Albemarle County Public Schools is phasing out its social-emotional learning (SEL) coach program following the arrest of former SEL coach Michael Swiney, who faces 11 felony charges involving alleged sexual abuse of students, including seven counts of aggravated sexual battery, three counts of taking indecent liberties with a child, and one count of attempted aggravated sexual battery. Investigators identified four juvenile victims, and the investigation exposed inadequate policies and inconsistent practices involving adult interactions with students, parental notification of unplanned meetings, documentation of services, supervision, and professional boundaries. The district hired 24 SEL coaches with federal COVID-19 relief funds beginning in 2021 and gave them regular access to students; all SEL coach positions will be eliminated by the end of the 2027–28 school year, and remaining coaches must obtain licensing as school counselors or social workers to become mental-health support specialists. Schools should focus on reading, writing, arithmetic, tutoring, and skill-building rather than functioning as mental-health providers, because school-based mental-health programs can interfere with parental authority, contribute to psychiatric overdiagnosis and medication, and allow unlicensed or insufficiently accountable staff access to children. School-based mental healthcare receives billions of dollars through Medicaid and federal grants, including more than $208 million awarded by the U.S. Department of Education in 2025. If mental-health services remain in schools, they require professional licensing, clear scope-of-practice rules, supervision, informed consent, parental notification, documentation, confidentiality protections, and safeguards governing one-on-one interactions with students.

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/school-based-mental-health-virginia-sexual-abuse-case-licensing-parental-rights/

Parents of Palo Alto High School students are suing the school, Palo Alto Unified School District, and Principal Brent Kline over a mosque field trip taken by students in the school’s Social Justice Pathway program. The lawsuit involves Jewish, Hindu, and Zoroastrian families and alleges that students were given Qurans, female students were encouraged to wear hijabs, Islam was connected with social-justice work, and photographs of students were posted online without parental consent. Students also encountered Zahra Billoo, executive director of CAIR’s San Francisco Bay Area office, who defended exposing students to different religious worldviews and accused the parents of attempting to intimidate schools. The parents maintain that public schools must remain religiously neutral and that the activities crossed constitutional boundaries between education about religion and religious participation or promotion. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced plans this summer to designate CAIR as a terrorist organization, while similar controversy has emerged over public schools elsewhere taking students to Islamic centers to experience Islam firsthand.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/parents-sue-california-school-taking-students-field-trip

Forbes content editor Randall Lane was fired after failing to disclose a secret payment of approximately $6 million from RJ Shook, founder of Shook Research, which worked with Forbes to produce wealth-adviser rankings. The payment followed the sale of a majority stake in Shook Research to private-equity firm PPC Enterprises. Lane frequently attacked President Donald Trump and appeared on MSNBC criticizing him, and in 2021 he threatened increased scrutiny of companies that hired former Trump administration officials, including Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Kayleigh McEnany. He warned that Forbes would treat companies employing former Trump officials as potential sources of disinformation and assume their statements were lies. Lane’s undisclosed multimillion-dollar payment violated the journalistic standards he publicly demanded from others, resulting in his dismissal and exposing hypocrisy between his calls for accountability and his own conduct.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/disgusting-trump-hating-forbes-editor-who-threatened-firms

Thousands of migrants, overwhelmingly military-aged men, remain in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta despite Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declaring the migration crisis over. Makeshift shelters constructed from straw and cardboard have appeared along the beaches, while garbage and human waste have accumulated across areas previously used by tourists. The deteriorating sanitation conditions have raised fears of a possible cholera outbreak. Large informal “fight clubs” have also developed on the beaches, with migrants gathering in circles to fight one another. Sánchez left for vacation in the Canary Islands after declaring the crisis over while severe overcrowding, sanitation problems, and disorder continued in Ceuta.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/watch-invaders-turn-ceuta-beach-slum-shacks-made

Former Democratic activist and Bernie Sanders operative Evan Barker broke with the Democratic Party after the 2024 election and voted for Donald Trump. Democratic establishment efforts to block Bernie Sanders and suppress the party’s insurgent left ultimately backfired, prompting progressive activists to build their own political infrastructure, recruit donors, train organizers, and strengthen their influence within the party. The Democratic Party has now been captured from multiple directions by a far-left activist base, increasingly progressive donors, and radicalized staffers who can be substantially further left than the politicians employing them. Even Sanders has moved further left on issues such as guns and immigration under the influence of figures including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Abdul El-Sayed. Much of the Democratic Party’s ideological transformation is occurring internally and outside public view, including through staff working for politicians who publicly position themselves as moderates.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/former-democrat-activist-explains-how-party-got-captured

