West
Charlie Kirk posthumously awarded Medal of Freedom on what would have been his 32nd birthday
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
President Donald Trump posthumously awarded Turning Point USA (TPUSA) co-founder Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom Tuesday — the highest award issued to civilians in the U.S.
“Today, we’re here to honor and remember a fearless warrior for liberty, a beloved leader who galvanized the next generation like nobody I’ve ever seen before. And an American patriot of the deepest conviction, the finest quality and the highest caliber. The late, great Charlie Kirk,” Trump said from the Rose Garden on Tuesday.
“Five weeks ago, our nation was robbed of this extraordinary champion,” he continued. “He was assassinated in the prime of his life for boldly speaking the truth, for living his faith and relentlessly fighting for a better and stronger America. He loved this country. And that’s why this afternoon it’s my privilege to posthumously award Charles James Kirk, our nation’s highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”
Kirk, 31, was shot and killed during his “American Comeback Tour” at Utah Valley University in September. His death came a year after two assassination attempts against Trump.
CHARLIE KIRK’S COLLEAGUES AND PASTORS PRAISE HIS PATRIOTISM AS TRUMP READIES HIGHEST CIVILIAN HONOR
President Donald Trump walks onto the stage after being introduced by Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk at the Turning Point Action conference in West Palm Beach, Florida, July 15, 2023. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The award ceremony was held in the Rose Garden, notching the first high-profile event in the garden since Trump ordered the area to go under a revamp earlier this year.
“We were hoping we were able to get outside and the weather allowed us to. It was supposed to be a terrible rainy day. I was telling Erika God was watching, and he didn’t want that for Charlie,” Trump said.
Individuals who receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom are those who presidents determine have provided an “especially meritorious contribution” to the national security of the U.S., world peace or other cultural endeavors. Trump is awarding Kirk the award at the White House on what would have been his 32nd birthday.
Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, accepts the Presidential Medal of Freedom on behalf of her husband at the White House on Oct. 14. (Fox News )
“We’re entering his name forever into the eternal roster of true American heroes. He’s a true American hero, an amazing person. Way, way beyond his years. And I’m honored to be joined by a woman who has endured unspeakable hardship with unbelievable strength. And that’s Charlie’s widow, Erika. And I just want to thank you, Erika,” Trump said on Tuesday.
Argentina President Javier Milei, members of the Cabinet such as Attorney General Pam Bondi , as well as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and other lawmakers were among high-profile names who joined the event.
‘SLEEPING GIANT’ LIKELY WOKE UP FOR TURNING POINT USA AFTER CHARLIE KIRK’S ASSASSINATION
An image of slain conservative commentator Charlie Kirk is placed at a memorial in his honor, at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Sept. 29, 2025. (Jim Urquhart/Reuters)
Kirk’s widow, Erika, has been tapped to serve as TPUSA’s new chief executive officer in the wake of her husband’s death to lead the organization and guide the next generation of conservative leaders.
“Charlie grew Turning Point into the largest conservative youth organization in the entire country,” Trump said on Tuesday of Kirk’s leadership of TPUSA and its growth since his killing. “He forged a personal bond with countless young conservatives. He fought for free speech, religious liberty, strong borders, and a very strong and proud America. In everything he did, he put America first. He really put America first. And ultimately, Charlie became more than a leader of an important organization. He became the leader of historic movements all over the country.”
Erika Kirk delivered a short speech during the ceremony, reflecting on her husband’s dedication to preserving America’s legacy of freedom, his love of his family and how he lived without fear due to his Christian faith.
President Donald Trump posthumously awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to late conservative activist Charlie Kirk as he presents the Medal to his wife Erika Kirk, left, during a ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House on Oct. 14, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“Ironically, for a man who impacted millions, Charlie never desired to be the center of attention. He just wasn’t. My husband was not a man of extravagance. He loved simple but deeply meaningful things. … He loved his late night walks. He loved buying more books than he could ever read because he felt there was no such thing as a book budget. And he loved being able to read to our kids the same bedtime story on repeat because he knew it was their favorite,” Kirk’s young widow said.
