By TAMMY WEBBER and AMELIA THOMSON-DeVEAUX, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Matt Ries has lived in Florida only three years, but everyone told him last summer was unusually hot. That was followed by three hurricanes in close succession. Then temperatures dropped below freezing for days this winter, and snow blanketed part of the state.

To Ries, 29, an Ohio native now in Tampa, the extreme weather — including the bitter cold — bore all the hallmarks of climate change.

“To me it’s just kind of obvious,” said Ries, a project manager for an environmental company and self-described conservative-leaning independent. “Things are changing pretty drastically; just extreme weather all across the country and the world. … I do think humans are speeding up that process.”

About 8 in 10 U.S. adults say they have experienced some kind of extreme weather in recent years, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, with about half saying they’ve been personally affected by severe cold weather or severe winter storms.

FILE – A pickup truck navigates snow-covered streets following a winter storm, Jan. 6, 2025, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

Among those saying severe cold was among the types of extreme weather they experienced, about three-quarters say climate change is at least a partial cause of those events — suggesting that many understand global warming can create an unstable atmosphere that allows cold air from the Arctic to escape farther south more often.

Midwesterners are most likely to feel the brunt of the cold weather, with about 7 in 10 adults who live in the Midwest experiencing severe cold in the past five years, compared with about half of residents of the South and the Northeast and about one-third of those in the West, the survey found.

“It’s counterintuitive to think, ‘Oh, gee, it’s really cold. That probably has something to do with global warming,’” said Liane Golightly-Kissner, of Delaware, Ohio, north of Columbus, who believes climate change is influencing many weather extremes.

Golightly-Kissner, 38, said it was so cold this winter that schools were closed and her family let faucets drip to prevent burst pipes. She remembers one extremely cold day when she was a child in Michigan, but she says now it seems to happen more often and over multiple days.

The poll also found that, while only about one-quarter of U.S. adults feel climate change has had a major impact on their lives so far, about 4 in 10 think it will in their lifetimes — including on their health, local air quality and water availability. About half of adults under age 30 believe climate change will impact them personally.

About 7 in 10 U.S. adults believe climate change is occurring, and they are much more likely to think it has had or will have a major impact on them than those who say climate change isn’t happening.

FILE – Water vapor rises above St. Anthony Falls on the Mississippi River as the Stone Arch Bridge is obscured, seen from the Third Ave. Bridge Jan. 29, 2019, In Minneapolis. (David Joles/Star Tribune via AP)

Americans are catching on, said Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, who credits a combination of media coverage, political leaders speaking up and public concerns that creates a “symbiotic relationship.”

“We have seen growing awareness among the American people that climate change is affecting them here and now,” though many still see it as a distant problem that their grandchildren will have to worry about, he said.

Rosiland Lathan, 60, of Minden, Louisiana, said she’s a believer because it seems that summers are getting hotter and winters colder — including a couple years ago, when snow and ice kept her car stuck at work for several days.

This winter, she said, there was a stretch of temperatures in the teens and 20s, while a couple of summers ago, it got “real, real hot” with highs in the 100s.

“It’s normally hot in Louisiana, but not that hot,” Lathan said.

Hurricanes, wildfires and other natural disasters, like the devastating Southern California fires, also have many concerned that climate change could lead to higher property insurance premiums and household energy costs.

About 6 in 10 U.S. adults are “extremely” or “very” concerned about increasing property insurance premiums, and just over half are similarly concerned about climate change’s impact on energy costs, the AP-NORC survey found. About half are “extremely” or “very” concerned that climate change will increase costs for local emergency responders and infrastructure costs for government. Republicans are less worried than Democrats and independents.

The survey also found broad support for a range of measures to help people who live in areas becoming more susceptible to extreme weather and natural disasters, with the exception of restricting new construction in these communities.

About 6 in 10 U.S. adults said they “somewhat” or “strongly” favor providing money to local residents to help them rebuild in the same community after disasters strike, while similar shares support providing money to make residents’ property more resistant to natural disasters and providing homeowners’ insurance to people who cannot get private insurance. About one-quarter of Americans neither favor nor oppose each of these proposals, while around 1 in 10 are “somewhat” or “strongly” opposed.

