Folks, the cars are too expensive. The average new vehicle transaction price hit nearly $52,000 recently, and average payments are up to lucky number $777. It gets even worse from there, though, as those high payments are paired with ever-increasing loan terms: 23.9% of new-car buyers are now opting for loans of 84 months or more.
… %!s()
The data comes from a report by Edmunds, which looked at new-car buyer behavior during the second quarter of 2026. Its results border on horrifying: Over a third of car buyers now have loans longer than six years, including the nearly 25% that have those seven-plus-year loans. The average loan is now $44,156, because as car prices have gone up buyers have actually found themselves with less money to put down — an average of $5,815, which is down by over $600 from the second quarter of 2025. Is it any wonder the average age of a car on American roads keeps rising?
Structural, not individual, issues
Dragana Gordic/Shutterstock
It's easy to blame this buyer behavior as people shopping above their budget, and that may certainly be a part of the issue, but there's more to it than that. Wage stagnation has reached a truly dire point, with research showing that nearly half of U.S. households don't earn enough to meet basic needs like food, water, and shelter — that's all before getting into needs like "a way to get to work." That data is from before the Trump tariffs and before the bulk of recent AI-based job cuts, meaning things are even worse now. Everything costs more, and no one makes enough money to cover it all.
With rising costs to keep older cars on the road rising, especially now thanks to the unprompted and unproductive U.S./Israeli war on Iran, it's not unreasonable that car buyers — especially those brought up in a system that doesn't teach financial literacy and leaves them unprepared for adulthood — would shell out for the safety and security of a new-car warranty. If we want to address these issues, we'll need to do more than shame people for their spending. It'll mean a ground-up rework of our economic systems and our schooling. %!s()
Life reconstruction of Zhengheornis buyu (front) and Fujianvenator prodigiosus (back) from the Zhenghe Fauna. Credit: Chung-Tat Cheung
The transition from a lumbering, heavy dinosaur body to the flight-adapted bird body plan is one of many fascinating episodes in evolutionary history. Working out how this massive transformation took place relies heavily on fossil records, especially of transitional species. A study of a newly identified Jurassic bird published in the journal Science Advances is providing fresh insights into a tail adaptation that helps birds fly.
…
Evolving body plans
Dinosaurs typically had long tails with more than 30 vertebrae. By contrast, modern birds have a much shorter bony tail with a pygostyle. This is a fused bone at the end of the tail that anchors feathers for fanning and steering. So how did evolution go from one to the other?
The newly identified bird species Zhengheornis buyu was discovered in southeastern China and is about 150 million years old, dating to the Late Jurassic. The mostly complete skeleton has only 15 tail vertebrae and no pygostyle. By comparison, Archaeopteryx, one of the earliest known birds, has 23 vertebrae. There are also faint halos of fossilized feathers around the bones. It was a tiny animal, weighing an estimated 74 to 163 grams.
3D reconstruction of the Jurassic avialan Zhengheornis buyu. Credit: Min Wang, institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Until now, the fossil record has shown long-tailed and short-tailed birds appearing around the same time. Consequently, some scientists have hypothesized a rapid leap between the two. But this new find, according to the research team led by Wang Min of the Institute of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, represents an intermediate stage. As the authors note in their paper, "The vertebral reduction and shortening preceded pygostyle fusion in early avialan evolution."
To understand where this ancient bird may fit on the evolutionary tree, the scientists ran a computerized family tree analysis. They also compared the fossil with those of other early birds and dinosaurs and suggest that Zhengheornis sits one branch above Archaeopteryx.
The authors then compared measurements of its hindlimb bones against a database of other ancient theropod dinosaurs and early birds. This analysis helped them investigate how the animal may have lived. They argue that its shortened tail would have provided aerodynamic advantages, such as saving weight and shifting the animal's center of balance forward to make it more stable in the air.
Life reconstruction of the Jurassic bird Zhengheornis buyu from the Zhenghe Fauna. Credit: Chung-Tat Cheung
Zhengheornis buyu fills a morphological gap in the evolutionary history of bird tail, demonstrating that the caudal vertebral reduction and shortening preceded pygostyle fusion in bird evolution. Credit: Min Wang, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jurassic diversity
The research team says this is the fourth ancient bird species discovered at this site, the Zhenghe Fauna, and unlike the others, it showed no clear adaptations for either a ground-dwelling or tree-dwelling lifestyle.
It is the smallest adult bird-dinosaur without a pygostyle discovered so far, suggesting that evolution was experimenting with diverse body shapes by the end of the Jurassic Period.
