Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Friday announced a record hiring effort for air traffic controllers. “In just 13 HOURS: 8,004 Americans applied to join our controller ranks — that’s over 10 applications EVERY MINUTE! EVEN BETTER, 7,252 applicants are qualified! This is now the FASTEST application pace in AMERICAN HISTORY for Air Traffic Controllers,” Duffy said. “Did you know… the @FAANews has been recruiting controllers since 1958 — 67 YEARS AGO? Today interest in joining has never been HIGHER. We’re just getting started! Applications are still open,” he continued. TRUMP ADMIN BREAKS U.S. RECORD FOR HIRING EFFORT FOR AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS In just 13 HOURS: 8,004 Americans applied to join our controller ranks — that’s over 10 applications EVERY MINUTE! EVEN BETTER, 7,252 applicants are qualified! This is now the FASTEST… pic.twitter.com/UwCbrUyDMr — Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) April 17, 2026 Semafor explained further: US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday that it makes a lot of sense to hire gamers to address a shortage of air traffic controllers. “If you think just what these gamers are doing on screens, and they’re talking and there’s a lot of things going on — they’re used to that. And that’s actually what you’re doing in a tower,” Duffy said at Semafor World Economy in Washington, DC. The Transportation Department announced a week ago that it would begin a recruitment campaign targeting gamers, releasing a promotional video urging them to “level up” by joining the department. Duffy noted on Friday that 6,000 people had applied since the application window opened at midnight that day, with the portal closing upon reaching 8,000 applicants. “We’ve had a flood of young people coming in that want to be air traffic controllers,” he said, adding, “They have to be qualified. We have to go through an assessment process. But this has been wildly successful.” “Watch this… YOU can be the future of air traffic control. It’s not a GAME, its a CAREER. Applications open April 17th at Midnight,” Duffy said last week. Watch the ad below: Watch this… YOU can be the future of air traffic control It’s not a GAME, its a CAREER Applications open April 17th at Midnight @FAANews pic.twitter.com/JVpgCIeF58 — Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) April 10, 2026 More from The Hill: The FAA has scrambled to hire and keep on enough air traffic controllers for decades. Duffy said in November that the amount of air traffic controllers retiring daily had tripled amid the government shutdown, which left federal workers without paychecks for more than a month. “This is going to live on in air travel, well beyond the time frame that this government opens back up,” Duffy said in November. In his 2027 budget proposal, Trump requested $481 million to help the FAA with an air traffic controller hiring surge as a part of his continued push to “supercharge” controller recruitment and retention. Leading up to his November 2024 win, future Trump administration officials polled about 250 air traffic academy graduates, only three of which reported not being gamers, Duffy told Talcott. The hiring campaign is the most recent effort by the Trump administration to fill staffing gaps in the air travel industry. “You may think I’m crazy. Like, gamers for air traffic controllers?” Duffy said. “This came about, we polled 250 random students at our academy and only three of them were not gamers. Like, huh, there must be a correlation between gaming and people wanting to become air traffic controllers. So we’ve leaned into that community.”

A former small-town Alabama mayor is now facing felony charges for allegedly rigging an election with absentee ballots. And the numbers tell you everything you need to know about how brazen this scheme allegedly was. Fort Deposit, Alabama has a population of about 900 people. Somehow, the August 2025 municipal election produced over 1,000 votes. That’s roughly 120% voter turnout. More than half the ballots cast were absentee. Let that sink in for a second. A town where 900 people live had more votes than residents. You don’t need to be a math genius to see something was seriously wrong. