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Pro wrestler LaBron Kozone talks decision to sign with MLW, getting called 'generational' prospect

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 14:51:59 -0400

Pro wrestler LaBron Kozone signed a multi-year deal with Major League Wrestling (MLW) in March and was immediately described as a blue-chip and "generational" prospect.

Kozone won a few matches and is heading into Saturday’s "Fusion" looking to enact some revenge against Joe Coffey as the Scottish superstar took out legendary authority figure Teddy Long on a previous show.

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Kozone talked to Fox News Digital about his decision to sign with MLW in a recent interview

"It was just a great opportunity just with how things are going today in the wrestling world, you want to put yourself in a predicament where you become most effective, you know?" he said. "You just look at the states where you have so many different promotions out there, what's going on in their universe and I know a lot of people in different universes and I'm looking at MLW and it's just like, OK, for me it’s probably the best situation with everything that I have going on in my obligation in pro wrestling.

"It goes deeper than just inside the ring and wrestling but it's how can I help people out outside the ring because I run Firestar Pro Wrestling Training School. So it's not only an opportunity for me, but it's opportunity for a lot of my students who are already getting a lot of opportunity. And plus, MLW is the fastest rising pro wrestling promotion out there right now. It's the most accessible and it's the fastest rising. Every show that I've attended, even before I got signed, it's been sold out. I feel like they're definitely pressing on something game changing."

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MLW owner Court Bauer was the one who called Kozone a "blue-chipper and a generational prospect" earlier this year when the company announced Kozone’s signing.

Kozone said he wasn’t quite sure what being a "blue-chipper" was but agreed with the notion that he was a "generational" talent.

"Honestly, just to be quite frank, I don't know what blue chip means. But generational talent, I can understand that," he said. "I appreciate (it). That means once in a lifetime, which I do agree with. I feel like I am a once in a lifetime not just talent but once-in-a-lifetime person. To (have) done what I done, have as much impact as I've had if only been in it for a little bit over a decade."

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He previously told Fox News Digital that if he’s able to dispatch Coffey, he’s looking to go after some gold next.

Police reveal new details about gunman, 5 victims killed in rural Michigan shooting rampage

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 18:47:42 -0400

State police on Saturday identified the ages of six people, including a suspected gunman, who were killed Friday in rural Missaukee County, Michigan, multi-scene shooting.

On Friday, Michigan State Police (MSP) shared on social media that officers were investigating a shooting in the area that was reported just before noon and that authorities were looking for suspect Chad Hickman, 39, who they said should be considered "armed and dangerous."

In an update on Saturday afternoon, police revealed the ages and genders of the victims.

At around 11:40 a.m. local time Friday, state troopers were dispatched to a home on South LaChance Road in Lake Township, where they found three people who had been killed, including a 45-year-old man, 40-year-old woman and 16-year-old boy.

NEW YORK STATE POLICE LAUNCH MANHUNT AFTER KILLING, HOUSE FIRE FOR 'ARMED AND DANGEROUS' SUSPECT

In the same home, troopers also found a 13-year-old girl who had been shot, according to MSP.

Authorities said she was taken to the hospital in critical condition. As of Saturday afternoon, she is in stable condition.

During the "large-scale" search for Hickman, police found a fourth body at another home in Missaukee County belonging to a 53-year-old man, authorities said.

State police said Hickman's car was seen near a wooded area where his body, along with the body of a 29-year-old woman were later found.

Police said there is no ongoing danger to the public, and that the investigation remains ongoing.

The names of the victims have not yet been publicly released.

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"Not only is this difficult for our investigators and our troopers, but it's very hard for this community. You know, this type of loss is tragic," MSP public information officer Lt. Ashley Miller told UpNorthLive. "We're going to conduct a thorough investigation. And we want to make sure to keep our community members up to date on our current situation and what we're discovering throughout this process."

Missaukee County is located roughly three hours north of Detroit.

Retired Navy SEALS plunge into New York Harbor for patriotic swim honoring service and sacrifice

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 14:27:49 -0400

This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Navy SEALs, veterans, first responders and others plunged into the waters of New York Harbor Saturday morning for the annual NYC SEAL Swim, which honors the service and sacrifice of America's greatest heroes.

"This is all about honoring our fallen," retired Navy SEAL Brad Geary told Fox News' Joey Jones. "Honoring our country, honoring God."

Against the backdrop of the Statue of Liberty, Geary joined fellow retired Navy SEALs Bill Brown and Jimmy May to reflect on the mission behind the event, which combines miles of swimming and physical challenges with tributes to those who served and sacrificed.

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Brown, who founded the NYC SEAL Swim, said the location itself is part of the message.

"[We chose the setting] because of the Statue of Liberty and what she represents: our freedoms, our civil liberties," he said.

"Ellis Island, what does she represent? All the men and women who came to our country for a better life, our nation's diversity. Let's talk about Empty Sky Memorial, what does she represent? All the Americans who lost their lives on 9/11," Brown added.

"We love this country."

May, a retired SEAL commander who founded Beyond the Brotherhood, the event's 2026 beneficiary, said the mission for the nonprofit grew out of his own difficult transition from military to civilian life and the loss of four friends to suicide.

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"When I first got out of the teams, a lot of my friends, four, to be specific, had killed themselves, and I wasn't sure what to do," May said. "I felt really alone."

That experience drove May to build the kind of support network he felt was missing, connecting fellow SEALs with a renewed sense of community, service and purpose.

May said the organization has since received an "outpouring of support" from across the country.

Saturday's gathering brought together veterans, first responders, supporters and families of the fallen.

Some of those families have found their own meaning in the tradition, with many returning year after year to stand alongside the SEAL community.

"It means so much," said Cindy Dietz, a Gold Star mom whose son, Navy SEAL Danny Dietz, was killed in Afghanistan in 2005.

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"I've been here... since Bill started. And to watch the team guys, to be with the team guys means so much to me."

Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr gets kneed in the head during chaotic play, leaves game

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 14:13:44 -0400

Unfortunately for Toronto Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr., baseball can sometimes be a contact sport.

In the bottom of the sixth inning during the Blue Jays’ 3-1 win over the New York Yankees on Friday at the Rogers Centre, Guerrero took a knee to the head in a chaotic play.

The Blue Jays were trailing 1-0 with runners on first and second base with one out and George Springer up to bat. Nathan Lukes was on second base, while Guerrero was on first.

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Springer rolled over on Gerrit Cole’s fastball and hit a weak ground ball to third baseman Ryan McMahon. The Yankees’ third baseman charged the ball, stepped on third base, retiring Lukes, and fired to first base to try to complete the inning-ending double play.

Instead, McMahon threw it in the dirt, and first baseman Luis Garcia Jr. was unable to make the catch. When Garcia tried to pick the ball out of the dirt, his glove flew off and the ball went away from him. Guerrero looked to capitalize on the blunder and took off for third base.

Garcia finally recovered, grabbed the ball and fired a bullet to third base. The problem? No one was covering the bag.

Yankees shortstop George Lombard Jr. was a couple of paces off the bag, and Garcia’s throw went into foul territory. As Lombard went to pursue the ill-advised throw, he ran into Guerrero and kneed him in the head, dislodging his helmet.

Despite looking dazed, Guerrero scampered home to tie the game at 1-1. After scoring, he bent over and received help from his teammates as he made his way to the dugout. Guerrero was removed from the game after the collision.

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Manager John Schneider said Guerrero had "a little bit of a headache" after the collision.

"Kind of precautionary right now," Schneider said of the decision to remove Guerrero. "We'll see how he is tomorrow."

McMahon and Garcia were both charged with errors on the play.

"Just didn't work out, man," McMahon said of the play. "Obviously led to a couple of runs for them and that hurts."

Guerrero, who signed a 14-year, $500 million contract extension with the Blue Jays last season, has had a down year. The six-time All-Star is hitting .263 with just seven home runs and 46 RBI.

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The lack of power is astounding, as he has hit at least 23 home runs in every full season of his career. He has not hit a home run at home this year.

While he might not be providing the thump the Blue Jays are used to, he still anchors the middle of their lineup. Losing him would be a significant blow to a Blue Jays team that is in pursuit of the third Wild-Card spot in the American League.

The Blue Jays (60-64) will play the Yankees (68-54) in the second game of their three-game series on Saturday at 3:07 p.m. ET and will hope to have their star first baseman in the lineup.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Exclusive: Israel seizes vast Iran terror axis arsenal with surprising foreign origins

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 13:49:48 -0400

JERUSALEM: Fox News Digital gained rare access to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Tzrifin Base in Central Israel, where a vast number of confiscated rockets, grenades, drones, sniper rifles, automated weapons, anti-tank rocket launchers, mortars and other military firepower used by Hezbollah and Hamas are stored.

The seized arsenal of weapons — ranging in manufacturers from the Islamic Republic of Iran to Russia, China to homegrown producers in Lebanon and Gaza and even a Nazi-era gun —were part of the war machinery used by Hamas and Hezbollah against Israeli civilians and the IDF since Hamas terrorists attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The IDF said Hezbollah also used weapons against Lebanese civilians. Hezbollah and Hamas — members of Iran’s so-called "axis of resistance." The terror groups have killed over 300 American citizens according to reports.

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The Jewish state fought a multi-front war against Iran and its proxies at the height of the conflict. The remains of Iranian rockets litter the ground outside the weapons storage facility at Tzrifin for journalists to inspect.

Tehran fired rockets into civilian areas during the war, including large cities such as Tel Aviv and Be’ersheva. Just days after the joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran in late February, the Islamic Republic fired a ballistic missile into Beersheba, causing injuries to 19 people.

To the ordinary eye, it is a Herculean challenge to decipher the small Nazi swastika emblem on the German World War 2-era MG-34 machine gun seized at a Hezbollah terrorist compound in Lebanon. But, for the Israeli military commander of the Captured Equipment Evacuation Unit, Lt. Col. (res.) Idan Sharon-Kettler, it is a run-of-the-mill exercise in weapons identification.

