I played offensive line for eight seasons in the NFL, and before that I spent my Saturdays in Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon, blocking for guys who ended up on lists like this one. So when I watch college football now, I watch for the stuff that signaled to me in the huddle whether a guy was for real. I’m picking the 10 players who impressed me most during the previous weekend. Not just the gaudiest stat lines, but the performances that hold up when you turn the tape on. Some weeks, that’ll be a quarterback carving up a defense. Other weeks, it’ll be a lineman you’ve never heard of who didn’t lose a rep all afternoon. I have a soft spot for those guys. Week 1 gave us plenty. Let’s get into it. In Missouri’s 38-21 win over Kansas, Simmons completed 19-of-29 passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns, leading the Tigers to a huge road win over their rival. Each mark was the second-highest of his career. It was also his first career start with at least 20 pass attempts and no interceptions. Underwood still isn’t a complete passer, but as an athlete, he’s hard to beat at this position. He carried the ball 18 times for nearly 100 yards and had a back-breaking touchdown run to help Michigan upset Oklahoma. Mestemaker had a Power Four coming out party against Oregon this past weekend. His 317 yards and two touchdowns helped propel his Cowboys squad in their upset over the Ducks. Mestemaker made high-level NFL throws with pressure in his face all game and then finished his excellent performance with an incredible touchdown run, where he was flipped and hit hard as he tumbled into the end zone for a score. Jackson had two monster plays for the Ducks defense. He showed off his 4.3 speed to catch Mestemaker on a 75-yard run. His ability to knock him out of bounds saved four points for the Ducks as the Cowboys couldn’t finish with a touchdown. Jackson later went nearly 100 yards for an interception return after catching a tipped pass. The freshman receiver had an amazing performance against Texas Tech on Saturday in the Beavers near upset of the Red Raiders. He finished with eight catches for 240 yards and two touchdowns with a long of 75 yards. He’s got nearly 400 yards in two games this season. Keep an eye on this budding star in Corvallis. Taylor is quickly becoming a household name after the first two weeks of the season. After 354 yards in the opener, he started his first road game at Minnesota. He completed 16-of-22 passes for 227 yards and three touchdowns. He also added 86 rushing yards. His highlight video from Saturday shows Taylor throwing fastballs all over the field. He’s been extremely impressive so far. The Oregon transfer has started fast this season for the Bears. In the Bears win over Syracuse, he had five tackles, three pass breakups and three interceptions, including a pick-six and the game-clinching play. He’s been all over the field for the Bears and appears to be a slam dunk addition for Tosh Lupoi. Johnson is a beast for the Gophers and a fun watch each week. PFF graded him as the best offensive lineman in the game on Saturday, and it shows on the film. He’s an effortless mover who’s able to latch onto defenders and take them for a ride. THICC-SIX alert! In Idaho State’s 59-17 thrashing over San Diego, the 6-foot-1, 319-pound defensive tackle caught a tipped pass and took it back 28 yards for the score. You know I love my big-man scores! It was a nightmare Saturday night for the Buckeyes, who suffered the largest blown lead by an AP No. 1 team ever and the biggest by Ohio State since at least 2003. But Smith still delivered another massive performance, finishing with eight catches for 164 yards and a touchdown. He now has five career games with at least 150 receiving yards, the most in the FBS since 2024. His 30 receiving touchdowns over that span are also seven more than any other player, with Elijah Sarratt ranking second with 23.Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
Josie McClain fixes a swing at her home-based child care program. McClain says support from a local nonprofit has helped her expand and improve her facilities. (Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report)
SEWARD, Alaska — It was 2018 when Casie Warner first realized there was a major problem in this popular cruise port, nestled on an inlet about a two-hour drive south of Anchorage. At the time, Warner worked as a home visitor, providing advice, support and resources to low-income parents with young children.
Time and time again, Warner would hear the same story from parents: “‘I wasn’t able to make my medical appointments. I didn’t have child care,’” said Warner. “‘I couldn’t pick up an extra shift at work because of child care.’”
Warner set out to find a solution. But Seward, like many rural communities across the country, is considered a child care desert, where options are scarce and there are no quick fixes.
Then, some unexpected help arrived. In 2021, Norwegian Cruise Lines donated $1 million to Seward to help with post-pandemic economic recovery. The city council voted to spend the money on the two issues deemed to be the most relevant for residents of the town of 2,800: housing and child care.
Five years later, licensed child care slots are up by 150 percent.
In rural communities, the availability of affordable child care is a key component of economic success. At a time when child care shortages are pronounced, especially in rural areas, Seward’s approach of prioritizing child care and investing in new programs and providers offers a potential road map for other communities looking to strengthen their child care industry, support the local economy and eventually retain or attract new residents.
“The hope is that if we can address child care, that perhaps it will have a bigger ripple effect,” said Courtney Bringhurst, a Seward city planner. “We’re hoping that it will help more families be willing to relocate to Seward and stay,” she added. “If we can get more families to stay, that will help strengthen our schools, which will give more opportunities and interest for other businesses to come to Seward.”