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall just made it official. Former Mayor Jacqulyn Boone, 51, and city council candidate Steven Thigpen, 49, have both been arrested and charged with unlawful use of absentee ballots. It’s a Class C felony in Alabama, carrying one to ten years in prison. WSFA 12 News broke the story: BREAKING: Former Ft. Deposit mayor, city council candidate arrested by Alabama AG’s office https://t.co/oNzpzo1mdB— WSFA 12 News (@wsfa12news) April 15, 2026 Both Boone and Thigpen were initially declared winners in their respective races. But it didn’t take long for officials to realize something was off. Voting irregularities were flagged almost immediately after the results came in. A judge stepped in and threw the whole thing out. Lowndes County Circuit Judge Cleveland Poole annulled the election results after ruling that more than 400 absentee ballots were invalid. The reason? Both Boone and Thigpen had personally witnessed the ballot affidavits, sometimes separately and sometimes together. WSFA reported on the arrests: Attorney General Steve Marshall announced the arrest of two Lowndes County residents on charges related to the unlawful use of absentee ballots in the August 2025 Ft. Deposit municipal election. Jacqulyn Boone, 51, and Steven Thigpen, 49, were each charged with unlawful use of absentee ballots, a Class C felony under Alabama law. Boone previously served as mayor of Ft. Deposit, and Thigpen was a candidate for the Ft. Deposit City Council. Both were declared winners in the August 2025 election. The election was later set aside due to voting irregularities, and a special election was held in January. Under Alabama law, unlawful use of absentee ballots is punishable by one year and one day to 10 years in prison. A special election was held in January 2026 to give the people of Fort Deposit the fair vote they deserved. Boone lost her re-election bid, and Thigpen withdrew from the race entirely. Madelene Means was elected as the new mayor. The case is being handled by AG Marshall’s Special Prosecutions Division. Officials have not released additional details because the investigation is still ongoing. This is far from the only ballot fraud case AG Marshall has been pursuing in Alabama. His office has been on a tear. Just weeks earlier, three Monroe County residents were arrested on a combined 37 counts of ballot harvesting and unlawful use of absentee ballots tied to the Frisco City municipal election. Two of those women were courthouse employees. Libs of TikTok highlighted the Monroe County case: BREAKING: Two of the three women indicted on voter fraud charges in Alabama for allegedly submitting DOZENS of fake absentee ballots were Monroe County courthouse employees.Samantha Kyles is listed as a judicial assistant for Judge Donna Silcox, while Sarah Bennett worked as a… https://t.co/WfAroNNAYL pic.twitter.com/0SMFAbnSJU— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 10, 2026 State Auditor Andrew Sorrell, who is running for Alabama Secretary of State in 2026, has been vocal about the Fort Deposit case. He’s pointed to it as proof that the state needs a dedicated election security division. ABC 33/40 covered the broader details: Both face unlawful use of absentee ballots, classified as a Class C felony under Alabama law. Conviction carries one year and one day to 10 years imprisonment. The case is handled by the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Division. Officials declined to release additional information due to the ongoing nature of the investigation. The Fort Deposit election irregularities prompted formal review, leading to the invalidation of the August 2025 results and subsequent special election to restore electoral integrity. The bigger picture here is impossible to ignore. People constantly try to tell you that voter fraud doesn’t exist, that concerns about mail-in ballot integrity are overblown. And then you get a case like this, where a town of 900 people somehow produces over 1,000 votes. Where more than 400 absentee ballots get thrown out by a judge. Where the candidates themselves were allegedly witnessing the very ballot affidavits that kept them in power. Boone and Thigpen are presumed innocent until proven guilty. But the election results were already invalidated. The people of Fort Deposit already had their votes stolen once. At least now, the justice system is catching up.

New York City residents and tourists will have to shell out $150 for round trip train fare on NJ Transit to attend World Cup matches at MetLife Stadium. NJ Transit on Friday announced the massive price hike for the tickets when the World Cup comes to the Tri-State area in June and July. MetLife Stadium is scheduled to host eight matches, including the final on July 19. The typical day-to-day price is $12.90. The train ride from Manhattan’s Penn Station to East Rutherford, New Jersey, is a 9-mile route that takes approximately 15 minutes. “We inherited an agreement where FIFA is providing $0 for transportation to the World Cup. And while NJ TRANSIT is stuck with a $48 million bill to safely get fans to and from games, FIFA is making $11 billion,” New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said. “I’m not going to stick New Jersey commuters with that tab for years to come. FIFA should pay for the rides. But if they don’t – I’m not going to let New Jersey get taken for one,” she added. Watch below: We inherited an agreement where FIFA is providing $0 for transportation to the World Cup. And while NJ TRANSIT is stuck with a $48 million bill to safely get fans to and from games, FIFA is making $11 billion. I’m not going to stick New Jersey commuters with that tab for