USA Update

Hastening development approvals without increasing building capacity will only add to the bottleneck in housing construction, researchers warn.

The former Fox News host wrote on X that there was "nothing natural about Beyoncé."

"I think sometimes less is more," Silva tells Page Six's "Virtual Reali-Tea," detailing her "make-under" journey that has been documented for TLC.

"I think sometimes less is more," Silva tells Page Six's "Virtual Reali-Tea," detailing her "make-under" journey that has been documented for TLC.

Swift is only nominated for one award this year.

Content creator Cecilia Blomdahl documents her undeniably unique life on the icy Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard.

It almost always starts with that feeling of a lump, which is then followed by a frenzy of treatments, starting with a biopsy, mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

The school day will be in disarray in Queensland, with teachers going on strike at state schools over pay, safety and staff shortages.

THE Social Security Administration has made a u-turn decision on a policy change set to take effect later this month.

It comes after mass backlash from recipients, many of whom would’ve been inconvenienced if the policy was left unadjusted.

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Social Security recipients will not have to abide by an August policy (stock image)[/caption]

Originally, the SSA confirmed in a regulatory filing that, starting August 18, millions of Social Security recipients would either have to go online or travel to their nearest field office to get a personal identification number (PIN) for security purposes.

Whether it’s to make address changes, checking claim statuses, or obtaining tax forms, the PIN would then be a required step moving forward, according to the filing.

The SSA even estimated about 3.4 million additional visits to SSA field offices annually to manage and create PINs.

Concerns were immediately noted last month by experts like Kathleen Romig, director of Social Security and disability policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP).

“This will create a significant burden, particularly for those who live in rural areas or have transportation or mobility difficulties,” Romig argued in a blog post.

“The Trump administration is rushing these changes with almost no public notice or feedback.”

CBPP findings also showed that most Social Security recipients live at least an hour’s drive round-trip from a SSA field office.

On Tuesday, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) sent a formal letter to SSA Commissioner Frank Bisignano, making a similar argument.

AARP noted in the letter that seniors and those with disabilities would have a challenging time, and that many lack access to a computer or internet, making an in-person visit required.

Now, the SSA has said that Social Security recipients are not required to visit a field office and can choose not to use a PIN.

“The intention of the expanded SAP feature in the filing was always to be optional,” an SSA spokesperson told Axios.

“The purpose of the feature is to improve the customer experience by providing a convenient and secure method for callers to verify their identity.”

“If a caller does not have a ‘my Social Security account’ or chooses not to use the SAP feature, the customer experience will be no different than it is today, and they will continue to use the existing authentication methods to verify their identity,” they added.

Still, the regulatory filing has not yet been amended to note this, but the SSA spokesperson confirmed to the publication that it would be making that action so the “optional” aspect is clear.

FRAUD FOCUS

With the PIN, the SSA is attempting to crack down on fraud, even though organizations like the CBPP argue the federal agency has yet to provide substantial evidence of the fraud it seeks to combat.

This spring, the SSA also rolled out anti-fraud software to help flag potential cases over the phone, per CBS News.

About 4.5 million phone-based claims come in yearly to the SSA, with about only about 70,000 cited for possible fraudulent activity.

Should an original proposed policy taking away identity verification over the phone that the federal agency also u-turned on in April have been put in place, about six million seniors would’ve had to go into field offices.

MONEY MOVE

The theme of fraud prevention also continues through the direct deposit change taking effect starting September 30.

It comes out of an executive order from The White House this summer that confirmed the US Department of the Treasury would no longer be sending out paper checks to Social Security recipients.

The White House said the mandate was not only a way to prevent fraud but also save money, as about $750 million is spent on paper checks each year.

Social Security recipients must sign up for direct deposit or another form of electronic payment by the deadline or they risk delaying distributions.

About 1.9 million additional SSA field office visits are expected with the direct deposit change.

The SSA commissioner also fired back at Democratic senators who recently criticized the federal agency over alleged “mismanagement” and “record backlogs.”

Americans are also at risk of having Social Security checks cut by more than $18,000.

THE murder of three Washington sisters has spurred a push for new laws after outraged citizens insisted the tragedy was preventable.

A petition demanding changes to the Amber Alert system is gaining traction as the manhunt persists for fugitive Travis Decker.

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Travis Decker, 32, is accused of killing his three daughters[/caption]

Facebook/Whitney Decker

Decker, 32, is accused of killing his three young daughters and leaving their bodies at a campsite in Washington state after what was supposed to be a three-hour custody visit on May 30.

An Amber Alert wasn’t issued for the girls, although their mom, Whitney Decker, reported them missing when Decker didn’t drop them off at home in Wenatchee, 150 miles east of Seattle.

Police said the case didn’t meet the Amber Alert criteria because Decker had custody rights to his daughters, and he had never been violent to them before.

Instead, cops issued a lesser notice called an Endangered Missing Persons Advisory.

If an Amber Alert had been issued, a message would have been pushed out to millions of cellphone users across the state, asking for anyone to keep an eye out for the missing girls.

Now, an online petition addressed to the Washington State police is asking for changes to the alert requirements.

“Right now, the AMBER Alert criteria exclude too many high-risk situations, especially involving non-stranger parental abductions, even when a history of abuse or red flags are present,” the petition says.

“If the rules remain unchanged, we risk allowing more children to fall through the cracks—children who could be saved if only their cases were treated with the urgency they deserve.

“We must not let another parent feel Whitney’s unimaginable pain. The system failed her family—and it can fail others too if we don’t act.”

Whitney’s Law, named for the girls’ mom, has over 6,000 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon.

The new legislation would mean the alert system includes all at-risk children, whether or not the parent is the abductor.

Activist Tamara Emerson led a rally for change to the system at Seattle’s City Hall in June, according to radio show KIRO-FM.

“Sometimes we wait until harm occurs to put protections in place,” Emerson said.

“But if there are risk factors, children should be protected.”

Shortly after the girls were found suffocated to death at Rock Island Campground, Whitney called for reforms for the state’s Amber Alert system and said her veteran ex-husband was a “broken” man.

Arianna Cozart, Whitney’s attorney, who she allowed to speak on her behalf, told NBC affiliate KING at the time that text alerts would have put the community on the lookout for Decker’s white pickup truck and the girls, which might have made a difference.

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Paityn, Evelyn, and Olivia Decker were found dead on June 2[/caption]

Facebook

Olivia, Evelyn, and Paityn Decker were on a custody visit with their dad when they were murdered[/caption]

MOM’S PRIORITY

The Endangered Missing Persons Advisory doesn’t immediately send out a text to all cell phones in the area, which an Amber Alert would have done.

Cozart said Wenatchee police recognized Decker’s mental instability and noticed the red flags in him not returning the girls or answering his phone, but cops still couldn’t convince Washington State Patrol to issue an Amber Alert.

“It’s very important to Whitney to get that fixed,” Cozart said.

Each state has its own Amber Alert plan.

In June, State Representative Brian Burnett showed his support for the idea of Whitney’s Law. Burnett didn’t immediately return The U.S. Sun’s request for comment.

The hunt for Travis Decker has lasted over nine weeks.

Police recently they were scaling back their search efforts due to the decreasing number of tips and resources.

However, a former FBI agent told The U.S. Sun the announcement might be a ploy to flush Decker out of his wilderness hiding.

Wenatchee Police Department

Travis Decker was seen in police bodycam footage following a car accident days before the murders[/caption]

KIRO

The Decker girls were found killed at a Washington state campground on June 2[/caption]