The fall season is over for the Mizzou Tigers tennis team, and coach Robin Goodman learned a lot about his team from the five competitions Mizzou competed in during the fall. 

New faces all around 

Seven freshman and one transfer competed for Mizzou this fall. Eight of the nine players on the roster are playing their first season in the black-and-gold, and the results were not anything great, but were fine. 

Mizzou played 103 matches (singles and doubles combined) across all competitions in the fall. Of those 103, Mizzou won 55, a .533 win percentage against a range of Division I teams. 

Daria Budko was the best MU performer by win percentage singles. She won six of nine matches, which gave her a team-leading 67% win rate.

Mizzou coach Robin Goodman took the limited opportunities in doubles play present in the fall season to try out different combinations of doubles teams. Goodman tried out eight different teams throughout the five competitions that MU played in, and two stood out as winning combinations. 

Irina Angel and Danielle Chapman had the best record for the Tigers. The duo won six of eight matches played (eight was the most of any MU pair this fall).

Budko and Mariana Higuita Barraza played five matches as a team throughout the fall, winning four of them. This gives them a 80% win percentage, which leads the Tigers.

In the ITA Central Regional, the pathway tennis players take to the postseason, no Tigers were able to make it to the ITA Central Sectional. Alex Ackman and Chapman made it to the Round of 32 in the main draw; neither of the Tigers advanced beyond that. 

As a team, Mizzou performed better in the beginning of the season than the end. 

In the first tournament, the Husker Invitational, the Tigers won 10 of 18 matches across singles and doubles. Next came the 49er Invite. The Tigers dominated in Charlotte, winning 14 of 22 matches. In the Battle for the Boot JAE Foundation Open, things started to take a turn for the worse. Mizzou won eight of its 18 matches in that tournament. The fall season ended with the June Stewart Invite. The Tigers competed in 15 matches. They won four of them. 

What lies ahead

The Tigers will start the spring season with a road trip to UT-Arlington, SMU and KU, starting on an Jan. 17. The first homestand will begin Jan. 25 against South Dakota and Western Illinois.

Southeastern Conference play will begin at home on Feb. 28 against Vanderbilt. Mizzou will compete against all 15 SEC opponents in the spring season in 15-consecutive games, both at home and on the road. The last home game of the year will be Apr. 16 against Ole Miss. The regular season will end on Apr. 18 on the road against LSU. Then, the Tigers are off to the SEC Championship tournament starting Apr. 20 in Baton Rouge, La. 

Goodman is hoping for that the community will come out to cheer on Tigers at home. 

"It's been fun getting to know the community and the place," Goodman said. "We have some fantastic personalities on our team. When people can support the tennis program and the individuals that make up the tennis program, then the better our program will be. Community support is essential for our success." 

(The Center Square) – An influential group of Senate Democrats are warning they won’t accept any government funding deal that fails to ban spending on military hostilities in Iran, potentially risking a government shutdown in December.

Sens. Michael Bennett from Colorado, Tammy Duckworth from Illinois, Chris Van Hollen from Maryland, and Vermont-based Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, made the announcement Thursday.

“As we approach the December 11 funding deadline, we should not accept a short-term spending deal that continues to provide billions of additional dollars for President [Donald] Trump’s war of choice,” the group said in a statement. “Any short-term package must include language that restricts the Trump Administration from using appropriated funds to continue his war against Iran.”

With fiscal year 2027 well underway, Congress still hasn’t passed a single one of the 12 annual appropriations bills that collectively fund all federal agencies. In September, lawmakers had punted the government shutdown deadline to Dec. 11 by passing a continuing resolution, a temporary measure which effectively froze current funding levels.

Now, with Democrats invigorated by sweeping midterm election wins and the Trump administration continuing its controversial attacks on Iran, yet another government shutdown appears possible in less than a month.

“Congress cannot allow Trump to continue his conflict – we must force him to end it,” the senators’ statement continued. “When we vote on appropriations, we intend to fund the government and stop funds for this war. It is what the American people demand, and what they deserve.”

Only Congress has the power to declare war, but Congress still hasn’t authorized the ongoing U.S. military actions against Iran.

