From the desk of Rich Stephens
News for the week ending 7-18-26
Below find the expanded text from tonight’s broadcast. For corrections or additions, contact Rich directly.
Politics
Lindsey Graham Dies at 71 After More Than Three Decades in Congress
United States Senator Lindsey Graham died suddenly on Sunday, July 12, after more than three decades in Congress and more than 40 years of public service.
Graham was born in Central, South Carolina, on July 9, 1955. His parents owned the Sanitary Café, a restaurant and pool hall where the family also lived. He became the first member of his family to attend college, earning undergraduate and law degrees from the University of South Carolina.
Both of Graham’s parents died while he was a young adult. He assumed responsibility for his younger sister, Darline, and later became her legal guardian while completing his education and beginning his military career.
Graham joined the United States Air Force in 1982 and served as a military lawyer. He later continued his service through the Air Force Reserve and South Carolina Air National Guard, retiring with the rank of colonel after more than three decades in uniform.
His elected career began in the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1993. Graham was elected to the United States House two years later and represented South Carolina’s Third Congressional District for four terms.
In 2002, Graham won the Senate seat previously held by Strom Thurmond. He was reelected four times and served South Carolina in the Senate for more than 23 years.
Graham became one of Washington’s most recognizable voices on national security, foreign policy, military affairs and the federal courts. He served on the Senate Armed Services, Judiciary, Appropriations and Budget committees and held leadership positions including chairman of the Judiciary and Budget committees.
As Judiciary Committee chairman, Graham oversaw hearings and confirmation proceedings for federal judges, including Supreme Court nominees. His broader legislative work included national defense, veterans, immigration, criminal justice, government spending and international affairs.
Graham was a persistent advocate for a strong American military and an active United States role overseas. He regularly visited American troops and foreign leaders and became closely associated with congressional support for Israel, Ukraine and other American allies.
He also built relationships across party lines and was known for maintaining personal friendships with lawmakers he frequently opposed in public. Colleagues remembered his humor, energy, command of foreign-policy issues and willingness to take politically difficult positions.
Graham never married and had no children. His closest immediate family relationship remained the bond with the younger sister he helped raise after their parents died.
Lindsey Graham was 71 years old.
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress: Lindsey Graham
Senator Jack Reed statement on the death of Lindsey Graham
New Jersey Creates Framework for New Nuclear Power
On Monday, July 13, Governor Mikie Sherrill signed the Power NJ Act, directing the state to seek proposals for at least 1,100 megawatts of new nuclear generation.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and New Jersey Economic Development Authority will create a competitive procurement process to evaluate proposed reactor designs, construction costs, federal licensing, financing, electricity prices, workforce commitments, environmental impacts and community benefits.
The Board of Public Utilities must request expressions of interest by January 9, 2027. Developers will then have 60 days to submit proposals. The state could issue a final project approval by July 2028, although federal licensing and construction would continue beyond that decision.
A developer must secure federal financing before receiving final state approval. The project must also pass reviews by the Board of Public Utilities and Economic Development Authority and demonstrate a net benefit to New Jersey ratepayers.
The law requires at least two public-comment periods and a hearing in any municipality proposed to host a project. The New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel will participate in the review and independently evaluate the proposed costs and ratepayer impact.
Customers would not begin paying until an approved plant starts producing electricity, and construction overruns could not be passed on to them. Once operating, the plant would receive payments through Reliable Capacity Certificates purchased by electricity suppliers serving New Jersey customers.
The plant could also earn revenue from electricity, capacity and other market sales. Some of that revenue could be returned to customers to offset the certificate payments.
Sherrill described the program as a purchase of nuclear energy at a negotiated price rather than a construction subsidy. The Legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal office said the effect on customer bills cannot be calculated until the state selects a project and establishes the certificate price, contract length and revenue-sharing terms.
Before the bill was amended, the Division of Rate Counsel warned that the proposal could place decades of financial risk on ordinary customers. Rate Counsel argued that data centers and other large users driving electricity demand should contract directly with new generators instead of spreading the cost across all ratepayers.
The final legislation added federal-financing requirements, Rate Counsel review, public participation, a net-benefit test and protections against construction costs and overruns. The remaining customer cost will depend on the price negotiated with a developer and the future value of the electricity and capacity produced by the plant.
The Salem nuclear complex appears to be the most advanced potential site for a large reactor. The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued an early site permit for property near the existing Salem and Hope Creek reactors in 2016, completing several site-related reviews before any reactor design or construction application is submitted.
Sherrill also identified the former Oyster Creek site as a possible location for small modular reactors. The state procurement process will determine which developers, technologies and locations move forward.