Related Post: https://t.iss.one/Fighting4_AZ/48731

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson is facing a recall effort little more than six months after taking office, with residents Melinda Jacobson and Dale Osterud accusing her of neglecting her legal duty to maintain public safety and peace. The recall filing points to the forced resignation of Police Chief Shon Barnes, shootings and sex trafficking in North Aurora, crime and drug use in the Chinatown International District, crime in Belltown, and the deactivation of police CCTV cameras. North Aurora residents reported prostitution, sex trafficking, and gun battles that sent bullets into homes and businesses, while temporary barriers installed by residents were removed by the city. Wilson has also faced scrutiny for firing the police chief following a deadly shooting and encouraging transgender “refugees” to come to Seattle for taxpayer-funded care. The recall effort and opposition from some City Council members reflect growing dissatisfaction with Wilson’s leadership and handling of public safety.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/that-was-fast-seattles-new-socialist-mayor-katie

A Ukrainian submarine commander who defected to Russia after the 2014 annexation of Crimea was killed by a bomb hidden in a trash bin in Sevastopol. Robert Shageev, who later became an officer in Russia’s Black Sea Fleet and faced a Ukrainian high-treason case, was walking near Stoletovsky Avenue when the device exploded. Russian authorities arrested 32-year-old Margarita Reut and said she planted and detonated the bomb on orders from Ukrainian intelligence services and confessed to the killing. The explosion was powerful enough that residents initially mistook it for a drone strike. The assassination follows other attacks targeting Russian military figures and alleged defectors, while Western media extensively covers Ukrainian missile and drone strikes against Russia without similarly condemning Ukraine’s expanding campaign of targeted bombings.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/high-end-russian-escort-plants-trash-bin-bomb

Democratic Rep. Eugene Vindman of Virginia faced an angry confrontation with transgender members of his own party during a meeting with local Democrats after they challenged his May vote for Republican-backed legislation affecting transgender students. At least two transgender women and one transgender man questioned why transgender voters should trust Democrats when members of the party support Republican measures affecting them. The confrontation escalated when a Democratic committee member told Vindman to “shut up and listen,” Vindman responded that he had remained despite being attacked, and the committee member told him to “shut the f*** up.” Vindman responded, “You can’t f***ing talk to me that way,” and walked out of the meeting, refusing a constituent’s request to ask another question. The incident exposed bitter internal divisions among Democrats over transgender policies and the party’s expectations of elected members.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/trouble-paradise-trump-hating-democrat-eugene-vindman-gets

The Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel concluded that U.S. troops may arrest individuals suspected of committing offenses within designated National Defense Areas along the southern border without violating the Posse Comitatus Act. President Donald Trump directed the establishment of these military zones, and six have been designated along portions of the border in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. Military involvement in these areas remains primarily a military and national-defense function even when it has incidental law-enforcement effects, and military commanders historically have authority to maintain order, prevent trespassing, and arrest individuals for offenses committed on military installations, including immediately outside their boundaries in certain circumstances. Trespassing on a military installation can carry up to six months in prison and a $500 fine, while violating defense-property security regulations can carry up to one year and a $100,000 fine. Concerns remain about whether National Defense Areas are adequately marked, and a federal judge previously dismissed dozens of New Mexico cases because the government could not establish that alleged illegal border crossers knew they had entered a restricted military area.

https://www.ntd.com/us-troops-can-make-arrests-in-militarized-border-zones-doj-says_1166643.html

Dr. Anthony Fauci declined a voluntary private transcribed interview with Sen. Ron Johnson’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations days after Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security Committee voted 8–5 to hold him in contempt of Congress. Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 100 times during a July 29 hearing, and his attorneys said he would invoke it again if compelled to appear before Johnson’s subcommittee. The contempt resolution was delivered to the Justice Department for possible prosecution, while Fauci’s attorneys maintain that the referral did not satisfy statutory requirements and that further attempts to compel his testimony would constitute political harassment. Johnson said Americans deserve answers about the government’s failed COVID-19 response and vowed to continue obtaining Fauci’s records, interviewing his former colleagues, and exploring legal options. Johnson’s subcommittee obtained Fauci’s government-issued pandemic-era iPhone containing more than 34,000 text messages and 522 voicemails. Messages released by Johnson and Sen. Rand Paul showed Fauci discussing limited COVID-vaccine pregnancy data and acknowledging that fever and cytokine responses after a second dose “theoretically could be associated with miscarriage in the 1st trimester,” while also noting that no safety problems had emerged among more than 10,000 vaccinated pregnant women and animal studies had produced no warning signs.

