Air traffic controllers in Denver lost communications with planes around that major airport for 90 seconds earlier this week and had to scramble to use backup frequencies in the latest Federal Aviation Administration equipment failure.

The outage at Denver International Airport happened Monday afternoon and affected communications, not radar, the FAA’s head of air traffic control, Frank McIntosh, said during a House hearing Thursday. This communications failure follows two high-profile outages of radar and communications in the past 2 1/2 weeks at a facility that directs planes in and out of the Newark, New Jersey, airport.

The FAA said in a statement that the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center lost communications for approximately 90 seconds. McIntosh said both the primary and main backup frequencies went down, so the controllers had to turn to an emergency frequency to communicate.

“Controllers used another frequency to relay instructions to pilots. Aircraft remained safely separated and there were no impacts to operations,” the FAA said.

Rep. Robert Garcia of California told McIntosh during the hearing that “anytime there’s these outages which are happening now more regularly, it’s very concerning.”

“We know that there are staffing and equipment problems at air traffic control,” Garcia said. “We know that the problems have gone back decades in some cases, but it’s still an absolutely shocking system failure and we need immediate solutions.”

The Denver communications failure is the latest troubling equipment failure in the system that keeps planes safe. Last week, the Trump administration announced a multibillion-dollar plan to overhaul an air traffic control system that relies on antiquated equipment.

The Newark airport has generally led the nation in flight cancellations and delays ever since its first radar outage on April 28 that also lasted about 90 seconds. A second outage happened on May 9. In both those instances controllers lost both radar and communications.

The FAA was in the middle of a second day Thursday of meetings with the airlines that fly out of Newark about cutting flights because there aren’t enough controllers to handle all the flights on the schedule now. More than 100 flights have been canceled at Newark Thursday.

Officials developed the plan to upgrade the system after a deadly midair collision in January between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter killed 67 people in the skies over Washington, D.C. Several other crashes this year also put pressure on officials to act.

Actor Joe Don Baker, whose star turn in “Walking Tall” and appearances in three Bond films endeared him to legions of fans, has died.

The character actor known for his versatility was 89.

Baker’s family confirmed his death of undisclosed causes on Tuesday.

“Joe Don was a beacon of kindness and generosity,” his family wrote in an obituary revealing his May 7 death. “His intellectual curiosity made him a voracious reader, inspiring a great love of nature and animals, particularly cats.”

Baker joined the Bond universe as megalomaniacal arms dealer Brad Whitaker in 1987’s “The Living Daylights” opposite Timothy Dalton’s 007. He resurfaced as standup CIA agent Jack Wade in “GoldenEye” in 1995 and “Tomorrow Never Dies,” in 1997, both opposite Pierce Brosnan as Bond.

Baker was born on Feb. 12, 1936, growing up in Groesbeck, Texas, where his prowess in high school football and basketball netted him an athletic scholarship at North Texas State College, his family said. He earned a business degree there, enlisted in the U.S. Army for two years, and then moved to New York City to study acting, joining the Actors’ Studio in the early 1960s.

He graced the Broadway stage for a year or so before moving to Los Angeles to launch what would be a decades-long career in television and film. Starting with guest appearances on the likes of “Gunsmoke,” “Mission Impossible” and “The Streets of San Francisco,” he jumped to film with an uncredited part in “Cool Hand Luke” and another bit part in “The Valachi Papers.” He went on to appear in 57 movies and scores of TV shows over a career that lasted until he retired in 2012, his family said.

The broad-shouldered, 6’3” actor was as ideally suited to playing the tough guy — on either side of the law — as he was charging opponents on the football field. He made a mark alongside Steve McQueen in Junior Bonner in 1972, according to IMDb. He then portrayed a sadistic mob assassin in “Charley Varrick” in 1973. These helped him snag his true breakout role, as hickory-club-wielding Sheriff Buford Pusser in 1973’s “Walking Tall.”

The 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s saw Baker in numerous character roles in “The Natural,” “Cape Fear” with Robert DeNiro, “Reality Bites,” “Mars Attacks!” and “The Dukes of Hazzard,” among many others. His last role was in “Mud,” in 2012.

Baker’s sole 11-year marriage yielded no children, his family said.

“He is survived by relations in his native Groesbeck, who will forever cherish his memory,” the obituary read. “He is mourned by a small but very close circle of friends who will miss him eternally.”

By STEPHANY MATAT and KATE PAYNE

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a measure Thursday prohibiting local governments from adding fluoride to their water systems, making it the second state in the country after Utah to implement a statewide ban on the mineral.

DeSantis signed the bill at a public event in Dade City, Florida, over the concerns of dentists and public health advocates.

“We have other ways where people can get access to fluoride,” DeSantis said at a public event earlier this month. “When you do this in the water supply, you’re taking away a choice of someone who may not want to have overexposure to fluoride.”

State lawmakers approved the bill last month, requiring the mineral and some other additives be removed from water sources across the state. Utah was the first state to ban fluoride in late March, and its prohibition went into effect last week, while Florida’s provision is effective July 1.

Some local governments in Florida have already voted to remove fluoride from their water, ahead of the statewide ban. Earlier this month, Miami-Dade County commissioners voted to override a veto by Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and move forward with plans to remove fluoride from the county’s drinking water.

“Water fluoridation is a safe, effective, and efficient way to maintain dental health in our county – and halting it could have long-lasting health consequences, especially for our most vulnerable families,” Levine Cava said in a statement defending her veto.

