Gunfire erupts at South Carolina university, leaving 2 dead and 1 injured
Two people were killed and at least one other was injured in a campus shooting Thursday at South Carolina State University.
The university confirmed the incident in a statement, adding that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) is investigating the shooting.
The identities of the victims and the condition of the wounded person have not been released.
The university said it issued a campus lockdown at approximately 9:15 p.m. Thursday following a report of a shooting in an apartment at the Hugine Suites student residential complex.
MARYLAND HIGH SCHOOL LOCKED DOWN AFTER SHOOTING LEAVES ONE PERSON INJURED
The campus remains on lockdown as of 1 a.m.
The university’s Department of Public Safety is being assisted by the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety and the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office in patrolling on and around the campus.
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Friday classes have been canceled, the university said, and counselors are available for students.
American figure skater Ilia Malinin stuns crowd with once-banned move
Ilia Malinin, known as the “Quad God,” continued to dazzle fans as he once again put his full warrior spirit on display during his latest performance at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.
Malinin landed a historic backflip to help Team USA win gold in the team event. The move was outlawed in 1976, with officials citing safety concerns. Before Malinin, fellow American Terry Kubicka was the last skater to land it legally at the Games.
Malinin will compete in Friday’s men’s free skate and enters as the gold favorite. He could attempt the first Olympic quadruple axel.
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Malinin acknowledged taking a measured approach to what is widely considered the sport’s most difficult jump.
“I’m hoping that I’ll feel good enough to do it (on Friday),” he told reporters Tuesday. “But, of course, I always prioritize health and safety, so I really want to put myself in the right mindset where I’ll feel really confident to go into it and not have that as something that I’m going to risk.”
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The International Skating Union (ISU) lifted the ban on somersaults in June 2024, clearing a path for the backflip to return to skating’s biggest stage.
“Somersault type jumps are very spectacular and nowadays it is not logical anymore to include them as illegal movements,” an agenda from an ISU meeting at the time said.
While the backflip does not have a set point value attached to it for skaters, last season Malinin admitted he enjoys performing the maneuver.
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“It gets that audience applause, feels really suspenseful and I really just like doing it,” he said.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s wife reveals why she banned pop star from husband’s NASCAR bus
Long before wedding bells rang for either of them, Jessica Simpson once joked about marrying NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a dream.
During a candid conversation about the early days of her relationship with the sports legend, Amy Earnhardt joked that the pop star “tried to fish my man.”
“It’s 2008, maybe [2009]. We had just started dating, and I think I’m still living in Jacksonville, but I come up to Daytona to hang out with Dale. And I hear that Jessica Simpson’s at the racetrack. We’re the same age. We both came from Texas, so I’ve always kind of been a fan of hers,” Amy recalled on her “Bless Your ‘Hardt” podcast.
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At the time, she said she was excited about the possibility of meeting the “I Wanna Love You Forever” singer.
“And I’m like, ‘Hey, Dale, do you think that you could get Jessica Simpson to come to the bus so I could meet her?’ And he’s like, ‘I don’t think that’d be a really good idea.’ And I was like, ‘Why not?’”
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“And he shows me this clip … of her doing an interview earlier that day, how she had had a dream that she and Dale Jr. got married in a treehouse.”
Amy then drew the line.
“And I’m like, ‘Yeah… don’t bring that b—- over here. It’s a good idea,” Amy joked as Dale laughed.
She added that the moment left a lasting impression.
“I haven’t bought a Jessica Simpson shoe or a bag — you know, how she’s got all the things — ever since then. I was like, she was f—ing trying to fish my man … Yes, she was. She knew exactly what she was doing.”
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The alleged near run-in happened in the late 2000s, when Amy and Dale Jr. were just starting their relationship and Simpson was rising to pop stardom.
Simpson later met former NFL player Eric Johnson in May 2010. The two got engaged six months later and married in 2014 after welcoming their first two children, Maxwell and Ace. They welcomed daughter Birdie in 2019.
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In November 2024, Johnson was spotted without his wedding ring as Simpson focused on a music comeback.
“She’s working on music and splits her time between Los Angeles and Nashville. Eric spends all of his time in LA, where the kids go to school,” a source told People at the time.
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“Jess and Eric very much live separate lives.”
Meanwhile, Dale Jr. and Amy tied the knot in 2016 and now share two daughters, Isla, 7, and Nicole, 5.
