Social media don’t forget — and neither do the streets.

Nearly seven years after the heart-wrenching killing of 15-year-old Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz rocked the Bronx and went viral nationwide, the man who delivered the fatal machete blow has now met a violent end himself.

Jonaiki Martinez-Estrella — the convicted Trinitarios gang member whose actions were captured on gut-wrenching surveillance footage from that June 20, 2018, night — was found stabbed to death inside his prison cell at Coxsackie Correctional Facility, according to ABC News.

🕒 THE FINAL MOMENTS

Prison staff reportedly discovered Martinez-Estrella unresponsive around 1:15 PM on Friday. Despite immediate life-saving measures — including CPR, a defibrillator, and even a dose of Narcan — he was pronounced dead.

Authorities have not yet confirmed the official cause of death, but initial reports strongly indicate it was the result of a stabbing.

⚖️ THE CASE THAT SHOOK A NATION

Junior was mistaken for a rival gang member and savagely attacked by multiple men with knives and a machete outside a Bronx bodega — a moment captured on video that sent shockwaves across the country and birthed the viral hashtag #JusticeForJunior.

Martinez-Estrella was sentenced in 2019 to life without parole after being convicted of first-degree murder. However, in a shocking legal twist, his conviction was overturned in 2023, when an appeals court ruled prosecutors failed to prove the element of “torture” required for the top charge.

He was resentenced this past May 2025 to 25 years to life for second-degree murder, conspiracy, and gang assault.

The internet erupted within hours of the news. Some called it karma, others referred to it as street justice, while Junior’s name once again trended as people remembered the teen who dreamed of becoming an NYPD detective.

🕊️ REMEMBERING JUNIOR

Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz’s tragic death ignited conversations about gang violence, police response times, and the power of social media advocacy. Though time has passed, his memory remains deeply embedded in the hearts of many — and as this latest twist shows, the story continues to echo through New York’s prison walls and beyond.

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The city of Baltimore is known for the Ravens football team, unique accents of city natives and most notably, the early 2000s hit drama “The Wire.” But underneath all of the culture and delicious seafood, Baltimore’s reputation has been plagued with violent crime. Now, after generations of a high crime, there’s hope since the Black mayor has been working overtime towards change.

Mayor Brandon Scott’s hard work has been paying off, as 2025 marks another year with the city’s murder rate at a historic low. In fact, homicides are the lowest its been in 50 years. The city once named “Mobtown” is having a renaissance of sorts, and if you look back to 50 years ago, you’d never see it coming.

The majority Black city has dealt with violence since the 1970s, according to The Washington Post. In 1992, the city reported 333 killings, breaking its own record set the year before. This issue was only exacerbated with the 2015 death of Freddie Grey, a Black man killed by Baltimore police. News of his murder sparked nation-wide civil unrest, especially in Baltimore. The city reported 45 homicides in July of that year alone, according to The Baltimore Banner.

Despite crime remaining a pressing issue for residents, it’s crime television shows like “The Wire” and “Homicide” which brought Baltimore’s violent past to the forefront of Hollywood.

“The Wire–” starring Michael K. Williams and Idris Elba– follows detectives and gangsters as their paths in Baltimore’s meanest streets intersect, often ending in tragedy. The series is arguably one of the best from the early 2000s, but over the years, city natives have expressed the true damage it’s done to their home.

Sonja Sohn, who played police detective Kima Greggs in the show, said several city officials had beef with the show. “They really were not pleased with the depiction of Baltimore and some of them took the storylines personally,” Sohn told The Guardian in 2017.

The critically-acclaimed show never won an Emmy, but somehow, Baltimore’s bad reputation became cemented nation-wide because of it. “I think it has left a lasting negative stereotype about Baltimore City,” user @instantcoffee69 said on Reddit. “Baltimore has some bad aspects, but also vast array of amazing and unique aspects. But it’s been boiled down to ‘is just like the wire?'”

