Recent Articles

Image Title & Summary
Rail regulators accused of ignoring safety recommendations Rail regulators accused of ignoring safety recommendations

More than 3,000 rail accidents, causing 23 deaths and nearly 1,200 injuries over the past decade, have been attributed to human error and track defects. Yet, federal railroad regulators have largely ignored most safety recommendations arising from these investigations, according to a new study. An analysis by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland reveals a powerful industry behind these failures, using its influence to thwart federal safety reforms. It is accused of actively lobbying President Donald Trump’s administration to reduce track inspection and repair requirements and loosen rules aimed at preventing crew fatigue. The center’s analysis of data …
The Assassination of Malcolm X The Assassination of Malcolm X

On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X woke up alone in a suite at the Hilton Hotel in New York City.He was, in the most literal sense, a guy without a home. The week before, someone had set fire to his house in the East Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens in the middle of the night. His wife, Betty Shabazz, and his four small children were all well, but for their own protection, they were currently residing with friends in a secret location.Malcolm was sure that his old coworkers from the Nation of Islam (NOI), led by Elijah Muhammad, were responsible for the firebombing. He used to be the second most influential person in the religious and political movement, but now he had to watch out for the milit…
AI companies accused of copyrighted infringement AI companies accused of copyrighted infringement

Opinion | Editorial The open letter signed by Scarlett Johansson and hundreds of other creatives didn’t land because it was polite. It landed because it said the quiet part out loud: training commercial AI systems on copyrighted work without permission is theft dressed up as inevitability. The industry has spent years insisting this was a philosophical debate about progress. It isn’t. It’s a business choice—and a corrosive one. The letter, organized through the Human Artistry Campaign, rejects the soothing language that has insulated AI companies from accountability. “Learning,” “absorption,” “transformation.” These words are doing legal work, not descriptive work. They exist to blur a simpl…
Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing 8 women over 2 decades Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing 8 women over 2 decades

Rex Heuermann, the Gilgo Beach serial murderer, was sentenced to life in prison without parole, bringing an emotional finish to a decades-long murder case that tormented Long Island. Families clapped and applauded in the courtroom Wednesday when Judge Timothy Mazzei imposed the sentence. “You are disgusting — a despicable man if you are a man at all,” the judge told Heuermann. “And you are a coward.” At sentence, Heuermann was allowed to speak and declared, “I am guilty of everything that was said in this room. What I would say is meaningless.” “Are you even a little bit sorry?” “Yes,” Mazzei inquired, and Heuermann nodded and seemed to say. Heuermann’s ex-wife Asa Ellerup and their two grow…
Latest Epstein files include emails between Ghislaine Maxwell and LA28 Olympics head Casey Wasserman Latest Epstein files include emails between Ghislaine Maxwell and LA28 Olympics head Casey Wasserman

The latest cache of investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein released Friday include personal emails exchanged more than 20 years ago between Casey Wasserman, chairman of the LA28 Olympics organizing committee, and convicted sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s former romantic partner. In emails sent in March and April 2003, Wasserman — who was married at the time — writes about wanting to see Maxwell in a tight leather outfit, she offers to give him a massage that can “drive a man wild,” and the pair discuss how much they miss each other, according to files released and posted online by the U.S. Department of Justice. Representatives for Wasserman did not immediately respond to The Times…
The New Face of American Power The New Face of American Power

Opinion | Editorial America’s Doctrine of Power in 2026 The opening week of 2026 has stripped away any lingering illusions about the trajectory of U.S. foreign policy. In Caracas, a military raid removed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from power. Days later, Washington floated the possibility of acquiring Greenland by force. These are not isolated provocations. They clearly show a belief that control over land can be bargained for, valuable resources are seen as rewards, and military power is used as a way to gain economic advantage. Venezuela: Justice or Oil? Officials framed the Caracas operation as a crackdown on corruption and narcotics trafficking. Maduro and his wife were flown to…
Karaoke And The Death Of Public Shame Karaoke And The Death Of Public Shame

Opinion There are few sounds more spiritually exhausting than a drunk man discovering a microphone near water. The river carries everything. That is the problem. A terrible singer inside a small bar is survivable. The walls absorb part of the damage. Alcohol softens the rest. But once speakers are dragged outdoors and pointed broadly at civilization itself, the laws of acoustics become instruments of psychological warfare. Somewhere across the dark water, usually male, usually already shouting before the music even begins, a man decides that what the entire neighborhood needs at 11:47 p.m. is his interpretation of “Sweet Caroline.” Interpretation is perhaps too generous a word. What follows …
Danger Lurks In The Bedroom Danger Lurks In The Bedroom

