By SCOTT BAUER and NICHOLAS RICCARDI

President Donald Trump’s administration is demanding states “undo” full SNAP benefits paid out under judges’ orders last week, now that the U.S. Supreme Court has stayed those rulings, marking the latest swing in a seesawing legal battle over the anti-hunger program used by 42 million Americans.

The demand from the U.S. Department of Agriculture came as more than two dozen states warned of “catastrophic operational disruptions” if the Trump administration does not reimburse them for those SNAP benefits they authorized before the Supreme Court’s stay.

Nonprofits and Democratic attorneys general sued to force the Trump administration to maintain the program in November. They won the favorable rulings last week, leading to the swift release of benefits to millions in several states.

But, even before it won a stay on those rulings through an appeal to the Supreme Court on Friday night, the Trump administration balked at reimbursing states for the initial round of SNAP payments. Wisconsin, for example, loaded benefits onto cards for 700,000 residents, but after the U.S. Treasury froze its reimbursements to the state, it anticipates running out of money by Monday, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ administration warned in a lengthy statement on Sunday.

The lack of money could leave vendors unpaid and trigger escalating legal claims, the states warned. “States could face demands to return hundreds of millions of dollars in the aggregate,” the filing at the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals says.

That situation “would risk catastrophic operational disruptions for the States, with a consequent cascade of harms for their residents,” the filing concludes.

That filing arrived as the Department of Agriculture on Saturday told states it would now consider any payments made last week to be “unauthorized.”

“To the extent States sent full SNAP payment files for November 2025, this was unauthorized,” Patrick Penn, deputy undersecretary of Agriculture, wrote to state SNAP directors. “Accordingly, States must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025.”

Evers issued a quick response to the Trump administration’s demand. “No,” the governor said in a statement.

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“Pursuant to and consistent with an active court order, Wisconsin legally loaded benefits to cards, ensuring nearly 700,000 Wisconsinites, including nearly 270,000 kids, had access to basic food and groceries,” Evers said. “After we did so, the Trump Administration assured Wisconsin and other states that they were actively working to implement full SNAP benefits for November and would ‘complete the processes necessary to make funds available.’ They have failed to do so to date.”

Representative Angie Craig of Minnesota, the top Democrat on the House Agriculture Committee, said in a statement that she believed the Trump administration was “demanding that food assistance be taken away from the households that have already received it.”

“They would rather go door to door, taking away people’s food, than do the right thing and fully fund SNAP for November so that struggling veterans, seniors, and children can keep food on the table,” she said.

“The cruelty is the point,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, who leads her party on the chamber’s top agriculture committee. In a post on Sunday on social media, she added: “It is their choice to do this.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz wrote on social media, “November SNAP benefits in Minnesota have been restored. This funding, used by children, seniors, and people with disabilities to pay for food, has been in limbo since October. Restoring this funding took numerous court rulings ordering the Trump administration to use the money they have set aside — for this very purpose — to feed the hungry. This cruelty serves no one. The dysfunction caused by this administration, at the expense of real lives, is staggering. But we will not let Minnesotans go hungry.”

This report contains material from the New York Times.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Air traffic in the U.S. could “slow to a trickle” if the federal government shutdown lingers into the busy Thanksgiving travel holiday season, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned Sunday.

The Federal Aviation Administration last week ordered flight cuts at the nation’s busiest airports as some air traffic controllers, who have gone unpaid for nearly a month, have stopped showing up for work.

The reductions started Friday at 4% and will increase to 10% by Nov. 14. They are in effect from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time and will impact all commercial airlines.

On Sunday, 1,375 flights were canceled as of 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, according to the aviation tracking website FlightAware. That follows more than 1,500 cancellations on Saturday.

Duffy has said additional flight cuts — perhaps up to 20% — might be needed, particularly after controllers receive no pay for a second straight pay period.

“More controllers aren’t coming to work day by day, the further they go without a paycheck,” Duffy told “Fox News Sunday.”

And he prepared Americans for what they could face during the busy Thanksgiving holiday.

