Danville City Councilman Lee Vogler returned home and attended his first City Council meeting this week, nearly three months after being set on fire outside his office. BREAKING: Young Politician SET ON FIRE By Attacker! "The suspect, Shotsie Buck-Hayes, has been charged with attempted first-degree murder after allegedly pouring gasoline on Vogler and then setting him on fire," WDBJ reports. 3:55 p.m. 7/30/25 UPDATE: The Danville Police Department has charged Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes, 29, with attempted first degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding following the attack by burning Wednesday, July 30, on Lee Vogler. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/g0N4rEMZLx — Danville VA Police (@DanvilleVAPD) July 30, 2025 Vogler described his experience and recovery during his return to city council. BREAKING: Danville, VA City Councilman Lee Vogler has returned to the city council chambers after police say a man set him on fire in July @myfox8 pic.twitter.com/Vn80NtYO1o — Justin Odell Lundy (@_JustinLundyTV) October 21, 2025 WDBJ shared details: Months later, Vogler walked through the doors of Danville City Hall for the first time since the incident. His children being a huge factor in what got him through. “My son is playing in the District Championship football game tomorrow, so I’m going to get to catch that,” he said. “I’m real excited. My daughter’s got a modeling show coming up. Those were two things that I really wanted to be here for. So that and, like I said, God and an amazing health care team got me here.” During the meeting, Vogler gave an update on his recovery and shared a goal he hopes to achieve soon. “This was kind of step one. I’m back home, but I still got a long road ahead of me,” Vogler said “I got a lot of work to do on my hands to get them back fully functional. My next goal, as I kept telling the doctors and the nurses, is I got to get a baseball glove on that left hand and a baseball on my right hand and get back on that field with those kids.” With his wife and Danville residents in attendance, Vogler sent a message to those who supported him. “They rallied around me as the comeback kid, and I really feel like that, and maybe even the miracle man,” he said. “The people of Danville always go above and beyond to show their love and support.” Footage below: Less than three months ago, Councilman Lee Vogler was set on fire. Last night he made it back to his first City Council meeting since the attack. Here are a few of his words. pic.twitter.com/zD00hieZLa — ABC 13 News - WSET (@ABC13News) October 22, 2025 Vogler did not speak about his relationship to the suspect. According to Danville Police Sgt. Gerrit Clay, Buck-Hayes told him, “he set the person on fire who had an affair with his wife.” Motive Revealed For The Man Who (Allegedly) Lit Virginia City Councilman Lee Vogler On Fire WSET noted: According to his wife, Blair Vogler, he was moved out of the Intensive Care Unit on Oct. 7, months ahead of his projected release time. Now, just two weeks later, Vogler has returned home. Vogler credited his wife and his family for their unwavering support during his recovery. "My wife, Blair, was there every step of the way," he said. The council chambers were filled with laughter and excitement as Vogler was welcomed back. Fellow council member Bryant Hood expressed admiration for Vogler's resilience, calling him "the originator of the Comeback City, aka the Comeback Kid." Barry Mayo, another council member, remarked on Vogler's appearance, saying, "You look good and we are with you." Doctors are currently assisting Vogler in regaining the use of his hand, and he continues to experience some pain. Despite the challenges, Vogler expressed joy at seeing his son play ball and returning to work for the River City. The man accused of setting Vogler on fire, Shotsie Buck-Hayes, is facing charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding. Watch additional coverage below:

California plans to redistrict and pick up five seats in California to counter the five seats the GOP picked up in Texas. So far, the redistricting war looks like this: North Carolina picked up one GOP seat as they redistricted. Indiana and New Hampshire won’t redistrict to help the GOP keep the House. Missouri picked […] The post Virginia Will Redistrict & Obama Believes in It Now appeared first on www.independentsentinel.com.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday highlighted President Donald Trump’s willingness to cross the political aisle as the government shutdown drags on. Five minutes before the briefing, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that after a conversation with San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, he decided to hold off on deploying the National Guard to the city, citing Lurie’s request to tackle crime in the city without federal aid. Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan asked Leavitt if this was “what the President hopes for in every city?”  “The President is willing to work with anyone across the aisle, across the country to do the right thing and clean up American cities,” Leavitt said. “He is genuinely interested in this effort to make our streets safer, our cities safe and clean again.”  Olohan also asked Leavitt about the “No Kings” protesters who threatened government officials, including Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. “I would think myself, the President, and everyone else at the White House would hope anyone making violent threats against public officials will be arrested and prosecuted,” Leavitt said. Leavitt also warned of mounting consequences of the government shutdown, which just hit its 23rd day with no end in sight. The press secretary said that half a million federal employees would miss their next paycheck tomorrow and noted that $4 billion in capital was withheld from small businesses while waning of lapses in SNAP funding and strain on air traffic controllers. “If the Democrats continue to keep the government closed, we fear there will be significant delays and disruption for airlines this holiday season,” Leavitt said before reading quotes from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Whip Katherine Clark boasting the shutdown gave Democrats “leverage.”   But neither crime nor the shutdown dominated the question and answer portion of Thursday’s briefing. That honor went to President Trump’s White House renovations. “Is it a big story?” Leavitt asked sarcastically after the first question on the ballroom. The reporter responded, “It seems that way.”  Leavitt confirmed the president would release an exact figure detailing how much of his own funding he was giving to the White House. It’s estimated that the ballroom will cost $300 million dollars. President Trump has stated that it will be funded privately and the full list of donors has been released.  Of the 30 questions reporters asked, 11 were about the ballroom.  Leavitt stated that Trump has been incredibly transparent and showed reporters models in the Oval Office, noting how she had already given remarks to the press exclusively about the ballroom.  By the end of the press conference there had been so many inquiries about the ballroom that Fox News’s Aisha Hashmi started her line of questioning with, “Thanks Karoline. Two questions not on the ballroom.”