Record School Spending Fails to Reverse Decline in Test Scores

Headline USA Editor
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Record School Spending Fails to Reverse Decline in Test Scores

(Esther Wickham, The Center Square) As national education spending per pupil rises, student enrollment is dropping and test scores across the United States are falling, which raises concern over how effectively taxpayer dollars are being used in public schools.

Since 2002, K-12 public school spending has increased by more than 35%, yet enrollment has dropped 2.1%, which is over a million students over the past five years. Student achievement has also declined, with only one-third of students nationwide scoring at or above the proficient level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in reading, according to the National Assessment Governing Board. 

Currently, 40% of fourth graders are working below the NAEP basic level in reading, the highest percentage since 2002.

These declines continue despite record per-pupil spending. In 2024, New York leads as the highest per-pupil spending state, at $32,284. California is also among the highest, currently at $25,941. The lowest spending states include Utah, Idaho and Mississippi.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, average reading scores fell three points, while eighth-grade math dropped eight points. These declines were largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while total nationwide school district debt rose more than 2.1% from $532.5 billion in 2021 to $543.9 billion in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

An increase in teacher and administrator salaries and benefits is a primary cause of rising school spending. Among the 50 states, California maintains the highest average starting teacher salary at $58,409. The average salary for teachers in California is $101,084, according to a WalletHub report.

School spending has risen amid concerns over test scores.

“The continued declines in reading scores are particularly troubling. Reading is foundational to all subjects, and failure to read well keeps students from accessing information and building knowledge across content areas,” National Assessment Governing Board member Patrick Kelly said in a news release.

Now, American public schools are nearing $1 trillion in annual spending, a 35% increase between 2002 and 2023, according to a report by Reason Foundation. During that period, the average per-student spending rose from $14,969 to $20,322.

Since the pandemic, a range of factors has contributed to declining enrollment and test scores, yet states have seen minimal broad improvement in educational outcomes as states continue to increase spending per pupil.

California continues to see rising spending per pupil and uneven performance.

The state spends $25,941 per pupil for a total of over a billion dollars annually.

Despite U.S. News & World Report ranking California 37th in Pre-K-12 education because of high school graduation rates, the National Assessment of Educational Progress reading and math scores are falling, along with college readiness test scores such as SATs.

In 2024, California’s fourth- and eighth-grade math performance on the NAEP was below the national average, with 35% of fourth graders and 25% of eighth graders proficient in math, respectively.

The Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second largest district, has seen student enrollment significantly decrease in the past two decades from 747,009 in 2003-04 to 387,152 students this year.

In June, LAUSD board members unanimously approved the 2025-26 budget of $18.8 billion, which put the district at a $2.9 billion deficit with its projected revenue for the next fiscal year at $15.9 billion.

“Los Angeles Unified has not experienced a decline in test scores since 2020,” an LAUSD spokesperson told The Center Square. “The district continues to deliver historic academic gains, outpacing both the state and other large districts.”

In 2024, the average NAEP score for eighth graders in Los Angeles was 260 out of 500, compared to 262 in 2022. Only 18% of LAUSD students performed at or above the NAEP proficient level in 2024.

In New York, the nation’s highest spending state, per-pupil funding has continued to rise as enrollment declines. New York City public schools, which make up the nation’s largest school district, spent about $25,810 per student in 2019. That rose to more than $32,284 in 2025, with projections nearing $34,717 in 2026.

District enrollment fell from 955,490 students in the 2020-21 school year to 906,248 in 2024-25, with 2026 preliminary estimates showing further declines to 884,400 students.

“For the 2025-2026 school year, we are keeping all of our schools’ budgets stable, investing in all of our students, and ensuring our educators have the resources they need,” former New York Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement sent to The Center Square. “Amidst shifts in enrollment and funding, our educators should only have to focus on one thing: our students.”

Compared to the states, test scores in New York City have improved. In the 2024-25 school year, 56.3% of students in third through eighth grade met the state proficiency standard in English language arts, a 7.2 point increase from the prior year. Math proficiency rose to 56.9% a 3.5 point gain.

Yet these improvements, when compared to other states, show New York has continued to rank below the national average in fourth and eighth-grade performance from 2019 to 2024, according to the National Report Card.

States on the other end that have lower spending per pupil are also seeing enrollment shifts.

