From kitchen items to desserts, Dollar Tree has stocked up on seasonal and holiday items that have customers taking to social media to brag about their finds.
Mashed – Fast Food, Celebrity Chefs, Grocery, Reviews
Day: October 1, 2026
By: Yereth Rosen, Alaska Beacon
President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that he had secured a deal with the Republic of Korea to spend $54 billion on a long-desired Alaska natural gas pipeline project, part of a $200 billion package of investments that include a major power plant in Texas and several nuclear power plants.
South Korea’s trade minister quickly shot down that claim, saying the government is simply reviewing the Alaska project and will proceed with investment “only if its commercial viability is established,” the Korea JoongAng Daily newspaper reported.
Trump spoke in glowing terms of an Alaska liquefied natural gas project as a sure accomplishment — even though half a century of efforts by state and federal officials and the energy industry have failed to make the project a reality, and even though Korean officials have disputed his claim that they are committed to investing in it.
“This alone will be one of the largest energy projects in American history and a gigantic win for the people of Alaska,” Trump said at the event, held in the White House’s Oval Office. “It will create up to 12,000 construction jobs immediately and 1,000 operational jobs. It’ll also save Alaska households up to $1,500, maybe even as much as $2,200 a year in energy costs. It’s amazing.”GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.SUBSCRIBE
The Alaska LNG investment is part of a “colossal package of investments” stemming from his trade and tariff policies that make “a major step toward securing our critical energy supply chain, ensuring American energy dominance, and making our partnership with South Korea and the entire Pacific region stronger than ever before,” Trump said.
South Korea’s industry, trade and resources minister quickly shot down Trump’s claim about securing $54 billion for the Alaska project. Minister Kim Jung-kwan said the Korean government is simply reviewing the Alaska project and will proceed with investment “only if its commercial viability is established,” the Korea JoongAng Daily newspaper reported.
Trump made the announcement while flanked by a crowd of men that included three cabinet members, Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy and U.S. Sen. Dan Sulivan, R-Alaska, and U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska. Also in the group was Brendan Duval, chief executive of the Glenfarne Group, the investment company leading the current proposal for a natural gas project in Alaska.
The current proposal is to ship gas from the North Slope through a yet-to-be-built 807-mile pipeline from the North Slope to tidewater at Southcentral Alaska’s Cook Inlet, where it would be liquefied and put on tankers for shipment to Asian markets.
Alaska’s North Slope holds vast amounts of natural gas along with its oil resources. But geographic distance and costs have kept that natural gas stranded from markets, despite numerous schemes proposed over the years to build different types of pipeline systems to ship the product to either Asia or to the Lower 48.
The natural gas pipeline has been a perennial issue in Alaska elections, including this year’s U.S. Senate race, which is hotly contested. The energy investments Trump announced also affect Texas, another state where there is a competitive Senate race.
Trump and others who spoke at the ceremony spent much of their time praising Sullivan, whom he called “a great senator who is totally responsible for this pipeline,” and urging that he be reelected.
Sullivan is facing a stiff challenge from former Democratic U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, who led in votes in the primary election. But Trump spent much of his time at Wednesday’s Oval Office event talking about retired Petersburg teacher Dan J. Sullivan, the third U.S. Senate candidate on the Alaska ballot whose candidacy has been challenged by state election officials.
“That Dan Sullivan is a disgraceful fraud,” Trump said.
“It’s so corrupt. The Democrats are corrupt. . . When they put up a man with his exact name, they picked him out of a hat. They said, ‘Anybody named Dan Sullivan in Alaska?”
Trump has said he is planning to come to Alaska to campaign for the senator and against the Petersburg candidate.
Sullivan, in turn, praised Trump and also described the natural gas pipeline projects as if it is a sure thing.
“Mr. President, I would say this is the most important project in our state by far,” he said. “This is the project that is going to keep our kids and grandkids in Alaska, with a great, bright future. This is the project that our state has been working on to try to get done for almost a half century.”
Positive reaction, and also skepticism
Peltola, whom Trump did not mention but who finished 8.1 percentage points ahead of Sen. Sullivan in Alaska’s Aug. 18 open primary, issued a statement saying she welcomes Korean investment in the gas project.
She cited “bipartisan work” she did in the state legislature and Congress and said she will continue to do that work if elected to the Senate. “Today’s announcement is great news for Alaska, and I appreciate President Trump’s work to unleash Alaska energy. I look forward to continuing this bipartisan work with the President as Alaska’s next United States Senator,” she said in the statement.
Also issuing a positive statement was former State Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, a Democrat running for governor.
“Alaska should welcome foreign investment that helps responsibly develop our resources, creates good-paying jobs, and builds new markets for Alaska’s natural gas,” Kreiss-Tomkins said in the statement, in which he describes himself as “an enthusiastic champion” of the gas project. “I’m thrilled to see President Trump’s support, and interest from South Korea, for moving this project forward,” he said.
However, the statements made by Trump, Sullivan and others on Wednesday differ vastly from the position articulated by the Republic of Korea government, according to news reports in that nation.
June 9, 2011)
The Korean government is not committing to spending any money on Alaska LNG, a project it considers to be a matter for further consultation, according to Korean publications. The actual commitment to Alaska LNG, as described in a memorandum of understanding, is to ‘explore the possibility of investment’ in the project, “while stopping short of making any binding financial commitment,” according to Korean reports.
Additionally, a law in Korea enacted earlier this year limits government investment in the U.S. to $20 billion a year.
One Alaska lawmaker pointed to the information from Korea as a reason to be skeptical about Trump’s announcement.
State Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks, noted that Korea’s president had not backed Trump’s account.
