Spirit's Last Flight, Medicaid Work Requirements, & Boredom

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Adam Rogers
May 04, 2026

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Spirit Airlines shut down after 34 years, canceling all flights and leaving about 17,000 workers jobless. The final flight landed at Dallas-Fort Worth from Detroit late Friday night.
The airline said soaring jet fuel costs tied to the Iran war made it impossible to exit bankruptcy. Spirit had lost more than $2.5 billion since 2020 and filed for bankruptcy twice in less than a year. A last-minute bailout effort from the Trump administration collapsed Friday. The White House blamed Biden's decision to block a Spirit-JetBlue merger, while the Cato Institute argued rising fuel costs from Trump's decision to strike Iran accelerated the collapse.
The shutdown came with little warning. Passengers arrived at airports to find flights canceled, while employees learned overnight that they were out of work. Major airlines offered $200 rescue fares and have begun recruiting displaced staff.

Nebraska became the first state to implement federal Medicaid work requirements, requiring able-bodied adults ages 19 to 64 without dependents to complete at least 80 hours a month of work or approved activities to keep coverage.
The rules stem from President Donald Trump’s tax and spending law, which cuts Medicaid by more than $900 billion, the largest reduction in the program’s history. The Congressional Budget Office projects 4.8 million Americans will become uninsured by 2034, largely due to people losing coverage for failing to meet or document the requirements. Between 28,000 and 41,000 Nebraskans are now at risk.
Health experts warn the changes could force rural hospitals and community clinics to close and leave people with chronic conditions untreated. As of early 2026, about two-thirds of non-elderly, non-disabled Nebraska enrollees already work or attend school, according to KFF.

Cherie DeVaux became the first woman to train a Kentucky Derby winner Saturday when Golden Tempo claimed the 152nd Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs. The closest a woman had come before was Shelley Riley, whose horse finished second in 1992.
DeVaux, 44, spent years as a stable worker and assistant trainer before earning her license in 2018 and winning her first race just 11 months later. She took the Breeder's Cup in 2024. Saturday was her first Derby. "I'm glad I can be representative of women everywhere," she said. "We can do anything we set our minds to." She did not commit to running Golden Tempo in the Preakness on May 16.
Golden Tempo was not among the favorites heading into the race. Jockey Jose Ortiz rode him from last place to victory in a late surge. Ortiz defeated his own brother, who was riding the favored Renegade.

The Trump administration reversed course and exempted foreign-trained doctors from its travel ban processing freeze after medical groups warned of hospital staffing crises in rural and underserved communities. (More)

More than 500 unions and organizations held May Day protests across the US Friday, calling for school, work, and shopping boycotts to protest what organizers called the Trump administration's favoritism toward billionaires. (More)

The Pentagon warned European allies, including the UK, Poland, Norway, and Estonia, that weapons deliveries will be delayed after US stockpiles were depleted during the war with Iran. (More)

Cuba's government ration book, once a cornerstone of daily life, has nearly collapsed as the economy deteriorates, leaving many Cubans surviving on little more than rice and sugar. (More)

The US indicted Sinaloa's governor, its capital's mayor, and eight other Mexican officials on drug trafficking charges. The governor and mayor stepped down temporarily, losing their immunity from prosecution. (More)

Austrian police arrested a 39-year-old suspect in a rat poison baby food tampering case after five tainted HiPP jars were found in supermarkets across Austria, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. (More)

US stock markets closed mixed on Friday (S&P +0.29%, Nasdaq +0.89%, Dow -0.31%) as Apple shares boosted the S&P to an intraday all-time high. (More)

The war with Iran has made Corpus Christi the world's busiest oil export hub, with US crude exports up 30% as Iran's blockade shuts out Persian Gulf competitors. (More)

The Pentagon signed deals with Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, OpenAI, Reflection, and SpaceX to bring AI into its classified military networks to help with battlefield decision-making. (More)

Montreal upset Tampa Bay 2-1 in Game 7 on Sunday despite just nine shots, with goalie Jakub Dobes making 29 saves. (More) All teams are now set for round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. (See full bracket here.)

Round 2 of the NBA playoffs tips off tonight after the 76ers, Pistons, & Cavaliers won their respective game 7s over the weekend. (See full bracket here.)

Shakira drew 2 million fans to a free concert on Rio's Copacabana Beach Saturday. (More)

Scientists created a "living plastic" embedded with bacteria that fully breaks down the material in six days when activated, leaving no microplastics. The approach could eventually target common single-use plastics. (More)

The FDA gave limited early access to daraxonrasib, a pancreatic cancer pill that doubled survival time in trials, for patients with no other treatment options. (More)

Oxford researchers found AI models tuned to seem warmer and friendlier were 60% more likely to give wrong answers, with accuracy dropping further when users expressed sadness or shared incorrect beliefs. (More)

The average cost to raise a kid to 18 in the US is now over 300K.

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