By COLLIN BINKLEY

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration’s effort to overturn decades-old school desegregation orders is facing pushback from a federal judge in Louisiana.

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After the judge refused to close the books on a desegregation case dating back to the 1960s, the Concordia Parish school system in central Louisiana and the state on Tuesday filed an appeal. The case offers the first major test of the government’s attempt to quickly end some of the long-running cases.

The school system has become a focal point in the administration’s attempt to end legal cases that reach back to the Civil Rights era. Louisiana state officials say the cases are outdated and no longer needed. In a remarkable turn, they’ve recently gained support from the U.S. Justice Department, which spent decades fighting for such cases.

The campaign encountered its first major obstacle this month when U.S. District Judge Dee Drell rejected a court filing from Louisiana and the Justice Department aiming to free Concordia from a 1965 lawsuit. That case was brought by Black families who demanded access to the town’s all-white schools.

A number of legal requirements from the case remain in place today, and some families say the court orders are still needed to improve education at the area’s mostly Black schools.

Louisiana and the federal government tried to dismiss the case immediately by saying all remaining parties believe the case is no longer necessary. It was not signed by any families who brought the suit, who are no longer involved.

Drell refused, saying the court can reject such agreements when bigger issues are at stake.

“At the heart of this case is public policy and the protection of others, and the court has been tasked with ensuring the resolution of this matter in accordance with long established legal precedent,” Drell, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush, wrote in a Nov. 19 order.

Instead, Drell offered Concordia Parish a hearing to prove it has fully dismantled state-sponsored racial segregation — the traditional route to get such cases dismissed.

The school district and the state appealed that decision in a Tuesday filing. They did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Justice Department used the same tactic to lift a 1966 order in Louisiana’s Plaquemines Parish school district — the judge in that case had been dead for decades — and it signaled plans to have others dismissed later.

Dozens of 1960s school desegregation cases remain in place across Louisiana and the South, including some that are actively being litigated and others that have languished.

The Justice Department has framed the decades-old cases as federal intrusion into local school decisions. Harmeet Dhillon, who leads the department’s civil rights division, previously promised that other cases would “bite the dust.”

The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Attorney General Keith Ellison has joined 21 other attorneys general in suing the federal government over new eligibility guidelines for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — known as SNAP.

The federal legislation known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” narrowed SNAP eligibility for certain groups, including refugees, asylum recipients, and others admitted to the U.S. under humanitarian protection programs. According to the state attorneys general, a U.S. Department of Agriculture memo on Oct. 31 “incorrectly asserted that all individuals who entered the country through these humanitarian pathways would remain permanently ineligible for SNAP, even after obtaining green cards and becoming lawful permanent residents,” according to a statement on the lawsuit from Ellison’s office.

The USDA memo also noted that federal legislation expanded the age range for able-bodied adults without dependents subject to a time limit on benefits to individuals aged 18 to 64. And, it noted that a typical 120-day grace period for states to adjust systems without penalty expired on Nov.  1, 2025.

In their lawsuit, the group is maintains that the USDA guidelines contradict federal law and will “impose massive financial penalties on states.”

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“It is extremely troubling to once again have to take President Trump to court to stop him from taking food off our neighbors’ tables,” Ellison said in a statement. “If the United States accepts refugees fleeing war, famine, and persecution, the last thing we should do is let them go hungry once they are here.”

In their lawsuit, the attorneys general are asking the court to “vacate the unlawful guidance” and block it from being implemented.

By SAM McNEIL

BRUSSELS (AP) — Money is as central to Europe’s vital support of Ukraine as ammunition and intelligence. Yet, the bloc’s most viable funding mechanism involves seizing billions of dollars worth of Russian assets that U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed taking over.

The first draft of Trump’s 28-point peace plan called for an investment scheme for Ukraine’s reconstruction controlled by the U.S. but financed by $100 billion in frozen Russian assets matched by another $100 billion from the European Union — with 50% of profits sent back to Washington.

The plan surprised Europeans, who have spent years fiercely debating the fate of Russia’s frozen fortune.

Those funds are central to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s plan to both maintain pressure on Russia and increase support for Ukraine as mysterious drone incursions and sabotage operations rattle European capitals.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen addresses the media in Johannesburg, South Africa, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)

“I cannot see any scenario in which the European taxpayers alone will pay the bill,” she said Wednesday in Strasbourg, France to applause from lawmakers in the European Parliament.

The 27-nation EU has sent Ukraine almost $197 billion since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly four years ago. While there’s no consensus on how to provide more aid, there’s near unanimity on seizing the Russian assets to cover the estimated $153 billion for Ukraine’s budget and military needs for 2026 and 2027.

The Commission has proposed paying that bill with joint debt taken on by the EU and grants by individual nations, but its main source is the $225 billion assets frozen at Euroclear, a Brussels-based financial institution.

That is, if the Trump administration doesn’t get them first.

Perks of the deal

Trump’s brash negotiating style left many in Europe suspecting he wants a quick deal that forces Europeans to make it work and pay for it. All while the U.S. profits.

Analysts say the proposal was essentially a U.S. attempt to snatch these assets, coming as Brussels and Washington relaunch trade negotiations over tariffs.

Agathe Demarais, a senior fellow at the Berlin-based European Council on Foreign Relations, said the proposal was akin to a “signing bonus” for a peace deal heavily slanted towards Russia.