Rather, Trump’s announcement seemed like one in a series of “boisterous” statements about things that people want, with details not provided, Kawasaki said.
“I think that, again, this is another bold pronouncement from a president who’s been known for making bold pronouncements but not following through,” he said.
It reminded him of Trump’s promise to build a wall at the Mexico border and make the Mexican government pay for it, Kawasaki said. “That never happened,” he said.
And he cautioned Alaskans against raising their expectations based on Trump’s announcement.
“I don’t want to tell the public and my voters that are just struggling, you know, trying to make ends meet that, ‘Don’t worry, the pipeline’s coming tomorrow; don’t worry, your gas problems are going to be solved overnight,’ because that’s just not going to happen,” he said.
Trump, in addition to making claims that are at odds with the Korean government’s public positions, made other questionable statements.
“For five decades, politicians have talked about the Alaska pipeline. I’ve been hearing about it from the time I’m a little boy: ‘The Alaska pipeline is going to be built someday.’ I was always fascinated by it,” he said.
It was unclear whether he was talking about the existing Trans Alaska Pipeline System, which has been shipping North Slope crude oil from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez since 1977, or the proposed gasline project. Discussions about either pipeline began after oil was discovered at Prudhoe Bay in 1968, when Trump, who is now 80, was 21.
Trump also claimed that he won the presidential vote in Alaska by 22 percentage points. His margin of victory in Alaska in 2024 was 13.1 percentage points.
Long history of international efforts
Wednesday’s announcement about Korean investment comes as part of a decades-long history of highly touted international agreements aimed at developing North Slope natural gas.
Those date back to 1977, when the U.S. and Canada struck a deal to develop an overland system that was to deliver natural gas to the Lower 48.
Other agreements were promoted in the 1980s and 1990s. At the time Yukon Pacific Corp., which ultimately held federal and state permits to build an LNG export project, was actively negotiating with would-be Asian partners and buyers. During the time, Yukon Pacific announced agreements with potential partners in Korea and Taiwan.
There were bold pronouncements about exports made during that era that were similar to those made in the Oval Office on Wednesday.
“ALASKA GAS IS POISED FOR EXPORT TO ASIANS,” said a headline in the Jan. 11, 1988, issue of the Journal of Commerce. The story referred to efforts by President Ronald Reagan and Japanese Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita to try to secure that Asian country as a partner in the Alaska LNG project.
Other international negotiations and agreements followed.
In 2008, for example, the China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, also known as Sinopec, submitted a formal proposal to the administration of Gov. Sarah Palin to build an LNG project with a pipeline running along the existing oil pipeline’s route from the North Slope to the port of Valdez.
Nine years later, the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation — which became the main sponsor of the project — and the state announced a “Joint Development Agreement” with Sinopec and other would-be partners from China. Along with Sinopec, parties to the agreement were CIC Capital Corporation and the Bank of China. It was “the most significant step forward for Alaska LNG,” AGDC said at the time.
The signing of that agreement was witnessed by Trump in his first administration during a trip to China, according to AGDC’s account.
In February of 2025, Trump announced a “joint venture” with Japan on Alaska LNG in terms similar to those he used on Wednesday to describe what he said was a commitment for Korean investment.
At the time, Sullivan praised Trump in terms similar to those he used on Wednesday.
“With his leadership, we will get the Alaska LNG Project built, which will create thousands of good-paying jobs, reinvigorate our American steel industry, significantly reduce our trade deficit in Asia, and deliver clean-burning Alaska gas for Americans, our military, and our allies in the Asia-Pacific, like Japan,” Sullivan said in a statement then.
Correction: Dan J. Sullivan is the U.S. Senate candidate from Petersburg.
Luke Bryan is opening up about a recent conversation with his fellow American Idol judge Lionel Richie and shares an update on how the music icon is doing.
The country star said he initially hesitated to reach out because he didn’t want to bother Richie, given his busy schedule and recent health concerns, but ultimately decided to give him a call.
“He’s doing well. I talked to him. I didn’t want to call him and bug him, [but] I called him, said, ‘I love you.’ And then he called me back. He was like, ‘Man, I’m just telling you I’m alright.’ So it was good for him to call me,” Bryan said during an interview on Good Morning America.
He added that Richie “works hard” and needs to “slow down a little bit.”
Last week, fans learned that the 77-year-old singer had been hospitalized for the third time this year after experiencing an irregular heartbeat. Richie’s reps informed PEOPLE that he was treated for AFib and “everything went perfectly.”
The news followed a report from TMZ back in June, revealing that Richie was taken to the hospital via ambulance after claiming to feel “dizzy” and “strange” while performing in St. Paul. Then in August, he checked himself back into the hospital out of an abundance of caution and stayed for three days in the ICU while undergoing tests for cardiac issues he was experiencing following a show in St. Louis.
As of now, the “Hello” singer is said to be “doing great” and is making sure to take some time to recover before he returns to the stage. The most recent hospitalization also impacted Lionel Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire’s Sing a Song All Night Long Tour. They were originally set to take the stage this weekend, however their schedule is now set to resume on October 16 in Las Vegas.
Lionel Richie also recently (virtually) joined Carrie Underwood and Luke Bryan in announcing their return to the judging panel for Season 25 of American Idol. The news broke on September 24, during the country act’s star-studded Luke Bryan and Friends concert at Nashville’s Bridgestone arena. The night featured surprise appearances from a slew of hitmakers, including Underwood.
While Underwood and Bryan were on stage, they prompted the audience to turn their attention to the screen behind them for a message from Richie via a pre-recorded video. He let the audience know that they had a big secret they had been keeping, leading Bryan to make the formal announcement.
