Learning in action: NEAAAT students present annual projects

Amid high egg prices, social media users are claiming that common chicken feed products are preventing their own hens from laying eggs. Some have gone a step further to suggest that feed producers intentionally made their products deficient to stop backyard egg production and force consumers to buy eggs at inflated prices. But experts say high egg prices are caused by bird flu and inflation. And while feed quality can affect egg production, there are more mundane explanations for backyard flock owners’ reported low egg yields, including environmental reasons like cold weather or insufficient light, rather than a broad conspiracy.

Eyes were locked on the Carolina skies Saturday as a suspected Chinese spy balloon ended a weeklong traverse over the U.S., drifted over the Atlantic Ocean and was shot down by a fighter jet. In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina people lined a boardwalk and cheered as a missile from an F-22 fighter struck the balloon and it plummeted into the water. As the balloon came over Myrtle Beach, software consultant Haley Walsh says she saw it floating in the clear blue sky. She felt and heard a boom and ran outside where she saw the balloon tumbling down.

The car owned by a missing 74-year-old Florida Lyft driver has been found in North Carolina and the man who was driving it is wanted in connection with a homicide last week in southwest Florida. Authorities said Friday that Gary Levin has been missing since Monday, when his family believes he picked up a customer in Palm Beach County, Florida. His red 2022 Kia Stinger was spotted in Miami that day and later in north Florida. The vehicle was then seen Thursday evening in North Carolina and driver Matthew Flores was arrested following a police chase. Flores is a suspect in a slaying that occurred nearly a week before Levin went missing.

Crews in Ohio have released toxic chemicals from five cars of a derailed train near the Pennsylvania state line to reduce the threat of an explosion. Flames and black smoke billowed high into the sky from the derailment site. Norfolk Southern Railway confirmed Monday evening that the cars were draining and that burning was underway as planned. Authorities were monitoring the air quality to make sure that toxic fumes weren't spreading. Ohio's governor earlier ordered residents near the site to evacuate because of the risk of death or serious injury. Officials believe most have left. Pennsylvania's governor said residents of that state near the derailment site also had left but he urged people within a 2-mile radius to keep their doors and windows closed as a precaution.

The 65th Grammys were back in full swing Sunday. Once again, Beyoncé was in the running for the top honor, and once again, the show ended with someone else winning album of the year. This year was widely seen as a chance for the Grammys to honor the superstar with a marquee award, especially on a night where she could have (and did) become its most decorated artist. Instead, Harry Styles won, and a line from his acceptance speech sparked criticism. Styles remarked that moments like that didn't happen to people like him very often, but some viewed the comment as white privilege. Beyoncé, they noted, had lost the honor four times already to white artists.

The future of Austin’s top city executive plunged into jeopardy Monday as outrage boiled over power outages that have left thousands of people without electricity in the Texas capital for nearly a week and are likely to drag on for days longer. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson called an emergency meeting for later this week that will put City Manager Spencer Cronk’s job on the line. The move reflected the growing discontent in Austin over slow repairs to power lines following a deadly ice storm that left residents with no sense about when their electricity might finally return. The city’s utility warned Sunday in the face of growing criticism that full power restoration may not happen until Feb. 12.

A judge has ruled he will allow jurors to hear evidence that disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh was stealing money from his law firm and clients and committing other financial crimes long before his wife and son were killed in 2021. Prosecutors have said those witnesses to potential financial crimes are key to their case in Murdaugh’s double murder trial and that they show he was desperate to cover up those financial misdeeds. The defense argued prosecutors wanted to smear Murdaugh because they have lots of evidence he stole money but none in the killings. The financial crimes witnesses will likely testify before the jury for the next several days.

Former “Dances With Wolves” actor Nathan Chasing Horse has been formally charged in Nevada with eight felonies and two misdemeanors. The charges include sex trafficking, sexual assault and child abuse. Las Vegas police say the 46-year-old sexually abused Indigenous girls and women, and ran a cult for two decades. A judge at his arraignment Monday ordered Chasing Horse to return to court Wednesday for a bail hearing. The judge could hear from investigators, victims and Chasing Horse's relatives before deciding whether to grant him bail. Chasing Horse played a young Sioux tribe member Smiles a Lot in Kevin Costner’s 1990 Oscar-winning film. He was arrested Jan. 31 near the North Las Vegas home he shares with five wives after a monthslong investigation by Las Vegas police.