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If you notice people with ash‑marked crosses on their foreheads on Feb. 18, it's because of Ash Wednesday, which marks thestart of Lenton the Christian calendar.

Ash Wednesday fallsthe day after Mardi Grasand is traditionally observed with church services where ashes are applied to the forehead as a symbolic reminder of reflection and renewal. The day begins Lent, a 40‑day period leading up to Easter on April 5 that is often marked by limited fasting, dietary restrictions such asavoiding meat on Fridays, and acts of charity.

Contrary to popular belief,Lent is not exclusively observed by Catholics, but is also practiced by Orthodox Christians and Protestants, including Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian and some Evangelical churches.

Here's what to know about Ash Wednesday.

When is Ash Wednesday? When does Lent begin?

Ash Wednesday falls on Wednesday, Feb. 18. The holy day marks the beginning of Lent.

When is Easter Sunday?

Easter Sunday will fall on April 5 in 2026.

What is Ash Wednesday?

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a period for repentance and prayer, according to theUnited States Conference of Catholic Bishops(USCCB). It is also a time when people are asked to perform acts of charity.

On this day, many Christians mark their Lenten journey by receiving ashes made from the palms distributed during the previous year's Palm Sunday celebration, the first day of Holy Week, which commemorates Jesus's entry into Jerusalem. Many Catholics will attend a mass where the priests will smudge ashes on their foreheads in the shape of a cross.

The season of prayer lasts 40 days, excluding Sundays, and ends on Holy Thursday (April 2). It is when Christians prepare to "celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter."

Fasting during Lent

Catholics fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday (April 3), according to USA TODAY's previous reporting. But Roman Catholic guidelines for fasting differ from those in other faiths that require believers to abstain from food or drink for extended periods.

"In the Church's directions for fasting, she says one regular-sized meal and two smaller meals that don't equal that regular-sized meal," Father Dustin Dought, the executive director of the Secretariat of Divine Worship of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, previously told USA TODAY.

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There is no specific portion size set in the rule. Dought says it's "relative" depending on the person and their life stage.

"A full meal for someone who does very intense bodily work may be different from a full meal for someone who doesn't," said Dought.

According to him, the only Roman Catholics who are obligated to fast are people aged 18 to 59.

Catholics avoid eating meat on Ash Wednesday

Catholicsabstain from eating meaton Ash Wednesday and every Friday during Lent, including Good Friday.

"Since Jesus sacrificed his flesh for us on Good Friday, we refrain from eating flesh meat in his honor on Fridays," statedthe Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

William Johnston, an associate professor of religious studies at the University of Dayton, previously toldUSA TODAYthat abstaining from eating meat is also a form of penance – admitting to any wrongdoings and sins while turning back to belief in God.

What can Catholics eat while abstaining during Lent?

On days when people abstain from eating meat, the most popular choice is fish, according to previous USA TODAY reporting.

The Archdiocese says fish, shrimp, crab, lobster and other shellfish can also be eaten.

Those who don't have a taste for seafood can opt for non-flesh animal products, like milk, eggs, cheese and butter.

Contributing:Jordan Mendoza, USA TODAY

Julia Gomez is a Trending reporter for USA TODAY and covers popular toys, scientific studies, natural disasters, holidays, and trending news. Connect with her onLinkedIn,X,Instagram, andTikTok: @juliamariegz, or email her at jgomez@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:What is Ash Wednesday? When it is and why it's celebrated.

By Jason Lange

New Epstein images released by U.S. Justice Department

WASHINGTON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Americans believe that wealthy and powerful people are rarely held accountable, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found after the release of millions of records on the late sex offender Jeffrey ‌Epstein's connections in elite U.S. business and political circles.

Some 69% of respondents in the four-day poll, which ‌concluded on Monday, said their views were captured "very well" or "extremely well" by a statement that the Epstein files "show that powerful people in the U.S. are ​rarely held accountable for their actions."

Another 17% said the statement described their views "somewhat well," while 11% said it didn't reflect their thinking. Among both Republicans and Democrats, more than 80% said the statement described their thinking at least somewhat well.

