On Dec. 29, at the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters, according to a statement from the U.S. Southern Command.

 Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. Two male narco-terrorists were killed. No U.S. military forces were harmed.&nbsp;

On Dec. 29, at the direction of Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters, according to a statement from the U.S. Southern Command.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">On Dec. 29, at the direction of <a href="https://twitter.com/SecWar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecWar</a> Pete Hegseth, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations in international waters. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known… <a href="https://t.co/69ywxXk30N">pic.twitter.com/69ywxXk30N</a>&mdash; U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/Southcom/status/2005776276100207032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 29, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div> Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. Two male narco-terrorists were killed. No U.S. military forces were harmed.&nbsp;

🎥2 dead following new U.S. strike on a drug boat

<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> welcomes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Mar-a-Lago 🇺🇸🇺🇦 <a href="https://t.co/aRbMAiKGSF">pic.twitter.com/aRbMAiKGSF</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2005346794012889166?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> delivers remarks upon meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr <a href="https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ZelenskyyUa</a> at Mar-a-Lago: &quot;We had a terrific meeting. We discussed a lot of things. As you know, I had an excellent phone call with President Putin... and I do think we&#39;re getting a lot closer.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/tIHjR0wko2">pic.twitter.com/tIHjR0wko2</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2005397981361566190?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://t.co/WnFGloJw2e">pic.twitter.com/WnFGloJw2e</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2005320250330632410?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on Russia-Ukraine peace talks: &quot;We could be very close. There are one or two very thorny issues... but I think we&#39;re doing very well. We made a lot of progress today.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/fci939K17q">pic.twitter.com/fci939K17q</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2005399260355825824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;Everybody wants [the war] ended... I want it ended because I don&#39;t want to see so many people dying.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/pQ4q4lPhzy">pic.twitter.com/pQ4q4lPhzy</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2005400040559284280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Q: &quot;What are the thorniest issues still unresolved?&quot;<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;The land. Some of that land has been taken... You&#39;re better off making a deal now.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/X21Zz3Tt5E">pic.twitter.com/X21Zz3Tt5E</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2005400349428027582?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on the possibility of traveling to Ukraine: &quot;I&#39;m not sure that it would be really necessary, but if it would help save 25,000 lives a month... I would certainly be willing to do that.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/Xxc0sEHJnE">pic.twitter.com/Xxc0sEHJnE</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2005400678156394499?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">REPORTER: How long will it take to get this last little bit finished? <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;In a few weeks, we will know one way or the other... it&#39;s been a very difficult negotiation.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/iflQTfTAar">pic.twitter.com/iflQTfTAar</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2005401647707484432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on his call with Putin: &quot;I saw a very interesting President Putin today... I think we&#39;re going to get there... I was on the phone with him for almost two-and-a-half hours. We discussed a lot of things. We didn&#39;t talk about the weather.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/DUilLAh6lc">pic.twitter.com/DUilLAh6lc</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2005401716943106558?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;I really believe we&#39;re probably, Mr. President, closer than — by far — closer than ever before with both parties.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/ML9lMRRIIc">pic.twitter.com/ML9lMRRIIc</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2005402344352346296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a>: &quot;The working group is going to be composed of Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, General &quot;Razin&quot; Caine, Marco Rubio, and a few other people... I think Pete Hegseth should be on that working group.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/K1dnmVq7aO">pic.twitter.com/K1dnmVq7aO</a>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/2005403021757325422?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 28, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

🎥Takeaways from Trump’s Ukraine peace talks with Zelensky in Florida

By:<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/bernard-j-wolfson-kff-health-news/">Bernard J. Wolfson, &nbsp;KFF Health News</a>-

As Congress debates whether to extend the temporary federal subsidies that have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/affordable-care-act/aca-marketplace-premium-payments-would-more-than-double-on-average-next-year-if-enhanced-premium-tax-credits-expire/" target="_blank">helped millions</a>&nbsp;of Americans buy health coverage, a crucial underlying reality is sometimes overlooked: Those subsidies are merely a band-aid covering the often unaffordable cost of health care.

California, Massachusetts, Connecticut and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.milbank.org/publications/beyond-public-reporting-strengthening-accountability-to-states-cost-growth-targets-and-leveraging-targets-in-health-care-oversight/" target="_blank">five other states</a>&nbsp;have set caps on health care spending in a bid to rein in the intense financial pressure felt by many families, individuals and employers who every year face increases in premiums, deductibles and other health-related expenses.

Hospitals and other health care providers are citing Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed by President Donald Trump in July, as one more reason to challenge those limits.

The law is expected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/medicaid-enrollment-spending-growth-fy-2025-2026/" target="_blank">more than $900 billion</a>&nbsp;over a decade, which mathematically should help the overall health care system meet the caps. But the law is also expected to increase the number of uninsured Americans, mostly Medicaid beneficiaries, by an estimated&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/uninsured/how-will-the-2025-reconciliation-law-affect-the-uninsured-rate-in-each-state/" target="_blank">10 million people</a>. Health care analysts predict hospitals and other providers will raise prices to cover the double whammy of lost Medicaid revenue and the cost of caring for an influx of newly uninsured patients.

Whether regulators in some states will allow providers to justify higher prices and exceed the spending caps is unclear. Only&nbsp;<a href="https://www.milbank.org/publications/beyond-public-reporting-strengthening-accountability-to-states-cost-growth-targets-and-leveraging-targets-in-health-care-oversight/" target="_blank">California and Oregon</a>&nbsp;can penalize providers financially if they fail to meet targets.

“Are we going to say, ‘That’s OK’? Or are we going to say, ‘Well, you exceeded the target. We’re still going to penalize you for that’?” said Richard Pan, a former state lawmaker and a member of the California Office of Health Care Affordability’s board. “That has not yet been decided.”

The California Hospital Association, the industry’s main state lobbying group,&nbsp;<a href="https://calhospital.org/file/ohca-petition-for-writ-of-mandate/?_cldee=A8GhrcOY_cTuDPfqPGEYnuTgoZXm3szCgl31GFGm7Rb9gSK_2LWVhcwpQwK8EuuJ&amp;recipientid=contact-e10e51f96e20eb11a813000d3a375a4d-5668c9ec73c54063bd98803095e124ac&amp;esid=7bd201ea-8aa4-f011-bbd3-6045bd03d69a" target="_blank">filed a lawsuit</a>&nbsp;in October asking a state court to strike down the spending caps, which it argued fail to account for all the cost pressures hospitals face. Those pressures, it said, include an aging, sicker population; the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/Health-Care-Worker-Minimum-Wage-FAQ.htm" target="_blank">rising cost</a>&nbsp;of labor; expensive advances in medical technology; large capital outlays on required seismic retrofitting; and changes in federal policy, including the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The hospital group’s lawsuit also asserted that the state affordability office, by hastily imposing ill-considered cost-cutting targets, was undermining its other key mission of improving health care access, quality and equity.

California’s affordability office last year set a&nbsp;<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/health-brief-california-annual-health-spending-caps/" target="_blank">five-year target</a>&nbsp;to cap statewide spending growth, starting at 3.5% in 2025 and declining to 3% by 2029. The annual caps apply to a wide range of health care entities, including hospitals, medical groups, insurers and other payers.

Earlier this year, it imposed much lower spending growth caps — starting at 1.8% in 2026 and declining to 1.6% by 2029 — for&nbsp;<a href="https://hcai.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Update-to-Draft-Motions-Presented-April-2025.pdf" target="_blank">seven “high-cost” hospitals</a>.

“The spending caps set by politically appointed bureaucrats could force cuts that result in many Californians traveling farther for care, facing longer emergency room wait times, experiencing more overcrowding and losing access to critical services,” Carmela Coyle, the hospital association’s president and CEO, said in an October press release.

The California attorney general’s office, which will represent the affordability agency, has not yet filed a response to the hospital group’s complaint and did not respond to a request for comment.

California is not the only state taking a close look at hospital prices, which are widely considered a&nbsp;<a href="https://tobin.yale.edu/research/who-pays-rising-health-care-prices-evidence-hospital-mergers" target="_blank">primary driver</a>&nbsp;of health care costs.

“States, armed with information that points to payments to hospitals as a driver of what is way beyond affordable commercial premiums, have begun to take increasingly targeted actions focused on commercial hospital prices,” said Michael Bailit, founder of the Needham, Massachusetts-based consultancy&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bailit-health.com/team/michael-bailit.php" target="_blank">Bailit Health</a>, which has advised multiple states, including California, on ways to tame health care spending. “It is not surprising that the hospital industry is going to oppose such state actions.”

In its lawsuit, the California Hospital Association said the affordability office’s own report showed that pharmaceutical and insurance companies are largely responsible for high costs.

Hospitals in some states with cost growth limits, including&nbsp;<a href="https://cthosp.org/advocacy/healthcare-legislation-and-policy/healthcare-cost-growth-benchmarking/" target="_blank">Connecticut</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mhalink.org/mondayreport/is-benchmark-good-too-weak-or-irrelevant/" target="_blank">Massachusetts</a>, have expressed objections similar to the ones raised in the California lawsuit. They could follow their counterparts in California if their lawsuit succeeds, said Peter Lee, who led California’s Affordable Care Act marketplace, Covered California, for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.coveredca.com/newsroom/news-releases/2021/09/16/peter-v-lee-to-leave-as-executive-director-of-covered-california-after-10-years-leading-the-nations-largest-state-based-marketplace/" target="_blank">over a decade</a>&nbsp;and is now a&nbsp;<a href="https://med.stanford.edu/cerc/about/affiliates-advisors.html" target="_blank">senior scholar</a>&nbsp;at Stanford Medicine’s Clinical Excellence Research Center.

Lee said the work of California’s affordability office and similar agencies in other states is just about the only systemwide effort being made to cut health care costs. They are basically saying, “‘Look, health care is taking money away from education, it is taking money away from the environment, it is taking money away from everything in the public sector, and in the private sector it is taking money away from wages,’” he said. “‘We don’t know how you, the health system, are going to do it, but it is your job not just to provide quality but to lower costs. Here’s the target.’”

To be sure, achieving the cost savings that California and those other states are seeking is no easy lift. It will ultimately require persuading large, financially powerful players that compete fiercely for health care dollars to adopt a different mindset and begin cooperating to reduce costs instead. And that, in many cases, will mean lower revenue.

But the status quo, as many people know all too well, means continued financial pain for millions.

In early 2020, Estevan Rodriguez, a bartender at California’s Monterey Beach Hotel, had surgery for a staph infection in his leg. The bill came to nearly $168,000. His insurance paid most of it, but he still owed $5,665, which took him two years to pay, more than $200 every month. “It may not be a lot to some people, but it was a lot to me,” Rodriguez said.

