South Florida Local News

TALLAHASSEE — Calling it “exactly the kind of disaster that Congress took pains to avoid,” attorneys for immigrants held at a detention center in the Everglades filed a lawsuit alleging Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration lacks the authority to run the facility.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in the federal court’s Middle District of Florida, is the third major legal challenge to the detention center, erected by the DeSantis’ administration as part of the state’s support of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation efforts.

DeSantis and state officials maintain that they are operating the facility through what are known as 287(g) agreements, which local governments can enter with the federal government to provide training and authority to local police to help enforce immigration laws.

But the lawsuit filed Friday contends that the agreements do not give authority to state agencies or their contractors to run detention centers and that the officers who are working at the Everglades facility lack federally required training to participate in immigration-enforcement efforts.

“The lack of authority to operate the facility has resulted in unprecedented challenges that people in immigration detention typically do not face, including being held without charge, not receiving initial custody or bond determinations, not appearing in the detainee locator system, and not being able to access their attorneys or immigration court,” the lawsuit said.

Operations at the Everglades center, dubbed Alligator Alcatraz by state officials, “are in stark contrast to typical ICE (federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement) operations,” the lawyers argued.

The 287(g) agreements are part of a federal law known as 1357(g) that allows states to support federal immigration-enforcement efforts.

“This is an unprecedented attempt to use Section 1357(g) as authority for an independent state-run detention facility,” the lawsuit said. “In the thirty years since the statute was enacted, state officers have never claimed the authority to detain people under this statute, other than the short period after an arrest during transport to an ICE facility.”

‘Inhumane’: About 1,000 protest outside planned ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ detention center

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Florida, Community Justice Project, and National Immigrant Justice Center filed the lawsuit on behalf of a detainee identified as “M.A.” and also are seeking class-action certification in the challenge.

The lawsuit asks a federal judge to issue a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to bar the state from detaining people at the facility and to declare that the state lacks the authority to operate the Everglades detention center.

The federal law “does not provide authority for state agencies to hold immigration detainees during the removal process. And it certainly does not let them place detention in the hands of untrained, unsupervised private contractors who are not and cannot be deputized to perform immigration functions. By ignoring these standards, Florida has created exactly the kind of disaster that Congress took pains to avoid,” the lawsuit said.

Questions about the state’s authority to run the facility also have been raised in two other legal challenges.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams on Thursday sided with environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida in a lawsuit alleging that state and federal officials failed to comply with a federal law requiring an environmental-impact study be conducted before the detention center was erected.

Williams’ order gave the state 60 days to begin winding down the facility. Lawyers for DeSantis quickly asked the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. District Court of Appeals to put her ruling on hold while the state’s appeal proceeds.

Lawyers for DeSantis have argued, in part, in that case that the federal environmental law did not apply because the state is operating the facility.

Before it was Alligator Alcatraz, this airstrip sparked fury and changed America’s landscape

Speaking to reporters Friday morning, the governor — who has fiercely defended the state’s immigrant-detention efforts — shrugged off Williams’ decision.

“We knew the minute this judge got the case, we knew exactly what she was going to do. This is not anything that was unexpected, but we will make sure to get the job done in the end,” he said.

In a separate lawsuit, attorneys representing detainees allege that people being held at the center have inadequate access to legal representation and confidential meetings with their attorneys.

The latest legal challenge said that court records in the other cases show the facility is “Florida-owned and Florida-operated.”

“State and federal officials have stated in court filings that Florida exercises ‘complete discretion’ over operations and over who is detained at the facility,” Thursday’s lawsuit said.

Numerous state agencies have 287(g) agreements allowing their law-enforcement officers to participate in immigration efforts, the lawsuit noted.

“But those agreements do not give any authority to the state agencies themselves — only to those individual employees who have been fully trained and certified by DHS (Department of Homeland Security),” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit also said it is unknown how many state officers working at the facility have completed federally required training, which can take months.

DeSantis earlier this month announced that the state plans to convert a shuttered state prison in Baker County into a second immigrant-detention center. That facility will be staffed by members of Florida’s National Guard.

The Florida Department of Emergency Management is set to receive $605 million from the Trump administration for the state’s immigrant-detention efforts. The department hired contractors to help build and operate the Everglades facility, which can hold up to 4,000 people and is estimated to cost roughly $450 million per year.

The lawsuit alleges that federal law does not allow the private contractors to be “deputized to perform any immigration functions.”

The lawsuit also alleges that workers at the facility are pressuring detainees to sign voluntary deportation orders.

“This is something that ICE protocol forbids,” lawyers for the detainees wrote.

If the state of Florida can sanction — and profit from — gambling and the licensing of adult entertainment, then why won’t it extend the same respect for personal choice to those who are terminally ill?

The contradiction is glaring. Medical aid in dying (MAID) legislation would allow mentally capable, terminally ill adults — those diagnosed by two physicians as having six months or less to live — the option to request medication they could self-administer to end their lives peacefully. This is not about coercion, and it’s certainly not about encouraging death. It’s about ensuring that when death is imminent, suffering need not be.

Thomas Nagle is a retired economics professor. (courtesy, Thomas Nagle)

Florida lawmakers have had the chance to debate this issue. MAID bills have been filed in the past three legislative sessions, yet not one has been given a fair hearing. Meanwhile, public support continues to climb. A July 2025 poll of 797 active registered Republicans by the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab found that 65% support allowing medical aid in dying for terminally ill patients.

Opponents often couch their objections in moral or religious language, but that reasoning is selectively applied. The state doesn’t ban high-stakes poker tournaments, even though they can devastate families financially. It doesn’t outlaw strip clubs, even though they may challenge some people’s moral comfort. In those cases, the government steps back and says: “Adults should be free to decide for themselves.”

So why is that same logic not applied to the terminally ill? Why are Floridians trusted to risk their paychecks on a blackjack table, but not trusted to decide — under strict safeguards — how their life should end when death is already certain?

Without MAID legislation, many terminally ill patients endure prolonged suffering, sometimes in direct contradiction to their own wishes and values. Others take desperate measures in isolation, ending their lives without medical support or counseling — traumatic for themselves and devastating for those they leave behind. In states where MAID is legal — currently 11 states plus Washington D.C. — the process is tightly regulated, abuse is virtually nonexistent, and the mere availability of the option brings comfort even to those who never use it.

MAID legislation is not about encouraging people to die. It is about giving them the freedom to choose how they meet death — whether that means enduring until nature takes its course or taking a gentle, controlled exit when suffering becomes unbearable. Floridians deserve lawmakers who will treat the freedom to die with dignity as seriously as they treat the freedom to bet on a football game. Anything less is hypocrisy. If our leaders truly believe in personal liberty, they cannot continue to cherry-pick which freedoms to protect and which to deny based on political expedience.

It’s time Florida lawmakers recognized that compassion and freedom are not mutually exclusive. When a terminally ill person’s final chapter is being written, it should be in their own hand — not dictated by a Legislature that claims to defend liberty while denying it in life’s most intimate moment.

Thomas Nagle is a retired economics professor living with his wife in Miami.

Regardless of where you stand on environmental policy, most Floridians would agree that companies shouldn’t be coerced into playing politics — or punished for refusing to.

That’s why it matters that Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has opened an investigation into two powerful climate organizations: the Climate Disclosure Project (CDP) and the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi). If you haven’t heard of them, you’re not alone. And yet, they are exerting influence and soft power over every Floridian.

Sal Nuzzo is the executive director of Consumers Defense.

Uthmeier is alleging these groups may be pressuring Florida companies into handing over proprietary business data under the guise of “environmental transparency,” and then using that data to shape investment decisions, scores and access to capital.

It’s an important move concerning an issue that has, for too long, lacked scrutiny.

CDP, a UK-based nonprofit, operates the world’s largest environmental disclosure system and sells services that help companies “improve” their ratings — while also offering positive media statements from its own executives, for a fee. Its scores are used by major financial firms like S&P Global, Bloomberg, and ISS to guide investment decisions.

SBTi, co-founded by CDP and the United Nations Global Compact, approves corporate climate targets and then refers companies back to CDP to report their progress. That cycle — validation, disclosure, scoring — creates a system where climate policy is increasingly dictated by non-governmental actors with no accountability.

Uthmeier has raised concerns that these organizations may have violated deceptive trade practices laws (and perhaps even antitrust statutes) by working in tandem with financial institutions to penalize companies that decline to participate.

This is what we see when efforts at the ballot box and legislative chamber fail — shift tactics to deploy beneath-the-surface influence and infect the business climate hoping nobody pays attention. It is nefarious and Floridians have good reason to pay attention.

