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The builder got up every morning long before dawn, left home to pick up his construction crew and then headed out to work on yet another house somewhere across the sprawl of Houston.

Fourteen hours later, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo would return to the wife he’d met as a teenager in Mexico and the modest house he’d built for his family on the city’s east side.

It’s what he’d done for decades, according to Ronaldo Salgado, his oldest son. He said his father built hundreds of houses over 35 years, creating a life for his family and watching as his three sons headed off to college.

On Tuesday, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Salgado Araujo, 52, after he was pursued by federal agents driving unmarked vehicles while he was taking his crew to their latest job site. The shooting has outraged Houston leaders and renewed public scrutiny over ICE and Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Four Democratic members of Congress who represent the Houston area said at a vigil Saturday that they would push for an independent investigation into the shooting.

“We are never going to forget that his blood is on Donald Trump’s hands,” Rep. Christian Menefee said. “We are not at war. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was not a casualty. He was a human being who was murdered by our government.”

Salgado Araujo was not the target of ICE’s operation

Federal agents were looking for someone else when they tried to stop Salgado Araujo’s white van, Democratic U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia said, citing a briefing she received from ICE’s acting director. The Department of Homeland Security has said an ICE officer fired at the van in self-defense after Salgado Araujo, who officials described as an “illegal alien,” rammed an ICE vehicle. They have provided no evidence.

The three men that Salgado Araujo was driving said he was shot through a passenger window and that the ICE officer who fired was not in front of the van or even in danger, a lawyer who has spoken with them said Friday.

His family has also disputed the account from ICE. They said lawyers, who were helping him apply for a work permit, had explained how he should behave if immigration agents stopped him. Salgado Araujo was close to obtaining legal status when he was killed, they said.

“He knew what to do,” Ronaldo Salgado told reporters this week. “He knew not to sign anything. He knew that the first phone call he should make should be either to myself or to my mom. So that way we can get the process started of getting him out.”

He believes his father may have been scared that he was being followed by unmarked vehicles, worried someone was planning to steal his van or his tools.

The shooting in the heavily Hispanic neighborhood is at least the eighth death during the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement campaign.

A kind, present husband and father

Salgado Araujo entered the U.S. more than 30 years ago, settling in Houston with his wife where they raised their three children.

Education was a constant focus in the house, said Ronaldo Salgado, who is now a teacher. One of his brothers is an engineer. The other is in college studying engineering.

Several childhood friends of Salgado recalled that his father was kind and soft-spoken, always inquiring about his wife’s day and how his sons’ friends were doing after a long day at work.

“We didn’t really see him until the end of the day when he came home to have dinner, but that just shows how much of a hard worker he was,” said neighbor Jessica Alanis Magdaleno. “Everything they have now is thanks to the dedication to that.”

Josué Flores, a friend of Ronaldo Salgado since their freshman year of high school, said he first saw Lorenzo Salgado Araujo at his son’s football game.

“I think it speaks volumes of the kind of person that he was,” Flores said, recalling how Salgado Araujo showed up for his son even after an arduous day of work.

Salgado Araujo’s wife, a relative said, is “inconsolable.”

“She is very upset … angry, sad, disoriented,” Jose Torres Ramon, a nephew who lives in Mexico, told The Associated Press in a Facebook message.

Ronaldo Salgado, his oldest son, said at the Saturday vigil that he hoped he was making his father proud.

“I’ll keep fighting for him,” he said.

His brother Lorenzo Salgado Jr. said the shooting of his father was “a hard moment to be an American.”

“Even though my government, my federal government took away my father, we the people will bring justice,” he said. “We the people are America.”

After coming home in the evening, Salgado Araujo liked to listen to music on the porch and pet the family dog. His family has described him as a simple man of routine.

“He did not deserve to die,” Ronaldo Salgado said. “He dedicated his life in the United States to giving his family the American dream.”

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Associated Press reporters Jack Brook in New Orleans, Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed.

The economy, inflation and how those forces could impact the lives of Americans were front and center over the past week. Trips to the grocery store or gas station are more painful than they were last year, and rising costs are impacting the decisions of both households and businesses.

Here’s a snapshot of prominent economic data and news that occurred over the past week and what it potentially means for you.

