Phaedra Trethan byphaedra - Bluesky Statics

Papers passed down in history may have value. But who determines it? Papers signed by famous figures can fetch thousands and even millions of dollars. But who decides where they belong and what they're worth?

Papers signed by famous figures can fetch thousands and even millions of dollars. But who decides where they belong and what they're worth?

This USA TODAY story started with my own curiosity, so I asked some questions. What I learned. #america250

www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

03.03.2026 15:12 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Cursive handwriting is making a big comeback. Here's why. New Jersey and Pennsylvania are among the most recent states to require schools to teach kids old fashioned handwriting skills.

Aside from the flashbacks of practicing loops & waves on lined paper, this story made me smile when an educator I interviewed talked about the joy students get from mastering a "big kid skill." I remember feeling exactly the same way.

My latest @usatoday.com story.

www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

02.03.2026 16:17 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

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27.02.2026 23:06 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Paul Revere on a pub crawl? Founders made history in these taverns. Taverns and inns were more than a place to tip a pint: In Revolutionary America, they were a center of civic life.

This was a lot of fun to report--and I don't even drink.

During Colonial times, taverns "were the centers of town for almost everything," said Malcolm Purinton. "They were where you got your news."

My latest for @usatoday.com

www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

23.02.2026 14:58 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1

Who controls history? Judge hits Trump decision to pull slavery display George Washington kept nine enslaved people at President's House in Philadelphia. The Trump administration removed a display honoring them.

A federal judge ruled that displays about enslaved people kept by George Washington in Philadelphia must be restored. My latest for @usatoday.com #americanhistory #blackhistory
www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

16.02.2026 22:14 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Feds dismantle marker honoring people enslaved by George Washington George Washington kept slaves as president, but a federal display commemorating them has now been dismantled.

Fact No. 1: George Washington kept human beings as property, profiting & living off their unpaid labor, while he was President & living in Philadelphia.

Fact No. 2: Removing information about those enslaved people won’t change Fact. No. 1.

Story for @usatoday.com

www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

23.01.2026 20:42 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Love this story about this historic alley in Philly via @byphaedra.bsky.social

15.01.2026 01:02 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

A Philadelphia street dates to 1703. People still live in its houses. "Yes! People really do live here and have since 1713," says a sign at Elfreth's Alley. A new park will honor a woman who worked to preserve it.

I've wandered along Elfreth's Alley countless times & wondered what it was like to live in one of its tiny historic houses.

So for this story, part of @usatoday.com 's series looking at @america250.bsky.social I asked a resident. Here's what I learned. #america250

www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

14.01.2026 15:51 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1

USA 250 Explore, celebrate and remember who we are as a nation after 250 years

Interested in history?
Interested in Americana?
Interested in @america250.bsky.social ?
Our newest @usatoday.com newsletter starts Monday w/ stories, videos, photos etc from us & our Network across the U.S. for America's 250th bday. #America250
Subscribe here: profile.usatoday.com/newsletters/...

09.01.2026 14:57 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

15.12.2025 14:55 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Researchers find dogs are somehow getting even better A Duke University study found dogs exhibit different kinds of intelligence, even as puppies.

Humbly offering a little break from all the darkness in the world right now: Puppies.

My story @usatoday.com

www.usatoday.com/story/pets-a...

15.12.2025 14:35 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1

I may not be the first person to make this observation but @wxpnfm.bsky.social could do an #greatestcoversongs countdown consisting entirely of white guys covering the blues.

10.12.2025 19:07 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

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09.12.2025 15:36 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

These researchers say they have serious questions about UFOs, aliens A group of researchers wants to make the study of UFOs an academic discipline. Experts call them unidentified anomalous phenomena (or UAPs).

Michael Cifone is interested in what he calls "the empirical weird," phenomena that defy easy explanation. He leads a group of researchers who say it's time for academia to get serious about studying UFOs.

My latest @usatoday.com story.

www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

08.12.2025 16:49 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Speeders beware of big fines. Cameras are watching in these states. More than 300 communities in the U.S. have speed cameras keeping an eye on motorists. In some states, costly fines can be levied for violations.

Hitting the road today? Keep an eye on your speedometer, because in a lot of places, cameras are keeping an eye on you. My story @usatoday.com

www.usatoday.com/story/cars/n...

26.11.2025 14:45 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

US Mint says it has stamped its last penny, a historic end for a humble coin The Treasury Department said the last pennies were stamped with a special omega mark and will not go into circulation.

As I stood beside Benjamin Franklin's grave yesterday, all I could hear in my mind was Louis Prima singing "Pennies from Heaven." Visitors might have to start leaving nickels on the Founding Father's final resting place.

www.usatoday.com/story/money/...

13.11.2025 16:06 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Today’s USA Today front page

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Today’s @usatoday.com front page

31.10.2025 11:06 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Police keep fighting a Halloween Eve 'mischief' tradition "Mischief Night" is supposed to be the night of harmless pranks, but many police departments have developed plans to prevent the shenanigans.