For example, small businesses in Florida, like family-owned farms in the Panhandle or local manufacturers in Central Florida, are feeling the squeeze. These companies, already navigating tight margins, face pressure to comply with costly disclosure requirements or risk being blacklisted by investors and financial institutions influenced by CDP and SBTi scores. This can mean higher operating costs, reduced access to loans or lost contracts, directly impacting jobs and livelihoods.

In coastal communities, where tourism drives the economy, these opaque climate mandates could deter investment in local hotels and restaurants, raising prices for consumers and threatening the vibrant small-business ecosystem that Floridians rely on.

To be clear, there is nothing wrong with companies voluntarily adopting any practice they believe to be in their best interest. It crosses a line when private or foreign groups coerce companies into disclosing sensitive data by scoring them publicly and affecting their access to capital.

That’s why Florida’s investigation matters. It will help ensure that no Florida entrepreneur is forced to engage in practices that jeopardize the health of their business, customers and shareholders.

At the same time, the new administration in Washington is shifting its focus away from politically motivated climate handouts and toward common sense environmental stewardship: protecting clean air and water without threatening jobs, innovation or national security.

In Florida, we have a lot at stake. From tourism and agriculture to real estate and transportation, nearly every sector of our economy feels the ripple effects of top-down environmental mandates. As the national conversation about climate and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) policies continues, it’s critical that states like ours ask the tough questions and protect consumers, companies and constitutional principles alike.

The climate cartel may operate in the shadows, but accountability begins in the sunlight. Thank you, Attorney General Uthmeier, for taking this fight on. Florida continues to lead the way.

Sal Nuzzo is the executive director of Consumers Defense, a 501c4 dedicated to advancing policy that protects Americans from environmental, social and governance policies.

What happened to the Republican Party that supposedly favored less government intervention?

The state and federal governments don’t believe that.

Gov. Ron DeSantis doesn’t appreciate rainbow intersections. His people are pressuring Delray Beach to remove its rainbow in a major shopping district on Atlantic Avenue — and in Key West, too.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, a former Fox TV host, said rainbow intersections don’t belong on public roads, and that taxpayers want safe streets, not rainbow crosswalks. How does a rainbow crosswalk make us less safe? Is it simply that this administration is less tolerant? It just gets sadder every day.

We have a president who forces the military to police city streets of his choosing, not because it’s needed. It looks like a potential way to divert the pressure away from him and his Jeffrey Epstein problems.

It’s obvious he’s covering it up, because his name is in those Epstein files.

So, Delray Beach and Key West, don’t remove your rainbow intersections. Let DeSantis come to town and make him paint over it in his little white booties.

Mark Walker, Boca Raton

Lady Justice in tears

I’ve lived from Dwight Eisenhower to Donald Trump. I’ve never witnessed what we are experiencing now.

The sycophantic Attorney General Pam Bondi disgraces the legal profession. It was reported that she fired a DOJ employee without due process allegedly for throwing a sub sandwich at a U.S. Customs border agent. Bondi then justified her act by describing the fired employee as part of the “deep state” — whatever that means.

Lady Justice should be crying.

Bondi supported pardoning hundreds or thousands of thugs and criminal insurrectionists who attacked and defaced our government and law enforcement on Jan. 6, 2021, then fired career DOJ prosecutors, who were doing their job upholding and protecting our government.

Ron Luzim, Coral Springs

Our mental health needs

When my best friend was diagnosed with a mental health condition, I began deep research on the topic and worked with the Ohio Committee on Mental Health Services in the early 1990s. I interviewed dozens of people and talked to many experts for my master’s thesis, “The Employment Needs of Women with Mental Illness.”

I became friends with a brave working woman who chose to live homeless for two weeks to experience and report on the horrors of the situation. Can you imagine trying to find a safe spot to sleep and clean up with no home to rely on? Her experience should resonate with anyone who has empathy.

Yes, some shelters cannot possibly accommodate everyone in this situation. The fact that the president funnels billions into building temporary and long-term prison facilities for the homeless, mentally ill and people of color (with and without citizenship) is of great concern. Let’s put those dollars to better use to house our people.

Rebecca André, Ph.D., Delray Beach

Israel and high rises

Israel does not target and attack Gaza civilians.

However, the news media at home and abroad steadily proclaims that it does. To the contrary, it avoids doing so and feeds them. It was Hamas terrorists who targeted Israeli civilians, murdering 1,200 of them, and taking 251 hostages on Oct. 7, 2023.

Closer to home, high-rises keep going up in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade. Now just imagine what that does to the natural environment, plastered with concrete and asphalt.

High rises are all about money, as it is with the resistance to climate change, global warming and renewable, green energy agendas advocated by members and supporters of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Don’t believe me; just ask former Vice President Al Gore.

Dr. Erik H. Schot, Ph.D., Lauderdale-By-The-Sea

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Today is Sunday, Aug. 24, the 236th day of 2025. There are 129 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On August 24, 1992, Hurricane Andrew smashed into Florida; the storm resulted in 65 deaths and caused more than $26 billion in damage across Florida, Louisiana and the Bahamas.

Also on this date:

In 1814, during the War of 1812, British forces invaded Washington, D.C., setting fire to the still-under-construction Capitol and the White House, as well as other public buildings.

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In 1912, Congress passed a measure creating the Alaska Territory.

In 1932, Amelia Earhart embarked on a 19-hour flight from Los Angeles to Newark, New Jersey, making her the first woman to fly solo, non-stop, from coast to coast.

In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty came into force.

In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Communist Control Act, outlawing the Communist Party in the United States.

In 1981, Mark David Chapman was sentenced in New York to 20 years to life in prison for murdering John Lennon.

In 1989, Baseball Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti (juh-MAH’-tee) banned Pete Rose from the game for betting on his own team, the Cincinnati Reds.

In 1991, in response to a coup attempt by hardline Communist leaders attempting to reassert control over the Soviet Union, Ukrainian parliamentarians voted to approve a Declaration of Independence for the state of Ukraine.

In 2006, the International Astronomical Union declared that Pluto was no longer a full-fledged planet, demoting it to the status of a “dwarf planet.”

In 2012, a Norwegian court found Anders Behring Breivik guilty of terrorism and premeditated murder for twin attacks on July 22, 2011, that killed 77 people; he received a 21-year prison sentence that can be extended as long as he is considered dangerous to society.

In 2018, the family of Arizona Sen. John McCain announced that he had discontinued medical treatment for an aggressive form of brain cancer; McCain died the following day.

In 2019, police in Aurora, Colorado, responding to a report of a suspicious person, used a chokehold to subdue Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man; he suffered cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital and was later declared brain dead and taken off life support.

In 2020, Republicans formally nominated President Donald Trump for a second term on the opening day of a scaled-down convention; during a visit to the convention city of Charlotte, North Carolina, Trump told delegates that “ the only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election. ”

Today’s Birthdays:

• Composer-musician Mason Williams is 87.
• R&B singer Marshall Thompson (The Chi-Lites) is 83.
• WWE co-founder Vince McMahon is 80.
• Author Paulo Coelho is 78.
• Actor Anne Archer is 78.
• Author Alexander McCall Smith is 77.
• Composer Jean-Michel Jarre is 77.
• Author Orson Scott Card is 74.
• Poet Linton Kwesi Johnson is 73.
• Actor Kevin Dunn is 70.
• Former Arkansas governor and political commentator Mike Huckabee is 70.
• Actor-writer Stephen Fry is 68.
• Actor Steve Guttenberg is 67.
• Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. is 65.
• Actor Jared Harris is 64.
• Talk show host Craig Kilborn is 63.
• Actor Marlee Matlin is 60.
• Basketball Hall of Famer Reggie Miller is 60.
• Film director Ava DuVernay is 53.
• Actor-comedian Dave Chappelle is 52.
• Actor James D’Arcy is 51.
• Actor Carmine Giovinazzo (jee-oh-vihn-AH’-zoh) is 52.
• Actor Alex O’Loughlin is 49.
• Author John Green is 48.
• Actor Chad Michael Murray is 44.
• Actor Rupert Grint is 37.
• Basketball player Kelsey Plum is 31.

St. Frances Academy (Maryland) ran for more than 210 yards in the first half in running past Chaminade-Madonna 42-13 at St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday night in the Broward County National Showcase finale.

The Panthers gashed the Lions’ defense for 318 total rushing yards as senior Jaylen Burke had 14 carries for 128 yards and junior Sa’Nir Brooks wound up with 12 for 128 yards. St. Frances Academy quarterback and Virginia commit Jae’Oyn Williams also chipped in with 6 carries for 71 yards.

The Chaminade-Madonna loss was its worst since 2016 when the Lions fell 43-0 to IMG Academy. Chaminade-Madonna entered the game as the No. 8 ranked team in the country according to MaxPreps.

St. Frances Academy seized a 7-0 lead on a 40-yard run down the left sideline with 4:46 left in the first quarter by junior Sa’Nir Brooks.

