A grilled cheese sandwich can sound basic to the point of being boring. However, the right variety of ingredients makes it tasty and exciting.
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Month: May 2026
Former ICE official Madison Sheahan lost a GOP primary in a battleground Ohio House district on Tuesday, a relief to Republicans who worried she could sabotage their chances of flipping the seat.
Former state Rep. Derek Merrin won the GOP nomination in the 9th Congressional District for the second cycle in a row, and will face Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in November. He lost to Kaptur by less than one percentage point in 2024.
Republicans see the seat as a prime pickup opportunity after the Ohio legislature redrew the state’s congressional map to make the district more favorable for Republicans.
Merrin’s victory comes with a sigh of relief from Republicans in the state who raised concerns about Sheahan’s background — she served as former deputy ICE director under former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem — being a soft target for Kaptur in a general election.
Sheahan drew attacks from fellow Republicans in the primary for her role in overseeing President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement operations in major cities, which triggered violent confrontations and protests.
Those clashes culminated in the killing of two American citizens by immigration officials in Minneapolis. Sheahan launched her campaign days after the killing of Renee Good, but before the death of Alex Pretti.
Trump didn’t endorse ahead of the primary, but the race was defined in part by candidates seeking to be the most MAGA candidate in the field. Sheahan ran TV ads touting her role at ICE and her connection to the Trump administration. Merrin went up with an ad in the race’s final days highlighting the endorsement he received from Trump during his 2024 campaign.
Kaptur starts the general election fight with a significant resource advantage over Merrin. Federal Election Commission filings from mid-April showed Kaptur with $3.1 million in cash on hand, dwarfing Merrin’s $189,000 in reserves.
Both the DCCC and the NRCC are expected to invest significantly in the race.
Politics
DES MOINES, Iowa — Vice President JD Vance was greeted warmly by Republicans in Iowa on Tuesday, with would-be caucus goers and strategists optimistically curious about his potential as a 2028 presidential contender.
But first, they’re hoping he can help turn the economy around.
Vance’s fate is unavoidably linked to President Donald Trump’s. He’ll either carry the mantle of Trump’s accomplishments all the way into his own term in the White House — or be dragged down by Trump’s dismal approval ratings, which have spiraled amid an unpopular war in Iran and voters’ economic pessimism.
During Vance’s first trip as vice president to the early caucus state — where he was campaigning for Republican Rep. Zach Nunn at a rally in a manufacturing warehouse in this battleground House district — Vance’s close ties with Trump were on full display. He credited the president repeatedly for tariffs, tax cuts and agriculture industry aid. And he avoided any mention of 2028.
But his association with Trump’s agenda presents a high-risk, high-reward proposition that could make or break his political future, operatives and rallygoers said.
“That’s the risk of being part of an administration,” Iowa GOP strategist David Kochel said. “This is the Kamala Harris problem.”
Rep. Randy Feenstra, who is running for governor, said in between shaking hands with attendees that Iowans “absolutely” associate Vance with Trump and expressed confidence that the White House can deliver outcomes that benefit the state.
“We’re all in this together,” he said. “We trust Trump and the vice president and what they’re doing, and things are going to be great.”
Republicans in Iowa are loath to turn their back on Trump, the 2024 caucus winner who remains deeply popular among the base. Faded Trump-Vance campaign signs still line the rural roads around the state, and Iowa Republicans said they remained largely optimistic that Trump, with Vance by his side, can steer the economy in the right direction.
In a brief post-rally interview, Nunn said part of the benefit of the vice president’s trip was allowing Iowa Republican officials to “share what they want to see out of the next leader in 2028.”
But Americans’ patience for the administration’s economic policy to have a positive effect is wearing thin. A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll released on Sunday found 65 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy and 76 percent disapprove of Trump’s handling of cost of living issues. And even as Vance blamed former President Joe Biden’s administration for the teetering economy, an April POLITICO Poll found 46 percent of Americans feel Trump bears at least some responsibility for the state of the economy.
And the economic effects of Trump’s policies are particularly hard felt in Iowa’s vast agriculture industry. Trump’s tariff regime blocked off markets that had been reliable purchasers of U.S. agriculture goods, while the war in Iran has spiked the cost of diesel, which farmers depend on heavily.