“As I look two weeks out, as we get closer to Thanksgiving travel, I think what’s going to happen is you’re going to have air travel slow to a trickle as everyone wants to travel to see their families,” Duffy said.

With “very few” controllers working, “you’ll have a few flights taking off and landing” and thousands of cancellations, he said.

“You’re going to have massive disruption. I think a lot of angry Americans. I think we have to be honest about where this is going. It doesn’t get better,” Duffy said. “It gets worse until these air traffic controllers are going to be paid.”

The government has been short of air traffic controllers for years, and multiple presidential administrations have tried to convince retirement-age controllers to remain on the job. Duffy said the shutdown has exacerbated the problem, leading some air traffic controllers to speed up their retirements.

“Up to 15 or 20 a day are retiring,” Duffy said on CNN.

Duffy said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth texted him with an offer to lend military air traffic controllers, but it’s unclear whether the staff is certified to work on civilian systems.

Duffy denied Democratic charges that the flight cancellations are a political tactic, saying they were necessary due to increasing near-misses from an overtaxed system.

“I needed to take action to keep people safe,” Duffy said. “I’m doing what I can in a mess that Democrats have put in my lap.”

In the last two to three years the world of amateur telescopes has been turned on its head. The advances in technology have been beyond incredible. Honestly, it’s been hard to keep up with it all.

As I wrote earlier this year, there is a revolution going on. The way I see it, there are basically two types of telescopes to choose from: conventional visual telescopes and small digital astrophotography telescopes. These small photo telescopes take wonderful images at much lower prices that, in some cases, rival much larger and more expensive astrophotography setups. With both types of scopes, smart technology is available that makes exploring the night sky a lot more fun and less time-consuming. There are also advantages and disadvantages to both types of telescopes, depending on personal preference.

Conventional visual telescopes

The main mission of any telescope is to gather as much light as possible. While magnification is important, light-gathering ability is much more critical. That determines how clear your image will be. Magnification, or “power,” is controlled by which eyepiece you use. Most telescopes come with two or three eyepieces. Usually, 100- to 200-power magnification is the most you’ll ever need for most celestial targets. Higher magnification eyepieces are generally used on planets and the moon.

I’ve been flabbergasted by the advances in visual telescopes. Now you can get a scope that excels at collecting light, and many also come equipped with built-in navigation systems that will direct your telescope automatically to one of thousands of desired targets like star clusters, galaxies, and more. Some you can even control remotely with your smartphone!  There are three basic types of telescopes: refractors, reflectors, and Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes.
Below are some of my specific suggestions for visual telescopes.

Celestron Starsense Explorer DX 130AZ

The Celestron Starsense Explorer DX 130AZ Smartphone App-Enabled Newtonian Reflector Telescope: This Newtonian reflector telescope is perfect for beginners. Its user-friendly interface and detailed tutorials make it like having your personal tour guide of the night sky. The app uses patented technology to determine where the telescope is pointed in real time, making locating objects easier. $368

Celestron StarSense Explorer 8″ Smartphone Telescope

Celestron StarSense Explorer 8″ Smartphone App-Enabled Dobsonian Telescope: This is a much larger version of the Celestron Starsense DX 130AZ scope with the same smartphone app for easy and precise navigation. $879

Celestron NexStar 6SE

Celestron NexStar 6SE: This Schmidt-Cassegrain type has a fully automated GoTo mount with a database of 40,000-plus celestial objects that automatically locates and tracks objects for you. Just type in the celestial target you want to see, and it will electronically slew the telescope right to it. Then, track it across the sky. I have this scope, and I just love it. $1,199

Celestron First Scope

The Celestron First Scope: designed for kids about 8 to 10. It’s a reflector telescope with a small mirror. $80

Digital astrophotography telescopes

The newer digital astrophotography telescopes are simply amazing. You don’t “look” through them, but you’re able to take hundreds of images. Again, the images they produce won’t be as good as you’d get with much more expensive astronomical cameras and telescopes, but some will be darn close, suitable for framing. You will see more detail and certainly more color in any celestial image you take than you would visually observe with a conventional telescope. The reason is that when you shoot images, even ones only a few seconds long, you collect and accumulate much more light than you can with your eyes looking through a visual telescope. We can’t accumulate and store light with our eyes.

