Liberal enclave in panic mode after ICE arrests dozens in wealthy vacation hotspot

Martha’s Vineyard residents are unhappy with the Trump administration deporting illegal immigrants from their liberal enclave, The Washington Post reported this week.

The community has been reeling since Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officers arrested dozens of illegal immigrants in a recent raid, according to the report.

“It’s bullying,” one Martha’s Vineyard resident, Charlie Giordano, told the Post. “I don’t know how many are illegal or legal, I don’t give a s—. But I do care about how they’re treated.”

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The Washington Post’s story on the Martha’s Vineyard ICE raid comes as the federal law enforcement agency has been the focus of riots in downtown Los Angeles for the past several days. 

ICE agents carried out operations at businesses across Los Angeles on Friday, sparking protests and clashes outside multiple locations that grew so chaotic that President Donald Trump ordered National Guard troops into the city, followed by several hundred U.S. Marines, to restore order. Some California officials, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, have accused the administration of exacerbating the situation.

As the Post reported, ICE agents performed a massive sting throughout Massachusetts in late May that resulted in nearly 1,500 arrests. Forty of those arrests happened on the two islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.

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The arrests have ignited “fear among undocumented workers who form the backbone of the workforce here just as the busy summer season gets underway,” the outlet reported.

“After the raid, many immigrants panicked and shuttered themselves indoors. Many spoke to The Washington Post only on the condition of anonymity because they fear being targeted the next time ICE arrives on the island. They recounted taking extraordinary measures that day and in the week after to protect themselves,” the Post said, adding that the liberal community on the island had been shaken as well. 

“The arrests hit a nerve in a liberal enclave known for welcoming everyone: presidents — former president Barack Obama has an oceanfront property here — LGBTQ+ activists, racial minorities, celebrities and a large cluster of immigrants from Brazil,” the paper noted.

One Brazilian resident, who admitted to the Post he is undocumented, warned that the local economy will crater because of the arrests and deportations.

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The anonymous man, who also owns three businesses in Martha’s Vineyard, said, “The money is just going to stop flowing. The U.S. is only losing in pushing us out.”

The Island has become a safe haven for many illegal immigrants from Brazil in recent decades as they fled their home country due to hyperinflation and other economic problems. According to the outlet, many came over on work or tourist visas, but ended up staying in the country. 

The Post reported that these immigrants “established businesses offering food and cleaning services that are now crucial to daily life in a resort town. Today there are few restaurant menus here that don’t offer Brazilian-inspired options like croquettes or traditional cheesy bread.” It noted just how prevalent the Portuguese language is within the community as well. 

An anonymous Brazilian woman, who owns a business and has raised three children on the island, told the paper, “The American people love us because we work so hard to help the community prosper and grow.”

“This was a safe place,” she added. 

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Residents said that the recent arrests “felt arbitrary and included valued community members who had committed no crime,” according to the Post. A Brazilian pastor on the island told the outlet, “ICE would come here to get criminals and that is good. But the way they did it now, that was not it.”

However, the paper acknowledged ICE’s recent statement disputing those claims. According to the agency, more than half of all the illegal immigrants detained in Massachusetts last month had a criminal record. 

ICE did not immediately reply to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

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Martha’s Vineyard was at the center of the nation’s immigration debate in 2022, when Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered 50 illegal immigrants detained in Florida to be flown to the island. DeSantis was attempting to highlight the record influx of migrants at the southern border.

Congress called to act after new study shows group’s troubling ties to CCP

FIRST ON FOX: A national security-focused nonprofit organization has released a comprehensive report detailing the workings of a well-funded nominally U.S.-based organization that it says is undermining American energy, pushing left-wing green initiatives and ultimately advancing Chinese interests. 

The report, published by State Armor, outlines the money trail of Energy Foundation China (EFC), registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is technically headquartered in San Francisco but with employees mostly based in Beijing.

“Energy Foundation China used to be known as the Energy Foundation before it spun off most of its U.S.-based operations in 2019 into a separate organization called the U.S. Energy Foundation,” the report explains. “While still formally organized as the Energy Foundation, since 2019, the organization has used the alias ‘Energy Foundation China’ or ‘EF China’ to differentiate from the now-separate U.S. Energy Foundation. The group was founded by Hal Harvey, a climate activist and entrepreneur with deep ties to numerous left-wing organizations and to China.”