The German MG-34 has the "markings of an eagle carrying a swastika stamped on it," said Sharon-Ketler.

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Sharon-Kettler told Fox News Digital that the Nazi machine gun was used as "propaganda or for morale" of the Iranian regime-backed terrorists in Lebanon. A second Nazi-era assault rifle was confiscated from Hezbollah—the MP 44 (also termed StG 44).

Hamas and Hezbollah, both of whom are designated by the U.S. as terrorist organizations, employed sophisticated methods to transform vehicles into high-intensity offensive weapons. So-called dual-use technology (equipment that can be used for civilian and military purposes) is the bread and butter of Hamas and Hezbollah.

"Motorcycles like these took Israelis hostages," said Sharon-Kettler, as he showed an Egyptian Halawa Motors motorcycle that was captured in Israel on 10/7. The Iranian regime-backed Hamas terrorist movement killed over 1,200 people on 10/7, including more than 40 American citizens. Hamas took over 250 people hostage on the same day.

The IDF also captured rockets from Palestinian Islamic Jihad that were used as "propaganda dummies" during parades against Israel in Gaza.

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The IDF seized all-terrain vehicles (ATV) used by Hezbollah in Lebanon to hold rockets and terrorists. One captured ATV was designed to hold six rockets with launchers."You can sit on top of a hill and control a road that goes underneath. And with six anti-tank rockets you will stop almost any vehicle that passes," said Sharon-Kettler.

He said the ATVs provide great utility for Hezbollah in the rugged, hilly landscape of southern Lebanon.

Iranian-produced mortars were also on display at the IDF base. "We found hundreds" of mortars in Lebanon, said Sharon-Kettler. The IDF captured drones, including decay drones. Sharon-Kettler said some of the Hezbollah drones are used "to make noise" in order to "divert [IDF]resources."

According to Sharon-Kettler, the IDF captured "dozens" of Iranian regime-produced canons in south Lebanese villages, where Hezbollah’s core base exists. "In many houses the canons were pointing out of windows," said Sharon-Kettler. One cannon seized in Lebanon was of Russian origin.

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Hezbollah, like its counterpart Hamas in Gaza, embeds its terrorists in residential areas and civilian structures, including hospitals, schools and mosques. The IDF storage facility was packed with Russian-produced AK-47 automatic rifles and various versions of it.

The IDF captured more recent Russian AK-103 and AK-104 automatic rifles in southern Lebanon. "Light sniper rifles, some made in Iran, some Russian, are very common with Hezbollah and Hamas," said Sharon-Kettler.

Israel’s army also seized a highly decorated Turkish hunting rifle that was used by Hezbollah. The IDF found many highly sophisticated Austrian Steyr sniper rifles, including the Austrian Steyr HS .50 caliber sniper rifle, in possession of Hezbollah. Sharon-Kettler showed an Iranian replicated version of the Steyr sniper rifle.

The IDF collected submachine guns in Lebanon that were manufactured by China and Russia, as well as anti-tank launchers produced by Russia and Iran, said the IDF weapons expert.

Additional merchandise seized by the IDF includes all the trappings of a professional army and guerrilla terrorist forces. Well-crafted uniforms made in Syria, China and Lebanon along with helmets, anti-shrapnel vests, and medical kits are part of the IDF's confiscated war equipment.

Sharon-Kettler explained the reasons for Israel being in Lebanon. "Even after the agreement we had with the Lebanese army and government, once we entered Lebanon again, we kept finding everything that is here. For me, it means, if we are not doing the work to clean Lebanon from military entities targeting are civilians, nobody else is doing that."

The IDF commander referred to the November 2024 ceasefire agreement reached between Lebanon and Israel to cease the war between Jerusalem and the Hezbollah terrorist organization. Hezbollah joined Hamas in its war on Israel on Oct. 8, 2023

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A State Department official recently told Fox News on background that the U.S.-led effort for Lebanon’s government to disarm Hezbollah and for a staged withdrawal of IDF troops from southern Lebanon will continue.

The next round of talks is scheduled for early September in Rome. The State Department official said, "We feel good about the trajectory" of the talks and added, "We are not naive about the difficulties. Hezbollah is trying to sabotage the process, and both Israel and Lebanon are democracies under domestic political stress. But the fact that the teams sat together, communicated directly, and generated options is itself a structural change."

Former New York Knicks forward Charles Oakley has lawsuit against Madison Square Garden dismissed

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 13:46:10 -0400

Former New York Knicks forward Charles Oakley’s lawsuit against Madison Square Garden and owner James Dolan was dismissed for a third time Friday.

The legal drama between the former Knicks star and Dolan dates back to February 2017, when Oakley was thrown out of MSG following an altercation with arena security guards.

The case was initially tossed in early 2020, then again in 2021 and revived in early 2023 before once again being tossed this week.

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After Oakley's removal from MSG, he was subsequently arrested and although the charges were eventually dropped, Oakley filed suit claiming false imprisonment and defamation, among other claims.

MSG released a statement saying they plan on pursuing legal action against Oakley's lawyer Douglas Windsor and his "unscrupulous law firm," according to the New York Post.

"For more than nine years, Mr. Oakley’s lawyers have pursued claims they knew were false," MSG said in its statement to the Post. "Those claims have now been dismissed by the Court in their entirety — for a third time. We are pursuing legal action against Douglas Wigdor, and his unscrupulous law firm, to hold them accountable for years of frivolous litigation and their blatant abuse of the judicial system."

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Oakley's legal team released a statement of its own concerning the dismissal of his lawsuit.

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"We are disappointed with the Court’s rulings. We believe there are conflicting accounts and only a jury can decide what exactly happened. We are hopeful that the Second Circuit will agree for a third time and remand the case for an immediate jury trial."

The 6'8" Oakley played for the Knicks for more than a decade, helping the team reach the NBA Finals in 1994 and earning All-Star and All-Defensive Team considerations during that same season.

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His long-standing public feud with Dolan hasn't stopped Oakley from supporting the team, though, as the former Knicks enforcer attended several road playoff games en route to New York's first NBA Championship in over 50 years.

Court filings reveal Kyrsten Sinema had sex multiple times with married bodyguard while serving as senator

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 13:44:14 -0400

Former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema testified that she repeatedly had sex with her then-married security guard while she was in office representing Arizona, according to federal court filings.

Matthew Ammel's ex-wife, Heather Ammel, is suing the Democrat-turned-independent, who left office at the beginning of last year, for allegedly breaking up her 14-year marriage.

Heather Ammel sued Sinema in a North Carolina court under the state’s alienation-of-affection law. Sinema's legal team moved the case to federal court, then sought dismissal there, arguing her relationship with Matthew Ammel occurred outside North Carolina and that the federal court lacked personal jurisdiction over her.

Sinema, who is unmarried, said in a July 31 deposition that she first had sex with Ammel around Memorial Day 2024.

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"We were staying at an Airbnb in Napa, California. We were outside. Matt kissed me. We went inside and had sex," Sinema said in her deposition, which took place at a law office in Raleigh.

Sinema said she and Ammel were staying at the property with her friends Penny and Grant Croissant, along with another member of her security detail.

Their next tryst came in June when Sinema said she attended the wedding of CNN anchor Jessica Dean in New York City. She and Ammel had separate hotel rooms but were "intimate" in Sinema's room, she said in the deposition.

In mid-July, the two had sex at her Washington, D.C., apartment after taking a red-eye flight from the West Coast, Sinema said, according to the transcript.

And in mid-August, Sinema and Ammel traveled to Aspen, Colorado, for a "fundraising trip." She had sex with him again during that trip, she said.

Sinema was not able to recall another supposed sexual encounter with him in Washington, D.C., in late September, though Ammel confirmed it in his own deposition.

The affair continued into October 2024, when the two had sex at Sinema's house in Phoenix.

Sinema acknowledged that she knew Ammel had three children and was married amid all the sexual encounters.

During her deposition, a lawyer asked Sinema about a photo she texted to Ammel of herself in a towel.

"I'm an endurance athlete. So a photograph of me with cupping marks is about sports," Sinema responded, saying she didn't specifically recall a photo of herself in a towel that she sent.

In another message to Ammel, Sinema wrote, "Putting my hand on your heart. I'll see you soon. I miss you."

UTAH SUPREME COURT JUSTICE RESIGNS AMID PROBE INTO ALLEGED RELATIONSHIP WITH REDISTRICTING ATTORNEY

"You understand, Ms. Sinema, don't you, that a wife reading this might get concerned about who is sending her husband that kind of message referring to putting his — her hand on his heart? Can you see that?" the lawyer asked. Sinema said, "Yes."

Heather Ammel also sat for a deposition in the case. She recalled discovering the affair when her husband came home "severely intoxicated" while they were staying at her parent's house, according to her testimony.

In the deposition, Heather Ammel read aloud a message she discovered on her husband's phone from Sinema.

"I hope your day was okay. Thinking of you. I am with you. I keep waking up during my sleep and reaching over for your arms to hold me," the message read. A screenshot of the message was visible in court filings.

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In a text message she sent to her husband in June 2024, Heather Ammel described Sinema as "insidious" and "a woman who is willing to break up a family."

Later in the deposition, Heather Ammel testified that her husband is an "established liar and manipulator," adding that she thought he was "actively manipulating" her and Sinema.

The Ammels separated on Nov. 1, 2024, and their divorce was finalized in March 2026, according to court records.

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In the case against Sinema, there will be an evidentiary hearing on Aug. 19, per court documents.

Bill Maher rips immigrants who refuse to adapt, says American values are ‘not negotiable’

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 13:25:29 -0400

Comedian Bill Maher argued Friday that immigrants must assimilate to American culture and accept certain fundamental values like gay rights, women's equality and free speech, saying those principles are "not White values," but liberal ones.

During his latest episode of HBO’s "Real Time," Maher blasted both sides of the political spectrum for their approach to immigration within the country — adding that there is "no doubt" that Democrats and Republicans "went to extremes."

