Midwest
Texas governor reveals reason why he and Trump have been working together so closely
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In an interview with Fox News Digital, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, whose National Guard troops were recently deployed in support of Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in Chicago, revealed the “substantive reason” why he has such a good working relationship with the president: “We both believe in the rule of law.”
“President Trump and I have a good, long-standing, working relationship, and there’s a substantive reason behind that. We both believe in the rule of law. We both believe in public safety. We both believed in securing the borders,” he explained.
Abbott said that he and President Donald Trump are “operating very closely aligned in ensuring that our country’s going to be safe.”
“I’m more than happy to be a partner with the federal government, making sure that we keep our country as safe as possible,” he added.
LONG-HELD SCOTUS PRECEDENTS COULD UNDERCUT PORTLAND, CHICAGO NATIONAL GUARD LAWSUITS
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, said his working relationship with President Donald Trump is based on their shared belief in public safety. (Shelby Tauber/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
This comes as some 200 Texas National Guard troops are currently deployed to the Chicago area, tasked with protecting federal law enforcement officers as they carry out immigration enforcement operations.
For the past several weeks, the Chicago area has been rocked by anti-ICE demonstrations that have on several occasions boiled over into violent disruption. Large crowds of what DHS has called “violent rioters” have gathered outside an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, and have repeatedly blocked federal vehicles from exiting and entering the facility. Earlier this month, federal agents were rammed and trapped by 10 vehicles, where anti-ICE crowds had gathered for days. Nearly a dozen people were arrested.
Despite this, DHS has said its agents have received little to no support from Democrat leaders in Illinois or local and state law enforcement.
Against this backdrop, Abbott authorized Trump to deploy 400 of his Texas National Guard troops to trouble spots across the country under Title 10 authority. So far, only about half of those troops have been deployed to Illinois as a legal case against the deployment makes its way through federal court.
HOMAN CONFIRMS TEXAS NATIONAL GUARD ‘ON THE GROUND’ IN ILLINOIS, WARNS ANTI-ICE RHETORIC FUELING ‘BLOODSHED’
Military personnel in uniform, with the Texas National Guard patch on, are seen at the U.S. Army Reserve Center on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025, in Elwood, Ill., a suburb of Chicago. (Laura Bargfeld/AP)
Speaking with Fox News Digital, Abbott said the deployment of Texas National Guard troops, who have gained experience keeping the peace through deployments to the southern border, was “only natural.”
“What the National Guard is trained and skilled at doing is dealing with civil unrest like that. They dealt with civil unrest along the Texas border for the past four years while Joe Biden was president. They’ve dealt with civil unrest even in locations in the state of Texas, when I thought it was important to call them out and make sure that we did not have any unrest in our state. So, these are National Guard troopers who are very well-trained at being able to deal with this type of environment,” he said. “It’s only natural that, by extension, that if there’s a need for that elite National Guard to provide assistance anywhere in the entire country, that it would be the [Texas] National Guard called upon.”
Again, Abbott emphasized that the Trump administration shares a common vision with Texas, making them apt partners.
“What Texas is trying to do is the same thing the United States is trying to do. And that is very simply, carrying out the functions of the federal government. One of them is immigration enforcement, and another is public safety. The National Guard from Texas, they’re not there to police the city of Chicago or any other place. They are there to ensure the safety and security of the ability of federal officials to fulfill their constitutional duty to enforce the laws of the United States.”
PRITZKER SUES TRUMP TO BLOCK NATIONAL GUARD ACTION IN ILLINOIS
Then-South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem surveys the southern border with National Guard troops at McAllen, Texas in July 2021. Noem now serves as the head of the Department of Homeland Security under the Trump administration. (Office of South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem)
Though he gave no indication of what other collaborations Texas might undertake with the Trump administration in the future, he said that Texas remains ready for whatever is needed.
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“No one can accurately predict exactly what’s going to happen in the future. What I can predict is how Texas will respond. And that is, whenever the country is in time of need, Texans will step up and help out any way we possibly can.”
Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner, Matt Finn, Michael Tobin and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
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Cleveland, OH
House explosion in Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood catches neighboring houses on fire
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – A house explosion in Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood caught its two neighboring houses and a car on fire and covered the street in thick smoke.
The family who lived in the house that exploded was not home at the time, Cleveland Fire confirmed.
Cleveland EMS told 19 News that paramedics evaluated a 14-year-old boy in stable condition and will be transported by private vehicle for medical assistance.
All residents were safely evacuated and are being assisted by the Red Cross.
The houses are in the 5900 block of Cable Avenue, east of Broadway.
The two-story house that exploded collapsed after noon, Cleveland Fire confirmed.
The explosion and blaze caught the neighboring houses on both sides on fire, Cleveland Fire said.
Below is raw video our 19 News crews captured on scene:
Our cameras captured a first responder carrying a young child on the street away from the home, but it is unknown which house the child lived in.