The town of Seward, Alaska, is a major cruise port that sees its population nearly double in summer months. (Credit: Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report)
Although Seward’s success so far in expanding child care slots shows what’s possible with more money, experts caution that in most places, public dollars, not private donations alone, will need to fill the gap.
“It’s impossible math otherwise for these programs to continue operating, particularly in rural communities,” said Hailey Gibbs, associate director of early childhood policy at the left-leaning Center for American Progress.
About 1 in 7 people in the U.S. live in a rural community, and though they need and use child care as much as their urban counterparts, they face many more problems getting it. In sparsely populated areas, families are likely to live far from the few providers that exist. The most used child care option for rural families is a provider that operates from their home, but those small businesses are squeezed by low profit margins and high costs.
According to the Center for American Progress, almost all — 96 percent — of Alaska’s children live in a child care desert, defined by the think tank as an area where there are three or more children for every licensed child care slot. The problem is even more acute in rural areas that are also low income: In those parts of the country, there are nine babies for every one licensed child care slot, CAP says.
Alaska’s economy pays a penalty for the lack of child care — according to a 2023 report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the state lost $165 million because parents couldn’t access child care to go to work or school.
But the economic effects are only part of the story. Rural families are more likely to experience food insecurity and to be on public assistance, and rural children under 5 have one of the nation’s highest poverty rates. Poverty and food insecurity are linked to poor school performance, which high quality child care could alleviate — but that care is not an option for many.
“We know that fewer than half of children from low-income families are ready for school at age 5, and the gaps are just so much larger in rural communities,” said Karen Harrison, lead adviser for workforce development at the global nonprofit Save the Children, which runs several rural child care initiatives in the United States. “Many families in rural communities are left without options.”
In Seward, Ella Wright said she and her husband spent the first five years of their daughter’s life working part time in nursing and mental health jobs respectively, due to the lack of child care. Until her daughter got a spot at a part-time preschool at age 3, “we had no breaks,” Wright said.
In 2023, about half of Alaskan parents who were surveyed said that, like Wright, they could not fully participate in the labor force because of child care access and affordability.
The picturesque town of Seward, framed by snow-capped peaks on the Kenai Peninsula, cannot afford to lose workers due to a lack of child care. Summers in Seward are lively. On days when cruise ships are in port, tourists meander up and down the main street, stocking up on souvenirs and taking pictures in front of Resurrection Bay’s ice-blue water. During these months, seasonal workers flood the town to work at restaurants and shops.
Some residents of Seward, Alaska, want tourism tax from visiting cruise ships to help fund the town’s infrastructure needs, including child care. (Credit: Jackie Mader/The Hechinger Report)
But the town’s year-round employers, including a state maximum-security prison and a medical facility, face ongoing worker shortages. The shortages have been so pronounced that in 2023 the town had to temporarily close its small local jail, diverting people in custody to state-run facilities, until it could hire more employees.
“It’s very difficult to maintain a strong, year-round economy, because we can’t maintain families year-round in Seward,” said Bringhurst, the city planner. “People just can’t maintain a job if they don’t have reliable child care.”
The donation from Norwegian couldn’t have come at a better time for the town. In 2019, a child care program closed unexpectedly just three years after it opened, eliminating 20 child care spots from the community. (Qutekcak Native Tribe, a Seward-based social services agency that ran the program, did not respond to a request for comment.)
Then in 2021, a preschool program funded by federal Title I money closed after the local elementary school no longer enrolled enough children from low-income families to qualify for the funding. That left two licensed programs and 20 slots for more than 80 children who needed care.
Norwegian’s donation was part of $10 million in support to Alaska port communities that were affected by Covid-related tourism drops. Warner had transitioned from her role as a home visitor to running a child-focused nonprofit, Happy Youth Programs and Educational Resources, or HYPER, which was chosen to lead the town’s new child care strategy.
Using half of the $1 million donation, HYPER trained providers so they could meet requirements for state licensing and offered start-up funds to help cover the high costs associated with launching or expanding home-based child care businesses. The organization also developed a retention bonus program to boost salaries for providers, paid for early educators to attend trainings and established a year-long subsidy program to help families pay for child care.
Seven miles north of downtown Seward, off the only road into town, Josie McClain’s home-based child care program is tucked away in a clearing down a long gravel driveway. The town’s investment has made an immense difference for McClain, who has a degree in elementary education and launched her program in late 2019 after years of running the local teen and youth center for the city.
Josie McClain talks to children at her home-based child care program. McClain is one of two programs in Seward, Alaska, that offers 24/7 care. (Credit: Jackie Mader/ The Hechinger Report)
On a recent morning, a dozen children roamed around a playground fenced off in front of McClain’s house. McClain and her assistant watched, sometimes stepping in to comfort crying toddlers, fix broken sandals and navigate arguments over the swings.
A little girl shuffled over to McClain, her rainbow-colored sandals on the wrong feet, and pointed through the playground fence, across the yard, to a sea of yellow dandelions.
“I see a lot of flowers!” exclaimed the little girl.
