Midwest
Trump admin approves waivers for 3 states to ban soda, other junk food from public food programs
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Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins signed waivers with three states on Tuesday, allowing them to prohibit participants of the government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) from buying junk food, like soda and candy, through the social welfare program.
Arkansas, Idaho and Utah became the latest states to obtain waivers from the federal government to begin banning junk food within the federally administered, but state-operated, public assistance program that provides food stamps to low-income individuals.
The three states have become the latest to obtain waivers from the Trump administration that allow states to restrict what type of food SNAP funds are eligible to be used on.
Other mostly GOP-led states, like Nebraska, Indiana and Iowa, have also obtained waivers to reform their SNAP programs. Last month, during a Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) event at the White House, Rollins indicated that several states were lining up to get the waivers.
NEBRASKA BECOMES FIRST STATE APPROVED TO BAN SODA PURCHASES WITH FOOD STAMPS
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, left, Idaho Gov. Brad Little and Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Getty Images)
“Since my confirmation, [the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)] has encouraged states to think differently and creatively about how to solve the many health issues facing Americans,” Rollins said at a press conference announcing the new waivers Tuesday afternoon. “One way is disallowing taxpayer-funded benefits to purchase unhealthy items, like soda, candy and other junk food.”
Tuesday’s waivers bring the total number of states that have moved to ban junk food from their SNAP programs to six. Rollins indicated several other states, including Colorado, Kansas, West Virginia, Texas, Ohio, Florida and Louisiana, are also working through procedural steps in hopes of getting waivers approved.
On average, 42 million low-income Americans receive food-stamp assistance each month, according to a Make America Healthy Again report released last month. (Getty Images)
WEST VIRGINIA PASSES FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND LAW BANNING FOOD DYES AND PRESERVATIVES; GOV CITES MAHA MOVEMENT
Texas, however, may not even need the waiver after its legislature passed Senate Bill 379 during the last week of its legislative session that ended on June 2. The new bill, which prohibits SNAP participants in the state from using the public assistance program to buy junk food, is expected to be signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, especially after he wrote a letter to Rollins in May seeking a USDA waiver.
“The Trump Administration is unified in improving the health of our nation. America’s governors have proudly answered the call to innovate by improving nutrition programs, ensuring better choices while respecting the generosity of the American taxpayer,” Rollins added Tuesday. “Each waiver submitted by the states and signed is yet another step closer to fulfilling President [Donald] Trump’s promise to Make America Healthy Again.”
Brooke Rollins (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
On average, 42 million low-income Americans receive food-stamp assistance each month, according to the MAHA report released last month. It added that one-in-five American children under 17 receive SNAP benefits.
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Illinois
Illinois high school football playoffs expanding in 2026
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. (KWQC) – The IHSA football playoffs will be expanding by 50 percent in 2026.
IHSA member schools approved an amendment to expand the playoffs from 32 teams per class to 48.
There will still be 8 classifications increasing the total number of playoff teams from 256 to 384.
As a result of the change, the start of the season will be moved up by a week in August to allow the season to still finish with State Championship games the week of Thanksgiving.
Copyright 2025 KWQC. All rights reserved.
Indiana
Freshmen from Indiana show potential in UConn-Butler game: ‘Heck of a player’
Former UConn forward, NBC Sports broadcaster Donny Marshall knows a thing or two about talented UConn guards.
The former Husky played for legendary coach Jim Calhoun and was teammates with the fifth pick in the 1996 NBA Draft, 10-time NBA All-Star Ray Allen. Watching UConn play against Butler on Tuesday night, Marshall said he sees a lot of Allen in reigning Indiana Mr. Basketball Braylon Mullins.
Mullins made the second start of his career against the Bulldogs. The former Greenfield-Central star missed UConn’s first six games of the regular season with an injury, but the 6-foot-6 guard is quickly coming into his own and showing why he’s a projected lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
Against Butler, Mullins showed off his sweet jump shot, going 2 for 5 from 3-point range. He finished with 12 points, three rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal.
“He’s a scorer,” Butler coach Thad Matta said of Mullins. “He’s got a scorer’s mentality. He gets his shot off quick. They move him around and create some angles for him. Obviously, he’s a heck of a player.”
Mullins did most of his damage in the first half, scoring eight of his 12 points before halftime. The former five-star recruit was the highest-ranked player in UConn’s 2025 class. Butler’s top-ranked recruit, Azavier “Stink” Robinson isn’t the NBA prospect Mullins is, but he held his own after a shaky start to the game.
Robinson has been thrust into the starting lineup with starter Jalen Jackson out for the season with an ankle injury. Robinson looked out of sorts at times in the first half, going scoreless with two assists and a turnover. In the second half, Matta moved him off the ball, giving him catch-and-shoot looks, and opportunities to drive to the basket without worrying about running the offense.
The former Lawrence North star responded with one of the better halves of his career, scoring 10 points on 3 for 6 shooting, including 2 for 5 from 3 to go along with two rebounds, one assist, one steal and one turnover.
Facing a veteran team like UConn, nothing comes easy. UConn’s guards harass ball handlers and getting into an offensive set is not easy. This time last year, Robinson was still in high school and, on most nights, the most athletic player on the court. Playing a UConn team where the goal is a national championship, Robinson was forced to grow, and he did not back down from the challenge in the second half.
“He’s coming along,” Matta said of Robinson. “That’s the first Big East road game of his career against maybe the best team in the country. It tells you how tough he is. He’s resilient. He keeps going.”
Iowa
I-80 crash cleanup continues after weekend pile-up in eastern Iowa
WEST BRANCH, Iowa (KCRG) – Cleanup crews are still working to remove vehicles from Interstate 80 in eastern Iowa following multiple crashes that blocked the highway for about 12 hours Saturday morning.
Multiple crashes on I-80 east of Iowa City Saturday morning shut down the interstate for several hours in both directions. No one was killed, but dozens of people were injured and taken to the hospital.
Lanes in the area will be closed in order to pull crashed cars out of the median.
“Towing and recovering efforts started right away after the storm, Sunday night after the storm and have continued each night since then and we’re estimating a couple, two to three more nights yet to get everything removed out there,” said Mitch Wood with the Iowa Department of Transportation.
DOT explains highway closure decision
The DOT did not expect conditions to be as bad as they were this weekend. Access to the highway was only limited after the crash happened.
“It started out with just a typical Iowa snowfall forecast. Nothing in that forecast, I guess, rose to that level of alarm for us to kind of forecast that we would have seen the traffic issues that we ended up seeing,” Wood said.
The DOT says preemptively closing the interstate can be done if unsafe travel can be predicted.
“What we could never really anticipate is the driving conditions changing rapidly and how drivers are going to respond to that,” Wood said.
Wood says shutting down an interstate is never a light decision.
“It’s not something that we necessarily want to do but when we make that decision, almost everytime we’re making that decision for safety reasons,” Wood said.
Cleanup of those accidents from Saturday are still underway. That typically happens in the evening, so drivers should watch for signs and lane closures when towing is happening.
Copyright 2025 KCRG. All rights reserved.
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