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AF (Pentagon News) - DAF selects company to lead METC recapitalization project Tue Aug 18 18:44:29 2026

The Department of the Air Force selected Layton/Gensler to lead the Medical Education and Training Campus Recapitalization project at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, utilizing an innovative Other Transaction Authority Agreement with Progressive Design Build.

AMERICANALMANAC (Sadie Smith) - Troy Jackson built a campaign against corporate cash — but his party committee cashed more than $207,000 from PACs and lobbyists Tue Aug 18 18:41:11 2026

Maine Democrat Troy Jackson is running for U.S. Senate on a promise to fight corporate greed and lobbyist influence, but campaign finance records show the committee he led took hundreds of thousands of dollars from the same interests he now attacks. The Maine Senate Democratic Campaign Committee collected nearly $54,000 from corporate PACs, more than […] The post Troy Jackson built a campaign against corporate cash — but his party committee cashed more than $207,000 from PACs and lobbyists appeared first on American Almanac .

Maine Democrat Troy Jackson is running for U.S. Senate on a promise to fight corporate greed and lobbyist influence, but campaign finance records show the committee he led took hundreds of thousands of dollars from the same interests he now attacks. The Maine Senate Democratic Campaign Committee collected nearly $54,000 from corporate PACs, more than $131,000 from registered lobbying firms, and over $22,000 from individual lobbyists between 2018 and 2024, the entire stretch Jackson served as president of the Maine Senate. A Washington Free Beacon review of the committee's finance disclosures put the combined haul at more than $207,000. Jackson was listed as the committee's "principal officer" throughout that period. The SDCC exists to keep…Open

AMERICANALMANAC (Alan Benson) - Rosie O'Donnell uses Kimmel guest-hosting debut to target Trump for 15 minutes straight Tue Aug 18 18:41:10 2026

Rosie O'Donnell returned to late-night television Monday with a monologue built almost entirely around President Trump, a performance that doubled as a reminder of why she left the country in the first place. O'Donnell stepped behind the desk at "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Aug. 17 for her first night as guest host, filling in while […] The post Rosie O'Donnell uses Kimmel guest-hosting debut to target Trump for 15 minutes straight appeared first on American Almanac .

Rosie O'Donnell returned to late-night television Monday with a monologue built almost entirely around President Trump, a performance that doubled as a reminder of why she left the country in the first place. O'Donnell stepped behind the desk at "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Aug. 17 for her first night as guest host, filling in while Kimmel takes a two-month summer break. She spent the opening segment, roughly 15 minutes, Breitbart reported , cycling through references to the president without once saying his name, mixing personal grievances with political commentary and jokes about her self-imposed exile in Ireland. It was less a comedy monologue than a campaign speech delivered to a studio audience already on her side. And it landed on a…Open

AMERICANALMANAC (Alan Benson) - Progressive leaders keep raising money through ActBlue as fraud investigation deepens Tue Aug 18 18:41:09 2026

Prominent Democrats including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders continue funneling campaign donations through ActBlue even as congressional investigators probe the platform's failure to stop potentially illegal foreign contributions, and an 88-year-old Michigan woman disputes $150,000 in donations attributed to her name. The case of Elizabeth Waffle has become a flashpoint in a years-long congressional investigation […] The post Progressive leaders keep raising money through ActBlue as fraud investigation deepens appeared first on American Almanac .

Prominent Democrats including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders continue funneling campaign donations through ActBlue even as congressional investigators probe the platform's failure to stop potentially illegal foreign contributions, and an 88-year-old Michigan woman disputes $150,000 in donations attributed to her name. The case of Elizabeth Waffle has become a flashpoint in a years-long congressional investigation into the Democratic fundraising giant. Federal Election Commission records attribute more than 16,000 political contributions totaling nearly $150,000 to Waffle, an 88-year-old resident of Milan, Michigan, over a six-year span from September 2020 through June 2026. Waffle says the numbers are wrong. Interviewed…Open

AMERICANALMANAC (Lynn Jenkins) - Shakira pledges to rebuild schools in earthquake-ravaged Colombia after surprise visit to Chocó Tue Aug 18 18:41:09 2026

Colombian superstar Shakira traveled to one of her country's poorest and hardest-hit provinces after a deadly 7.4 magnitude earthquake and committed to building at least ten new schools, backing the pledge with more than a million dollars in secured funding. The 49-year-old Grammy winner arrived unannounced Monday in Quibdó, the capital of Chocó province in […] The post Shakira pledges to rebuild schools in earthquake-ravaged Colombia after surprise visit to Chocó appeared first on American Almanac .