Under congressional orders, the U.S. Justice Department has released trove after trove of documents that tie the late financier to a range of prominent ‌people in politics, finance, academia and business, ⁠both before and after he pleaded guilty in 2008 to prostitution charges, including soliciting an underage girl. Epstein's 2019 death in a Manhattan jail cell following his arrest on charges of ⁠sex trafficking of minors was ruled a suicide.

The scandal has proven a persistent political headache for President Donald Trump, who long fanned the flames of suspicions around Epstein and has been dogged by criticism that his administration was failing to fully disclose all that ​the ​U.S. government knew about the case.

SOME CONSEQUENCES IN CORPORATE AMERICA

The disclosures ​have started to cause the downfall of prominent people. ‌Executives at Goldman Sachs and Hyatt Hotels have resigned.

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Others have retained powerful posts. Trump's Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick apparently visited Epstein's private island for lunch in 2012 and invited him to a fundraiser in 2015 for Hillary Clinton, Trump's Democratic rival in the 2016 presidential election, emails show.

Dr. Mehmet Oz, Trump's administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, emailed an invitation to a Valentine's Day party in 2016 to Epstein, the Justice Department documents show.

Neither Lutnick nor Oz ‌is accused of wrongdoing.

The Republican president, who socialized extensively with Epstein in ​the 1990s and 2000s, has denied any knowledge of the financier's ​crimes and says he broke off ties in the ​early 2000s, before Epstein's plea deal.

While Americans generally have low expectations that elites will be held ‌accountable, they are somewhat split along partisan lines ​on how much longer the nation ​should dwell on the Epstein affair.

Asked if their views were well described by the statement that "it's time for the country to move on from talking about the Epstein files," 67% of Republican respondents in the poll ​said this captured their thinking at least ‌somewhat well, while only 21% of Democrats said the same.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted online and nationwide, gathered ​responses from 1,117 U.S. adults and had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

(Reporting by Jason ​Lange in Washington; editing by Scott Malone and Cynthia Osterman)

CABIN JOHN, MD – When a collapsed pipe began spewing millions of gallons of sewage into the beloved waterways near the tight-knit community of Cabin John, word spread like wildfire.

So did the smell.

As temperatures rose aftera massive winter storm, the stench wafted into homes closest to the Potomac River, making what's considered the toniest part of the neighborhood feel "like being in a port-a-john," according to Jack Mandel, who has lived in the area since the turn of the century.

"Typically, I'll go down there probably four or five days a week, just in the afternoons, at the very least," said Mandel. "And none of us want to get anywhere near it, because we have dogs and kids."

The community, which Mandel playfully describes as "crunchy," is home to many miles of walking and biking trails, canoe and kayak enthusiasts as well as over half a dozen community and environmental groups. ThePotomac Interceptorsewer system has been a concern there for decades and the sewage spill, one of the largest in U.S. history, has sparked fears among residents about the lasting impacts on the river.

Potomac sewage spill called out by President Trump. See photos.

DC Water, the utility authority that operates the Potomac Interceptor, says no new sewer overflow has gone into the river since Jan. 29. But local researchers have detected high levels of fecal-related bacteria and disease-causing pathogens in the river, including E. coli and bacteria that cause staph infections.

"The environmental impact of this, I assume, is going to be fairly devastating," said Mandel, chairperson of the Minnie's Island Community Conservancy.

Community 'heartbroken' over sewage spill

Philip Gray used to enjoy paddling down the river in a canoe or floating in an inner tube, beer in hand, towards his home in Cabin John. But he won't be going in the river for a while now that the nearby waterways have earned nicknames like the "Pooptomac" and "Schitt's Creek," referencing the popular TV show.

More than 200 million gallons of wastewater flowed into the Potomac River after a section of the Potomac Interceptor, a sewer line in the Washington, DC, suburb of Montgomery County, Maryland, collapsed on Jan. 19. Footage from the site shows sewage erupting out of the ground into a typically dry part of the nearby canal and then onward into the Potomac.

