CBJ- Several Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) mitigation topics will be presented by local experts and federal agencies during a Special GLOF Assembly Committee of the Whole Meeting on Thursday, Oct. 30.
The special meeting agenda includes presentations on recent key studies and understanding of the science of Suicide Basin from University of Alaska Southeast and the National Weather Service. Representatives from two branches within the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will be present to walk through next steps for their respective programs, including both short-term mitigation and progress toward identification of an enduring solution.
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will present on the Emergency Watershed Protection Program and the potential buyout program for View Drive.
Thursday’s meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in City Hall Assembly Chambers and online at the link below. As is standard with Committee of the Whole meetings, public testimony is not included in the agenda, however, members of the public are invited to share questions and comments on the topic at boroughassembly@juneau.gov and emergencyresponse@juneau.gov.
FILE – Bear sculptures sit outside the Boney Courthouse, where the Alaska Supreme Court hears cases, in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen, File)
AP- The Alaska Supreme Court is weighing a case that is expected to determine who can provide abortion care in the state.
The court heard arguments Wednesday in a 2019 case challenging the constitutionality of a law that states only a doctor licensed by the State Medical Board can perform an abortion in Alaska.
The law, dating to the 1970s, was struck down as unconstitutional by Superior Court judge Josie Garton last year, a victory for the group that brought the challenge, Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky. The state appealed Garton’s ruling.
Planned Parenthood has argued there is no medical justification for the restriction and that it unfairly burdens those seeking an abortion by limiting the pool of those qualified to provide care. In 2021, Garton granted the group’s request to allow advanced practice clinicians — health care workers, such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants — to provide medication abortion pending her decision in the underlying case. They have continued to do so and since the 2024 ruling also have been able to provide procedural abortions, Planned Parenthood says.
Advanced practice clinicians routinely provide care similar in risk and complexity to that of providing abortion services, and in 25 states can provide medication abortion, attorneys for Planned Parenthood said in court documents. Planned Parenthood’s advanced practice clinicians seek to provide abortion care in just the first trimester, the attorneys said.
Since Garton’s 2021 decision, advanced practice clinicians have been providing “nearly all” medication abortions in Alaska, and Planned Parenthood clinics in the state have been able to offer medication abortion each day they’ve been open, the attorneys wrote. Before that, doctors hired by Planned Parenthood on a per diem basis — at the clinics on limited days — were able to offer medication abortions perhaps once or twice a week at each clinic, they wrote.
A vital statistics report released by the state this year shows that the total number of abortions in Alaska has been fairly consistent — 1,229 in 2021, 1,247 in 2022, 1,222 in 2023 and 1,224 last year. The report says that could include cases where medication was provided to manage a miscarriage, but without providing a number. It also says reasons for ending pregnancies are not reported to the state.
The U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned a federal right to abortion, leaving it up to each state to regulate.
Access to health care has been a longstanding concern in Alaska, with travel — sometimes covering hundreds of miles — required for many residents. Compounding that are ongoing challenges to recruit and keep medical providers.
Most Alaska communities are not connected to the state’s main road system, and health care in many small communities is often limited, requiring residents to fly to larger cities, such as Anchorage or Seattle, for more options or for specialized care. Roundtrip flights can easily cost hundreds of dollars. In remote communities, fog or poor weather can cause flight delays.
Planned Parenthood has two clinics in Alaska, in Anchorage and Fairbanks. It closed its clinic in Juneau last year.
The Alaska Supreme Court has long interpreted the right to privacy in the state’s constitution as encompassing abortion rights.
But attorneys for the state argued in court filings that Planned Parenthood did not show that the law at the center of the legal challenge had “inhibited women in Alaska from exercising their right to choose an abortion.” Planned Parenthood could have hired more doctors but chose not to, wrote the attorneys, including Laura Wolff, an assistant attorney general.
“Even if an occasional patient were prevented from getting an abortion, the physician-only law is not unconstitutional as applied to all women who are not significantly affected by the law because the law has a plainly legitimate sweep,” the filing states.
Wolff and Camila Vega, an attorney representing Planned Parenthood, argued their respective sides in court Wednesday. The court did not indicate when it might rule.
The shore of Kuskokwim Bay on the Bering Sea is seen Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, near Kongiganak, Alaska. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
AP-A fragment of a mask that was preserved for hundreds of years in permafrost sat in the muck of a low tide in the western Alaska community of Quinhagak. Wooden spoons, toys, a fishing lure and other artifacts were strewn, in some cases for miles, along the beach.
