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Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Hong voted against anti-child grooming law responding to pervy teacher pursuing 14-year-old

 Wisconsin socialist darling Francesca Hong was one of just six lawmakers in the Badger State’s legislature to vote against an anti-child grooming law enacted earlier this year by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, records show.

The law — which bars adults from “engaging in a course of conduct, pattern of behavior, or series of acts with the intention to condition, seduce, solicit, lure, or entice a child” into sexual activity or pornography — was in response to the case of former Kenosha school teacher Christian Enwright, who was found guilty of a slew of misdemeanor counts for pursuing a relationship with a 14-year-old student.

“[Enwright] engaged in classic grooming behavior, preying on the vulnerability of at least one female student, under the guise of being a mentor, to foster and further a predatory relationship with her,” a school district investigator wrote in a report quoted by the Cap Times in December 2025.

Francesca Hong is the leading Democratic candidate for Wisconsin governor heading into the Tuesday primary.AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh

Enwright began reaching out to the minor on Snapchat in June 2023 and exchanged more than 600 messages with her, including sexualized comments about her appearance and images of himself in bed without a shirt.

At least two staffers had privately expressed concerns about Enwright’s behavior toward female students and he had a reputation for giving “long hugs,” according to the Cap Times.

Eventually, the school district’s human resources team received an anonymous tip about his behavior toward the teen in February 2024 and he was arrested, charged, and fired three months later.

However, prosecutors had difficulty bringing a case against Enwright because he never had sexual contact with the girl and none of the photos he sent or asked the teen for were explicit enough to charge him with a felony under state law.

Ultimately, Enwight pleaded guilty in April 2025 to 15 misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct and was sentenced that July to 15 months in jail and three years of probation.

The subsequent outcry lead to the Wisconsin legislature passing the anti-grooming law, with the Assembly approving it 93-6 and the state Senate passing it by voice vote.

Former Kenosha teacher Christian Enwright’s targetting of a 14-year-old inspired the anti-grooming law.FOX6 News Milwaukee

It is unclear why Hong, the leading Democratic gubernatorial candidate ahead of Tuesday’s primary, opposed the bill — though her colleagues who voted against it suggested the measure was redundant in state law.

Hong’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The 37-year-old previously expressed support for both defunding and abolishing the police.

“Police exist to uphold white supremacy. Defund then abolish. Reform can’t be an option,” Hong posted on social media in October 2021, though she has since retreated from that position.

“I was actually trying to become a sports journalist when I first went to college, so I learned you sometimes have bad takes on Twitter,” she recently told reporters in a bid to explain her radicalism.

The former Kenosha teacher had sent a series of Snapchat posts to one of his young students.FOX6 News Milwaukee

After Evers signed the anti-grooming bill in March, it was used against 36-year-old Joseph W. Cook of Janesville, who was charged with preying on a cognitively impaired girl.

Prosecutors say the two used the encrypted messaging service Signal to communicate for nearly three years, and the girl alleged to authorities that Cook planned to have her move in with him when she turned 18.

According to the girl, Cook used a Signal setting that would make messages and images vanish after about 30 seconds and would “get mad” when she attempted to change that option.

After police arrested Cook, a search of his home turned up multiple knives and machetes, boxes of ammunition and a Glock handgun with a laser attachment.

Should Hong win the Democratic primary, she will likely face Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.) in the general election.

https://nypost.com/2026/08/11/us-news/wisconsin-socialist-francesca-hong-voted-against-anti-child-grooming-law-responding-to-pervy-teacher-pursuing-14-year-old/

NYC-DSA’s membership is very, very white, internal report finds

 A solid majority of the rapidly growing New York City Democratic Socialists of America (NYC-DSA) self-identifies as white — despite the far-left faction touting itself as champions of diversity and inclusivity, according to a new survey.

The Big Apple chapter, whose membership includes Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Queens Congresswoman and “Squad” member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is 60% white, an internal demographic survey of its members found.

That makes the socialist organization considerably less racially diverse than the New York City population — and even the Democratic Party as a whole.

