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Watch full video on YouTube
Melissa Diana Simmons was contracted by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide care for an elderly Vietnam War veteran. Instead, Simmons and her boyfriend, James Patrick Brown, drained more than $100,000 from the victim’s bank account, forged his checks and left him in a state of physical and mental disarray. On Tuesday, Simmons, 50, from Boones Mill, Va., pleaded guilty to forgery of government checks. Simmons and Brown were both charged in 2025, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). ‘Care’ Turns to Fraud Based on evidence obtained by police and court records, Simmons met the victim,…
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In some ways, it’s never been more exciting to be a gearhead. We have more than a century of automotive history to look back on, and we can hop online and browse the forums and subreddits anytime we run into a maintenance issue we haven’t encountered before. On the other hand, new cars have never been less DIY-friendly, thanks in large part to telematics-gated diagnostics. This is what right-to-repair legislation aims to correct. New Diagnostics Tech Locks Us Out Of Fixing Our Own Cars Credit: 1A Auto: Repair Tips & Secrets Only Mechanics Know/YouTube To start with, let’s define telematics-gated diagnostics.…
A Marine Corps veteran and other advocates are warning that sections contained within major proposed legislation “will cause significant harm” to veterans, students, survivors and families. The criticism is tied to the comprehensive yet somewhat controversial Take Care of America’s Veterans Act (TCAVA) being deliberated in Congress, which has faced pushback correlated with budgeting, benefits, and purported negative repercussions on military service members with conditions including tinnitus and sleep apnea. The TCAVA introduced last week includes more than 60 veterans’ bills, such as the Major Richard Star Act, the Love Lives On Act, caregiver reforms, VA modernization initiatives and combat-injured…
Gamers officially have another great reason to pre-order Grand Theft Auto 6, after Rockstar confirmed that anyone who purchases the game ahead of its November 19, 2026, release date will be rewarded with a free month of GTA+ for GTA Online. The freebie comes with any edition of Grand Theft Auto 6, so gamers won’t need to shell out $100 for the Ultimate Edition to benefit. GTA+ is a subscription service that provides unique benefits in Grand Theft Auto Online, including money, Shark Card purchase bonuses, discounts on in-game items, and more. Outside of GTA Online, the service also provides…
When criminals get together to do business, it’s almost always tense. After all, there are guns, there’s money, and the fact is that no one there is particularly trustworthy. It’s no wonder that so many drug deals turn into shootouts. And that’s also true when the deal is over guns. Arguably, it’s even more true since, you know, there are guns there and people who want to misuse them.Should things go sideways, then people can easily die, which is what happened in Indianapolis recently, and an 18-year-old man has been charged.An 18-year-old has been charged…
CENTCOM said the latest attacks are a response to Thursday’s commercial vessel attack. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted strikes against Iran on Friday as part of what officials described as a “powerful response” to Iran’s attack on Thursday of a commercial ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Officials, in a press release on Friday afternoon, said that U.S. forces struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites after Iran hit the Singapore-flagged cargo ship M/V Ever Lovely on June 25 with a one-way attack drone as it was exiting the Strait of Hormuz along the Omani…
It’s been well documented that the driver-less taxi firm Waymo racked up 600 parking tickets in San Francisco in 2024, totaling more than $65,000 in fines. Now that Waymo is getting ready to operate in Pittsburgh, PA, it has no excuse to repeat that performance. For that matter, anyone who envisions a future where their autonomous car can moonlight as a revenue-generating taxi while you’re hard at work can’t claim plausible deniability for parking tickets. Honestly officer, I wasn’t driving the car! But we aren’t sure the solution is much better. Two Pittsburgh-based startups, Meter Feeder and Mapless AI, have…
The damage to the United States economy because of relentless wars and inflation is becoming more obvious. Spirit Airlines has announced that it is going out of business and ceasing all operations, effective immediately. Failed government bailout negotiations were also to blame. The Trump administration considered a $500 million bailout but did not reach a deal, according to Duffy, who said the government is a lender of last resort. President Trump floated the idea after Spirit entered bankruptcy for the second time in less than two years, driven partly by rising jet fuel costs linked to the conflict in Iran,…
In 2025, Senator Mike Lee, a Republican from Utah, proposed selling off 3 million acres of public land from 11 Western states. The move sparked widespread backlash from Democratic colleagues, outdoor enthusiasts, and conservation groups. The effort ultimately failed, but the memory of that almost sale lingered in the mind of Colorado Senator Michael Bennet. And now he’s taking action to prevent any similar plans in the future, with a new bill that would make public land sell-offs harder to pass. What the Bill Does On April 30, Bennet, a Democrat, introduced the Public Lands Integrity Act to the Senate.…
