This email is free weekdays, but the in-depth investigations and shows I produce rely on your support.

I left a high-paying media job to bring you real, independent journalism.

For just $6/month, you can help keep this work alive. Cancel anytime. Click the red subscribe button to join!

Become a Supporter

 

 

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.

I left a high-paying media job to go independent, and I can’t do it without your support.

Paid subscriptions are just $6/month and keep this work alive. Cancel anytime. Click the red subscribe button to join!

Become a Supporter

 

 

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.

Subscribe now

 

Become a Supporter

 

 

 

COVENTRY, VT- Authorities say a U.S. Border Patrol agent was fatally shot Monday afternoon while conducting a traffic stop on Interstate 91.

It happened around 3:15 p.m. near the Coventry-Newport town line. Sources say the agent was fatally shot in the neck and died. One of the suspects was also killed and another was wounded.

A portion of the highway was closed in both directions for about two hours although the northbound lanes reopened just after 5 p.m.

State police are assisting federal authorities including the FBI.

 

GENESEE COUNTY, Mich. — A two-day operation targeting child predators in Genesee County resulted in the arrest of four men, including two illegal immigrants from Honduras. The men, who traveled from outside the county, were apprehended by the proactive “Ghost” team led by Sheriff Chris Swanson.

Swanson revealed that the operation highlights the ongoing threat posed by predators, even in areas with visible warnings about law enforcement vigilance. Despite billboards and other preventative measures in the county, the suspects still attempted to exploit children. Click here to read more.

Get your Rapid Radios by clicking here. Use promo code BONDY10 to get 10% off. Even more discounts are available by clicking here.

 

Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm gifted her home state of Michigan a whopping sum of $14 billion to develop green energy projects just before leaving the White House. According to the Washington Free Beacon, the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office announced on Thursday that a total of $22.9 billion in loan guarantees was taken to be distributed to 12 states for such projects.

The $14 billion taken by Granholm was given to two companies to which she reportedly has ties, DTE Energy and Consumers Energy, for projects just in Michigan. An additional $1.3 billion loan was given to Michigan’s Potash Company to help “fund a sustainable fertilizer plant.”

The gift Granholm gave the companies followed their own financial support given to her for her campaign. According to the Free Beacon, “DTE Energy’s political action committee contributed more than $34,000 to Granholm’s 2006 gubernatorial campaign, according to state records. Click here to read more.

 

SANTA CLARA, CALIF - A 2-year-old girl who spent nearly all her life battling leukemia is celebrating the end of her cancer treatment with her family and hospital staff.

Lucy Nguyen, 2, rang a bell Friday at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara in California, signifying the long-awaited end of her cancer treatment. The ringing was music to her parents’ ears.

“I can finally take a deep breath, sigh of relief,” said My Nguyen, Lucy’s mother.

At just 7 weeks old, Lucy was diagnosed with leukemia and went through intensive treatment. It was an unimaginable journey for the little girl, her parents and her older sister.

“It was really hard. We made a lot of sacrifices, especially my wife – not missing appointments, living in hospitals for an extended period of time… but our daughter, Lucy, has been so resilient, so brave,” said Lawrence Nguyen, Lucy’s father.

Next to Lucy and her family as she rang that bell were the hospital staff who were just as excited for the 2-year-old to celebrate that moment.

 

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out worldwide in early 2020, Dr. Anthony Fauci has been at the center of it.

Upgrade to paid

Five years later, with 20 million dead worldwide, with so many questions unanswered officially about the origins of the virus, who might have been behind it, who might have funded it, who got it right and who got it wrong during the massive shutdowns and lockdowns of American society and beyond…

No one has been held accountable.

Senator Rand Paul has said it has been Fauci who must be held accountable.

Paul insisted that the evidence pointed to COVID-19 originating at a laboratory in Wuhan, China, where gain-of-function research was happening.

Fauci denied this. Click here to read more.