State Armor found that EFC has “spent millions each year to bankroll climate advocates who promote phasing out fossil fuels and implementing green energy alternatives like the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) and Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the latter of which was the target of a 2018 Congressional inquiry into whether it should register as a foreign agent based on its Chinese funding.”

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The Rocky Mountain Institute produced one of the most prominent studies used by many Democrats to justify cutting down on gas stoves and was cited by President Joe Biden’s Department of Energy. 

Earlier this year, multiple committees joined to begin an investigation into EFC, and requested files from EFC President Zi Chou about financial resources given to American organizations after Fox News Digital reporting on the group funneling millions of dollars to fund climate initiatives and environmental groups in the U.S.

The report details how EFC “led a U.S. state-level legislative drive” against Bayer, the leading Western fertilizer company, that pushed for lawsuits against the company over a potentially carcinogenic pesticide with the aim of driving the company out of the U.S. and in turn forcing reliance on Chinese suppliers. 

The report goes on to outline how the organization has “provided millions” to the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) to support “a clean energy future” and how ICCT was an “active supporter” of climate initiatives in the Inflation Reduction Act targeting increased battery electric trucking infrastructure. 

Fox News Digital reported in 2023 that The Energy Foundation sent $480,000 to the Washington, D.C.-based International Council on Clean Transportation, which advocates for widespread EV adoption and policies decarbonizing the transportation sector broadly. It also wired grants – one to the University of Maryland and another to the Jackson Hole Center for Global Affairs – worth a total of $450,000 and earmarked for projects to phase out coal power reliance.

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Josh Hodges, commissioner on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission and former national security advisor to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and NSC senior director in the first Trump administration, told Fox News Digital that EFC is a “textbook example of the CCP’s asymmetric warfare strategy and drive to deepen its dominance over American companies.”

“Communist China is manipulating a supposed philanthropic network to steer the U.S. away from reliable domestic energy sources and into dependence on Chinese supply chains,” Hodges said. “Whether it’s solar panels, mobile phones, electric vehicle batteries, or agricultural chemicals, Beijing’s fingerprints are all over the ‘green transition’ being pushed on America.”

The report quotes Chinese climate envoy Liu Zhenmin, who suggested that Biden’s green energy policies will remain even under a more skeptical Trump administration and said, “even if the new Trump administration reverses climate change policies, it is unlikely to completely change the green transition actions that have already begun in various parts of the U.S.”

“In other words, the CCP’s penetration of the U.S.’ political and industrial systems runs so deep that CCP officials believe that not even a skeptical White House could halt America’s growing dependence upon Chinese technologies,” the report states. 

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Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, told Fox News Digital that the report “exposes a disturbing truth” that EFC is part of a broader push to undermine American energy independence and “stifle” the Trump energy agenda to benefit the CCP. 

“EFC is weaponizing woke ideology to pull off this scheme and force American consumers to rely on the Chinese Communist Party for energy sources,” Hild said. “Americans deserve to know the truth about our foreign adversary’s campaign that is poisoning our economy and reshaping our energy future. We applaud organizations like State Armor that are working to expose these grifts against consumers.”

In addition to the EFC’s climate activism, the report focuses on how, by “co-opting climate activism and dominating new so-called green supply chains, Beijing converts a domestic weakness into a global strength” while also detailing the ties between EFC and the CCP. 

For example, EFC’s CEO Zou Ji has served in previous roles at top leadership positions in China’s official National Center for Climate Change Strategy within the National Development and Reform Commission of the State Council. 

“He was so deeply tied into CCP leadership that he was included as a part of China’s delegation to the 2015 Paris Climate Talks,” the report says. “Zou’s other affiliations include a position at Tsinghua University at a center where his colleagues include a retired senior PLA officer and a former deputy director of an MSS think tank.”

Zou is not the only EFC figure with ties to the CCP, the report says, pointing to EFC board member and Washington, D.C. based attorney Hongjun Zhang, who serves as a member of China’s Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development and was previously a legislative director for the China National People’s Congress. 

Zhang, according to his law firm’s bio page, spent “many years in the Chinese government” that included work at the “Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), State Food and Drug Administration (CFDA), Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), and National Development and Reform Commission.” 

