Thousands of Americans are getting infected with the cyclospora parasite, and health officials are looking at Taco Bell as one possible source of the uncomfortable outbreak.

The Mexican fast-food chain reportedly stopped serving some fresh ingredients at some of its locations, and the Washington Post reported that federal and state health officials are now probing the chain.

‘FDA certainly is continuing its traceback investigation on multiple produce items, also including locations that are reported by the case patients.’

The parasite can infect hosts who eat contaminated produce and may cause weeks of watery diarrhea and “frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On Tuesday, Taco Bell issued a statement saying that it had “voluntarily and temporarily removed limited ingredients” at some restaurants “as a precautionary measure.”

The chain added that it would continue to monitor the situation and “follow the guidance of public health authorities.”

Donald Prater, the acting deputy commissioner for food at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, would not confirm if Taco Bell is being investigated.

“FDA certainly is continuing its traceback investigation on multiple produce items, also including locations that are reported by the case patients before they became sick,” he said.

Officials outlined several steps people can take to avoid the discomforting parasite:

Heating food to 158 degrees F or above to kill the parasite;Peeling produce to reduce the chance of infection from the parasite being present on the surface; andWashing all fresh produce under clean running water, even if you plan on peeling it, and whether or not it was pre-washed.

RELATED: As many as 59 women were exposed to HIV infection over ‘vampire facials’ and Botox injections, health officials say

Those who believe they may be coming down with the sickness are advised to contact health officials and specifically ask for the cyclospora test.

Cyclospora infections can be treated with antibiotics, rest, and plenty of hydration.

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​Centers for disease control, Health officials, Taco bell, Cyclospora parasite, Diarrhea, Politics 

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett related how her home and family were the target of a swatting report during congressional testimony on Tuesday.

Police reports from an incident in May involving a “high-priority resident” in Washington, D.C., led to media conjecture that Barrett had been the target of a swatting report.

‘One of my teenage sons opened the door to go out with friends and saw in our street, it was full of police cars who had responded to a false report of gunshots.’

The Supreme Court is asking Congress to increase funding for security in response to a surge in threats against the justices. Barrett and Elena Kagan appeared in front of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government in support of the funds.

“Maybe I lack imagination, but I didn’t expect that performing this service was going to put me in the position of explaining to my children what a bulletproof vest was and why I had to wear one,” Barrett said.

She told Congress that police responded to her home on the hoax shooting call but that her security detail defused the situation.

“One of my teenage sons opened the door to go out with friends and saw in our street, it was full of police cars who had responded to a false report of gunshots and raised voices in my home,” she continued.

“I was very, very grateful that I had Supreme Court police outside my home because they were able to stop and meet with and explain to the county police that it had been a false alarm, and so the police did not actually attempt to enter our home,” Barrett added.

The Supreme Court is asking for $228.4 million in funding from Congress, an increase of $20.5 million compared to last year.

RELATED: Romanian man pleads guilty to orchestrating ‘swatting’ campaign against US lawmakers, including an ex-president

According to NBC’s report, members of Congress appeared to be receptive to the justices’ testimony, as they have also been targets of threats.

In one alarming incident, a transgender-identifying man was caught with a gun and what appeared to be kidnapping paraphernalia outside the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The U.S. Marshals Service said there have been 370 threats against federal judges since Oct. 2025.

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​Amy coney barrett, Us supreme court, Political threats, Political violence, Swatting attacks, Politics 

After a month of silence, Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office shared a statement alongside a proof of life photograph of McConnell sitting in what appears to be a hospital bed alongside his wife while holding this Sunday’s Washington Post newspaper.

McConnell shared that he had fallen and had to deal with a “mild case of pneumonia.”

“My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion,” the statement read. “I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages. But I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital.”

BlazeTV host Steve Deace isn’t totally buying McConnell’s story, calling the photo “fascinating.”

“I mean, you typically, when you see people in the hospital admitted for long periods of time, are they typically cord-free or there’s no IVs?” he asks, pointing out that McConnell is free of any IVs, cords, and he’s dressed normally.

