Thursday, February 6, 2025
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Thursday, February 6, 2025

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Judge With Alleged Conflict of Interest Finds Probable Cause Joseph Mensah Committed Homicide

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Judge Glenn Yamahiro, whose ex-wife and the mother of his child has represented the families of men shot by former Wauwatosa Police Officer Joseph Mensah, used a rare John Doe procedure on Wednesday to find probable cause that Mensah committed homicide by negligent handling of a dangerous weapon in the death of Jay Anderson five years ago.

Yamahiro’s decision, which is unheard of in Wisconsin, runs counter to the decision years ago of an elected prosecutor and former prosecutor. Mensah was already cleared in the 2016 death of Anderson by the elected district attorney John Chisholm and by former US Attorney Steve Biskupic in a report as an independent investigator. Furthermore, a federal review amounted to nothing, and the Milwaukee Police Department did an exhaustive review at the time.

He will appoint a special prosecutor to consider whether to bring a homicide charge. Remember that any charges would need to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt before a jury. That’s a higher standard than probable cause.

[Read our story: 14 key facts to remember about Yamahiro’s decision here.]

In 2016, John Chisholm, the DA, “told Anderson’s family that Mensah’s actions were justified self-defense when he saw Anderson’s hands drop during their interaction,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in 2016. Former US Attorney Steve Biskupic also found after a 2020 review that there was insufficient evidence to find Mensah did anything illegal. Biskupic wrote that Mensah said he repeatedly told Anderson not to reach for a firearm on Anderson’s car seat and fired when Anderson reached toward it anyway. Mensah’s lawyer has said Motley doesn’t have any new evidence.

Yamahiro, and only Yamahiro, found otherwise.

“The court finds probable cause that Officer Mensah committed the crime of homicide by negligent handling of a dangerous weapon,” said Yamahiro, citing testimony by a slew of defense experts, including one whose credibility has been challenged.

“This record is filled with testimony of alternative choices that Officer Mensah could have chosen…without shooting Mr. Anderson, including waiting for back up that was already under route.”

He said there was probable cause to believe that Anderson “never lunged for a weapon.” He said the case would be adjourned for 60 days for the court to appoint a special prosecutor.

The charges come at the request of the attorney for Anderson’s family, Kimberley Motley. Yamahiro’s ex-wife, Deja Vishny, was listed as an attorney on the John Doe hearing for the Anderson family for about a week before withdrawing. Vishny works for Motley’s law firm on an “of counsel” basis. Vishny has worked extensively with Motley as a legal team in her persistent efforts to get Mensah charged with homicide. Yamahiro and Vishny also share a child together; Vishny has served as a high-profile Anderson family attorney in the Mensah matters alongside Motley for months.

State law did not allow Mensah’s lawyer to cross examine witnesses during this hearing as he was not a defendant; he did not testify.

Mensah was cleared in two other fatal shootings of men who had weapons at the time. Yamahiro was only asked by Motley to consider a homicide charge in the Anderson death.

It’s unheard of for a law enforcement officer to be charged by a judge after being cleared by prosecutors in Wisconsin, and only a few states have a provision that allows any citizen to request they do so, which was utilized here. (We previously wrote an opinion piece urging the Legislature to close this loophole.)

In a lengthy hearing that started at 10 a.m., Yamahiro went through a detailed description of evidence in the case. That included citing testimony from an expert whose credibility has been questioned.

William Harmening, the Jay Anderson family “expert” who testified against former Wauwatosa Police Officer Joseph Mensah in a new effort to get Mensah criminally charged in the six-year-old shooting death, was rejected as an expert in another police shooting case because a federal judge believed he “lacked the needed expertise” in key areas.

In addition, Wisconsin Right Now found that the professor – who told a judge that Mensah’s use of force was not “reasonable” – was previously accused of presenting a conclusion against a police officer that was “riddled with errors.” Harmening’s expert testimony was limited in other cases, and another judge raised questions about some of his findings. In a Fresno case, he was accused of injecting “mere speculation and conjecture” into his testimony. Read our story on Harmening here.

