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Good morning,

In a surprise to government officials in South Carolina, they recently found the state had a bank account holding $1.8 billion. The issue: they don’t know where the money came from nor what it was intended for.

• Treasurer Curtis Loftis says he invested the money in the mystery account, which has made nearly $200 million in interest.

• The blame game: He didn’t let state lawmakers know. Why? He says it wasn't his job. Loftis says the comptroller general — the state’s top accountant — was supposed to alert leaders. But, that office is pointing the finger back at Loftis. It’s a mess.

• Before the state spends the money, it is investigating how the money got there.

This all begs the question, why don’t WE ever find bank accounts with a billion dollars in them?

Happy Friday Eve!

Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren

Mo News Podcast: A daily conversation about the news that matters.

☢️ BIDEN LOOKS AT NUCLEAR POWER TO HELP FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE

The Biden administration announced yesterday that it will give a Michigan nuclear power plant that stopped operations a $1.5 billion loan to restart. If successful, it will mark the first revival of a nuclear facility in US history, with operations potentially resuming next year.

The move comes as the US and other developed countries are turning back to nuclear power as a solution to curb CO2 emissions and climate change.

GOING NUCLEAR
The project aims to bring back the Palisades nuclear plant, which stopped operating in May 2022 due to financial troubles. The current owner was set to dismantle it, but Michigan lawmakers and the Biden administration had other plans.

• More nuclear power aligns with the Biden administration’s ambitious climate agenda — which includes plans to decarbonize the electric grid by 2035.

  • Nuclear power plants produce electricity without emitting the greenhouse gas emissions that are warming the planet, a feature that has made them popular with lawmakers. But many of the country’s nuclear reactors are near the end of their lives and need major upgrades.

• Nuclear energy is more expensive to produce than fossil fuels, solar, and wind energy— leading to a dozen reactors closing in the US since 2013.

  • Few U.S. companies have built new nuclear plants in recent decades because doing so is incredibly expensive and time consuming. So now the government is stepping in.

• Without a federal loan, the company would decommission the site. The project is anticipated to avoid 4.47 million tons of CO2 emissions per year, and will help power about 800,000 homes. It will take a few months to finalize the loan deal.

Concerns: Opponents to the deal are asking to meet with the NRC over what they call a “zombie reactor.” There are fears following nuclear accidents in the US and abroad, but the Department of Energy is calling it an “important source of safe” and “reliable” energy.

CURRENT US SUPPLY
With less than 5% of the world’s population, the US consumes 16% of the world’s energy. The US joined 33 counties last week in pledging to use nuclear power to reduce fossil fuels dependence.

• The US has under 100 nuclear power reactors that collectively generated 18% of all US electricity in 2022.

• Other players: Over the summer, a Georgia nuclear power plant became operational and was the first in the nation to build a nuclear reactor from scratch in decades. But, it cost about $35 billion. It was seven years late and $17 billion over budget— discouraging more construction.

📌 BALTIMORE BRIDGE UPDATE: VICTIMS, WHY THE US GOVT IS PAYING & MORE

Divers have now recovered the bodies of two of the six missing construction workers who were on the Francis Scott Key Bridge, when it was struck by a cargo ship and collapsed into the Patapsco River. However, officials say the search effort has been exhausted, and conditions are no longer safe for divers.

HERE is the audio of Maryland Transportation Authority Police dispatch right before the collapse. They had less than two minutes from the mayday call before the ship crashed into the bridge. In it, you can hear how close police came to being able to warn the construction workers.

THE LATEST
The remains of the two workers found Wednesday were identified as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26. The workers are originally from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Several leave behind young children. Here is a link to a fundraiser to help their families.

• Crews recovered the black black box from the ship, which can provide clues as to what went wrong.

• Timeline on construction: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said, “rebuilding will not be quick, or easy, or cheap.” The original bridge took five years to construct in the 1970s.

  • The #1 priority is getting the area cleared so that cargo ships can pass through and consumers don’t feel too much disruption to the supply chain.

• Paying for the deal: US officials want the work of rebuilding the bridge to get started immediately, and say that those at fault will be held responsible for the costs… eventually.