He said he dropped his Hulu subscription, switched to a lower-cost cellphone, and got cheaper car insurance. He started going to food banks rather than the grocery store, he said, and had a lot less time with his kids, because he was constantly working to pay off the hospital bill.

<a href="https://www.montagehealth.org/locations/profile/community-hospital-monterey-peninsula/" target="_blank">Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula</a>, where Rodriguez had his surgery, is one of the seven hospitals identified by California’s affordability office as high-cost. A&nbsp;<a href="https://hcai.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/OHCA-Investigative-Study-of-Hospital-Market-Competition-in-Monterey-County-1.pdf" target="_blank">study by the office</a>&nbsp;attributed high hospital prices in Monterey County to a lack of market competition “rather than higher operating costs or superior quality of care.”

The Monterey hospital referred a request for comment about its “high-cost” designation to the California Hospital Association. CHA spokesperson Jan Emerson-Shea declined to comment beyond the language of the lawsuit and Coyle’s press release statement.

Health care analysts worry the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will reduce market competition even further by stressing already weak hospitals, leading some to shut services, merge with larger health systems, or close. One study estimates&nbsp;<a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2838483" target="_blank">338 rural hospitals</a>&nbsp;are at risk of closing nationwide.

Less competition, in addition to fewer Medicaid dollars and an increase in uninsured patients, will only strengthen the incentive of health systems with the requisite market clout to raise their commercial prices, increasing premiums for employers and individuals.

“We think commercial prices will continue to increase as health care providers, and hospitals in particular, will seek to preserve or increase their revenue,” said Rachel Block, a program officer at the Milbank Memorial Fund, a foundation that focuses on health equity.

That in turn could pose a challenge to state affordability regulators tasked with overseeing compliance with growth targets for health care spending.

California’s affordability office is required to consider mitigating factors, including changes in federal and state laws. But some of its board members have expressed skepticism about letting hospitals offset Medicaid losses with higher commercial prices.

“There’s a lot of talk about using HR 1 and other federal policies as an excuse to raise prices on commercial payers,” Ian Lewis, an affordability office board member and policy director for UNITE HERE Local 2, a hospitality workers union in the Bay Area, said at the agency’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEKO4RfH2Y4" target="_blank">July board meeting</a>, referring to the One Big Beautiful Bill. “There’s no more blood to be squeezed from this stone.”

<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us" target="_blank">KFF Health News</a>&nbsp;is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — an independent source of health policy research, polling and journalism. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us" target="_blank">KFF</a>.

This story was originally produced by&nbsp;<a href="https://stateline.org/2025/12/26/one-big-beautiful-bill-act-complicates-state-health-care-affordability-efforts/" target="_blank">Stateline</a>, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Nebraska Examiner, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/12/1766884539415.jpg" alt="Pixaby" />
 <figcaption>Pixaby</figcaption>
 </figure>By:<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/bernard-j-wolfson-kff-health-news/">Bernard J. Wolfson, &nbsp;KFF Health News</a>-As Congress debates whether to extend the temporary federal subsidies that have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/affordable-care-act/aca-marketplace-premium-payments-would-more-than-double-on-average-next-year-if-enhanced-premium-tax-credits-expire/" target="_blank">helped millions</a>&nbsp;of Americans buy health coverage, a crucial underlying reality is sometimes overlooked: Those subsidies are merely a band-aid covering the often unaffordable cost of health care.California, Massachusetts, Connecticut and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.milbank.org/publications/beyond-public-reporting-strengthening-accountability-to-states-cost-growth-targets-and-leveraging-targets-in-health-care-oversight/" target="_blank">five other states</a>&nbsp;have set caps on health care spending in a bid to rein in the intense financial pressure felt by many families, individuals and employers who every year face increases in premiums, deductibles and other health-related expenses.Hospitals and other health care providers are citing Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed by President Donald Trump in July, as one more reason to challenge those limits.The law is expected to reduce federal Medicaid spending by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/medicaid-enrollment-spending-growth-fy-2025-2026/" target="_blank">more than $900 billion</a>&nbsp;over a decade, which mathematically should help the overall health care system meet the caps. But the law is also expected to increase the number of uninsured Americans, mostly Medicaid beneficiaries, by an estimated&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/uninsured/how-will-the-2025-reconciliation-law-affect-the-uninsured-rate-in-each-state/" target="_blank">10 million people</a>. Health care analysts predict hospitals and other providers will raise prices to cover the double whammy of lost Medicaid revenue and the cost of caring for an influx of newly uninsured patients.Whether regulators in some states will allow providers to justify higher prices and exceed the spending caps is unclear. Only&nbsp;<a href="https://www.milbank.org/publications/beyond-public-reporting-strengthening-accountability-to-states-cost-growth-targets-and-leveraging-targets-in-health-care-oversight/" target="_blank">California and Oregon</a>&nbsp;can penalize providers financially if they fail to meet targets.“Are we going to say, ‘That’s OK’? Or are we going to say, ‘Well, you exceeded the target. We’re still going to penalize you for that’?” said Richard Pan, a former state lawmaker and a member of the California Office of Health Care Affordability’s board. “That has not yet been decided.”The California Hospital Association, the industry’s main state lobbying group,&nbsp;<a href="https://calhospital.org/file/ohca-petition-for-writ-of-mandate/?_cldee=A8GhrcOY_cTuDPfqPGEYnuTgoZXm3szCgl31GFGm7Rb9gSK_2LWVhcwpQwK8EuuJ&amp;recipientid=contact-e10e51f96e20eb11a813000d3a375a4d-5668c9ec73c54063bd98803095e124ac&amp;esid=7bd201ea-8aa4-f011-bbd3-6045bd03d69a" target="_blank">filed a lawsuit</a>&nbsp;in October asking a state court to strike down the spending caps, which it argued fail to account for all the cost pressures hospitals face. Those pressures, it said, include an aging, sicker population; the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/Health-Care-Worker-Minimum-Wage-FAQ.htm" target="_blank">rising cost</a>&nbsp;of labor; expensive advances in medical technology; large capital outlays on required seismic retrofitting; and changes in federal policy, including the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The hospital group’s lawsuit also asserted that the state affordability office, by hastily imposing ill-considered cost-cutting targets, was undermining its other key mission of improving health care access, quality and equity.California’s affordability office last year set a&nbsp;<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/health-brief-california-annual-health-spending-caps/" target="_blank">five-year target</a>&nbsp;to cap statewide spending growth, starting at 3.5% in 2025 and declining to 3% by 2029. The annual caps apply to a wide range of health care entities, including hospitals, medical groups, insurers and other payers.Earlier this year, it imposed much lower spending growth caps — starting at 1.8% in 2026 and declining to 1.6% by 2029 — for&nbsp;<a href="https://hcai.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Update-to-Draft-Motions-Presented-April-2025.pdf" target="_blank">seven “high-cost” hospitals</a>.“The spending caps set by politically appointed bureaucrats could force cuts that result in many Californians traveling farther for care, facing longer emergency room wait times, experiencing more overcrowding and losing access to critical services,” Carmela Coyle, the hospital association’s president and CEO, said in an October press release.The California attorney general’s office, which will represent the affordability agency, has not yet filed a response to the hospital group’s complaint and did not respond to a request for comment.<h2>Hospitals’ pushback</h2>California is not the only state taking a close look at hospital prices, which are widely considered a&nbsp;<a href="https://tobin.yale.edu/research/who-pays-rising-health-care-prices-evidence-hospital-mergers" target="_blank">primary driver</a>&nbsp;of health care costs.“States, armed with information that points to payments to hospitals as a driver of what is way beyond affordable commercial premiums, have begun to take increasingly targeted actions focused on commercial hospital prices,” said Michael Bailit, founder of the Needham, Massachusetts-based consultancy&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bailit-health.com/team/michael-bailit.php" target="_blank">Bailit Health</a>, which has advised multiple states, including California, on ways to tame health care spending. “It is not surprising that the hospital industry is going to oppose such state actions.”In its lawsuit, the California Hospital Association said the affordability office’s own report showed that pharmaceutical and insurance companies are largely responsible for high costs.Hospitals in some states with cost growth limits, including&nbsp;<a href="https://cthosp.org/advocacy/healthcare-legislation-and-policy/healthcare-cost-growth-benchmarking/" target="_blank">Connecticut</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mhalink.org/mondayreport/is-benchmark-good-too-weak-or-irrelevant/" target="_blank">Massachusetts</a>, have expressed objections similar to the ones raised in the California lawsuit. They could follow their counterparts in California if their lawsuit succeeds, said Peter Lee, who led California’s Affordable Care Act marketplace, Covered California, for&nbsp;<a href="https://www.coveredca.com/newsroom/news-releases/2021/09/16/peter-v-lee-to-leave-as-executive-director-of-covered-california-after-10-years-leading-the-nations-largest-state-based-marketplace/" target="_blank">over a decade</a>&nbsp;and is now a&nbsp;<a href="https://med.stanford.edu/cerc/about/affiliates-advisors.html" target="_blank">senior scholar</a>&nbsp;at Stanford Medicine’s Clinical Excellence Research Center.Lee said the work of California’s affordability office and similar agencies in other states is just about the only systemwide effort being made to cut health care costs. They are basically saying, “‘Look, health care is taking money away from education, it is taking money away from the environment, it is taking money away from everything in the public sector, and in the private sector it is taking money away from wages,’” he said. “‘We don’t know how you, the health system, are going to do it, but it is your job not just to provide quality but to lower costs. Here’s the target.’”To be sure, achieving the cost savings that California and those other states are seeking is no easy lift. It will ultimately require persuading large, financially powerful players that compete fiercely for health care dollars to adopt a different mindset and begin cooperating to reduce costs instead. And that, in many cases, will mean lower revenue.But the status quo, as many people know all too well, means continued financial pain for millions.In early 2020, Estevan Rodriguez, a bartender at California’s Monterey Beach Hotel, had surgery for a staph infection in his leg. The bill came to nearly $168,000. His insurance paid most of it, but he still owed $5,665, which took him two years to pay, more than $200 every month. “It may not be a lot to some people, but it was a lot to me,” Rodriguez said.He said he dropped his Hulu subscription, switched to a lower-cost cellphone, and got cheaper car insurance. He started going to food banks rather than the grocery store, he said, and had a lot less time with his kids, because he was constantly working to pay off the hospital bill.<a href="https://www.montagehealth.org/locations/profile/community-hospital-monterey-peninsula/" target="_blank">Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula</a>, where Rodriguez had his surgery, is one of the seven hospitals identified by California’s affordability office as high-cost. A&nbsp;<a href="https://hcai.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/OHCA-Investigative-Study-of-Hospital-Market-Competition-in-Monterey-County-1.pdf" target="_blank">study by the office</a>&nbsp;attributed high hospital prices in Monterey County to a lack of market competition “rather than higher operating costs or superior quality of care.”The Monterey hospital referred a request for comment about its “high-cost” designation to the California Hospital Association. CHA spokesperson Jan Emerson-Shea declined to comment beyond the language of the lawsuit and Coyle’s press release statement.<h2>Reduced competition</h2>Health care analysts worry the One Big Beautiful Bill Act will reduce market competition even further by stressing already weak hospitals, leading some to shut services, merge with larger health systems, or close. One study estimates&nbsp;<a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama-health-forum/fullarticle/2838483" target="_blank">338 rural hospitals</a>&nbsp;are at risk of closing nationwide.Less competition, in addition to fewer Medicaid dollars and an increase in uninsured patients, will only strengthen the incentive of health systems with the requisite market clout to raise their commercial prices, increasing premiums for employers and individuals.“We think commercial prices will continue to increase as health care providers, and hospitals in particular, will seek to preserve or increase their revenue,” said Rachel Block, a program officer at the Milbank Memorial Fund, a foundation that focuses on health equity.That in turn could pose a challenge to state affordability regulators tasked with overseeing compliance with growth targets for health care spending.California’s affordability office is required to consider mitigating factors, including changes in federal and state laws. But some of its board members have expressed skepticism about letting hospitals offset Medicaid losses with higher commercial prices.“There’s a lot of talk about using HR 1 and other federal policies as an excuse to raise prices on commercial payers,” Ian Lewis, an affordability office board member and policy director for UNITE HERE Local 2, a hospitality workers union in the Bay Area, said at the agency’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEKO4RfH2Y4" target="_blank">July board meeting</a>, referring to the One Big Beautiful Bill. “There’s no more blood to be squeezed from this stone.”<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us" target="_blank">KFF Health News</a>&nbsp;is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — an independent source of health policy research, polling and journalism. Learn more about&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us" target="_blank">KFF</a>.This story was originally produced by&nbsp;<a href="https://stateline.org/2025/12/26/one-big-beautiful-bill-act-complicates-state-health-care-affordability-efforts/" target="_blank">Stateline</a>, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Nebraska Examiner, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.