Mensah is now a Waukesha County Sheriff’s deputy.


What Happened to Jay Anderson Jr.?

The previous report by former U.S. Attorney Steve Biskupic, who said there was insufficient evidence to charge Mensah, gave these details:

On June 22, 2016, Anderson left his home to meet a close family friend at a bar in Milwaukee. Biskupic says that “friends and family members describe Anderson as mild-mannered and pleasant to be around. He was a proud father. Occasionally the stress of having young children at home caused Anderson to want a break to hang out with friends to drink and smoke marijuana.”

Anderson possessed a firearm, a Ruger model SR9c, 9mm, semi-automatic pistol. A friend of Anderson said Anderson possessed it for safety because he lived in a dangerous neighborhood. The gun was purchased by a third party Anderson knew through pick up basketball. How and when it came into Anderson’s possession is unknown.

Anderson had a prior misdemeanor conviction for possession of a firearm while intoxicated.

That night he consumed brandy and smoked marijuana with a friend, who suggested that Anderson go home. His blood alcohol level several hours after leaving the bar was still 0.11. Instead of going home, he drove alone to Madison park in Wauwatosa. The friend said he went there to “chill” and relax.

He entered the park at 1:37 a.m. He likely smoked more marijuana (the car was still filled with marijuana odor when examined by police officers an hour and a half later; and a very small amount of marijuana residue was in a paper fold in Anderson’s pocket.)

Biskupic believes Anderson “likely fell asleep while sitting behind the wheel of the car. His loaded firearm was on the front passenger seat next to him.”The parking lot that night was very dark.
The park was closed per Milwaukee County ordinance.

Mensah driving a Wauwatosa Ford Explorer SUV, entered the parking lot at 3:01 a.m.

He became a probationary police officer on 2015. He completed his probationary period on 2016. He was previously a Dane County deputy sheriff and UW-Madison patrol officer. He was “well-liked by his colleagues and considered by them to be a good officer. His fellow officers continue to strongly support him.” Mensah’s personnel file contains only one disciplinary incident, a letter of reprimand for negligently causing a minor collision. His file contains 14 pages of commendations from citizens and other police departments.

The evidence of what happened is in Mensah’s statements, limited recorded dispatch audio and limited videotape activated by Officer Mensah after he shot Anderson.

Mensah drove into Madison park on routine patrol. The report gave Mensah’s account to another investigator.

It says that he stated that he went to do a park check. The park was extremely dark. He approached Anderson’s vehicle and activated his lights. He thought he saw movement in the vehicle. He approached the vehicle from the passenger side. He used a flash light. He observed the driver was “breathing fast” as if nervous or scared and was lying back against the car seat. He felt he was faking being asleep.

He tapped the passenger front window and announced his name and didn’t get a response. After tapping a few more times, the drive woke up and looked at Mensah, he scanned his uniform and then looked down toward the front passenger seat, and then shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes, leaning back in the seat.

Officer Mensah reintroduced his name and said “Wake up. Gotta talk to you.” He also said he was with the Wauwatosa Police Department. The drive woke up again, turned the key, and rolled down the window. Mensah asked for an ID. The driver said no.

Mensah was standing an arm length away from the passenger front door. He observed the driver make several glances over to the passenger front seat then back up at him.

Mensah asked the driver if he had anything that would identify his name. The driver said no. Mensah became concerned the driver made several separate and distinct glances toward the passenger front seat. He stepped forward and looking into the interior of the vehicle. Mensah observed a handgun with extended magazine on the front seat.

He said it as hazy with the exact chain of events moving forward but he believed he immediately unholstered his weapon, kept it close to his body and pointed the barrel down tot the group. “I see the gun! Keep your hands where I can see them!” he said.

The driver initially complied and placed his hands in the air about chest or shoulder height. “However he suddenly reached toward the seat with his right hand while looking at the weapon (on the seat.) Mensah stated he immediately moved his weapon to the high ready position and ordered hand’s up and radioed he has a gun! Step it up! The driver placed both hands in the air stating , ‘What? There’s nothing there! It’s nothing!”

