Hegseth blasts ‘fat troops’ in rare gathering with military brass; Military Times, September 30, 2025

 Carla Babb, Military Times; Hegseth blasts ‘fat troops’ in rare gathering with military brass

"The nonprofit Service Women’s Action Network pushed back Tuesday on policies “implying that the focus on diversity and inclusion distracts from the core mission of lethality.”

“Our diversity is not a vulnerability — it is our single greatest strategic advantage, a force multiplier that makes our military stronger, more resilient, and ultimately, more lethal in execution,” the group said in a statement.

The group reiterated the Marines Corps’ findings that diverse teams of men and women from every background are “proven to identify risks and develop more innovative, complete strategies than homogenous teams.” A force that better reflects the global population and diversity of the United States “builds deeper trust and achieves greater operational effectiveness overseas,” SWAN added...

Hegseth also pledged to improve grooming standards in ways critics argue could target the religious freedoms of U.S. service members.

“No more beards, long hair, superficial, individual expression. We’re going to cut our hair, shave our beards and adhere to standards,” Hegseth said.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations called on the Pentagon on Tuesday to clarify Hegseth’s order and affirm that the department would maintain the religious rights of all service members.

“The First Amendment guarantees military personnel the right to practice their faith — including the right of Muslim, Sikh and Jewish personnel to grow beards or cover their hair — as does established Pentagon policy,” CAIR said in a statement.

Another directive Hegseth announced at Quantico on Tuesday is geared toward “overhauling” the Inspector General process, which the secretary said had been “weaponized, putting complainers, ideologues and poor performers in the driver’s seat.”

“No more frivolous complaints. No more anonymous complaints. No more repeat complaints. No more smearing reputations. No more endless waiting. No more legal limbo. No more side-tracking careers. No more walking on eggshells,” Hegseth said.

The IG is currently investigating Hegseth for his use of Signal to share classified or sensitive information about an attack in Yemen earlier this year. Hegseth’s office has called it a “sham” review. 

It was unclear Tuesday how this overhaul would affect the investigation."

Hegseth declares war on ‘fat’ generals, troops; The Hill, September 30, 2025

 ELLEN MITCHELL , The Hill; Hegseth declares war on ‘fat’ generals, troops

"Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told the U.S. military’s senior-most officers Tuesday that he no longer wants to see “fat generals and admirals” or overweight troops."

‘Heartbroken’: staff laid off as California TV station abruptly closes newsroom; The Guardian, September 25, 2025

 Dani Anguiano, The Guardian; ‘Heartbroken’: staff laid off as California TV station abruptly closes newsroom

[Kip Currier: This is another stark indicator of the dangers that media consolidation represents. Media consolidation impedes the ability of citizens to access information, particularly local information. Informed citizenries are vital for functioning democracies.]

[Excerpt] 

"This week KION-TV, a broadcast news outlet on California’s central coast that’s been on the air for more than 50 years, announced it was entering a “new chapter” with a San Francisco CBS affiliate to bring expanded coverage to its viewers...

“Our partnership with KPIX ensures that viewers across the Monterey, Salinas and Santa Cruz region continue to receive the high-quality local journalism they deserve,” Rall Bradley, an executive at the News-Press & Gazette, said...

Meanwhile, workers report that Telemundo 23, which was housed at KION, is also shutting down, leaving an area with a majority-Latino population without a Spanish-language news show.

Local news has collapsed across the US in recent decades, with a 75% drop in local journalists since 2002, according to a report from Muck Rack and Rebuild Local News, which describes the decline as “alarming and widespread”. One in three US counties do not have the equivalent of one full-time local journalist, and an average of 2.5 newspapers shut down each week.

Monterey County Now described the development as a “devastating blow” to local journalism. Jeanette Bent, the station’s managing editor, told the outlet: “It’s a disservice to this community and we’re all heartbroken.”"

Utah’s Republican governor makes case for unity – in stark contrast with Trump; The Guardian, September 12, 2025

 David Smith , The Guardian; Utah’s Republican governor makes case for unity – in stark contrast with Trump

"In a nation seemingly on the brink, they were words that Americans needed to hear – coming not from the president but a politician with civility, compassion and rhetorical grace notes.

“We can return violence with violence, we can return hate with hate, and that’s the problem with political violence – it metastasises because we can always point the figure at the other side,” said Spencer Cox, the governor of Utah. “At some point we have to find an offramp or else it’s going to get much, much worse.”

In a tone of moral urgency, Cox added: “These are choices that we can make. History will dictate if this is a turning point for our country but every single one of us gets to choose right now if this is a turning point for us.”

The governor was speaking at a press conference after announcing that authorities had arrested a suspect in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, a political activist who rallied young voters for Donald Trump, at a university campus in Utah on Wednesday.

It was an act of surging political violence in a country awash with guns, a moment that cries out for cool heads to lower the political temperature. Yet Trump wasted no time in blaming the “radical left”.

The two-term Republican governor has frequently worked with Democrats and issued pleas for bipartisan cooperation. He drew national attention with a deeply personal response to the 2016 shooting at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub and has long espoused a vision of politics rooted in unity and respect.

That was evident in the calm, measured yet impassioned remarks that he made on Friday as the Trump-appointed FBI director, Kash Patel, looked on. “Over the last 48 hours I have been as angry as I have ever been, as sad as I have ever been,” Cox said, a tremor in his voice.

The 50-year-old governor, who has four children who are teenagers and young adults, directed some of his remarks to young people. “You are inheriting a country where politics feels like rage,” he said. “It feels like rage is the only option.”But, Cox insisted, there was a different path. “Your generation has an opportunity to build a culture that is very different than what we are suffering through right now. Not by pretending differences don’t matter but by embracing our differences and having those hard conversations.”...

