Southeast
DAVID MARCUS: The 'experts' at FEMA have failed. Time to put locals in charge
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In Western North Carolina, the frustration with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has grown to a fever pitch, with locals left in desperate, dire straits, and they aren’t the only ones complaining about it.
President Donald Trump has called out the agency’s leadership and even gone so far as suggesting that it ought to no longer exist, presumably meaning it should be replaced with some kind of direct federal government aid.
Sunday, on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Vice President JD Vance told host Margaret Brennan, when asked about the need for FEMA’s expertise, that it “has often been a disaster” adding that the agency doesn’t work “well enough with state and local officials to get resources to the people who need it.”
This was the major complaint I got from almost everyone in the Asheville area, as Michael, in his 60s who lives just outside of town, put it, “they just can’t get what we need, where we need it.”
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The whole situation is reminiscent of a World War II saying: some generals know how to read the map, and others know how to read the ground. Those are two very different sets of skills.
When the map readers at HQ like Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery looked at their giant, flat display of France after D-Day, they saw a straight-line east to Germany. But when the guys on the ground, like Gen. Maurice Rose got there, thousands of hedgerows that weren’t on the map stood in the way, even of most tanks.
President Donald Trump, with First Lady Melania Trump (L), visits a neighborhood affected by Hurricane Helene in Swannanoa, North Carolina, on January 24, 2025. (Mandel NGAN / AFP)
Rose and others in the tank corps had to use reconnaissance to find new roads and paths. Often this required relying on the local expertise of those they had just liberated from the Nazis.
Thankfully, these men on the ground were given a lot of latitude in finding a way for American Sherman and Stuart tanks to storm to the Rhine.
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Something similar happened in North Carolina, where FEMA seemed completely incapable of dealing with the unique and dangerous mountainous terrain that many local officials know like the back of their hand. Ignoring the locals led to frequent delays and foul-ups.
Likewise, in Florida we saw the horrible situation in which FEMA was accused of skipping houses with Trump signs owing to absurd and bigoted guidance from “experts” in Washington, D.C.
In those situations, one phone call to a local sheriff or police chief and the agency could have known that, unless it was some kind of militia compound, the federal officers had nothing to fear from the locals.
Back in North Carolina, where FEMA has struggled to provide housing, while kicking people out of hotels in the middle of the winter, it is often the locals who are doing the heavy lifting, including on important efforts to winterize campers.
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Incredibly, in her interview with Vance, Brennan insisted that FEMA had special expertise — much like Monty, I suppose — asking, a bit derisively, if “the Mississippis, The Kentuckys, the Alamabas would be able to do this for themselves without federal help.”
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I don’t know if host Margaret Brennan has ever been to the south, but along with the charming accents, they’ve got a lot a trucks down there, and guys who know how to build things, even if they don’t have a Ph.D. in emergency management from The New School, or wherever.
FEMA is a quintessential example of exactly what President Donald Trump was elected to do, to take power out of the hands of federal bureaucrats who know nothing of life outside of a 25-mile radius of the Washington Monument and give it back to “We thePeople.”
From COVID, to inflation, to the border and now to FEMA, the expert class in D.C., born of once fine institutions that are all now captured by progressive ideology, have failed the American people again, and again, and again.
Major General Dwight Eisenhower (1890 – 1969), commander of the American Forces in the European theatre of war, at the time of his promotion, by President Roosevelt, to Lieutenant General on July 9, 1942. (Getty Images)
We all know how WWII ended, and it ended that way in large part owing to the fact that while Adolf Hitler stared at a map and demanded his generals do impossible things, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower allowed his generals like Rose, and George Patton, to lead from the ground.
This might all just come down to a fundamental difference in how liberals and conservatives view the American people, the former almost as children who must have constant guidance, and the latter as fully functioning adults, who just need some help.
For now, and for the foreseeable future, the good people of North Carolina will suffer the consequences of FEMA’s top-down dysfunctionality, but Donald Trump and JD Vance have an opportunity to ensure that the next time this happens, it is the people on the ground, not the experts reading maps, who are in charge.
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Southeast
College soccer star, girlfriend dead as illegal immigrant’s record ignites lawmaker fury statewide
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Lawmakers are voicing outrage as family and friends mourn a college soccer player and his girlfriend who were killed in a DUI crash allegedly caused by an illegal immigrant.
The case is reigniting debate over immigration enforcement and whether failures in the system contributed to the deaths of Fletcher Harris, 20, and Skylar Provenza, 19.
Prosecutors say Juan Alvarado Aguilar, 37, was driving under the influence when his vehicle slammed into the couple’s car on Friday, Jan. 16, killing them both and devastating their families and community. As mourners gather to say goodbye to Provenza and Harris, whose funeral was held Thursday, lawmakers are pointing to Aguilar’s immigration status and alleged criminal history as evidence of broader public safety failures they say demand immediate action.