Jake Chapman, a former president of the Iowa Senate who has advised multiple Republican presidential candidates in Iowa, said the conflict and the trade negotiations with other countries are top of mind for Iowa Republicans.
“A lot of people are thinking about foreign policy in particular, and how that impacts ag inputs and our agriculture economy,” he said.
In his speech, Vance acknowledged that the Trump administration hasn’t fully delivered on its economic promises. “We got a lot more work to do,” Vance told the crowd of hundreds. “We recognize that work. We’re excited about that work. That’s why you sent us to Washington, D.C.”
Still, those negative feelings towards Trump appear to be spilling over to Vance. That same poll found 48 percent of Americans disapprove of Vance — slightly worse than other senior Trump administration officials, including FBI Director Kash Patel, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and fellow potential 2028 candidate Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rubio’s ascension in the 2028 shadow primary — both in the eyes of Americans and in standing with Trump’s inner circle — further complicates Vance’s path to the nomination. Eric Branstad, the son of former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and adviser to Trump’s three presidential campaigns in Iowa, said Vance’s portfolio may not resonate with Iowans as much as Rubio’s in an administration juggling multiple high-profile foreign conflicts.
“They’ve watched the secretary of state completely perform. He’s been put in all of the tough spots, and he has overperformed,” Branstad said. “The vice president is performing great. It’s just not been as noticeable as the secretary of state.”
Vance, however, has gotten an early start on building a campaign infrastructure, should he so choose to activate it. He has been a frequent surrogate and fundraiser for the GOP’s midterm operation and has campaigned for Republicans in battleground seats around the country. On Tuesday, he voted in Ohio’s competitive 1st District GOP primary and headlined a fundraiser in Oklahoma before travelling to Iowa.
“He’s the man who’s leading the charge to win the midterms,” Nunn said during his remarks.
Even as Vance stayed focused on this year’s elections on Tuesday, some Republicans are ready to look beyond the midterms. GOP gubernatorial candidate Adam Steen said on the outskirts of the rally he thinks Iowa Republicans are eager to organize around the next generation of party leadership.
“I don’t know why not just start talking about 2028,” Steen said. “We need to know who we’re going to be getting behind. And if they did that now, I don’t think it’d offend anybody. I think it’d be a great thing.”
The vice president’s office declined to comment on Vance’s thinking about a future presidential campaign.
Whether or not the vice president can carry the ideological torch for Trump’s political movement may depend on how closely Vance — or any 2028 hopeful — can align with Trump. Iowa GOP Chair Jeff Kaufmann said at the rally he doesn’t believe the next Republican presidential nominee necessarily has to appeal directly to Trump’s base to be successful.
“The Republican Party is multifaceted,” Kaufmann said. “We have MAGA voters… We have Christian evangelicals, we have business, we have Libertarians. I think all of them together are going to unite around some of the basic principles that everybody shares.”
Yet being Trump’s vice president brings certain advantages with Republican voters. Even if Vance isn’t afforded the goodwill that brought the president a dominant wire-to-wire favorite in the 2024 Republican primaries, Kochel said Vance “gets one of the gold tickets” in the contest.
“[Vance] will be the front-runner going into any caucuses that we have here in Iowa,” GOP governor candidate and state Rep. Eddie Andrews said on the sidelines of Tuesday’s rally.
But Iowa caucusgoers are notoriously scrupulous when vetting future world leaders. And Nunn acknowledged that Vance will at some point need to forge his own path to leading the party.
“Nobody can walk in Donald Trump’s footsteps, because it’s Donald Trump,” Nunn said.
Politics
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Matanuska-Susitna Borough Administration Building in Palmer (Photo by Amy Bushatz/Mat-Su Sentinel)
The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District is scheduled to consider a proposal that would pay teachers, staff and contractors to carry handguns at schools in the borough.
The move, billed as a security measure, would be the first of its kind by a school district in Alaska.
Current state law forbids anyone from carrying a concealed firearm on school grounds without the permission of a district’s chief administrative officer.
Board Policy 3515, as the concept is formally known, would set up a formalized policy for the Mat-Su school district’s superintendent to grant that permission. It is scheduled for initial discussion Wednesday evening. No vote is expected.
As written, the draft policy proposes that the district will pay a stipend to “certain qualified individuals to carry a concealed handgun (including other authorized non-lethal security device) on school property in accordance with the provisions of this policy.”
