Day: November 19, 2025

Alaska births continue to decline, but some health indicators are positive, state reports say

Post author By alaskaadmin
Post date November 19, 2025
No Comments on Alaska births continue to decline, but some health indicators are positive, state reports say

By: Yereth Rosen, Alaska Beacon

A mother with her newborn baby in the hospital. Mothers from northern and Western Alaska are more likely than other Alaska mothers to give birth preterm (Photo by Thanasis Zovoilis)

Fewer Alaska babies were born in 2024 than the year prior, continuing a yearslong decline in the state’s births and women’s fertility rates, a new report shows.

There were 8,950 Alaska babies born last year, down from 9,031 in 2023, according to the Alaska Vital Statistics 2024 Annual Report released by the state Department of Health. The number of births has fallen in each of the past five years, the report showed. In 2020, there were 9,486 babies born in Alaska.

Annual numbers of Alaska births from 2020 to 2025 have declined steadily. The decline continued last year, according to the Alaska Vital Statistics 2024 Annual Report. (Graph from the Alaska Vital Statistics 2024 Annual Report/Alaska Department of Health)

Fertility rates — defined as the number of births per 100,000 women aged 15 to 44 — also continued to decline. In 2024, the statewide fertility rate was 61, down from 61.8 the year before and 65.5 in 2020. Fertility rates were highest in Southwest Alaska in 2024, at 86.9, and lowest in Southeast Alaska, at 48.5, the report said.

The most popular names for boys were Oliver and Theodore. For baby girls, the most popular names were Amelia and Olivia, the report said.

At the other end of the life cycle, there were slightly fewer deaths in Alaska last year than in 2023 — 5,525 in 2024, compared to 5,544 the year before, the report said. Alaska’s death total peaked in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, when 6,227 residents died, the report said. Death numbers have declined since then, and the 2024 total was similar to the 2020 total of 5,204.

Death statistics revealed that the top three causes in 2024 were the same as they were in most years: cancer, which was responsible for about a fifth of all Alaska deaths; heart disease, with totals for those deaths on the decline since 2021 and 2022; and accidents, a category that includes poisonings and drug overdoses.

COVID-19, which was the No. 3 cause of death in 2021, slipped out of the top 10 in 2023, a year when it was cited as the cause of 56 deaths. Its impact on state demographics was still small in 2024, when it was found to be the cause of 58 Alaska deaths.

Buttons at a table set up by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention, seen Oct. 16, 2025, bear an anti-tobacco slogan. Fewer expectant mothers in Alaska are using tobacco than in the past, the state’s annual vital statistics report said. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Embedded in the vital statistics report were some positive signs.

Life expectancy increased to a statewide average of 77.6 years, continuing an upward trend since the COVID-19 pandemic year of 2021, when life expectancy hit a low of 75.4 years.

The teen birth rate was the lowest since 2020, the report said. That rate, which measures the number of births per 1,000 girls aged 15 to 19, was 13.5 in 2024, down from 14.8 the year before.

Use of tobacco by pregnant women has also steadily declined in recent years, according to the report. In 2024, 7% of expectant mothers used tobacco, down from 11% in 2020.

Report shows declines in certain cancers

A separate report released by the department detailed cancer statistics through 2022, the year with the last available data.

The Cancer In Alaska 2022 Annual Report showed some positive trends as well.

Cancer incidence overall in Alaska decreased between 1996 and 2022, especially in the years 2009 to 2012, when incidents dropped by an annual average of 3.4%, the report said. Breast cancer remains the most frequent cancer among women, while prostate cancer is the most frequent cancer among men, the report said.

Certain types of cancers have decreased in Alaska since 2016, including leukemia, bladder cancer, lung cancer, ovarian cancer and prostate cancer. There is a caveat, however. “Recent trends have started to show an increase in prostate cancer statewide and nationally,” Shirley Sakaye, a spokesperson for the department, said by email.

A walk-in inflatable model colon, on display on Oct. 20, 2022, at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention, gives visitors a close-up view of a typical precancerous polyp. This is the smaller of two inflatable displays that the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium and Southcentral Foundation use to raise awareness of colorectal cancer. Alaska Natives have the nation’s highest rate of colorectal cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Also on the decline in Alaska was colorectal cancer, which ranked fourth on the list of diagnosed cancers in the state in 2022, according to the cancer report.

Colorectal cancer trends are of special concern in Alaska because of a high prevalence among Alaska Natives. Alaska Native people have had the nation’s highest recorded rates of colorectal cancer, according to a recent report by the American Cancer Society. The reasons are not fully understood by health experts, but they may relate to diet, according to the report.

While colorectal cancer numbers have declined in recent years, rates are notably high in one of the most rural regions of the state: the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in Western Alaska. The colorectal cancer rate there was 88 per 100,000 people in 2022, compared to the statewide rate of 40.8 per 100,000, according to the report.