Photograph and skeletal reconstruction of the Jurassic bird Zhengheornis buyu, discovered from the Zhenghe Fauna, southeastern China (scale bars equal 10 mm). Credit: Min Wang, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Written for you by our author Paul Arnold, edited by Lisa Lock, and fact-checked and reviewed by Andrew Zinin—this article is the result of careful human work. We rely on readers like you to keep independent science journalism alive.
If this reporting matters to you, please consider a donation (especially monthly). You'll get an ad-free account as a thank-you.
Publication details
Min Wang et al, Jurassic avialan reveals stepwise evolution of bony tail in birds, Science Advances (2026). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aeb5202
Citation:
Tiny Jurassic bird reveals a key step in bird evolution (2026, July 8)
retrieved 13 July 2026
from https://phys.org/news/2026-07-tiny-jurassic-bird-reveals-key.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
%!s()
Tule Fall Chinook salmon in the Lower Columbia River, such as those shown here, are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. A new study shows that hatchery-raised Tule Fall Chinooks that are raised in noisy environments are less likely to return from the ocean to spawn. Credit: Lance Koudele/U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Fish hatcheries are a critical part of the effort to restore salmon runs in the Pacific Northwest. But hatchery fish are less likely than wild ones to return from the ocean to spawn—and one reason may be hatchery noise.
… %!s()
That's a key finding of new research from Washington State University Vancouver showing that hatchery-raised fall Chinook salmon that started life in noise-protected environments were more likely to complete the journey to the ocean and back than fish raised in noisy ones.
The work indicates that noise in a fish's early life disrupts its ability to survive in the wild, and that the use of sound-dampening techniques in hatcheries could improve return rates.
"The hatchery system is really critical for the nation, ecologically and economically," said Rikeem Sholes, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife fisheries biologist who led the research project as part of his graduate studies at WSU. "We spend millions upon millions of dollars raising these fish for various reasons, so we want to make sure that we're sending them out with all their systems working so they have the best chance of making it back."
The findings were published in the North American Journal of Fisheries Management. Sholes conducted the research while completing his doctorate at WSU, working in the lab of Allison Coffin, who left WSU for a position at Creighton University in 2024. Coffin was a co-author of the new publication, along with Jonah Piovia-Scott, an associate professor of biology at WSU Vancouver, and a group of former undergraduates at WSU Vancouver: Teyline McLean, Alexandra Pederson, Susannah Schloss and Olivia Molano.
The National Fish Hatchery System, comprising 71 facilities nationwide, releases 125 million fish each year to help foster economic development, fulfill tribal trust obligations and bolster endangered fish runs. However, hatchery-raised fish often exhibit lower fitness and survival compared with wild fish, and scientists are exploring hatchery environments for potential explanations.
One of those elements is noise. Hatcheries are noisy operations, with pumps, generators and aerators. They are also sometimes located near other sources of sound, such as roads. Past studies have linked noise exposure to hearing loss in some fish, disrupting their ability to perceive acoustic signals and survive in the wild.
For the recent project, researchers studied tule fall Chinook salmon raised at the Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery on the lower Columbia River—a little more than an hour away from the WSU Vancouver campus. Tule fall Chinook in the lower Columbia are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The hatchery is near a train track and a state highway, so there is a relatively high amount of ambient noise.
In early 2022, the researchers began evaluating salmon fry raised in three separate environments: one where the noise was dampened with padding and other methods; one where white noise was played continuously; and one with the normal ambient noise of the hatchery.
The team examined the fish during the three months before their release. To their surprise, noise levels were not associated with significant differences in sensory development or swimming behavior, though there were moderate differences in fish size.
However, when they began tracking the return of adult salmon, they saw significant differences. Over the course of two years, fish raised in the quiet environment were slightly more likely to return than those raised in ambient noise, and nearly twice as likely as those reared with continuous white noise.
"That surprised me the most—when they started coming back, we saw differences in the return rates when we had seen very few differences as they were heading out to sea," Coffin said.
The researchers said that more study is needed to tease out just what causes that difference. It does suggest that noise-dampening techniques, such as padding tanks with felt liners, could improve return rates, but there is a great variety among hatcheries and any such solutions would depend on each individual facility.
More information
Rikeem K Sholes et al, Evaluating the effect of noise on the development, behavior, and return rates in hatchery-reared Chinook Salmon, North American Journal of Fisheries Management (2026). DOI: 10.1093/najfmt/vqag023
Master's in physics with research experience. Long-time science news enthusiast. Plays key role in Science X's editorial success.