Mensah said, “I see the gun! Don’t reach for it!” The driver again reached toward the front passenger seat. Mensah ordered, “Stop reaching for the weapon!” The driver pulled back and said, “It’s nothing.” Mensah said the driver made at least four separate movements with his right arm toward the front passenger seat. Each time Mensah ordered him to stop and the driver returned both of his hands into the air.

Mensah stated the last time the driver made a movement, instead of just his right arm moving toward the gun on the seat, his whole body lunged toward it. Mensah yelled, “Keep your hands up,” but the driver did not comply and Mensah discharged his weapon 3-4 times, Mensah told investigators.

He felt exposed because he was in an open parking lot without any cover. He said he discharged his weapon because he knew the firearm was on the passenger front seat of the vehicle. He stated he ordered and pleaded with the driver numerous times to not reach for the weapon. He shot because the driver reached for the weapon and he believed the driver was going to use it against him.

Previous checks of the park resulted in illegal drugs, stolen cars, and foot pursuits, etc. The squad video shows Mensah standing outside the passenger door with his right arm extended. A subject is sitting in the driver seat and his right arm can be observed in the air. The driver was moving around with both hands in the air. Then, the driver’s right hand was moving side to side. Then movement by the driver is observed and the right hand can be seen extending toward the passenger front seat. The right hand dropped from view. That’s all according to the Biskupic report.

The medical examiner report says Anderson was struck by four of the six gunshots from Mensah’s firearm. Three shots struck Anderson in the head.


The Judge’s Alleged Conflict of Interest

The judge’s ties to Vishny were raising serious concerns about fairness in some corners for months, yet it hasn’t been explored at all in the news media.

For months, Vishny and Motley have been joined at the hip in calling for criminal charges against Mensah, working as lawyers for the Anderson family, firing off a letter opposing a settlement agreement that Mensah entered with the city, demanding open records in Mensah’s cases from the city, challenging curfew violations, and standing arm-in-arm at press conferences calling out Mensah and Wauwatosa in the strongest of terms.

Joseph mensah charged

How close are the pair? “Best partner EVER!!” Motley declared about Vishny, a former Milwaukee public defender.

Joseph mensah charged Joseph mensah charged

If you think it’s ridiculous that a judge can overrule the decision-making of the DA, blame the Legislature for that, which, a few years ago, after hue-and-cry over the John Doe into then Gov. Scott Walker, limited the John Doe statute to exclude political crime that can affect legislators but left cops at its mercy. The statute allows a citizen to petition a judge to issue a charge when a DA will not; the judge has immense power in a John Doe hearing to do just that.

The Wisconsin case State v. Crystal Harrell involved “a case tried by the district attorney’s office, a circuit court judge, whose spouse is an assistant district attorney in the same county.” The Supreme Court was asked to consider whether state statutes prohibit a judge “from hearing a case when a close relative is ‘counsel thereto’ for either party.” The court found that statutes do not require “a judge to disqualify himself or herself in such a situation as long as his or her spouse did not participate in, or help prepare, the case.”

The 1996 Wisconsin Supreme Court decision also found that a conflict extends to “the attorney of record and any other attorneys who appear or participate in the case.” That case differed in some keys ways from this set of circumstances, though; for example, the court found that prosecutors don’t have a financial interest in the outcome of a case, making the conflict less problematic. In this case, Vishny has been repeatedly identified as an Anderson family attorney, although it’s not clear if she’s getting paid.

Did she help prepare the case? Did she participate?

Joseph mensah charged

Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty’s Rick Esenberg believes Vishny’s deep involvement in the issue makes the question of recusal more complicated.

“The judicial code defines a member of the judge’s family as follows: ‘Member of the judge’s family’ means the judge’s spouse, child, grandchild, parent, grandparent and any other relative or person with whom the judge maintains a close familial relationship.’ A judge may not sit on a case in which a member of his family is a lawyer,” Esenberg told WRN.

