Connect with us

Southeast

Our family reunion showed how we can unite America

Published

on

Our family reunion showed how we can unite America

Join Fox News for access to this content

Plus special access to select articles and other premium content with your account – free of charge.

By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News’ Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive.

Please enter a valid email address.

Having trouble? Click here.

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

I spent this past weekend in the Smoky Mountains attending a DeBartolo cousins family reunion in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. We had a great time reconnecting and reminiscing. Love and laughter filled the house.

Advertisement

President Trump’s assassination attempt took place during the reunion. It contrasted the unity we were experiencing and the division our country is experiencing.

Re means “back to” so a reunion is back to the union. It’s needed in families, communities and our country. We should, in the words of our Constitution, be seeking a more perfect union.

The DeBartolo cousins gather for a familly portrait in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. (Jeremy Passamonte)

It can start in the family, the most basic unit of our culture. Our family reunion experience was a microcosm of what can happen across our land.

AMERICANS AGREE ON MOST CORE VALUES, THINK OUR DEMOCRACY FUNCTIONS POORLY, POLL FINDS

Advertisement

We all stayed in one big house. People from Connecticut to Arizona, Florida to Ohio all under one roof. The age divide spanned 30 years. Family, yes, but still different in many ways.

We are one big American family. A variety of states but one homeland. A span of ages but all still Americans. Differences, certainly, but also neighbors who care for each other.

family laughs

It takes work to get along, but it can be done. (iStock, courtesy of user Patrick Chu)

I’ve learned this in many years of marriage, sometimes you must agree to disagree. We simply can’t always agree on everything. And sometimes we vehemently disagree. You don’t dissolve the marriage over it; you work on getting along despite it.

At our reunion, some went to Dollywood, some to the national park and some stayed in the house the entire time. Different ways to enjoy our family connections. We didn’t have to all agree on one approach.

FOUNDERS’ JULY 4TH LESSON: DIVIDED BY POLITICS BUT UNITED IN CORE VALUES OF A FREE PEOPLE

Advertisement

Of course, we did need to agree on meals, responsibilities, schedule. Different doesn’t mean chaos. It takes work to get along; it’s not natural. Selfishness is inborn, service takes effort. But it can be done. Americans have proved it for almost 250 years.

Smoky Mountains view

Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where the family gathered for their reunion. (Rick McDaniel)

We didn’t have any blowout fights. But with a group of Italian Americans together for three days it certainly could have happened. But even if there was conflict, we would have resolved it because we love each other.

Americans can disagree without being disagreeable. We can have fights without violence. We can have our views without hating those who have different views.

On Sunday morning, we had a worship service in the theater room of the house. Music was played and my cousin’s husband spoke on God’s grace to our family. We worshiped together because we all share the Christian faith.

AMERICAN VALUES: WHAT SMALL TOWN AMERICA IS SAYING ABOUT THE AMERICAN DREAM, ‘GETTING TOO HARD’

Advertisement
family at dinner

 There is much that binds us together as Americans, much more than what divides us. (iStock)

But not everyone in America does. So, I may disagree with certain values or viewpoints of others. This means we will advocate differently and vote differently. And that is America. I support your right to have a different opinion – even in opposition to mine.

Our family reunion reinforced what I know is true. People need to reconnect over what they love more than what they hate. There is much that binds us together as Americans, much more than what divides us.

I love my cousins, but I have not spent enough time with them. Getting to know them better helped me to appreciate them more, to value their journey and story. 

people clasping hands, praying

Let’s reconnect over our shared values and reunite America. (iStock)

I spent time with one of my cousins and her husband. I’ve always liked them but now I do in a deeper way. The greater knowledge leads to a stronger affinity. I would like to get to know them better.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

Advertisement

The back deck replaced the front porch and changed our communities. Americans need to spend more time outside of our usual echo chambers. Listening and getting to know their neighbors.