Some Republican-led states have sought to impose bans following a push by U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to stop fluoridating water. Earlier this month, DeSantis pledged to sign the bill and was flanked by the state’s surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, who has attracted national scrutiny over his opposition to policies embraced by public health experts, including COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

Fluoride is a mineral that has been added to drinking water for generations to strengthen teeth and reduce cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and tear, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The addition of low levels of fluoride to drinking water has long been considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the last century.

Excess fluoride intake has been associated with streaking or spots on teeth. And studies also have traced a link between excess fluoride and brain development.

Payne, who reported from Tallahassee, Florida, is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

By LEAH WILLINGHAM

VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass. (AP) — Lewis Pugh has followed an unspoken rule during his career as one of the world’s most daring endurance swimmers: Don’t talk about sharks. But he plans to break that this week on a swim around Martha’s Vineyard, where “ Jaws” was filmed 50 years ago.

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The British-South African was the first person to complete a long-distance swim in every ocean of the world — and has taken on extreme conditions everywhere from Mount Everest to the Arctic.

“On this swim, it’s very different: We’re just talking about sharks all the time,” joked Pugh, who will, as usual, wear no wetsuit.

For his swim around Martha’s Vineyard in 47-degree water he will wear just trunks, a cap and goggles.

Pugh, 55, is undertaking the challenge because he wants to change public perception around the now at-risk animals — which he said were maligned by the blockbuster film as “villains, as cold-blooded killers.” He will urge for more protection for sharks.

On Thursday, beginning at the Edgartown Harbor Lighthouse, he will swim for three or four hours in the brutally cold surf, mark his progress and spend the rest of his waking hours on the Vineyard educating the public about sharks. Then, he’ll get in the water and do it again — and again, for an estimated 12 days, or however long it takes him to complete the 62-mile swim.

He begins the journey just after the New England Aquarium confirmed the first white shark sighting of the season, earlier this week off the coast of Nantucket.

“It’s going to test me not only physically, but also mentally,” he said, while scoping out wind conditions by the starting line. “I mean every single day I’m going to be speaking about sharks, sharks, sharks, sharks. Then, ultimately, I’ve got to get in the water afterwards and do the swim. I suppose you can imagine what I’ll be thinking about.”

A world without predators

Pugh said the swim will be among the most difficult he’s undertaken, which says a lot for someone who has swum near glaciers and volcanoes, and among hippos, crocodiles and polar bears. No one has ever swum around the island of Martha’s Vineyard before.

Endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh gestures to where he will begin his swim around Martha’s Vineyard island, which is expected to take 12 days, near the Edgartown Lighthouse, Monday, May 12, 2025, in Edgartown, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

But Pugh, who often swims to raise awareness for environmental causes — and has been named the United Nations Patron of the Oceans for several years — said no swim is without risk and that drastic measures are needed to get his message across: Around 274,000 sharks are killed globally each day — a rate of 100 million every year, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

“It was a film about sharks attacking humans and for 50 years, we have been attacking sharks,” he said of “Jaws.” “It’s completely unsustainable. It’s madness. We need to respect them.”

He emphasizes that the swim is not something nonprofessionals should attempt. He’s accompanied by safety personnel in a boat and kayak and uses a “Shark Shield” device that deters sharks using an electric field without harming them.

Pugh remembers feeling fear as a 16-year-old watching “Jaws” for the first time. Over decades of study and research, awe and respect have replaced his fear, as he realized the role they play in maintaining Earth’s increasingly fragile ecosystems.

“I’m more terrified of a world without sharks, or without predators,” he said.

The ‘Jaws’ effect on sharks

“Jaws” is credited for creating Hollywood’s blockbuster culture when it was released in summer 1975, becoming the highest grossing film up until that time and earning three Academy Awards. It would impact how many viewed the ocean for decades to come.

A shopper walks past items featuring the Jaws movie at Neptune’s Sea Chest gift shop, Monday, May 12, 2025, in Vineyard Haven, Mass., on Martha’s Vineyard Island. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Both director Steven Spielberg and author Peter Benchley have expressed regret over the impact of the film on viewers’ perception of sharks. Both have since contributed to conservation efforts for animals, which have seen populations depleted due to factors like overfishing and climate change.

Discovery Channel and the National Geographic Channel each year release programming about sharks to educate the public about the predator.

Greg Skomal, marine fisheries biologist at Martha’s Vineyard Fisheries within the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, said many people tell him they still won’t swim in the ocean because of the sheer terror caused by the film.

“I tend to hear the expression that, ‘I haven’t gone in the water since ‘Jaws’ came out,’” he said.

But Skomal, who published a book challenging the film’s inaccuracies, said “Jaws” also inspired many people — including him — to study marine biology, leading to increased research, acceptance and respect for the creatures.

If “Jaws” were made today, he doesn’t think it’d have the same effect. But in the 1970s, “it was just perfect in terms of generating this level of fear to a public that was largely uneducated about sharks, because we were uneducated. Scientists didn’t know a lot about sharks.”

A man navigates the wake behind the Martha’s Vineyard Ferry, Monday, May 12, 2025, in Vineyard Haven, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Skomal said the biggest threat contributing to the decline of the shark population now is commercial fishing, which exploded in the late 1970s and is today driven by high demand for fins and meat used in food dishes, as well as the use of skin to make leather and oil and cartilage for cosmetics.

“I think we’ve really moved away from this feeling, or the old adage that, ‘The only good shark is a dead shark,’” he said. “We’re definitely morphing from fear to fascination, or perhaps a combination of both.”

See an AP photo gallery from around Martha’s Vineyard and the start of Pugh’s swim here.