A Democratic Illinois state representative was indicted for an alleged fraudulent scheme that included her county clerk husband and her daughter.

Rep. Carol Ammons allegedly collected fraudulent unemployment benefits from the pandemic era and also orchestrated kickback payments from state funds, according to an indictment from the U.S. Attorney’s office.

‘Leadership means holding your own members accountable, not waiting until political pressure becomes unavoidable.’

The indictment says that Ammons funneled state grant money to three separate nonprofits that employed her daughter Titianna Ammons. From 2017 until 2023, Ammons and her daughter allegedly “received financial benefits in excess of $100,000.”

One of those nonprofits was a prison reform group called Hood Vote Neighborhood Transformation, which received $605,000 in funds. The daughter was also allegedly paid nearly $16,000 from the “Friends of Carol Ammons” campaign fund, which was “out of proportion” with the services she provided.

Rep. Ammons is accused of lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about those payments to her daughter in May 2024.

Prosecutors say her husband, Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons, allegedly instructed a potential witness in the federal investigation to “muddy the waters” in order to obstruct the FBI’s “ability to trace the illegal cash payments to Carol Ammons.”

Titianna Ammons was indicted previously and is not indicted in the newest filing.

Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, a Democrat, said Wednesday that Ammons would be temporarily removed from House committees and meetings and prevented from accessing other resources. However, he stopped short of calling for her resignation.

“The allegations in this indictment are extremely serious,” reads a statement from Welch. “Every person under our system of justice is entitled to the presumption of innocence and due process.”

House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, a Republican, vehemently condemned Ammons and called for her resignation.

“Leadership means holding your own members accountable, not waiting until political pressure becomes unavoidable,” she said.

Ammons was previously accused of stealing a Coach purse at a secondhand store, but the special prosecutor in that case declined to press charges.

RELATED: Gov. Pritzker says he’s one of the good billionaires, not the ones vilified by socialists

Ammons is running for re-election, but she is unopposed in the race. She is an 11-year veteran of the Illinois House.

On her campaign website, Ammons touts her successful effort to end cash bail in Illinois, as well as to ban the use of chokeholds by law enforcement officers.

She also supports reparations, as is documented by the popular Libs of TikTok X account.

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​Fraud charges, Libs of tiktok, Democrat indicted, Government corruption, Kickback scheme, Politics, Illinois 

An unmarked dirt trail in the Tonto National Forest once gave police an indication of what was going on in the park, and it turns it out was much worse than they thought.

In 2025, an acre of land was being investigated, with an officer describing it as one of the “worst” cases he has ever seen. This June, forest rangers were not prepared for how things had progressed.

‘I was flabbergasted by the amount of debris in the area.’

Garbage in

Two U.S. national forest rangers came upon an illegal site in Tonto National Forest in central Arizona in June, and with it was 65-year-old Mark Aaron Gatz.

According to documents acquired by ABC News, Gatz was operating an illegal campsite that contained not just a wood-burning fire — a huge problem in itself — but also 1,000 pounds of trash.

Gatz’s encampment was entrenched in garbage that had built up over two years of him living in that location, with the man telling officers that he had been living in the forest for eight years in total.

WCNC-TV reported that the trash was scattered over about half an acre of forest service land and was causing permanent damage to the ecosystem. The garbage included items like tires, plastic bags, regular trash bags, aluminum cans, and more.

Aside from finding Gatz’s illegal campfire, they also saw he had made a canopy to go over his SUV that was parked in the forest.

“I was flabbergasted by the amount of debris in the area,” a responding officer reportedly wrote in response to the mess.

RELATED: Why are today’s parents so scared of the sun?

–

Bless this mess

This latest discovery was part of an extensive rap sheet that had been built by the older male; police soon discovered Gatz had six outstanding federal warrants from previous forest-related violations.

The citations go back to May 2025 when forest officials followed a dirt trail to a campsite littered with clothes, tools, plastic, and other trash. Authorities determined it was there for at least a month.

In early July 2025, officers reportedly responded to complaints of a “large messy campsite” that contained years’ worth of trash. It was described at the time by one officer as “one of the worst residential cases” he had seen in the entire forest.

Gatz was cited for unsanitary conditions due to his household trash being scattered around the land.

Then, in February 2026, forest officers found a red and white trailer that was surrounded by tarps and string used as clothes lines, seemingly to dry towels, sheets, and sleeping bags. This belonged to Gatz, who was also allegedly operating a 3-foot campfire made of stone and clay.

RELATED: What was the ‘alt-right’? ‘Whitepill’ clears up the media hysteria

Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis/Getty Images

Camp scamp

The serial camper has been in violation of U.S. Department of Agriculture rules surrounding camping in a national forest. The rules state that camping for more than 14 days in a 30-day period or more than 30 days in a 365-day period is prohibited.

According to ABC News, Gatz pleaded guilty to a violation of fire restrictions for his recent activities, along with residential use of the forest without a permit. He was sentenced to three years of probation.