That’s why Baltimore’s historic change since the “The Wire” ended in 2008 is worth more than simple praise. “The City has seen a 23.6 percent drop in homicides and a 23.4 percent drop in non-fatal shootings” in 2025 alone, the mayor’s office reported.

Mayor Scott gives much of the credit to his administration’s Comprehensive Violence Prevention Plan. It includes a five-year strategy to make the city’s streets safer while expanding services for victims and anti-human trafficking efforts. According to Mayor Scott, this has been integral to establishing trust within the community and also investing in the youth, who is disproportionately tied to crime.

“Baltimore has seen one of the most significant drops in violent crime in the country,” Md. Gov. Wes Moore said on X. “We have more work to do, but the data is clear: Our approach to improving public safety is working.”

Mayor Scott championed this, saying his work isn’t over. “This is not a time for celebration. One death is one too many,” he declared. “We will continue to double down on evidence-based strategies, as we work to finally cure the disease of violence that has plagued our communities for far too long.”

U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic leader of the House of Representatives, made history on Thursday after delivering a nearly 9-hour speech on the House floor to delay the passing of President Donald Trump and the Republican Party’s “One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act.”

After standing for 8 hours and 44 minutes, the New York congressman broke the record for the longest House speech ever delivered in U.S. history, surpassing former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of California, who previously broke the record in 2021. During his speech, Jeffries condemned the megabill, which gives massive tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans and makes historic cuts to Medicaid and SNAP to pay for them.

Democrats and advocates have decried the legislation as a major transfer of wealth that will leave tens of millions of Americans without health care and food assistance amid sustained high costs of living. At worst, they said, people will die.

Jeffries slammed the big “ugly” bill as “corruption of steroids,” a “dereliction of duty,” and “mismanagement” of public funds.

The Brooklyn-bred Democrat turned to his roots growing up in the Black church to call out the hypocrisy of Republicans, who claim to put a high premium on their faith as part of their conservative values.

“I grew up in the Cornerstone Baptist Church,” said Jeffries, who quoted Matthew 25:35-40. “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me in.”

Connecting scripture to the role of government, he continued, “Maybe I needed Medicare or Medicaid or the Affordable Care Act…I was sick and you looked after me. I was in prison, and you came to visit me.” Referencing the Trump administration’s immigration detainments, he added, “We have a right, as members of Congress, to visit people who are detained. It’s not just in law, it’s right here in Matthew.”

“Our job is to stand up for the poor, the sick and the afflicted, the least, the lost and the left behind, the everyday American,” said Jeffries. “That’s what Matthew teaches us, and that’s not what’s happening in this one big, ugly bill. That’s not consistent with what my faith teaches me.”

Directly calling out his Republican colleagues, he added, “Some folks in this town, they go to church and they pray on Sunday, P-R-A-Y, and then they come to Congress and prey, P-R-E-Y, on the American people. I’m not down with that kind of faith!”

The Democratic leader also turned to the U.S. Constitution to shame Republicans and their blind loyalty to Trump, given that even Republicans who expressed opposition to the president’s bill voted for it. Jeffries said the framers created Congress for a distinct reason as a separate and equal branch to the presidency, in opposition to a monarchy. Democrats have argued that Republicans are allowing Trump, who has sought to expand the power of the presidency, bypassing Congress in the process, to govern like a king.

“I hope my Republican colleagues will come to the conclusion that we work for the American people. We don’t work for any president. We work with American presidents,” said Jeffries.

Recalling the conservative manifesto known as Project 2025, which Trump and Republicans distanced themselves from in the 2024 election, Jeffries said, “Every single part of the extremism that we’ve seen unleashed on the American people is connected to Project 2025.” He added, “After Project 2025 comes Project 2026.”

The Democratic congressman said American voters “will have an opportunity in this national nightmare as part of Project 2026,” suggesting the need to elect more Democrats to Congress.

“Imagine in America where everyone who works hard and plays by the rules can live the good life, and afford to live the good life, good-paying jobs, good housing, good health care, good education for your children, and a good retirement,” said Jeffries of the Democratic agenda.

Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright, who is a close advisor to Rep. Jeffries, praised the House leader’s marathon speech.

“Jeffries has been called to be the House Democratic Leader for such a time as this,” Seawright told theGrio. “I also think this is confirmation that in these unusual times, we can’t do business as usual.”

Seawright said Jeffries’ hours-long speech served to not just delay the Trump megabill but to “educate” Americans about the consequences of the bill, which will be signed into law by President Trump on Independence Day.

The Democratic strategist said Jeffries’ reference to the Bible and the Constitution to shame Republicans was also very intentional.

“It’s so important to highlight the hypocrisy that comes from the other side, because they tend to hide in patriotism, and much of their patriotism is baked in racism, and they tend to hide behind their faith when most of them do not live their faith,” Seawright told theGrio.

He also reflected on the ancestral and historic nature of Jeffries’ speech as the nation’s first African-American party leader.

“Every successful major social movement in the history of this country, arguably the history of this world, has had some key elements: the Black press, the Black church, Black constituency groups [and] Black men and women leading the charge on the front line,” said Seawright, adding “[Jeffries] embodies that.”

As Jeffries forges a path for “new leadership” within the Democratic Party in the Trump era, the Democratic insider predicted, “It’s going to not only change the United States of America, but it’s going to change the direction of the world.”

July 3, 2025

21

The glittering rise of Love Island USA contestant Cierra Ortega has come crashing down as fans abandon her en masse amid a growing racism scandal. In less than 48 hours, the 25-year-old influencer has hemorrhaged over 200,000 Instagram followers after a TikTok video and an old Instagram post resurfaced, both showing her casually using a racial slur against Asians.

At the peak of her reality TV stardom, Ortega seemed poised to cross the million-follower mark on Instagram. Now, she’s teetering at 726,000 and plummeting fast.

But what exactly happened, and why is social media calling for her immediate removal from the villa?

A Slur, Twice Posted, By Choice

The social media eruption began when a TikTok clip originally posted in June 2020 was dredged up by users who noticed its disturbing language. In the video, Cierra, then 20, is seen in a doctor’s office undergoing cosmetic procedures. The initial caption appears harmless enough, standard influencer fare about Botox and facial expressiveness.

But buried in the middle of her caption, Cierra wrote:

“I can also be a little chubby when I laugh or smile, so I love getting a mini brow lift to open up my eyes and get that snatched look. This is not me encouraging, but more so sharing.”
Then she added:
“My smile’s a little ch*nky.”

If that weren’t damning enough, internet sleuths uncovered a 2015 Instagram post in which Ortega once again used the same slur, captioning a selfie:

“Still ch*nkin’ at the top.”

The screenshots from both posts have gone viral, fueling fury across Twitter, TikTok, and Reddit. While some have attempted to excuse her words as “self-deprecating,” others argue that the use of a known racial slur twice over multiple years reveals more than just poor judgment.

Social Media Turns on Cierra

The backlash was immediate and merciless.

“Cierra racist, saying slurs, and overall a fake person. Please get her out of the villa immediately along with Austin, Ace and Zak,” tweeted one angry viewer.

“Cierra literally said a racial slur but no one gives a f**k and everyone is saying it’s not offensive. Racism towards Asians will never be taken seriously,” wrote another.

A growing contingent of Love Island USA fans are now calling for Ortega to receive the “Yulissa treatment”, a reference to fellow Season 7 contestant Yulissa Escobar, who was abruptly removed from the show after old podcast clips surfaced of her using a racial slur.

Escobar’s exit was swift and unceremonious. Narrator Iain Stirling briefly addressed her disappearance during Episode 2, saying only that she was “no longer in the villa.” No explanation. No segment. Just gone.

Now fans want the same for Cierra.

“If we kicked someone else out for using racial slurs, why should she be treated any different?” one user posted. “Her ass needs to get gone, I’m so serious.”

Preferential Treatment?

The scandal is also reigniting criticism of the show’s producers, who have been accused of showing favoritism toward Ortega throughout the season. Viewers have pointed to edited footage, unbalanced screen time, and favorable pairings that suggest a narrative bias in her favor.