Luxury hotel parts ways with beloved ‘Sandcastle Man’ after 20-year beach tradition
For nearly two decades, families posed for photos beside his towering sandcastles, couples got engaged in front of them, and holiday visitors returned year after year to see what he would build next.
Now, the man affectionately known as “The Sandcastle Man” is no longer building on the stretch of Southern California beach where he became a Coronado fixture.
Hotel del Coronado confirmed to Fox News Digital that it and sand artist Bill Pavlacka “have parted ways” effective Feb. 5, ending his nearly 20-year run crafting elaborate sculptures on Coronado Beach outside the historic resort.
“We can confirm that Hotel del Coronado and The Sandcastle Man have parted ways effective February 5. We wish The Sandcastle Man continued success,” a hotel spokesperson said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital.
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The hotel did not provide any additional details about the decision.
Pavlacka’s sand creations, ranging from whimsical holiday displays to custom wedding proposals, anniversary tributes and birthday messages have long-drawn crowds along the iconic shoreline adjacent to San Diego.
The circumstances surrounding his departure were detailed in a letter and interview quotes reported by The San Diego Union-Tribune, as well as in statements Pavlacka shared on social media.
The Union-Tribune reported that Pavlacka was formally notified in a letter from the hotel’s human resources director that he was no longer permitted to operate on hotel property. According to the newspaper, the letter said that in recent months a new incident had come to light “involving consumption of alcohol, resulting in a negative guest experience.”
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Pavlacka denied that allegation in an interview with the Union-Tribune.
“There was no alcohol. I don’t drink alcohol out there,” he said. “I asked the hotel guy who complained, ‘Did you see me drinking?’ He said, ‘We’re not going to go there.’ If they want me out of there, that’s OK. I’m not going to fight and argue with them.”
The Union-Tribune also reported the letter stated Pavlacka was “no longer permitted to operate ‘The Sandcastle Man’ or any other business on the premises of the Hotel del Coronado… explicitly including the Hotel’s beach.”
The newspaper further reported that the hotel owns portions of the beachfront and, citing the California Coastal Commission, has the right to control that property so long as public access is not denied.
Pavlacka told the Union-Tribune he believes the decision may have been influenced by messages he sometimes carved into his sculptures. The newspaper reported the hotel letter said that as a condition of operating on the hotel’s beach property, Pavlacka’s sandcastle content was to be “neutral” and “free of political or controversial messages.”
Pavlacka said he had incorporated phrases such as “I believe in freedom of speech” and “I love democracy,” along with a quote attributed to Mark Twain: “Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.”
He said the messages were interpreted as political.
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“The hotel always says I do not work for them, but they kicked me off the property,” he told the Union-Tribune. “But I have tremendous support in San Diego and almost all the feedback I’ve gotten is positive. So I can’t understand why all of a sudden things changed.”
Local supporters echoed that sentiment.
“Bill is hardworking and quiet and never have we ever seen him drinking,” Kimberly Weed told the Coronado Times. “This is a huge loss for the people of San Diego, and everyone loves ‘The Sandcastle Man.’ Bring him back and appreciate the joy it brings people from all over the world.”
Ken Fitzgerald told the outlet, “There is nothing controversial, much less offensive, about a quote from one of America’s greatest authors about the importance of truth and objective reality in our nation’s civic life.”
Pavlacka addressed the split in a Facebook post.
“After nearly two decades, Hotel del Coronado and I have parted ways. Building sandcastles in front of the hotel, and meeting guests from all over the world, has meant everything to me,” he wrote.
“While I’m saddened this chapter has ended, I’m excited for greater creative freedom ahead,” he added, directing supporters to find him “just north of the main lifeguard tower on Coronado Beach.”
In his interview with the Union-Tribune, Pavlacka said he plans to continue building sandcastles elsewhere.
“I won’t give up, I’ll still build sandcastles. It may not be here, it will be somewhere,” he said.
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Pavlacka also publishes a price list on “The Sandcastle Man” website.
The page states: “Sandcastles and lessons on Hotel Del Coronado property must be pre-approved by the hotel.” It adds that prices are subject to change based on design complexity and may include add-ons such as music, lights, rose petals and travel fees.
Pavlacka is currently seeking donations per his most recent Facebook post.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Pavlacka for additional comment.