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​News, Arizona, National forest, Lifestyle 

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) believes access to artificial intelligence is so important, he’s willing to put taxpayer money where his mouth is.

The governor announced that the state is entering a new partnership that will inevitably see AI spread across state agencies and possibly municipalities throughout California.

‘Building AI responsibly and in service of people has been our approach from the start.’

Newsom’s government is already using AI in the Office of Emergency Services and the Department of Technology, but is looking to expand the usage across all departments by offering the service at a discount.

California agencies will have access to Anthropic’s Claude at a 50% discount after the state secured a contract with the Silicon Valley company.

However, there is no statewide budget allocation for this service, and each department will have to pay from its own budget. The offer is available to local governments, too, the Sacramento Bee reported.

“We’re entering a partnership to strengthen cybersecurity and provide [Claude AI] to state agencies — and California local governments — at a 50% discount,” Newsom wrote on X.

“The Golden State helped build Silicon Valley — and every Californian should benefit from the responsible use of their latest innovations.”

Despite the governor’s wording, the “benefit” is to come only through government usage, as the discount is not available to the average resident.

RELATED: The next AI race isn’t about smarter machines. It’s about human experience.

A state press release says the new deal offers workforce training, “expert” technical assistance, and “workflow input” from Anthropic developers to state actors.

“This partnership is about using technology the California way: responsibly, transparently, and in service of people,” Newsom claimed. “AI should not replace the human work of government; it should help our workers move faster, solve problems more effectively, and deliver better results for Californians.”

A California Department of Technology spokeswoman said that as of the Monday after the announcement, no departments had taken up the state’s offer to use the technology under the new contract.

Blaze News previously reported on Claude’s pricing structures, which can pile up quickly if not limited or monitored by employers. The prices are based on tokens, which cost upwards of $25 per million.

One token is equal to approximately four written characters in English text or “0.75 words,” so generating a PDF costs about 125,000 tokens, a large document around 25,000 tokens, and a webpage roughly 2,500 tokens.

RELATED: Trump signs ‘quantum’ executive order: Here’s what it means

Jim WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

Anthropic’s head of Americas, Kate Jensen, said the company feels “a real responsibility to our home state” which encouraged the company to strike the deal.

“Building AI responsibly and in service of people has been our approach from the start, and that’s exactly what this partnership puts into practice.”

California’s Government Operations Agency Secretary Nick Maduros said state employees are hoping to provide Californians “with the best possible service,” and in order to do that they “need to make sure” their teams have access to “the best modern tools,” including Claude and other “emerging technologies.”

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​News, Anthropic, Claude, California, Gavin newsom, Ai, Artificial intelligence, Tech 

The Daughters of the American Revolution is a genealogical society for women whose relatives helped America gain independence 250 years ago.

The society has been around for 135 years, but it just voted to allow men in.

At the organization’s 135th Continental Congress, a resolution to define “woman” as someone born female was struck down 1,481 to 984. DAR leadership had already been allowing men who identify as women to join — and now five men are members.

“The wokesters have now accomplished institutional capture in one of our age-old historical institutions here in the United States,” Stuckey says, noting that while conservatives have had some “major wins” recently, “woke is not dead.”

And unless you “eradicate it completely,” she explains that it will “keep coming back like mold.”

“So, don’t have any delusions that wokeness and progressivism has waned. It will come back with a vengeance, especially if they take political power in the midterms and then in 2028. So, the resolution stated this, and praise God for you, woman, who brought this forth,” Stuckey says.

The struck-down resolution by the resistance group Daughters Advocating for Restoration said, “The term ‘woman’ shall be understood to clearly mean a woman who was born female, and therefore, individuals who were born male shall not be eligible for membership; transgender women shall not be eligible for membership; and men who have their birth certificates changed from male to female shall not be eligible for membership.”

The group’s reasoning for allowing men into the group is that while the existing bylaws require members to be women, they do not define the term “woman.”

This, Stuckey says, is “why it’s so important for us Christians to define our terms.”

“We are supposed to be a bastion of courage and clarity,” she says.

“There’s a lot of people who want to be confused, so they are actually sowing chaos through the confusion. That’s what they want to do. They might do that in the name of empathy or niceness or whatever it is,” she continues.

“But there are a lot of people who don’t want the confusion, who don’t want the chaos, who just want to be told what is real, what is true,” she says. “That’s where Christians come in.”

Want more from Allie Beth Stuckey?

To enjoy more of Allie’s upbeat and in-depth coverage of culture, news, and theology from a Christian, conservative perspective, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Allie beth stuckey, Conservatives, Relatable, Wokeness, Daughters of the american resolution, Transgender, Christianity, The blaze, Relatable with allie beth stuckey 

The top baby name for boys born in England and Wales has held on to its crown for the third consecutive year.

The newly unveiled list, compiled by the Office for National Statistics, is based on birth data from the 2025 calendar year.

