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Today’s Sponsor: Ground News
Today’s Rundown:
- CRUISE SHIP DEATH OF FLORIDA TEEN ANNA KEPNER RULED A HOMICIDE: Investigators say 18-year-old Anna Kepner, who died on the Carnival Horizon cruise ship earlier this month, was the victim of a homicide. Her death certificate lists the cause as “mechanical asphyxia,” meaning she was physically asphyxiated by another person. She was found under a bed in the cabin she shared with a stepsibling while vacationing with her father, stepmother, stepsiblings and grandparents. Court filings from a separate custody case mention that one 16-year-old stepsibling could potentially face charges, but the FBI has not named any official suspect or person of interest yet. Her family describes her as a straight-A student with a bright future, and the FBI investigation is ongoing.
- SEARCH CONTINUES FOR MISSING VIRGINIA HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL COACH: A massive search is underway for Travis Turner, the head football coach at Union High School in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, who has been missing since Thursday. Police say he was last seen at his home before state troopers came by in connection with an investigation, but they say no arrest was planned at that time. Search teams have used K-9 units, drones and local volunteers to comb the rural area for any sign of him. Turner’s team remains undefeated at 12–0 and has continued its playoff run under an interim coach, adding to the surreal mood in the community. School officials say Turner has been placed on administrative leave amid an outside investigation related to an allegation, but authorities have released few details.
- ICE CRITICIZED AFTER WRONGLY DETAINING RHODE ISLAND TEEN INTERN: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is facing backlash after agents mistakenly detained a 16-year-old intern outside a courthouse in Providence, Rhode Island. Video shows agents pulling the teen from a car driven by a Superior Court judge who was taking him to school, then handcuffing him and walking him across the street. The teen repeatedly told officers they had the wrong person, but was only released after his identity was confirmed. ICE later said agents were looking for a suspected child predator and briefly questioned someone who resembled their target. Civil rights advocates say the incident shows serious problems with ICE’s tactics and raises concerns about racial profiling and due process.
- CAMPBELL SOUP EXEC SUED OVER CALLING PRODUCTS ‘FOOD FOR POOR PEOPLE’: Campbell Soup Company executive Martin Bally is at the center of a new lawsuit alleging he insulted both the company’s products and its workers. Former cybersecurity analyst Robert Garza claims Bally called Campbell’s highly processed “food for poor people” and made offensive remarks about Indian workers during a 2024 meeting about Garza’s pay. Garza says he reported the comments to his manager and was abruptly fired weeks later; he is now seeking damages for emotional, reputational and financial harm. Local TV station WDIV reports the conversation was secretly recorded and later aired, which Campbell says it did not know about beforehand. The company has placed Bally on temporary leave and says that if the comments are real, they are “unacceptable” and “patently absurd,” stressing he works in IT and not on food quality. Florida’s attorney general has also announced a consumer-protection review of Campbell’s products following the uproar.
- CANDACE OWENS ALLEGES UNPROVEN $1.5M MACRON ASSASSINATION PLOT: Conservative commentator Candace Owens has claimed online that French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, orchestrated a $1.5 million plot to have her killed. She says an unnamed intelligence source told her the plan involved France’s elite GIGN police unit and may have had Israeli involvement, but she has not provided evidence to support the allegation. The claims come as the Macrons are already suing Owens for defamation in U.S. court over previous statements she made about Brigitte’s gender and identity. News outlets reporting on the story note that neither French nor U.S. authorities have confirmed any such assassination plot or investigation. For now, Owens’ statements remain unverified allegations circulating on social media and in partisan media.
- TARA REID SAYS HER DRINK WAS TAMPERED WITH BEFORE HOSPITAL VISIT: Actress Tara Reid says she believes her drink was spiked while she was at a hotel bar near Chicago for a fan event. She told Entertainment Weekly she briefly left her drink to smoke, returned to find it covered with a napkin, and soon after taking a sip felt disoriented and later woke up in a hospital with no memory of the previous eight hours. Video obtained by TMZ and reported by People shows emergency responders wheeling her out of a DoubleTree hotel on a stretcher in the early hours of November 23. Her representative said Reid filed a police report and is cooperating with investigators, while she urges the public to never leave drinks unattended. Rosemont Public Safety confirmed an ambulance call for a sick person at the hotel, but police told People they had not yet received a formal report from her. The incident has renewed discussion about drink-spiking risks in public venues.
- BLAZERS COACH CHAUNCEY BILLUPS PLEADS NOT GUILTY IN POKER SCHEME: Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups has pleaded not guilty in a sweeping federal case accusing him of helping to run rigged underground poker games. Prosecutors say Billups and other pro athletes used their fame to lure high-rollers into card games that secretly relied on X-ray tables and altered shuffling machines to cheat players, allegedly stealing at least $7 million. The case includes 31 defendants, among them former NBA guard Damon Jones and alleged members of New York mafia families. Billups faces fraud and money-laundering conspiracy charges and has denied wrongdoing through his attorney; he has been suspended from coaching while the case proceeds. The poker scheme is linked to a broader probe into rigged sports betting that has also brought charges against NBA and MLB players in separate cases.
- YOUTUBE TV ADDING ESPN UNLIMITED AND TESTING CHEAPER CHANNEL BUNDLES: YouTube TV has reached a new multiyear deal with Disney that restores ESPN, ABC and other channels after a blackout and adds the new ESPN Unlimited service at no extra cost. ESPN Unlimited brings together ESPN’s linear channels, app-only programming, ESPN+-style content and WWE premium live events into a single sports package that normally costs about $30 a month on its own. Some subscribers say they are still having trouble activating the perk through the ESPN app as the rollout continues. The agreement also lets YouTube TV sell Disney networks in genre-specific “skinny bundles,” paving the way for smaller, cheaper packages focused on sports, entertainment or kids’ content. Reports say similar deals with Fox and NBCUniversal will eventually let YouTube TV pull more streaming-only sports into its main interface, with full ESPN Unlimited integration expected by 2026.
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