The draft goes on to state that “participating authorized individuals will receive a stipend for this additional duty.”
It does not state how much the district will pay participants, but that the stipend is expected to cover mandatory training and not a handgun, holster or ammunition.
The proposal is similar to a bill proposed by former Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer, last year. That legislation did not advance, and Hughes has since resigned from the Legislature to run for governor.
If adopted as written, interested staff would be required to undergo safety training, a physical, a psychological evaluation and random drug and alcohol screening.
“This policy change is driven first and foremost by a commitment to student and staff safety,” the district said in a description of the proposed policy.
The Mat-Su school district covers an area the size of West Virginia. North of Anchorage, it is the state’s second-largest, with 19,518 students in the 2024-2025 school year, according to state figures.
“In many of our schools, particularly those in geographically large or remote areas, immediate access to law enforcement may be limited. This policy recognizes that reality and seeks to responsibly bridge that gap in emergency response time,” the description states.
Under the text of the policy, the list of employees approved to carry handguns will be kept secret.
“Any employee who discloses the identity of an authorized individual — except as permitted by this policy or as required by law — may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including Termination,” the policy states.
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President Donald Trump flexed his grip on the GOP base in Indiana on Tuesday, vanquishing a majority of the Republican state senators who had dared cross him on redistricting.
It was a show of force in the year’s first major test of Trump’s power over the GOP. Trump aligned groups dumped millions against the eight GOP lawmakers who blocked his effort to gerrymander the state. And on Tuesday night, at least five lost reelection.
Trump’s loyal and energized supporters turned out to punish the incumbents, showing that his endorsement remains the gold-standard of GOP politics. That’s a bright flashing red warning to any Republicans who might be eyeing a break from Trump as he approaches the back half of his second term in office.
The victories came after a combined $13.5 million in spending poured into typically low-profile state Senate races, most of it for Trump’s candidates.
“It’s a sign that the party’s ready to follow the president on this and also turn over a new leaf, and get younger, newer leaders in the state Senate,” said David McIntosh, president of the Club for Growth, which put more than $2 million in the race.
Politics
The state ferry Columbia, the largest vessel in the fleet, has been delayed a second time coming back to work on the busy summer route between Bellingham, Washington, and Southeast Alaska.
The ship is now scheduled to make its first northbound run from Bellingham on June 5, according to the Alaska Marine Highway System’s online reservations site.
The state will keep the Kennicott on the route until the Columbia is ready to go back into service.
When the Columbia returns, the Kennicott will tie up at the dock in Ketchikan. The Marine Highway System — for the fourth year in a row — says it lacks enough crew to run both vessels during the busy summer season.
As of May 4, the online reservations system showed no availability on the Columbia until the July 24 northbound sailing for a traveler who wanted to take their car or truck or RV from Bellingham to Wrangell.
The Columbia, which has served the popular route since going into service in 1973, has about twice the vehicle deck space as the smaller Kennicott.
In November, the Columbia went into the shipyard in Ketchikan for winter layup and annual maintenance. It originally had been expected back on the route May 6. That date was first pushed back to May 20.
The latest delay to June 5 is due to a couple of reasons, said Gabe Strong, public information officer for the Alaska Marine Highway System.
“The dry docking of the Columbia was delayed because the Lituya had to have the bow repaired. … The Lituya took the Columbia’s scheduled dry dock time and that set the Columbia work back a couple weeks,” Strong said in an email on April 30.
“Luckily, we had the Kennicott available to take over the mainline run for the Columbia.”
The Lituya, which shuttles between Ketchikan and Metlakatla, was damaged when it ran aground after leaving the Metlakatla dock in late December 2025 and spent much of March at the Ketchikan shipyard for repairs.
In addition to losing time in the dry dock, the other reason for the Columbia’s delayed return to service was mechanical.
“During the Columbia bow thruster overhaul, it was discovered that the shaft that drives the turbine had saltwater intrusion, so the shaft was sent south to get flame-sprayed and re-machined,” Strong said.
A single turbine powers the bow thruster, which aids in the ship’s maneuverability. “It’s an omni-thruster that sucks water in from the sides and shoots it out the displacer plate on the keel of the vessel,” he explained.
The post Columbia delayed two more weeks coming back to work appeared first on Chilkat Valley News.
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