The report states that EFC’s operations in China are overseen by the CCP’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and that the organization’s Beijing headquarters are located in a building owned by a state-owned investment corporation tied to Chinese state media propaganda. 

Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., who is the chairman of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, sounded the alarm over the report, telling Fox News Digital, “This report confirms what we’ve long warned: the Chinese Communist Party is using seemingly innocuous nonprofits to influence American policy and undermine U.S. interests – in this case, our energy independence.”

“Energy Foundation China operates at the direction of the CCP and is exploiting our charitable system to push policies that benefit Beijing, not the American people,” Moolenaar continued. “The Select Committee continues to investigate how CCP-linked organizations infiltrate U.S. institutions, shift critical supply chains toward China, and shape environmental agendas that aim to make America weaker while China gets stronger. We will continue to expose these influence operations and work with Congress and the administration to safeguard U.S. energy security and national sovereignty.”

The report also points to examples of EFC collaborating with U.S. entities and officials, including in 2023 when it “provided support” for an event that featured California Gov. Gavin Newsom during a visit to China and then hosted a forum a month later for a discussion promoting “low-carbon cooperation between the two nations.”

Vance Wagner, the vice president for strategic partnerships at Energy Foundation China, pushed back on the report, telling Fox News Digital, “Energy Foundation China (EFC) is an independent grantmaking charitable organization that provides funding for research and capacity building related to climate change and China.”

“Climate change is one of the greatest threats facing our world. Our work is currently focused on China given the scale of its energy sector and its role in global emissions. Despite geopolitical tensions, meaningful engagement with China on climate change and emissions reductions is in everyone’s interests,” Vance continued. “All grants we make support projects related to climate change and China, and are in no way related to influencing U.S. energy policy. EFC does not accept funding from any government or political party.”

“Neither the Chinese government nor the CCP fund, direct, or control EFC or our grant-making decisions,” he added. “We are compliant with all U.S. and Chinese laws and regulations and do not lobby or support electoral activities in any country.”

The report states that between 2020 and 2021, EFC gave over $1 million to the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for funding “green energy research” and laboratory training increasing the efficiency of China’s industrial sectors. 

The Biden administration, according to the report, gave $60 million in grants to the Institute for Sustainable Communities, which is a group “frequently in collaboration with Energy Foundation China.”

“America’s energy security is national security,” Jason Isaac, CEO of American Energy Institute, told Fox News Digital. 

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“The State Armor report lays bare how the Chinese Communist Party has co-opted climate activism to shift the U.S. onto so-called ‘green’ technologies that are manufactured, mined, and controlled by China. From solar panels to EV batteries and rare earth minerals, our supply chains are increasingly entangled with a foreign adversary that uses forced labor, ignores environmental safeguards, and openly aims to dominate the global energy future. This isn’t progress – it’s dependence. Real energy dominance means leveraging America’s vast domestic energy resources, not outsourcing our future to Beijing.”

Along with the report, State Armor has sent letters to Republican committee chairs in Congress that call for prompt oversight on the matter. 

“Congress must act,” the letter, authored by Lucci, implores. “Oversight is urgently needed to expose the full extent of this operation, beginning with Energy Foundation China. The EFC is not a passive observer; it is an active player in a geopolitical contest where America’s energy security and global leadership hang in the balance.”

Stephen A Smith shifts stance on Riley Gaines’ Nassar remark in feud with Simone Biles

OutKick host Riley Gaines appeared on “The Stephen A. Smith Show” to discuss the fallout and eventual apology stemming from Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles’ online jabs at Gaines. 

Smith largely agreed with Gaines throughout the conversation, openly supporting her position on keeping men out of women’s sports.

“When you’re talking about women competing in sports against transgender women, I side with you one thousand percent,” Smith said. “I’m not scared to say it. I think that’s absolutely the right thing to do.”

Smith did take exception with Gaines invoking Larry Nassar, the former Olympic doctor who sexually assaulted women.  Gaines explained that, to her, letting men in women’s locker rooms under ‘trans inclusion’ is its own form of sexual abuse.

“First of all, I believe Larry Nassar is a monster who should spend every waking second for the rest of his life miserable and rotting in prison,” Gaines said. “Does it get more perverted than standing in the shower, totally undressed, when a 6-foot-4 man approaches you, stands in the shower head next to you, undresses himself and watches you shower? … That’s the context I was drawing. To me, that is sexual abuse.”

