She got Grey Kitty and Baby Kitty (not original names, but thinking back to my stuffed animals as a kid, I have no room to talk) for her daughter, True Thompson, who is now 8 years old.
(Don’t forget, she is also a mother to 3-year-old Tatum.)
Khloé seems to know that this is indefensible, telling viewers: “I was really misadvised about getting my cats declawed.”
‘I feel really, really terrible’
“I’ve never owned cats before,” Khloé explained. “I didn’t even know that was a thing.”
She expressed: “I feel really, really terrible that I did go in this direction.”
Khloé has personally observed that the notoriously cruel declawing procedure has made her cats “miserable.”
In addition to the innate wrongness of removing parts of a cat’s body (sometimes likened to removing entire joints of a human’s fingers), there is also a safety issue.
No cats should be allowed to simply wander around outside. But, for Khloé’s cats, they would be in even more danger than other housecats whose owners effectively feed them to coyotes.
“My cats wear Air Tags,” she continued during the podcast episode. “Like, they’re not allowed to even go near a door.”
Khloé expressed: “I’m so afraid if they get out, because they have no way to defend themselves.”
She lamented: “They’ve lost their protection tools, so it makes me sad.”
Any housecat would be effectively defenseless against coyotes or cars, to say nothing of parasites, budding serial killers, and other outdoor hazards that indoor cats will never experience.
But Khloé is correct when she notes that a regular housecat who slipped out could at least stand a chance of startling a predator or discouraging a stray dog or alley cat before bolting to make their escape. A cat without claws simply cannot.
California has now joined several other states in banning the procedure
It is easy — and not necessarily wrong — to blame a cat’s human when a cat is subjected to this kind of mutilation.
However, as is clearly the case with Khloé, it’s too often the case where the responsible party believes that they are receiving solid veterinary advice. Declawing is sometimes (though rarely) advised alongside very good things, like spaying and vaccinating one’s cat, giving them dewormers and flea treatments, and more.
Some suggest that perhaps more emphasis should be placed upon veterinarians who agree to perform these treatments without medical need.
(This also comes up with parents making choices for human children, including irreversible mutilations such as circumcision. The medical professional who performs the act without question has fewer excuses for wrongdoing than the parent, more often than not.)
We actually think that it’s an indisputably good thing for Khloé to both admit to having declawed her cats and to emphasize why, for multiple reasons, it is so deeply wrong.
Like it or not, she has a massive platform and is tremendously influential. It is good for her to both own up to her mistake and to discourage others from doing the same.
Kyle Busch’s hospitalization was for a “severe illness.” A new report indicates it was also very sudden. Continue reading…The Boot – Country Music News, Music Videos and Songs
Kyle Busch’s hospitalization was for a “severe illness.” A new report indicates it was also very sudden. Continue reading…Country Music News – Taste of Country
After Julia Cole went through a difficult season marked by a called-off engagement, she channeled all of the highs, lows, pain and heeling into her newest album, Love You To Death.
As the Texan explained to Country Now, this collection of 14 deeply personal songs is not a love song album, however there is a lot of love woven throughout as she reflects on the moments and people that led her out of that darkness and into the wiser, more confident and hopeful person she is today.
Julia Cole; Photo Provided
Even in the moments where she feel like life was completely crashing down on her, Cole had her family, her friends and her fans supporting her at every step of the way. She is now celebrating those relationships trough this album, paying tribute to her dad in “Daddy Daughter Dance” and the importance of female friendships on “At My Wedding.”
As fans dive into each of these tracks, they will discover a mix of high-energy, confidence leading anthems like the title track, “Love You To Death,” to stripped-down, emotional ballads such as “What It Takes.” In between Cole’s clever wordplay, powerful vocals is a newfound hope for the future that she will one day finally find the kind of love she always deserved.
“The person I am today is going to have a much better chance at finding a man who can lead my family in faith than me five years ago,” she noted.
Julia Cole; Love You To Death
In celebration of the new project, Julia Cole is taking her “Sisterhood Country” movement on the road with her headlining Love You To Death Tour. The run is set to launch May 28 in St. Louis, MO and continue through October.
