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The Arizona sheriff leading the investigation into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie has secured a legal victory of his own, after a federal judge dismissed a $1.35 million civil rights lawsuit filed against him by an inmate at the Pima County Jail.

Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department were named as defendants in the lawsuit, filed in March by Christopher Michael Marx, an inmate at the Pima County Adult Detention Center. On July 1, an order from the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona officially dismissed the case, according to reporting from Newsweek. The dismissal came without prejudice, meaning Marx retains the ability to refile the lawsuit in the future should he satisfy the court’s procedural requirements.

Marx’s lawsuit centered on allegations unrelated to the Guthrie investigation. According to court documents, Marx claimed his life had been endangered after a sheriff’s deputy moved between two units at the Pima County Jail, one of which had been placed under quarantine after an inmate tested positive for COVID-19. Marx alleged the deputy failed to properly disinfect himself before entering his unit, and further claimed that Nanos was not adequately ensuring the department’s deputies were taking sufficient steps to contain the spread of the virus within the facility. “My life was put in harm’s way by the actions of the sheriff” and sheriff’s deputies, Marx wrote in his complaint, adding that he could have contracted COVID-19 and “died” as a result.

The lawsuit alleged that Nanos and the sheriff’s department had violated Article 2 of the Arizona Constitution, commonly known as the Declaration of Rights. Beyond monetary damages, Marx’s complaint sought a formal apology from Nanos and requested that the department implement improved disinfection procedures for deputies working across multiple jail units simultaneously. According to court filings, Marx said he intended to use any awarded funds to purchase two apartment buildings that would provide six months of free housing for people experiencing homelessness.

The case ultimately did not proceed on its underlying merits. U.S. District Judge Raner C. Collins had previously ordered Marx to either pay the required filing and administrative fees associated with the lawsuit or submit a complete application to proceed in forma pauperis, a legal designation that allows individuals to pursue litigation without prepaying court costs after their financial situation is reviewed. That application would have required Marx to submit a certified six-month trust account statement documenting his financial resources. The court’s order specified that if Marx failed to comply within 30 days, the court clerk would be required to enter a judgment dismissing the case without further notice. According to court records, Marx did not satisfy those requirements by the deadline, resulting in the dismissal.

While the lawsuit itself had no connection to the Guthrie investigation, its dismissal arrives as Nanos remains under intense public and media scrutiny in his role overseeing one of the country’s most closely watched missing person cases. Investigators believe Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie, was abducted from her Tucson-area home in the early hours of February 1. The FBI has said the case is being investigated as a kidnapping for ransom, and the search for Guthrie has drawn sustained national and international media attention in the months since her disappearance.

In the days following Guthrie’s disappearance, multiple ransom notes were sent to her family and to media outlets. Recent reporting has indicated that at least one of those notes suggested Guthrie had died, though none of the notes have led to her safe return or resulted in the identification of any suspects in the case. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department addressed the ransom note reports directly in a statement posted to the social media platform X, saying the department had received information regarding potential ransom notes tied to the case and that every tip and lead was being taken seriously and forwarded directly to detectives working in coordination with the FBI. The department directed any further questions regarding alleged ransom notes to the FBI.

Nanos has also had to address other complications surrounding the high-profile investigation in recent days, including a scam that emerged online exploiting public interest in the case. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department issued a separate warning earlier this month cautioning the public about fraudulent social media posts containing QR codes soliciting money in connection with the Guthrie investigation, emphasizing that the department would never request payment related to the case or any other investigation.

The dismissal of Marx’s lawsuit represents a narrow, procedural legal outcome rather than any substantive ruling on the underlying allegations regarding jail conditions and COVID-19 protocols. Because the case was dismissed without prejudice, Marx could still attempt to revive his claims by properly submitting the required filing fees or completing a valid application to proceed without prepayment, though no indication has emerged that he has taken steps to do so since the July 1 dismissal.

For now, the outcome allows Nanos to continue his work overseeing the Guthrie investigation without the added distraction of ongoing litigation tied to unrelated allegations at the county jail. The search for Nancy Guthrie remains active more than five months after her disappearance, with authorities continuing to work alongside the FBI as they pursue leads in what remains one of the more closely watched missing person investigations in the country. No suspect has been publicly named in the case, and a substantial reward, combining contributions from the Guthrie family, the FBI and a local crime-tip hotline, remains in place for information leading to her safe recovery.

The World Cup is helping to boost consumer spending around the U.S. in June, with host cities seeing notable gains, according to new data from Bank of America.