Alaska Native tribal health organizations have boosted awareness, and screening has increased over time.

Because of relatively high rates of colorectal cancer among younger adult Alaska Native people, the Alaska Native Medical Center and Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium recommend that screenings start at age 40, compared to the recommendation for most Americans to start screenings at age 45.

Tags alaska, birth, birthrates, juneau, ketchikan, sitka

Featured Juneau News Juneau Local Ketchikan Local News Feeds Sitka Local

Alaska Supreme Court upholds early permits for Donlin gold mine, loosens reins on development

Post author By alaskaadmin
Post date November 19, 2025
No Comments on Alaska Supreme Court upholds early permits for Donlin gold mine, loosens reins on development

By: James Brooks, Alaska Beacon

Donlin mine camp, June 23, 2025. (photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

The Alaska Supreme Court has upheld state regulators’ decision to grant permits for a large gold mine planned for Southwest Alaska, bringing the proposed Donlin project a step closer to construction.

In a unanimous ruling published Friday, the court’s five justices said the Alaska Department of Natural Resources did not need to consider the environmental impact of the entire proposed Donlin Mine when it approved water use permits and a right-of-way permit needed for a natural gas pipeline intended to power the mine.

Their ruling has implications for many major development projects on private land and likely applies to projects on federal land as well, such as the large oil projects on Alaska’s North Slope.

“This decision is a major win for Alaska,” said Attorney General-designee Stephen Cox in a written statement. “The Court rightly recognized that the State’s permitting process met constitutional standards and that Article VIII (of the Alaska Constitution) does not extend to lands owned by Alaska Native Corporations or other private entities. This ruling not only affirms the integrity of DNR’s work but also protects the rights of Alaska Native Corporations and provides certainty for future development.”

The natural gas pipeline will stretch across state land, but the mine itself will be dug on land whose subsurface rights are owned by Calista Corporation, a regional Alaska Native corporation.

Writing on behalf of the court, Justice Dario Borghesan said the distinction is important.

“Because these are private resources, rather than state resources, the Department was not required to consider the cumulative impacts of their development when deciding whether to allow the use of state waters and access over state lands to develop the mine,” he wrote.

The ruling says that to approve the gas pipeline, regulators needed to consider only the impact of the pipeline, not of the mine it allows.

Until Friday, a 2013 decision by the Alaska Supreme Court known as REDOIL had required regulators to “take into account all aspects of a project” and consider the “cumulative impacts” when issuing permits for work on state land.

Friday’s decision somewhat limits that precedent, particularly for Alaska’s North Slope oil and gas industry, where most new drilling is taking place on federal land, not state land.

“This decision, I believe, makes clear that the REDOIL requirement to assess cumulative impacts only applies to projects that are on state lands,” said Jon Katchen, an attorney familiar with the new decision and author of a friend-of-the-court brief to the Supreme Court.

Friday’s decision covered two lawsuits filed by the Orutsararmiut Native Council and other Alaska Native tribes opposed to the mine’s development.

They appealed the case to the Alaska Supreme Court after an Anchorage Superior Court judge also ruled in favor of the defendants. The high court heard arguments one year ago.

“While this ruling is unfortunate, our work challenging the Donlin gold mine continues,” said Gage Hoffman, Orutsararmiut Traditional Native Council President, in an emailed statement.

ONC, as the tribe is also known, is fighting the mine in federal court, and in June, a federal judge found problems with a federal assessment of part of the project.

ONC and other plaintiffs are being represented by Earthjustice, an environmental law firm, and a spokeswoman for that organization said it has another case on appeal at the Alaska Supreme Court as well as federal litigation.

“We will be pushing to ensure that the supplemental environmental study that the court ordered from our federal victory adequately analyses the risks posed by the mine,” Hoffman said. “Our people deserve to know about these dangers; our ways of life are dependent on healthy lands and waters, and it is our responsibility to ensure they are protected for future generations.”

Friday’s ruling covered separate lawsuits filed over different sets of permits.

One lawsuit involved a permit challenged repeatedly since a preliminary decision in 2019, granting the use of state land needed to build a gas pipeline from Cook Inlet to the mine site.

Referring to legislative history and the text of the state’s Right of Way Leasing Act, Borghesan concluded, “none (of this) can be reasonably read to require the Department to consider the downstream effects of industrial activities by users of gas transported by the pipeline.”

The other suit addressed 12 water use permits issued in 2013 and 2016 by DNR to Donlin.

Plaintiffs argued that the Alaska Constitution, as interpreted by REDOIL, required DNR to consider the impact of the whole project.

Not so, Borgesan wrote.

“In our view, such a rule would extend article VIII (of the Alaska Constitution) far beyond its command to ascertain whether the development of state-owned resources is in the public’s interest.”

He also added that imposing such a restriction would be particularly problematic in the case of Donlin, because it involves land “chosen by ANCSA corporations as compensation for the loss of Alaska Natives’ aboriginal title to their ancestral territories. … These lands and minerals are reserved for their benefit, not for the benefit of Alaskans generally.”