State health care affordability pushes complicated by One Big Beautiful Bill

Dawson County Cattle Feeder Leads Cattlemen

Lincoln, Neb. (Dec. 22, 2025) – During their Annual Business Meeting, the Nebraska Cattlemen (NC) membership elected Craig Uden to serve as president.

Craig stated,&nbsp;"When it comes to the beef cattle industry, there will always be issues to solve. The true meaning of sustainability is learning and adapting to the challenges we face.We must come together to solve the important issues and educate producers in order for our business to thrive. I look forward to tackling industry issues with like-minded people over the next year."

A fourth-generation cattleman from Johnson Lake, Nebraska, Craig Uden has always been active in helping shape the ever-challenging and changing beef industry. Craig is a partner in Darr Feedlot Inc., a commercial cattle feeding operation in central Nebraska. Craig and his wife, Terri, also own and manage three commercial cow-calf operations. He believes in giving back to an industry that has been good to him, and while he has stepped aside from the day-to-day management, he still enjoys buying and selling cattle and his customer relations title, because it is the relationships that are built in the cattle industry that make this business so rewarding. People work toward a common goal to improve and learn so that their industry is sustainable for future generations.

Craig and Terri have a daughter, Blair, who is involved in agribusiness and her and husband own a registered Red Angus operation and help oversee the family cow-calf operation. His son, Andrew, and his wife reside in Seward, Nebraska, and Andrew works with his own high tech animal information company. Craig graduated from the University of Nebraska. He has been involved with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) since the mid-1980s and has served on several committees throughout the organization. 

Craig served as NCBA President in 2017; he had previously served as the President-elect, Policy Division Chairman and Federation Division Chairman. He has been involved in a number of functions on a local and state basis, including past chairman and elder of Trinity Lutheran Church in Lexington, Nebraska, member and past chair of the Dawson County Cattlemen, and a 4-H leader. Along with serving on the Nebraska Beef Council, the Nebraska Cattlemen Research &amp; Education Foundation, and the Nebraska Feedlot Council, Craig has served on the Nebraska Cattlemen Board of Directors as a committee chairman and vice chairman, vice president, and president-elect. Craig is also a member of Nebraska Ag Builders and sits on the Foundation Board of Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity.

Craig Uden began his one-year term as Nebraska Cattlemen President on Friday, December 12, 2025.

Press Release<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/12/1766811058431.jpeg" alt="Craig Uden" />
 <figcaption>Craig Uden</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Dawson County Cattle Feeder Leads Cattlemen</h2>Lincoln, Neb. (Dec. 22, 2025) – During their Annual Business Meeting, the Nebraska Cattlemen (NC) membership elected Craig Uden to serve as president.Craig stated,&nbsp;"When it comes to the beef cattle industry, there will always be issues to solve. The true meaning of sustainability is learning and adapting to the challenges we face.We must come together to solve the important issues and educate producers in order for our business to thrive. I look forward to tackling industry issues with like-minded people over the next year."A fourth-generation cattleman from Johnson Lake, Nebraska, Craig Uden has always been active in helping shape the ever-challenging and changing beef industry. Craig is a partner in Darr Feedlot Inc., a commercial cattle feeding operation in central Nebraska. Craig and his wife, Terri, also own and manage three commercial cow-calf operations. He believes in giving back to an industry that has been good to him, and while he has stepped aside from the day-to-day management, he still enjoys buying and selling cattle and his customer relations title, because it is the relationships that are built in the cattle industry that make this business so rewarding. People work toward a common goal to improve and learn so that their industry is sustainable for future generations.Craig and Terri have a daughter, Blair, who is involved in agribusiness and her and husband own a registered Red Angus operation and help oversee the family cow-calf operation. His son, Andrew, and his wife reside in Seward, Nebraska, and Andrew works with his own high tech animal information company. Craig graduated from the University of Nebraska. He has been involved with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) since the mid-1980s and has served on several committees throughout the organization. Craig served as NCBA President in 2017; he had previously served as the President-elect, Policy Division Chairman and Federation Division Chairman. He has been involved in a number of functions on a local and state basis, including past chairman and elder of Trinity Lutheran Church in Lexington, Nebraska, member and past chair of the Dawson County Cattlemen, and a 4-H leader. Along with serving on the Nebraska Beef Council, the Nebraska Cattlemen Research &amp; Education Foundation, and the Nebraska Feedlot Council, Craig has served on the Nebraska Cattlemen Board of Directors as a committee chairman and vice chairman, vice president, and president-elect. Craig is also a member of Nebraska Ag Builders and sits on the Foundation Board of Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity.Craig Uden began his one-year term as Nebraska Cattlemen President on Friday, December 12, 2025.

Craig Uden Starts Term as President of Nebraska Cattlemen

By Erin Bamer | Nebraska Examiner

Balancing the budget, tax reform, scheduling among top priorities for Arch heading into final session as speaker

Lincoln, Neb. — Heading into his final legislative session as a term-limited Nebraska state senator, Speaker of the Legislature John Arch of La Vista said he expects the short, 60-day session to fly by.

The session begins Jan. 7, and between the&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/12/17/state-sen-dan-mckeon-changes-plea-to-not-guilty-on-misdemeanor-disturbing-the-peace-charge/">possible expulsion of a senator</a>, discord over the repurposing of a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/12/15/nebraska-lawmakers-tour-mccook-ice-jail-call-it-orderly-clean-and-say-it-holds-100-150-migrants/">state prison facility into an ICE detention center</a>&nbsp;and a continued&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/08/25/petition-effort-seeks-to-halve-nebraska-property-taxes-cap-valuations/">push for property tax relief</a>, Arch acknowledged there are more than enough issues to occupy lawmakers’ time before they adjourn in April.

Arch’s top priority among those issues is filling a $471 million budget hole by Day 50, he said, the deadline lawmakers have to complete budget adjustments and send the proposal to Gov. Jim Pillen’s desk.

“Honestly, there is the budget, and then there’s everything else,” Arch said.

Budget struggles also took precedence during the Legislature’s 90-day session this spring, when lawmakers worked to fill a budget deficit that at one point grew to $432 million. After making numerous cuts that senators acknowledged were painful, the session concluded with the state’s two-year budget projecting a modest $4 million surplus.

That surplus didn’t last long, because new economic projections made in July put Nebraska back into a projected deficit of $95 million. When Nebraska’s Economic Forecasting Advisory Board met again in October, projections&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/11/19/nebraskas-projected-budget-deficit-grows-to-471-million-ahead-of-2026-legislative-session/">brought the expected shortfall to $471 million</a>.

Arch said balancing Nebraska’s budget is more difficult than normal, because the state’s revenue streams continue to evolve. Passage of the federal “One Big Beautiful Bill” in July is expected to&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/09/02/one-big-beautiful-bill-projected-to-cost-nebraska-over-216-million-in-tax-revenue-in-state-budget/">cost Nebraska’s state government about $406 million</a>&nbsp;over the next four fiscal years, according to the state Department of Revenue.

Additionally, Nebraska is in the midst of scaling down its individual income tax rates to eventually hit 3.99% in 2027. Once lawmakers reach 2027, Arch expects state revenue sources to stabilize, which he said should make managing the budget a bit easier.

“After we flatten out in ‘27, there is a very simple formula, and that is: You spend less than you bring in,” Arch said.

The looming budget challenge is on the minds of many senators, and Arch said there may be fewer new bills introduced in 2026. Recent sessions have established a trend of a higher-than-average number of new bills introduced within the first 10 days of a legislative session, and there are still 240 bills carrying over from 2025, according to legislative records.

At the very least, Arch said lawmakers are aware that there needs to be extremely good cause to introduce any bill with an appropriation attached.

“I’ll emphasize ‘extremely,’” Arch said. “Because it’s just going to be very difficult for a bill to pass that has an A-bill attached.”

Aside from balancing the budget, the speaker said another one of his goals in setting the session’s agenda is scheduling as many priority bills as possible.

However, he acknowledged multiple other issues that could make staying on that track more challenging. He said any extraneous matters could mean priority bills suffer.

During the legislative break, Arch reset all existing priority bills from 2025 back to normal status. He said this was because he felt not all were “ready,” and he intends to start 2026’s floor debates with worksheet order bills before focusing on senators’ personal priorities. He noted that senators could still reprioritize the reset bills.