Governor Sherrill signs the Power NJ Act
New Jersey Office of Legislative Services fiscal estimate
Division of Rate Counsel letter on the Power NJ Act
Executive Order creating New Jersey’s Nuclear Power Task Force
Nuclear Regulatory Commission record for the Salem early site permit
White House Releases Election-Security Files and Orders New Reviews Before Midterms
On Thursday, July 16, President Donald Trump released four collections of government records concerning election-system vulnerabilities, Chinese acquisition of voter information, a Michigan voter-registration investigation, and noncitizens identified on state voter rolls.
The files were published through a new White House election-integrity page. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin followed Friday with plans to review voter registrations, tighten cybersecurity requirements, investigate suspected illegal voting, and condition some federal election funding on state compliance with new security standards.
The White House says China acquired approximately 220 million American voter files through purchases, theft, or computer intrusions beginning around the 2020 election cycle. The information included names, addresses, telephone numbers, party affiliations, and other personal data from voter systems in at least 18 states.
The records document a large breach of voter information. They do not establish that China altered voter registrations, ballots, vote totals, or an American election result.
Trump also accused intelligence officials of withholding reporting about China from him, Congress, and the public. He directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Central Intelligence Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Department of Justice to identify those responsible and determine whether firings or criminal charges are warranted.
The released documents include assessments warning that Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and private groups possess the ability to compromise voter-registration databases, electronic poll books, election websites, and other election infrastructure.
The records identify technical vulnerabilities and foreign capabilities. They do not establish that an adversary altered American vote totals or changed a certified election result.
The White House also released Federal Bureau of Investigation records from a 2020 voter-registration investigation in Muskegon, Michigan. Canvassers reportedly admitted signing applications in other people’s names, submitting registrations for nonexistent people, and receiving gift cards based on the number of forms submitted.
The records do not establish how many applications were accepted, whether fraudulent registrations remained active, or whether any produced a ballot that was cast or counted.
On Friday, Mullin said the Department of Homeland Security identified approximately 278,000 possible noncitizens on voter rolls. More than 250,000 came from public voter files in just four states: California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Nevada.
Roughly 28,000 additional matches were identified through checks conducted with 23 states participating in the department’s citizenship-verification program. Mullin also said those cooperating states identified approximately 400,000 deceased people who remained registered.
The department is reviewing the records individually to confirm each person’s identity, citizenship, registration status, and whether a ballot was cast. It has not released a final count of confirmed illegal registrations or votes.
Mullin said the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency will publish an updated election-infrastructure plan within 30 days. States will also be offered citizenship-verification tools, cybersecurity assistance, training, and information about known vulnerabilities.
The administration plans to require states receiving certain federal election funds to implement security improvements. Mullin did not identify the specific grants, mandatory standards, or legal mechanism during the briefing.
Trump also urged Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require documentary proof of citizenship and photo identification for federal voting.
White House election-integrity documents
Intelligence Community assessment of foreign threats to the 2020 election
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency statement on the 2020 election
New York Tattoo Company Challenges South Carolina Restrictions
A New York City tattoo company and two South Carolina residents filed a federal lawsuit Friday, July 17, challenging state laws that restrict where tattoo businesses may operate and prohibit artists from tattooing a consenting adult’s head, face, or neck.
South Carolina bars the Department of Public Health from licensing a tattoo facility within 1,000 feet of a church, school, or playground. State law also makes it a misdemeanor to tattoo another person’s head, face, or neck, punishable by up to a $2,500 fine, one year in jail, or both.
Tiny Zaps operates tattoo studios in New York City and offers custom tattoos through artist collaborations and pop-up events. The company planned to open a location inside a boutique hotel in Charleston’s historic district and identified a licensed South Carolina tattoo artist to operate it.
According to the complaint, the proposed hotel is within 1,000 feet of at least four churches and one school, preventing the location from receiving a tattoo-facility license.
The lawsuit argues that tattoos and the process of creating them are artistic expression protected by the First Amendment. The plaintiffs describe the 1,000-foot rule as a restriction on where tattoo artists may create their work and the head, face, and neck prohibition as a ban based on where that artwork appears on an adult’s body.
South Carolina enacted the restrictions in 2004 when it legalized and regulated commercial tattooing. The same chapter established licensing, sanitation, sterilization, training, age-verification, and inspection requirements.
South Carolina previously prohibited nearly all tattooing outside a medical setting. In 2002, the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld that prohibition and ruled that the act of tattooing was not sufficiently communicative to receive First Amendment protection.
