For the first time in four years, the Fairfax-based National Rifle Association is endorsing a Democrat. The gun rights group is backing Alaskan Congresswoman Mary Peltola, first elected in 2022 when she defeated former Republican Governor Sarah Palin for Alaska's only House seat. Peltola, an Alaska Native, said in her campaign that she owns 176 long guns and that firearms are a key part of Alaska's culture and subsistence lifestyles. Randy Kozuch, the Chairman of the NRA Political Victory Fund, told The Hill that Peltola has supported Second Amendment rights and supported efforts to rein in "overreach by the ATF." The last Democrat endorsed by the NRA was Minnesota Congressman Collin Peterson in 2020.
A bus advocacy group in Roanoke has used an unconventional forum to get candidates for Mayor and City Council to speak to voters.Preview: More babies are being born with birth defects linked to fentanyl. At least 30 newborns have been diagnosed with what's being called "fetal fentanyl syndrome," suffering health problems after their mothers used illicit fentanyl while pregnant. The condition was first identified by geneticists in Delaware last year and includes defects like small heads, cleft palate, webbed toes and underdeveloped joints.
A University of Virginia swimmer has won her first Olympic gold medal. Kate Douglass finished first in the women's 200-meter breaststroke yesterday in Paris. Douglass helped the U.S. women's team win a silver medal in the 100-meter freestyle relay last weekend. She could take home another medal in the 200-meter individual medley this weekend.