Mississippi has increased per-pupil spending from about $9,189.61 in the 2019-20 school year to nearly $12,998 in 2025. Over the same period, enrollment declined from roughly 466,002 students to about 424,534.

In Idaho, per-pupil spending in 2024 was $10,246, and test scores still reflect the national decline but remain near or above national averages. Numbers show Idaho is doing better with its test scores than states with higher spending per pupil.

NAEP data show eighth-grade reading performance fell from about 74% proficient in 2018-19 to roughly 66.7% in 2023-24, which is still successful compared to the 2024 national average of eighth-grade reading performance of 56% proficient. 

“In spite of current challenges, public education in Idaho remains strong. Over the last three years, we have seen marked achievement gains and the state continues to show measurable returns on its investments in student success,” Maggie Reynolds, public information officer for the Idaho Department of Education, told The Center Square.

U.S. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon continues to voice concerns over the steady national decline of student performance levels in K-12 education despite increased taxpayer-funded spending per pupil.

“American students are testing at historic lows across all of K-12 … nearly half of America’s high school seniors are testing at below basic levels in math and reading,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement when the 2024 NAEP reports came out. “Despite spending billions annually on numerous K-12 programs, the achievement gap is widening, and more high school seniors are performing below the basic benchmark in math and reading than ever before.

Trump Says US Will Keep Seized Venezuelan Oil and Tankers

Headline USA Editor
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Trump Says US Will Keep Seized Venezuelan Oil and Tankers

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) President Donald Trump said on Monday that the US will “keep” the Venezuelan oil and two tankers that it seized off the coast of Venezuela as his administration is escalating a blockade on the country.

“We’re going to keep it. Maybe we’ll sell it. Maybe we’ll keep it. Maybe we’ll use it in the strategic reserves,” Trump told reporters on Monday after announcing new “Trump class” US Navy battleships. “We’re keeping the ships, also.”

So far, the US has seized two ships near Venezuela, and its forces attempted to capture a third, but it fled northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, which Trump said the US is still pursuing. One of the seized tankers was under US sanctions, but that doesn’t give the US the legal right to board and capture a vessel on the high seas.

Trump officials have used legalistic language to justify the seizures and forced transfer of the cargo — actions that amount to theft — in an apparent effort to obscure the fact that enforcing a blockade is traditionally considered an act of war, which would require congressional authorization under the US Constitution.

The second ship that the US seized, the Centuries, was carrying Venezuelan oil reportedly owned by a China-based company, and Beijing has strongly condemned the US seizure. “By arbitrarily seizing other countries’ vessels, the U.S. has seriously violated international law,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian.

“China stands against unilateral illicit sanctions that lack basis in international law or authorization of the UN Security Council, and against any move that violates the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, infringes upon other countries’ sovereignty and security, and constitutes unilateralism and bullying,” Lin added.

Russia has also backed Venezuela in the face of increasing US aggression against the country. On Monday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Sergey Lavrov spoke with his Venezuelan counterpart, Yvan Gil, and the two diplomats condemned recent US actions.

“The ministers expressed their deep concern over the escalation of Washington’s actions in the Caribbean Sea, which could have serious consequences for the region and threaten international shipping,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a readout of the call. “The Russian side reaffirmed its full support for and solidarity with the Venezuelan leadership and people in the current context.”

Trump and his top officials have made clear that their ultimate goal is the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, something Trump reaffirmed on Monday. When asked if he was trying to force Maduro out of power, Trump said, “Well, I think it probably would. I can’t tell that. That’s up to him what he wants to do. I think it’d be smart for him to do that.” The president has also repeatedly threatened to bomb “land” targets inside Venezuela.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com. 

 

Huckabee Says Iran Didn’t ‘Get the Full Message’ in Last US Bombing as Israel Pushing for Another War

Headline USA Editor
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Huckabee Says Iran Didn’t ‘Get the Full Message’ in Last US Bombing as Israel Pushing for Another War

(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said on Monday that Iran “didn’t get the full message” following the US airstrikes that targeted Iranian nuclear facilities in June, comments that came as Israel is pushing for the US to support another attack on the country.

“Iran, I don’t know if they ever took [President Trump] seriously until the night that the B-2 bombers went to Fordow,” Huckabee said in an interview with Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, referring to one of the underground Iranian nuclear facilities bombed by the US.

