Blue state residents ‘fleeing in droves’ after ‘insane’ progressive takeover, says top state attorney
A top state attorney in Democrat-controlled Maryland says he has had enough and is throwing in the towel after saying the Old Line State has suffered an “insane” “ultra-progressive” takeover. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Haven Shoemaker, state attorney for Maryland’s Carroll County, said that after decades in public service, he is “sick to death” of the policies that “emanate” from the state capital in Annapolis. He said he is especially disgusted with Maryland’s “sanctuary” policies and the high taxes he said are being levied in part to pay for more services for illegal immigrants. “Maryland has become California on the Chesapeake,” said Shoemaker. “It only gets worse. It’s not getting better. And at some point, I just had to make a personal decision that it’s time to throw in the towel and head for what I believe are greener pastures.” Shoemaker is not the only one. He said that he sees Marylanders giving up on the state “all the time.” “The State of Maryland has one of the worst outward migration numbers of any state in the country right now,” he said. “So, I don’t know who’s going to be the last to foot the bill for the profligate spending that Annapolis likes to engage in, but it’s not going to be me, I can tell you that.” MARYLAND DEMS MOCKED FOR PRIORITIZING TAMPONS IN MEN’S BATHROOMS AMID STATE DEFICIT: ‘NONSENSE’ Moore’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions. Fox News Digital also reached out to Maryland House Speaker Joseline A. Peña-Melnyk and Senate President Bill Ferguson for comment. Born in Baltimore in the 1960s, Shoemaker spent three decades in local and state politics before taking the job as Carroll County’s top prosecutor in 2023. His career in public service includes seven years as mayor of Hampstead, Maryland, four years as a Carroll County commissioner and nine years in the Maryland House of Delegates. He rose to the role of House Minority Whip for the Maryland Republican Party. Despite years deeply involved in state politics, Shoemaker said his decision to abandon Maryland has been a long time coming. “I’ve been contemplating this move for a while, but the linchpin for me was this most recent legislative session where they essentially made Maryland a sanctuary state for illegal immigrants,” he told Fox News Digital. Earlier this year, the Maryland General Assembly passed an emergency measure to ban local and state law enforcement agencies from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) through what is known as the 287(g) program. Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, whose name has been floated as a possible 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, signed the bill into law. While emphasizing that law enforcement would continue cooperating with ICE on deporting individuals who “pose a risk to public safety,” Moore lauded the bill, saying, “We will not allow untrained, unqualified and unaccountable agents to deputize our brave local law enforcement officers,” according to WYPR. While signing the measure, Moore stressed his view that “Maryland is a community of immigrants,” saying, “It is not our weakness, it’s our strength.” FOUR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS LINKED TO MS-13 INDICTED FOR ALLEGEDLY MURDERING 14-YEAR-OLD BOY IN MARYLAND PARK Shoemaker, meanwhile, said that Maryland’s sanctuary-style policies are “just part of the problem.” “In addition to that, their tax policy here is horrendous,” he said. He pointed to how state leaders raised taxes in Maryland last year by $1.6 billion. The tax raise was passed by the State Assembly and approved by Democratic Gov. Wes Moore as part of a $67 billion state budget in 2025. The raise was part of a plan to address roughly a $3.3 billion budget deficit. Maryland’s budget is relatively large compared to other states, despite the state ranking 18th in population and 42nd in land size. Shoemaker said that state leaders are “already looking at a structural deficit going into next year’s budget of another billion and a half or so.” He asserted the “handwriting is on the wall” that “Maryland politicians are beholden to their ultra-progressive base.” In the end, Shoemaker said that he has finally decided to escape to the South and head for North Carolina. “A lot of taxpayers from across the State of Maryland are fleeing in droves,” he said. He added a warning to Moore and other Maryland leaders: “If you want to staunch the bleeding that’s occurring, maybe you should rethink your policies.”
