🚨 HAPPENING RIGHT NOW 🚨
A television news helicopter crashed between two commercial buildings in Chatsworth, Los Angeles, Tuesday evening while multiple choppers covered a separate deadly Metro bus collision nearby, killing three people and sending a fourth to the hospital; the crash sparked a fire that damaged four vehicles and two storage containers before firefighters put it out, and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she was “absolutely devastated by the loss of life in Chatsworth tonight.”
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16th, 2026
Before we get to the rest of today’s news, here’s what happened on this date in history. The Mayflower left Plymouth, England on September 16, 1620, carrying 102 passengers — most of them religious separatists fleeing persecution — on a 65-day crossing to the New World; the Mayflower Compact its male passengers signed that November is still considered the first written framework for American self-government, and roughly one in ten Americans today descends from someone who was aboard.
President Gerald Ford took a very different approach to national reconciliation on the same date in 1974, announcing a conditional amnesty program that let Vietnam War draft evaders and deserters work their way back into good standing through alternative service rather than face prosecution.
🏛️ House Passes War Powers Resolution to Rein In Trump's Iran War
The House passed a war powers resolution Tuesday night aiming to end President Trump's military operations against Iran, with seven Republicans crossing the aisle to join all 213 voting Democrats in a 220-204 vote.
The measure argues the 60-day War Powers Resolution clock, plus a 30-day withdrawal window, has already expired on the administration's Iran campaign.
Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Mich.), one of the seven GOP defectors, said he's “been consistent on that since the war powers provision expired after 60 days.”
The White House countered that the resolution would “improperly restrict the president's ability to protect U.S. forces and national security interests,” and a similar Senate measure that passed in June makes a presidential veto likely if the two bills are ever reconciled.
— Fox News
✈️ NATO Jets Down Explosive-Laden Drone Over Lithuania in a Baltic First
Two Italian Eurofighter Typhoons flying under NATO command shot down a suspected explosive-laden drone over Lithuania before dawn Tuesday — the alliance's first such intercept over Lithuanian soil.
The drone lingered roughly 30 minutes near the village of Pratkūnai, about 60 miles northwest of Vilnius, before being destroyed; officials believe it entered from the direction of Belarus.
Lithuanian Air Force Commander Antanas Matutis said the recovered wreckage was “likely” carrying explosives, with the investigation into its origin still underway.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Russia is “growing increasingly reckless” and accused Vladimir Putin of trying “to sow fear and terror” near alliance territory — a warning that came a day after a Russian frigate reportedly fired flares at a Danish military helicopter over the Baltic Sea.
⛽ Diesel Hits a Record $6.27 a Gallon as the Iran War Squeezes Supply
The national average price of diesel has climbed to a record $6.27 a gallon, according to AAA, as the fallout from the Iran conflict keeps closing off the routes that move Middle Eastern oil to market.
Regular gasoline has followed diesel upward, averaging $4.32 a gallon nationally as Brent crude trades near $110 a barrel.
A drone strike on Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline is expected to keep it offline for three to five weeks, and Houthi forces have expanded their grip on the Bab el-Mandeb chokepoint in the Red Sea.
Iranian crude exports have collapsed to roughly 220,000-255,000 barrels a day, down from about 2 million in March, since the U.S. Navy's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz took hold.
🦪 Florida's Flesh-Eating Bacteria Toll Climbs to Four, Officials Warn on Raw Oysters
A fourth Florida resident has died from Vibrio vulnificus, the flesh-eating bacteria found in warm coastal waters, as the state's 2026 case count reaches 21; the latest death was a Broward County resident in their late 70s.
Louisiana has recorded six deaths and 15 cases of its own this year, and Mississippi has logged three cases, health officials said.
Most infections trace back to eating raw or undercooked oysters, though the bacteria can also enter through open wounds exposed to contaminated water; bloodstream infections are fatal roughly half the time.
People with pre-existing conditions are roughly 80 times more likely to develop a bloodstream infection than healthy people, and officials note standing water left behind by hurricanes raises everyone's exposure risk.
— Fox News
📋 New 'MAGA Act' Would Count Only Citizens When Handing Out House Seats
Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-Ga.) introduced the “Make Apportionment Great Again Act” this week, which would strip noncitizens out of the census count used to divide up House seats among the states.
The bill would require states to reapportion by 2027 using existing records rather than waiting for a new census, and would add a citizenship question back to the 2030 census with four response options.
A 2024 Center for Immigration Studies estimate found that counting only citizens would shift roughly 14 House seats away from Democratic-leaning states like California, New York, New Jersey and Florida.
Clyde's push follows a resurfaced 2021 clip of Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) saying “I need more people in my district, just for redistricting purposes” — though the 14th Amendment's language on counting “the whole number of persons in each State” could invite a legal challenge.
— Fox News