Which metros have the most leaves to clean up?

Lawnstarter -   You think  haveyou a lot of leaves to mulch mow or clean up? Charleston, West Virginia, has the heaviest fall leaf burden of any U.S. metro we measured. Yes, even more than Atlanta, the City in a Forest, or Charlotte, the City of Trees. 

LawnStarter's Leaf Burden Index scored 383 metropolitan areas on how much deciduous forest surrounds them and how much yard-and-housing exposure they have, then estimated when leaf cleanup peaks in each.

The index measures leaf burden, not the total number of leaves. That is why smaller, heavily wooded metros can outrank much larger cities. 

The South and Northeast dominate. The South has 16 of the 25 most leaf-burdened metros and the Northeast has nine. No Midwestern or Western metro makes the top 25.

Big metros rank mid-table or low. Among the 10 most populous metros, Atlanta ranks highest (No. 52), New York is No. 168 and Phoenix is No. 375.

Few people live in the heaviest-burdened metros. The top 25 hold 9.4 million of the 293.8 million people in the 383 metros scored (3.2%).

...Leaves piling up on your lawn can smother your grass, but you may not need to rake them. Mulch mowing sends nutrients back into the lawn. Composting leaves or using them to insulate your flower beds and around tree roots are other options.

Pete Hegseth

The Hill -   Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth survived another battle with Democrats when House Republicans this week sent back eight articles of impeachment brought by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.). 

While Massie won’t be back next year, Democrats are not done with the Defense secretary, who remains a key target for scrutiny — and possibly another impeachment vote — once they are in the majority next year. 

But for now, Hegseth, a former Army National Guard major, has some breathing room and a close ally in Stephen Miller, who is taking over as chief of staff at the White House.

Thanksgiving driving

WBLM  - According to AAA, about 73 million people will be driving a significant distance to reach the family Thanksgiving dinner. So, if you're planning to hit the road for Thanksgiving, you might want to pack a little extra patience along with the pumpkin pie.  You are also going to want to leave a little earlier in order to make sure you get to your destination safely.

.....According to Allstate's annual Thanksgiving Driver Report, the insurance company analyzed data from more than 44 million trips taken during last year's holiday using its Drivewise feature.  The goal was to identify driving trends, risky behaviors and some of the best times to travel.

One of the biggest takeaways? Traffic starts picking up well before Thanksgiving Day. The number of trips increased by 40% between 9 PM Wednesday night and 3 AM Thursday morning.

And once people hit the road, speeding becomes a real concern. Last Thanksgiving morning, driving at 80 mph or faster increased nearly 200% compared to a typical Thursday morning. The biggest spike happened between 6 AM and 9 AM, with speeding remaining about 100% above normal through the middle of the day.

Speeding wasn't the only problem, though.  About one in five Thanksgiving Day trips involved multiple risky driving behaviors, with more than 90% of those involving both speeding and cellphone use.

Apparently, the rush doesn't end after the turkey is served, either. High-speed driving was up more than 80% on Black Friday morning, even though there were roughly half as many drivers on the road as a typical Friday.

Climate change

NY Times -   The Senate this week is debating a bill on a subject that is more important than it sounds: permitting reform. The bill would make it easier to build  solar energy farms, battery storage, power lines and more. As a result, it would reduce energy prices. The status quo is expensive, dirty and unstable. The country needs to build a lot of big, new things to make its future cheaper and cleaner.

The bill has the support of some of the Senate’s most environmentally minded members — and of the White House. This political miracle reflects years of bipartisan negotiations, false starts and near misses. But following their party’s whopping midterm victory, some Democrats are tempted to scrap this legislation and wait to act until they take control of Congress next year. Democrats would then draft a new bill more to the liking of some environmental groups.

The current bill has a good chance to pass the Senate. By a margin of 73 to 25, senators approved a procedural measure on Monday, with a final vote expected in coming weeks. The situation in the House is murkier. Among the potential no votes on the bill is Mr. Jeffries, the Democratic leader, who has raised concerns about it.

The bill’s Democratic skeptics are making a mistake. President Trump would almost certainly veto a follow-up bill next year. And time matters, especially for the climate. Congress should pass this bill now. It can then return next year and pass other bills that would do even more good.

The country’s current permitting regime is the result of many good intentions. Legislators wrote laws intended to protect water, air, endangered species and precious land. Over the years, though, the rules have become so complex and restrictive that the country cannot build the future it needs. This complexity feeds cynicism about whether government can get anything done....