Smith initially hesitated to accept the premise, but he saw Gaines’ viewpoint as rooted in experience and reality.

“Riley I can push back but I won’t even try … you made a very, very valid point. First of all, your personal experiences. Secondly, you’re a lady and I am not,” Smith said. “I really appreciate your point.”

The Gaines-Biles beef started with a post from Gaines about trans-identifying pitcher Marissa Rothenberg, born a boy, who helped lead Minnesota’s Champlin Park High School girls’ softball to a Class AAAA state championship.

READ: Social Media Rips Simone Biles’ Apology To Riley Gaines As PR Statement

Biles lashed out at Gaines, throwing her support behind trans athletes and making a personal attack in the process. 

Biles’ stance, to many, clashed with her legacy as a women’s gold medalist for Team USA Gymnastics and an example of female athletic excellence. 

“What did bother me is knowing the platform she has and how she was so quick and venomous to sell out young girls like my little sister. … At that moment, I was so disappointed,” Gaines said.

Gaines famously swam against trans collegiate athlete Lia Thomas. They tied for fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle final at the 2022 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships.

Gaines recalled being stunned by first seeing the jab from Biles over the weekend.

“When I got the notification, I was overwhelmed with excitement and starstruck … then I was heartbroken,” Gaines shared with SAS.

Despite holding great admiration for Biles, Gaines stuck to her principles in navigating the situation.

“I’m a secure person, and know what side of history I’m on,” Gaines said.

Though the drama lasted most of the weekend, Biles came to her senses by Tuesday and issued an apology to Gaines.

“It didn’t help for me to get personal with Riley, which I apologize for,” Biles’ team wrote, in part.

Drinking alcohol linked to another deadly cancer as new research sounds alarm bells

Following the surgeon general’s January advisory linking alcohol consumption to seven types of cancer, a new study from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has revealed another possible risk.

The research, recently published in the journal PLOS Medicine, classified alcohol as a carcinogen, highlighting a particular increased risk of pancreatic cancer.

The surgeon general’s previous advisory named cancers of the breast (in women), colorectum, esophagus, voice box, liver, mouth and throat.

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The researchers associated the pancreatic cancer risk with beer and spirits/liquor, but not with the intake of wine.

“Alcohol consumption is a known carcinogen, but until now, the evidence linking it specifically to pancreatic cancer has been considered inconclusive,” said senior study author Dr. Pietro Ferrari, head of the IARC Nutrition and Metabolism Branch, in a press release. 

“Our findings provide new evidence that pancreatic cancer may be another cancer type associated with alcohol consumption, a connection that has been underestimated until now.”

For the study, researchers recruited 2.5 million participants with a median age of 57, following them for about 16 years.

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Out of the group, 10,067 cases of pancreatic cancer were recorded.

Each increase of 10 grams of ethanol per day in alcohol consumption was associated with a 3% increase in the risk of pancreatic cancer, the study found.

Women who consumed 15 to 30 grams of alcohol (about one to two standard drinks) per day had a 12% increase in pancreatic cancer risk. 

Men who consumed 30 to 60 grams (two to six standard drinks) per day had a 15% increased risk of pancreatic cancer, and intake of over 60 grams per day was associated with a 36% greater risk.

“There really isn’t a safe level of drinking when it comes to cancer risk.”

The research did have some limitations.

“This observational study examined alcohol intake evaluated at a single time point during mid-to-late adulthood and included a limited number of Asian cohorts,” the researchers wrote.

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“Further research is needed to better understand the role of lifetime alcohol consumption — for example, during early adulthood — and the influence of specific consumption patterns, such as binge-drinking.”

Dr. Adam Scioli, an addiction psychiatrist at Caron Treatment Centers in Pennsylvania, previously commented to Fox News Digital that “alcohol is a toxin.”

“There have been reports for years that it could be beneficial for one’s health — but we know now that alcohol ingestion is one of the modifiable risk factors for cancer,” Scioli, who is not affiliated with IARC, told Fox News Digital.

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Dr. Marc Siegel, senior medical analyst for Fox News, was not involved in the study but spoke with Fox News Digital about the findings. 