“Maybe recusal is not required by this provision because 1) she is not a lawyer ‘in the proceeding” and 2) the two are divorced. The first argument can work – Justice Ann Walsh Bradley recused herself from the Doe case because her son’s firm was involved – although others read it differently. I recall Justice Steinmetz sitting on cases involving Foley & Lardner even though he had a son and two sons-in-law at the firm. But her involvement in other aspects of the matter make this tougher. The other point – that they are divorced – could succeed as well but may turn on the nature of their relationship. There are other provisions that might be said to apply and also appearance of impropriety standards that are general and broad but that the judge ought to consider.”

Overall, he said it’s not clear or a settled matter in the law.

Certainly, Yamahiro could have chosen to recuse even if not mandated to remove any perception issues in such a contentious case; surely, there are a number of other judges without such close ties to one side who could have heard the case.

How close is Vishny to the case? Consider:

Vishny was an attorney for the Anderson family on the Mensah John Doe case for a week, withdrawing the day after Yamahiro was appointed.

Joseph mensah charged

Vishny has a website on which she states that she is “currently of counsel at Nelson Defense Group in Hudson Wisconsin and with Motley Legal nationwide.” Motley Legal is Kimberley Motley’s firm. Motley is the extremely public and aggressive lawyer for the families of those shot and killed by Mensah and the Peoples Revolution protest group.

Court records show that Vishny, whose real name is Deborah Vishny, was divorced from Yamahiro in 2010. They were joint petitioners and there was a petition for child support. He is remarried. A 2004 article on the Urban Milwaukee website confirms that Vishny, a former public defender, was married to Yamahiro. “I’m Glenn’s wife,” she told that reporter, who wrote that “the couple has one child,” who was then in elementary school.

Vishny and Motley have whipped out press releases together calling for the “immediate suspension” of Wauwatosa Chief Barry Weber.

Joseph mensah john doe hearing

They’ve also worked together on other police-related cases, suing the City of Kenosha on behalf of Jacob Blake protesters who were given curfew tickets.

Mensah john doe

A 2016 article by the Neighborhood News Service quoted Vishny gushing about Motley and says she was her former supervisor.

“I really liked her approach to work,” Vishny told the site. NNS reported that “Vishny worked with Motley in a trial skills program and as her supervisor when Motley joined SPD after graduating from Marquette Law School in 2003.” Vishny gushed in that article about Motley’s tenaciousness and pursuit of what Vishny called “justness.”

The Shepherd Express referred to “Deja Vishny and Kimberley Motley, the attorneys representing the Cole and Anderson families.”

“Motley and Vishny submitted formal complaints to the Wauwatosa City Hall,” that article says. “Vishny and Motley have said that they will use the information revealed by their open records request in the District Attorney’s review.”

There’s more. “Lawyers Kimberley Motley and Deja Vishny issued a letter to Wauwatosa Common Council members, City Attorney Alan Kesner, Police and Fire Commission (PFC) president Dominic Leone, and others on Nov. 18 outlining the ‘strong objections’ they have to the (Mensah settlement) agreement,” according to ABA Journal.

“Motley and Vishny have represented the families of those Mensah has killed, including 17-year-old Alvin Cole. The Motley Legal firm also filed complaints against Mensah on behalf of the families of 25-year-old Jay Anderson, Jr. and 28-year-old Antonio Gonzales.”

What are the rules of judicial recusal? The American Bar Association says:

Other “close personal relationships”—such as amicably divorced individuals who maintain joint custody—require that the judge follow the dictates of rule 2.11(C), which provides for a remittal of disqualification. That rule reads: A judge subject to disqualification under this Rule, other than for bias or prejudice under paragraph (A)(1), may disclose on the record the basis of the judge’s disqualification and may ask the parties and their lawyers to consider, outside the presence of the judge and court personnel, whether to waive disqualification. If, following the disclosure, the parties and lawyers agree, without participation by the judge or court personnel, that the judge should not be disqualified, the judge may participate in the proceeding. The agreement shall be incorporated into the record of the proceeding.