“I hope they got the message, but apparently they didn’t get the full message because … they appear to be trying to reconstitute and find a new way to dig the hole deeper, secure it more,” Huckabee added, referring to reports that say there’s been activity at the bombed nuclear sites.

Huckabee made the comments when asked if the US would support another attack on Iran if Israel determined “further military action was necessary” based on Iran’s work on its civilian nuclear program and ballistic missile program. According to a report from NBC News, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will ask President Trump to back another attack on Iran over Israeli concerns about Iran’s ballistic missiles, which were effective at striking Israeli territory during the 12-Day War.

“It’s hard for me to tell you what the US would do because that’s a policy decision that’ll be made at the White House,” Huckabee said. “All I can do is point to you what the president has said repeatedly, and he consistently has said Iran is never going to enrich uranium.”

Since the ceasefire that ended the US-Israeli war on Iran, President Trump has repeatedly threatened to bomb Iran again if it resumes enriching uranium. Earlier this month, he also suggested that he could “obliterate” Iran’s ballistic missiles. “We can knock out their missiles very quickly. We have great power,” Trump said.

For its part, Iran has said its uranium enrichment has been halted by the US bombing campaign, but it has vowed to restart the program, framing it as a matter of national pride, while maintaining its policy that it will never pursue a nuclear weapon. Iran has also rejected the idea of entering a deal with the US that requires limits on its ballistic missile program since its missiles are its only way to deter Israel and the US.

This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com. 

 

Silver, Gold and…Peppermint?

Money Metals News Service
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Silver, Gold and…Peppermint?

(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) You know what I miss? Christmas specials.

Yes. I am a grownup. But I still love the Christmas specials. Snoopy decorating his doghouse. The Grinch folding up the Christmas tree like an umbrella and stuffing it up the chimney. Frosty the snowman melting in a greenhouse.

But my favorite Christmas special is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

It’s been my favorite since I was a little kid.

Now, you’re probably thinking: What does he mean when he says he misses the Christmas specials? He can watch them whenever he wants! He’s such a big Boomer that he doesn’t even understand streaming?

No. I’m not a big Boomer. I’m an Xer. And I’m down with streaming. But when it comes to Christmas specials, it’s just not the same.

Things were different when I was growing up. We actually had to wait for the specials to come on TV.

I remember scouring the TV guide printed in our local newspaper. Remember when that was a thing?! I’d start anticipating the Christmas specials during the first week of December, and I eagerly waited to see Rudolph in the lineup.

When the show finally came on, Mom always made an event out of it. She would make me a special Christmas treat – perhaps hot chocolate with marshmallows or apple cider with a cinnamon stick. Sometimes, she even baked me fresh Christmas cookies.

Here’s a little confession: when I was really little, the abominable snow monster scared the bejesus out of me!

In retrospect, I wonder why…

Remember when he tipped over? The bottom of his feet looked just like the bottom of my footie pajamas. You might be thinking, geez, how did he not notice that? How did he not realize that the abominable was a total fake?

Well, give me a break. I was, like, 5 years old!

But, other than my irrational fear of the pajama-footed snow monster, I loved the show as a little kid.

And I still do!

As a little boy, I always thought Yukon Cornelius was cool.

Yukon is the ultimate libertarian. He open-carried guns, and he was on a quest for sound money!

Yes, indeed, Yukon wandered around the Great White North in search of silver and gold. But that’s not the whole story. In fact, that’s not what he was doing at all!

A lot of people don’t realize this because the version of Rudolph most of us watched on TV as kids cut an important part out.

You’ll recall that when Yukon meets Rudolph and the elf Hermey, he dramatically introduces himself.

“The name’s Yukon Cornelius, the greatest prospector in the north! And you know, it’s rich with gold! Gold! Gold and silver! Silver and gold! Wahooo!”

He punctuates his greeting by tossing his pickaxe in the air, licking it, and declaring, “Nothin’.”

Yukon repeats this pickaxe toss and lick behavior throughout the show.

On a side note, it’s kind of weird, isn’t it?

And maybe just a little gross…

Or is it just me?

The oddity of this behavior never occurred to me when I was little. Of course, this is the kid who didn’t notice the snow monster was wearing footed pajamas.

