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The Short List

Thu Nov 20 2025

Phaedra Trethan | National Correspondent

@wordsbyphaedra

👋🏼 Hi! It's almost Friday! I'm Phaedra Trethan, chuckling over a discussion among colleagues about what to call the goo that comes out of whales' blowholes. 🐳

In Thursday's news:

•	A USA TODAY investigation looks at how treatable health conditions can be a death sentence for people in prison.
•	Former Vice President Dick Cheney was laid to rest Thursday.
•	Is the era of hyper-vigilant parenting coming to an end?

But first: Am I the only one wondering why McDonald's Grinch Meal doesn't come with a roast beast? 🤔

'A forgotten, underappreciated population'

A USA TODAY investigation has found that people arrested and detained for even minor offenses like trespassing or missed probation meetings can be denied medical care while incarcerated. And then, even easily treated conditions can turn into death sentences. Their grieving families can sue for millions, often leaving taxpayers to foot the bill.

•	One former inmate who nearly died of sepsis is fighting to save others.
•	People with a history of drug use are at particular risk, USA TODAY found.
•	Watch: How the investigation came together and what we found.

Doctors diagnosed Carmela DeVargas with sepsis, pneumonia, respiratory failure, meningitis and a MRSA infection when she arrived at a Santa Fe hospital after a few weeks at the local jail. Within four days, she lost the ability to speak or move her arms and legs.

Courtesy of Elisa DeVargas

Remembering Dick Cheney

Former Vice President Dick Cheney was laid to rest Thursday, eulogized by President George W. Bush, his daughter Liz Cheney and his grandchildren.

"Though he was inspired to service by President Kennedy, Dick Cheney became a Republican, but he knew that bonds of party must always yield to the single bond we share as Americans," Liz Cheney said during her tribute. "For him, a choice between defense of the Constitution and defense of your political party was no choice at all."

•	Photos: Mourners gather to remember Dick Cheney.
•	A reunion of VPs and 2000s déjà vu: Key moments from Cheney's funeral.
•	"My vice president and my friend": How George W. Bush remembered Cheney.
•	Watch: Dick Cheney's farewell.

Former Presidents George W. Bush and Joe Biden, former first ladies Laura Bush and Jill Biden, former Vice Presidents Kamala Harris and Mike Pence, and former second lady Karen Pence attend a funeral service for Dick Cheney, at Washington National Cathedral on Nov. 20, 2025.

Jonathan Ernst, REUTERS

Real quick

•	President Trump ramped up his inflammatory rhetoric against Democrats in a social media screed.
•	A local official says immigration raids in Charlotte, N.C., have ended.
•	September's jobs report is (finally) in. *What it said.*
•	Jeffrey Epstein's survivors have a message: "We were victimized as children and failed repeatedly by the very system that was supposed to protect us."

Parenting like it's 1995

No iPhones. Analog, in-person play. Beverly Cleary books. And kids who are left to their own (non-electronic, IRL) devices . It's a new/old style of parenting that harkens back to how older Millennials and GenXers were raised, and some parents, worried about raising iPad kids who can't socialize or problem-solve, are swearing by it. How some families are trying to balance giving their kids independence (from their parents and from their screens) with love, nurturing and responsibility.

🦃 Gobble up these Thanksgiving tips

Thanksgiving is one week away and we have a bounty of tips, recipes, travel information and more.

•	First, dig into this dish about how much the big feast will cost this year.
•	Check out recipes for no-bake pumpkin pie, the best mashed potatoes and a gussied-up boxed cake.
•	What happens when the big feast meets a GLP1-induced small appetite?
•	Traveling? You'll want to keep an eye on the weather forecast.

Thanksgiving meal prices ease slightly in 2025, with major retailers offering lower-cost options.

Getty Images

A break from the news

•	Apple named its 2025 Artist of the Year, an honor as sweet as sugar. 🎵 🎙️ 🎶
•	Here are some of the best looks from Wednesday's Country Music Awards. 🤩
•	"Wicked: For Good" opens this weekend. How the movie is different from the Broadway musical. 🎞️

Phaedra Trethan is a national correspondent at USA TODAY. She'd love to hear from readers about The Short List, story ideas from across the nation and the book you're reading now. (She's in the middle of Beth Macy's Paper Girl (highly recommend). Email her at ptrethan@usatoday.com.