“Should we make dandelion jelly this week?” McClain asked. The little girl nodded eagerly.
“I’ll look up a recipe,” McClain promised. She kissed the girl on her head and sent her off to play.
The weight of her role in the community isn’t lost on McClain. The children in McClain’s care have a deep attachment to her. Several call her “grandma” and, during the day, wander over to cuddle on her lap or give her a hug.
Many of the parents McClain serves wouldn’t be able to work if it weren’t for her. Several work in critical industries, like the local bank, the school system and the hospital. As McClain looked around the playground, she pointed out children whose parents would have left Seward if she hadn’t had room for them. Hers is one of two 24-hour programs in Seward, offering reliable care for parents who work nights, as well as backup and emergency care when parents have unforeseen needs.
“There isn’t any place for them to go,” McClain said. “There isn’t an alternative.”
Running her program has involved sacrifice. On weeks when she can’t make the more than two-hour drive to Anchorage to load up on more affordable food and supplies, she must pay more at the stores in Seward. Recently, a federal food program for child care lowered their reimbursement rates, meaning she gets less money for the healthy food she serves children five times a day. To save money, she’s teaching herself how to can food for the winter. She hasn’t taken a vacation in years.
HYPER’s support and recent efforts from the state have helped ease the load a bit. In 2023, McClain was able to expand her child care program thanks to money from the organization. She used $10,000 from the nonprofit to help pay for a new screened-in porch to give children more room to play, including outside in cold and rainy weather.
“It made my small house one thousand times better,” McClain said. She also got licensed as a group child care program, allowing her to take in four more children for a total of 12.
For the first time in years, McClain has been able to stop living paycheck to paycheck and save money. She receives an annual bonus of several thousand dollars from HYPER each year. For the year that HYPER subsidized parent tuition, McClain could count on a reliable payment each month instead of having to “hunt down money” from families.
Recently, Alaska invested more in child care, from which McClain has also benefited. In 2025, the state allocated about $6 million more to expand eligibility for child care assistance, and this year, added close to another $6 million for annual grants to help child care programs operate. More is needed though, experts say. Earlier this year, lawmakers approved $6.4 million to help retain early educators, but Gov. Mike Dunleavy later vetoed those funds, along with $3.7 million that would have gone to Head Start, the federal and state-funded preschool program for low-income children.
While the cruise company’s donation funding boosted child care in Seward, and state initiatives have provided additional support, the town’s child care crisis is far from solved. Early childhood jobs, with their low pay and lack of benefits, are hard to fill, Warner said. McClain fears she will have to drop four children from her program if she can’t find someone to replace her assistant, who is leaving soon.
And although two new providers have opened with HYPER’s support in the last year, there is still a shortage of infant and toddler spots.
“I don’t think that the people who want more child care know how many hoops there are to jump through,” said Katie Shepard, who co-runs the newest program in town, Timberline Learning Center. “Anybody else who is not just dying to work with the kids is not going to go through all that.”
Katie Shepard, who co-runs the newest child care program in town, Timberline Learning Center, helps a child with a bug-themed activity. Shepard was able to open this program with the help of nonprofit funding. (Credit:Jackie Mader/ The Hechinger Report)
When Shepard wanted to open a part-time preschool program, the cost seemed insurmountable. HYPER provided a $30,000 grant to cover start-up costs, program supplies and business licenses. “Unless we had that kind of money to put into something like this, I don’t think it would have been possible,” Shepard said.
On one summer morning, 10 children scampered around the community room of a Methodist church downtown.
“Who wants to play the bug game?” asked one boy, who was sitting in the middle of the room with bug-themed bingo boards. Several children crowded around him.
At the back of the room, Shepard sat by a large poster where students could write their names and stick them by a picture of their favorite bug.
“I LOVE butterflies!” exclaimed a little girl as she ran up to Shepard. With her teacher’s encouragement, she carefully glued her name on the paper. “Glue is so sticky,” she said.
Children at Timberline Learning Center play a bug-themed game on a summer morning. Parents say they have cut work hours due to the lack of child care in town. (Credit: Jackie Mader/ The Hechinger Report)
Nearby, Wright’s daughter sat at a table carefully placing pictures of bugs onto a clear piece of sticky paper. Wright has seen how her daughter, now 4, has thrived at preschool.
“Language-wise she’s grown, she’s task-oriented. She’s an only child, so that socialization is key for her,” Wright said. Last year, the family received a subsidy from HYPER to help pay tuition. “That was huge,” she said, adding that the family was able to save more money. She will be able to take on more hours at work once her daughter enters kindergarten full time in the fall.
Looking forward, Warner is trying to find a permanent source of funding for child care to help more families. Ideally, she says, that funding will come from a tourism tax. Recently, a new cruise ship dock opened, which will allow larger ships — and more people — to dock in Seward. If key infrastructure needs like child care aren’t addressed, Warner fears people won’t be able to live there.
“We have to support our year-round economy,” because, unlike the tourists, “We also love to live here when it’s quiet and cold.”