IMF expects world economy to grow a sluggish 3% this year

The International Monetary Fund this week downgraded its outlook for the world economy in 2026 citing the energy shock caused by the Iran war. But the fallout from the conflict is being partially offset by booming investment in artificial intelligence and other technologies.

The IMF now expects the global economy to expand by a sluggish 3% in 2026, down from 3.5% last year and from the 3.1% it had forecast for this year back in April. The fund expects worldwide growth to rebound to 3.4% next year.

The IMF expects the U.S. economy — the world’s largest — to grow a solid 2.3% this year, up from 2.1% in 2025 and unchanged from the April forecast. The 21 European countries that share the euro currency, hit hard by higher energy prices, are collectively forecast to grow just 0.9% this year, down from 1.4% in 2025.

US home prices hit all-time high

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slowed in June, but a key measure of home prices climbed to an all-time high, adding to prospective homebuyers’ affordability challenges.

Existing home sales fell 2.4% last month from May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million units, the National Association of Realtors said this week. Sales rose 2.8% compared with June last year.

The latest sales tally fell short of the roughly 4.21 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet.

Despite the lackluster sales, home prices continued to rise nationally last month. The U.S. median sales price increased 1.8% in June from a year earlier to $440,600, an all-time high on data going back to 1999, NAR said. Home prices have risen on an annual basis for 36 months in a row.

The deep divide at the US Fed over inflation

The Federal Reserve’s rate-setting committee is split over whether inflation is likely to stay elevated or whether it will cool once the Iran war winds down, according to minutes released this week.

In the first set of minutes released under new Chair Kevin Warsh, “many” of the Fed’s 19 officials said its key rate would be unchanged from or slightly below its current level of 3.6% by the end of this year. But they also also said that it would likely be higher by year-end.

Forecasts released after the meeting ended June 17 showed that half of the 18 policymakers who submitted projections supported lifting rates by the end of this year, while the other half supported keeping them unchanged or reducing them. Warsh did not submit a forecast, reflecting his view that doing so can lock policymakers into a specific approach that is harder to change if the economy shifts direction.

Iran war may lead to 1st global oil demand slide since pandemic

Global oil demand will likely decline this year for the first time since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic isolated billions of people at home, according to the International Energy Agency.

The agency expects demand to drop by 1 million barrels per day in 2026 due to higher prices and disruptions to physical supply that weighed heavily on various parts of the world.

Most of the decline in demand has been in Asia, which is heavily reliant on oil shipped through the Strait of Hormuz that has largely been shut down to tanker traffic by the war.

Asian nations have altered workdays and made other changes to lower energy use during the war.

One notable exception to the global slump in oil usage was in the United States, where gasoline use increased in the second quarter of 2026, despite the fact that pump prices were almost 50% above their pre-war levels in May.

US jobless claims dip modestly

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits dipped slightly last week as layoffs in the U.S. remain historically low.

U.S. applications for jobless aid in the week ending July 4 ticked down by 2,000 to 215,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet forecast 220,000 new applications.

Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the U.S. job market.

In its more comprehensive June jobs report last week, the government reported that employers pulled back on hiring in June, adding only 57,000 jobs. That’s less than half the previous month’s total and a sign that companies remain cautious.

Wall Street in flux as Iran war drags on

U.S. stocks and oil prices drifted toward a quiet finish of the week Friday following their earlier fireworks on worries about how the war with Iran will affect the global flow of crude.

The S&P 500 rose and was on track to close out a fourth winning week in the last five. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up slightly, and the Nasdaq composite was nearly unchanged.

Oil prices held relatively steady, even after a series of unclaimed airstrikes hit Iran after the U.S. said it finished its attacks.

A widespread and dangerous heat wave is building across the U.S., with triple-digit highs expected in the Southwest and Great Plains this weekend before spreading eastward under a dome of high pressure that meteorologists say could trap oppressive temperatures for a week or more.

Forecasters are advising people to stay hydrated and find places to cool off, warning of temperatures 15 to 25 degrees Fahrenheit (8 to 14 degrees Celsius) warmer than normal in many areas, including at night — especially bad for people’s health because their bodies won’t have a chance to recover. The heat dome is expected to affect as much as two-thirds of the continental United States.