“I’m so surprised that I’ve been able to keep this a secret,” Bryan admitted before they yelled, “We’re coming back for the 25th season of ‘American Idol’!”
In addition to the judges, Ryan Seacrest is also set to return as host for a 25th straight season. This will mark the 10th season for Richie and Bryan, who both joined “Idol” in 2018 during the series’ first season on ABC following a 14-year run on Fox. Underwood was tapped as the newest judge in 2025, following Katy Perry’s departure from the show.
The “Fish Hunt Golf Drink” singer shared with GMA that as soon as Underwood joined the crew, the three of them started their own group text as a way to communicate and keep the fun going on and off the air.
“It’s a fun job…The kids are fun. They’re chasing their dreams. We’re rooting for them. The show has a lot of heart. And so we’re always excited to announce the upcoming season. So somewhere there’s an American Idol out there that we don’t know about yet. So go audition,” he told viewers at home.
American Idol will return sometime in 2027. ABC has yet to announce a premiere date.
The post Luke Bryan Recalls Recent Conversation With Lionel Richie Amid Health Concerns: ‘He’s Doing Well’ appeared first on Country Now.
Country Now
Everything is a bit more chaotic with puppies, and when you combine the chaos of five adorable adoptable puppies with the infectious energy of Cameron Whitcomb, you never quite know what’s going to happen.
Whitcomb joined us at the Country Now studio for the latest episode of The Pupdate, where he opened up about his skyrocketing career, upcoming headlining tour and more.
Sitting on the floor as puppies from Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue played around him, Whitcomb admitted that while he loves dogs, having one of his own isn’t exactly in the cards for him right now.
“I can be the uncle. I’m a good dog uncle,” he joked.
Fresh off several wins at the Canadian Country Music Awards, including taking home the title of Entertainer of the Year, the 23-year-old was still riding high from the big night. Although he wasn’t there in person to accept the award, Whitcomb said it was “amazing” to receive the top honor.
It’s no surprise to see Whitcomb collecting major accolades. His career has skyrocketed in recent months following the release of his 2024 debut EP, Quitter, which was inspired by his journey of overcoming addiction. Since then, he has amassed more than 1.1 billion global streams and has over 11 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Watch Cameron Whitcomb on the Pupdate
His debut album, The Hard Way, was released last year, and The Hard Way (Complete Edition) is out now, anchored by the track “Want For Nothing.” The song garnered more than 2.5 million pre-release social views, and Whitcomb admits it has quickly become one of his “favorite songs.”
“Want For Nothing”
“I’m really glad people have been really getting down with it. It’s been cool. I remember the first time we played it, nobody had heard it. Nobody had heard it. And then as soon as I got into that chorus, people really lit up and I’ve never heard them react to a song they’ve never heard before like that. So it was really cool. And I’ve been loving seeing how well it’s been doing online and people really love the song.”
“Want For Nothing” finds Whitcomb reflecting on the struggles, mistakes and imperfections he carries while expressing gratitude for the person who continues to love and accept him through it all. At its core, the song is about finding comfort and unconditional love after spending years feeling lost and unable to find balance.
Is Cameron Whitcomb Country?
“Want For Nothing” is just one example of the range Whitcomb brings to his music. Rather than trying to fit into a specific genre or sound, the rising star says he is focused on making music that feels authentic to him and allowing listeners to decide how they want to define it.
“I don’t put the music in the box. I’m very, very adamant on just making great art. Wherever people want to put it is up to them. I’ll never claim to be country, but I’ll never claim not to be country because you know what is country?”
Whitcomb has spent time on the road with several country artists, including HARDY, who he says is someone he’d love to write songs with one day.
With the puppies continuing to run around the studio, Whitcomb also opened up about his newest hobby: skydiving.
“I went and got my skydive license. So now I just go travel all around the US jumping on planes by myself. They make you do a bit of training before they send you out of a plane with a parachute. So I had to go do that. I did one tandem and then I was like, ‘Damn, this would be so great if I wasn’t strapped to a dude.’ And then I went and got my license and now I’ve been just jumping on a plane steady.”
So, while Whitcomb is traveling from city to city for his music, fans may also find him taking to the skies in between shows.
Headlining Tour
The hitmaker is currently in the midst of his headlining The Kingdom of Fear Tour, which kicked off in late September. With many dates already sold out and his 2027 European & UK Tour nearly sold out as well, Whitcomb shows no signs of slowing down.
“I actually am super, incredibly grateful for this amazing life I live.”
A few of these sweet pups are still looking for their forever homes. Those interested in adopting should contact Proverbs 12:10 Animal Rescue, a foster-based 501(c)(3) charitable organization based in Middle Tennessee and run primarily by volunteers. Proverbs is fully dedicated to the care and well-being of every animal they rescue. To learn more or make a donation, click HERE.
The post Cameron Whitcomb Talks Music, Skydiving and More While Hanging Out With Adoptable Puppies appeared first on Country Now.
Country Now
Reading Time: 2 minutes
On Wednesday, Christa Pike was set to be executed in Tennessee — the first female put to death by the state in more than 200 years.
Instead, the convicted murderer is currently coalescing in an area hospital, having survived two phenobarbital injections that were administered with the purpose of ending her life.
Pike remained conscious after the first shot, even expressing concern to nearby medical staff and complaining of pain.
And though the second shot caused her to lose consciousness, witnesses say she continued to breathe and could be heard “snoring.”
Pike was then rushed from Riverbend Maximum Security Institution to a local hospital, where she is currently undergoing treatment.
Now, her attorneys have issued a statement about Pike’s condition as they seek to have her sentence overturned.
“Christa is critically ill but not in a coma as I understand it,” one member of the legal team tells TMZ.