The War Powers Act of 1973 gives the president only 60 days to conduct military operations without congressional approval. When that deadline passed, the Trump administration skirted the requirement by temporarily declaring a ceasefire, a move which Hegseth claimed reset the 60-day clock.

By the time the U.S. and Iran signed a 60-day peace framework in mid-June — which Iran promptly violated — Congress had passed a war powers resolution ordering a halt of further military conflict in Iran. The Pentagon, however, ignored the edict, and the conflict continues.

Congressional Democrats have already proven in the 119th Congress that they are willing to block government funding over policy demands.

Senate Democrats triggered the longest government shutdown in history in February, a 76-day shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, over demands that Republicans implement drastic reforms to ICE and Border Patrol.

Democrats only voted to end the shutdown when Republicans stripped immigration enforcement funding from the Homeland Security appropriations bill entirely, though Republicans later infused ICE and Border Patrol with a three-year cash advance via a budget reconciliation bill.

That shutdown occurred only months after Democrats instigated a 42-day full government shutdown in an attempt to force Republicans to renew expiring COVID-19 era healthcare subsidies.

(The Center Square) — Legal counsel at the White House hailed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold executive power over federal boards on Thursday.

White House counsel Will Scharf praised the high court’s decision in Trump v. Slaughter, a case that upheld the president’s authority to fire members of federal executive boards.

In a 6-3 decision, justices allowed Trump to fire Rebecca Slaughter, a member of the Federal Trade Commission appointed by President Joe Biden.

“Slaughter was an immensely important case that I think corrected very, very poor and quite ancient precedent,” Scharf said at an event hosted by the Federalist Society Thursday.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion for the court, which placed a great emphasis on executive board members' power being vested within the authority of the president.

“These officers were to serve as envoys of the President, not his equals. They ‘ought to be considered as the assistants or deputies of the Chief Magistrate,’” Roberts wrote in the court’s majority opinion.

Solicitor General John Sauer, who argued the case for the Trump administration, also praised the decision.

“It’s hard to overstate the importance of Slaughter,” Sauer said. “Slaughter is an enormous historic decision. It matters for the structure of our government and it matters for the preservation of our liberties going forward.”

Scharf praised the high court’s wording of the decision. He said Roberts did a “masterful” job in establishing the theory of a unitary executive branch.

“I was proud that we, as the White House and obviously the Department of Justice, got to play a role in correcting that historic constitutional wrong,” Scharf said.

The court’s decision overturned a more than 90-year-old precedent created by Humphreys v. United States, a case where the Supreme Court prevented President Franklin D. Roosevelt from firing a member of the FTC. Roberts, in his opinion, said the decision has not “withstood the test of time.”

However, justices on the court were not united in their ruling on Slaughter. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson said Congress was meant to control agencies like the FTC and other executive boards.

"The Court gives the President a power unknown even to the English Crown against which the Founders revolted, elevating him above his once coequal branches by transforming a duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed into a license to act in defiance of those very laws," Sotomayor wrote in the court’s dissenting opinion.

Scharf admitted the case came at a time when the White House has moved at a rapid pace under Trump.

“We have a very energetic executive in President Trump now,” Scharf said. “We want energy in the executive, always.”

Justices on the high court also did not endorse a sweeping theory of executive power. In Trump v. Cook, the justices rejected presidential authority to fire members of the Federal Reserve’s board of governors.

Roberts said the Federal Reserve exists as an agency with long-standing authority apart from the president, which prevents members from being fired.

In October, the president announced the creation of a committee to investigate Lisa Cook, a member of the Federal Reserve’s board of governors. Trump previously said she committed mortgage fraud, a claim Cook has repeatedly denied.

Any further effort to fire Cook could return the justices if legal questions are raised.

“As president, it is my job to ensure the laws are faithfully executed, including by firing subordinates who cannot be trusted to tell the truth and follow the law,” Trump wrote on social media in October.

(The Center Square) –  The U.S. House overwhelmingly voted to pass legislation that would give teachers, pastors and many nurses a potentially more appealing retirement option.

