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HOUSTON, TX – In a disturbing surge of violence against law enforcement, nine police officers have been shot across the United States in the last 48 hours, highlighting an alarming trend of attacks on those sworn to protect and serve. This series of events underscores not just the inherent dangers of the job but also the broader societal issues surrounding law enforcement and public safety.

This is a story the mainstream media is ignoring. Not putting it near the top of their newscasts.

he most recent incidents took place in Houston, where three officers were hospitalized after a suspect opened fire during an encounter. The officers sustained injuries to the foot, leg, and arm, and are reported to be in stable condition. This incident is part of a worrying pattern where officers are increasingly becoming targets, even as they respond to routine calls for service. Click here to read more.

 

LANSING, Mich - Legislation before the Michigan House will fix imminent harmful change to the state’s paid sick leave and tipped wage law, supporters say, and lawmakers of both parties claim they have a solution to changes that could devastate restaurants, stores, nonprofits and others.

The Republican-controlled House could vote on House bills 4001 and 4002 as early as today.

Voter-initiated laws passed in 2018 force all businesses to provide paid sick leave and a higher minimum wage starting Feb. 21, though current legislative activities could modify those requirements. Click here to read more.

 

WASHINGTON D.C. - President Donald Trump signed an order on Thursday to declassify the assassination files of former President John F. Kennedy, former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

As he signed the order, Trump said, “A lot of people have been waiting for this for years, for decades. And everything will be revealed.” The president then instructed his aide to give the pen he signed the order with to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary and the son of RFK and nephew of JFK.

When more JFK files were made public in 2022, the National Archives and Records Administration said 97% of the roughly 5 million pages were public, but around 3,000 documents remained classified and another 30,000 had redactions. Click here to read more.

 

LANSING, Mich - Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson bungled the launch of her gubernatorial campaign on Tuesday, prompting online ridicule from her constituents and others.

“Secretary of State Benson appears to have accidentally announced a run for Governor on Twitter,” the Michigan Information and Research Services news organization posted to X shortly after 7 p.m. Tuesday. “The post was taken down moments after posting.”

The MIRS post included a snapshot of Benson’s online announcement.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson bungled the launch of her gubernatorial campaign on Tuesday, prompting online ridicule from her constituents and others.

“Secretary of State Benson appears to have accidentally announced a run for Governor on Twitter,” the Michigan Information and Research Services news organization posted to X shortly after 7 p.m. Tuesday. “The post was taken down moments after posting.”

Click here to read more.

 

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - The man indicted in one of the most violent cases in Birmingham in recent memory was arraigned Wednesday.

Damien McDaniel is indicted on 37 felony counts spanning five different shootings over the course of three months in 2024. Most notably, McDaniel is one of several defendants charged in the mass shooting in Five Points South and the mass shooting at Trendsetters Lounge. Specifically, he’s charged with killing 11 and shooting 29 people.

McDaniel’s attorney, John Robbins acknowledges the historic nature of this case.

“You don’t see cases like this very often,” Robbins admitted after court.

Wednesday was a procedural day in court, a prosecutor read McDaniel his indictments and he pleaded not guilty to two counts of capital murder of two or more people, capital murder-robbery, capital murder-burglary and murder. McDaniel waived arraignment on the other 32 counts.

Robbins says McDaniel’s mindset is that he’s not guilty, although Robbins is new to the case and hasn’t seen any of the evidence so far. Click here to read more.

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WASHINGTON D.C. - President Donald Trump made a sweeping move against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) by issuing executive orders aimed at eliminating racialized policies within the federal government and other American institutions.

Specifically, Trump signed an order revoking a 1965 executive order by President Lyndon B. Johnson, which established race-based hiring requirements, known as affirmative action, for federal contractors. This action was accompanied by a directive from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that placed DEI personnel on leave and shut down DEI-related programs and offices.

“President Trump campaigned on removing DEI from the federal government and restoring a merit-based system where individuals are hired based on their skills rather than their race or background,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated. “This is another win for Americans of all races, religions, and creeds. Promises made, promises kept.” Click here to read more.

 

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — When NewsNation affiliate WAVY first met Jaime Duzz, WAVY asked her the question that was begging to be asked.

“Jaime Duzz, are you dead?”

It seems like a silly question, but the fact is, it is a really serious question for her — with complex answers still unanswered on how she is considered in some public records, including Social Security Administration, as dead.

Duzz answers the question in one of three interviews WAVY conducted with her to help her correct a system that sees her as dead.

“My situation is absolute hell,” she said. “I feel like I am nonexistent on this planet. I am literally nonexistent. I can’t get a credit report. I can’t get health insurance,” she told WAVY at her Virginia Beach home. Click here to read more.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Indigenous activist Leonard Peltier will return home nearly half a century after he was imprisoned for the 1975 killings of two FBI agents. President Joe Biden commuted Peltier’s sentence Monday following decades of community-led advocacy calling his imprisonment an example of the U.S. government’s mistreatment of Native Americans.

The White House said Peltier, who is now 80 and of declining health, will transition to home confinement. The commutation is not a pardon for crimes committed, a decision some of Peltier’s advocates welcomed since he has always maintained his innocence. But the last-minute move as Biden left office angered law enforcement officers who believe he is guilty.

The National Congress of American Indians celebrated the “historic” decision in a statement saying the case “has long symbolized the systemic injustices faced by Indigenous Peoples.” Click here to read more.

 

CARRIBEAN - For all their charm, the pristine beaches of the Caribbean have always been slightly at odds with the reality of life in the region. This situation is helped by the fact that tourism remains the lifeblood of local economies – and is typically insulated from the high crime rates, civil unrest and political instability.