The attorney went on to explain that Pike is unable to communicate at this time.
He added that Pike’s warrant for execution expired at midnight, meaning the Tennessee Supreme Court would have to set a new date before they can try to execute her again.
Tennessee governor Bill Lee has already ordered that all remaining executions on the state’s schedule be paused indefinitely so that the authorities can ensure that there are no further debacles like Christa’s.
Now, Pike’s legal team is calling upon state prosecutors to commute her sentence following the nightmare situation that unfolded last night.
“Christa has endured punishment greater than any other person in the history of the American death penalty. The governor must commute Krista’s sentence now,” Attorney Randy Spivey told Tennessee’s WVLT.
“Tennessee should not be torturing its citizens in the name of justice,” echoed Steve Farrell of the Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee. “We, along with Randy, call for the commutation of her death sentence after what she’s been put through.”
Farrell went on to allege that the state’s treatment of Pike was akin to torture.
Shockingly, Pike’s botched execution was not entirely unexpected.
Both the death row inmate and her attorneys predicted that her rare venous condition might result in complications.
“We presented evidence that due to her blood condition, venous access would be difficult, and that this type of prolonged execution that she didn’t want to happen would happen,” Farrell said today. “When we had our hearing this summer. All of this was predicted, and nothing, the court did nothing.”
We will have further updates on this shocking developing story as new information becomes available.
Christa Pike: Awake, ‘Critically Ill’ In Hospital; Lawyers Fight to Have … was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
The Hollywood Gossip
A dumpster outside an Anchorage residence was tipped over by a bear in the summer of 2026. (Photo courtesy Bill Sherwonit)
News that 20 or more bears have been killed in Anchorage this year, mostly because they’ve gotten into the habit of eating human trash, is both disheartening and infuriating.
People who live in the municipality, like elsewhere in Alaska, have long known what steps to take to minimize bear-human conflicts. At the top of the list: keeping garbage away from bears.
Making matters worse is the fact that local businesses that provide bear-resistant trash “carts” and dumpsters to their customers are part of the problem. A recent news story published by the Anchorage Daily News, indicates that two companies that provide the bear-resistant containers ran out of them.
This is both hard to comprehend and unacceptable. Keeping an adequate supply of the carts and dumpsters should be an essential part of the business plan, part of the cost of doing business. That should also be something the municipality demands, simply because it’s a key part of the solution to this problem.
I can personally speak to another part of the problem. Because we have renters, my girlfriend and I keep a dumpster on our property. For years, the dumpster had heavy, metal lids. This spring, for some inexplicable reason, Alaska Waste replaced those metal lids with much more flimsy plastic ones. In retrospect, we should have insisted then that the metal ones be re-installed. That was our mistake. We didn’t.
On Sept. 7, a large black bear tipped over our locked dumpster, an impressive feat. It then easily flicked aside the plastic lid without undoing the lock, and pulled several bags of trash from the dumpster, scattering it across our yard. We went outside and made enough noise to chase the bear away, then cleaned up and re-bagged the mess and stashed it inside a workshop building.
Because we had no immediate way to put the dumpster upright, we parked Jan’s 2000 Honda SUV in front of it, thinking that would keep the bear from getting to the trash that remained inside.
We were wrong. At 3 a.m. the next morning, the bear returned and shoved Jan’s car aside—an even more impressive feat—while putting a large dent in the front of the car, along with some claw marks. And the bear then had no problem once more flipping the plastic top aside to pull out more garbage before again being chased off.
Thanks to one of our renters and his daughter, the dumpster was righted the next day. That same morning we called Alaska Waste to request it fully empty the dumpster and replace the plastic lids with metal ones.
I can’t say for sure that heavy metal lids would have kept the bear out of the dumpster, but they would have offered some resistance, maybe enough that the bear would have given up.
For Alaska Waste to use ridiculously lightweight plastic lids in a part of town that bears frequent is inexcusable, an example of worst, not best, practices. This must change. And if the company won’t do so on its own, the municipality must take appropriate action.
The ADN story noted that the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, municipality, trash-hauling companies and others “discuss challenges involving bears and unsecured trash” and other related issues through the Anchorage Bear Committee. The ABC was established in 2001 and I attended several meetings in its early years.
I’ve fallen out of touch, but in my experience the committee does good and necessary work. Maybe its members need to revisit the responsibilities of local trash-pickup companies, the parts of Anchorage where bear-resistant carts and dumpsters are required and the need for greater enforcement.
People like to talk about “problem bears,” but as I’ve noted many times over the years, the problem starts with people.
As bear researchers have long emphasized, bears are smart critters and fast learners. And they are “opportunistic omnivores,” always on the lookout for an easy meal. It doesn’t take but a time or two of getting into our species’ garbage—and also our bird feeders, dog food, chicken coops and other sources of food—to adapt their own behavior to take advantage of the easy pickings.
When Fish and Game’s wildlife managers determine that a bear has become “food conditioned” to trash or other human foods, they’re considered a public-safety threat and targeted for “removal.”
Thus the saying, “A fed bear is a dead bear.”
It’s telling that of the 20 local bears killed through Sept. 27, “All but one were killed because they sought out ‘unsecured attractants,’” according to Fish and Game regional supervisor Cynthia Wardlow.
We humans like to boast about our species’ intelligence, but when it comes to bears—and many other matters—our smarts are too often outweighed by ignorance, laziness, stubbornness, intolerance and prejudice.
Here in Anchorage, all of us can do better, from individuals to businesses, government agencies and city leaders.