The House voted 295-128 on Wednesday to pass the Retirement Fairness for Charities and Educational Institutions Act. All 211 Republicans were joined by 83 Democrats to vote in favor of the bill; 128 Democrats voted against it, according to the U.S. House clerk.

The measure would let public school and nonprofit workers with 403(b) retirement plans invest in collective investment trusts, according to the bill language. These often have lower fees. In a June 2025 study, Vanguard said this reform could mean an extra $23,000 to $28,000 in savings per worker over 40 years.

“It is always a good day when Republicans and Democrats put aside their partisan differences and come together to do what is right for the American people,” National Association of Christian Lawmakers president Jason Rapert said in a statement. “Republicans and Democrats came together to say that where you work shouldn’t determine how well you can save. Pastors, ministry leaders, church staff, and faith-based workers have given their careers to serving others, often for modest pay, and they have waited long enough for the same retirement tools that workers elsewhere have had for years.”

Opponents of the measure, such as U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and various labor groups, argued that expanding collective investment trusts to such retirement plans could strip away federal securities protections for those workers because they are not covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), the federal law that provides protections for retirement savers. 

U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., said the proposal would put nonprofit employees on the same footing as everyone else.

“For several Congresses, this legislation has received bipartisan support in both committee and on the House floor,” Lucas said on the House floor. “It is time we finish the work and ensure that teachers, nonprofit employees, and other public servants have access to the same retirement investment options as private-sector workers.”

U.S. Rep.Ann Wagner, R-Mo., expressed a similar sentiment.

“It is so important that we expand retirement options for hardworking Americans, especially healthcare and charity workers, teachers, and others who sacrifice every day to better their communities,” she said on the House floor. “This legislation will remove unnecessary barriers and help make it easier for families to invest for their future.”

Congress tried fixing this problem before. It passed the SECURE 2.0 Act in 2022. That law changed the tax code to let 403(b) retirement plans use collective investment trusts. Yet, federal securities laws still don’t let most plans offer them.

U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who sponsors the proposal in the U.S. Senate, thinks President Donald Trump would sign it into law if it reached his desk.

“Thrilled to see the House pass the Retirement Fairness for Charities and Educational Institutions Act, legislation I’m proud to lead in the Senate,” she posted on X. “I’m also pleased to see the White House support this commonsense bill. I urge the Senate to take up and pass this legislation to strengthen 403(b) plans and maximize savings to ensure our nurses, ministers, teachers, and charitable workers have the opportunity for retirement security.”

Britt’s bill has over 20 cosponsors, including a mix of Democrats and Republicans.

(The Center Square) – President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to double tariffs on Mexico if leaders there don't stop migrant caravans headed toward the U.S. border.

Doubling the duty would take it to 20%. The administration imposed the existing 10% tariff on most Mexican goods in July under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, in a presidential memorandum published in the Federal Register on July 28.

The United States bought $481.6 billion in Mexican goods through September, more than from any other country, according to Census Bureau data.

No federal agency has published a dollar estimate of what doubling the tariff would cost U.S. companies or consumers. The White House and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative did not provide one when asked Thursday.

The Congressional Budget Office estimated in February that foreign exporters absorb 5% of tariff costs and that U.S. consumers bear the remaining 95%. It told Congress in May that the share absorbed by foreign exporters may have risen to 10% to 15% by the end of 2025. The agency has not turned either estimate into a dollar figure.

The Tax Foundation estimates all tariffs now in place will cost the average U.S. household about $820 this year, with about $130 of that attributable to duties on Canadian and Mexican goods, using a model dated August 2026.

"MEXICO MUST STOP THEM, NOW, and if they do not do so, the Tariffs on Mexico will be IMMEDIATELY DOUBLED," Trump wrote Thursday morning in a Truth Social post. 

The U.S. president added: "There will be no leniency!"

Trump tied the threat to last week's elections in the post, writing that "with the perceived loss by the Republicans in the Midterms – I WAS NOT ON THE BALLOT – the INVASION of our Country is taking place again." Democrats will control both chambers of Congress starting in January, according to the latest election results reported by The Center Square.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said at her Thursday morning news conference that no migrant caravan has reached the northern border since Trump took office. She said two caravans are moving now, one in Arriaga, Chiapas, that started with 500 to 600 people and is down to fewer than 100, and another from Honduras. Mexico tells them there is no way into the U.S. and helps them return home, she said, and most do.