Plaintiffs had argued that DNR failed to consider what will happen after the mine closes, when the mining pit will be filled by rainwater and seepage.

“Pumping will be required in perpetuity to ensure the lake’s water levels do not overtop its banks,” Borghesan wrote, adding that water treatment will also be required forever.

“This is because the water will have high levels of heavy metals due to contact with mining waste, and will have to be treated in perpetuity to protect downstream lands, waters, fish and wildlife, and people.”

Despite that conclusion, he said the justices “are persuaded that the Department was not required to consider the environmental impacts of the pit lake” because that lake will be regulated by state and federal pollution permits and rules, not just the water-use permits.

Friday’s decision emphasized that the justices are not intending to give an open hand to development.

“We hold only that the Department was not required, when deciding whether to issue water appropriation and pipeline right-of-way permits for use in mining privately owned minerals on private lands, to condition those permits on an analysis of the cumulative impacts of the mining itself,” the decision states.

Tags alaska, Climate, gold mine, Governor mike dunleavy, juneau, ketchikan, mine, sitka, trump

Featured Juneau News Juneau Local Ketchikan Local News Feeds Sitka Local

Juneau’s Sales Tax changes will take effect tomorrow

Post author By alaskaadmin
Post date November 19, 2025
No Comments on Juneau’s Sales Tax changes will take effect tomorrow

NOTN- Juneau residents will soon see changes at the checkout counter as the city moves to implement Proposition 2, which exempts food and utilities from sales tax starting November 20.

Barr said the goal is to make the transition “as seamless as possible” for both residents and businesses.

“Residents won’t have to do anything. You just simply won’t see sales tax on your receipts or your bills for food and utilities.” He said.

The measure, approved by voters earlier this year, eliminates the city’s 5% sales tax on groceries and household utilities. Barr said some exceptions apply, “There’s a couple of exceptions for utilities that you buy in person, like wood or wood pellets or the retail purchase of fuel. For those specific exemptions folks will have to come downtown or go online and get a card number from us, because, while food is exempt for everyone, utilities aren’t.” said Barr.

He said most utility vendors already have systems in place to differentiate between the two.

Proposition 2 defines “essential utilities” as those sold to individuals for non-commercial use within the City and Borough of Juneau. This includes the sale of electricity, heating fuel, water and wastewater service, refuse and recycling collection at a City and Borough of Juneau resident’s principal place of abode, and the non-commercial use of landfill facilities by CBJ residents.

CBJ released an official statement that clarifies some concerns on extra steps; Because most, if not all, utilities already designate commercial and residential rates for billing purposes, and to ensure that the intent of the ballot sponsors and the will of the voters is honored, CBJ is working with utilities to utilize their definition of residential and commercial while maintaining the intent of the ballot initiative. CBJ also provided definitions for guidance where utilities do not already designate rates as commercial or residential.

In practice, this means that residents are not required to obtain an exemption number or card to receive the exemption for billed utility use (electricity, water, etc.). However, residents may choose to apply for an exemption card if they intend to make retail purchases of eligible essential utilities (wood pellets, propane, etc.). If residents believe they are mistakenly designated as commercial by billed utilities, they may also apply for a utility sales tax exemption card and submit their exemption card to the utility to receive the exemption. Essential utilities exemption card application details will be available at juneau.org/finance/sales-tax and at the CBJ Sales Tax Office prior to the November 20 enactment date.

CBJ is working with utility providers on the implementation process. It may take time for providers to apply the new exemptions to their many thousands of accountholders.

Tags alaska, CBJ, election, funding, juneau, money, sales tax

Politics

Why MAGA is obsessed with Epstein − and why the files are unlikely to dent loyalty to Trump

Post author By alaskaadmin
Post date November 19, 2025
No Comments on Why MAGA is obsessed with Epstein − and why the files are unlikely to dent loyalty to Trump

MAGA hats are placed on a table at an election night party in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Nov. 5, 2024. Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post via Getty Images

With the latest shift by President Donald Trump on releasing the Epstein files held by the U.S. Department of Justice – he’s now for it after being against it after being for it – the MAGA base may finally get to view the documents it’s long wanted to see. On the afternoon of Nov. 18, 2025, the House voted overwhelmingly to seek release of the files, with only one Republican voting against the measure. The Senate later in the day agreed unanimously to pass the measure and send it on to the president for his signature. The Conversation’s politics editor, Naomi Schalit, talked with scholar Alex Hinton, who has studied MAGA for years, about Make America Great Again Republicans’ sustained interest in the case of accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Hinton explains how MAGA’s interest in the case fits into what he knows about the group of die-hard Trump supporters.

You are an expert on MAGA. How do you learn what you know about MAGA?