Keep reading to learn more about Julia Cole’s personal new project, the loved ones who inspired the songs and what to expect from her upcoming tour.
You have previously stated that Love You To Death is the most sure that you’ve felt in yourself with a project. So what changed for you this time around?
This album is one that I’ve written over the past couple of years after a called off wedding engagement that I went through and I just really had so much to say. I mean, this is the project where I got to talk about getting through this breakup and what to do with the diamond ring. And then I also got to talk about the people who helped me get through it, “Daddy Daughter Dance” and “At My Wedding.” The folks in my life that I know I wouldn’t have survived it without, I got to put so much of my love for them into the project too, that it feels really special because I’m so secure in having love still and it’s because of those people. It’s not a love song album, but there’s a lot of love in the album for those people who are in my life that have helped me through everything I’ve gone through and I know I would help them through anything they needed too. It’s nice to know that even when your relationship doesn’t go well, that you still have other people. And that was part of the reminder of the album. And then also there’s a lot of hope in it of what I’m looking for and what I dream of…that’s the big picture view of it is experiencing something that was so hard and stressful, but something that I get to also paint the picture of healing through and what I’ve learned from it that I really am going to look for going forward.
“At My Wedding” is such a great sisterhood anthem. Talk about the writing process behind this one and why you wanted to celebrate the importance of those relationships.
One of my favorite things whenever I post this song is to ask people, “does this describe your mom, your sister, or your best friends?” And you get all different responses, but some people are like, “It’s all three.” And for me, it’s all three at my wedding is about the women who I know are going to be standing there next to me at the altar, even though I have no idea who the groom’s going to be. And the way that these people become such rocks in your life is because you go through difficult times together and a lot of those difficult times have been breakups I’ve gone through that they’ve had to pick me up off the floor and say, “Hey, you’re going to be okay and we’ve got your back through this and you’re still loved even though that didn’t work out.”
Julia Cole; At My Wedding
“Daddy Daughter Dance” feels extra personal. What was it like getting to bring this one to life and share it with your family?
Well, I watched my dad walk my older sister down the aisle and they did their father-daughter dance at her wedding and it was so beautiful and I got to really process all of that. I had the title “Daddy Daughter Dance” saved and I wanted to write my dad a song for Father’s Day. We went through a difficult patch. He didn’t like my ex-fiancé. When we started dating, I kind of got the cold shoulder for a year from my dad because he was so not in support of the relationship. And anyway, we eventually were able to mend all of that and get through it. And I think me writing this song too was like a, “I know you were right and I love you for caring about me and trying to help.” And whenever I sat down with Rachel Wammack and Austin Taylor Smith, my co-writers, I mean, poor Austin, he just watched Rachel and me cry the entire time writing these lyrics about our dads. And we wrote tons of verses that didn’t even make the song because there’s just so much to say. But yeah, it’s an ode to the dance that obviously you do at your wedding, the daddy daughter dance, which is one that we did as kids growing up and the music video is a bunch of home footage of my family and my sister and my dad at daddy daughter dances and growing up together. But there’s a third daddy daughter dance that people don’t really think about and it’s navigating the relationship between these two people that think so differently do not understand each other, but who love each other and are both honestly trying their best. And one of the lines, “took growing up to understand” and I’m like, it did. When you’re a kid and your dad’s like, “You can’t watch PG13 movies until you’re 16.” And you’re like, “Why do you hate me?” But it’s all out of love.
Take us into the writing sessions “Love You To Death.” Where did the inspiration for this one come from?
I’m a very loyal person and I love with all my heart what I love. I think one of the things I’ve experienced through some of these past relationships is not getting that loyalty reciprocated and not getting that dedication and wholehearted love reciprocated. And so this song is kind of my clap back to that in the sense that it’s like, this is a love song technically. We’re going to be in love forever for the rest of your life and if you lie or cheat, you’re just going to not have that long of a rest of your life. The music video was so fun to film and there’s a lot of items we name in the song that you can use for either thing. You can use this item to be the best wife on earth, or you can use this item to be a murderer. There’s a lot of funny plays on actions in that sense and it was really fun to write. It was a good. We laughed really hard writing this song.
