Troy Jackson, a former logger and state legislator, has clinched the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate race in Maine. This decision comes after the Democratic Party found itself in urgent need of a candidate following Graham Platner’s sudden withdrawal due to allegations of sexual assault, which Platner has denied. 

Delegates gathered for a special election on Saturday, where Jackson emerged as the frontrunner. His previous gubernatorial campaign garnered him national recognition and made him a favorite within progressive circles. 

In a decisive victory, Jackson secured the support of 566 out of 571 delegates. Nonetheless, the newly chosen nominee is already battling criticism, labeled by some as ‘hot-headed’ in media reports. 

Within the past week, reports from CNN and the Washington Post highlighted accounts of Jackson’s fiery temperament, citing an incident where he allegedly hurled a water bottle during a meeting. 

Individuals who worked alongside Jackson during his time leading the Maine Senate have characterized his leadership approach as ‘very aggressive,’ adding more fuel to the ongoing discourse surrounding his candidacy. 

‘It’s one thing to be screaming when you’re just mad about the world or sad about the world. But his screaming felt like intentional intimidation. So you would feel like, then, what else is he going to do?’ one anonymous source told the Washington Post. 

Multiple sources recounted an infamous ‘water bottle incident’ where Jackson became irate, banged on the table and cursed at lawmakers over gun control policy. 

Then-House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross reportedly kicked him out of her office after the outburst. 

However, a second person in the room told the Washington Post that Jackson did not slam his hand on the table or curse, clarifying that Ross and Jackson had a ‘heated argument’ about red-flag laws.

The ‘water bottle incident’ has also emerged as a potential flashpoint of Jackson’s upcoming campaign. 

Differing recollections have been recounted to the media. Sources told the Washington Post that the argument stemmed from a bill to lower prescription drug prices between Jackson and former State Senator Heather Sanborn. 

As the conversation became heated, Jackson ‘threw’ a water bottle. One source described his behavior as ‘screaming and hollering,’ throwing the bottle ‘an inch from her nose.’ 

However, State Senator Mark Lawrence and former State Senator Susan Deschambault disputed that recollection, acknowledging that Jackson was angry but denying that he threw the water bottle close to Sanborn. 

Jackson’s campaign admitted to CNN that he tossed a water bottle during a heated confrontation but denied that it was thrown at anyone. 

‘Troy Jackson is passionate and deeply invested in the people and policies he advocates for,’ his campaign said in a statement. 

‘Over 22 years in public office, there have been moments when he let his frustration get the better of him. When that happened, he took responsibility and apologized directly at the time.’

However, many of Jackson’s colleagues stood up for him as a passionate lawmaker and as what the Democrats need to stand up to President Donald Trump.

‘If everyone is happy with you all the time, you’re not doing your job in politics… He doesn’t run things like he’s coddling in kindergarten,’ Jennifer DeChant, another former state House Democrat who worked with Jackson, told CNN. 

Charlotte Warren, a former state representative, told the Washington Post that even though she also had a heated dispute with Jackson, the two later made up and she believed he would fight if elected to the Senate. 

Democrats are placing heavy bets on Jackson, who has only 99 days to defeat longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins. 

Republicans have already launched an ad campaign against Jackson, accusing him of having a volatile temper and linking him to Platner. 

The Senate Leadership Fund, Republicans’ super PAC, said it is committed to spending over $42 million against Jackson. 

Maine’s Democratic primary was one of the early contests where progressives took on establishment-backed Democrats. 

While Platner faced several controversies during his campaign, he easily outlasted Governor Janet Mills, who was backed by Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer but dropped out before the June 9 primary. 

Platner had backing from Sanders, Senator Ruben Gallego and Senator Elizabeth Warren. That support disintegrated after a former girlfriend accused him of assaulting her in 2021.

The allegation came after a string of scandals involving a past offensive tattoo, problematic Reddit posts and a pattern of concerning behavior with women in a New York Times report. 

Platner denied all sexual assault allegations and maintained that his past social media posts and tattoo came at a time when he was struggling with mental health and post-traumatic stress disorder from his time as a combat veteran.