The Panthers stretched the lead to 14-0 with 10:02 left in the first half on a pick-6 by senior Khamri Bing, a Maryland commit, that covered 49 yards.

Chaminade-Madonna cut the deficit in half with 6:48 left in the first half when senior and FSU commit Jasen Lopez hauled in a 25-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Malik Leonard.

The No. 5-ranked St. Frances Academy answered with a 7-yard QB keeper by Williams with 2:44 to go in the first half, capping 9-play, 80-yard drive and pushing the lead to 21-7.

Williams found senior WR Jesse Legree all alone in the flat and he did the rest on a 27-yard score on fourth-and-10 to extend the bulge to 28-7.

St. Frances Academy took the opening kickoff in the second half and drove 80 yards in nine plays, capped by a 35-yard scoring toss from Williams to Legree midway through the quarter.

The Panthers padded the lead on a 30-yard scoring toss from Carter Dailey to Samir Edwards to force a running clock and the Lions closed out the scoring on a 5-yrd TD pass from Tyler Chance to senior WR and Kentucky commit Denairius Gray in the closing seconds.

Chaminade-Madonna, which has been to nine consecutive state championship games, started last season dropping its first two games before running the table and winning 13 in a row and its third straight state title.

In this Dolphins Deep Dive video, the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Chris Perkins and David Furones wrap up the Dolphins’ 14-6 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in their preseason finale.

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MIAMI GARDENS — Miami Dolphins second-year running back Jaylen Wright is considered week-to-week with his undisclosed injury, according to coach Mike McDaniel after the team’s preseason finale Saturday night.

McDaniel said Wright will continue to be evaluated as the team surveys different options on how to move forward with the ailment.

Wright left Thursday’s joint practice with the Jacksonville Jaguars early, limping first to the indoor practice facility with a trainer and then over toward the team’s medical facility adjacent to the practice field for further evaluation.

Wright was believed to be in line for the Dolphins’ No. 2 running back job going into the preseason, but rookie Ollie Gordon II, who started and had 43 yards on eight carries Saturday, is making a push behind him.

Dolphins kicker Jason Sanders did not kick in the preseason finale, and he was seen going into the locker room with a trainer early in Saturday’s game.

McDaniel, though, said Sanders’ undisclosed injury shouldn’t keep him off the field for the team’s opener.

“He doesn’t appear concerned for Week 1,” McDaniel said. “He was telling me that he was going to kick extra points, and I was like, ‘We need the 2-point conversion work.’

“We’ll see when he comes in, but he wasn’t overly concerned for Week 1.”

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McDaniel also reported running back De’Von Achane has had no setbacks with his calf injury, as he’s expected to be prepared for the opener Sept. 7 against the Indianapolis Colts.

Dolphins linebacker Jordyn Brooks had a brief injury scare toward the end of Thursday’s joint practice with the Jaguars. While he warmed up Saturday, he was held back from playing.

“He was mad at me,” McDaniel said, “but all the guys that were kind of working through anything minor from an injury standpoint — he had something minor that I didn’t think was worth him playing.

“If it was a regular-season game, there was no way he would’ve let me pull that off. I was proud of him to see the big picture.”

As tight end Darren Waller went through a pregame warmup but didn’t play, McDaniel said it was “intentional” to have him go through a routine of preparing to play while not exposing him to game action.

Dolphins Deep Dive: Breaking down Miami’s victory in final preseason game

The Dolphins coach said Waller hasn’t had setbacks as he progresses through preparation despite not going through any practice drills after his Wednesday activation from the physically-unable-to-perform list.

Dolphins offensive lineman Liam Eichenberg is a candidate to remain on PUP list to start the season, which would keep him out at least the first four weeks of the regular season.

“I don’t foresee him being immediate return,” McDaniel said. “I don’t foresee him being season-long.”

Dolphins outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips, who played Saturday after being held out of practices since he didn’t join other starters in the Aug. 10 preseason game in Chicago, called it a “little oblique strain” he was working through.

“I’m fine right now to be able to play,” Phillips said.

MIAMI GARDENS — The Miami Dolphins defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars, 14-6, in their preseason finale at Hard Rock Stadium and looked good in the process.

Quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Zach Wilson each led touchdown drives, the defensive front seven produced three sacks (edge rushers Chop Robinson and Derrick McLendon had one apiece and fellow edge rushers Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb had a half-sack apiece), and running back Ollie Gordon II (eight carries, 43 yards) had a good night.

By the way, safety John Saunders’ interception with 1:52 remaining means the Dolphins sealed their last two preseason games with interceptions. Cornerback Ethan Robinson had the late-game pick at Detroit.

Rosters must be cut to 53 players from the current 90 players by 4 p.m. Tuesday.

The Dolphins open the season Sept. 7 at Indianapolis.

Here’s what we observed from the Jaguars game:

— Tagovailoa was 4 of 8 for 49 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions and two sacks for a tidy 108.9 passer rating. Tagovailoa, who ends preseason 9 of 14 for 76 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, two sacks and a 102.1 passer rating, only targeted WR Jaylen Waddle once (completed pass for eight yards) and targeted slot WR Malik Washington three times, completing all three passes for 41 yards. The Tua-to-Washington relationship is developing.

— WR Tyreek Hill (oblique) didn’t play so the highly-anticipated matchup between Hill and Jacksonville CB/WR Travis Hunter never materialized in Thursday’s joint practice or the preseason finale. Hill, who missed organized team activities and minicamp while recovering from right wrist surgery and missed about half of training camp with the oblique injury, missed all the joint practices against Chicago, Washington and Jacksonville and didn’t play in any preseason games.

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— Gordon, who ends preseason with 26 carries for 126 yards (4.8 yards per carry) and one touchdown, did well with RBs De’Von Achane (groin) and Jaylen Wright (right leg) sidelined. Gordon ran hard and physically, a good sign for him winning the RB2 job behind Achane.

— The run game (19 carries, 88 yards) had success behind the left side of LG Jonah Savaiinaea and LT Patrick Paul. The run game hardly, if ever, ran up the middle behind C Aaron Brewer, Savaiinaea and RG James Daniels. Gordon did, however, run behind backup C Daniel Brunskill and RG Jackson Carman.

— Jason Marshall Jr. entered the game as the starting nickel/slot. Marshall has come on strongly recently at a position he’s never played previously. It appears Marshall has surpassed veteran slot CB Mike Hilton for the nickel/slot job.

— WRs Malik Washington (three receptions, 41 yards), Tahj Washington (four receptions, 30 yards) and Dee Eskridge (one reception, 21 yards) are coming on strongly as reliable receivers. Each had a play or two he’d like back in preseason but overall each had a successful preseason and training camp. Their hands and route-running are solid and each does well in yards after catch.

Dolphins Deep Dive: Breaking down Miami’s victory in final preseason game

— WR Erik Ezukanma (four receptions, 30 yards) had a productive night but is likely on the outside for a spot on the 53-man roster.

— RT Larry Borom gave up the sack on the Dolphins’ first series. Combined with the ineligible man downfield on rookie Savaiinaea it was a rough start for the offensive line. Pass protection also gave up a sack on the second possession when it appeared TE Pharaoh Brown and/or Daniels had responsibility. Still, the starting OL shows promise.

— K Jason Sanders was somehow injured early in the game and went into the locker room in the first quarter accompanied by a trainer and didn’t return. The Dolphins successfully converted a two-point conversion after their first touchdown. Sanders participated in pregame warmups but didn’t kickoff (punter Jake Bailey handled that job) or do anything in the game.

— CBs Cam Smith (one tackle) and Isaiah Johnson (three tackles) entered the game in the second quarter after starters Storm Duck and Jack Jones exited. That’s a good sign for Smith, the 2023 second-round pick who has been unimpressive during training camp.

Dolphins Deep Dive: Cutdown-day surprises? | VIDEO

 

— Among the bubble players who were starters on special teams were S Jordan Colbert, edge rusher Quinton Bell, edge rusher Cameron Goode, CB Isaiah Johnson, WR Nick Westbrook-Ikhine. Colbert might be the most significant name to note. He was on kickoff, punt return and punt coverage, jobs that likely put him on the 53-man roster if he does well.

— The second team OL was Brunskill, LG Braeden Daniels, LT Kion Smith, RG Jackson Carman, RT Ryan Hayes. They’re still a work in  progress. It seems likely the Dolphins will look for help after cuts are made Tuesday.

— QB Zach Wilson (9 of 13, 80 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions, two sacks, 85.4 passer rating) did OK. Wilson, who ends preseason 29 of 45 for 327 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, seven sacks and a 93.5 passer rating, has apparently locked up the No. 2 job.