  • The Biden administration will go to Congress for more money for the project. Reuters reports insurers could need to pay as much as $4 billion, which would make the tragedy a record shipping insurance loss.

  • But what about the ‘Titanic’ law? A US law from 1851, which was used by the owners of the Titanic, caps the ship owner’s liability at how much the vessel is worth after the crash.

GETTING THE PORT OPEN
In 2023, the port handled $80 billion of foreign cargo — the largest in the country— and the bridge carried about 33,000 vehicles daily. To reopen the port, the ship needs to be disentangled from the bridge and debris cleared. The soonest that could happen is mid-May.

⛪️ TAKE ME TO CHURCH… MORE AMERICANS ARE SAYING NO

Easter is this Sunday, there is about two weeks left of Ramadan, and Passover begins next month. However, the holy days come as new polling shows Americans are going to fewer religious services. Attendance is down for nearly every denomination, except for Jews and Muslims.

THE NUMBERS
30% of American adults attend religious services every week or nearly every week. 11% of Americans report attending about once a month, and a majority, 56%, never or seldom attend services, a Gallup poll finds.

• US States with the most/least attendance: Leading the states with the lowest attendance are Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, where over two-thirds of adults say they never/seldom attend religious services. Meanwhile, the states with the best attendance are Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana.

• Top attendance: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, previously known as the Mormon Church, has the highest turnout. Two-thirds of members attend church weekly/almost weekly. 44% of Protestants attend services regularly, while Muslims (38%) round out the top three.

CHURCH & STATE
A Pew Research Center survey finds that eight out of 10 American adults say religion’s role across the country is shrinking. And about half of US adults think that’s a bad thing.

And, to make it political… most Americans don’t see Trump OR Biden as very religious. Though, Trump announced this week that he has endorsed a $60 bible that includes the text of the US Constitution.

• Mo News deep cut: Here’s Trump in 2015 asked about his favorite Bible verse.

⏳ SPEED READ

🚨NATION

📌 Obama & Clinton jump in to help Biden raise big $$$ tonight (CNN)

📌 NYPD makes arrest in viral TikTok punching case—as Bethenny Frankel says she was hit, too (FORBES)

📌 New Polls: Majority in U.S. now disapprove of Israeli actions in Gaza; The more closely you follow the headlines, the more likely you are to support Israel (GALLUP)

📌 Texas’ migrant arrest law will remain on hold under new court ruling (AP)

🌎 AROUND THE WORLD

📌 Thailand poised to legalize same-sex marriage after parliament passes bill (THE GUARDIAN)

📌 More than 1 billion meals were wasted per day in 2022, according to new UN report (ABC NEWS)

📌 Largest cocaine shipment of the year seized in Colombian Caribbean after high-speed boat chase (CBS NEWS)

📌 China's Xi meets American CEOs in bid to boost confidence in ailing economy (NBC NEWS)

📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

📌 Settlement reached in lawsuit between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis allies and Disney (AXIOS)

📌 A faster spinning Earth may cause timekeepers to subtract a second from world clocks (AP)

📌 Rare ancient bacteria found on Bronze Age teeth reveals the impact a key dietary shift had on human health (CNN)

📌 Sam Bankman-Fried awaits Thursday sentencing for his role in FTX cryptocurrency exchange fraud (NBC NEWS)

🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT

📌 Guns found at Sean 'Diddy' Combs' L.A. and Miami properties during federal searches (NBC NEWS)

📌 All the abuse allegations against Diddy (THE WRAP)

📌 The View hosts accuse black author of being a ‘pawn’ for the right (FOX NEWS)

📌 Martin Scorsese to host and produce religious docuseries for Fox News (GUARDIAN)

📌 March Madness Sweet 16 starts today: A preview (CBS NEWS)

📌 Beyoncé reveals track-list for new album “Cowboy Carter” (PITCHFORK)

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🗓 ON THIS DAY: MARCH 28

• 1797: American Nathaniel Briggs receives a patent for the washing machine.

• 1977: “Rocky” wins best picture at the Academy Awards. 8 sequels will be made.
  

• 1979: America’s worst commercial nuclear accident happened in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. An automatic valve mistakenly closed at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near.

• 1992: En Vogue release their ‘Funky Divas’ album, including “My Lovin’”