Trump, however, has a history of exploiting tragedies to berate opponents and sow further division. Cox, by contrast, has been a strong advocate for civility in politics across the country. In his 2020 campaign for governor, he and his Democratic opponent appeared together in television ads pledging to “disagree without hating each other”, a highly unorthodox move.

And as chairman of the National Governors Association, he promoted civility through an initiative he called Disagree Better. He made appearances across the country with Democratic governors and other public figures to emphasise unifying values.

Frank Luntz, a political consultant and pollster, says: “Spencer Cox has been the national leader in promoting a more civil, respectful dialogue and his voice is needed now more than ever. He has said: we’re better than this, we don’t have to choose anger and, even at our angriest, we can decide to search for what is better in mankind. The vast majority of the public agrees with him.”

Luntz adds: “This is a break point for the country and thank God we have people like Cox who realise this. We may look back at this and say either this was the end of our civility and decency or the beginning of getting control back in our country where calmer minds are in charge.”"

Supreme Court Lifts Restrictions on L.A. Immigration Stops; The New York Times, September 8, 2025

 Adam Liptak, The New York Times ; Supreme Court Lifts Restrictions on L.A. Immigration Stops

"The Supreme Court on Monday lifted a federal judge’s order prohibiting government agents from making indiscriminate immigration-related stops in the Los Angeles area that challengers called “blatant racial profiling.”

The court’s brief order was unsigned and gave no reasons. It is not the last word in the case, which is pending before a federal appeals court and may again reach the justices.

The court’s three liberal members dissented."

Inside Syria’s Most Fearsome Prison Tens of thousands of Syrians were thrown into Sednaya during the Assad regime. The New York Times created a 3-D model of the prison.; The New York Times, August 29, 2025

 Christina Goldbaum, Charlie Smart, Helmuth Rosales, Anjali Singhvi and Reham Mourshed, The New York Times; Inside Syria’s Most Fearsome Prison: Tens of thousands of Syrians were thrown into Sednaya during the Assad regime. The New York Times created a 3-D model of the prison. 

[Kip Currier: This story about Syria's brutal Sednaya prison is a difficult one to read and view. It's shocking to see how monstrously the people -- activists, artists, politicians, writers, citizens of all kinds -- warehoused to languish and die in this savage place were mistreated, tortured, and murdered.

But it's also an important one to digest and contemplate and not look away from. To think about all of the human beings who were impacted by this horrific prison. And to reflect on the human beings -- the leaders with power and privilege -- who sanctioned the existence of such a barbaric place and system for so long.

The sermon of an Episcopal priest I was fortunate to hear yesterday encouraged the parishioners to pray for individuals who are in prisons, as well as for humane treatment of the imprisoned by those who are charged with looking after them during their incarceration. We were reminded by the priest that some people are also imprisoned unjustly. Just as the 1st century Apostle Paul was imprisoned by the Roman Empire, merely for speaking and evangelizing.

Specifically, too, we were asked to pray for detainees in an ICE facility in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania.

We mustn't become indifferent to the injustices and suffering that people in this world experience. Or to the dignity, respect, due process, and rule of law to which every person is entitled, no matter their economic circumstances or legal status.]

[Excerpt]

"NO PLACE IN SYRIA was more feared than Sednaya prison during the Assad family’s decades-long, iron-fisted rule.

Situated on a barren hilltop on the outskirts of Damascus, the capital, Sednaya was at the heart of the Assads’ extensive system of torture prisons and arbitrary arrests used to crush all dissent.

By the end of the nearly 14-year civil war that culminated in December with the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, it had become a haunting symbol of the dictator’s ruthlessness.

Over the years, the regime’s security apparatus swallowed up hundreds of thousands of activists, journalists, students and dissidents from all over Syria — many never to be heard from again.

Most prisoners did not expect to make it out of Sednaya alive. They watched as men detained with them withered away or simply lost the will to live. Tens of thousands of others were executed, according to rights groups."

Nashville church helps unhoused people after downtown library fire; NewsChannel5, September 6, 2025

 

Kim Rafferty, NewsChannel5; Nashville church helps unhoused people after downtown library fire

"When the Nashville Public Library's downtown branch closed after a fire, McKendree United Methodist Church stepped up to fill a critical gap for people experiencing homelessness who had lost their daily refuge.

"Alright we'll get ya all bagged up here," said Francie Markham, who volunteers at the church every Thursday morning helping people experiencing homelessness...

After losing their cool refuge with computers and resources, Smith said many people just wanted to avoid the long stretch of summer heat.

"So what we were able to do on our Tuesdays and Thursday meal is to allow them to come in much earlier rather than at the 11:30 times so they would be out of the element," Smith said.

"With the changing of the season we need it open as soon as we can," Smith said.

In the meantime, Smith and Markham keep doing what's written on the walls — serving kindness.

Despite initial reports the library would open soon after the fire, library officials say the library requires a third party inspection before it can open. The two nearest library branches, North Branch and Hadley Park, are both more than a 30-minute walk from the library downtown. 

Have you witnessed acts of community kindness during challenging times? Share your story with Kim Rafferty and help us highlight the helpers making a difference in Middle Tennessee. Email kim.rafferty@NewsChannel5.com to continue the conversation.

In this article, we used artificial intelligence to help us convert a video news report originally written by Kim Rafferty. When using this tool, both Kim and the NewsChannel 5 editorial team verified all the facts in the article to make sure it is fair and accurate before we published it. We care about your trust in us and where you get your news, and using this tool allows us to convert our news coverage into different formats so we can quickly reach you where you like to consume information. It also lets our journalists spend more time looking into your story ideas, listening to you and digging into the stories that matter."