This fall, school kids in Minnesota aged four to 10 will be introduced to transgender dolls, thanks to a development initiative funded by taxpayers and backed by Governor Tim Walz, as reported.

The New York Post revealed that these MyGenderDolls, partly developed through the University of Minnesota’s Early Innovation Fund, will be made available for use by educators and clinical professionals starting this year, according to their website.

As detailed on the MyGenderDolls website, the dolls are specially crafted for young children aged 4 to 10 who are exploring gender diversity.

These dolls include removable and interchangeable parts, allowing children to understand the various possibilities for their identity beyond just physical attributes, explained Ben Parchem, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at the University, in an article which has since been removed from the University of Minnesota Foundation’s magazine.

The dolls began as a research program in the University of Minnesota Medical School’s Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, spearheaded by two members of the school’s faculty, Dianne Berg, PhD, and G. Nic Rider, PhD, both educators in the school’s Department of Family Medicine and Community Health.

“It’s really important to address the belief, ‘I’m not a ‘real’ boy because I don’t have these private parts,’ versus, ‘I am a real boy, whatever my anatomy looks like,’” Berg told the Foundation’s magazine in the now-deleted article.

“It’s about helping children develop tools to cope with messages in society that could lead to shame,” she added.

“MyGender Dolls began as an idea of the Institute for Sexual and Gender Health psychologist, Rachel Becker-Warner, PsyD. NCGSH Co-Director, Dianne Berg, PhD, and Communications Specialist, Ashley Finch, have been hard at work developing the dolls to be used as a therapeutic tool for transgender and gender diverse children. The concept is similar to classic paper dolls; kids can select bodies, genitals, clothes, and other accessories as a way to visualize their anatomy and genders,” a now deleted 2024 summary of the project from the University of Minnesota’s Eli Coleman Institute for Sexual and Gender Health read. 

The project is one of many pro-transgender state-funded efforts under Walz, according to the Post.

In 2023, the University of Minnesota’s Eli Coleman Institute for Sexual and Gender Health (ISGH) presented Walz with the Distinguished Sexual and Gender Health Champion Award “for his outstanding efforts in protecting sexual and reproductive health care (PRO Act, HF 1) and gender-affirming health care (Executive Order 23-03) in Minnesota,” the school wrote in its annual report in 2023.

Of the three faculty members presenting him his award, one was Rider, a co-creator of MyGenderDolls.

News Media contacted Walz’s office, MyGenderDolls, Rider, the University of Minnesota and the school’s Department of Family Medicine and Community Health for added comment.

An unexpected arrest has shaken the University of Alabama’s network. The director responsible for content creation at the university’s official Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) entity is facing serious legal charges connected to a human trafficking investigation.

Robert Aaron Suttles, previously a sportswriter with notable contributions to The Tuscaloosa News and The Athletic, was apprehended in Shelby County as one of 15 individuals caught in the operation on Thursday.

According to court documents reviewed by WBRC News, Suttles, who steers content development at Yea Alabama, faces charges of soliciting prostitution. Allegations suggest he offered $100 for sexual services.

Following his arrest, Suttles has been released from Shelby County Jail after posting a $1,000 bond.

Commenting on the situation, the university informed WBRC that Suttles does not hold a position as a school employee, whereas Yea Alabama addressed the incident with a statement given to AL.com.

“The individual is suspended and is not performing any work for us,” Yea Alabama said. “The matter involves personal conduct unconnected to any YeaAlabama business. A legal proceeding is pending and our internal review is ongoing, so we have no further comment.”

Yea Alabama describes itself as the “Official Fan Experience of Alabama Athletics and facilitates authentic name, image and likeness opportunities for Alabama student-athletes.”

The Shelby County Drug Enforcement Task Force conducted the sting this week, with 15 men arrested and one also being charged with two counts of unlawful possession of a controlled substance and second-degree unlawful possession of marijuana.

“We will not tolerate the victimization of vulnerable women here in Shelby County,” said Lt. Clayton Smith, commander of the Shelby County Drug Task Force.