And on another side note — how did Yukon’s tongue not freeze to the metal? He was licking it in the frozen Arctic, after all.

We all know from Flick’s experience in A Christmas Story that putting your tongue on frozen steel requires a visit from the fire department for tongue removal.

Anyway, given what we’ve seen of Yukon so far, it’s clear he was hoping to discover riches in the form of gold and/or silver, right? That’s certainly the impression we get.

And who wouldn’t want to find gold and silver? History is packed full of men and women who risked everything in search of silver and gold.

Here’s the plot twist:

Yukon was not looking for gold or silver!

You were duped into thinking that by common sense and network TV editing.

Those of you who watched a full-length movie on network TV know it was almost always edited to make room for commercials. This was the case with Rudolph. CBS deleted an important scene that explains exactly what Yukon was looking for.

Rick Goldschmidt wrote a book on Rudolph and calls this “the most significant deleted scene.”

An article in the Huffington Post explains what happened.

“It comes right after Rudolph guides Santa through the air to the Island of Misfit Toys. Rudolph’s parents, Donner and Mrs. Donner, Rudolph’s girlfriend, Clarice, and Cornelius are featured, while Donner says, ‘That’s my buck!’ finally confirming Rudolph’s dad is no longer ashamed, as Goldschmidt points out. But more illuminating is that the scene finally gives an answer as to why Cornelius kept licking his pickax throughout the special. In this deleted scene, Cornelius throws his ax in the air, lets it strike the ground, and then, after licking it as he has been wont to do, declares, ‘Peppermint! What I’ve been searching for all my life! I’ve struck it rich. I’ve got me a peppermint mine … Wahoooo!’”

If you’re just a bit older than I am, you may actually remember the deleted scene. It last aired on TV in 1964. It’s also on the DVD. So, if you’ve watched the show with your kids, you probably already know this little secret.

Anyway, I get the whole peppermint and Christmas motif – candy canes and all that. But I don’t really like peppermint. I’m partial to chocolate.

And let’s be honest, Yukon was a little misguided. He would have been a lot better off finding silver and gold!

Of course, you don’t have to prospect in the Arctic to get gold and silver. You can get all you need right here at Money Metals Exchange. And you won’t risk freezing your tongue on a pickaxe!

From all of us here at Money Metals, have a wonderful holiday season!

Mike Maharrey is a journalist and market analyst for Money Metals with over a decade of experience in precious metals. He holds a BS in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a BA in journalism from the University of South Florida.

FedEx Secures Massive Federal Contract While Replacing American Workers With Foreign H-1B Hires

Jose Nino
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FedEx Secures Massive Federal Contract While Replacing American Workers With Foreign H-1B Hires

(José Niño, Headline USA) A substantial federal contract awarded to FedEx preceded a dramatic expansion in the company’s foreign workforce, occurring simultaneously with widespread layoffs of American employees nationwide.

According to Dallas Express, the U.S. Transportation Command selected FedEx in December 2022 as one of three firms to handle package delivery for government agencies. The indefinite-delivery contract, valued at $2.24 billion according to GovCon Wire, covers the Next Generation Delivery Service-2 program through September 2030.

Following that award, FedEx’s H-1B visa hiring expanded dramatically. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data reveals the company employed approximately two dozen approved H-1B workers when it secured the contract. Within three years, that number ballooned to roughly 500, with the steepest increases materializing in 2024 and 2025. Most growth concentrated in Tennessee, the company’s headquarters location, though positions span numerous states.

A separate H-1B database shows FedEx filed visa applications for positions in Texas including “Digital Marketing Advisor” and “Engineering Specialist Advisor,” with compensation typically between $100,000 and $115,000. Some applications listed start dates in Texas cities during the same periods when layoffs occurred in those regions, though approval status for all filings remains unclear.

Meanwhile, FedEx terminated hundreds of domestic positions. The company disclosed in a November 2025 Worker Adjustment notification that 856 jobs at a Coppell warehouse would be eliminated by April 2026. A spokesman attributed the closure to a customer relocating operations to a different logistics provider, according to Dallas Express reporting. Additional 2025 cuts included 305 Fort Worth positions and 131 jobs in Garland and Plano.

