NEW YORK (AP) — Dolly Parton’s name might inspire full-throated sing-a-longs to her working woman’s anthem “9 to 5,” or evoke memories of thrilling days spent at her Dollywood theme park.
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Now, the Grammy-winning country music superstar is lending her name to a new cause: advancing pediatric health care in her home state. The East Tennessee Children’s Hospital announced Thursday that it will now be known as Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital.
“Ever since I’ve been in a position to do my part, to help others, I have tried to do just that. Especially when children and families need it most,” Parton said in a video announcement. “I’ve always believed that every child deserves a fair chance to grow up healthy, hopeful and surrounded with love.”
The impact of Parton’s philanthropy is already felt across Tennessee and beyond. Her Imagination Library initiative reports to send 3 million free books every month to children whose parents request them. She donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University’s Medical Center for research that helped produce Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. And her charitable foundation provides numerous college scholarships and offers disaster relief.
Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital did not share how much Parton donated as part of the naming announcement. But Matt Schaefer, its president and CEO, said her support would ensure “every child who walks through our doors receives the treatment they deserve.”
Adam Cook, the independent not-for-profit hospital’s chief development and public affairs officer, said they would continue offering the same care that the community has come to expect. The gift “encourages us to continue to support our mission,” he added.
“This is a generational collaboration that will transform pediatric care in this region,” Cook said in a statement to the Associated Press. “It will positively impact patients and families for decades to come.”
The support comes as rural hospital closures have left tens of millions of people with fewer health care options.
The East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, now named after Parton, has operated with an “open-door” policy that no child would be denied care for their race, religion or ability to pay medical bills since it opened in 1937, according to its website. Its main campus in Knoxville, Tennessee is one of more than 20 locations across the eastern part of the state.
Parton said she is honored to support the hospital’s doctors, nurses and team members — and invited the public to join her.
“I can’t do it all myself,” she said in the video.
Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate slipped this week below 6% for the first time since late 2022, good news for home shoppers as the spring homebuying season gets rolling.
The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate fell to 5.98% from 6.01% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. One year ago, the rate averaged 6.76%.
The average rate has been hovering close to 6% this year. This latest dip, its third decline in a row, brings it closer to its lowest level since Sept. 8, 2022, when it was 5.89%.
Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions to bond market investors’ expectations for the economy and inflation. They generally follow the trajectory of the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide to pricing home loans.
The 10-year Treasury yield was at 4.02% at midday Thursday, down from around 4.07% a week ago.
Mortgage rates have been trending lower for months, helping drive a pickup in home sales the last four months of 2025, but not enough to lift the housing market out of its slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows.
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Still, with the average rate on a 30-year mortgage now below 6% as the annual spring homebuying season begins, it could encourage prospective home shoppers who can afford to buy at current rates to shop for a home this spring.
“Assuming rates stay below 6%, buyers and sellers are going to start getting back into the market,” said Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS. “March is when the spring homebuying season typically begins to ramp up and with rates at a three-and-a-half year low, it could be a barn burner of a spring homebuying season.”
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge in Oregon has ordered narrow changes to hydropower dam operations on the Columbia and Snake rivers in the Pacific Northwest in order to help salmon, saying the Trump administration’s plans for the massive structures would harm salmon runs that are “disappearing from the landscape.”
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The ruling late Wednesday came in a decades-long legal effort by the states of Oregon and Washington, Native American tribes, and conservation and fishing groups to ensure better protections for migrating salmon, which are killed in large numbers by the dams.
In a landmark 2023 deal that paused the litigation in favor of finding long-term solutions, the Biden administration promised to spend $1 billion over a decade to help restore salmon while also boosting tribal clean energy projects.
But the Trump administration torpedoed that agreement last year, calling it “radical environmentalism” that could have resulted in the breaching of four controversial dams on the Snake River, and the plaintiffs went back to court. The deal had been opposed by Republicans who said it would jeopardize the region’s power supply, irrigation and the ability to export grain to Asia.
U.S. District Judge Michael Simon in his ruling Wednesday lamented what he described as the “disappointing history of government avoidance and manipulation instead of sincere efforts at solving the problem.”
“One of the foundational symbols of the West, a critical recreational, cultural, and economic driver for Western states, and the beating heart and guaranteed resource protected by treaties with several Native American tribes is disappearing from the landscape,” Simon wrote. “And yet the litigation continues in much the same way as it has for 30 years.”