The federal complaint challenges that conclusion, arguing that the creation of a tattoo cannot be separated from the finished artwork.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare both restrictions unconstitutional and permanently block Public Health Director Brannon Traxler and Attorney General Alan Wilson from enforcing them. The complaint also requests attorney fees and litigation costs.
South Carolina lawmakers have previously considered changing the restrictions. House Bill 3099 would remove the head, face, and neck prohibition and allow tattoo facilities within 1,000 feet when each affected church, school, or playground agrees. The bill was referred to a House committee in January 2025 and has not advanced.
Tiny Zaps v. Traxler federal complaint
South Carolina tattoo law
South Carolina Supreme Court decision in State v. White
South Carolina House Bill 3099
Current Events
Sam Neill, ‘Jurassic Park’ Star, Dies at 78
Actor Sam Neill died Monday, July 13, in Sydney, Australia. His family said he was surrounded by loved ones and described his death as sudden and unexpected.
Neill’s representative later said the actor died from pneumonia. His family emphasized that he remained cancer-free after undergoing treatment for angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare form of blood cancer.
Born Nigel John Dermot Neill in Omagh, Northern Ireland, Neill moved with his family to New Zealand as a child. He began his screen career in New Zealand and gained international attention through roles in Sleeping Dogs and My Brilliant Career.
Neill appeared in more than five decades of film and television. His credits included Dead Calm, The Hunt for Red October, A Cry in the Dark, The Piano, Event Horizon, Peaky Blinders and Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
He became known worldwide for playing paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film Jurassic Park. Neill returned to the role in Jurassic Park III and, nearly three decades after the original film, Jurassic World Dominion.
Outside acting, Neill established the Two Paddocks winery in New Zealand’s Central Otago region in 1993. He spent much of his later life working at the vineyard and surrounding farm.
Neill discussed his cancer diagnosis in his 2023 memoir, Did I Ever Tell You This?. After several years of treatment, he announced earlier this year that he was cancer-free.
Sam Neill was 78 years old.
Statement from Sam Neill’s family
Two Paddocks official website
Body-Camera Footage Released in Fatal Wilmington Police Shooting
On June 24, a Wilmington, Delaware, police officer shot and killed 19-year-old Kadir Skinner during a foot pursuit near 24th and Carter streets.
Police said Skinner left a residence carrying a handgun and pointed it toward a large crowd. Officers approached, Skinner ran, and an officer shot him during the pursuit.
Body-camera footage released Thursday, July 16, shows Skinner running as an officer follows with his handgun drawn and fires while Skinner is moving away. The footage does not clearly show Skinner leaving a residence, pointing a gun toward a crowd, or threatening the pursuing officer.
The Delaware Division of Forensic Sciences determined that Skinner was struck once in the upper-left buttock. After he fell, officers handcuffed him as he repeatedly said he could not breathe.
Police recovered a loaded .45-caliber handgun with an extended magazine from nearby grass. Fingerprint, DNA, and firearm-testing results have not been released.
The Delaware Department of Justice released body-camera recordings from three officers. The recordings begin shortly before the officers arrive and continue through the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
The Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust is investigating whether the officer’s use of deadly force was legally justified. The officer’s identity, forensic evidence, witness accounts, and final legal analysis will be released after the investigation is complete.
Skinner’s family says the footage conflicts with the police description of the encounter and is demanding that the officer face criminal charges.
The family’s attorneys also served Wilmington with a $25 million notice of claim, preserving their ability to file a wrongful-death lawsuit. No civil complaint had been filed at the time of the announcement.
Delaware Department of Justice release and body-camera footage
Wilmington statement on the shooting investigation
Skinner family attorneys’ press conference
Philadelphia Ship Order Becomes First Major Test of Trump’s Maritime Plan
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought announced Friday, July 17, that two new military tracking ships will be built at Hanwha Philly Shipyard under a $2 billion federal investment.
The Missile Range Instrumentation Vessels will replace two approximately 50-year-old ships used by the Missile Defense Agency. The vessels will monitor missile-interception tests over the Pacific Ocean, collect test data and support range-safety operations.
TOTE Services will manage construction through a commercial vessel-construction model previously used by the Transportation Department for a fleet of maritime training ships. Both vessels will be built in Philadelphia, with the first scheduled for delivery by June 2030.
The announcement came during the christening of the Lone Star State, the fourth of five National Security Multi-Mission Vessels built at the same shipyard. Those ships are designed primarily to train merchant mariners but can also carry emergency personnel and supplies during natural disasters.
