Two entrepreneurs—a billionaire sports team owner and an investor known for his role on a business-themed reality TV show—are joining together in a last-ditch effort to buy TikTok. The popular social media app, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, faces a Jan. 19 deadline to either sell to a U.S.-based owner or face a potential ban.

Frank McCourt, former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team and current owner of French soccer club Olympique Marseille, is leading the bid through his nonprofit, Project Liberty.

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In announcing the effort, McCourt said Kevin O’Leary, the Canadian-born businessman known for his appearances as an investor on the TV show “Shark Tank,” is also a partner in the bid.

The law allows President Joe Biden to delay a decision to apply the ban by 90 days if a potential buyer could reasonably reach a deal with ByteDance.

O’Leary hopes this offer will meet that standard.

“I intend to be there with [a letter of intent] that [President] Biden can look at and say, ‘This is a viable alternative, I’m going to stay the situation for 90 days to let the company engage with this buyer,'” O’Leary told Fox News on Monday, Jan. 6.

The offer would build on McCourt’s ongoing efforts to decentralize the internet and operate the app without TikTok’s algorithm. The algorithm drives targeted content to viewers based on what they engage with the most.

In a statement Thursday, Jan. 9, announcing the bid, McCourt said, “By keeping the platform alive without relying on the current TikTok algorithm and avoiding a ban, millions of Americans can continue to enjoy the platform. We look forward to working with ByteDance, President-elect [Donald] Trump, and the incoming administration to get this deal done.”

Trump opposes the TikTok ban, which would take effect one day before he assumes office. The president-elect wrote to the Supreme Court, urging it to block the ban so he can take action on it. The court will hear arguments from TikTok and the Justice Department on Friday.

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Last April, Biden signed the law forcing TikTok to either sell to a U.S. owner or face a ban. The bill passed the House and Senate with wide support from both Democrats and Republicans. 

Advocates worry about the influence China’s ruling Communist Party could have on ByteDance and the 170 million Americans using TikTok. Meanwhile, critics of the ban say it would go against users’ First Amendment rights.

A Kentucky man is suing his local police department, claiming officers violated his First Amendment right to free speech and his Fourth Amendment right, which protects against unreasonable searches by the government.

According to the lawsuit, on the night of June 8, 2024, Brandon Rettig was sitting on the balcony of his girlfriend’s apartment when Newport police officers responded to an unrelated incident. Rettig said he could see the officers’ activity from his location.

Rettig claims he made a statement directed at the officers. “I initially said, ‘Go get ‘em boys,’” Rettig told WCPO News.

One officer, Ronald Lalumandier, allegedly responded by warning Rettig that if he continued, he would be taken to jail. The officer also reportedly told Rettig he had keys to the private apartment complex.

The lawsuit states that the officers appeared to be agitated by Rettig’s comments and decided to enter the building using a key card that Lalumandier had retained from his previous tenancy at the same apartment complex.

Officers approached Rettig’s girlfriend’s apartment and eventually made contact with him in the hallway outside the unit. Police body camera footage captured the exchange.

“Here’s the thing, we know it was you,” Officer Lalumandier said to Rettig.

“No you don’t,” Rettig replied.

“Do you want to make a bet? I can find out real quick,” Lalumandier said.

“There’s no cameras in here,” Rettig said.

“I used to live here, I know there is,” Lalumandier responded. “I lived here for two years, I know there’s cameras here.”

The officers then asked Rettig how much he had to drink, with one officer stating he could smell alcohol.

Officer Lalumandier informed Rettig that he was under arrest and placed him in handcuffs. The officers claimed Rettig was arrested for public intoxication, citing that the hallway was open to the public.

Rettig’s lawsuit asserts that the apartment hallway is private property and that Lalumandier had no lawful right to access the building or to arrest Rettig within the private confines of the complex.

Rettig’s attorney, Robert Thompson, stated that his client did not commit any crime.

“Speaking from a balcony isn’t a crime,” Thompson told WCPO News. “Drinking a beer in your living room isn’t a crime. And just because a cop was offended by some language doesn’t give them the power to arrest you.”