It’s been said many times before: living with bears can be challenging. But if we wish to coexist with the animals—and past surveys have indicated a large majority of residents do—then we’ll do what’s necessary to reduce conflicts and live more peacefully with bears.
Lately, it seems, we haven’t been doing nearly enough.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.
A year ago, the quarterbacks in the 2024 NFL Draft were all the rage. Drake Maye led the New England Patriots to the Super Bowl and was the MVP runner-up. Caleb Williams also helped the Chicago Bears win a division title, and Jayden Daniels was a year removed from a surprise NFC Championship Game appearance with the Washington Commanders. Now, not even a month into Year 3 for the six quarterbacks taken in the first round of the 2024 draft, some cracks have emerged. Williams and Daniels have been sidelined due to injuries, while Michael Penix Jr. just returned from an ACL tear. The bigger focus this past week, though, was on Maye and J.J. McCarthy. Maye has arguably been the worst starting quarterback in the NFL through the first three weeks of the season, with the Patriots getting out to an 0-2 start. The Minnesota Vikings, meanwhile, ripped the band-aid off the McCarthy experiment and traded him to the New York Giants for a fifth-round pick. Why is Maye performing so badly, and are his problems fixable? What should we make of the Giants’ trade for McCarthy? We asked those questions to people around the league, and many expressed concern for both quarterbacks. Here’s more from what we learned about Maye and McCarthy from our conversations with league insiders. Ralph Vacchiano: The New England Patriots have a lot of problems, but they never imagined Drake Maye would be one of them. Their third-year quarterback has been terrible so far this season, and fixing him will be a lot easier said than done — just ask some people around the league. “He looks like a rookie, and not a particularly good one,” one AFC scout told me. “If he were anyone else, based on those three games, the [coaching] staff would say, ‘He’s just not ready yet.’ “But how do you say that about a guy who nearly won MVP?” And that is the problem the Patriots are facing when they try to figure out what’s gone wrong with their 24-year-old quarterback, who has thrown six interceptions and just one touchdown pass this season, while losing two fumbles and failing to throw for more than 208 yards in any single game. They know he can do it. He dragged them to the Super Bowl last season. He was basically one vote away from beating Matthew Stafford for the MVP. Now, this season, “He looks lost,” another scout told me. “His confidence is completely gone, and you can see why,” the scout added. “He’s making comical errors — like real rookie stuff. The ball popping out of his hand, lofting it towards tightly covered receivers with no zip on the ball, not seeing any of the coverage in the area and thinking a guy is open, not stepping up in the pocket to avoid the rush, or stepping up into it. “It seems like every other decision he makes is wrong.” So what’s the solution? It might be, as one NFL assistant coach told me, the one thing the Patriots really can’t afford to do. “That’s the problem. You can’t bench him, even though he looks like a guy who needs a few weeks on the bench,” the coach told me. “What are you going to do, pull the guy who took you to the Super Bowl, the MVP runner-up, so he can watch Tommy DeVito play? That doesn’t do any good. You might lose him even more. “They have to let him play through it. That’s all they can do. The problem is, right now he doesn’t look like he can.” Eric D. Williams: It seems like a long time ago, but New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was the MVP runner-up last season for a reason. Maye finished first in the NFL in passer rating (112.9), third in passing touchdowns (31) and fourth in passing yards (4,394). Maye also led the league in completion percentage (72%) and yards per attempt (8.9). But his 47 sacks during the season and New England’s easy schedule should have been a sign of things to come. Maye was sacked 21 times and finished with four turnovers in four postseason games. As Ralph mentioned, Maye has thrown a league-high six interceptions and just one touchdown through three games, and his 58.6 passer rating is the worst among qualifying passers this season. And one talent evaluator told me that some of New England’s moves this offseason might be to blame. “Maye carried this offense last year,” a senior NFL personnel executive told me. “He also had Stefon Diggs and Kayshon Boutte. With the A.J. Brown injury, he now has no one. Another reason why I don’t like trading depth.” Brown, who the Patriots surrendered a first-round pick to get, is on the injured reserve after suffering an ankle injury in Week 1. New England released Diggs, who was its leading receiver in 2025, at the start of the offseason to clear cap space. Kayshon Boutte, who had six touchdowns in 14 games last season, was traded toward the end of training camp, with head coach Mike Vrabel saying that he would’ve likely been a game-day scratch had he remained on the roster. But while the people Ralph spoke with weren’t sure how Maye and the Patriots get out of the hole they’re in, another talent evaluator I spoke with offered a solution to get the quarterback back on the road to playing good football. “Simplify the offense like last year,” the talent evaluator said. “Get A.J. Brown healthy. And tell Drake to stop trying so hard. He is pressing.” Vacchiano: The Giants’ decision to trade a fifth-round pick for quarterback J.J. McCarthy was clearly an act of desperation in the wake of the season-ending injury to quarterback Jaxson Dart. Their hope is that McCarthy might turn out to be at least an upgrade over their current starter, Jameis Winston. But some around the league think that might be a little too much to ask. “There’s no doubt McCarthy has talent,” one scout told me. “He’s probably a good fit for what they want to do, too. But honestly, if the Vikings were willing to dump their one-time franchise quarterback for a fifth-round pick, you really got to wonder what they know. Teams don’t usually dump young quarterbacks like that, especially ones they took 10th overall.” To be fair, McCarthy has had injury issues. He missed his entire rookie season with a knee injury. Then last season, when he was finally the starter, he missed seven games with an ankle sprain, a concussion, and a fracture in his throwing hand. Somewhere along the line, though, Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell lost complete faith in him. Because rather than give McCarthy his job back for 2026, the Vikings instead signed free agent Kyler Murray, a reclamation project, and even brought in veteran backup