North Carolina Republican Rep. Mark Harris said the case highlights what he described as the deadly consequences of sanctuary policies and failures to enforce immigration laws. Harris argued the couple’s deaths were preventable and blamed state and local leadership for allowing the suspect to remain in the country and on the road.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT RAN FROM DEADLY WRONG-WAY DUI CRASH THAT KILLED MOTORCYCLIST, RECORDS SHOW
A funeral service for Fletcher Mark Daniel Harris was held at Williamson Chapel in Mooresville, North Carolina, on Thursday, January 22, 2026. Harris, 20, was killed in a car crash on Jan. 16, 2026. (Tim Jackson for Fox News Digital)
“Fletcher Harris and Skylar Provenza—two bright young lives full of promise—were brutally taken in a head-on crash allegedly caused by an illegal alien with a prior DUI who never should have been on our roads,” Harris said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “This is the deadly cost of North Carolina’s sanctuary policies and radical Democrat refusal to enforce the law.”
Harris also questioned the lack of public response, suggesting the reaction would be far different in other cases.
“Where’s the outrage? Where are the protests? If this were any other tragedy, the streets would be filled—but when criminal aliens kill Americans, the silence from the Left is deafening.”
CORNYN PUSHES ‘ZERO MERCY’ LAW TO DEPORT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CONVICTED OF DEADLY DRUNK DRIVING
A funeral service for Fletcher Mark Daniel Harris was held at Williamson Chapel in Mooresville, North Carolina, on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. (Tim Jackson for Fox News Digital)
Authorities say the deadly crash occurred just after 11 p.m. on Jan. 16 in Rowan County, North Carolina, when a Chevrolet Silverado driven by Aguilar crossed the center line and slammed head-on into the car carrying Harris and Provenza. They were both pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators said officers noted a strong odor of alcohol and that Aguilar appeared unsteady on his feet when he was arrested.
Court records reviewed by Fox News Digital show Aguilar had a prior driving-while-impaired charge from 2020 that was dismissed by a district attorney, a procedural move that has drawn renewed scrutiny following the deadly crash. Prosecutors also told the court that Aguilar had two prior failures to appear, and an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer has been placed on him.
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Juan Alvarado Aguilar is shown in a booking photo released by authorities. Police said Aguilar, 37, was identified as the driver of a Chevrolet Silverado involved in a DUI crash that killed two people. (Rowan County Sheriff’s Office)
Aguilar now faces two counts of felony death by vehicle, driving while impaired and other charges, and is being held on a bond of more than $5 million.
North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall said the deaths hit close to home and blamed what he described as failures in federal immigration enforcement.
“I think it’s a failure of policy, and it’s a failure under the Biden administration, where essentially he allowed open borders,” Hall said. He argued that Democrats have taken the position that “no one should be deported, even those who are committing serious crimes,” adding that the suspect had previously been charged with DWI before the fatal crash.
ILLINOIS FATHER SAYS PRITZKER SHOWS ‘INDIFFERENCE’ TO HIS DAUGHTER BEING KILLED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT
Hall pushed back against claims that North Carolina is a sanctuary state, pointing to legislative action taken in recent years to require cooperation with federal immigration authorities. He said that prior to 2018, all sheriffs in the state worked with ICE, but that changed after several Democratic sheriffs stopped honoring ICE detainers.
Republican lawmakers responded by passing legislation mandating cooperation with ICE, bills that were initially vetoed by then-Gov. Roy Cooper before lawmakers overrode the vetoes.
“So in this state right now, when somebody is charged with a crime, and they’re here illegally and ICE wants to take custody of that person, the local county sheriff has to do that,” Hall said.
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Fletcher Harris and Skylar Provenza are shown in a photo taken before their deaths. The two were killed in a DUI crash, according to authorities. (Instagram/ skylar_provenza)
Hall argued that enforcement later broke down at the federal level, despite state laws remaining in place, saying ICE under the Biden administration often failed to take custody of illegal immigrants charged with crimes.
He said stronger coordination between state and federal authorities is critical to preventing similar tragedies, crediting renewed enforcement efforts under the Trump administration and emphasizing the need for continued cooperation.
Reflecting on the victims, Hall said lawmakers are focused on preventing future losses.
“Know that we’re fighting very hard to make sure this never happens to anyone again,” he said.
Harris was a standout student-athlete at Catawba College, where he played soccer and made the dean’s list. Provenza had just graduated in Esthetics from Dermacademy and was set to start her career at Datre Hair Co., according to her obituary.
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In a Facebook post, Provenza’s mother urged the public to reject hatred and honor the couple’s lives with love.
