AG Pam Bondi announces arrest of 2,700 Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang members in U.S.

WASHINGTON D.C. - Federal authorities have arrested more than 2,700 alleged members of the notorious Venezuelan Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang, officials said on Friday.

During a White House press briefing, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the arrests when asked if an undocumented infant would be an immigration enforcement priority.

Bondi responded saying that violent illegal immigrants would be prioritized for deportation.

"Let me put it in perspective: Today marked the 2,711th arrest in our country of TdA members," she said. "Everyone in this room agrees that they are one of the most violent criminal organizations in the world."

Like the president and other members of his administration, Bondi blamed the former Biden administration’s lax border policies for the large numbers of criminal illegal immigrants in the country and for letting TdA gain access into the U.S. Click here to read more.

 

Rancher faces animal cruelty charges for deaths of 56 cows and a puppy

CHADRON, Neb. (KOLN/Gray News) - A Nebraska rancher was charged with dozens of felonies in connection to the deaths of 56 cows and a puppy.

Dillon McGannon, 29, appeared in court Wednesday for his May 28 arrest.

According to court documents, McGannon allegedly shot a woman’s puppy and sent images of it with threatening messages to her. He was charged with cruel animal neglect, disturbing the peace and electronic intimidation.

After the arrest, Dawes County deputies were contacted on May 30 by a neighbor who said McGannon had a pen with dozens of dead cattle in it. Click here to read more.

 

SCOTUS rules parents can opt-out kids from LGBTQ curriculum; Trump: ‘A tremendous victory for parents’

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that parents can opt their children out of LGBTQ-themed instruction that conflicts with their religious beliefs.

The court sided with parents against Maryland’s Montgomery County Board of Education by a 6-3 decision, stating the parents are “entitled to a preliminary injunction.”

During the 2022–2023 school year, the board introduced “LGBTQ+-inclusive” storybooks for students in kindergarten through fifth grade, the opinion said.

The opinion said while the board allowed parents to opt their children out of related instruction, it later “rescinded” the policy, saying it “could not accommodate the growing number of opt out requests without causing significant disruptions to the classroom environment.”

The opinion said parents are “likely to succeed on their claim that the Board’s policies unconstitutionally burden their religious exercise.”

The court said it has “long recognized the rights of parents to direct ‘the religious up- bringing’ of their children.” Click here to read more.

 

July 1 starts Illinois laws on gender-inclusiveness, climate education, prostitution privacy

July 1 is when spending starts on Illinois’ record $55.2 billion budget, when the state gas tax automatically goes up to 48.3 cents a gallon and when new laws take effect – some passed as long ago as 2023.

Here are nine laws passed by the 103rd Illinois General Assembly impacting gender, birth certificates for those under guardianship and for fetal deaths, climate change education, insulin costs, assisted living, overdose survival, court translators and prostitution records. All nine go into effect July 1.

Gender data, birth certificates

House Bill 2297 will have state agencies collect and report gender-inclusive data.

Starting July 1, “male and female” categories will be removed. To conform with gender inclusive initiatives, state agencies will collect and report data for “man, woman, and persons who identify as non-binary or gender non-conforming” categories.

House Bill 4727 will waive fees for a new birth certificate or for a search for a birth record for those with a guardian. Click here to read more.

 

Washington Post Journalist Charged With Possession Of Child Pornography

A Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post editor has been charged by the federal government with possession of child pornography.

Thomas P. LeGro, 48, was arrested on Thursday after authorities allegedly found 11 video files of child pornography on LeGro’s work laptop, which was located at his home in Washington, D.C.

The journalist faces up to 20 years behind bars if convicted.

The Washington Post said in a statement that it “understands the severity of these allegations, and the employee has been placed on leave,” but refused to comment further.

LeGro’s Washington Post profile says he was “part of a team of Post reporters who were awarded a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Senate candidacy of Roy Moore and a subsequent effort to discredit The Post’s reporting” in 2018. “As Deputy Director of Video, Tom oversees an award-winning team of video journalists who work across the newsroom, including in National, Climate, Metro, Style and Technology,” the profile adds. Click here to read more.

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How A California Psychology Student Exposed The Dark Side Of Therapy Education

When Naomi Best began a counseling psychology master’s program last year at Santa Clara University, she did not expect her professor to ask her what she disliked about her genitals.

As a required part of Professor Chongzheng Wei’s “Human Sexuality” class, students were asked to submit a “sexual autobiography” that could include talking about their genitals, sharing when they first began masturbating, or discussing their “personal sexual aspirations,” Best said.

The syllabus said students need not answer questions that “make you feel extremely uncomfortable,” but that was easier said than done.

At one point, a trans-identifying male psychologist was invited to be a guest speaker for the class, she said. When Best asked him what he meant by “gender euphoria,” he allegedly told her that he “almost came” when he saw himself in the mirror as a woman for the first time, she said.

The trans-identifying psychologist also allegedly told students, “trans women have the only p***ies that can blow up the world,” Best said. Click here to read more.

 

Michigan Emerges as Midwest Hub for ‘Gender-Affirming Care’, Even for Kids

LANSING, Mich. – Even though the U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors – setting a precedent that could pave the way for similar laws in other states – Michigan is holding its ground. Under Democratic leadership, the state remains a hub for both adult and youth gender-affirming care – and demand is growing, especially from families crossing state lines to access care outlawed elsewhere.