Trump admin steps up next phase of effort to protect children’s health
FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration is stepping up its response to childhood lead exposure, launching new EPA public-education tools while pressing states to use previously awarded lead-mitigation funds that had gone unused, Fox News Digital learned. “There’s no safe level of lead exposure, and it’s well documented that children are more susceptible to the risks of lead. We’ve made a lot of progress over the decades in reducing childhood exposure to lead, but there’s still more work to do,” Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview. The EPA is revamping its website and launching a new story map tool aimed at making critical information on the risks of lead exposure easier for the public to access. The move comes as the agency shifts funding toward higher-impact efforts and steps up pressure on states to address contamination risks. RFK JR DEFENDS TRUMP MOVE TO PROTECT PESTICIDE HE TIED TO ‘CHRONIC DISEASE EPIDEMIC’ Lead can be commonly found in paint, household dust, drinking water, air, and soil. The new tools will provide information to the public on current regulations for prevention. “We’re also enforcing our rules when it comes to the lead renovation and painting rule. This comes up when you’ve got older homes, 1978 and older. Those are the ones that are more likely to have lead in the home, in the paint,” said Fotouhi. “When those homes are being renovated, it’s critical that folks are following our standards for ensuring the safety of any children that are occupying that home during that renovation.” OBAMA-ERA GREENHOUSE GAS RULES GONE AS EPA’S ZELDIN SIGNS ‘SINGLE LARGEST DEREGULATORY ACTION’ IN HISTORY The agency announced $3 billion in new funding for states to reduce lead in drinking water while also reallocating $1.1 billion in unused funding. Fotouhi explained to Fox News Digital that previous federal dollars to protect against lead poisoning and replace service lines sat unused in a handful of states. “We’ve really focused on is making sure that states that received lead funding in the past are putting that money to good use,” said Fotouhi. “We encountered a number of situations where states had received funding from EPA to replace lead service lines but had not taken and spent those funds to do that work.” There are 4 million lead service lines carrying drinking water to homes, according to a 2025 EPA report. The EPA’s broader push to prevent lead poisoning also included $26 million for states and territories last year to address lead in drinking water at schools and child-care facilities, underscoring the administration’s focus on children’s exposure risks. READ: DR OZ PUTS ALL 50 GOVERNORS ON NOTICE OVER BILLIONS LOST TO MEDICAID FRAUD A committee of senior leaders was reestablished in 2025 across the agency’s program offices and 10 regions as part of EPA’s agency-wide effort to reduce children’s exposure to lead. “This is federal, this is precious federal grant funding. Designed specifically to reduce human health risk from lead exposure, and the states need to be doing their job here and putting that funding to good use,” said Fotouhi. The administration has cast children’s health as a cross-agency priority, with HHS helping drive that push through the White House’s Make America Healthy Again initiative, which has focused in part on childhood chronic disease and environmental toxins.
Over a dozen Dems demand Trump admin protect Iranians living in the US
More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers have signed onto a letter urging President Donald Trump’s administration to protect Iranians living in the U.S. who could not safely return to Iran. “We write to urge the Trump administration to immediately institute protections for Iranian nationals currently in the United States who cannot return home safely,” the letter states. “The Administration must not forcibly return Iranian families in the United States to Iran — where they face the dual threat of the regime’s humanitarian abuses and dangers a resumption of the war poses — and should therefore pause deportation flights and designate Iranians for temporary protection, such as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or Deferred Enforced Departure (DED),” it continues. US-IRAN CEASEFIRE DEAL HANGS IN THE BALANCE AS ISRAEL, LEBANON SLATED FOR RARE WASHINGTON TALKS The letter accuses the Trump administration of launching “attacks on Iran unlawfully, without the constitutionally required congressional authorization, plunging millions of innocent civilians into a state of insecurity, with the human cost of the conflict mounting daily.” “Having initiated the current war with Iran, the Trump administration bears a moral and humanitarian responsibility to provide Iranian nationals with an immediate shield from removal,” the message asserts. “The Administration should also provide assistance to Iranians in the United States while they are unable to return home, by resuming the processing of immigration benefits and expediting the issuance of work authorization documents,” the letter states. ONCE TRUMP-ALIGNED PODCASTS ARE WARNING HE’S LOSING HIS COALITION OVER BROKEN PROMISES The April 23 letter is directed to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Joseph Edlow. The letter is signed by Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, Sen. Alex Padilla of California, Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Sen. Adam Schiff of California, Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, and Reps. Dan Goldman of New York, Hank Johnson of Georgia, Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, Dave Min of California, Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, Brad Sherman of California, Lateefah Simon of California, and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton of Washington D.C. FOX NEWS POLL: MODEST BOOST IN SUPPORT FOR IRAN CONFLICT, BUT CONCERNS PERSIST Fox News Digital reached out to the White House to request comment on Friday. Rubio has yanked the lawful permanent resident status of multiple individuals with ties to the Iranian regime. For example, the State Department announced earlier this month that “the niece and grand niece of deceased Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Major General Qasem Soleimani were arrested by federal agents following Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s termination of their lawful permanent resident (LPR) status.” “Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter are now in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. As identified by both press reporting and her own social media commentary, Soleimani Afshar is an outspoken supporter of the totalitarian, terrorist regime in Iran,” the department noted in the April 4 notice.
