10-19-25
From the desk of Rich Stephens
News for the week ending October 18, 2025.
Below find the expanded text from tonight’s broadcast. For corrections or additions, contact Rich directly.
Politics
Are Minnesota Elections Secure?
We begin in Minnesota, the Driver’s License for all initiative allows anyone to obtain a state issued, photo ID, regardless of their immigration status. The Minnesota House Fraud Prevention and State Agency oversight policy committee met Tuesday. The question was raised whether a non-citizen could potentially vote in Minnesota elections. Election officials stated that absent a social security number, voter registration would be listed as incomplete. Some lawmakers suggested that non-citizens could vote in Minnesota elections, but election officials insisted that these instances are extremely rare. The full hearing is below, but the details of this story start around minute 29.
Driver’s License For All Program
Cody Balmer Guilty Plea
Also Tuesday, Cody Balmer pled guilty to 49 counts related to his firebombing of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s home last April. The charges range from reckless endangerment and arson to terrorism and he will serve 25-50 years. The governor and his family were home at the time, but no one was injured.
NYC Mayoral Race
With just over two weeks remaining before New York City votes to elect their next mayor, democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani spoke with Fox News Wednesday. He declined to give the president credit for the recent peace deal between Israel and Gaza. He also stated that given the warrants issued by the International Criminal Court, he would exhaust all legal options to arrest Netanyahu, or Putin for that matter, if they visit NYC. The latest Quinnipiac Poll from October 9th has Mamdani leading Cuomo 13 points.
Charlie Kirk Medal of Freedom
Tuesday, President Trump posthumously awarded Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor. October fourteenth would have been Charlie’s 32nd birthday, and his wife Erika accepted the award on his behalf.
TrumpRx EMD Serono Lowering IVF Costs
Donald Trump then spoke Thursday, announcing an agreement with a third pharmaceutical company to give US patients Most Favored Nation status. This deal aims to lower the cost of IVF treatments. The manufacturer, EMD Serono will offer their treatments on TrumpRx.gov and has also agreed to move some of their manufacturing to the US for the first time.
CalRx California To Manufacture Cheaper Insulin
The same day, in California, Gavin Newsom announced that insulin pens will soon be available to Californians for just $11. CalRx was created to allow the state to develop, produce and distribute generic pharmaceuticals. The goal is to lower prescription costs and insulin will be the first drug manufactured under this program.
World
Israel Gaza Ongoing Conflict
In World News, Israel Defense Forces announced Tuesday that they had fired on Gazans who were attempting to cross the yellow line. US Central command urged Hamas to suspend violence against Gazan civilians. Recovery efforts for bodies of remaining hostages are ongoing, but Israel says that at least one returned body was not a match to any hostage.
US Centcom On Ongoing Violence
Current Events
Firearms Now Legal in the Post Office?
Back to the US, a court ruling that I missed from September 30th came across my desk this week. A Fort Worth Texas judge ruled that the government’s prohibition on firearms in an ordinary post office is a violation of the second amendment. Further, he issued a permanent injunction against the federal government.
Operation Summer Heat
The FBI released the results of an operation dubbed ‘Summer Heat’ this week. The national effort to reduce violent crime resulted in over 8600 arrests. They also seized 2200 weapons, 44 thousand kilograms of cocaine, and over 400 kilograms of fentanyl. The FBI arrested 4 of their top 10 most wanted and identified or located over 1000 child victims.
President / FBI Joint Statement
Milwaukee Officer Involved Shooting
An off-duty police officer in Milwaukee was involved in a shooting last week. Another driver, 26 year old Elijah Wilks cut off the officer, causing a minor collision. Both drivers stopped and after a brief exchange of words, Wilks pulled a gun and hit the officer with it. The officer pulled his own firearm and shot Wilks, who was pronounced dead at the scene. After viewing the dash camera footage, the attorney for the Wilks family acknowledged that the officer’s actions were justified.
Family Attorney Statement (part 1)
Family Attorney Statement (part 2)
Kilauea Eruption
The US Geological Survey issued an orange watch Thursday for Kilauea in Hawaii. Cameras caught video of the lava flows and eruption Friday morning.
Ace Frehley
American singer, songwriter and guitarist Paul Daniel “Ace” Frehley died this week. Frehley played lead guitar for KISS from 1973 until 1982 when he embarked on a solo career. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of fame in 2014 with the other three founding members of KISS. Ace Frehley was 74 years old.
DOJ Seizes $15B in Bitcoin
In Finance the Department of Justice announced the civil forfeiture of more than 127,000 bitcoin valued at over fifteen billion dollars on Tuesday. This action was part of the indictment of Prince Group CEO Chen Zhi. He could face up to 40 years in prison for running forced labor camps and phone farms in Cambodia, targeting victims in the United States and abroad. He ran various scams and used crypto currency to launder the proceeds for nearly a decade.
Markets
The Dow Jones recovered partially from last week’s losses, adding 770 points to close at 46,249. That’s two points north of the last Friday in September. Nasdaq posted modest gains, ending the week at 22,679. The S&P 500 followed the Dow, closing at 6664. Gold continues to climb, ending the week at 4213.
Sports
MLB
In Major League Baseball, the dodgers swept the brewers to advance to the World Series and attempt a repeat world championship. Shohei ohtani pitched 6 innings Friday night, striking out 10 while hitting three home runs in the 5-1 win. Seattle will try to close out the blue jays tonight. They head into game 6 of the 7 game set with a 3-2 lead.
Formula 1
In Austin, the Formula 1 American Grand Prix saw max Verstappen take pole for the sprint race and never relinquish the lead. A turn 1 incident took out both McLaren cars and George Russel finished second, ahead of Carlos Sainz in the Williams. Verstappen will start on pole again for Sunday’s main event, with Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc following.
NCAA Football
Finally, in college football, number 9 Georgia held off undefeated, number 5 ole miss in a 43-35 home victory. Number 17 Vanderbilt knocked off number 10 LSU. Number 2 Miami was exposed in a home loss to conference rival Louisville. Number 13 notre dame beat number 20 USC 34-24 and 6th ranked Alabama defeated number 11 Tennessee 37-20. 21st ranked Texas needed overtime to get past Kentucky in a 16-13 game and 16th ranked Missouri needed two overtime’s to get the best of Auburn. The Florida Gators illustrious duo of Billy Napier and DJ Lagway did all they could to lose but were bailed out by a late interception and handed Mississippi state their 15th consecutive SEC loss.
Rich Stephens
The Cold Take