The recent arrest of McKenzie McClure, the biological female and former Christ Presbyterian Academy (CPA) student federal authorities accused of cyberstalking following alleged threats to CPA in Nashville, shares concerning similarities with the circumstances which preceded the tragic Covenant School shootings by Audrey Elizabeth Hale last year in which the former Covenant School student killed 3 students and 3 staff members before she, in turn, was killed by Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) officers.

U.S. farmers’ confidence in the economy cratered in April, according to the latest monthly report from Purdue University. The Purdue University-CME Group Ag Economy Barometer for last month, which was released Tuesday, fell 15 points from March. At 99, the current score is the lowest the barometer has dropped since it reached 97 in June 2022.

The federal government funded a multilateral research project investigating how “populist” politicians allegedly sowed disinformation and eroded public trust during the COVID-19 pandemic. The National Science Foundation (NSF) paid out a grant to support research investigating “how populist politicians distorted COVID-19 pandemic health communication to encourage polarized attitudes and distrust among citizens,” which made the public “more vulnerable to misinformation generally,” according to federal spending records. The project, titled “Pandemic Communication in Times of Populism,” received just over $160,000 from the NSF and is focused on how leaders in the United States, Brazil, Serbia and Poland approached the pandemic, stressing the importance of elevating public health experts over “populist” politicians, according to a presentation produced by the researchers.

The sweeping Trump-era tax cuts in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 are set to expire next year, setting up the tax debate as a potentially key political issue this election year. While illegal immigration and inflation top Americans’ list of concerns, both parties are increasingly talking about the Trump-era tax cuts, which President Joe Biden has said he will allow to expire next year.

As borrowing costs for student loans are already at unseen levels, rates are expected to rise even higher in the coming months to a high not seen in 16 years. According to ABC News, the current interest rate on a federal undergraduate student loan, which is 5.5%, is expected to rise to 6.5% in July. This would mark the highest level since 2008. The borrowing rate for student loans is determined as a result of adding a fixed amount of 2.05% to the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond, which is set every May at an annual auction. On Wednesday, the 2024 auction saw 10-year Treasury bonds sold at a yield of 4.48%.