Fabian Zuleeg, chief executive of the Brussels-based European Policy Centre, called the U.S. takeover of the assets “outrageous,” but suggested it might also be acceptable to Europeans “if that is ultimately the price to pay for a good deal.”

After intense discussions between the U.S., Germany, France, the United Kingdom and representatives from the European Commission, the investment scheme was removed from the new draft peace plan. Russia has already signaled its total rejection of the new draft.

The assets frozen in Belgium

A quick seizure of Russia’s frozen assets by the EU would not only secure Ukraine’s defense budget, but also empower Brussels at the negotiation table, Demarais said.

“If the EU rushes to seize Russia’s central bank assets before Washington grabs them, the bloc may be able to drastically curb Trump’s interest in a bad deal,” she said.

The European Commission has proposed taking direct ownership of the assets. Under von der Leyen’s leadership, it could then issue a loan to Ukraine, which would be repaid only if Moscow provides war reparations to Kyiv.

The bulk of these assets are held in a clearinghouse called Euroclear in Belgium. However, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has refused to approve their use as collateral for a massive loan for Ukraine, citing fears that Russia would retaliate against Belgian interests.

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“We are a small country, and retaliation could be very hard,” De Wever said in October.

Yet the Belgian position on thawing the assets was influenced by an impasse in local politics over deep federal debt. After months of domestic political wrangling ended last week in a deal, politicians from Riga to Lisbon started hoping that De Wever would be able to lift his objections to seizing Russian assets.

Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said after the Brussels meeting on Wednesday that “the clock is ticking” and that seizing the assets was “the only realistic financing option that would make a real difference and one that would be most fair to taxpayers” in Europe.

Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat said Wednesday there is now broad EU support for Belgium.

“It would send the strongest message to Moscow that it cannot wait us out, and we need to make this decision fast,” said Kallas.

On Dec. 18, De Wever will join the other EU national leaders for a summit in Brussels over, among other subjects, seizing the Russian assets.

Associated Press writers Geir Moulson and Kirsten Grieshaber contributed from Berlin.

The Lakeland City Council has nixed a plan to purchase a commercial building in town for its next city hall.

The council voted 3-2 on Tuesday night not to buy the Telus commercial building at 84 St. Croix Trail S. for $525,000; Mayor Bob Craggs and council member Canaan Martin voted in favor of the purchase.

The Lakeland City Council voted on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025, to not move forward with plans to purchase the Telus commercial property at 84 St. Croix Trail South for a new city hall. (Courtesy of the City of Lakeland)

Lakeland City Council member David Millard said a majority of residents who came to a recent open house and spoke at a public forum were in favor of building a new city hall on city-owned land just north of the city’s water department building at 1190 St. Croix Trail S. The location – a concrete slab – is the site of where a city hall that was under construction was destroyed by an apparent act of arson in 2016. No one has been charged or convicted in the case.

“I was so encouraged by the time and energy and effort that some of our citizens put into looking into the details regarding both the building and what new construction would look like,” Millard said. “It’s nice to have that input, because sometimes we feel like we’re just alone at these meetings.”

Millard said many residents expressed concerns about the size of the Telus building – 1,860 square feet – and its lack of accessible parking.

“They said, ‘Don’t buy this little building that is just kind of barely adequate,’” he said. “There’s no handicapped parking, there’s no room for expansion, and you’re kind of relying on a neighbor to park if we have bigger meetings like elections, and access is poor. I think it was going to take a lot more money to bring it up to anywhere close to what we need.”

Instead, Millard said, many residents support building a smaller city hall building than was previously planned. He supports the construction of a building that could be expanded in the future, he said.

“Everyone is saying that the one we were going to build maybe was a little elaborate, and we can downsize that,’” he said. “Some citizens have said, ‘Let’s look at some of these smaller post-and-frame buildings that other cities have built.”

Temporary quarters

City officials have spent years trying to determine what should be done with the current city hall, an octagonal building at 690 Quinnell Ave. N., which was built as a Baptist church in 1868. Structural problems include bowing exterior walls, a sagging roof frame and cracks in the basement walls. Mold and water infiltration in the basement also are an issue, city officials say.

City staff has had to move out of the building and into the city’s water department building because of all the issues.

Craggs said he was in favor of purchasing the Telus building because it is centrally located and could have been move-in ready almost immediately. There also would be no need to address the continued increase in construction costs, he said.

“I’m very disappointed,” he said. “This fit our needs with just some changes. We could have essentially purchased the property and been able to move into the building sometime next year after some configurations were made. Now, with the interest in moving into new construction, it will take at least 18 months, if not more.”

A new city hall is estimated to cost $1.4 million, he said.

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Millard said the city has $550,000 in capital costs set aside for a city hall and a $2.1 million “rainy-day fund … for this type of need. We would not have to bond for this.”

Brian Zeller, a principal and broker at Telus Property Services & Solutions, a real-estate management company, said he thinks the council is making a mistake.

“It’s unfortunate,” he said. “It may not have been a 20-year solution, but at the very least it was a 5- to 10-year solution. This was a way to get something done that they’ve been trying to get done for 10 years. … We’ll put it back on the market. We’ve had a lot of interest. It will sell.”

Telus is moving its corporate headquarters to Hudson, Wis.