Northeast
Miss America contestant, an Army National Guard sergeant, wants to unite a divided nation
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Miss America hopeful Sophia Parker wants everyone to have “a seat at the table” – regardless of their political affiliation.
Miss Vermont, a 27-year-old Army National Guard sergeant, will compete in the Miss America pageant on Sunday. She said her mission is to remind Americans that service and unity matter more than division.
“Unfortunately, we are living at a time of great division, and I’ve seen this grow even just in my lifetime,” Parker, a combat medic and nurse at the University of Vermont Medical Center, told Fox News Digital.
AIR FORCE OFFICER-TURNED-MISS AMERICA SAYS YOU DON’T NEED TO ‘SACRIFICE’ YOUR PERSONALITY TO JOIN THE MILITARY
Miss Vermont Sophia Parker is competing in this year’s Miss America pageant. The festivities are taking place on Sunday in Orlando. (Miss America IP INC.)
“Between the left and the right… there is a ton of division,” she shared. “However, one thing that I think is very important is for people of all different opinions from both sides and everyone in the middle to be able to come together and have the baseline be that we need to speak to each other with respect. We need to hear each other out.”
“I believe that the role of Miss America and Miss Vermont is to be that person who hears everyone’s perspective,” said Parker.
“As Miss America, my goal would be to travel the country, listening to people’s stories, sharing my passion for wildlife rehabilitation, and encouraging young people to discover the joy of serving,” said Sophia Parker. (Miss America IP INC.)
“I, as Sophia, of course, have my own personal opinions about things. But as Miss Vermont, I’m not here to have strong political opinions. I’m here to listen to everyone, and to try to create a middle ground where everyone can feel heard and seen. I think that is the starting point to find solutions. Our Founding Fathers created this country to be a place where you can have different opinions… where everyone can come together and find a place at the table, find a seat at the table.”
WATCH: MISS AMERICA HOPEFUL MISS VERMONT SEEKS TO BRIDGE POLITICAL DIVIDE
“As Miss America, as Miss Vermont, that is what I see as my job,” Parker added.
Parker said it was a teacher at her high school in Vermont who encouraged her to pursue pageants. It would be an outlet for her to connect with other everyday Americans.
Sophia Parker said she plans to work with legislators and other nonprofits to create more humane laws for wildlife in Vermont. (Miss America IP INC.)
“She recognized that if I was going to college, I would actually need some financial help and scholarships in order to do so,” said Parker. “… I had never thought about competing in a pageant before. I was… a tomboy.”
Sophia Parker serves as a sergeant in the Vermont National Guard. (Miss America IP INC.)
“I raised wild animals that needed help and ran around in the woods with my friends,” she chuckled. “But I ended up absolutely falling in love with the organization… It’s been such a privilege and such an honor to be able to speak about this organization that I love so much.”
Miss America, a glitzy competition, was born from a 1921 Atlantic City beauty contest just a year after women were given the right to vote, The Associated Press reported. Many participants say the organization – a large provider of scholarship assistance to young women – has been life-altering, opening doors for them both personally and professionally.
Sophia Parker always knew she wanted to be a medic. (Miss America IP INC.)
The organization, one of the nation’s most recognized brands, awards more than $5 million in cash scholarships annually, plus millions more at the national, state and local levels.
Sophia Parker of Addison graduated from Castleton University. (Miss America IP INC.)
Meeting other competitors from across the country and hearing their stories has given Parker a deeper appreciation for our country.
“I am extremely grateful to be an American every single day,” she said. “I wake up every single day with freedoms and privileges that people in any other country in the world do not have. One of the things that I am extremely grateful for is that I, as a woman, am able to be everything that I want to be. This is part of why I love being in the Vermont Army National Guard, why I love the Miss America Organization – I can stand here as someone who doesn’t really fit into a lot of boxes… I can wear a lot of different hats.”
Sophia Parker said her service has given her a deeper appreciation for America and its people. (Miss America IP INC.)
“… We as women and as people can be passionate about any number of things,” said Parker. “I believe that as an American, you can be anything that you want to be. And I stand here as Miss Vermont, as a nurse, as a soldier, as a pageant girl, and I am so grateful for those [roles].”
Sophia Parker is the 80th Miss Vermont. (Miss America IP INC.)
The eagerness to serve runs in Parker’s veins. Her grandfather served in World War II and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He was awarded a Purple Heart. Growing up, Parker often listened to her grandfather’s stories from his time in the Army – “the good, the bad and everything that he lived through and saw.”
“One of the things that always stuck with me [was] how he was a part of something bigger than himself,” she explained.
Sophia Parker is the youngest licensed rehabilitator in her home state. (Miss America IP INC.)
