A tiny Colorado town plagued by years of political infighting, failing infrastructure, and contaminated drinking water has officially been declared abandoned after its local government effectively ceased to exist.  Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold declared Hartman abandoned this week after the town’s last elected officials resigned in January, leaving the community without a functioning government or a way to address its deteriorating water system. The declaration came in response to a resident’s petition seeking state intervention so county officials could take over Hartman’s struggling water infrastructure. “The Town of Hartman had lacked chlorine in its water for over one month and the water was not potable and ‘smells horrible,’ the resident’s petition stated, according to the New York Post. Residents have remained under a boil-water advisory since February. Although Hartman previously received roughly $1 million in grants to repair its water system, the money went unused because the town no longer had officials authorized to oversee the project. “The town does not have a board of trustees or town clerk, is unable to hold an election, and owns and operates water infrastructure needed to treat and deliver water to residents,” the petition added. After meeting with residents, Deputy Secretary of State Andrew Kline concluded that declaring Hartman abandoned was the only legal path forward. “Abandonment is the only legal mechanism in Colorado statute that creates an avenue for residents of the area to receive clean water,” Kline said. The collapse of Hartman’s government followed years of increasingly bitter political feuds among residents. Former Mayor Catherine Ferenandez told the Denver Post that longstanding family rivalries had consumed the town. “You had families fighting with each other because they thought this person was going to do the town evil, they thought that person wasn’t going to work well with the town, and it was a complete mess,” Fernandez said. Disputes spilled into local newspapers, social media, lawsuits, and contentious trustee meetings that sometimes required a sheriff’s deputy to keep the peace. Residents also accused town leaders of years of financial mismanagement and government dysfunction. Barbara Crimond claimed in a letter to the editor that town officials engaged in misconduct ranging from failing to complete required audits to obstructing elections and neglecting critical infrastructure projects. Tensions reached a breaking point in January when four women, most in their 60s and 70s, became involved in a physical altercation during a board meeting over the town’s future. Hartman’s remaining three trustees resigned the following day, leaving the town without a functioning government. Hartman has roughly 30 residents, no businesses other than a post office and town hall, and, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, more than 93% of its residents live below the poverty line. With the abandonment declaration now in place, the Prowers County Board of County Commissioners will assume responsibility for the town’s roads and water.  

Authorities investigating the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie on Friday released the full text of two previously undisclosed ransom notes, hoping the public can identify the author by analyzing the writing style nearly six months after the 84-year-old grandmother vanished. The Pima County Sheriff’s Office said the newly released notes contain “distinctive patterns of word choice, syntax, and phraseology” that could help identify the person responsible for Guthrie’s kidnapping. The first note, sent to KOLD on February 2 and addressed to NBC “Today” host Savannah Guthrie, described details inside Nancy Guthrie’s home, including a damaged flood light and a white Apple Watch near her bed. It demanded $4 million, then $6 million, for the 84-year-old’s safe return by a February 9 deadline. “She will be held for ransom and once payment is received she will be released unharmed,” the note addressed to the Today Show host read. “If payment is not received by the last deadline on Monday the 9th at 5 p.m., she will be killed.” Nancy Guthrie Investigation Update: Video & Ransom Note Details 1/3 pic.twitter.com/O0HDb8asMX — Pima County Sheriff’s Department (@PimaSheriff) July 31, 2026 The full note also included additional threats that investigators had not previously made public. “Your mother is aware of this and her life is in your hands. It is in the best interest of everyone to have this completed as soon as possible. You will not be able to contact me from here on out, there will be no negotiation. Do not play games, law enforcement will not be able to help you.” A second note, sent on February 6 and addressed to the “Guthrie Family,” claimed Nancy Guthrie had died shortly after being abducted. “We did not fully grasp the seriousness of her physical condition. We never intended to hurt her, that was not our intention. She perished shortly after she was taken. We believe it was heart related,” the note said. “She is buried in nature now. Nothing you could have done could have changed the outcome. We want your family to know this and hope you all can find peace. We are truly sorry.” Savannah Guthrie said during a March interview with Hoda Kotb that she believed the two ransom notes were authentic. While several other letters have surfaced during the investigation, the family has publicly acknowledged only the two released Friday by the sheriff’s office. Investigators said they are releasing the full notes because they believe someone who has interacted with the author may recognize the writing style. “These communications reveal distinctive patterns of word choice, syntax, and phraseology that reflect the writer’s unique linguistic style,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release. As the six-month anniversary of Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance approaches, investigators are also asking the public to revisit the FBI images showing a masked man outside her home before she vanished. Authorities believe the individual may have surveilled the property on more than one day before abducting Guthrie during the early morning hours of February 1. Investigators urged anyone who noticed unusual changes in someone’s behavior around that time, including sudden travel, unexplained injuries, vehicle cleaning or repairs, or an unusual interest in the investigation, to contact law enforcement. Earlier this week, Savannah Guthrie shared an emotional Instagram video describing the family’s ordeal as “a nightmare that will not end” and begged for her mom’s abductor to “do the right thing now.” “Help us bring this situation to an end. For all of us, no matter where we’ve been or what we’ve done, I believe there is always a way home,” Savannah said. “Please make the right choice.” The FBI continues to offer a reward of more than $1 million for information leading to Nancy Guthrie’s recovery. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday launched an online cooking series aimed at helping Americans prepare healthy, budget-friendly meals as part of the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative. The new series, “The Real Food Show,” features Kennedy traveling across the country to meet with chefs and culinary experts who demonstrate recipes using minimally processed ingredients. “Inspired by President Trump’s Make America Healthy Again agenda, Secretary Kennedy is bringing the Dietary Guidelines for Americans to life and showing that cooking with real food can be practical, approachable, and affordable for every family,” the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement. “Every episode is packed with affordable, budget-friendly recipes and easy cooking techniques designed to save you time and money,” the department added. In a promotional video announcing the series, Kennedy said the goal is to encourage Americans to embrace healthier eating habits through simple home cooking.  “Thanks to President Trump, we flipped the food pyramid and put real food back to where it belongs — at the center of the American plate,” Kennedy said. “America, it’s time to eat real food. Let’s get cooking.”  The new series premiered Thursday on the HHS website and YouTube. Celebrity chef Andrew Gruel joined Kennedy for the first episode, where they prepared crispy wild Alaskan salmon cakes served with an apple, white bean and greens salad. “I’m excited to be part of the premiere episode because I believe the message is much bigger than a cooking show,” Gruel told Fox News Digital. “My hope is that this series helps demystify cooking and shows people that preparing crave-worthy, healthy meals doesn’t require professional training or expensive ingredients,” he added.

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump’s administration believes “the future of aviation is unmanned,” White House Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior ​Director for Counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka shared on Friday, and the administration is scrutinizing the next generation of drone reforms to restore confidence in American airspace.  Speaking to investors and drone organizations at the American Drone Leadership Summit, Gorka stressed that the administration takes unmanned aviation incredibly seriously, including the role that commercial groups can play in securing American airspace. The current posture of the U.S. is driven in part by the drones spotted near Trump’s New Jersey golf club in Bedminster, Gorka shared on Friday. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said later that the drones were “authorized to be flown by the FAA,” but their presence had startled the president and his team. “It didn’t need to change my perspective [on drones],” laughed Gorka when asked by The Daily Wire how the Bedminster incidents affected the U.S. approach to drones. “It needed to change the president’s.” That was why the first meeting of the National Security Council under Trump 2.0 was specifically about drones, he emphasized in remarks delivered to the American Drone Leadership Summit on Friday. The meeting was driven by the “disastrous governmental response, also state and local, to the Bedminster incident above one of the president’s properties.” “This has been an issue since the get-go,” he argued. “For generations, Americans looked at the skies with hope.” Bedminster’s biggest issue was that “there was so much information” that authorities didn’t have a clear picture of which drones were there since “there were so many different types” of aircraft or duplications on their radar — “We just weren’t collating information accurately,” he explained. A huge part of American aviation safety involves cooperation of the entities that want to be shipping on a massive scale by drone, Gorka told The Daily Wire: DoorDash, Walmart, and the like. If air traffic is managed by these companies, that is also a bonus for “us mitigating bad guys.” Gorka explained that if authorities have a picture such as a Maven equivalent — a reference to the Pentagon’s AI targeting and analysis program — then they have much greater knowledge of airspace movement.  “Something comes into it that isn’t delivering your pizza, and doesn’t have an ID that is deliberately not squawking. Then, for the SLTT [state, local, tribal, and territorial authorities], for the local police, for the feds around a sensitive site, we go, ‘Oh, well, that’s useful.’ Maybe we have to further investigate and potentially mitigate.” “So it’s actually a win-win,” he noted. “You want to build this completely revolutionary commercial delivery system? Okay, well you’re going to have to manage the airspace. If you manage the airspace, we’re going to be safer from bad guys as well.” As he described how the United States tackled security for the FIFA World Cup (and America250 events still running through the end of the year), Gorka shared how all drone incidents surrounding the events were mitigated: “none were an issue in terms of a threat to the innocent people at those events.” “One year ago,” he noted, “we could not have made a promise to keep millions of people safe. Today, we can, not because of another printed strategy document, but because thousands of public servants and private sector partners executed that strategy together with us and with the president.” (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) As for threats to the public throughout the World Cup, Gorka shared that while authorities