Could that be about to change? Over the past year, a rising tide of experts and law enforcement agencies have been sounding their alarms about a surge in violent crime across the Caribbean, including in countries usually regarded as tourist paradises.

In response to the violence, some governments are resorting to dramatic moves to restore order. Just last week, the government in Trinidad and Tobago extended its “state of emergency” which grants extra powers to police in order to stem gang violence.

This isn’t the first time the region has seen instability, with previous waves doing little to dent tourism. So are tourists at risk? Here’s our guide to what you need to know. Click here to read more.

 

NASHVILLE, TN - A new bill seeking to prohibit the addition of fluoride to public water systems in Tennessee passed its first consideration in the state Senate last week. This marks the initial step in what is expected to be a lengthy process of votes and debates over water fluoridation in the state.

Senate Bill 162, introduced by State Senator Joey Hensley on January 16, proposes an amendment to Tennessee law that would prohibit water suppliers from adding fluoride to public water systems.

The concise legislation aims to end the practice of water fluoridation, which currently impacts the majority of the state. According to the Tennessee Department of Health, about 88% of residents served by community water systems receive fluoridated water.

Opposition to water fluoridation has grown in recent years, fueled by concerns about its potential health risks. Critics, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., former President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, have raised questions about fluoride’s safety. Click here to read more.

This email is free Monday through Friday! I also produce special investigations and shows on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday.

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ATLANTA, GA - In what The Atlanta Journal-Constitution described in December 2024 as “potentially the biggest shake-up of Georgia’s Medicaid system since 2006,” Georgia’s Department of Community Health granted new contracts to four insurers last year, while shutting out Amerigroup and Peach State Health Plan, companies which had both long managed Medicaid care for the state.

During procurement, overseen by Georgia’s Department of Administrative Services, ten companies bidding for the contract in December 2023 had to answer 65 hypothetical questions, one of which was about how the company would handle the case of “[a] 14-year-old, transgender White female (assigned male sex at birth but identifies as a female) member living in a rural area [who] has been diagnosed with major depressive disorder.” Click here to read more.

 

WASHINGTON D.C. - Some January 6 defendants were reportedly not released from a Washington, D.C. jail on Monday night, following President Donald Trump’s sweeping Executive Order offering full pardons, dismissals, or commutations to nearly all defendants.

A White House liaison showed up at the jail late Monday and said two brothers, Andrew Valentin, 26, and Matthew Valentin, 31, had been released, per Trump’s order.

However, people gathered outside the jail said there were other defendants still inside:

A possible explanation was posted on X by WUSA 9 investigative reporter Jordan Fischer. Basically, Trump’s order gave full pardons to almost everyone convicted of J6-related crimes. However, if someone is in jail and still awaiting trial, their case, per the order, will be dismissed. The dismissal of such cases could take longer to process, according to Fischer. Click here to read more.

 

CHICAGO, IL - Already 46 towns around Illinois have voted to impose a 1% grocery tax in 2026. Other Illinoisans will start to save 1% on groceries when the statewide tax ends.

There are 46 Illinois towns that will continue the 1% grocery tax once the statewide tax ends in 2026, according to data from the Illinois Department of Revenue. The rest of the state will start to see 1% savings at the grocery store.

The map below shows which towns will begin taxing groceries in 2026, but the list will only get longer unless residents show they are opposed to taxing residents’ unavoidable need to eat. Even if a town is not on the map, communities have until October 2025 to decide whether to keep or kill the 1% tax on everyday grocery items.

Grocery shoppers around the state saved $360 million the year state leaders suspended the tax as a way to combat rampant inflation. That was roughly $30 per Illinoisan. That means a family of four could save about $115 a year on food, depending on where they live. Click here to read more.

 

RALEIGH, NC - In May 2024, former Raleigh firefighter Nicholas Banister and his wife Amanda were arrested on dozens of drug trafficking charges.

It all stemmed from an Alcohol Law Enforcement investigation into illegal drug sales in Glenwood South and other downtown areas.

While in jail, they were hit with another punishment: An excise tax from the North Carolina Department of Revenue.

The tax bills totaled $578,000 for the drugs agents say they found in the couple's home on Long Cove Court.

"It's wrong, let me put it that way," Laura Webb of the North Carolina Justice Center says about the state's program to tax illicit drugs and alcohol.

Webb said the tax is aggressive.

"They can take money out of your bank account, they can garnish your wages, they can put liens on property," Webb said.

North Carolina is one of 17 states where people with certain amounts of drug are supposed to pay taxes by purchasing drug stamps from the state. Click here to read more.

 

WASHINGTON D.C. - Just minutes after returning to the Oval Office, President Trump promised to reinstate the more than 8,000 troops who were dismissed from the military for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, announcing that they would receive backpay for the period of their termination.

According to military data, nearly 8,400 troops were expelled from the military after declining the vaccine, with the Marines making up around 3,700 of the dismissals.

"This week, I will reinstate any service members who were unjustly expelled from our military for objecting to the COVID vaccine mandate with full back pay," Trump said during his swearing-in ceremony Monday.

"And I will sign an order to stop our warriors from being subjected to radical political theories and social experiments while on duty," he added. "It's going to end immediately. Our armed forces will be free to focus on their sole mission, defeating America's enemies."

The COVID-19 vaccine mandate for military members lasted from August 2021 to January 2023 with few exemptions for medical or religious reasons. The mandate was walked back when Biden signed a defense spending bill in December 2022.

At that time, less than 1 percent of the military members who were dismissed due to the mandate were reinstated to their positions. Click here to read more.

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