“President Trump, I have spent seven and a half years trying to find the perfect birthday gift for Charlie, and it’s so difficult. And those of you that have spouses or loved ones, you know how difficult it is sometimes to buy a gift for someone that you love because he wasn’t a materialistic man, so that also did not help. But now I can say with confidence, Mr. President, that you have given him the best birthday gift he could ever have,” she said.
TRUMP TO AWARD CHARLIE KIRK MEDAL OF FREEDOM AFTER CAMPUS ASSASSINATION
President Donald Trump joined Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika, on stage at the Turning Point USA founder’s memorial service in Arizona on Sept. 21, 2025. (Eric Thayer/Getty Images)
The suspect behind Kirk’s assassination, Tyler Robinson, was charged in September with aggravated murder, along with other charges.
“Like those martyrs before him, Charlie’s voice, his message and his legacy are stronger and greater than ever before. They are greater than ever before. Look, this is a horrible event, but it brought out the greatness of Charlie. Nothing could have ever supplanted this. It’s incredible the way people are talking about him,’ Trump said of the assassination.
Trump remarked during the ceremony that political violence at the hands of left-leaning individuals has been on the rise.
Guests gathered to attend the ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House on Oct. 14, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“They seem to become very violent on the left. They’ve rammed vehicles into federal law enforcement, fired sniper rifles at ICE agents and me, you know, but I was I made a turn at a good time,” Trump said, referring the first assassination attempt on his life in July of 2024.
Trump awarded Kirk with the medal following his visit to the Middle East to oversee a peace agreement between Israel and Hamas.
David Engelhardt, lead pastor of Kings’ Church in New York City and board member of TPUSA, told Fox News Digital ahead of the event that it’s a “privilege” to watch Kirk be honored with the award.
“Charlie is the right recipient to the Medal of Freedom because he believed that God’s moral order, found in faith, is not a limit to freedom but the soil it grows in,” Engelhardt told Fox News Digital. “People who destroy that soil in the name of safe spaces and to protect against ‘dangerous ideas’ will soon find their land barren. Charlie stood for freedom rightly ordered and founded in the gravity of God’s system.”
Read the full article from Here
Utah
Utah Jazz jump to #2 in the lottery, plus full results
In what has a chance to be one of the most important nights in Jazz history, the Utah Jazz jumped in the NBA Lottery to the #2 spot for the upcoming NBA draft.
Here are the final results, which show all the movement.
Aside from it being a massive night for the Wizards, Jazz, Grizzlies, and Bulls, it was a devastating night for a few teams, but no one more than the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers, in their trade for Ivica Zubac, had a stipulation on their pick that if the pick was top-4 they kept it. But if it fell below 4, they would give it to the Clippers which is exactly what happened. Now, the Clippers, who are without Zubac, find themselves with a #5 pick to build around.
For the Jazz this is a culmination of four years of rebuilding that ends with an extremely satisfying end. Utah will now have one of the tier-1 players from this draft: AJ Dybantsa or Darryn Peterson. The player Utah drafts will be one of their cornerstone pieces and will have the chance to not only play, but be a part of a team that will be competing for the playoffs this season.
The Utah Jazz now have a Sinister Six core: Darryn Peterson (If AJ Dybantsa goes #1), Keyonte George, Ace Bailey, Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Walker Kessler (if he signs). It’s quite the core with a mix of youth and veterans in their prime. With this group, the Jazz will have a chance to be one of the top teams in the Western Conference. Yes, the Thunder and Spurs are going to be difficult to beat, but Utah has the mix of talent, coaching, and depth that could absolutely do the trick.
Now the Utah Jazz look forward to the NBA Draft that be on June 23rd. Let the posturing begin!!
Washington
How the Sea Mar Museum Is Preserving Latino History in Washington
On a quiet stretch of Des Moines Memorial Drive in South Seattle, the Sea Mar Museum of Chicano/a/Latino/a Culture rises like a long‑overdue acknowledgment. Its brick exterior doesn’t shout; it invites. Inside, the rooms hum with the stories of families who crossed borders, harvested fields, organized classrooms, and built communities across Washington state—often without seeing their histories reflected anywhere on a museum wall.
