In a move that bore striking similarities to the 2024 emergency coronation of former Vice President Kamala Harris, Democrat Party bosses in Maine hand-selected a new nominee to replace disgraced former U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner: Troy Jackson. The party announced the decision on Saturday, saying that Jackson had been “formally” selected by the Maine Democratic State Committee — meaning that not a single Maine Democrat had cast a vote for him to be their nominee in that race. WATCH: Maine Democrats officially handpick socialist Troy Jackson to replace Graham Platner. “The Maine Democratic State Committee formally selects Troy Jackson as the replacement nominee for…U.S. Senate.” Troy Jackson received zero votes from Mainers. pic.twitter.com/x7ddUTQT8V — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 25, 2026 “The Maine Democratic State Committee formally selects Troy Jackson as the replacement nominee for the Maine Democratic Party’s candidate for U.S. Senate n the 2026 general election ballot.” Maine Democrats’ Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson praised the move, claiming that it was just one more example of “democracy” working exactly as it should. “Democracy, while sometimes really messy, is always, always worth fighting for…doing what is right is what us Maine Democrats will choose every damn time,” she said. Maine Democrats’ Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson: “Democracy, while sometimes really messy, is always, always worth fighting for…doing what is right is what us Maine Democrats will choose every damn time.” Not a single Mainer voted for Graham Platner’s replacement. pic.twitter.com/jgAoNJQcGG — RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 25, 2026 A number of critics pointed out the similarities between Jackson’s rapid ascent and the vote-free installation of Harris as the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, arguing that the party with an often-stated goal of “saving democracy” had very little interest in putting it into practice. The Republican Party’s New England communications director Kristen Cianci called them out on X, sharing a post from Thursday marking two years from the day from that Harris had been gifted the presidential nomination. “History is repeating itself in Maine. Troy Jackson will be crowned by @MaineDems this weekend without a single vote being cast. Just like Kamala, voters will reject him when they finally get their say in November,” she said. History is repeating itself in Maine. Troy Jackson will be crowned by @MaineDems this weekend without a single vote being cast. Just like Kamala, voters will reject him when they finally get their say in November. https://t.co/HcSEHJja12 — Kristen Cianci (@kristencianci) July 23, 2026 Others, like the National Democratic Senatorial Committee, argued that Jackson offered little to no substantive difference compared to Platner. “No tattoo. Same crazy,” the NRSC posted. No tattoo, same crazy. pic.twitter.com/jfgTxXUNO7 — Senate Republicans (@NRSC) July 25, 2026

SpaceX’s Starship Flight 13 successfully landed in the Indian Ocean with an intact heat shield, a major milestone for the company as it looks to put men back on the moon. Instead of hitting the water with a fireball, as in previous flights, the rocket flipped into its vertical landing position and touched down in the Indian Ocean before falling over and floating on top of the water. “That is a first,” Dan Huot, communications manager for SpaceX, said during the livestream. “That is the softest splashdown we have ever had with the Starship there in the Indian Ocean.” Splashdown confirmed! Congratulations to the entire SpaceX team on the 13th flight test of Starship! pic.twitter.com/g27YJCQgiN — SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 24, 2026 The July 24 flight was the second test of Starship’s V3 rocket and the first flight to deploy Starlink V3 satellites, according to SpaceX’s website. SpaceX originally planned the test flight for July 16 but aborted just before the launch after some of the engines failed to start. In the first test of the V3, the rocket hit the Indian Ocean with a planned explosion. This time, the rocket bobbed gently in the water while waiting for the recovery team. The landing was so successful that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said SpaceX might try to catch the rocket on the next test flight. “Unless we discover problems after mission data review, SpaceX will attempt to catch the ship with the tower on next flight,” Musk said on X. Cameras on Starship continued sending video of the rocket after landing and provided views of the rocket’s heat shield, which was mostly intact. “This is the first time we’ve put an intact Starship in the water,” Huot said on the livestream. “This is a dream scenario for the team that’s trying to get this heat shield data.” Musk highlighted an X post showing the progress the company has made with the heat shield in four test flights. “Latest heat shield design looks great!” Musk said on X. Latest heat shield design looks great! https://t.co/PitlHFwilp — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 25, 2026 NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman celebrated Flight 13’s successful launch. “Excited for what will be learned from this mission,” Isaacman wrote on X. “When Starship comes online, its capabilities will be game-changing, not least of which will be ensuring we never give up the Moon again!” Pretty clear from this shot that @SpaceX knows where we are going! Congrats on getting Flight 13 underway. Excited for what will be learned from this mission. When Starship comes online, its capabilities will be game-changing, not least of which will be ensuring we never give up… https://t.co/aTSUCqUPcB — NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman (@NASAAdmin) July 24, 2026 The successful flight is a major milestone for SpaceX as it prepares for NASA’s Artemis III mission. NASA partnered with SpaceX to create a version of Starship to take astronauts from lunar orbit to the moon, according to NASA’s website. This was the first test flight since SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took the company public in the largest initial public offering in history. “Lucky Number 13,” Huot said. “Hell of a flight for Starship.”