Beyond Texas, FedEx announced plans to eliminate 611 Memphis workers after losing an automotive manufacturing client, the Tennessee Lookout reported. Further reductions hit facilities in Kentucky, New York and Pennsylvania throughout 2025, according to Supply Chain Dive.

FedEx has not publicly connected its federal contract to either H-1B hiring patterns or domestic workforce reductions.

A company spokesperson stated, “FedEx is committed to offering employees the opportunity to grow and advance in their careers. Doing so helps our team members thrive, and FedEx prosper. Our strategy is centered around recruiting a skilled workforce that meets our unique business needs and hiring the most qualified candidates.”

Company sources told Dallas Express that corporate consolidation explains much H-1B growth, adding that eliminated positions differ from roles requiring H-1B workers, who typically need bachelor’s degrees or higher.

The visa program faces mounting criticism. Vice President JD Vance recently urged corporations to prioritize  hiring Americans, Dallas Express reported. Fran Rhodes of True Texas Project advocated abolishing the program, writing it creates “a financial advantage for the companies hiring foreign workers at a lower pay scale.”

The Economic Policy Institute similarly described the program as “deeply flawed,” noting employers can “legally underpay H-1B workers” without recruiting Americans first.

However, Vivek Ramaswamy defended foreign labor in a December 2024 X post, claiming necessity because “American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence.”

FedEx maintains it “complies with all applicable federal immigration laws.”

José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino 

DOJ Releases Fake Footage of Jeffrey Epstein Suicide Attempt

Ken Silva
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DOJ Releases Fake Footage of Jeffrey Epstein Suicide Attempt

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) As the Justice Department continues to release thousands of records about the deceased sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein—an effort to comply with legislation pushing for transparency about the case—one of the more bizarre disclosures pertains to Epstein’s purported August 2019 suicide.

The disclosure shows a 12-second computer-generated clip of what resembles Epstein inside his jail cell, attempting to kill himself. The footage is clearly fake, and there were no cameras inside Epstein’s cell at the time of his death.

The footage appears to have been posted on YouTube in 2020. According to the Wall Street Journal, the footage was part of the “Epstein Files” because it was sent to the FBI in 2021 by someone who asked investigators whether it was real. The person told the FBI that he was documenting “a substantial cover-up of a suicide scandal.”

The phony footage is the latest DOJ disclosure of misinformation about Epstein’s death. In July, the government released footage of his prison wing that was “modified,” according to tech publication WIRED.

“Metadata embedded in the video and analyzed by WIRED and independent video forensics experts shows that rather than being a direct export from the prison’s surveillance system, the footage was modified, likely using the professional editing tool Adobe Premiere Pro. The file appears to have been assembled from at least two source clips, saved multiple times, exported, and then uploaded to the DOJ’s website, where it was presented as ‘raw’ footage,” WIRED reported at the time.

“Experts caution that it’s unclear what exactly was changed, and that the metadata does not prove deceptive manipulation.”

Along with WIRED’s investigation about the modified footage, online sleuths found around the same time that at least a minute of the roughly 11-hour video is missing. The video cuts out at 11:58:59, and restarts right at midnight on August 10, 2019—an occurrence that Bondi blamed on the prison’s antiquated video system.

The purpose of releasing the prison footage was ostensibly to show the public that no one had access to Epstein’s cell the night before he was found dead in his cell on Aug. 10, 2019. However, as Headline USA has explained, the footage does not provide evidence that Epstein killed himself. The camera only showed a tiny sliver of a staircase leading to Epstein’s cell. The camera in Epstein’s cell block, which had at least three other inmates, wasn’t recording. Nor was the camera covering one of the elevator bays that led to Epstein’s floor.

Epstein’s death was ruled a suicide by hanging after he was found dead in his jail cell on August 10, 2019. But his lawyers contested that claim. Skeptics point to malfunctioning surveillance cameras, sleeping guards, and broken bones in Epstein’s neck as indications that his death was something other than suicide.

Because of Epstein’s extensive fraternization with high-profile politicians and celebrities such as Bill Clinton, former Israeli PM Ehud Barak, Prince Andrew and Bill Gates and many more, some claim that Epstein’s death was actually a hit job to silence him. Proponents of that theory include Epstein’s former partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, who’s serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking.

