Author: rpnadmin

A Las Vegas man charged with murdering his wife two decades ago at Zion National Park died in custody Thursday, just days after his arrest, before he could appear in court on the charges. David Vander Meer, 49, a former youth pastor who was working as a school counselor at the time of his arrest, was arrested Monday on charges of murder and insurance fraud in connection with the Aug. 22, 2006, death of his wife, Bernadette Vander Meer, who fell from Angels Landing at Zion National Park in Utah. He had been held at the Clark County Detention Center…

Did the founders of the United States intend to create a Christian nation? Political leaders who addressed a prayer rally on the National Mall on May 17, 2026, seem to think so: House Speaker Mike Johnson led the crowd in “rededicat(ing) the United States of America as one nation under God.” Some, and perhaps many, scholars would say no: that while many founders were religious, as a group they concluded that the national government should not support any particular faith. As a scholar of Colonial North America, I believe that history provides an answer. European colonizers in lands that became…

A five-term congressman lost his seat Tuesday to a 32-year-old community organizer backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani — and the margin of victory came from just 7% of the district’s registered Democrats. Darializa Avila Chevalier won the Democratic primary in New York’s 13th Congressional District with roughly 32,700 votes to incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat’s 30,400, according to preliminary results reported by the Associated Press. The district has approximately 449,000 active registered Democrats. That means Ms. Avila Chevalier — poised to hold a seat in the United States House of Representatives — secured the nomination with the support…

The Supreme Court on Thursday sided with gun rights activists in a challenge to Hawaii’s law attempting to ban concealed carry permit holders from carrying a firearm on private property — open to the public — without written consent from the owner. The 6-3 decision is a victory for Second Amendment advocates, where the GOP-appointed majority on the court said the state’s attempt to restrict the carrying of a gun by lawful individuals to places traditionally open to the public runs afoul of the Constitution. Individuals who have a carry permit in Maui and a gun rights group challenged the…

With the Fourth of July approaching and political violence on the rise, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro sits down with Matt Delaney to break down how Washington went from one of the worst prosecution rates in the country to one of its most aggressive, what that means for public safety in the nation’s capital, and how D.C. is preparing for Fourth of July celebrations. [DELANEY] Three years ago, this office did not pursue charges in two-thirds of the cases that were brought to it by the Metropolitan Police Department. Now, according to the DOJ’s annual report — I know you’ve got…

Three left-wing candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani swept a trio of congressional primaries Tuesday in the city, ousting two incumbents and reshaping the Democratic Party’s posture on Israel in one of the most consequential primary nights in recent memory. Former city Comptroller Brad Lander defeated two-term Rep. Dan Goldman in New York’s 10th Congressional District, capturing nearly two-thirds of the primary vote in a race that centered almost entirely on the two Jewish Democrats’ divergent views on Israel’s war in Gaza. Lander, a self-described “liberal Zionist,” hammered Mr. Goldman for accepting donations from the American Israel…

LOS ANGELES — A sprawling legislative package aimed at lowering the cost of housing and spurring more home construction won bipartisan approval from Congress this week, but it’s hit a major roadblock in becoming law: President Donald Trump. The White House supported the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, but on Wednesday Trump canceled the signing ceremony for the bill, saying he would not sign the measure until Congress passes legislation that would require proof of citizenship for all voters. Here’s what to know. How significant is this housing legislation? The measure is the culmination of months of negotiations by…

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon said Wednesday that boot camps for all the military services are once again requiring the flu vaccination for all recruits after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made the shot optional for the military at the end of April. The development, confirmed to The Associated Press by a Pentagon official, comes amid a growing, weekslong, flu outbreak at the U.S. Air Force’s boot camp at Lackland Air Force Base that has sickened nearly 300 people. However, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not cleared for public release, maintained that the permission to mandate…

NEW YORK — President Donald Trump spoke personally with the chief executive of Live Nation in the weeks before the Justice Department abruptly settled its longstanding antitrust lawsuit against the entertainment giant and its Ticketmaster subsidiary, the company revealed in a court filing. Lawyers for Live Nation told the court on Monday that Trump and the company’s CEO, Michael Rapino, spoke about the antitrust lawsuit in February, but didn’t discuss “substantive terms” of any potential settlement. They also said that White House lawyers were involved in some of the numerous in-person meetings, videoconferences, telephone calls and written communications between the…

WASHINGTON — The IRS did better than expected getting refunds out to taxpayers during the 2026 tax season despite massive cuts to its workforce, but the national taxpayer advocate says taxpayers who needed human help were left behind. “Taxpayers who required assistance from the IRS often struggled to get it,” said Erin M. Collins, who leads the independent watchdog agency of the IRS. Collins earlier this year warned that the 2026 tax filing season was likely to present challenges for taxpayers who encounter problems with filing their taxes given the exodus of IRS workers since the start of the Trump…