When it comes to restricting new construction, opinion is more divided. About 4 in 10 “somewhat” or “strongly” favor restricting new construction in areas that are especially vulnerable to natural disasters, about 4 in 10 have a neutral view and about 2 in 10 are “somewhat” or “strongly” opposed.

Golightly-Kissner said she believes there should be rebuilding restrictions or tougher building standards in disaster-prone areas.

“These extreme weather conditions, they’re not going anywhere, and it would be hubris for us to continue in the same way,” she said. “I think we we have to change. We have to look toward the future and what’s the best way to keep our lives together when this happens again. Because it’s really not a question of if, it’s when.”

The AP-NORC poll of 1,112 adults was conducted Feb. 6-10, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

Webber reported from Fenton, Michigan

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

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN and JOHN SEEWER, Associated Press

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Authorities investigating the deaths of Oscar-winner Gene Hackman and his wife are waiting for the results of the autopsies, and carbon monoxide and toxicology testing to determine how they died.

Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, apparently had been dead for days or even a couple of weeks when investigators found their bodies while searching the couple’s Santa Fe home on Wednesday. Investigators are trying to figure out the last time anyone saw or spoke to them, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza told NBC’s “Today” show on Friday.

“That is a challenge because they were very private individuals,” the sheriff said, noting that the autopsy results could take months.

Law enforcement officials talk outside the home of actor Gene Hackman on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa and their dog were found dead in the home a day earlier. (AP Photo/Roberto Rosales)

Hackman, 95, was found Wednesday in an entryway of the home and Arakawa, 65, was found lying on her side in the bathroom. A dead German shepherd was found in a kennel near Arakawa, Mendoza said Thursday.

There was no indication of foul play, according to the sheriff’s office. Detectives wrote in a search warrant affidavit that investigators thought the deaths were “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation.”

No gas leaks were discovered in and around the home, but a detective noted in the affidavit that people exposed to gas leaks or carbon monoxide might not show signs of poisoning.

A space heater was next to Arakawa and may have fallen when she abruptly fell to the floor, according to the affidavit. The sheriff’s office planned a Friday afternoon news conference to provide updates.

A maintenance worker who showed up to do routine work at the house discovered their bodies, investigators said. The worker said he was unable to get inside when a 911 operator asked whether the people in the house were breathing.

“I have no idea,” the subdivision’s caretaker said on the call. “I am not inside the house. It’s closed. It’s locked. I can’t go in. But I can see she’s laying down on the floor from the window.”

He and another worker later told authorities that they rarely saw the homeowners and that their last contact with them had been about two weeks ago.

Mendoza told “Today” there were several conflicting stories about which doors were locked at the house. Several were unlocked and a rear door was open, which allowed two dogs that survived to go in and out. He also said he thought the front door was closed but unlocked.

Hackman was among the most accomplished actors of his generation, appearing as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.

He was a five-time Oscar nominee who won best actor in a leading role for “The French Connection” in 1972 and best actor in a supporting role for “Unforgiven” two decades later. He also won praise for his role as a coach finding redemption in the sentimental favorite “Hoosiers.”

He met Arakawa, a classically trained pianist, at a California gym in the mid-1980s. They moved to Santa Fe by the end of the decade. Their Pueblo revival home, sits on a hill in a gated community with views of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

In his first couple of decades in New Mexico, Hackman was often seen around the state capital and served on the board of trustees for the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum from 1997-2004.

In recent years, he was far less visible. Aside from appearances at awards shows, he was rarely seen in the Hollywood social circuit and retired from acting about 20 years ago.

Hackman had three children from a previous marriage. He and Arakawa had no children but were known for having German shepherds.

Seewer reported from in Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press writers Felicia Fonseca in Flagstaff, Arizona; Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix; and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed.

By MICHELLE L. PRICE, Associated Press

President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Friday designating English as the official language of the United States, according to the White House.

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The order will allow government agencies and organizations that receive federal funding to choose whether to continue to offer documents and services in language other than English, according to a fact sheet about the impending order.