I’m a cultural anthropologist, and what we do is field work. We go where the people we’re studying live, act, talk. We observe and sort of hang out and see what happens. We listen and then we unpack themes. We try and understand the meaning systems that undergird whatever group we’re studying. And then, of course, there’s interviewing.

A man in a suit with a crowd behind him stands at a microphone-covered lectern that has a sign 'EPSTEIN FILES TRANSPARENCY ACT' written on it. — U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Texas Republican, speaks at a press conference alongside alleged victims of Jeffrey Epstein at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 3, 2025.
Bryan Dozier/Middle East Images via AFP, Getty Images

It appears that MAGA, Trump’s core supporters, are very concerned about various aspects of the Epstein story, including the release of documents that are in the possession of the U.S. government. Are they, in fact, concerned about this?

The answer is yes, but there’s also a sort of “no” implicit, too. We need to back up and think, first of all, what is MAGA.

I think of it as what we call in anthropology a nativist movement, a foregrounding of the people in the land. And this is where you get America First discourse. It’s also xenophobic, meaning that there’s a fear of outsiders, invaders coming in. It’s populist, so it’s something that’s sort of for the people.

Tucker Carlson interviewed Marjorie Taylor Greene, and he said, “I’m going to go over the five pillars of MAGA.” Those were America First, this is absolutely central. Borders was the second. You’ve got to secure the borders. The third was globalist antipathy, or a recognition that globalization has failed. Another one was free speech, and another one he mentioned was no more foreign wars. And I would add into that an emphasis on “we the people” versus elites.

Each of those is interwoven with a key dynamic to MAGA, which is conspiracy theory. And those conspiracy theories are usually anti-elite, going back to we the people.

If you look at Epstein, he’s where many of the conspiracy theories converge: Stop the Steal, The Big Lie, lawfare, deep state, replacement theory. Epstein kind of hits all of these, that there’s this elite cabal that’s orchestrating things that ultimately are against the interests of we the people, with a sort of antisemitic strain to this. And in particular, if we go back to Pizzagate in 2016, this conspiracy theory that there were these Democratic elitists who were, you know, demonic forces who were sex trafficking, and lo and behold, here’s Epstein doing precisely that.

There’s kind of a bucket of these things, and Epstein is more in it than not in it?

He’s all over it. He’s been there, you know, from the beginning, because he’s elite and they believe he’s doing sex trafficking. And then there’s a suspicion of the deep state, of the government, and this means cover-ups. What was MAGA promised? Trump said, we’re going to give you the goods, right? Kash Patel, Pam Bondi, everyone said we’re going to tell you this stuff. And it sure smacks of a cover-up, if you just look at it.

But the bottom line is there’s a realization among many people in MAGA that you’ve got to stay with Trump. It’s too much to say there is no MAGA without Trump. There’s certainly no Trumpism without Trump, but MAGA without Trump would be like the tea party. It’ll just sort of fade away without Trump.

People in MAGA are supporting Trump more than more mainstream Republicans on this. So I don’t think there’s going to be a break over this, but it certainly adds strain. And you can see in the current moment that Trump is under some strain.

A blond woman in a red hat speaks at a microphone while a man in a suit stands behind her, with American flags behind him. — President Donald Trump and U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a longtime supporter, have split over the Epstein files release.
Elijah Nouvelage/AFP Getty Images

The break that we are seeing is Trump breaking with one of his leading MAGA supporters, Marjorie Taylor Greene, not the MAGA supporter breaking with Trump.

With Greene, sometimes it’s like a yo-yo in a relationship with Trump. You fall apart, you have tension, and then you sort of get back. Elon Musk was a little bit like that. You have this breakup, and now she’s sort of backtracking like Elon Musk did. I don’t think what is happening is indicative of a larger fracturing that’s going to take place with MAGA.

It seems that Trump did his about-face on releasing the documents so that MAGA doesn’t have to break with him.

It’s absolutely true. He’s incredible at taking any story and turning it in his direction. He’s sort of like a chess player, unless he blurts something out. He’s a couple of moves ahead of wherever, whatever’s running, and so in a way we’re always behind, and he knows where we are. It’s incredible that he’s able to do this.

There’s one other thing about MAGA. I think of it as “don’t cross the boss.” It’s this sort of overzealous love of Trump that has to be expressed, and literally no one ever crosses the boss in these contexts. You toe the line, and if you go against the line, you know what happened to Marjorie Taylor Greene, there’s the threat Trump is going to disown you. You’re going to get primaried.

Trump has probably made a brilliant strategic move, which is suddenly to say, “I’m all for releasing it. It’s actually the Democrats who are these evil elites, and now we’re going to investigate Bill Clinton and all these other Democrats.” He takes over the narrative, he knows how to do it, and it’s intentional. Whoever says Trump is not charismatic, he doesn’t make sense – Trump is highly charismatic. He can move a crowd. He knows what he’s doing. Never underestimate him.

Does MAGA care about girls who were sexually abused?

There is concern, you know, especially among the devout Christians in MAGA, for whom sex trafficking is a huge issue.

