2018 that deadly tornadoes were happening less frequently in the traditional “Tornado Alley” of Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas and more frequently in parts of the more densely populated and tree-filled mid-South area.

The latest Kentucky storms were part of a weather system Friday that killed seven in Missouri and two in northern Virginia, authorities said. The system also spawned tornadoes in Wisconsin, brought punishing heat to Texas and temporarily enveloped parts of Illinois — including Chicago — in a pall of dust on an otherwise sunny day.

In St. Louis, Mayor Cara Spencer said five people died, 38 were injured and more than 5,000 homes were affected.

“The devastation is truly heartbreaking,” she said at a news conference Saturday. An overnight curfew was to continue in the most damaged neighborhoods.

Weather service radar indicated a likely tornado touched down between 2:30 p.m. and 2:50 p.m. in Clayton, Missouri, in the area of Forest Park, which is home to the St. Louis Zoo and formerly hosted both the 1904 World’s Fair and the Olympic Games in 1904.

Three people needed aid after part of the Centennial Christian Church crumbled, according to St. Louis Fire Battalion Chief William Pollihan.

Stacy Clark said his mother-in-law, Patricia Penelton, died in the church. He described her as a very active church volunteer who had many roles, including being part of the choir.

At the zoo, falling trees severely damaged the roof of a butterfly facility. Staffers quickly corralled most of the butterflies, the zoo said on social media, and a conservatory in suburban Chesterfield was caring for the displaced creatures.

A tornado struck in Scott County, about 130 miles (209 kilometers) south of St. Louis, killing two people, injuring several others and destroying multiple homes, Sheriff Derick Wheetley wrote on social media.

Forecasters say severe weather could batter parts of the Plains

The weather service said that supercells are likely to develop across parts of Texas and Oklahoma Saturday afternoon before becoming a line of storms in southwest Oklahoma and parts of Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas on Saturday night.

The biggest risks include large to very large hail that could be up to 3.5 inches (8.9 centimeters) in size, damaging wind gusts and a few tornadoes.

These conditions were expected to continue on Sunday across parts of the central and southern Plains as well as parts of the central High Plains.

National Weather Service offices lost staff

The storms hit after the Trump administration massively cut staffing of National Weather Service offices, with outside experts worrying about how it would affect warnings in disasters such as tornadoes.

The office in Jackson, Kentucky, which was responsible for the area around London, Kentucky, had a March 2025 vacancy rate of 25%; the Louisville, Kentucky, weather service staff was down 29%; and the St. Louis office was down 16%, according to calculations by weather service employees obtained by The Associated Press. The Louisville office was also without a permanent boss, the meteorologist in charge, as of March, according to the staffing data.

Experts said any vacancy rate above 20% is a critical problem.

(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – President Joe Biden speaks from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Sept. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — In Joe Biden’s family, there’s a saying that the three worst words anyone can hear are “you have cancer.”

One decade ago, his son Beau died from a brain tumor. Several years later, his wife Jill had two cancerous lesions removed in her own brush with the disease.

Now it is the former president’s turn. Biden’s office disclosed his prostate cancer diagnosis over the weekend, saying it has already spread to his bones.

Although the cancer can possibly be controlled with treatment, it is no longer curable. The announcement is a bitter revelation that a disease that has brought so much tragedy to Biden’s life could be what ends it.

“Cancer touches us all,” Biden wrote on social media. “Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places.”

Even before the diagnosis, Biden’s post-presidency was shadowed by questions about his health and whether he should have run for reelection. As questions about his fitness for office mounted, he abandoned the campaign and Donald Trump retook the presidency by defeating Kamala Harris. As the 82-year-old Biden works to safeguard his damaged political legacy, he’ll also be fighting a disease that shaped the final chapters of his decades-long career.

Biden was serving as Barack Obama’s vice president when Beau died in 2015. He decided not to seek the Democratic nomination the following year, which helped clear a path for Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump in 2016.

Valerie Jarrett, a longtime Obama adviser, said Biden wanted to “channel his grief into action and figure out how we can do better” on treating cancer to “make sure that other people didn’t have to go through what he went through.”