This story was produced with support from the Education Writers Association Reporting Fellowship program.
That will change on Sunday night when Patrick sits down with CBS’ Ross Douthat for his first interview since the trial began.
The network announced that Patrick will appear on 60 Minutes on September 20, where he will speak about his grief, his memories of his children, and the conspiracy theories that have spread online since Lindsay’s trial.
They also released a very brief teaser.
The clip shows Patrick being prepared for the interview before he sits down. An off-camera voice can be heard saying, “We’re ready? We’re good? We’re rolling.”
The screen then cuts to black with the words “Only on 60 Minutes.”
Lindsay admitted to killing the couple’s three children — 5-year-old Cora, 3-year-old Dawson and 8-month-old Callan — in their Massachusetts home in January 2023.
Her defense argued that she was not criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time.
Prosecutors maintained that Lindsay was criminally responsible for the killings. After weeks of testimony, jurors were unable to reach a unanimous decision, resulting in a mistrial.
Patrick Clancy prepares for his ’60 Minutes’ interview. (CBS/YouTube)
Patrick was the first prosecution witness during the trial and gave emotional testimony about his children and Lindsay’s mental health struggles.
His attorneys have repeatedly pushed back against those claims and warned that legal action could follow.
Patrick’s attorney Howard Cooper said the family had been subjected to a “relentless, escalating and destructive defamation campaign,” adding that Patrick ultimately wants to focus on preserving his children’s memory and supporting families dealing with perinatal mental health challenges.
The upcoming 60 Minutes interview will mark Patrick’s first extensive televised interview. Though he took the stand back in July, for many viewers, this will be the first time that they actually hear Patrick speak.
The judge in Lindsay’s trial determined that the recording of Patrick’s 911 call was too disturbing to be released publicly.
Meanwhile, prosecutors have not announced whether they intend to retry Lindsay. Her next court hearing is scheduled for September 29.
For now, viewers will have to wait until Sunday to hear what Patrick has to say. And it will likely become 60 Minutes‘ most talked-about interview in years.
JACOB’S LADDER: Otsego County Democratic Chair Caitlin Ogden is launching a bid for the top spot in the state party — the first time its current chair, Jay Jacobs, has had a challenger during his lengthy tenure.
Jacobs, who also serves as Nassau County’s Democratic chair, has led the state party under the past three governors, with stints from 2009 to 2012 and 2019 through the present.
But those stints have unfolded despite years of grumbling from the party’s progressive flank.
“I came in as Otsego County chair about five years ago, and I’ve heard since then that Jay Jacobs has helped the party get by. And he definitely has,” Ogden said. “But I think the political landscape is shifting radically, and it’s time for a new leader to guide the party through the next phase and really deliver on Gov. Hochul’s vision of statewide, year-round party organizing.”
The friendly footing toward Gov. Kathy Hochul is a bit of a shift for Ogden. She was a top supporter of Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado’s challenge to the governor.
But expanding on Hochul’s efforts to use the party to help candidates up and down the ballot is now the focus of Ogden’s message as she attempts to win over party members. The Democratic Party has indisputably played a larger role organizing campaigns across the state in recent years, though numerous local officials have characterized this as a slapdash operation that emerges only in the run-up to congressional contests.
Ogden said that in 2022 she “had been expecting there to be a coordinated campaign structure because I had been told there would be.”
“There was not in any capacity — there was no organizational help from Albany or the state party,” she said. “We never got any literature for any of our Albany candidates; we finally got 40 signs for Kathy Hochul in the middle of October.”
The party apparatus has since been more helpful, Ogden said. But it’s still absent more often than not. It played no role as Democrats in her county had one of its best nights in historylast November and has been quiet so far in the county that’s at the heart of Rep. Josh Riley’s battleground district.
“We don’t even have staff hired yet, at least to my knowledge,” she said. “And it’s so late in the game.”
“Is it something that would be helpful?” Jacobs said in response to Ogden’s call for a more regular statewide effort. “Of course.”
“But the big question is ‘where do you get the money?’ We raise millions now: This coordinated campaign is going to run through between $6 and $8 million. And that’s not easy to raise, so speculating that you’ll be able to fund not only election year coordinated campaigns, but also ongoing coordinated campaigns year-round every year, I don’t think is reasonable.”
Jacobs highlighted several accomplishments at the state party, such as a grant program that’s given $1 million to county committees and “allowing resolutions to come to the floor, where before they were always tabled to not allow for debate.” He also acknowledged that while 2022 was a “tough year” for the party, it did “very well” in 2024.
The party’s elected committee members select the chair. But historically, they’ve just gone along with whomever’s picked by the governor — a potential obstacle to the pro-Delgado Ogden, but one she thinks can be overcome.
“The conversation has been happening for a really long time now … about whether or not our leadership is on the right path,” she said.
Jacobs has faced calls for his ouster after the 2021, 2022 and 2025 elections, and easily survived a vote of no confidence six years ago. There were rumors last fall that his tenure was at an end after he declined to endorse then-mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, but Hochul said he was “doing a great job” and the party stuck with him.