Urban Milwaukee reported that “Attorney Deja Vishny… has worked with Motley on the Wauwatosa cases.”

WTMJ described Vishny as an “Anderson family” attorney.

“There are a lot of changes that need to be made in policing and Wauwatosa Police Department has been a problem,” Vishny told WTMJ.

“Vishny and Kimberley Motley were recently retained by the Anderson family. The attorneys are also working with Alvin Cole’s family,” the television station reported.

They also spoke together in a training session for the National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys called “Media, the Movement, & Using the Law: Challenging Bad Cops – Kimberley Motley (Milwaukee, WI) and Deja Vishny (Milwaukee, WI).”

They’ve hosted fundraisers together.

Vishny wrote on Twitter in November 2020, “Joseph Mensah’s resignation is long overdue. While we welcome the news; it is tragic that the WPD under Chief Weber’s leadership failed to address his shortcomings for years. It is time for new leadership in the WPD!#stillfightinginTosa

Vishny criticized the DA’s decision not to charge Mensah in the Alvin Cole case.

“This is a different standard than is used with non-police witnesses,” Deja Vishny said. “This is a culmination of years of not holding police officers criminally accountable for their conduct, and in this community, this has to stop.”

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Bill Would Limit Which Flags Can Fly at Wisconsin Government Buildings

(The Center Square) – A new Wisconsin bill would limit government-sponsored divisions from flying certain flags.

The bill prevents flags other than the U.S. flag, Wisconsin flag, local flags and U.S. armed forces and POW/MIA flags from being flown or hung outside any state or local institution.

The bill was introduced by a group of Republicans including Rep. Jerry L. O’Connor, R-Fond du Lac, Dave Murphy, R- Greenville, Rob Brooks, R-Saukville, Joy Goeben, R-Hobart and State Sens. Dan Feyen, R-Fond du Lac, and Cory Tomczyk, R-Mosinee.

The bill points to particular flags that have led to divisiveness including those of political movements or social causes, such as MAGA, pride, heterosexual, CSA, Second Amendment rights, BLM, ALL Lives Matter, Antifa, Pro-Life, Pro-Choice and others.

The bill doesn’t prohibit any private citizens or Native American tribes from flying any flags.

“Government should not be in the business of choosing sides, or even giving the appearance of choosing sides,” said Feyen. “This bill simply ensures that the first impression of all government buildings and institutions is neutral, offering equal treatment to all Wisconsinites.”

The lawmakers said that they were asked to act on the divisiveness by Wisconsin residents.

“Flags on government buildings are not supposed to be divisive and should not support one ideology over another,” said Sen. Tomczyk, “When the governor uses flags flown over the State Capitol and other taxpayer-funded buildings to divide the people of Wisconsin, it is shameful and frankly, embarrassing. It is time to end this nonsense.”

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Republican Bill Would Block Illegal Immigrants From Receiving Tax Breaks

Immigrants residing illegally within the U.S. could no longer receive child tax credits or tax breaks for low income earners if the Safeguarding American Workers’ Benefits Act becomes law.

Reintroduced by Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., the legislation would require both parents and children to have Social Security numbers that are valid for employment in order to claim the Child Tax Credit or the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., has introduced a companion bill in the House.

The U.S. Joint Committee on Taxation estimates Hyde-Smith's legislation could save nearly $28 billion over ten years.

“I welcome President [Donald] Trump’s intent to target wasteful spending and enforce immigration laws,” Hyde-Smith said Tuesday. “The environment is certainly friendlier now to adopt legislation that saves billions of dollars and ensures that only U.S citizens and persons authorized to work can benefit from the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit.”

While the CTC and EITC should only go to those with SSNs valid for employment, certain loopholes allow some people who do not meet the requirements to receive the federal benefits. The bill would close those loopholes.

Only weeks into Trump’s second presidency, Republicans and the Commander in Chief have already implemented or introduced other anti-illegal immigration measures, including reinstating the Remain in Mexico policy and authorizing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to round up and deport migrants residing in the U.S.