The Annunciation Catholic School shooting was terrible, but it could have been much worse. While 26 people were injured, most of them children, the fact that only two died is kind of amazing, in a way. You’d think the death toll would have been much worse, but I’m thankful it wasn’t. I just wish it weren’t as high as it is. But as Minnesota continues to debate gun control, the arguments continue to be bandied about, and I get where some people are coming from on this. They either had children injured or traumatized by…
A therapist with deep ties to the military community, this is Dr. Emma Smith’s final monthly advice column for Military.com. I’ve sat down to write this column several times, and each time I’ve found myself unable to do what I’ve always done here: translate complexity into something usable or hopeful. For me, this space has always been about that. About naming what often goes unspoken in military life. The invisible labor. The strategic and often geographic calculations. The emotional terrain that doesn’t make it into briefings or homecoming photos. And the fact that our grit and resilience allow us to…
Pennsylvania hunters could get a limited path to hunt deer over bait, but this isn’t a statewide green light to dump corn below your treestand. House Bill 2440, introduced April 27 by Rep. Thomas Mehaffie, would amend Title 34 of Pennsylvania law and allow licensed hunters to use bait for deer on private property in areas designated by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The bill would apply only under commission regulations, which means hunters wouldn’t get broad permission to bait deer wherever they choose. The bill is now in the House Game and Fisheries Committee, which has a voting meeting scheduled…
The Department of Justice is threatening to sue the city of Denver over its ban on so-called assault weapons, but city officials say they’re prepared to defend the ban in court if necessary. Last week Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon sent a letter to Mayor Mike Johnston and City Attorney Miko Brown warning that there would be legal consequences if the city doesn’t cease enforcement of its ban on “assault weapons”, which has been in place since 1989. Dhillon vowed to file a federal lawsuit if the city did not enter into a consent decree acknowledging…
What is it about job hunting that can chip away at your confidence and make you question your future? Whether you’re exploring a dream role, refining your federal resume, setting up informational interviews, or considering striking out on your own, that inner critic has a way of getting louder—casting doubt just when you need clarity the most. Because that is where the worst critics of veteran and spouse job hunters live: inside your own head. Recruiters and hiring managers are not the worst critics tearing you apart during the job hunt. It’s brutal, little you. In my work training nearly…
One of my earliest food memories is sitting at the kitchen counter, spooning grated Parmesan cheese into my mouth as a child while my mom cooked dinner. As someone who grew up in an Italian household, Parm — real, whole blocks of aged Parmigiano-Reggiano — is as much a pantry essential as salt, pepper, or oil. While I always keep several blocks of Parmesan at home, I never thought to bring it to the backcountry. While working on an article for GearJunkie, however, I decided to take a block on a backpacking trip, and it changed everything. Now, no packing…
Gov. Tim Walz was in a position to become vice president. I think I speak for most of us when I say that I’m glad he’s still governor of Minnesota. It’s not because he’s been stellar at his job there, mind you, as the Minneapolis day care scandal, and Walz’s reaction to it, amply illustrates that he sucks at it. It’s because it means he and Kamala Harris aren’t in charge in Washington. Both were terrible on gun issues, despite Walz trying to portray himself as a macho man who could out shoot any of…
Red Dead Redemption is back as a PS5 game disc, with a starting price that is notably lower than the digital version of the game. PS5 copies of Red Dead Redemption are now available on Amazon, with both the base game and the Undead Nightmare standalone expansion pack packed onto the disc. Originally released in May 2010 on the PS3 and Xbox 360, Red Dead Redemption is an open-world title set in a fictionalized version of the American Wild West. The base game’s main story focuses on the outlaw John Marston, who is tasked by the US government to find…
A rare virus called the hantavirus has killed three people traveling on a cruise ship. Six people have been infected so far, and one is still in the intensive care section of the hospital in South Africa, in critical condition. The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday that the cause of the deaths was a suspected hantavirus outbreak aboard an Atlantic Ocean cruise ship. The WHO confirmed that it is responding to the public health incident aboard the MV Hondius after one case of hantavirus was confirmed and five others are suspected among passengers and crew. “Detailed investigations are…