“Since I’ve been the chair for ten years over two different tenures, I have heard repeatedly that I’m on the way out,” Jacobs said. “The only thing is, it’s never come from me.”
“It’s not that I need it for my livelihood — I like being involved in the Democratic Party and I find this a worthwhile endeavor. So as long as that remains, I’m happy to continue.”
The state Democratic Party will decide on Oct. 1 whether Jacobs stays on or not. — Bill Mahoney
FROM CITY HALL
ZO ON BIBI IN NYC: Mayor Zohran Mamdani spoke publicly for the first time today on his plans to skip the protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Jewish head of state will be in New York City next week for the United Nations General Assembly.
“I have made very clear about my views, my thoughts, my assessments,” Mamdani said when asked why he’ll sit out. “When it comes to the UN General Assembly, my focus is ensuring that our city remains prepared to host representatives from across the world, to keep New Yorkers safe, and also to ensure that we’re able to both address the global conversation and the very local concerns New Yorkers have about traffic and their ability to get from point A to point B over the course of the next week.”
Mamdani’s nod to quotidian anxieties like gridlock is a far cry from his typically strident anti-Israel rhetoric and long history of pro-Palestinian activism. As recently as July, he was publicly railing against Netanyahu and entertaining the idea of having the NYPD arrest him on a controversial war crimes warrant issued by the International Criminal Court over Israel’s war in Gaza.
The war, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack that killed about 1,200 Israelis, has left more than 73,000 Palestinians dead.
Mamdani ultimately walked back his calls, saying in a social media video that his administration does not have the “independent legal authority to enforce this warrant.” Still, he has continued to condemn Netanyahu, whom he called the “architect of a horrific genocide.” And he has appeared to call New Yorkers to action, saying that, “while we cannot end the genocide on our own, we can decide whether our silence will become another weapon.”
The mayor took a more measured tone today when answering questions about whether he would encourage critics of Israel to protest Netanyahu’s visit to the city.
“To New Yorkers — I’ve never encouraged them to protest, but I always told them they have the right to do so, and we respect that right, and this city is proud of the first amendment,” Mamdani said.
Regardless, sizable protests are expected ahead of and during Netanyahu’s Sept. 24 speech at the UN. The mayor said he has been in close contact with the NYPD and there are no expected security threats. — Molly Reinmann
SEWER SOCIALISM: Mamdani’s administration plans to install 17 free public bathrooms across the five boroughs — part of a one-year, $4 million pilot project with the modular public toilet company Throne Labs.
Each of the modular bathrooms will be climate controlled, have a toilet, a sink and a baby changing station, and will close at 10 p.m. To enter, New Yorkers can scan a QR code, use an app, send a text message, or use a physical tap card.
“These 17 formerly bathroomless locations will soon become New York City’s number one place to go number two — or number one, you don’t need to tell me,” the mayor joked today.
The pilot program is set to place five toilets in the Bronx, four in Brooklyn, three in Queens, four in Manhattan and one in Staten Island.
The initiative builds on a January announcement from Mamdani and is an attempt to solve an enduring problem that’s bedeviled city officials for decades: How to construct a simple public restroom without taking years and spending millions of dollars.
Former Council Member David Greenfield once highlighted a public restroom renovation in his district that — bogged down by municipal procurement and construction requirements — took nearly a decade and cost $2 million.
The commodes announced by Mamdani today, by contrast, are projected to come out to under $250,000 per bathroom, inclusive of maintenance, for the year-long pilot.
“We are essentially wasting taxpayer money,” Greenfield said at the time. “You can build a complete house in six months for $1 million.” —Molly Reinmann and Joe Anuta
FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
EYES ON AI: Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan and former city Comptroller Brad Lander are among the signatories on a pledge to refuse cash from the big-money, pro-AI political group Leading the Future.
Lander, who’s all but certain to serve in Congress next year after winning the June primary in a safe-blue district, said he’s “determined to pass strong safeguards into law and make sure the American people have a true say in the future of AI.”
Ryan accused the “Big Tech oligarchs behind Leading the Future” of only caring “about their profits.” — an argument he made during the primary for NY-12. In that race to succeed retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler, Ryan backed state Assemblymember Alex Bores, one of Leading the Future’s biggest targets. Bores finished in second place.
The public condemnations from Ryan and Lander come amid heightened concerns about the existential threat potentially posed by AI. New York politicians have urged the federal government to do more to address the rapidly developing technology, and Hochul vowed that the state will fill the void in the absence of action from Washington.
Leading the Future, which is backed by leaders at OpenAI and the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, has pushed back against criticism that it’s anti-regulation. It previously stated that it supports “passing a national regulatory framework for AI.” —Madison Fernandez
IN OTHER NEWS
— GRACIE GATHERING: Students and teachers from two of New York City’s elite Orthodox Jewish schools will demonstrate Friday outside Gracie Mansion. (Jewish Currents)
— FLOWERY PLANS: City officials are weighing plans to put rain gardens on top of bus stops after a prototype went up in Brooklyn. (Gothamist)
— PROPERTY PAYOUT: New York City is spending $60 million to settle a 2019 lawsuit alleging a city-instituted program illegally stripped dozens of homeowners of their equity. (The New York Times)
Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.
