eNewspaper | Crosswords | Horoscopes

The Short List

Thu May 7 2026

Phaedra Trethan | National Correspondent

@wordsbyphaedra

👋🏼 Hello! It's almost the end of the work week. I'm Phaedra Trethan, using this handy guide to identify the birds chirping in my yard each morning. 🐦‍⬛ 🦉 🪶

In Thursday's news:

•	Youth sports like hockey are expensive. This private investment firm made them more so. 🏒 💰
•	U.S. residents who may have come in contact with passengers aboard a cruise ship are being monitored for hantavirus. 🦠
•	Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting with Pope Leo XIV to try to smooth over relations between the U.S. and the first American-born pontiff. 🕊️

But first: When you're getting away from it all this summer, be sure to set some time aside for stargazing. 💫 🤩

Lord of the rinks 🏒 💰

As a hockey dad, Murry Gunty saw how money and access can determine which kids make it to the sport’s highest levels. And he saw a way to make a lot of money off kids' dreams of athletic glory and their parents' desire to give their kids a shot at it.

A months-long USA TODAY investigation found that the Blackstreet Capital Holdings founder used his private investment firm to buy up rinks and teams across a wide swath of the country, then leveraged them to steer families into costly leagues and tournaments.

•	Are you a parent who believes corporate interests are taking over youth sports? Let us know.
•	Watch: How a onetime hockey dad turned youth sports into a personal fortune.

Led by Murry Gunty, Black Bear Sports Group in less than a decade grew from nothing into the single largest owner-operator of ice rinks in the U.S

Josh Morgan/USA Today, Black Bear Sports Group, Photo Illustration

Hantavirus watch 🦠

Americans and others around the world are now being monitored for hantavirus after either disembarking from or coming into contact with people who traveled on the MV Hondius , a cruise ship now tied to multiple cases of the virus. Five people have confirmed cases as of Thursday, with three others having suspected cases, according to the World Health Organization. The WHO adds that the risk to the public is low. Here's the latest.

•	Have questions? Submit them here and we'll get answers.
•	Should you be worried? What you need to know.

Health personnel board the cruise ship MV Hondius, while stationary off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on May 6, 2026. Three people, two crew members and one other person, thought to be infected with the virus were being taken off the MV Hondius, anchored off Cape Verde, the World Health Organization said.

AFP via Getty Images

Real quick

•	A new round of immigration enforcement is hitting cities and towns nationwide.
•	A judge ordered the release of a suicide note that was apparently written by sex offender Jeffery Epstein.
•	Authorities are renewing their search for the body of Kristen Smart, 30 years after the California woman vanished.
•	Iran is weighing a U.S. proposal for peace talks, as President Donald Trump threatens additional airstrikes.

Rubio in Rome 🕊️

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Pope Leo XIV Thursday, a visit the Catholic Rubio insists isn't about a relationship reset in the wake of President Donald Trump's social media jabs at the pontiff, but instead is an opportunity to discuss mutual concerns like humanitarian aid to Cuba and the persecution of Christians.

•	Many American Catholics aren't thrilled with Trump's antagonism of the first U.S.-born Holy Father, polling shows.
•	Watch: Secretary Rubio meets Pope Leo XIV.
•	Catholics in Leo's native Chicago look back on the day a year ago when one of their own became the Church's leader.
•	Watch: Rubio says the status quo in Cuba is "unacceptable."

This photo taken and handout on May 7, 2026 by The Vatican Media shows Pope Leo XIV during a private audience with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in The Vatican.

HANDOUT, VATICAN MEDIA/AFP via Getty Images

'Stories stripped away'

A new PEN America report says nonfiction books were censored at schools at more than double the past rate in the 2024-2025 school year. The report, "Facts & Fiction: Stories Stripped Away by Book Bans," found that nearly 30% of the books banned were works of nonfiction.

The organization called it part of an "embrace of anti-intellectualism,” saying the data “mirrors the broader political attack on facts and knowledge and a skepticism, disdain, and devaluing of experts and expertise – tactics long associated with the rise of authoritarian regimes to sow distrust in democratic institutions.” Among the titles: “Night” by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel and “Aztec, Inca & Maya” by Elizabeth Baquedano.

A break from the news

•	The women have the floor: The WNBA's 30th season tips off tomorrow. ⛹🏻‍♀️
•	It's National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day. Two of my best friends, my cat Hobbes (RIP) and my dog Cranberry, were rescues, so I wholeheartedly support this message. 🐈 🩷 🦮
•	It's official: The NCAA basketball tournament expanded, for even more madness. 🏀

Phaedra Trethan is a national correspondent at USA TODAY. She'd love to hear from readers about The Short List, story ideas from across the nation and whether you think an expanded NCAA tourney is a good idea. Email her at ptrethan@usatoday.com.

Chief Justice laments perception of 'political' Supreme Court

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts, Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and retired Justice Anthony Kennedy attend U.S. President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 4, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Roberts seemed to acknowledge dimming public approval of the court, shown in recent polls, as conservative majority pushes law dramatically rightward.

READ MORE