Democrat Beyer blasts GOP plan to counter Virginia redistricting by eliminating his seat
A Republican lawmaker is proposing to return Arlington and Alexandria to Washington, D.C., a move aimed at countering Democrats’ newly strengthened grip on Virginia’s congressional map following this week’s redistricting vote. The “Make D.C. Square Again Act” from Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., comes after voters approved Virginia’s new Democratic-backed map positioning the party to expand its congressional seat advantage by linking blue Northern Virginia suburbs with more rural districts — a shift Republicans warn could dilute GOP strength statewide. Rep. Donald Beyer, D-Va., on Thursday lambasted McCormick’s plan to finish what lawmakers in the 1860s started and return the heavily Democratic district to the District. “Rich McCormick’s bill is an embarrassing legislative tantrum,” Beyer told Fox News Digital. SOROS-LINKED DARK MONEY NETWORK FUELS VIRGINIA REDISTRICTING PUSH BACKED BY NATIONAL DEMOCRATS “It is also unconstitutional, and a stupid waste of time. Republicans upset about the passage of Virginia’s redistricting referendum should stop whining, as they have no one to blame but themselves.” McCormick’s bill called the 1846 retrocession “unconstitutional” and restore the District of Columbia’s original 100-square-mile boundary. He lamented the redistricting vote and noted that Sen. Benjamin Wade, R-Ohio, originally sparked the retrocession movement with legislation in 1866. An 1836 effort by Sen. William Preston, a Whig from South Carolina, to cede the entirety of Washington, D.C., to Maryland also failed. Alexandria County — now Arlington County and the city of Alexandria — retroceded from the District of Columbia to Virginia amid alleged economic inequities with then-Georgetown County, D.C., political mismanagement and tensions over Alexandria’s then-booming slave trade, as the North, including Washington, D.C., opposed the practice. All that remains of Washington, D.C., on the Virginia side of the Potomac River is Columbia Island, also known as Lady Bird Johnson Island, which remains with the District of Columbia due to an arcane law regarding the river’s high-water mark. Presidents Abraham Lincoln and William Taft also voiced support for Wade’s mission, but de-retrocession routinely died in the Senate in the several times it was tried. NEWSOM TURNS VIRGINIA REDISTRICTING VICTORY INTO WARNING SHOT FOR TRUMP ADMINISTRATION “Restore to the District of Columbia the portion of its territory taken away by the retrocession,” Taft demanded in his 1912 State of the Union. McCormick argued that “absent the vote of DC bureaucrats,” the other 90% of Virginia’s geographic voice would remain intact with a “substantial Republican majority.” He said 250,000 votes in Arlington and Alexandria — which Beyer’s district comprises along with parts of southern Fairfax — should rightly belong to Washington, D.C. Beyer said that Virginia’s voice opposing President Donald Trump was rightly heard in Tuesday’s election and that Republicans like McCormick are trying to instead “permanently deprive hundreds of thousands of my constituents of their right to vote in federal elections.” “Their contempt for voters is breathtaking,” Beyer said. Beyer added that Americans want Congress to focus on economic issues and halting Trump’s Iran War but are instead faced with Republicans “humiliating themselves” to curry the president’s favor. “Voters will remember,” he said. In a response to Fox News Digital, McCormick shared a meme of a Google Map with Beyer’s portrait bordered by the District of Columbia. “On the bright side, you can run for mayor now, Don Beyer.” Former assistant U.S. Attorney and Heritage Foundation fellow Zack Smith noted to Fox News Digital that Taft later became Chief Justice of the U.S. and had legally analyzed retrocession to be “problematic” “This questionable action should not be used as justification for radically transforming the boundaries and the status of the District of Columbia by simple legislation,” Smith wrote in a recent law review article. Smith argued that Maryland’s consent should have been efforted in order to create Arlington and Alexandria, citing colonial law regarding Maryland having land carved from itself for the District – and not for the eventual formation of a piece of another state. “Since Maryland donated the land for the purpose of creating the seat of the federal government, Maryland must consent to its use for another purpose,” Smith wrote. JEFFRIES DEFENDS VIRGINIA REDISTRICTING AS ‘TEMPORARY MEASURE’ TO STOP TRUMP FROM TRYING TO ‘RIG’ MIDTERMS In a statement on the bill, McCormick argued that the Constitution is indeed on his side. He said the Enclave Clause puts D.C.’s boundaries in Congress’ hands and gives no authority to retrocede territory back to the states. “The Make DC Square Act restores the District of Columbia as the Founders envisioned it,” he said. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger rebuked the idea of giving Arlington and Alexandria back: “Inflation is skyrocketing, gas is close to $4, and Virginia families are feeling squeezed by high prices because of the reckless policies coming out of Washington. Republicans in Congress should be focused on contending with the high costs and economic chaos created by President Trump,” the spokesperson said. Not all Virginia lawmakers agreed with Beyer, including Del. Wren Williams of Patrick County in the southern part of the commonwealth. Williams, who is also an attorney, told Fox News Digital he “fully supports this act.” “If we’re going to claim we support the constitution while our federal capital remains split over separate jurisdictions, how are we any better than those who allow millions of illegal aliens to flow across our borders as enemies to our nation?” he asked. “We need to resolve the inconsistency. We gave that land to the district, and there are no takebacks.” GOP-LED COUNTIES PUSH BACK AGAINST DEMOCRAT’S REDISTRICTING CHARGE, TESTING VIRGINIA’S CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITS Williams said returning Arlington and Alexandria to Washington would begin a necessary “healing process” in Virginia to correct a longstanding divide, which other Republicans have lamented has left southside Virginia without a full voice in Richmond. The Washington-based government-transparency group The Oversight Project has also focused at times on the Arlington boundary dispute. Mike Howell, an attorney and the organization’s president, told Fox News Digital that “aggressive actions” need to be undertaken to return the District of Columbia to its proper confines. He called
Newsom-backed law lets illegal immigrant child rapist seek early release again as DA urges ‘stop the madness’
An illegal immigrant from Mexico serving a 139-year prison sentence for raping and impregnating his underage stepdaughter will be eligible to seek early parole for a second time in the coming months due to a loophole in a law signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Israel Ceja’s early release was blocked Wednesday after a review by an en banc parole board convened by Newsom following pressure from Yolo County District Attorney Jeffrey Reisig. An official with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirmed to Fox News Digital that a new hearing has been ordered for Ceja. Reisig is calling on Newsom and California lawmakers to “stop the madness” by closing the loopholes in the state’s Elderly Release Program that allow child rapists to be considered eligible for parole. “Nobody wants this,” Reisig told Fox News Digital. “The general public does not want this, and all they’re doing is victimizing, re-victimizing the victims and the communities. Nobody wants these guys coming back to their community.” NEWSOM BILL COULD SPEND TAX MONEY TO DEFEND ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM TRUMP DEPORTATION PUSH: CA LAWMAKER A jury convicted Ceja, 63, in 2000 for his years-long abuse of his stepdaughter, Roxanne Cruz, which began when she was 11 years old in 1993. With roughly 20% of his sentence served, Ceja was granted early release by a two-commissioner parole board panel in January, which did not consult the victim or notify the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office that prosecuted him more than 20 years ago, according to Reisig. “It’s twisted,” Reisig said. “This is twisted stuff.” In 2020, Newsom signed a law amending the Elderly Release Program by lowering the eligibility age for inmates to 50 years old with 20 years served. The program was established in 2014 with eligibility set at 65 with 25 years served. Democrats advanced the law in a package of criminal justice reforms intended to address overcrowding prisons. While prisoners deemed three-strike offenders, serving life without parole, or facing the death penalty are ineligible for the program, criminals convicted of violent crimes — including sex crimes against children — are eligible. CALIFORNIA ‘MENTAL HEALTH’ LOOPHOLE FREES KILLERS AND CROOKS WITH ‘TERRIBLE LAWS,’ SHERIFF WARNS Fox News Digital reported in February that David Allen Funston, who kidnapped and molested at least eight children in