RUTGERS vs. MINNESOTA

When: 11 a.m. Saturday
Where: Huntington Bank Stadium
TV: Big Ten Network
Radio: KFAN, 100.3 FM
Weather: 68 degrees, sunny, 12 mph south wind
Betting spread: Gophers, minus-4.5

Records: Gophers (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten) were off last week after a 27-14 loss to California on Sept. 13. Rutgers (3-1, 1-0) lost 38-28 to Iowa last Friday.

History: Minnesota is 3-1 all-time against Rutgers, but lost 26-19 in Piscataway, N.J. last November.

Big question: Can Gophers eliminate self-inflicted mistakes? They only had themselves to blame for the Cal loss and will need to eliminate miscues and get a win with a trip to defending national champion Ohio State up next.

Key matchup: Gophers cornerbacks vs. Rutgers receivers. 6-foot-6 KJ Duff and 6-3 Ian Strong provide matchup problems for the U’s corners Za’Quan Bryan (5-10), John Nestor (6-1) and Mike Gerald (6-0). Duff and Strong have 24 receptions apiece.

Who has the edge?

Gophers offense vs. Rutgers defense: Minnesota fans know Knights’ defensive coordinator Robb Smith; P.J. Fleck fired him from that same role at the U in the middle of 2018 season. Now, Smith has reunited with Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano for a third time. Smith’s defense this year has struggled — which is not unlike his 21-game stint at the U. The Knights are 123rd in the country, allowing 6.45 yards per play. …  The health of the Gophers running backs remains a concern. Darius Taylor (hamstring) missed the Cal game and AJ Turner (knee) left the Cal game. Fame Ijeboi was the most productive replacement, averaging 5.3 yards per carry, while Cam Davis managed only 2.9 against the Golden Bears. … Rutgers lost seven of its top 10 tacklers from last season and LB Moses Walker exited the Iowa loss with a non-contact injury. Rutgers has had eight other players go down with season-ending injuries. …. Edge rusher Eric O’Neill is a problem. After 13 sacks at James Madison last year, he has 10 pressures, 1 1/2 sacks and three more tackles for lost yards this season. While he isn’t the biggest (6-foot-3, 260 pounds), he has a non-stop motor. … QB Drake Lindsey has only 11 attempts beyond 20 yards, with four completed; that needs to increase. EDGE: Gophers

Gophers defense vs. Rutgers offense: Head coach Greg Schiano, a Fleck mentor, heaped praise on Minnesota’s defense, repeatedly citing how the U has the “best defense in the nation” in his Monday news conference. While that is statistically correct — the Gophers total defense is ranked No. 1, allowing 177 yards per game — that is skewed by Northwestern State managing only 42 yards. Cal put up 340 total yards two weeks ago. … Former Gophers QB Athan Kaliakmanis is having a career year, with 68% completions and 289 passing yards per game. Last season, he completed 53% at Rutgers which was the same percentage he had across his two years at Minnesota. … The Gophers did not consistently blitz Kaliakmanis in the first half last year and he had huge success. In the second half, the U brought pressure and quieted him. Defensive coordinator Danny Collins said it’s not as simple as bringing more than four rushers, citing Kaliakmanis’ 77% completions when blitzed this season. Iowa brought more pressure last weekend with success, including Kaliakmanis’ only interception this season.  … Former Gophers offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca’s run-pass option (RPO) concept will look very familiar to U fans. RB Antwan Raymond is averaging 5.1 yards per carry, with seven touchdowns. Kaliakmanis had two keepers go for TDs against the Hawkeyes. Rutgers is down to third-string left tackle Ty Needham, which could have Anthony Smith (three sacks) teeing off. EDGE: Rutgers

Special teams: Schiano specializes in special teams and they have blocked three kicks/punts this season. K Jai Patel was rolling with 18 straight field goals going into Iowa, but missed one and had another blocked. … PR Koi Perich muffed a punt that led to Cal surging ahead two weeks ago. K Brady Denaburg missed a 51-yarder in Berkeley after making four straight to start the season.  EDGE: Rutgers

Prediction: The Gophers’ loss to Cal looks worse after San Diego State shutout the Golden Bears 34-0 last Saturday, but Minnesota had a bye week to stew on the defeat and added time to prepare and get healthier. Gophers win a nail biter, 21-20.

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By RODRIQUE NGOWI and KIMBERLEE KRUESI

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) — Standing barefoot in a grassy patch of dandelions, Iris Phoebe Weaver excitedly begins listing the many ways the modest plant can be used medicinally and in cooking.