State Rep. Laurie Pohutsky (D-Livonia) responded to the Tennessee ruling by reassuring residents that nothing has changed in Michigan. “An important thing to remember in light of SCOTUS’ ruling on gender-affirming care for minors as well: it does not ban this care” she posted on X. “It allows states to enact laws to ban it. Michigan does not have such a law, and gender-affirming care should still be available.” Click here to read more.

 

$5,000 award offered for return of Idaho teens allegedly taken by FLDS Church

MONTEVIEW, Idaho The Uvalde Foundation for Kids is offering a five-thousand-dollar reward for the return of two Idaho teens who were allegedly kidnapped by members of the FLDS Church earlier this week.

The reward is being offered for the safe return of the teens after they were reported missing on Sunday, June 22, by their mother, Elizabeth Roundy.

Rachelle Fischer, 15, and Allen Fischer, 13, were allegedly taken from their home in Monteview, Idaho while Roundy was away at a bible study group. Police say the children were last seen wearing traditional FLDS clothing. Rachelle was last seen in a dark green prairie dress, and Allen was last seen wearing a light blue shirt with jeans and black slip-on shoes.

According to The Uvalde Foundation for Kids, Rachelle is five feet and five inches tall and weighs about 135 pounds with brown hair and blue eyes. Allen is five feet and nine inches tall, weighing about 135 pounds with longer sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. Click here to read more.

 

60 ‘critically missing’ children rescued, 8 people arrested

SARASOTA, Fla. - U.S. Marshals, with the help of several law enforcement agencies, rescued 60 missing children.

The “critically missing” children were rescued from Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties in Florida. They ranged in age from 9 to 17.

According to the US Marshalls, “critically missing” children are those at risk of crimes of violence or those with other elevated risk factors such as substance abuse, sexual exploitation, crime exposure or domestic violence.

Eight people were arrested and face several charges, including human trafficking, child endangerment, narcotics possession and custodial interference. Click here to read more.

 

Autism Rates Have Increased 60-Fold.

WASHINGTON D.C. - Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of health and human services, is correct that reported autism rates have exploded in the last 30 years — they’ve increased roughly 60-fold — but he is dead wrong about the causes. I should know, because I am partly responsible for the explosion in rates.

The rapid rise in autism cases is not because of vaccines or environmental toxins, but rather is the result of changes in the way that autism is defined and assessed — changes that I helped put into place.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, I was the chair of the task force charged with creating the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or the D.S.M.-IV. Sometimes called the “bible of psychiatry,” the D.S.M. influences medical practice, insurance coverage, education and treatment selection.

In the third edition of the D.S.M., published in 1980, autism was tightly defined and considered extremely rare. Criteria for the diagnosis required a very early onset (before age 3) of severe cognitive, interpersonal, emotional and behavioral problems.

But my task force approved the inclusion of the new diagnosis, Asperger’s disorder, which is much milder in severity than classic autism and much more common. In doing so, we were responding to child psychiatrists’ and pediatricians’ concerns for children who did not meet the extremely stringent criteria for classic autism, but had similar symptoms in milder form and might benefit from services.

LANSING, Mich. — A federal appeals court has ruled that Michigan’s practice of storing and using newborn blood samples for research without parental consent does not violate the U.S. Constitution. The decision reverses a lower court ruling that had previously sided with parents who said their rights were being ignored.

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In Michigan, hospitals take a few drops of blood from nearly every newborn’s heel shortly after birth to test for dozens of rare but serious medical conditions. It’s a routine part of the state’s newborn screening program. After testing, the state keeps one blood spot in case a family wants it later and sends four or five anonymized spots to a nonprofit biobank for storage and possible research use. Parents are not asked for permission for this long-term storage or research.

Four families sued the state, arguing that their Fourteenth Amendment rights to direct the care of their children and their Fourth Amendment rights against unlawful search and seizure were violated.

A lower court agreed and ordered the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to notify parents, obtain consent for further storage and research, and return or destroy previously collected samples and data. But the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that decision.

In a 29-page opinion, the court found that once the samples are anonymized and disconnected from identifying information, their storage and use in research do not trigger constitutional protections.

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On the Fourteenth Amendment claim, the court said the plaintiffs failed to show that the state’s handling of the blood spots interfered with medical decisions or violated parental autonomy.

“This is not a case about medical care,” the court wrote. “It is about the storage and research use of anonymized biological material.”

On the Fourth Amendment claim, the court said that because the samples were de-identified and stored without any link to the children, there was no search. As for seizure, the judges found that the families could not prove they had a legal right to control the samples under Michigan law.

The court also rejected concerns about future use of the samples in criminal investigations, calling those claims speculative and not ready for review.

As of now, Michigan’s program stores blood spots at the Michigan Neonatal Biobank for up to 100 years. The samples can be used by researchers and government agencies, but only after approval by a state-appointed board. Since 2010, the state has asked for consent before using samples in research, but it does not ask for consent to store the samples or use them to improve screening technology.

The ruling allows the state to continue its current practices, but the decision may not sit well with some parents.

Although the court relied heavily on legal definitions of privacy, property, and consent, the facts of the case raise uncomfortable questions: Should the state store genetic material from babies without permission? Should parents have more say in what happens to their child’s blood after it leaves the hospital?

For now, those questions remain unanswered. What is clear is that, under federal law, Michigan can keep doing what it’s been doing for decades—whether parents know about it or not.