Winsome Sears Closing the Gap

With less than five weeks before Virginia’s statewide elections, a new poll finds the Republican gubernatorial nominee, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, [pictured right] trending upward and closing the gap with her opponent, Democrat Abigail Spanberger.

The poll conducted by A2 Insights found Earle-Sears trailing Spanberger, a former three-term member of Congress, by 3.1 points—marking the closest margin Virginians have seen in the race to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

When asked who they would vote for if the election were held today, 44.6% said Earle-Sears, while 47.7% said Spanberger. Some 6.4% said they were undecided, and 1.3% said they would vote for another candidate.

A2 Insights, a nonpartisan public opinion polling firm, surveyed 771 likely voters through an online panel between Sept. 26 and Sept. 28. It didn’t give a margin of error.

Polls continue to show Earle-Sears gaining ground. In less than a month, she has gained 9 points.

Hospital Starves to Death a Man With Down Syndrome, Didn’t Feed Him for 9 Days

International  |  Steven Ertelt  |   Oct 3, 2025   |   2:33PM   |  London, England

A 56-year-old man with Down syndrome suffered a preventable death after medical staff at an NHS hospital denied him food for nine days, his family said, highlighting what advocates decry as a devaluation of vulnerable lives in a system that too often fails those with disabilities.

Adrian Poulton was admitted to Poole Hospital in September 2021 following a fall at his care home that broke his hip. His condition initially improved, but doctors mistakenly marked him as “nil by mouth,” leaving him without nutrition during his stay.

By the time his relatives discovered the error, he was too weak to recover and died on Sept. 28, 2021, two weeks after admission. An internal hospital investigation confirmed that the lack of nutrition contributed to his death.

Poulton’s father, Derek, expressed shock at the oversight. “Not being medical, we just naturally thought he was having nutrition, a feed. But as it turns out, they were starving him.”

His sister, Lesley Bungay, recounted the heartbreaking final moments: “We were just so worried. He was really poorly. He did look at me and dad… He said to me, ‘Lesley, I don’t want to die.’ He knew he was going to die. It was just awful.”

Trump to Deploy 300 National Guard Members in Illinois

Tom Ozimek, Reporter, 10/4/2025|Updated: 10/5/2025

President Donald Trump has authorized the deployment of 300 members of the Illinois National Guard to protect federal assets amid “violent riots and lawlessness,” according to a White House spokesperson.

Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson confirmed the deployment in a statement to The Epoch Times.

“Amid ongoing violent riots and lawlessness, that local leaders like [Illinois Gov. JB] Pritzker have refused to step in to quell, President [Donald] Trump has authorized 300 national guardsmen to protect federal officers and assets,” she said. “President Trump will not turn a blind eye to the lawlessness plaguing American cities.”

Pakistani Cousin Marriage has no Place in the UK

By Noel Yaxley

The social and medical costs of this imported practice can no longer be ignored. Inbreeding is bad, actually.

You’d think that would go without saying. Not in the United Kingdom, where the Genomics Education Programme of NHS England recently published guidance touting the supposed “social advantages” of cousin marriages.

In Redbridge, East London, one in five child deaths was linked to consanguineous parents.

This is what happens when a subject becomes so controversial that no one dares to speak plainly. For years, journalists avoided discussing rampant cousin marriage for fear of alienating the Pakistani population. Even right-leaning newspapers mostly looked the other way.

Llamas Have a Reputation for Being Ornery and Spitting on People, but They’re also Perfectly Suited to Wyoming’s Remote Mountains

Mark Heinz, 10/03/25

Wyoming’s rugged backcountry is teeming with big game, but the farther into the wild hunters go to shoot deer and elk, the longer and more brutal packing their game out will be.

Some hunters rely on their own strength and use backpacks to haul out meat and antlers. Others get help from pack horses, mules, or pack goats.  

A pair of Wyoming hunters, Anthony Natale and Austin Griffith, think llamas are the perfect wilderness pack animals.   Llamas may not be native to Wyoming, but they’re perfectly suited for Wyoming’s high country terrain and the wilderness.  The pair started out a few years ago with just a couple of the gangly critters, which are native to the perilous mountains of South America.

Montana has Money for a Parenting Program at the Prison, but it’s not Operating Yet

After losing federal funding, the Department of Corrections hasn’t restarted a parenting program that state lawmakers put $120,000 toward earlier this year. The program had served roughly 160 fathers and 400 children during the program’s four-year tenure. By Zeke Lloyd

Frederick Maw VI was 14 months old when his father, Freddie J, received a 20-year sentence to Montana State Prison in 2018. Caterina Maw, Little Freddie’s grandmother, remembers driving alongside a “trembling and scared” child on a bus to a small red cabin in 2022 during her grandson’s first trip to meet his father. 

“He saw the swing set and he saw all the dads standing there with smiles on their faces — then he just got this huge smile and ran to his dad to give him a hug,” Caterina Maw said in a recent interview.

The pair reunited through a Montana Department of Corrections initiative called Connecting Adults and Minors through Positive Parenting, a multi-part program that included a three-month parenting course for incarcerated parents. Parents also were able to see their children in person and have dedicated video calls.