March 5, 2025 3:28 pm
(AP) – Makers of the popular obesity treatments Wegovy and Zepbound are cutting prices for people without insurance. Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk said Wednesday that it will drop prices 23% for all doses of Wegovy. The new monthly price of $499 takes effect immediately. The new pricing is available to both the uninsured and people who have insurance that doesn’t cover the weight-loss drugs. Last week, rival Eli Lilly said it would cut the monthly price of its starter dose of Zepbound to $349. The U.S. drugmaker also is making larger doses available for $499 through its self-pay program.
March 5, 2025 2:52 pm
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is granting a one-month exemption on his stiff new tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada for U.S. automakers, amid fears that the trade war could harm U.S. manufacturers.The announcement comes after Trump spoke with leaders of the “big 3” automakers, Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis on Wednesday.“We spoke with the big three auto dealers,” Trump said in a statement read by his spokesperson. “We are going to give a one month exemption on any autos coming through USMCA,” referencing the North American free trade agreement he renegotiated in his first term.
March 5, 2025 10:18 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has said he wants his new education chief, Linda McMahon, to “put herself out of a job” and close the Education Department. McMahon was confirmed by the Senate on Monday, and an executive order to shut down the department could come as soon as this week. McMahon told employees it was the department’s “final mission” to eliminate bureaucratic bloat and turn over the agency’s authority to states. Eliminating the department altogether would be a cumbersome task, which likely would require an act of Congress.
March 5, 2025 9:36 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — A sharply divided Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a Trump administration push to rebuke a federal judge who imposed a quick deadline to release billions of dollars in foreign aid. By a 5-4 vote, the court told U.S. District Judge Amir Ali to clarify his earlier order that required the Republican administration to release nearly $2 billion in aid for work that had already been done. Justice Samuel Alito led four conservative justices in dissent, saying Ali lacks the authority to order the payments. Alito wrote that he is stunned the court is rewarding “an act of judicial hubris.” The court’s action leaves in place Ali’s temporary restraining order that had paused the spending freeze, Ali is holding a hearing Thursday to consider a more lasting pause. The majority noted that the administration had not challenged Ali’s initial order, only the deadline. The court told Ali to “clarify what obligations the government must fulfill to ensure compliance with the temporary restraining order, with due regard for the feasibility of any compliance timelines.”
March 5, 2025 5:06 am
President Donald Trump’s one-hour and 40-minute address to Congress highlighted many of his initiatives, from an immigration crackdown to tariffs and energy policy. But many of his comments Tuesday night included false and misleading information about those efforts. Trump overstated numbers around his immigration crackdown and misrepresented economic figures, repeating several false claims he has made in the past. He also distorted an initiative from his predecessor on electric vehicles and took credit for Army recruitment trends that began before he entered office.
March 5, 2025 5:04 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump vowed to keep up his campaign of “swift and unrelenting action” in reorienting the nation’s economy, immigration and foreign policy as he delivered an unyielding address Tuesday night to Congress and the nation. Democratic legislators registered their dissent with stone faces, placards calling out “lies,” and one legislator’s ejection. Trump’s prime-time speech added up to a defiant sales pitch for the policies that he promised during his campaign and leaned into during his first weeks back in office. Trump pledged to keep delivering sweeping changes to the country, rescuing it from what he described as destruction and mistakes left by his predecessor while repeatedly needling Democrats.
March 5, 2025 5:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Al Green of Texas wasn’t the first lawmaker ever to blurt out a protest during a presidential address to Congress. But the Democrat is perhaps the only one in recent memory to actually be ejected from the hall Tuesday night by the Speaker of the House. Green said afterward it was worth it to make his point. Speaker Mike Johnson later called for the congressman to be censured. In past years, several lawmakers have raised their voices to shout at presidents – from GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s shouts against President Joe Biden and Republican Rep. Joe Wilson’s against President Barack Obama. Green, first elected to Congress 20 years ago, has often been a maverick who stood alone.
March 5, 2025 4:59 am
Popular burger chain Red Robin is considering closing dozens of underperforming locations to help pay off its debt. The company said in its February earnings release that it was “evaluating alternatives for approximately 70 underperforming restaurant locations, including closure upon expiration of the current lease term.” The president and CEO, G.J. Hart, said the locations would close over the next five years with 10 to 15 of them closing in 2025, USA Today reported. The company already closed one location when its lease expired and will sell three locations during the first quarter of this fiscal year, according to the earnings release. A list of targeted locations was not provided in the release. Red Robin has 498 locations with 407 of them owned by the company and the other 91 owned by franchisees, USA Today reported.
March 5, 2025 4:54 am
Several people from our region were special guests at President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress. Marc Fogel (pictured) and Corey Comperatore’s family were among a group of “everyday Americans” first lady Melania Trump invited to the U.S. Capitol. Fogel, a Butler County native who was imprisoned in Russia for more than three years, was released in February as part of a prisoner swap negotiated by the Trump administration. He and his mother, Malphine, will attend. In a statement, Fogel said the privilege of sitting before a joint session of Congress as Trump speaks is not lost on him. Corey Comperatore was shot and killed while shielding his family from the gunman who made an attempt on Trump’s life during a rally in Butler last July. The former fire chief’s widow, Helen, and their two daughters were also in attendance. Trump recognized Fogel and Comperatore during his speech.
March 5, 2025 4:53 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is granting a one-month exemption on his stiff new tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada for U.S. automakers. Worries persist that the newly launched trade war could crush domestic manufacturing. The announcement comes after Trump spoke with leaders of the “big 3” automakers, Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis on Wednesday. Asked if 30 days was enough for the auto sector to prepare for the new taxes, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says Trump told them: “He told them that they should get on it, start investing, start moving, shift production here to the United States of America where they will pay no tariff.”
