DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
, a Republican, accused reporters Thursday evening of going easy on California Gov. Gavin Newsom
, a Democrat, over his handling of wildfires in the Los Angeles area.
The area around Los Angeles has been hit with multiple wildfires
that rapidly spread through Pasadena and other localities, destroying hundreds of buildings and leaving at least five people dead, prompting criticism
of Newsom from President-elect Donald Trump. When reporters asked DeSantis about whether Trump’s comments were appropriate, DeSantis hit back at them over their coverage.
“Is it appropriate for people in your industry to try to create division and to try create narratives anytime these things happen? Now, you’re not as interested in doing that because Newsom is a D,” DeSantis said. “If Newsom was a Republican, you guys would go try to—you would have him nailed to the wall for what they are doing over there. I know, we’ve dealt with it. We just assume in Florida, anytime something happens, it’s going to be politicized by the media
. So you guys sitting in judgment of Donald Trump
, I mean, excuse me, I think your track record of politicizing these things is very, very bad.”
Trump previously clashed with Newsom over preparations for wildfires
, arguing the California governor and potential 2028 candidate for president prioritized
protecting the delta smelt, a small, three-inch fish, over allowing water to be used by cities and farmers. DeSantis reminded reporters that The Washington Post tried to blame him over the 2021 collapse
of Surfside Towers.
“What I’m telling you is you guys are trying to make an issue of it when I have watched from this seat—in fact, when I got elected governor, I was meeting with some other Republican governors and what they would say is, ‘Hey, if you have a natural disaster, just know media is coming at you, they’re going to do it,’” DeSantis said. “It’s not the same. That mayor of L.A., if that were a Republican mayor, I can only imagine what that would do. I mean, you know fires are a high risk and you try to go to Africa or wherever she was, to go on some type of voyage? You should have been there preparing and doing that. And yet I don’t see a lot of heat being directed in that thing.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, a Democrat, was in Ghana
as part of a delegation
attending the inauguration of that country’s president when the wildfires
broke out.
“So, you know, I just—I would like to see some balance on how this is done,” DeSantis said. “You criticize the president-elect, but I think you also have to hold these other people accountable, and I’ve not seen that.”
Lincoln-Way East’s Kennedy Johnson
lost a part of her tooth Tuesday night, had it fixed Wednesday and was smiling brightly Thursday.
The junior forward took an elbow to the mouth Tuesday against Lincoln-Way West.
“My front left tooth was chipped,” she said. “Someone’s arm went straight back into my face. I saw it on the floor. The ref actually stepped on it, so we had to look around a little more for it.
“It was no big deal.”
Maybe not for Johnson, who returned to the game shortly thereafter, but veteran Griffins coach Jim Nair
has seen this scenario in the past.
“I had a girl who did the same thing a few years back,” Nair said. “She immediately went to the cosmetic dentist midgame. When it happened to Kennedy, two minutes later, she was back in.”
Johnson also was back Thursday night, drawing even more admiration from her coaches and teammates for toughing it out by scoring Lincoln-Way Eight’s first seven points in a 47-40 SouthWest Suburban Conference stunner over host Homewood-Flossmoor in Flossmoor.
Overall, Johnson finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Griffins (13-7, 3-3), who snapped a 14-game losing streak against the Vikings and beat them for the first time since a 34-32 win on Jan. 23, 2018. Lincoln-Way East lost 61-51 to H-F on Dec. 23 in Frankfort.
Lincoln-Way East’s Kennedy Johnson (33) goes up against Homewood-Flossmoor’s Jemiyah McDonald (12) during a SouthWest Suburban Conference game in Flossmoor on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (Vincent D. Johnson / Daily Southtown)
Alaina Vargas
added 12 points and five rebounds for the Griffins, while Emerson Nilsson
chipped in with nine points. Lincoln-Way East owned a hefty 27-11 advantage on the boards, with the Vikings getting just three in the second half.
H-F (14-7, 6-2) was led by Aunyai Deere
with 16 points and three steals.
Johnson, however, set the tone right away for Lincoln-Way East by producing seven points in the opening four minutes and tallied three of the Griffins’ first four rebounds.
“The energy was up,” she said. “We knew we had to go crazy because it was a physical game. It felt great. It was one of those days.”
It was one of those days that Vargas has seen before from her teammate.
“Kennedy brings heart and a tough toughness,” Vargas said. “She’s played through a broken tooth, concussions, everything.
“I mean, there is not another girl who is going to be tougher than her.”
Lincoln-Way East’s Mia Limpin, middle, tries to get a shot off against Homewood-Flossmoor’s Ashlynn Magee, left, and Aunyai Deere during a SouthWest Suburban Conference game in Flossmoor on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (Vincent D. Johnson / Daily Southtown)
Nair was happy for the early effort since the Griffins have struggled against H-F over the years.
“They do a good job and they pressure you so much,” Nair said of the Vikings. “She was kind of a safety valve and we were able to get it to her a little bit on our half-court offense.
