🚨 HAPPENING RIGHT NOW 🚨
Gunfire erupted Saturday night near Bragg Memorial Stadium during Florida A&M University’s homecoming weekend in Tallahassee, leaving 12 people hurt — six of them children, the youngest just 11 — after what investigators say began as a physical altercation between two or three people before shots rang out. Tallahassee’s police chief said five victims have been released from the hospital, but six remain hospitalized, with one in critical condition, as the department’s Violent Crimes Unit investigates with no arrests yet announced. Lt. Gov. Jay Collins called the injuries to children “heartbreaking.”
MONDAY, OCTOBER 26th, 2026
Before we get to today’s news, here’s what happened on this date in history. Tombstone, Arizona’s booming silver-mining town set the stage for one of the Wild West’s most famous shootouts on October 26, 1881, when Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan Earp and their friend Doc Holliday squared off against the Clanton-McLaury gang in a vacant lot behind the O.K. Corral after months of tension between the lawmen Earps and the ranchers they accused of cattle rustling. The gunfight lasted roughly 30 seconds and consumed about 30 shots, leaving Billy Clanton and both McLaury brothers dead, while a Tombstone judge later ruled the Earps and Holliday were fully justified in the killings.
A nearly 350-mile waterway reshaped American commerce when the Erie Canal opened on October 26, 1825, linking Lake Erie at Buffalo to the Hudson River at Albany through 83 locks and 18 aqueducts built to handle a 570-foot change in elevation, after New York State funded the project itself when the federal government refused. Freight costs along the route plunged from roughly $100 a ton by road to about $10 a ton by water, and the canal repaid its construction cost within nine years, helping turn New York City into the nation’s busiest seaport and earning the state its “Empire State” nickname.
🚗 Alaska Dem Senate Candidate Mary Peltola Injured in Three-Car Crash, Forced to Postpone Campaign Stops Nine Days Before Election
Democratic Senate nominee Mary Peltola and her family suffered minor injuries Saturday when their vehicle was rear-ended and then struck a third car while she was driving to the Alaska Federation of Natives’ annual banquet, her campaign said, delaying the launch of her “Alaska Always Tour” just over a week before Election Day.
Anchorage police confirmed the three-vehicle wreck; Peltola’s campaign said she and her family suffered only minor injuries and are “in good spirits.”
Campaign stops in Fairbanks and Bethel, originally set for Oct. 25 and 26, are being rescheduled on medical advice, though stops in Homer, Kenai, Seward, Juneau, Anchorage, and Palmer remain on the calendar.
Peltola, who is challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in a race both sides call close, said she was “disappointed” by the delay.
🪪 Ilhan Omar Taps Biden’s Former Personal Lawyer as Federal Immigration-Fraud Probe Widens
Rep. Ilhan Omar has hired Amy Jeffress, who served as President Biden’s personal attorney, and fellow Hecker Fink partner Joshua Matz to defend her as federal investigators examine whether she or her late father misstated her age or marriage history on naturalization paperwork.
Jeffress previously represented former FBI lawyer Lisa Page and did outside counsel work for the House’s Jan. 6 committee, while Matz counseled the House Judiciary Committee during both Trump impeachments; neither lawyer specializes in immigration law.
Homeland Security Investigations agents searched Omar’s Washington home on Oct. 12 and seized her phone, passport, and computers; a DOJ filing tied to the search listed her as “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi, a/k/a Ilhan Abdullahi Omar.”
Omar’s legal team has demanded the return of all seized property, calling the probe “vindictive, retributive, and politically motivated,” while President Trump has called for her resignation.
🦞 Trump Rolls Back Canadian Tariffs on Blueberries, Potatoes, and Seafood to Help Susan Collins in Maine
President Trump exempted several Canadian imports — including blueberries, potatoes, apples, and seaweed — from his 50% tariffs on Canada in a move seen as an effort to boost Sen. Susan Collins in her tight re-election fight against Democrat Troy Jackson.
The rollback, announced Friday, specifically targets products tied to Maine’s seafood and agriculture industries, which have complained for months about the tariffs’ toll on their businesses.
Collins, who has previously called the Canada tariffs a “mistake,” has leaned into trade friction as a top issue in her Senate race.
The exemptions come as Trump campaigns heavily for Republican candidates nationwide with nine days left before the midterms.
🇫🇷 NFL Plays On in Paris Despite Weeks of Unrest as State Department Warns of a New Flashpoint at Le Pen’s Campaign Launch
The Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints kicked off at Stade de France on Sunday despite France’s ongoing unrest, even as a U.S. State Department document warned that antifascist groups were planning a “potentially more confrontational protest” around Marine Le Pen’s two-day National Rally congress in Orléans, where she was expected to launch her 2027 presidential bid.
The NFL canceled its Saturday fan events over the unrest, and a Paris Saint-Germain match was moved to Monday at police request, while the State Department urged Americans attending the game to exercise caution.
The warning followed an Oct. 17 wave of unrest that drew roughly 550,000 people to 110 marches nationwide, with more than 2,400 arrests and nearly 1,000 police and firefighters injured, according to France’s Interior Ministry.
President Trump said at a Michigan rally that he’d warned French President Emmanuel Macron for years that his immigration policies were “destroying France,” while labor unions have called for another round of nationwide strikes on Nov. 5.
⚖️ Schiff Won’t Rule Out Impeachment Push If Democrats Win the Midterms, Says Any “Corruption” Probe Will Lead “Wherever It Leads”
Sen. Adam Schiff declined to say whether President Trump has committed impeachable offenses during a Sunday interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker, telling her Democrats won’t “prejudge the outcome” of any oversight investigations before conducting them.
Schiff said that “if that corruption leads in the direction of impeachment, it will lead wherever it leads,” a comment conservative critics cast as a preview of a Democratic impeachment push should the party retake Congress.
The exchange comes roughly a week and a half before the midterms, with control of the House seen as central to whether Democrats could revisit impeachment proceedings against Trump.
Schiff, who led the first Trump impeachment inquiry as House Intelligence Committee chairman, has faced renewed criticism over his past Russia-collusion claims amid the exchange.