I think if you look at sort of notions of Christian morality, it also goes to notions of sort of innocence, being afflicted by demonic forces. And it’s an attack on we the people by those elites; it’s a violation of rights. I mean, who isn’t horrified by the idea of sex trafficking? But again, especially in the Christian circles, this is a huge issue.

Alex Hinton receives funding from the Rutgers-Newark Sheila Y. Oliver Center for Politics and Race in America, Rutgers Research Council, and Henry Frank Guggenheim Foundation.

Politics + Society – The Conversation

Entertainment

Chicago Woman Set Ablaze During Argument on Train: ‘I Can’t Believe I’m …

Post author By alaskaadmin
Post date November 19, 2025
No Comments on Chicago Woman Set Ablaze During Argument on Train: ‘I Can’t Believe I’m …

Reading Time: 2 minutes

We have horrifying news to report out of Chicago today.

According to a police, a 26-year-old woman was doused in an unidentified liquid and lit on fire after arguing with an unidentified man on a crowded train.

Shockingly, the assailant was able to flee the scene.

Passengers wait to board an “L” train at a station on November 09, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Police say they have now apprehended a “person of interest” connected to the crime, but it seems the hunt for the suspect is ongoing.

The attack, which took place around 9:30 pm on Monday night, left the woman in critical condition.

She reportedly stumbled onto a platform and collapsed before being rushed to a nearby hospital.

Witnesses say the victim was conscious and speaking coherently even as she was engulfed in flames.

“She had severe burns all over her upper torso, and half of her scalp was burnt off,” a bystander named Michael Thomas told the Chicago Sun-Times.

“She was lucid and conscious and talking. I believe I overheard something along the lines of, ‘I can’t believe I’m on fire,’” he continued, adding:

“I hope she pulls through. I hope for the very best for her.”

Thomas added that a group of about “a couple dozen people” were able to extinguish the flames before first responders arrived on the scene.

He notes that he was dismayed to see several witnesses taking photos and video on their phones.

“That was a saddening sort of situation to witness,” Thomas said. “I don’t necessarily fault anybody. I think the idea of filming or taking pictures of someone in such a distressed state just shows a lack of compassion and a lack of empathy for the moment.”

The Chicago Transit Authority has issued a written statement assuring the public that everything is being done to apprehend the assailant and assure the safety of all Chigoans.

“The CTA has been working closely with the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and the Public Transportation Unit detectives embedded at the Strategic Decision Support Center (SDSC) dedicated to CTA, to support their investigation and ensure the offender is quickly apprehended,” the statement reads.

We will have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.

Chicago Woman Set Ablaze During Argument on Train: ‘I Can’t Believe I’m … was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.

The Hollywood Gossip

Entertainment

Sister Wives Canceled? Christine Brown Drops Cryptic Message

Post author By alaskaadmin
Post date November 19, 2025
No Comments on Sister Wives Canceled? Christine Brown Drops Cryptic Message

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Sister Wives fans suddenly have a cause for concern.

On the November 16 episode of this TLC reality series, Christine Brown and husband David Woolley discussed their financial future.

“So what’s gonna happen down the road when we rely on my income only?” Woolley asked.

“I seriously am up half the night sometimes thinking about [how] I’m just spending too much money,” Christine confessed. “I just know that I am.”

(TLC)

Weird, right?

Why would the couple be relying solely on David’s income? Unless Christine was leaving Sister Wives or the show was being canceled by TLC?

When it came to Christine’s six kids — she shares Aspyn, 30, Mykelti, 29, Paedon, 27, Gwendlyn, 24, Ysabel, 22, and Truley, 15 with ex-husband Kody Brown — she told Woolley that she and Kody used to use a “family account” to fund their education.

“That was like a big deal for Kody, … not [getting into] debt for college,” Christine said in her confessional.

“If I can help take the stress off of them, I don’t see a problem with that, with helping them.”

(Instagram)

Christine continued:

“I don’t know what we’re going to do with Truely. She definitely wants to go to college. She’s definitely going to college.

“And I don’t know, things could be very different by then. And if we only have David’s money to go at that point, then we’ll have to talk about that more.”

Another strange comment, right? Christine is clearly thinking ahead, but she doesn’t sound optimistic about her show’s future.

Kody and his former spouses don’t talk. The guy is down to just one spouse. If you stop and think about it, the premise of Sister Wives doesn’t really exist any longer.

Kody Brown is a polarizing reality TV personality. (TLC)

After this episode concluded, TikToker Sarah Fraser posted a video speculating that the couple’s conversation could very well indicate the show is ending soon.

From there, fans took to the comment section to share their thoughts and/or predictions.

“All I got from that was eventually it will come to an end, the show,” one person wrote. “We all know it’s true.”

We all know polygamy is awful, too. Even the former sister wives themselves now admit as much.

Sister Wives Canceled? Christine Brown Drops Cryptic Message was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.