“Last thing… Cierra posted this TikTok ON HER OWN FREE WILL on 6.14.20 using the same slur she did in the IG story,” said one user. “If the producers choose to ignore this, they’re rigging and for what? To defend a racist?”

The backlash has now spilled beyond Love Island USA fandom and into broader conversations about anti-Asian racism in media and the selective enforcement of consequences.

Instagram Freefall

Before the controversy erupted, Ortega was rapidly gaining followers thanks to her steamy villa flirtations and Instagram-perfect looks. At her peak, she boasted 921,000 followers. Now, she’s lost nearly a quarter of her fanbase and counting.

Tracking tools show her losing thousands per hour as #CierraOut and #DumpCierra trend across social platforms.

The Producers Stay Silent

Despite mounting calls for Ortega’s removal, Love Island USA producers have yet to issue a statement or take visible action. As of July 3, Cierra remains in the villa, smiling in slow-motion montages and enjoying curated dates while the internet burns.

If producers thought the storm would pass, they may have miscalculated. Because if the show can eject Yulissa Escobar for one slur, what happens now that Cierra has been exposed using the same one twice?

Is Cierra Leaving The Villa Over These Resurfaced Post?

In a post-#MeToo, post-#StopAsianHate reality TV landscape, audiences are less forgiving than ever. The demand is clear: equality in accountability.

Fans aren’t just asking for justice, they’re demanding it. And unless Love Island USA takes action, the show itself might suffer a loyalty loss of its own.

As one user put it best:

“I am so disgusted by the amount of people dismissing Cierra saying a literal slur against Asian people TWICE. Give her the Yulissa treatment immediately.”

The villa may be in paradise, but this scandal is anything but.

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NBA free agent Malik Beasley, who was playing for the Detroit Pistons, is under federal investigation after being accused of allegedly gambling in relation to NBA games, but after discovery of who he was in debt to is a fascinating story in itself.

According to The Detroit News, the guard, who is reportedly $8 million in debt, has been sued several times over the years, and you wouldn’t believe who filed suit and for how much. One creditor that stands out is a celebrity barbershop based in Milwaukee (He played for the Milwaukee Bucks before signing with the Pistons last year).

Beasley was in debt for $26,827 to Cairo Cuts. The shop took him to court and won the judgment against him earlier this year in January. I don’t know what’s worse, a barbershop allowing him to continue getting haircuts while his tab kept going up to over $25,000 or that he kept going there KNOWING he has yet to give them any cash for sitting in those chairs.

In the same month, Beasley was taken to court by a Minnesota dentist who stated that he had not been paid for services rendered to the basketball player. A default judgment of $34,390 was entered against Beasley. He made sure to show up to get those choppers fixed, or whatever he had done to his mouth. Yet, neither the teeth nor the player showed up to respond to the nonpayment, so the dentist, Hassan Alshehabi of Delicate Smiles, began garnishing Beasley’s paychecks from the Pistons in February.

Then, in March, that revolving court door saw him being sued for not paying his rent at The Stott, to the tune of $14,150. That suit was filed by Bedrock Detroit, which is coincidentally owned by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert. After the lawsuit was dismissed later that month, they swung that door again to bring him back for failing to pay $7,355 in rent. The next scheduled court date is later this month on July 15.

The above-mentioned amount is a drop in the bucket, as he has already lost millions in judgments against him in recent years. After taking out a $650,000 cash advance from Hazan Sports Management Group Inc., the company sued him for at least $2.25 million for alleged breach of contract.

He was also sued several years ago by South River Capital, LLC, for nearly $5.8 million. The debt isn’t fully paid, but records showed he did repay $1.13 million in 2023.

Seems like that gambling problem is due to Beasley owing money and trying to find a quick way to pay the money back, or he is gambling to try to get money to repay the debts he’s accumulated over the years. Either way, things aren’t looking particularly well for the basketball player.

