Pentagon, California National Guard Deploying Aircraft and Personnel to Fight Raging LA Wildfires

Military aircraft and technology are being deployed to assist the California National Guard and state firefighters as Los Angeles wildfires continue to rage and thousands flee their homes, but the current smoke and wind conditions are hindering more significant military support, according to the Pentagon.

Ten Navy helicopters equipped with water delivery buckets were being sent to assist with the firefighting efforts, Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokesperson, told reporters Wednesday afternoon. Additionally, four military Modular Airborne Fire Fighting System units -- technology that can turn large C-130 Hercules airplanes into firefighting aircraft without major modifications -- can be used if needed.

LA has been gripped for days by the worst fires in the city's history, which have been made more intense by seasonal winds. The blazes have killed at least five people, destroyed thousands of structures and triggered evacuation orders for 180,000 people, according to The Associated Press.

Singh added that the Department of Defense couldn't immediately provide more assets due to the environmental conditions caused by the fires.

"We can surge assets, and the president has directed this department to bolster whatever California needs. But we have to work with California, and right now we can't even get assets up in the air because the fires are so bad and the winds are so bad," Singh said.

Mizzou Wrestling Hosts Stanford Sunday

COLUMBIA, Mo. | No. 21 University of Missouri wrestling continues its homestand, welcoming No. 15 Stanford to Columbia on Sunday, Jan. 12. The match will start at 2 p.m. CT inside Hearnes Center and can be streamed by fans on ESPN+. 

LAST TIME OUT 

• Mizzou welcomed No. 12 Cornell for Beauty and the Beast on Jan. 3, losing 26-12 inside Mizzou Arena. 
• Gage Walker started the team off with his first career fall at 6:14 of the 125-pound match. 
• Zeke Seltzer (149) and Jarrett Stoner (285) added decision wins for the Tigers. 
• Attendance reached 4,655 for the event, marking the fourth highest attended Beauty and the Beast in Mizzou history. 

VALUABLE VETERANS 

• Head coach Brian Smith announced that senior Rocky Elam, who has been combating multiple injuries, will not wrestle this season. 
• Additionally, classmate Keegan O'Toole has been battling an injury sustained earlier in the season and will miss the month of January to allow him to recover as much as possible. Smith remains optimistic O'Toole will be ready for the postseason. 
• Elam and O'Toole join senior Noah Surtin as missing starters from the 2024-25 lineup, as he announced his medical retirement on Dec. 13, 2024. 
• With their absence, the lineup is missing seniors who have totaled 234 wins and 133 bonus-point victories. 

Texas A&M Men's Golf Maichon Wins Clinching Match for Asia-Pacific at Bonallack Trophy

RAS AL-KHAIMAH, United Arab Emirates | Texas A&M men's golf star earned the clinching point at the Bonallack Trophy Friday as Team Asia-Pacific edged out Team Europe 16.5-15.5 at Al Hamra Golf Club.

With just two groups remaining on the course and the match tied 15-15, Vietnam's Nguyen An Minh and Estonian's Richard Teder conceded short putts on No. 18 to finish all-square and set up Maichon's shot at glory. The Aggie senior triumphed on the 17th green to earn the 2&1 win over England's Charlie Foster.

In addition to Friday's victory, Maichon earned a point Thursday, teaming with Zhou Ziqin to best Lev Grinberg and Richard Teder, 3&2. Maichon and Ziqin also earned a point on the opening day with a 2&1 triumph over Algot Kleen and Gunnlaugur Arni Sveinsson.

This season, Maichon gained acclaim with spots on the Golf Channel Preseason All-America Second Team and the Fred Haskins Award Preseason Watch List.

Lady Bulldogs Turner 3 Seals Big Comeback Win

When the ball left her hands, it looked good all the way. When it swished through the net as time expired Thursday night at Stegeman Coliseum, Trinity Turner was immediately mobbed by her celebrating Georgia women's basketball teammates.

This hasn't been the start to the season the Lady Bulldogs wanted — they're 9-8 overall and 1-2 in SEC play — but previous performances and results are forgotten in moments of pure joy. And this was about as pure as it gets: a game-winning 3-pointer from the left wing as time expired to pull off a come-from-behind win over Missouri, 74-72.

"It's amazing to be able to do that," said Turner, a 5-foot-6 freshman guard from Orlando. "My first time (hitting a game-winner at Georgia), and my teammates trusted me — so amazing."

Before that perfect 3, Turner had hit a bunch of floaters in the lane but missed her first eight 3-point attempts. But she made the one that mattered most.

"Like my teammates said, (the misses) don't matter as long as I made the last one," Turner said with a big smile.

And she did, capping a heck of a night: Turner finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. She also capped a heck of a rally for the Lady Bulldogs, who trailed 60-46 with 9:42 left in the game.