the Sacramento area in the 1990s, was granted parole under the Elderly Release Program. Both Democratic and Republican California lawmakers have introduced legislation in recent months to ensure convicted molesters aren’t eligible for early release. One of those measures introduced by California Republican state Sen. Roger Niello was killed in the Senate Public Safety Committee earlier this week. Niello said in a press release that he was “disheartened” that his measure, which would exclude criminals convicted of rape, sodomy, lewd and lascivious acts and other sex offenses from elderly parole eligibility, was defeated. Last month, Democratic state Assembly member Stephanie Nguyen introduced Assembly Bill 2727, which raises the age for convicted sex offenders to seek parole from 50 to 65 and requires them to undergo a psychological evaluation through the Department of State Hospitals. While the measure passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee earlier this month, the final markup gutted provisions that would ban violent sex offenders sentenced to life from ever seeking early release. ILLEGAL ALIEN YOUTH COACH COULD FACE DEATH PENALTY AFTER ALLEGEDLY MURDERING, RAPING TEEN PLAYER Reisig called on Newsom to issue an executive order that bans child molesters from the program, citing Newsom’s previous order placing a moratorium on the death penalty as evidence that he has the power. “He could issue a moratorium on any elderly parole releases of child rapists with the stroke of a pen,” Reisig said. “He doesn’t want to admit that, but he did it for the death penalty. He could do it here.” “Step up, protect children,” Resig continued. “Stop allowing child rapists to get out early.” An official from Newsom’s office noted that the governor only has the power to reverse a parole grant in murder cases, adding that in all other cases the governor can only refer a decision back to the Board of Parole Hearings for full commissioner review. Less than 12% of scheduled parole hearings result in parole grants by the Board, which the official attributed to commissioners relying on “stringent” and “numerous” steps involving the “use of validated risk assessment tools” in their decision-making. Commissioners seek to ensure grantees “pose no unreasonable risk to public safety.” But during Ceja’s parole hearing, Ceja admitted to the commissioners that he had active sexual fantasies about his victim in prison, and “couldn’t remember” when he had his last one, but that he would pray to find relief, according to a transcript obtained by Fox News Digital. “You don’t understand what he meant when he said he would “pray.” He told you guys right there what he was going to do,” Cruz said of her abuser during a press conference. “That he was going to go out and prey on little kids, not that he was going to be praying to God.” During the hearing, Ceja said he would be returning to Mexico, where he illegally migrated from when he was 15. The commissioners acknowledged that Ceja will likely be deported to Mexico upon being released from prison. Commissioner Neil Schneider said that they were not “unleashing a dangerous man” to Mexico but that Ceja would be an “excellent citizen” there. At a press conference last month, Newsom acknowledged the concerns with the Elderly Release Program, saying that there needs to be “deeper scrutiny” when it comes to the state’s handling of violent sexual predators. Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
Senate hopeful says US should be ‘far more cooperative’ with China to fight climate change
Maine Democrat Graham Platner is vowing to pursue closer ties with China if elected to the Senate, arguing that the U.S. should be “far more cooperative” with the communist state on issues like climate change. “I think our position towards China should be one of cooperation instead of one of opposition,” Platner said during a livestream in February, arguing it would be “absurd” to have an aggressive approach toward Beijing, citing its trade relationship with the United States. “I am not a China hawk, not by any stretch of the imagination,” he continued. “I think we need to be figuring out how to integrate, or at least be far more cooperative, especially to fight challenges like climate change.” Platner, a staunch progressive, is running to unseat Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in November’s midterm elections. His views on China appear to be well outside the political mainstream and place him to the left of many Democratic lawmakers, who see the country as the United States’ most formidable strategic competitor or a