“I believe that he was murdered. I was shocked, and I wondered, ‘How did this happen?’ Because I was sure he was going to appeal, and I was sure he was covered by the non-prosecution agreement,” Maxwell told British reporter Jeremy Kyle of TalkTV in 2023.

The non-prosecution agreement referenced by Maxwell was a sweetheart deal Epstein signed with the Department of Justice in 2008, in which he pleaded guilty to a state charge of procuring for prostitution a girl below the age of 18. Epstein was housed in a private wing of the Palm Beach County Stockade, and was reportedly allowed to leave the jail on “work release” for up to 12 hours a day.

After the Miami Herald published an expose on Epstein and his non-prosecution agreement in late 2018, Epstein was arrested again on July 6, 2019, on federal charges for the sex trafficking of minors in Florida and New York.

Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.

TdA Leaders Charged with Terrorism in Texas Case

Headline USA Editor
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TdA Leaders Charged with Terrorism in Texas Case

(Bethany Blankley, The Center Square) Texas continues to lead in targeting Venezuelan Tren de Aragua members.

In the Southern District of Texas, four TdA members have been indicted for the first time on terrorism charges in Texas, including two of TdA’s top three leaders.

Under the Trump administration, the transnational criminal organization originating from a Venezuelan prison was designated as a foreign terrorist organization in February.

This was after a record number of more than one million Venezuelans illegally entered the U.S. under the Biden administration and TdA crime expanded in at least 22 states, The Center Square reported.

Trump made the designation after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott designated TdA as an FTO last year. Texas law enforcement officers continue to arrest TdA members statewide in targeted operations, including prison escapees, in major Texas cities and in rural counties.

In the Southern District of Texas, four Venezuelan nationals, including TdA’s top leaders, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Houston and charged with one count of conspiring to provide material support to TdA in the form of personnel (including themselves) and one count of providing material support to TdA. Two were also indicted with one count of international drug distribution of cocaine in Colombia intended for distribution in the U.S.

“Tren de Aragua poses a direct threat to our national security, to our communities, and to our American way of life,” U.S. Attorney Nicholas Ganjei said. “These defendants allegedly conspired to support a highly-structured foreign terrorist organization by smuggling bulk quantities of cocaine across our southern border and funneling the proceeds back to their fellow terrorists in Venezuela.”

“TdA grew from a prison gang to a transnational criminal organization to a foreign terrorist organization,” Department of Justice Joint Task Force Vulcan co-director Christopher Eason said. “Gold and drug trafficking, and violence and extortion to support TdA’s terrorist activities will not be tolerated.”

The FBI and DEA led the investigation with assistance from the Houston Police Department, Harris County Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Marshals Service, Colombian National Police and the Colombian Attorney General’s Office, among others.

According to court records, two of the four charged, Yohan Jose Romero, 48, and Giovanni Vicente Mosquera Serrano, 37, are two of TdA’s top three leaders.

Jose Romero, an alleged TdA cofounder based in Venezuela, exercises command and control over its criminal operations, according to the indictment. It alleges he’s “ordered, directed, facilitated and supported acts of violence and terrorism, including murders, kidnappings, extortions, and maiming against victims located” in and out of the U.S.

Under Jose Romero, TdA members and associates allegedly committed extortion, kidnappings, murders, drug and gun trafficking, prostitution and sex trafficking, robberies, bank burglaries and money laundering, according to the indictment. He charges lower-level TdA members and others to work under his control to “allegedly enrich TdA leadership and provide financial support to TdA,” authorities maintain. Those who don’t or can’t pay are threatened, beaten or killed, according to the indictment.

Mosquera Serrano, a senior leader, oversees TdA criminal operations across Colombia, Central America and the U.S., the DOJ said.

Two others indicted, Juan Gabriel Rivas Nunez, 44, and Jose Enrique Martinez Flores, 24, also high-ranking TdA leaders, “operate out of multiple South American countries and direct operations to include gold smuggling, narcotics export and violent crime,” according to the indictment.

If convicted, they each face life in prison and up to $10 million in fines, the DOJ said.

Colombian authorities arrested Martinez Flores March 31. Mosquera Serrano is on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List. Jose Romero and Rivas Nunez are also fugitives.

A reward of up to $4 million is being offered for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Jose Romero and of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Mosquera Serrano by the State Department’s Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program.