“He had such a strong sense of comradery with the fellow soldiers that he served with. There’s nothing like it in the world, and I wanted to be part of something bigger than myself… I immediately knew that I wanted to be a medic if I was going to join. I talked to the recruiter in my town about what was involved. I took the ASVAB and ended up enlisting as a medic in the Vermont Army National Guard.”
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Sophia Parker told Fox News Digital she was inspired by her grandfather who served in World War II. (Miss America IP INC.)
Between the Miss America Organization and the Army National Guard, Parker was able to graduate debt-free from Castleton University last May with a nursing degree.
One of the key causes Parker wants to highlight this weekend is wildlife rehabilitation. The Green Mountain State native and her mother co-founded Otter Creek Wildlife Rescue, a nonprofit dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating injured and orphaned birds and mammals across Vermont.
“Service is such a blessing both to those who receive it and those who give it,” said Sophia Parker. (Miss America IP INC.)
Parker said she has vivid memories as a child bringing home wildlife, caring for them and releasing them back to their natural habitat when they were healthy. She’s currently involved with several local organizations that aim to create better wildlife policies.
Sophia Parker and her mother operate Otter Creek Wildlife Rescue, which is dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of injured Vermont birds and mammals. (Miss America IP INC.)
“Currently, the state of Vermont allows things like leghold trapping and hunting with hounds,” she said. “We’re working to make these things illegal or at least much more regulated.”
“We would never strive to ban hunting,” she clarified. “Hunting is an age-old tradition in Vermont. It’s very possible to be an extremely ethical hunter. I know many ethical hunters who go out and kill a deer and use it to feed their whole family. It’s one of the most ethical ways you can get your meat. But Vermont, unfortunately, has a lot of archaic politics that allow a lot of abuse of wildlife. And so, I’m actively working with our legislature to change these policies.”
Sophia Parker hopes her journey will inspire others to get involved in their communities. (Miss America IP INC.)
“… I think it’s very important to not only view the natural world from the perspective of a consumer, but as someone who shares this world with other animals.”
Sophia Parker’s community service initiative is “Wildlife Rehabilitation and Stewardship of the National World.” (Miss America IP INC.)
Today, Parker hopes her journey will encourage others to support a cause they’re passionate about.
“A life of service has changed my life,” she said. “It’s made me who I am today. It gives you a purpose in life. It gives you inspiration, and it’s grounding in a world where, frankly, the problems [are] overwhelming… You don’t have to have money. You don’t have to have some crazy talent. You just need to get involved in your community and make a difference.”
The Miss America competition is on Sept. 7. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Read the full article from Here
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., announced that he married his fiancé Alexis Lewis on Saturday, sharing photos of himself and his newlywed wife on social media.
Booker and Lewis wed in a private ceremony in Washington, D.C., less than three months after announcing their engagement on Instagram.
On Sunday, Booker posted that they were “overflowing with gratitude,” writing: “We said ‘I do’ in two places that shaped us—Cory’s beloved Newark and Alexis’s hometown of Washington, D.C.—first at the courthouse, then with our families. Hearts full and so grateful.”
The couple married in an interfaith ceremony — Booker is Christian, and Lewis is Jewish — at an undisclosed venue, The New York Times reported. The couple had legally wed Monday at the federal courthouse in Newark with only their parents present.
KEANU REEVES’ GIRLFRIEND SETS RECORD STRAIGHT ON WEDDING RUMORS WITH KISSING PHOTO
Sen. Cory Booker and Alexis Lewis attend the New Jersey Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at American Dream on Nov. 21, 2025, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Bobby Bank/Getty Images)
The couple told the Times they met through a mutual friend known for matchmaking in May 2024. Their blind date in Washington lasted more than five hours. When Booker asked for a second date the next night, Lewis said she had to catch a flight for a work trip to Newark. Booker persuaded her to delay her flight so they could meet again in Newark, where he was also headed.
Sen. Cory Booker on May 28, 2025, in Los Angeles. (PG/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
Booker later described that second date as “even more magical,” saying they ate at a tapas restaurant before he showed her places in the city that shaped his life. The night ended with their first kiss outside the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart.
MICHELLE OBAMA CITES ‘QUITE THE JOURNEY’ WITH BARACK OBAMA IN ANNIVERSARY MESSAGE
Lewis is a director of investments at Brasa Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based real estate investment firm, and previously worked for former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. She holds a bachelor’s degree from NYU and an MBA from Cornell.
Democratic Sen. Cory Booker headlines an event at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, in Manchester on Nov. 14, 2025. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“My girlfriends and I say, ‘Change your flight, change your life,’ because it’s exactly what happened,” Lewis told the outlet. “After so many years on my own, I’m not entirely sure I believed I would get married. But now, we’ve found each other at this stage of our lives, after epic personal journeys. And that deserves celebration.”
