Author: rpnadmin

Forced from the Kennedy Center following approval of a reconstruction project by allies of President Trump, the National Symphony Orchestra will split its 2026-27 season among six venues in Washington, D.C., and the capital’s suburbs. The NSO made its delayed 2026-27 season announcement Tuesday, 5 1/2 weeks before its opening concert on Sept. 26 and five months later than the release of its 2025-26 schedule. The Kennedy Center, named by Congress after President John F. Kennedy, was taken over in 2025 by a board of Trump loyalists who added his name to the complex, only to be ordered to remove…

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company has begun distributing $5 billion in cash dividends to auto policyholders, the largest payout in the insurer’s more than 100-year history, according to Yahoo Finance. The payments, which began going out in waves this summer, cover more than 49 million vehicles insured under qualifying State Farm auto policies held in 2025. Customers eligible for at least $10 do not need to currently hold a State Farm policy to receive a check, and some may receive more than one payment if they insured multiple vehicles. Individual dividend amounts will vary by state and by the…

The Food and Drug Administration is mulling over the future of generative artificial intelligence-enabled medical devices. In its discussion paper, released Tuesday, the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health says it’s not proposing or implementing policy changes, nor is it solidifying regulatory expectations, but is instead seeking early input to advance discussion among stakeholders. Its ultimate goal is to “enable a nimble regulatory approach that employs least burdensome principles and allows patients timely access to safe and effective medical devices,” the paper reads. Specifically, the agency is looking for feedback on risk assessment, premarket evaluation and postmarket monitoring of…

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced charges against 14 people in connection to a cocaine-trafficking operation involving primarily college students and two fraternities at Penn State University.  Thirteen of the defendants were Penn State students at or around the time of the alleged conduct, in 2023 and 2024, while the 14th defendant is the father of a student and is charged with tampering with evidence and hindering the investigation, Mr. Sunday’s office said.  Investigators allege two senior fraternity members, Agostino Abbatiello and Thomas Robinson, were the main suppliers for the group, making regular trips to Philadelphia and New York for…

Generation Z is contributing massively to entrepreneurship, as young adults bypass traditional college and use artificial intelligence tools to start businesses and navigate a tight labor market. A recent study of internal finance data from the Bank of America Institute found that the tally of Gen Z adults requesting a business startup loan in June grew 66% from a year earlier, far outpacing all other generations. Generation X adults still led new applications in June, reflecting a longstanding trend. But Bank of America estimated that one Gen Z adult started a business for every four Gen Xers who did the same,…

Minnesota authorities opened an investigation into conservative influencer Cam Higby after he visited polling places while pretending to be a niqab-wearing Muslim woman in order to expose voter fraud. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon acknowledged that law enforcement began reviewing the undercover stunt involving Mr. Higby and conservative media figure James O’Keefe after their video went viral following last week’s primary elections. “Dressed in what they called ’Muslim’ costumes and imitating foreign accents, they falsely claimed to be registered Minnesota voters. The group used concealed cameras to record their interactions with poll workers, releasing a heavily edited video of…

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department finalized a rule Monday that will pave the way for people who’ve been barred from owning firearms because of criminal convictions to apply to have their gun rights reinstated. The process launched by newly confirmed Attorney General Todd Blanche is a victory for Second Amendment advocates who have long pushed for nonviolent people with felony convictions to be given a pathway to regain their legal right to own firearms. “The Second Amendment is not a second-class right, and the federal government should not permanently deprive Americans of a constitutional right without regard to whether they…

NEW YORK — U.S. kindergarten vaccination rates inched down again last year and the share of children with exemptions rose to an all-time high, according to federal data posted Monday. The fraction of kids exempted from vaccine requirements rose to 4.2%, up from 3.6% the year before. That’s an estimated 155,000 children nationally during the 2025-2026 school year. It’s the fourth consecutive year that the national average exemption rate has reached a new record, and the vast majority are parents withholding shots for nonmedical reasons. Exemptions increased in 41 states and the District of Columbia. Experts point to turmoil caused…

America First Policy Institute asked the Supreme Court to discipline three justices on Hawaii’s Supreme Court over a ruling in which the justices accused the high court of “white sight.” In its seven-page letter, AFPI said the Hawaii justices — Vladimir Devens, Todd Eddins and Sabrina McKenna — ruled in a case about post-conviction relief in a July 15 ruling where they vacated a kidnapping and sexual assault conviction and ordered a new trial.  However, they dedicated nearly 10 pages of the 91-page ruling — which concerned state constitutional matters — to the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions regarding voting rights,…

A federal judge blocked FBI Director Kash Patel’s attempt to move his bureau’s headquarters down the street to the Ronald Reagan Building, saying he broke laws governing site selection. Judge Theodore Chuang, an Obama appointee, sided with Maryland and Prince George’s County, which had been the leading location for the future HQ site until Mr. Patel decided to keep it inside the District. Judge Chuang said the order restores the plans to build in Greenbelt, just over the Maryland-D.C. line — though he pointed out that Congress has yet to give final approval to that location. He said Congress controls…