Texas quarterback Arch Manning is just another man. He isn’t any better than that. He showed us a side of who he is — in a brief moment, looking comfortable, being in control. He was surrounded by men who, presumably, want Manning to like them, and many showed us who they are, too: humored by the depiction of violence against women. Not more than 48 hours after Manning led the Longhorns to the largest comeback win against an Associated Press No. 1-ranked team in 30 years, he sat for standard media availability. And then he joked about an AI video featuring violence against women, laughed at his own remarks and got a room full of men to laugh at it too. “I’ve seen a few AI edits of stuff, but that’s about it,” Manning said, responding to a question about seeing any Texas-Ohio State clips on social media. “I saw an AI edit of Sark’s interview,” he continued, igniting howls from his audience as he laughed alongside them. “Have you all seen that one? That’s a good one. Of him slapping Holly Rowe? That’s hilarious.” Saturday night after Texas’ comeback win, Rowe, an ESPN sideline reporter, tried to perform her duty and one of the most difficult tasks in the sport: get the immediate postgame interview. Amid pandemonium on the field at Darrell K. Royal Stadium, Rowe managed to duck, dart and dodge through the masses to get next to Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian. As Rowe began to ask her question, Sarkisian dismissed her — and the national TV audience watching this exchange unfold. Many folks, myself included, were appalled at how Sarkisian chose to represent himself, his program and the University of Texas in that moment. He failed not only to show the proper respect for the title he holds, but also the decency to allow Rowe to do her job. But most people probably forgot about that moment by Sunday morning. Preparation for Week 3 of the college football season began for every team as soon as they’d finished their last game. That’s true of Texas, which enters its next game against UTSA as both my No. 1 team and the AP’s. That game should be the focus for Manning and the Longhorns. But it’s not because Manning chose to mention — and then laugh about — an AI video depicting violence against women. Well, one woman in particular. At first, I thought the video of Arch Manning — widely considered one of the most polite and aw-shucks players in the country — was AI created, too. Then I realized I was wrong. He laughed. Some men in the room laughed. I didn’t. I was appalled. I was ashamed. I was angry. Angry that the natural follow-up question — “What’s so funny about an AI video of his head coach slapping a woman?” — was either not asked or never left that room. With all due respect — which could be none — where are the male colleagues defending Rowe? Inaction and silence is cowardly at best, dehumanizing and encouraging of violence at worst. “People who are amused by a woman being harmed and humiliated — real or fake — not only show a severe lack of empathy; they reinforce a culture that endorses cruelty and violence against women,” Tracey Lyall, the CEO of Domestic Violence Intervention Services in Oklahoma, where I live, told me. Manning is 22 years old — four years past the minimum age to vote and to join the U.S. military. He’s a full adult. He’s also capable of issuing an apology, an explanation and, most importantly, suffering consequences that follow. There should be consequences. There should be apologies. There should be explanations. I don’t have faith that any meaningful consequences will find Manning, even after he issued this statement on Instagram Tuesday afternoon: “In my press conference yesterday, I made an insensitive comment about an AI video. There is nothing funny about it. It’s easy to say I didn’t mean it, but I know my words and actions were hurtful to a lot of people. I do not take that lightly and am deeply sorry for that. I specifically want to apologize to Holly Rowe for what she has personally had to deal with because of my comments. I have a ton of respect for her and appreciate her showing me grace in this moment. I need to do better and will be more thoughtful going forward.” So he says. So men say. We say a lot. Being accountable for our egregious actions, though? Not so much. And there are no assurances beyond his word that Manning will show the basic respect we require. He’s lost the benefit of the doubt, and he might never earn it back. Not long after Manning published his apology, Rowe publicly accepted it. “Thank you Arch,” she wrote on social media. “I appreciate our conversation about this — which will remain private. Apology accepted. We move forward with respect and kindness for one another.” Online, reaction has been mostly met with the kind of toxic joke-making I’ve become all too familiar with. I reposted the now-viral video with a question: “y’all laughed at that?” Most of the responses are predictably despicable and frustrating. There should be zero tolerance for violence against women. There should be zero tolerance even for the suggestion of violence against women as a joke. Domestic violence is a scourge we, mostly men, are uninterested in addressing, even though globally one in three women experiences partner or sexual violence in their lifetime, and more than 316 million women have experienced partner or sexual violence in 2025 alone, according to the World Health Organization. Additionally, several studies over the years reveal a correlation between sports events and domestic violence in North America. In college sports, the examples of violence against women, whether on an individual or systemic level, are endless — in part because so many instances are not reported. And when jokes like this are so callous and commonplace, you can’t blame victims for their silence. But make no mistake: Believing it’s OK to make a joke about physically assaulting women is how men learn to believe it’s OK to hurt women. The jokes are dehumanizing, belittling. They make it that much more painful for a victim of violence to come forward. “The laughs from those in the press conference, and from everyone who shared the video, underscore how much work remains,” Lyall