This doesn’t mean we will all magically agree. Unity does not mean uniformity. But we can lower the temperature of our discourse if we spend more time together instead of isolated online.

woman on phone

We can lower the temperature of our discourse if we spend more time together instead of isolated online. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

Our family hasn’t had a reunion in many years. We are now committed to doing it more often. I had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs this past weekend. I’d like to have more. Life’s too short to miss out on it.

Americans are missing out. Too much anger not enough love. Too much vitriol not enough peace. Too much division, not enough unity.

Advertisement

Let’s reconnect over our shared values and reunite America.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM RICK McDANIEL

Read the full article from Here

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Southeast

Woman stabbed at Miami International Airport, prompting evacuation of hundreds

Published

on

Woman stabbed at Miami International Airport, prompting evacuation of hundreds
  • A man stabbed a woman at Miami International Airport on Saturday night, prompting the evacuation of hundreds of travelers.
  • The stabbing occurred around 11:30 p.m. in Terminal J on the fourth floor, outside the secure area.
  • The Miami-Dade Police Department reported that the man also attempted to throw the woman over a railing, but she managed to escape.

A man stabbed a woman at Miami International Airport Saturday night, setting off fears that an active shooter was in the terminal, and hundreds of other travelers were evacuated as a precaution, authorities said.

The woman was stabbed around 11:30 p.m. in Terminal J on the fourth floor, outside the secure area. 

Det. Angel Rodriguez, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade Police Department, said the man also tried to throw the woman over a railing, but she was able to get away. Officers recovered the weapon as they arrested the man without incident, he said.

VIDEO SHOWS NYC MAN STAB RANDOM WOMAN NEAR TIMES SQUARE

Rodriguez called it an “unprovoked altercation,” but police have not said if the two knew each other. The woman was hospitalized in critical condition with several knife wounds, police said.

A vehicle is parked outside the Miami International Airport on May 12, 2020, in Miami. A man stabbed a woman at Miami International Airport on Saturday, setting off fears that an active shooter was in the terminal, and hundreds of other travelers were evacuated as a precaution, authorities said. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, file)

Advertisement

Rodriguez said the arrival of responding officers confused some travelers, who thought there was an active shooter. Officers were able to determine there was no shooting, police said.

The attack happened outside the airport’s secure area, but an airport spokesperson said that as a precaution all passengers in Terminals J and H were evacuated and later re-screened by security, The Miami Herald reported.

Read the full article from Here

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Southeast

LSU's Javien Toviano arrested on video voyeurism charges

Published

on

LSU's Javien Toviano arrested on video voyeurism charges

LSU defensive back Javien Toviano was arrested on video voyeurism charges on Sunday, officials in Louisiana said.

Toviano, 19, turned himself in to authorities in East Baton Rouge. He’s accused of recording himself having sex with a woman without her consent, according to an arrest warrant.

LSU safety Javien Toviano during a game on Sept. 16, 2023, in Starkville, Mississippi. (AP Photo/Vasha Hunt, File)

The alleged victim told detectives she found videos of the two on Toviano’s iPad that were recorded through a clock with a build-in camera placed near the bed, Nola.com reported. The woman also alleged that Toviano recorded them having sex in the past without her consent and said she made clear that she did not want to be recorded.

Advertisement

Toviano admitted to authorities he used a hidden camera to record the sexual encounters, according to the arrest warrant.

UTAH STATE FIRES FOOTBALL COACH BLAKE ANDERSON FOR ‘SIGNIFICANT’ CONTRACT VIOLATIONS

Javien Toviano poses

LSU’s Javien Toviano poses for a portrait during media day at Tiger Stadium on June 18, 2024, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (LSU Athletics/University Images via Getty Images)

LSU said Toviano was “suspended from all team activities in accordance with departmental policies.” 

“We will not have further comment out of respect for the legal process,” the school said.

Toviano, of Arlington, Texas, committed to LSU last year. As a freshman, he appeared in every game and made three starts over the last five games of the season.

Advertisement

He had 30 tackles and one pass deflection.