The Safeguarding American Workers’ Benefits Act is also part of Republicans’ federal cost-cutting efforts to finance the extension of Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will cost $4.6 trillion over the next ten years.

“I will work to ensure that [the] Safeguarding American Workers’ Benefits Act is considered as part of the debate to extend and improve on the Trump tax cuts that expire this year,” Hyde-Smith said.

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Nearly 80% of Americans Don’t Want Men Playing in Women’s Sports

Surveying nearly an equal number of Republicans and Democrats, a poll taken by the New York Times and polling company Ipsos showed that the majority of Americans do not want transgender-identifying men in women’s sports.

Of those surveyed, 79% answered that men “should not” compete in women’s sports when posed with the following question: “thinking about transgender female athletes – meaning athletes who were male at birth but who currently identify as female – do you think they should or should not be allowed to compete in women's sports?”

This number has increased from a 2023 The Center Square Voters' Voice Poll that reported 67% of American voters were collectively against men playing in women’s sports.

When the 2025 New York Times-Ipsos poll is broken up along political divides, 94% of Republicans, 67% of Democrats, and 64% of Independents or “something else” answered that men should not be in women’s sports.

The highest bracket that believes men should be allowed to play in women’s sports are Democrats, equaling 31%.

The results of this poll came just before President Trump declared there are only two sexes in America, male and female. The survey was taken from Jan. 2 to 11.

When reached for comment, Ipsos vice president for public affairs Mallory Newall repeated the question posed to respondents and said “we cannot speculate on what people meant or interpreted beyond the wording of the question.”

Ipsos is a global market research and polling company, according to its description in the poll document.

Men in women’s sports has become an issue in recent years, with high school girls such as Payton McNabb getting injured by a male competitor on a volleyball team and former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines becoming an activist defending women's-only sports after placing second to a transgender female swimming competitor.

The Independent Women’s Forum senior legal advisor Beth Parlato told The Center Square that “without female-only athletics, the safety of girls and women is endangered, and men will dominate the playing field, which unfairly takes away awards, opportunities, scholarships and roster spots.”

The Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) is a nonprofit women’s organization “dedicated to developing and advancing policies” that “enhance people’s freedom, opportunities, and well-being,” according to its website. IWF has taken a staunch stance against men competing in women’s sports.

“Males and females possess unique and immutable biological differences,” Parlato said. “With respect to sports, males have biological athletic advantages over females, as the average male is stronger, bigger and faster.

“Furthermore, allowing males in female-only spaces is an invasion of a women’s right to privacy and threatens women’s safety and well-being,” Parlato said.

“Defining sex-based terms in law and policy is essential to protect women’s sports and spaces,” Parlato said.

Trump’s executive order on two sexes provides “needed clarity to preserve the legal existence of women as distinct from men,” Parlato said. “Protect women’s sports bills at both the federal and state levels must be codified into law to ensure equal athletic opportunities for women and girls."

The NYT-Ipsos survey was “of the American general population” aged 18 and up, interviewing a total of 2,128 people; 1,022 of those polled were Republican/Lean Republican, 1,025 were Democrat/Lean Democrat, and 81 were Independent or “something else.”

In a vein similar to transgender-identifying men playing in women’s sports, the poll showed that the majority of Americans are not for sex changes in minors, either.

Respondents were asked “thinking about medications used for transgender care, do you think doctors should be able to prescribe puberty-blocking drugs or hormone therapy to minors between the ages of 10 and 18?”

A total of 71% of Americans do not think anyone under 18 should have access to such drugs or therapy.

Shortly after this poll, Trump signed an executive order “restricting transgender drugs and surgeries for minors,” The Center Square previously reported.

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Trump International Airport Proposed, Renaming Dulles

Changing the name to Donald J. Trump International Airport from Dulles International Airport has been proposed by a freshman congressman from North Carolina.

Rep. Addison McDowell, the 31-year-old Republican from the state’s 6th Congressional District, introduced the bill Thursday along with Reps. Brian Jack, R-Ga., Riley Moore, R-W.V., Brandon Gill, R-Texas, and Guy Reschenthaler, R-Penn.