Read the full article from Here
Every week since 1976, Metropolitan Diary has published stories by, and for, New Yorkers of all ages and eras (no matter where they live now): anecdotes and memories, quirky encounters and overheard snippets that reveal the city’s spirit and heart.
For the past four years, we’ve asked for your help picking the best Diary entry of the year. Now we’re asking again.
We’ve narrowed the field to the five finalists here. Read them and vote for your favorite. The author of the item that gets the most votes will receive a print of the illustration that accompanied it, signed by the artist, Agnes Lee.
The voting closes at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 21. You can change your vote as many times as you’d like until then, but you may only pick one. Choose wisely.
Click “VOTE” to choose your favorite Metropolitan Diary entry of 2025, and come back on Sunday, Dec. 28, to see which one our readers picked as their favorite.
Click “VOTE” to choose your favorite Metropolitan Diary entry of 2025, and come back on Sunday, Dec. 28, to see which one our readers picked as their favorite.
Two Stops
Dear Diary:
It was a drizzly June night in 2001. I was a young magazine editor and had just enjoyed what I thought was a very blissful second date — dinner, drinks, fabulous conversation — with our technology consultant at a restaurant in Manhattan.
I lived in Williamsburg at the time, and my date lived near Murray Hill, so we grabbed a cab and headed south on Second Avenue.
“Just let me out here,” my date said to the cabby at the corner of 25th Street.
We said our goodbyes, quick and shy, knowing that we would see each other at work the next day. I was giddy and probably grinning with happiness and hope.
“Oh boy,” the cabby said, shaking his head as we drove toward Brooklyn. “Very bad.”
“What do you mean?” I asked in horror.
“He doesn’t want you to know exactly where he lives,” the cabby said. “Not a good sign.”
I spent the rest of the cab ride in shock, revisiting every moment of the date.
Happily, it turned out that my instinct about it being a great date was right, and the cabby was wrong. Twenty-four years later, my date that night is my husband, and I know that if your stop is first, it’s polite to get out so the cab can continue in a straight line to the next stop.
Ferry Farewell
Dear Diary:
On a February afternoon, I met my cousins at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. Their spouses and several of our very-grown children were there too. I brought Prosecco, a candle, a small speaker to play music, photos and a poem.
We were there to recreate the wedding cruise of my mother, Monica, and my stepfather, Peter. They had gotten married at City Hall in August 1984. She was 61, and he, 71. It was her first marriage, and his fourth.
I was my mother’s witness that day. It was a late-in-life love story, and they were very happy. Peter died in 1996, at 82. My mother died last year. She was 100.
Peter’s ashes had waited a long time, but finally they were mingled with Monica’s. The two of them would ride the ferry a last time and then swirl together in the harbor forever. Cue the candles, bubbly, bagpipes and poems.
Two ferry workers approached us. We knew we were in trouble: Open containers and open flames were not allowed on the ferry.
My cousin’s husband, whispering, told the workers what we were doing and said we would be finished soon.
They walked off, and then returned. They said they had spoken to the captain, and they ushered us to the stern for some privacy. As the cup of ashes flew into the water, the ferry horn sounded two long blasts.
Unacceptable
Dear Diary:
I went to a new bagel store in Brooklyn Heights with my son.
When it was my turn to order, I asked for a cinnamon raisin bagel with whitefish salad and a slice of red onion.
The man behind the counter looked up at me.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I can’t do that.”
Teresa
Dear Diary:
It was February 2013. With a foot of snow expected, I left work early and drove from New Jersey warily as my wipers squeaked and snow and ice stuck to my windows.
I drove east on the Cross Bronx Expressway, which was tied up worse than usual. Trucks groaned on either side of my rattling Toyota. My fingers were cold. My toes were colder. Got to get home before it really comes down, I thought to myself.
By the time I got home to my little red bungalow a stone’s throw from the Throgs Neck Bridge, the snow was already up to my ankles.
Inside, I took off my gloves, hat, scarf, coat, sweater, pants and snow boots. The bed, still unmade, was inviting me. But first, I checked my messages.
There was one from Teresa, the 92-year-old widow on the corner.
“Call me,” she said, sounding desperate.
I looked toward the warm bed, but … Teresa. There was a storm outside, and she was alone.
On went the pants, the sweater, the coat, the scarf, the boots and the gloves, and then I went out the door.
The snow was six inches deep on the sidewalks, so I tottered on tire tracks in the middle of the street. The wind stung my face. When I got to the end of the block, I pounded on her door.
“Teresa!” I called. No answer. “Teresa!” I called again. I heard the TV blaring. Was she sprawled on the floor?
I went next door and called for Kathy.
“Teresa can’t answer the door,” I said. “Probably fell.”
