In a striking prelude to the upcoming midterm elections, Donald Trump grabbed a significant win as the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the White House in a pivotal case. This case scrutinized the President’s executive order concerning mail-in voting.

While this decision represents a triumph for Trump, it also paves the way for additional judicial contests that could potentially delay the President’s order. Indeed, similar legal challenges have already emerged.

Just last week, the US Postal Service unveiled its plan to execute the President’s directive. However, with several states poised to distribute mail ballots to voters within weeks, the window for implementing substantial changes is narrowing rapidly.

The Supreme Court’s conservative justices didn’t address the legality of Trump’s order directly. Their ruling merely concluded that the states lacked the legal standing to contest it.

The majority opinion clarified, ‘The Court’s decision on this application does not guarantee that any steps taken by the Government to enforce the Order will be deemed lawful. Time alone will reveal that outcome,’ it stated in an unsigned order.

The Supreme Court´s three liberal-leaning justices dissented.

Mail balloting has long been a favorite target for Trump, who has claimed that it breeds fraud despite strong evidence to the contrary and his own use of the voting method.

The Daily Mail has reached out to the White House for comment. 

The case could be one of multiple voting-related challenges before the justices. 

The Justice Department had filed an emergency appeal asking the high court to allow work on implementing the changes before the midterms.

Trump’s executive order, signed in March, calls on his administration to create lists of eligible voters and orders the US Postal Service to deliver mail ballots only to people on those lists.

Democratic officials in 23 states and the District of Columbia sued to block the order. 

They argued that the Constitution gives states and Congress the power to run elections, and Trump´s changes could lead to chaos and partisan abuse.

‘The consequences of allowing such transformative changes to take effect so close to this fall´s elections would be extreme,’ attorneys for the states wrote. 

Dozens of state and local election officials weighed in, asking the justices to leave the order frozen while election preparations are already underway.

A judge in Massachusetts blocked the plan for the midterm elections in those states. An appeals court upheld her decision. 

She later granted a second order blocking it nationwide , another potential stumbling block for Trump administration plan.

The Justice Department appealed to the Supreme Court on procedural grounds in late July, arguing that the states sued too soon. 

They also pointed to another ruling out of Washington, where a judge allowed Trump’s order to proceed. 

An appeals court backed that decision, while still leaving room for future court action if the changes are implemented.

Federal attorneys argued that the Massachusetts order ‘blocks the government´s ability to finalize and implement the President´s proposed policies to promote election integrity for the upcoming federal elections in November.’

A dozen Republican-leaning states supported the federal government in their own appeal before the high court, saying states would have input on the final voter lists.

The Supreme Court has previously ruled against Trump-backed arguments on mail-in ballots, finding in June that states can count ballots that arrive after Election Day. 

That case was decided after full briefing and arguments, rather than on the court´s emergency docket.

Trump has blamed mail voting – without credible evidence – for his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020. 

He has promoted the proposed changes in his executive order as safeguards to keep non-US citizens from voting.

He´s also repeatedly pressed for the passage of the legislation that requires proof of citizenship to vote. 

Noncitizen voting has been shown to be rare, and is a felony that can be punishable by deportation.

Using mail ballots has become increasingly popular with voters of both parties, with about 30 percent of all ballots cast that way during the 2024 presidential election, according to federal data. The process also is secure. 

A 2025 Brookings Institution study found only about four cases of fraud out of every 10 million mail ballots cast.

This is a developing story.  

A tragic incident unfolded in Hawaii as a flight attendant from Oklahoma, working for Southwest Airlines, was discovered deceased outside her hotel.

The Honolulu Police Department has launched an investigation into the unattended death of 50-year-old Jenny Lupton. According to her family, she tragically fell from the 24th floor of her hotel in Honolulu.

As reported by News9, officials from the Honolulu Department of the Medical Examiner informed Lupton’s family about the fall from her balcony at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in luxury Waikiki.

