By Jennifer Rodriguez, Miami Herald

A parasitic disease, which can be fatal, is spreading through an insect in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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The Trypanosoma cruzi parasite, or T. cruzi, is typically found in triatomines, also known as kissing bugs, a Sept. 9 report from the CDC said.

When a person comes into contact with feces from a kissing bug, they are at risk of developing Chagas disease, the organization said.

Although kissing bugs have been identified in 32 states, Chagas disease has been considered nonendemic in the country, the CDC said. However, in its latest report, the organization said, “We conclude that sufficient evidence exists to support the inclusion of the United States as an endemic country for Chagas disease.”

Endemic is “the constant presence/usual prevalence of a disease or infectious agent in a population within a geographic area,” according to the CDC.

There are 11 species of kissing bugs, and nine have been found to be infected with the T. cruzi parasite, the report said.

Human infections of T. cruzi have been found in eight states: California, Arizona, Texas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, and Arkansas, according to the CDC. Wildlife and domestic animals, such as dogs, are also known to contract the disease.

“A systematic literature review found 29 confirmed and 47 suspected cases of locally acquired Chagas disease during 2000–2018,” the report said. “Those numbers likely greatly underrepresent underlying human infections.”

An April 2 article from the World Health Organization said over 7 million people are estimated to be infected with T. cruzi worldwide, with over 10,000 deaths each year. More than 100 million people are at risk of infection, according to the organization.

What do they look like?

Three different species of kissing bugs found in Texas. (Gabriel L. Hamer with Texas A&M University/TNS/TNS)

Kissing bugs have a “‘cone-shaped’ head, thin antennae, and thin legs,” according to Texas A&M University. They are black or dark brown and have red, orange or yellow stripes on the edge of their bodies.

They are just a little bigger than the size of a penny, can bite you without being detected and are most active at night, according to the university.

Symptoms

There are two phases of symptoms from Chagas disease, according to the WHO.

The acute phase is roughly two months long, and in most cases, the symptoms are mild or absent. Symptoms can include “fever, headache, enlarged lymph glands, pallor, muscle pain, difficulty in breathing, swelling and abdominal and chest pain,” according to the WHO.

In the chronic phase, the parasites hide in the heart and digestive muscles for one to three decades after infection. Up to one-third of people infected have cardiac disorders, and one in 10 have digestive, neurological or mixed alterations, the WHO said. Those infected can experience damage to the nervous system, heart muscles and digestive system.

This can lead to “cardiac arrhythmias, progressive heart failure, and sudden death,” the organization said.

Treatment

There are two medications that can treat Chagas disease and kill the parasite: benznidazole and nifurtimox. These medications are “fully effective in curing the disease if given early, in the acute phase,” the WHO said.

The medications are less effective the longer a person has been infected. Those without symptoms should still be treated to stop the disease from progressing.

To be diagnosed, a person must test positive to two tests that detect antibodies to different antigens, or a foreign substance in the body like toxins, bacteria, chemicals or viruses, of the parasite, the CDC said.

©2025 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Though it’s not unusual to pursue hobbies or accumulate collections, personal wealth means those preoccupations can manifest in more eye-popping ways. Take cars, for instance. Before his death in 2021, Highland Park real estate business magnet Larry Klairmont spent the final two decades of his life amassing a fascinating array of more than 600 historical and unusual vehicles, and put them on display in a museum on Chicago’s Northwest Side. The building’s contents stood as an expression of one man’s eclectic tastes.

That comes to an end this weekend. The museum has closed and the entire Klairmont collection — which in recent years was winnowed down to 284 cars — will be sold by Mecum Auctions. The public can take one last look at the collection Friday (with a $20 entrance fee), then the auction takes place Saturday and Sunday and is strictly for bidders.

Selling off everything is apparently not unusual among auto collectors. It costs money to maintain facilities where cars are housed, and surviving family members may not be as engrossed in the pursuit as their departed loved one. And so, the cars are released back into the world to be collected by new enthusiasts with enough financial firepower to offer a winning bid.

We’re at an interesting inflection point for driving culture. The promise of convenience and practicality remains, while many people want to see more investment in public transit and safer bike lanes — a reduced reliance on cars, in other words — for safety and environmental reasons. The introduction of electric cars, which require different skills (and technology) to repair, has signaled yet another shift. Down the line, fewer amateur mechanics may be able to spend their weekends tinkering with a junker and bringing it back to its former glory.