“I believe that no woman wakes up each morning and chooses to sell their bodies because they just want to. There is always an underlying reason that they feel they have to do this to live and have no other option. We have a duty to protect them just like any other citizen. I want to thank the investigators for their passion and work in this operation.”

Suttles posted about Alabama football on his X account earlier this week, though he has not commented on his arrest.

However, his pinned post on the site has gained attention this week.

In 2014, Suttles posted a picture of then-Alabama football coach Nick Saban standing around the school’s gymnastics team.

“I don’t know what to do with my hands,” Suttles captioned the photo.

A young musician once arrived in Nashville, her guitar strapped on and dreams unfurling. Possessing both talent and beauty, she quickly found her place within the realm of country music, though her hits soon reverberated far beyond Tennessee’s borders.

Taylor Swift took this journey two decades ago, and now she has a fellow traveler.

Ella Langley’s hit single, “Choosin’ Texas,” has remained at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for an impressive 14 weeks. This feat matches the records held by legends Whitney Houston with “I Will Always Love You,” and Mariah Carey with “We Belong Together.”

In May, Langley’s chart-topper exceeded Taylor Swift’s 2012 track “We Are Never Getting Back Together” for the most weeks at number one by a female country artist. When asked about this achievement, Langley, embodying her country roots, exclaimed, “It means that my head’s spinning around like an owl.” With her Alabama accent, she added, “You ever seen that? It’s pretty scary. It’s nuts. I’m just excited.”

Inevitable comparisons arise between Langley and Swift, both of whom have emerged from Nashville as breakout stars.

It’s led some to wonder if it’s just coincidence that Swift’s latest single, I Knew It, I Knew You, the Toy Story 5 theme, is a return to her country roots. Certainly, one industry insider suggested to the Daily Mail that it might be an indication of Swift asserting her dominance in the genre.

‘Taylor could never let someone else have the country throne,’ the source said. 

‘She wanted to make it clear that if there’s a woman that’s going to dominate the country charts it won’t be Beyoncé and it won’t be Ella,’ the source said. 

There is no evidence of any animosity between the two women, but one thing is clear – if anyone is dominating the country scene right now it’s Langley, who landed in the number one spot on the Daily Mail’s most powerful people in Nashville ranking.

The catchily wistful Choosin’ Texas, is one of the songs of the summer – boosted by a slick video, viewed almost 57 million times since its April release.

And it isn’t Langley’s only hit right now. Three of the top ten in the Billboard 100 are currently hers: her new duet with the controversial Morgan Wallen, I Can’t Love You Anymore, is riding high at number seven and the two are the first country duo to make the top 10 since Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers.

Earlier this year, Langley became the first woman ever to top the Billboard Hot 100, Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts simultaneously, thanks to the strongly Dollyesque hit Choosin’ Texas.

Langley is not just breaking boundaries, she’s smashing them. But she’s staying firmly country in the process.

Let’s not forget that, as far as Swift is concerned, some rancor in Nashville remains among country fans who feel that Swift abandoned them in favor of pop stardom.

‘The radio programmers have to say they’re excited about I Knew It, I Knew You and have to immediately play her song – it’s Taylor. But the country fans still remember that she left,’ an insider explained.

And it’s those fans to whom Langley is playing in more ways than one. 

Swift is now openly backing Democrat candidates and causes. Kacey Musgraves and Maren Morris both espouse progressive views. And Kelsea Ballerini is a champion of LGBTQ rights and women’s issues, who brought drag queens on stage to protest Tennessee’s 2023 law against children watching drag shows.

In November 2024, she said she wanted to be ‘a good person first, good artist second.’

In contrast, the source speculated that one of the reasons Langley is riding high is because she steers clear of politics, cannily playing her cards close to her chest.

‘Ella is winning because she panders to the country music fan base,’ the source said. ‘She plays it safe. She’s not speaking out on important topics like a Kelsea Ballerini, Kacey Musgraves or Maren Morris.’