Jenny’s sister, Tresa Lupton, revealed that before the incident, Jenny had gone out with her colleagues to socialize.

“She just went out with one of her flight attendant friends, and they danced and had a good time,” said Tresa Lupton. “She had gotten a tattoo while she was there.”

Tresa Lupton said her sister was in Hawaii due to work and planned to stay for a few days before returning to Oklahoma.

According to Lupton’s family, hotel security told them that police are reviewing over 70 cameras that were in the area. Police aren’t sure if anyone witnessed the fall.

Tresa Lupton said she’s traveling to Hawaii to search for her sister, saying “the timeline doesn’t make sense, and we are afraid that maybe there was foul play.”

The Honolulu Police Department said it won’t be releasing more information until its investigation is complete.

News Media has reached out to Southwest Airlines and Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki.

Nolan McLean seems unlikely to clinch the National League Rookie of the Year Award this season. While JJ Wetherholt has led the race for most of the year, the Cardinals second baseman has struggled with a .193 batting average since July 7. Meanwhile, Reds infielder Sal Stewart has gained significant ground, boasting a .310/.367/.474 performance since July 24, along with impressive stats of 28 home runs and 98 RBIs.

In this competitive setting, McLean is largely seen as the third favorite, reflected in most tracking polls and market speculations. This assessment seems fitting, especially as his teammate, Carson Benge, has shown remarkable improvement recently, at times overshadowing McLean as the Mets’ leading candidate for the Rookie of the Year title.

Some may perceive McLean’s current standing as a missed opportunity, stemming from two key reasons:

1. McLean was heavily favored to dominate this season after an impressive eight-game performance at the conclusion of last year. His prospects were further boosted by the honor of starting in the World Baseball Classic championship game against Venezuela on St. Patrick’s Day.

CHICAGO (WLS) — In a spirited celebration of a new academic year, Mayor Brandon Johnson and Chicago Public Schools CEO Macquline King made appearances at various schools across the city on Monday morning.

During his visits, the mayor underscored a critical message: Illinois must boost funding for its educational institutions as countless students return to their studies.

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The atmosphere at George Leland Elementary on the West Side was electric. Mayor Johnson welcomed enthusiastic students streaming into the school, marking the beginning of the academic year for over 300,000 pupils across the district as he rang the ceremonial bell.

“I feel excited!” exclaimed second-grader Tommie with gusto. “I want to do crafts, everything—art, and more!”

CPS parent Latecia Williams felt a surge of emotion as her child started school. “I can’t wait for him to reach eighth grade,” she said. “He’s thrilled, and I share his excitement. I’m holding back tears—this is a truly joyful moment for any parent.”

But with excitement also comes uncertainty over Chicago Public Schools funding and the chance of layoffs during the school year.

“Since I’ve been mayor, I’ve released over $1 billion into our public schools,” Mayor Johnson said. “There is no mayor in the history of Chicago that is contributing more into the surplus. In other words, I’ve done my part. The state of Illinois has to do theirs.”

The mayor said the state can do better in helping fund the public school system, calling for what he refers to as a “millionaires tax” to do so.

“We have to demand more from those who have the ability to give more, to actually do more.” Johnson said. “For too long, big corporations and the ultra wealthy of this country and particularly in Chicago, in the state of Illinois, they have been able to get away without paying their fair taxes. The fact that a millionaire pays the same tax rate as the women and men who provide food, our luncheon cafeteria workers, that’s just unconscionable.”

The CPS Board is banking on $150 million from the state, even though that funding has not yet been secured.

Parents are growing more wary if dollars don’t come.

“Our teachers need it,” parent Keyatta Wilburn said. “We need it. The community needs it. We need our teachers. Without our teachers, we don’t have nothing. It’s already hard enough out here; we need our teachers. The kids need them to come to school. That’s who inspires him to come to school.”

“It hurts the kids, especially kids who actually want to attend school,” parent Michael Soto said. “Because there’s kids who don’t want to show up, but they show up because of the teachers and for food or it’s a safe haven.”