For nearly two years, a nearly nonstop parade of allegations and revelations has ravaged and unraveled Sean “Diddy” Combs’ carefully cultivated reputation as an affable celebrity entrepreneur, A-list party host, Grammy-winning artist and music executive, brand ambassador and reality TV star.

It culminated in a verdict Wednesday that saw Combs acquitted of the most serious sex trafficking charges, though guilty of two lesser ones. The stratospheric heights of his previous life may be impossible to regain, but the question remains whether a partial conviction could mean a partial public rehabilitation, or if too much damage has been done.

“Combs managed to avoid becoming the next R. Kelly,” said Evan Nierman, CEO and president of crisis public relations firm Red Banyan, referring to the R&B superstar convicted of similar sex trafficking charges as those that Combs beat.

Combs, 55, has yet to be sentenced and faces the likelihood of prison time, but he no longer faces the prospect of spending most of the rest of his life behind bars. While the law allows for a prison sentence of up to 10 years, the lawyers in the case said in court filings that guidelines suggest a term that could be as short as 21 months or last more than five years.

“This is a very positive outcome overall for him. And it does give him an opportunity to try to rebuild his life,” Nierman said. “It won’t be the same, but at least he’s likely going to be out there in the world and able to move forward.”

Moving on from the jokes that ‘will haunt him forever’

The case had a broad reach across media that made Combs a punchline as much as a villain. Talk shows, “Saturday Night Live” and social media posters milked it for jokes about “freak-offs” and the voluminous amounts of baby oil he had for the sex marathons.

“There are definitely terms which have now become part of the popular lexicon that never existed pre-Diddy trial, including things like ‘freak-off,’” Nierman said. “The images that were painted in the trial and some of the evidence that was introduced is going to stick with him for a long time.”

Danny Deraney, who has worked in crisis communications for celebrities as CEO of Deraney Public Relations, agreed.

“The jokes will haunt him forever,” Deraney said.

Managing public narratives — something Combs has previously excelled at — will be essential. He could cast himself as a tough survivor who took on the feds and came out ahead, or as a contrite Christian seeking redemption, or both.

“It’s a powerful thing for the hip-hop mogul to go public and brag that he beat the rap and that the feds tried to come after him and they failed,” Nierman said. “I could definitely see him leaning into that.”

Nierman said the fight “now will become part of the Sean Combs mythology.”

Combs fell to his knees and prayed in the courtroom after he was acquitted Wednesday of sex trafficking and racketeering charges. The moment by all accounts was spontaneous but could also be read as the start of a revival narrative.

“No matter what you’re accused of, it’s what you do to redeem yourself on the way back,” Deraney said. “Is he redeemable? Those are still heavy charges he was guilty of. It’s tough to say; people have had these charges hanging over their heads and were able to move on.”

The long fall

Combs has been behind bars since his September arrest and will remain jailed while he awaits sentencing.

His long reputational fall began when his former longtime girlfriend and R&B singer Cassie, the criminal trial’s key witness, sued him in November 2023, alleging years of sexual and physical abuse. He settled the next day for $20 million, but the lawsuit set off a storm of similar allegations from other women and men. Most of the lawsuits are still pending.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie, born Casandra Ventura, has.

The revelation last year of a major federal sex trafficking investigation on the day of a bicoastal raid of Combs’ houses took the allegations to another level of seriousness and public knowledge. The later revelation that feds had seized 1,000 bottles of baby oil and other lubricant entered the popular culture immediately.

Fellow celebrities were called out for past Diddy associations — though no others were implicated in the criminal allegations.

The May 2024 leak of a video of Combs beating Cassie in a Los Angeles hotel hallway eight years earlier was arguably just as damaging, if not more, than the initial wave of allegations. It brought a rare public apology, in an earnestly presented Instagram video two days later.

Nierman called the video, shown at trial, “something people aren’t just going to forget.”

Shortly after Combs’ apology, New York City Mayor Eric Adams requested he return a key to the city he’d gotten at a ceremony in 2023. Howard University rescinded an honorary degree it had awarded him and ended a scholarship program in his name. He sold off his stake in Revolt, the media company he’d founded more than a decade earlier.