Muhammad has ranked among the top 10 boys’ names in England and Wales every year since 2016.

Muhammad, given to 5,957 newborn boys, topped the list, up 4% from 2024. Noah ranked second with 4,075, followed by Leo, Luca, and Arthur.

Alternate spellings of the top boy name also fared well, with Mohammed in 20th place and Mohammad in 55th place, increasing the count by an additional 2,600.

The ONS additionally provided a month-by-month breakdown, which revealed that for every month of 2025, Muhammad claimed first and Noah second.

Muhammad has ranked among the top 10 boys’ names in England and Wales every year since 2016 and among the top 100 since 1997.

By contrast, traditional girls’ names have remained popular. Olivia appeared in the top slot for the 10th year in a row. Lily moved up to second place, followed by Amelia, Isla, and Florence.

RELATED: ‘Rape of Britain’ ignored because of the Muslim vote, UK lawmaker tells Joe Rogan

Office for National Statistics

According to the 2021 census, the Muslim population of England and Wales was 3.87 million, or 6.5% of the total population. A third of the population growth in England and Wales between 2011 and 2021 was Muslim.

Restore Britain party leader Rupert Lowe criticized the rankings on X, writing, “This is awful and demonstrates the rapidly changing demographics of our country.”

“Only Restore Britain will fight this,” he added.

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​Muslim, Politics, Muhammad 

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her administration will take legal action against the U.S. after the lethal shooting of a Mexican national who had lived in Texas for decades.

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer during a traffic stop in a “targeted enforcement operation” in Houston on Tuesday.

‘There’s no reason for them to be in detention centers or for violence to be used. So, we’re preparing legal measures — obviously, more significant ones.’

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Araujo refused to follow orders and then tried to run over an officer, who fired at him in self-defense.

Araujo was shot in the stomach and declared dead at a hospital later.

The man’s family claimed he had no criminal history and had been applying for legal status for more than a year before the lethal incident.

“Our goal is to go beyond diplomatic notes and what we raised at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, since we cannot allow the mistreatment of our brothers and sisters who are in the United States — our fellow citizens. So we’re proposing other measures,” Sheinbaum said to reporters on Wednesday.

“There has been another tragic death of a fellow citizen in the United States due to detention issues, when their only ‘offense’ is not having papers — even though they were hired by a U.S. company. There’s no reason for them to be in detention centers or for violence to be used. So, we’re preparing legal measures — obviously, more significant ones.”

Sheinbaum previously feuded with President Donald Trump over illegal immigration as well as tariffs imposed on her country.

Three other people were detained during the enforcement operation.

RELATED: ‘He is no victim’: Sister of man shot by Border Patrol in Arizona tells anti-ICE protesters to stop defending him

Local leaders immediately called for a transparent investigation into the shooting.

“ICE has released an initial account, but the facts must be independently and thoroughly investigated, including the circumstances that led to the use of deadly force,” Democratic Rep. Sylvia Garcia of Texas said.

“There must be a complete and transparent investigation, and my office stands ready to support our community and any local investigation into how this tragedy unfolded,” Harris County Attorney Abbie Kamin responded.

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​Department of homeland security, Houston, Illegal alien, Illegal immigration, Immigration and customs enforcement, Lethal ice shootings, Mexican national, Mexican president, Politics 

The New York City Police Department told Blaze News that it received a report that a 30-year-old female was aboard a northbound R train approaching the West 28th Street and Broadway subway station around 3 p.m. June 28 when an unidentified individual sexually abused her.

Police told Blaze News that the victim exited the train, and EMS transported her to a local hospital for treatment. The unidentified individual accused of sexually abusing her remained on the train, police told Blaze News.

‘Savage.’

Police noted to Blaze News that Ari Shtein, an 18-year-old male from Washington, D.C., was arrested and charged Wednesday evening in the NYPD’s 5th Precinct with aggravated sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.

Citing prosecutors and a criminal complaint, WPIX-TV reported that Shtein is accused of putting his fingers inside a woman’s private area while she was riding a Manhattan subway train with four kids, ages 7 to 11.

The station, citing authorities, said Shtein was standing behind the woman when he allegedly sexually abused her.

Shtein was arrested after turning himself in, WPIX said.

The station said it was unclear whether the victim is the mother of any of the kids she was with.

RELATED: Florida teacher accused of kissing male student for about 6 minutes, unzipping victim’s pants, performing sex act on him

WPIX, citing police, added that Shtein also was charged with sexual abuse and forcible touching.

The station reported that Shtein was arraigned Wednesday, and he pleaded not guilty and was released without bail, according to court records.

WPIX said his attorney could not be immediately reached.

One commenter under the NYPD Crime Stoppers’ “wanted for sexual abuse” X post regarding the incident replied with one word: “Savage.”

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​Male suspect, Arrest, New york city, Subway train, Children, Aggravated sexual abuse, Fingers, Woman’s privates, Sexual abuse, Forcible touching, Endangering the welfare of a child, Crime