The Mexican Embassy in Washington pointed The Center Square to a statement from Ambassador Roberto Lazzeri and did not answer questions about whether Mexico would retaliate.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, asked on CNBC's "Squawk Box" Thursday whether doubling Mexico's tariffs was likely, did not say. He said Trump is prepared to take whatever measures he needs, economic or otherwise, to hold the gains he made at the border, and that he would work with the president if he takes economic measures. Greer did not name the legal authority or a tariff rate.

Greer said in the same interview that most food enters from Canada and Mexico without duties and that the vast majority of food has never been subject to tariffs.

USTR's notice implementing the memorandum exempts goods that cannot be produced in sufficient quantities in the U.S., among other categories, although the exempt products are listed by tariff subheading rather than by category.

Democrats have said they want to end Trump's tariffs. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., introduced a bill in September that would terminate and refund the duties, and it has 29 cosponsors as of Thursday, according to the congressional record. U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., who is in line to chair the Senate Finance Committee, said in a Nov. 4 statement that he would use the panel to "reassert congressional authority over our country's trade policy to bring down costs, end Trump's disastrous and corrupt tariffs, reestablish critical trade partnerships, and hold trade cheats accountable."

The White House did not respond to questions about the legal authority or what Mexico would have to do to avoid the increase. The offices of Wyden and Schumer did not respond to questions about what would replace the tariff revenue.

USTR has a second Section 301 investigation open on Mexico. The agency opened it in March into structural excess manufacturing capacity, naming Mexico as one of 16 economies and citing its $197 billion goods trade surplus with the U.S. and growth in its steel capacity, according to the initiation notice published in the Federal Register.

The comment period closed in May, according to the office's website. USTR has published no determination since and did not answer questions about whether one is coming.

(The Center Square) – Multiple people have been shot, with one confirmed dead, in a mass shooting incident in Northwest Washington, D.C. Police said the suspect suffered a self-inflicted gunshot and also died.

The shootings occurred Thursday morning inside a gym, VIDA Fitness, near a trendy Logan Circle neighborhood apartment complex.

First responders confirmed during a news conference that one individual was shot and killed inside the gym, with four other patients transferred to hospitals. Three patients sustained non-life-threatening injuries, while one sustained serious injuries and is in critical condition.

Law enforcement says some of the victims were across the street working on a construction site, while another may have been in the lobby area of the apartment building or an alley.

Interim chief of the Metropolitan Police Department Jeffery Carroll said the suspect barricaded himself inside a unit, which law enforcement believe was his unit, and started a fire, which was put out by a sprinkler system.

Carroll confirmed the suspect had been communicating on the phone with law enforcement when they heard a single gunshot, at which time he stopped communicating.

Law enforcement says they know at least one handgun was involved. They believe the suspect had some “sort of conflict with the apartment building” or “homeowners association.”

While law enforcement doesn’t have identification of the suspect, they “have an idea who he is.”

The shooting, which occurred in the 1500 block of 15^th Street, NW, just blocks from the White House, resulted in a shelter-in-place order.

Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser confirmed that the White House had been briefed on the shooting.

(The Center Square) –  Lowering utilities’ allowed returns on investment could mean small bill cuts while raising long-term costs, Concentric Energy Advisors says.

The consulting firm published its report⁠ last week.

Concentric studied 13 electric utilities in the PJM region, which covers parts of the eastern United States. They found that cutting allowed returns by one percentage point would lower a typical residential bill by 0.7%. A three-point cut would lower it by 2.2%.

If borrowing costs stay flat, those cuts would save $1.05 to $3.30 on a $150 bill.

Return on equity is the profit rate regulators let utilities make on money that investors put into the company. Utilities don’t automatically make that amount, and it’s not money they save for grid repairs.

Concentric says the profit utilities can make for their shareholders from local power lines make up about 5% of a normal electric bill.

“Affordability is a significant concern, but reducing utility returns as a matter of policy would provide limited relief in the short term,” Concentric Vice President Joshua Nowak said⁠ in a statement. 