Photographic scopes also “stack” individual subframes that produce wonderful celestial images. They also have built-in navigation systems that will direct or “point” the scope to hundreds of targets, including the sun and moon, and then “follow” them across the sky, compensating for the Earth’s rotation. You control the scope with a smartphone, iPad or tablet using Bluetooth. It’s even possible to control them from the inside of your house as long as the signal doesn’t get out of range. That really comes in handy on cold winter nights. What I really find fantastic is that these photographic telescopes come with built-in light-pollution filters, enabling you to get great shots even in heavily lit-up urban or suburban areas.

I truly love these scopes. No matter where you are, in a city or a country, I really believe you’ll be a lot happier with the images they produce compared to what you see with a conventional visual scope. If you want to get a young person excited about stargazing and astronomy, I think you should go with photographic scopes. The cost of these scopes is also amazing, at less than $600. You really can’t get much of a visual telescope for that price. Below are my specific recommendations.

ZWO SeeStar S50

ZWO SeeStar S50: This amazing telescope camera system takes absolutely stunning celestial photos of star clusters, nebulae, galaxies, the moon, the sun and more, all in color. It’s less than a cubic foot in size and weighs less than 5 pounds. Using Bluetooth, you control the Seestar S50 on your smartphone or iPad. It directs itself to the celestial target of your choice and then projects the image on your phone or tablet, and then begins the process of live stacking. As the sub-exposures build in, the picture gets clearer and clearer. You have to see it to believe it. It also does daytime land photos and video. All of this for only $549.

ZWO SeeStar S30

ZWO SeeStar S30: It’s a smaller, more compact version of the SeeStar S50 but just about as powerful. What’s most amazing is that it’s only $399.

Where to buy scopes

You can certainly buy a scope on Amazon, but if you encounter issues with it, the options for finding help are very limited. I think you’re much better off either purchasing your scope directly from the manufacturer or from a telescope dealership. The problem is that there aren’t many telescope dealers left anymore.

My favorite dealership is Starizona in Tucson, Arizona. I’ve done business with them for years. They have wonderful people who you can actually get help with, before and after the sale, even over the phone. Their website is starizona.com.

If you’re ever in Tucson, visit their store. You won’t want to leave!

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and retired broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is the author of “Stars: a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations,” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and adventurepublications.net. Mike is available for private star parties. You can contact him at mikewlynch@comcast.net.

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Kids ‘n Kinship provides friendships and positive role models to children and youth ages 5-16 who are in need of an additional supportive relationship with an adult. Here’s one of the youth waiting for a mentor:

First name: Kory

Age: 15

Interests: Kory loves food, especially Buffalo Wild Wings, tacos, and chicken! He enjoys collecting and learning all about trains, so would love to find a mentor who is also a train enthusiast.

Personality/Characteristics: He is talkative, confident, and is becoming a teenager. His mom would love a male mentor to help support him as he grows and explores interests. He is a kind kid who makes friends easily. Mom is looking for a male role model to be a positive influence on him and be a solid presence to spend time with.

Goals/dreams: He would like a mentor, mentor couple or mentor family. If he could have three wishes he would: Get a Nike Tech Jacket, have lots of money, and get an entire box of Taco Bell to himself. When he grows up he wants to be a train conductor. He had his first job this summer at a tree landscaper and enjoyed the experience and received great reviews from his team leader and supervisor. He would love a mentor who continues to offer him guidance and direction for his future and help him pursue his goals.

For more information: Kory is waiting for a mentor through Kids n’ Kinship in Dakota County. To learn more about this youth mentoring program and the 39+ youth waiting for a mentor, sign up for an Information Session, visit www.kidsnkinship.org or email programs@kidsnkinship.org. For more information about mentoring in the Twin Cities outside of Dakota County, contact MENTOR MN at mentor@mentormn.org or fill out a brief form at www.mentoring.org/take-action/become-a-mentor/#search.

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