Opponents of the bill, such as the Sierra Club, complain that it might harm the environment. That concern is misplaced.  Yes, the bill would ease the construction of a range of projects, including fossil fuel infrastructure. But the United States will not stop using oil or natural gas anytime soon, and adding unnecessary costs to those projects serves little purpose. On net, the bill would cut greenhouse gas emissions from power plants by as much as 18 percent by 2040, according to the Rhodium Group, a research firm. It would do so in part by nearly tripling the construction of high-voltage transmission lines, which whiz electricity from often remote wind farms and solar plants to cities that need power.

.... The bill draws support from passionate climate crusaders such as Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. Both of Georgia’s senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, voted to advance it this week. Practical-minded environmental groups such as the Citizens’ Climate Lobby and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions have endorsed it, as has Consumer Reports.

Biden says he would have resigned if he knew had cancer

Time   - Former President Joe Biden said in a recent interview that he wasn’t aware that he had cancer when he was in the White House—but that if he had known, he would have stepped down. In an interview with PEOPLE, the former President was asked if he would have done anything differently during the 2024 election.

“What I can’t say, because there’s no evidence of it—if I had known that I was feeling lousy because I had cancer, I would have resigned,” Biden, 83, replied. “I would’ve not gone forward, because I don’t think an 80-year-old man with cancer should be running for [President].”

“But that wasn’t the case,” he continued. “I believe that on an objective basis, I was the best-equipped person to do the job.” Biden’s office announced in May 2025 that he had been diagnosed a few days earlier with an aggressive form of prostate cancer and that tests indicated that the cancer had spread to his bones. He later had surgery and went through radiation therapy as part of his treatment

Meanwhile. . .

Marco Rubio reportedly spent over $1.2m of taxpayer money traveling to son’s football games

Mississippi gets its first black mayor

NY Times -  The last Black man to represent Mississippi in the Senate was born into slavery and left office in 1881.  Nearly a century and a half later, Scott Colom, a Democrat, defeated Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, Republican of Mississippi, according to The Associated Press, delivering a remarkable upset on Wednesday and becoming the first Black person to be elected to the Senate in his state since the Reconstruction era.

Mr. Colom’s victory, which came by a slim margin after more than a week of ballot tallying following the Nov. 3 election, puts an exclamation point on the sweeping Democratic victories across the country during this year’s midterms. For Republicans, the outcome was a jarring rebuke in a reliably conservative stronghold.

“God didn’t want us to get it the easy way,” Mr. Colom told the crowd gathered outside the historic chapel at Tougaloo College, a Black college that served as a haven for civil rights organizers. “He wanted us to get it the Mississippi way.”

CEO of Nvidia resigns in wake of espionage charges

NY Times - Jensen Huang, the co-founder and chief executive of the Silicon Valley chip giant Nvidia, resigned on Thursday, according to the company's board of directors, capping a swift, stunning fall for one of the most powerful figures in the A.I. boom. His departure came after revelations that he had extramarital affairs with an executive who reported to him and with a woman whom U.S. intelligence agencies concluded was spying for China.

Colette Kress, Nvidia's chief financial officer, will serve as interim chief executive while the search for a permanent replacement is carried out, Nvidia's 10-member board said in a statement. In a note to Nvidia employees, Ms. Kress said she believes "deeply in this company" and called its employees "our greatest strength."

Mr. Huang's exit, which followed a lengthy board meeting on Wednesday, opens an uncertain chapter for Nvidia, the premier maker of artificial intelligence chips, and will have widespread ripple effects. Its shares plunged more than 10 percent at the start of trading, weighing on the broader market.

Over three decades, Mr. Huang, 63, built Nvidia into one of the world's most valuable public companies, controlling an estimated 90 percent of the market for the advanced chips that are an essential component of the A.I. projects driving the U.S. economy - and are at the center of the U.S.-China tussle for dominance in A.I.

A series of reports by The New York Times showed that Mr. Huang had an affair with a Chinese businesswoman who goes by Alice Huang, who had been recruited by China's main spy agency to gather information on Mr. Huang, and that President Trump had been warned about the relationship but took no action. Ms. Huang has not responded to requests for comment.

Though Nvidia had said that it had "no reason to believe" that Mr. Huang had compromised national security or company secrets, its board, with a track record of deference to its celebrity C.E.O., opened an investigation. The company's share price plunged in after-hours trading on Wednesday as the board met to consider Mr. Huang's future, and continued to slide on Thursday.

China has rejected the espionage claims. U.S. officials suspect that Megaspeed, the Singaporean company where Ms. Huang was a top executive, has helped smuggle restricted chips into China. China's embassy has called the allegations "smears."

Trump regime considers jailing journalists

Mediate -   The White House and Department of Justice have reportedly been discussing potentially throwing journalists in jail to reveal the identities of leakers and fresh White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller is behind the plan.