Whatever our feelings about the role of cars in our lives, the most interesting models have always had an aesthetic — a silhouette — that draws the eye. The best are design achievements, and that seemed to ignite something in Klairmont, who died at 94 but only started collecting, in earnest, in his 80s. A 2017 story in Crain’s noted that his bidding style at auctions was “so rapid-fire and seemingly reckless that strangers sometimes (pegged) him as a shill, put in his seat by management to boost prices that others end up paying.”

This isn’t the first time part of his collection is going up for sale. A few years before his death, he parted with 40 cars. At the time, industry experts estimated his total collection was worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 million. But the market tends to fluctuate. Mecum estimates $12-$15 million for this weekend’s auction.

According to Gus Kozar, who is one of the foundation’s board members, proceeds will fund the foundation’s charitable endeavors, including trade school opportunities for those who want to pursue auto restoration and mechanics as a profession: “There’s a shortage of people with those skills right now.”

A 1918 Pierce-Arrow Model 48 Coupe with a custom 23-karat gold exterior on display at Klairmont Kollections Automotive Museum in Chicago. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Kozar also works at Mecum Auctions, where his specialty is cars. He and Klairmont became friends more than a decade ago, when the latter became a serious collector.

“Throughout our 12 years, I probably talked to him once a week just about random stuff. It was a fun relationship, for sure,” he said. “Larry was just Larry. He was set in his ways, but he had a humor about it. Everything had to be negotiated. He could be stern about it, but if he pushed too much, he would get this little smile on his face and be like, ‘OK, we’re good.’ He just had to go through the exercise.”

Kozar recalls a routine they had.

“We would go out to lunch all the time and we would get soup. He loved soup. Each time, we’d flip a coin for the bill. No matter who won, I would pay, because, for him, it was about the art of flipping. The sport of it. He was a competitor.”

As for Klairmont’s car collection, “His enjoyment was just walking around, touching the cars and going over all the memories of the era. He was a very unique individual. He loved eccentric and even flashy things, and each one of these cars represented a different vision of the era they were made in. But there were also cars he bought because they were a specific limited color.”

Among the items going up for auction are some midcentury bubbletop cars. Instead of a roof, they have a jet-fighter-esque bubble over the driver and passenger seats.

“They weren’t mass produced,” Kozar says, “but it was great designers and manufacturers predicting what would be the next style that would take off. Custom builders were a huge thing in the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s; everyone was building cars to how they wanted to see them in the future, and these bubbletops evoked a spaceship. So, as men were on the moon in the ’60s, everyone was focused on that. And with a bubbletop, you can see the sky from your car. Now, the best you can get that approximates that is a sunroof.”

A 1955 Ford Beatnik bubble top custom on display at Klairmont Kollections Automotive Museum in Chicago. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

There are a few three-wheeled cars, as well.

“There are some micro-cars that are three-wheeled and a custom one called the Vortex. Some were built off motorcycle chassis that were extended in the back to have two wheels instead of one to give it more balance, but it was also lighter, more agile and more fuel efficient than a regular car. And just smaller; a lot of them were European, because of how narrow the streets are there.”

Kozar anticipates the top prices will go to a 1926 Rickenbacker, which is “extremely rare. Over the past 15 years, everybody has been chasing that car. That car is very significant in the car world, so it will definitely go for six figures. A conservative number could be between $400,000 and $600,000.”

Another contender is a 1959 Golden Sahara.

“That’s one of his custom cars. That car made world news when he purchased it about seven years ago. It’s probably the most famous car that he owned. Goodyear contacted him because back in the ’50s, they had illuminated tires — illuminated from the inside — so when he bought the car, Goodyear worked with him to re-develop those tires and then they took the car on tour.”

On the lower end, Kozar anticipates many vehicles will go for $10,000 to $25,000. (Aside from the Rickenbacker, prices for cars from the ‘20s and ‘30s have been going down, he says, “just because interest is going down. As the cars get older, people who remember them are aged out. So the cars are still valuable, but not as valuable.”)

The cars aren’t necessarily road-ready or street legal. Klairmont wasn’t driving them; Kozar typically saw him in a newer Rolls-Royce. “He was driving until he was 92, I think. I remember going out to lunch with him and he picked me up and I thought, ‘Hmm, OK.’ And he pulled up in this big — very large — late model Rolls-Royce. He was proud to show it to me, but it was like a mile long. I was like, I don’t know if even I could drive this. “

Also up for auction is Klairmont’s collection of road art, which is car memorabilia, including dealership signs and posters.

