Author: Gesi Lloyd

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Florida SAVE Act into law this week, establishing a citizenship verification requirement tied to the state’s voter registration process. The law mirrors the stalled federal SAVE Act and works by cross-referencing voter registration information against records maintained by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, which uses a federal system to confirm eligibility when issuing or updating identification documents. Current registered voters will not be required to take additional steps unless the state flags a discrepancy in their records. Voters will not be asked to show proof of citizenship at polling places.…

Georgia is heading into the November midterm elections without a clear answer to a voting system problem its own legislature created and then failed to resolve. Lawmakers adjourned for the year without passing a measure that would have extended a deadline requiring the state to move away from its current touch-screen voting machines, leaving election officials in an uncertain position with no allocated funding and no approved replacement. The state Senate did not act on a House-passed bill that would have pushed the implementation deadline from July 1 to 2028. Without that extension, the state is now exposed to potential…

The Jacksonville Jaguars officially extended defensive end Travon Walker Today, signing the 2022 first overall pick to a four-year, $110 million contract that includes $77 million in total guarantees and $50 million fully guaranteed at signing. The extension averages $27.5 million annually, placing Walker 12th among edge rushers in annual salary, just behind Baltimore’s Trey Hendrickson at $28 million, the New York Giants’ Brian Burns at $28.2 million and Walker’s own teammate Josh Hines-Allen at $28.25 million. Walker had been scheduled to play the 2026 season on his fifth-year rookie option at $15.196 million fully guaranteed. The Jaguars chose to…

For years, Hot Boy Turk carried the weight of addiction, incarceration and a complicated place in Hip-Hop history. Now, with his new single ‘Joseph,’ he is done carrying it quietly. The New Orleans rapper, a foundational member of the Hot Boys collective, sat down with Hip-Hop Wired to talk about the record and what led him to make it. The conversation moved quickly from music into something deeper. He described an internal war between who he was and who he knew he could be. Getting older, he said, forced a reckoning. He decided it was time for people to see…

US special forces rescued one of the two crew members of a downed F-15 fighter jet from Iranian territory Today, according to an Israeli official and a second source with direct knowledge of the situation. The rescued airman was found alive. The search for the second crew member remains active, with both American forces and Iranian authorities now racing to reach them first. The two crew members ejected safely after their aircraft was struck by Iranian fire, the sources said. The F-15E Strike Eagle, which carries a pilot and a weapons systems officer, went down over Iran in what US…

Tristan Thompson found himself at the center of a social media firestorm this week after publicly praising Donald Trump’s immigration policies. Thompson  who was born and raised in Canada and does not vote in the United States, drew immediate criticism for wading into a domestic policy debate that carries serious consequences for millions of people living in America. For many observers, the disconnect was hard to ignore. Thompson is not subject to US immigration law, does not participate in American elections, and does not live under the policies he chose to endorse. Critics pointed out that the communities most directly…

The Department of Homeland Security(DHS) has been shut down for more than a month, and the path to reopening it narrowed further this week after the House of Representatives adjourned without holding a vote on a deal that both chambers had already agreed to in principle. On Wednesday, House and Senate Republicans announced an agreement to reopen DHS. By Thursday, the House had convened briefly and left without bringing the proposal to the floor. With the House not scheduled to return until mid-April, the shutdown is now expected to extend well into the month with no guaranteed end date. How…

A 36-year-old man named Leland Adams was arrested on a misdemeanor trespassing charge early Wednesday after entering the property of rapper Nicki Minaj at her Calabasas, California residence. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed the arrest to USA Today Today. According to the sheriff’s department, Adams was found on the property and refused to leave when confronted by security personnel. He was detained by security until deputies arrived and took him into custody without further incident. Adams was booked into the sheriff’s Lost Hills station. No bail amount was listed in available records at the time of reporting. Surveillance…

On January 10, Gucci Mane traveled to Dallas for what he understood to be a business meeting at a recording studio. It had been arranged by one of his own signed artists and Shiesty. What happened instead, according to federal prosecutors, was a coordinated armed robbery and kidnapping involving nine people who had traveled from Memphis specifically to carry it out. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the arrests on April 1. Pooh Shiesty, born Lontrell Denell Williams Jr., was taken into custody by the FBI in Dallas. Eight of the nine defendants named in the case were arrested the…

2 Chainz was not expecting his commute to go the way it did. The Atlanta rapper, born Tauheed Epps, found himself in a tense roadside confrontation this week that he documented on Instagram for his followers to witness firsthand. The video, posted on March 31, shows an unidentified woman pulling up alongside his vehicle and launching into a loud, expletive-heavy tirade from behind the wheel of her own car. She can be seen repeatedly gesturing at him, at one point extending her bare foot out the window in what appeared to be a continuation of the same energy. 2 Chainz…