Anyone with information about them is encouraged to contact the FBI via WhatsApp or Telegram at 281-787-9939, go to their nearest U.S. embassy or consulate or submit an online tip.

Texas is also offering rewards of up to $5,000 leading to the arrest of TdA members. Tips are to be made through Texas Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-252-TIPS (8477) or online.

Medicaid Paid More Than $207 Million for Dead People Under Biden

Headline USA Editor
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Medicaid Paid More Than $207 Million for Dead People Under Biden

(Headline USA) Medicaid programs made more than $200 million in improper payments to health care providers between 2021 and 2022 for people who had already died, according to a new report from the independent watchdog for the Department of Health and Human Services.

But the department’s Office of Inspector General said it expects a new provision in Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill requiring states to audit their Medicaid beneficiary lists may help reduce these improper payments in the future.

These kinds of improper payments are “not unique to one state, and the issue continues to be persistent,” Aner Sanchez, deputy regional inspector general in the Office of Audit Services reportedly said. Sanchez has been researching this issue for a decade.

The watchdog report released Tuesday said more than $207.5 million in managed care payments were made on behalf of deceased enrollees between July 2021 to July 2022. The office recommends that the federal government share more information with state governments to recover the incorrect payments — including a Social Security database known as the Full Death Master File, which contains more than 142 million records going back to 1899.

Sharing the Full Death Master File data has been tightly restricted due to privacy laws which protect against identity theft and fraud.

The massive tax and spending bill that was signed into law by President Donald Trump this summer expands how the Full Death Master File can be used by mandating Medicaid agencies to quarterly audit their provider and beneficiary lists against the file, beginning in 2027. The intent is to stop payments to dead people and improve accuracy.

Tuesday’s report is the first nationwide look at improper Medicaid payments. Since 2016, HHS’ inspector general has conducted 18 audits on a selection of state programs and had identified that Medicaid agencies had improperly made managed care payments on behalf of deceased enrollees totaling approximately $289 million.

The government had some success using the Full Death Master File to prevent improper payments earlier this year. In January, the Treasury Department reported that it had clawed back more than $31 million in federal payments that improperly went to dead people as part of a five-month pilot program after Congress gave Treasury temporary access to the file for three years as part of the 2021 appropriations bill.

Meanwhile, the SSA has been making unusual updates to the file itself, adding and removing records, and complicating its use. For instance, the Trump administration in April moved to classify thousands of living immigrants as dead and cancel their Social Security numbers to crack down on immigrants who had been temporarily allowed to live in the U.S. under programs started during the Biden administration.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

 

Brown University Police Chief Placed on Leave after Mass Shooting

Headline USA Editor
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Brown University Police Chief Placed on Leave after Mass Shooting

(Headline USA) Brown University’s president on Monday placed its campus police chief on leave as the Rhode Island university reviews its security policies after a gunman killed two students and injured nine others earlier this month.

Questions surrounding Brown’s security policies have only intensified since the Dec. 13 shooting that rocked the Providence community and led to a lengthy search for the killer. Much of the focus has centered on whether the Ivy League school had security cameras installed in the building where the attack took place in and the overall ease of accessing campus buildings.

University President Christina Paxson said Rodney Chatman will be replaced by Hugh T. Clements, former police chief of the Providence Police Department. Chatman had previously faced a vote of no confidence by the union representing school police officers in October. Local media outlets reported at the time that the union said the vote reflected “serious concerns over the failed leadership, contract violations, and policies that jeopardize public safety.”

The scrutiny over the school’s security has led to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education, which said earlier Monday that officials are asking Brown for information to help determine if school officials violated federal campus safety and security requirements. This has included seeking security reports, audits, dispatch and call logs, and when emergency notifications have been utilized.

Meanwhile, hundreds gathered at the Cathedral Church of the Advent in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, on Monday to remember Ella Cook, a Brown sophomore who was killed in the attack.

On Dec. 13, gunman Claudio Neves Valente, 48, entered a study session in a Brown academic building and opened fire on students, killing Cook and 18-year-old freshman MukhammadAziz Umurzokov and wounding nine others.

Two days later, authorities say Neves Valente, who had been a graduate student at Brown studying physics during the 2000-01 school year, also fatally shot Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro at Loureiro’s Boston-area home.