Even with less time for bills, Arch said there is still value to introducing bills on important topics for the sake of starting conversations. He noted that his recent bills on government efficiencies and legislative oversight took years to pass.

Arch said he intends to bring a smaller government efficiency bill in 2026 that would continue to eliminate certain government reports he views as “obsolete.” He said lawmakers should always keep government efficiency on their mind, because there is always something worth addressing.

On legislative oversight, Arch’s Legislative Bill 298&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/05/28/nebraska-advances-bill-codifying-legislative-oversight-role-dealing-with-executive-branch-agencies/">established a new Division of Legislative Oversight and a new Legislative Oversight Committee</a>. This being a significant change to Nebraska’s governmental structure, Arch said it needs time to settle before further bills with changes should be brought.

Arch anticipates that property taxes will remain a top issue for lawmakers in 2026. While it is also one of his goals to make progress on tax reform, he said he doubts there will be enough revenue to pass new tax relief.

In recent sessions, Arch said senators have been more focused on quick fixes for immediate tax relief, mostly through allocating state dollars to local governments.

Arch said he would like to shift the focus to structural reforms that address the root causes of rising taxes. Arch identified several factors that he believes contributes to higher taxes — rising property valuations, unfunded government mandates, and local government spending.

He said the Legislature ought to revisit its discussion on spending caps, and encourage local governments to be stricter about how it spends money. Though that may take more than one session to accomplish, he argued it will be better for the state in the long run.

Arch, who will be term-limited after 2026, said he hopes people look back on his legacy and view him as a speaker who put the institution first.

The 2023 session — his first as speaker — was contentious from start to finish, and Arch said he was pushed in multiple directions in regard to his scheduling. In those instances, he believed ceding to the pressure would not be good for the institution, so he stuck to the Legislature’s policies and held strong to those principles in subsequent sessions.

“You have to have the opportunity to debate what is important in our society, and we as senators have to learn how to do that well,” Arch said. “Some days we do that well, some days we don’t.”

By Erin Bamer | Nebraska Examiner <h2>Balancing the budget, tax reform, scheduling among top priorities for Arch heading into final session as speaker</h2><figure>
 <img src="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/arch-sine-die_ZJW_060225-02-1536x1024.jpg" alt="Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature John Arch of La Vista addresses state senators on the final day of the 2025 legislative session. June 2, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>Speaker of the Nebraska Legislature John Arch of La Vista addresses state senators on the final day of the 2025 legislative session. June 2, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>Lincoln, Neb. — Heading into his final legislative session as a term-limited Nebraska state senator, Speaker of the Legislature John Arch of La Vista said he expects the short, 60-day session to fly by.The session begins Jan. 7, and between the&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/12/17/state-sen-dan-mckeon-changes-plea-to-not-guilty-on-misdemeanor-disturbing-the-peace-charge/">possible expulsion of a senator</a>, discord over the repurposing of a&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/12/15/nebraska-lawmakers-tour-mccook-ice-jail-call-it-orderly-clean-and-say-it-holds-100-150-migrants/">state prison facility into an ICE detention center</a>&nbsp;and a continued&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/08/25/petition-effort-seeks-to-halve-nebraska-property-taxes-cap-valuations/">push for property tax relief</a>, Arch acknowledged there are more than enough issues to occupy lawmakers’ time before they adjourn in April.Arch’s top priority among those issues is filling a $471 million budget hole by Day 50, he said, the deadline lawmakers have to complete budget adjustments and send the proposal to Gov. Jim Pillen’s desk.<figure>
 <img src="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/arch_ZJW_080224-01-300x200.jpg" alt="Speaker John Arch of La Vista. Aug. 2, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>Speaker John Arch of La Vista. Aug. 2, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>“Honestly, there is the budget, and then there’s everything else,” Arch said.Budget struggles also took precedence during the Legislature’s 90-day session this spring, when lawmakers worked to fill a budget deficit that at one point grew to $432 million. After making numerous cuts that senators acknowledged were painful, the session concluded with the state’s two-year budget projecting a modest $4 million surplus.That surplus didn’t last long, because new economic projections made in July put Nebraska back into a projected deficit of $95 million. When Nebraska’s Economic Forecasting Advisory Board met again in October, projections&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/11/19/nebraskas-projected-budget-deficit-grows-to-471-million-ahead-of-2026-legislative-session/">brought the expected shortfall to $471 million</a>.Arch said balancing Nebraska’s budget is more difficult than normal, because the state’s revenue streams continue to evolve. Passage of the federal “One Big Beautiful Bill” in July is expected to&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/09/02/one-big-beautiful-bill-projected-to-cost-nebraska-over-216-million-in-tax-revenue-in-state-budget/">cost Nebraska’s state government about $406 million</a>&nbsp;over the next four fiscal years, according to the state Department of Revenue.Additionally, Nebraska is in the midst of scaling down its individual income tax rates to eventually hit 3.99% in 2027. Once lawmakers reach 2027, Arch expects state revenue sources to stabilize, which he said should make managing the budget a bit easier.“After we flatten out in ‘27, there is a very simple formula, and that is: You spend less than you bring in,” Arch said.The looming budget challenge is on the minds of many senators, and Arch said there may be fewer new bills introduced in 2026. Recent sessions have established a trend of a higher-than-average number of new bills introduced within the first 10 days of a legislative session, and there are still 240 bills carrying over from 2025, according to legislative records.At the very least, Arch said lawmakers are aware that there needs to be extremely good cause to introduce any bill with an appropriation attached.“I’ll emphasize ‘extremely,’” Arch said. “Because it’s just going to be very difficult for a bill to pass that has an A-bill attached.”Aside from balancing the budget, the speaker said another one of his goals in setting the session’s agenda is scheduling as many priority bills as possible.However, he acknowledged multiple other issues that could make staying on that track more challenging. He said any extraneous matters could mean priority bills suffer.During the legislative break, Arch reset all existing priority bills from 2025 back to normal status. He said this was because he felt not all were “ready,” and he intends to start 2026’s floor debates with worksheet order bills before focusing on senators’ personal priorities. He noted that senators could still reprioritize the reset bills.Even with less time for bills, Arch said there is still value to introducing bills on important topics for the sake of starting conversations. He noted that his recent bills on government efficiencies and legislative oversight took years to pass.<figure>
 <img src="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/conrad-speaker_ZJW_032625-01-300x200.jpg" alt="State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, center, meets with Speaker John Arch of La Vista, Clerk of the Legislature Brandon Metzler and State Sen. John Fredrickson, from left, at the front of the Legislature. March 26, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln, center, meets with Speaker John Arch of La Vista, Clerk of the Legislature Brandon Metzler and State Sen. John Fredrickson, from left, at the front of the Legislature. March 26, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>Arch said he intends to bring a smaller government efficiency bill in 2026 that would continue to eliminate certain government reports he views as “obsolete.” He said lawmakers should always keep government efficiency on their mind, because there is always something worth addressing.On legislative oversight, Arch’s Legislative Bill 298&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/05/28/nebraska-advances-bill-codifying-legislative-oversight-role-dealing-with-executive-branch-agencies/">established a new Division of Legislative Oversight and a new Legislative Oversight Committee</a>. This being a significant change to Nebraska’s governmental structure, Arch said it needs time to settle before further bills with changes should be brought.Arch anticipates that property taxes will remain a top issue for lawmakers in 2026. While it is also one of his goals to make progress on tax reform, he said he doubts there will be enough revenue to pass new tax relief.In recent sessions, Arch said senators have been more focused on quick fixes for immediate tax relief, mostly through allocating state dollars to local governments.Arch said he would like to shift the focus to structural reforms that address the root causes of rising taxes. Arch identified several factors that he believes contributes to higher taxes — rising property valuations, unfunded government mandates, and local government spending.He said the Legislature ought to revisit its discussion on spending caps, and encourage local governments to be stricter about how it spends money. Though that may take more than one session to accomplish, he argued it will be better for the state in the long run.Arch, who will be term-limited after 2026, said he hopes people look back on his legacy and view him as a speaker who put the institution first.The 2023 session — his first as speaker — was contentious from start to finish, and Arch said he was pushed in multiple directions in regard to his scheduling. In those instances, he believed ceding to the pressure would not be good for the institution, so he stuck to the Legislature’s policies and held strong to those principles in subsequent sessions.“You have to have the opportunity to debate what is important in our society, and we as senators have to learn how to do that well,” Arch said. “Some days we do that well, some days we don’t.”

Budget first: Speaker John Arch breaks down biggest tasks for Nebraska Legislature

Luke Karg is the only Missouri student to qualify for the high school national bass fishing championship five times, including as an incoming freshman

BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/rebecca-rivas/">REBECCA RIVAS</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a>

<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/"></a>The water on Truman Lake was colder and muddier than normal this April, making for some tough fishing conditions.&nbsp;

Luke Karg, of House Springs, had one last shot before graduating to win the Missouri TBF High School Trail Super Tournament for bass fishing – which he and his then 16-year-old fishing partner, A.J. Massa, had won the year before.

It’s the last tournament of the season for the Missouri student program of The Bass Federation, and it’s also the final opportunity to earn enough points to be named Team of the Year — the top-scoring duo in the state.

“The tournament itself meant a lot to us, with it being our last state tournament together,” Karg said. “It was very tough. There was, at most, two inches of visibility in the water, but a lot of fishing is just adapting to the changes.”

Karg and Massa headed out on the water for two days for eight hours each. At the end of each day, they weighed their top five fish.&nbsp;

“The first day, they caught almost enough bass to win the tournament,” said Gary Foree, Karg’s mentor and family friend, who is a former professional fisherman. “They had almost 19 pounds, which is insane. There hasn’t been a tournament in three years over 17 pounds on Truman Lake.”

They brought in 16 pounds on the second day, which would have brought their total up to nearly 35 pounds. But unfortunately it didn’t count. Their boat malfunctioned, making them miss the weigh in.&nbsp;&nbsp;

“It was pretty heart-wrenching,” Karg said. “It was one of our best bags as a team on one of the most difficult days.”

Karg and Massa ended up taking second place at Truman Lake with one day’s worth of fish, and they still had enough points to be named Team of the Year, just as they were last year.

Karg has been part of the Team of the Year five years in a row, including as an incoming high-school freshman.&nbsp;

That title also sent the team to the TBF Student Angler Federation High School National Championship, which was held at Oklahoma’s Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees in June.&nbsp;

Only the top two high-school teams from each state can compete, and Karg is the only person in Missouri to have qualified for that opportunity five years in a row, according to officials for the national championship.