Full profile →
Citation:
Quiet, please: Hatchery salmon raised amid noise are less likely to return to spawn (2026, July 8)
retrieved 13 July 2026
from https://phys.org/news/2026-07-quiet-hatchery-salmon-noise-spawn.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
%!s()
Graham Platner withdraws from Maine Senate race, calling sexual assault allegations 'all false'
In a video statement posted online Wednesday night, Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee for the US Senate from Maine, said that he was dropping out of the race, while strongly denying sexual assault allegations, calling them “all false”.
… %!s()
“The things that have been claimed did not happen, it’s not real,” Platner said at the start in an 11-minute statement in which he went on to argue that the allegations had been made to drive him from the race before a deadline next week when it would have been too late to replace him on the November ballot.
Graham Platner during a primary election night event in Blue Hill, Maine on 9 June. Photograph: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Later in the statement, Platner suggested that he had been robbed by the party’s establishment and donors which withdrew crucial support before he had a chance to fight the allegations.
“We went toe to toe with one of the most entrenched political systems in the history of the world and we won,” Platner said of his victory in the Maine Democratic primary over the state’s governor, Janet Mills. “We beat them on June 9th in overwhelming numbers. We did it the right way: we built a campaign; we engaged in electoral politics; we motivated people; we banded together. We did it the way that we are told we are supposed to make change, and we won. And now they are not going to let us have it. Not if it’s me. And so we’re suspending campaign operations.”
“I want to make clear though: I intend to file my paperwork to withdraw,” he continued, before adding, after an abrupt cut in the video: “The process needs to assure that what comes next is reflective of the Mainers who on June 9th turned out and showed that they are desperate for a different kind of politics. It needs to be driven not from back rooms, but by the will of the people.”
“All we were asking for was health care, was to end the genocide, to use our taxpayer dollars at home to uplift our communities instead of aging war overseas,” he added. “We were asking for a fairer system. We were asking for an end to the corruption. The end to the money in politics. We were asking for real democracy and we did it the right way and we won. But now the ball is in the court of the Democratic establishment.”
He concluded by thanking his supporters and urging them to “keep fighting; we’re going to win some day.”
Key events
5d ago
Closing summary
5d ago
'It's really a question of whether or not you believe the woman', Trump says, as Republicans call Platner 'a rapist'
5d ago
Graham Platner withdraws from Maine Senate race, calling sexual assault allegations 'all false'
5d ago
Maine Democrats plan convention to choose a new nominee for US Senate if Platner drops out
5d ago
Trump demands supreme court reconsider birthright citizenship ruling because Texas hospital advertised birth services on two billboards in Mexico
5d ago
Trump says he has 'no idea' how hospitalized senator Mitch McConnell is doing
5d ago
Polling for Platner campaign shows three possible replacements in Senate race fare better than him – report
5d ago
Platner campaign denies that he urged Maine lawmaker Valli Geiger to take his place in Senate race
5d ago
Pentagon announces more strikes on Iran, directed by Trump
5d ago
Actor Patrick Dempsey rules out run for US Senate in place of Graham Platner
5d ago
Maine Democrats blast Platner campaign for 'distracting' from job of 'defeating' Collins with 'false accusations'
US court says Trump's name must stay off Kennedy Center during appeal
5d ago
US judge throws out Trump’s $3.8bn defamation lawsuit against Washington Post
5d ago
Kentucky governor sends letter to McConnell staff for update on hospitalized senator's condition
5d ago
Trump says US will hit Iran 'hard again tonight’
5d ago
Maine Democratic Party accuses Platner’s team of attempting to 'put their thumb on the scale' to select new nominee
6d ago
Republican leaders seek to quell Mitch McConnell speculation as rebellion grows
6d ago
Succession fight already under way as calls grow for Platner to drop out of Maine Senate race
Closing summary
This concludes our live coverage of US politics in the second Trump administration for the day. Here are the latest developments:
In a video statement, Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee for the US Senate from Maine, said that he was dropping out of the race, while strongly denying sexual assault allegations, calling them “all false”.
Minutes after Platner announced that he was dropping out, a former Maine state senate president, Troy Jackson, announced that he would seek to win the nomination at a state party convention later this month.
Republican officials released statements treating the allegations as proven facts, and using them to attack Democratic voters and officials but Donald Trump, who was found liable by a jury of sexually abusing the writer E Jean Carroll in the 1990s, and then sued ABC News for reporting that he had been found “liable for rape”, suggested that Platner’s accuser might have been lying.