“This is in keeping with alcohol as a toxin that directly inflames and damages pancreatic cells,” he said. 

Around 75,000 Americans each year are diagnosed with a cancer that is in some way linked to alcohol use, according to Scioli. 

Dr. Neha Pathak, WebMD’s chief physician editor of health and lifestyle medicine, noted that the study highlights a new, independent risk factor for pancreatic cancer. 

“What’s important to know is that there really isn’t a safe level of drinking when it comes to cancer risk,” Atlanta-based Pathak, who also did not participate in the research, told Fox News Digital. 

“This study reinforces that message — but it also shows how complex these links are, and how we need to keep digging deeper into the role of alcohol and different drinking habits in cancer development,” she added.

Fox News Digital reached out to several beverage industry associations requesting comment.

Christian musician confesses to decades of substance abuse and sexual misconduct

A man known for singing Christian music responded to allegations of substance abuse and sexual assault of other men, saying they are “largely true.”

Michael Tait, formerly of the bands Newsboys and DC Talk, took to Instagram on Tuesday to post what he called, “My confession.”

“Recent reports of my reckless and destructive behavior, including drug and alcohol abuse and sexual activity are sadly, largely true,” Tait wrote. “For some two decades I used and abused cocaine, consumed far too much alcohol, and, at times, touched men in an unwanted sensual way.”

“I am ashamed of my life choices and actions, and make no excuses for them. I will simply call it what God calls it-sin,” he said. 

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The singer went on to say that he left Newsboys in January to “get help.”

Tait’s words came nearly a week after a report from Christian investigative journalism outlet The Roys Report (TRR) with accusations dating back to 2004. 

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TRR says their investigation into Tait lasted 2.5 years and included interviews with “more than 50 sources.” Two men said while they were 22 years old, Tait allegedly fondled their genitals after they had drunk alcohol with him. 

“While I might dispute certain details in the accusations against me, I do not dispute the substance of them,” Tait wrote.

Tait’s former band posted their own statement on social media on June 5, saying the four members’ “hearts were shattered” when they read the allegations.

“First and foremost, our hearts are with the victims who have bravely shared their stories. If you are a victim, we urge you to come forward. We absolutely do not condone any form of sexual assault,” Newsboys wrote on Facebook. 

“When he left the band in January, Michael confessed to us and our management that he ‘had been living a double-life’ but we never imagined that it could be this bad,” Newsboys said. 

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Tait, 59, joined Newsboys in 2009. Prior to that, he was a member of the Christian rap trio DC Talk, before a 10-year solo career with the band Tait.

Passenger defends ‘gate lice’ as airlines crack down on early boarding violators

A flight passenger came out in defense of a controversial travel trend, sparking an etiquette debate among flyers.

The trend of “gate lice” was widely reported last year when American Airlines began prohibiting people from boarding ahead of their particular seat zone.

The airline began using technology that audibly alerts gate agents when passengers are attempting to board ahead of their designated assignment, Fox News Digital reported.

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Recently, a traveler posted in the “r/delta” forum on Reddit, writing “in defense of gate lice.”

“Flying out of [Philadelphia] today, and you could not hear [what] the gate agent was saying, ‘Now boarding blahblahblah.’ What?” read the post.

The user admitted he is hard of hearing, but that his wife is not.

“We were not alone because everyone was crowding around the gate area trying to understand what this ridiculous woman was saying,” the user wrote. 

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“There was a sign that displayed the boarding zones currently allowed to board, but it was facing another gate and not facing where all the gate lice were standing … To read the sign, you have to get in the way of the passengers who are allowed to board! Total madness,” the person continued.

The user went on to share his grievances about the volume of gate agents and pilots over the speaker.

Redditors took to the comments section to discuss their thoughts about “gate lice” and their own experiences with flying.

“I stand against the wall facing the gate so I can hear the announcements. I don’t consider myself gate lice,” commented one user.

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Another person wrote, “It’s the inconsistency that bothers me. Figure out the best way to board planes … then every airport do[es] it exactly the same.”

“Just a couple of weeks ago, I realized I could not hear a damn thing the gate agent was saying,” said one user. “I couldn’t see the screens and had to move closer like the dreaded gate lice. But I honestly did not know what they were saying. It was completely inaudible.”

Other Redditors weighed in on the volume and tone of announcements by gate agents. 

