Starting New Year’s Day, Americans in Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah, and West Virginia who get government help paying for groceries will see new restrictions on soda, candy, and other foods they can buy with those benefits. Those 5 states are the first of at least 18 states to enact waivers prohibiting the purchase of certain foods through SNAP. Kansas, Colorado, and Arkansas are among the other states that have submitted requests for waivers banning certain foods and drinks or, in some cases, expanding access to hot foods for participants, according to the USDA.

If you’re a fan of “The Last of Us,” this will have you thinking about cordyceps and zombies. Hospitals, nursing homes, and other medical facilities are struggling to gain ground on a drug-resistant and deadly fungus that has infected at least 7,000 people in 2025. It’s called Candida auris, and this fungus can survive on surfaces for long periods of time before spreading to patients through catheters, breathing tubes, or IVs. To make matters worse, this superbug is resistant to all types of antibiotics usually used to treat fungal infections.

And police in Central Bridge, New York, have been busy lately investigating a series of car thefts. Yesterday, deputies were investigating the theft of multiple vehicles when their patrol car was stolen from the area where the vehicles had initially been reported missing. The patrol car crashed into two other cars while the alleged suspect was trying to make a getaway, leaving both the stolen patrol vehicle and another vehicle inoperable. The suspect was treated at the scene and now faces multiple charges.