A Pride flag at half-staff to honor Charlie Kirk: Trump order to lower flags spurs SoCal furor

LOS ANGELES — In the queer enclave of West Hollywood, some residents were furious at the sight of a Pride flag and a transgender flag lowered to half-staff to mourn Charlie Kirk's assassination.

In the city of Los Angeles, an internal Fire Department memo saying flags should stay raised sparked conservative anger at Mayor Karen Bass.

And in Huntington Beach, where MAGA politics are warmly received, officials pledged to honor Kirk's memory by keeping flags lowered for an additional week past the mourning period set by President Donald Trump.

The controversial right-wing commentator's slaying last Wednesday ruptured cultural fault lines across the country, exacerbating fears of political violence, triggering campaigns to punish those who responded crudely and prompting the president to escalate attacks on his foes.

—Los Angeles Times

Fired CDC employees dispute RFK’s testimony to Senate

WASHINGTON — During a Senate hearing Wednesday morning, two former leaders of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contested Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s version of why they departed the agency in August.

“Since my removal, several explanations have been offered: that I told the secretary I would resign; that I was not aligned with the administration’s priorities; or that I was untrustworthy,” former CDC Director Dr. Susan Monarez told the committee. “None of those reflect what actually happened,” she said.

The Senate held the hearing after the agency spiraled into chaos after Monarez was fired from her position as CDC director on August 27, leading other senior leaders to resign.

Dr. Debra Houry, the agency’s former Chief Medical Officer and deputy director, was one of those leaders. “Secretary Kennedy censored CDC science, politicized its processes, and stripped leaders of independence,” Houry said. “I could not in good conscience remain under those conditions.”

—The Baltimore Sun

National Mall to host first congressional pickleball match

WASHINGTON — Eleven pickleball courts popped up in the middle of the National Mall this week. For Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, it’s game on.

Capito is an honorary co-chair of the first-ever Congressional Pickleball Match and was charged with recruiting other lawmakers to compete. The West Virginia Republican helped start a bipartisan Senate pickleball caucus a couple of years ago and sees the sport as a way to bounce around ideas.

“I’ve played tennis my entire life, which is how I myself got into pickleball,” she said. “I find it’s an easy way to network or work across the aisle.”

Congressional Sports for Charity, the organization that puts on the Congressional Baseball Game, partnered with the Trust for the National Mall to set up Thursday’s match. The event is part of a larger pickleball weekend, where courts will be set up for public play and scheduled matches from Friday to Sunday.

—CQ-Roll Call

Alexei Navalny’s widow says lab tests confirm he was poisoned

The widow of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said Wednesday that tests conducted by two foreign laboratories confirm he was poisoned prior to his death in prison last year.

Navalny, once considered one of Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s fiercest rivals, fell unconscious and died in Feb. 2024 after a walk at an Arctic penal colony, where he’d been serving a 30-year sentence. He was 47 years old at the time.

Officials provided few other details on the matter, sparking concern worldwide that his death was politically motivated.

In a video shared online, Yulia Navalnaya said she sought out additional tests in a bid to prove her late husband was murdered. She added that his biological materials were “smuggled abroad,” but she did not specify where, nor did she provide further details.

—New York Daily News