The effort was formalized as a White House task force, with Biden in charge. After a few years out of office, Biden re-entered politics to campaign against Trump in 2020. The heartache from Beau’s death was never far from the surface though. His eldest son had been Delaware’s attorney general and often viewed as Biden’s political successor.

“Beau should be the one running for president, not me,” Biden said, a thought he echoed on many occasions.

He made fighting cancer a focus for his presidency, resurrecting a “moonshot” initiative to increase funding for research and improve treatment. He unveiled the initiative at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in 2022, echoing the Democratic icon’s famous speech declaring that “we will go to the moon” six decades earlier.

“Beating cancer is something we can do together,” Biden said.

By this point, he had already signed legislation known as the PACT Act to expand healthcare benefits for veterans. The law guarantees treatment for chronic illnesses blamed on burn pits, which were used to dispose of chemicals, tires, plastics, medical equipment and human waste on military bases.

Biden left no doubt that he believed Beau’s death resulted from his service with the National Guard in Iraq.

“When they came home, many of the fittest and best warriors that we sent to war were not the same — headaches, numbness, dizziness, cancer,” he said. “My son Beau was one of them.”

Denis McDonough, who led the Veterans Affairs Department under Biden, said the president didn’t talk about Beau’s death during policy discussions. But he said it was clear that Biden “knew the experience that other families were having, and he was going to be damn sure that we weren’t going to miss an opportunity to address that.”

McDonough recalled that Biden wanted the new law to take effect as quickly as possible.

“He had an option to stretch it out,” he said. “He said no way.”

The following year, first lady Jill Biden had two cancerous lesions removed, one above her right eye and the other on her chest. They were both basal cell carcinoma.

Learning of the diagnosis “was a little harder than I thought,” she told The Associated Press during a trip to Africa.

“I’m lucky,” she said. “Believe me, I am so lucky that they caught it, they removed it, and I’m healthy.”

Biden’s cancer diagnosis is not the first time that he’s faced his own mortality.

Months after ending his first presidential campaign in 1988, he collapsed in a New York hotel room. In his memoir “Promises to Keep,” he described “lightning flashing inside my head, a powerful electrical surge — and then a rip of pain like I’d never felt before.”

He had suffered a brain aneurysm that required surgery. Biden wrote that “I had no real fear of dying. I’d long since accepted the fact that life’s guarantees don’t include a fair shake.”

McDonough imagined that Biden would feel similarly about his current situation.

“He’s always on to the next fight,” he said.

 

(File Photo: Source for Photo: his combination photo shows President Donald Trump in a business roundtable, May 16, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin at a signing ceremony at the Kremlin in Moscow, May 10, 2025. (AP Photo)

(AP) Moscow is ready to work toward ending the fighting in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday following a two-hour phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Putin said that Russia and Ukraine would need to find compromises to suit all parties.

Trump has struggled to end a war that began with Russia’s invasion in February 2022, and that makes these conversations a serious test of his reputation as a dealmaker after having claimed he would quickly settle the conflict once he was back in the White House, if not even before he took office.

Here’s the latest:

Trump promises to take Kennedy Center to ‘new heights’ under his leadership

Trump is hosting a dinner at the White House for the members of the performing arts center’s new board of directors.

Trump fired most of the previous board, appointed allies to replace them and had himself voted in as chairman.

He says the Kennedy Center has spent a lot of money and he doesn’t know what it was spent on, but said he’ll take “this revered institution” to “new heights.”

“We’re going to turn it around,” Trump said.

Without offering evidence, Trump suggests Biden’s prostate cancer diagnosis was hidden from the public

Trump noted that he’d recently had a physical exam and said the PSA test, which can detect prostate cancer, “is standard to pretty much anybody.” A PSA test was performed during Trump’s physical exam last month.

Biden has an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones.

But prostate cancer screenings aren’t recommended for men 70 and older, meaning Biden may not have been getting regular PSA blood tests. Medical professionals also say the tests don’t do the best job of identifying aggressive prostate cancers.