Minutes after Graham Platner announced that he was dropping out of the US Senate race in Maine, after allegations of sexual assault he denies, a former Maine state senate president, Troy Jackson, announced that he would seek to win the nomination at a state party convention later this month.
“There is a powerful movement of working class people in the state of Maine, and millions more across America who are ready to send a progressive fighter to the Senate,” Jackson said in a statement. “I’ve been fighting for that movement my whole life — and I’m sure as hell not backing down now, when this fight is needed most. I’m in. And we’re going to defeat Susan Collins. Maine deserves a Senator that will fight for working families.”
Jackson, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination to be Maine’s governor with the backing of Platner supporter Bernie Sanders, had also endorsed Platner before the latest allegations.
Our Revolution, a group started by former Sanders campaign volunteers in 2016, announced on Wednesday that it had withdrawn its endorsement of Platner over the allegations and endorsed Jackson, who had also previously backed Platner.
As Politico reported on Wednesday, Jackson had deleted several social media posts supporting Platner from February and March. “Troy rescinded his endorsement and just wanted to make that clear,” a spokesperson for Jackson told Politico.
'It's really a question of whether or not you believe the woman', Trump says, as Republicans call Platner 'a rapist'
As soon as Democrat Graham Platner announced on Wednesday that he was withdrawing from the US Senate race in Maine, despite insisting that sexual assault allegations against him were “all false”, Republican officials released statements treating the allegations as proven facts, and using them to attack Democratic voters and officials.
“Maine Democrats elected a rapist Nazi to be their nominee for Senate, and regardless of who they anoint next, Susan Collins will be re-elected in November,” National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesperson Samantha Cantrell wrote in a statement emailed to reporters.
“Every Democrat that endorsed Graham Platner endorsed a rapist, and every Democrat that stayed silent was complicit,” Republican National Committee chairman Joe Gruters said.
The comments were released shortly after Donald Trump, the Republican president who was found liable by a jury of sexually abusing the writer E Jean Carroll in the 1990s, and then sued ABC News for reporting that he had been found “liable for rape”, suggested that Platner’s accuser might have been lying.
“It’s really a question of whether or not you believe the woman,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One when asked about whether Democrats should be allowed to replace Platner on the ballot. “A lot of people say big falsehoods,” said the president who was also found guilty of defaming Carroll by denying her claim that he had attacked her in the dressing room of a Manhattan department store in the 1990s.
In a 2023 legal filing in one of Carroll’s suits against Trump, a federal judge, Lewis Kaplan, explained that while the jury did not find that Trump had raped her “within the narrow, technical meaning of a particular section of the New York Penal Law”, which “applies only to vaginal penetration by a penis”, it did find that Trump had subjected Carroll to “[f]orcible, unconsented-to penetration of the vagina or of other bodily orifices by fingers, other body parts, or other articles”.
“The finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was ‘raped’ within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr. Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape,’” the judge concluded. “Indeed, as the evidence at trial recounted below makes clear, the jury found that Mr. Trump in fact did exactly that.”
Graham Platner withdraws from Maine Senate race, calling sexual assault allegations 'all false'
In a video statement posted online Wednesday night, Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee for the US Senate from Maine, said that he was dropping out of the race, while strongly denying sexual assault allegations, calling them “all false”.
“The things that have been claimed did not happen, it’s not real,” Platner said at the start in an 11-minute statement in which he went on to argue that the allegations had been made to drive him from the race before a deadline next week when it would have been too late to replace him on the November ballot.
Graham Platner during a primary election night event in Blue Hill, Maine on 9 June. Photograph: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Later in the statement, Platner suggested that he had been robbed by the party’s establishment and donors which withdrew crucial support before he had a chance to fight the allegations.
“We went toe to toe with one of the most entrenched political systems in the history of the world and we won,” Platner said of his victory in the Maine Democratic primary over the state’s governor, Janet Mills. “We beat them on June 9th in overwhelming numbers. We did it the right way: we built a campaign; we engaged in electoral politics; we motivated people; we banded together. We did it the way that we are told we are supposed to make change, and we won. And now they are not going to let us have it. Not if it’s me. And so we’re suspending campaign operations.”
“I want to make clear though: I intend to file my paperwork to withdraw,” he continued, before adding, after an abrupt cut in the video: “The process needs to assure that what comes next is reflective of the Mainers who on June 9th turned out and showed that they are desperate for a different kind of politics. It needs to be driven not from back rooms, but by the will of the people.”
“All we were asking for was health care, was to end the genocide, to use our taxpayer dollars at home to uplift our communities instead of aging war overseas,” he added. “We were asking for a fairer system. We were asking for an end to the corruption. The end to the money in politics. We were asking for real democracy and we did it the right way and we won. But now the ball is in the court of the Democratic establishment.”