years… pic.twitter.com/pugU8davkW — Governor Mikie Sherrill (@GovSherrillNJ) April 15, 2026 ESPN explained further: NJ Transit officials said it would cost $62 million to transport fans to and from the stadium over the duration of the tournament, and that outside grants had defrayed only $14 million of those anticipated expenses. “This isn’t price gouging,” NJ Transit president and CEO Kris Kolluri told reporters Friday. “We’re literally trying to recoup our costs.” Taking public transit to World Cup matches in Boston’s suburbs will also be costly. Express buses from various locations to Gillette Stadium, home of the NFL’s New England Patriots, will cost $95, officials announced this week. And thousands of fans have already snapped up $80 round-trip train tickets from Boston to the commuter rail station near the stadium. That’s four times the $20 riders are normally charged for a round-trip ticket during game days and other special events. Unlike MetLife, Gillette isn’t a short hop from downtown. The stadium is located in Foxborough, some 30 miles south of Boston. Other World Cup host cities have pledged to keep their transit fares unchanged, noting that the U.S. government has provided some $100 million in transit grants to host cities to provide enhanced bus and rail service. In Los Angeles, one-way fares will remain $1.75; in Atlanta, they’re locked at $2.50; in Houston, a single ride will still cost $1.25; and in Philadelphia the base fare for the subway will remain $2.90. Kansas City is running shuttles from locations around the city to Arrowhead Stadium that cost just $15 round trip. It’s also offering a free bus from the airport to downtown. On-site parking won’t be available for most fans at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, forcing many fans to use public transit. As an alternative, a round trip bus ticket will cost $80. NJ Transit World Cup Transit Plan Train roundtrip: $150Bus roundtrip: $80Rideshare: no dropoff at stadium#njt #njtransit #FIFA #WorldCup2026 pic.twitter.com/dyoU0BX0g3 — Steven Bognar (@Bogs4NY) April 17, 2026 “New Jersey is ready and excited to host eight FIFA World Cup matches this summer – including the World Cup Final. Since I took office, my Administration has been working to prepare for the biggest sporting event our state has ever seen – and today, NJ TRANSIT released their Mobility Plan to move 40,000 fans to and from each match safely and efficiently. In the FIFA World Cup agreement that my Administration inherited, FIFA put zero dollars towards transporting World Cup fans. It also eliminated parking at MetLife Stadium, putting the burden of transporting four times more matchday riders than typical for an event at the stadium on NJ TRANSIT,” Sherrill said in another post. “This agreement will cost NJ TRANSIT at least $48 million, while FIFA is positioned to make $11 billion during the World Cup. As I have said repeatedly, FIFA should cover the cost of transporting its fans. If it won’t, we will not be subsidizing World Cup ticket holders on the backs of New Jerseyans who rely on NJ TRANSIT every day,” she continued. New Jersey is ready and excited to host eight FIFA World Cup matches this summer – including the World Cup Final. Since I took office, my Administration has been working to prepare for the biggest sporting event our state has ever seen – and today, NJ TRANSIT released their… — Governor Mikie Sherrill (@GovSherrillNJ) April 17, 2026 FIFA said it was “quite surprised by the NJ Governor’s approach on fan transportation,” according to NBC News. “The original FIFA World Cup 2026 Host City Agreements signed in 2018 required free transportation for fans to all matches. Recognizing the financial strain this placed on the host cities, back in 2023 FIFA adjusted the Host Agreement requirements across all host cities as follows: All Match Ticket holders and accredited individuals shall be able to access transport (public or additionally planned transport) at cost to allow travel to Stadiums on match days,” it added. NBC News has more: To accommodate estimated crowds of 78,000 people per match, New Jersey Transit said it has encouraged local employers to allow employees to work from home. Because fans traveling to matches from New York via train can only use Penn Station, the authority said that on match days, only riders with match tickets will be allowed between Penn Station and New Jersey’s Secaucus Junction starting four hours before kickoff. Getting to the stadium only represents one hefty price fans will pay. FIFA President Gianni Infantino defended high ticket prices to watch games that will take place this summer across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. “The main, and so far the only, revenue-generating event for FIFA is the World Cup,” Infantino said Friday at a conference in Washington, D.C. “The World Cup takes place one month every four years, so we generate money in one month. The 47 months until the next World Cup, we spend that money.”

