Edition · SUNDAY, JULY 12, 2026
Today's five.
Sunday, July 12, 2026. 5 briefs — three national, one local, one state — analyzed from across the spectrum.
BRIEF
Federal agents showing up at journalists' homes to serve subpoenas is not a subtle message.
The DOJ subpoenaed at least four New York Times reporters Friday over their stories on the Qatar-gifted Air Force One — specifically, that the plane lacks the antimissile defenses and security features of the older model, and that the Secret Service urged Trump to switch planes at the NATO summit in Turkey. The reporters are ordered to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan. The DOJ says it's investigating illegal leaks and that reporters aren't the targets. The Times called it "a brazen act." Mother Jones called it intimidation. The BBC led with the mechanics; NPR led with the timeline.
The last time the DOJ went after Times journalists this aggressively, it became a bigger story than the original leak.
**HEADLINE:** The DOJ wants to know who told the Times that Air Force One isn't secure
WORLD
Armed settlers with American-made rifles detained a sitting US congressman in the West Bank for 90 minutes
A US congressman got a very direct lesson in what he'd come to observe. Rep. Ro Khanna was surrounded by Israeli settlers carrying US-made M4 rifles while his delegation visited a Palestinian village that had been destroyed — school and all. When IDF soldiers arrived, Khanna says they sided with the settlers and kept the group in place. The Israeli military described it as a response to a report of blocked vehicles. The NYT noted that where American politicians once toured the region to show solidarity with Israel, the trip itinerary itself is now the statement.
POLITICS
A $4.7 billion bridge held hostage over tollbooth paperwork finally has an opening date
The Gordie Howe International Bridge — four billion dollars, seventeen years in the making, named after a hockey legend — was blocked by a dispute over who collects the tolls. Not trade policy. Not national security. Tolls. The bridge was supposed to open in June. Then Trump raised financial concerns in February, Canada and the U.S. spent months negotiating "toll governance and transparency," and now it opens July 27. Fox Business led with the deal terms. The Post led with the Trump threat. The bridge itself just wanted to be a bridge.
CULTURE
Two gunmen shot at each other at a Latin street festival and eight people who had nothing to do with it paid the price.
The Salsa on St. Clair festival draws thousands to Midtown Toronto every summer for a weekend of Latin celebration. On Saturday evening it became a crime scene. Two people are dead, six injured — collateral damage in what police now confirm was a shootout between two gunmen, not an active shooter rampage. The Times led with the active shooter angle; CBS noted police walked that back almost immediately at a late-night press conference. Toronto Police Deputy Chief Frank Barredo said what started it remains unclear. Eight people at a street festival found out anyway.
POLITICS
Springfield Found a Fix. Now the Fix Is Getting Deported.
Springfield, Ohio spent decades shrinking and then quietly figured out how to stop. The answer, at least partly, was Haitian immigrants — many of them on Temporary Protected Status, a legal program most Americans couldn't define if you spotted them the acronym. A 45-year Springfield resident writes that the city went from "seemingly unstoppable decline" to "fully on the upswing," and credits that community as central to the turnaround. TPS is now in the administration's crosshairs. The program's name has the word "temporary" in it, which turns out to be doing a lot of work.