seized more than 700 drones and aircraft during the events, “no weaponized drones were seized.” Professional commercial drone operators “overwhelmingly embraced safety” throughout the events, he noted. The greatest challenge actually came from recreational users or from incidental drone operators, people who were just playing around with drones —  there was an 87% noncompliance rate among recreational operators, who pushed into temporary flight restrictions. Their intent was harmless, but Gorka and his team still believe that they need the ability to stop these drones from entering secure airspaces. “They’re simply Americans using an incredible new technology,” he explained. “Our responsibility is not to force every drone owner through the same pathway that a professional pilot must take. Our responsibility is to make safety intuitive, part of the operation.” How will the United States deal with these recreational devices? Gorka suggested “compliance by design, better remote ID, better electronic conspicuity.” “Technology that helps ordinary users make the safe choices before they even take off,” he explained. “That will protect the public. That will allow innovation to flourish.” This could be done electronically or physically, Gorka told The Daily Wire as he spoke to reporters after the event. “If you put up a [temporary flight restriction] over a sensitive event like the Super Bowl or what have you, we would like drones that are incapable of flying into TFR. That’s our first line of defense.” The United States is carefully examining the next generation of drone reforms, the Senior Director for Counterterrorism shared, including completing protections for critical infrastructure, strengthening remote ID, expanding professional training, clarifying authorities for detection technologies, improving low-altitude awareness, and “preserving one national standard for domestic counter-drone operators.” “These are not isolated initiatives; they are the next phase of restoring confidence in American airspace, because airspace sovereignty is more than a government program; it’s a national principle,” he argued. “Every sovereign nation protects its land. You don’t have a country unless you have sovereignty. That is a national principle. That’s why we have secured our borders, our land borders. Every sovereign nation protects its waterways, its shorelines. America must also exercise sovereignty over its low-altitude airspace.” All of this, Gorka said, is part of America First. “History will not remember us because of the number of executive orders the president signed or regulations we published,” he said. “It will remember whether American families could gather safely under secure skies. It will remember whether innovators could build the future of aviation here, and that is our goal.” “The future of aviation is unmanned,” he added, “and it will remember whether the United States chose to lead or react.” 

A far-left activist group supporting accused UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione is urging supporters to pursue a controversial legal strategy ahead of his upcoming murder trial: jury nullification. The December 4 Legal Committee, named after the day prosecutors say Mangione fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has been coordinating fundraisers, raising roughly $1.5 million for Mangione’s legal defense while organizing protests and promoting jury nullification in the weeks leading up to trial.  Jury nullification occurs when jurors vote to acquit a defendant despite believing the prosecution proved the defendant violated the law, because they believe a conviction would produce an unjust result. Although juries have the power to nullify, judges do not instruct jurors on the practice, and attorneys are generally prohibited from encouraging it in court.  The tactic has surfaced at several points throughout American history, including in some cases involving slavery and prosecutions of Vietnam War draft dodgers. The Fifth Amendment prevents criminals from being subjected to double jeopardy, or being convicted twice for the same crime. The Amendment enshrines jury nullification by preventing prosecutors from receiving a retrial Jury nullification has been used in the antebellum Civil War North to free slaves that were trying to be taken back to the South, and also by juries in the 70s who decided to acquit young Americans from dodging the Vietnam draft. The New York Post reported that two activists were arrested after distributing jury nullification pamphlets outside a Denver courthouse, although the Colorado Supreme Court later ruled in their favor. New York criminal defense attorney Kenneth Belkin warned that efforts to promote jury nullification risk politicizing the justice system.  “You don’t want prosecutions based on politics. You don’t want juries acting based on politics. You want them pursuing the truth,” Belkin told The Times. Belkin said finding an impartial jury in New York City could prove difficult given Mangione’s support among some left-wing activists.  “You have a juror pool in New York City that is particularly politically inflamed. It’s a very partisan city, and I think Luigi Mangione has a lot of support in New York City, despite the fact that he’s accused of an egregious murder,” Belkin said.   “I think that’s concerning because if you have a large amount of people that are supporting a [suspected] murderer’s political stance in committing a murder, that raises a real possibility that you could get some jurors on that jury that may not convict, no matter what the evidence says.” Sonali Chakravarti, a professor of government at Wesleyan University, said jury nullification gives “a jury to have true freedom to render the outcome that they think is the most just under the circumstances.” But she cautioned that “taken to an extreme, nullification would completely cause a breakdown of the legal system.” Mangione is charged with fatally shooting Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel in December 2025 in what prosecutors say was a politically motivated killing. The case has attracted an unusual following, with supporters portraying Mangione as a symbol of frustration with the U.S. healthcare system. His trial is scheduled to begin on September 8.