Reid Jones

Hurricane season starts June 1 and the staff at the National Hurricane Center faces one major task in the months to come. Their mission? Provide consistent and accurate information that stands out above a flood of conflicting and confusing social media messages to convince you to take action when a storm comes knocking. Center director Michael Brennan and his colleagues within the National Weather Service, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, are keenly aware of their challenges. They've got a new forecast map and are launching a suite of new or updated products for this season. As Brennan prepares for his fourth season as center director, he shared with USA TODAY five key things he hopes the tens of millions at-risk from hurricanes will do in the weeks ahead. Brennan has sharpened his message over the years, though it remains consistent. This season he's placing more emphasis on preparing for lengthy power outgages and other deadly conditions after the ...

After prominent artists pulled out of a series of planned concerts on the National Mall celebrating the nation's 250th anniversary, President Donald Trump nixed the musical performances and now plans to give a speech himself instead, according to a White House official. In a social media post on May 30, the president criticized the musicians, whom he did not name specifically, for getting what he called "the yips." He appeared to be referencing the collapsing lineup of superstars for the Great American State Fair, a 16-day event organized by the president's nonprofit, Freedom 250. Country star Martina McBride and R&B group The Commodores were among the latest cancellations for the concert, which is slated to run June 25 through July 10. Both said they were initially under the impression the event would be entirely nonpartisan.

A federal judge ordered the removal of President Donald Trump's name from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, ruling the Trump administration's rebranding of the iconic institution is illegal. U.S. District Court Judge Christopher Cooper, in a opinion issued May 29, said the Kennedy Center must remove Trump's name from the institution's title within 14 days. That includes taking down the recently installed signage on the center's facade and stripping Trump's name from the center's website other official materials. Cooper, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, also overturned Trump's planned two-year closure of the Kennedy Center that was set to begin in July to accommodate massive renovations to the building.

A U.S. judge declined to block President Donald Trump's executive tightening rules on mail-in voting in a loss for the Democratic Party, whose lawyers argued that it could disenfranchise millions of voters. The decision May 28 comes as Trump's Republicans are locked in a tight battle keep control of both houses of Congress in the November midterm elections. Trump has four years pushed the claim that his 2020 election defeat was the result of widespread voter fraud and has criticized voting by mail. The executive order signed by Trump on March 31 directed his administration to compile a list of confirmed U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state and to use federal data to help state election officials verify who is eligible to vote.

Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch was cremated in Mooresville, North Carolina, following his death last week, according to his death certificate first obtained by US Weekly. The certificate revealed that Busch, 41, had been battling bacterial pneumonia for "days to weeks" before he died May 21 at 4:37 pm of natural causes. The pneumonia progressed into sepsis, which set in roughly one day before his death. The sepsis triggered disseminated intravascular coagulation, which is abnormal clotting throughout blood vessels that cuts off flow to organs. That was followed by hemorrhagic shock caused by severe bleeding. The DIC and hemorrhagic shock lasted for hours. Busch's family announced Saturday that severe pneumonia had progressed into sepsis, "resulting in rapid and overwhelming associated complications."

The U.S. men's national team World Cup roster is out - for real this time. Three days after the team's squad was fully leaked, USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino officially revealed his 26-man roster for the 2026 tournament on Tuesday, May 26. The release confirmed the leak was, in fact, accurate, as the 26 names matched the 26 The Guardian first reported over the weekend. The names didn't feature too many surprises, though there were still one or two decisions that could be characterized as head-scratching.

As President Donald Trump faced mounting pressure Monday to finalize a peace deal with Iran, the U.S. military carried out strikes in the southern region of the Middle Eastern country. The renewed strikes came after Trump began lowering expectations that a deal was near. In a statement from U.S. Central Command, military officials said the strikes were designed "to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces." U.S. forces targeted boats attempting to lay mines and missile launch sites, in what a CENTCOM spokesperson described as defensive actions amid the "ongoing ceasefire." Nearly three months since the start of the war, Trump is bound by expectations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which has sent oil prices skyrocketing due to its closure, while also pushing to remove Iran's enriched uranium as a part of the country's nuclear program. Over the weekend, Trump said an agreement with Iran was near before adding that American negotiators could tak...

Outgoing Rep. Thomas Massie slammed his fellow Republican members of Congress and President Donald Trump during the May 24 edition of "Meet the Press," less than a week after losing to a Trump-backed primary challenger in his Kentucky district. After serving seven terms in the House, the maverick Massie was defeated in a May 19 race by Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL. The incumbent told NBC host Kristen Welker that he believes he was unseated because of his support for releasing the government's Epstein files, including his Epstein Transparency Act legislation. The Kentucky lawmaker authored the bill - which sought to shed light on federal materials about convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein - with Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna.

Fans continue to mourn Kyle Busch two days after the NASCAR legend's sudden and shocking death at age 41. The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion was hospitalized in Charlotte, North Carolina, earlier this week with what his family and the auto racing series termed a "severe illness." Busch was scheduled to compete in two NASCAR races at Charlotte Motor Speedway over Memorial Day weekend: a Craftsman Truck Series race that was rescheduled for the morning of Saturday, May 23, and the annual Coca-Cola 600, the Cup Series' longest race of the seaon on Sunday, May 24. Busch won 63 Cup Series races, which ranks ninth on the all-time list, and season championships in 2015 and 2019. He holds the record for most wins in the second-tier O'Reilly Auto Parts Series with 102 and the Truck Series with 69. His most recent Trucks win came last weekend at Dover Motor Speedway, and his post-race interview has now taken on a whole new layer.