“I was boarding a flight in Atlanta, and the [gate agent] was muttering incoherently into the microphone and then would turn to the woman beside her and laugh. No one could understand what she was saying,” commented a user.

Still another person wrote, “All need to learn how to enunciate. Then you don’t need to raise your voice as much. Everyone understands clearly spoken words.”

“I have a hearing impairment … This condition significantly impacts my experience when flying, as I often struggle to hear important announcements from gate agents, especially related to delays or gate changes,” shared one user.

Another person commented that “[gate agents] don’t even care they’re announcing over another announcement on top of the PA system being terribly designed.”

California-based etiquette expert Rosalinda Randall told Fox News Digital there have always been passengers who try to get around the general boarding process.

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“Today, it has become more prevalent,” she said.

“When caught, instead of admitting to it or shrugging with a clichéd, ‘No harm in trying,’ they become belligerent, still expecting to have their demands met,” Randall said.

She added, “Gate lice may have different reasons for jumping ahead of their assigned zone. Other than having a tight connecting flight or traveling with a disabled passenger, wait your turn.”

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Randall also said, “When we don’t follow the simple guidelines, airlines are forced to create rules. And, yes, for those of us who try to follow the rules and practice courtesy, it stinks and is frustrating.”

Rangers confirm deaths of 2 campers at isolated Lake Superior island

Two campers were found dead Sunday at a national park on a remote island in the middle of Michigan’s Lake Superior, authorities said.

Rangers were alerted around 4 p.m. that two people were dead at a backcountry campground within Isle Royale National Park, the National Park Service (NPS) said on Tuesday.

Two rangers hiked 11 miles to the campground overnight and arrived early Monday morning. NPS said the rangers confirmed the two deaths.

The identities of the two campers, along with their causes of death, were not immediately known, according to NPS.

SECOND MISSING HIKER FOUND DEAD IN MAINE AS AUTHORITIES CONCLUDE MASSIVE SEARCH OPERATION

Additional ground and aviation personnel responded to the campground Monday as authorities continue to investigate the deaths.

No further information was immediately available.

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Visitors can only access the remote park by ferry, seaplane or private watercraft, according to the NPS website. The park offers experiences for backpackers, hikers, boaters, paddlers and divers.

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Extreme weather keeps the park closed from Nov.1 through April 15. 

Judge orders Texas city to pay homeowner after police destroyed her house

Five years after police destroyed cancer survivor Vicki Baker’s house while pursuing a fugitive, a federal judge has ruled that the Texas city she used to call home must pay her for the damage.

“I’ve continued fighting this long, because if this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone,” Baker told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement. “This case has always been about more than the money for me. I want to see real change.”

Baker’s ordeal started in July 2020, when she moved to Montana and was in the process of selling her home in McKinney, Texas.

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Wesley Little kidnapped a 15-year-old girl, fled from police and took refuge in Baker’s home. Police surrounded the house and Little eventually released the teen but refused to surrender, according to court documents.

A SWAT team tried to draw him out by launching a barrage of tear gas canisters at the house, shattering windows and punching holes in walls.

When police finally entered the house, they discovered that Little had killed himself.

Baker’s daughter’s Chihuahua was inside during the onslaught and was left blind, deaf and sick from the tear gas and explosions. The dog eventually had to be put down, Baker said. A hazmat crew disposed of almost everything inside the house because it was saturated with a toxic film from the teargas, according to court documents.

Damage to the home totaled at least $50,000, according to Baker and her attorneys at the nonprofit civil liberties law firm Institute for Justice.

But her insurance company refused to cover the bulk of the damage because her policy — like most — excludes damage caused by the government.

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Baker tried to file a property damage claim with the city of McKinney, but officials refused to pay, citing qualified immunity, a doctrine often used to shield police and other government agencies from being sued for violating people’s rights or destroying property during the course of their work.

The Institute for Justice sued under the Fifth Amendment and the Texas Constitution, arguing that police may have been authorized to seize Baker’s home in the interest of pursuing a dangerous fugitive, but that they should have to pay her just like they would if the government seized a home to build a road or other infrastructure.