Lawmakers in New York and Pennsylvania have proposed using Treasury yields to set how much profit electric utilities can make.

Pennsylvania’s House Bill 2224⁠ and New York’s Senate Bill 10424⁠ would set a standard return at the current 10-year Treasury rate plus two percentage points. Both proposals would let utilities use competitive bidding to set different profit rates for investors.

New York’s sponsor memo says this approach would mean less regulatory discretion and make it so that “ratepayers pay no more than what is necessary to attract capital.”

In June, Pennsylvania’s House passed its bill unanimously; it still hasn’t come up for a vote in the Senate. New York’s bill is stuck in committee.

Concentric says the proposed formula would have put allowed returns below 3% in 2020. The firm says investors would have had less reason to put money into electric utilities as a result.

Arizona regulators cut Arizona Public Service's allowed return from 10% to 8.7% in 2021.

S&P, Moody’s and Fitch downgraded the utility in response. Concentric saw its borrowing costs rise by 1.14 percentage points more than an A-rated utility benchmark from August 2021 to November 2022.

Concentric says higher borrowing costs could cancel out some of the savings for customers. They could also make it harder for utilities to pay for improvements to the electric grid.

Concentric says lawmakers could do more to lower electric bills by addressing wholesale electricity prices and the costs of government regulations.

(The Center Square) – Several people in Northwest Washington, D.C. were shot Thursday morning, and the area remains on lockdown. The Metropolitan Police Department says the area us in a “barricade situation.”

The shooting centered around a gym in the trendy neighborhood of Logan Circle, as the MPD has issued a shelter-in-place order for the “immediate vicinity,” indicating the situation could be fluid.

The order instructs people in the area to “go inside the nearest building,” and to stay away from windows, until “further notice.”

While the shooting, which took place on the 1500 block of 15^th Street, NW, is blocks away from the White House, it doesn’t appear the executive mansion is included in the shelter-in-place order.

The FBI Washington Field Office confirmed that it is responding to the incident and currently assisting Metropolitan and Metro Transit Police.

This is a developing story.

(The Center Square) — A Michigan prosecutor downplayed the alleged crimes of a Detroit man accused of heaving a large rock at a police officer and anti-Islamic activist Jake Lang and, ultimately, declined to prosecute the man, according to police records obtained by The Center Square.

The incident in early August came amid Lang's appearance at a religious procession through the streets of Dearborn for a Muslim holiday. Lang has repeatedly visited Dearborn — which is the only Arab American-majority city in the United States — to decry Islam.

The city's racial and religious makeups have led to numerous culture clashes over more than a decade, along with lawsuits and accusations that it is biased against Christians.

"It's Sharia law," Detroit Pastor Lorenzo Sewell told The Center Square. "Jake Lang, he was stoned for saying that Dearborn belongs to Jesus. So Sharia law says what? You're supposed to be stoned for that. That's what Sharia law says. And guess what happened? He ran for his life."

Lang and other detractors of Islam invoke the phrase "Sharia law" to indicate areas of the country are governed by strict Muslim rules and are intolerant of other religions.

On Aug. 2, Lang spoke through a loudspeaker for less than a minute before he and his videographer companion were attacked and chased by more than a dozen men, police records show.

A 45-second protest

Lang had already been to Dearborn twice in attempts to publicly burn a Quran — the Muslim Holy book — when he went to protest the annual Arbaeen Peace Procession, a 1-mile walk that started at the Karbalaa Islamic Educational Center, which organizes the event.

At about 3 p.m. he was telling the participants that "you are not welcome here" and "Jesus Christ is King of Dearborn Michigan" when he and a videographer — Jacob Gingrich — were mobbed by up to 20 people, police records show.

Abbas Mania Abdoush, of Detroit, led the attack when he walked toward Lang and punched him in the face, police officers wrote in a report. Lang and his friend attempted to flee as they were punched, kicked and pelted with rocks by the group.

A police officer estimated Lang had spoken for about 45 seconds before the attack began. Lang often publicizes his protests before they happen.

"Gingrich and Lang both turned to run away from the men, but both were attacked/assaulted," according to a police report.