Danger lingers as a senior couple lie together in an overly warm bedroom. The air does not feel oppressive, only still, the kind of warmth that settles into fabric and skin without protest. He sleeps lightly now, age having thinned the distance between rest and vigilance. She sleeps deeper — until she does not. Her seizures arrive only at night. Grand mal, sudden, violent, disorienting in their aftermath. Daytime offers no clues. Medication remains stable. Diet unchanged. Tests return the quiet ambiguity medicine often delivers: nothing obvious, nothing solved. What remains is pattern. Always sleep. Always night. He has begun noticing the temperature. Seventy-eight degrees. Comfortable, peop…
At least three dead with a dozen injured in prison riot in Georgia At least three dead with a dozen injured in prison riot in Georgia

Early Sunday afternoon, Sheriff Joel Cochran told local station WRDW that several fights broke out inside the facility in Davisboro in Washington County, Georgia, which resulted in 13 inmates being taken to the hospital. The prison is located around 50 miles southeast of Augusta. While the fight was between inmates, one guard was potentially injured, according to Cochran. The Washington County Coroner confirmed two deaths had occurred initially from the fight, and a third individual died later on Sunday evening. “It’s not uncommon for these things to happen at correctional facilities; however, I think it has been quite some time since we’ve had to come to an incident this large,” Cochran sai…
The Needless Murder of Over 150 Girls in Minab Iran The Needless Murder of Over 150 Girls in Minab Iran

We remember the small rituals that made the day feel ordinary, because ordinary is what a school is supposed to be. A braid tightened with quick fingers. A scarf adjusted in a hallway mirror. The paper smell inside a notebook when you open it too fast. The soft ache of a backpack strap on a shoulder that’s still growing. We remember the way our teachers tried to make us brave about quizzes, the way we pretended not to care and then cared anyway. We remember laughter spilling down a corridor like marbles—impossible to gather once it’s loose. We walked into Shajareh Tayyebeh believing, with the stubborn faith children are allowed to have, that a classroom is a kind of sanctuary. Not holy, not …
100 year old fighter pilot from Escondido receives Medal of Honor 100 year old fighter pilot from Escondido receives Medal of Honor

This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here. President Trump honored two storied military veterans during his State of the Union address, including 100-year-old veteran Royce Williams of Escondido, who survived what is believed to be the longest dog fight in military history. The former Navy fighter pilot, who was seated next to First Lady Melania Trump in the Capitol during the president’s address Tuesday night, flew more than 220 missions in World War II as well as the wars in Korea and Vietnam. Trump called Williams “a living legend” before describing his war-time heroics. “In the skies over Korea in 1952, Royce was in the dogfight of a lifetime, a…
Energy Realism.  Physics Over Slogans Energy Realism. Physics Over Slogans

Opinion | Feature Editorial Energy Realism: Physics Over Slogans The Grid at Midnight Picture a city at midnight. The wind has calmed, solar panels are dark, and the grid leans heavily on backup power. Politicians speak of “green revolutions,” but engineers know the reality: electrons obey physics, not slogans. The global conversation about energy has become strangely unserious for something so foundational to modern life. We cling to absolutes, divide into camps, and prefer moral certainty over physical reality. The result is passion without progress. Part I: Energy as Physics, Not Branding Energy systems are not ideological constructs. They are physical networks governed by constraints: st…
We Built Systems to Avoid Responsibility and Now They Are Failing Us We Built Systems to Avoid Responsibility and Now They Are Failing Us

Halenews Editorial A HaleNews feature editorial on responsibility, governance, and the cost of delay. For much of modern history, progress has been treated as a natural force—something that happens automatically as time passes, technology improves, and societies mature. This assumption is comforting, but it is also false. Progress has never been inevitable. It has always been the result of deliberate choices made under pressure, often against the interests of those who benefited from delay. What distinguishes the current moment is not the presence of crisis, but the convergence of crises that all demand the same thing: responsibility exercised before catastrophe makes it unavoidable. Climate…
Smile for the Camera because Immigration Enforcement Gets a Makeover Smile for the Camera because Immigration Enforcement Gets a Makeover

