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Police in Santa Fe, New Mexico say that an investigation is underway after Oscar award-winning actor Gene Hackman, 95, and his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, 64, were found dead alongside one of their dogs in their Santa Fe residence.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office said in a statement when news first broke of their death: “On 26 February, 2025, at approximately 1:45pm, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to an address on Old Sunset Trail in Hyde Park where Gene Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa, and a dog were found deceased.”

Later on Thursday, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that the couple were found Wednesday afternoon during a welfare check after their neighbor called and was concerned about their well-being. According to the search warrant affidavit, their deaths were considered “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation, due to all of the circumstances surrounding the scene.”

According to the search warrant: Hackman was found on the floor in the mud room, appearing that he fell suddenly. Arakawa was found lying on her side on the floor in a bathroom, with a space heater near her body Her body showed signs of decomposition with mummification to her hands and feet. On the counter near Arakawa was an opened prescription bottle, with pills scattered. A German shepherd was found dead about 10 to 15 feet from Arakawa, with two other dogs were found alive – one was near Arakawa, and the other was located outside.

The document further stated that the Santa Fe City Fire Department found no signs of a possible carbon monoxide leak or poisoning; if there was carbon monoxide at the scene, it could have vented out of the home through the open front door before responders arrived. Chris Ramirez, spokesperson for the New Mexico medical investigator’s office, said that the medical examiner’s reports with the final cause of death “generally take anywhere from 4-6 weeks to generate.”

Hackman is a two-time Academy Award winner who was awarded Oscars for Best Actor for his portrayal of Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle in William Friedkin’s 1971 thriller The French Connection; and for Best Supporting Actor for playing Little Bill Daggett in Clint Eastwood’s 1992 film, Unforgiven.

Hackman retired from acting in 2004, and moved to Sante Fe with his second wife, Arakawa.  The actor shared three children from his 30-year marriage with Faye Maltese (they divorced in 1986).

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President Donald Trump confirmed on Thursday that 25% tariffs will go into effect on goods made by Canada and Mexico on March 4.

Trump said in a Truth Social post: “Drugs are still pouring into our Country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels. A large percentage of these Drugs, much of them in the form of Fentanyl, are made in, and supplied by, China. More than 100,000 people died last year due to the distribution of these dangerous and highly addictive POISONS. Millions of people have died over the last two decades. The families of the victims are devastated and, in many instances, virtually destroyed. We cannot allow this scourge to continue to harm the USA, and therefore, until it stops, or is seriously limited, the proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on MARCH FOURTH will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled. China will likewise be charged an additional 10% Tariff on that date. The April Second Reciprocal Tariff date will remain in full force and effect. Thank you for your attention to this matter. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”

During a meeting on Wednesday with his cabinet, Trump said that he is planning to impose 25% tariffs on goods imported from the European Union, including “cars and all other things. They’ve really taken advantage of us. They don’t accept our cars, they don’t accept, essentially, our farm products. They use all sorts of reasons why not. And we accept everything from them.”

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Thursday that she hoped to speak with Trump this week, while Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Juan Ramón de la Fuente was scheduled to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday afternoon.  Sheinbaum said that her government would stay “cool-headed” and optimistic about an agreement coming together to avoid the tariffs, adding: “I hope we are able to reach an agreement and on March 4 we can announce something else.” (per AP News.)

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State and local health officials announced Wednesday that an unvaccinated school-aged child who was hospitalized with measles has died from the illness in West Texas. It is the first U.S. death reported from a measles outbreak since 2015.

In a press release, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) said the child was hospitalized in the northwestern city of Lubbock last week and tested positive for measles. According to data from DSHS, as of Wednesday, 124 cases of measles have been confirmed associated with the outbreak that began in Gaines County (which has become the epicenter) with 80 cases confirmed among residents. Almost all of the cases are in unvaccinated individuals or individuals whose vaccination status is unknown, and 18 people have been hospitalized so far.  Children and teenagers between ages 5 and 17 make up the majority of cases with 62, followed by 39 cases among children ages 4 and under.

The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) said in a statement that the outbreak has since spread to several counties in the region and is “suspected” to have spread into New Mexico. The NMDOH said that nine cases have been confirmed in Lea County, which borders Texas; of the nine cases, four are among children.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, said during a meeting of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet members on Wednesday that the HHS is “watching” cases, and that the Texas outbreak as “not unusual … We’re following the measles epidemic every day.”

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Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has fired more than 100 intelligence officers from 15 agencies for using a government chat platform for discussions that included topics like polyamory, gender transition surgery and politics.

In a post on X, the National Security Agency said it was “aware of posts that appear to show inappropriate discussions” by intelligence personnel and that the case is under investigation: “IC (intelligence community) collaboration platforms are intended to drive mission outcomes. Potential misuse of these platforms by a small group of individuals does not represent the community. Investigations to address this misuse of government systems are ongoing.”

According to Gabbard, the chat tool was overseen by the National Security Agency. Christopher Rufo, a conservative commentator who writes for City Journal, first reported the existence of the chats and posted what he said were transcripts of the conversations, which he said were obtained from a NSA employee and a former employee.