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A late-in-life obsession comes to an end

Klairmont and his wife, Elaine, had five children together, including son Alfred, who says his father was “quite fabulous and quite unique. My dad was the best businessman I ever encountered. Self-taught. He never missed a trick.”

But his father always had an eye for unique cars.

“In the late 1960s, he was able to buy his first collectible car, a 1951 Rolls-Royce, which he just loved. It was not his daily car because it was a lemon (laughs) and it was in the shop more times than it was available to be on the road.”

Then, over the years, Klairmont bought a few more cars, here and there.

“As a teenager or in my early 20s, I might drive one of these cars and I would be stopped by gapers who wanted to see it, or would ask if they could buy it. There are car aficionados everywhere. You wouldn’t believe how many there are, and how engaged they are.”

Later, Alfred’s role was to ensure the payments for Klairmont’s latest car purchase went through.

“He’d say, ‘Al, overnight them a check.’ That was my role.”

A few years after the 2008 death of Klairmont’s wife, he embarked on a new relationship with Joyce Oberlander, who was influential in encouraging him to turn his collection into a museum.

A Chicago native and child of the Depression, “he had a very hard childhood, they were ‘on relief.’ And I think he developed a hoarder’s mentality,” Alfred says.

He eventually found himself with multiple duplicates, which is why his collection swelled to the 600 range, before he decided to pare back and “cleanse,” as Kozar puts it. This weekend will be the final cleanse.

Klairmont’s interests also extended to slot machines. Nothing to do with cars, mind you.

“I think there are 10 to 15 and they date from the early ‘20s all the way up to the ‘80s,” Kozar says. “He just liked to see the progression of how the world changed, as visualized through slot machines.”

He also collected watches.

“He bought thousands of wristwatches,” says his son. “After he passed away, we sold the valuable watches and passed some watches around to family. And then, in the end, we donated 800 watches to the car collection.”

Per Kozar, the slot machines will be part of this weekend’s auction. The watches will not; their future is “yet to be determined.”

A 1952 Chevrolet Custom Coupe on display at Klairmont Kollections Automotive Museum. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

The museum stuck around for four years after Klairmont’s death. Why sell now?

“It came down to a financial decision for the board, which figured the amount of money it was spending to keep the museum open was significant,” says Kozar. “Larry’s vision, originally with Joyce was to give back to the community, so the board decided to restructure the foundation to help young people with scholarships to automotive trade schools.”

Alfred has mixed feelings about the end of his father’s museum.

“I’m not happy about it,” he says gently. “It was not my decision in the end. My dad wanted this to be his legacy. Now it’s ending. On the other hand, it was very costly to keep going. The museum had its run.”

Though Klairmont’s collection will cease to exist, there is another nearby auto museum about 90 minutes outside Chicago in Volo, Illinois, called — handily enough — the Volo Museum. It’s home to a wide variety of vehicles, including many that were used in movies, including the 1975 Dodge Monaco “Bluesmobile” in “The Blues Brothers,” the 1959 Cadillac Ecto-1 in “Ghostbusters” and the Batmobile known as Tumbler in “The Dark Knight.”

According to Brian Grams, Volo Museum’s director, it’s not uncommon for people to confuse their collection with Klairmont’s — so much so, he’s been receiving calls asking if they are going out of business. In fact, Klairmont bought some of his cars from the Volo enterprise over the years.

Grams was philosophical about the upcoming auction.

“We see this quite a bit. A wealthy person will amass these amazing collections, which are then eventually sold piecemeal, creating a new Larry Klairmont somewhere else.”

The building where the cars are stored is not a parking garage with easy access and egress. Kozar says the process of loading everything out will take place over several weeks and anticipates the exit plan will be a valet game of Jenga.

“It’s going to be, ‘You gotta move these four cars to get those two cars out.’ It’s going to be pretty intense.’’

The cars fill every inch of space. But one by one, they will eventually be loaded onto a truck and towed into the sunset.

The “Larry’s Legacy” event will be Sept. 19-21 at Klairmont Kollections Automotive Museum, 3117 N Knox Ave.; more information and preregister to bid in the auction at www.mecum.com

By SYLVIE CORBET, Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — A ballooning deficit. A fractious Parliament. Unrest on the streets. The challenges facing Sébastien Lecornu, France’s fourth prime minister in a year, are daunting and defeated his immediate predecessors.

So he’s trying a different tack. To ease tensions, Lecornu has scrapped proposals to axe two public holidays and trimmed lifetime benefits for former government ministers. A loyal ally to unpopular centrist President Emmanuel Macron, he began meeting with opposition leaders and trade unions this week.