Gray, former head of The Cabin John Citizens Association, got a text from a friend about the overflow not long after it happened and went to see it for himself. He said the outpouring of sewage was "astonishing" to witness.

"After you've kind of been walking through and it smells, it's in your nose and stuff," he said. "Even like 20 minutes later, you're wondering, 'am I still smelling it?'"

David Hearn,an Olympic canoeist, has been paddling on the river for almost 60 years. He and his wife rode their bikes along the canal the day after the collapse and were devastated by what they saw.

"We're just heartbroken over this," said Hearn. "This is a crown jewel of wilderness and white water, placid water, outdoor activity."

'Hope has dimmed' for a swift solution

This is not the first time the Interceptor has caused headaches for the community. Decades ago, an intense odor escaped into Cabin John through vents along the Interceptor, Gray said, and community leaders fought to ensure the charcoal filters designed to control the smell were properly maintained.

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"I thought that maybe that was the last I would smell of the gases coming from the sewer pipe, the Interceptor," he said. "But not so, now 26 years later here we are."

And it seems the problem is here to stay. Pumps have been installed to divert sewage around the collapsed pipe, leaving the area with what Gray described as "an open canal sewage situation."

Actual repairs on the pipe, which are estimated to take 4 to 6 weeks, can't begin until a stronger bypass system is activated and the massive rocks blocking the Interceptor can be removed - one by one.

"You can't just suck that out with a vacuum and it's not like excavating where you can go in with a big claw and dig it out either…you can't just yank everything out, you could potentially cause another collapse and you don't want that either," Sherri Lewis, a spokesperson for DC Water, said as she overlooked the work site.

Seeing the deluge contained offered residents an initial burst of hope, but now "it seems like that hope has dimmed a little bit," said Heidi Lewis, co-president of The Cabin John Citizens Association.

Once the Interceptor is fully operational,DC Waterwill accelerate plans to rehabilitate more than 2,700 linear feet of the pipe over the course of nine to 10 months, "significantly strengthening its reliability for years to come."

But Heidi Lewis hopes the catastrophe will push DC Water to look for more wastewater solutions.

"It's shown that a 60-year-old pipe is really not equipped to carry the increasing load that it's being asked to carry," she said. "And so this disaster hopefully has them considering much longer term plans on how to handle the growth in communities."

Small suburb thrust into the national spotlight

And now, the trouble that broke out in Cabin John has been thrust into the national spotlight. Nearly a month after the spill, PresidentDonald Trumpcriticized the cleanup efforts– pointing a finger at Democrats and Maryland's Gov. Wes Moore.

Trump,in a Feb. 16 poston Truth Social, said he would be directing federal authorities to "immediately provide all necessary Management, Direction, and Coordination to protect the Potomac, the Water Supply in the Capital Region, and our treasured National Resources in our Nation's Capital City." He ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has seen significant staff cuts during Trump's second term, to coordinate the response.

Ammar Moussa, a spokesperson for Moore, accused the Trump administration of "shirking its responsibility," but pledged to "work collaboratively − as we always do − to be responsive and keep the public informed about the federal government's plan to remediate the damage."

Some residents seemed open to the possibility of accepting help from FEMA. But Mandel said he finds the president's comments "really dispiriting" and doesn't believe the issues with the pipeline are a partisan problem.

"It's purely an environmental disaster that needs to be dealt with by people who care," he said.

Contributing: Rebecca Morin

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:DC sewer spill leaves locals dismayed, grossed out by 'Pooptomac'

The two parties are in agreement on this: Jerome Tang is no longer the men's basketball coach atKansas State.

Things get dramatically more complicated from there. Kansas State holds that Tang,who was fired on Sunday, can be dismissed "for cause," which would invalidate the$18.7 million buyoutassociated with his contract.

"This was a decision that was made in the best interest of our university and men's basketball program," athletics director Gene Taylor said in a statement.

"Recent public comments and conduct, in addition to the program's overall direction, have not aligned with K-State's standards for supporting student-athletes and representing the university. We wish Coach Tang and his family all the best moving forward."

