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Edwin Brant Frost IV, a prominent Georgia Republican and evangelical powerbroker, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $76 million in restitution after pleading guilty to wire fraud. The case stemmed from the June 2025 collapse of First Liberty Building and Loan, which prosecutors said defrauded more than 300 investors by promising high returns while Frost skimmed millions for himself and relatives. The firm was promoted on conservative talk shows and drew heavily from religious and political networks; investigators said Frost spent hundreds of thousands of investor dollars on political contributions, raising concerns about funding for far-right candidates in Georgia.

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, has acknowledged she never belonged to Phi Beta Kappa despite claiming in a 2016 legislative hearing that she "graduated Phi Beta Kappa." A Wall Street Journal investigation found her 2002 University of Minnesota commencement record showed no honors distinction, and her campaign confirmed she was only nominated but never joined, citing unpaid fees. The Journal also found her official state biography overstated her academic record, describing a double major in American Indian studies and child psychology, when she actually majored in child psychology with a minor in American Indian studies.

The disclosures add to scrutiny of Flanagan's record, including prior reporting on Medicaid overpayments tied to tribal programs and a 2025 state audit citing financial-management lapses in her office.

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare says surveillance footage makes it "pretty obvious" that an ICE officer intentionally struck Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, with an SUV during an immigration stop near Houston, which he says constitutes aggravated assault with a deadly weapon under Texas law. Parra Hernandez, a 34-year U.S. resident with no criminal record, suffered a shattered leg and other fractures requiring surgery, with more operations planned; he remains hospitalized in ICE custody.

ICE says agents were pursuing Jose Mendoza-Cervantes, a man with a criminal record and deportation history, who it says fled the vehicle alongside Parra Hernandez. But The New York Times reports the pictured target may be Jose Hector Jimenez Mendoza, who his family says died in 2017 fleeing the border. The agent involved has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal review. Teare says ICE and DHS have not cooperated with his office's investigation and suspects crash data may have been erased before a warrant could be executed. ICE calls the allegations false. The case follows a July incident in which an ICE officer fatally shot another Houston-area man.

Florida's state-run public pension fund and the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank, have sued the New York Times in a Manhattan state court, seeking to inspect corporate records to determine whether the paper's board is allowing biased anti-Israel editorial coverage. Both petitioners are Times shareholders and argue New York law entitles them to review the records, which the Times refused to provide.

The petition cites factual errors in Times reporting and claims from an unnamed former newsroom employee who says complaints about alleged anti-Israel bias dating to 2019 were dismissed by management. Florida officials, including Governor Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier, both SBA trustees, back the action. The Times called the suit meritless and an attempt to pressure and chill independent journalism. The case adds to broader disputes over media independence, including Trump's recent ban of CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House, which those outlets are separately challenging in court.

Florida's pension fund and a conservative think tank sue the New York Times, seeking records on alleged anti-Israel editorial bias.

Columbia City Council has given first-reading approval to sell the former Royal Motel property at 1507 Harden St. to attorney, former state lawmaker and CNN commentator Bakari Sellers. The site sits on a block once home to a thriving Black business district from the 1930s through the 1970s, including the Lighthouse & Informer newspaper, the Carver Theatre, the Cozy Inn Restaurant (a Green Book listing), and a branch of Victory Savings Bank, South Carolina's first Black-owned bank. The city purchased the dilapidated property in 2023.

Sellers plans to build a new hotel with retail and commercial space while preserving the block's historic character, and hopes to partner with neighboring Allen University and Benedict College. A second council vote is required to finalize the sale, with no set development timeline yet. Historians are pursuing National Register of Historic Places status for the block, which could unlock historic tax credits to support restoration efforts.

The Pickens, South Carolina, City Council voted 4-3 on Aug. 27 to terminate City Administrator Tim O'Briant "for cause," a designation that voids any severance under his employment contract. The vote came after the council first rejected a negotiated severance agreement in a separate, closer vote. Councilmember Allie Winter, joining by phone, cast the deciding vote both times.

O'Briant, hired in January 2024, disputes that there was any legitimate cause for his firing and says he had offered to accept half of his contractually owed severance before the council instead chose to deny him any payout — a decision he warns will prove costly and embarrassing for the city. He has characterized the conflict as rooted in personality and management-style clashes, not misconduct or financial wrongdoing. The dispute traces partly to tension with Councilmember Jonathan Baker, who has accused O'Briant of retaliating against employees and residents who crossed him, including over the city's 2024 decision to leave a regional water system amid disputes with Greenville Water.