Demonstrators hold a "Democratic Socialists of America" banner and "Freeze the Rent" signs at a protest.
Tne NYC-DSA is 60% white, according to an internal demographic survey — far less diverse than the Democratic Party or New York City’s population.Bloomberg via Getty Images

The Democratic Party is approximately 56% white, according to Pew Research Center.

Meanwhile, according to the latest available data from the US Census Bureau, the population of New York City — one of the most diverse cities in the world — is just 34% white.

The survey, which NYC-DSA shared with City & State, was the first of its kind since 2021, when the national organization surveyed its membership and found that 85% identified as white.

The DSA and NYC-DSA’s ranks have swelled since then, with nationwide membership ticking up over 120,000 and the New York City chapter eclipsing 15,600.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Zohran Mamdani at the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade.
NYC-DSA members include Lefty “Squad” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.Lone Pine Press for NY Post

NYC-DSA said 63% of its members took part in the survey, which asked them how they self identify.

Among the group’s non-white respondents were those identifying as Jewish (12%), Hispanic (14%), black (9%), Asian (10%), South Asian (5%), Middle Eastern (4%), Native American (2%) and less than 1% identified as Pacific Islander, according to the outlet.

However, the NYC-DSA’s membership might slowly be growing more diverse, with 57% of those who joined this year identifying as white, and 67% of new national chapter members doing the same.

https://nypost.com/2026/08/11/us-news/nyc-dsas-membership-is-very-very-white-internal-report-finds/

Yankees strike $2.6B financing deal with Apollo — what it means for the Steinbrenner family

 The New York Yankees on Tuesday announced a $2.6 billion financing agreement with Marc Rowan’s Apollo Sports Capital in a deal touted as fueling growth at the MLB giant and keeping the Steinbrenner family in control.

The agreement, which mixes credit and equity, marks one of the largest private capital infusions into a baseball franchise in recent years. The transaction is expected to close in the coming days.

Apollo Sports Capital CEO Al Tylis will join the Yankee Global Enterprises board, with the board expanded by one seat to make room for him. Hal Steinbrenner will remain managing general partner and continue as the team’s MLB control person.

New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner leaves the MLB owner’s meeting held at MLB offices on Nov. 18 in New York City.Corey Sipkin for the NY POST

It was not clear whether the deal will enable the Yankees to ramp up their investments in players, as many fans hope.

“We welcome Apollo to the Yankees family,” Steinbrenner said in a statement. “We are continually seeking ways to strengthen our positioning, and this partnership allows us to explore pursuing strategic opportunities.”

Tylis called the Yankees one of the most iconic franchises in sports.

“We look forward to supporting the organization’s continued pursuit of excellence and the championship standard that has long been the hallmark of the New York Yankees,” he said.

The financing comes as the Yankees seek fresh capital for operations and expansion. Yankee Global Enterprises, the holding company for the Yankees, also holds stakes in the YES Network, Legends Hospitality, Major League Soccer’s New York City FC and Italy’s AC Milan. Officials said the new money can support those businesses, as well.

Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, home of the New York Yankees.Adam McCullough – stock.adobe.com

Major League Baseball limits any single private equity fund to a 15% ownership stake in a club. The exact equity portion Apollo will hold was not disclosed. Forbes valued the Yankees at $8.5 billion earlier this year.

Apollo Sports Capital operates as a permanent capital platform of Apollo Global Management, which manages about $1.05 trillion in assets. The firm has expanded its sports portfolio in recent years, taking a controlling stake in Spanish club Atlético Madrid in 2025.

The new deal gives the Yankees greater financial flexibility at a time when franchise values across professional sports continue to climb.

Steinbrenner and his family have owned the team since paterfamilias George Steinbrenner led a group that purchased it from CBS for $10 million in 1973.

Al Tylis, CEO of Apollo Sports Capital, will join the board of Yankee Global Enterprises as part of the $2.6 billion financing deal announced Tuesday.Samantha Nandez/BFA.com / Shutterstock

The deal closes a chapter of private talks that began earlier this year. Both sides described the outcome as a strong fit between a storied franchise and a capital partner built specifically for sports.