“It is only right that the two airports servicing our nation’s capital are duly honored and respected by two of the best presidents to have the honor of serving our great nation,” McDowell said.

Dulles International and Reagan National are major airports serving the District of Columbia, Maryland and Northern Virginia. The former is named for Josh Foster Dulles, secretary of state under Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953-59. More than 26 million passengers used Dulles in the 12 months ending in November, according to the latest statistics available.

The then-$108.3 million airport, on 10,000 acres of Loudoun and Fairfax counties in Virginia, was dedicated Nov. 17, 1962. Another 830 acres were acquired 20 years ago.

Jack said the effort “to ‘cancel’ President Trump during his post-presidency” is rightly countered by the bill to “enshrine President Trump’s legacy.”

“This legislation will cement his status in our nation’s capital as our fearless commander-in-chief, extraordinary leader, and relentless champion for the American people,” Reschenthaler said in a release from McDowell’s office.

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, smaller in gates 113 to 58 than Dulles, is on 860 acres in Virginia. Opening in 1941 as National Airport, Democratic two-term President Bill Clinton on Feb. 6, 1998, signed the legislation authored by Sen. Paul Coverdell, R-Ga., renaming it for the nation’s 40th president.

Reagan National also checked more than 26 million passengers in the 12 months ending in November. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority reported 53.1 million total between the two.

New Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth Shows Changes Already in Motion

Pete Hegseth, the newly-confirmed Secretary of Defense, has indicated that changes to the military are already in motion.

Hegseth told reporters outside the Pentagon Monday that Trump will soon authorize the reinstatement of military members who were discharged for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine, with backpay.

He also hinted that military bases renamed under the Biden administration will revert to their original names. This includes Fort Moore and Fort Liberty, originally known as Fort Benning and Fort Bragg, the names of confederate officers.

"Our job is lethality and readiness and warfighting, and we are going to hold people accountable," Hegseth told reporters on the Pentagon's steps.

The Senate voted 51-50 late Friday to confirm Hegseth, with Vice President J.D. Vance casting the tie-breaking vote.

Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., along with Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, voted no.

“Effective management of nearly 3 million military and civilian personnel, an annual budget of nearly $1 trillion, and alliances and partnerships around the world is a daily test with staggering consequences for the security of the American people and our global interests,” McConnell said Friday night. “Mr. Hegseth has failed, as yet, to demonstrate that he will pass this test.”

The veteran and former Fox News host has faced allegations of abusing alcohol, mismanaging nonprofit funds, and sexual assault, which he denies.

All Democratic senators voted against Hegseth. The Senate Armed Services Committee barely recommended his nomination Monday with a 14-13 vote.

Ranking member on Senate Foreign Relations committee Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., said Thursday that Hegseth’s “11th hour conversion” on the roles of women in the military and the importance of NATO “raises questions about what he really believes.”

“Any inconsistency in our commitment to support our allies and partners, to support democracy around the world, to support the international world order — that is going to be seen and exploited by our adversaries,” she said.

As Defense secretary, Hegseth has promised he will root out social justice initiatives and partisan politics in the military, focusing instead on merit-based recruiting, effective deterrence, and overall lethality.

“Thank you for your confidence Mr. President. Thank you for the tie-breaker Mr. Vice President. Thank you Senators for 50 votes,” Hegseth posted on X following the vote. “This is for the troops. For the warriors. For our country. America First. Every day. We will never back down.”

Border Crisis abbott border patrol

Abbott Deploys Texas Military to Rio Grande Valley to Assist Trump Administration

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott surged additional Texas military resources to the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) to assist President Donald Trump with his border security efforts.

Abbott did so as removal operations are already underway in Trump’s first week in office after he issued a series of executive orders to secure the border, including sending 1,500 troops to Texas and California, The Center Square reported.

Abbott directed the Texas Military Department to deploy the Texas Tactical Border Force to the RGV to coordinate efforts with U.S. Border Patrol agents.