Cleveland Fire said that 10 companies and 45 firefighters had all fires under control in an hour and a half.
Clouds of smoke filled the nearby streets, creating dangerously low visibility and difficult breathing conditions.
The plume of smoke could be seen for miles, even in downtown Cleveland and Parma.
The cause of the explosion and the estimated damage amount have yet to be determined. Enbridge Gas is on scene, and 19 News is waiting to hear back.
Return to 19 News for updates.
Copyright 2026 WOIO. All rights reserved.
Illinois
Wisconsin man, woman killed in head-on Wadsworth crash involving semi ID’d: officials
WADSWORTH, Ill. (WLS) — Two people who were killed in a head-on crash involving a semi in the north suburbs on Thursday morning have been identified, officials said on Friday.
The Lake County sheriff’s deputies and the Newport Township Fire Protection District responded to the Route 173 crash, which happened west of North Kilbourne Road in Wadsworth, around 7:50 a.m.
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Witnesses told investigators that the driver of a 2009 Acura sedan, which was traveling eastbound, appeared to be having difficulty staying in his lane and drifted into the path of a Freightliner semi-truck, which was heading westbound.
The two vehicles then collided head-on, officials said. A third vehicle was also hit.
Chopper 7 was over the scene at 9 a.m., capturing the damage.
The sedan’s driver, a man, and a passenger, a woman, were pronounced dead on the scene.
The Lake County Coroner’s Office identified them as 51-year-old Kelly Wooten and 45-year-old Jacklyn Bradley of Stoughton, Wisconsin. Preliminary autopsy results indicate that both Wooten and Bradley died from blunt-force injuries.
The driver of the third vehicle, a 54-year-old Salem, Wisconsin woman, suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
The crash shut down Route 173 between Kilbourne Road and U.S. 41 in both directions.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office Technical Crash Investigations Team is investigating.
The video in the player above is from a previous report.
Copyright © 2026 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.
Indiana
Is Darryn Peterson Trying to Avoid Indiana?
The Indiana Pacers are hoping to retain their 2026 first-round pick, which is protected 1-4 and 10-30. If the selection lands between 5 and 9, it conveys to the Los Angeles Clippers as part of the Ivica Zubac–Bennedict Mathurin trade.
At the top of the 2026 NBA Draft class, three names are consistently labeled as generational talents: AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer and Darryn Peterson.
Indiana would welcome any of the three. The bigger question is whether that feeling would be mutual.
On a recent episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast, Simmons was joined by draft analysts Tate Frazier and J. Kyle Mann. During the discussion, Mann shared an interesting note about Peterson.
“I’ve gotten the impression from talking to people close to Darryn,” Mann said, “that Darryn is more likely to say, I’m interested in being the full on brain of this team. I don’t really want to play with another superstar, I want to be the center of the universe.”
J. Kyle Mann on The Bill Simmons Podcast
If that perception holds weight, it creates an intriguing dynamic.
The Pacers were one game away from an NBA championship last season and already feature two established stars in Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam. Indiana is not a franchise searching for a singular identity, it already has one.
To be clear, Mann’s comments reflect conversations and impressions, not a public statement from Peterson himself. Still, the fit is worth examining. Indiana’s backcourt rotation already includes Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith and T.J. McConnell. If Peterson were the pick, the Pacers would find ways to get him on the floor. He is that talented. But Indiana could not offer him an immediate “face of the franchise” role the way a Brooklyn, Sacramento or Washington might.
Mann also offered insight into how Dybantsa may view a situation like Indiana’s.
“AJ, people that know them both have told me that AJ is probably more likely to fit in with an Indiana,” Mann said. “Which is interesting because AJ likes to have the ball. Is he willing to be quick off of the ball with Haliburton? I just think that’s an interesting wrinkle in this.”
J. Kyle Mann on The Bill Simmons Podcast
The contrast is fascinating.
Hearing that Dybantsa would fit in more than Peterson is intriguing. Play style wise, I would lean more towards Peterson’s fitting how Indiana likes to play, especially with how Dybantsa has been utilized at BYU.
If we’re talking locker room fit, I think Dybantsa would embody what a Pacer is all about. Comes from a small market. Wants to win and doesn’t need the big city to do it in. He’s confident but won’t let his ego interfere with the success of the team. Just a levelheaded kid with a desire to be great, and would have one of the best playmaking point guards alongside him to help maximize his talent.
These two are the most polarizing and often mentioned names amongst NBA draft circles when looking at the top two in the class. If the comments made by Mann come to be true, the Pacers would be better off drafting the uber talented 6-9 forward, Dybantsa, than drafting a 6-6 elite shooting guard who would rather be “the guy” than a guy.
You can follow me on X @AlexGoldenNBA and listen to my daily podcast, Setting The Pace, wherever you get your podcasts.
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