Guest Editorial I'm writing this from Saigon, where traffic confidently ignores rules, and no one pretends that chaos is order. The atmosphere is refreshing. Handguns are not allowed in Vietnam, and I haven't seen a police officer in over a year—not even any traffic accidents. It's amazing. There's no road rage here. I've been away long enough to witness Trump veering toward obscurity or damnation. Not sure which, but it will be exciting. I admit I’m biased. Can you tell? Distance sharpens perspective. There's no violent crime here, and the people are friendly. You can see American politics more clearly when you’re far enough away to stop smelling the perfume it sprays on itself. So, I felt …
Hayley Mills Is Eighty And I Am Not Accepting It Hayley Mills Is Eighty And I Am Not Accepting It

Hayley Mills will turn 80 on April 18, 2026, but I reject this information on instinct. 80 years old? No way. Not in a dramatic, screaming way. In a quiet, stubborn way, like when you reread a sentence because it must be wrong. Eighty doesn’t belong to her. Eighty belongs to politicians who won’t go away. Eighty belongs to men who confuse survival with wisdom. Eighty belongs to people who feel heavy with years. It does not belong to the girl who made optimism look precise, controlled, and—most importantly—earned. I learned this in Saigon, which is calm, structured, and orderly in a way that puts most American cities to shame. There are rules here, and people follow them. There are no guns. T…
A Big Win For A Lonely Woman A Big Win For A Lonely Woman

Human Interest Opinion / Perspective For forty years, a stoneware crock sat on a porch in New York, a silent sentry against the biting winters and the humid, heavy summers of the Northeast. It was, for all intents and purposes, a piece of lawn debris. It held no flowers; it served no function. To the woman who lived behind the screen door, it was simply "there"—a familiar shape in a life that had slowly become a series of familiar, quiet shapes. When her birthday approached, she looked at the heavy salt-glazed vessel and allowed herself a modest, almost apologetic hope: perhaps it was worth a hundred dollars. A hundred dollars for a birthday treat, or perhaps a utility bill, or just the smal…
Dangerous Emergency Powers Are Addictive Dangerous Emergency Powers Are Addictive

Editorial | Feature Democracies borrow power in crises but rarely return it. Without safeguards, emergencies become permanent, eroding freedom. The Siren and the Decree It begins with a siren. A coastal city braces for a storm surge, and within hours the government issues a decree: curfews, restricted movement, suspension of normal legislative debate. Citizens line up for aid, but they also face checkpoints. The justification is clear — safety demands speed. Yet beneath the urgency lies a deeper question: when power is borrowed in the name of emergency, will it ever be returned? Part I: The Logic of Emergency Democracies are designed for deliberation. They thrive on debate, compromise, and p…
Daycare Worker Accused Of Assaulting Toddlers Sparks New Questions About Child Safety Daycare Worker Accused Of Assaulting Toddlers Sparks New Questions About Child Safety

WEST MELBOURNE, Florida — A Florida childcare employee is facing criminal charges after investigators say surveillance footage captured repeated acts of physical aggression against children as young as two years old inside a daycare facility. Authorities allege that multiple toddlers were struck with various objects, including a metal stapler, over a period of several days before a parent complaint triggered a closer review of classroom video recordings. According to law enforcement records, 41-year-old Latasha Mullings has been charged with 11 counts of battery and one count of assault following an investigation into incidents at Mustard Seed Kidz, a childcare center in West Melbourne. The …
The Iran strikes could become a midterm reckoning for Trump and Israel The Iran strikes could become a midterm reckoning for Trump and Israel

It is clear that the latest United States-Israel-Iran war stands to fundamentally reshape the politics of the Middle East. Less obvious is its immediate impact on US politics, especially the 2026 midterm elections and the durability of US support for Israel. While the core of US President Donald Trump’s base has come out in support of the joint US-Israel strikes, some influential figures on the American right have denounced them. These condemnations have heightened tensions already at play within the MAGA (Make America Great Again) base, and dovetail with conservative concerns about Israel’s influence over US foreign policy. With the midterm elections approaching, this is not a good time for…
Kansas town is getting an underground nuclear reactor and splits the townspeople Kansas town is getting an underground nuclear reactor and splits the townspeople

The so-called Gravity Reactor is being proposed by a California-based start-up company from a father-daughter duo, Liz Muller and Richard Muller Removed from bookmarks A pilot project to bury a nuclear reactor one mile underneath a town in Kansas has split the opinion of local residents, with some fearing the environmental impacts while others hope it will create economic opportunities. The so-called Gravity Reactor is being proposed by Deep Fission, a California-based start-up from a father-daughter duo, Liz Muller and Richard Muller, emeritus professor of physics at University of California, and an inventor. It will be the first time a commercial nuclear reactor operates underground. The s…