Fast-food chain ditches microwaves, warns of health risks in ‘real food’ push
Indianapolis-based fast-food chain Steak ‘n Shake announced it will be removing all microwaves from its kitchens.
“We expect every unit to be microwave-free by April 15. Quality restaurants don’t need microwaves,” the restaurant posted on X.
“It is part of our journey to improve food quality and use traditional methods of cooking only.”
The chain added pointedly, “Eat Real Food.”
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The move echoes recent calls from HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins to prioritize whole, minimally processed foods instead of relying on microwavable, ultra-processed meals.
With more Americans scrutinizing ingredient lists and where their food comes from, the restaurant is betting that simpler recipes, cleaner labels and farm-fresh sourcing will win trust — and taste buds.
There are 390 restaurants in the U.S., according to data company Scrape Hero.
California chef and restaurateur Andrew Gruel told Fox News Digital he wondered why Steak ‘n Shake is even using microwaves.
“If they are for a one-off scenario, then I get it, but were they cooking their food in a microwave?” Gruel said.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Steak ‘n Shake for additional comment.
A systematic review titled “Microwave Radiation and the Brain” was published in the National Library of Medicine in 2022, citing some health concerns.
“Microwaves can damage the brain (one of the two key components of the human CNS), particularly affecting the neurotransmitters which play an important role in passing signals inside the body,” researchers wrote.
They also said radiation can cause a delay in the brain’s signaling process.
“Conversely,” researchers said, microwaves are also “extremely useful in the medical field” — citing examples of tumor detection.
“Overall, microwaves are shown to have positive, neutral and negative effects on exposed biological systems,” researchers said.
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Gruel told Fox News Digital he always keeps a microwave in his restaurants’ kitchens.
“Staff uses it for their food sometimes,” he said.
“It’s good for melting chocolate, making certain desserts, juicing limes. There’s lots of tricks.”
Last year, Steak ‘n Shake transitioned to using 100% all-natural beef tallow, eliminating seed oils in its restaurants.
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The restaurant also switched to a2 milk in December ahead of President Donald Trump’s administration’s push for drinking whole milk.
Trump signed the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act into law in January.
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“a2 milk is 100% real milk from cows that naturally produce only the A2 protein and no A1. Published research suggests a2 milk is easier on digestion and may help some avoid discomfort,” Steak ‘n Shake said on its website.
Minnesota governor proposes relief fund as Republicans warn of fraud risk
Minnesota Democratic Gov. Tim Walz was slammed online by Republicans after proposing a $10 million emergency relief package for small businesses across the state impacted by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
Walz unveiled the proposal Thursday after border czar Tom Homan announced that Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota would be ending. The proposal calls for forgivable loans ranging from $2,500 to $25,000 to be distributed to eligible businesses that are able to demonstrate “substantial revenue loss” during “specified dates” tied to the operation.
“The campaign of retribution by the federal administration has been more than a short-term disruption; it has inflicted long-term damage on Minnesota communities,” Walz said in a statement. “Recovery will not happen overnight. Families, workers, and business owners are feeling the effects, and our responsibility is clear: we will help rebuild, stabilize these businesses, protect jobs, and ensure Minnesota’s economy can recover and thrive.”
Republicans quickly criticized the proposal as Minnesota continues to face extensive fraud allegations.
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President Donald Trump previously claimed that fraud in Minnesota exceeded $19 billion.
Dozens of people have been prosecuted in Minnesota in recent years for alleged large-scale welfare fraud schemes involving food assistance and autism services. Federal prosecutors have alleged the schemes stole hundreds of millions of dollars from taxpayer-funded programs, with separate investigations also examining alleged fraud in the state’s daycare system.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn. reacted to the governor’s proposal on X, saying, “BREAKING: Tim Walz opens up a new avenue for fraud in Minnesota.”
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Minnesota Republican state Sen. Michael Holmstrom said on X that the proposal would be an “immediate NO from me,” adding that Minnesota taxpayers “do not deserve to have more money stolen from them.”
Others referenced fraud related to Minnesota’s daycare system, including Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., who responded to the proposal on X, “Does that include learing centers?”
His post referenced a typo that read “Quality Learing Center,” which was eventually corrected. The Quality Learning Center was infamously featured in a video by YouTuber Nick Shirley, who visited multiple daycare centers across Minnesota that allegedly received public funds but were not providing any services.