Why was “Love You To Death” the right fit to be the right title of the project?
I try to keep strength and confidence at the core of the message I’m giving to people, even though a lot of the songs are about going through something hard. I try to always have there be this triumphant, “you will get through it” energy because we have to. We have no choice but to get through it. And it does have to be a choice sometimes when it’s the hardest thing in the world to do and you’ve got to wake up tomorrow and still go to work and still walk your dog and still do every single thing on your to- do list, even though you have a broken heart. As many songs as I can give people who are going through heartbreak or just got through heartbreak that they can kind of scream in the aftermath, I definitely try to. It felt like a good song to start the energy off with the power and taking back your own confidence and control of your life.
What does it mean to you to see this community of fans you’ve built hear how these songs and seeing them touch their lives?
It’s a very symbiotic relationship. I have been saved by the Cole team just as much as they’ve been saved by the music, from what they’ve told me. The messages that I’ve gotten from a lot of them have been, “I went through the same thing and now I’m with the love of my life. Everything happens for a reason. You’re going to be okay.” I’ve been brought to tears by messages I’ve read from fans. I mean, the way that music can bring people together who’ve never met each other before, but you just feel this connection, you feel this understanding because you both feel what’s happening in the song at the same core level. It’s so magical and it really does feel like a family. It is a lot of women, but the main reason that it’s a sisterhood is more because I feel like I’m such a sister and I feel like I can be that sister for everyone who needs one because my sisters have picked me up off the floor and saved me 10 billion times and it doesn’t have to be a by blood thing because I feel that same way about my best friends.
I was in a sorority and we called that our sisterhood too. It’s just your chosen family as well. And your sisters are who you cry with when you need a shoulder to lean on. They’re who you celebrate with when things are going well and who you scream with at the top of your lungs in a car when things are needing to be let go of. And I know that this music has turned into that shoulder to lean on for a lot of people.
What are you most excited for fans to hear live from this project when you’re on the road this year?
Everything. We’re in the set list still. And honestly, one of the hardest things is figuring out what songs to do because I can’t fit them all and the record’s not out yet. So some of the songs people haven’t ever heard. They can’t even be like, “Oh, we need to hear this one.” So trying to curate basically just an experience that people can leave the show feeling better than they came to the show feeling is my main goal. And I’m really the most excited to meet everyone who I’ve been connecting with. I mean, I’ve got three million besties on social media now and I get to finally go out there and start taking selfies with them and hanging out.
How will these shows look different than your previous runs?
I think we’re definitely going to have a cooler show and we hired a great music director who’s helping us put together this really insane set. And I also just think when the music is so much more personal to you, the way that you’re able to deliver it just connects better. And I know the songs on this album, I cried writing so many of the songs, even the happy ones, like “Daddy Daughter Dance” and “Big Picture.” Those aren’t sad songs, but we were writing a “Big Picture,” I’m writing this song about my grandparents, grandy and granddad who have been together for … My granddad’s 92 and they’re still together and they’ve been just obsessed with each other for 65 years or whatever it is. And it’s like every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas, the family photo just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. I’m like, “How did they do this?” Even just finding the person feels like such a feat. They not only did that, but they created an entire world that is all their family. And it’s so amazing to me. That’s part of the hopeful side of the album.
Mt Edgecumbe High School student dormitories are seen on Oct. 6, 2025 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
The Alaska Legislature approved millions for immediate upgrades to the facilities at the state-run boarding school, Mt. Edgecumbe High School.
Mt. Edgecumbe has been the focus of public concern and legislative hearings this year, after more than 100 students disenrolled during the school year. Lawmakers called the state’s management of the school into question after witnessing deteriorating facilities, particularly dorms and student living areas.
In response, legislators designated funding in next year’s budget for improvements at the boarding school: $10 million to renovate the dining hall and kitchen, $3 million to replace dorm windows, and thousands to replace mattresses, dorm furniture and decades-old laundry machines. They also approved a new maintenance manager position at the school and earmarked $450,000 for student travel, utilities costs, student activities, and mental health services.