This is the kind of story that makes your blood boil. An illegal alien from Mexico is sitting in a New York City jail right now, charged with setting a Flushing apartment building on fire that k*lled four people — including a three-year-old child. He allegedly stayed at the scene drinking beer and watching people jump from windows. And the city of New York says they won’t hand him over to ICE. ICE filed a detainer. They asked the NYC Department of Corrections to hold him. The city said no. Because of “sanctuary” policies. The Department of Homeland Security didn’t mince words: This monster set fire to a building and watched as innocent people, including a three-year-old, burned to death.New York City sanctuary politicians REFUSE to cooperate with ICE and are committing to RELEASING this MURDERER onto New York streets.New York’s sanctuary… https://t.co/3jQwPSn9Qu— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) April 17, 2026 DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis called the suspect a “monster” and slammed NYC’s refusal to cooperate. Fox News had the exclusive details: Roman Ceron Amatitla, 38, of Maspeth, is charged with eight counts of second-degree murder and first-degree arson after allegedly lighting a three-story Flushing building on fire March 16, which he had selected at random. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said that on the day of the blaze, Amatitla entered and exited the Avery Avenue building multiple times, urinated in front of the apartments, and then went to a nearby gas station — where he bought a beer, stole a second one and took a pack of matches after refusing to pay for a lighter. Authorities allege he then entered the apartment building for a fourth and final time, lighting a piece of paper on fire and tossing it onto trash near a stairwell. As smoke engulfed the street, Katz said he stayed in the immediate area to watch people burn and jump from the windows while sipping his beer, in what she described as an “act of mass murder.” Read that again. He allegedly lit the building on fire, walked outside, and watched people burn while drinking beer. A three-year-old was inside. And this is the man New York City wants to protect from ICE. DHS has been sounding the alarm about this exact scenario: This monster set fire to a building and watched as innocent people, including a three-year-old, burned to death.New York City sanctuary politicians REFUSE to cooperate with ICE and are committing to RELEASING this MURDERER onto New York streets.New York’s sanctuary…— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) April 17, 2026 The numbers are staggering. According to DHS data, New York’s refusal to honor ICE detainers has resulted in the release of nearly 7,000 illegal immigrants since January 20 — accused of crimes including 29 homicides, over 2,500 assaults, 305 robberies, and 207 sexual predatory offenses. The New York Post reported on the story as it broke: NYC officials refuse ICE hold for illegal immigrant accused in arson that killed 4 and injured 7: DHS https://t.co/VBEIZfVMoP pic.twitter.com/a8ThWb5OBO— New York Post (@nypost) April 17, 2026 Mayor Zohran Mamdani — a self-described democratic socialist — signed an executive order effectively turning New York City into a shield for criminal illegal aliens. Governor Hochul, meanwhile, is pushing legislation to ban local police from cooperating with ICE entirely. Breitbart laid out the broader picture: DHS said 7,113 illegal immigrants in the custody of a New York jurisdiction had an active detainer during that time period for crimes including 148 homicides, 717 assaults, 134 burglaries, 106 robberies, 235 dangerous drugs offenses, 152 weapons offenses, and 260 sexual predatory offenses. “New York’s sanctuary politicians must stop putting politics above public safety,” Bis continued. “Releasing this monster from jail is insanity and will allow him to commit more crimes and create more innocent victims. We are calling on Governor Hochul and Mayor Mamdani to not release this public safety threat.” Four people are dead. A child is dead. And New York City’s leaders are more concerned with protecting their sanctuary policies than protecting their own residents.

Ford Motor Company is recalling nearly 1.4 million F-150 pickup trucks due to a gearshift issue that increases the likelihood of a crash. “The automaker is aware of two injuries and one accident possibly related to the issue,” ABC News stated. Ford recalls nearly 1.4 million F-150 pickup trucks due to gearshift issue. https://t.co/ycoj6zKKzX — CBS News (@CBSNews) April 17, 2026 ABC News has more: The recall includes F-150 light trucks with a six-speed automatic transmission that were produced between March 12, 2014 an Aug 18, 2017. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s safety recall report says that some of the pickup trucks may experience an intermittent selection signal of the transmission range sensor to the powertrain control module, which may lead to a temporary, unintended downshift into second gear. This may cause an abrupt reduction in wheel speed for a short period of time, which in some situations could cause the rear tires to slide until the vehicle speed slows. Ford is aware of 444 warranty claims and 105 customer service reports that could be linked to the issue as of early this month. “Dealers will update the powertrain control module software, free of charge. Interim letters, notifying owners of the safety risk, are expected to be mailed April 27, 2026. Additional letters will be sent once the final remedy is available, anticipated in July 2026,” a notice from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration read. Ford is recalling about 1.4 million F-150 pickup trucks in the US after a NHTSA investigation into reports of unexpected downshifts, with dealers set to update software as a remedy https://t.co/Re0pOPs5MQ pic.twitter.com/tMmKZE4rhp — Reuters (@Reuters) April 17, 2026 CBS News noted: In its recall report, NHTSA said some vehicle owners may notice an illuminated malfunction indicator light or wrench light on the vehicle’s dashboard if there’s an issue with the transmission range sensor. Read the full notice HERE.