At Madero Middle School in Little Village, eighth-grade language and literature teacher Nancy Ballesteros welcomed students into a classroom she prepared over the summer.

Entering her 19th year with CPS, Ballesteros painted her room blue, installed window treatments and added cultural touches designed to create a welcoming learning environment.

“They want to feel like the classroom environment motivates them to want to learn, and I think it makes a huge difference,” Ballesteros said.

Through attrition, Madero Middle School was able to retain its staff, and Principal Hamed Flores said he hopes that remains the case throughout the year.

“We are at the minimum, pretty much at the minimum of the number of people. So we cannot get more cuts; so I’m trusting that it continues that way,” Flores said.

Johnson, a former CPS teacher, criticized Springfield for not fully investing in Black and brown students.

“You have politicians who have more expectations of third graders than they do of themselves,” Johnson said.

Despite concerns about funding, families focused on the milestone of a new school year.

“I’m excited for him; it’s his first year here,” parent Taquana Davenport said.

As CPS leaders, teachers and the mayor continue to push for additional state funding, district officials have said that even if lawmakers approve more money during their fall session, it would not arrive in time to affect the current school year.

The nanny’s frantic voice quavered across the phone line, edging on the verge of hysteria, almost reduced to tears and barely comprehensible.

“I found the dad in his car… I think he’s dead. There’s no pulse… he’s dead,” she sobbed.

The young woman had stumbled upon Christopher Scholtes slouched lifeless in his red Honda S2000, parked inside the garage of his sprawling $1 million property in Phoenix on the morning of November 5, 2025.

At 38, Scholtes ended his life just hours before he was scheduled to begin serving a lengthy 20 to 30-year prison sentence. The conviction stemmed from a horrendous tragedy where he left his young daughter to perish inside a sweltering car under the relentless Arizona sun just outside their home.

Little Parker Scholtes, only two years old, met her tragic end in the family’s blue Acura in July 2024. She was trapped for three excruciating hours just feet away from her father, who was engrossed in drinking beer, indulging in pornography, and playing video games.

Scholtes pleaded guilty to second-degree murder charges last year, but gassed himself to death in his car while his family slept rather than go to jail. 

After discovering Scholtes dead, the traumatized nanny told the 911 operator in the six-minute call at 5.20am how the garage was full of fumes and his wife, Dr Erika Scholtes, was struggling to get their two other daughters out of the house.

‘Why do you think he’s dead?’ the operator asked. The nanny, who has not been identified, explained that the car was still running and described in detail how Scholtes had poisoned himself.

‘He’s in our home garage, it’s suicide, it’s suicide,’ she said, through tears. ‘He’s not breathing, and I can’t find a pulse.

‘It (the garage) was locked and I had to get the keys to open the garage door and then I found him in there.

‘He was supposed to… he had to surrender tomorrow.’

The 911 operator brought the emergency dispatch onto the call, using a code for a possible dead person at the address, who asked if the garage was still closed.

‘No, I opened the garage door because the carbon monoxide is so bad, like, it was coming into the house,’ the nanny replied.

She explained that she heard Scholtes arrive home between 12.30 and 1am, but not him coming inside the house from the garage.

‘I just thought he was in the garage, I didn’t think anything of it, but I got up to get the girls ready for school and…’ she said, before starting to cry.

The dispatch told her help was on the way and to get everyone out of the house, which the nanny said was already happening.

The nanny said Scholtes’ mother had just arrived, but it was unclear if she meant his biological mom or stepmother.

‘She checked his pulse, too, and she said there’s no pulse. I was shaking so bad, I thought maybe I was doing it wrong and I should do something, but she said there’s no pulse,’ she said.

The nanny was heard telling someone, presumably Erika or Scholtes’ mother, to get the two girls completely out of the house.

‘I got them up to get the girls out, but they haven’t, like, gotten the girls out – like everything is kind of chaotic,’ she told the emergency operators.

Seconds later, she said the police had arrived and the call ended. 