An Illinois maintenance worker was trapped inside a gas station sign 130 feet in the air for over six hours on Tuesday. AJ Gow was doing repair work on a gas station sign near Interstate 55 right before 11:00 a.m. when his telescopic boom lift malfunctioned, leaving him 13 stories in the air. At around 2:00 p.m., the Wilmington Fire Protection District received a call about the stranded man. Its Technical Rescue Team, “specializing in confined space, collapse, and high angle rescue,” was sent to help.  The fire crew soon realized that their 100-foot ladders were not long enough to help Gow. “No ladders or stairs built into the sign pole were present eliminating the possibility of rescue team personnel ascending to the victim’s location as would normally occur in a high angle rescue,” the Wilmington Fire Protection District Deputy Chief Todd Friddle said. “The victim’s location was also beyond fire department ladder truck capabilities.” The Wilmington fire department found a boom lift in a town around 17 miles away that could ascend the distance and wheeled it to the site. In the meantime, an aerial drone monitored the man, who gave an optimistic thumbs-up. At around 4:00 p.m., the maintenance worker was lifted down and “returned to safety with no victim or rescuer injuries,” the report concluded. Gow thanked local officials for their help in saving him. “Thank you to every department that showed up for me today,” the maintenance worker posted on Facebook. “It was greatly appreciated! Seeing that lift roll up with police escorts was the highlight of my day for sure!!” Gow also posted a photo of himself standing inside the sign in the comments of one of his posts, telling one of his friends, “I was up there on this. [I] couldn’t fully stand either and it kept swaying with the wind. It was miserable.” Besides feeling severe dehydration and anxiety, Gow stated that he is fine. “My adrenaline was pumping once I saw that lift arriving and [it] gave me a 2nd wind. After the adrenaline crash, I felt like crap all night and still do.”