Hayes:K-State embarrassing itself not to protect basketball, but help football

March Sadness:College basketball's 10 most disappointing teams

Taylor's remarks refer tocomments Tang made following a 91-62 loss to Cincinnation Feb. 11, which dropped the Wildcats' record to 10-15 overall and 1-11 in Big 12 play.

"This was embarrassing," Tang had said. "These dudes do not deserve to wear this uniform, and there will be very few of them in it next year. I'm embarrassed for the university, I'm embarrassed for our fans, and our student section. It's just ridiculous."

Tang's attorneys, Tom Mars and Bennett Speyer, pushed back on the school's characterization.

If Taylor and university president Richard Linton "really think the school was embarrassed by recent events," they said in a statement shared with ESPN, "that's nothing compared to the embarrassment that both of them are about to experience."

What does it mean to be fired "for cause"?

Dozens of major-conference men's basketball and football coaches will be fired in any given year, the wide majority for simply failing to win enough games.

That's certainly the case with Tang, who led Kansas State to an unexpected Elite Eight appearance as the first-year coach in 2023 but was unable to capitalize on that early success. Since losing to Florida Atlantic in the regional final that March, the Wildcats have gone a combined 45-47 with one postseason appearance, a trip to the NIT in 2024 that ended in the first round.

Occasionally, however, schools are able to fire coaches for contractual violations that can minimize or even outright negate agreed-upon buyout figures.

"The most important part of a contract is not what is being paid, but how you get fired, how you get terminated," said Martin Greenberg, a sports lawyer and professor of sports law at Marquette University. "That's the most important part of a contract these days."

In these scenarios, universities can dismiss a coach for missteps related to NCAA penalties, inappropriate behavior or, as stated in Tang's contract, a "failure or refusal to perform his duties and responsibilities as head coach."

"A university's most realistic options often are to: (1) continue to employ the coach because of the coach's success or because it is cost prohibitive to terminate the coach's employment without cause; or (2) attempt to terminate the coach with cause and likely encounter litigation," University of Iowa Professor Josh Lens wrote in a 2022 article for the Villanova Law Review.

One recent example is former Ohio football coach Brian Smith, who was placed on leave in early December andthen fired later that monthfor "serious professional misconduct and activities that reflect unfavorably on the University," the school said.

Another is former Michigan coach Sherrone Moore. The Wolverines' second-year coachwas terminated with cause in Decemberafter an investigation unearthed an inappropriate relationship with a staff member, saving the school from paying the roughly $14 million buyout he was owed in his contract.

Did Jerome Tang violate his contract?

According to a contract signed in 2023, Tang agreed he could be fired for cause without being "entitled to the payment of any compensation, benefits, or damages."

In addition to "serious or multiple violations" of NCAA rules or "material fraud or dishonesty," issues that could lead to a for-cause firing were "insubordination" or "objectional behavior" and "intentional, negligent or other failure or refusal in any material respect to perform the duties and responsibilities of Head Coach required under this Agreement."

Kansas State's efforts to obtain a for-cause firing seem to hinge on responsibilities outlined to Tang under the category of "Specific Duties and Responsibilities."

In addition to requiring Tang to devoting his "full professional time" to serving as the Wildcats' head coach, the list of responsibilities included two key requests:

One, "promoting and encouraging support of the Team's student-athletes. And two, to avoid engaging in "any behaviors, actions, or activities" that could subject the university "to public disrepute, embarrassment, ridicule, or scandal."

By absolving itself of the need to pay Tang's buyout, Kansas State could save a significant sum of money at a time when many major-conference athletics departments are attempting to piece together revenue-sharing payments given directly to student-athletes under last year'sHouse v. NCAAsettlement.

The crux of Kansas State's argument comes down to this: By disparaging members of the team, did Tang fail to conduct himself in a manner consistent with being the Wildcats' head coach?

"I am deeply disappointed with the university's decision and strongly disagree with the characterization of my termination," Tang said in a statement. "I have always acted with integrity and faithfully fulfilled my responsibilities as head coach."

What happens next with Jerome Tang and Kansas State?

Tang and Kansas State should eventually come to an undisclosed financial agreement that ends any potential litigation and permanently severs the relationship between both parties.

