Jeep

Retired Lt. Col. David Gauntlett received the Bronze Star Medal with Valor during an Oregon National Guard ceremony in Salem on Oct. 19, 57 years after his actions in Vietnam. From May 12 to 14, 1969, then-Sgt. Gauntlett, a 20-year-old Air Force radio operator, stayed at his radio through three days of mortar attacks at Song Be in Phuoc Long Province, continuing to coordinate airstrikes despite a shrapnel wound. His 1969 award recommendation was lost until a fellow veteran rediscovered the original citation around 2000, launching a five-year effort involving Rep. Val Hoyle's office to validate the recommendation. Hoyle is pushing a National Defense Authorization Act amendment to prevent similar delays for other veterans.

A former Mount Pleasant, South Carolina police officer has been fired after being arrested for driving under the influence while off duty in rural Georgia. Morgan Rowe, 23, was driving his personal Jeep SUV on a highway near Morgan, Georgia, around 11 p.m. on June 13 when he abruptly stopped in the middle of the road, prompting a Calhoun County Sheriff's deputy to initiate a traffic stop.

After a field sobriety test proved inconclusive, a Georgia state trooper was called to assist. Rowe was described as polite and cooperative and agreed to a blood alcohol test, which returned a result of .13, above Georgia's .08 legal threshold. Rowe reported the arrest to his department upon returning to South Carolina and was placed on unpaid administrative leave. He was terminated in August once the department received the confirmed test results. Rowe had graduated from the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy in January of this year.

The Ohio Republican Party and its Morrow County chapter circulated a doctored screenshot claiming to show Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton posting a photo of her Jeep with a "Drunk Mom" restricted license plate, the type issued in Ohio to those convicted of driving under the influence. The image was fabricated: Acton's actual August 19, 2026 Facebook post promoted a campaign tire cover and showed a plate reading "SOOOHIO," with no reference to drinking.

The fake spread amid an ongoing GOP attack line tied to a 2019 domestic dispute at Acton's home, first detailed in an NBC News report, which Acton and her husband have said was exaggerated and did not involve intoxication. Acton, former director of the Ohio Department of Health during the COVID-19 response, faces Republican Vivek Ramaswamy, backed by President Trump, in November's election. The episode echoes past altered-media attacks on figures like Kamala Harris and Nancy Pelosi, and underscores the misinformation risks shadowing the closely watched Ohio governor's race.