The new order is part of a broader administration effort to rebuild American shipbuilding rather than a standalone Philadelphia project.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in April 2025 directing agencies to develop a national maritime strategy covering federal ship orders, commercial shipping, domestic shipyards, suppliers, ports and maritime workers. The order also called for private investment, partnerships with allied shipbuilders and changes intended to reduce federal shipbuilding delays and cost overruns.
The resulting America’s Maritime Action Plan was released in February. It says the United States builds less than 1% of the world’s commercial ships and has only eight shipyards capable of constructing vessels longer than 400 feet.
The plan calls for more predictable federal ship orders, shipyard modernization, expanded worker training, supply-chain investment and greater use of commercial construction practices. It also encourages shipbuilders from allied countries to invest in American facilities.
That strategy is already visible in Philadelphia. Hanwha, a South Korean company, purchased the shipyard and is now positioned to build American commercial and government vessels with Korean capital and shipbuilding expertise.
The United States and South Korea announced a broader agreement last year that included $150 billion in Korean shipbuilding investment. The countries also established a working group focused on American shipyard modernization, workforce development, supply chains and military-vessel production.
Friday’s announcement connects that international agreement to an actual federal ship order.
It also expands the Transportation Department’s role in military ship construction. TOTE Services will oversee the project using the same commercial management model employed for the National Security Multi-Mission Vessel program. Under that arrangement, the Maritime Administration hires a private construction manager that selects and supervises the shipyard.
The Transportation Department says TOTE delivered the first four training vessels on time and within budget. The fifth is scheduled for delivery in 2027.
The two Missile Range Instrumentation Vessels will now serve as a larger test of that approach. Unlike the training ships, they will carry specialized equipment used during missile-defense testing.
The administration has announced the shipyard, construction manager, overall funding and first delivery target. It has not released a signed contract, detailed specifications, individual ship costs or a delivery schedule for the second vessel.
The Philadelphia order is therefore both an early product of the national maritime strategy and a measurable test of it. The first result is scheduled to reach the government by June 2030.
U.S. Department of Transportation announcement on the Philadelphia shipbuilding investment
Executive Order 14269 — Restoring America’s Maritime Dominance
America’s Maritime Action Plan
White House fact sheet on the United States–South Korea investment agreement
Maritime Administration explanation of the commercial vessel-construction model
Finance
Markets
Markets were down across the board this week. The Dow Jones lost nearly a point, closing 491 points from last week and finishing at 52,146.
NASDAQ suffered a 761 point loss, representing nearly 3% and closed at 25,520.
The S&P500 closed at 7,457, a lost of 118 points, just over 1.5%.
Gold futures shrunk to $4018 per ounce after losing $95, a 2.3% drop.
Sports
Jannik Sinner Defends Wimbledon Title in Four-Set Final
Jannik Sinner successfully defended his Wimbledon championship Sunday, July 12, defeating Alexander Zverev 6-7(7), 7-6(2), 6-3, 6-4 in the men’s singles final.
The match opened with 31 consecutive service holds. Neither player broke serve through the first two sets or the first seven games of the third before Sinner finally broke Zverev in the match’s 32nd game.
Zverev won the opening-set tiebreak after saving a set point. Sinner answered by taking the second-set tiebreak 7-2, then produced the match’s only two service breaks to take control.
Sinner saved the only break point he faced, hit 58 winners and completed the victory on his first championship point after three hours and 46 minutes.
The victory gave Sinner his second consecutive Wimbledon title, fifth Grand Slam championship and 100th Grand Slam match win. He became the 10th man to successfully defend the Wimbledon men’s singles championship.
Zverev reached his first Wimbledon final one month after winning his first Grand Slam title at the French Open. After the match, he called Sinner “the best player in the world.”
Official Wimbledon men’s singles draw and results
Official Wimbledon men’s final report
ATP final report and match statistics
ATP post-match comments from Alexander Zverev
Automated Challenges Expose Repeated Problems for MLB Umpire Jen Pawol
Umpire Jen Pawol angered both teams during the San Diego Padres’ 5-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday, July 12.
Pawol called a 3-0 pitch to Sung-Mun Song a strike. Song immediately tapped his helmet for an automated challenge, but Pawol was looking away, missed the signal and rejected the request as late. San Diego’s dugout protested, and hitting coach Steven Souza Jr. was ejected during the argument.
Later in the inning, Jackson Merrill pointed out a possible balk by Toronto pitcher Kevin Gausman. Pawol crouched and called the pitch a strike before the umpires met and ruled a balk, allowing a run to score.