For Rogelio Riojas, founder and CEO of Sea Mar Community Health Centers, the museum is a promise kept. “We wanted to make sure the contributions of Latinos in Washington state are recognized and preserved for future generations,” he told The Seattle Times when the museum opened in 2019. It was a simple statement, but one that captured decades of work—both visible and invisible—by the region’s Latino communities.
Walking through the galleries feels like stepping into a living archive. One of the most arresting sights is a pair of original farmworker cabins, transported from Eastern Washington. Their narrow wooden frames and sparse interiors speak volumes about the migrant families who once slept inside after long days in the fields. The cabins are not replicas or artistic interpretations; they are the real thing, weathered by sun, dust, and time. They anchor the museum’s narrative in the physical realities of labor that shaped the state’s agricultural economy.
Sea Mar describes the museum as “dedicated to sharing the history, struggles, and successes of the Latino community in Washington state,” a mission that plays out in photographs, letters, student newspapers, and oral histories contributed by community members themselves. These aren’t artifacts chosen from afar—they’re family treasures, personal archives, and memories entrusted to the museum so they can live beyond the kitchen tables and shoeboxes where they were once kept.
The story extends beyond the museum walls. Just steps away is the Sea Mar Community Center, a sweeping, light‑filled gathering space designed for celebrations, performances, workshops, and community events. With room for nearly 500 people, a full stage, a movie‑theater‑sized screen, and a catering kitchen, the center was built with one purpose: to give the community a place to see itself, gather, and grow. Sea Mar describes it as “a welcoming space for families, organizations, and community groups to gather, celebrate, and learn,” and on any given weekend, it lives up to that promise.
Together, the museum and community center form a cultural campus—part historical archive, part living room for the region’s Latino communities. Students come to learn about the Chicano activists who reshaped the University of Washington in the late 1960s. Families come to see their own histories reflected in the exhibits. Visitors come to understand a story that has long been present in Washington, even if it wasn’t always visible.
The Sea Mar Museum is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., offering free admission to anyone who walks through its doors. For many, it’s more than a museum—it’s a recognition, a gathering place, and a testament to the people who helped shape the Pacific Northwest.
Preserving Latino History and Community Life in Washington was first published on Washington Latino News (WALN) and republished with permission.
Wyoming
Newlyweds On A Hike Find California Rescue Dog Lost In A Wyoming Whiteout
Rich Renner always knew he had pretty good neighbors, but he found out just how good when his new rescue dog from California got himself lost in a Wyoming whiteout.
Renner had taken the goldendoodle named Charlie out ahead of this past week’s storm to relieve himself. There was some snow on the ground at the time, but Charlie wasn’t having a thing to do with that strange, cold, white stuff on the ground.
At least not at first.
“I had taken him out to the barn, but he was staying under the overhang,” Renner said. “He wouldn’t go out to the snow.”
Given the dog’s reluctance, Renner decided to shovel a path from the barn to the house to make it a little easier for the pooch to get around.
While Renner was doing that, the dog finally decided maybe the snow wasn’t so bad after all.
“He kind of got the zoomies,” Renner said. “So, he was running around and went around the corner, out of sight. I had boots on, so I followed after him.”
By the time Renner turned the corner, there was no sign of Charlie.
A California Dog Meets His First Wyoming Whiteout
At first, Renner wasn’t too concerned. It wasn’t the first time the dog had done a little bit of exploring around the house.
Normally, he came back on his own.
But this time was different. There was a huge snowstorm expected later in the day, and the forecast was for temperatures in the range of 25 degrees.
Charlie is a rescue dog fresh from California, which means the goldendoodle didn’t have much in the way of fat stored in his body. Nor was he yet acclimated to the cold.
Renner followed his dog’s tracks down to a forested edge, and there saw what had captured Charlie’s attention.
“There were deer tracks all over,” Renner said. “Boom, he was gone.”
Renner was at first more worried about the deer than the dog.
He’d just put an AirTag on the dog’s newly arrived collar right before they went outside that morning. The collar also had the couple’s names and phone numbers.