Javien Toviano vs Florida

Ricky Pearsall of the Florida Gators runs with the ball as Javien Toviano of LSU defends at Tiger Stadium on Nov. 11, 2023, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

LSU is set to begin practice on Aug. 1. The team starts its season on the road against USC on Sept. 1.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Advertisement



Read the full article from Here

Continue Reading

Southeast

JD Vance's hometown of Middletown, Ohio, was built by steel industry: What to know about it

Published

on

JD Vance's hometown of Middletown, Ohio, was built by steel industry: What to know about it

Join Fox News for access to this content

Plus special access to select articles and other premium content with your account – free of charge.

By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News’ Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive.

Please enter a valid email address.

Having trouble? Click here.

Former President Donald Trump’s running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, returned to Middletown, Ohio, on Monday as the senator’s hometown sits at the crossroads of the heartland crisis that has shaped American politics in recent decades. 

“This town was so good to me,” the GOP senator said during a rally at Middletown High School in Ohio, from which he graduated in 2003.

Advertisement

“I came from Middletown, Ohio. I’m proud of it,” he said, “and I’ll never forget where I came from.”

ROCK-SOLID FAMILY VALUES AND THE AMERICAN DREAM ARE KEY TO JD VANCE’S STORY AND WHAT HE’LL DO FOR OUR COUNTRY

Middletown has been a heavy-industry hub since the first steelmaker arrived in 1900. Recent history and discussions with local residents paint the picture of a Middle American community that appears to have survived Rust Belt decay better than most. 

Yet Middletown also faces the challenges of a post-industrial small town and rural America that has felt ignored by Washington, D.C. elites for decades. 

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, arrives for a campaign rally with his wife Usha Vance at Middletown High School on July 22, 2024, in Middletown, Ohio. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Advertisement

Even with a steel-mill anchor, Middletown trails the nation in several measures of success and opportunity.

Simmering discontent fueled by similar situations has fomented the political upheaval captured by Trump’s Make America Great Again revolution.

“Middletown is a working, blue-collar community more than anything,” Zachary Johnson, a clerk at Central Pastry, told Fox News Digital on Monday. 

“I came from Middletown, Ohio. I’m proud of it, and I’ll never forget where I came from.”

Vance shouted out Central Pastry, a 75-year-old family-owned local landmark bakery, during his rally Monday.

Advertisement

Here’s a look at the city “that made” Vance. 

Middletown is a classic Rust Belt, steel-making city

Steelmaker Armco arrived in Middletown in 1900, giving the city of 51,000 residents today its industrial heartland identity.

“We are a town that has a rich history in steel manufacturing,” Middletown communications director Clayton Castle told Fox News Digital. 

Armco later became AK Steel. 

Middletown, Ohio steel

A mound of coking coal sits piled near the blast furnace at the AK Steel Holding Corp. mill in Middletown, Ohio, in 2016. AK Steel was acquired by Cleveland-Cliffs in 2020.  (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

It was acquired in 2020 by Cleveland-Cliffs, which touts itself online as the “largest flat-rolled steel company in North America and a leading supplier of automotive-grade steel.”

Advertisement

It operates Middletown Works, which is the largest employer in the city, said Castle. 

AMERICAN CULTURE QUIZ: TEST YOURSELF ON PRESIDENTS, COUNTRY QUEENS AND THE BIG KAHUNA

The city spokesperson added, “Most people, when you ask them — they work themselves or know somebody who works or worked in a steel factory at some point. Steel is ingrained in the fabric of our community.”

Vance’s own grandfather found work at Armco. 

Middletown highlights Ohio’s clout as political bell cow

Ohioans voted for the winning candidate in every presidential election from 1964 to 2016.

Advertisement

The streak ended in 2020, when Trump earned a sizable 53% to 45% victory in Ohio over national winner Joe Biden.

President Donald Trump and his running mate J. D. Vance

Former President Donald Trump and his running mate JD Vance (Fox News)

Middletown represents the complex mix of cultures and urban-rural contrasts that make Ohio an important bellwether of American political trends and a top prize in presidential politics. 