“To be one of the top two teams in Missouri for five consecutive years is pretty freaking amazing,” said Karl Buck, who previously led the federation’s high school program in Missouri and was also Karg’s team leader. “I’m just so proud it’s unbelievable. I mean, I can’t believe that I was involved in his upcoming as a fisherman.”

Karg began competitive fishing when he was 12 and participated in dozens of individual and team tournaments as a teen. Through it all, he struggled with an autoimmune illness that made him miss numerous days from school, he said, but he’s proud he still managed to graduate on time in May and continue fishing.

While it was grueling standing on a boat for hours under the hot sun, Karg said the national championship was exhilarating because some of the world’s top fishermen were watching.&nbsp;

“It’s the biggest tourn of the year, and a lot of people only get to go to it once, if even,” Karg said. “It really could be the biggest tournament of your life.”

Karg has loved to fish ever since he could hold a rod, said his father Rick Karg. Even as early as 5, he said Karg could catch fish when the adults around him were coming up empty.&nbsp;

“There’s a magic,” Rick said. “My scientific brain says, ‘Is there like a vibration from his heartbeat that travels down the line because he’s got his finger touching it, that the fish like?’”&nbsp;

Foree met Karg because of a life-changing promise he made to Karg’s mother, Becky Rumley.

Rumley was the nurse administering Foree’s chemotherapy treatment at St. Claire Hospital, and one day, she told him how much her nine-year-old son loved to fish. At the time, Foree thought he only had a few months to live.

“I ended up telling her that if I survive this, I’ll take him to Lake of the Ozarks and get him a five pounder because I used to be a [fishing] guide on the lake,” he said.

Foree did pull through, and when they went out fishing, Karg didn’t just catch one five-pound bass.&nbsp;

“I caught three five-pound bass and two six pounders, and like a bunch of big fish,” Karg said. “It is probably the best day of fishing in my life. And ever since then, he’s just dedicated a huge part of his life to help teach me and my partner.”

Foree was equally amazed after Karg pulled out nearly 40 pounds of fish that day.&nbsp;

“He just had the best day of fishing anybody could have,” Foree said. “That’s how I got him hooked on fishing.”&nbsp;&nbsp;

Over the years, Foree taught him about tracking fish through the different seasons and how to read the water and the banks. He also helped him get his first boat.

Now, Foree said, Karg’s instincts are his fishing superpower.&nbsp;

“So many times they won a tournament when the fishing was really tough, and Luke said, ‘Let’s try over here. That bank looks good,’” Foree said. “And they’ll go over, and they’ll catch enough fish on that bank to win the tournament.”

Karg believes his instincts have developed with the dozens of tournaments and countless hours of fishing.&nbsp;

“Over time, it’s become more of an instinct, than having to think about, ‘Oh, I should make a change,’” he said. “It just naturally comes.”

For instance, at both the Truman Lake and national championship, Karg said he was painting his own custom lures while he was on the boat.

At Truman, he made the decision to color a half-inch chartreuse line on his spinner bait, he said, and he ended up catching much bigger fish, but less fish. If his lure had a straight tail, the catch was better as well, he said.

“It’s all about how the bait works in the water,” he said. “The smallest little detail that can just trigger the fish to eat. That’s where a lot of the fun comes into it for me, is all the difficulties and fun little changes you can make. You can go from catching no fish for hours on end to catching your limit in a minute.”

Karl Buck remembers meeting Karg when he was about 12 on a dock at the Peaceful Valley Lake in Owensville, where Karg’s grandparents have a lake house. Buck used to run a student program called the Owensville Anglers, and they were finishing up a tournament that day.

“When we were doing our weigh-in down at the dam, they came down to the boat ramp to inquire,” Buck said. “He’ll probably hate this, but he was the most bashful young man, super quiet and reserved.”&nbsp;

The Owensville Anglers is how Karg got his start with tournament fishing, which Buck says is much different than regular fishing.&nbsp;

In a tournament, Buck said the first rule is “find five.”&nbsp;

“You’re fishing for five fish,” Buck said. “Doesn’t matter what they weigh, they just got to be keepers,” meaning they are big enough to keep.

The fish go in the box where they’re kept alive and healthy, which is a standard conservation practice in the high-school tournaments.&nbsp;

“After you have five, then you’re going to change your game,” he said. “It’s now no longer about just catching fish. You’re looking to upgrade the fish that you already have. Big fish get big for a reason. They’re hard to catch.”

Big fish know how to hide, and that’s where casting skills come into play, Foree said. He called Karg’s casting skills “insane.”&nbsp;

“He can skip jigs and lures and put them in places nobody else can,” Foree said. “That’s why he’s so good.”

But he wasn’t always that good, Buck remembers, which is why Karg earned the nickname “Oops” after fishing with Buck and his son one day.

“Luke throws this cast — I believe it was a spinner bait — and it winds up on the roof of this dock, stuck,” Buck said. “So we go up and we get it. A little while later, he makes another cast and it gets stuck on somebody’s dock.”

After each time, Karg would just say, “Oops” and the nickname was born. Buck said when they fished together this past summer, he was blown away at his talent.&nbsp;

Karg and Massa ended up placing 56th out of more than 200 teams in the national championship in Oklahoma.&nbsp;

“We lost three three-pounders that came off the boat,” Karg said after the tournament finished. “That would have gotten us up to nine or 10 pounds. We would have been around 12th place probably.”

Karg said he’s proud of his accomplishment over this high school career, and he couldn’t have done it without his fishing partners Massa and previously Kyle Kannawurf, along with their boat captains.

“No one gives credit enough to our boat captains, which were both of our dads,” he said, “just giving the time to drive all the way out there and standing with us out the boat for eight hours straight a day.”

As boat captain, Rick said he was in “constant amazement” at his son’s skill.

“I’d just sit there and watch and think, ‘How in the world are you doing this?’” Rick said. “You’re like a super sharp shooter.”

Rick said he’s watched Karg fish for seven hours without catching anything, but he’d still have the focus and creativity change his strategy and get a big catch at the last minute. Karg’s humility and attitude are among the most impressive things about him, said Foree and Buck, particularly his ability to bounce back from setbacks.

“He never got rattled,” Foree said. “Oh, he’d get upset if he lost a big fish, but he’d just say, ‘Okay, I learned something from that,’ and go on to the next one. His ability to focus and stay focused in times of turmoil when he loses fish or the weather changes is very, very important in professional bass fishing.”

Karg&nbsp;has his own&nbsp;<a href="https://lukesboatservices.com/about-us" target="_blank">boat detail business</a>, and there are several career paths he’s interested in taking, including a professional fisherman.&nbsp;