Against Jacksonville, he badly overthrew Tahj Washington on second-and-4. Wilson had a pass to Eskridge on third-and-4 dropped after hitting Eskridge in the hands/chest. Wilson came back for a nice fourth-down throw to Tahj Washington for a first down. Wilson also had a second-and-7 pass to Eskridge that was batted away and appeared to be a candidate for an interception. He was sacked on third down. In the third quarter Wilson hit Eskridge on a well-thrown slant for a 21-yard gain and then hit Ezukanma for a 17-yard gain on fourth-and-16 on a drive that resulted in a touchdown.

Dolphins Deep Dive: Highs and lows of training camp | VIDEO

— Westbrook-Ikhine, the big target at 6 foot 2, 211 pounds, wasn’t targeted Saturday. He played special teams in the first half and didn’t play in the second half. He’ll likely make the 53-man roster but he doesn’t seem to have chemistry with Tagovailoa, which could be a situational issue (red zone, third down, etc).

— QB Quinn Ewers (7 of 8, 66 yards, no touchdown, no interception, two sacks, 101.0 passer rating) entered the game with 4:37 left in the third quarter. Ewers (23 of 43, 273 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, four sacks, 88.6 passer rating in preseason) was sacked on his first snap and then the offense had a false start by guard Braeden Daniels. Ewers recovered after an 11-yard run by RB Aaron Shampklin to hit WR Andrew Armstrong for a 21-yard gain on a well-thrown pass. But the possession ended in a punt.

— RT Austin Jackson, who wasn’t wearing the walking boot on his left foot while on the sideline during Thursday’s joint practice against the Jaguars, wasn’t wearing the boot on sideline Saturday. That seems to mean he’s still on track to be healthy for the opener at Indianapolis. S Ashtyn Davis (left foot) has also been without his walking boot recently.

General Daily Insight for August 24, 2025

We’re likely to feel pushed around by forces bigger than ourselves throughout the day. When the vital Sun squares shocking Uranus at 3:15 am EDT, problems demanding urgent attention might seem to appear out of nowhere. We can rise to the occasion! As the Sun goes on to engage with idealistic Neptune and profound Pluto, whatever solutions we come up with could really get at the heart of what’s going on. We should welcome the opportunity to make a lasting difference.

Aries

March 21 – April 19

You’re particularly capable of being attentive to what the people around you are currently saying. Maybe you’ll hear that someone in your community is in need of help. Although there may be a lot of talk about the larger issues surrounding this individual, that’s potentially making the situation more complicated than it needs to be. If there’s something simple and practical that you can do to improve things for now, you might as well just do it without drawing attention to yourself!

Taurus

April 20 – May 20

Moving forward in life could seem like a high priority at the moment. However, you’re more likely to get somewhere if your conscious goals are — at minimum — in conversation with your private desires. True, not all longings have a realistic chance of attaining physical form. Still, even your most outlandish fantasies might contain at least a grain of something you genuinely need to address! Give anything that’s on your mind a fair hearing, and then pare down your list from there.

Gemini

May 21 – June 20

Setting out on a great escape may be an exciting prospect right now. Once the planned adventure leaves the realm of ideas and becomes something you’re actually physically going to do, the real work will quickly start making demands. With the Sun in your domestic 4th house getting squeezed by pushy Pluto and noncommittal Neptune, you’ll have to figure out how to keep things humming at home when you’re occupied elsewhere. This could be just the push you need to handle a difficult entrenched dynamic!

Cancer

June 21 – July 22

Deciding how far you’re willing to go to achieve your goals could be crucial at this time. You’ve potentially picked up some information behind the scenes that’s relevant to your quest. Acting on your knowledge might ruffle a few feathers — some people may pointedly ask how you know what you know. If the intel in question is ultimately true, though, that’s not your fault. You won’t necessarily be able to make everyone happy, so be realistic about the limits of your responsibility.

Leo

July 23 – August 22

An abundance of input from others might now make it hard for you to see the best course of action in a money matter. In addition to hearing from real people you’re currently in contact with, you may also be contending with internalized “shoulds.” How many of these voices will actually be held accountable if whatever you decide to do doesn’t go well? You’re probably the one on the hook — you can weigh the importance of anyone else’s opinion accordingly.

Virgo

August 23 – September 22

A seemingly insignificant practical matter may be what finally forces you to announce a change you’ve been keeping private. Most of the people you interact with aren’t out to get you — they simply want to know basic logistical information about your circumstances so they can plan their next steps accordingly. With that in mind, don’t make your disclosure any more dramatic than it needs to be. Your attitude will shape how others interpret your news, so try to remain calm.

Libra

September 23 – October 22

Something interesting could be brewing in one of your personal relationships. Perhaps you feel able to express yourself on a deep level. Putting a name on your dynamic might be difficult, though. While the warm Sun in your 12th House of Secrets engages with hazy Neptune in your partnership zone, keeping quiet is probably your best bet for the time being. Give things time to unfold — society’s norms regarding your situation may be rapidly changing, and you’re potentially caught in the crossfire.

Scorpio

October 23 – November 21

Putting yourself out there might be key to your emotional peace today. As the vibrant Sun in your social 11th house tangles with frustrating Pluto in your domestic sector, maybe you’re in a rut with your routines at home and work. Participating in a community activity with people you don’t necessarily know well could gently guide you toward a lighter vibe. See how it feels to interact with others without expecting a lot from them — then consider cultivating that attitude further.

Sagittarius

November 22 – December 21

Your efforts to define your narrative could start coming together at any moment. As the focused Sun in your goal-oriented 10th house takes direction from contemplative Pluto in your communication sector and creative Neptune in your self-expression zone, the endeavors you pursue are set up to benefit from your ability to tell your personal story. Whatever you communicate, you’re not just saying it to other people — you’re also saying it to yourself. Feel free to let your epic tale inspire you!

Capricorn

December 22 – January 19

Pinning down what’s holding you back could require some effort today. While the illuminating Sun in your research sector takes on foggy Neptune in your security zone, you’re in a strong position to identify assumptions of yours that aren’t founded in fact. Getting rid of them won’t necessarily be a quick process — it’s often hard to shed an old belief if you don’t have something new to replace it with. Commit to lifelong learning, and answers should come with time.

Aquarius

January 20 – February 18

You may currently be frustrated that you don’t seem to be hearing the truth in your routine interactions. The first place to look might be your own end of the equation. How do you react when someone tells you something challenging? Do you disclose vulnerable information of your own to the same extent you hope to hear it from others? Regardless of your circumstances, these are wise questions to ask yourself. When you build a safe foundation, the intimacy you crave is more likely to develop.

Pisces

February 19 – March 20

Getting stuck in your head is a present risk. As the healthy Sun in your relationship sector checks on intense Pluto in your 12th House of Self-Undoing, confiding in someone you trust could help you determine what’s worth worrying about. Although it’s not wrong to ponder life’s heavier issues sometimes, you might benefit from grounding potential doom spirals in a realistic assessment of what you’re personally equipped to do regarding those concerns. You can’t do everything yourself, and that’s totally normal!

Today is Saturday, Aug. 23, the 235th day of 2025. There are 130 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Aug 23, 1927, amid worldwide protests, Italian-born anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were executed in Boston for the murders of two men during a 1920 robbery. (On the 50th anniversary of their executions, then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis issued a proclamation that Sacco and Vanzetti had been unfairly tried and convicted.)

Also on this date:

In 1305, Scottish rebel leader Sir William Wallace was executed by the English for treason.

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In 1775, Britain’s King George III proclaimed the American colonies to be in a state of “open and avowed rebellion.”

In 1914, Japan declared war against Germany in World War I.

In 1939, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agreed to a non-aggression treaty, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, in Moscow.

In 1970, the Salad Bowl strike began, organized by farm labor leader Cesar Chavez; between 5,000 to 10,000 laborers walked off the job, leading to the largest farm worker strike in U.S. history.

In 2000, A Gulf Air Airbus crashed into the Persian Gulf near Bahrain, killing all 143 people aboard.

In 2003, former priest John Geoghan (GAY’-gun), the convicted child molester whose prosecution sparked the sex abuse scandal that shook the Roman Catholic Church nationwide, died after another inmate attacked him in a Massachusetts prison.

In 2011, a magnitude-5.8 earthquake centered near Mineral, Virginia, the strongest on the East Coast since 1944, caused cracks in the Washington Monument and damaged Washington National Cathedral.

In 2013, a military jury convicted Maj. Nidal Hasan in the deadly 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, that claimed 13 lives; the Army psychiatrist was later sentenced to death.

In 2020, a white police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, shot a Black man, Jacob Blake, seven times as officers tried to arrest Blake on an outstanding warrant; the shooting left Blake partially paralyzed and triggered several nights of violent protests.

In 2022, a jury convicted two men of conspiring to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, a victory for prosecutors in a plot that was broken up by the FBI and described as a rallying cry for a U.S. civil war by anti-government extremists.