The Yup’ik community near the edge of the Bering Sea was spared the widespread devastation wrought by the remnants of Typhoon Halong on its neighbors further west earlier this month. But it suffered a different kind of blow: The lashing winds and storm surge devoured dozens of feet of shoreline, disrupting a culturally significant archaeological site and washing away possibly thousands of unearthed artifacts.
About 1,000 pieces, including wooden masks and tools, were recovered in Quinhagak after the storm ravaged parts of southwest Alaska on Oct. 11 and 12. But many more pieces — perhaps up to 100,000 — were left scattered, said Rick Knecht, an archaeologist who has worked on the Nunalleq, or old village, project for 17 years. That’s roughly the number of pieces previously recovered from the archaeological site.
Meanwhile, freezing temperatures and ice have settled into the region, stalling immediate efforts to find and recover more displaced artifacts on searches done by four-wheeler and foot.
Knecht called what happened a major loss. The site has yielded the world’s largest collection of pre-contact Yup’ik artifacts. Much of what’s known about Yup’ik life before outsiders arrived stems from the project, said Knecht, an emeritus senior lecturer in archaeology at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.
“When there are holes or disturbances in the site, it’s like trying to read a book with holes in the pages. You’re going to miss a few things,” he said. “And the bigger those holes are, the weaker the story gets. There’s a few holes in the book right now.”
While the name of the original village isn’t known, it was attacked by another village and burned around 1650, he said. Knecht has worked with elders and others in Quinhagak to combine their traditional knowledge with the technology and techniques used by the archaeology teams to study the past together.
Quinhagak has about 800 residents, and subsistence food gathering is critically important to them.
The storm dispersed artifacts from a site long preserved by permafrost, Knecht said. A longstanding concern has been the threat that climate change — melting permafrost, coastal erosion, the potential for more frequent or stronger storms — has posed to the site, he said.
It poses risks to the community itself. Erosion threatens major infrastructure in Quinhagak, including a sewage lagoon, homes and fish camps. Thawing permafrost is also unsettling and undermining buildings, according to a 2024 report from the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.
The excavation project itself began after artifacts began appearing on the beach around 2007. Part of the site that washed out had been excavated previously.
“There was a big chunk where we’d only gone about halfway down and left it for later because we prioritized parts of the site that were most at risk from marine erosion,” Knecht said.
When he left in July, there was a roughly 30-foot buffer to the sea. The storm took out the buffer and another 30 feet of the site, he said. It also left what Knecht described as piano-sized clumps of tundra on the tidal flats.
Knecht didn’t recognize the site at first after Halong.
“I just drove right by it because all the landmarks I’m used to on the beach and at the site were gone or changed,” he said.
Work to preserve the rescued artifacts has included soaking the marine salts from the wood and placing the pieces in special chemicals that will help them hold together when they dry out, he said. If one were to just take one of the wooden artifacts off the beach and let them dry, they’d “crack to pieces, sometimes in a matter of hours.”
There is a lab at the museum in Quinhagak where the artifacts are kept.
Archaeologists hope to return to the site next spring for a “rescue excavation” of layers exposed by the storm, he said. In some ways, it feels like when teams saw the site in 2009: “We’ve got this raw site with artifacts popping off in every way,” he said. “So we’re starting from scratch again.”
The image accompanying Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s Oct. 28, 2025, social media announcement that the U.S. had destroyed four vessels in the Pacific allegedly smuggling narcotics. Pete Hegseth X account
“I think we’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. OK? We’re going to kill them. You know, they’re going to be, like, dead,” President Donald Trump said in late October 2025 of U.S. military strikes on boats in the Caribbean Sea north of Venezuela.
The Trump administration asserted without providing any evidence that the boats were carrying illegal drugs. Fourteen boats that the administration alleged were being operated by drug traffickers have been struck, killing 43 people.
On Oct. 24, the administration began a substantial military buildup in the region. The Pentagon moved the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and some of its strike group, along with several other naval ships, to the Caribbean and moved F-35 fighter jets to Puerto Rico. This is the largest U.S. naval deployment in the Caribbean Sea since the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.
According to the White House, the naval buildup and strikes on boats in international waters are part of counternarcotics operations. The vessels targeted allegedly belonged to Venezuelan drug smugglers, though the administration has produced no evidence that there were drugs on the boats, or what type. Trump has named fentanyl as one of them.
The president and his advisers’ own words have also indicated that the larger intentions of the administration could be to topple the government of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.
