The Daily Moth 3-14-2025
Hello it is Friday, March 14, 2025. Before I share today’s news, I want to say that my heart is saddened by the shocking death of Frank Turk and his wife, Marlene, from carbon monoxide poisoning. Our reporter Renca Dunn covered that story with more information in a separate video. It is truly tragic that it’s how Turk departed us. Like many of you, I was inspired and influenced by Turk when I attended the Youth Leadership Camp (YLC) in 2002. I’m also inspired by the many tributes on social media of others who had countless stories of how Turk influenced them. I know that the Deaf community won’t let Frank Turk fade away from our collective memories.
Now, here are today’s top stories.
Last night some of you stayed up to catch the lunar eclipse (blood moon) and sent me pictures! I’m going to share them.
[Images by Lynn Kinney, Jennifer Lynn Nichols, Carol Hirsch, and Travis Wade Hollinger]
Awesome pictures, I know that what you see with your eyes is not the same as what shows up on your phone, but it’s still cool to see. The next total lunar eclipse / blood moon will be in March 2026.
Fire on American Airlines plane
On Thursday, an American Airlines plane that departed Colorado Springs to go to Dallas had to quickly land in Denver due to engine vibrations. When the plane was taxiing to a gate, an engine caught fire. Many passengers evacuated by walking on a wing while there was billowing smoke. I was surprised to see that a plane wing could hold that many people without breaking. Others exited using the slides. All 172 passengers and six crew members were safely evacuated, but 12 were taken to the hospital due to minor injuries, possibly some due to smoke inhalation. It’s a relief that the plane was able to quickly land and that everyone got out safely. It’s just strange how there have been multiple serious airline-related incidents in the past two months.
SSA wants to claw back 100% of overpayments
The Social Security Administration said it wants to claw back overpayments to beneficiaries by withholding 100% of beneficiaries’ checks instead of the current cap of 10% of a person’s check. This applies to new cases after March 27.
To be clear, the SSA website said for those on Supplemental Security Income (SSI), which is for those with low incomes or disabled/deaf people, the clawback cap will remain at 10%.
So the 100% clawback applies to new cases of overpayments for the majority of SSA beneficiaries, which are for retired workers and their dependents. It’s not clear to me if those on SSDI (Social Security Disability Insurance) will have 10% or 100% clawback policies.
The SSA’s new acting commissioner said the change will result in the SSA saving $7 billion over the next 10 years.
CBS said SSA advocacy organizations are concerned that people will suffer financial hardship if 100% of their benefits are clawed back and said often the overpayments are due to mistakes made by the SSA, without the fault of the beneficiaries.
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Connecticut woman allegedly kept stepson captive for over 20 years
In disturbing news from Connecticut, a 56-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly holding her stepson captive in an upstairs room for over 20 years, from the time he was 11 until his current age of 32.
The alleged abuse was uncovered when the stepson intentionally set a fire in the house to get the attention of the fire department. The stepson told first responders that he wanted his freedom.
Police said an investigation showed that the stepson was in a very emaciated condition, weighing only 68 pounds, and had endured abuse, starvation, severe neglect, and inhumane treatment.
The stepmother, Kimberly Sullivan, was charged with assault, kidnapping, unlawful restraint, and cruelty. Her attorney said the allegations are not true.
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10 Senate Democrats join Republicans to avoid government shutdown
As expected, there were enough Senate Democrats joining Republicans to move forward a spending bill and avoid a government shutdown. Yesterday the Senate’s Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, said he didn’t really support the bill but didn’t want to see the government be shut down. Nine other Democratic Senators joined him to let the bill advance. President Trump is expected to sign the bill before a midnight deadline. Trump praised Schumer, saying he had guts and courage. But Schumer is getting criticism from many other Democrats in Congress for caving in to Republicans and some are talking about primary challenges to him if he runs for reelection in 2028.
The spending bill funds the government through September 30. It will increase defense spending by $6 billion compared with fiscal year 2024 and decrease nondefense spending by $13 billion by removing projects or one-time initiatives funded by lawmakers which are known as earmarks. The bill gives an additional $485 million for ICE enforcement and deportations, support federal wildland firefighters, and increase funding for air traffic control systems by $753 million above last year’s level. It also increases funding for nutrition assistance to mothers, infants and children in the WIC program by $500 million. It cuts $1.4 billion from the Army Corps of Engineers’ construction funding that is used for projects to lessen the impacts of hurricanes and floods. We’ll probably go through another round of debate over the next government funding bill when September comes.
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That is all the top stories for this week. Have a nice weekend and I’ll be back on Monday. Stay with the light.
Fire on AA plane: https://apnews.com/article/american-airlines-plane-fire-denver-international-d6e53a064718f8ca15c096cec51c9d0d
SSA: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/social-security-overpayment-clawback-100-percent-medicare-trump-doge-waiver/
https://blog.ssa.gov/social-security-to-reinstate-overpayment-recovery-rate/
Mother/stepson: https://people.com/mother-allegedly-held-stepson-captive-for-20-years-before-he-lit-fire-to-escape-something-out-of-a-horror-movie-11696021
Funding bill: https://www.axios.com/2025/03/14/senate-democrats-vote-with-republicans-avoid-government-shutdown
https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/11/politics/government-funding-bill-spending/index.html