"If you want the American dream, you have to take the American values," he said.

However, a public policy professor at Penn State University told Fox News Digital that Maher had it wrong.

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"Biden's policy of open doors, and then Trump's policy of broken windows," Maher continued. "Now, I'm on the page of America doing what it used to do so well — stealing hard-working, talented immigrants from around the world and making them Americans."

He went on to point to his belief that "something has changed" in the attitude of those immigrating to the United States who may no longer believe they should adapt to western cultural standards.

"Now, most immigrants still want to assimilate, but some now have this other attitude of, ‘melting pot? F--- you, you melt," Maher said, while cracking a joke. "Look, you don’t have to love everything about America. We don’t. That’s why Yelp was invented."

"But, you know, if you do get past ICE, America’s actually pretty cool," he continued. "We say, ‘You do you.’ Eat the food your grandma cooked. Speak another language at home. Celebrate religious holidays. We welcome your food, your art, your fashion, your first ladies."

But according to Maher, the price of immigration comes with a cost.

"But you have to answer one question: Do you like Western civilization? Because that’s what we are. And that’s not negotiable," he said.

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"Honor killings, not letting women show their faces, polygamy, cousin f---ing, female genital mutilation — there’s lots of stuff we don’t do here, and it’s non-negotiable," Maher said. "And it’s not ‘White values.’ These are liberal values. People fought and died to establish them. And it’s not racist to say if you want to come here to help form a more perfect union, great. But some things are too fundamental to change."

But the framing itself drew pushback from Nicole Kreisberg, an assistant professor in the School of Public Policy and the Department of Sociology at Penn State, who told Fox News Digital that Maher had the country's history backward.

"In my view, Maher makes it seem as if America is built on a foundation of the 'melting pot,' rather than on 'assimilation,'" Kreisberg said. "To me, America is built on an attitude of 'assimilate or don't come.'"

Kreisberg said that immigrants from all countries have historically been expected to assimilate to American culture, with harsh cultural consequences for those who either fail or cannot manage to do so.

"Throughout history, the U.S. state has actually built up systems to discourage immigrants from pursuing this ‘melting pot’ strategy," Kreisberg told Fox News Digital. "Immigrants often face discrimination for speaking languages other than English in public; and for immigrants to advance in their U.S. careers, they often must speak English."

Kreisberg added that for over two centuries, immigrants who hailed from countries with a large European population fared better than those who arrived in the country as racial minorities.

"Immigrants past and present — such as Irish and Italians historically, or Chinese immigrants today — have sought to assimilate to avoid discrimination by changing their names to more ‘American’ ones, by adopting their food preferences for their children and by changing their political preferences," Kreisberg said, adding, "But unlike was the case with Irish or Italians, who eventually did manage to assimilate to become ‘White’ Americans, contemporary immigrants are struggling because of pivotal differences in how they are racialized."

"In other words, no matter how much they try to assimilate, they may continue to face discrimination based on their skin tone," she said.

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On Friday, Maher turned to the audience and asked if "gay rights is one of our values that’s non-negotiable?" — eliciting a round of applause from the crowd.

He pointed to congressional candidate Melissa Chaudhry, a progressive Democrat challenging longtime Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., and her failure to include LGBTQ+ rights as one of the causes she supports.

When she was previously asked why her website did not mention LGBTQ+ issues, Chaudhry reportedly said, "because a lot of Muslims do not feel that way, unfortunately," according to The Stranger.

Maher blasted this stance during his segment Friday, while condemning what he believes is a shift in progressive policy to see "everything as oppressor versus oppressed, but can’t see who actually does a lot of oppressing."

"So let me ask, is this the progressive policy now? Is Ms. Chaudhry right?" he said. "We throw gay people under the bus any time it clashes with what makes Muslims uncomfortable?"

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He then looked to dismantle a quote from activist Linda Sarsour, saying, "Our number one priority is our community. It is not to assimilate."

"OK, but that’s not really how immigration works," Maher said. "If I move to Japan, I don’t get to say, ‘OK, everybody. A couple of changes. First of all, shoes stay on in the house now. Also, no more tentacle porn, that’s gone.'"

Maher’s argument continued as he pointed out several cultural practices that are considered taboo in western civilization — adding that anyone who comes to America should not expect the country to compromise on such beliefs.

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However, Maher concluded his argument by contradicting Kreisberg’s stance, insisting that his belief that immigrants should respect American values has nothing to do with "Islamaphobia," but instead a basic belief that those living within the country should respect the fundamental rights it protects.

"Now, you can, and I’m sure some of you are screaming, ‘Islamophobia!’ But that’s just a bulls--- word to cow people into not talking about this," Maher said. "This has nothing to do with non-whites becoming the majority. I don’t give a s--- about that. I don’t give a s--- about colors. White people — they’re White, they’re not pandas. I care about liberal values being replaced by illiberal ones."

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Fox News Digital's Stepheny Price contributed to this report.

Actor charged with 24 felony counts in alleged child sexual abuse case

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 12:54:36 -0400

A California actor and producer is facing 24 felony charges after investigators said he used online casting calls to contact minors as part of an alleged pattern of child sexual abuse spanning decades.

Shane Ryan Gledhill, 46, of Lompoc, was arrested Aug. 3 after Santa Barbara County Sheriff's detectives spent nearly five years investigating accusations of exploitation.

Gledhill, whose work involved projects connected to actors including Shelley Duvall, Tom Arnold, Richard Dreyfuss and Ed Harris, was initially booked on 15 felony charges. That total has now climbed to 24.

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The investigation began in November 2021, when a 17-year-old survivor approached Santa Barbara County Sheriff's investigators about what they described as suspicious and inappropriate conduct involving Gledhill when she was 15, according to authorities.

That initial report led to an investigation that eventually identified nine survivors, the Sheriff's Office said. All were minors at the time of the alleged offenses.

In February 2022, investigators executed a search warrant at his residence in Lompoc. Investigators seized thousands of digital files, which underwent an extensive forensic examination.

The Sheriff's Office said the investigation uncovered a pattern in which Gledhill allegedly used online casting calls and film-making projects to contact aspiring young actors.

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That detail prompted authorities to publicly release his booking photograph.

"The Sheriff’s Office is releasing Gledhill’s booking photograph because detectives believe he often used the professional names ‘Shane Ryan’ and ‘Shane Ryan-Reid’ when contacting aspiring actors and filmmakers."

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The press release continued, "Individuals who interacted with him under those names may not recognize his legal name. Detectives hope the photograph will assist in identifying additional survivors or witnesses."

The charges against Gledhill include alleged offenses such as child molestation, rape, forcible sexual assault, contacting a minor with the intent to commit a sexual offense, possession of child sexual abuse material and providing harmful matter to a minor.

Gledhill was taken into custody at his Lompoc home on an arrest warrant and booked into the Northern Branch Jail. His bail is set at $2 million.

"Based on evidence developed during the investigation, detectives believe there may be additional survivors who have not yet been identified or come forward," the press release shared.

Investigators believe the alleged conduct could span roughly 25 years, with potential survivors or witnesses located not only along California's Central Coast but also in the Los Angeles area and on the East Coast.

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Gledhill has a preliminary hearing set for Sept. 9 at Santa Barbara County Superior Court's Lompoc division.

Five college football teams ranked outside the preseason top-10 that went on to win it all

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 12:43:33 -0400

In recent years, preseason polls in college football have caused quite a few fans to lose their marbles, so if you're one of the many who fall in this camp, you may want to take a mental health day on Monday, because that's the day the preseason AP Poll drops.

While the release of the AP Top-25 should be a reason to celebrate – since it signals the arrival of college football – it's had the opposite effect lately.

Most of the consternation comes from fans who believe their favorite team or conference is being under-ranked or under-represented, so if that's your particular gripe, fear not.

THE 5 MOST DISAPPOINTING PRESEASON TOP-10 COLLEGE FOOTBALL TEAMS OF THE 21ST CENTURY

Many championship-winning teams over the past quarter century have found themselves ranked outside the top-10 of the inaugural AP Poll of any given season, and today I wanted to look at five notable examples from the turn of the 21st century.

These are teams who defied the odds and turned what many thought would be a respectable season into an unforgettable one.

Let's take a stroll down memory lane.

2025 Indiana Hoosiers (Preseason #20)

We start this list off with a familiar face, as the most recent national champion is a prime example of shattering preseason expectations.

Coming into last season, the idea was that the Indiana Hoosiers were able to catch a ton of teams by surprise while navigating an extremely friendly schedule in 2024 en route to a shocking Playoff appearance.

Not many fans or media pundits were predicting a repeat of 2024 for Curt Cignetti and the Hoosiers, and they were right, in a way.

Not only did the Hoosiers make it back to the College Football Playoff, they won the whole damn thing, doing so while playing an infinitely harder schedule.

The Hoosiers' preseason ranking took many things into account: undermanned roster (at least as far as recruiting rankings are concerned), tougher schedule, and more, but they didn't know how much of a wizard Coach Cig would be.

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A guy like Fernando Mendoza deserves special mention, too.

The Hoosiers' signal caller went from a little-known transfer from Cal to a Heisman Trophy winner and a number one overall NFL Draft pick.

With the benefit of hindsight, it's easy to point and laugh at the pollsters for not ranking Indiana higher, but it made the victory even sweeter for Hoosier fans everywhere.

2013 Florida State Seminoles (Preseason #11)

This one might feel like a bit of a reach, given that they were literally just outside the top ten to start the season, but the 2013 Florida State Seminoles ended up being one of the defining teams of the 2010s and the last ever BCS champion, so the fact they started the season at 11 makes them an even more mythical story.

The Noles had won the ACC Championship as well as the Orange Bowl just a season prior, but they also lost a ton of veteran leadership to the NFL, including quarterback EJ Manuel and two first-round NFL Draft picks on defense.

Head coach Jimbo Fisher recruited well enough to offset those personnel losses, but no one knew how all these new players would gel, particularly redshirt freshman signal caller Jameis Winston.