Today’s Birthdays:

• Actor Vera Miles is 96.
• Actor Barbara Eden is 94.
• Football Hall of Famer Sonny Jurgensen is 91.
• Ballerina Patricia McBride is 83.
• Former Surgeon General Antonia Novello is 81.
• Singer-songwriter Linda Thompson is 78.
• Author and motivational speaker Rudy Ruettiger is 77.
• Actor Shelley Long is 76.
• Actor-singer Rick Springfield is 76.
• Noor al-Hussein (Queen Noor of Jordan) is 74.
• Film composer Alexandre Desplat is 64.
• Actor Jay Mohr is 55.
• Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer is 54.
• Actor Ray Park is 51.
• Actor Scott Caan is 49.
• Rock singer Julian Casablancas (The Strokes) is 47.
• Actor Joanne Froggatt is 45.
• Olympic gold medal swimmer Natalie Coughlin Hall is 43.
• Musician Lil Yachty is 28.

FORT LAUDERDALE — With Hall of Fame wide receiver and Dillard 1990 alumnus Isaac Bruce in attendance, senior Christopher Tillman scored on a 64-yard punt return and set up another score with a 61-yard interception return as host Dillard rolled to a 39-0 win over Orlando Dr. Phillips in the Broward County National Showcase on Friday night.

With the offense struggling early to move the ball, Dillard turned to its defense and special teams.

Tillman’s interception and 61-yard return with 52 seconds remaining in the first half flipped the field and led to the Panthers’ first score. Dillard took a 7-0 lead with 23 seconds remaining in the half on a 23-yard scoring pass from senior quarterback Jayden Chico to junior wideout Anthony Jennings.

“It felt great,” Tillman said. “I was in the moment, and I did what I had to do for my team. I play both sides of the ball, so I just did what I had to do.

“I was good to see him (Bruce) here,” Tillman added. “It got us all hyped up.”

Dillard High School quarterback Jayden Chico throwing a pass against the visiting Dr. Phillips Panthers at Dillard High School on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025 (Keira Arimenta/Contributor).

Dr. Phillips’ head coach Rodney Wells said Tillman’s interception and return was the turning point and led to more self-inflicted wounds.

“It was one of those things where you just need a play,” Wells said. “That pick was a 14-point turnaround. We could have scored, and they ended up scoring. The pick-6 they had was kind of demoralizing.”

He said the team may have gotten caught up in the distractions of South Florida.

“It was different,” Wells continued. “We spent two days down here and stayed in a hotel. They went to all different places, so the game wasn’t the focus. That was my problem, and I could see it. We talked to the guys about it. We were here to play a football game and not go to Dave and Buster’s and eat dinner before we play a football game.

“We have some young guys who really didn’t understand that,” he said. “Obviously, that’s not who we are, and it is up to me to fix it.”

Dillard extended the lead to 14-0 on a pick-6 by senior Kenneth Brown covering 28 yards with 7:54 remaining in the third quarter. Dillard padded the lead to 21-0 on a 64-yard punt return by Tillman.

Dr. Phillips quarterback Camren Wrest handing the ball off to running back Zion Matthews at Dillard High School on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025 (Keira Arimenta/Contributor).

Senior linebacker Kennedy Davilmar recovered a Dr. Phillips fumble, and Dillard quickly capitalized to push the advantage to 27-0 on a 5-yard toss to senior Anthony Carey with 2:12 left in the third. Dillard got two more scores in the fourth on a 2-yard run by Chico and a 39-yard scoring run by senior Cordell Coffey to force a running clock.

“We rely on our defense,” said Dillard coach Demitris Mincey. “We have eight returning starters back, and we knew that there were going to be a lot of pregame jitters, and a lot was going on between the ceremony and the delay.”

The game started at 10 p.m. due to two long weather delays that pushed the kickoff back two hours.

“We told them to calm down and relax,’” he added. “Once we settled down, we played our brand of football. I believe in our defense 100 percent.  We made it last year to the second round and lost to (American) Heritage last year, and our goal is to make it to that moment. Our offseason was to pay attention to detail. We are building brick by brick, day by day.”

It marked the inaugural game played on the new artificial turf field bearing Bruce’s name at Otis Gray Jr. Stadium. Bruce, who had his No. 80 jersey retired in a pregame ceremony, also donated $10,000 to the Panthers’ athletic program.

The state-of-the-art stadium was made possible thanks to a $250,000 grant from the Miami Dolphins, the NFL Foundation, and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation.

Dr. Phillips finished last season 12-2, falling in the Class 7A state semifinals. Dillard is coming off a 9-3 season and lost to the eventual Class 4 state champion, American Heritage, in the regional semifinals.

Dr. Phillips running back Zion Matthews with a first down run over the Dillard High School Panthers at Dillard High School on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025 (Keira Arimenta/Contributor)

 

WELLINGTON — Pahokee senior quarterback Xavier Mitchell had three touchdown passes, senior running back Samuel Arnold had an 80-yard catch-and-run for a score, and the Blue Devils held off host Palm Beach Central 27-25 in the season opener on Friday night.

Pahokee junior wide receiver Antoine Lawrence delivered an impressive performance in his first varsity game with two touchdown catches, and senior Tristian Gooden added a touchdown run.

Palm Beach Central senior quarterback Chance Routson accounted for four touchdowns in the loss, which included two passing and two rushing scores.

Senior wide receiver Jayden Phipps and junior Jayden St. Fort each had touchdown receptions.

Pahokee avenged a 21-14 loss to Palm Beach Central last season and a 33-30 overtime loss from two years ago.

“We started being undisciplined and allowed for the game to be a little more difficult than it needed to be,” Pahokee coach Carlos Lammons said. “I am grateful and happy for the win, but I know we have a lot of room for improvement. Palm Beach Central is a good football team. They have beaten us the last few years. They [Xavier Mitchell and Samuel Arnold] seized the moment. Those guys took advantage of the opportunity, and they made big plays tonight.”

Pahokee (1-0) jumped out to a 7-0 lead at the end of the first and led 14-6 at halftime before grabbing had its biggest lead of the game at 21-6 in the third quarter.

Palm Beach Central (0-1) missed a 50-yard field goal attempt on their first series on offense. Pahokee marched downfield with a scoring drive on their first possession. Mitchell tossed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Lawrence with 5:00 left in the first quarter.

“The offense was clicking on all cylinders,” Mitchell said. “Coaches calling the right plays. Offense was going smooth in the first half, and we kept it rolling in the second half.”

Gooden rushed for a 6-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 14-0 with 6:40 left in the second, but Routson connected with Phipps for a 36-yard gain on the ensuing possession. The Broncos were able to cut the deficit to 14-6 as Routson had a 33-yard touchdown pass to Phipps in the right corner of the end zone with 3:59 left in the first half.

Palm Beach Central reached the Pahokee 30-yard line late in the first half before an interception by the Blue Devils defense.

Arnold took a screen pass and raced for an 80-yard touchdown on the first play of the second half to push the lead to 21-6.

“My teammates did a great job blocking,” Arnold said. “My coaches trust me with the ball in my hands. I saw the hole and I knew they were not going to catch me.”

Arnold had an 88-yard touchdown run called back on their next drive after offsetting penalties on the play.

Palm Beach Central stepped up with a blocked punt and capitalized with a short field at the Pahokee 21-yard line. On fourth-and-goal, Routson powered his way up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown run to make it 21-12 with 5:17 left in the third.

The Broncos pulled within 21-18 with 11:11 remaining in the fourth. On third-and-goal, Routson connected with St. Fort for a 10-yard scoring pass.

Pahokee, however, had a fumble recovery on a punt in Palm Beach Central territory in the fourth. Mitchell fired a 26-yard scoring pass to Lawrence to extend the lead to 27-18 with 5:33 left.

“It was emotional playing in my first game,” Lawrence said. “I am happy I was able to help my team out to get this win.”

Routson had a 5-yard touchdown run to make it 27-25 with 36 seconds left.

Pahokee senior CeeJay Embry had two sacks and three tackles for a loss in the win.

“The last two years was hard losing to Palm Beach Central,” Embry said. “I came in with the mentality not to lose.”

Pahokee finished 7-4 and reached the regional semifinal last season.

Palm Beach Central had a 10-2 record and fell in the regional semifinal last year.

MIAMI — Shane Bieber struck out nine over six innings of one-run ball in his Toronto debut and return from a 16-month absence as the Blue Jays beat the Miami Marlins 5-2 on Friday night.

Daulton Varsho homered, doubled and drove in three runs, while Ty France had two hits and two RBIs for the AL East-leading Blue Jays.

Bieber (1-0) allowed two hits and hit a batter in his 87-pitch outing. He retired 12 straight after allowing Javier Sanoja’s homer in the second inning.

It was Bieber’s first appearance since April 2, 2024, when he experienced elbow discomfort and subsequently underwent Tommy John surgery.