It’s located 30 miles northeast of Cincinnati and 20 miles southwest of Dayton. 

The city developed along the east bank of the Great Miami River; the west bank remains almost completely rural.

MUSEUM OF THE BIBLE IN WASHINGTON, DC, OFFERS NEW INTERACTIVE EXHIBIT ON WORSHIP

Advertisement

Interstate 75, which connects Miami, Florida, to Detroit, Michigan, before finally ending on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, passes just east of downtown Middletown.

Middletown is MAGA country

Middletown is located in Butler County, which broke even heavier for Trump in 2020 than did wider Ohio. 

More than 61% of voters in the county pulled the lever for Trump in the last presidential election, compared with just 37% voting for Biden. 

Vance crowd, Middletown, Ohio

Guests attend a campaign rally hosted by Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance of Ohio at Middletown High School on July 22, 2024, in Middletown, Ohio.  (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Local steelmaker plans $1.8B investment in Middletown, with federal aid

The conundrum caused by the ever-growing role of government and environmental regulations in big business is evident in a recent announcement by Cleveland-Cliffs that it’s investing $1.3 billion in its Middletown foundry – with an additional $500 million from the Department of Energy. 

“This investment will secure 2,500 jobs at Middletown Works, where the unionized workforce is represented by the International Association of Machinists,” the Journal-News of Butler County reported in March. 

Advertisement

“This is absolutely huge for the men and women who work here, and for the community,” Shawn Coffey, union president of Local 1943, told the local publication. 

The investment is to “accelerate industrial decarbonization technologies” and create “substantial reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,” Cleveland-Cliffs said in a March statement.

Middletown is not the Appalachia chronicled in ‘Hillbilly Elegy’

Vance’s rise to national prominence came with the success of his 2016 autobiography and cultural critique “Hillbilly Elegy,” which offers a stark look at the struggles and fates of families and communities of rural Appalachia — including his own. 

“Hillbilly Elegy” became a Ron Howard-directed movie in 2020. This past weekend it soared back into the Top 10 list of Netflix films, the result of Trump’s VP pick of Vance and the senator’s speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee late last week. 

The book is based upon his family’s heritage in rural Jackson, Kentucky. 

Advertisement

It’s about 60 miles southwest of Butcher Hollow, Kentucky — made famous as the home of country music queen and “Coal Miner’s Daughter” Loretta Lynn.

As Vance notes in his bestselling book, his great-grandparents left the hills of eastern Kentucky seeking a better life in industrial Middletown. 

Jackson, Kentucky remains Vance’s ‘home’

Vance lived most of his childhood in Middletown, moving from house to house with a mother suffering from addiction. 

He spent summers with his grandmother – his “Mamaw” – in Jackson, living among and observing the cultural decay of poor, rural America that became the source of “Hillbilly Elegy.” 

Hillbilly Elegy

“Hillbilly Elegy” by author JD Vance is shown on display in New York City.  (Bill Tompkins/Getty Images)

He explained the complicated existence in the book. 

Advertisement

TRUMP ‘STOOD THERE LIKE A MAN’ AFTER BEING SHOT, WILL SOAR SPIRITUALLY AND POITICALLY, SAYS REAGAN INSIDER

“My address is where I spent most of my time with my mother and sister, wherever that might be. But my home never changed: my great-grandmother’s house, in the holler, in Jackson, Kentucky.”

Vance called Middletown, Ohio ‘Middletucky’

Middletown is 200 miles north of Jackson. 

But, according to Vance, the two communities are tightly connected by culture, values and small-community struggles.

“Thanks to the massive migration from the poorest regions of Appalachia to places like Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Illinois, hillbilly values spread widely along with hillbilly people,” Vance wrote in “Hillbilly Elegy.”