The Hollywood Gossip

Entertainment

‘DoorDash Girl’ Arrested & Charged with Two Felonies After Accusing …

Post author By alaskaadmin
Post date November 19, 2025
No Comments on ‘DoorDash Girl’ Arrested & Charged with Two Felonies After Accusing …

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Recently, a 23-year-old DoorDash driver went viral for a shocking horror story.

“DoorDash girl” shared a TikTok video of a man whom she accused of luring her to his home so that he could expose himself to her.

However, the initial video soon vanished. Her DoorDash account received a suspension. And now, authorities have arrested and charged her.

The reason? Authorities say that evidence demonstrates that she violated the customer’s privacy.

23-year-old Olivia Henderson became “DoorDash girl” after her harrowing TikTok story of indecent exposure and then losing her job. New revelations have set the internet aflame as social media users assign blame. (Image Credit: Twitter)

Who is ‘DoorDash Girl’ and why did she lose her job?

23-year-old Olivia Henderson of Oswego, New York was working as a DoorDash driver until earlier this autumn.

She racked up millions of TikTok views with a video that she claimed depicted her sexual assault.

The story, Henderson detailed, was that a man had lured her to his home by placing a food delivery, planning to expose himself to her.

She said that she had arrived to drop off the order, only to find his door wide open — and him, mostly disrobed, his genitals exposed in his home.

There have been numerous stories, some humorous and some horrifying, about food delivery drivers finding customers in various states of undress.

@irlmonsterhighdoll backup is @via von dutch ♬ original sound – irlmonsterhighdoll

“My customer requested that my order be left at their front door,” Henderson claimed.

“And when I arrived at their house, their front door was wide open, and they were within eyesight of the front door, laying on the couch, indecently exposed to me,” she described.

What makes this situation stand out so much is that Henderson filmed it — and posted the video.

In the video, the door does appear to be wide open. The customer, who remains unidentified, appears to be asleep on the couch — and clearly not wearing any pants.

Most of the video, however, depicted Henderson sharing the story. And then, of course, came her tale of DoorDash deactivating her account, preventing her from working.

In a lengthy post to multiple social media pages, DoorDash issued an official response to the story of the 23-year-old driver whose account was suspended after accusing a customer of misconduct. (Image Credit: Instagram)

Authorities have arrested Olivia Henderson and charged her with two felonies

Olive Henderson’s DoorDash girl fame has led to her arrest. (She is free and due back in court on December 4)

Police arrested her on November 10, weeks following the October 12 incident, and charged her with one second-degree felony count of unlawful surveillance and one first-degree felony count of dissemination of unlawful surveillance image.

Both of these charges can lead to up to four years in prison — if she receives a conviction and gets the max. If she receives both maximum sentences consecutively, she could end up behind bars for 8 years.

To simplify the law, you may not film naked people in their homes without their consent. The law also does not permit you to post videos of naked people in their homes without their consent.

Some are expressing shock and horror, describing the situation as exactly why women remain quiet about creepy men. There are those who have described this as the state helping to silence a victim.

@irlmonsterhighdoll
♬ original sound – irlmonsterhighdoll

However, as anyone who saw the TikTok video can attest, the DoorDash customer (who is reportedly in contact with authorities) was asleep on the couch for this.

The instructions for Henderson were for her to place the order at his door, not to go inside. Police have confirmed that there are no indications that anyone lured her to enter the home.

(When you make a request while ordering food on DoorDash, you can ask someone to open a door and leave food inside, but there would be digital records of this request)

Perhaps most damning of all, Ring camera footage reportedly shows that Henderson is the one who let herself into his home.

As police noted in a statement, her own video “indicates that the male was incapacitated and unconscious on his couch due to alcohol consumption.”

A stock photo of a DoorDash handoff. (Photo Credit: Emily Dulla/Getty Images for DoorDash)

What really happened?

Some on the internet are branding Olivia Henderson as a scheming and dishonest person who hoped to achieve internet fame as “DoorDash girl,” and has now brought about a setback to real victims everywhere.

Meanwhile, others have continued to double down — pointing out (not inaccurately) that police are seldom as helpful to victims as they are on Law & Order: SVU, and that we all only have pieces of the story.

Henderson appears visibly upset in the video. That much is not in question. But everyone in this world has the right to go without pants in their own homes, provided that they do nothing else (like have open blinds) to violate local laws.

We should all keep in mind that it is entirely possible that she did not plan this, but also that this man did not really do anything wrong. (It would be wise to lock your door, but if someone barges into your home, that is usually on them)

Is it possible that she accidentally did the wrong thing, stepped into a stranger’s home, believed that it was a deliberate set-up, and sent her life and the customer’s into a tailspin. That is not the only explanation, but it is the possibility that involves the least malice.

Hopefully, the full truth will come out at trial — whatever it may be.

‘DoorDash Girl’ Arrested & Charged with Two Felonies After Accusing … was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.

