Weather is hitting extremes in much of the country. In the West, a smothering heat dome moved east after almost two weeks of record March temperatures; four spots in Arizona and California hit 112 degrees, and dozens of locations set heat records all the way to Pennsylvania and South Carolina. “Basically, the entire U.S. is hot,” said Gregg Gallina of the National Weather Service. In Hawaii, islanders were struggling to recover from catastrophic flooding after back-to-back “kona storms,” or intense, subtropical low-pressure systems, swept through homes, washed away roads and threatened a major dam.
Dennis Coyle, an American who was held for more than a year in Afghanistan, is back on U.S. soil, welcomed home with the embraces of loved ones at Joint Base San Antonio. The researcher from Colorado, 64, was detained in January 2025 by the ruling Taliban, who said it decided to free him after a request by his mother and after its high court decided his time in detention was “sufficient.” His family, in a statement to the USA TODAY Network, thanked the Trump administration for winning his release after “the most challenging and uncertain 421 days of our lives.”
The “Dirty Dozen” list of fruits and vegetables that contain the most pesticides and “forever chemicals” is out, and it’s not pretty. Among them: spinach, kale, potatoes, strawberries, blueberries, apples, pears, grapes, peaches and plums, according to the nonprofit Environmental Working Group, which releases the annual report. On the positive side, the group also lists the “Clean Fifteen,” or the produce items with the least residue. They include sweet corn, sweet peas, mushrooms, onions, avocados, cauliflower, carrots, watermelon, bananas and mangoes. So what’s a shopper to do? Stick to the 15, the group advises, or buy frozen or organic. And, of course, wash everything real good.
Chuck Norris, the toughest of Hollywood tough guys, is gone. The martial arts legend and star of TV’s “Walker, Texas Ranger” died March 19 at age 86, and tributes have poured in from fans and famous friends as diverse as Sylvester Stallone and Benjamin Netanyahu. But still alive and kicking is the internet meme “Chuck Norris Facts” (sample: “When Chuck Norris does push-ups, he doesn’t push himself up, he pushes the Earth down”). Just nine days before his death, Norris himself added to his legend with an Instagram video: “I don’t age. I level up.”
Baseball is back for 2026 with a new umpire on the field − one players can’t argue with. For the first time in the major leagues, the Automated Ball-Strike System − ABS, or “robot umps,” some may call it – will allow a pitcher, catcher or batter to challenge, on a limited basis, a human umpire’s ball or strike call. Managers are already strategizing on who should use it, how and when. “All I know is that we won’t let our pitchers challenge,” the Cincinnati Reds’ Terry Francona said. “They think everything is a strike.” − Compiled and written by Robert Abitbol