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 Live from NPR in Washington, I'm Ryland Barton. The Supreme Court has paused an appeals court order on President T's $400 million ballroom project, meaning construction can carry on for now. NPR's Emily Fang reports. The Supreme Court put a stay on a lower court's order to halt construction, but the higher court did not give an explanation for its decision. Two lower courts already ruled that the ballroom project is likely illegal because Congress never approved it. But this Supreme Court order means the administration can continue with the 90,000-square-foot addition to the White House. The T administration has argued the ballroom is not just an aesthetic necessity, but a national security issue as well. In materials supplied to the Supreme Court, D. John Sauer, the solicitor general and a former personal lawyer for T, said the future ballroom would include a sniper's nest, drone-proof roofs, and a hospital. Emily Fang, Washington.
The Department of Education is threatening the American Bar Association's ability to accredit law schools. NPR's Janaki Menta reports this is the T administration's latest attack on the ABA. In most states, a school must be ABA-approved for students to take the bar exam and become licensed lawyers. The T administration has called out the ABA as being too progressive, including for its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. Now, the Education Department has taken its first step to strip the ABA of its power to accredit law schools. A department spokesperson told NPR that the ABA did not comply with its accreditation regulations and shared a near 500-page report that in part claims that the ABA is not sufficiently independent of the institutions it accredits. Melissa Hart, who chairs the ABA's accreditation council, said, quote, The council is confident it complies with the Higher Education Act and with the department's requirements for accreditors. A final decision to take away the ABA's accreditation power could take months.
Northwest Indiana is in its second week of power outages due to storms that hit the state on August 11th. Barb Anguiano reports city and state officials are calling for more transparency from electricity provider Northern Indiana Public Service Company, or NIPSCO. NIPSCO says nearly 375,000 customers lost power in what they called the worst outage in the company's history and estimates the power is still out for nearly 68,000 customers. Gary, Indiana was one of the hardest hit areas. NIPSCO says they expect power will be back there Tuesday. Gary Mayor Eddie Melton says it's been a frustrating situation. I have to demand that NIPSCO provide more accurate restoration times specifically for Gary because the information that was shared was omitting Gary. Indiana Governor Mike Braun in a social media post Thursday praised crews working around the clock to restore power. He also urged NIPSCO to take the situation seriously.
The number of people receiving SNAP food aid has fallen more than 13 percent in a year as changes to the program start to kick in. The loss of help is making it hard for some families to figure out what to do. More people are required to work to receive the aid now and that change has come with more reporting requirements and states will be required to pay more of the costs of running the program later this year.
The world's oldest living person is celebrating her 117th birthday today. Ethel Caterham from England got the title after the death last year of a 116-year-old Brazilian nun. NPR's Fatima Al-Qasab has more. Ethel Caterham was born in 1909 and has lived through the Russian Revolution, the Great Depression, and two world wars. She's the last surviving subject of King Edward VII. For her 116th birthday last year, she got a visit from his great-great-grandson, King Charles. According to Guinness World Records, she's also one of the oldest people to survive COVID after contracting it in 2020. She's celebrating with family and friends at a nursing home in Surrey, outside London, and says she's looking forward to what next year might bring. Fatima Al-Qasab, London.
Next week is Fat Marmot Week. Last winter was tough for the groundhog-like rodents in the Colorado mountains, but the marmots that survived are doing well. They've fattened up, gaining the critical weight they need to make it through next winter. To drum up interest in their work, marmot researchers are launching a contest for the public to vote for their favorite critter. Fat Marmot Week begins on Monday.
Major U.S. Stock Index has rose today.