This is what unfolded in the high-profile disagreement between LSU and former football coach Brian Kelly. Two weeks after relieving Kelly in late October, the school informed his representatives it would be attempting to fire him for cause. If successful, LSU would have been off the hook for Kelly's full buyout of $54 million.

According to Kelly's contract, he could have been fired for cause because of "substantial" rules violations, a felony conviction or conduct that damaged the university's brand. By the end of November, LSU agreed to pay Kelly's full buyout, which became the second-largest in NCAA history.

One factor that stands to complicate Kansas State's argument is Taylor's willingness to allow Tang to remain as coach through the end of the season with a renegotiated buyout number, Taylor said on Monday.

If open to retaining Tang for another month, Tang's lawyers could contend, how could the school find his behavior to be inappropriate enough to warrant an immediate for-cause dismissal?

In the end, both Kansas State and Tang will likely find a sort of common ground, one that absolves the school of some financial commitment and avoids a very public and possibly embarrassing legal back-and-forth that could cause damage to both parties' reputation.

"It's better to settle these things in the boardroom rather than the courtroom," Greenberg said. "To let out the dirty laundry in public doesn't do any good for the school, doesn't do any good for the students, doesn't do any good for recruiting or for donations."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Does Kansas State have a case for 'for cause' firing of Jerome Tang?

MILAN — It happens every Winter Olympics, the curling renaissance. For two-plus weeks in February, Americans south of Canadian border states remember that curling exists. Riding a wave of patriotic fever and a strong belief that they too could be Olympic-level curlers, Americans fall in love with the sport … right up until the torch goes out.

This year, curling aficionados are planning to keep the love going. Shortly after the Olympics wrap up in late February, the Rock League will launch. A collection of 60 of the world's greatest curlers, complete with team names, the Rock League hopes to harness the expected momentum from Milan Cortina.

The new league might just revolutionize and professionalize curling as a sport. At the very least, it'll be a fun watch with a couple beers close at hand. Win-win either way, right?

"It's going to be a massive undertaking," says John Shuster, the gold medal-winning skip of Team USA's landmark 2018 squad, "but every single player I've talked to is really excited to see where this is going to go."

Where do you find curling after the Olympics?

"If you're an American and you love watching curling every four years, but then there's nothing to engage with after, well," says Nic Sulsky, CEO of The Curling Group, "you're gonna forget about the sport."

Sulsky came to curling from the gaming industry to co-found The Curling Group, which owns the Rock League. He calls the Winter Olympics curling's "lightning-hitting-the-clock-tower moment" — referencing, of course, the instant in "Back to the Future" when a massive plan all comes together — and understands that it presents a rare opportunity for national attention on a niche sport.

"We know that the whole world's gonna fall in love with curling like they do every four years," he says. The question he and other investors in The Curling Group asked is, what's the followup? How can curling harness and sustain the nationwide momentum it gathers every Olympics?

Curling does, in fact, exist outside the Olympics, of course. The Grand Slam of Curling, for instance, which draws more than one team per country, features more talent top-to-bottom than the Olympics. That intrigued Sulsky enough that he and The Curling Group bought The Grand Slam of Curling, which hosts events throughout the year, from its Canadian media ownership. And then he and his advisors, which include former Olympic curling medalists and NFL Hall of Famer Jared Allen, set about creating the Rock League.

"The sport finally needs a platform to professionalize," Sulsky says. "The players need an opportunity to actually make a little bit more money. Sponsors need a way to integrate into the sport in a more professional way. There needs to be a proper business strategy within the sport of curling."

The Rock League: Meet the teams

Comprising six teams of 10 curlers apiece, five men and five women per team, including multiple familiar Olympians, the Rock League's format will look familiar to team-oriented Americans. Each team — Maple United, Shield Curling Club, Frontier Curling Club, Northern United, Alpine Curling Club and Typhoon Curling Club — has its own logo and, eventually, identity. With a range of nationalities represented, each team also boasts an array of athletes for fans to follow, connect with and perhaps even imitate.

