10-12-25
From the desk of Rich Stephens
News for the week ending October 11, 2025.
Below find the expanded text from tonight’s broadcast. For corrections or additions, contact Rich directly.
Politics
Maine Election Missing Ballot Questions
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows spoke Monday, announcing that absentee voting had begun, 30 days prior to Election Day, asserting that elections in her state are safe and secure.
After describing the process of printing, packaging and shipping of absentee ballots, she insisted that even if the chain of custody is broken, Maine elections are still secure. She then announced that 250 blank absentee ballots were allegedly delivered to a Maine resident in an amazon shipment with other items. Maine law enforcement is working with the FBI to investigate the claims.
She noted that one town was missing 250 ballots when their shipment arrived, and that the elections division was notified by a private organization from out of state that they believed they were in possession of absentee ballot envelopes.
While admitting that it appears that there may have been attempts to interfere with elections, she was insistent that the election cannot and will not be tampered with.
Chicago Ice Free Zones
Also Monday, Chicago Mayor Johnson signed the “Ice Free Zone” order. It requires all city property to display a sign stating that the property may not be used for ‘civil immigration enforcement, including as a staging area, processing location, or operations base’. He asserted that ICE agents are violating the constitutional rights of Chicago residents and that this order aims to protects residents and immigrants.
The White House called the order a “disgusting betrayal of every law-abiding citizen” with President Trump saying on Truth Social that the mayor should be in jail for failing to protect ICE agents.
Mayor’s Press Conference X video
City of Chicago Official Statement
NYC Mayoral Race Event
Wednesday, New York City mayoral candidates participated in a town hall event where each was able to give brief remarks before taking questions. Zohran Mamdani, Curtis Sliwa and Andrew Cuomo took questions about crime, budgets, housing and education. The election will be held on November 4th, just over three weeks from now.
Letitia James Indictment
New York Attorney General Letitia James was indicted by a federal grand jury in Virginia Thursday on one count of bank fraud and one count of false statements to a financial institution. James made repeated comments about his presidency being illegitimate and vowed to sue him and cause him problems. She did sue Donald Trump in civil court in 2024 during his third presidential campaign and obtained a judgement against him for $500M. A court later upheld his wrongdoing but overturned the judgement. Letitia James has said that her indictment violates selective prosecution protections, accusing the president of weaponizing the justice system.
Leticia James Campaign Statements (video 1)
Leticia James Campaign Statements (video 2)
Leticia James X Post ‘no one is above the law’
Leticia James Response to Indictment
Leticia James Trump Lawsuit Judgement
Columbus Day
And Friday, Donald Trump signed a Presidential Proclamation, officially recognizing October 13 as Columbus day. He expressed gratitude to Italian immigrants and their contribution to the United States and also noted our close national relationship to Italy.
Presidential Proclamation on Columbus Day
Government Shutdown
We have not yet mentioned that this was the first full week of the ongoing government shutdown that began at midnight on Tuesday September 30th. Today is the twelfth day of the shutdown and we plan to bring you a special edition of the cold take later this week to explain exactly what is happening. Subscribe on YouTube, Instagram or TikTok to be notified when this video is available.
Current Events
Palisades Fire Suspect Arrested
Wednesday, US Attorney for the central district of California announced the arrest of Johnathon Rinderknecht for starting the fire that ultimately burned down the Palisades, killing 12 people, destroying 6800 structures and damaging 1000 more. He was arrested Tuesday in Florida on the felony charge of destruction of property by means of fire. The suspect allegedly used ChatGPT to generate images of people running from wildfire months before. The US Attorney indicated that the fire was started with an open flame, was initially ‘suppressed’ but moved underground before being reignited by wind a week later. He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Palisades Fire Suspect Arrest Press Conference
Ghislaine Maxwell Appeal Denied
Ghislaine Maxwell, serving a sentence of 27.5 to 55 years for her role in Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse and exploitation network, had appealed her sentence to the Supreme Court. Her attorneys argued that her prosecution violated a non-prosecution agreement between Epstein and the US Attorney, that the statute of limitations had expired and that her sixth amendment right to a fair trial had been violated. The Supreme Court rejected her request on Wednesday.
Supreme Court Denial of Maxwell Case
Tennessee Munitions Facility Explosion
Friday morning, a facility in Hickman County Tennessee that processed ammunition and explosives suffered a catastrophic explosion. Initially authorities believed nineteen people missing or deceased. As of last night, three had been determined to not have been present, but sixteen are now presumed dead and their families have been notified. Due to the volatility of the scene, ATF, FBI and local law enforcement are investigating slowly and carefully. The cause is not yet known.
Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton passed away this week. She appeared in all three godfather films and won the Oscar for best actress in 1978 for her performance in Annie Hall. Diane Keaton was 79 years old.
(No real attribution for this. Her agent spoke to People magazine and they sent it out to everyone else)
Finance
IRS 2026 Tax Brackets and Inflation Adjustments
The IRS Released the tax inflation adjustments for 2026 this week. The standard deduction increased minimally, and the individual tax bracket earning amounts were all increased as well. Estate tax credit amounts went up by $1.5M.
Markets
In Markets, the Dow Jones Industrial Average erased four weeks of gains with a sharp decline Friday to close at 45,479. The Nasdaq suffered similar losses, closing at 22,204. The S&P500 dropped to 6552. Gold meanwhile hit an all time high and closed at 4018 per ounce. Silver is over $50 for the first time ever. The previous high was 47.91 in March of 2011.
Sports
MLB Postseason
The MLB divisional playoff round wrapped up Friday night with the brewers taking game 5 from the cubs and moving on to the ALCS where they will face Toronto, who beat the Yankees in 4 games. In the national league, the dodgers will face the Mariners. Seattle needed 15 innings to win game 5 against the tigers on Thursday night.
Mark Sanchez Felony Charges
Former NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez was charged with felony battery resulting in serious bodily injury this week. The charging document alleges that Sanchez was intoxicated, became involved in a dispute over a parking space, and injured the other driver. He could face as much as 6 years in prison if convicted.
Mark Sanchez Original Charging Document
Amended Charge Press Conference
College Football
In college football, number 7 Indiana beat number 3 Oregon 30-20. Number 6 Oklahoma lost the Red River Rivalry with Texas in a 23-6 game. The rest of the top 10 survived with Ohio State beating Illinois, Ole Miss escaping Washington State and number 5 Texas A&M beating Billy Napier’s flailing Gators 34-17.
Rich Stephens
The Cold Take