Lang was punched and hit with stones in his head, neck, back and leg. Gingrich was struck repeatedly by a flagpole and punched by a group of men dressed in all black. Someone stole his camera and microphone. A video recording from a police drone appeared to show Gingrich unconscious on the ground with his arms and legs tucked close to his body after the attack, a police report said.

A police officer struggled to rescue Lang by placing him in her patrol vehicle. Despite Sgt. Ashley Kusnir's intervention, the group continued to attack Lang. Someone with a small child attempted to block the path.

Another man stepped into Lang's way and struck him repeatedly in the head, "even as Lang was being secured in the patrol car for safekeeping," a police report said.

Abbas Mania Abdoush, who police identified as the initial aggressor because he threw the first punch, struck the police vehicle with his fist after Lang was inside.

A police report alleges Abdoush then "threw a large gardening rock at the side of the vehicle with as much force as possible, attempting to break the glass."

Insufficient evidence

Abdoush was arrested shortly thereafter by nearby police officers. The department suggested to county prosecutors that he should be charged with a hate crime and for felony assault with a dangerous weapon.

But days later, Kurt Koning, an assistant prosecuting attorney for Wayne County, responded that there wasn't enough evidence to show Abdoush attacked Lang "based in whole or in part on his actual or perceived association or affiliation with religion."

Further, Koning wrote there wasn't evidence to show "Abdoush placed (Lang and the officer) in reasonable fear of an immediate battery with a dangerous weapon."

"In the best interests of justice, this matter should be handled locally in Dearborn," Koning wrote to the police department.

Koning did not respond to a request to comment for this article. A spokesperson for the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, Maria Miller, reiterated there was "insufficient evidence to issue criminal charges" but declined to elaborate further for The Center Square.

The misdemeanor charges Dearborn did file against Abdoush have been dismissed, court records show. Abdoush, who was born in Iraq, is being held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Michigan for potential deportation, federal records show.

Few identified

Dearborn police used facial recognition software to find other potential suspects in the attack, but Gingrich struggled to confirm their identity in photos he was shown. Lang didn't go to the police department to look at the photo lineup despite returning to the city two weeks later for another protest.

The department identified three other suspects. Two of them were charged with a crime. Haider Hassan Al-Huchaimy and Keyaan A. Alzaydi are accused of misdemeanor assault and battery, according to court records. Their cases are pending.

In contrast, about 10 apparent Lang supporters were arrested during another protest two weeks after the early August incident, police records show.

That disparity is proof of bias in Dearborn, said Pastor Sewell, who is a prominent Black supporter of President Donald Trump.

"Dearborn police know how to act on American laws when they want to," Sewell told The Center Square. "And they know how to enact Sharia law when they want to."

The Dearborn police chief, mayor and attorney's office did not respond to requests to comment for this article.

Lang and Sewell cited what they perceived as a lack of police protection and robust prosecution to launch a larger protest on Aug. 18 that drew hundreds of people. That led to sometimes violent clashes involving guns, pepper spray and knives, police reports show.

HELENA, Mont. - Montana Millionaire tickets are back on sale Thursday morning after issues during the initial sale on Nov. 1 led to the state lottery stopping sales.

Tickets are available at gas stations, bars/taverns, grocery stores and casinos across the Treasure State.

Instant wins will be available when purchasing your ticket for prizes of $100 or $500. Anyone who wins one of these prizes is still eligible for the other drawings.

Tickets sold up to the Quarter Million Monday Drawing will be entered into a $250,000 drawing held on November 30.

This year, the six $1 million Grand Prize will be drawn along with a $20,000 Player’s Club Drawing on December 28.

During the original sale, 12,947 tickets were sold, with 991 being $100 instant winners, and 1,019 being $500 instant winners, for a total of $608,600 in prize money being won. 

The Montana Lottery said the malfunction was due to a new system that couldn't keep up with the pace tickets were being sold at, and that the Instant Win prizes were being awarded more frequently an intended. 

Lottery officials announced the new vendor will be paying over $600,000 to cover some costs.

Any tickets that were sold on Nov. 1 are still valid for all the upcoming drawings.