https://www.ntd.com/fauci-refuses-to-appear-before-2nd-senate-panel-after-contempt-vote_1166543.html

Newly released text messages, emails, phone records, and other documents from Dr. Anthony Fauci are raising questions about COVID-19 policies, vaccine safety, pregnancy risks, and the handling of dissenting scientific views. Sen. Ron Johnson released a January 2021 text from Dr. John Mascola telling Fauci that initial pregnancy studies avoided first-trimester vaccination because of possible fever and higher miscarriage rates, along with an email from Dr. Janet Woodcock warning that patients experiencing difficult-to-classify adverse events were not being taken seriously, properly treated, or studied. Fauci has refused a voluntary transcribed interview and invoked the Fifth Amendment 111 times, while Johnson continues reviewing Fauci’s government phone, diary, and records and considering legal options. NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, Martin Kulldorff, Sunetra Gupta, Scott Atlas, and John Ioannidis challenged Fauci-era policies involving lockdowns, school closures, natural immunity, vaccine mandates, and the broader health and economic consequences of pandemic restrictions, while facing censorship, ostracism, and institutional attacks. Fauci dismissed Bhattacharya, Kulldorff, and Gupta as the “Three Stooges,” aggressively promoted vaccination, and faced questions over U.S. funding connected to gain-of-function research in China and scrutiny of COVID’s possible laboratory origins. Federal health officials failed to adequately investigate and communicate vaccine safety signals, preventing Americans from receiving information necessary to make their own risk-benefit decisions, while Fauci prioritized his reputation and influence and the media continued defending him despite emerging evidence and his refusal to answer congressional questions.

https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/08/14/fauci-covid-critics-vindicated

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/senator-ron-johnson-reveals-new-evidence-investigation-dr

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Democratic Socialists will be part of the House Democratic caucus if they win their elections in November, despite his opposition to the Democratic Socialists of America’s agenda. Socialist candidates are gaining influence within the Democratic Party, including DSA member Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for Michigan’s U.S. Senate race. Jeffries rejected defunding the police, open borders, and abolishing the Senate while maintaining that Democrats will have a “broad caucus” that includes elected Democratic Socialists. He also left open potential changes to the Supreme Court, saying “a variety of different options” remain on the table and that Democrats should not foreclose any of them.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/hakeem-jeffries-rejects-dsa-agenda-welcomes-them-democrats

Newly confirmed U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche rejected the idea that an attorney general should pledge complete independence from the White House during an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker. Blanche said such a pledge could prevent the Justice Department from carrying out legitimate presidential priorities, including President Trump’s directive to pursue violent criminals nationwide. He pledged instead that the Justice Department and its prosecutors will act with integrity and prosecute cases without fear or favor. When asked whether he would comply with a presidential request that crossed legal or ethical boundaries, Blanche said Trump has never asked him to do anything unethical or illegal and never will, while emphasizing his own oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution. The exchange renewed the debate over DOJ independence after the Biden administration’s Justice Department, led by Merrick Garland, conducted the armed FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/todd-blanche-hits-back-hard-after-kristen-welker

Kenneth Voyles, 43, is seeking $10 million from Portland business owner James Grant and Touchstone Granite & Marble after Grant shot him three times during a March 2023 break-in. Voyles, who had methamphetamine in his system and a history of burglaries and car thefts, entered the business by removing plywood from a damaged garage door and cutting through metal bars, later admitting he intended to rob the property. Grant, a 70-year-old Army veteran who lived in a back room of the business and had a concealed-weapons permit, confronted Voyles and said Voyles raised bolt cutters over his head and approached him threateningly. Grant repeatedly ordered Voyles to the ground before firing three times, striking him in the arm and torso. Law enforcement determined Grant acted in self-defense and did not charge him, while Voyles pleaded no contest to first-degree burglary of a dwelling and menacing and received five years of drug treatment instead of prison. Voyles is now seeking $5 million in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages for battery, assault, negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The civil trial will determine whether Grant bears liability and whether the business qualified as a dwelling under Oregon law, which provides stronger self-defense protections for homes.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/homeless-repeat-criminal-who-broke-portland-business-files

