It's Been Reported

Ric Grenell: Trump Kennedy Center Filing $1M Lawsuit Against Musician Who Canceled Christmas Show As Political Protest (Breitbart) — Trump Kennedy Center President Ric Grenell is filing a lawsuit against a jazz musician who abruptly canceled this year’s annual “Christmas Eve Jazz Jam” due to Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS). Musician Chuck Redd, this year’s host of the annual Christmas Eve concert, canceled the event following the Center’s board voting unanimously to rename the institution, “The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” “When I saw the name change on the Kennedy Center website and then hours later on the building, I chose to cancel our concert,” Redd told the Associated Press Wednesday, hours before the event was scheduled to take place. Grenell, who has worked assiduously to restore the struggling institution, is not taking the politically motivated cancellation lying down. “Your dismal ticket sales and lack of donor support, combined with your last-minute cancellation has cost us considerably,” Grenell wrote Friday in a letter to Redd obtained by Breitbart News. “This is your official notice that we will seek $1 million in damages from you for this political stunt.” See full story	Oklahoma Teaching Assistant Fired After Uproar Over Flunking Christian Student Who Referenced Bible In Essay (Fox News) — Weeks after a University of Oklahoma student's story about being flunked on a paper that touted her Christian faith caused a viral uproar, the teaching assistant behind the grade has been fired. "Based on an examination of the graduate teaching assistant’s prior grading standards and patterns, as well as the graduate teaching assistant’s own statements related to this matter, it was determined that the graduate teaching assistant was arbitrary in the grading of this specific paper," the state's flagship school said in a Monday evening statement. "The graduate teaching assistant will no longer have instructional duties at the University." Samantha Fulnecky, a junior at the school, received zero out of 25 on an assignment in which she referenced the Bible after graduate teaching assistant William "Mel" Curth, who uses she/they pronouns, scored the paper. The teaching assistant tasked Fulnecky and her classmates with writing a response to a scholarly article titled "Relations Among Gender Typicality, Peer Relations, and Mental Health During Early Adolescence," which discusses results of a study about gender norms among middle schoolers and the social ramifications children may face for not conforming to gender norms. See full story
Texas Substitute Teacher Charged With Child Sex Offenses, 'No Longer Employed' By School District (Fox News) — A Texas substitute teacher has been arrested and is facing multiple felony charges, including aggravated sexual assault of a child, police said. Madison Jones, 30, was arrested by officers with the Midlothian Police Department on Dec. 19 following a report two days earlier of a potential sexual assault involving a child. Police said detectives with the department's Criminal Investigation Division later identified a second suspect, Zackery Dondlinger, 37, from Happy, Texas. Dondlinger was arrested on Dec. 23 and charged with sexual performance by a child and was being held at the Winkler County Detention Center at the time of his arrest. Midlothian Police Department Assistant Chief Scott Brown told Fox News Digital that Jones and Dondlinger had a dating relationship. See full story	Trump Admin. Terminates Leases Of DC Golf Courses (Just the News) — The Trump administration terminated the National Links Trust's lease this week with the National Park Service to operate, manage and renovate the three golf courses in Washington, D.C., claiming the nonprofit is in default of its 50-year lease. National Links Trust, which oversees the district's Rock Creek, East Potomac and Langston courses, denies the allegations that it was in default of the lease, just five years into the agreement. The NPS owns the land the three golf courses are on. "We are fundamentally in disagreement with the administration's characterization of NLT as being in default under the lease," the nonprofit said Wednesday. "We have always had a productive and cooperative working relationship with the [NPS] and have worked hand in hand on all aspects of our golf course operations and development projects." See full story
Trump Admin Overhauls Chemicals And Sets New MAHA Agenda For 2026 (Just the News) — On Wednesday, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that following an extensive and comprehensive review, required under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the agency will now regulate the usage of a variety of five common chemicals used for pliability in materials used for construction and industrial applications. The list includes:[See article] The announcement by Zeldin followed a robust agenda for the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement for 2026 which, among other things, is prioritizing the removal of petroleum-based food dyes, such as Red 40 and Yellow 5, due to their synthetic origins and links to health concerns like hyperactivity and allergies in children. The 2026 agenda also calls for re-examining and revising the Dietary Guidelines for Americans to better address chronic diseases by promoting whole foods and potentially increasing