“She’s one of our toughest kids. She leads us in charges. She’s right up there in rebounds. She’ll put it in the basket, and she’s a pretty good free throw shooter.”
Johnson said she has been playing the sport since fifth grade.
“I just picked up a ball and said, ‘I like this,’’’ she said. “And I kept with it. I love the energy and just being with your team and getting it together and winning games.”
This is the first season the SouthWest Suburban Conference is not being broken up into divisions for girls basketball, with the nine teams playing each other twice.
Lincoln-Way East’s Kennedy Johnson (33) puts up a shot against Homewood-Flossmoor during a SouthWest Suburban Conference game in Flossmoor on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (Vincent D. Johnson / Daily Southtown)
While Lincoln-Way East had its ups and downs in conference play, knocking off H-F was huge for confidence.
“I’ve never won here — not in my varsity years,” Vargas said. “We know every game in the conference is going to be a battle. It’s a matter of staying mentally here and playing hard.
“That’s really it.”
And for Johnson, it was a really good example of what can be for the Griffins.
“If everyone comes together, we know what we have to do to win,” Johnson said. “It works well.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
More than 100,000 people have been displaced since the start of the year in eastern Congo as a result of a new rebel offensive, according to a United Nations report released Friday.
A Gary woman got 19 years Thursday for fatally shooting her boyfriend at a gas station.
Isedra Brooks, 31, pleaded guilty Nov. 14 to voluntary manslaughter — under sudden heat. She faced 10 to 30 years under the plea deal.
Judge Samuel Cappas sentenced her to 17 years in prison with two additional years in Lake County Community Corrections. She said she wouldn’t appeal.
Armani Handy’s family said he was about to break up with Brooks when the incident occurred.
Police were called at 1:45 a.m. March 21, 2022 to a gas station on the 4800 block of Broadway where Handy, 33, was on the ground near the driver’s side of a black Honda, records said.
Brooks was screaming for help on the car’s other side, police said. He was transported to Methodist Hospital in Gary where he was pronounced dead at 2:10 a.m.
Security video showed a man getting out of the car and walking around to the passenger side where he appeared to have a “physical altercation,” according to the affidavit.
He gets out and a fight appears to continue when he gets back into the driver’s seat. Then, a woman — later identified as Brooks — gets out of the passenger side and fires shots at him, it alleges.
The man slumps, while the woman gets her cell phone to call for help.
His father, Wilbert Handy, Sr. of Monroe, Louisiana, said in court Thursday he had just suffered a stroke just over a month before his son was killed.
When Brooks previously visited his home in Louisiana, she got into some sort of argument and the elder man told his son she wasn’t welcome back.
“She stole my son’s life,” he said in court.
His speech in court was slurred and his wife Shirley stood with him to clarify what he was saying.
“He’s hurt deeply,” she told the court.
Her stepson had two sons, the eldest who is starting high school.
Deeply grieving, Amani’s older brother, Wilbert Handy, Jr., said Brooks was “nothing more than a murderer.”
He said Brooks told others she “planned to shoot my brother,” and he alleged she couldn’t see him happy with someone else.
“I hope my brother haunts you for the rest of your life,” he said.
Lataja Mociers, of Georgia, the boys’ mother, said her sons were deeply scarred. One son has told her to be careful, saying he couldn’t lose another parent.
His death was “devastating,” “senseless,” and “preventable.”
Tarrance Foster, Brooks’ father, asked for leniency. He said the shooting was even more tragic because the families knew each other and grew up together.
It was a “very messed up situation” that “no one can fix,” he said.
Deputy Prosecutor Infinity Westberg asked for 25 years, saying Brooks devastated two families by letting “her anger take over.” She argued Brooks called her dad, before calling 911.
The shooting was an “ultimate betrayal” and anyone else could have gotten hurt or traumatized by seeing it.
Defense lawyer Derrick Julkes acknowledged Handy’s family wanted someone to pay for his death. After the shooting, she sat and waited for the cops.
“She didn’t run,” he said.
He asked for a mitigated sentence.
Cappas told his family there wasn’t a “magic number” that would make his death easier.
After the hearing, Shirley Handy said her stepson had only been back in Northwest Indiana for about a month when he was killed. He fixed up homes and laid flooring. He had planned to get back to Louisiana to help with his father and be a bit closer to his sons.
“He loved those boys,” she said.
In the criminal affidavit, Brooks told police earlier both were at Joe’s Bar, 90 E. 53rd Ave. in Gary where Handy got mad with bar staff and they left.
When they returned to the car, she saw her gun was missing, triggering an argument, she said. When Handy drove to the gas station, she assumed he would kick her out, charges state.
They got into a fight again and he punched her in the face, she said. Brooks said she didn’t remember what happened next, only that she got the gun and fired, unsure if she hit him.
She walked around and saw him on the ground, but didn’t see any blood. She grabbed her phone to call her dad and police, she said.
TikTok’s fate now rests in the hands of the Supreme Court, which grappled Friday with whether the company’s ties to a foreign adversary are so deep that national security concerns outweigh the company’s and its users’ First Amendment free speech rights.