She has also bolstered her country roots by leaning unapologetically into her Christian faith. Speaking with podcaster Theo Von in April, she said that reading the Bible ‘really centers me and reminds me what’s important in my life,’ and told him about being terrified by a Christian haunted house, one Halloween, where ‘sinners’ were confronted by the devil.

‘I remember our youth group took us,’ she told Von. ‘You get in there, and it’s like this car crash scene, and it’s pretty much like convincing you that you could die the second you walk out of here, so you better settle up. You better get saved.’

Langley credits her childhood for her musical talent – and her toughness.

‘I grew up in the country in Alabama between two rowdy brothers, so I spent a lot of my childhood trying to prove that I was as fearless and tough as they were,’ she said, referencing brothers Thomas, now 35, and 25-year-old Stuart. She also has a sister, Katie, 19, who is studying at Auburn University in Alabama.

‘My band or anyone who knows me will tell you that sometimes I can seem more like a guy than a girl, but I think women can still be tough, direct and strong, without apologizing for who they are or how they think,’ added Langley.

The foursome’s parents, Jason, who owns a car and machinery repair firm and his wife Heather, a self-described ‘Alabama Mama’ – raised their children on the family farm.

Langley said her grandparents were also a powerful influence.

‘My grandparents on my dad’s side were super musically inclined,’ she told local Alabama news site WSFA. ‘My grandpa would always play the piano. Before I could even talk, they would sit me down on the piano and I would hum to whatever he was playing.’

Langley in April shared an old video of her grandfather playing Froggy Went a’ Courting on the guitar, and her as a toddler, in a tutu-style skirt, jumping around the kitchen.

Langley’s 24-second recording of the song is the intro to her latest album, Dandelion.

Promoting Dandelion she told podcaster Von: ‘I was the first girl in the family, and I started to match pitch with [my grandma] as a baby. And so, she figured out I could sing, and singing was her thing. And my grandpa could play any instrument by ear, and so at their house, that’s all we did.

‘I sang at church a lot. I learned how to read from singing hymnals. I really, just the whole time, like, my whole family, we all just were like, “This is what she’s gonna do.”‘

Swift, who moved to Nashville from Pennsylvania at the age of 14, had a head start.

Langley on finishing high school began a course in forestry at Auburn University, moving in the fall of 2017 to the city an hour from her tiny Hope Hull hometown, south of Montgomery.

Soon she’d joined a top sorority, Phi Mu, known as the ‘Southern Sweetheart’ group for its beautiful, socially aware members – and was happily posting photos of campus life and Spring Break.

In April 2019, she shared excited photos of herself with her future roommates, saying she was looking forward to living with them in the fall.

But in July 2019 she abruptly left Alabama and moved 300 miles away to neighboring Tennessee, shipping her taxidermy deer kill to a new Nashville home.

Perhaps the signs were there all along. She has long said music was always her destiny: ‘When I was a kid, I was never like, I’m going to be a veterinarian or a police officer,’ she said. ‘I was like I’m going to do this. I don’t know when it’s going to happen but it’s going to happen.’

And in June 2018, she posted to Instagram a photo of herself by Nashville’s famous WhatLiftsYou wings mural, with the caption: ‘So I’m never coming home.’

In the years since moving to Nashville, Langley’s image has become decidedly more polished. ‘This job is not something that you can sort of half ass,’ she said in an Instagram clip on May 20. ‘You have to go full force.’

Gone are the camo-clad photos with her father proudly posing with deer they have shot, and in their place are private jets and stadium soundchecks.

In May 2024, she abandoned her center parting in favor of heavy bangs, which are now her trademark – along with her evolution towards a Stevie Nicks-influenced 1970s chic, with rhinestone-encrusted heeled cowboy boots and voluminous floaty sleeves.

It’s a much-copied look, with hairdressers reporting a surge in demand for a replica of her glossy tousled locks.

And it’s not just women who are reeled in: online memes celebrate slack-jawed men, known as ‘Ella’s Fellas,’ who discover the Southern charmer for the first time.

Not all is new, though. The horses and dogs remain, as do underlined passages of the Bible, frequently posted online.

Certainly Langley has maintained her ‘good girl’ image and despite rumors of a fledgling ‘love triangle’ earlier this year.