The Hollywood Gossip

Entertainment

Mikey Rijavec Cause of Death: Fishing Influencer Found Dead After Week-Long Search

Post author By alaskaadmin
Post date November 19, 2025
No Comments on Mikey Rijavec Cause of Death: Fishing Influencer Found Dead After Week-Long Search

Reading Time: 2 minutes

We have tragic news to report from the world of social media today.

Mikey Rijavec, the YouTuber who gained a massive following with his fishing videos, has passed away.

Rescue crews had been searching for Rijavec since November 11, when the Coast Guard received a mayday signal from his 14-foot skiff off the coast of Mexico.

Fishing influencer Mikey Rijavec has been found dead. (YouTube)

Sadly, the team located both the boat and Rijavec’s lifeless body on Sunday.

US and Mexican authorities were joined in their search by dozens of private boat owners in the area.

News of Rijavec’s passing comes courtesy of a GoFundMe page created by his family.

“It is time for the countless people involved in the search for Mikey to finally rest and begin to find peace,” reads an update on the page that appeared on Tuesday.

“Mikey’s body was found in the water near San Cristobal earlier today. As difficult as it is to accept this, we are grateful that it provides us some closure.”

Fishing influencer Mikey Rijavec has been found dead. (YouTube)

Mikey’s brother Gregory went on to praise those who worked tirelessly to rescue the late fisherman.

“As we begin to process and reflect on what has happened over the last several days, it is clear what was at the core of the search for Mikey: love,” wrote Gregory.

“Everyone poured everything into finding Mikey, because whether they knew him or not, they knew a son, a brother, a friend, a fisherman, a fellow human needed help. Everyone has been extremely selfless during this time, and selflessness is one of the greatest acts of love. We were united in the search and we are united in love.”

Continued Gregory in his tribute to his late brother: “Mikey was mindful and present every day, and that allowed him to live a longer life than can be measured on a calendar.

“His mission was to spread his positive energy and make every person he came in contact with better, and he did. Mikey prepared us to deal with this, and if we live by his example we will not only be OK, we will be better.”

In a heartfelt Facebook post, Mikey’s close friend Phil Friedman paid tribute to the late content creator:

“Mikey brought so much joy, laughter, and passion to the fishing community, and his absence leaves a huge void,” he wrote.

“Please keep his family, loved ones, and everyone who knew him in your thoughts and prayers during this incredibly difficult time. Rest easy, brother.”

It’s unclear at this time what may have caused Mikey’s outboard motor to become detached from his boat.

Investigators say they intend to launch a full investigation into the matter.

Our thoughts go out to his family, and we will have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.

Mikey Rijavec Cause of Death: Fishing Influencer Found Dead After Week-Long Search was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.

The Hollywood Gossip

Entertainment

Trump Accused of Justifying Jamal Khashoggi Murder: ‘A Lot of People Didn’t …

Post author By alaskaadmin
Post date November 19, 2025
No Comments on Trump Accused of Justifying Jamal Khashoggi Murder: ‘A Lot of People Didn’t …

Reading Time: 3 minutes

It’s been a combative week for Donald Trump.

And many observers believe that the president’s rudeness with reporters is evidence that the ongoing strain of the Epstein files scandal is beginning to take a toll.

Earlier this week, Trump referred to a Bloomberg reporter as “Piggy.”

And today in the Oval Office, he lashed out at another female journalist for asking a relevant question.

U.S. President Donald Trump (R) jokes with Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia during a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on November 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

This time, it was ABC White House correspondent Mary Bruce, who asked about the 2018 murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi during a visit from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“You’re mentioning somebody that was extremely controversial,” Trump said, referring to Khashoggi.

“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about,” the president continued, according to CNN.

“Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen, but he knew nothing about it. And would you leave it at that? You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question.”

U.S. President Donald Trump (R) meets with Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia during a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on November 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Yes, Trump entered pissed-off mom mode, blasting a journalist for embarrassing him in front of “our guest” (who happens to be a crown prince who’s been credibly accused of taking part in state-sanctioned murder).

Trump’s claim runs counter to the CIA’s investigation, which found that the crown prince approved the 2018 operation that killed Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Turkey.

At the White House today, bin Salman denied any knowledge of the crime and claimed that the Saudi government had “improved our system to be sure that nothing happened like that. And it’s painful, and it’s a huge mistake, and we are doing our best that this doesn’t happen again.”

U.S. President Donald Trump (R) responds to a question where Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia was asked about the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Ahmad Hamza Khashoggi during a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on November 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

It’s unusual for a sitting US president to cast doubt on the findings of a CIA investigation.

But then again, Khashoggi was a journalist, and no US president has been as openly antagonistic toward the press as Trump.

Has he ramped up his attacks in recent weeks? And if so, is the increased vitriol an effort to distract from the Epstein scandal?

Whatever the case, with the House passing a resolution to release the files, we’re closer than ever to what could be the final word on one of the biggest scandals in US history.