The Bank of America Institute found that consumer spending using credit and debit cards rose 6.3% from a year ago in June – which was the strongest growth in over four years – based on internal card data from the bank. That growth was largely driven by discretionary spending amid the decline in gas prices, as total card spending was up 5.6% when excluding gasoline.

The firm’s analysis noted that the start of the FIFA World Cup 2026 on June 11 helped lift consumer spending for the month compared to the preceding period.

“The World Cup scored big for consumer spending in June,” Joe Wadford, an economist at the Bank of America Institute, told FOX Business. “Bank of America card spending showed healthy improvement toward the end of the month, due in part to a lift from the World Cup.”

FIFA, WHITE HOUSE MONITORING IMPACT OF CANADA WILDFIRES AHEAD OF WORLD CUP FINAL: SOURCES

England fans celebrate a goal during the match with DR Congo at an Atlanta bar. (James Manning/PA Images via Getty Images)

In looking at card spending since the tournament began, the Bank of America Institute data shows higher consumer spending, particularly at restaurants and bars, which may be attributed to the World Cup. Some of the gains are likely due to online promotions near the end of June, but occurred in July last year, and thus boosted the year-over-year comparison, the firm noted.

The analysis compared brick-and-mortar spending in World Cup host cities based on zip codes with spending in other parts of the U.S., finding that some of the surge has been concentrated in communities where games are being played. Restaurants saw consumer spending rise by two percentage points in host cities, while it was flat in all other cities in that period.

“World Cup host cities saw a significant increase in brick and mortar spending, especially compared to the rest of the U.S.,” Wadford said.

HOW TO WATCH THE 2026 WORLD CUP FINAL THIS SUNDAY

Fans at a New York bar react to a goal in the match between France and Morocco. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Retail data that excluded restaurants also showed a gain for stores in host cities after the World Cup began, whereas non-restaurant retailers everywhere else saw slower spending growth once the tournament began.

“From packed stadiums to busy restaurants, the World Cup created a tailwind for the economy. But two of the main beneficiaries of the World Cup were local retailers and restaurants,” Wadford said.

“To me, this is a particularly positive story, as it suggests that a major portion of World Cup-generated spending stayed in the community.”

A BILLIONAIRE’S BACKING – AND LIFELONG LOVE OF SOCCER – HELPED BRING MAURICIO POCHETTINO TO TEAM USA

Scotland fans in the famed Tartan Army at a bar in Miami. (Ryan McDougall/PA Images via Getty Images)

The Bank of America Institute analysis also looked at the same internal card data by income level, finding that lower-income households in particular increased spending at local brick-and-mortar businesses in host cities, while higher-income households eased their spending slightly.

Additionally, all income groups boosted their spending at brick-and-mortar restaurants when comparing the pre-World Cup period to the timeframe after it began.

“Positively, lower-income households provided the biggest boost to World Cup spending. Some of this is due to the fact that younger households skew lower income, and they were likely the main ones going out to celebrate this generational event,” Wadford explained.

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“But some of the boost is due to this broader story of an improving economy for lower-income households. For example, we’re seeing a stronger labor market and higher wage growth, which in turn is helping to boost spending for lower-income families,” he added.

Romeo Maione
6ix

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening, depending on where in the world you’re signing in from today. I think almost all time zones are represented in our fairly large audience. So I appreciate everybody for joining me. I’m pretty excited. I’ve got a pretty elite panel with me today to discuss the never-ending drama of metals prices, how they impact mining securities.

So I’ve got J.T. Starzecki, Executive Chairman of Guardian Metal Resources; Vincent Metcalfe, President and CEO of Pecoy Copper. I’ve got Shawn Khunkhun, President of Contango Silver & Gold; and Christian Aramayo, COO of Kuya Silver.

We’ve got a lot of metals represented today, should be a very good conversation. So here’s how today is going to work. It’s kind of a loose structure for a conversation to get to the bottom of metals prices, but I’ll also give each company an opportunity to speak to their projects. Now that being said, I don’t think we’re going to have time today for questions about individual securities. So I’ll just note everybody in the chat, you can feel free to ask questions, and I will pass them through to the teams afterwards. But it’s likely we won’t actually cover them during today’s event, just for your reference. But if there is a commentary in the chat that does speak to the conversation we’re having, I’ll try and work it in where I can. And so we’ll be able to incorporate some of that commentary as much as possible.

Saturday’s Wordle puzzle sent players guessing through a word with several unrelated everyday meanings, tripping up some solvers who initially leaned toward livestock-related terms before landing on the correct answer. The solution to Wordle #1,855 for July 18, 2026, is BOOTH.