An undefeated season for the Noles and a Heisman Trophy-winning campaign for Winston proved every single one of the doubters wrong, as FSU ran roughshod over the ACC en route to its third national title in program history.

When I say roughshod, I mean it, too.

FSU slaughtered pretty much everyone on its schedule, including beating all four ranked conference opponents on its schedule by a combined score of 200-35.

Pure dominance.

And to think, this dream season probably started with Seminole fans lamenting the AP Poll for giving their team the shaft.

2000 Oklahoma Sooners (Preseason #19)

Fascinatingly enough, there are a few key parallels that can be drawn between the first national champion of the 21st century and the most recent.

The 2000 Oklahoma Sooners were only one spot higher than the 2025 Indiana Hoosiers, both were led by second-year head coaches, and neither had been ranked in the preseason polls for quite some time prior to this season.

At the turn of the millenium, the Sooners had fallen on tough times, new head coach Bob Stoops hadn't done much to inspire hope in the folks of Norman following a 7-5 season in 1999.

Despite this, Oklahoma was given a preseason ranking for the first time in five years, and although it wasn't exactly a symbol of confidence from the pollsters, it signified progress.

Stoops showed everyone that he and his Sooners may have been a little ahead of schedule, though, with a perfect 13-0 season and a national championship over a Florida State team that had lost only one game in its previous 24 contests.

Though Stoops was known for his defensive prowess, the offense showed out for most of Oklahoma's biggest games, including hanging 63 points on its rival, the 11th ranked Texas Longhorns.

Not bad for a team no one thought would do much more than make another repeat appearance to the Insight Bowl.

2002 Ohio State Buckeyes (Preseason #13)

Hey look, it's another team with a second-year head coach coming off a 7-5 campaign the year prior.

Other than a win over rival Michigan the year prior, coach Jim Tressel and the 2002 Buckeyes didn't have a lot to be excited about coming into the season.

At least, that's what the general public thought.

Behind the bruising running of precocious freshman tailback Maurice Clarette and a suffocating defense, Ohio State didn't allow more than 17 points throughout the entirety of its conference slate, which included a 14-9 strangling of a top-ten Michigan team.

The real feat of accomplishment, though, came in the national championship game, as the Buckeyes defeated a Miami team many football historians believe is one of the best in the history of the sport.

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Against all odds, the 11.5-point underdogs toppled the Hurricanes and their staggering 17 first-round NFL Draft picks in a thrilling (and somewhat controversial) double-overtime thriller in the desert.

Many fans remember this Buckeyes team as the one that toppled a budding Miami dynasty, and it all started with a double-digit preseason ranking.

2010 Auburn Tigers (Preseason #22)

If there is one shining example of a team shattering preseason expectations, it's the 2010 Auburn Tigers.

Aside from the brilliance of quarterback Cam Newton, this team had no business winning anything of significance in the 2010 campaign.

Coach Gene Chizik was in year two of a very questionable hire, one that was roundly booed by Auburn fans from the time he exited the plane in eastern Alabama due to his 5-19 record at his previous stop of Iowa State.

An 8-5 record in year one did little to quell those grumblings, and the recruiting was stagnating behind other SEC rivals like Alabama and LSU.

It looked like the Tigers were headed for another eight or nine-win season with more questions than answers until Clark Kent opened his shirt to reveal his "SuperCam" costume.

I can't put into words how magical Newton was throughout the 2010 season, but to put into perspective just how much of the burden he shouldered for Auburn during its championship run, the Tigers led the SEC in scoring offense despite not having a single skill player other than Newton take a single regular season snap in the NFL.

Those kind of mind-bending facts are what make this season so special for Auburn, but it also proves the preseason pollsters right in a way.

Who could have seen the kind of carry-job coming that Newton pulled off in 2010?

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The Tigers beat six ranked teams that year en route to a perfect 14-0 season in which Newton captured a Heisman and Auburn hoisted a crystal football.

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What makes Newton even more special is the fact that both the Tigers and Chizik immediately crashed back down to Earth the moment the star signal caller bolted for the NFL.

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Auburn would plummet back to a pedestrian 8-5 record in 2011, followed by a 3-9 campaign the next year that saw Chizik hit the unemployment line.

Truly a team that captured lightning in a bottle.

Seattle Seahawks make Devon Witherspoon NFL's highest-paid CB of all time, but probably not for long

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 12:27:39 -0400

It is an NFL business fact that when its best players agree to new contracts, they break records as well as the bank. That's the case with Seattle Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon, who on Saturday became the league's highest-paid cornerback.

Witherspoon agreed to a four-year deal worth $132 million that includes more than $101 million in guarantees, according to a source. And this:

It not only makes Witherspoon the league's highest paid player at his position today but also all-time.

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Witherspoon's deal will average $33 million per season on an annual average basis which beats the $31 million per season Denzel Ward got from the Cleveland Browns last month.

That's not all.

Witherspoon, a Pro Bowl selection all three years he's been in the NFL, is getting paid to stop opposing wide receivers and quarterbacks. And this deal pays him more than many opposing wide receivers and quarterbacks.

Consider that Witherspoon's deal pays more on an annual average than Aaron Rodgers gets from the Pittsburgh Steelers on an annual average – $22 million.

It pays more than Kirk Cousins gets from the Las Vegas Raiders – $11.3 million.

And while it doesn't eclipse what Baker Mayfield ($33.3 million) gets from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, his total guarantees of $101 million are more than twice Mayfield's $50 million in total guarantees.

Witherspoon's deal is in quarterback territory and Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold can attest to that.

Darnold last season signed a deal that averages $33.5 million per season with $55 million in guarantees.

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Witherspoon blew the guarantees figure away. And Witherspoon is obviously in the same neighborhood on an annual average.

The business of the NFL is thriving and these deals are proof.

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And it is not likely to stop.

Witherspoon's deal signals that another, likely bigger, contract is en route for a cornerback across the country.

The New England Patriots and cornerback Christian Gonzalez have been negotiating a new deal for months. Patriots owner Robert Kraft is on record as saying the Patriots were offering to make Gonzalez the highest paid cornerback in the NFL.

It was a race to see whether Gonzalez and the Patriots or Witherspoon and the Seahawks would agree to a contract first.

Witherspoon won that race. And you know what spoils go to the loser?

Gonzalez will now be aiming to surpass Witherspoon's contract – because for the best of the best in the NFL, the next contract is usually the biggest.

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Justice Thomas reveals this elite institution is ‘off limits’ to him: ‘That's the world we're in’

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 12:21:24 -0400

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas recently claimed that certain law schools and colleges were completely "off limits" for him and other conservatives to visit.

"You know, I have never been to Stanford Law School," Thomas told Peter Robinson during an on-stage discussion hosted by the Hoover Institute.

He went on to say that current conservative thought leaders, like himself, are largely unwelcome from high education institutions like Stanford Law School.

"That's the reality," Thomas said. "That's the world we're in, because there’s certain places that are just presumptively off limits. This is the way it works. And that's true. I mean, I've been to Yale Law School, but that's the way it works. And to say it isn't, is to lie."

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The comments from the high court justice came amid ongoing criticism from conservative pundits that college campuses have become intolerant to right-wing ideas and that students are being indoctrinated by liberal professors.

Thomas alleged that, if not for YouTube, the ideas and works of American economist Thomas Sowell, who profoundly shaped his political views, would be lost to the younger generation of students because some people's views are "unpalatable" to the student body.

"And so what these kids are getting is all that stuff [that] is not there," Thomas said, referring to colleges. "It's just on YouTube. It's available to everybody, and they get to make up their own mind."

A Stanford spokesperson rejected Thomas' notion that the law school was "off-limits" for him to visit.

"We would be honored to host Justice Thomas at Stanford Law School," a spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "The Stanford Constitutional Law Center, directed by Professor Michael McConnell, former Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, regularly hosts members of the judiciary on campus."

"Our students and faculty would welcome the opportunity to hear from Justice Thomas and engage with his perspectives on the Court, the Constitution, and the law," the spokesperson continued.

WATCH: CHAOS ERUPTS AS LEFTISTS INTERRUPT CONSERVATIVE GROUP'S UCLA EVENT FEATURING DHS LAWYER

But in the past couple of years, there have been multiple incidents in which a conservative speaker's visit to the school was disrupted by student protesters.

When Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan, who serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, visited in 2023 to give a presentation titled "Covid, Guns, and Twitter," he was met with fierce backlash from students affiliated with LGBTQ groups because of his judicial record. The student groups — OutLaw and Identity and Rights Affirmers for Trans Equality (IRATE) — repeatedly pressured the hosting organization, Federalist Society, to cancel the event or move it to Zoom.

When that failed, a group of 90 law students appeared with signs and bullhorns to protest Duncan's talk, causing major disruptions that made it impossible for Duncan to complete his presentation. Duncan requested assistance and DEI administrator Tirien Steinbach took the podium acknowledging his free speech rights, but siding with the student protesters.

"For many people here, your work has caused harm," Steinbach said to Duncan. "Is the juice worth the squeeze?"

The incident led Stanford dean Jenny Martinez and president Marc Tessier-Lavigne to issue an apology to Duncan. The school required students to participate in mandatory training and subsequently made the school's position unusually explicit: protesting Duncan was protected, but preventing an invited speaker from effectively delivering a presentation violated Stanford's disruption policy.

DHS LAWYER SAYS UCLA 'UTTERLY FAILED' TO STOP PROTEST CHAOS AT LAW SCHOOL APPEARANCE

Three years earlier, when then-Texas Solicitor General Kyle Hawkins visited the law school to host a discussion, twelve student organizations organized a walkout. The groups took issue with Hawkins' role in litigation to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status.

Just five minutes into Hawkins' address, more than three-quarters of the audience left.