geopolitical threat. LEFT-WING DEM HIT WITH HOMETOWN CHURCH BLOWBACK OVER 30-SECOND AD The Senate hopeful has also argued that fascism followed by climate change is the top two challenges facing the United States on the world stage. “Before the rise of fascism, I would have said that the biggest challenge we have … globally is climate change,” Platner, an oyster farmer and combat veteran, said during the livestream. Platner referred to federal immigration officers as “armed thugs,” accusing them of murdering American citizens, an apparent reference to two fatal shootings during an immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis earlier this year. He has previously advocated for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and dragging agents in front of Congress to testify about their work. Platner’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment. The Republican National Committee (RNC) sharply criticized Platner’s remarks in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Graham Platner’s soft-on-communism radical ideology would lift up dictators, threaten America’s national security, and cost American lives,” RNC spokeswoman Kristen Cianci said in a statement. “He has no business in the Senate or any position of power.” WARREN CONFRONTED ON CALLING CONTROVERSIAL SENATE CANDIDATE GRAHAM PLATNER HER ‘KIND OF MAN’ Platner is facing Maine Gov. Janet Mills, D-Maine, in an increasingly nasty primary that has split factions of the Democratic Party. Leading progressives, including Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have endorsed him while Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who leads the party’s establishment wing, is supporting Mills. Sanders and Warren have doubled down on their embrace of Platner despite the political newcomer’s bevy of controversial online posts and scrutiny over a Nazi-linked tattoo that he has had removed. Platner called for deposing Schumer as Democratic leader, weakening the filibuster to ease the passage of left-wing legislation and adding seats to the Supreme Court to dilute the power of the conservative majority, in an interview with NBC News this week. The Sanders-backed oyster farmer has carved out a dominant lead in recent polling ahead of the June primary, despite Mills serving as the most senior-ranking Democrat in the state. Collins is running for a sixth Senate term in the blue-leaning state. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the contest as a “toss-up.”
Steak ‘n Shake’s new ‘Chief MAHA Officer’ teases RFK Jr-inspired menu shift
FIRST ON FOX — Steak ‘n Shake will switch to grass-fed beef at all of its locations by June 1, the fast food chain’s newly-appointed “Chief MAHA Officer” Michael Boes exclusively told Fox News Digital. The move comes after Steak ‘n Shake sought to align with the “Make America Healthy Again” priorities of the Trump administration last year by switching to beef tallow instead of seed oils in their fryers. “There are a lot of health benefits that I could get into in regard to grass-fed beef and non-grass-fed beef, but the reality is we think it tastes better,” Boes said in an interview just days after his new role was announced. “We tested it out in local markets and the customers reiterated that desire to go that route.” It’s unclear whether the switch to grass-fed beef might result in an increase in the chain’s pricing amid soaring beef prices. RFK JR CLAIMS HE LOST 20 POUNDS IN 20 DAYS, GAINED MENTAL CLARITY ON EXTREME DIET The move further bolsters the company’s previous efforts to align itself with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAGA agenda. At the outset of President Donald Trump’s second term, Steak ‘n Shake announced it would start cooking its french fries in beef tallow — raising alarm among health advocates and praise from those who denounce seed-based oils. Kennedy praised the switch at the time, saying he hoped more companies would follow suit. He confirmed HHS under his leadership would not ban use of seed oils but would allow companies to respond to consumer priorities. “I have a libertarian outlook. People should be able to make their own choices. If you want to eat a donut or seed oils, you should be able to,” Kennedy told Fox News during a visit to a Florida Steak ‘n Shake location in March 2025. “We want to do everything that we can to incentivize these companies to be transparent, to switch over from ultra-processed food and to be part of this movement to make America healthier,” Kennedy added. MIKE TYSON IN THE ‘FIGHT OF MY LIFE’ AS HE PARTNERS WITH TRUMP ADMIN IN HEALTH INITIATIVE TO TACKLE OBESITY