Carson Wentz. “Think about that,” one NFL assistant told me. “He couldn’t beat out Murray or Wentz. That doesn’t happen to a high first-round pick. That’s what happens with late-round and practice squad-type guys. So that tells you everything about what Minnesota thinks of him. “Maybe a change of scenery will help. But O’Connell is pretty good with quarterbacks. If he couldn’t get anything out of the kid, I don’t know if anyone on the Giants can.” Williams: Two longtime NFL scouts I spoke with didn’t mince words when asked where they evaluated J.J. McCarthy when he entered the 2024 NFL draft. “Third round,” said one. “Fourth round,” said the other. Of course, McCarthy was one of six quarterbacks taken in the first 12 picks, the fifth one taken by the Minnesota Vikings with the 10th overall pick. McCarthy won a national title at Michigan under head coach Jim Harbaugh, who said he was the best quarterback in the draft. But Harbaugh also said Justin Herbert will be the greatest quarterback in NFL history, so we can take what he says with a grain of salt. One scout was skeptical McCarthy could turn things around with the New York Giants after the Vikings traded him for a fifth-round pick. “If Kevin O’Connell couldn’t do what he did with Sam Darnold and Joshua Dobbs filling in for Kirk Cousins — and it looks like he’ll do the same thing with Kyler Murray — then I don’t think Giants OC Matt Nagy can,” the longtime NFL scout told me. “Matt doesn’t have the kind of resume that Kevin has – no slight to Matt.” Another NFL quarterback evaluator was more optimistic about a turnaround for McCarthy, considering Harbaugh’s older brother, head coach of the Giants John Harbaugh, should have all the intel on him from his time at Michigan. Along with that, McCarthy will have lowered expectations, serving as the backup to Jameis Winston, with Jaxon Dart still considered the quarterback of the future in New York. “A fresh start with people that chose him is a good thing,” the talent evaluator told me. “The Harbaugh history helps, too. Matt Nagy, I would think, knows what he’s doing, too. “It reminds me of when guys like Mac Jones, Sam Darnold or Baker Mayfield go somewhere to back up and hopefully become a starter somewhere else someday.”Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
Christa Pike survived an execution attempt in Tennessee on Sept. 30, 2026, after receiving two doses of pentobarbital, a lethal drug. Gov. Bill Lee has temporarily suspended executions in the state.
Pike became the first person ever to get full doses of the drugs intended to kill her and to live nonetheless. But she is not the only person to have survived an execution failure in the Volunteer State.
Tennessee set out to execute Tony Carruthers on May 21, 2026, but he lived to tell about it.
Carruthers, who was sentenced to death for a 1994 triple murder, survived his date with death when the execution team members could find only one suitable vein in which to secure an IV, but not, as USA Today reports, the “backup line, which is required under the state’s lethal injection protocol.”
After the failed attempt, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee gave Carruthers a one-year reprieve, a decision the governor did not explain.
What happened to Pike and Carruthers is a reminder that things frequently go wrong in executions, even if in almost all cases the problem is resolved and the execution is completed.
Indeed, in the past 80 years, only eight other people have had experiences like Carruthers’ and Pike’s and survived execution attempts.
Four of those execution “survivors” were killed by a second execution attempt, while others escaped that fate. Three others died on death row; one of them after the state agreed not to try to execute him a second time, and one of them is still alive and awaiting his fate.
Having studied capital punishment for decades, I know the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of “cruel and unusual punishment” has shaped constitutional discussions around failed executions. But so far, courts have not stood in the way when state governments have wanted to try to execute the same man again.
Not just a lethal injection problem
Carruthers and Pike survived lethal injection attempts, but execution failures have not been confined to that method. A look at the history of hanging reveals several instances in which it failed.
In 1833, for example, a hanging in Pennsylvania failed to kill Charles Getter, who had been sentenced to death for murdering his wife.
“The rope was placed around Getter’s neck. The hangman drew it up fast,” true crime author Amanda Howard notes. “Getter struggled and kicked, choking, before the rope broke, throwing him to the ground.” However, Getter did not die.
The executioner sent someone to look for a stronger rope. This time, the rope did not break and Getter met “the fate of a murderer.”
In 1894, Will Purvis’ hanging also failed when the noose loosened. Instead of dying from a broken neck, Purvis survived, suffering only rope burns on his neck.
Unlike Getter, Purvis returned to prison contending that he was innocent. His lawyers unsuccessfully tried to get the courts to prevent a second execution attempt. Purvis remained behind bars until 1898, when Mississippi’s governor pardoned him. Purvis is the only execution survivor ever to receive such grace.
In the late 19th century, the electric chair replaced hanging as the country’s primary execution method, but it did not prevent failed executions. At least once in the 20th century, the electric chair also failed to kill.
In the spring of 1946, the state of Louisiana tried to use it in the execution of Willie Francis, a 16-year-old Black youth who had been convicted of murdering a local sheriff. At the time, the electric chair was said to be the most humane execution method.
But what Francis experienced hardly seemed humane. When the electric current reached him, “He started going into convulsions.” The executioner “flipped the switch again,” but Francis was not killed.
Later, like Purvis, Francis turned to the courts to try to stave off another execution attempt. The decision in his case would set the precedent for how judges would deal with other execution survivors.
AP Photo/Bill Allen
An accident?
In January 1947, months after Francis survived the electrocution, the U.S. Supreme Court gave Louisiana permission to try again. The justices split, with five giving Louisiana the green light and four dissenting.
Justice Stanley Reed’s majority opinion emphasized that what had happened to Francis was accidental and that, without malicious intent, there was no violation of the Eighth Amendment. As he put it, “The fact that an unforeseeable accident prevented the prompt consummation of the sentence cannot, it seems to us, add an element of cruelty to its subsequent execution.”