He concluded by thanking his supporters and urging them to “keep fighting; we’re going to win some day.”
Maine Democrats plan convention to choose a new nominee for US Senate if Platner drops out
Ahead of Graham Platner’s expected withdrawal from the US Senate race, after a sexual assault allegation, the Maine Democratic Party said in a statement that over 100 state committee members voted on Wednesday “to hold a nominating convention to choose a new nominee if there is a vacancy to fill”.
“We will announce the full timeline, details for how the nomination process will move forward, information about how to participate, and requirements for candidates soon.” the party said.
“There is an unprecedented amount of energy and enthusiasm among Maine Democrats, driven in part by many of the dedicated volunteers and supporters who were inspired by Graham Platner’s campaign”, the party’s top three officials added, in an apparent attempt to reach out to Platner’s supporters. “We look forward to coming together and harnessing that energy around our new nominee as we work to defeat Susan Collins in November.”
Trump demands supreme court reconsider birthright citizenship ruling because Texas hospital advertised birth services on two billboards in Mexico
Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would ask the US supreme court to reconsider its ruling that the 14th amendment to the US constitution guarantees birthright citizenship in light of what he described as shocking new evidence: a hospital in Texas advertised its services to expectant mothers in Mexico on a pair of billboards.
“Signs and Billboards are being put up all over our Southern Border, and Mexico, advertising BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP, with ‘Deliveries starting at $4000’, the president wrote on his social media platform, in what appeared to be a wild exaggeration of a Fox News report on just two billboards.
The president went on to claim that the justices “will destroy America if they don’t change their absolutely insane decision,” after Fox News confirmed that a single hospital in Mission, Texas, which is located just five miles from the border with Reynosa, Mexico, had advertised “delivery packages” in South Texas on two Spanish-language billboards in Mexico, and on social media.
The Fox News report was based on a photograph of one billboard posted on social media in April by Mayra Flores, a Trump-backed former Republican congresswoman from Texas who was born in Mexico and is running to return to Congress.
The image has been recirculated recently on social media, as Trump supporters have called for a total and complete shutdown of pregnant women being allowed to enter the United States after the president’s attempt to deny birthright citizenship to children born to non-citizens in the US was rejected by the supreme court.
Flores, who said she took the photograph in Reynosa, did not initially claim that the billboard was inviting Mexicans to give birth in the US to obtained US citizenship for their children. She expressed outrage, instead, at the idea that the price of the birthing services, $3,950 for a natural birth or $5,525 for a caesarean section, was far lower than the typical cost for American citizens. She offered no proof for her claim that these prices were available only to foreign citizens at the hospital.
The Texas hospital, Mission Regional Medical Center, told the Guardian that the billboards and a website directed people to, havemybabyinTEXAS.com, “are no longer in use due to any unintended misunderstanding.”
“Mission Regional Medical Center, a public nonprofit hospital, is committed to providing high-quality, compassionate healthcare and expanding access for the communities we serve,” the hospital said in a statement. “Like hospitals across the nation, we share information about the healthcare services we provide. We do not support or facilitate any unlawful activity and work to comply with all applicable federal and state laws and regulations.”
“The marketing materials regarding maternity services are no longer in use due to any unintended misunderstanding. We intend to work cooperatively and transparently with local and state officials. Our focus remains on delivering safe, high-quality care to every patient who seeks our services.”
While the prospect of US citizenship was not mentioned in the text of the hospital’s billboard advertisement, or on an archived copy of the associated website that is no longer online, the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, ordered an investigation of the hospital on Tuesday, accusing it of promoting “Birth tourism”.
After the backlash this week from furious Trump supporters, the hospital also deleted an Instagram post in Spanish promoting their birthing services, even though it was crafted as an invitation to women “living abroad” who want to give birth in the US, with no mention of citizenship at all.
“Are you pregnant, living abroad, and looking to welcome your baby in South Texas?” the Instagram post read, according to a screenshot published by the Houston Chronicle. “Look no further! Come and learn about the maternity packages Mission Regional Medical Center has for you and discover why thousands of families choose to have their baby with us every year.”
After the supreme court struck down Trump’s executive order to deny citizenship to the children on non-citizens born on US soil, his supporters loudly demanded a ban on travel to the US by pregnant foreigners. None mentioned the fact that the president’s own father was born to a non-citizen mother who arrived in New York six months pregnant after being expelled from her native Germany.