It was not immediately clear when on Friday that Trump planned to sign the order.

The executive order will rescind a mandate from former President Bill Clinton that required the government and organizations that received federal funding to provide language assistance to non-English speakers.

Designating English as the national language “promotes unity, establishes efficiency in government operations, and creates a pathway for civic engagement,” according to the White House.

More than 30 states have already passed laws designating English as their official language, according to U.S. English, a group that advocates for making English the official language in the United States.

For decades, lawmakers in Congress have introduced legislation to designate English as the official language of the U.S., but those efforts have not succeeded.

Within hours of Trump’s inauguration last month, the new administration took down the Spanish language version of the official White House website.

Hispanic advocacy groups and others expressed confusion and frustration at the change. The White House said at the time it was committed to bringing the Spanish language version of the website back online. As of Friday, it was still not restored.

The White House did not immediately respond to a message about whether that would happen.

Trump shut down the Spanish version of the website during his first term. It was restored when President Joe Biden was inaugurated.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on the order Friday.

The third week of January was shaping up to be a special one at the Twins’ academy in the Dominican Republic.

It was the beginning of the international signing period, and a handful of teenagers were realizing a big part of their dreams, putting ink to paper and marking the official start to their journeys in professional baseball. At the same time, a group of young ballplayers was graduating from high school. Celebrations were scheduled.

And then, Pablo López showed up.

In the coastal town of Boca Chica, about 25 miles east of Santo Domingo, López served as a beacon for the teenagers gathered. If he could do it, if he could make it to the majors and be a star, maybe someday they could, too.

“(It’s) just a really cool opportunity for them to get to spend that time (together), and hopefully they can fully appreciate that,” said Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll, who also was in the Dominican Republic that week. “It’s not common to have someone of Pablo’s caliber and character just be willing to dedicate time in the offseason for that.”

The Twins’ ace had thought about visiting the team’s academy over the past couple of years, but he was hesitant to travel in January, so close to the start of spring training, for fear it negatively affect impact his preparation.

But this wasn’t a trip just anywhere. This was a baseball complex that would have everything he’d need to continue training for the upcoming season. After finding out that it was the international signing period and graduation day, López had a little bit extra motivation to hop on a plane and make it work.

“When you are that early in your career, or about to start, you’re not really exposed to who you want to be,” López said. “It’s also one of those things, if you see it, you can become it. The more you see it, the more real it could be.”

López stayed at the academy for five days. When the staff invited him out to dinner, he declined, saying he’d rather spend the time playing cards with the young ballplayers.

One Twins minor leaguer, Victor Leal, who signed with the organization in 2024, thanked López for coming to visit on the major leaguer’s Instagram post about the trip — and then reminded López to practice his card playing so he could beat him the next time around.

López shot some pool, too, and played video games with the prospects. He observed their bullpens, and them his — all eyes locked on López when he threw, Zoll, said. He participated in a Q&A where players asked him questions about his journey and offered words of advice and motivation.

“You could tell everyone was really dialed in on every word that he had to offer all their players and their families,” Zoll said. “It was really special.”

López himself was once much like these teenagers, though he signed at 16 with the Seattle Mariners out of Venezuela, not the Dominican Republic. He didn’t have an experience when he was younger like the one he provided last month, but he did recall an “Erasmo Ramírez Award,” when he played in the Venezuelan Summer League named after the veteran reliever with whom he now shares a clubhouse.

“It was kind of like a fantasy thing, someone that’s so good, someone that’s about to make it to the majors actually did go through here,” López said.

Getting to this point, López wanted the next generation to know, was not easy. The journey they are about to embark on requires time away from family, missing birthdays, weddings and other celebrations. But the end result has been gratifying.

“You want to do right for the people that did it before you, and you want to do right by those that are about to go into their journey or those going to come after you,” López said. “After the graduation, they asked me to say a couple things. And I’m like, ‘Well, hopefully all of you, but if not, the few that in 12 years from now are hopefully able and blessed to be where I am today, you can look back into this and think that it helped you in any shape or form.’”