continued. “An apology is nice, but we must actively dismantle this culture that finds violence against women entertaining, and hold ourselves, our sports institutions and our communities to a standard where physical abuse is never tolerated, never minimized and never a joke.” I am painfully aware much of the public does not agree with me. I am painfully aware of what standing up to a nasty joke might cost. I am also painfully aware of what still might happen if I don’t. Standing against violence is the bare minimum for men who want to help make a safe world for women, not because they are women, but because they are human. You’d never let your friend, your family, your teammate be ridiculed, maligned or harmed. You’d fight back on their behalf. I will too. Look, I don’t know Rowe. She doesn’t know me. But we work in a field, on a field, in a job that is as tough as it is fun. Few folks care what we think of Arch Manning laughing about a fake video of his coach assaulting her, and more will make fun of us for caring at all. But they care about Manning. Just not enough to hold him accountable. Manning is an elite quarterback on the best team in college football. He has a chance to be one of the greatest players the sport has ever seen if he can lead Texas to its first national championship in 21 years. Had he taken that horrible AI edit and used it as an opportunity to condemn violence against women, the good he could’ve done — and perhaps still can do — is an order of magnitude. On Monday, he was just another man.Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
Elementary school kids go through the lunch line. Cuts to the nation’s largest food assistance program may cause students to lose access to free breakfast and lunch. (Photo by Marcus Constantino for West Virginia Watch)
Twice a week, ships from each of Alaska’s two ocean carriers arrive in Anchorage after a days-long journey from Washington state. They carry most of the food Alaskans buy at the grocery store on the road system and beyond. A dizzyingly complex network of boats, trucks and planes then carries food step by step from Anchorage into the vast reaches of the state. At the same time, other ships are heading to Southeast and to the Aleutians, trucks are coming up the Alaska Highway and planes are flying directly from Outside. All carrying the store-bought food we eat.
Every Alaskan eats. The people we elect this November will help shape our food systems — how our food gets here, what it costs and who can reach it. That’s why the Alaska Food Policy Council built an informational resource to help Alaskans see the roles elected officials play in our food systems. We are nonpartisan organizations, and we take no positions on candidates or ballot measures.
Alaska’s food systems are unusually vulnerable. You’ve probably heard the figure that 95% of the food we purchase is imported. No one has hard numbers, but no one disputes the basic premise. We do know our grocery stores only carry three to five days of food at a time. Disruptions from bad weather, ice, natural disasters, or mechanical issues happen regularly — we’ve all experienced empty shelves. Food insecurity is commonplace across the state and heightened in rural areas. And groceries cost more, too: A cart of basic groceries that costs $45 in Washington D.C., costs $55 in Anchorage, $75 in Nome and $109 in Iliamna, according to 2025 grocery cart project results.
But vulnerability is only one part of our story. The ways food reaches our plates here are remarkably diverse. Wild and subsistence foods are vital. According to theAlaska Department of Fish and Game, Alaska residents harvest approximately 50 million pounds of wild foods per year. Alaska’s growing agricultural sector includes land and ocean farms, ranches and community gardens that provide fresh vegetables, fruits, meat, dairy, cut flowers and more. Dozens of mariculture operations produce oysters, mussels and kelp. Thousands of commercial fishermen head out on the water every summer to harvest seafood for our local communities and the world.
AFPC works at the intersection of food systems and political decisions. We believe that every Alaskan, in every community, deserves reliable access to healthy, affordable, culturally important food. This reliable access requires having food systems strong enough to provide it, for current and future generations. From federal nutrition programs to school lunches and from agricultural loans for farmers to supply chain infrastructure, elected officials are shaping our food systems through their decisions and priorities.
This November, Alaskans will choose a new governor, the vast majority of the state Legislature and two-thirds of our Congressional delegation. These elected officials will make decisions critical to our food systems and have a real impact on the food your family eats: how federal nutrition programs like SNAP are run in Alaska; whether agriculture, fisheries management and food safety programs are staffed and funded; whether the agricultural loan funds work for farmers; how schools buy food; and what gets built, including ports, roads, runways and cold storage.
AFPC worked with farmers, fishermen, Tribal organizations, food banks, market managers, business owners, researchers and public health advocates to create a resource called the AK Food Vote campaign. You won’t see us endorsing anyone or telling you how to vote. But atakfoodvote.org you’ll find information: responses to our candidate survey, which we’ll post in late September; how ranked-choice voting works; voter registration and absentee deadlines.
Maddie Marlow Font has a lot to be excited for in this new chapter of her life. The singer announced on Wednesday, September 16, that she and her husband, Jonah Font, are expecting their second child, a baby girl. This news means that their 3-year-old son, Forrest, will take on the role of big brother early next year.
The pregnancy comes just months after Font stepped away from the platinum-selling country music duo, Maddie & Tae, to begin pursuing music as a solo artist. She’s now preparing to release her first solo record and to welcome another baby into the world.