Thomas did not point to either incident during his remarks at the Hoover Institution, nor did he say whether he had ever been invited to speak at Stanford. He did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

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Still, Thomas suggested that the ideological divide he sees within higher education has made engagement between conservatives and some of the nation's most prominent academic institutions increasingly difficult.

Palisades Village to re-open, marking new milestone for fire-devastated community

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 12:00:21 -0400

Nineteen months after the Pacific Palisades wildfire destroyed more than 5,000 homes and uprooted the lives of tens of thousands of residents, locals and visitors to the affluent Los Angeles Westside neighborhood are marking one of the first positive milestones.

Palisades Village, the neighborhood’s 100,000-square-foot, walkable luxury retail and restaurant enclave featuring more than 40 curated boutiques, eateries and experiences, is celebrating its reopening on Aug. 15. Festivities will range from a ribbon-cutting ceremony to shopping experiences, tastings, family-friendly activities and entertainment.

"The way we reopen is a sign throughout the city that’s suffering in so many ways that we actually are resilient," Rick Caruso said during an earlier tour of the property. "We’re on a mission to bring back this city."

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The billionaire businessman, who is the founder and former CEO of real estate company Caruso, is considered a leading civic figure in Los Angeles. He has served on several local government commissions and established Steadfast LA, a public-private, recovery-focused partnership in the wake of the fires.

Caruso reportedly spent more than $100 million of his own money on a failed mayoral campaign against Karen Bass in 2022 and has been an outspoken critic of how she has handled the wildfire and the running of the city since.

While the Palisades Fire burned for three and a half weeks in January 2025 before being contained, Palisades Village largely survived the disaster but remained closed for extensive $100 million smoke remediation and rebuilding. The surrounding downtown commercial corridor, however, was severely impacted, with numerous local businesses and structures reduced to ashes.

SPENCER PRATT PRAISES FIERCE GOP FOE IN RARE BIPARTISAN TURN

"His complex was great, and I think it’s great that it’s reopening," one well-known Hollywood music composer who lost his home in the tragic fire and preferred to remain anonymous told Fox News Digital. "That will definitely help to just get some momentum where people will feel hopeful and that we’re getting back to normal and progressing in the right direction."

He noted the continued need for a grocery store in the immediate area. Both a Gelson's and Ralphs Fresh Fare were obliterated in last year’s blaze.

"… Houses are starting to pop up. It would definitely be nice to see in the next 12 months anything from the little restaurant that was once there, the supermarket and one of the gas stations — those basic needs that a community needs would be nice," he added.

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For his part, Caruso has stressed the importance of taking every step possible to ensure the Palisades Village revamp was clean, safe and free of toxins.

"We took everything down to the studs and rebuilt it after having environmental engineers test it," Caruso told the Hollywood Reporter.

Since 2018, Palisades Village has served as a see-and-be-seen hub for Hollywood types and locals.

Its reopening will feature both legacy and new businesses. For instance, the Netflix-run Bay Theatre will return, along with namesake fine jewelry company Jennifer Meyer Jewelry, which gained a massive celebrity following after actress Jennifer Aniston wore one of its signature pieces in the 2006 romantic comedy-drama "The Break-Up."

Approximately 60% of its original tenants will return, while others, such as Lululemon and Saint Laurent, will not. New business debuts include a New American grill run by award-winning chef and restaurateur Timothy Hollingsworth. The eatery will join Nancy Silverton’s new Italian chophouse, Spacca Tutto.

"This is one of many positive steps in this journey," Traci Park, LA City Council member for the 11th District, told Fox News Digital. Park has worked closely with Caruso and his team and has been heavily involved in the recovery efforts in the Palisades.

"We have been really excited to celebrate the return of every school, every business, every new home breaking ground across the Palisades, but I would say this may be one of the biggest developments in terms of spurring overall recovery, but specifically local business economic recovery," she said.

Jacqui Irwin, Assemblymember for District 42, who introduced Assembly Bill (AB) 2692 to help residents of a Palisades condo community who were in legal limbo after discovering that the Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs) governing their property had expired shortly before the fires, called the reopening an "important milestone."

"This is about more than reopening stores and restaurants, it’s about restoring a place where neighbors can reconnect, families can gather, and a community can begin to feel whole again," Irwin told Fox News Digital. "While there is still a great deal of work ahead, this reopening reflects the resilience and determination of the Palisades business community and offers a meaningful sign of healing, hope, and moving forward together."

Corinne Verdery, CEO of Caruso, said, "Opening day will celebrate the resilience and shared determination that made this moment possible."

She called it a "meaningful milestone" and "a celebration of all that lies ahead."

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Beyond business aspirations and re-creating the high-end Palisades hub, the venture is deeply personal for Caruso. Both his daughter and son lost their homes in the blaze, while he and his wife lost a family home. The shopping center’s reopening, he said, is just one chapter in the Palisades’ comeback story.

‘A Man Without Love’ singer Engelbert Humperdinck credits underwater workout for keeping him ‘alive’ at 90

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 12:00:05 -0400

At 90, Engelbert Humperdinck has an unusual workout routine he credits with keeping him "alive" and going strong.

The British singer, known as the "King of Romance," recently appeared on "The Jim Masters Show," where he shared his unconventional exercise regimen.

"I walk out in the pool all the day," he told the host. "I do all my martial art moves in the pool underwater, which makes it even more effective. … And that’s how I stay alive and keep going and keep myself as fit as possible so that the audience can see me in a respectable way."

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"That's where I work out there in the pool," he said. "I do all my stuff up there, which is great."

And it appears to be working. The "Release Me" singer is still performing regularly, with concert dates scheduled into 2027 abroad. He's also preparing to release a new album, "Faithfully," on Aug. 28. The album features Humperdinck putting his own spin on songs by Journey, the Cars, KISS and Aerosmith, with several guest musicians joining him on the record.

While Humperdinck is working to keep his body young, a decades-old song is helping him reach younger audiences. His 1968 track "A Man Without Love" was featured in two episodes of Marvel Studios' "Moon Knight."

"… Since ‘Man Without Love,’ it’s triggered something off," he said. "And it’s so nice. It’s so nice to know that people are now not worried about an age. They’re worried about the music, and that’s all that counts as far as I’m concerned. But I try to stay as young as possible all the time."

While Humperdinck continues connecting with audiences through the love songs that made him famous, the lyrics have taken on a deeper meaning since his wife, Patricia, died in 2021 after living with Alzheimer's disease and contracting COVID-19. The couple married in 1964 and remained together for 57 years until her death at age 85.

"She’s the backbone. She was the backbone to my whole life, I think, because she started with me when I was nobody. … And so she was instrumental in the early years. And when I really made it in the industry and got a family, I used to have to leave home for about three months at a time. And she raised the children by herself."

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While his heartfelt ballads are now bittersweet, Humperdinck still finds joy in performing them for audiences today.

"There's no better feeling. There's no better feeling than walking on stage," he said. "I call myself a thespian of song. So when I'm singing, I act a part. It's not acting really, it's reality coming through. But I give my all and I read the lyrics a little differently now, especially since I lost my wife. And it comes out more sincere."

"I’m a ballad singer, and I love, love singing ballads," he said. "There’s nothing like a good romantic ballad to touch the heart. And it puts people together. ... I feel responsible for putting people together."

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When the final curtain eventually falls, Humperdinck hopes those songs will continue bringing people together.

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"My legacy is my music, and music is timeless," he said. "And I listen to the radio and I watch on my phone, and I see the people in the past who have had massive, massive hits, and they're still being viewed by the living. And that's just wonderful. That's the kind of legacy I want to leave behind. I want to leave a good taste in my career behind."

Rashida Tlaib rally moved after Jewish-owned Florida venue cancels event, cites 'increased security concerns'

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 11:40:25 -0400

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., an outspoken critic of Israel, was set to headline a rally in South Florida boosting three progressive Democratic candidates before the Jewish-owned venue hosting the event backed out a day before.

The "Chomp the Oligarchy" rally to support two U.S. House candidates and one Senate candidate was scheduled for Friday night at The Venue in Fort Lauderdale, just four days before Florida’s primary election.

State Rep. Michael Gottlieb, a Democrat, posted Thursday morning calling the event "anti-Jew," while also accusing House candidates Elijah Manley and Oliver Larkin, along with state Rep. Angie Nixon — who is seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate — of being part of an "Anti-Israel and Anti-Zionism coalition."

Gottlieb then said Tlaib "has by far the deepest record of antisemitic allegations and is being brought here to help these candidates raise funds for their campaigns."

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Following Gottlieb's post, The Venue posted a statement Thursday night indicating that the event was canceled, citing "increased security concerns."

The statement did not mention Tlaib by name but said management pulled out after becoming aware of the "full scope" of the event and reviewing promotional materials.

"Due to the increased security concerns as well as the welfare of attendees and staff, the decision was then made that the event would not proceed at our property," the statement said. "The Venue Fort Lauderdale is Jewish-owned and operated and our values and commitment to the Jewish community are deeply important to us."

Fox News Digital reached out to The Venue for additional comment. Tlaib's representatives did not immediately return a request for comment.

DEMOCRATS SPLIT OVER TLAIB'S LEBANON MEASURE AS REPUBLICANS SEIZE ON HEZBOLLAH OMISSION

Prior to the event being canceled, The Venue reached out to Gottlieb asking him to take down his post, something he refused to do, The New York Times reported.

Cameron Driggers, a lead organizer for the rally, told the Times that the Venue reached out to the rally organizers saying it would only host the event if Tlaib was uninvited, but the organizers refused.

Manley, who has been endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, is facing off against Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., while Larkin, a self-identified DSA member, is challenging incumbent Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.

Nixon is running against Alexander Vindman, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel known for testifying during President Donald Trump’s first impeachment inquiry.

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The "Chomp the Oligarchy" event's organizers said on Instagram that they "will not be silenced by racist right-wing agitators and conservative Democrats," adding that they will "keep fighting to deliver for working-class Floridians."

The rally ended up taking place at an alternate outdoor location reportedly with about 300 supporters in attendance.