Neves Valente, who had attended school with Loureiro in Portugal in the 1990s, was found dead days later in a New Hampshire storage facility. Authorities say he killed himself. An autopsy determined that Neves Valente died Dec. 16, the same day Loureiro died in a hospital.

In Alabama, Cook’s family on Monday invited attendees to wear “Easter colors,” underscoring Cook’s Christian faith, at an Episcopal funeral service that also nodded to the Christmas season.

The Rev. Paul F.M. Zahl, who formerly led the church, read from several letters written by members of the Brown community to Cook’s parents, Anna Bishop Cook and Richard Cook, who raised Ella and her two younger siblings in the affluent Birmingham suburb of Mountain Brook.

“Ella was smart, confident, curious, kind, principled, brave. She had a big impact on campus in only three semesters,” wrote Brown professor of political economy David Skarbek. “I used to tell Ella, ‘We need an Alabama to Brown pipeline.’ In fact, her nickname on campus was Ellabama.”

Zahl told the congregation that the funeral was “a kind of bigger stage, a kind of more amplified mic” for Cook to spread her Christian faith. Zahl said he dreamed last week that he was skiing behind Cook and her family. “Ella turned around and shouted confidently, self-assuredly, ‘Come on, will you?'” he said, saying he believed God had shown himself through the dream.

“I pray now that everyone who has loved Ella so much in this life would be given a vivid, individual feeling of Ella’s love, still present with us,” Zahl said. “Because Ella’s love is eternal and entirely altruistic.”

Cook was an accomplished pianist who was studying French, math and economics at Brown, where she also served as vice president of the college Republicans. Her political activity brought a wave of reaction from national and Alabama Republicans. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey ordered flags to be flown at half-staff statewide in Cook’s memory.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

 

Mexican Navy Plane Crashes in Texas, Killing At Least 5

Headline USA Editor
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Mexican Navy Plane Crashes in Texas, Killing At Least 5

(Headline USA) A small Mexican Navy plane transporting a young medical patient and seven others crashed Monday near Galveston, killing at least five people and setting off a search in waters along the Texas coast, officials said.

Four of the people aboard were Navy officers and four were civilians, including a child, Mexico’s Navy said in a statement to The Associated Press. Two of the passengers were from a nonprofit that provides aid to Mexican children with severe burns, including transports to a Galveston hospital.

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Luke Baker said at least five aboard had died but did not identify which passengers.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Mexico’s Marines said in a statement that it is sending “its deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this tragic accident.”

The crash took place Monday afternoon in Galveston Bay near the base of the causeway that connects Galveston Island to the mainland. Emergency responders and search teams rushed to the scene near the popular beach destination along the Texas coast that is about 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) southeast of Houston.

Sky Decker, a professional yacht captain who lives about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the crash site, said he jumped in his boat to see if he could help. He said he picked up two police officers who directed him through thick fog to a nearly completely submerged plane. Decker jumped in the water and found a badly injured woman trapped beneath chairs and other debris.

“I couldn’t believe. She had maybe 3 inches of air gap to breathe in,” he said. “And there was jet fuel in there mixed with the water, fumes real bad. She was really fighting for her life.”

He said he also pulled out a man sitting in front of her who had already died. He described both of them as dressed in civilian clothes.

Mexico’s Navy said the plane was helping with a medical mission in coordination with the Michou and Mau Foundation, which provides emergency transports to children with life-threatening burns to Shriners Children’s hospital in Galveston, according to the nonprofit’s website.

The foundation said in a post on social media, “We express our deepest solidarity with the families in light of these events. We share their grief with respect and compassion, honoring their memory and reaffirming our commitment to providing humane, sensitive, and dignified care to children with burns.”

The statement from Mexico’s Navy said the plane had an “accident” during its approach to Galveston but did not elaborate.

Teams from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board have arrived at the scene of the crash, the Texas Department of Public Safety said on the social platform X.

A spokesperson from NTSB said they are “aware of this accident and are gathering information about it.” The Galveston County Sheriff’s Office said officials from its dive team, crime scene unit, drone unit and patrol were responding to the crash.

It’s not immediately clear if weather was a factor. The area has been experiencing foggy conditions over the past few days, according to Cameron Batiste, a National Weather Service meteorologist. He said that at about 2:30 p.m. Monday a fog came in that had about a half-mile visibility.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

 

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