Trump says he has 'no idea' how hospitalized senator Mitch McConnell is doing
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Donald Trump refused to tamp down speculation about the health of Mitch McConnell, the Republican senator who was hospitalized four weeks ago.
Asked if he had spoken to McConnell since his hospitalization, Trump said, “No, I haven’t.”
Pressed for an update on the condition of the senator, who broke with Trump and blamed him for the storming of the US Capitol on January 6 2021, the president said: “I have no idea how he’s doing.”
Polling for Platner campaign shows three possible replacements in Senate race fare better than him – report
Polling commissioned by Graham Platner’s campaign shows that three possible replacements for him as the Democratic nominee for US Senate from Maine would have a better shot at defeating Susan Collins, the Republican incumbent, Politico reports.
According to the outlet, which obtained a copy of the survey conducted by Public Policy Polling, former Maine state senate president Troy Jackson leads Collins 49%-44%; Maine’s secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, is level with Collins at 47% each; and former public health official Nirav Shah is also tied with Collins on 45% apiece, with more undecided voters.
Platner’s support in the match-up with Collins has fallen to just 42%, after a sexual assault allegation, with the incumbent senator at 47%.
Two other potential replacement candidates tested in the poll did worse than Platner: Maine’s governor, Janet Mills, who lags 11 points behind Collins, and Jordan Wood, who finished third in a recent Democratic primary for the House and trails Collins by 9 points.
Jackson has already filed to potentially replace Platner if the Democratic nominee drops out, as is widely expected.
Bellows, who was trounced by Collins in the 2014 Maine Senate race, despite support from Zohran Mamdani, a Maine college student at the time, said she would seriously consider joining the race if Platner withdraws. Bellows lost to Collins in a bad midterm year for Democrats, without much support from the national party, and has gone on to hold statewide office and build a reputation in the state as a fighter against Donald Trump.
Platner campaign denies that he urged Maine lawmaker Valli Geiger to take his place in Senate race
A spokesperson for Graham Platner has denied a report that he offered to thrown his support behind a Democratic state lawmaker, Valli Geiger, if he withdraws from the race for the US Senate.
“He’s not made any decision on endorsing,” the spokesperson told a Notus correspondent. “Graham called Valli to thank her for her support and encouraged her to consider running if he stepped down.”
Maine’s ABC affiliate MWTM reported earlier on Wednesday that Geiger said “called her on Monday night and said he was throwing his support behind her”.
Pentagon announces more strikes on Iran, directed by Trump
The Pentagon announced new strikes on Iran, ordered Donald Trump, in a statement posted on social media 15 minutes ago.
“At the direction of the Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command forces have started conducting additional strikes against Iran to further degrade their ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” the statement said. “The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway.”
During an exchange with reporters at the Nato summit in Turkey earlier on Wednesday, Trump had expressed his frustration, and some confusion, at missiles being fired at a US aircraft carrier in the region. “Two months ago, we had 111 missiles shot by the Islamic Republic of Japan,” Trump said, twice.
Actor Patrick Dempsey rules out run for US Senate in place of Graham Platner
As Democrats launch a frantic search for a US Senate candidate in Maine, to replace their nominee Graham Platner, who is expected to withdraw after being accused of sexual assault, the actor and Maine native Patrick Dempsey just announced that he will not enter the race, after giving it some thought.
In an opinion article for the Portland Press Herald published on Wednesday afternoon, headlined “Why I’m not running for US Senate,” Dempsey wrote:
double quotation markOver the past several days, I’ve been asked a question more than once: Would you ever run for the United States Senate?
It’s flattering, and I don’t take it lightly. I love my home state of Maine. I care deeply about the people who live there and, like so many Americans, I’m concerned about the direction our country is heading.
I gave it real thought.
The actor went on to explain that he concluded that he can do more productive work through his non-profit, the Dempsey Center in Maine, which provides supportive care to people affected by cancer at no cost.
“As I reflected on all of this, I kept coming back to one question: Do I truly want to serve in Congress?” he wrote. “After a lot of thought, I realized the answer is no. Not because public service isn’t honorable – it absolutely is. But because I believe I can contribute more effectively through the life I’ve already built.”
Maine Democrats blast Platner campaign for 'distracting' from job of 'defeating' Collins with 'false accusations'
The Maine Democratic party (MDP) has continued to chide Graham Platner’s operation, accusing the campaign of “distracting from the job of defeating Susan Collins in November with false accusations against us”.
The statement appeared to be in reference to a text message sent by Platner campaign manager to volunteers, accusing the state party of bringing in the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) and cutting the Platner campaign out of the process, according to a report by Politico.