In his speech, Larkin addressed the tumult surrounding the event.

"What we've seen in the last 36 hours is a mobilization campaign to try to intimidate and harass us with a campaign of Islamophobia. A campaign that seeks to excuse AIPAC's corrupting influence over our elections," Larkin said to a chorus of boos from the crowd.

DEMOCRATS SPLIT OVER TLAIB'S LEBANON MEASURE AS REPUBLICANS SEIZE ON HEZBOLLAH OMISSION

Tlaib also appeared at the rally as planned, introducing Nixon before she delivered her remarks.

Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital on Wednesday "it’s no coincidence" Tlaib would be appearing at an event supporting candidates seeking to defeat Jewish Democrats.

Tlaib, the first Palestinian American woman in Congress, has faced bipartisan criticism for her comments on Israel and Jewish people. The Michigan congresswoman has denied accusations of antisemitism.

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Congress censured Tlaib in 2023 for her embrace of the slogan "from the river to the sea," which she says is an "aspirational call for freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence" from Palestinians. Many Jews view the slogan as a veiled call for genocide against Israelis.

Little League World Series sign-stealing controversy erupts for the second straight year

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 11:31:48 -0400

We've got big drama in the Little League World Series.

For the second year in a row, sign-stealing accusations have blown up on the internet, with the latest taking place in Friday's game between Wisconsin and Iowa.

It just means more in Williamsport!

Davenport Northwest (Iowa) defeated Whitefish Bay (Wisconsin), 7-6, in the Midwest Regional Championship game on Friday. The win sent Davenport to the Little League World Series, and sent poor Whitefish home to, presumably, start school.

But was there something nefarious at play? Let's head to the bottom of the second inning, where Iowa plated a couple runs and raised a few eyebrows along the way:

This isn't the first time the LLWS has dealt with this

"They're taking signs on second," the catcher tells his coach during a mound visit.

"Who is?" manager Kyle Fox responded.

"The second baseman."

The kids go on to tell Fox that Northwest players are tapping their leg when the sign is put down, which is pretty clear from the video. Fox ignores it, and proceeds to give his pitcher a scouting report for the next batter.

An inning later, things reached a boiling point with the bases loaded. That's when another Iowa player on second appeared to motion something with his arms right before the pitch, prompting Fox to call time from the dugout and tell the umpires exactly what was going on:

... And that was it.

No warnings. No protests. No talking to the other coach, or the other team. The umpires congregated for 15 seconds, and then went back to playing ball.

So, what are our thoughts here? The initial response, for me, would be ...

So what? Runners have been relaying signs to the hitter from second base for a century now. It's on the catcher to put down better signs. It's on the manager to figure it out.

Except, it's deemed "unsportsmanlike behavior" in Little League baseball. Rule 9.00 (d) states:

Each umpire has authority to disqualify any player, coach, manager, or substitute for objecting to decisions or for unsportsmanlike conduct or language, and to eject such disqualified person from the playing field. If an umpire disqualifies a player while a play is in progress, the disqualification shall not take effect until no further action is possible in that play.

NOTE: The local league has the option to adopt this rule application. The stealing and relaying of signs to alert the batter of pitch selection and/or location is unsportsmanlike behavior. If, in the judgment of the umpire, this behavior is occurring, the team manager and those responsible including any player(s) and/or coach(es) shall be warned after the first offense. Those responsible including any player(s), coach(es), and/or manager shall be ejected from the game for a team's subsequent offense.

So, an umpire must first give the opposing team/player/coach a warning, and if it happens again, someone is getting tossed. This happened last year in a game between Oklahoma and Texas West, when play was stopped to get an actual ruling.

Nothing happened, and things really went off the rails when play resumed:

Lordy. What a moment! After all that, the kid belts a grand slam and Oklahoma goes on to win. You can't make it up.

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Anyway, sign-stealing has always been a thing. It happened when I was in Little League many moons ago. I was a catcher. From what I recall, we didn't just lay down and turn over. We mixed up the signs, and moved on with our day. It wasn't rocket science.

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Put down three signs, and the second one is the sign. Something like that. It's not hard.

But, rules are also rules. And if the rule says it ain't allowed, the umpires probably shouldn't let it happen.

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Thoughts? Let me know!

Jonathan Alpert: Women were told to speak up. Except about women’s sports

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 11:31:17 -0400

Sophie Cunningham did exactly what women have been told to do for generations: She spoke up when she thought something was unfair.

Apparently, that advice comes with an exception. Women have spent decades being told to trust their judgment, use their voices and refuse to stay quiet simply because an opinion makes someone uncomfortable. But when Cunningham said women’s sports should be for women, speaking up suddenly became the problem.

That’s what makes her story bigger than basketball. Cunningham is willing to say publicly what plenty of women are more comfortable saying privately: They can support transgender people, treat them with dignity and respect, and still believe that women’s sports should be based on biological sex. Women fought for generations to have their voices taken seriously. So why, when the subject is their own sports, are some of them afraid to use them?

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Women’s sports exist because biological differences matter in athletic competition. That’s why we have women’s teams, records, scholarships and championships in the first place. The separation wasn’t incidental. It was the point. Sports also require choices. Someone makes the roster and someone doesn’t. Someone gets the scholarship and someone doesn’t. Someone wins the medal and someone finishes second. Deciding who belongs in a competitive category necessarily affects everyone competing for those opportunities.

Cunningham isn’t standing on some obscure political fringe. More than two dozen states have enacted restrictions on transgender participation in girls’ and women’s sports. In June, the Supreme Court upheld laws in Idaho and West Virginia that allow eligibility for girls’ and women’s school sports to be based on biological sex. This isn’t some fringe position Cunningham dreamed up. It is now written into law across much of the country.

Yet when a prominent woman says essentially the same thing, the reaction can make the position seem beyond the bounds of acceptable discussion. Cunningham has faced criticism from within the WNBA, protests have followed the Indiana Fever, and the controversy has grown large enough that the league is now discussing the transgender-athlete issue. But the outrage gets the headlines.

The silence it produces matters more.

I’ve heard women talk about this privately for years. They don’t want transgender people mistreated. But when the conversation turns to sports, some hesitate. They wonder why the biological differences that justified creating a female category in the first place should suddenly stop mattering when deciding who gets to compete in it. In private, there are questions and disagreement. In public, there is often silence.

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You don’t need to formally censor people to make them stop talking. Social pressure can do the job just fine. Watch someone get attacked, ridiculed or labeled for expressing an opinion and you learn from it. You may still believe exactly what you believed before. You just decide saying it publicly isn’t worth the trouble. That’s how self-censorship works. Nobody has to tell you to shut up. You anticipate what will happen if you speak, and you do it yourself.

Teenagers are especially good at reading these signals. They notice which opinions get approval, which draw criticism and what happens to someone who says the wrong thing. If the social cost of an unpopular view gets high enough, the question changes from "What do I actually think?" to "What am I allowed to say?" That isn’t empowerment. It’s learning to keep your mouth shut.

For generations, women were expected to accommodate others, sometimes at their own expense. Feminism challenged that. Women were told they didn’t have to stay quiet simply to keep somebody else comfortable. Yet some women now find themselves doing exactly that when the subject is women’s sports. They may believe the rules are unfair. They may have questions about biological sex and athletic competition. They may simply believe that the female category should remain based on sex. But they also know what saying so publicly can cost them. Staying quiet is easier.

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The vocabulary is new. The underlying instruction is remarkably old: Stay quiet. Be agreeable. Don’t rock the boat.

Women don’t all agree about transgender athletes, and they shouldn’t have to. Women who believe inclusion should come first are entitled to make that case loudly. Women who believe biological sex should determine eligibility for the female category should be able to make theirs just as loudly. None of this excuses treating transgender people badly. They deserve dignity, respect and safety. But respect cannot require women to pretend there is no conflict here, no competing interest and no legitimate question worth asking aloud. Women have a stake in this conversation too.

Cunningham spoke up because she thought something was unfair. When people got angry, she didn’t take it back. You can disagree with her. You can argue that she’s wrong. But the reaction to women who voice these concerns helps explain why others choose silence instead. Women fought for generations to have a voice. They shouldn’t have to whisper when the subject is their own sports.

Test your pop culture: From Hollywood to the Heartland

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 11:30:22 -0400

The Pop Culture Quiz is your weekly test of what’s making headlines and breaking the Internet, from the Heartland to Hollywood.

This week's quiz spotlights Hollywood confessions and dramatic transformations.

Can you get all 5 questions right?

For more Entertainment articles, visit www.foxnews.com/entertainment

To try your hand at more quizzes from Fox News Digital, click here.

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Former Bernie Sanders operative warns radical left has 'overtaken' the Democratic Party from within

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 11:17:10 -0400

A former Bernie Sanders operative is sounding the alarm over what the Democratic Party has become, warning that the far left has "overtaken" the party from within.

"Part of the reason it's been overtaken is because the establishment tried really hard in 2020 to block us, and in 2019, after AOC won, they did a blacklist and that actually backfired on them, and it made the far left grow stronger," Evan Barker told "Jesse Watters Primetime."

Barker, who raised money for Democratic candidates throughout her career before deciding to vote for Trump in 2024, argued that the Democratic establishment's efforts to contain its insurgent flank ultimately backfired, pushing activists to build their own political infrastructure — from training one another to recruiting donors, including billionaires.

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The result, Barker argued, is a party increasingly influenced from the inside by its activist base, donors and staffers, some of whom she says are considerably further left than the politicians they work for.

"I think they've kind of been captured from all sides. They have these hyper-left-leaning donors coupled with the staff that's been radicalized and the base," she said.

Barker said she has watched that shift play out even within the movement she once joined, pointing to Sanders' positions on issues including guns and immigration.

"I've seen him kind of be dragged further and further to the left by what he views as his message bearers, people like AOC and Ilhan Omar and now Abdul El-Sayed," she added.

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Barker's warning comes as a new crop of progressive candidates and democratic socialists test its strength ahead of the midterm elections, including figures she says are carrying forward the movement that Sanders helped build.