Trump is 78. Biden is 82.

Asked about Biden during an appearance at the White House, Trump said, “it takes a long time to get to that situation” and that he was “surprised that the public wasn’t notified a long time ago.”

“It’s a very sad situation and I feel very badly about it,” Trump said.

Trump awards 3 “Medals of Sacrifice” to police officers from Florida

Trump has awarded what he called the first-ever “Medals of Sacrifice” to three sheriff’s deputies from Palm Beach County, Florida, who were killed in the line of duty.

A proposal introduced in Congress would award similar medals to any officer or first responder who is killed in the line of duty, the president said.

“I hope it never has to be given out, frankly,” said Trump, who said he knows Palm Beach County well given how much time he spends at his Mar-a-Lago club there.

Trump said the medal was designed with the cooperation of the Arnault family, which, through LVMH, owns and operates Tiffany & Co.

He called the first medal recipients “three remarkable heroes.” They were Palm Beach County deputies: Ralph “Butch” Waller, Ignacio “Dan” Diaz and Luis Paez.

Schumer legislation would ban U.S. from using foreign plane as Air Force One

New legislation introduced by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer would ban the U.S. from using a foreign plane as Air Force One.

Schumer is introducing the bill in an effort to prevent President Donald Trump from accepting a new $400 million plane from Qatar.

White House Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that the aircraft “will be accepted according to all legal and ethical obligations.”

The bill would prevent the U.S. from spending taxpayer dollars to retrofit a foreign-owned plane for presidential use.

“There’s absolutely no amount of modifications that can guarantee it will be secure,” Schumer said.

Trump to meet with House Republicans before key vote

President Donald Trump will look to build momentum with House Republicans for his tax cut and immigration bill with a visit to the Capitol on Tuesday.

Trump will meet with House Republicans during their weekly conference meeting, according to a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss plans not yet made public.

The legislation Republicans are hoping to pass this summer faces a critical test in the House this week with Speaker Mike Johnson seeking a vote before Memorial Day, even though GOP lawmakers still have some differences on the bill.

Johnson is working to hold his narrow House majority together to pass the president’s top domestic priority of extending the tax breaks while pumping in money for border security and deportations.

Melania Trump makes rare White House appearance

The first lady spoke before the president signed legislation targeting “revenge porn.”

The law will it a federal crime to “knowingly publish” or threaten to publish intimate images without a person’s consent, including AI-created “deepfakes.”

She said that artificial intelligence is “digital candy” for the next generation, “but unlike sugar this new technology can be weaponized.”

Trump spoke after his wife, saying it is “so horrible what takes place.”

Trump hosting Kennedy Center board at the White House as part of push to remake the arts there and nationwide

Trump is hosting the Kennedy Center ’s leadership at the White House, reinforcing how much attention he’s devoting to remaking a premier cultural center amid a larger effort to overhaul the social and ideological dynamics of the national arts scene.

The Monday night meeting of the center’s board in the State Dining Room comes after Trump fired its previous members and announced in February that he’d serve as the board’s chair.

Members include White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Lee Greenwood, whose “God Bless the USA,” plays at Trump rallies as well as many official events.

In the view of Trump and top leaders in his administration, molding the Kennedy Center to his own liking can help create a new arts and social culture nationwide.

Judge bars Trump administration from shutting peace institute that sought to end violent conflicts

A federal judge on Monday blocked the Trump administration from moving forward with its dismantling of the U.S. Institute of Peace, an organization taken over in March by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.

U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell ruled that the think tank, which was created and funded by Congress to focus on resolving violent conflicts around the globe, was taken over illegally by DOGE through “blunt force, backed up by law enforcement officers from three separate local and federal agencies.”

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit, filed by the organization’s former board members and president, had maintained that the Institute of Peace was established by law as an independent, nonprofit organization. The plaintiffs also argue the firing of the board members did not meet any of the steps required by the law that created the organization.

▶ Read more about the U.S. Institute of Peace

Putin talks to Trump for 2 hours, says Russia is ready to work toward ending fighting in Ukraine

Moscow is ready to work toward ending fighting in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday following the phone call with President Trump.