Yankee Global Enterprises and Apollo Sports Capital said they expect the relationship to deepen over time as the parties explore additional opportunities together.

https://nypost.com/2026/08/11/business/new-york-yankees-strike-2-6b-financing-deal-with-apollo-what-it-means-for-the-steinbrenner-family/

VCU-led study will dispatch drones with AEDs for 911 calls in James City County, VA

 When a person’s heart stops, every minute matters for survival. A new study involving Virginia Commonwealth University and James City County will assess whether drones can help deliver lifesaving care faster. 

VCU researchers have partnered with James City County’s public safety agencies to dispatch drones carrying automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to patients during real 911 calls for cardiac arrest. The effort is part of a first-of-its-kind study in the United States, led by Duke Health and VCU, to demonstrate whether drones can improve cardiac arrest outcomes in rural communities. 

“This study has the potential to break barriers in ways that we previously hadn’t imagined would be possible,” said Joseph P. Ornato, M.D., a VCU Health emergency medicine attending physician, professor in VCU School of Medicine’s Department of Emergency Medicine and co-principal investigator of the study. “If we can deliver AEDs to patients even a few minutes faster, we could potentially save tens of thousands more lives nationally each year.” 

In the United States, more than 350,000 people suffer from cardiac arrest outside of the hospital each year, and fewer than 10% survive. If an AED can be used in the first few minutes of a cardiac arrest, survival rates can increase dramatically. But over 80% of these emergencies occur in a home, and EMS often takes 8 to 10 minutes to arrive at the scene, and then more time passes before they can deliver care.  

“The clock is really the problem – every minute that goes by after a cardiac arrest drops the odds of survival by 10%,” Ornato said. “Despite the progress we’ve made in cardiac resuscitation, we still lose a third of a million Americans each year because we can’t reach them and restart the heart fast enough.”

With approvals from the Federal Aviation Administration and a grant from the American Heart Association, this initiative will assess whether first responders can move the needle on emergency response times with drone AED delivery and bystander use.

Man looking at a computer screen to dispatch the AED to location.When a 911 call for suspected cardiac arrest comes in within a five-mile radius of Fire Station 1, James City County will dispatch an AED-carrying drone, along with EMS standard of care. (Dean Hoffmeyer, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

Improving rural health outcomes with innovative medical research 

The overarching goal of this research is to understand how to improve treatment and outcomes of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in rural communities. The project includes two communities: Forsyth County, North Carolina and James City County, Virginia. Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office began AED delivery last fall in partnership with Duke Health. The VCU team has now launched its operation in James City County, where their police and fire departments have gained expertise in implementing drone technology for emergency response operations.  

"Community members are the most important link in treating cardiac arrest,” said  Monique A. Starks, M.D., M.H.S., an associate professor at  Duke University School of Medicine and principal investigator of the study. “When bystanders start CPR and apply an AED within the first five minutes, survival rates above 50% are possible. The problem is bystanders rarely have an AED available to use. On-demand drone AED delivery offers the best chance to help citizens rapidly treat cardiac arrest, by getting AEDs to the scene quickly for the majority of OHCAs." 

The James City County site will cover a five-mile radius surrounding Fire Station 1. During this project, when 911 is called for a suspected cardiac arrest: 

  • An AED-equipped drone will be dispatched immediately, along with James City County’s EMS standard of care. 
  • Once on the scene, the drone will hover at 100 feet, lower the AED on a tether directly onto the ground and release it.  
  • After the AED is released, the 911 dispatcher will prompt the bystander to fetch the device and provide instructions on its use until EMS arrives. 

The project will determine whether drones can deliver lifesaving equipment faster and enable bystanders to apply and use an AED before emergency personnel arrive.  

Man giving chest compress to someone on the ground, while a women is carrying AED to them.Gavin Scott Sink, David Wigley, and Lisa Walker simulate a cardiac arrest 911 call to see whether a drone can deliver an AED before EMS arrives. (Dean Hoffmeyer, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

“We are not making any changes to the standard of care that we provide to citizens, but with drone technology, we hope to be able to begin our interventions faster,” said Sgt. Tiara Suggs, specialized response team commander at James City County Police Department. “Our goal is to save lives, protect people, and provide for our communities, and this is just another layer for how we can accomplish that.” 

