Government shutdown ends
On Nov. 12, 2025, President Donald Trump signed a government funding bill, ending the record-breaking 43-day government shutdown.
Ultimately, eight Senate Democrats crossed the aisle to pass the bill through the Senate.
Numerous federal programs will now receive their necessary funding, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which feeds over 40 million Americans monthly.
Air traffic controllers are now being paid again as well, in time for the holiday travel season, although airports’ abilities to get back to full operating capacity may still be delayed.
United States mints final penny
The U.S. Mint in Philadelphia announced on Nov. 12 that they have minted the final batch of pennies. The staple one-cent coin has been in production since the US Mint’s establishment in 1792, but due to the coin costing more to produce than it was worth, it will go the way of its half-cent brethren—which was discontinued in 1857.
It’s unclear what procedure will follow for issuance of exact physical change, but one possibility is rounding up or down to the nearest five-cent interval for cash purchases and exact change for digital.
The American Bankers Association estimates there are around 250 billion pennies still in circulation, so it may be some time before U.S. companies enact uniform policies.
Northern Lights dazzle nationwide
Bloomington-Normal residents may have missed a colorful geographic phenomenon last week as the Northern Lights (or aurora borealis) were visible nationwide, with reports of vibrant auroras spotted as far south as Kansas, Colorado and Texas.
While the phenomenon can be difficult to see due to city light pollution, residents who traveled to the edges of town may have been able to see the colorful auroras caused by solar storms.