Langley and 37-year-old Riley Green, who sings with her on You Look Like You Love Me, held hands as they walked on to the stage to collect their Academy of Country Music award for the song.

The camera then cut to another country star, 28-year-old Megan Moroney, who had been rumored to be interested in Green, looking stone-faced.

But all three have insisted they are single. Langley has never confirmed any relationships, and last week told the Calgary Stampede that she ignored all the background noise.

‘With social media, you can see into everyone’s lives – and you feel behind, or not good enough, or not pretty enough, or not cool enough, or you can’t sing this way or dance this way. Who gives a s***? This is who I am, and this is what you get’ she said. 

‘And the one person that I do care about what thinks about me is the man upstairs, and that’s it. And I know that He loves me no matter where I’m at.’

California Attorney General, Rob Bonta, finds himself in the hot seat amidst a wave of criticism following his move to rephrase the language surrounding the state’s voter ID law on the ballot.

Accusations have been leveled at the Democrat for allegedly misleading edits made at the eleventh hour to the text of Proposition 39. This proposition, if passed, mandates that voters produce government-issued identification at polling stations or provide the last four digits of an ID number when casting a mail-in vote.

Bonta’s office addressed the backlash through a statement on X, where they attempted to justify the widely criticized decision.

“Fact: Changes to ballot titles and summaries from the circulating version to what voters ultimately see are not uncommon. California law expressly permits these alterations to ensure clarity for voters,” Bonta detailed, emphasizing that modifications were made to “all nine voter-proposed initiatives” appearing on the ballot.

He further assured, “The California Department of Justice is committed to its duty of providing accurate and unbiased information to educate voters effectively.”

In original description, Prop 39 was described as a measure that “establishes additional voter identification and citizenship verification requirements.” But after the voter ID proposal qualified for the November ballot, Bonta changed it to say that it “prohibits citizens from voting unless they present government-issued identification.”

“Seems the rewording is a violation — your rewording was not impartial and is likely to create prejudice,” one X user replied to Bonta’s post.

“Rob Bonta you are a complete fraud. This is so dishonest. Your changes totally distort what the voter id proposition is set to do,” another added.

“You are attempting to manipulate the vote by changing the perception of the bill from its intended purpose because you know you would lose otherwise,” wrote Brian Ralston, a Los Angeles composer. “Thus you are a dangerous, manipulative, ideological, traitorous clown.”

Some brought up the history of California attorneys general writing allegedly slanted descriptions of ballot measures as a reason not to trust Bonta.

For example, a past ballot proposal that would let voters repeal the state’s gas taxes was instead described as a measure that “eliminates certain road repair and transportation funding.”

“Everyone was confused by repeal of 2017 gas tax prop, maybe you guys SUCK at rewrites and shouldn’t do it,” wrote user Amanda Sereno.

The blowback comes as backers of Prop 39 float the idea of a lawsuit to challenge Bonta, though such a challenge is unlikely to be successful considering that courts have mostly sided with the attorney general’s discretion on ballot measures in past cases.

“We cannot allow this corruption to happen without putting up a fight!” declared Reform California, the organization behind Prop 39, in a fundraising pitch on Friday.

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Authorities report that a social media influencer met a tragic end at the hands of her estranged partner, who allegedly targeted her after she revealed his supposed involvement in pedophilia through a popular TikTok trend.

Sara Gilson, 43, was fatally shot by her husband, Jeremiah ‘Shawn’ Duffey, 48, in a grim murder-suicide. Duffey reportedly forced his way into her residence in Owasso, Oklahoma, on July 23, according to law enforcement.

The lethal event followed Gilson’s TikTok post on July 11, where she participated in a ‘Netflix documentary’ trend. This light-hearted challenge typically features users pretending to give an interview for the streaming service.

Though often employed for comedic takes on minor events, Gilson used the trend to humorously highlight the collapse of her marriage, attributing it to her husband’s alleged pedophilia.

In her video caption, Gilson wrote, “Preparing for when Netflix drops a documentary about my soon-to-be-ex husband, whom I just discovered is a pedophile.”