The U.S. deployed its largest warship, the USS Gerald R. Ford, to the Caribbean, north of Venezuela, following multiple strikes on vessels allegedly involved in drug trafficking. Omar Zaghloul/Anadolu via Getty Images
Typically, the U.S. Coast Guard stops vessels suspected of carrying illegal drugs in international waters. In 2025, the Coast Guard has interdicted a record amount of illegal drugs and precursor chemicals in the Caribbean. It is notable that the amount of methamphetamine precursor chemicals interdicted far exceeds that of fentanyl.
After interdiction, the Coast Guard typically begins a process that adheres to legal strictures, detaining the crew and eventually turning them over to a U.S. law enforcement agency.
But the Trump strikes have summarily killed most of the people on the boats and presumably destroyed any of the alleged illicit drugs. Many observers and legal experts have said the killings amount to murder.
Trump’s preoccupation with Venezuela
Trump has had a fixation with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua for some time, adding to his administration’s focus on Venezuela.
The administration designated Tren de Aragua a terrorist organization in January, along with several other drug cartels. But the White House statement announcing the designation made no mention of any behavior or activity that would constitute terrorism.
Under U.S. law, terrorism is defined as politically motivated violence, usually targeting a civilian population, intended to bring about political change. The terrorist designation allows the government to pursue actions such as seizing assets and imposing travel restrictions on those appearing on the list of Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
But the designation of a criminal gang with no clear political ideology or objectives mischaracterizes the group. That calls into question some of the White House’s motivations.
Then there’s the odd incident of the covert operation that wasn’t covert.
Trump’s fixation on Venezuela goes back to his first term, when he also had Maduro’s regime in his sights. The administration eventually charged Maduro with leading the Cartel de los Soles – Cartel of the Suns – an informal criminal network tied to high-level Venezuelan military officials believed to have conducted drug trafficking into the U.S. The White House has also claimed that Maduro controls Tren de Aragua.
Independent observers assert that opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia handily won the 2024 presidential election. The government-controlled National Electoral Council, however, declared Maduro the winner. If the White House has greater intentions in Venezuela, such as regime change, which some anonymous officials have suggested, Trump has tipped off Maduro to be vigilant.
President Donald Trump won’t seek a war declaration from Congress over his Venezuela-focused actions: ‘We’re just going to kill people that are bringing drugs into our country.’
Thorny issues
If the goal of the administration is interdiction of dangerous illicit drugs like cocaine, Colombia is a much bigger source. Venezuela acts mainly as a minor trans-shipment conduit rather than a producer.
In terms of mitigating the effects of drugs and narcotics in the United States, multiple studies over decades have found that measures taken to decrease demand in the U.S. rather than supply-side interdiction are more effective in reducing harm.
With little public information to suggest an overall strategy or objective, legal problems related to the maritime strikes become apparent.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that the activities were a “counter drug operation.” But he went further in saying that instead of interdicting the boats, they would be blown up.
The method of interdiction and destruction of the boats and lives of those involved by a military strike presents problems, especially in terms of U.S. armed forces performing law enforcement duties. This would be proscribed by the Posse Comitatus Act, which prohibits federal armed forces from performing law enforcement activities.
As for actions targeting Venezuela, Trump has said he would not ask Congress for a declaration of war but would notify it of any ground operation.
The 1973 War Powers Act, which requires the president to notify Congress before hostilities and brief it afterward, would apply to this situation. But almost every president since its passing has ignored it at some point.
Though some Republicans in Congress have objected to the military actions so far, the Senate in early October voted down a resolution that would have prevented further strikes in the Caribbean.
The Trump administration continues to depict its activities in international waters as a military operation and the smugglers as enemy combatants. Most legal experts dismiss this and characterize the strikes as extrajudicial killings.
In reply to a flippant and profane response from Vice President JD Vance about the killings, Republican Senator Rand Paul wrote on social media, “Did he ever wonder what might happen if the accused were immediately executed without trial or representation?? What a despicable and thoughtless sentiment it is to glorify killing someone without a trial.”
If Trump and his advisers like Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth are taken at their word in scattered statements on the activities around Venezuela, many questions remain, such as why the boats are being destroyed and their occupants killed rather than interdicted.
Jeffrey Fields receives funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
In the six weeks since Charlie Kirk was shot and killed, the discourse over the conservative podcaster’s life and legacy has frequently bubbled over into heated debate.
The latest furor has to do with proposals to erect a statue to Kirk.
The controversy began when Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry called on administrators at Louisiana State University to “find a place” for the statue.
Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk is seen onstage at the Fiserv Forum during preparations for the Republican National Convention (RNC) on July 14, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
“We’re gonna put a challenge out to the LSU board of supervisors to find a place to put a statue of Charlie Kirk to defend freedom of speech on college campuses,” Landry said, according to Fox News.
“Come on, ladies and gentlemen, let’s see if we can be the first campus to do it,” Landry
In a post on Bluesky, Professor Emeritus Robert Mann, who retired from LSU in 2024, blasted the idea and likened Kirk to late KKK Grand Wizard David Duke.
“If Jeff Landry wants a statue of a white nationalist on the LSU campus, it shouldn’t be Charlie Kirk,” Mann wrote.
“Shouldn’t he be honoring our home-grown racists, like David Duke (who actually went to LSU)?”
Charlie Kirk attends Politicon 2018 at Los Angeles Convention Center on October 20, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Politicon)
Numerous educators and students across the state of Louisiana were quick to echo Mann’s remarks.
LSU women’s basketball star Flau’jae Johnson also blasted the Landry’s call for a Kirk memorial on campus.
“For the sake of clarity,” she wrote on X, according to TMZ, “if you align yourself with or endorse his racist rhetoric and discriminatory views toward people of color, I respectfully ask that you utilize the unfollow option at the top right of my profile.”
“Sooo my governor wants LSU to put up a statue of someone who created an organization with the specific goal of targeting and harassing professors,” wrote Nicole Gasparini, an associate professor of environmental sciences at Tulane University.
This photo taken on December 22, 2024 shows US right-wing activist Charlie Kirk speaking on stage at America Fest 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
Johnson — a senior guard for the LSU Tigers — has not commented further on the decision.
Which makes sense, as she made herself quite clear in her initial remark.
Landry has not replied to the criticism surrounding his remark, and it might be a dead issue, as the idea for a Kirk memorial doesn’t seem to have much support among LSU administrators and staff.
After all, Kirk had no strong ties to the school, and the idea of memorializing a recent, controversial political figure in order to protect free speech doesn’t really make much sense.
In all likelihood, Governor Landry was simply using Kirk’s death to further his political agenda — a trend that’s almost certain to continue in the months and years to come.
Once again, Donald Trump and Stephen Colbert are at odds.
The world has witnessed Trump’s bizarre speeches, his fixation on building a palatial ballroom, and clear moments of confusion.
Critics argue that it may have passed the point of “sundowning” if the sun, metaphorically speaking, never actually rises.
After Trump underwent an unexplained MRI and took a test that measures cognitive decline (while thinking that it was an IQ test), Colbert is pointing out the obvious: something is very wrong.
On ‘The Late Show,’ host Stephen Colbert addressed alarming yet comical footage. (Image Credit: CBS)
Stephen Colbert isn’t the only one noting Donald Trump’s obvious cognitive struggles
Late last week, Donald Trump boasted about what he characterized as a “very hard” test that he believed to be an IQ test.
It is not surprising to hear him brag. Not about the test, nor about the MRI that doctors at Walter Reed performed.
A desperate need to loudly proclaim his own greatness is one of his defining features. Once, it was comical in its absurdity.
What was surprising is that Trump very clearly did not take an IQ test.
Instead, alongside an MRI, he very clearly took a test that measures cognitive decline: the Montreal Cognitive Assessment. It is a test that most often checks for Dementia.
Love to show how smart I am by bragging about my score on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment.
Over the weekend, social media was full of people pointing out that Trump’s brag was clearly a self-own.
Some believed that his IQ test story was a deliberate and self-aggrandizing lie.
However, many suggested that perhaps he was honestly confused. Remember, Trump recently expressed bewilderment when he learned that 5-year-old footage that he saw on television was not current for Portland.
There are even those who believe that Trump’s advisors are playing into his obvious confusion and struggle to differentiate fiction from reality. Perhaps someone told him that this simple cognitive exam was to measure his IQ.
No matter what, the boasting followed by Donald Trump’s clear disorientation during his tour of Asia caught the attention of millions — including late night host Stephen Colbert.
On ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,’ footage of Donald Trump wandering away from the Japanese Prime Minister as if he had forgotten where he was or why he was there fueled laughter and national embarrassment. (Image Credit: CBS)
On ‘The Late Show,’ Colbert laid out how abnormal all of this is
This week, The Late Show host Stephen Colbert pointed out that an MRI, like the one that Donald Trump underwent, is “usually something you only get when the doctors think something’s wrong with you.”