Trump Accused of Justifying Jamal Khashoggi Murder: ‘A Lot of People Didn’t … was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.

The Hollywood Gossip

Politics

In blow to Trump, federal judges block new Texas congressional map

Post author By alaskaadmin
Post date November 19, 2025
No Comments on In blow to Trump, federal judges block new Texas congressional map

A panel of federal judges has blocked Texas’ newly redrawn congressional map — which made five districts in the state more favorable to Republicans — saying the plan appeared to be an illegal race-based gerrymander.

In a 2-1 ruling, the court ordered Texas to rely instead on the boundaries legislators drew in 2021. The new map, the majority concluded, appears likely to be unconstitutional and was drawn at the urging of the Trump administration.

“The map ultimately passed by the Legislature and signed by the Governor — the 2025 Map — achieved all but one of the racial objectives that DOJ demanded,” U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown, a Galveston-based Trump appointee, wrote for the panel majority.

The decision is a massive blow in the White House’s push to redistrict across the country. Texas’ five-seat map represented the biggest gains for the GOP through redrawing. Texas appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court later Tuesday.

Brown was joined by U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama, an El Paso-based Obama appointee. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Jerry Smith, a Houston-based Reagan appointee, dissented but did not immediately release an opinion explaining his reasoning.

The majority repeatedly derided the Justice Department’s effort to goad Texas into targeting the four districts with non-white majorities — known as “coalition districts.” That effort, Brown said, began on July 7, with a letter from DOJ’s Civil Rights Division that was “challenging to unpack … because it contains so many factual, legal, and typographical errors.”

According to the court, the letter selected the four districts “based entirely on their racial makeup” and was the key factor that spurred Texas Republicans to take up the extraordinary redistricting effort. The bulk of Brown’s 160-page opinion delves into the mindset of the state lawmakers and advisers who drew the new maps, suggesting that their motives clearly aligned with DOJ’s race-based push and that their characterization of the new maps as based only on race-blind partisanship were not believable.

The White House and Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request to comment.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office, in a statement, pushed back against the ruling and suggestion that the newly drawn maps are unfair or biased.

“Any claim that these maps are discriminatory is absurd and unsupported by the testimony offered during ten days of hearings,” he stated. “This ruling is clearly erroneous and undermines the authority the U.S. Constitution assigns to the Texas Legislature by imposing a different map by judicial edict.”

The court also downplayed the notion that scrapping Texas’ new maps would lead to chaos in the midterm elections. Though the judges acknowledged that it would scramble the calculus of some candidates who had announced their bids for office based on the new maps, they said filing deadlines had not yet elapsed.

“Simply put, the 2026 congressional election is not underway,” Brown wrote. “In any event, any disruption that would happen here is attributable to the Legislature, not the Court. The Legislature—not the Court—set the timetable for this injunction. The Legislature—not the Court—redrew Texas’s congressional map weeks before precinct-chair and candidate-filing periods opened. The State chose to ‘toy with its election laws close to’ the 2026 congressional election, though that is certainly its prerogative.”

The state’s candidate filing deadline is rapidly approaching: Dec. 8. Courts and state election officials are generally hesitant to move deadlines, but they can if necessary.

Two other states — Missouri and North Carolina — have passed maps that net Republicans one red-leaning seat each. And in Ohio, which was legally required to redraw its maps this year, Republicans and Democrats cut a deal that made two Democratic-held seats redder, but Democrats insist both will remain competitive in 2026.

Democrats have also filed legal challenges in North Carolina and Missouri, and they have long prioritized the courts as a way to stop Republican gerrymandering efforts.

Without the Texas map in place, Democrats’ five-seat pickup in California through Proposition 50 fully thwarts the GOP’s gains so far, though other red states are still being pressured by the White House to take up the issue ahead of next year’s midterms.

The decision is likely to put even more pressure on Indiana Republicans, who are being asked to draw a new map that would give the GOP two more red-leaning districts. So far, Indiana GOP Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray has resisted calls to alter maps in the state, making a path forward very difficult for the redistricting effort.

Lawmakers in the Hoosier State are already facing threats of primaries from the White House after Bray said his caucus did not have the votes to pass a new map, and President Donald Trump said Republican Gov. Mike Braun “must produce on this” in a social media post Tuesday.

The ruling in Texas is the latest in a saga that took the summer by storm, when Texas Democrats decamped from the state in an effort to stop the new map from being passed.

On Tuesday, the Democrats who led that effort hailed the court’s decision.

“Greg Abbott and his Republican cronies tried to silence Texans’ voices to placate Donald Trump, but now have delivered him absolutely nothing,” Texas Minority Leader Gene Wu said in a statement.

Politics

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Archives

Categories

Report shows declines in certain cancers

Who is ‘DoorDash Girl’ and why did she lose her job?

Authorities have arrested Olivia Henderson and charged her with two felonies

What really happened?

Opinion & Request