“Remember them. Remember love. Remember justice, and the Lord’s plan will prevail,” she wrote. “Hate will never bring them back. While my heart is broken, I pray for this world that we live in. Evil never wins, but love always will.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the North Carolina Democratic Party for comment.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
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Southeast
Florida attorney general demands nursing board revoke license of nurse who wished injury on Karoline Leavitt
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Florida attorney general James Uthmeier is calling for the Florida Board of Nursing to revoke the license of a woman after she said she hoped White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt suffers a severe injury in childbirth.
“Women shouldn’t have to worry about a politically driven nurse who wishes them pain and suffering being in the delivery room during childbirth,” Uthmeier told Fox News Digital in a statement.
“It’s evil,” he added. “The Florida Board of Nursing must take action to keep this person away from patients permanently.”
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is expecting her second child this year. (Andrew Harnik)
In a video posted on TikTok, Lexie Lawler, a former labor and delivery nurse at Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital, said, “As a labor and delivery nurse, it gives me great joy to wish Karoline Leavitt a fourth degree tear.”
She continued with explicit language, saying she hoped Leavitt would suffer a permanent injury during childbirth.
“I hope you f——- rip from bow to stern and never s— normally again, you c—,” she said.
In December, Leavitt announced that she and her husband Nick are expecting a baby girl due in May, who will join their first son, Niko, born in July 2024.
Lawler was subsequently fired from Baptist Health Boca Raton Regional Hospital.
The hospital told Fox News Digital that her comments “do not reflect our values or the standards we expect of healthcare professionals,” but Lawler has since defended her remarks in another video, and appeared to reference an unrelated shooting in Minnesota while responding to criticism over her comments.
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“Women shouldn’t have to worry about a politically-driven nurse who wishes them pain and suffering being in the delivery room during childbirth,” Uthmeier told Fox News Digital in a statement. (DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
“So they just murdered a man in Minnesota, they murdered a man in Minnesota, and you mother——- are coming after me because I used bad language? F— you. I’m on the right side of this. F— you.”
A “GoFundMe” has been set up for Lawler which has raised nearly $5,000 with a goal of $14,000.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Florida Board of Nursing and Lawler for comment.
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A GoFundMe has been set up for Lawler which has raised over $4,000 with a goal of $14,000. (Photo illustration by Thomas Trutschel/Photothek via Getty Images)
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Southeast
Grandson charged with murdering retired grandparents found dead in their South Carolina home
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Authorities in upstate South Carolina have arrested the 19-year-old grandson of a retired couple found slain in their home earlier this month, charging him with two counts of murder in a case that has shaken a small rural community.
The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office said Levi Kevin Jones was taken into custody late Friday and charged in connection with the deaths of Larry Moore, 76, and Sandra Moore, 75, who were discovered inside their residence on Cromer Moore Road near Westminster on Jan. 15.
Jones is also charged with two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, according to arrest warrants obtained by Fox News Digital. He remains in custody pending a bond hearing.
The couple was found after a family member requested a welfare check when repeated attempts to reach them were unsuccessful. Investigators and the county coroner later determined the deaths were homicides.
RETIRED SOUTH CAROLINA COUPLE FOUND DEAD IN HOMICIDE AT HOME
Larry and Sandra Moore are pictured during a church gathering at Calvary Church. The couple was later remembered by the congregation following their deaths. (Calvary Church Facebook)
According to the Oconee County Coroner’s Office, Larry Moore died from multiple stabbing injuries, while Sandra Moore died from manual strangulation. Autopsies were conducted the following day.
Arrest warrants allege Jones stabbed his grandfather multiple times in the torso and neck and strangled his grandmother, cutting off her airway and blood flow. Authorities said a knife was used during the attack.
Authorities have not provided a motive for the attack.
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The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office said the couple’s grandson, Levi Kevin Jones, is charged with two counts of murder in the case, as well as two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. (Oconee County Sheriff’s Office)
The Moores were longtime residents of the area and well known in the community as the former owners of Moore & Moore Fish Camp, a local restaurant that operated for decades before the couple retired.
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They were also active members of Calvary Church, where friends described them as regular attendees.
“They were always there,” Stacy Brooks, who attended church, told Fox News Digital. “You expected to see them every time you went. They were faithful people.”
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The Oconee County Coroner’s Office, which assisted in the investigation into the deaths of Larry and Sandra Moore, is shown in an exterior view. (Oconee County Coroner’s Office)
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Brooks said the killings have been difficult for residents of the small upstate South Carolina town to process.
“This is a close community, and something like this just doesn’t happen often,” she said.
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The sheriff’s office previously said the killings appeared to be an isolated incident and that there was no ongoing threat to the public.
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