Lawmakers also approved a bill to include Mt. Edgecumbe in a state grant program for funding major maintenance and construction projects in rural school districts. Lawmakers say the change will help streamline funding and prioritize improvement projects at the state-run boarding school moving forward.
Senate Bill 146 passed the Legislature and now goes to Gov. Mike Dunleavy for consideration. If approved, the bill would add Mt. Edgecumbe construction and maintenance projects to be included among those eligible for the state’s Regional Education Attendance Area and Small Municipal School District fund. The grant program is run by the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development for rural school districts’ major maintenance and construction in areas without local municipal governments contributing funds.
Rep. Robyn Frier, D-Utgiavik, the bill’s sponsor, is a third generation alumna of the school, and her son graduated from Mt. Edgecumbe this year. “So this school is deeply meaningful to me and to many rural Alaskans across our state,” she said on the House floor Tuesday.
Rep. Robyn Niayuq Frier is seen on the last day of the 34th regular legislative session on May 20, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Frier noted that students from over 100 rural, mostly Alaska Native communities attend Mt. Edgecumbe every year.
“Unlike other schools in the state, Mt. Edgecumbe is not included on the school construction and major maintenance grant list. Instead, the school falls under statewide departmental maintenance list and must rely on the department to prioritize and advance maintenance requests. This differs greatly from other districts around the state, which are able to advocate directly for their own projects and apply for major maintenance funding,” she said.
If approved, the bill would also lift the $70 million cap on the REAA fund, allowing the Legislature to put more state dollars into the fund.
Maintenance at Mt. Edgecumbe was managed by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities up until 2022, and then transferred to DEED.
Officials with DEED did not provide details about how Mt. Edgecumbe maintenance is managed or how projects are prioritized within the department on Thursday.
A similar proposal that would have changed the funding source for Mt. Edgecumbe as well as allow that money to go to maintain rural teacher housing was passed by the Legislature last year with bipartisan support, but Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed it. In a veto message, the governor wrote that expanding the fund for teacher housing would “diminish equity across school districts” by “diverting already scarce dollars away from critical classroom repairs and complicating grant rankings.”
The governor also opposed repealing the cap on the REAA fund. He objected to the additional state money going into the fund “without project deadlines and adding ongoing operating costs to the state.”
In the current bill, a provision to include funding for teacher housing maintenance projects was removed. Frier noted that any funding above $70 million that goes unused will be lapsed back into the state’s general fund at the end of the fiscal year.
Mt. Edgecumbe High School, the state’s sole public boarding school, is seen in Sitka on Oct. 6, 2025 (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
Bam Margera’s parenting has come into question quite a lot in recent years.
And now, the Jackass star is facing what might be his most damaging allegation yet.
Bam has been locked in a nasty custody battle with his baby mama, Nikki Boyd, and in a recent court filing, Boyd accuses him of providing a weed-infused product to their 8-year-old son, Phoenix.
Bam Margera attends Activision and AEG Presents’ epic celebration of the return of Tony Hawkâs Pro Skater 3 + 4. (Photo by Randy Shropshire/Getty Images for Activision)
According to Nikki, Bam has mostly been an absentee dad.
And when he is around, he allegedly lacks boundaries in a way that could endanger their son’s health.
Bam is sober from alcohol and hard drugs these days, but he recently launched his own line of THC products, and Nikki alleges that he gave a cannabis roll-on to Phoenix (per TMZ).
It sounds like she was able to intervene before Phoenix used the product, but still — if any part of that story is true, it’s not a great look for Bam.
And according to Nikki, that’s just one aspect of Bam’s shoddy parenting.
She claims that under the terms of their original custody agreement, Bam had permission to visit Phoenix 48 weekend days, but he only visited seven times, and he only once stayed the full four hours.
Again, we have no idea if these allegations are true, but it’s sad to see Bam making headlines for all the wrong reasons after months of progress.
In 2023, Bam went missing, and his family and friends said they feared for his life. He was eventually placed on a 5150 psychiatric hold.
Against all odds, Bam turned his life around and even started skateboarding again, something that once seemed a physical impossibility.