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The governor’s office included a statement from Henry Garnica, the owner of CentroMex in East St. Paul, who said the past few months during the immigration operation have been “some of the hardest I’ve experienced as a business owner.”
“Sales are down, we have limited hours, and we have had to change how we operate,” he stated. “That’s not who we are as a neighborhood store. This proposed forgivable loan package would give businesses like mine breathing room — to keep employees on payroll and keep our doors open. For some of us, it could mean the difference between surviving and closing for good.”
On Thursday, Walz demanded that the federal government “pay for what they broke” after the Trump administration said it would draw down its presence in the Twin Cities.
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Walz said during a news conference that federal law enforcement’s presence in the state was leaving “deep damage” and “generational trauma.”
Border town crime surge threatens safety where TV host’s mother disappeared
Nancy Guthrie’s abduction from her home in the upscale Catalina Foothills north of Tucson, Arizona, shocked the nation.
She’s the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie. She’s lived in the neighborhood for decades. And it’s not known for crime.
Tucson is, however, even as Pima County crime is on the decline.
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Violence is widespread in the city proper, with large encampments where meth and other drugs are readily available and criminals reportedly exploit the city’s free bus system to carry out offenses. These revelations are gaining scrutiny as the search for Guthrie nears the end of its second week, and after surveillance video of a masked suspect on her front steps has led to thousands of tips but no arrests.
Fox News Digital spoke with local business owner Josh Jacobson, who works with the nonprofit Tucson Crime Free Coalition, which advocates for adequate law enforcement staffing and resources, treatment for the needy and prosecution for criminals. Tucson is located in Pima County, and while he describes the county as “a relatively lower crime area,” he points to Tucson as the problem.
“It’s really the city of Tucson that’s where crime spins out of control, and our deputies are really involved trying to push crime back,” he said.
Encampments containing drug and criminal activity, according to Jacobson, are located about three miles from Guthrie’s home in the Catalina Foothills.
Fox News Digital took photos of the nearby encampments — which contain piles of junk, such as clothes, open containers, boxes, bags and trash.
At the dump site on Thursday, just about three miles from Guthrie’s home, Pima County deputies told Fox News Digital they were investigating property theft in the area. They said their work was not connected to her disappearance.
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And with large tracts of government land outside town, there’s plenty of room for more encampments.
As a 2020 COVID relief measure, the city of Tucson implemented fare-free transit, as reported in the Arizona Daily Star. While it sounds like a good idea to its supporters, according to Jacobson, it’s contributed to the spread of crime across Tucson and the county.
“It’s not just drugs, but it’s also organized retail theft. It’s burglaries. It’s theft. It’s assaults,” he said. “There’s been a lot of issues that have come because there’s no accountability on our bus system.”Criminals use the free buses to their advantage, using them as getaway vehicles after robbing a store in the midst of understaffed and under-resourced law enforcement, he told Fox News Digital.
“Folks will actually time the bus so that they can go into a big box store, steal a bunch of merchandise, run out and jump on the bus right as it’s pulling up,” he said.
The nearest stop to Guthrie’s home is about 2.4 miles away, however, and there’s speculation among experts that she was forced into a vehicle against her will, making the bus routes unlikely in her case.
However, for many residents, calling 911 might mean not seeing an officer for hours, Jacobson said. Nuisance crimes may not even get reported.
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Some bus stops are also used as a hub for the distribution of narcotics, with people buying and selling out in the open, in addition to smoking fentanyl or methamphetamines while riding the bus, according to Jacobson.
Tucson is located about 60 miles north of the Mexico-U.S. border. When drugs come across, they first pass through Pima County, before making their way to other parts of the United States, according to Jacobson.
“Pima County is one of the largest drug trafficking corridors in the state,” he said.
Despite the prevalence of narcotics crimes, Jacobson alleges that Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos does not want to work with other agencies, including Border Patrol and ICE.
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In Guthrie’s case, federal law enforcement sources have voiced frustration with his alleged lack of cooperation — telling Fox News Digital he waited two days to bring the FBI into the investigation and later sending key evidence for testing at a private lab in Florida instead of the FBI’s state-of-the-art facility in Virginia.
Meanwhile, as the FBI’s special agent in charge of the Phoenix office was with the Guthrie family recording a video response to a purported ransom demand last week, Nanos attended an NCAA basketball game.