recommendations for meat and full-fat dairy while curbing ultra-processed items. The guidelines have seen progress with reforms influenced by the MAHA Commission, and after delays, the updated version is slated for release in January 2026. See full story	Maryland Looks To AI As SNAP Rules Tighten (Center Square) — Maryland officials say they are exploring how artificial intelligence could be used to support parts of the state’s food assistance program after the state was awarded federal grants aimed at modernizing public services. Gov. Wes Moore’s office announced Tuesday that Maryland secured more than $2.6 million in grants over two years to fund artificial intelligence projects across several state agencies. One of the projects focuses on developing tools to help streamline work verification for food assistance and Medicaid programs, according to the state. The effort is being led by the Maryland Department of Human Services, along with the Maryland Department of Health, Maryland Benefits and the Maryland Health Benefit Exchange, as part of a multi-state project. State officials said the work will involve developing and testing AI tools that could eventually be deployed more broadly. The rollout of the AI project comes as Maryland adjusts to recent federal changes to food assistance rules. Those changes stem from H.R. 1, a budget law signed earlier this year that expands work requirements and shifts a larger share of program costs to states. See full story
Illinois’ Compact Fluorescent Bulb Ban Begins To Take Effect (Center Square) — One of the nearly 300 new laws that took effect in Illinois New Year’s Day is a ban on compact fluorescent light bulbs. State Rep. Nicholas Smith, D-Chicago, introduced House Bill 2363 in February 2023. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the measure in August 2024. The law prohibits the sale and distribution of screw-base and bayonet-base compact fluorescent lamps. Restrictions on pin-base compact fluorescent and linear fluorescent lamps are set to begin in 2027. HB 2363’s Senate sponsor, state Sen. Adriane Johnson, D-Buffalo Grove, said toxic pollutants in fluorescent bulbs pose a health risk. According to a report by the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), three in four fluorescent lamps are improperly disposed of, thus releasing mercury into the environment. See full story	4,400 Starlink Satellites To Move To Lower Orbit (Epoch Times) — SpaceX will move about 4,400 Starlink satellites to a lower orbit this year to better control risks and improve safety, the company announced Friday. Michael Nicholls, vice president of Starlink engineering, posted the news on X, saying the adjustment would increase space safety in several ways. Elon Musk’s Starlink system contributes more than 9,000 satellites to an increasingly crowded Earth orbit. Of those in the Starlink system, only two are not functioning, according to Nicholls. Nicholls also noted that the atmospheric changes brought on by solar activity can affect satellite operations. An active sun causes a thicker atmosphere, which can bring spacecraft down faster. Low solar activity, such as during the solar minimum after 2030, can have an opposite effect. The number of debris objects and planned satellite constellations at the lower orbit – below 500 kilometers from Earth – is smaller, which reduces the likelihood of collision, Nicholls stated. See full story
Trump Slams 'Rigged' Polling Data, Claims 'Real' Approval Is Over 60% (Wash Examiner) — President Donald Trump pushed back against his approval numbers ahead of 2026, claiming his approval rating is north of 60% on Tuesday night. Trump posted a graphic of himself claiming that over 50% of voters approve of him, citing data from the Trafalgar Group. The survey’s latest polling puts Trump at 50.2% approval, with 46.7% showing strong approval, versus 44.6% in disapproval of the president; however, the survey was conducted with only 1,098 likely voters in a general election. “The polls are rigged even more than the writers. The real number is 64%, and why not, our Country is ‘hotter’ than ever before. Isn’t it nice to have a STRONG BORDER, No Inflation, a powerful Military, and great Economy??? Happy New Year!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Trafalgar Group’s data was collected from Dec. 26 through Dec. 27, and has a margin of error of 2.9%. See full story	Trump Administration Delays Tariff Increases On Furniture And Kitchen Cabinets By A Year (Money Watch) — The Trump administration said on Wednesday it is postponing tariff increases on imported upholstered furniture, kitchen cabinets and vanities by a year, citing ongoing negotiations with trading partners. Without the delay, the U.S. was set to double its tariff rate on kitchen cabinets and vanities produced outside the U.S. to 50% starting Jan. 1. The import duty on upholstered furniture – including sofas and armchairs – was set to rise to 30% from 25% on the first day of 2026. The postponement follows a November rollback by the Trump administration of tariffs on imported foods such as beef, coffee and bananas, as affordability concerns have weighed on consumer sentiment about the U.S. economy. Furniture prices have been outpacing inflation, with living room, kitchen and dining room furniture rising 4.6% in November from a year earlier, compared with a 2.7% annual increase in the overall Consumer Price Index. See full story