A dispute over water and spill levels
Oregon and the other plaintiffs had asked Simon to lower the levels of reservoirs behind the dams, which they argued can help fish travel through them faster, and increase the amount of water spilled past them, which can help fish pass over the dams instead of through turbines. The federal government sought higher reservoir levels.
Simon ordered that reservoirs remain at the same level as last year and wrote that the changes in his order were “narrowly tailored” and essentially maintained the status quo.
“The Federal Defendants have, for years, maintained a safe and reliable power system and dam operations with the nearly the same spill levels as ordered here, and with the same reservoir levels from 2025,” he wrote.
Amanda Goodin, an attorney with the environmental law firm Earthjustice, said she was “incredibly relieved and happy that he ordered the levels of spill that he did.”
“If the government had been allowed to implement their proposal, it would have had really, really devastating consequences for salmon,” Goodin said.
The Bonneville Power Administration, which markets the electricity from the dams, referred a message seeking comment to the Justice Department, which said in an email Thursday that it had no comment.
In court filings, the federal government called the request a “sweeping scheme to wrest control” of the dams that would compromise the ability to operate them safely and efficiently for power generation, navigation and irrigation. Any such court order could also raise rates for utility customers, the government said.
FILE – Water moves through a spillway of the Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River near Almota, Wash., April 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Nicholas K. Geranios, File)
The dams have altered life in a wide area
The Columbia River Basin, spanning an area roughly the size of Texas, was once the world’s greatest salmon-producing river system, with at least 16 stocks of salmon and steelhead. Today, four are extinct and seven are endangered or threatened. Another iconic but endangered Northwestern species, a population of killer whales, also depend on the salmon.
The construction of the first dams on the Columbia River, including the Grand Coulee and Bonneville in the 1930s, provided jobs during the Great Depression as well as hydropower and navigation. They made Lewiston, Idaho, the most inland seaport on the West Coast, and many farmers continue to rely on barges to ship their crops.
But the dams hurt salmon in a number of ways, including by forcing them through turbines, warming the slow-moving water in reservoirs to inhospitable temperatures, and greatly slowing the migration of juvenile fish to the sea. Juvenile salmon once reached the ocean from the upper Snake River in two or three days as swift currents pushed them along. Now, the journey past eight dams can take weeks, during which time they are exposed to more predators.
FILE – Water spills over the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, which runs along the Washington and Oregon state line, June 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski, File)
The plaintiffs, which include the state of Oregon and a coalition of conservation and fishing groups such as the National Wildlife Federation, filed the motion for a preliminary injunction, with Washington state, the Nez Perce Tribe and Yakama Nation supporting it as “friends of the court.”
Opponents of the injunction include the Inland Ports and Navigation Group, which says increasing spill to benefit fish can hinder navigation, disrupting the flow of commerce and hurt the economy.
“The order increases the risk of harm to infrastructure, listed species, and public safety while failing to demonstrate that there will be benefits to listed salmon and steelhead,” the organization said in a written statement.
The dams at issue are the Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Little Goose and Lower Granite on the Snake River, and the Bonneville, The Dalles, John Day and McNary on the Columbia.
JERUSALEM (AP) — As U.S. forces mass in the Middle East, Iran faces the threat of major strikes by the world’s most powerful military, potentially targeting its leaders, military, nuclear sites and critical infrastructure.
Iran has nowhere near the same capabilities, and is even more vulnerable after last year’s war launched by Israel and recent anti-government protests. But it could still inflict pain on American forces and allies, and may feel it has to if the Islamic Republic’s survival is at stake.
While Iran suffered major losses last June, it still has hundreds of missiles capable of hitting Israel, according to Israel’s estimates. Iran boasts a much larger arsenal of shorter-range missiles capable of hitting U.S. bases in Gulf countries and offshore American forces, soon to be joined by a second aircraft carrier.
Iran has previously threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for the global oil trade, and claimed to have done so partially during military drills last week.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that Iran could sink American warships, and top officials have said a U.S. attack would spark regional war. Iran’s U.N. ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said “all bases, facilities and assets of the hostile force in the region” would be legitimate targets.