A prolonged legal saga followed, with one federal judge ruling in 2022 that Baker should be compensated and a jury awarding her nearly $60,000 in damages. The following year, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed her Fifth Amendment win.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case last year, but Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Neil Gorsuch acknowledged the high court has yet to address whether the government can require individuals to bear the cost of police actions.

Last week, a U.S. district court judge ruled again that Baker is entitled to $59,656.59 plus interest under the Texas Constitution.

“This ruling makes it clear that the Texas Constitution’s promise of just compensation applies when police destroy innocent people’s property, and that this entire lawsuit could have been avoided if the city simply did the right thing in the first place,” IJ attorney Jeffrey Redfern, who represented Baker, said in an emailed statement to Fox News Digital.

The City of McKinney is “evaluating its options for appealing this ruling,” a spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital.

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The city previously offered to pay the full amount of the damage to settle the case, but Baker’s team says they refused to settle unless the city also changed its policies to protect all homeowners from similar actions in the future.

Redfern said he still hopes the Supreme Court will hear a case similar to Baker’s in the future so “we can ensure that the United States Constitution also protects innocent property owners in cases like this.”

“I want to make sure that cities around the country are doing the right thing and paying just compensation to people in similar situations,” Baker said.

Karen Read judge cuts off witness who sends ‘happy birthday’ wish from stand

The judge overseeing Karen Read’s retrial on murder charges in the death of Boston cop John O’Keefe cut off the defense’s final witness Wednesday morning after he told jurors he had three children and wished his 10-year-old a happy birthday.

“So I was going to say I have three kids, a 9-year-old who’s actually turning 10 today – happy birthday Kai – and I have two older ones,” said Dr. Andrew John Rentschler, a biomechanical engineer and accident reconstructionist from a firm called ARCCA.

“All right, I’m going to, we’re going to stop this – [use] another example,” said Judge Beverly Cannone after an objection from special prosecutor Hank Brennan.

Brennan has repeatedly tried to have Rentschler’s testimony blocked or limited. The ARCCA scientists dispute the state’s version of events – and have also been accused of destroying text messages with the defense they were ordered to give to prosecutors as well as slow-walking discovery disclosures.

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Read is accused of mowing down O’Keefe after a night of drinking and leaving him to die as she went to his house and left him raging voicemails as his niece and nephew slept in the home. He had taken them in after they were orphaned when his sister and brother-in-law died within months of one another. 

“Was it appropriate? I think it’s his personality,” said David Gelman, a Philadelphia-area defense attorney and former prosecutor who is following the trial. “It may have missed the mark, but it’s a breath of fresh air since experts are usually boring.”

Grace Edwards, a Massachusetts trial lawyer who is also following the case, said the judge likely cut Rentschler off because narrative answers can distract from the facts of the case.

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“The story can lead to a long answer that could be potentially off-topic or the jury could take from it something else that was not intended, like ‘Happy Birthday,’ and only remember that part,” she told Fox News Digital. “The judge wanted the witness refocused to specific questions with focused answers rather than potentially rambling about his three kids.”

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Rentschler insisted that “details matter” repeatedly as he explained the basics of the scientific method and took issue with another expert report from the firm Aperture, retained by the prosecution.

Aperture labeled the injuries to O’Keefe’s arm “lacerations,” he said – a term that he testified contradicts the findings of the official autopsy, which described them as “superficial abrasions.”

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“The superficial abrasions and abrasions occur when there’s rubbing or scraping of the skin, and it just rubs away the top layer, the epidermis of the skin,” he testified. “Now, a laceration is an actual jagged, ripping or tearing of the skin which gets down through the epidermis into the dermis. So abrasions take much less force. They’re less severe than what a laceration actually is.”

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Based on his testing, he said that he ruled out an impact with Read’s 2021 Lexus LX 570 SUV and O’Keefe’s arm as the cause of those injuries.

“They’re inconsistent with striking the taillight or being produced as a result of contact with the taillight,” he testified.

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The prosecution claims that these minor injuries came from an impact with Read’s broken taillight after she allegedly drove into O’Keefe on Jan. 29, 2022 and left him to die on the ground in the snow.

The defense denies a collision and has claimed the injuries came from dog teeth and claws.

Aperture’s Dr. Judson Welcher testified earlier, based on digital forensics of phone and vehicle data, that Read’s SUV reversed at 75% throttle right before O’Keefe’s last conscious interaction with his cellphone.