“An hour later, that AirTag pinged at a neighbor’s house about a half mile away,” Renner said. “So I zoomed down there on a four-wheeler and I saw tracks, but no Charlie.”
Renner roamed around on his four-wheeler for about an hour, looking for and calling for Charlie. Then he had to go to work.
“My wife, Barb, stayed home all day and worked off and on and looked for him some, too,” he said.

A Long, Cold Night
Once Renner returned home, he and his wife did more searching until about 10:15 p.m. that night using a headlamp to see.
“I thought I’d see his eyes somewhere with that headlamp,” Renner said. “But to no avail.”
By this time, a sick feeling was growing in the pit of his stomach.
He was thinking about how the dog had chased after an animal three times his own size and how sometimes deer had charged, unafraid, at the couple’s older husky.
Maybe Charlie had been hurt. And Wyoming’s famous winter winds were picking up.
Was his California pooch stuck somewhere outside in this Wyoming whiteout, where the temperature was just getting colder and colder?
“It had snowed all day,” Renner said. “It was just a lot of snow.”
That snow covered the dog’s tracks, making him impossible to track.
The AirTag was proving next to useless as well, suggesting the dog had gone somewhere very rugged, some place with little to no data to transmit a signal.
Tuesday night, Renner could barely sleep thinking about Charlie, lost in this heavy snowstorm, with temperatures forecast to get into the lower 20s that night.
“Since we didn’t find him, I’m thinking, ‘Oh my God, he’s not going to survive the night,’” Renner said. “I kept waking up a lot and thinking about him. Like, ‘Oh my gosh, what’s he experiencing right now? Where’s he at? Did a mountain lion get him?’”
The next day, Renner and his wife were both exhausted but had not lost hope they would yet find Charlie.
They were looking, their neighbors were all looking. They even hired a drone company to come look for Charlie using an infrared camera.

Neighbors Rally As Storm Deepens
The Renners had been putting messages out on Facebook and social media about Charlie, asking for the community’s help to find him.
Renner was amazed at how his neighborhood sprang into action.
It seemed that everyone he knew — and even some people he didn’t know yet — were looking for his pet, who he feared was too skinny to survive another night out in the cold, much less the cold, wet snowstorm that continued into Wednesday.
“Before, I lived in Cheyenne for a lot of years, and you didn’t even hardly know your neighbors,” he said. “You maybe said ‘hi,’ to them when there’s a snowstorm and you’re shoveling your snow at the same time.
“But other than that, we didn’t even know our neighbors.”
Mountain Meadows, though, proved to be a different kind of friendly — the kind that doesn’t smile and wave in passing; the kind that shows up on the doorstep and asks, “How can I help?”
“There were probably six different vehicles or side by sides at different times looking for him Tuesday night,” Renner said. “And then people were passing the word on through Facebook and emails and everything.
“And just everyone was praying for him. I mean the number of prayers that went up for Charlie is just amazing.”
A Blind Date, A Snowy Hike, And A Lost Dog
While a small army of neighbors continued to search for Charlie with drones and side-by-sides, a newlywed couple the Renners had never met were on a surprise date.
Jada, a Laramie native, and Collin Szymanski, from Utah, are newlyweds.
Since Collin is new to Wyoming, Jada has been making a point of showing him some of her favorite places.
That day, she’d decided on a literal blind date, complete with blindfold, to one of her favorite places in Curt Gowdy State Park — Hidden Falls.
The falls are a couple miles from where the Renners live as the crow flies, and maybe 10 miles or more away in twisting, winding, dog-chasing-a-deer miles.
By the time Jada and her husband arrived at the Hidden Falls Trail, snow was picking up speed and Jada was starting to question the idea of hiking that afternoon.
“There was, like, snow everywhere,” Jada said. “I was like, ‘Oh man, I thought it was going to be a little less snow than this.’
“So I unblindfolded him and I was like, ‘Should we still go?’”
The couple are young and in love, so of course the answer to that question was, “Yes!”
As they hiked into the thick carpet of new snow, they soon found themselves with a new-but-stand-offish friend.