In his view, “The cruelty against which the constitution protects a convicted man is cruelty ‘inherent’ in the method of punishment, not the ‘necessary suffering’ involved in any method employed to extinguish life humanely.”
Justice Harold Burton spoke for the dissenting judges. As he put it: “The intent of the executioner cannot lessen the torture or excuse the result.” A second execution would offend the “fundamental instincts of civilized man.”
Francis was put to death almost a year to the day after his first execution failed.
It would be several decades until another person survived an execution. But the pace of failed executions has only picked up since the start of the 21st century.
21st century execution survivors
From 2009 until May 2026, six people survived failed lethal injection attempts. Romell Broom became the first 21st-century execution survivor when in 2009 the state of Ohio gave up after trying for two hours to find a usable vein in which to secure an IV line.
In his case, the Ohio Supreme Court, relying on the Francis precedent, decided that “The insertion of IV lines is merely a preparatory step to the execution.” In its view, Broom’s punishment had not really begun. Therefore, a second execution would not violate the prohibition on double jeopardy or on the imposition of cruel punishment.
Alabama Department of Corrections via AP
But before Ohio could again attempt to execute Broom, he died on death row in December 2020 after contracting COVID-19. Another 21st-century execution survivor, Alva Campbell, also died on death row.
In 2018, Doyle Hamm reached an agreement with the state of Alabama stating that he would not be subject to a second execution after executioners couldn’t access a vein during an attempted lethal injection. Hamm died from cancer in 2021.
However, Alabama succeeded in executing two other execution survivors, Alan Miller and Kenneth Smith, both in 2024. In both cases, they had survived failed lethal injections.
And Thomas Creech is, like Carruthers and Pike, still alive after lethal injection failure, this time in Idaho. It’s not clear if and when Idaho will try again to put him to death. If it does, the state will use the firing squad, which became its primary execution method on July 1, 2026.
Carruthers’ fate
As Carruthers awaits his fate in Tennessee, defense lawyers in the state have asked Gov. Lee to halt all executions pending a thorough review of its protocol.
Tennessee Department of Correction via AP
And as the Death Penalty Information Center reports, “attorneys from the Federal Public Defender’s Office filed a new federal lawsuit … to prevent Tennessee from attempting to execute Mr. Carruthers a second time.”
That suit builds on litigation filed in March 2025 alleging that the administration of lethal injection in Tennessee inflicts cruel and unusual punishment.
Only time will tell if the judges who hear those cases will be persuaded by what Justice Burton wrote in the Francis case: “Although the failure of the first attempt, in the present case was unintended, the reapplication of the electric current will be intentional … The present case demonstrates that, today, two separate applications are sufficiently ‘cruel and unusual’ to be prohibited.”
When the state, Burton explained, seeks to execute someone, it has a duty “to make sure that there (is) no failure.”
This is an updated version of a story that was originally published on June 4, 2026.
Austin Sarat 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.
Politics + Society – The Conversation
WORKING OUT THE KINKS: New York’s Department of Health began transitioning more than 147,000 Medicaid and Medicare Savings Program enrollees to an upgraded case management system about a year ago.
Since then, state officials say only a third of them have been able to automatically renew their coverage without assistance.
The shift is part of a $1.1 billion contract aimed at creating an automated system for Medicaid enrollees to receive real-time determinations on their eligibility for the two programs. While the new system is intended to create a seamless enrollment process, for many consumers it’s been riddled with challenges.
The initiative is part of a broader effort to move the Medicaid program away from local social services departments that still rely on paper applications and an outdated system in desperate need of overhaul. The state wants to transition the program to one centralized system run through its public health insurance marketplace, New York State of Health, according to officials.
Lindsay Heckler, managing attorney for policy at the nonprofit Center for Elder Law & Justice, said her firm has seen a surge in inappropriate denials.
“I’m not saying the new system shouldn’t be in place,” Heckler said. “But the concern is that the training and processes that are in place are preventing people from becoming eligible. My concern is that in the coming year they are moving more people into a system that doesn’t have the kinks worked out for the people that are in the system right now.”
The state began rolling out the new Medicaid Eligibility and Client Management system in September 2025. A second wave of more complex cases is expected to migrate to the new system between November 2027 and February 2028. And while state officials say the system — which was created by Deloitte Consulting through a $1.1 billion contract — was thoroughly tested by both the Health Department and the company, they concede that problems remain and are being addressed as they’re flagged.
Advocates describe the situation in starker terms. They say errors have put health care coverage in jeopardy for people who are 65 years and older, blind or disabled. They also told POLITICO they’ve discovered inaccurate information being transferred, a flawed automated asset verification tool and state workers’ inability to manually override inappropriate denials.
Deloitte did not respond to a request for comment.
New York entered into a $177 million contract with Deloitte in August 2023. But that projected outlay has grown to $1.18 billion after the state quietly filed four amendments to the initial deal, which ended on March 31, 2025. The latest amendment included an $866 million extension along with a work plan modification, according to details of the contract listed in the Open Book New York database.
The Health Department said the contract extension will complete the migration of Medicaid enrollees to the new system, which includes more complex cases in the next wave, such as long-term care and nursing home patients. The contract also includes additional funding for Deloitte to conduct testing and ensure compliance with new federal requirements.
“This multi-year transition to a centrally administered model will replace the outdated, expensive, error-prone and inefficient paper-based system with a streamlined, user-friendly platform that better supports the health coverage needs of New Yorkers while reducing the potential for waste, fraud, and abuse,” Health Department spokesperson Cadence Acquaviva said in a statement. “At every step of the way, this transition and contract were subject to extensive federal review and approval by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.”