Mark Moran of @weirdnj.bsky.social has a theory about why #MischiefNight caught on here: "We have our own devil; what other state can claim that?

"We just like to raise hell once a year."

My latest for @usatoday.com

www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

30.10.2025 20:30 — 👍 7 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0

@pierrerobert933.bsky.social & Ed Sciaky on @933wmmr.bsky.social were the soundtrack to my teens, the reason I found Springsteen & Grateful Dead & Dylan & all the music that meant the world to me then & now. They helped a lonely, lost kid feel a lot less so, just by playing & talking about music.

29.10.2025 20:37 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Crime-solving bugs? New tech has big aspirations. Researchers have long used bugs in complex homicide and death investigations, but new tech aims to make it much easier.

🪲 🪰 🪳 🦟 🕷️ 🐜

My latest @usatoday.com story, about bugs & bodies & decomposition, just in time for Halloween.

www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

29.10.2025 14:24 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Tragic, scary and fun? Some Halloween attractions have an ethical conundrum Historic sites like former prisons and asylums were the sites of real-life horrors. Halloween can mean needed revenue, but also ethical questions.

I've long been fascinated by the macabre, dark edges of humanness.

So I was relieved when an academic I talked to for this @usatoday.com story told me, "Morbid fascinations do not correlate with moral character."

www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

27.10.2025 15:48 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Tales of perpetual fire, demons and ghosts haunt these creepy US towns A fire that won't stop. The landscape of a horror film. A legendary demon. Spooky isn't just a seasonal fad at these U.S. locations.

I had a lot of fun reporting this @usatoday.com story, and managed to sneak in one of my favorite #spooky places.
www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

20.10.2025 15:56 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 1

Exonerated after serving 40-plus years, he's now detained by ICE Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam was released Oct. 3 from prison after serving over 40 years for a crime he didn't commit. ICE immediately took him into custody.

After serving more than 40 years for a murder he did not commit, Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam was set to go free. But ICE took him into custody & now he may be sent back to a country he hasn't lived in since he was a baby. My latest for @usatoday.com

www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

15.10.2025 15:02 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Are you a Democrat or no party voter who doesn't know what to do or doesn't feel like it is worth pushing back on the Trump administration's actions? I'd like to talk to you for a @usatoday.com article. Message me at swire@usatoday.com or on Signal at sarahdwire.71

09.10.2025 21:53 — 👍 0 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 2

The Short List What happened today? We make the long story short in this snappy news roundup.

New(sletter) adventures in old journalism:

Starting today (& every Mon-Thurs), I am writing @usatoday.com The Short List, a late dayroundup of the day's events.

We produce a TON of cool content at USAT, and I'm excited to highlight our best work.

Subscribe:

profile.usatoday.com/newsletters/...

06.10.2025 20:15 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Can you understand the most popular slang words of 2025? An analysis of the most searched slang terms reveals some words that may confuse you. That's kind of the point.

As a GenX parent who's often perplexed by some new word or phrase my kid throws at me, let me say this:

Dude. Your slang is bogus. Like, what in the holy name of Nirvana is so funny about "6-7"? Will you please chill with "Ohio"?

Or don't. Whatever.

www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

06.10.2025 15:05 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Can you understand the most popular slang words of 2025? An analysis of the most searched slang terms reveals some words that may confuse you. That's kind of the point.

Fun story by @byphaedra.bsky.social

Can you understand the most popular slang words of 2025?

www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

05.10.2025 11:10 — 👍 2 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Activists vow to protect display on George Washington's ties to slavery The President's House in Philadelphia educates visitors about Washington's ties to slavery and is a memorial to the people who were enslaved.

"Slavery was in America's first White House," Michael Coard told me for this @usatoday.com story. "If you want to call (Washington) a great general, do that. If you want to call him a great President, do that. No one would object to that.

"But this is history."

www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

24.09.2025 15:57 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0

Thousands of school buses record bad drivers. The tickets can be intense. Cameras on about 40,000 school buses are helping identify and punish people who pass stopped buses illegally. The penalties can be severe.

Stop when the bus stops. The cost of not doing so can be a lot higher than a ticket.

My latest @usatoday.com story.

www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

23.09.2025 16:01 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Flesh-eating bacteria tried to kill her. Here's what it took to survive. Genevieve Gallagher was infected with Vibrio vulnificus in July after boating and swimming with her family in Florida. Her recovery is ongoing.

A rare flesh-eating bacteria almost killed this Florida woman, who compared the pain to having her leg set on fire. What the bacteria is, where's been found, and how to protect yourself. Story @usatoday.com and Pensacola News Journal

www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

10.09.2025 15:15 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0

Posts by Phaedra Trethan (@byphaedra.bsky.social)