The Blue Jays acquired the 2020 AL Cy Young Award winner from the Cleveland Guardians on July 31. Bieber had four rehab outings with the Guardians before the trade and three since joining the Blue Jays.

Varsho hit an RBI double and scored on Frances’ two-run single off Marlins starter Ryan Gusto (7-6) to put Toronto ahead 3-0 in the first.

The Blue Jays increased their lead to 5-1 on Varsho’s two-run homer in the sixth. Varsho’s 423-foot drive landed in the right-center field seats.

Miami got within 5-2 on Maximo Acosta’s solo homer against reliever Yariel Rodríguez in the eighth.

Brendon Little got the last two outs after Acosta’s homer and Jeff Hoffman pitched the ninth for his 28th save.

Gusto gave up five runs and seven hits in his home debut for the Marlins, who acquired the right-hander from Houston on July 31.

Key moment

Alejandro Kirk hit a two-out single that extended the sixth before Varsho’s homer.

Key stat

Bo Bichette doubled in the first to give him an AL-leading 158 hits.

Up next

RHP José Berríos (9-5, 4.00 ERA) will start for the Blue Jays on Saturday against Marlins’ RHP Janson Junk (6-2, 4.04).

General Daily Insight for August 23, 2025

A burst of fresh energy could encourage us to shake things up! Shortly after the invigorating New Moon in Virgo at 2:07 am EDT, Luna goes on to square disruptive Uranus, heightening our willingness to entertain unusual ideas. Talking through a potential plan should show us some of its holes before we take action. There’s not always a substitute for learning by doing, though. In order to receive the pleasures of innovation, we may have to release our longing for perfection.

Aries

March 21 – April 19

Reforming your ongoing workflow might make you more productive. As the anxious Moon in your dutiful 6th house clashes with chaotic Uranus in your communication sector, perhaps you’re worried that chatting with others too much is slowing you down. If you genuinely enjoy the conversations, though, turning them off entirely is likely to leave you feeling deprived. Consider asking one of your regular companions what they’ve noticed in the course of interacting with you. An obvious fix could be right under your nose!

Taurus

April 20 – May 20

Your longing for pleasure could be at a high point now. As the potent New Moon strikes in your self-indulgent 5th house, you’re likely to be in tune with what feels good for you personally. This might provide the clarity you need to make some different decisions concerning financial matters. Unnecessary spending on things that you don’t really care about can (and probably should) come to an end. That way, you’ll have resources to put toward the items and experiences that truly call to you!

Gemini

May 21 – June 20

Your desire for a major reboot could hit a roadblock at this time. Who needs a New Moon in your boring 4th House of Foundations when you have very important places to go and things to do immediately? If you can muster the patience for it, though, throwing some attention toward your domestic setup might ultimately help your great push forward. Once you have a place to replenish your energy as needed, you’ll be in a stronger position to pursue your wildest dreams!

Cancer

June 21 – July 22

Opening up to the people around you might be immensely refreshing today. As the passionate New Moon uplifts your 3rd House of Communication, you may be surprised that you took certain individuals in your midst for granted for so long — they’re likely more interesting than you’ve given them credit for! Still, you’ll have to use caution with a big secret that’s potentially on the tip of your tongue. Too much information too soon can be overwhelming, so consider saving that for another time.

Leo

July 23 – August 22

Goading from a friend could actually be good for you today. Maybe you’re used to approaching financial matters in a particular way because that’s how you’ve always done it. If a pal brings up an alternate strategy, however, you might benefit from hearing them out. You don’t need to follow their advice exactly — whatever you ultimately decide to do, you’ll have to make it your own. Even if you choose to stay your established course, at least you’ll better understand your reasons why!

Virgo

August 23 – September 22

Managing the image you’re presenting to the world may be difficult. As the delicate Moon in your sign tangles with wild Uranus in your 10th House of Reputation, it’ll potentially be hard to avoid addressing something dramatic that’s going on in your life. Perhaps the situation is not entirely of your making, but owning your part in it might be a good way to regain a sense of control over your narrative. Your resilience is a quality you can take pride in.

Libra

September 23 – October 22

Learning about an unconventional philosophy may be exciting for you at present. That said, the thought of having to explain what you’re studying to the people in your life could dampen your enjoyment. As the vital New Moon stimulates your private 12th house, maybe you can just commit to keeping your discovery to yourself for now. Once you’ve had a chance to digest it on your own terms, you might consider sharing — but there’s no need to rush that process.

Scorpio

October 23 – November 21

Realizing how much you value your friends is possible now. When the vulnerable Moon in your 11th House of Community engages with boundary-breaking Uranus in your intimacy zone, your relationships within a friend group or organization might suddenly escalate to a deeper level of connection. This shift probably isn’t something that anyone involved carefully planned out in advance. Given that, make an effort to be forgiving of any awkward missteps along the way — remember that you’re all discovering fresh terrain together!

Sagittarius

November 22 – December 21

Identifying a goal you’d like to work toward can be illuminating today. While the candid Moon in your ambitious 10th house tangles with unstable Uranus in your partnership zone, the reaction of someone you’re involved with could surprise you. Maybe the other person has tended to set the tone in your relationship, and you usually just go along with what they want. If they’re able to handle it being your turn, that’s great. If not, at least now you know where you stand.

Capricorn

December 22 – January 19

Studying a subject with practical applications may be unusually rewarding for you now. You’re potentially interested in optimizing the physical side of your life, such as your health or your daily routines. Fortunately, you’re not the only person to have dealt with similar challenges. Reading up on what others have written is likely to be transformative for you. You’ll still have to fit any strategies you adopt to your unique circumstances, but at least you shouldn’t have to totally reinvent the wheel!

Aquarius

January 20 – February 18

Being unapologetically yourself might be just what you need to discover a new frontier in intimacy at this time. You’re potentially torn between the desire for togetherness and the desire to follow your own heart. It’s true that you can’t guarantee how another person will respond if you open up about an unconventional longing of yours. However, keeping it to yourself guarantees that you’ll never find out! Weigh the potential rewards of learning you’re on the same page against any risks that worry you.

Pisces

February 19 – March 20

Following another person’s lead could be a relief for you at the moment. As the rejuvenating New Moon lands in your 7th House of Relationships, you may be comforted to learn that it’s not all on you — someone else in your life might step up exactly when you need support. You don’t always have to have everything together in order to be loved and valued. Let others in even while you’re feeling messy, and they’ll likely surprise you in a good way.

By WILL WEISSERT and MICHELLE L. PRICE

WASHINGTON (AP) — With National Guard troops in the streets and federal agents at the door of his former adviser, President Donald Trump spent a heavy dose of his Friday channeling his inner tourist and reliving his bygone days as a sports team owner and construction mogul.

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He stopped by a gift shop near the White House, visited the Kennedy Center that he now chairs and returned to his increasingly gilded Oval Office to trumpet the U.S. cohosting next year’s World Cup.

“We have a lot of fun,” Trump said. “We’re fixing up the whole world.”

The president’s stops around the city came as the nation’s capital is increasingly on edge amid Trump’s deployment of the National Guard and federalization of Washington’s police force in an effort to better curb crime.

Just before he left the White House, officials announced there had been 76 arrests citywide the previous evening as part of the crackdown. The Pentagon also said National Guard troops patrolling the streets of D.C. would soon start carrying weapons.

“We are going to make D.C. totally safe. When people come from Iowa, Indiana, all of the beautiful places, and they come, they’re not going to go home in a body bag,” Trump said after visiting the People’s House exhibit and its gift shop. “They’re not going home in a coffin, and it’s very safe right now.”

With the crackdown now entering its third week, however, many Washington residents and visitors don’t feel as safe as the president suggests, with persisting concerns that the White House is amplifying racist narratives about urban crime and tearing down homeless camps where the most vulnerable live.

Trump has shrugged off criticisms and declared, when asked about the FBI searching the home and office of his former national security adviser John Bolton, “I’m actually the chief law enforcement officer.” Still, he spent far more time looking and acting like a president relishing the parts of the job that make him happiest.

WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 21: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to law enforcement officers alongside Interior Secretary Doug Burgum (R) at the U.S. Park Police Anacostia Operations Facility on August 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. The Trump administration has deployed federal officers and the National Guard to the District in order to place the DC Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and assist in crime prevention in the nation’s capital. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

At the Kennedy Center, Trump’s activities Friday weren’t public, but he told reporters he’d show off the marble that might be used to refurbish the building — along with other planned renovations, including change the paint on its signature columns from gold to white.

Trump has begun frequently joking about renaming it the Trump Kennedy Center but deadpanned Friday: “We’re not prepared to do that quite yet. Maybe in a week or so.”

WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 21: U.S. President Donald Trump visits the U.S. Park Police Anacostia Operations Facility on August 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. The Trump administration has deployed federal officers and the National Guard to the District in order to place the DC Metropolitan Police Department under federal control and assist in crime prevention in the nation’s capital. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The president also said he’ll be leading yet more White House renovations — this time on the bathroom attached to the iconic Lincoln Bedroom. It last underwent renovations in 2005.

“We’ll be doing the Lincoln Bathroom which was Art Deco,” Trump said, adding, “We’re making it actually incredible.”

The president even floated the idea of refurbishing the sprawling Old Executive Office Building on the White House grounds, saying it was “such a beautiful building, but it doesn’t look it.”

Trump has already made extensive changes to the White House, redoing the Oval Office to add gold decor, installing patio seating with external speakers around the Rose Garden, erecting two towering flagpoles on its lawn and promising to build a ballroom.

Later in the day, Trump was joined in the Oval Office by FIFA President Gianni Infantino to announce that the Kennedy Center would host the draw for the 2026 World Cup, which will be played in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, from right, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, Vice President JD Vance, Richard Grenell, president of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees and Andrew Giuliani listen in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The former owner of the New Jersey Generals of the USFL, Trump has been heavily promoting sporting events that will take place during his second term, including the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

“I just left the Kennedy Center. We’re spending a lot of money wisely and making it really beautiful,” Trump said during the event with Infantino. “It’s going to be beautiful again. It’s like Washington, D.C.”

By MELISSA GOLDIN

After the Trump administration announced Thursday that it is reviewing the valid visas of more than 55 million people, social media users began using this figure to inflate the number of noncitizens living in the U.S. by tens of millions.

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Posts claimed that these 55 million visa holders, plus about 25 million or more people living in the country illegally, means that nearly a quarter to a third of the people living in the U.S. are not American citizens. The total U.S. population is about 342 million.

But government data contradicts these figures, and experts say the estimates spreading online are highly inflated.

Here’s a closer look at the facts.

CLAIM: Approximately 70 million to 100 million people living in the U.S. are not American citizens.

THE FACTS: This is false. There were nearly 22 million noncitizens residing in the U.S. in 2023, according to the latest Census Bureau data. That includes people in the country both legally and illegally.

The 55 million visas, which includes tourist visas, is not representative of U.S. residents, as not everyone with a visa resides in the U.S. The number of people in the U.S. illegally is nearly 14 million, according to a recent Pew Research Center report. Trump routinely inflates the number of people living in the country illegally, the majority of whom he says entered under the Biden administration, most recently citing totals of 25 million to 30 million.

“The 55 million figure is the total number of visa-holders worldwide, not people who are currently in the United States,” said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council. “The 25 million figure for undocumented immigrants is also completely false.”

Still, many social media users overstated the number of noncitizens living in the U.S., pointing to these figures.

“55 million on visas, tens of millions of illegals—close to 100 million are foreign aliens,” reads one X post. “Almost 1/3 of the entire country are foreigners. Completely insane if you really think about it. America has no reason or obligation to tolerate this. If America doesn’t deport the tens of millions it needs to, it will cease to exist as a nation.”

In 2024, there were 3.6 million people residing in the U.S. on temporary visas, such as diplomats, exchange visitors, students, and temporary workers, according to the Department of Homeland Security. This does not include people with tourist visas. An additional 12.8 million people were green card holders.

Experts noted that the 55 million people with U.S. visas includes tens of millions who hold tourist visas, which can last up to 10 years, depending on one’s nationality. The State Department issued nearly 6.5 million tourist visas last year.

“I think no one would consider a tourist who comes to the U.S. for a week or two a U.S. resident,” said Michelle Mittelstadt, a spokesperson for the Migration Policy Institute.

A Pew Research Center report released Thursday estimated that in 2023 there were 14 million people living in the U.S. illegally. Other recent estimates cite similar figures. The Center for Immigration Studies, which calls for restricting immigration, found the number to be 14.2 million as of July. On the lower end, the Center for Migration Studies estimated 12.2 million as of mid-2023.

Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.

By GRAHAM LEE BREWER

Just days ahead of the 70th anniversary of his killing, the federal government made public thousands of pages of records Friday on the lynching of Emmett Till.

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The records in the National Archives, released by the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board, detail how the Justice Department, the FBI, and the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights responded to the 1955 killing of 14-year-old Till. The records were released in accordance with the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act of 2018.

“Our thoughts are with the Till family,” the National Archives and Records Administration said in a news release.

FILE – This undated photo shows Emmett Louis Till, who was kidnapped, tortured and killed in the Mississippi Delta in August 1955 after witnesses claimed he whistled at a white woman working in a store. (AP Photo, File)

The Chicago teenager was falsely accused of whistling at a white woman at a grocery store in rural Mississippi. Four days later, Till was abducted from a great-uncle’s home in the predawn hours by Roy Bryant and John William “J. W.” Milam. The white men tortured and killed Till in a barn in a neighboring county, and his body was later found in the Tallahatchie River.

Bryant and Milam were charged with murder in Till’s death but were acquitted by an all-white-male jury. Bryant and Milam later confessed to a reporter that they kidnapped and killed Till.

His killing galvanized the Civil Rights Movement after Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, insisted on an open casket so that the country could see the brutality. In 2022, President Joe Biden signed a bill named for Till that made lynching a federal hate crime. And in 2023, Biden signed a proclamation establishing a national monument honoring Till and his mother.

FILE – Mamie Till-Mobley weeps at her son’s funeral on Sept. 6, 1955, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Chicago Sun-Times, File)

Many of the records have never been seen by the public. They include reports, telegrams, case files and correspondences and documents from the NAACP, the White House, and FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, among others.

The records can be viewed in the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection on the National Archives and Records Administration website.

A member of the Till family did not immediately return a request for comment.

By DARANEE BALACHANDAR, LIZZY ALSPACH, CAT MURPHY and AIDAN HUGHES / Howard Center for Investigative Journalism

When a BNSF freight train carrying six cars of liquefied petroleum gas derailed near Manuelito, New Mexico, in 2024, the resulting fire shut down more than 100 miles of an interstate highway.

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The train carried enough flammable material to send a column of fire and black smoke high into the thin, dry air — but not enough to qualify as a “high-hazard flammable train” under federal rules.

That meant the train was not obligated to follow federal safety rules that require high-hazard flammable trains, or HHFTs, to operate at slower speeds, and use safer braking systems and tank cars.

It also meant BNSF was not obligated to include the train in federally-mandated reports to New Mexico emergency management officials estimating the movement of HHFTs through the state.

Federal safety investigators and some lawmakers want to change that. For more than a decade, the National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates major train accidents, has tried and failed to convince federal regulators to make HHFT safety rules apply to a much larger number of trains. In an investigation report on the Manuelito disaster released in June, the NTSB again called for changes.

The current definition of an HHFT only covers trains carrying large quantities of flammable liquids, such as crude oil or alcohol. The safety board wants to expand the definition to include liquefied petroleum gas and other flammable gases.

The issue generated intense interest from lawmakers following the catastrophic derailment of a Norfolk Southern train that caught fire, resulting in the release of a toxic plume of vinyl chloride — a flammable gas — over East Palestine, Ohio, in 2023. The train wasn’t classified as an HHFT, even though it was carrying three loaded tank cars of flammable liquid. That’s because the federal definition requires a train to carry at least 35 loaded cars of flammable liquid — or at least 20 cars in a row – to qualify.

In the wake of that accident, some members of Congress filed legislation that overlaps with the NTSB recommendation and goes one step further. The DERAIL Act, introduced by Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., would define an HHFT as one carrying even a single car of a flammable gas or a flammable liquid.

“I think what we saw in the East Palestine derailment is a pretty blunt reality that even just a single train carrying something flammable and toxic — say, like vinyl chloride — can cause a lot of harm to people who live near the tracks,” said Deluzio, whose Pennsylvania district sits just across the border from East Palestine.

The bill stalled in the House after being introduced in 2023, but Deluzio reintroduced it in January. Supporters say the legislation, which has not moved in Congress, could provide U.S. communities with a more accurate picture of risk from train derailments.

That’s because there are many more trains carrying small amounts of flammable material than there are trains carrying large amounts, according to a Howard Center for Investigative Journalism analysis of data that details the precise movement of freight trains.

This image provided by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism shows a Class 2.1 hazardous material placard, warning of flammable gases, on a tank car carrying liquified petroleum gas sits on the railway tracks in Blaine, Wash. on March 3, 2025. (Daranee Balachandar/Howard Center for Investigative Journalism via AP)

Federal transportation officials have recognized rail as the “safest land-based method of moving large quantities of chemicals over long distances” when compared with movement on trucks.