In an Atlantic report about the exit of Susie Wiles from her chief of staff role at the White House, it was revealed that a plan to jail journalists is in consideration in the administration. Wiles reportedly pushed back on such a plan while Miller gave it his endorsement.

Meanwhile. . .

House Republicans banded together to shelve impeachment articles against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who had earlier dismissed the charges as the work of a “disgruntled” G.O.P. congressman. Read more

AFL-CIO - This election season, working people across the country made their voices heard. The AFL-CIO reports that union members made up a record 15% of the electorate this year, up from 11% in 2024, and that 639 union members have been elected, a record number who will be seated in elected office next year. Behind those numbers are union volunteers who reached more that 16 million union voters by knocking on doors, making calls, and talking with coworkers on the job.

Congrsswoman considers taking on Fetterman

The Hill - Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.) said Tuesday she is “considering” challenging Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) in 2028, as more Democrats weigh bids to unseat the incumbent.

“I’m going to be considering it,” Dean said in an interview with Politico. “I have been concerned about, really, two things, which is his family and his health … and am very disappointed in his activity as a senator and in his votes.”

She did not offer a timeline for making a decision, saying she would first need to discuss a potential campaign with her family.

….Her comments come a day after Ahmed Moor, a Palestinian American writer and businessperson from Philadelphia, became the first Democrat to formally launch a 2028 challenge against Fetterman.

Moor, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, is campaigning on ending the Iran war and expanding access to healthcare, childcare and affordable housing. Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) also said in an interview with Politico he is giving a potential Senate run “serious thought.”

Fetterman has faced growing criticism from Democrats over his support for the Iran war, his staunch backing of Israel and his willingness to break with his party on key votes. He also drew criticism in September for appearing by video at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, where he introduced Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) as a “great friend.”

Despite speculation about his political future, Fetterman has repeatedly insisted he will remain a Democrat.

Black political power

MS NOW -  A new era of Black political power is coming to Washington. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., now the minority leader, is on track to become the first Black speaker of the House. A record number of Black senators will take office in January. And the Congressional Black Caucus, which spent the past year bracing for losses, will instead begin the next Congress with more members than ever.

Black voters helped make it all happen, fueling Democratic gains deep into Republican territory in last week’s midterm elections. The results have set the stage for one of the most influential classes A new era of Black political power is coming to Washington.

Middle East

 The Guardian - Good morning. Oil prices have dropped after Donald Trump unilaterally declared that the US war on Iran was “effectively over”. During a White House press conference, Trump said Israel and Gulf allies in the region were well protected from Iran and that an escalation was not needed.

He said, however, that the US remained “locked and loaded, ready to go for any reason”, adding: “We’re seeing momentum toward the end of this conflict. I think it’s going to be ending fairly soon.” Brent crude has dropped below $90, its lowest level since August.

Donald Trump

New Republic - On Monday night, President Donald Trump had the bright idea to call C-SPAN and rant on the air.

The call began with an unidentified woman laughing in the background. Then viewers got to hear Trump rant about immigrant drug dealers and rapists, even after the interviewer pointed out that Trump had expressed sympathy for working immigrants who paid taxes in a 60 Minutes interview that aired the day before.

Trump incorrectly claimed that the U.S. government hadn’t put the same pressure on those kinds of immigrants, and then abruptly pivoted to the U.S.’s takeover of Venezuela, talking about how great he believes it’s going. He mentioned how the U.S. has taken “hundreds of billions of dollars and millions and millions of barrels of oil” from the country.

The president continued to rant about having “won” Venezuela and then how he won Iran, going on about how the Middle Eastern country wants to make a deal with him but “won’t say that.” When asked how much longer the war would go, he didn’t answer the question, claiming that he’d taken out the country’s nuclear program and that the country was in shambles.

Money

According to calculations by The New York Times, overall prices were around 4 percent higher compared with the same time last year, up from 3.7 percent in September.  Follow live updates

Pete Hegseth

NY Times  -   Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, attempting to fend off an impeachment effort, on Tuesday cast the accusations that he violated the Constitution as a slanderous attempt to damage President Trump by “one disgruntled and defeated congressman.”

House Republican leaders said they could hold a procedural vote related to the effort, which is being spearheaded by an outgoing Kentucky Republican, as soon as Tuesday evening. That vote could be an attempt to bottle up the articles, which accuse him of abusing his power and endangering members of the military, in a committee for the rest of the year.

The Guardian - Hegseth says Iran war was a 'necessary undertaking' despite Republicans blaming conflict for midterms defeat. After several Republicans, including vice-president JD Vance, said that the party’s shellacking in the midterm elections was due to the ongoing Iran war and spike in prices as a result of the conflict, Hegseth danced around whether he agreed.