And after years of alienation from his Jackass colleagues, Bam will appear in the franchise’s upcoming final film.
Hopefully, all that progress won’t be undone, and Bam and Nikki will be able to come to some sort of amicable custody agreement.
The City of Detroit will likely take in approximately US$164 million from property taxes in the 2026 fiscal year, less than a tax collected from the city’s casinos. Property taxes fund public safety, libraries, sanitation and other city services.
What do you think about the mayor’s approach to this longstanding issue?
Mayor Sheffield’s property tax proposal is a bold effort to bring in new residents, make homeownership more affordable and fight poverty. Tax savings can help Detroit residents pay for their basic needs.
Finding a permanent funding source to replace the revenue lost from lowering property taxes is the biggest challenge to the mayor’s proposal. In the long term, Sheffield believes population and economic growth in Detroit will offset the costs, but her administration will need to find other sources of revenue in the short term. Adopting new taxes will require working with state leadership to pass new legislation. Proposals include an entertainment tax on sports and concert tickets.
How much are Detroiters paying in property taxes now? Is it high compared to similar cities?
An effective property tax rate is the actual percentage of a property’s total market value that is paid in property taxes. The high effective rate in Detroit is driven by both high tax rates and low home values.
Detroit’s tax rate is significantly higher than that of other Midwestern cities. Milwaukee’s effective tax rate is 1.78%. In Indianapolis, it’s 1.20%, and in Chicago, it’s 1.50%.
With a shrinking tax base, Detroit faces financial pressures to generate revenue to fix aging infrastructure and fund city services. These factors have encouraged local taxing authorities to set a high millage rate, 48% above the median rate for other Michigan cities. A millage rate is the tax a homeowner pays per $1,000 of the value of their property.
What factors fuel the costly bills?
Detroit has experienced decades of erosion to the tax base due to long-term population loss that has driven down property values, coupled with fixed costs to maintain existing infrastructure.
These constraints, along with the need to fund services to support a low-income population and the lack of authority to generate revenue from other taxes, all contribute to high property taxes. All Michigan cities face this challenge, as state law requires legislative approval to levy local taxes. This power is granted more freely in other states, such as Illinois and Ohio.
How do high property taxes affect a resident’s ability to buy a home in the city?
High property taxes make it harder to afford a home. Let’s look at how property taxes are calculated and what they add to a mortgage payment.
The online real estate platform Redfin reports that the median home price in Detroit was $104,000 in March 2026. A purchaser putting 20% down and taking out a 30-year mortgage at a 6.6% interest rate would have a monthly mortgage loan payment of around $531. Property taxes are an additional cost.
In Michigan, homeowners pay property taxes on 50% of the property’s assessed value. Assessments are based on market value and determined by city officials for each property every two years.
Applying the 2024 Detroit’s homestead millage rate of 67.9464 to 50% of the value of a median-priced home, or $52,000, results in a property tax bill of nearly $3,533 a year, or $294 a month, adding an additional 50% to base monthly housing costs. For a Detroit household making the city’s annual median income of $39,938, $825 per month on mortgage and taxes would consume 25% of their income.
In addition to mortgage and property taxes, homeowners also need to pay for homeowners insurance and water at rates that exceed national norms. And then there are bills for electricity, gas and internet service to pay.
Compared to a suburban home at the same price point, a Detroit home comes with a higher tax burden – possibly even 70% more than a city like Sterling Heights or Livonia – fewer community services such as recreation centers and poorer performing schools. This could make buying in Detroit seem like a bad financial decision.
Businesses face even higher property tax rates – 82.18 mills in 2025 – which is 34% higher than the statewide median of 61.20 mills. The higher tax rate, combined with complicated regulations and high fees for licenses and permits, makes it hard for anyone to open and maintain a small business in Detroit.
However, research also shows that cutting property taxes can have negative consequences if the cuts result in fewer government services.