Simulated 911 calls with James City County’s specialized response team have shown promising preliminary results, and in one of the test runs, the drone reached the target location more than five minutes faster than traditional responders.  

“Drones won’t replace our EMS providers or patrol officers, but they can enhance our ability to provide earlier lifesaving care and save more lives in our community. The project will determine if we can take our efforts one step further in the race against the clock,” said Battalion Chief Betsy Sink, Emergency Medical Services at James City County Fire Department. “We’re very proud to partner with VCU, Duke Health and the American Heart Association for this project. It really brings together FDA-approved cutting-edge technology and emergency medical services to save more lives.” 

The project is laying the groundwork for what the researchers envision will become a large, multi-center randomized clinical trial to better understand the effect of drone-delivered AEDs for improving cardiac arrest survival rates nationally. 

“Our hope is that future research will reveal the impact, feasibility and cost of drone first responder systems on a larger scale,” Ornato said. 

“Our goal is to show that this is a viable study and that it will lead to even more research,” Sink said. “This is a great stepping stone, and we hope this project will continue to grow and make an impact in saving lives.” 

https://www.vcuhealth.org/news/vcu-led-study-will-dispatch-drones-with-aeds-for-911-calls-in-james-city-county/

'CDC Warns of Severe Arboviral Disease With B-Cell Drugs'

 The CDC on Tuesday warned doctors about the risk for severe arboviral neuroinvasive disease in patients on B cell-depleting or modulating agents, calling out anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies in particular.

Published case reports indicate an overall mortality of about 40% for patients on anti-CD20 antibodies with arboviral neuroinvasive disease, and neurologic sequelae were common in survivors. The most common virus involved in the reports was West Nile, but severe cases also involved eastern equine encephalitis, Powassan, La Crosse, and others.

"In recent years, a novel clinical presentation of chronic, neurodegenerative encephalitis developing over months to years has been described in at least five patients receiving rituximab who were infected with an orthobunyavirus, including Jamestown Canyon virus, Cache Valley virus, or Potosi virus," the CDC said in a Health Alert Network advisory.

Arboviral viruses are transmitted by arthropods, most commonly mosquitoes and ticks, and are subclinical in most individuals. When symptoms do present they can include acute febrile or neurologic illness such as encephalitis or acute flaccid myelitis.

Beyond rituximab, the class of anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies includes ocrelizumab (Ocrevus), obinutuzumab (Gazyva), ofatumumab (Kesimpta), ublituximab (Briumvi), and ibritumomab tiuxetan (Zevalin). They carry indications for leukemia, lymphoma, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis, among others. During the early days of the pandemic, anti-CD20 agents were also linked to worse outcomes with COVID-19.

"Be aware that patients with an arboviral disease who are immunocompromised can have a prolonged incubation period or an atypical course and might not present with illness during the usual months when mosquitoes and ticks are active," the CDC said.

No approved vaccines or treatments are approved for the types of arboviral virus endemic in the U.S., such as West Nile virus. Other common arboviral viruses transmitted by mosquitoes include chikungunya, dengue, and Zika, while Oropouche virus is spread mostly by biting midges and Powassan virus by ticks.

The CDC recommended that physicians educate on severe arboviral disease if a patient is starting on immunosuppressive agents such as B cell-depleting drugs and on preventive measures for mosquito and tick bites.

If arboviral disease is suspected in a patient presenting with a febrile or neurologic illness, the CDC recommended molecular testing with RT-PCR or metagenomic next-generation sequencing to detect the viral RNA, with the type of preferred specimen depending "on the clinical presentation and laboratory conducting the testing."

https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/generalinfectiousdisease/122572

AC Immune gets FDA Fast Track and IND clearance for ACI-7104 in early-stage Parkinson’s disease

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FDA accepts Belite NDA for Stargardt Disease Type 1, Priority Review with PDUFA date Feb 12, 2027

 FDA accepts Belite Bio's tinlarebant NDA for Stargardt Disease Type 1, grants Priority Review with PDUFA target action date February 12, 2027

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