Party leaders in Maine say they remain “hyper focused on developing a representative, transparent and inclusive process” for selecting a replacement nominee. At the same time, they’ve made clear their irritation with Platner’s attempts to shape that process, describing “frustration” with his “continued efforts to manipulate” it.
Still, officials are taking pains to keep Platner’s supporters close. MDP executive director Devon Murphy‑Anderson called them “a vital part of our party” and said they “deserve to participate in an open process to select Platner’s replacement”.
Platner hasn’t formally bowed out of the Maine Senate race, but the vacuum he’s created is still drawing potential replacements.
Dan Kleban – co‑founder of Maine Beer Company, who exited the primary earlier this year and endorsed Governor Janet Mills – said on Wednesday he was prepared to step in if Platner withdraws. Mills suspended her campaign but stayed on the June ballot, and her team has not indicated whether the term‑limited governor would consider re-entering the race.
“I’m ready to fight for Mainers and bring a new generation of leadership to Washington. I believe I can unite our party and finally defeat Susan Collins in November,” Kleban said.
David Costello, who finished third in the Democratic primary, also signaled he would “jump in” if the field reopens. Costello, who was raised in Maine but spent much of his career as a senior Maryland official, has urged state Democrats to treat Platner’s exit as if he placed last, triggering Maine’s ranked‑choice process.
Under that method, Platner’s votes would be redistributed according to second and third‑choice preferences until a remaining candidate crosses the 50% threshold.
“This would be the simplest approach, and the precedent there is the current gubernatorial nominee,” Costello told the Guardian in a phone interview. He argued that this method allows Platner voters to “have some choice and some involvement” moving forward. “It also guards against a smaller caucus approach, or even if party leaders themselves, like the state committee, just make a determination,” Costello added.
A Manhattan federal court judge has ordered the release of the more than $5m Donald Trump owes E Jean Carroll following her successful 2023 sexual abuse and defamation trial against him. Less than an hour after the judge issued his order, Trump filed paperwork indicating he is appealing the decision.
Trump had deposited this $5m million jury award, plus 11% interest, into a court-controlled account about six weeks after Carroll’s win. Judge Lewis Kaplan’s order directs the disbursement of these court-controlled funds, which now total some $5.8m due to interest accrual.
Kaplan’s decision comes more than three years after Carroll bested Trump in her bombshell civil case; jurors determined that he sexually abused the former Elle writer and unlawfully impugned her reputation with false, vitriolic denials. Trump denied all wrongdoing.
The order stems from the US supreme court’s 29 June decision not to review Trump’s appeal. Trump had asked for the supreme court to weigh his appeal after lower courts repeatedly rejected his fight against this verdict.
After Trump first appealed the verdict, he received an automatic 30-day stay barring collection. Carroll and Trump’s teams agreed in June 2023 that he could put the money into the court’s registry investment system (Cris) while his appeals played out.
The Cris system in effect serves as an escrow agent for money awarded during litigation; funds are secured while whatever post-judgment processes unfold. If someone ultimately loses their appeals, the money is available for collection – since they don’t have it in their possession, it can’t be hidden or shielded with legal maneuvering.
Here's a recap of the day so far
Pressure continues to mount on embattled Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner to withdraw from the race, as his campaign faces accusations of trying to “put their thumb on the scale” to pick a replacement. Leaders in the Maine Democratic party said that Platner’s campaign would have “no role” in selecting a new nominee, claiming that his team had tried to sway the process. The Platner campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday, but has told other outlets that it simply reached out to the party to understand the process.
Kentucky governor Andy Beshear has sent a letter to the office of Republican senator Mitch McConnell – requesting an update on his condition, as concerns grow about the lawmaker’s health since he was admitted to hospital on 14 June. “Allowing speculation to continue in the media is not fair to the Senator or to Kentuckians, and my hope is that this provides him the opportunity to share the information in a transparent manner, direct from the source. I wish him a safe and speedy recovery,” Beshear said. Since the 84-year-old was hospitalized, his office declined to say what he was being treated for.
While speaking to reporters alongside Mark Rutte, the Nato secretary general, Trump said that memorandum of understanding signed last month by the US and Iran is “over”, in the wake of the latest strikes. Later, during a bilateral meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the US president said the US will hit Iran “hard again tonight”, adding: “I give them a little warning.” At a wider press conference, Trump reiterated he did not think the Iran war would start again and that the US would eventually “take” Iranian nuclear material. More here.
Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, has slammed the latest US strikes on Iran. “Trump’s so-called ‘deal’ to end hostilities with Iran has turned into total, utter disaster,” the top Democrat said in a statement. Schumer also noted that since both chambers of Congress have passed war powers resolutions, the administration would need lawmakers’ approval to resume the military campaign against Iran.
Meanwhile, in Washington, a US appeals court has ruled that the Trump administration cannot restore Donald Trump’s name to the facade of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts while he challenges a judge’s order that required its removal. The decision by a three-judge panel of the US court of appeals for the District of Columbia circuit denied the administration’s request to pause a lower court judge’s order in a lawsuit brought by Democratic representative Joyce Beatty, a Kennedy Center board member.
As much as I loved having my dream job in New York, being apart from the person I loved so much was hard for both of us.
Emma Saletta
…
When I met my husband, Tyler, in college, I thought he'd be just another classmate. After all, we were polar opposites.
He was studying environmental science, while I was excelling in communications. He loved living in our home state of Maine, and I was planning to move to New York City to pursue my writing dreams.
We began dating in 2018 and, by 2023, my desire to leave Maine was stronger than ever.
For weeks, I worked up the courage to tell Tyler I was ready to move away, with or without him. I didn't want to leave Tyler, and I worried he'd break up with me.
Instead, he was supportive: "You need to move out of Maine, and I'm going to help you do that."
Leaving Maine felt like it could be a turning point in my career
We've known each other for a long time, but we're different in many ways.
Emma Saletta
I'd been freelancing writing since 2020, and by 2023, my work was featured in several major publications. Writers and editors I worked with regularly began suggesting I move closer to New York, where they said I'd have more journalism opportunities.
A lot of the job listings I'd been bookmarking for years were based in New York, but as a freelancer in Maine, I didn't think I had much of a chance of even getting an interview.
Tyler kept encouraging me to apply anyway. So, I did. The day I got a job offer to be a reporter in New York was one of the happiest of my life. Finally, I could be paid to write full-time and fulfill my dream of leaving Maine.
A few weeks later, Tyler and I got engaged. I was even happier, but there was a problem: I now had to move to the New York area, and he still had no desire to come with me.
Tyler already had a job in Maine, and New York City's high cost of living and big-city environment didn't appeal to him. As I kicked off our engagement by moving seven hours away, we were excited to prove to our friends and family that we could survive the distance and eventually become husband and wife.
For about 2 years, we made our long-distance relationship work
Being in New York City without my partner was challenging.
Alexander Spatari/Getty Images
After I moved close to my job, we FaceTimed and spoke on the phone every night. By that point, our communication and the trust we'd built were so strong, and I fell more in love with him because of it.
We'd originally planned to visit each other every other weekend, alternating between him driving seven hours to me and me flying or taking a bus or train to him in Maine.
However, our plans were too idealistic. Bad weather, scheduling, and limited finances frequently got in the way. After about two years of this arrangement, we were lucky if we got to see each other for one day every three months.
By then, we were newly married, and as happy as I was working my dream job and spending long days in New York City, I missed my husband, and living apart was starting to wear us down.
I had trouble eating and sleeping a lot of days, and we were both worried we'd never actually settle down together. With my job tied to New York and Tyler's in Maine, the chance to start our lives together seemed out of reach.
Eventually, I realized my dream of settling down and starting a family with Tyler was bigger than any job or place. So, I left my role and moved back to Maine so that Tyler and I could figure out how we could begin our lives together rather than apart.
Together, we headed to Charlotte, which felt like the perfect compromise
Living apart was challenging, so I'm glad we ended up in the same place.
Emma Saletta
After long conversations, we realized the two things we had in common were our desire to live somewhere new and our readiness to leave New England.
While visiting friends in North Carolina, we fell in love with Charlotte, which felt like the perfect compromise.
The evolving restaurant scene and lively downtown reminded me of New York, while its proximity to beaches and fishing spots reminded Tyler of Maine. We also learned about Charlotte's many annual food festivals, which made us excited about one day having kids of our own and attending these events as a family.
We moved to the area in 2025. Tyler got a job close to Charlotte, while I returned to freelance writing and social-media marketing.
Although I miss writing full-time, I'm happy to set my own schedule, work remotely, and express my creativity while freelancing with my favorite publications.
I don't regret any choices I've made, but I still miss New York sometimes. I have days when I ask myself what life would've been like if I hadn't left my dream job or the Northeast. Would I be happy? Would I still be with Tyler?
I will never know the answers to these questions, but what I do know is I'm happily married to the love of my life, Charlotte is really starting to feel like home, and New York is always there for me to visit.