US ‘one crisis away’ from losing rare earth access as Trump unveils $12B plan
EXCLUSIVE: Industry experts warn the United States is “one crisis away” from losing access to the rare earth elements that power everything from fighter jets to electric vehicles — a vulnerability President Donald Trump’s new $12 billion “Project Vault” aims to address.
The initiative, backed by $1.67 billion in private seed money and a $10 billion loan from the Export-Import Bank, would create a federally supported stockpile of rare earth elements and other critical minerals. The U.S. currently imports much of those materials from China.
Executives from Graphite One, one of the country’s largest critical mineral developers, told Fox News Digital the effort could mark a turning point in the battle over China’s dominance of global supply chains.
“The Chinese are willing to weaponize access to … semiconductor materials like gallium and uranium,” Graphite One advisor Dan McGroarty said. “Then they turn off the tap and sort things out, give us a one-year reprieve, you know, it’s a leash and they can yank that leash anytime they want.”
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CEO Anthony Huston compared the concept to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, established after the 1970s oil crisis to safeguard U.S. energy security, arguing that critical minerals now play a similarly vital role in powering modern defense systems, advanced electronics and electric vehicles.
“For years, American businesses have risked running out of critical minerals during market disruptions… Project Vault [will] ensure that American businesses and workers are never harmed by any shortage,” Trump said in his announcement last month.
Graphite One recently made news with its “truly generational” Graphite Creek site in Alaska, which is the U.S.’ largest asset of that particular critical mineral, in Huston’s words.
As of 2024, the U.S. was at least 93% import-dependent on rare earth elements and graphite, according to the International Energy Agency, and remains heavily reliant on foreign suppliers for dozens of other critical minerals.
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“The United States really relies on China and Africa for graphite. China, as we understand, is our adversary,” Huston said.
A buried lede in the Project Vault news, he added, is a little-reported counter-terror aspect.
Huston said some African mineral deposits, including in parts of Mozambique, are located in areas where ISIS-linked groups have operated. By onshoring development of critical minerals, the U.S. will not only work to unseat Chinese dominance but also deal a blow to operations in areas run by people who want to kill us, he argued.
McGroarty added that Project Vault reminds him of the idea of “dual-use technologies” during the Cold War, where computers of the time had technology that could not be exported – but could be used for both manufacturing and nuclear weapons design, for instance.
“On another level, we’re going to have to balance it across 20, 30, 40 different metals, minerals, compounds, and composites, not just oil,” he said.
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McGroarty said the U.S. is “one crisis away” from having REEs “cut-off” by adversaries like China.
Huston also spoke of why Project Vault fits the 2020s more than any other time.
In the prior century, there were no cell phones, no EVs and graphite and the like was being used in analog tools like pencils and primitive computers.
The Graphite Creek site supplied materials for World War II-era steel production, a far cry from its potential role in today’s high-tech economy. Huston reiterated that the U.S. needs its own “strategic petroleum reserve” of critical minerals rather than relying on adversarial nations.
“As they say when you’re flying, put the oxygen mask on yourself first before turning to help those around,” he said.
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Asked about any nexus between Project Vault, the Senate’s renewed focus on Arctic national security amid foreign incursions and Trump’s overtures toward Greenland, McGroarty suggested there may be one — but it’s not yet clear.
He quipped that sometimes it’s better to look at the globe from the top rather than the side, which places North America in the center of everything.
“See what nations have a presence in the Arctic you’ll see the importance of Greenland you’ll also see that the U.S. is an Arctic nation only because of Alaska,” he said.
Of the 60 critical minerals on the U.S. government’s official list, Alaska has known resources of at least 58, he added.
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“It’s the same sort of thing with Greenland. In the case of Greenland, I think there’s a phrase that I use from time to time: resource denial — That is to say, you might try not to be interested in Greenland’s resource potential in critical minerals. If you wake up one day, and the Chinese and the Russians are engaging in economic relationships in Greenland and directing those metals and minerals into their supply chains, you will have to be concerned about what goes on.”
China-based experts, on the other hand, were dismissive of Project Vault, with rare-earths analyst Wu Chenhui telling the state-owned Global Times that while Trump’s move is novel, it “functions more as a short-term buffer than a fundamental solution,” and other officials in the Communist nation were similarly bearish on the news.