“I just picked a bunch of dandelion flowers yesterday and threw them in vodka with some orange peel and some sugar, and that’s my dandelion aperitif,” Weaver said. “That will make a lovely mixed drink at some point.”

A longtime herbalist and foraging instructor in Massachusetts, Weaver takes people on nature walks that transform their relationships with their surroundings. Lately, she’s been encouraged by the uptick in interest in foraging, a trend she sees as benefiting the environment, community and people.

“There is just an amazing amount of food that is around us,” Weaver said. “There is so much abundance that we don’t even understand.”

Humans have been foraging long before they developed the agricultural tools some 12,000 years ago that quickly overshadowed the ancient act that helped sustain early humans. Yet foraging enthusiasts say the search for wild mushrooms, edible plants, shellfish and seaweed has grown more popular in recent years as people tout their rare finds. Others share knowledge on social media, and experienced foragers offer training to novices on safe and sustainable practices.

The renewed interest ranges from those wanting to be budget-conscious — foraging is free after all — to those wanting to be more mindful of their environmental footprint. Some even use foraging as a creative outlet, using mushrooms they find to create spore prints and other art.

The popularity is also helped by the hobby’s accessibility. Foragers can look for wild food everywhere, from urban landscapes to abandoned farmlands to forests — they just need permission from a private landowner or to secure the right permit from a state or federal park. Some advocates have even launched a map highlighting where people can pick fruits and vegetables for free.

Gina Buelow, a natural resources field specialist with the Iowa University Extension Program, says the university has had a backlog of folks eager to learn more about foraging mushrooms for the past two years. Buelow runs presentations and field guide days throughout the state, regularly meeting the attendance cap of 30 in both rural and urban counties.

“Typically, I would get usually older women for a master gardener or pollinator garden class. That audience still shows up to these mushrooms programs, but they bring their husbands. And a lot of people between the ages of 20 and 30 years old are really interested in this topic, as well,” she said.

Some creative chefs are also sparking interest in foraging as they expose patrons to exotic and surprisingly tasty ingredients found locally.

“Foraging is an ancient concept,” said Evan Mallett, chef and owner of the Black Trumpet Bistro in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a popular historic New England destination. “Our culture has moved far away from foraging and is fortunately coming back into it now.”

Mallett opened the restaurant nearly 20 years ago and uses foods foraged from around Portsmouth. He said he hopes more people will continue to learn about foraging, and encouraged those worried about picking something poisonous to find a mentor.

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“I think the dangers of foraging are baked into most people’s brains and souls,” he said. “We as an animal know that there are certain things that when they smell a certain way or look a certain way, they can be encoded with a message that we shouldn’t eat those things.”

Mallett named his restaurant after the wild foraged mushroom as a reminder. Over the years, he’s incorporated Black Trumpet mushrooms into dozens of dishes throughout the menu — even ice cream.

Other menu items have included foraged sea kelp in lobster tamales, as well as using Ulva lactuca, a type of sea lettuce, in salads.

“It’s nothing that I necessarily seek out, but I kind of love it when it’s on a menu,” said M.J. Blanchette, a longtime patron of Black Trumpet, speaking to the foraged dishes available at Black Trumpet and other restaurants.

She recently ordered the meatballs with foraged sweet fern from Mallett’s restaurant, a feature she says elevated both the taste and experience of consuming the dish.

“I think it’s really cool and I think it’s also something that’s not only foraged, but also tends to be local, and I like that a lot,” she said.

Kruesi reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

By STAN CHOE, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is falling on Thursday and heading toward a rare three-day losing streak.

The S&P 500 sank 0.7% in early trading. That was deeper than its dips from the prior two days, and the main measure of Wall Street’s health is on track for its longest losing streak in more than a month.

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The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 107 points, or 0.2%, as of 9:35 a.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 1% lower. All three indexes are still near their records set at the start of the week.

Stocks felt pressure from several reports showing the U.S. economy may be stronger than economists thought. While that’s encouraging news for workers and for people looking for jobs, it could make the Federal Reserve less likely to cut interest rates several times in the coming months.

The Fed just delivered its first cut of the year last week, and officials had penciled in several more through the end of next year. That was critical for Wall Street, which has sent U.S. stocks to records on a blistering run since April in large part because of expectations for many cuts. Easier rates can boost the economy and make investors more willing to pay high prices for stocks, bonds and other investments.

But a stronger-than-expected economy could remove some of the Fed’s urgency, particularly when cuts to rates carry the risk of worsening inflation that’s already stubbornly high. If the Fed doesn’t cut rates as many times as investors expect, it would empower criticism that’s already built saying the U.S. stock market has become too expensive after prices rose so much, so quickly.