Scholtes’ autopsy report, released last December, confirmed he died of self-administered carbon monoxide poisoning.

A suicide note was left inside the house and Scholtes left a living will on the roof of the car in case his suicide attempt failed but left him disabled, the report revealed.

Medical examiner Daniel Casa wrote that a rope and a ladder had also been arranged in the garage in a manner that suggested Scholtes had a backup suicide plan. 

The killer dad was found with a blood carboxyhemoglobin level of 80 percent – far higher than the two to three percent of a healthy non-smoker.

Marijuana, caffeine and diphenhydramine – the active ingredient in cold and flu medications like Benadryl – were also found in his blood.

Casa cataloged Scholtes’ long list of health conditions, including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and ADHD, plus cocaine, alcohol, and marijuana use, and a degenerative joint disease.

‘He reportedly made suicidal statements after the death of his daughter, and he had recently exhibited a depressed mood,’ Casa wrote.

The report noted that Scholtes was ‘under stress’ due to his criminal case and he was expected to report to prison on the day he was found dead.

Casa’s report matches a neighbor’s visceral account to the Daily Mail of the moments after Scholtes was found.

‘They were all standing looking at the car and he was already in the car dead at that time,’ said the neighbor, who had a clear view of the chaotic scene through the open garage door.

‘All of a sudden [Erika] started walking around and this other lady pulled up all frantic and they ran up to the door. Then the police and the fire department showed up.

‘I don’t know how far [the fumes] went into the house, but the kids were there, the family was there. It could have been bad.’

Scholtes killed himself 16 months after Parker died in the back seat of the family car in the driveway of the former family home in the Tucson suburb of Marana, Arizona, where he left her in 90F heat.

The unemployed father left his youngest daughter napping for three hours in the boiling hot family car while he drank beer, played video games and watched porn inside the house as she slowly died. 

He told police that he left Parker in the car with the engine running and the air-conditioning on because she was asleep when they arrived home.

However, he lost track of time and the engine automatically shut off after about 20 minutes – as police testing confirmed. 

Crime scene photos previously obtained by the Daily Mail showed tiny handprints on the inside of the window in the blue family 2023 Acura MDX.

The haunting marks on the rear driver’s side window were just inches from where Parker’s forward-facing car seat was buckled in.

Police testing found the surface temperature of the car seat was 149.1F, according to detailed incident reports by the Marana Police Department. 

Parker was only found when Erika came home from work at Banner University Medical Center in Tucson – where the toddler was declared dead an hour later. 

Erika now works as an anesthesiologist at Banner’s Phoenix hospital.

Scholtes’ two surviving daughters described to detectives the frantic moment before the couple realized where Parker was and sprinted to the car.

‘[One of the girls] said when her mom got home she asked, “Where’s the baby?” and her dad said, “Where’s the baby!?” and ran outside,’ one officer wrote.

‘”My dad started screaming cause he walked outside and he saw that she was in the car still, her lips were purple and she wasn’t breathing.”

‘When they saw her mom and dad crying, they knew Parker was dead.’

Erika continued to stand by her husband up to his suicide – petitioning the court for his release and for permission to take a holiday to Maui in Hawaii. 

She also bought a beautiful $1 million four-bedroom, 2,369sqft Italian villa-style family home in Phoenix in April last year.

Scholtes rejected a plea deal in March 2025 that would have seen him serve up to 10 years behind bars.

Just six months later, Scholtes had no choice but to accept a far worse deal to plead guilty to second-degree murder and be jailed for 20 to 30 years without parole.

But he was allowed to stay out on bail until November 5, when he would be taken into custody, and used that time to plan his suicide.

If you or someone you know needs help, please call or text the confidential 24/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US on 988. There is also an online chat available at 988lifeline.org. 

In Chester, the presence of 35-year-old Brooke Hanlon’s widowed husband has become a regular sight. Neighbors note observing Conor during his frequent weekly visits to the family home.