Progressive Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, whom Barker specifically named as one of Sanders' emerging "message bearers," recently secured the Democratic nomination in a close primary against Rep. Haley Stevens.

Others have won key primaries elsewhere, including Mamdani-backed Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez in New York.

Barker previously revealed to Fox News Digital that the Democratic Party's leftward shift prompted her decision to leave the party, sharing that she was inspired to enter politics during former President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign.

"If you look at him then, and you compare him to the modern movement of the party today, it is just night and day. They have gone left on so many critical issues, like immigration and identity politics, and defund the police and just all of these things that I did not sign up for," she said.

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She added that former President Joe Biden's withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race and then-Vice President Kamala Harris' subsequent nomination made her recognize in "real time the manifestation of everything the Democrats had become."

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Fox News' Robert McGreevy contributed to this report.

Seaweed-based coating could keep strawberries fresh for days without refrigeration, study finds

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 11:14:02 -0400

If you’ve ever brought home a carton of fresh strawberries only to find them moldy and destined for the trash a few days later, researchers may have found a simple solution: coating the fruit in a seaweed-based liquid that could keep it fresh without refrigeration.

University of British Columbia (UBC) scientists developed the seaweed-derived coating with the goal of extending the shelf life of fresh produce and reducing food waste and reliance on energy-intensive refrigeration.

"Nearly half of all food produced in Canada is lost or wasted, costing the economy an estimated $58 billion annually," the university reported in a news release on the seaweed-coating breakthrough. "Fresh fruits and vegetables are particularly vulnerable to spoilage, losing moisture and becoming susceptible to mold and bacteria during storage and transport."

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According to UBC, researchers developed the "natural, biocompatible, plant-based, and consumer-friendly" coating for post-harvest preservation by combining agar, a substance derived from red seaweed; with zinc, an essential nutrient; and tannic acid, a naturally occurring plant compound found in foods and beverages such as grapes and tea.

"Applied to strawberries, grapes and apple slices, the coating extended shelf life by at least two-fold," the researchers reported in their study, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

"The coating acts like a very thin and invisible protective barrier," Tianxi Yang, a UBC assistant professor of food science and the study's lead author, told Fox News Digital. "It helps slow moisture loss and gas exchange while also providing antibacterial and antioxidant protection, which together delay dehydration, softening, oxidation and spoilage."

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The shelf life of an average carton of strawberries could be extended considerably with this coating, Yang said.

"At room temperature, uncoated strawberries showed visible spoilage within about two days, while coated strawberries remained fresh and intact for at least four days," she said. "When the coating was combined with refrigeration, we observed no spoilage for at least six days."

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The coating is designed to be essentially tasteless and preserve the produce’s natural flavor, Yang said. Initial observations suggest the coating does not noticeably change the strawberries’ smell, texture or natural appearance.

Yang added that she and fellow researchers plan to conduct comprehensive sensory studies soon.

According to the UBC release, "the coating also showed antibacterial properties and no signs of toxicity in tests using human intestinal cells." The coating has not yet been approved for commercial use.

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For consumers concerned about ingesting the coating, researchers found that most of it can be easily rinsed off under running tap water.

Further safety assessments and regulatory review would still be required before commercial use, Yang noted, but she said the results so far are encouraging.

"The technology has demonstrated promising performance and scalability in the laboratory," she said.

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"The next steps will focus on further safety and regulatory evaluation, scale-up and commercial validation. We are also interested in connecting with potential investors and partners who can help advance the technology toward commercialization."

Ted Cruz, conservatives respond after Talarico criticizes Bible-related education in schools as 'propaganda'

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 11:00:38 -0400

Texas state representative and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico’s campaign responded after a resurfaced video of his comments on the Bible and education sparked outrage.

A clip resurfaced this week of Talarico, a Christian seminarian, speaking in a video hosted by the Center for American Progress Action Fund in 2025. In the clip, the host asked Talarico about his legislative battles with "Christian Nationalists," meaning people who consider America to be an inherently Christian nation.

The portion that went viral recently when Talarico blasted the "most insidious" legislation he fought to stop while serving in Texas government, claiming one bill required schools in the state to teach Bible stories as historical fact. He argued that this amounted to pushing "propaganda" on children and was not just bad for state schools, but for society overall.

"It was a new state curriculum that would teach Christian Bible stories as historical fact, as the only truth to our youngest students, and I mean kindergarten, first graders," he said. "These are kids who aren’t able to think for themselves yet. They haven’t formed their own worldviews."

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He further warned that the alleged effort to "push propaganda, to push indoctrination on those youngest students is deeply immoral and should trouble all of us."

Sen. Ted Cruz. R-Texas, retweeted the clip, asking a brief, "Um, wut?" alongside numerous other commentators.

"The claim made by Representative Talarico is misleading," Mary Elizabeth Castle, director of government relations for Texas Values told Fox News Digital. "The curriculum he was referring to in the video from 2025 is the Bluebonnet curriculum, which was an English Language Arts curriculum adopted in the winter of 2024 that helped students understand the copious amounts of Bible references made in historical speeches and common stories like Dr. Martin Luther King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech."

"The references to the Bible in the Bluebonnet curriculum help students understand the thousands of everyday idioms that people use every day that have some context to Scripture," she continued.

"The Bluebonnet curriculum was defended by top religious liberty law firms like First Liberty Institute and high elected officials like Dr. Ben Carson," Castle added. "The purpose of the biblical references was to improve reading scores and reading comprehension among students. The majority of Texas parents and stakeholders testified in favor of the curriculum, which passed at the State Board of Education. A very small number of people would agree with Mr. Talarico’s sentiment and a number of school districts have purchased this curriculum."

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First Liberty executive general counsel Hiram Sasser told Fox News Digital, "Courts across the nation have determined that the Bible has had profound influence on Western culture and is an important piece of literature and history. No education is complete without understanding the Bible and its influence, as even the ACLU recognizes. What is crazy is that Talarico is to the Left of the ACLU, which agreed in a court settlement with us that the Bible may be taught in Texas schools."

"Democrats have a funny way of defining ‘indoctrination.’ When they do it, it's ‘inclusion.’ When it opposes their ideology, it's considered government-imposed cruelty," Tim Graham, the executive editor of Media Research Center's NewsBusters, told Fox News Digital. "Talarico has clearly and repeatedly identified himself as a pusher of leftist gender ideology, which stands in dramatic contradiction to biblical teaching. So it's not shocking he doesn't want anybody discussing the Bible in the classroom."

A spokesperson for Talarico's campaign told Fox News Digital, "James is a Christian seminarian who’s dedicated his life to the teachings of Jesus Christ — fighting religious and political corruption when he sees it because there’s nothing Christ-like about powerful people using scripture to score political points. While billionaire-bought politicians like Ken Paxton attack James for his faith — he will continue encouraging Texans across the political spectrum to come together by loving their neighbors as themselves."

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In an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, Talarico shared his personal views on the importance of the separation of church and state, even as a Christian seminarian.

"As a Christian, I think my concern is for the Muslim kid and the Jewish kid, the Hindu kid, the atheist kid who’s sitting in a classroom who now has a poster on the wall forced by the government that says, you know, your religion is inferior, or you're not welcome here," he had said. "And I just think if Jesus saw that, he would weep for those students and would demand that we love them as ourselves. And so that's why I kind of spoke out against the bill on theological grounds, not just constitutional grounds."

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Talarico’s campaign has also drawn criticism over his support for raising children as transgender, though he has drawn a line regarding procedures such as gender reassignment surgeries for minors, a policy he explicitly opposed in a June interview.

Sophie Cunningham supporters rally in Indiana while displaying what makes America great

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 10:51:21 -0400

A large group of female activists, moms, and concerned citizens rallied again this week outside an Indiana Fever game in support of Sophie Cunningham and keeping women’s sports female. On Friday evening just outside of the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, they made their voices heard.

After traveling to Portland and Chicago, I witnessed firsthand how refreshingly normal Indiana Fever games felt both outside the arena and inside. The crowds were vocally supportive of the women, and the few men accompanying them. Many Fever fans gave the Cunningham rally crowd a thumbs up, some provided encouraging words, and others stopped to take photos with the almost life-size Sophie Cunningham poster.

It was a nice change of pace compared to the radical, profane, aggressive trans protesters they have had to face in other cities.

Shockingly to much of the WNBA and liberal media, this group isn’t just a bunch of conservatives, who completely align on all of their politics. It’s a diverse group of people that represent a beautiful mix of registered Democrats, conservatives and people from a wide range of backgrounds and communities.

It’s not some sort of MAGA coalition, which many love to claim. It’s a group that represents what America should, and used to like: Almost three dozen citizens agree that women’s sports and spaces should remain female, though disagreeing on a litany of other issues, while supporting the one female professional athlete courageously willing to stand up for what’s right.

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Kara Dansky, a registered Democrat who serves on the board for Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender, told me, "The truth of the matter is, the clear majority of registered Democrats in this country are aligned on these topics."

She went on to diagnose the problem from the top down in Washington, D.C., and across the country, saying, "The problem is that our elected officials are selling out women and girls. They’re selling out children at the altar of a cult."

When asking Dansky what she’d say to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, who put together a task force of general managers and team presidents to tackle the transgender issue the league faces, she didn’t hold back.

"There are girls watching today. There are girls that do not understand what Title IX meant in 1972 to women like you, who have benefited from Title IX. You owe these girls commitment to female only sports."

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A group called LGB Courage Coalition also rallied outside the Fever vs. Wings game with a gigantic sign that said: "Chemical castration isn’t medicine. Save girls’ sports. Save boys’ bodies."

LGB Courage Coalition Executive Director Jamie Reid, who is a whistleblower from a pediatric gender center said, "I participated in medically transitioning kids… I [now] work to try to stop transitions and I think that it is incredibly tied up with the sports movement right now."

