Latest News Digest

10/15/25 – U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that he is withholding $40 million from California over their failure to enforce a federal regulation requiring commercial truck drivers to demonstrate English proficiency to read signs and communicate effectively. He stated on his X social media post that “If they don’t do it, another $160 million will be pulled from California…In typical [California Governor] Gavin Newsom fashion, he claims California is enforcing our English language requirement for truckers…while directing officers to ignore the law!”

10/15/25 – GoFundMe was caught creating over a million nonprofit pages using public IRS data without consulting with or notifying the nonprofits.  ABC7 News reported that one Bay Area nonprofit, Friends of San Bruno Public Library, accidentally found out a page had been created for them without their knowledge or consent.  When they tried to contact GoFundMe, they got nowhere until they asked ABC7 News to help them.  Krista Lamp, the Senior Director of Nonprofit Communications of GoFundMe, replied to ABC7 News that the nonprofits can claim their page if they want to or they can ask that it be deleted.  The treasurer of the San Bruno nonprofit stated he was never notified of the page creation by GoFundMe and he doesn’t like the fact that they ask the donors to give them a 16.5% tip on top of their 2.2% transaction fee plus $0.30 per donation.  It was not clear from the reports what happens to the donations if the nonprofit is not made aware of them by GoFundMe.

10/16/25 – U.S. Department of Justice issued a press release that a Federal grand jury has indicted former National Security Advisor John Bolton with 8 counts of transmission of National Defense Information (NDI) and 10 counts of unlawful retention of NDI.  It is alleged that Bolton used a personal email account and messaging applications to send sensitive Top-Secret documents and illegally retained the documents in his home, endangering national security.  The Baltimore Field Office of the FBI is investigating the case.

10/16/25 – Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli posted on his X account that “California has spent billions of taxpayer dollars to combat its homelessness crisis with very little to show for it. Six months ago, I announced the Homelessness Fraud and Corruption Task Force. Today, we begin to hold people accountable by announcing two cases where more than $50 million of homelessness funding was fraudulently obtained.   Federal agents this morning arrested Cody Holmes, the former CFO of Shangri-La Industries, and a grand jury yesterday indicted real estate developer Steven Taylor, both of whom are charged with fraud in separate cases. Holmes allegedly siphoned public funds for homelessness and used millions of dollars for his own use."

10/16/25 – The family of Susan “Suzie” Smith, the veteran flight nurse who died following an October 7^thmedevac helicopter crash on a Sacramento freeway, will host a public celebration of life on Friday, November 14^th at the Redding Civic Auditorium.  The Legacy.com post indicates that the service starts at 5 p.m. at 700 Auditorium Dr. in Redding, CA.  Two other crew members were injured in the crash.  KCRA3 reported that REACH released a statement regarding Smith’s passing indicating that “We will remember Suzie as a pillar of the EMS and healthcare community who saved countless lives by delivering compassionate care in their darkest hours.  Suzie’s 50-year career as a nurse included nearly 21 years with REACH (REACH Air Medical Services), and we are proud to call her our colleague and friend.  We hope she is remembered for the light she brought to every call, every shift, and every patient she blessed with her care.”

10/17/25 – President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of disgraced former Republican Congressman George Santos of New York, who was serving a 7-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in August 2024 to defrauding campaign donors and misusing those funds for personal expenses.  President Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he took into consideration the fact that George had spent long stretches of time in solitary confinement and had been horribly mistreated.  President Trump also contrasted Santos’ harsh treatment against the lies that Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal has never faced accountability for, as Blumenthal had claimed to have served in battles in the Vietnam War when, in fact, he never went to Vietnam.

10/18/25 – Thousands of “No Kings” rallies are taking place across the U.S. this weekend, in protest of President Donald Trump, including in front of Redding City Hall on Saturday, October 18^th from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.  California Governor Gavin Newsom, at a press conference yesterday, encouraged people to come out in unprecedented numbers and to participate in the rallies peacefully.  On October 17^th, Republican Senator Ted Cruz posted on his X account “George Soros is writing the checks financing some of the groups behind ‘No Kings’, as well as previous political violence in our cities. That's how left-wing political violence happens. Different groups don't always talk to each other, because they don't have to. My "Stop Funders Act" enables the government to hold the financiers of left-wing violence accountable.”  George Soros is a 95-year-old Hungarian-American who made a fortune in hedge funds and is known now for supporting liberal and progressive policies promoting open borders and sanctuary cities through donations to nonprofits from his Open Society Foundations.