Putin said Russia and Ukraine would need to find compromises to suit all parties.

▶ Read more about Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine

Supreme Court allows Trump to strip protections from 350,000 Venezuelans; deportations could follow

The court’s order, with only one noted dissent, puts on hold a ruling from a federal judge in San Francisco that kept in place Temporary Protected Status for the Venezuelans that would have otherwise expired last month.

The status allows people already in the United States to live and work legally because their native countries are deemed unsafe for return due to natural disaster or civil strife.

▶ Read more about Trump and Venezuelan immigrants

CBS News CEO quits amid potential Trump lawsuit settlement

CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon said Monday that she’s resigning after four years, the latest fallout at the network as its parent company considers settling a lawsuit with President Trump over a “60 Minutes” interview with his former political opponent.

McMahon, who’s led both the network news division and news for the CBS-owned stations, said in an email message to staff that “it’s become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward. It’s time to move on and for this organization to move forward with new leadership.”

McMahon has made clear she opposes settling with Trump — just like “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens, who quit last month.

▶ Read more about CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon

Appeals court clears the way for Trump’s anti-union order

An appeals court has cleared the way for President Donald Trump’s executive order aimed at ending collective bargaining rights for hundreds of thousands of federal employees while a lawsuit plays out.

The Friday ruling came after the Trump administration asked for an emergency pause on a judge’s order blocking enforcement at roughly three dozen agencies and departments.

The majority ruled on technical grounds, finding that the unions don’t have the legal right to sue because Trump hasn’t ended any collective bargaining agreements yet. The government says Trump needs the executive order so his administration can cut the federal workforce to ensure strong national security. Union leaders argue the order is designed to facilitate mass firings.

Trump administration is taking action against travel companies in India

The Trump administration is taking action against travel companies in India that it believes are helping people enter or stay in the U.S. illegally.

The State Department announced in a statement on Monday that it would impose travel bans on “owners, executives, and senior officials of travel agencies based and operating in India for knowingly facilitating illegal immigration to the United States.”

No targets were identified in the statement, which is standard practice when multiple individuals are affected due to privacy laws.

“Our immigration policy aims not only to inform foreign nationals about the dangers of illegal immigration to the United States but also to hold accountable individuals who violate our laws, including facilitators of illegal immigration,” the statement said.

Trump call with Putin underway as he hopes for ceasefire progress in Russia-Ukraine war

President Donald Trump has grown “frustrated” with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the White House said Monday ahead of separate calls Trump is holding in hopes of making progress toward a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine.

Trump expressed his hopes for a “productive day” Monday — and a ceasefire — in a social media post over the weekend. His effort will also include calls to NATO leaders. But ahead of the call, Vice President JD Vance said Trump is “more than open” to walking away from trying to end the war if he feels Putin isn’t serious about negotiation.

The call was underway shortly after 10 a.m., press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, promising additional details after it concludes.

Trump administration will accept Boeing 747 donation from Qatar

Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the aircraft “will be accepted according to all legal and ethical obligations.”

The plane is a gift to the U.S. Air Force, she told reporters. It will be retrofitted to the “highest standards” by the Defense Department and the Air Force, she said.

“This plane is not a personal donation or a gift to the president of the United States,” Leavitt said.

Democrats and even some of Trump’s allies have been critical of Trump’s decision to accept the gift from Qatar for use as a future Air Force One.

Leavitt says U.S. will insist that Iran give up uranium enrichment

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not have details Monday on the next round of nuclear talks with Iran but said the U.S. is committed to insisting that Iran give up the enrichment of uranium, what Trump special envoy Steve Witkoff on Sunday called a “red line.”

“We are 100% committed to that red line,” Leavitt said.

Leavitt said Witkoff and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have made that point “incredibly clear” in discussions with the Iranians.

White House urges Republicans to ‘unite’ behind his “big, beautiful” tax cuts

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it’s “absolutely essential” that Republicans unite and pass the bill so that Trump can deliver on the agenda he was elected to enact.

