Six months ago, Waymo disclosed it was providing 250,000 robotaxi rides. But it's grown significantly since, a leaked letter says.

That’s one talented 17-year-old kid. His name is Titus Thornton, and you might want to get used to hearing it. He’s relatively unknown at the moment, but thanks to a viral video, the name is starting to get a lot of buzz online. The kid from Alabama is making waves thanks to his voice that holds a candle up to some of the greats of yesteryear. And some current neotraditional country music stars that have helped to bring back the old sound in the modern day. Thornton is a member of the FFA, and it’s his involvement in the Lauderdale County FFA String Band that has helped him gain traction in the past couple of months. The string band competed in the National FFA Convention’s talent contest for the second year in a row. Last year, they were semifinalists. This year? Brothers Ty and Conner McMeans, along with Titus Thornton, won the whole thing. They went with the song “Tennessee” by The Creekers for their performance, which helped them score first place, as Conner McMeans shared on his personal TikTok account: “Here’s our full performance that secured our 1st place spot at the National FFA Convention! Thank y’all for all the support and love y’all have shown us this week.” @connermcmeans Here’s our full performance that secured our 1st place spot at the National FFA Convention!! Thank yall for all the support and love yall have shown us this week!! @The Creekers @TitusThorntonMusic @Ty McMeans @TheMcMeansBrothers #FFA #FFANationalTalent #firstplace #bluegrass #singin ♬ original sound – Conner McMeans Pretty easy to see why they took home the top prize (which is actually a $250 cash and an invitation to guest judge the next year’s contest). Titus Thornton told the FFA that they really felt like the whole experience of the talent contest helped the Lauderdale County FFA String Band grow as performers and musicians: “I just think that it’s just bonded everybody so well, just being around all these great musicians and so many talented people. I think it’s been a great experience helping us be better members of the FFA, just being around great people and a great organization that put all this stuff together.” And I know what you are thinking… all they got was $250? Rest assured, they’ve gotten a lot of attention on social media too, which is worth a whole lot more than a couple of hundred dollars in cash. That TikTok above has been viewed nearly 2 million times, and Titus Thornton has also fired up a personal music page on Instagram and TikTok that people are flocking to. He’s most recently treated his followers to a beautiful cover of Keith Whitley’s “Miami, My Amy.” The song perfectly shows off the vocal talent of Titus, and it’s hard to believe that a voice like that is coming from a 17-year-old. Check it out: View this post on Instagram How impressive is that? That’s God-given talent, if I’ve ever seen it. I don’t know what Titus Thornton’s future plans are (I’m assuming something in farming with his FFA involvement), but he should really start looking into the whole playing-music for-a-living thing. From the small sample size the world has already been blessed with seeing, he’s got what it takes…The post 17-Year-Old Titus Thornton Goes Viral For Unbelievable Cover Of Keith Whitley’s “Miami, My Amy” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Politics Trump Unveils $12 Billion Aid Package for Farmers State of the Union: Most of the funding will go to row-crop producers, with a separate reserve for specialty crops. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) President Donald Trump announced a $12 billion aid package at a roundtable Monday for struggling farmers. In addition to the president, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, lawmakers, and farmers affected were also present.  Around $11 billion of the funds will go to the Farmers Assistance Program from the Department of Agriculture as a one-time payment to farmers who produce row crops such as soybeans, rice, cotton, wheat, and potatoes. According to the agriculture secretary, another $1 billion is being held back for other specialty crop producers.  This program is supposed to help the farmers “recover from years of unjustified trade actions on American agricultural goods by foreign governments, accumulated inflation costs under the previous administration and other market disruptions,” according to one White House official. As a result of the trade war, China halted the import of U.S. soybeans and other agricultural products earlier this year. In October, Beijing began purchasing soybeans again after Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping reached a tentative trade agreement. At the roundtable, Trump mentioned a recent call he held with Xi where they discussed Beijing’s promise to purchase American soybeans. “I think he’s going to do even more than he promised to do… and what he promised to do was a lot,” Trump said. The post Trump Unveils $12 Billion Aid Package for Farmers appeared first on The American Conservative.

The Brazilian-born mother of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt's nephew – who was recently detained by US immigration authorities – has rejected the Trump administration's characterizations of her as an absentee parent. Bruna Ferreira, who was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in November during a traffic stop in Massachusetts and was being held at a Louisiana detention center, said in an interview with the Washington Post that the White House's statements that she had never lived...

The Supreme Court on Monday seemed likely to expand presidential control over independent federal agencies, signaling support for President Donald Trump's firing of board members. The court's conservative majority suggested it would overturn a unanimous 90-year-old decision that has limited when presidents can fire agencies' board members — in part to try to ensure decision making free of political influence — or leave it with only its shell intact...

Trump announced this afternoon that the federal government has put together a $12 billion aid package for U.S. farmers, relief that comes amid the president's tariff policies. The aid package will include up to $11 billion in one-time payments under a new program administered by the Agriculture Department...