Colombian superstar Shakira traveled to one of her country's poorest and hardest-hit provinces after a deadly 7.4 magnitude earthquake and committed to building at least ten new schools, backing the pledge with more than a million dollars in secured funding. The 49-year-old Grammy winner arrived unannounced Monday in Quibdó, the capital of Chocó province in western Colombia, where she toured damaged school buildings, embraced students, and announced a concrete reconstruction plan backed by her own Fundación Pies Descalzos and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. The August 10 earthquake killed at least 287 people, destroyed more than 26,000 dwellings, and left a region already defined by deep poverty struggling to account for its missing.…Open

AMERICANALMANAC (Alan Benson) - WNBA admits security was wrong to force fans to cover pro-women's-sports shirts at Atlanta game Tue Aug 18 18:41:05 2026

A mother and daughter who paid $1,000 apiece for courtside seats at an Indiana Fever game in Atlanta say WNBA security ordered them to hide their XX-XY Athletics shirts or leave the arena, and the league now concedes the whole thing never should have happened. Kasey and Annie Thomason were sitting three rows from the […] The post WNBA admits security was wrong to force fans to cover pro-women's-sports shirts at Atlanta game appeared first on American Almanac .

A mother and daughter who paid $1,000 apiece for courtside seats at an Indiana Fever game in Atlanta say WNBA security ordered them to hide their XX-XY Athletics shirts or leave the arena, and the league now concedes the whole thing never should have happened. Kasey and Annie Thomason were sitting three rows from the court at State Farm Arena on Sunday when, roughly halfway through overtime, a security guard pulled them aside. Someone in the stands, the guard explained, was "offended" by their shirts, apparel from XX-XY Athletics, a brand that promotes female-only competition. The Thomasons were handed Atlanta Dream, themed shirts and given a choice: cover up or get out. The ESPN broadcast captured the change in real time. With two and a…Open

AMERICANALMANAC (Charles McAdams) - Tropical Storm Lala kills one, leaves more than 100,000 without power across Hawaii Tue Aug 18 18:41:04 2026

A 90-year-old woman is dead, roughly 104,000 customers have no electricity, and entire communities on Hawaii's Big Island sit cut off by mud and debris after Tropical Storm Lala tore across the island chain, exposing, once again, how vulnerable America's most isolated state remains when nature strikes. The woman, whose name has not been released, […] The post Tropical Storm Lala kills one, leaves more than 100,000 without power across Hawaii appeared first on American Almanac .

A 90-year-old woman is dead, roughly 104,000 customers have no electricity, and entire communities on Hawaii's Big Island sit cut off by mud and debris after Tropical Storm Lala tore across the island chain, exposing, once again, how vulnerable America's most isolated state remains when nature strikes. The woman, whose name has not been released, had been reported missing in Naalehu, a small town near the southern tip of the Big Island. Crews found her dead Monday , making her the storm's first confirmed fatality. Gov. Josh Green, who flew over and then walked through the devastated southern coast that same day, acknowledged the loss but said the toll could have been far worse. Lala weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm Sunday…Open

AMERICANALMANAC (Alan Benson) - Vin Diesel honors Paul Walker with tearful tribute at 'Fast and Furious' 25th anniversary screening Tue Aug 18 18:41:04 2026

Vin Diesel returned to the same Los Angeles theater where "The Fast and the Furious" premiered in 2001 and delivered a nearly eight-minute tribute to his late co-star Paul Walker, a moment that left the franchise star visibly fighting back tears. The screening took place Monday night at the Director's Village Theater in Los Angeles, […] The post Vin Diesel honors Paul Walker with tearful tribute at 'Fast and Furious' 25th anniversary screening appeared first on American Almanac .

Vin Diesel returned to the same Los Angeles theater where "The Fast and the Furious" premiered in 2001 and delivered a nearly eight-minute tribute to his late co-star Paul Walker, a moment that left the franchise star visibly fighting back tears. The screening took place Monday night at the Director's Village Theater in Los Angeles, the exact venue where the original film debuted a quarter-century ago. Diesel took the stage alongside producer Neil H. Moritz and co-stars Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez to introduce the film. But it was Diesel's extended, emotional speech that defined the evening. Cars from the original movie lined the front of the theater. Tyrese Gibson, who joined the franchise in 2003's "2 Fast 2 Furious," sat in…Open

AMERICANALMANAC (Sadie Smith) - Howie Mandel admits on podcast to paying for sexual services at massage parlors during 48-year marriage Tue Aug 18 18:41:03 2026

Howie Mandel, the 70-year-old comedian and "America's Got Talent" judge, told listeners of his own podcast that he has paid for sexual services at massage parlors, while his wife of nearly five decades sat at home. Mandel made the admission during an August 11 episode of "Howie Mandel Does Stuff," the podcast he cohosts with […] The post Howie Mandel admits on podcast to paying for sexual services at massage parlors during 48-year marriage appeared first on American Almanac .

Howie Mandel, the 70-year-old comedian and "America's Got Talent" judge, told listeners of his own podcast that he has paid for sexual services at massage parlors, while his wife of nearly five decades sat at home. Mandel made the admission during an August 11 episode of "Howie Mandel Does Stuff," the podcast he cohosts with his daughter Jackelyn Shultz. The guest that day was digital creator Camilla Araujo, host of "The Clock It Podcast." What followed was an exchange that left Araujo visibly stunned and Shultz asking whether her mother would be upset. Mandel married Terry Soil in 1980. The couple share three children, daughters Jackie and Riley, and son Alex. When Araujo pressed him on whether he was still in the marriage, Mandel did not…Open