“The heat doesn’t necessarily stop when it’s dark out,” said Josh Adam, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Bismarck, North Dakota, where temperatures will surpass 100 F (37 C) until Tuesday. That is a dramatic spike for a state where summer temperatures are typically in the 80s, he said.

Temperature records will be broken

The National Weather Service predicts that more than 90 U.S. local temperature records will be tied or broken through Wednesday — with two-thirds of those being overnight heat records. Temperatures won’t drop below 80 F (27 C) at night in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Miami; Tampa, Florida; Galveston, Texas; and Charleston, South Carolina, according to the forecast.

The current heat dome — formed when high pressure traps hot air while blocking cooling winds and rain — is one of the strongest to affect the Dakotas in 25 years, said Chad Merrill, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather.

Forecasters expect record triple-digit highs this weekend in Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Nevada, a state accustomed to hot weather, is even hotter than normal, said Andrew Gorelow, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Las Vegas. The temperature in Las Vegas is expected to hit 111 F (48 C) on Saturday, Gorelow said.

Hydrating and finding cool spaces is critical, experts said.

They also warn the heat could spike fire risk to some parts of the country that already are dry, including the Rockies, where Merrill said dry thunderstorms could develop.

Climate change is supercharging heat

Climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas is causing more intense and longer-lasting heat waves that cover larger areas, scientists say.

This year’s temperatures also are expected to be affected by El Nino, a natural warming of the equatorial Pacific that alters weather patterns and spikes temperatures across the globe.

The current El Nino — which formed last month and is too young to have affected this heat wave much — is expected to rank as among the most intense since the weather service began tracking them in 1950, experts said.

It has an 81% chance of becoming “very strong” — the top category — by fall, the the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday.

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

PETERSBURG, Alaska (AP) — On Independence Day, as second-term Republican Dan Sullivan and his chief rival in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race Democrat Mary Peltola headlined parades, the other Dan Sullivan seeking the seat was happily on the sidelines of festivities in this small fishing community he long has called home.

He blended in as well as one can in a town where everyone knows just about everyone else. He was not campaigning. “I didn’t want to turn it into something that was about me rather than about the celebration,” he said.

This Sullivan — Dan. J — has been an unconventional candidate from the start. He drew intense, immediate blowback for having the same name and party affiliation as the senator — Dan. S. — in a race that could help decide control of the Senate in November. The incumbent and GOP allies accused the same-named challenger in the Aug. 18 primary of being a sham candidate working with Democrats to sow confusion and help Peltola. Dan. J. Sullivan and the Peltola campaign have denied that claim.

A top state elections official booted Dan J. Sullivan from the ballot. The Alaska Supreme Court later ordered that he be included.

All candidates, including independents, run in one primary in Alaska. The top four vote-getters advance to the ranked vote general election in November. Primaries in the top races can be crowded, with more than a dozen candidates. Dan. J. Sullivan is among 16 hopefuls in the Senate race. The incumbent and Peltola are the highest-profile candidates and the only ones so far to report raising money.

Petersburg, where the challenger has lived for decades, is an island community of about 3,000 people in southeast Alaska that is accessible only by air or water. Many longtime residents find it hard to believe claims that their Dan Sullivan, a retired elementary and middle school teacher, is a dirty trickster.

“You really have to do a lot of mental gymnastics to suddenly not respect Dan Sullivan, because he’s honestly a very stand-up human being,” said Orin Pierson, publisher of the Petersburg Pilot newspaper.

Petersburg residents reflect and weigh their choices

Even some who do not know how they will vote, or declined to say, criticized the state’s attempts to block the political novice, saying he met the age, residency and citizenship requirements set out by the U.S. Constitution.

“To say somebody can’t run — that he’s fake — that’s fear,” said Linda Bunge, who attended a community potluck at a park where yellowish seaweed carpeted the beach at low tide. Bunge said she probably will vote for Peltola, a former congresswoman, but would consider Dan J. Sullivan.

Jeigh Stanton Gregor, a borough Assembly member who worked with him years ago at the local elementary school, said he was somewhat surprised Sullivan was running because people previously tried to recruit him for local offices. He called Sullivan’s character “unimpeachable.”