Advertisement
Hillbilly Elegy poster

Amy Adams and Glenn Close led the “Hillbilly Elegy” cast. The Ron Howard film based on J.D. Vance’s bestselling 2016 book of the same name was released in 2020.  (Netflix)

“Indeed, Kentucky transplants and their children are so prominent in Middletown, Ohio (where I grew up) that as kids we derisively called it ‘Middletucky.’ People have struggled to get out of Jackson for decades; now they struggle to escape Middletown.”

Middletown closely mirrors America’s makeup

The city’s population is 78.4% White and 11.8% Black, compared with 75.3% and 13.7% nationally, according to the 2020 U.S. Census. 

Middletown has a lower population of Asian, Hispanic, Native and foreign-born citizens than the United States as a whole. 

JD Vance is introduced during the Republican National Convention

Trump’s pick for vice president, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, is shown arriving for the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

But its residents are more likely to be multiracial: 6.6% of Middletowners are of two or more races, compared with just 3.1% nationally. 

About 21% of the city’s residents are under age 18, and 18% are over 65, almost exactly the same as national figures.

Advertisement

Middletown trails in higher education and income

The 2020 U.S. Census reports that 34.3% of Americans have a bachelor’s degree or higher level of education; in Middletown, that figure is only 16.1%. 

The median household income in Middletown is $50,457, well behind the national figure of $75,149; meanwhile, 19.2% of Middletown residents live in poverty, compared with 11.5% nationwide. 

JD Vance attends a campaign rally

Vance attends a campaign rally on March 16, 2024, in Vandalia, Ohio.  (AP Photo/Jeff Dean, File)

Middletown punches above its weight class in pro sports

The small city has produced an impressive number of hometown heroes who could “escape Middletown” through excellence in athletics.

Philadelphia Phillies All-Star Kyle Schwarber, UFC fighter and Olympic Gold Medalist Kayla Harrison, basketball Hall of Famer Jerry Lucas, and Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Cris Carter all were raised in Middletown.

Kayla Harrison

Kayla Harrison poses prior to the UFC Hall of Fame 2024 Induction Ceremony at T-Mobile Arena on June 27, 2024, in Las Vegas, Nevada.  (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

The Middies football team plays on Cris Carter Field at Barnitz Stadium. 

Advertisement

Brooklyn Decker, the former Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover model and wife of retired tennis star Andy Roddick, also once called Middletown home, according to community spokesperson Castle.

‘Ugly’ donut is rumored to be Vance’s favorite local sweet

Leave it to an old-school steel city to embrace an “ugly” donut. 

A signature sweet sold at Central Pastry is reportedly Vance’s favorite, according to Central Pastry’s Johnson, a lifelong Middletown resident. 

The buttery, yellow-cake donut is soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside — and is coated in a sugary glaze.

Advertisement
JD Vance

Vance and his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance are shown arriving for the RNC at the Fiserv Forum on July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Vance offered a hopeful message for Middletown’s future

The candidate for vice president said on Monday that the community has plenty to offer for the future. 

“While my life wasn’t all that different from a lot of people who grew up in Middletown, Ohio, it was tough, but it was surrounded by loving people, and it was surrounded by something that, if we don’t fight, is not going to be around for the next generation of kids,” he said in his remarks at his high school. 

“And that’s opportunity. Middletown had an opportunity — and we’ve got to make sure it’s there for the next generation.” 

“The community can wrap its arms around someone who is from here and who could possibly have a big impact on our country.”

Advertisement

Johnson, the clerk at locally beloved Central Pastry, echoed the message in an interview with Fox News Digital.

“There are many opportunities here and Middletown is really focused on building community,” he said.

For more Lifestyle articles, visit foxnews.com/lifestyle

“You see it really coming together with sporting events and even stuff like today with J.D. Vance’s rally,” he also said. 

“The community can wrap its arms around someone who is from here and who could possibly have a big impact on our country and put Middletown on the map. This could be huge for us.” 

Advertisement

Danielle Wallace of Fox News Digital contributed reporting.

Read the full article from Here

Continue Reading

Trending