New York Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher, a Brooklyn Democrat and Democratic Socialists of America member, said people stealing necessities such as toothpaste and soap are committing “crimes of poverty” driven by biological need and should not be jailed. Gallagher argued that the criminal justice system protects billion-dollar corporations such as CVS and Walgreens over struggling residents and called extreme wealth disparity the greater crime. She supports a “treatment-not-jail” approach for low-level offenses and joined other progressive lawmakers and activists in urging New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to end “broken windows policing,” which targets lower-level offenses such as fare evasion and graffiti to prevent broader disorder. New York retailers have struggled with shoplifting and organized retail theft for years, leading many pharmacies to lock everyday merchandise behind barriers, although NYPD data through August 9 shows reported retail theft down 14.7% and petit larceny down 5.4% compared with the same period in 2025.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/new-york-assemblywoman-says-stealing-toothpaste-soap-is

A 33-year-old woman, Sofronie Hartzog, was killed by a stray bullet during a large street fight outside the Ooh La La Lounge in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, early Sunday morning. Gunfire erupted around 2:23 a.m. during a brawl involving approximately 100 people near Bergen Street and Howard Avenue. Hartzog, an unintended target, was shot in the back and ran inside the bar seeking help before collapsing in a bathroom. She was transported to One Brooklyn Health–Brookdale Hospital Medical Center but died from her injuries. A 34-year-old male bystander was also unintentionally shot in the abdomen but survived.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/horror-woman-dies-nyc-bar-bathroom-after-being

The University of Michigan’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts will automatically replace first-semester letter grades for all first-year students with pass or no-credit marks beginning in fall 2027, preventing higher-performing students from having their earned letter grades reflected on their transcripts during that semester. The university says the policy will encourage students to explore unfamiliar subjects without worrying about grades, while allowing students to opt out could signal poor academic performance. The college also offers a 15-credit LGBTQ and Sexuality Studies undergraduate minor and a 15-credit graduate certificate examining sexuality through areas including religion, law, medicine, and social movements. The grade-covering policy diminishes recognition of academic achievement, while LGBTQ and gender-studies programs divert higher education toward ideological priorities rather than core academics and career-focused knowledge.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/outrage-umich-offers-15-credit-lgbt-credentials-amid

WNBA eligibility rules are facing renewed scrutiny after Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham called for protecting women’s basketball from biological males. Former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White subsequently declared themselves eligible for the WNBA Draft as a protest intended to expose inconsistencies in the league’s policies, with White announcing that he is transgender. Caitlyn Jenner backed their protest and called for sex-based eligibility, saying, “XX are in, XY are out,” and emphasizing the need to protect women’s sports. The WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement states that only women are eligible to play but does not specifically address gender identity or sex at birth. League executives discussed transgender eligibility during an “anti-hate task force” meeting but reached no immediate decision and condemned efforts to use the issue to demean or marginalize others. Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve defended transgender participation in sports as a human-rights issue, while Cunningham and Jenner maintain that protecting female athletics requires preserving women’s sports for biological females.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/caitlyn-jenner-torches-wnbas-hypocrisy-trans-controversy-backs

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in November 2021 that people deliberately spreading COVID-19 vaccine misinformation were “criminals” because their actions had cost millions of lives, and he said vaccine hesitancy stood between the existing pandemic conditions and a return to normal life. His comments came during the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates, when workers faced employment consequences for refusing vaccination. Newly released COVID-era communications involving Dr. Anthony Fauci, former CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, and former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy show internal discussions about vaccination during pregnancy, including Fauci saying a second mRNA vaccine dose “theoretically could be associated with miscarriage in the 1st trimester.” The newly released records raise questions about whether potential pregnancy risks were adequately communicated while vaccine skeptics were publicly condemned, mandates were imposed, and Americans were encouraged to receive COVID-19 vaccines.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/08/flashback-pfizer-ceo-said-people-who-spread-misinformation

A house party in Goodyear turned deadly early Saturday after gunfire left one man dead and another injured. Goodyear police responded around 1:50 a.m. near Citrus and Indian School roads following multiple reports of shots fired as juveniles and young adults were leaving the party. Officers found a man with life-threatening gunshot injuries near Indian School Road and Loop 303; he was transported to a hospital and later died. A second man drove himself to a hospital with a graze wound and was treated and released. Police have not identified the deceased victim, announced any suspects, or determined what led to the shooting. The incident is being investigated as a homicide, and Indian School Road west of Loop 303 was restricted while investigators processed the scene.

https://www.allaboutarizonanews.com/goodyear-house-party-shooting-leaves-1-dead-another-injured/