Treasury yields ticked higher in the bond market as traders pared bets for the number of upcoming cuts to rates by the Fed. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.17% from 4.16% late Wednesday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, climbed more sharply.

One of Thursday’s better-than-expected economic reports said that fewer U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week. That could be a signal that the pace of layoffs is slowing.

The second report said the U.S. economy grew at a stronger pace during the spring than earlier thought, while the third said orders blew past economists’ expectations last month for U.S. manufactured goods with a relatively long life span.

On Wall Street, CarMax tumbled 19.1% for the largest loss in the S&P 500 after the seller of used autos reported a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It sold fewer vehicles during the quarter than it had a year earlier. It also was hurt because it increased its expectations for losses from loans made in earlier years.

The heaviest weights on the market were Big Tech stocks. They’ve been the market’s biggest superstars in recent years and have carried Wall Street to record after record. But they’re also facing some of the harshest criticism that the frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology has sent their prices too high.

Nvidia fell 1.8%, Broadcom lost 2.9% and Alphabet sank 2.2%.

Starbucks was swinging between modest gains and losses after the coffee chain announced a $1 billion plan to restructure, including the closure of stores and the cutting of 900 nonretail jobs. It was most recently down 0.7%.

In stock markets abroad, indexes fell in Europe following a more muted finish in Asia.

Germany’s DAX lost 1%, and France’s CAC 0 fell 0.7% for two of the bigger moves.

AP Writers Matt Ott and Teresa Cerojano contributed.

By Anna Claire Vollers, Stateline.org

Rural hospitals are less likely to offer obstetric services after they’ve been acquired by a larger health system, leading to mixed outcomes for mothers and babies, according to new research.

It’s part of an accelerating trend that’s reshaped how Americans get health care: Larger health systems gobble up smaller facilities in a bid for financial stability.

“The hospital industry has undergone tremendous transformation over the past few decades, with nearly 1,600 mergers between 1998 and 2021,” said Martin Gaynor, a coauthor of the study and emeritus professor of economics and public policy at Carnegie Mellon, in a statement.

Those large-scale changes to the health system can affect costs, quality and access to care, he said.

Over the past five years, more than 100 rural hospitals have stopped delivering babies or announced they’ll stop in 2025, according to the most recent data from the Center for Healthcare Quality & Payment Reform. Less than half of rural hospitals still offer labor and delivery services.

Gaynor and a team of researchers from Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern University and the University of Georgia examined how hospital mergers have affected access to obstetric care in rural areas, and the quality of that care. They found that rural hospitals were part of more than 450 mergers from 2006-2019.

Once those rural hospitals were acquired by larger systems, they were 30% less likely to still offer labor and delivery services five years later. Many of the shuttered obstetric departments were the sole local source of obstetric care.

That loss translated to fewer resources — such as practicing OB-GYNs — in the county where the acquired hospital was located, researchers found.

The number of births in those counties didn’t change; families just had to go elsewhere for care.

Less access to nearby care could explain those counties’ small increases in health problems among women during or after pregnancy and child birth, and higher rates of smoking among pregnant women, researchers said.

On the flip side, they found that some patients went to higher-quality facilities farther away. And in rural hospitals that didn’t close their obstetric departments following a merger, the quality of care tended to rise.

In recent years, officials in dozens of states have championed laws to increase oversight of mergers and other health care dealmaking.

In the wake of devastating hospital closures tied to corporate financial maneuvering, some states have strengthened their antitrust laws.

Last year alone, 22 states enacted at least 34 laws related to health system consolidation and competition, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, an advisory think tank for lawmakers. Other states, meanwhile, have paved the way for health mergers in a bid to save failing rural hospitals.

At least 35 states now require hospitals, health systems, providers and private equity firms to notify a state official of proposed mergers or other contracts.

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Earlier this month, California lawmakers passed a bill to expand the state’s authority in overseeing mergers and acquisitions in health care. It’s headed to Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, though Newsom vetoed a similar measure last year.

At the federal level, President Donald Trump’s administration has not signaled an interest in increasing antitrust oversight. But Trump’s recent tax and spending law did include $50 billion in funding over the next decade aimed at helping states strengthen rural health care. Massive cuts to Medicaid also in the law could have devastating impacts on rural hospitals struggling to stay afloat, however.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that states have until Nov. 5 to apply for rural health funding. States must show that they’ll use the federal dollars in a way that aligns with certain CMS goals, including helping improve access to care and strengthening retention of health care workers.

Stateline reporter Anna Claire Vollers can be reached at avollers@stateline.org.

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