Combs is not about to get the key, or the degree, back. But he could pick up the pieces of his reputation to salvage something from it.

Deraney said it may require “some kind of come-to-Jesus moment where he owns up to it.”

“Really what it’s going to come down to is if he goes to prison, will it change him?” Deraney said. “Has he changed at all during this whole processes? I don’t know.”

PHOTO: Getty Images

The federal trial that’s had the entire music industry on edge has finally reached its conclusion — and it’s a mixed bag of justice.

After emotional and graphic testimony from Cassie Ventura and an anonymous accuser known as “Jane,” the jury found:

⚖️ NOT GUILTY:

of racketeering conspiracy — a charge tied to an alleged criminal enterprise run through Bad Boy Entertainment.

💔 GUILTY:

of transportation to engage in prostitution — prosecutors say Combs used his power to move Cassie and Jane across state lines for illicit sex acts.

🚫 NOT GUILTY:

of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion — the jury didn’t find enough evidence of violent manipulation in those claims.

So what does this really mean?

While Combs dodged the life-altering charges, he’s still facing federal felonies that carry weight.

👀 Noir Nation:

🗣️ Did the court get it right, or is this just the beginning of a deeper reckoning?

💬 Drop your reactions in the comments — and don’t hold back.

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It’s the end of a bloody, brutal, and bizarre era. After years of blowing minds (and occasionally heads) across Prime Video, The Boys has officially wrapped filming on its fifth and final season and emotions are running sky-high.

Erin Moriarty, who has played the beloved supe Annie January a.k.a. Starlight since season one, took to Instagram with a raw, unfiltered goodbye that left fans both weeping and howling.

“Honestly, fuck ‘don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened,’” Moriarty wrote. “The tears have begun. The posts are incoming. I said goodbye to most of my work family today and I’ll be ready to smile about it when I’m ready to smile about it. To my Boys fam: love you, cunts. forever.”

And just like that, the internet exploded.

Fans Mourn the End: “Starlight, You Will Always Be My Crush”

In a sea of tributes and fanfare, social media erupted in grief, gratitude, and of course, a few snarky send-offs.

“Oh Starlight you will always be my The Boys crush from day one,” one fan posted with a broken heart emoji.

“Wheeeww I’m not ready for this to end,” another wrote.

“And she really killed her role, too bad,” someone lamented.

But not everyone shared the same sentiment. One contrarian voice posted, “Thank god it’s coming to an end, Season 4 was dire,” reigniting the ever-divisive discourse around the show’s fourth installment.

Still, the overwhelming reaction was one of loss and love. One fan summed it up in five devastating words: “My family is ending noooooooooo.”

Kripke’s Final Word: “Thank You, I Love You All”

The series’ creator, Eric Kripke, confirmed the wrap on Tuesday with a nostalgic Instagram post from inside the now-iconic Seven meeting room.

“This is the last time I’ll ever be on this set. It’ll be torn down soon,” Kripke wrote. “It’s bittersweet, but my primary feeling is gratitude. We have the best cast, the best crew, the most fun story to write, and something that is impossible to predict: the right timing.”

The executive producer reflected on the rare alchemy that made The Boys such a phenomenon, before signing off with a message to his cast and fans alike.

“To #TheBoys family: thank you, I love you all. To the fans: thanks for watching, can’t wait for you to see the grand finale. That’s a wrap.”

His comments were quickly flooded by love from the show’s stars. Jack Quaid (Hughie Campbell) responded, “Love you dude. Thank you for literally everything.” Laz Alonso (Mother’s Milk) chimed in, “Couldn’t have been on this journey with anyone else. What a ride, Krip! I can finally say I experienced lightning in a bottle!” Moriarty added her own heartfelt “Love you. Thank you. x 1000.”

Jack Quaid Reflects: “This Show Has Done Everything For Me”

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Jack Quaid shared just how deeply the show and the role of Hughie has impacted his life.