The bill narrowly cleared a key House committee during a rare vote Sunday night but it has a long journey through Congress to get to Trump’s desk for his signature in the face of opposition from some GOP lawmakers.

Leavitt said Americans gave Republicans a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to “course correct our country” and “there is no time to waste.”

Vance says U.S. open to ‘walking away’ from Ukraine war talks

Vice President JD Vance says the U.S. is open to walking away from trying to negotiate a ceasefire to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.

“I’d say we’re more than open to walking away,” Vance told reporters before leaving Rome after meeting with Pope Leo XIV. Vance said Trump has been clear that the U.S. “is not going to spin its wheels here. We want to see outcomes.”

“We’re gonna try to end it, but if we can end it, we’re eventually gonna say, You know what? That was worth a try, but we’re not doing it anymore.”

Trump ‘frustrated’ by Russia and Ukraine ahead of critical calls

President Donald Trump is “frustrated” by both Russia and Ukraine ahead of separate calls Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“He’s grown weary and frustrated with both sides of the conflict,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday morning. “He has made it clear to both sides that he wants to see a peaceful resolution and ceasefire as soon as possible.”

Trump’s call with Putin is set to take place around 10 a.m. to be followed by his conversation with Zelenskyy.

Trump takes steps to shield information from the public

Donald Trump’s administration says it’s the most transparent in history.

But his second administration has taken even more drastic steps than his first to shield key documents and information from the public.

It is scrubbing thousands of government websites of history, legal records and data it finds disagreeable.

Such secrecy suggests Trump’s second term will leave less for the nation’s historical record than any before it. It also suggests that what the administration does eventually authorize for release will be sanitized to reinforce a public image the president himself wants projected — no matter the facts.

Trump’s massive import taxes haven’t done much economic damage – yet

For months, American consumers and businesses have been hearing that Trump’s massive import taxes – tariffs – would drive up prices and hurt the U.S. economy. But the latest economic reports don’t match the doom and gloom:

Inflation actually eased last month, and hiring was solid in April.

For now, the disconnect has businesses and consumers struggling to reconcile what they were told to expect, what the numbers say and what they are seeing on the ground. Trump and his supporters are quick to point out that the trade wars of his first term didn’t translate into higher overall inflation across the economy.

Still, Trump’s tariffs are huge – the highest since the Great Depression of the 1930s

Libraries cut some services after Trump’s order to dismantle small agency

Libraries across the U.S. have cut back on some digital services weeks after the Trump administration’s move to dismantle the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Maine has temporarily closed its state library and others across the country have paused their interlibrary loan programs. The reductions in services coincide with a lawsuit filed by more than 20 state attorneys general and the American Library Association to restore funding.

They argue only Congress has the authority to control federal spending. E-book and audiobook programs are especially vulnerable to budget cuts, even though those offerings have exploded in popularity since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trump’s new executive order targets barcodes on ballots

Trump’s executive order seeking to overhaul how U.S. elections are run includes a somewhat obscure reference to the way votes are counted.

Voting equipment, it says, should not use ballots that include “a barcode or quick-response code.” Those few technical words could have a big impact.

Voting machines that give all voters a ballot with one of those codes are used in hundreds of counties across 19 states.

Trump, in justifying the move, said in the order that his intention was “to protect election integrity.”

Trump tax cut package advanced out of House committee

Trump’s big bill advances in rare weekend vote: House Republicans narrowly advanced Trump’s big tax cuts package out of a key committee during a rare Sunday night vote, but just barely, as conservative holdouts are demanding quicker cuts to Medicaid and green energy programs before giving their full support.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is pushing to approve the package and send it to the Senate by Memorial Day.

Democrats say they will fight what House party leader Hakeem Jeffries calls an “extreme and toxic bill.”

Former President Biden diagnosed with cancer

Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, his office said Sunday. Trump posted on social media that he was saddened by the news and “we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.”

The finding came after the 82-year-old reported urinary symptoms, which led doctors to discover a nodule on his prostate. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer on Friday, with the cancer cells having spread to the bone.