The Daily Moth 3-17-2025
It is Monday, March 17, 2025. Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Sorry that I’m not wearing green. You can pinch me. I should have used my other “Daily Moth” shirt that has green and other colors on it! Here are today’s top stories.
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Deadly storms kills 42 across US
USAToday reported that at severe storms and wildfires killed at least 42 people across the U.S. over the weekend.
In Oklahoma, wildfires destroyed about 300 houses and structures and affected 12 counties and contributed to the deaths of at least four people. There were very strong winds of 60 to 70 mph that knocked down power lines, and this may be what sparked the wildfires and fanned them.
In Missouri, at least a dozen people were killed from tornadoes or severe storms. Three were killed in Arkansas, where tornadoes were also reported.
In Kansas, eight people died when high winds and a dust storm caused a massive collision on I-70 involving at least 71 vehicles.
In Mississippi, six people died from severe storms.
In Texas, a dust storm caused car crashes that killed three people.
In North Carolina, severe weather caused a tree to fall on a trailer and it killed two boys, ages 11 and 13.
So it’s a lot of different impacts on different states from this powerful storm system. I know that when the season changes to spring, it usually brings a lot of strong storms.
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White House and federal judge clash over Venezuelan deportations
On Friday night, President Trump invoked a 1789 law called “Alien Enemies Act” to deport about 250 Venezuelans, of many who were accused of being gang members, without a judicial hearing. The White House quietly invoked the law without making major announcements about it. News analysts said it was so they could move quickly without outside interference.
On Saturday morning, at least two planes operated by ICE with the deportees on them departed from Texas to El Salvador, who had a deal with the USA to accept these alleged gang members.
Later on Saturday, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order to block the deportations. The judge said any flights already in the air should turn around. The judge said he needs to hear more legal arguments. But the White House did not order the flights to turn around after the order was issued and later said the planes were already above international waters and couldn’t be turned around.
Now, there is a controversy over whether the Trump administration defied a court order. This federal judge, James Boasberg, is now asking the White House for information on the deportation flights and how many people are covered by the 1789 law.
El Salvador’s president shared videos and images of about 250 deportees from the U.S. being manhandled by prison guards at a supermax prison.
I’ll cover updates on this case, the next hearing is on Friday.
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Forever 21 plans to close all US stores
Forever 21, the clothing retailer, filed for bankruptcy and said it will close its stores in the U.S. for good because it can’t compete with foreign fast fashion retailers. The company said its international stores will remain open.
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Harvard to offer free tuition for families making less than $200k
Harvard University announced today that it would offer free tuition for students from families with annual incomes of $200,000 or less starting in the 2025-26 academic year.
Harvard’s president said this would widen the array of backgrounds, experiences and perspectives that all of our students encounter.
Harvard said for families with annual incomes of $100,000 or less, they will have tuition covered and also get support for housing, food, health services, and other student services.
It’s hard to be accepted by Harvard, though — in 2024, the university accepted less than 4% of applicants. Still, it’s an opportunity for more people out there.
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That’s all the top stories for today. I will be back in the studio tomorrow. Thanks for bearing with me while I traveled. Have a good night and stay with the light.
Storms: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/03/17/storm-damage-tornadoes-wildfires-death-toll-updates/82486374007/
https://www.foxweather.com/weather-news/severe-weather-tornadoes-dust-storm-blizzard-midwest-plains-southeast-east-coast
Venezuelan deportations: https://www.axios.com/2025/03/17/trump-judge-deportation-venezuelans-el-salvador
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp9yv1gnzyvo
Forever 21: https://www.denver7.com/business/company-news/forever-21-files-for-bankruptcy-again-plans-to-close-all-us-stores
Harvard: https://abcnews.go.com/Business/harvard-tuition-families-making-200k/story?id=119874241