Thirty-six-year-old Conor Hanlon routinely returns to his residence in Chester, New Jersey. Residents report that his white Volvo SUV is often seen in the driveway throughout Thursdays and Fridays, although it rarely remains there overnight.

Last month, Conor Hanlon drew media attention in Massachusetts. Observers saw him managing household duties, such as moving trash cans, and later departing in a white pickup truck from his family’s base in Brighton, Boston.

The chilling death of Brooke Hanlon, discovered on June 6 inside her Morris County home, remains under active investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office. Despite ongoing efforts, authorities have yet to identify any suspects or persons of interest in the homicide case.

Conor Hanlon has not been charged with any crime or accused of wrongdoing. News Media reached out to him for comment.

During his visits, neighbors have witnessed Hanlon doing yard work outside the home on Pottersville Road. Neighbors confirmed to News Media that while his car has been spotted during the day parked outside the home, the white SUV is never parked in the driveway overnight.

Hanlon has been moving in and out of the home, with neighbors who have spotted the garage door open on several occasions. 

On Friday, Hanlon spoke publicly about his wife’s death for the first time, denying any involvement while declining further comment due to the ongoing investigation.

“My heart is totally shattered,” he told the Daily Mail. A reporter asked him if he had any involvement in his wife’s death, to which he said, “Of course not.”

“It’s a tragedy,” he added.

Neighbors tell News Media they remain on edge as law enforcement has yet to release any update in the case.

One of them said about three weeks before the young mother was discovered dead inside her home in early June, local police showed up knocking on doors to “check in” with residents on Pottersville Road after they reportedly told them a “911 call was made in the area.”

She confirmed to News Media that the police showed up to her door asking if “everything was OK” between 9:30 and 10 that night.

She lives next door to the Hanlons.

In July, one gun-owning neighbor told News Media he’s ready to defend his family should the time come. He said he has been looking over his shoulder more frequently, knowing a possible killer is still at large.

WASHINGTON — The House Judiciary Committee is once again prompting Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz to submit documentation related to migrants accused of crimes who might have been given “preferential treatment” under her purview, attributed to “sanctuary” policies.

Initially slated for submission by June 10, Katz cited 10th Amendment protections as a reason for not complying with the request, according to correspondences from Judiciary Committee leadership acquired by The Post this Monday.

Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Subcommittee Chairman Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) expressed in the letter, “Your policies that favor criminal aliens seem purposefully crafted to obstruct this authority.”

The letter further pointed out that such favoritism towards foreign nationals by Katz’s office might contravene federal civil rights statutes, according to the Republican leaders.

Earlier this year, the House committee put forth legislation aimed at curbing sanctuary jurisdictions from evading federal immigration laws, also criticizing New York officials for disregarding numerous detainer requests.

Many of the left-leaning jurisdictions oppose coordinating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), requiring officers to obtain judicial warrants or jump through other hoops before handing over migrants charged with crimes into federal custody.

Jordan and McClintock’s missive cited the Shut Down Sanctuary Policies Act of 2026, which amends provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act to mandate cooperation between state and federal authorities.

“In your June 10 letter, you also objected to the scope of the Committee’s requests, claiming that it would be impossible to ‘[s]earch[] for communications dealing with non-citizens,’” wrote the GOP chairmen.

“Nonetheless, you do not provide any rationale for why it is not possible to provide documents and communications related even to a single employee, the office’s Immigration Specialist, or materials related to certain foreign nationals’ cases—the same cases you have boasted about in public reports,” they said.

“In addition, you have given no indication that your office has attempted to obtain any of the requested information in the three months since you received the Committee’s request.”

Katz was one of seven New York City officials queried about their sanctuary policies, including NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Department of Corrections Commissioner Stanley Richards and the top prosecutors of all five boroughs.

That letter claimed that less than 4% of detainers ICE lodged with local authorities for criminal aliens were honored by NYCDOC between July 2022 and June 2025.

Reps for Katz’s office didn’t respond immediately to a request for comment.