Kathy had a key. In the corner of her neat living room, Teresa, in pink sweatpants and sweaters, was sitting curled in her armchair, head bent down and The Daily News in her lap.
I snapped off the TV.
Startled, she looked up.
“Kathy! Neal!” she said. “What’s a five-letter word for cabbage?”
Nice Place
Dear Diary:
When I lived in Park Slope over 20 years ago, I once had to call an ambulance because of a sudden, violent case of food poisoning.
Two paramedics, a man and a woman, entered our third-floor walk-up with a portable chair. Strapping me in, the male medic quickly inserted an IV line into my arm.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see his partner circling around and admiring the apartment.
“Nice place you’ve got here.” she said. “Do you own it?”
“Yeah,” I muttered, all but unconscious.
Once I was in the ambulance, she returned to her line of inquiry.
“Do you mind me asking how much you paid for your apartment?”
“$155,000,” I croaked.
“Wow! You must have bought during the recession.”
“Yeah” I said.
They dropped me off at Methodist Hospital, where I was tended to by a nurse as I struggled to stay lucid.
At some point, the same medic poked her head into the room with one last question:
“You wouldn’t be wanting to sell any time soon, would you?”
Illustrations by Agnes Lee.
The Boston Harborwalk, a 43-mile park and pedestrian pathway that stretches along the city’s coastline, will soon extend further north into Charlestown and beyond.
The city’s Planning Department this week approved putting the estimated $5.5 million project out for bids from contractors. The extension will connect to the existing Harborwalk and stretch along Terminal Street and the Little Mystic Channel.
“The new pathway will be beautifully landscaped and furnished with seating, shade shelters and exercise equipment,” said Planning Department Director of Real Estate Rebecca Tomasovic during the Boston Planning and Development Agency Board meeting on Thursday.
Tomasovic explained that currently, the land is unused and overgrown. Pedestrians in the area are limited to Terminal Street, which has no sidewalks and is used primarily as a truck route. The Harborwalk extension will allow safe pedestrian travel between Chelsea Street and the Charlestown Athletic Fields, she said.
Planning for the Boston Harborwalk began in the 1980s, according to its website. In addition to walkways, it includes green space, seating, informational signage, exhibit spaces, cafes and other amenities. When the Harborwalk is complete, it will stretch close to 50 miles between Chelsea Creek in East Boston and the Neponset River in Dorchester.
Beyond pedestrian safety and recreation, the Harborwalk is also part of the city’s planning for climate sustainability for the future.
A 2022 report from the Office of Climate Resilience recommended the Charlestown extension, as well as elevating the existing Harborwalk paths in the area, as the height protects against rising sea levels and flooding.
“The Harborwalk is both highly vulnerable to the impacts of sea-level rise and presents an opportunity to create a resilient coastal edge,” officials wrote in the report. “Redesigning the Harborwalk along the Little Mystic to incorporate coastal resilience infrastructures provides opportunities not only to reduce risks from flooding but also to enhance the benefits this amenity provides.”
In October, the city was awarded a $500,000 grant from MassTrails, a division of the state Department of Conservation and Recreation.
The city also expects to use over $1 million from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission in the form of mitigation funds from the nearby Encore Casino and $750,000 in private donations through the Mystic River Watershed Association.
Video: Deadly Storm Causes Massive Flooding Across Gaza
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 sweeps The Game Awards — analysis and full winners list
The best instant cameras you can buy right now
Archaeologists uncover rare fresco of Jesus in town Pope Leo XIV recently visited
Republican House leader signals plan to begin contempt proceedings against Bill and Hillary Clinton
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Republican House leader signals plan to begin contempt proceedings against Bill and Hillary Clinton
Three years on, former MEP Kaili remains in limbo still awaiting trial
Afghan CIA fighters face stark reality in the U.S. : Consider This from NPR
Video: Behind the Supreme Court’s Push to Expand Presidential Power
Kilmar Abrego Garcia seen for first time since release, pledges to ‘continue to fight’ Trump admin
-
Alaska6 days agoHowling Mat-Su winds leave thousands without power
-
Ohio1 week agoWho do the Ohio State Buckeyes hire as the next offensive coordinator?
-
Texas6 days agoTexas Tech football vs BYU live updates, start time, TV channel for Big 12 title
-
Washington3 days agoLIVE UPDATES: Mudslide, road closures across Western Washington
-
Iowa5 days agoMatt Campbell reportedly bringing longtime Iowa State staffer to Penn State as 1st hire
-
Miami, FL6 days agoUrban Meyer, Brady Quinn get in heated exchange during Alabama, Notre Dame, Miami CFP discussion
-
Cleveland, OH5 days agoMan shot, killed at downtown Cleveland nightclub: EMS
-
World5 days ago
Chiefs’ offensive line woes deepen as Wanya Morris exits with knee injury against Texans