The word functions as a concrete noun describing a small, enclosed or semi-enclosed space designed for a specific purpose, and it carries several distinct meanings depending on context. A voting booth offers privacy for casting a ballot, a restaurant booth refers to a seating arrangement with high-backed benches, and a telephone booth, a glass-and-steel enclosure once common on city streets before the smartphone era, has largely become a relic of the past. The word also serves as a well-known surname, most notably belonging to John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865.

Structurally, BOOTH features two vowels and three consonants, with one repeated letter: the double “O” that sits in the second and third positions of the word. Puzzle trackers noted that the word begins with the letter B, a relatively uncommon starting letter within the broader pool of Wordle answers, a detail that helped narrow the field of viable guesses for players paying close attention to letter frequency.

Hint sites offered a graduated series of clues throughout the day for players seeking assistance without having the answer spoiled outright. Early hints described the word as referring to a small enclosed area or space designed for a specific purpose, something a person might encounter at restaurants, events, fairs or voting locations, often providing separation or privacy from the surrounding area. Later hints noted the word could describe either a temporary shelter for livestock or an enclosure for privacy, a detail some outlets flagged as intentionally broad to avoid giving away the answer too directly. A final round of clues pointed to the word’s connection to Lincoln’s assassin as the most specific hint offered before the full answer was revealed.

Several puzzle trackers flagged specific false trails that players should watch out for when solving a word like BOOTH, given its double-letter structure. Words such as BOOTS, BOONS and BOOZE were cited as plausible near-misses that share the same opening letters and vowel pattern, potentially leading solvers astray in the middle rounds of guessing before the correct word became clear. The doubled “O” in particular was noted as a common trap in Wordle, since players who confirm one instance of a letter sometimes rule out the possibility of that letter appearing again elsewhere in the word, a habit that can slow down solvers when a puzzle features repeated letters, as has also been the case with past Wordle answers like SHEEP and BLOOM.

According to the New York Times’ WordleBot, which tracks daily performance statistics, detailed completion data for Saturday’s puzzle was still being compiled as of publication, following a pattern in which the previous day’s puzzle, Wordle #1,854 and its answer LEGAL, saw players average roughly 4.0 guesses in easy mode and 3.9 in hard mode, according to WordleBot’s tracking. That reflected a moderately challenging solve for Friday’s law-related word, which also featured a repeated letter in its own double “L” structure.

Wordle, the daily five-letter word-guessing game, was originally developed by software engineer Josh Wardle before its public release in 2021. The game’s simple format, a single new puzzle released once each day worldwide alongside a built-in system for sharing color-coded results without spoiling the answer for others, helped fuel its rapid rise in popularity following its debut. The New York Times acquired the game in early 2022 and has continued publishing a new puzzle daily ever since, with Wordle now standing as one of the paper’s most widely played digital features alongside its Connections, Strands and traditional Crossword puzzles.

Puzzle strategists offered several general tips applicable beyond Saturday’s specific solution. Players are commonly advised to use an opening guess capable of testing several commonly used vowels and consonants at once, helping narrow down which letters belong in the final word before committing to more targeted guesses in later rounds. Solvers are also encouraged to remain open to the possibility of repeated letters rather than assuming every letter in the answer is unique, particularly once several rounds of guessing with distinct letters have failed to produce a solution. For players down to their final two guesses, hint sites recommended prioritizing words that fit all previously confirmed letter placements and exclusions over riskier guesses aimed purely at eliminating additional letters, a strategy generally better suited to earlier rounds of the game when more attempts remain available.

Saturday’s puzzle continued a stretch of varied Wordle solutions throughout the week, following Friday’s LEGAL and Thursday’s BUTTE, a geological term describing an isolated hill with steep sides and a flat top that similarly tripped up players who initially guessed the more common landform term MESA. The run of specialized vocabulary across recent days, spanning law, geology and now a multi-purpose noun tied to voting, dining and a notable historical figure, reflected the broad range of subject matter the puzzle draws from in selecting its daily answers.

Alongside Wordle, the Times also published its daily Spelling Bee puzzle for the previous day, July 17, with a center letter of U and a pangram of ALBUMEN, along with the independently operated word-association game Contexto, whose July 17 answer was ICON, according to puzzle trackers monitoring related word games.

For players who came up short on Saturday’s puzzle, hint sites emphasized that a single missed day need not disrupt a broader Wordle habit, encouraging solvers to return the following day for puzzle #1,856. Wordle’s daily reset occurs at midnight in each player’s local time zone, meaning the puzzle refreshes independently around the world rather than at a single fixed global moment, continuing the game’s now-familiar rhythm of one shared puzzle experienced individually across time zones by millions of solvers each day.