“But for that, I would have to be away from home around 200 days of the year,” he said. “So the one I’m probably gonna go with is a natural environmentalist studying fresh water fish.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/12/1766854627766.png" alt=" Luke Karg and his mentor Gary Foree fish together at Peaceful Valley Lake in Owensville in 2021 (Photo submitted)." />
 <figcaption> Luke Karg and his mentor Gary Foree fish together at Peaceful Valley Lake in Owensville in 2021 (Photo submitted).</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>Luke Karg is the only Missouri student to qualify for the high school national bass fishing championship five times, including as an incoming freshman</h2>BY:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/rebecca-rivas/">REBECCA RIVAS</a> <a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/">Missouri Independent</a><a href="https://missouriindependent.com/briefs/missouri-senate-committee-advances-bill-to-ban-texting-while-driving/"></a>The water on Truman Lake was colder and muddier than normal this April, making for some tough fishing conditions.&nbsp;Luke Karg, of House Springs, had one last shot before graduating to win the Missouri TBF High School Trail Super Tournament for bass fishing – which he and his then 16-year-old fishing partner, A.J. Massa, had won the year before.It’s the last tournament of the season for the Missouri student program of The Bass Federation, and it’s also the final opportunity to earn enough points to be named Team of the Year — the top-scoring duo in the state.“The tournament itself meant a lot to us, with it being our last state tournament together,” Karg said. “It was very tough. There was, at most, two inches of visibility in the water, but a lot of fishing is just adapting to the changes.”Karg and Massa headed out on the water for two days for eight hours each. At the end of each day, they weighed their top five fish.&nbsp;“The first day, they caught almost enough bass to win the tournament,” said Gary Foree, Karg’s mentor and family friend, who is a former professional fisherman. “They had almost 19 pounds, which is insane. There hasn’t been a tournament in three years over 17 pounds on Truman Lake.”They brought in 16 pounds on the second day, which would have brought their total up to nearly 35 pounds. But unfortunately it didn’t count. Their boat malfunctioned, making them miss the weigh in.&nbsp;&nbsp;“It was pretty heart-wrenching,” Karg said. “It was one of our best bags as a team on one of the most difficult days.”But it wasn’t all lost.&nbsp;Karg and Massa ended up taking second place at Truman Lake with one day’s worth of fish, and they still had enough points to be named Team of the Year, just as they were last year.Karg has been part of the Team of the Year five years in a row, including as an incoming high-school freshman.&nbsp;That title also sent the team to the TBF Student Angler Federation High School National Championship, which was held at Oklahoma’s Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees in June.&nbsp;Only the top two high-school teams from each state can compete, and Karg is the only person in Missouri to have qualified for that opportunity five years in a row, according to officials for the national championship.“To be one of the top two teams in Missouri for five consecutive years is pretty freaking amazing,” said Karl Buck, who previously led the federation’s high school program in Missouri and was also Karg’s team leader. “I’m just so proud it’s unbelievable. I mean, I can’t believe that I was involved in his upcoming as a fisherman.”Karg began competitive fishing when he was 12 and participated in dozens of individual and team tournaments as a teen. Through it all, he struggled with an autoimmune illness that made him miss numerous days from school, he said, but he’s proud he still managed to graduate on time in May and continue fishing.While it was grueling standing on a boat for hours under the hot sun, Karg said the national championship was exhilarating because some of the world’s top fishermen were watching.&nbsp;“It’s the biggest tourn of the year, and a lot of people only get to go to it once, if even,” Karg said. “It really could be the biggest tournament of your life.”<h2>A promise</h2>Karg has loved to fish ever since he could hold a rod, said his father Rick Karg. Even as early as 5, he said Karg could catch fish when the adults around him were coming up empty.&nbsp;“There’s a magic,” Rick said. “My scientific brain says, ‘Is there like a vibration from his heartbeat that travels down the line because he’s got his finger touching it, that the fish like?’”&nbsp;Foree met Karg because of a life-changing promise he made to Karg’s mother, Becky Rumley.Rumley was the nurse administering Foree’s chemotherapy treatment at St. Claire Hospital, and one day, she told him how much her nine-year-old son loved to fish. At the time, Foree thought he only had a few months to live.“I ended up telling her that if I survive this, I’ll take him to Lake of the Ozarks and get him a five pounder because I used to be a [fishing] guide on the lake,” he said.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/12/1766854595349.png" alt="Luke Karg stands with a paddlefish he caught in Owensville (Photo submitted)." />
 <figcaption>Luke Karg stands with a paddlefish he caught in Owensville (Photo submitted).</figcaption>
 </figure>Foree did pull through, and when they went out fishing, Karg didn’t just catch one five-pound bass.&nbsp;“I caught three five-pound bass and two six pounders, and like a bunch of big fish,” Karg said. “It is probably the best day of fishing in my life. And ever since then, he’s just dedicated a huge part of his life to help teach me and my partner.”Foree was equally amazed after Karg pulled out nearly 40 pounds of fish that day.&nbsp;“He just had the best day of fishing anybody could have,” Foree said. “That’s how I got him hooked on fishing.”&nbsp;&nbsp;Over the years, Foree taught him about tracking fish through the different seasons and how to read the water and the banks. He also helped him get his first boat.Now, Foree said, Karg’s instincts are his fishing superpower.&nbsp;“So many times they won a tournament when the fishing was really tough, and Luke said, ‘Let’s try over here. That bank looks good,’” Foree said. “And they’ll go over, and they’ll catch enough fish on that bank to win the tournament.”Karg believes his instincts have developed with the dozens of tournaments and countless hours of fishing.&nbsp;“Over time, it’s become more of an instinct, than having to think about, ‘Oh, I should make a change,’” he said. “It just naturally comes.”For instance, at both the Truman Lake and national championship, Karg said he was painting his own custom lures while he was on the boat.At Truman, he made the decision to color a half-inch chartreuse line on his spinner bait, he said, and he ended up catching much bigger fish, but less fish. If his lure had a straight tail, the catch was better as well, he said.“It’s all about how the bait works in the water,” he said. “The smallest little detail that can just trigger the fish to eat. That’s where a lot of the fun comes into it for me, is all the difficulties and fun little changes you can make. You can go from catching no fish for hours on end to catching your limit in a minute.”<h2>‘Find five’</h2>Karl Buck remembers meeting Karg when he was about 12 on a dock at the Peaceful Valley Lake in Owensville, where Karg’s grandparents have a lake house. Buck used to run a student program called the Owensville Anglers, and they were finishing up a tournament that day.“When we were doing our weigh-in down at the dam, they came down to the boat ramp to inquire,” Buck said. “He’ll probably hate this, but he was the most bashful young man, super quiet and reserved.”&nbsp;The Owensville Anglers is how Karg got his start with tournament fishing, which Buck says is much different than regular fishing.&nbsp;In a tournament, Buck said the first rule is “find five.”&nbsp;“You’re fishing for five fish,” Buck said. “Doesn’t matter what they weigh, they just got to be keepers,” meaning they are big enough to keep.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/12/1766854558899.png" alt="Luke Karg, left, and A.J. Massa hold up their top three fish at the TBF Student Angler Federation High School National Championship, which was held at Oklahoma’s Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees in June (photo submitted)." />
 <figcaption>Luke Karg, left, and A.J. Massa hold up their top three fish at the TBF Student Angler Federation High School National Championship, which was held at Oklahoma’s Grand Lake O’ the Cherokees in June (photo submitted).</figcaption>
 </figure>The fish go in the box where they’re kept alive and healthy, which is a standard conservation practice in the high-school tournaments.&nbsp;“After you have five, then you’re going to change your game,” he said. “It’s now no longer about just catching fish. You’re looking to upgrade the fish that you already have. Big fish get big for a reason. They’re hard to catch.”Big fish know how to hide, and that’s where casting skills come into play, Foree said. He called Karg’s casting skills “insane.”&nbsp;“He can skip jigs and lures and put them in places nobody else can,” Foree said. “That’s why he’s so good.”But he wasn’t always that good, Buck remembers, which is why Karg earned the nickname “Oops” after fishing with Buck and his son one day.“Luke throws this cast — I believe it was a spinner bait — and it winds up on the roof of this dock, stuck,” Buck said. “So we go up and we get it. A little while later, he makes another cast and it gets stuck on somebody’s dock.”After each time, Karg would just say, “Oops” and the nickname was born. Buck said when they fished together this past summer, he was blown away at his talent.&nbsp;Karg and Massa ended up placing 56th out of more than 200 teams in the national championship in Oklahoma.&nbsp;“We lost three three-pounders that came off the boat,” Karg said after the tournament finished. “That would have gotten us up to nine or 10 pounds. We would have been around 12th place probably.”Karg said he’s proud of his accomplishment over this high school career, and he couldn’t have done it without his fishing partners Massa and previously Kyle Kannawurf, along with their boat captains.“No one gives credit enough to our boat captains, which were both of our dads,” he said, “just giving the time to drive all the way out there and standing with us out the boat for eight hours straight a day.”As boat captain, Rick said he was in “constant amazement” at his son’s skill.“I’d just sit there and watch and think, ‘How in the world are you doing this?’” Rick said. “You’re like a super sharp shooter.”Rick said he’s watched Karg fish for seven hours without catching anything, but he’d still have the focus and creativity change his strategy and get a big catch at the last minute. Karg’s humility and attitude are among the most impressive things about him, said Foree and Buck, particularly his ability to bounce back from setbacks.“He never got rattled,” Foree said. “Oh, he’d get upset if he lost a big fish, but he’d just say, ‘Okay, I learned something from that,’ and go on to the next one. His ability to focus and stay focused in times of turmoil when he loses fish or the weather changes is very, very important in professional bass fishing.”Karg&nbsp;has his own&nbsp;<a href="https://lukesboatservices.com/about-us" target="_blank">boat detail business</a>, and there are several career paths he’s interested in taking, including a professional fisherman.&nbsp;“But for that, I would have to be away from home around 200 days of the year,” he said. “So the one I’m probably gonna go with is a natural environmentalist studying fresh water fish.”

Missouri teen makes history for tournament bass fishing

A Powerball ticket sold in Arkansas won an estimated $1.817 billion jackpot in the Christmas Eve drawing on Wednesday, Dec. 24, marking the second-largest lottery prize in U.S. history.

The winning numbers drawn were 4, 25, 31, 52 and 59, with the Powerball number 19 and a 2x Power Play.

Lottery officials say the jackpot grew to approximately $1.817 billion following final ticket sales, making it the largest Powerball prize awarded in 2025 and second only to the $2.04 billion jackpot won in 2022.

The winning ticket was sold at a Murphy USA gas station in Cabot, Arkansas, near Little Rock.

The winner will have the option of taking the full annuitized prize paid out over roughly 30 years or a lump-sum cash option estimated at $834.9 million, before taxes.

Powerball tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 292.2 million.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/12/1766811289816.jpeg" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>A Powerball ticket sold in Arkansas won an estimated $1.817 billion jackpot in the Christmas Eve drawing on Wednesday, Dec. 24, marking the second-largest lottery prize in U.S. history.The winning numbers drawn were 4, 25, 31, 52 and 59, with the Powerball number 19 and a 2x Power Play.Lottery officials say the jackpot grew to approximately $1.817 billion following final ticket sales, making it the largest Powerball prize awarded in 2025 and second only to the $2.04 billion jackpot won in 2022.The winning ticket was sold at a Murphy USA gas station in Cabot, Arkansas, near Little Rock.The winner will have the option of taking the full annuitized prize paid out over roughly 30 years or a lump-sum cash option estimated at $834.9 million, before taxes.Powerball tickets are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The odds of winning the jackpot are about 1 in 292.2 million.

Historic Powerball Jackpot Hit on Christmas Eve

By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/charleyduffin/">Charley Duffin</a>

When Jan. 1 rolls around, Missouri’s minimum wage will increase from $13.75 to $15 an hour, putting the state ahead of many others.

The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations announced that the minimum wage is set to increase by $1.25 beginning in 2026. The minimum wage rate will be in effect for all non-exempt employers.

Missouri’s HB 567, signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe into law on July 10, repealed statewide earned paid sick time while simultaneously modifying the state’s minimum wage law.

It eliminated the automatic inflation adjustments that were set to begin in 2027 and kept the $15 per hour rate for public employers. However, it is also removing voter-approved worker protections for businesses as of Aug. 28.

Lily Roberts is the managing director of economic policy at the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan economic policy institute. She said conversations about adjusting the minimum wage reflect rising prices that have increased in recent years.

“Everybody can tell you about inflation, and everybody can tell you about the cost of rent or groceries or childcare being really expensive, but the flip side of that is wages,” Roberts said. “There are many folks who are worse off and less able to keep up with those raising prices because a major pillar of how we make wage policy hasn’t been changed since 2009.”

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 and it hasn’t been adjusted since 2009, which Roberts said is the longest it’s gone unchanged since the introduction of minimum wage in 1938.

“$7.25 is so unbelievably low that many people don’t even believe that it’s still that low,” Roberts said.

In Missouri, employers who are involved in retail or service businesses and have an annual gross income less than $500,000 are exempt from having to pay the state minimum wage rate. Instead, those employers can pay their workers any wage at their discretion, according to the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Roberts said Missouri is unique in the fact that it raised its minimum wage to reflect inflation numbers, but when the state implements a $15 an hour minimum wage, it is no longer required to factor in inflation.

Between 2015 and 2019, Missouri’s minimum wage rose just under a dollar, from $7.65 to $8.60. Since 2019, the increase has been at least $0.75 annually every year except for 2023. The $1.25 jump will be the second straight year that the minimum wage has increased by more than a dollar.

Missouri is one of 34 U.S. states, territories and districts that has a higher minimum wage than the federal requirement.

Roberts said Missouri is in line with nearby states, such as South Dakota, Nebraska and Arkansas. All of those states, plus Missouri, have consistently been working on increasing their respective minimum wages.

“Some of them are doing it gradually over time to get to ($15 an hour) and others are passing individual laws,” Roberts said. “These longer-term predictable changes are really the trend right now, where you give businesses and employees a sense of how their wages will grow over time, and it means that it’s easier to predict and easier for employers to budget for.”

She said business owners are often fighting for higher wages, contrary to popular belief, because they need to be able to compete.

“The higher your wages that you pay, in general, the lower your turnover is,” Roberts said. “So businesses that pay really small dollars tend to have a lot of turnover. It actually gets really counterproductive and expensive very quickly because the business owner has to spend all of their time hiring, training and trying to retain folks.”