The July 12 game was not Pawol’s first difficult plate assignment. On June 14, players challenged nine of her calls during a Cardinals-Twins game, and the automated system overturned six. Pawol finished that game with 90.9% accuracy, more than three percentage points below the expected accuracy for the pitches she saw.
On June 9, Pawol worked a Nationals-Giants game in which four of five challenges against her were successful. She finished with 91.9% accuracy, compared with an expected rate of nearly 95%.
UmpScorecards lists Pawol at approximately 91.9% accuracy for the 2026 season. Her July 12 performance was lower at 89.9%, with her correct-call total more than three and a half calls below expectations.
Those numbers are slightly worse than the late-career accuracy figures recorded for Ángel Hernández and Joe West. The comparison has limits: Pawol has worked far fewer major-league games, and neither Hernández nor West worked under the current regular-season challenge system.
There is not enough data to conclude that Pawol is a worse career umpire than Hernández or West. Her early major-league record does show repeated below-expected plate performances, high challenge-overturn totals and a valid July 12 challenge she rejected because she was not watching the batter.
UmpScorecards season data for Jen Pawol
UmpScorecards individual game data
Major League Baseball official umpire biographies
Jordan Walker Wins Home Run Derby; American League Takes All-Star Game
Jordan Walker won the Home Run Derby Monday, July 13, defeating Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber 12-11 in the final at Citizens Bank Park.
Schwarber hit 11 home runs, while Walker still needed four when he reached his final scheduled swing. Under the Derby’s do-or-die format, Walker could continue as long as each swing produced another home run.
Walker homered on six consecutive swings, including four straight do-or-die attempts, to pass Schwarber and win the title. He hit 31 total home runs over three rounds and became the first St. Louis Cardinals player to win the event.
The following night, the American League defeated the National League 4-0 in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
Cody Bellinger drove in two runs during a three-run first inning, and Miguel Vargas added a 433-foot home run in the eighth. Bellinger was named the game’s Most Valuable Player.
American League pitchers held the National League to three singles, struck out 15 and did not allow a runner to reach second base. It was the first All-Star Game shutout since 2013.
Major League Baseball Home Run Derby recap
Major League Baseball Home Run Derby results and statistics
Major League Baseball All-Star Game recap
Major League Baseball report on Cody Bellinger’s MVP performance
Spain and Argentina Advance to the World Cup Final
Spain advanced to the World Cup final Tuesday, July 14, with a 2-0 semifinal win over France at Dallas Stadium.
Mikel Oyarzabal converted a penalty in the 22nd minute, and Pedro Porro added the second goal after halftime to send Spain to its first World Cup final since winning the tournament in 2010.
Argentina followed Wednesday, July 15, with a 2-1 comeback win over England in Atlanta.
Anthony Gordon put England ahead in the 55th minute, but Enzo Fernández tied the match with five minutes remaining. Lautaro Martínez scored the winner in stoppage time, with Lionel Messi assisting both Argentine goals.
Spain and defending champion Argentina will play for the World Cup Sunday, July 19, at 3 p.m. Eastern at New York New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Spain is seeking its second World Cup championship. Argentina is trying to become the first nation since Brazil in 1962 to win consecutive titles.
FIFA report on Spain’s semifinal win over France
FIFA report on Argentina’s semifinal win over England
FIFA information on the 2026 World Cup final venue
Josh Kerr Breaks 27-Year-Old Mile World Record in London
Josh Kerr broke the men’s outdoor mile world record Saturday, July 18, running 3 minutes, 42.66 seconds at the London Diamond League.
The British runner lowered Hicham El Guerrouj’s previous record of 3:43.13, set in 1999, by 0.47 seconds. Kerr became the first man to complete an outdoor mile in under 3 minutes, 43 seconds.
The attempt had been planned for months under the name Project 222, referring to the 222 seconds Kerr needed to reach the 3:42 range.
Pacemakers Brannon Kidder and Žan Rudolf kept Kerr near record pace through the opening half. Kerr passed 1,200 meters in 2:46.39 and completed the final lap alone in front of approximately 60,000 people at London Stadium.
“I knew I had a 3:42 in me,” Kerr said. “I nearly lost it there at the end, but I got over the line.”
American Yared Nuguse finished second in 3:45.69. Britain’s Jake Heyward placed third in 3:46.73, while Robert Farken finished fourth in a German-record 3:46.82.
Kerr’s time remains subject to World Athletics’ standard record-ratification process.
World Athletics announcement of Josh Kerr’s mile world record
Diamond League race report, splits and results
London Diamond League report and Josh Kerr comments
Rich Stephens
The Cold Take