'TELL IT LIKE IT IS' FactCheck Partnership with Meta Is Ending

Meta is ending its partnership with U.S. fact-checking organizations, such as ours, but we’d like to reassure our readers: 'TELL IT LIKE IT IS' News isn’t going anywhere. Our journalists will continue to provide nonpartisan coverage of false and misleading political claims, helping you to sort fact from fiction, just as we have done for more than 25 years.

We publish in-depth reports on policy issues, whether that’s fact-checking a specific claim or providing information about an issue. Our SciCheck team focuses on health and science. We care deeply about accuracy, and we are transparent about our sources, our process, and our funding. We fact-check Democrats and Republicans, holding both sides to the same standards.

Since 2016, we have partnered with Meta to fact-check viral deceptions being widely spread on social media. Meta funding allowed us to enhance our coverage of such deceptions. But even before this partnership, fact-checking political misinformation spread on social media was part of our core mission of monitoring political discourse, whether in speeches, in ads, in interviews, or on Facebook. And we will continue to do that.

Under the Meta program, we provided links to our articles to Meta, which direct users to our work and reduce the distribution of falsehoods. Our work isn’t about censorship. We provide accurate information to help social media users navigate their news feeds. We did not, and could not, remove content. Any decisions to do that were Meta’s.

In the coming months, social media users in the U.S. won’t see referrals to our articles and those of other journalists in the fact-checking program on Meta’s platforms. Meta said it would implement a “community notes” model. You’ll have to do more work independently when you see questionable posts. But we’re here to provide tips and tools to guard against false and deceptive material.

Fact-checking is public service journalism, and we’re more convinced than ever that it’s needed in an increasingly busy and confusing political messaging landscape.

======

-- By James W. Thomas

© Copyright 2025 JWT Communications. All rights reserved. This article cannot be republished, rebroadcast, rewritten, or distributed without written permission.

Florida Voted D1Baseball’s Top Baseball Program of Last 10 Years

Kevin O'Sullivan's Gators advanced to Omaha six out of nine times from 2015-2024.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. | Florida received six of seven votes from the D1Baseball staff as college baseball's best program of the last 10 years while Head Coach Kevin O'Sullivan paced all skippers with three votes as the sport's top coach of the decade.

Celebrating 10 years of coverage after launching as a full-service college baseball site in 2015, D1Baseball unveiled its "best of the decade" on Wednesday. Included in the staff picks were votes for the best team, player, pitcher, coach, and program of the last 10 years. Florida ran away with the latter two categories, defeating Vanderbilt as the best program of the decade by a seven-to-one tally. Aaron Fitt, Kendall Rogers, and Mark Etheridge each selected O'Sullivan as the top head coach of the last 10 years, while no other skipper earned more than one vote.

Mississippi State Bulldogs Welcome No. 10/11 Sooners To Town

STARKVILLE | The Mississippi State Bulldogs will play their third straight game against a ranked opponent on Thursday as they welcome the No. 10/11 Oklahoma Sooners to town. The game is set to begin at 6:30 p.m. on SECN+.

GAME INFORMATION

Oklahoma Sooners (13-2, 1-1 SEC) vs Mississippi State Bulldogs (13-3, 0-2 SEC)

Date: Thursday, January 9, 6:30 p.m. CT

Location: Starkville, Miss. (Humphrey Coliseum)

Watch: SECN+

Listen: MSU Radio Network – Starkville 96.1

University of Texas Women’s Basketball’s Lee named USBWA National Freshman of the Week

Lee averaged 15 points per game in wins over Oklahoma and Arkansas.

INDIANAPOLIS | University of Texas women's basketball freshman Jordan Lee was named the Tamika Catchings National Freshman of the Week, the U.S. Basketball Writers Association announced on Tuesday.  

Lee connected on 4-of-5 from 3-point range and scored 17 to help Texas win against No. 9 Oklahoma. 

For the week, Lee made eight 3-pointers and shot 8-of-12 (66.7) from beyond the 3-point arc. For the season Lee is shooting 51.2 percent from 3-point range. In the Texas win against Arkansas, Lee connected on 4-of-7 from three. 

Lee has scored in double figures in five games this season, and over her last five games, Lee is shooting 13-of-20 (65 percent) from 3-point range. 

Lee is the second Texas freshman to earn the honor this season. Justice Carlton also earned USBWA National Freshman of the Week earlier. 

Lee and the Longhorns host No. 18 Alabama on Thursday, Jan. 9, at 7:00 p.m. CT at Moody Center. 

======

-- By Cierra Jacobs

© Copyright 2025 JWT Communications. All rights reserved. This article cannot be republished, rebroadcast, rewritten, or distributed without written permission.