“I’m going to be popping out a baby and popping out my first solo record,” Font told PEOPLE. “I guess I’m just trying to do all the things.”
Photo Courtesy of Maddie Marlow Font
The happy news also came after an incredibly difficult few months for Font and her family as she revealed that she experienced an early miscarriage in March.
“It just really made me trust God’s timing and His ways and what He had in store for us.”
Not surprisingly, the loss proved difficult for the otherwise upbeat Font. “It took me a while to snap out of that sadness, because you’re just so excited and you’re dreaming up all the things,” she says.
Font gave herself the space to grieve but ultimately knew she had to keep moving forward. At the same time, she was navigating the emotional experience of beginning to establish herself as a solo artist for the first time in years. She turned to her faith and her music as a way to get through the hard chapter.
“My faith has been strengthened to a different level. I’m in this new chapter of my life where I’m really having to trust my gut for the first time in my career and really fight for what I want and not settle, even if it’s going to take longer or make some people mad.”
In May, she and Jonah learned they were expecting again and this time, it was a girl.
“We did like a little cake and cut into it, and it was a girl, and I swear my husband’s life flashed before his eyes,” Font joked. “He was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going to have a daughter,’ which is so exciting, but just, like, different.”
One of the first people Font told about her pregnancy was her longtime friend and former Maddie & Tae bandmate, Tae Dye Kerr. The two happened to be together for a playdate with their kids on the same day Font found out she was pregnant, and Font says Kerr somehow knew before she even said a word.
“I just gave her this look, and she looked at me, and she’s like, ‘You’re pregnant.’ I was like, ‘Huh? I didn’t even say anything,’ and she was like, ‘I just know.’ It’s that soul sister connection, I guess,” Font recalled.
Photo Courtesy of Maddie & Tae
Amid all the excitement of the pregnancy, she released her debut solo single, “Drive Me Around,” and even filmed the music video while dealing with morning sickness and trying to keep her growing baby bump hidden.
Luckily, the Texas native says she has had incredible support from Kerr and her “rock solid” husband, who have both helped her navigate the ups and downs that she has faced this past year. The pair of artists might not be sharing the stage anymore, but Kerr still plays a big role in Font’s career as she has co-written a handful of songs on the upcoming solo record.
“I have so many of Leighton’s clothes in my baby girl’s closet,” Font said of Kerr’s daughter. “I remember holding Leighton in so many of these outfits on tour. And now my baby girl’s going to be wearing [them]. It’s just such a magical, sweet time.”
Now that she is finally able to be open with the world about this next chapter, Font hopes her experience will encourage other female artists who want to pursue their careers while also building a family.
“I feel like in this business, especially with women, there’s this misconception that you can’t have a family and do this,” she admits. “I think there’s sacrifices on both ends, but I would just hope that newer artists or younger artists or just any female artist that has that dream of being a mom and doing this would just feel encouraged by my story in some way.”
After making his acquaintance through Instagram messages, Lexi flew from Lakeland, Florida to Los Angeles to meet Wehr.
Her family tells The New York Post that she was under the impression that James had separated from his wife, Emma Wehr, and was in the process of divorcing her.
That turned out not to be the case, as the family reportedly discovered in subsequent phone conversations with Emma.
Records in Orange County, California, where the couple resided, do not indicate that either party had filed for divorce.
And while it’s possible that James and Emma may have been separated, the couple had not made any sort of announcement to that effect.
The wreckage of a car accident. (Photo by Gert Eggenberger/Getty Images)
And as many social media users have noted, in her Instagram tribute to her late husband, Emma referred to James as the “greatest blessing” in her life.
Kramer’s family members say they’re furious, as they believe that Lexi was lured to California under false pretenses and that she died as a result of James’ lies.
“[He] talked to her every day all the time and finally got her to fly out to California to come see him,” one anonymous family member told the Post, adding Lexi had a passion for “American muscle cars and motorcycles.”
“She loved the car community, so it’s such a tragedy that that’s what ended her,”
The family member noted that James and Lexi went to dinner at Nobu and drinks at the Pendry Hotel hours before the fatal crash.
“As you can imagine, this was very shocking and hard. She was kind and funny and charismatic and I’ve had so many people reach out and share their wonderful experiences with Lexi,” said the source.
Lexi was a recent college grad, and her Instagram bio indicates that she posed for the 2026 Hooters calendar.
“My mother always told us growing up that there was always only one person meant to be with you and have your back no matter what and that would always be your sister,” her sister wrote in a lengthy Instagram tribute (per the Post).
“Lexi was so much more than just my best friend, she was all of my love, my heart, my attitude, and my humor wrapped into a smaller, more chaotic, less filtered, package.”
“James, I never thought the day would come that I’d have to say such a final goodbye. Getting the opportunity to love you will always be the greatest blessing in my life,” Emma wrote of her late husband.
“You’re smart, kind, funny, loving, and genuinely one of the best people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing. Getting the opportunity to love you will always be the greatest blessing in my life.”
We will have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.