More than 400 troops are departing from military bases in Fort Worth and Houston Monday morning, as well as C-130s and Chinook helicopters, to join thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers already stationed at the Texas-Mexico border.

“Texas has a partner in the White House we can work with to secure the Texas-Mexico border," Abbott said. “For the past four years, Texas held the line against the Biden Administration’s border crisis and their refusal to protect Americans. Finally, we have a federal government working to end this crisis. I thank President Donald Trump for his decisive leadership on the southern border and look forward to working with him and his Administration to secure the border and make America safe again.”

Abbott first deployed the border force in May 2023 to the RGV and El Paso to support his border security mission, Operation Lone Star, The Center Square reported.

Under OLS, thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers have been deployed to the Texas-Mexico border since March 2021. Abbott also received the support of 25 Republican governors, who also sent troops to Texas to participate in OLS.

“We have shifted troops to hotspots, added additional drone teams, and increased miles of barrier along the border. The dedication of these troops to the State of Texas is inspirational,” Texas Military Department Major General Thomas Suelzer said when the border force was first deployed in 2023. They included quick reaction forces comprised of military police units in El Paso and another to cover the region stretching from San Antonio to the Rio Grande Valley.

Last year, Texas Military Department efforts expanded after Texas built its first modern-day military base at the U.S. border in Eagle Pass, Texas, the only National Guard base along Texas’ border with Mexico, The Center Square reported.

Texas’ Forward Operating Base camp houses 1,800 troops with the ability to expand up to 2,300 if needed. Since then, military forces have been consolidated, enabling troops to expand barrier construction and other operations.

Since March 2021, when OLS was launched, more than 10,000 Texas National Guard troops and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers have been deployed to the Texas-Mexico border.

Through OLS, they’ve built more than 240 miles of border barriers, constructed 100 miles of border wall, installed and fortified 200 miles of concertina wire barriers, and installed marine buoy barriers, including additional barriers last week. Attempts by the Biden administration to prevent Texas’s construction of concertina wire and buoy barriers failed in court.

OLS officers alone have apprehended more than 530,000 illegal border crossers, repelled over 140,000 attempted illegal entries, made more than 50,000 criminal arrests, with more than 43,000 felony charges reported, and seized enough lethal doses of fentanyl to kill everyone in the U.S., Mexico and Canada combined, according to data from the governor’s office.

After Texas’ first Border Czar Mike Banks expanded OLS efforts, a 51% drop in federal border apprehensions was reported in one year in Texas, The Center Square exclusively reported.

Within that first year, as Texas resistance grew, illegal entries increased in Arizona, California and New Mexico, The Center Square exclusively reported.

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$55 Million in Improvements, Winterization for American Family Field

(The Center Square) – Nearly $55 million in spending was reportedly approved to winterize American Family Field in Milwaukee, with claims the taxpayer district funds will allow for winter events and concerts at the stadium.

The spending includes $25 million to winterize the stadium, meaning the improvements would allow for the seating bowl temperature to be 68 degrees even when the temperature outside is 10 below zero, according to WISN.

The Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District Board also approved $10 million for social gathering spaces, $500,000 for roof repairs, $661,000 to build a sensory room and $500,000 to upgrade the umpire locker room for women umpires, WISN reported.

The issue with the spending and winterization is that stadium concert tours do not occur in the winter because artists do not put together tours during a time of year when only some stadiums and cities can be visited.

"The difference between an outdoor stadium and an indoor stadium is essentially zero in terms of events," economist Victor Matheson told The Center Square while discussing similar claims involving a roofed NFL stadium in Nashville. "The reason for that is that all the big tours all go out in the summer specifically so they can use all the outdoor stadiums in the country rather than the limited number of domed stadiums."

American Family Field has a capacity of nearly 42,000, which is larger than most concert venues that artists perform at to begin with.

Visit Milwaukee told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel late last year that winterizing the stadium could lead to the stadium hosting The NHL Winter Classic and the NCAA men's and women's basketball Final Four.