“It’s just getting more and more surreal that I’m going to have to start saying goodbye to Hughie Campbell,” he said. “It’s emotional. It’s bittersweet. This show has done everything for me.”

Quaid described the final days on set as deeply emotional, but said he felt pride in the work they’d done. “I think it’s a great finale, which is a hard thing to do in TV,” he added. “I’m happy that Eric Kripke got to make the ending he intended.”

A Show That Always Knew Its Ending

Kripke has long hinted that season five would be the end of the road. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter in 2023, he confessed that five seasons felt “just right.”

“I don’t know why I like the number five so much,” he said. “It gives you enough time to get to know the characters. You can have your calm-before-the-storm moment, which is kind of what season four is for me.”

In the world of The Boys, “calm” still means exploding heads, Nazi clones, and moral rot baked into every supe’s smile. But the final season promises to be the climax Kripke has spent years building toward.

The End of The Boys Universe? Not Even Close

Although The Boys proper is ending, its legacy will be anything but over.

In 2023, the franchise expanded with Gen V, a Gen-Z-coded, blood-soaked spin-off set in a college for young supes. The series was a critical and streaming hit, proving there’s still plenty of juice in the Vought machine.

Now, Prime Video has announced Vought Rising, a gritty prequel centered around controversial supes Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) and Stormfront (Aya Cash). The series promises to dive into the dark origin stories that shaped the current Vought empire and fans can expect the same blend of biting satire, political horror, and comic-book carnage.

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More than a decade after toxic water poured from the taps and government trust went down the drain in Flint, Michigan, residents are finally seeing real progress. The state is set to announce that most of the city’s lead pipes have been replaced — over 10 years after the city’s water crisis sparked national outrage.

The Natural Resources Defense Council submitted a progress report Tuesday to federal court stating that 11,000 lead pipes across the city have been replaced, along with restoration work at more than 28,000 properties. It’s a major step forward — but for many, it raises a lingering question: how safe is safe enough? While the progress is deemed a “landmark milestone,” the council also warned that there is still “no safe level of lead exposure.”

And the experts agree. Children under six exposed to lead may have lowered IQ, learning and behavioral difficulties, slowed growth, hearing problems, and headaches. Adults aren’t safe either, as those exposed to lead can suffer from reproductive issues, hypertension, nerve disorders, memory problems and joint pain, per the Environmental Protection Agency. 

“Thanks to the persistence of the people of Flint and our partners, we are finally at the end of the lead pipe replacement project,” said Pastor Allen C. Overton of the Concerned Pastors for Social Action. “While this milestone is not all the justice our community deserves, it is a huge achievement.” 

“Flint residents never gave up fighting for safe drinking water in the face of government indifference, mistruths, and incompetence. I’ve been angry that officials poisoned the drinking water in my home and community. But I will always be proud that Flint inspired a federal rule requiring that every lead pipe in the country be replaced in the next decade. Flint changed America, for the better,” Melissa Mays of Water You Fighting For, stated.

Back in April 2014, the city of Flint changed its water source from Detroit’s system — which draws from Lake Huron — to the Flint River to save coin. Needless to say, that backfired. Residents raised concerns about the water’s funny smell and murky, foamy quality, leading officials to declare a State of Emergency two years later, in 2016.

The city residents — majority Black families, of course — slapped Flint with a massive lawsuit, which reached a landmark settlement in 2017. They were awarded $97 million for lead pipe replacement, faucet filters, bottled water distribution, and a sweeping water monitoring program — complete with an independent watchdog to keep the city in check — all at zero cost to residents, per NPR. 

So, yes…most of the lead pipes are gone, but damage has been done. What about the families? Nearly 100,000 Flint residents were exposed to lead through drinking water, per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while another study found that children with elevated lead levels in their blood nearly doubled.

The city of Flint has made an incredible leap forward, but the consequences of government failure still ripple through families. As the country moves to replace every lead pipe within the next decade, Flint represents both a hard-earned victory — and a haunting reminder of what should never happen again.