But pitfalls lie ahead. Opponents aim to turn up the heat yet further on Thursday with nationwide strikes and protests against budget cuts and other complaints targeting Lecornu’s fragile minority government.

French politics have been in turmoil since Macron called early parliamentary elections in June last year which resulted in a deeply fragmented legislature.

One major challenge looms: addressing France’s budget crisis, a deeply divisive issue in Parliament.

Symbolic, popular first moves

Lecornu’s first big move has been to dismiss the idea of cutting two public holidays, championed by his immediate predecessor, whose government fell earlier this month. François Bayrou had stirred public anger with his plan to scrap the Easter Monday and Victory Day (May 8) holidays, a move he said was needed to boost the economy.

Lecornu vowed to find “to find other sources of financing” instead.

He also announced this week that lifetime benefits for former government members will be eliminated, starting from Jan. 1st.

For former prime ministers, the benefits include police protection, along with a car and driver paid for by the state. Protection will be capped at three years and only extended for security reasons, while the car will be reduced to a period of 10 years. This is estimated to save about 4.4 million euros ($5.21 million) per year.

Strikes and protests Thursday

Trade unions have called for nationwide strikes and protests on Thursday, scheduled before the change of prime minister, to push back on what they see as austerity policies.

Unions reject cuts in social spending, arguing French workers have been deeply affected by rising prices in recent years. They also continue to protest against Macron’s pension reform that raised the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64.

Thursday’s strikes are expected to prompt disruption in sectors like transport, public services, hospitals and schools. They may sound a stark warning for Lecornu.

Last week, thousands of protesters rallied across France last week for a day of nationwide action against Macron’s policies under the slogan “Block Everything.”

Mathieu Gallard, account director at Ipsos France polling institute, says a series of opinion polls show French voters’ main concerns focus on their declining purchasing power and the deterioration of once-generous social benefits, including health care, pensions and public services.

“The political situation gives the French the feeling leaders are not able to remedy the situation due to that instability,” Gallard told The Associated Press.

Lecornu’s method

On the day he took office, Lecornu, 39, vowed to be both “more creative” and “more serious” in the way his government will work with opposition parties.

Lecornu, who started his political career in his 20s as a local official in the Normandy region, is described by his longtime friends as a somewhat old-school politician. They say he is is by nature discreet and methodical but also very persuasive — qualities that could help him in his quest to ease political tensions.

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“There’s a Lecornu method,” said François Ouzilleau, mayor of Vernon in Normandy, where they made their first forays into politics together. “I think he’ll manage to find comprises … He has a manner of doing things in the right order, with methodology.”

“People criticize his closeness with and loyalty to the president. But I think that’s a strength. It’s better when the executive twosome functions well together. And that doesn’t mean that Sébastien has no character, no personality, no freedom,” Ouzilleau said in an Associated Press telephone interview.

“He’s a guy with incredible flair. He is good at sniffing things out, sniffing out people, sniffing out situations, sniffing out subjects. He’s like a truffle-hunting dog.”

Tough budget debate ahead

France’s previous government fell over plans to cut 44 billion euros ($51 billion) in public spending, meant to rein in debt of the European Union’s second-largest economy. Last week, the Fitch rating agency downgraded France’s credit rating, anticipating that the country’s debt ratio “will continue to rise.”

Lecornu has not yet set out his own strategy.

He met Wednesday with Socialist leader Olivier Faure in an effort to negotiate a parliamentary non-aggression pact that would help prevent the fall of his government in a no-confidence vote.

The Socialists are pushing for a tax on the super-rich as proposed by French economist Gabriel Zucman. French media reported Lecornu may be open to increase the taxes on the wealthiest, but in a downsized version.

Meanwhile, Lecornu must also take care of his conservative allies, The Republicans, who reject any general tax rise.

Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally party, predicted Lecornu’s failure and urged Macron to call new legislative elections to break the deadlock.

“The level of pessimism is massive in France,” Gallard said, arguing opinion polls show a vast majority of French voters don’t believe in the new prime minister’s ability to negotiate with opposition parties and pass a budget.

“When you ask the French about the economic situation of the country, 9% consider it’s good … way lower compared to France’s neighbors in southern Europe, Italians and Spanish who are around 30%,” he said.

AP journalist John Leicester, in Paris, contributed to the story.

