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The Daily Briefing

YOUR MORNING NEWS ROUNDUP

Fri Aug 22 2025

Nicole Fallert | Newsletter Writer

@nicolefallert

Happy Friday!🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert. "Shrekking" isn't as innocent as it sounds.

Close out the week with the news:

•	A Villanova University lockdown appeared to be caused by a hoax caller.
•	Efforts to language test truckers risk racial profiling.
•	College football is back!

Shooting hoax at Villanova spread panic during orientation

The report of an active shooter that forced Villanova University into lockdown Thursday was deemed a "cruel hoax," school officials said.

It was the first day of orientation. A campus alert was sent around 4:30 p.m. local time during a welcome Mass urging students and visitors, including many families sending off their loved ones, to move to safety.

•	"Makes it harder to leave our children." Dana Nachman was among parents who told USA TODAY they felt uneasy after the situation. She and her son ran into an empty classroom in a university engineering building. They even barricaded the door.
•	The lockdown lasted for about an hour before investigators deemed the incident a hoax. The Radnor Township Police Department said in a social media post that there were no injuries and that federal and state officials are investigating the incident.
•	Back to school (shootings): The apparent hoax came just hours after another active shooter was reported on the University of Tennessee's campus in Chattanooga. An all-clear was issued for that campus shortly after the initial report.

Students gather in prayer after an active shooting hoax at Villanova University on Aug. 21, 2025.

Shane Brennan / Bucks County Courier Times

California lawmakers approve Newsom's redistricting plan

California lawmakers approved Democratic-led redistricting maps for voters to decide in a special election, a day after Texas House Republicans passed new redistricting plans. California's proposed redistricting would be temporary as the ballot measure going before voters during a special election Nov. 4 requires the state to return to nonpartisan map-drawing following the 2030 U.S. Census. The Newsom-backed maps would convert five Republican seats into districts that would heavily favor Democrats.

•	Also: California's Supreme Court denied a Republican challenge to Newsrom's plan.

More news to know now

•	Coastal flooding from Hurricane Erin is expected Friday.
•	Famine has struck Gaza, and will likely spread.
•	DOJ will hand some Jeffrey Epstein files to Congress on Friday.
•	The TSA banned these new items in checked bags.

What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.

The Fed's wild west dilemma

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to deliver a keynote address Friday at the central bank's annual conference. Powell faces a more formidable challenge as he looks to provide another signal about the Fed's September interest rate plans after yet another long pause aimed at ensuring consumer price increases have been tamed. The picture is far more muddled, and economists are split over whether Powell will telegraph a likely rate decrease next month or a continuation of the Fed's wait-and-see approach. How is the job market in the US right now?

•	Kiss job hopping goodbye. Americans are job hugging.

Crackdown on truckers speeds up

'There's so much work and not enough drivers that companies are willing to take the risk. This costs everyone. Our insurance rates, the costs of goods. It affects everyone.'

~ Wyoming Highway Patrol Lt. Kyle McKay, who supervises the state's motor carrier unit, told USA TODAY that his troopers test drivers for English ability during random roadside inspections and at mandatory port of entry checks. Trucking industry experts told USA TODAY they have no data on how many crashes may be caused annually by truckers who can't read English-language road signs.

Today's talkers

•	Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi are parents!
•	Serena Williams revealed GLP-1 weight loss.
•	Board game night isn't as cheap as it used to be.
•	Which state reached the Little League World Series title game?
•	Steelers' Derrick Harmon was emotional following an injury.

It's college football time!

We made it, college football fans. Opening day for the 2025 season is here at last, meaning we finally have some actual games to watch. It's an abbreviated slate Saturday, so there's a good chance your favorite team isn't taking the field yet in this so-called Week 0. But these games do actually count, and in a couple of cases, they have conference implications as well. Think of it as a plate of tasty appetizers before next week's main dish. Here's what you need to know for Saturday, including matchups, game times, TV information and things to keep an eye on over the course of the day.

Photo of the day: Tennis elbow

Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovi served a different kind of ball Thursday night to fans in New York City, throwing the first pitch at Yankee Stadium. His toss comes as the U.S. Open men's and women's singles kicks off at Arthur Ashe stadium. Who are the top seeds at the 2025 U.S. Open?

Novak Djokovic throws the first pitch in the game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Thursday

Wendell Cruz, Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here . Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com.