Author: Brittany Mays

Tom Begich dropped his bid for Alaska governor after the August 18 primary and backed Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins to consolidate Democratic support, a move shaped by the state’s top-four ranked-choice system and looming withdrawal deadlines. Tom Begich, a former legislator and one of only two Democrats in the open primary, announced his exit days after the August 18 vote and urged fellow Democrats to rally behind Kreiss-Tomkins. In a short video message he was blunt: “the strongest path to winning in November is not two Democratic candidates competing for the same donors and resources.” Begich added that the goal was “bringing…

House lawmakers returned to Washington on Monday with a short to-do list after five weeks back in their home districts, and the opening move looks to be a quick vote on a temporary spending measure while bigger fights over priorities and spending play out. House lawmakers returned to Washington on Monday with a short to-do list after five weeks back in their home districts. The first order of business is most likely a vote on a stopgap spending bill to keep government programs running while negotiations continue. That procedural step is familiar but it should not be treated as an…

Washington and Ottawa clashed over a stalled trade deal, but there are bigger players—and shifting energy and geopolitical ties—that are quietly reshaping the negotiation dynamics between the United States and Canada. Negotiators in Washington shrugged when Ottawa walked away over a language provision, but the fallout is more than a simple misunderstanding. The US has leverage in this moment, and two outside actors—China and Venezuela—are quietly changing the balance. Those shifts matter for $900 billion in bilateral trade and for how Washington approaches its northern neighbor. President Donald Trump announced on August 28 that the United States has agreed to…

President Trump’s longtime teleprompter operator has been suspended from the prediction market Kalshi for using insider information about the president’s speeches to gain more than $100,000, a development that raises questions about access, accountability, and how markets handle sensitive political information. The basic allegation is simple and specific: a teleprompter operator with direct, routine access to the president’s remarks used that inside knowledge to trade on Kalshi and came away with over $100,000. That raw fact matters because the operator’s role exists to support the speech itself, not to move markets, yet the number involved makes this more than a…

More rain and thunderstorms were possible Monday at the Grand Canyon after a major flash flood left one person dead and about 15 people missing or unaccounted for, and prompted the evacuation of scores of visitors. The sudden flash flood swelled narrow canyon washes and cut off trails and backcountry routes, leaving search-and-rescue teams racing against worsening weather and rising water. Park officials confirmed one fatality and said roughly 15 people were missing or unaccounted for amid ongoing efforts to locate them. Evacuations moved many visitors to safer zones while crews focused on the hardest-hit areas. Emergency responders faced steep…

This piece uses a simple image — a clown bike horn — to explore predictability, purpose, and why some things are built to do only one thing well. They’re like a horn on a clown’s bicycle: When you squeeze it, it goes honk. It won’t ever make a new noise, because it’s a horn on a clown’s bicycle. That simple comparison sits behind a lot of everyday judgment calls about usefulness and identity. At the literal level, the horn is gloriously one-note. You apply pressure, a membrane vibrates, air moves through a chamber, and you get sound. The mechanics are…

The Grand Canyon saw a sudden flash flood that forced evacuations and sent large boulders, metal structures, and other debris plunging into the Colorado River. A fast-moving flash flood raced through the Grand Canyon, prompting officials to evacuate dozens of people from affected areas. The torrent carried heavy rocks and pieces of infrastructure into the Colorado River that threads the canyon. Park staff and emergency crews moved quickly to account for visitors and get people to safer ground. Witnesses described scenes of roaring water and debris slamming into the river corridor, leaving a chaotic trail behind. Metal frames, camping gear,…

Kylie Jenner shrugged off fresh pregnancy chatter on the August 26 episode of the “Better Half” podcast, while Sandra Bullock debuted a mysterious “LB²” shoulder tattoo at the London premiere of Practical Magic 2 and Rosie O’Donnell shared a prison visit with her daughter Chelsea, sparking different kinds of public reaction to private moments. Kylie Jenner told listeners she doesn’t “feel the need to say anything ever” about the recurring pregnancy rumors that trail her. She shares two children with ex Travis Scott and has been dating Timothée Chalamet since 2023, yet speculation kept building despite her casual dismissal on…

President Trump pushed back on concerns about Chinese intelligence activities, arguing that the United States engages in similar operations and urging a levelheaded look at global espionage and cyber activity. President Trump recently shrugged off alarm over China’s large-scale intelligence collection, espionage and cyberattacks, saying the U.S. does similar things and suggesting the coverage is overblown. He made the comment during a terse exchange with reporters, framing the issue as part of routine great power competition rather than a unique threat. That posture reflects a desire to rebalance public panic with pragmatic national interest concerns. From a Republican perspective, the…

The popcorn machine is usually older than the projector. The owner often has a day job. Small drive-in operators juggle nostalgia, thin margins, and weather risks. Most independent drive-in theaters run on tight budgets, with concession equipment that predates the projector and with owners who balance film nights around daytime work. These are often family affairs more than corporate ventures, and the math rarely includes big safety nets. A single stormy evening can erase a large share of monthly income, so every seat filled matters. Running a drive-in means keeping odd machines alive and learning a lot of trade skills…