Read more in POLITICO Pro from Katelyn Cordero.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Join POLITICO’s New York Outlook: Affordability, Industry & The Economy on Oct. 14 for live conversations about the business and policy decisions being made today — from City Hall to the State Capitol — that will shape the city’s economic future. The lineup includes New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, New York City Economic Development Corp. CEO Anthony Shorris, Partnership for NYC CEO Steven Fulop, Citizens Budget Commission President Andrew Rein, Charles H. Revson Foundation President Maria Torres-Springer, and more. Register now to attend in person or watch the livestream.
From the Capitol
JACOBS WINS: State Democratic Committee Chair Jay Jacobs handily won a new two-year term on the job, receiving 82 percent of the weighted vote at a party gathering in Westchester today.
Jacobs — who angered the left last year by declining to endorse then-Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani in the general election — faced a challenge from Otsego County chair Caitlin Ogden. He preached unity as his victory message, inviting Ogden to join his leadership team in a “substantive” role.
“This party has got to come to an understanding that our first priority is electing Democrats in whatever districts they’re in, and speak the language of the people in those districts,” Jacobs said. “All sides of our party need to learn to listen, to understand, to respect each other. There should be no vitriol inside the Democratic Party tent.”
Party members have traditionally supported the governor’s choice for chair. Gov. Kathy Hochul never publicly wavered in her support for Jacobs, making clear in recent weeks he was still her pick.
“I want to thank him for accepting the weight, the responsibilities,” she told party officials today. “Not the easiest job in the state. But he has done it in a way that has brought us together.”
Jacobs, who also heads the Nassau County Democratic Committee, has chaired the state party under the past three governors, serving from 2009-2012 and since 2019. If he completes his new two-year stint, he’d be just one term away from surpassing FDR kingmaker James Farley as the longest-tenured chair in the history of the New York Democrats. — Bill Mahoney
FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
POLL POSITION: Republican Rep. Mike Lawler and Democratic challenger Cait Conley are locked in a tight race, per a new Emerson College/PIX11 poll.
Conley earned 48% of support to Lawler’s 46%, with 7% of respondents undecided.
Lawler has more crossover support than Conley does, and independents break for him. But the pollsters note the percentage of Democratic backing for him fell from an Emerson survey in October 2024, while Conley’s GOP support increased compared to Lawler’s 2024 opponent, former Rep. Mondaire Jones.
Hochul’s favorability is underwater in the district — 40% of respondents approve and 49% disapprove — though the pollsters acknowledge she’s on better footing than she was in 2024. President Donald Trump is also unpopular, with 43% approving his performance and 53% disapproving. The poll did not ask about Mamdani, a favorite foil of Lawler’s on the trail.
The survey was conducted among 400 likely voters from Sept. 27-29. It has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 4.9 percentage points. — Madison Fernandez
TRUMP TO CNY: Trump is considering a trip to upstate New York on Oct. 9 to appear alongside Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions.
The event is being considered for central New York, but has not been finalized, said a fourth person. The people were granted anonymity to disclose the private conversations about the potential trip.
Blakeman’s campaign did not comment and the White House did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
Trump previously appeared on Long Island this summer to rally with Blakeman and Republican House candidates.
Read more from POLITICO’s Nick Reisman.
FROM CITY HALL
BILLIONAIRE’S ZO: Mamdani hosted fifteen business leaders — several of them billionaires — at Gracie Mansion yesterday for the inaugural meeting of his Business Advisory Council.
The council brings together business executives across industries to help guide the city’s economic policy and shepherd growth and innovation. Despite decrying the ultra wealthy, Mamdani welcomed input from billionaires such as Chobani founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya and Jefferson River Capital Chairman Tony James on how to address the affordability crisis, which has inhibited their ability to recruit top talent.
The council also discussed potential plans to convert unused office space across the city into arts and research hubs, according to a spokesperson for the mayor.
While he was welcoming other business execs to his home, one of the mayor’s biggest billionaire foes, Ken Griffin, was announcing his $3 billion donation to Carnegie Mellon University, the largest single donation in the history of American higher education.
Most of that money is earmarked to build the university a new campus in Miami — months after Griffin said the mayor’s rhetoric prompted him to “double down” on investments in Florida, rather than New York.
The Mamdani-Griffin beef swelled this spring when the mayor posed in front of Griffin’s $238 million penthouse in a social media video promoting his pied-à-terre tax. In the post, Mamdani framed the billionaire as a prime target of his tax-the-rich agenda.
Griffin responded by calling the video “creepy and weird,” saying his plans to further invest outside of New York were “an immediate and direct consequence of the mayor’s poor decision.”
“We will welcome anyone’s support, anyone’s involvement, and we will always do so because this is a city that belongs to all who live here,” Mamdani said when asked about Griffin’s historic donation. — Molly Reinmann
IN OTHER NEWS
— RETREAT: NYC first lady Rama Duwaji reportedly sojourned at an Islamic wellness retreat with a history of calling for the destruction of Israel, as her husband was rolling out his blueprint to combat antisemitism. (Washington Free Beacon)
— CHATBOT GOVERNANCE: The Mamdani administration is planning to unroll new AI safeguards, including cracking down on chatbots used in customer service and launching a formal study of AI assistants. (POLITICO Pro)
— SPEEDING THINGS UP: Mamdani’s administration unveiled 12 districts where housing will be fast-tracked. (POLITICO Pro)
Missed this morning’s New York Playbook? We forgive you. Read it here.
Politics
Dolly is incredibly deserving of such an honor. Continue reading…Country Music News – Taste of Country