"When I was growing up, it was like, I have this favorite hockey player, I have this favorite basketball player, whatever," two-time curling Olympian Chris Plys said recently. "There's kids out there that are 11, 12 years old, but there's really been no pathway for them to see curling outside of the Olympics and think of that as a viable option for a sport to play. So having a professional league, it's like,OK, I could do this."

"Mixing players from countries and teams together is going to be a really refreshing thing for both us as players and for the fans, for sure," says Shuster, who's on the roster of the Frontier Curling Club alongside Korey Dropkin, who took sliver in mixed doubles at the Milan Cortina Games.

Sulsky also hopes the Rock League dispels a few of the misperceptions that have built up around curling. "When I walked into the sport, I was expecting old, fat, white guys, right?" he laughs. "I see the clips online of people smoking and drinking beer during curling events. I walked in and I was like,Oh my goodness, these are young, fit, attractive men and women who are real athletes."

But Sulsky and the Rock League don't just want to change outside perceptions of curling. They want to upend some traditions within the sport, too. At many bonspiels — the curling name for tournaments — the atmosphere is closer to a golf tournament than a football game, with rocks sliding in near-silence and crowds shushing talkers. It's the traditional form of audience behavior, but some in the curling community believe it's not the right play going forward.

"We need energy," Plys said. "When people are going to spend their hard-earned money, we can't have these events where people just sit in silence. We're not going to draw in new fans that way. We need to make it more exciting and have other things going on to bring people in the door."

The Rock League will begin in April with a one-week "preview season" in Toronto. Then, beginning in January 2027, the Rock League will kick off its touring with a four-week January-February season that includes stops in Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, New York and Ontario. Future seasons could include Europe and other destinations outside the traditional curling footprint.

How to watch The Rock League

No sport can survive in the 2020s without eyeballs, though. Initially, the Rock League will be available on The Rock Channel, a FAST (free, ad-supported television) all-curling channelalready up and running.

"Visibility is what the sport needs to continue to grow," Plys said. "The reason that it grows so much during the Olympics is because people in every household finally have access to watching it."

"The reality is, a sports fan needs to be able to engage with content, or what's the point?" Sulsky says. "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it make a sound? You can have the greatest sport there is. If people can't watch it, what's the point?"

Plus, the Rock League will take into account the fact that U.S. audiences tend to be a little less familiar with curling nuance than, say, Canadian ones. A tip here, a secret there, a storyline or two laid out, and all of a sudden the world of curling opens up to viewers.

"We're seeing the differences when you actually get full games in front of audiences with the right commentators," Shuster says, invoking names like Tom Brady, Tony Romo and Greg Olson in the NFL. "Getting people that are smart in the booth to bridge the gap between someone who's never watched curling, or maybe watches it once every four years, to get them really going along with the game."

Future plans for the league include everything from sponsorship alignment to social media storytelling to betting opportunities. "It's going to be different enough, and exciting," Shuster says. "Nic and The Curling Group are really working hard, trying to make this not be a novelty."

The Rock League's first stones slide in April. Until then, keep telling yourself you could do it just as well as them.

MILAN — In her third and final opportunity to medal at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, American Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin took a sizable lead in the slalom after the first of two runs Wednesday.

Shiffrin stormed down a Cortina d'Ampezzo course with nearly 600 feet of vertical drop to finish in 47.13 seconds after her first run, 0.82 of a second ahead of the rest of the field.

Skiers take two runs in slalom and the times are combined to determine medals. The second run will begin at 7:30 a.m. EST.

Lena Duerr of Germany stood in second after the first run, with Sweden's Cornelia Oehlund third.

"It was a really good run, for me it felt really clean and really active but also a little bit on the limit," Shiffrin told NBC after her race. "There were a couple moments where I thought I could easily be off this course right now but just keep pushing and keep fighting and in the end, I got to the finish."

The slalom is Shiffrin's strongest event. Of her record 108 World Cup victories in Alpine skiing, 71 have come in slalom. At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Shiffrin — then 18 years old — earned the gold medal in slalom to become the youngest skier ever to win.

