Housing Affordability, Alan Greenspan, & a Honeybee Invasion

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Adam Rogers
June 23, 2026

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The Senate passed a sweeping housing bill Monday aimed at increasing housing supply and lowering costs, marking the most significant federal housing legislation in decades. The measure passed 85-5 and now heads to the House.
The legislation includes more than 45 provisions designed to boost homebuilding, reduce regulatory barriers, support affordable housing development, and limit purchases of certain single-family homes by institutional investors.
The bill comes as the US faces an estimated housing shortage of several million homes, a gap economists say has helped drive up both home prices and rents. Sponsors argue that increasing supply is essential to improving affordability and expanding homeownership opportunities.

Alan Greenspan, the longtime chairman of the Federal Reserve who helped steer the US economy through the 1990s boom and the early years of the internet age, died Monday at 100. He led the central bank for nearly 19 years under four presidents, making him one of the most influential economic policymakers in modern US history.
Greenspan gained a reputation as "The Maestro" for guiding the economy through events including the 1987 stock market crash, the dot-com boom, and the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. His warning about "irrational exuberance" in financial markets became one of the most famous phrases in modern economics.
His legacy was later clouded by the 2007-08 financial crisis. Critics argued that his support for financial deregulation and failure to recognize the housing bubble helped create conditions that contributed to the global meltdown, a criticism Greenspan later acknowledged in congressional testimony.

The Supreme Court on Monday reinstated the murder conviction of Pedro Hernandez in the 1979 disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz, whose case became one of the most famous missing-child investigations in American history.
Patz vanished while walking to a school bus stop in Manhattan and was among the first missing children featured on milk cartons. His disappearance helped raise national awareness of child abductions and led to the creation of National Missing Children's Day.
Hernandez was convicted in 2017 after confessing to the crime, though his lawyers argued the confession was unreliable and the result of mental illness. The Supreme Court's ruling overturns a lower court decision that had thrown out the conviction and cleared the way for a third trial.

A federal judge blocked the Trump administration's expanded SAVE voter-verification system, ruling it unlawfully centralized sensitive personal data and could lead to eligible voters being wrongly removed. (More)

A federal judge blocked the Trump administration's effort to obtain records from Minnesota officials, ruling the subpoenas were aimed at pressuring resistance to federal immigration enforcement. (More)

Florida is shutting down the migrant detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz," ending the project that cost an estimated $1.2 billion and struggled to secure promised federal reimbursement. (More)

The UN says Myanmar's military was responsible for at least 702 civilian deaths between August and January, with airstrikes accounting for most casualties. (More)

China imposed sanctions on 10 US defense-related companies and barred government purchases from dozens more, retaliating against recent American restrictions targeting Chinese technology firms. (More)

An explosion at Qatar's Ras Laffan gas export terminal killed at least 13 people and injured dozens as workers attempted to restart operations, raising new concerns about global energy supplies. (More)

US stock markets closed mixed on Monday (S&P -0.37%, Nasdaq -1.32%, Dow +0.29%) as declines in technology stocks pushed tech-heavy indexes lower. (More)

Building materials giant CRH agreed to buy US-based Arcosa for $8.5 billion, expanding its North American footprint and strengthening its position in infrastructure, energy and data center construction. (More)

SpaceX signed a multibillion-dollar deal to provide computing power to AI startup Reflection, deepening its push into artificial intelligence. (More)

Argentina's Lionel Messi became the World Cup's all-time leading scorer, netting his 17th and 18th tournament goals in a 2-0 win over Austria. (More)

The Mavericks are finalizing a deal to hire Michigan's Dusty May as head coach following his national championship season. (More)

Music executive Clive Davis, who signed or helped launch stars including Whitney Houston, Janis Joplin and Bruce Springsteen, died Monday at 94 after a career spanning six decades. (More)

A new study found extreme heat stress now affects 22% of the global population annually, up from 16% in the 1970s. (More)

House mice are evolving resistance to poisons far faster than rats, according to new research, potentially forcing pest-control efforts to rely less on chemical baits. (More)

Scientists found evidence that desert mosses host fungi previously thought absent from all moss species, a discovery that could reshape understanding of plant evolution and early life on land. (More)

Millions of honeybees escape into a Texas neighborhood.

Ranking the most and least stressful airports in America.

World’s oldest living land animal celebrates 194th birthday.

Australian family finds large snake living behind their TV.

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