Gabbard said the fired intelligence officers’ conduct represented “an egregious violation of trust” and violated “basic rules and standards around professionalism.” Gabbard told Fox News: “I put out a directive today that they all will be terminated and their security clearances will be revoked .. today’s action and holding these individuals accountable is just the beginning of what we’re seeing across the Trump administration, which is carrying out the mandate the American people gave him, clean house, root out that rot and corruption and weaponization and politicization.”

A social media post by Gabbard’s spokeswoman confirmed the she sent a memo directing all intelligence agencies to identify the employees who participated in the chatrooms and to terminate their employment and revoke their security clearances.

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A Missouri woman pleaded guilty on Tuesday to federal charges in connection with what prosecutors called a “brazen” attempt to fraudulently put Elvis Presley’s Graceland estate up for auction.

Lisa Jeanine Findley is accused of concocting a plot to defraud Presley’s family by trying to auction off his Graceland mansion and property, before a judge halted the mysterious foreclosure sale. Findley, 53, initially pleaded not guilty to the charges in the wake of her arrest last year. The trial had been scheduled to start in mid-April before Tuesday’s change of plea hearing.

Findley pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud in U.S. District Court in Memphis, Tennessee; as part of a plea deal, prosecutors agreed to dismiss one count of aggravated identity theft that was previously filed against her. Prosecutors are recommending Findley receive a 57-month federal prison sentence; she is due back in court for sentencing on June 19.

Federal prosecutors said Findley, of Kimberling City, formed a “brazen scheme to try to extort a settlement from the Presley family.” As part of the scheme, prosecutors said Findley forged the signatures of Elvis Presley’s late daughter Lisa Marie and Florida notary Kimberly Philbrick in order to claim that Lisa Marie (before her death in January 2023) did not pay back a $3.8 million loan from a purported company called Naussany Investments that listed Graceland as collateral for the loan. Findley then threatened to sell Graceland to the highest bidder if Presley’s family didn’t pay a $2.85 million settlement, according to authorities, and posted as three different people allegedly involved with the fake lender, fabricated loan documents, and published a fraudulent foreclosure notice in a Memphis newspaper announcing the auction of Graceland in May 2024.

A judge stopped the sale after Presley’s granddaughter, actress Riley Keough, filed a lawsuit claiming fraud, and a judge halted the proposed auction with an injunction. Keough inherited the trust and ownership of the home after the death of her mother, Lisa Marie Presley.

Elvis bought Graceland in 1957, and died there in 1977; the mansion was opened to the public five years later as a museum and tourist attraction. Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the 17,552-square-foot mansion each year, which was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.  Elvis and other members of the Presley family, including Lisa Marie Presley and her son, Benjamin Keough, are buried on the mansion’s grounds.

Keough said in a 2024 interview with CBS News that she plans to continue running the property and keep it in the Presley family: “I think, like, my instinct with everything is always to do what my mother would have wanted. Which is to keep it a home. It was our family’s home.”

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The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a new trial for Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip, in light of allegations that the state withheld evidence related to its main witness. The ruling is a major win for Glossip, whose conviction in the 1997 murder-for-hire plot of Barry Van Treese has been called into question by the state attorney general after new evidence emerged in recent years. Glossip has been scheduled for execution nine times, and has eaten his ‘last meal’ three times – only to have his execution stayed.

In a 5-3 ruling authored by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the high court ruled in favor of Glossip and reversed a decision of the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals that upheld his conviction and death sentence.  Sotomayor was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Justice Neil Gorsuch did not take part in the court’s consideration of the case.

Glossip, now 62, was convicted of commissioning the murder of Barry Van Treese, owner of the Best Budget Inn motel in Oklahoma City where Glossip was a manager. All parties agree Van Treese was fatally beaten with a baseball bat by maintenance worker Justin Sneed, who eventually became the star witness for the prosecution. Sneed, who was a methamphetamine addict, confessed to the murder but avoided capital punishment by accepting a plea deal that involved testifying that Glossip paid him $10,000 to do it.  While Glossip admitted to helping Sneed cover up the murder after it occurred, he denied knowing Sneed planned to kill Van Treese or encouraging him to do so.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for the majority: “We conclude that the prosecution violated its constitutional obligation to correct false testimony .. Had the prosecution corrected Sneed on the stand, his credibility plainly would have suffered. That correction would have revealed to the jury not just that Sneed was untrustworthy (as amicus points out, the jury already knew he repeatedly lied to the police), but also that Sneed was willing to lie to them under oath. Such a revelation would be significant in any case, and was especially so here where Sneed was already ‘nobody’s idea of a strong witness.’”

Don Knight, an attorney for Glossip, called the ruling “a victory for justice and fairness in our judicial system. We are thankful that a clear majority of the court supports long-standing precedent that prosecutors cannot hide critical evidence from defense lawyers and cannot stand by while their witnesses knowingly lie to the jury. Rich Glossip, who has maintained his innocence for 27 years, will now be given the chance to have the fair trial that he has always been denied.”

Gentner Drummond, Oklahoma’s attorney general, said his office will review the decision and “determine the most appropriate course of action to ensure justice is secured for all involved. Our justice system is greatly diminished when an individual is convicted without a fair trial, but today we can celebrate that a great injustice has been swept away. I am pleased the high court has validated my grave concerns with how this prosecution was handled, and I am thankful we now have a fresh opportunity to see that justice is done.”

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