This story originally appeared in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/state_news/missouri-minimum-wage-set-to-increase-over-a-dollar-in-2026/article_3d33d784-f2f7-4fb3-a7a7-34fe23712ad8.html#tncms-source=topstory" target="_blank">Columbia Missourian</a>.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/3/1741714465522.jpeg" alt="Image Pixaby" />
 <figcaption>Image Pixaby</figcaption>
 </figure>By:&nbsp;<a href="https://missouriindependent.com/author/charleyduffin/">Charley Duffin</a>When Jan. 1 rolls around, Missouri’s minimum wage will increase from $13.75 to $15 an hour, putting the state ahead of many others.The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations announced that the minimum wage is set to increase by $1.25 beginning in 2026. The minimum wage rate will be in effect for all non-exempt employers.Missouri’s HB 567, signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe into law on July 10, repealed statewide earned paid sick time while simultaneously modifying the state’s minimum wage law.It eliminated the automatic inflation adjustments that were set to begin in 2027 and kept the $15 per hour rate for public employers. However, it is also removing voter-approved worker protections for businesses as of Aug. 28.Lily Roberts is the managing director of economic policy at the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan economic policy institute. She said conversations about adjusting the minimum wage reflect rising prices that have increased in recent years.“Everybody can tell you about inflation, and everybody can tell you about the cost of rent or groceries or childcare being really expensive, but the flip side of that is wages,” Roberts said. “There are many folks who are worse off and less able to keep up with those raising prices because a major pillar of how we make wage policy hasn’t been changed since 2009.”The federal minimum wage is $7.25 and it hasn’t been adjusted since 2009, which Roberts said is the longest it’s gone unchanged since the introduction of minimum wage in 1938.“$7.25 is so unbelievably low that many people don’t even believe that it’s still that low,” Roberts said.In Missouri, employers who are involved in retail or service businesses and have an annual gross income less than $500,000 are exempt from having to pay the state minimum wage rate. Instead, those employers can pay their workers any wage at their discretion, according to the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.Roberts said Missouri is unique in the fact that it raised its minimum wage to reflect inflation numbers, but when the state implements a $15 an hour minimum wage, it is no longer required to factor in inflation.Between 2015 and 2019, Missouri’s minimum wage rose just under a dollar, from $7.65 to $8.60. Since 2019, the increase has been at least $0.75 annually every year except for 2023. The $1.25 jump will be the second straight year that the minimum wage has increased by more than a dollar.Missouri is one of 34 U.S. states, territories and districts that has a higher minimum wage than the federal requirement.Roberts said Missouri is in line with nearby states, such as South Dakota, Nebraska and Arkansas. All of those states, plus Missouri, have consistently been working on increasing their respective minimum wages.“Some of them are doing it gradually over time to get to ($15 an hour) and others are passing individual laws,” Roberts said. “These longer-term predictable changes are really the trend right now, where you give businesses and employees a sense of how their wages will grow over time, and it means that it’s easier to predict and easier for employers to budget for.”She said business owners are often fighting for higher wages, contrary to popular belief, because they need to be able to compete.“The higher your wages that you pay, in general, the lower your turnover is,” Roberts said. “So businesses that pay really small dollars tend to have a lot of turnover. It actually gets really counterproductive and expensive very quickly because the business owner has to spend all of their time hiring, training and trying to retain folks.”This story originally appeared in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/state_news/missouri-minimum-wage-set-to-increase-over-a-dollar-in-2026/article_3d33d784-f2f7-4fb3-a7a7-34fe23712ad8.html#tncms-source=topstory" target="_blank">Columbia Missourian</a>.&nbsp;

Missouri minimum wage set to increase over a dollar 

<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> “Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and… <a href="https://t.co/ct7rUW128t">pic.twitter.com/ct7rUW128t</a>&mdash; Department of War 🇺🇸 (@DeptofWar) <a href="https://twitter.com/DeptofWar/status/2004351717131903272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 26, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">The President was clear last month: the killing of innocent Christians in Nigeria (and elsewhere) must end. The <a href="https://twitter.com/DeptofWar?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DeptofWar</a> is always ready, so ISIS found out tonight — on Christmas. More to come… Grateful for Nigerian government support &amp; cooperation. Merry Christmas! <a href="https://t.co/k5Q3Qd4ClE">https://t.co/k5Q3Qd4ClE</a>&mdash; Pete Hegseth (@PeteHegseth) <a href="https://twitter.com/PeteHegseth/status/2004332431542022289?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 25, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Read our press release: <a href="https://t.co/tcHZFTTrju">https://t.co/tcHZFTTrju</a>&mdash; U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) (@USAfricaCommand) <a href="https://twitter.com/USAfricaCommand/status/2004331056812761430?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 25, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

US launches strike against Islamic State militants in Nigeria

The Powerball® jackpot has been won in Arkansas, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association. A single ticket sold in Arkansas matched all six numbers drawn last night to win a $1.817 billion jackpot. The jackpot has a cash option of $834.9 million.

The winning numbers in the Wednesday, Dec. 24 Powerball drawing were white balls 4, 25, 31, 52, 59 and red Powerball 19. The Power Play® multiplier was 2.

With final ticket sales, the Powerball jackpot reached $1.817 billion, making it the second-largest U.S. lottery jackpot ever won and the largest Powerball prize this year.

“Congratulations to the newest Powerball jackpot winner! This is truly an extraordinary, life-changing prize,” said Matt Strawn, Powerball Product Group Chair and Iowa Lottery CEO. “We also want to thank all the players who joined in this jackpot streak – every ticket purchased helps support public programs and services across the country.”

This marks the second time the Powerball® jackpot has been won by a ticket sold in Arkansas; the first was in 2010.

The lucky ticket holder will have the choice between an annuitized prize of $1.817 billion or a lump sump payment of $834.9 million. Both prize options are before taxes. If a winner selects the annuity option, they will receive one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5-percent each year.

U.S. lotteries are reminding players to check their tickets carefully, as many tickets won cash prizes in last night’s drawing.

Nationwide, eight tickets matched all five white balls. The winning Match 5 tickets were sold in California, Indiana, Michigan, New York (2), Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The Match 5 prize is a set cash prize of $1 million except in California, where prize payout amounts are pari-mutuel and determined by sales and the number of winners.

The drawing also produced 114 tickets that won $50,000 prizes and 31 tickets that won $100,000 prizes.

In the Double Play® drawing, two tickets sold in Colorado and South Carolina won $500,000 prizes after matching all five black balls. Double Play is a $1 add-on feature that allows players to player their Powerball numbers, again, in a separate drawing for a chance to win up to $10 million. The Double Play drawing is live streamed on<a href="https://www.powerball.com/watch-drawing">&nbsp;Powerball.com</a>&nbsp;following the main Powerball drawing.

Last night’s Powerball drawing was the 47th in the jackpot run – a game record for the most drawings in a jackpot cycle. The Powerball jackpot was previously won on Sept. 6 by two tickets in Missouri and Texas that split a $1.787 billion prize.

For the next drawing on Saturday night, the Powerball jackpot resets to $20 million. The Power Play® 10X multiplier will be available for play since the advertised jackpot is below $150 million.

Powerball® tickets are $2 per play. Tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. More than half of all proceeds from the sale of a Powerball ticket remain in the jurisdiction where the ticket was sold. Since its first drawing in 1992, the Powerball game has helped generate more than $37 billion for good causes supported by U.S. lotteries.

Powerball drawings are broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee, Fla. Powerball drawings are also live streamed on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.powerball.com/watch-drawing">Powerball.com</a>.

The overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.

The Powerball® jackpot has been won in Arkansas, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association. A single ticket sold in Arkansas matched all six numbers drawn last night to win a $1.817 billion jackpot. The jackpot has a cash option of $834.9 million.The winning numbers in the Wednesday, Dec. 24 Powerball drawing were white balls 4, 25, 31, 52, 59 and red Powerball 19. The Power Play® multiplier was 2.With final ticket sales, the Powerball jackpot reached $1.817 billion, making it the second-largest U.S. lottery jackpot ever won and the largest Powerball prize this year.“Congratulations to the newest Powerball jackpot winner! This is truly an extraordinary, life-changing prize,” said Matt Strawn, Powerball Product Group Chair and Iowa Lottery CEO. “We also want to thank all the players who joined in this jackpot streak – every ticket purchased helps support public programs and services across the country.”This marks the second time the Powerball® jackpot has been won by a ticket sold in Arkansas; the first was in 2010.The lucky ticket holder will have the choice between an annuitized prize of $1.817 billion or a lump sump payment of $834.9 million. Both prize options are before taxes. If a winner selects the annuity option, they will receive one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5-percent each year.U.S. lotteries are reminding players to check their tickets carefully, as many tickets won cash prizes in last night’s drawing.Nationwide, eight tickets matched all five white balls. The winning Match 5 tickets were sold in California, Indiana, Michigan, New York (2), Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The Match 5 prize is a set cash prize of $1 million except in California, where prize payout amounts are pari-mutuel and determined by sales and the number of winners.The drawing also produced 114 tickets that won $50,000 prizes and 31 tickets that won $100,000 prizes.In the Double Play® drawing, two tickets sold in Colorado and South Carolina won $500,000 prizes after matching all five black balls. Double Play is a $1 add-on feature that allows players to player their Powerball numbers, again, in a separate drawing for a chance to win up to $10 million. The Double Play drawing is live streamed on<a href="https://www.powerball.com/watch-drawing">&nbsp;Powerball.com</a>&nbsp;following the main Powerball drawing.Last night’s Powerball drawing was the 47th in the jackpot run – a game record for the most drawings in a jackpot cycle. The Powerball jackpot was previously won on Sept. 6 by two tickets in Missouri and Texas that split a $1.787 billion prize.For the next drawing on Saturday night, the Powerball jackpot resets to $20 million. The Power Play® 10X multiplier will be available for play since the advertised jackpot is below $150 million.Powerball® tickets are $2 per play. Tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. More than half of all proceeds from the sale of a Powerball ticket remain in the jurisdiction where the ticket was sold. Since its first drawing in 1992, the Powerball game has helped generate more than $37 billion for good causes supported by U.S. lotteries.Powerball drawings are broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee, Fla. Powerball drawings are also live streamed on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.powerball.com/watch-drawing">Powerball.com</a>.The overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.Record U.S. Lottery Jackpots<ol>
 <li>$2.04 Billion – Powerball – Nov. 7, 2022 – CA</li><li>$1.817 Billion – Powerball – Dec. 24, 2025 – AR</li><li>$1.787 Billion – Powerball – Sept. 6, 2025 – MO, TX</li><li>$1.765 Billion – Powerball – Oct. 11, 2023 - CA</li><li>$1.602 Billion – Mega Millions – Aug. 8, 2023 – FL</li><li>$1.586 Billion – Powerball – Jan. 13, 2016 – CA, FL, TN</li><li>$1.537 Billion – Mega Millions – Oct. 23, 2018 – SC</li><li>$1.348 Billion – Mega Millions – Jan. 13, 2023 – ME</li><li>$1.337 Billion – Mega Millions – July 29, 2022 – IL</li><li>$1.326 Billion – Powerball – April 6, 2024 – OR</li>
 </ol>

Single ticket wins $1.8 billion Powerball jackpot on Christmas Eve

By Allison Peck | North Platte Post/Sandhills Post

LINCOLN, Neb. — Drivers in Nebraska won’t see a change at the pump for motor fuel taxes in the first half of 2026. The state <a href="https://revenue.nebraska.gov/sites/default/files/doc/news-release/fuels/mfrate_12-2025.pdf">announced </a>that the motor fuels tax rate from January 1 through June 30, 2026, will remain 31.8 cents per gallon, the same as the second half of 2025.