A reduction in property taxes could ease financial pressures on Detroit homeowners but could also result in fewer government services. Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images
Because of these potential negative impacts, how taxes are cut matters if the goal is to improve affordability. Simply replacing property taxes with sales taxes affects low-income residents more, hurts renters and makes the tax base more volatile since revenues are directly impacted by economic cycles. In a recession, sales taxes fall because people spend less. Property taxes remain constant.
What laws are already in effect to protect homeowners?
Proposal A and the Headlee Amendment are the current strategies used to control property taxes in Michigan. Proposal A went into effect in 1994 and the Headlee Amendment was adopted in 1978.
Proposal A is a statewide law that limits the increases in taxable value of a property to the rate of inflation or 5%, whichever is lower.
The Headlee Amendment restricts property tax revenue growth at the city, township or county level to the rate of inflation.
Both laws benefit existing homeowners but do not improve affordability for new home buyers.
Circuit breakers are the basis of programs like the Homestead Property Tax Credit in Michigan, which passed in 1973, and are used throughout the country to help low-income, elderly and disabled homeowners.
By keeping property taxes in check, these credits reduce tax burdens for low-income homeowners and protect owners in rapidly gentrifying areas. They can prevent property tax increases that can economically destabilize a household and lead to foreclosure.
If Detroit were to expand circuit breakers by raising the income eligibility requirements, it could help more Detroiters stay in the city and also attract new residents.
Amanda Nothaft does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Matt Brown is the latest member of the family to (once again) set off alarm bells. This time, he livestreamed nude while seemingly intoxicated, all while wandering around outdoors.
He does not appear well. But most of the Brown family has cut ties with him. Who can help him now?
During a YouTube livestream, Matt Brown smoked, rambled, and partially disrobed while in a public park. It got worse than this. (Image Credit: YouTube)
He’s been struggling for a while now
During a recent YouTube livestream, Matt — the eldest of the Alaskan Bush People family’s adult children — appeared in a state of undress.
Many social media commenters observed that he seemed to be intoxicated, though obviously we cannot say for sure without medical evidence or his acknowledgment.
Matt, who is in his mid-40s, was wandering through a public park in Washington state during the Tuesday, May 19 broadcast.
The video showed him just sort of rambling at listeners. Rambling livestreams are not uncommon, especially in an age of increasing social isolation for streamers and audiences alike, but this seemed off.
To top it all off, as we mentioned, he at one point appeared to be carrying a gun. All together, it’s a very alarming combination of choices that he has made.
TMZspoke to sources within the Brown family, and learned that most of them are — by choice — no longer in his life.
Approximately 5 years ago, the family’s late patriarch, Billy Brown, decided that his eldest son’s alleged struggles were too much.
(We know that Matt has publicly discussed his issues with alcohol specifically, but the implication seems to be that there’s more than alcohol involved, which may simply mean mental health.)
Ami Brown, the family matriarch, at first hesitated to cut off contact with her firstborn.
However, it was Matt’s own siblings who convinced her that keeping him at a distance would be better.
His struggles have been an open secret for years
Billy Brown died back in 2021.
The family, and even Alaskan Bush People viewers, had been familiar with Matt’s behavioral struggles for years before that.
These days, TMZ learned, Gabe Brown is the only member of the family who’s still in contact with his eldest brothers.
Even then, the report details, contact is said to be “rare.”
The source likened Matt to a “functional drunk” who could quickly spiral into paranoia and dark thoughts without any warning.
Even when Alaskan Bush People was still running, Matt ended up leaving the show to enter rehab back in 2019.
After that, he moved to rural Washington.
(Remember, the family as a whole relocated multiple times … and, for its final years, Alaskan Bush People filmed in Washington.)
However, Matt has maintained an online presence, one primarily consisting of people who watched his family’s show on Discovery.
Unfortunately, he has a lot of fans worried. It seems that there is little that anyone can do until Matt agrees that he needs help.
These diet and lifestyle trends followed by the baby boomer generation may seem out of fashion, but research suggests that bringing them back has benefits.
Health Digest – Health News, Wellness, Expert Insights
The country music superstar already has strong opinions about what Nashville’s Super Bowl should look and sound like — and he’s apparently prepared to fight for it. Continue reading…The Boot – Country Music News, Music Videos and Songs