Boes’ new position, which the company says is “dedicated to advancing nutritional integrity, ingredient transparency and the healthiness of our products,” furthers the company’s alignment with RFK Jr.’s aims. Before making history as the world’s first “Chief MAHA Officer,” Boes worked as a senior advisor at HHS. When speaking with Fox News Digital, Boes said he got sign-off from Kennedy before using the MAHA moniker for his new role. SEN RAND PAUL: KENNEDY IS CONFRONTING ‘CORRUPT’ HEALTH AGENCIES TO MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN “During my time serving Sec. Kennedy, I had countless conversations with industry partners about returning to real food,” Boes said in a post to LinkedIn on Tuesday. “Time and again, I heard the same hesitation: ‘Our customers aren’t demanding this.’ Steak ‘n Shake challenged that narrative and growth followed. Fast food doesn’t have to mean processed, complicated or artificial. It used to mean real, simple and delicious — and it can again.” Boes did not say when asked by Fox News Digital whether the change to all grass-fed and grass-finished beef on June 1 could result in an uptick in pricing for Steak ‘n Shake. The conflict in Iran — and specifically the closure of the Strait of Hormuz shipping route — is resulting in a bottleneck in getting oil and other fuels out of the Middle East, which is driving up the costs of beef and a myriad of other products. Fox News Digital’s Katelyn Caralle contributed to this report.
Iran war live: Lebanon truce extended; Trump says time not on Tehran’s side
blinking-dotLive updatesLive updates, Death toll from Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on Gaza has reached 72,568 with 172,338 injured: Gaza’s Health Ministry. Published On 24 Apr 202624 Apr 2026 Click here to share on social media share-nodes Share googleAdd Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Adblock test (Why?)
US professors sue university over arrest during pro-Palestine protest
By The Associated Press Published On 23 Apr 202623 Apr 2026 Three professors at Atlanta’s Emory University in the United States have filed a lawsuit over their arrests during a 2024 campus protest over Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Their lawsuit on Thursday argued that the university broke its own free-speech policies when it called in police and state troopers to aggressively disband the protest, making 28 arrests. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list “The judicial system would find that Emory failed to protect its students, to protect its staff, to protect the educational mission of the university,” said philosophy professor Noelle McAfee, one of the plaintiffs. “So this isn’t just about people’s individual rights. It’s our educational mission to train people in free and critical inquiry, to be able to learn how to engage with others, to be fearless.” Laura Diamond, a spokesperson for Emory, responded that the university believes “this lawsuit is without merit”. “Emory acts appropriately and responsibly to keep our community safe from threats of harm,” Diamond said in a statement. “We regret this issue is being litigated, but we have confidence in the legal process.” The suit is just one example of how the nationwide wave of protests from 2023 and 2024 continues to reverberate on elite campuses. There have been multiple instances where students and faculty have filed lawsuits against universities, arguing they were discriminated against because of the protests. But the Emory suit is unusual. McAfee and her fellow plaintiffs — English and Indigenous studies professor Emilio Del Valle-Escalante and economics professor Caroline Fohlin — all remain tenured faculty members. None were convicted of any charges. The civil lawsuit in DeKalb County State Court demands that the private university repay money the three spent defending themselves against misdemeanour charges that were later dismissed, along with punitive damages. Advertisement McAfee said she’s suing her employer “to try to get them to be accountable and to change”. All three say they were observers on April 25, 2024, when some students and others set up tents on the university’s main quad to protest the war. They say Emory broke its own policies by calling in Atlanta police and Georgia state troopers without seeking alternatives. McAfee was charged with disorderly conduct after she said she yelled “Stop!” at an officer roughly arresting a protester. Del Valle-Escalante said he was trying to help an older woman when he was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. Fohlin said that, when she protested