The combined total keeps the motor fuels tax steady at 31.8 cents per gallon.

The motor fuels tax in Nebraska is set by state law. The wholesale tax is based on the wholesale price of fuel, the variable tax is calculated to meet the funding needs for highway projects approved by the Legislature, and the fixed tax is set by statute.

The tax does not include the petroleum release remedial action fee, which remains at 0.9 cents per gallon on gasoline and 0.3 cents per gallon on diesel.

For more information about motor fuels tax rates, statistics, or how they’re calculated, residents can visit the Nebraska Department of Revenue’s website or contact Motor Fuels Taxpayer Assistance at 800‑554-FUEL (800‑554‑3835) or 402‑471‑5730.

By Allison Peck | North Platte Post/Sandhills Post<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/7/1657123077767.jpg" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>LINCOLN, Neb. — Drivers in Nebraska won’t see a change at the pump for motor fuel taxes in the first half of 2026. The state <a href="https://revenue.nebraska.gov/sites/default/files/doc/news-release/fuels/mfrate_12-2025.pdf">announced </a>that the motor fuels tax rate from January 1 through June 30, 2026, will remain 31.8 cents per gallon, the same as the second half of 2025.The total tax includes three parts:<ul>
 <li>Wholesale tax: 11.9 cents per gallon (slightly lower than 12.2 cents in late 2025)
</li><li>Variable tax: 3.6 cents per gallon (up from 3.3 cents previously)
</li><li>Fixed tax: 16.3 cents per gallon (unchanged)
</li>
 </ul>The combined total keeps the motor fuels tax steady at 31.8 cents per gallon.The motor fuels tax in Nebraska is set by state law. The wholesale tax is based on the wholesale price of fuel, the variable tax is calculated to meet the funding needs for highway projects approved by the Legislature, and the fixed tax is set by statute.The tax does not include the petroleum release remedial action fee, which remains at 0.9 cents per gallon on gasoline and 0.3 cents per gallon on diesel.For more information about motor fuels tax rates, statistics, or how they’re calculated, residents can visit the Nebraska Department of Revenue’s website or contact Motor Fuels Taxpayer Assistance at 800‑554-FUEL (800‑554‑3835) or 402‑471‑5730.

Nebraska Motor Fuel Tax Rate to Stay the Same in Early 2026

205 Child Victims Located and 293 Child Sex Abuse Offenders Arrested in Nationwide Crackdown, Including Two in the District of Nebraska

The Department of Justice announced the results of Operation Relentless Justice, a coordinated enforcement effort to identify, track, and arrest child sex predators. The nationwide crackdown resulted in over 205 child victims being located and the arrests of over 293 child sexual abuse offenders. The coordinated effort was executed over the course of two weeks by all 56 FBI field offices, the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Attorneys’ offices around the country.&nbsp;

“We will not allow evil criminals who prey on children to evade justice,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Our federal agents have worked tirelessly alongside our state and local partners to track down these vile predators, and now our prosecutors will ensure they receive severe punishments to match their horrific crimes.”

“Operation Relentless Justice shows no child will be forgotten and that all predators targeting the most vulnerable amongst us will be held accountable,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “This year, the FBI has led multiple nationwide surges across the U.S. to find and arrest hundreds of child predators. We will not stop until every child can live a life free of exploitation. We will utilize the strength of all our field offices and our federal, state, and local partners to protect communities across the nation from such horrific crimes.”

“FBI Omaha will continue surging resources to track and lock up child sex predators lurking in our communities. Working closely with our local, state, and federal partners, we’ll utilize every tool available to apprehend subjects, remove children from deplorable situations, and bring some measure of healing for victims,” said Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel of the FBI Omaha Field Office.

Kody Dickes, 34, of Ashland, Nebraska, has been charged in the District of Nebraska in a three-count Superseding Indictment on December 9, 2025, with distribution of child pornography, possession of child pornography, and production of visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Dickes has been in federal custody since April 30, 2025.

Dillon Summers, 54, of Cleveland, Tennessee, has been charged by complaint with felony Sexual Assault Use of a Communication Device in Douglas County, Nebraska. Summers was arrested in Tennessee on December 9, 2025.

Those arrested are alleged to have committed various crimes, including the production, distribution, and possession of child sexual abuse material; online enticement and transportation of minors; and child sex trafficking. Some of the alleged offenders include an airman out of Dallas, TX, who was arrested with his wife for producing child sex abuse material (CSAM), as well as a Police Officer from Raleigh, NC, who distributed CSAM to an undercover officer while discussing his interest in engaging in sexual contact with children. In another case involving enticement of a minor, the Miami Field Office arrested a Guatemalan national who was previously deported in 2011, and had previous arrests for battery, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and carrying a concealed weapon.

As sextortion cases continue to rise, this operation highlights arrests of individuals who target vulnerable children online including the five leaders of Greggy’s Cult, as well as a Virginia man who persuaded a 14-year-old to produce CSAM.&nbsp; The victim attempted suicide after he allegedly told her to kill herself.&nbsp;

This effort follows two other successful operations, including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-results-operation-restore-justice-205-child-sex-abuse-offenders" target="_blank">Operation Restore Justice</a>&nbsp;in May, which resulted in the rescue of 115 children and the arrests of 205 child sex abuse offenders, including one from the District of Nebraska, and Operation Enduring Justice in August, which resulted in the rescue of 133 children and the arrests of 234 offenders, including one from the District of Nebraska.&nbsp;

For Immediate Release205 Child Victims Located and 293 Child Sex Abuse Offenders Arrested in Nationwide Crackdown, Including Two in the District of Nebraska<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/10/1730399931581.jpeg" alt=" " />
 <figcaption> </figcaption>
 </figure>The Department of Justice announced the results of Operation Relentless Justice, a coordinated enforcement effort to identify, track, and arrest child sex predators. The nationwide crackdown resulted in over 205 child victims being located and the arrests of over 293 child sexual abuse offenders. The coordinated effort was executed over the course of two weeks by all 56 FBI field offices, the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Attorneys’ offices around the country.&nbsp;“We will not allow evil criminals who prey on children to evade justice,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Our federal agents have worked tirelessly alongside our state and local partners to track down these vile predators, and now our prosecutors will ensure they receive severe punishments to match their horrific crimes.”“Operation Relentless Justice shows no child will be forgotten and that all predators targeting the most vulnerable amongst us will be held accountable,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “This year, the FBI has led multiple nationwide surges across the U.S. to find and arrest hundreds of child predators. We will not stop until every child can live a life free of exploitation. We will utilize the strength of all our field offices and our federal, state, and local partners to protect communities across the nation from such horrific crimes.”“FBI Omaha will continue surging resources to track and lock up child sex predators lurking in our communities. Working closely with our local, state, and federal partners, we’ll utilize every tool available to apprehend subjects, remove children from deplorable situations, and bring some measure of healing for victims,” said Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel of the FBI Omaha Field Office.Kody Dickes, 34, of Ashland, Nebraska, has been charged in the District of Nebraska in a three-count Superseding Indictment on December 9, 2025, with distribution of child pornography, possession of child pornography, and production of visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Dickes has been in federal custody since April 30, 2025.Dillon Summers, 54, of Cleveland, Tennessee, has been charged by complaint with felony Sexual Assault Use of a Communication Device in Douglas County, Nebraska. Summers was arrested in Tennessee on December 9, 2025.Those arrested are alleged to have committed various crimes, including the production, distribution, and possession of child sexual abuse material; online enticement and transportation of minors; and child sex trafficking. Some of the alleged offenders include an airman out of Dallas, TX, who was arrested with his wife for producing child sex abuse material (CSAM), as well as a Police Officer from Raleigh, NC, who distributed CSAM to an undercover officer while discussing his interest in engaging in sexual contact with children. In another case involving enticement of a minor, the Miami Field Office arrested a Guatemalan national who was previously deported in 2011, and had previous arrests for battery, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and carrying a concealed weapon.As sextortion cases continue to rise, this operation highlights arrests of individuals who target vulnerable children online including the five leaders of Greggy’s Cult, as well as a Virginia man who persuaded a 14-year-old to produce CSAM.&nbsp; The victim attempted suicide after he allegedly told her to kill herself.&nbsp;This effort follows two other successful operations, including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-results-operation-restore-justice-205-child-sex-abuse-offenders" target="_blank">Operation Restore Justice</a>&nbsp;in May, which resulted in the rescue of 115 children and the arrests of 205 child sex abuse offenders, including one from the District of Nebraska, and Operation Enduring Justice in August, which resulted in the rescue of 133 children and the arrests of 234 offenders, including one from the District of Nebraska.&nbsp;The FBI’s Victim Services Division (VSD) assisted victims during this operation and provided services, to include forensic interviews, referrals for medical and mental health resources, and coordination with partners. VSD’s mission is to inform, support, and assist victims in navigating the aftermath of crime and the criminal justice process with dignity and resilience.These operations underscore the Department’s unwavering commitment to protecting children and combating child sexual exploitation. These cases were&nbsp;brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. attorneys’ offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit&nbsp;<a href="http://www.justice.gov/psc" target="_blank">justice.gov/psc</a>.The Department partners with and oversees funding grants for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which receives and shares tips about possible child sexual exploitation received through its 24/7 hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST and on&nbsp;<a href="http://missingkids.org/" target="_blank">missingkids.org</a>.The Department urges the public to remain vigilant and report suspected exploitation of a child through the FBI’s tipline at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324),<a href="https://www.fbi.gov/tips" target="_blank">&nbsp;tips.fbi.gov</a>,&nbsp;or by calling your local FBI field office.An indictment is merely an allegation. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.