Gilson, a mother of two, added in the caption, ‘I wish I was joking,’ with the clip racking up over six million views. 

Duffey was allegedly caught kissing and touching a 15-year-old girl on the youth basketball team he coached by another coach, according to a protective order filed on June 10 by the girl’s mother.

The couple’s marriage ended in 2021 when Gilson filed two protective orders against her husband. Those orders were dismissed at the time because Gilson did not appear in court, reports The Oklahoman. 

On June 10, the same day as the filing from Duffey’s alleged victim, Gilson also filed for another emergency protective order against Duffey, alleging that he had a gun, threatened suicide, and then ‘went on the run.’

Duffey was never arrested for the alleged incident or charged with any crime.

A report about the allegations was made to the Owasso Police Department, however, it is unclear if Duffey was the subject of an investigation before his death. The Daily Mail has contacted the Owasso Police Department for comment.

In Gilson’s protective order, a judge ordered Duffey out of their home and ordered him to stay at least 100 yards away from her, according to People. 

The protective order was then extended on June 23, through August 24. 

Duffey was also the subject of another protective order filed on the same day as his wife’s, which was filed by the schoolgirl’s  mother. 

She claimed that her daughter was kissed and touched by the youth basketball team coach. 

Another coach reportedly caught him in the act, and the girl told her mother that Duffey’s inappropriate behavior extended to sending her messages, inviting her to his hotel room during a tournament trip, and offering her money for her silence, per the filing. 

After Gilson shared her pointed TikTok exposing her husband’s alleged crimes, she posted two more videos to her page alluding to her ordeal before she was killed. 

In one video, she showed herself with a friend on a boat, captioned: ‘Everyone talks about romantic love, but no one talks about how female friendships literally save your life.’

She then shared another video of herself on a yacht, captioned: ‘May whatever the f*** that was never find me again.’ 

Days after that final post, Duffey broke into Gilson’s home and shot her dead before turning the gun on himself, police said. 

Duffey’s own TikTok account also included crude clips about his personal life, including one of him coughing with the caption: ‘Ur sick if you like to pull hair and bite.’

In another video, he used the caption: ‘Apparently every girl’s ex was toxic, controlling, and manipulative.’ 

In a GoFundMe set up for Gilson’s two children, her loved ones described her death as ‘unimaginable,’ saying she was an ‘incredible mom.’ 

‘Her sudden and heartbreaking loss has left an entire community grieving, but the greatest loss is felt by her two precious children, who must now face life without their loving mother,’ the fundraiser read.

‘Her children were the center of her world, and everything she did was for them. She loved them fiercely, worked hard to provide for them, and dreamed of giving them the best life possible.’

BANGOR, Maine — On a significant political weekend, former state legislator and logger Troy Jackson clinched the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate race in Maine on Saturday.

This sets him up for a head-to-head showdown against seasoned Republican Senator Susan Collins in the upcoming November election, a critical race that could tip the balance of power in the Senate.

Jackson steps in to fill the void left by Graham Platner, who initially captured the Democratic primary victory in June. However, Platner subsequently withdrew his candidacy earlier this month amidst allegations of sexual assault—allegations he has consistently denied.

Platner’s departure prompted Democrats to devise an unprecedented method for selecting a new candidate. This innovative process brought together over 600 delegates from throughout the state to convene in Bangor, located around 130 miles (209.21 kilometers) north of Portland, to cast their votes. Jackson successfully secured the nomination, garnering the majority support needed.

The outcome of this nomination was largely anticipated as Jackson’s campaign boasted backing from over 480 delegates heading into the convention. Known for his progressive stance, Jackson advocates for policies like Medicare for All and the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Jackson first ran for office as a Republican in 2000 when he sought a seat inside Maine’s House of Representatives. He lost, but won two years later when he ran as an independent. He switched to the Democratic Party in 2004, and eventually became the Maine Senate president before leaving the statehouse in 2024.

He came in third while running for governor in this year’s Democratic primary election, but had the backing of Platner, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Our Revolution, the political organization founded by Sanders.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.