“That’s one way to cook the books. A former Chick-fil-A employee was arrested for stealing $80,000 with a mac & cheese scheme at a Texas restaurant, police say. Keyshun Jones was fired from the store in Grapevine, outside Dallas, last November, but authorities say he would repeatedly slip back in, enter food orders on the register, and refund them to his personal credit card, Fox 4 reported. Jones was taken into custody on April 17 after allegedly ringing up 800 orders of mac and cheese, according to the outlet. Investigators began investigating the fromage fraud after the restaurant reported hundreds of phony refunds. Security camera footage shows Jones behind the counter carrying out the bogus transactions, prosecutors say.” (04/29/26)
“President Donald Trump said Thursday he’s nominating former Fox News Channel contributor and radiologist Dr. Nicole Saphier for surgeon general after Dr. Casey Means'[a] path forward stalled in the Senate over questions about her experience and her stance on vaccines. … Means is the second U.S. surgeon general pick whose nomination has been withdrawn in Trump’s second term. Trump withdrew his first nominee, Fox News medical contributor Janette Nesheiwat, after questions were raised about her academic credentials.” (04/30/26)
“The case against a West Virginia library worker charged earlier this year after allegedly posting a threat on social media pertaining to President Donald Trump has reportedly been dismissed. The prosecuting attorney in Jackson County lodged a motion to dismiss without prejudice on April 16, WOWK reported, noting that the filing indicates that the individual, Morgan Morrow, had not been appropriately Mirandized during interrogation. ‘The case has been dismissed. We believe Miss Morrow never should have been charged at all, and we’re glad this is over,’ the woman’s defense attorney, Mark Atkinson, noted, according to the outlet.” (04/30/26)
“California regulators apologized to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk this week as they settled a lawsuit that claimed a state agency showed political bias against the rocket company and its chief executive. As part of the settlement, the California Coastal Commission acknowledged its members made ‘improper’ statements about Musk’s political beliefs at a 2024 hearing on SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch program. ‘The commission agrees that it may not consider irrelevant factors in performing its function and specifically agrees that it will not take into account the perceived political beliefs, political speech or labor practices of SpaceX or its officers in considering any regulatory action concerning SpaceX,’ the commission said in federal court documents filed Tuesday. SpaceX had sued the commission over its opposition to expanding the launch schedule for Falcon 9 rockets from the Vandenberg Space Force Base on the Southern California coast near Santa Barbara.” (04/29/26)
“A New York rabbi was found dismembered and stuffed inside a bloodstained wardrobe after he was attacked and murdered by Colombian gangbangers. Nachum Israel Eber’s mutilated remains were discovered inside the abandoned closet after it was dumped on a street in Bogota on Sunday — just days after his family reported him missing, local media reported. The 51-year-old father, who was a member of the Belz Hasidic community in Brooklyn’s Boro Park, had traveled to the South American country earlier this month to help advise a congregation of Catholics who had converted to Judaism. Authorities started searching for him after relatives in the Big Apple reported he had suddenly gone silent and stopped answering their calls. Surveillance video captured Eber leaving his Airbnb just after 9 p.m. April 21 before he vanished without a trace.” (04/30/26)
“Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) announced Thursday that she will suspend her Senate campaign over a lack of financial resources, clearing the way for primary rival Graham Platner. … Mills, who is term limited as governor, jumped into the race late last year to challenge incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R) as a top recruit from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) But Platner, a progressive political outsider, has been besting Mills in polling and fundraising five weeks out from the June 9 primary, despite various controversies around his campaign. An Emerson College Polling survey released last month showed Platner leading Mills by about 27 points in the Senate Democratic contest.” (04/30/26)
“The first direct commercial flight between the United States and Venezuela departed a bit early Thursday on its way to the capital of the South American country, seven years after the U.S. Homeland Security Department ordered an indefinite suspension, citing security concerns. The resumption of a nonstop commercial flight between the two countries comes months after the U.S. capture of then President Nicolás Maduro in a stunning nighttime raid on his residence in Caracas in early January. It also comes a month after the U.S. formally reopened its embassy in Caracas following the restoration of full diplomatic relations with Venezuela.” (04/30/26)
“Brazil’s Senate dealt a political blow to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Wednesday by rejecting his nomination to the Supreme Court, the first in more than 130 years and a sign that the veteran leader is not popular among many important lawmakers as he seeks reelection. Only 34 senators voted in favor of Jorge Messias, who has been Brazil’s solicitor-general since 2023 and a close legal adviser to Lula, while another 42 rejected his appointment. Many of the latter, including presidential hopeful Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, celebrated in the chambers after the result. Messias, who also worked for former president and Lula ally Dilma Rousseff, needed 41 votes to be approved.” (04/30/26)
“The US is ‘studying and reviewing’ whether to reduce the thousands of troops it has stationed in Germany, President Donald Trump has announced via social media. His remarks came days after German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticised his approach to the war in Iran, suggesting that US had been ‘humiliated’ by Iranian negotiators. Trump said in a social media post late on Wednesday that a decision on troop numbers would be made ‘over the next short period of time. Then early on Thursday he rounded on Merz, saying he should ‘spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine (Where he has been totally ineffective!).’ The BBC has reached out to the White House for comment. The US has a significant military presence in Germany, with more than 36,000 active duty troops assigned to bases across the country as of last December.” (04/30/26)
“A full federal appeals court rejected Donald Trump’s request to rehear his appeal of an $83.3 million defamation judgment awarded to writer E. Jean Carroll, who accused the president of lying when he denied sexually abusing her. Trump has been fighting the multimillion-dollar penalty since a jury in 2024 ordered him to pay Carroll compensatory and punitive damages. The president is expected to ask the conservative-leaning Supreme Court to hear his case next. … The ruling marked the third and fourth times the full 2nd Circuit court had voted to deny en banc rehearing of rulings in this specific defamation case and fifth and sixth denial opinions it has issued involving both cases Carroll brought against Trump.” (04/30/26)