By CAROLYN THOMPSON, Associated Press

Later this year, the National Toy Hall of Fame could induct snow — yes, the cold, white stuff that falls from the sky. But only if it ices out enough of the competition — a group that features hugely popular board games, outdoor favorites and giggling plushies.

The Hall of Fame announced its 12 finalists for the Class of 2025 Wednesday and opened voting to the public and a panel of judges who will choose which few will be honored in November.

Along with snow, the contenders include tabletop favorites Battleship, Catan, Connect Four, Spirograph and Trivial Pursuit, as well as crowd-pleasers — scooters, slime and cornhole. The “Star Wars” lightsaber, Furby and Tickle Me Elmo round out the finalists chosen from among the thousands of nominees the Toy Hall of Fame receives each year.

“This year’s contenders present some playful matchups,” said Christopher Bensch, vice president for collections and chief curator.

The Strong’s National Toy Hall of Fame in Rochester, N.Y., on Sept. 17, 2025, announced the 12 finalists in the running for induction later this year: Battleship, Catan, Connect Four, cornhole, Furby, scooter, slime, snow, Spirograph, Star Wars Light Saber, Tickle Me Elmo, and Trivial Pursuit. (Strong’s National Toy Hall of Fame via AP)

Along with a slate of board games and tactile materials like snow and slime, he said, “There’s also Tickle Me Elmo and Furby — two technological icons of the 90s toy world — battling it out.”

“I’m always excited to see where the judges and public come out in their votes,” Bensch said. “At the end of the day, the playful debates just go to show how much personal and cultural relevance these toys have for us all.”

The public has a week, until Sept. 24, to vote for their favorites. The three top vote-getters will make up a “Player’s Choice” ballot to be counted alongside 22 other ballots from a panel of historians, educators and other experts. The winners will be announced in November by The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, where the Hall of Fame is located.

While anyone can nominate a toy, the ones that make it into the hall have to be considered icons, have engaged multiple generations, fostered creativity, or profoundly changed play or toy design.

Last year, My Little Pony, Transformers action figures and the Phase 10 card game were honored, bringing to 87 the number of toys inducted since the Hall of Fame was established in 1998.

Who is nominated this year?

— Battleship: Milton Bradley has sold more than 100 million copies of the strategy game since introducing its plastic warships and pegboard version in 1967. Originally a pencil-and-paper game, Battleship was among the first board games to be computerized in 1979.

— Catan: Known earlier as Settlers of Catan, the game first published by Kosmos in Germany was one of the first German-style board games to achieve popularity outside of Europe. More than 45 million copies in 40 languages have sold since it was introduced in 1995. It has inspired dozens of spinoffs and new editions, including electronic versions, and even a cookbook.

— Connect Four: Players drop discs into a grid in hopes of being the first to get four in a row. Spoiler alert: The game has been mathematically solved, meaning the first player can always win with the right moves.

— Cornhole challenges players to throw bean bags though a hole in a slanted wooden board to score points. The nominee stands out for a simplicity that has made it a staple at picnics, on bar patios and while tailgating.

— Furby debuted in 1998 and within the first three years, 40 million of the drowsy-eyed robotic creatures were sold. An enhanced version was reintroduced to a new generation of kids in 2023.

— The scooter has provided riders with low-tech, two-wheeled transportation for generations, evolving along the way to incorporate lightweight materials and innovative technology.

— Slime, whether commercially produced or homemade, is on the list for its ability to encourage messy and experimental play. Since it’s commercial introduction in 1976, it has become an element of other playthings and a featured player on television shows.

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— Snow is recognized for its versatility, allowing children and adults to make snowballs and sculpt the cold, wintry stuff into forts and figures, while also serving as a base for sledding, skiing and snowboarding. The nominee would join the ranks of other back-to-basic inductees like the stick, sand and cardboard box.

— Spirograph, with its plastic gears, rings, triangles and bars, has entertained and educated the masses for 60 years. Users place the tip of pen into a hole of a gear and rotate it around or within other gears to create intricate, geometric drawings.

— Kenner released the first “Star Wars” lightsaber in 1978 on the heels of the 1977 “Star Wars” movie. An arsenal has followed, with lights and sound, demonstrating the influence of popular culture on play.

— Tickle Me Elmo, with its contagious laughter, was the must-have toy of the 1996 holiday season. The “Sesame Street” character wasn’t the first stuffed animal to get electronics, but the giggling Muppet took the concept to another level.

— Trivial Pursuit debuted more than 40 years ago with a challenging mix of trivia questions on geography, history, sports and other topics. More than 100 million copies were sold by 2023.