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Yet she has struggled to replicate that dominance in the glare of the Olympics, with her last medal coming in 2018. Shiffrin also is still not yet two years removed from a November 2024 crash during a giant slalom race that left her with a puncture wound in her side and what she has described as crash-induced PTSD.

At these winter games, Shiffrin and Breezy Johnson combined to finish fourth in the team combined event and 11th in giant slalom. Three days before taking her slalom lead, Shiffrinsaid on Instagramthat "my skiing in the first race didn't come together the way I visualized. I fought for every hundredth and didn't totally find the right execution. This was certainly cause for some disappointment."

But there was no disappointment after Wednesday's first run, which Shiffrin recapped with a smile.

"Today I felt pretty excited," Shiffrin said. "It's hard not to be excited for days like today. Sunny and it's just beautiful. I had a little bit of butterflies for sure, that's just going to be part of this day, but I feel pretty prepared to take on the nervousness and it's just about doing my skiing.

"I'm really focused (on the) start, to the gates to the finish. What's happening between the start and the finish and the rest of it is not important."

Greif reported from Milan.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is expected Wednesday to call for a two-year suspension of tax incentives offered to develop data centers amid growing scrutiny over their rapid expansion and impact on communities.

Pritzker plans to advocate for a policy shift in his State of the State and budget address in Springfield under a proposal first shared with NBC News.

At the center of the plan is a two-year pause, effective July 1, on Illinois' data center tax credit program. Pritzker will instruct key state agencies to study the impact of existing data centers on the state's energy grid and consumers and analyze the financial impact the centers have had on the economy. Specifically, the governor's office said it is trying to make sure the centers are financially sustainable over time, protect consumers from soaring energy costs and ensure fair allocation of resources.

Illinois' Democratic-led General Assembly must approve Pritzker's proposal.

Data centers are massive structures that run computer servers that power the growing demands of artificial intelligence. Illinois would be hitting pause on their proliferation as community backlash intensifies across the country, with residents fromOregontoVirginiato Indiana calling on local officials to rein in data center developmentamid rising electricity costsand water consumption.

While a number of states are rushing to create incentives for companies to build data centers, some governors — including potential 2028 candidates — have also moved toward more oversight. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat,recently announceda set of criteria for data center developers to qualify for state resources, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, hasput up some guardrailsaround data center growth.

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In Pritzker's proposal, tax incentives would not be available for new data centers for two years, beginning in July. In 2024, Georgia lawmakers sent Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, a bill that would curb existing tax incentives, but Kemp vetoed it.

Data center development once promised a boost to local property tax bases and the promise of jobs. But since they have proliferated, residents have shared concerns about the disruption to their communities relative to their benefit. They have also expressed fear of the unpredictability in advancements with artificial intelligence that could leave the massive buildings stranded.One recent flare-up in neighboring Indianaprompted local officials to deny permitting to a data center proposed in St. Joseph County.

"As a governor who has long prioritized attracting businesses to the state, Gov. Pritzker's decision to pause tax credits meant to lure data centers to build their facilities in Illinois is a significant statement—one other leaders should pay attention to," Kady McFadden, a political strategist in Illinois who has a focus on climate policy, said in an email. "It is clear the governor recognizes these facilities are increasingly politically unpopular and should not lead to higher utilities bills for families. This is a prudent decision on the governor's part as Illinois is beginning a legislative discussion about the future of data centers in the state."

Pritzker's office stressed that Illinois remains welcoming to business growth but is trying to balance development with its impact on consumers. Illinois generates more electricity than it consumes, according to the governor's office, exporting 20% of the electricity it produces.

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Pritzker is also expected Wednesday to cast blame on the Trump administration for rising energy costs, saying they were driven by slashing tax credits and loans for affordable, clean energy resources.

Pritzker spoke this month of his hesitancy about data center development in the future.

"I do not want to add data centers that are not paying their fair share and making sure that we're not affecting home rates in any way by having data centers in the state to the extent that we do," he said. "If they do threaten to raise rates, we've got to slow them down and make sure they understand what their responsibilities are. And we're going to be looking at that in the legislature this spring."