“All of a sudden we see this little dog running around,” Jada said. “We’re thinking, ‘Oh well, his owners must have decided to go on a hike in the snow, too.’”

The Sound Of Loneliness
When they got to the end of the trail, though, there were no owners around.
That was when Charlie began to howl, a haunting, lost sound.
“You could tell he was so sad,” Jada said. “So we were trying to get to him, but he was a little scared of us.”
Once Jada managed to get close enough to see Charlie’s collar, things changed. The second she said his name, the dog immediately calmed down and came over to them.
It was remarkable, given that Charlie had only had that name for about four weeks. But it clearly meant everything to the dog to hear that one word.
These were friends, Charlie decided, because somehow they knew his name.
An Answer To A Prayer
By noon, with no further sight or sign of Charlie, the Renners’ hopes were dwindling.
Their property backs up to some very rugged country with deep draws and thick timber. It’s a maze of places to get lost.
It’s also a maze full of obstacles and dangers much larger than Charlie — mountain lions, deer, moose. Then there are box canyons easier to get into than out.
Their skinny California dog, chasing a deer in a full Wyoming whiteout, could easily become lost, trapped, or hurt. More and more, it seemed like that’s what had happened.
Just as they were about to give up and call it a day, Renner got a phone call from a man he didn’t know.
“Hey, are you guys missing a dog?” the man asked.
Relief flooded through Renner at those words as the man told him he’d just found a golden-colored dog at Hidden Falls in the box canyon.
Thanks to the collar, which had the Renners’ number on it, he’d been able to immediately call from the canyon.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Renner said, noting that calls from the canyon are usually impossible to make.
It felt like a minor miracle.
Charlie had spent all day and night Tuesday in a snowstorm that got down to about 25 degrees, and had somehow managed to bump into what were the only other hikers on the Hidden Falls Trail, somehow none the worse for his adventures.
Soon, Renner and his wife were headed in their cars to go pick up Charlie from the Szymanskis, meeting halfway between their home and Hidden Falls.
For Rich, who describes himself as a person of faith, all these details add up to something bigger than coincidence.
“I know that God makes things happen,” he said.
Jada felt that as well, considering how things happened.
“Their whole neighborhood had been looking for him,” she said. “He told us he had just been praying so hard. We felt like we got to be the answers to those prayers.”

Celebrity Life On A Leash
Back home, Charlie acts as if nothing miraculous has happened at all.
“He’s happy to be home for sure,” Renner said. “He spent yesterday in the barn, and he’s in the barn today.”
But he’s not going outside any more for a while without a leash, Renner said, as he remains just a little too fascinated with Wyoming wildlife, particularly moose, which are 100 times heavier than he is.
Renner is looking into electric fences to keep Charlie and his moxie corralled so that the pooch’s future adventures won’t be quite so harrowing.
“We’re chuckling now, because he’s like a celebrity,” Renner said.
For all the worry and all the searching, what’s really sticking with the Renners is how his Wyoming neighbors were there when needed, crawling the snowy hills in their trucks and side-by-sides, looking for a California pooch with no idea what a Wyoming whiteout really means.
“That’s the real story,” Renner said. “It’s the community, the neighborhood, how everyone just rallied behind this to help.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
-
Rhode Island4 minutes ago
RI Lottery Numbers Midday, Numbers Evening winning numbers for May 10, 2026
-
South-Carolina10 minutes agoSouth Carolina Lottery Pick 3, Pick 4 results for May 10, 2026
-
South Dakota16 minutes ago
SD Lottery Millionaire for Life winning numbers for May 10, 2026
-
Tennessee22 minutes agoWhat You Need to Know About Tennessee Softball’s Path to Another WCWS | Rocky Top Insider
-
Texas28 minutes ago6 people found dead inside a boxcar in Texas, officials say | CNN
-
Utah34 minutes agoUtah Jazz jump to #2 in the lottery, plus full results
-
Vermont40 minutes ago
VT Lottery Pick 3, Pick 3 Evening results for May 10, 2026
-
Virginia46 minutes agoVirginia Heads To Knoxville Regional With Third Straight NCAA Bid