Civil Rights Indictment, Spirit Bailout, & Best Airport Food

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Adam Rogers
April 23, 2026

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The Southern Poverty Law Center was indicted on federal fraud charges alleging it secretly paid more than $3 million in donor money to informants inside the KKK and other hate groups. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the SPLC was "manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose."
Prosecutors allege the SPLC created fictitious businesses to funnel money to informants. One was paid more than $1 million while affiliated with the neo-Nazi National Alliance. Another helped coordinate transportation for the 2017 Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally at the SPLC's direction. The program dated to the 1980s and was kept secret, prosecutors say, without donor knowledge.
The SPLC said the program monitored threats and shared intelligence with law enforcement — and saved lives. The indictment follows a pattern of DOJ investigations into organizations critical of Trump.

The Trump administration is in advanced talks to provide $500 million in financing to Spirit Airlines as the budget carrier faces imminent liquidation. The deal could give the government an equity stake in the airline. "Maybe the federal government should help that one out," Trump told CNBC, citing 14,000 jobs at risk.
Spirit filed for its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy in less than a year in August, battered by rising costs, an engine recall, and fuel prices that have nearly doubled since US and Israeli strikes on Iran in February. The Biden administration blocked a merger with JetBlue two years ago that could have saved the carrier, and the White House now blames that decision for Spirit's financial state.
A federal rescue of a single airline would be unprecedented, as COVID and post-9/11 aid went to the entire industry. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy publicly opposed the bailout, asking: "If no one else wants to buy them, why would we buy them?" Terms could still change.

Researchers at the University of Barcelona found that combining two existing medications — pemafibrate and telmisartan — significantly reduced liver fat in animal models of MASLD, formerly known as fatty liver disease. The condition affects an estimated 25% of adults globally, with limited treatment options.
The drugs, typically used to manage cholesterol and blood pressure, tackle liver fat through different mechanisms, making them more effective together than separately. At reduced doses, the combination proved as effective as a full dose of either drug alone, while also reducing cardiovascular risk — a leading cause of death among MASLD patients.
While the findings are early and based on animal studies, researchers say repurposing existing well-tested drugs could offer a faster and safer path to treatment than developing new ones.

A chemical leak at a silver recovery plant in Institute, West Virginia, killed two people and hospitalized 19 others, including seven paramedics who responded to the scene. (More)

Wildfires fueled by an 18-month drought destroyed 50 homes and forced hundreds of evacuations across southeast Georgia and northeast Florida, prompting Georgia to issue its first-ever statewide burn ban across 91 counties. (More)

Rep. David Scott of Georgia, who made history as the first Black chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, died at 80 after serving in Congress since 2002. (More)

Pope Leo XIV wrapped up his Africa trip in Equatorial Guinea, denouncing the exploitation of the continent's minerals while visiting the repressive country for the first time since Pope John Paul II in 1982. (More)

El Salvador opened a mass trial of 486 alleged MS-13 members, with prosecutors citing more than 47,000 crimes, though human rights groups warn the proceedings deny defendants basic legal protections. (More)

Russia resumed oil shipments through Ukraine's section of the Druzhba pipeline, prompting Hungary to drop its veto on a $106 billion EU loan that Ukraine urgently needs to fund its government. (More)

US stock markets closed higher on Wednesday (S&P +1.05%, Nasdaq +1.64%, Dow +0.69%) as another extension to the Iran ceasefire boosted confidence. (More)

Mortgage applications jumped nearly 8% last week as 30-year rates fell to 6.35%, the third straight weekly decline, with home purchase applications up 10% and running 14% ahead of last year. (More)

The world's largest condom maker says it may raise prices 20-30% as the Iran war disrupts synthetic rubber supplies and doubles some material costs. (More)

Angels pitcher José Soriano owns the best ERA through six starts in MLB history at 0.24, allowing just one run all season while going 6-0 with a five-inning shutout against Toronto on Wednesday. (More)

San Antonio's Keldon Johnson won NBA Sixth Man of the Year, averaging 13.2 points off the bench while setting a Spurs franchise record with 1,081 points as a reserve. (More)

The Kansas City Royals announced a $2 billion private investment deal Wednesday to build a new downtown ballpark at Crown Center, partnering with Hallmark Cards on an 85-acre mixed-use development. (More)

NASA unveiled its completed $4 billion Roman space telescope, which could discover tens of thousands of planets and map billions of galaxies with a field of view 100 times wider than Hubble's. (More)

A study of 11,000 children found that teens who use cannabis develop memory, attention, and thinking skills more slowly than their peers. (More)

A University of Queensland study found AI chatbots used to moderate online content show political bias, judging hate speech more harshly when it targets their assigned ideology than when it targets opposing groups. (More)

10 things from the 2000s that are now collector’s items.

Copy of Homer’s “Iliad” found in ancient Egyptian tomb.

Costco rolls out pre-scan to speed up checkout process.

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