A black school board member supporting Michigan Democrat Haley Stevens told the congresswoman’s opponent, Abdul El-Sayed, to stop speaking and playing Arabic music on the campaign trail, inflaming racial tensions in one of the nation’s most contentious Senate primaries. In a viral video circulating on social media, Farmington school board member Angie Smith explained why she backs Stevens over El-Sayed. “We need someone that can represent all of us, not just one race, but all races,” Smith said at a campaign event. “I am supporting Haley Stevens because she’s that candidate.” The individual behind the camera pressed Smith, who was first elected to the school board in 2016, for clarification. “When you say you know not just for one, what do you mean by that?” he asked. Smith, a single mother of three daughters, doubled down. “The other candidate seems to be … doesn’t work a room. You have to know how to work the room. Don’t come out speaking only Arabic. Don’t come out with your Arabic music on,” Smith said. “Represent everyone.” “You know, I’m the mother of a lesbian. I’m Puerto Rican and Cherokee, with a grandfather that was a white man from Ireland. Represent us all. Don’t just represent one ethnicity or one race,” she added. Farmington school board member Angie Smith says she’s backing Stevens because she believes she will represent everyone, “not just one race… You have to know how to work the room, don’t just come in here speaking Arabic, don’t come out with your Arabic music on.” pic.twitter.com/L6VYip6Xft — Sam Robinson (@samueljrob) July 24, 2026 The criticism of El-Sayed — a Muslim Democratic socialist backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) — infuriated leftists. “This is insanely racist,” left-wing commentator Mehdi Hasan wrote on X. “Not only should this Angie Smith be asked to apologize but @HaleyforMI should be asked to disown and condemn these racist remarks about @AbdulElSayed and Arab-Americans.” Leftist streamer Hasan Piker, who has said America “deserved” 9/11, also criticized the viral exchange. “This is not who we are as America. Especially sad to see it in the Democratic Party primary,” Piker said. The flareup comes as Stevens and El-Sayed barnstorm Michigan, competing for support from crucial Democratic voting blocs, including Black and Muslim voters. With the party’s far-left wing behind El-Sayed, establishment Democrats have increasingly consolidated behind Stevens in the campaign’s homestretch. On Friday, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) endorsed Stevens. “Just like me, Haley will do whatever it takes to get things done for the people of Michigan, and we need her now more than ever,” Whitmer said in a video posted to X. The congresswoman, who recently went viral for her quirky “stick it to them” slogan, celebrated the endorsement, calling Whitmer “a champion for our state” who understands “the stakes of this race.” Following the high-profile endorsement, Stevens’s odds of winning the Democratic primary on prediction market Polymarket rose from 21% to 36%. Michigan’s Democratic primary is August 4.

Video captured a good Samaritan dressed in a Spider-Man costume rushing across the road to push a struggling man’s wheelchair across the street in busy traffic in Arkansas on Tuesday. As cars waited for the traffic light, a wheelchair-bound man attempted to slowly cross the intersection. Eventually, he tried thrusting himself forward to move the wheelchair faster. Then, the web-slinger jumped out of a red Jeep and ran to the rescue, pushing the man’s wheelchair across the intersection to safety.  The 20-year-old hero, Christopher Hellenthal, was coming home from his work at Ultimate Air Trampoline Park in Jonesboro, which held Superhero Day, according to Jonesboro Right Now.  “That morning we had a superhero day, and so I brought it for the toddlers, and they had a blast,” Hellenthal said, according to Fox News. “And I noticed that there was this man, and he was in a wheelchair, and he was having a lot of trouble, he wasn’t going to make it.” According to Jonesboro Right Now, Hellenthal was “a little bit hesitant at first,” thinking, “Man, I’m wearing this suit, everyone’s gonna think I’m a little dork.” “But I got out and I went up to him,” he continued. “I said, ‘Don’t worry, I got you.’ And I grabbed a hold of his wheelchair, and I put him somewhere where he’d be safe, out of traffic.” Afterward, Hellenthal went home to Lake City and took a nap. Later, his mom woke him up to a video shared by the Jonesboro Police Department on Facebook, which quickly went viral. “Some people say cops are heroes, but even we need a little helping hand,” the post read. “Thank you, sir, for helping this gentleman reach his destination safely. Whether it’s a red light or green light, there is always time to do what’s right!” Hellenthal said he wears the suit while driving to “get a kick out of people.” Now, the huge Spiderman fan, who wears the costume for all sorts of kid events at the trampoline park, has been interviewed by The New York Times and Good Morning America, as well as other local and national media outlets.   “This kind of stuff just doesn’t happen,” Hellenthal said. “I’m pretty quiet, I keep to myself, I keep a small group of people around me, and then all of a sudden, I got all sorts of people, and millions of people who know who I am now. It’s just crazy.” Hellenthal has worked at the Ultimate Air trampoline park for three years, and the business’ assistant manager, Packy Magel, said Hellenthal is a “good kid” and “that’s just like him to help somebody.”