From the desk of Rich Stephens
News for the week ending 12-20-25
Below find the expanded text from tonight’s broadcast. For corrections or additions, contact Rich directly.
Top Stories
Brown University and MIT Professor Shooter
We begin at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Claudio Manuel Neves Valente is now the man accused of entering a classroom and firing at students. Eleven students were shot, two fatally. 19 year old Ella Cook and 18 year old Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov were both killed in the shooting. According to an FBI affidavit, Neves-Valente then traveled to Brookline Massachusetts. There, he shot and killed MIT Professor Nuno Loureiro. Both men are from Portugal and attended the same academic program there between 1995 and 2000. Thursday night, Neves Valente was found deceased by a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a storage unit in New Hampshire. Police say they have not found any writings or other material that would reveal motive. ATF said Friday that the shooter was found in possession of two pistols and that one matched the shooting at Brown while the other matched the Massachusetts murder.
Nuno F.G. Loureiro (video)
Turtle Island Liberation Front
Monday, December 15, the FBI and Department of Justice announced charges against 4 members of the Turtle Island Liberation Front. The group is charged with conspiracy and possession of an unregistered destructive device related to a written plan they self-identified as “Operation Midnight Sun”. Their plan was to construct and deploy IED’s on New Year’s Eve.
Florida Pediphiles Arrested
Monday, December 15, Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins held a press conference to announce the arrests of three individuals for child sexual abuse online. Thousands of files depicting CSAM were recovered. This is part of a larger effort by the state of Florida to protect children online. The state is also suing the online children’s game company Roblox to increase safety of children on the platform.
Press Conference (video)
Rob and Michele Reiner
Sunday December 14, actor, writer and producer Rob Reiner was found dead in his home. His son Nick was arrested and booked for the murder of Rob and his wife Michele and is being held without bail. Reiner appeared in 184 episodes of All In The Family. You may know him as the director of The Princess Bride or This Is Spinal Tap, but he also appeared in a 1967 episode of The Andy Griffith Show and played Jordan Belfort’s dad in The Wolf of Wall Street. He had an uncredited role in the Steve Martin classic ‘The Jerk’. That movie was directed by his father, Carl. Rob Reiner was 78 years old.
Politics
Minnesota Gun Laws
Moving to politics, On Tuesday December 16, 2025, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed an executive order on gun violence. Following the Sunday terror attack in Australia and the Monday shooting at Brown University, Walz indicated the need for additional controls. His order expands extreme risk protection orders known as red flag laws and requires data collection about their effectiveness. It adds emphasis on safe firearms storage and asks the state Department of Commerce to collect data from insurance companies to report on the financial cost of gun violence.
Press Conference (video)
DC Police Chief Resignation
People come and go from jobs ever day, even in government and politics. So when DC Police Chief Panela Smith announced her resignation on December 8th, we did not report it. However, on December 14th the House Oversight Committee released an interim staff report on crime data accuracy in the district. The report alleges manipulation of crime data statistics and accuses Smith of pressuring officers to artificially lower the crime rate by manipulating crime classifications.
Press Conference (video)
World News
Terrorist Attack in Australia
In World News, Sunday, December 14, in Sydney Australia, terrorists attacked a beach pavilion that was holding an annual Hanukkah event. A father an son who immigrated to Australia from India used multiple firearms. The father was licensed and owned the firearms legally. Over at least 11 minutes, the pair shot without resistance from the unarmed populace. Eventually, an unarmed civilian was able to disarm one shooter and then police stepped in. Fifteen civilians died of their injuries. 40 more civilians and two police officers were transported to hospitals for treatment. Despite already having some of the worlds most restrictive firearms laws, Australia announced new regulations Friday December 19. They will accelerate work on a national firearms registry, require citizenship for licensing, and further limit the number of firearms that one individual may own.
Operation Hawkeye Strike
On December 13 in Palmyra, Syria, US Army Sgts. William Howard and Edgar Torres Tovar were killed by Islamic terrorists. In response, Friday, December 19, CENTCOM announced operation Hawkeye Strike. More than 100 precision munitions were deployed against 70 targets in Syria. The attack targeted ISIS fighters and was conducted with the support of the Jordanian Armed Forces.
Finance
Markets
Switching gears over to finance, Markets were more flat this week even than last. The Dow lost 324 points, just under .7%, closing at 48134. NASDAQ added 112 points, almost half a percentage gain and closed at 23307. The S&P 500 added 7 points, a gain of .1% and closed at 6834. It’s almost like everyone was getting ready for Christmas instead of trading stocks. Gold gained another $40, climbing almost 1% and will cost you $4368 per ounce.
Sports
NFL Injuries
Last weekend the Green Bay Packers lost to the Broncos 34 to 26, and lost linebacker, Michah Parsons to a Torn ACL. Patrick Mahomes suffered the same injury in the Chiefs 13-16 loss to the Chargers.
NBA – Cooper Flagg
In the NBA, Monday December 15th, Cooper Flagg broke another of LeBron James’ records. Flagg scored 42 points against the Utah Jazz to claim most single game points by an 18 year old in NBA history.
College Football
In College football, the 12 team playoff is under way. Alabama went to Oklahoma Friday night, much to the chagrin of Notre Dame, BYU and Vanderbilt fans, who all felt that their teams were more deserving of Bama’s spot. Despite digging a 17 point hole early, the crimson tide went into halftime with a 17-17 tie that would become a 34-24 road win.
Rich Stephens
The Cold Take