“I respect the vice-president greatly, and I’m certainly not going to exchange in any finger pointing. And thankfully, politics is not really my thing,” the defense secretary said. “But I agree with what the president said when he said: ‘hey, if if I had to do this all over again, would we do it again? Absolutely.”

Hegseth referred back to secretary of state Marco Rubio’s sentiment that the war, now in its eighth month, is “not necessarily popular, but it may have been necessary”.

“That’s certainly how I feel. It was a necessary undertaking,” Hegseth added.

.... Following Pete Hegseth’s press conference, Donald Trump issued a brief, and glowing, assessment of his defense secretary’s performance, while blasting the Republican representative who is moving to impeach him.

“Pete Hegseth gets an ‘A’ PLUS, PLUS, PLUS for his defense against a disgruntled, angry, defeated, former Congressman, Thomas Massie, a TOTAL LOSER!” the president wrote on Truth Social.

California rejects billionaire tax

NY Times - California voters rejected a billionaire tax, The Associated Press determined on Monday, rebuking a measure that would have created the nation’s first wealth tax by targeting the assets of residents with a net worth beyond $1 billion.

Under the tax measure, Proposition 40, the state would have imposed a one-time, 5 percent tax on the personal assets of billionaires and devoted most of the revenue to health care.

The Democratic voters who dominate the California electorate generally support the concept of making wealthy people pay higher taxes. But Democratic leaders were divided over the proposal — Gov. Gavin Newsom opposed it while the California Democratic Party endorsed the tax. And some of the California billionaires who stood to pay the tax contributed heavily toward a campaign that slammed the proposal with attack ads on TV throughout October.

Trump vs. young scientists

NY Times -  For nearly a century, the United States has been the global leader in cultivating young scientists, training them at the nation’s vast network of universities and harnessing their talents to ensure American dominance in research and innovation. But now that Ph.D. pipeline is in turmoil.

An analysis by The New York Times of university and federal data found that the Trump administration, in its broader dismantling of the American scientific machinery, has undermined opportunities for young scientists.

Many of the nation’s top research universities, facing uncertainties in federal funding, are offering fewer Ph.D. spots across the sciences. Federal programs created long ago to finance doctoral students are mired in chaos. Widespread grant cancellations and funding delays have made it harder for recent graduates to find jobs and start new labs. Some institutions have managed to adapt by marshaling funds from elsewhere, but the sudden instability of federal support has led many others to scale back their Ph.D. programs.

…Interviews with dozens of early-career scientists — Ph.D. applicants, doctoral students and newly minted graduates — revealed deep concern that even two years of disruption could permanently alter the storied success of federally funded science in the United States.

Joe Biden

MS NOW -   Former president Joe Biden expresses frustration and delivers a rebuke to those who suggested he covered-up and failed to disclose his cancer diagnosis in a timely manner, according to excerpts obtained by MS NOW from his soon to be released memoir. Biden announced his prostate cancer diagnosis publicly last May, days after he said doctors first diagnosed him.

In excerpts of his personal memoir, “Promise Me, America” set to be released next week, Biden writes, “What did surprise me was the cynical twist the story took in the political press and among political commentators.” “Almost immediately, the reaction was: ‘You hid it from us.’ ‘You must have known it.’ ‘You’re lying.’ Let me tell you something: There isn’t anyone in this world with stage 4 cancer who doesn’t wish it had been caught sooner.”

The former president did not call out anyone by name, but his successor suggested Biden wasn’t being honest about his health.

Earth accumulating heat at accelerating rate

The Guardian  - Heat is accumulating in Earth’s systems at an accelerating rate, the UN’s weather agency has reported as the Cop31 climate change summit begins in Turkey, with 2026 on track to be one of the four warmest years on record.

The imbalance between incoming energy from the sun and energy leaving Earth reached its highest level since monitoring began, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in its State of the Global Climate update.

That imbalance and the accumulation of heat will supercharge extreme weather events such as heatwaves, droughts and tropical cyclones.

Around the world, the average surface temperature for January to September 2026 was about 1.47C above the preindustrial average, the agency said. Sea surface temperatures hit monthly records and sea level was the highest since records began. The ocean absorbs 90% of the excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases and 2026 is on track to be a 10th successive year of record ocean heat.

A volunteer fits a nasal oxygen cannula on a seated woman at a smoke-haze shelter

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A centre for people experiencing respiratory difficulties in Palangkaraya, Indonesia. More than 11,000 people have been treated during a months-long wildfire crisis. Photograph: REINA/AFP/Getty Images

“We have entered a new age of climate extremes,” said António Guterres, the UN secretary general. “A supersized El Niño is colliding with a planet already superheated by manmade climate change. Climate records keep falling. The human costs keep rising. And those least responsible are suffering first and worst.”