Addressing the audience, he noted: “Scans are typically ordered for disease detection and monitoring, or to detect bone or joint abnormalities.”
Colbert expressed concern, saying: “That’s not comforting. What were they looking for?”
He also addressed Trump’s farcical bluster about the alleged IQ test.
“As a reminder, the cognitive test Trump took is not designed as a measure of intelligence or IQ,” Colbert emphasized. “And not knowing the difference between those two things is one of the reasons they make you take a cognitive test.”
On Tuesday, October 28, Colbert also highlighted how Trump’s clear confusion has been on display during his tour of Asia.
He played a clip of Trump trying but failing to follow Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi through a room.
During the clip, as you can see above, he seems to shuffle along at first before becoming either distracted or confused and ambling forward before getting back on track.
“There’s Trump with the prime minister,” Colbert narrated the incident. “He stops to salute the American flag.”
He continued: “Then she goes, ‘Hey, look at our flag.’ And he goes, ‘Nah, not really my type. Bye.’ And off he shambles into the distance.”
On ‘The Late Show,’ host Stephen Colbert joked that he is the only martyr when it comes to the Trump regime silencing critics. (Image Credit: CBS)
This is a national humiliation for us all
It’s not funny that the entire world is seeing this. This is, in so many ways, a dark time for America.
Just as it’s not funny that every country on earth knows that they need only appease one deeply suggestible person in their negotiations. It feels like the United States is for sale.
However, the video is, out of context, silly. Colbert likens it to losing one’s grandfather at the mall. The Daily Show compared the clip to a dog show, where a dog wanders off of the course.
At this point, Trump is mostly rage and sensory-response. Anyone who once harbored inexplicable beliefs that he could or would do positive things for the American people is out of luck.
But it does not appear that the White House is going to take any steps to disclose Trump’s actual health to the American people, even as his signs of cognitive and physical decay become more apparent with each passing month.
Rosie O’Donnell’s troubled daughter, Chelsea O’Donnell, has been sentenced to time behind bars.
A Wisconsin judge made the decision earlier this week in response to Chelsea’s recent probation violation.
The nature of the violation and the amount of time Chelsea will be forced to serve are both unclear at this time.
Rosie O’Donnell attends the Friendly House “Stronger Together” 33rd annual awards luncheon at The Beverly Hilton on October 28, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images)
The 28-year-old was sentenced to six years of probation in January following several arrests, most of which were related to her long battle with substance abuse.
“The facts surrounding this request have been staffed with the Marinette County Treatment Drug Court Team and have been deemed sufficient grounds to warrant termination from the Marinette County Treatment Drug Court Program,” reads a statement issued by a Wisconsin judge on Wednesday, according to Page Six.
Chelsea O’Donnell’s legal troubles continue
Chelsea was arrested a total of three times in 2024.
Rosie O’Donnell attends Cool Comedy Hot Cuisine Benefitting The Scleroderma Research Foundation at Fairmont Century Plaza on October 29, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
In September 2024, she was detained in connection with a domestic dispute involving her boyfriend, Jacob Nelund.
Several more brushes with the law followed, most of them directly or indirectly related to Chelsea’s drug use.
Following one recent incident, officers alleged that they found a meth pipe within reach of Chelsea’s young son.
Earlier today, Rosie paid tribute to her daughter with a moving Instagram post.
“My child Chelsea Celle – before addiction took over her life – I loved her then I love her now as she faces a scary future – prayers welcomed- #addiction awareness #love #family,” Rosie captioned a photo of a young Chelsea.
Several of the comic’s celebrity friends offered words of support and encouragement.
Many whose families have been torn apart by addiction shared their own stories in the comments.
Chelsea’s troubled life
Rosie adopted Chelsea as a baby in 1997, but mother and daughter have been estranged for most of Chelsea’s adult years.
US comedian and producer Rosie O’Donnell attends the 2024 Elle Women in Hollywood celebration at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles, November 19, 2024. (Photo by MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images)
In January, Chelsea filed to change her last name in retaliation for being cut Rosie’s $80 million will.
Chelsea announced that she intended to use the name Neuens, which is the maiden name of her birth mother, Deanna Micoley.
When you marry a partner nearly 30 years your junior, you don’t expect to outlive them.
But that’s the unusual position that legendary astronaut Buzz Aldrin finds himself in following the death of his wife of less than three years, Anca Faur.
It was revealed today that Faur has passed away at the age of 66, leaving Aldrin a widower at 95.
Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin and Anca Faur attend the 16th Annual Living Legends of Aviation Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 18, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)
Anca Faur’s unexpected passing revealed by family members
News of Faur’s death comes courtesy of a statement shared on Facebook by the Faur and Aldrin families.
They did not share the cause of death, but did reveal that Faur died “peacefully” on the night of October 28, “with her husband and her son, Vlad Ghenciu by her side.”
“Mrs. Aldrin, an accomplished chemical engineer with a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh, served as the treasurer for the California Hydrogen Business Council and as Executive Vice President of Buzz Aldrin Ventures LLC,” the family announcement continued.
“I am so fortunate to have found and married the love of my life,” Aldrin added. “She brought joy to everything we did together. I will miss her dearly.”
Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin and his companion Anca Faur join U.S. President Donald Trump as they commemorate the 50th anniversary of the moon landing in the Oval Office at the White House July 19, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
A short but beautiful romance
“It was a beautiful day,” Buzz told People last year while speaking about his wedding. “We had decided on a private ceremony, as suitably intimate, just us and the stars in the sky.”
He went on to describe Anca as “the whole Wizard of Oz package” with “brains, heart [and] courage.”
“There is something special about her and the way we connect so well,” he said.
Aldrin added that he had “never been happier in my life” and was “lucky beyond words” to be with her.
Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin and Anca Faur attend the 16th Annual Living Legends of Aviation Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 18, 2019 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)
“She is the love of my life,” he continued, “and we do everything together, from eating meals, planning projects and watching the world go by, to meeting with our two families and celebrating — as we are at this 55th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing.”
The couple met in 2017 at a professional event, and they started dating just a few months later in May of 2018.
Buzz and Anca tied the knot on his birthday, in January of 2023.
The ceremony took place in a small park near their home.
Our thoughts go out to Anca Faur’s loved ones during this enormously difficult time.
Horrible new this week out of the world of reality television:
Jamar Champ, the estranged husband of Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood cast member Masika Kalysha, was killed in Houston on Tuesday after his Tesla Cybertuck was hit head on by a vehicle traveling in the wrong direction on the freeway.
He was 38 years old.
Masika Kalysha attends Republic Records BET awards kickback at The Highlight Room on June 28, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Randy Shropshire/Getty Images for Republic Records)
According to a press released from the Houston Police Department, this is what transpired yesterday in Texas:
A silver BMW was traveling the wrong way, westbound in the eastbound lanes, on the freeway at the above address and struck a silver Tesla Cybertruck head on. The impact caused the BMW to catch fire and the Tesla to strike a blue Freightliner 18-wheeler.
Champ was transported to a nearby hospital in critical condition… where he was later pronounced dead.
The unidentified male BMW driver was pronounced dead on the scene and the truck driver was not injured, the announcement added.
An autopsy will be performed to “determine if impairment played a role” in the accident, police told affiliated KHOU after the tragic development was made public.
Masika Kalysha attends BET Awards Media House at Quixote Studios West Hollywood on June 23, 2023 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images for BET)
Jamar Champ was a football player at North Dakota State University, where he played one season for the team in 2005.
On Tuesday, Kalysha seemingly alluded to Champ’s passing in a post via her X account.
“God woke me up at 2:00am… I couldn’t sleep,” she wrote. “I didn’t know why. Jesus Christ I just received the worse news of my life. Pray for me and my kids please.”
Hours later, the reality star shared the following statement with The Shade Room:
“It is with profound sadness that I confirm the news of the tragic and unexpected passing of my spouse and father of my beautiful daughters, Jamar Champ.
“During this incredibly challenging time, I kindly ask for respect and understanding as our family comes together to support one another and honor his memory.”
The former VH1 personalities got married in 2001, but separated two years later. They shared a three-year old daughter named Amari.
Masika Kalysha attends Interscope and Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace celebrate Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic” at Hollywood Palladium on February 4, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)
“I am in shambles please respect my family and my children at this time,” Kalysha wrote in an Instagram video on Wednesday.
In late 2023, Kalysha took to this same platform and told followers:
“The only reason I’m not fully divorced is because, well, that’s on the way. There’s no reason for me to share my personal business. But when other people try to paint a picture in order for them to get attention off of the life I have created for myself by myself — it’s just asinine and it’s sad.
“I have no reason to discuss anything else further. Just know that your girl is happier than she’s ever been. There is absolutely nothing worse than being with a narcissist. First and last experience with a narcissist ever.”
We send our condolences to the friends, family members and loved ones of Jamar Champ. May he rest in peace.