When asking Reid what she would tell the WNBA Commissioner and her task force from her unique perspective, she said: "At the bottom line, this is about medical evidence. There is no good medical evidence to support the medical transition of any minor. We know at that basis, we don’t have to be so wrapped up in the question of ‘What is a woman?’"

Reid reemphasized how this should not be addressed from a "WNBA values" perspective, like how the task force is said to be tackling this, but "If we address it from a medical evidence perspective… We don’t have to have these huge task forces. We just know medical transitions do not work."

Reid finished her thought with, "This is not a liberal or a right issue. This is also not a gay or straight issue. I’m a lesbian, my entire coalition is gay and lesbians… Most Americans know that [transitioning] kids is not right. This is a common sense American issue where Sophie Cunningham just said what we already knew in the Midwest."

Social media influencer Becky Weiss, who has 1.2 million followers on Instagram, told me: "I've been speaking out against the extreme LGBTQ ideology, especially targeted at children."

Weiss also had high praise for Cunningham. "I love what Sophie is doing, taking a stand for little girls, grown women in women’s sports, because they deserve to play on a fair playing field. Boys simply do not belong. It’s not controversial. It’s just literally common sense."

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When discussing what she’d tell the commissioner, Golden State Valkyries forward Gabby Williams, Minnesota Lynx Head Coach Cheryl Reeve, Weiss said, "There’s no such thing as a trans child. A kid only thinks they’re trans if someone grooms them, groomed them, or indoctrinated them to believe they are trans… Men don’t belong in women’s bathrooms, in women’s sports, in women’s locker rooms. And kids certainly don’t need to have any of this in their lives."

This group, which seems to grow every game they rally, is a great example on how to agree to disagree. They find common ground on a vital issue that is affecting women and girls, and yes, boys too as Jamie Reid and her team emphasized in our conversations.

Kara Dansky even believes in aspects of White privilege. I think it’s nonsense. But we shook hands and are happy to link arms in the fight to protect women’s sports and spaces. That’s how America should be.

Let’s hope as rally organizer Amy Sousa told me that she hopes the "pressure that we put on them (WNBA), will make them stand up and do the right thing." You don’t need weeks or months, WNBA. The league is for females only. Just state the common sense that the vast majority of America affirms.

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In the meantime, these women, and a few men, will continue to organize across the country, showcasing a lost art of linking arms on an important issue, while not allowing petty politics to ruin the progress they’ve made.

Former Disney star David Henrie rejected 'secular' Hollywood lifestyle after life-changing monastery visit

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 10:22:14 -0400

Former Disney star David Henrie is opening up about how he rejected the "secular" Hollywood lifestyle after going on a life-changing monastery visit.

Earlier this week, the "Wizards of Waverly Place" star was a guest on Raymond Arroyo's "Arroyo Grande" podcast and discussed how his friendship with fellow actor Kevin James led to him discovering his faith.

"I started changing my whole perspective on life and faith. I so craved an objective belief system. I grew up in relativistic Hollywood and, you know, a partying lifestyle, secular life, worldliness, materialism, and it left me empty," Henrie said.

"I call it the bubblegum theory of pleasure. Every time you eat a piece of bubblegum, it loses its flavor. In a few moments, you pop another one in. At the end of the day, you've gone through the whole pack, and now you just feel worse than you did when you started. That was me before I met Kevin," he continued.

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Henrie detailed that he found God during this time, and James extended an invitation to him to visit St. Michael's Abbey in Orange County in 2012 and do his general confession.

"And I was like, 'What's that?' So, I learned about what it was, and I wrote a whole chapter book to bring to the priest there," Henrie said.

Henrie told Arroyo that he felt "so relieved" after his monastery visit with James.

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"It was the monastery that changed my life," he added.

The actor tied in his first monastery visit to his documentary series, "Seeking Beauty," where he explores the deeper meaning behind the art, architecture, food, music and culture of some of Italy’s most beautiful places.

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The first season debuted in January on EWTN+ and the second season is based in Spain and is in the works.

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DAVID MARCUS: Karoline Leavitt’s lasting legacy is opening the White House to indie press

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 10:12:17 -0400

At the end of the month, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will end a tenure that many consider to be one of the best in the 97-year history of the office. Importantly, she will leave something behind — a vital legacy of opening the briefing room to independent media.

Leavitt handled her office with grace and dexterity, no mean feat for someone communicating for President Donald Trump, who talks more than a morning radio disc jockey. Somehow, she was never in front of his messaging, but also never far behind.

As a queen of cool, Leavitt could not be flustered. She always had an air of confidence and, dare I say, levity. Even when her occasional jocular barbs were tossed at reporters, they rarely turned into acrimony.

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Beyond serving as a model for future press secretaries, Leavitt’s strongest legacy will be her commitment to opening up the White House media ecosystem to small indie news outlets and even social media influencers.

Every press conference opens with a question from the "new media seat," a practice that was much maligned early on by fussy old legacy outlet reporters who rolled their eyes at these commoners gaining entry to their fancy club.

I recall a friend of mine, who was new to the briefing room, telling me of an old regular huffing and puffing and saying, "This is where I stand, you have to move!"

She did not move.

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How gauche it was, having mere bloggers or TikTok personalities with this kind of access to the most powerful office in the world. But Leavitt understood that in today’s media, those voices now have as much purchase as major newspapers once did.

It was bumpy at times; the early rollout of binders with files of information on Jeffrey Epstein turned out to be more walk of shame than victory lap. But much more often, these newer outlets were bringing questions to the fore that the legacy media tend to ignore — not through negligence, but because they aren’t niche outlets.

Leavitt understands that the White House press briefing room is a two-way street. Its main function may be to get the president’s message to the people, but the press also brings the concerns of the people to the White House in the form of questions. Influencers, though merrily mocked, have a very direct relationship with their audiences.

Especially younger audiences.

I asked Andrew Kolvet, spokesperson for Turning Point USA — which has a firm focus on educating young voters — about Leavitt’s tenure, and he told me, "She has forced legacy news media to work harder to keep up while opening up multiple seats to new media voices who have had to raise their fact-checking and editorial games in a space that desperately needs it. She sparred with them all in viral exchanges that became must-watch news, even for college kids scrolling their phones."

Kolvet also couldn’t quite resist adding, "As a TPUSA alumni, she was a happy warrior just like Charlie [Kirk]."

Leavitt brought in voices such as Andy Ngo, who has been warning of the advance of Antifa activists for years, and we have seen more of these violent thugs put away — including a leader in Texas who received 100 years in prison for attacking an ICE facility.

Meanwhile, activist reporters like Nick Shirley have been given much attention from Leavitt’s comms shop. He and those like him have revealed potentially billions of dollars in fraud.

WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENTS WIDELY PRAISE KAROLINE LEAVITT AS SHE ANNOUNCES EXIT FROM TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

The reason that opening the White House press briefing room to independent news media and content creators is Leavitt’s greatest achievement is that, in all likelihood, it will survive not just her moving on, but long after the Trump administration is gone — no matter which party takes power.

This is because, even if a Democrat wins, it will be a tough sell to start kicking out these outlets that the country has been accustomed to hearing from. Even for the left, such a move would probably be too censorious to try.

Yes, Leavitt is a gifted communicator who can be spoken of in the same breath as great press secretaries such as Tony Snow and Ari Fleischer. But ultimately, her greatest contribution is opening the door for new media, and by extension, those this new media represents.

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Leavitt will be missed, but her dedication to giving every voice in the media a fair shot at the White House will stay with us for a long time to come.

Lions betting outlook for 2025: why the NFC North division title is the best play at +170

Sat, 15 Aug 2026 10:10:26 -0400

Last season, it was fairly easy to make an argument that the best division in the NFL was the NFC North. All of the teams in that division were able to win nine games, but the Vikings and the Lions missed the postseason. Will the Lions find a way back into the playoffs this year, or will it be another down year?

Last year

I was pretty high on the Lions going into the season last year. I didn’t expect them to take a step back, and for the first portion of the season, I think I was correct. They lost Ben Johnson to the Bears, but I still thought the team would be good with all of their weapons and their defense. The Packers beat them to start the season, and their only other loss in the first seven weeks was to the Chiefs. After the bye week, the wheels kind of fell off as they went 4-6 over their final 10 games. Only one of the final six losses was by more than one score, so perhaps there can be some positive regression coming their way this year.

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Offseason additions and subtractions

As mentioned, with Johnson taking over the Bears, the Lions didn’t have quite as crisp an offense, but they did add Drew Petzing this season, and that should help the offense take a step forward. The team had some changes on the offensive line, but they also did put some moves in place to address it. One change that should be interesting is that they sent away David Montgomery to the Texans. They replaced him with Isiah Pacheco, who is not quite the bruiser that Montgomery was. Aside from that, they gave an extension to a couple of guys, but nothing major.

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Roster

I have to imagine that the team, looking at last year’s performance and those close games, thinks they can just make small adjustments in order to get back to the postseason. Without Montgomery, the ball should be in their star, Jahmyr Gibbs’ hands even more. Amon-Ra St. Brown is one of the best wide receivers in the league, and Jared Goff has hooked up with him repeatedly. With a strong offensive line, the Lions offense could be very dynamic. On defense, it probably comes down to health. Aidan Hutchinson is a great defensive end, and they have some solid linebackers. I do have concerns about the secondary, but overall they should be fine.

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Betting Outlook

They have a win total of 10.5, and their schedule sets up fairly well to get those wins. I’m not sure I want to get too involved with it though. I probably would prefer to play them to win the division at +170. I think their schedule is easier than the Bears and Packers, which might mean they only need to beat out the Vikings, a team with a quarterback battle. Another interesting one is for them to have three wins after five games at +170. They faced the Saints, Bills, Jets, Panthers, and Cardinals. The Saints and Jets are at home, and I think both will be wins. I don’t know that they will beat the Bills and Panthers on the road, but they should beat Arizona. I also like St. Brown to be over 1249.5 receiving yards. He has hit that in three consecutive years.

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