This image provided Thursday Feb. 19, 2026 by the Iranian military and dated Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2025, shows navy ships conducting operations during a join drill by Iranian and Russian forces in the Indian Ocean.(Masoud Nazari Mehrabi/Iranian Army via AP)
FILE – Israeli air defense system fires to intercept missiles during an Iranian attack over Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, June 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
FILE – Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze after a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner, File)
Boys stand on a launcher of an Iranian domestically-built missile during an annual rally marking 1979 Islamic Revolution at the Azadi (Freedom) sq. in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
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This image provided Thursday Feb. 19, 2026 by the Iranian military and dated Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2025, shows navy ships conducting operations during a join drill by Iranian and Russian forces in the Indian Ocean.(Masoud Nazari Mehrabi/Iranian Army via AP)
Israel carried out heavy strikes on Iran’s longer range missile arsenals — as well as its military leadership and nuclear program — during the 12-day war in June. The U.S. struck Iran’s main nuclear sites, and President Donald Trump said at the time that they had been “obliterated.”
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Iran’s shorter-range missile arsenal was largely untouched, said Danny Citrinowicz, an Iran expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies. That could make Iran more inclined to retaliate against tens of thousands of U.S. forces based in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere.
“Iran may be weak. But it still has ways to inflict real pain on the United States — and much more incentive to try than it did before,” Nate Swanson, head of the Atlantic Council’s Iran Strategy Project, wrote in Foreign Affairs. “Iranian officials feel they need to give Trump a bloody nose or they will perpetually be at risk.”
Iran launched missiles at a U.S. base in Iraq after the killing of its top general in 2020 and targeted a U.S. base in Qatar near the end of last year’s war. Those strikes, which appeared to have been telegraphed in advance, caused damage but no fatalities, as early warning systems and missile defenses swung into action.
Iran could also carry out attacks farther afield. The country has been accused of using criminal gangs and armed groups to plan or carry out attacks around the world, including on dissidents, Israelis and Jewish targets.
Learning curve
Last year’s Israeli strikes killed several top generals and nuclear scientists, revealing major vulnerabilities. At one point, Trump said the U.S. knew where Khamenei was hiding, calling him an ” easy target.”
Fresh off the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, Trump may consider decapitation strikes aimed at bringing down Iran’s decades-old Shiite theocracy, which he recently said “would be the best thing that could happen.”
The Iranians have had eight months to learn from their mistakes and firm up internal security. Citrinowicz said there are likely contingency plans if Khamenei were to be killed. Rather than naming a single successor, power would probably shift to a small committee until hostilities subsided.
Experts say the death of the 86-year-old Khamenei, who has ruled Iran for over three decades, would not in itself spell the end of the Islamic Republic. Power might eventually pass to a member of his inner circle, as it did in Venezuela, or to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
US allies could be targets
American allies are clearly concerned about a regional war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned of a heavy response to any Iranian attack on Israel.
Arab Gulf states have long viewed Iran with concern and leaned on the U.S. for defense, but do not want to be drawn into war. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which host thousands of American troops, have said they would not allow their airspace to be used.
An Arab Gulf diplomat said regional leaders were talking to Iran and the United States to avert war, warning that it could have severe consequences, including a spike in oil prices. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive, closed-door talks.
Iran has its own allies, including Houthi rebels in Yemen, armed groups in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian territories. But its self-described Axis of Resistance suffered major losses in the fighting that rippled across the region after Hamas’ October 2023 attack from Gaza.
A global pressure point
Another close-in target could allow Iran to inflict wider pain.
Around one-fifth of all traded oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, just off Iran’s shore. The U.S. Navy is committed to keeping it open, but Iranian attacks could disrupt trade, as the far-weaker Houthis managed to do in the Red Sea for much of the past two years.
Iranian officials have not explicitly threatened to target the strait in the current standoff, but Iranian forces partially closed it last week during military drills, signaling it could be vulnerable if war breaks out.
After initially threatening military action over Iran’s killing of protesters, Trump shifted attention to its nuclear program, warning that “bad things” would happen if Iran doesn’t agree to a deal. The two sides are set to hold another round of indirect talks in Geneva on Thursday.
Iran has always said its nuclear program is peaceful, while the U.S. and others have long suspected that Tehran intends to eventually develop weapons. After Trump scrapped a 2015 nuclear agreement, Iran ramped up its enrichment of uranium, building up a stockpile of near-weapons grade material.
Iran’s biggest sites were hit by U.S. and Israeli strikes, causing significant damage above ground. But it’s unclear whether enriched uranium was spirited away before they were hit or buried underground. Iran says it has been unable to enrich since then, but it has also barred inspections.
Iran is still believed to be a long ways from developing a usable nuclear weapon, but radioactive material could pose a risk in the event of widespread strikes.
Associated Press writer Samy Magdy contributed reporting from Cairo.