The Association of American Railroads — an industry lobbyist and trade group with significant sway over rail safety practices — “has concerns with a number of the provisions in (the DERAIL Act) and similar bills,” spokesperson Jessica Kahanek said. The industry follows its own protocol that limits the speed of trains carrying more than 20 cars of hazardous material, she noted.

The association is open to discussing the HHFT definition, but changes “must be driven by an assessment of actual risk,” Kahanek said, and must allow railroads “to continue safely delivering the goods Americans depend on each day.”

Railroads closely protect real-time and location-specific information about the movement of freight trains carrying hazardous materials, saying public disclosure presents a public safety risk.

To analyze the potential impact of the proposed change to the definition of HHFTs, the Howard Center relied on data from RailState LLC, a company that independently captures detailed information on train movements.

The company has placed optical sensors on private land at key locations across the North American rail network. The sensors take pictures of each passing train. They use artificial intelligence to extract information about the cargo, identifying hazardous materials by reading warning placards displayed on rail cars.

The firm sells its information to government agencies in the U.S. and Canada, as well as to shippers and other clients.

Only the railroads — and not the U.S. government — know the precise number and real-time location of HHFTs. It’s not possible, even with RailState’s data, to precisely compare the number of trains that meet the current definition to the number of HHFTs that would meet the proposed definition.

One major reason: both definitions only consider loaded tank cars, and RailState’s data cannot automatically determine whether a tank car is loaded — or only contains chemical residue.

What is clear from the RailState data, however, is that there are many more trains with a smaller number of cars with hazmat placards indicating the presence of a flammable gas or a flammable/combustible liquid than there are trains carrying a large number of cars with placards for a flammable/combustible liquid.

The Howard Center counted trains that passed RailState sensors over the last six months with at least one car with a hazmat placard indicating it carried a flammable gas or a flammable/combustible liquid. Then the Howard Center counted the number of trains with at least 35 cars bearing a placard for a flammable/combustible liquid, and compared the two numbers.

At RailState sensors located near the East Palestine accident site, the data captured six times as many trains with at least one car of flammable gases or flammable/combustible liquids.

At the sensor closest to the Manuelito crash site, there were five times as many trains.

At the company’s U.S.-Canadian border sensor in Blaine, Washington, there was a 16-fold difference.

Across the RailState sensor network, the smallest difference observed by the Howard Center was a three-fold difference — at a sensor near the U.S.-Mexico border in Laredo, Texas.

While RailState does not monitor the entire U.S. rail system, the analysis showed a tenfold difference, on average, across its sensors in the United States. The company has nearly 100 U.S. sensors located in 18 states, along with more than 150 across Canada.

HHFT Derailments

In Custer, Washington, along a stretch of rail just south of RailState’s Canadian-border sensor in Blaine, Jennifer Reich was cleaning the kitchen floor of her art studio in December 2020 when she saw a black smoke plume emerge from the railroad tracks across the street from her shop.

A BNSF train carrying 106 cars of petroleum crude oil derailed near the end of its trip from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota to a refinery in nearby Cherry Point, Washington. Nearly 30,000 gallons of oil caught fire and burned uncontrolled for two hours, according to the NTSB, prompting Reich and her neighbors to evacuate.

The derailment caused at least $1.5 million in damages, according to the NTSB, but no one was injured.

“That was very lucky because it could have been a whole lot worse,” said Reich, the owner of Whimsy Glass Art Studio.

Over the last decade, at least six trains that met the HHFT classification derailed — including the incident in Custer, a Howard Center review of federal accident data found.

— A BNSF train on Sept. 19, 2015, spilled nearly 50,000 gallons (190,000 liters) of ethanol near Lesterville, South Dakota, after it derailed on a small bridge. The train carried 96 loaded cars of ethanol, according to investigation reports.

— A Union Pacific train with 96 loaded tank cars derailed in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 24, 2019, and leaked around 65,000 gallons (246,000 liters) of denatured ethanol, which ignited and formed pool fires. Some of the denatured ethanol entered a tributary of the Trinity River, according to investigation reports.

— On Feb. 13, 2020, a mudslide led to a CSX Transportation train derailment near Draffin, Kentucky, and released more than 38,000 gallons (144,000 liters) of denatured ethanol, which combined with diesel fuel from the derailed locomotives and ignited. The train carried 96 loaded tank cars, according to the investigation report.

— On January 8, 2022, 37 tank cars of a BNSF train derailed and 28 of them released around 601,000 gallons (2.27 million liters) of denatured ethanol in Oklaunion, Texas. The leaked ethanol resulted in a pool fire that burned for around four hours, according to investigation reports.

— On March 10, 2017, a Union Pacific train derailed carrying 98 loaded tank cars, releasing 322,000 gallons (1.25 million liters) of ethanol that caught fire near Graettinger, Iowa.

The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration proposed a federal regulation classifying HHFTs in 2014, a year after one of the worst rail disasters in modern North American history.

In 2013, a train carrying more than 70 cars of flammable Bakken crude oil derailed in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, Canada, killing 47 people and leveling dozens of buildings.

The accident helped popularize the nickname safety and environmental activists use to describe the movement of large quantities of flammable liquid by rail: “bomb trains.”

Alaysia Ezzard, Ijeoma Opara, Molecule Jongwilai, Tiasia Saunders, Natalie Weger and Marijke Friedman of the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism contributed to this story.

The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland is funded by a grant from the Scripps Howard Foundation in honor of newspaper pioneer Roy W. Howard.

Len Moser knows a thing or two about sports venues.

As the vice president of sports for Barton Malow Builders, Moser has been a part of construction projects at places such as Daytona International Speedway, Camping World Stadium and most recently EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville.

Lately, Moser can be found at UCF as part of the crew working on the expansion of the Roth Tower at Acrisure Bounce House Stadium and the new Hagle Gateway.

With the Knights set to open the football season by hosting Jacksonville State on Thursday, construction crews have been working to get the Gateway ready for fans while finishing up the concrete and steel foundation for the tower project.

“What I always say is you can get a month’s worth of work done in a week and a week’s worth of work done in a day when we’re under the gun like this,” said Moser. “It’s just a fun and exciting time to see everybody come together.”

View of construction at UCF from inside the Acrisure Bounce House Stadium featuring the new Roth Tower in Orlando, Fla., Friday, Aug. 22, 2025. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

While it’s been nearly eight months since construction crews broke ground, both projects have been in the works for almost two years.

The Roth Tower project expands the tower structure by approximately 58,000 square feet, with approximately 15,650 square feet dedicated to club space. This includes 42% more club seating, loge suites with seating, 28 luxury suites and 34 new outdoor sky suites.

The expanded premium seating options will help the school generate $2.4 million in new annual revenue.

Orange County commissioners approved $90 million of tourist development tax funds for the football stadium project in October 2023. While the project is funded through the TDT funds, UCF plans to use a $70 million bank loan and $30 million in bonds for short-term financing.

The new Roth Tower is set to open in the fall of 2026, and construction will continue throughout this upcoming football season.

“We planned it out very well in advance to make sure we had some of the main structure erected first, and then we get the cranes out of the way and open that up for fans and make it safe and make it accessible,” Moser said. “Then we’ll come in between games.”

Palm trees line the walkway in the Hagle Gateway between the Roth Athletic Center and the Nicholson Fieldhouse. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

“We’ve got a plan in place to set up for game day,” said Marcus Attles, UCF’s senior executive associate athletics director of capital projects, events and operations. “It’ll be a construction site through the week, and then it will go back to our game day. We’re excited to host seven really exciting football games here at the Bounce House.”

UCF has said all the gates and concourses throughout the stadium will be open as usual.

One noticeable change is the Knight Walk, which moves over to the North walkway adjacent to the North Lawn of the IOA Place and directly in line with Gates 4-5.

The grass area where the school typically hosts concerts will be cut in half and will be shifted to accommodate the construction equipment.

“Construction-wise, we’ll wrap up Monday with the first game being on a Thursday,” said Zach Beiler, Barton Malow project manager. “It gives us as much runway as we can for that first game. By Tuesday, we’ll be moving fences and cleaning up, and by Wednesday we’ll be pretty much setting up the final touches.”

Once the game is over, construction will resume on Monday before winding things down on Thursday for Game 2 against North Carolina A&T on Saturday, Sept. 6.

After the completion of this season, crews will begin gutting the existing Roth Tower structure to complete it before next fall.

“It’ll basically be stripped down to just the basic structure,” said Moser. “Everything will come out and you’ll have that main skeleton and we’ll attach to that. On the back side, we’ll increase the volume of it as well.”

Meanwhile, crews have been putting the finishing touches on part of the Hagle Gateway project, finishing the walkway from Kenneth Dixon Way to the stadium.

Please find me on X, Bluesky or Instagram @osmattmurschel. Email: mmurschel@orlandosentinel.com. Sign up for the Sentinel’s Knights Weekly newsletter for a roundup of all our UCF coverage.