“When I look at this, I don’t see anything. I don’t see any evidence of an IV. I don’t see any machines,” he says.

“This to me was like Soviet-level propaganda here, right? And you make sure to throw the wife in there with all the rumors that she had run off to China or something,” he adds.

“And his best friend in the Senate was Lindsey Graham,” co-host Todd Erzen chimes in.

“And he said nothing about Lindsey Graham too, because this came out hours after it was already out that Lindsey Graham had passed away,” executive producer Aaron McIntire adds.

“To me, the best thing that you can say is that he’s seriously hurt, which is unfortunate again for him and his family. He’s seriously hurt, and they staged this in the hospital to make it look like he was due back and didn’t consider any of the details of the kinds of things we’re asking about,” Deace says.

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​Aaron mcintire, Lindsey graham, Mitch mcconnell, Pneumonia, Statement, Steve deace, Todd erzen, Washington post, Steve deace show 

Five years ago, Charlottesville’s nearly century-old Robert E. Lee statue was torn down, chopped up, and melted at the urging of woke iconoclasts. The remains are now destined to be further deformed into an African symbol by a black identitarian.

How it started

Paul Goodloe McIntire, one of Charlottesville’s top individual benefactors if not its greatest, commissioned several statues for the city in the early 20th century including one depicting Robert E. Lee.

‘Equity and justice are integral.’

The gifted Lee statue was unveiled in what is now Market Street Park on May 21, 1924, where it stood for nearly a century. It was removed, however, on July 10, 2021 — several years after the deadly “Unite the Right” rally, which the Southern Poverty Law Center allegedly had a hand in organizing — pursuant to a decision by Charlottesville City Council.

Then-Mayor Nikuyah Walker reportedly stated as the crane approached the monument, “Taking down this statue is one small step closer to the goal of helping Charlottesville, Va., and America, grapple with the sin of being willing to destroy black people for economic gain.”

In what co-founder of Charlottesville Black Lives Matter Jalane Schmidt described as “like an execution,” the bronze likeness of Lee was subsequently cut up, then melted down in 2023 before an audience of iconoclasts and so-called anti-racist activists.

This melting project — called Swords into Plowshares — was proposed by Charlottesville’s Jefferson School African-American Heritage Center and approved by the city council in 2021, reported the Guardian.

How it’s going

The JSAAHC ultimately selected the architecture firm Model of Architecture Serving Society Design Group and woke sculptor Dana King to repurpose the bronze from the Lee statue into a new work called “Rooted.”

RELATED: Their likenesses were toppled, yet they still cast long shadows

John McDonnell/Washington Post/Getty Images

Jha Amazi, principal at the design group, stated, “We are deeply inspired by the courage and persistence of everyone who made this moment possible over the past decade, and we are honored to contribute to a future shaped not by inherited symbols, but by shared values and collective imagination.”

Instead of featuring a figure of American historical import, Market Street Park will soon feature a “27-foot-tall bronze Baobab tree, a profound symbol of life, interconnection, and persistence throughout the African diaspora,” the design group said in a statement.

According to the designers, they will be “transforming a space historically defined by racialized exclusion and intimidation into a beacon for justice, dignity, and belonging.”

“The design envisions a true commons, vital and open to all,” continued the statement. “The Baobab forms a seven-sided pavilion, inviting everyone to step inside, gather, and share space. Gardens radiate around a multifunctional plaza, connecting us to the earth.”

Sculptor Dana King — who claims on her website both that “equity and justice are integral” to her work and that the medium is too “often used to elevate Eurocentric and white supremacist statuary” — told WVIR-TV that she feels a sense of gratitude that she is “able to tell the story of African descendants and our importance in this country.”

Andrea Douglas, co-founder of Swords into Plowshares, told WVIR that the use of bronze from the Lee statue was intentional.

“We were interested in creating a process that would give voices that would’ve not had voice at the time that a Lee statue was placed in 1924,” said Douglas.

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​Charlottesville, Iconoclasts, Robert e lee, Statues, Woke, Southern poverty law center, Confederacy, African, Politics