against officers pinning a protester to the ground, she herself was thrown face-first to the ground and arrested, suffering a concussion and a spine injury. Fohlin was charged with misdemeanour battery of an officer. Emory claimed that those arrested that day were outsiders who trespassed on school property. But 20 of the 28 people arrested were affiliated with the university. The professors said that, after their arrests, they were targeted by threats and harassment, part of a pushback by conservatives who said universities were failing to protect Jewish students from anti-Semitism and allowing lawlessness. Nationwide, however, advocates say there is a “Palestine exception” in which universities are willing to curb pro-Palestine speech and protest. Palestine Legal, a legal aid group supporting such speech, said Tuesday that it received 300 percent more legal requests in 2025 than its annual average before 2023, mostly from college students and faculty. McAfee served as president of the Emory University Senate after her arrest. The body makes policy recommendations and has helped draft the university’s open expression policy. She said she asked then-President Gregory Fenves in fall 2024 why Emory police weren’t dropping the charges against her and others. McAfee said Fenves told her that he wanted “to see justice”. The open expression policy was revised after 2024 to clearly prohibit tents, camping, the occupation of university buildings and demonstrations between midnight and 7am. Whatever the policy, McAfee said students are afraid to protest at Emory, saying the university has turned its back on what Atlanta civil rights icon John Lewis called “good trouble”. “Students know right now that any trouble is not going to be good trouble at Emory, that they could get arrested,” she said. “So students are afraid.” Adblock test (Why?)
Oil rises above $106 per barrel as US, Iran deadlocked in Strait of Hormuz
Jump in prices comes as Donald Trump says vessels will need permission of US Navy to transit key waterway. Published On 24 Apr 202624 Apr 2026 Oil prices have jumped on heightened tensions between the United States and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz following Washington and Tehran’s tit-for-tat captures of commercial vessels. Brent crude, the international benchmark, topped $106 per barrel early on Friday morning as Washington and Tehran stepped up their confrontation over the key maritime route for transporting the world’s energy. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Brent stood at $106.80 as of 01:00 GMT, up nearly 5 percent from its closing price on Wednesday, when it surpassed $100 per barrel for the first time in two weeks. US stocks fell overnight, with the benchmark S&P 500 index dipping 0.41 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite dropping 0.89 percent. Shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries about one-fifth of the world’s supply of oil and natural gas, remains at a standstill as Iran continues to demand the right to decide which vessels may pass and the US blocks Iran’s maritime trade. US President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post on Thursday that he had ordered the US Navy to destroy any Iranian boats laying mines in the strait, shortly after the Pentagon announced that it had seized a tanker carrying sanctioned Iranian oil for the second time in less than a week. Trump also appeared to expand the scope of the US naval blockade beyond Iranian ports, writing on Truth Social that no ship “can enter or leave” the strait without the approval of the US Navy. “It is ‘Sealed up Tight,’ until such time as Iran is able to make a DEAL!!!” Trump said. Advertisement Trump’s threats came a day after Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced the capture of two foreign cargo ships in the waterway. The IRGC said it had seized the Panamanian-flagged MSC Francesca and Greek-owned Epaminondas after the vessels had endangered maritime security “by operating without the necessary permits and tampering with navigation systems”. The Greek Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy Ministry has denied that the Epaminondas was captured and said the vessel remains under the control of its captain. Only nine commercial vessels transited the strait on Wednesday, compared with seven on Tuesday and 15 on Monday, according to maritime intelligence platform Windward. Before the US and Israel launched their war against Iran on February 28, the waterway saw an average of 129 transits each day, according to United Nations Trade and Development. Adblock test (Why?)