Stanton Gregor said he wants to see how the campaign plays out before deciding which candidate to support. Dan J. Sullivan’s concerns about healthcare costs resonate with him, but Stanton Gregor also has found the senator easy to work with and respects Peltola. A registered Democrat, Stanton Gregor said he generally votes for the person, not the party.

“Being a good human carries a lot of weight with me,” he said.

Sullivan regroups after successful court fight

Last month, Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, who oversees elections, announced an investigation into Dan J. Sullivan’s run. She cited “credible allegations” that he ran in coordination with another candidate and campaign in an effort to “manipulate voters.” The announcement came after a lawyer for the National Republican Senatorial Committee asserted that Dan J. Sullivan’s work with a consultant who has worked with Democrats was evidence of an attempt to confuse voters and “rig the election” for Peltola. It is an assertion that the Republican Senate campaign arm has continued to make.

Dan J. Sullivan argued the state had no legal basis to block his candidacy. He said the allegation he worked with Peltola was “entirely false” and that the prior work of a consultant was not a legitimate reason to investigate him. The state Democratic Party and campaign groups denied recruiting Dan J. Sullivan or having any affiliation with him. The director of the state Division of Elections, Carol Beecher, in disqualifying him, did not mention finding any evidence of coordination.

But she determined he had not filed a “good-faith candidacy.” She cited factors such as his lack of affiliation with the Republican Party before filing and having a campaign site similar in appearance to the senator’s.

A state court judge voided her decision, ruling it was not based on constitutional or legal requirements and that there was not enough evidence to support her conclusion that Dan J. Sullivan aimed to confuse voters. The state Supreme Court affirmed placing him on the ballot but left to the Division of Elections to figure out how to do that.

While the challenger sought to appear as Republican Dan J. Sullivan, he is listed as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., with no party affiliation. The senator is listed as Republican Dan S. Sullivan and as “incumbent,” a title not included for other candidates seeking reelection.

Dan J. Sullivan said he does not think that is fair, but if the agency’s concern “is truly that I’m going to confuse people, then this certainly will be a way that people should not be confused.”

He acknowledges his name gives him an advantage over the 13 candidates with little to no name recognition or campaign support. He is now trying to figure how to make the most of the limelight and deal with the scrutiny. He plans to take steps to fundraise and may campaign in other communities and participate in forums. Sullivan has a Facebook page and a basic campaign website.

“I want something to change, and it’s my right to do that,” he said. “I could put up a yard sign; I could write letters. In this case, I thought, wow, this would reach a lot more people.”

Trump’s compensation fund was a motivation to run

There was not one issue that prompted the Petersburg Sullivan to run, but he said he had grown frustrated by a senator he sees as unresponsive to constituents. He also wanted the incumbent to join Alaska’s senior senator, Republican Lisa Murkowski, in speaking out against a compensation fund proposed by the Trump administration and the possibility rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, could benefit from it.

Dan J. Sullivan said he worries President Donald Trump’s tariff policies and the war with Iran are driving up costs for Alaskans. He does not see the rural healthcare funding approved by Congress last year and promoted as transformational by the senator as helping address immediate needs.

Petersburg, like many small Alaska communities, has limited healthcare options. Residents needing specialized care must travel to larger cities. Residents will often maximize a trip to Juneau, the nearest city of size, by taking their vehicles on the state-run ferry and stocking up at Costco on cheaper groceries and supplies.

Resident Grace Wolf said she appreciates what the senator has done, saying he is fiscally responsible and that she likes his military background. The senator was a long-serving Marine and retired as a colonel in the Marine Corps Reserve. But “I feel like this time around, grassroots might be the way to go,” she said.

She plans to vote for Dan J. Sullivan, whom she knows as Mr. Sullivan.

Wolf worries about people being able to afford to stay in or move to the area and about protecting the health of local fisheries so important to the economy. Having people in office who can relate to those challenges is important, she said.

“I think we stand a better chance with having them at the helm and protecting our interests. It doesn’t matter if they’ve got a ‘D’ or an ‘R’ by their names. They’re our neighbors and they know what we’re going through.”