Rettig is seeking a jury trial, along with compensatory damages, nominal damages, attorney fees, costs, and punitive damages.

It is unclear when the case will be tried.

One Democrat and 120 Republicans introduced the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Jan. 8. The bill would allow anyone with a state-issued concealed carry license to conceal a handgun in any other state, and it would also allow residents in constitutional carry states to possess a firearm in other states.

“Our Second Amendment right does not disappear when we cross invisible state lines, and this commonsense legislation guarantees that,” Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., said in a statement. “The Constitutional Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act will protect law-abiding citizens’ rights to conceal carry and travel freely between states without worrying about conflicting state codes or onerous civil suits.”

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Lawmakers have introduced the bill several times since 2017. However, the bill has never been signed into law. While it will likely pass the House, it’s unlikely to get approved in the Senate, where it needs 60 votes. 

President-elect Donald Trump committed to signing a reciprocity law during the campaign.

“I will protect the right of self-defense everywhere it is under siege and I will sign concealed carry reciprocity,” Trump said in February 2023. “Your Second Amendment does not end at the state line.”

Gun rights groups celebrated the bill’s reintroduction. Gun Owners of America said if the bill is passed, it would be the greatest legislative victory for the gun rights movement in a century.

“[The] bill not only protects people that have permits from their own state to be able to carry in other states, there’s 29 permitless carry states, [the] bill also protects them to carry permitless carry around the country,” said Erich Pratt, Gun Owners of America senior vice president. “That is huge because that totally fits within the 2nd amendment, ‘shall not be infringed.'”

Gun control groups oppose the legislation. Every Town for Gun Safety said reciprocity would “gut” state standards.

“CCR would force each state to recognize the concealed carry standards from every other state, even those that have dramatically weaker standards—and those that don’t require any permit at all,” the organization stated.

For instance, some states require training to get a concealed carry permit, others do not. Not all training programs are the same, some are online, while others are in-person and involve firing the weapon.

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If the bill is approved, it would only apply to handguns. It explicitly states machine guns or other destructive devices are not included.

Ohio Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed 30 bills into law Wednesday, Jan. 8. One of those bills was legislation that requires schools to notify parents if their child’s gender identity does not align with their sex.

The new law also allows parents to opt their child out of instruction related to sexuality and gender. It further bans lessons on sexuality for students in kindergarten through third grade.

The legislation defines “sexuality content” as “any oral or written instruction, presentation, image or description of sexual concepts or gender ideology provided in a classroom setting.”

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The bill emphasizes that “a parent has a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing, education, and care of the parent’s child.”

“If you’re a parent, you want to be informed with what’s going on in your child’s life,” DeWine said. “The parents are the best teachers, they’re the first teachers, the best teachers.”

Critics of the bill have dubbed it the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, drawing comparisons to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, passed and signed into law in 2022.

LGBTQ+ advocates in Ohio warn this law could put transgender children in danger if they come from unsupportive families.

Equality Ohio Executive Director Dwayne Steward expressed his disappointment in a statement: “It’s deeply disappointing that Gov. DeWine has signed HB 8 when it was opposed by educators and the LGBTQ+ community alike because it punishes teachers and staff for supporting LGBTQ+ students who are already targets of bullying and harassment. We will continue to fight for an Ohio that makes all students feel safe and secure in their schools.”

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Civil rights advocates are planning to file a lawsuit, according to reports from WEWS News.

In addition to the gender identity provisions, the new law also mandates that public schools allow students to leave class for religious instruction.

President-elect Donald Trump has expressed his desire to stop the construction of new wind energy projects during his upcoming term. Speaking to reporters at Mar-a-Lago this week, Trump criticized wind energy. The president-elect described the wind energy industry as reliant on government subsidies and claimed it to be the most expensive form of energy production.

“We’re going to try and have a policy where no windmills are being built … they don’t work without subsidy, you don’t want energy that needs subsidy,” Trump said.

He added that windmills are “littered all over the country” and benefit only those profiting from the subsidies.

Trump previously indicated his intentions to take aim at this renewable energy sector in May. Back then, he pledged to end offshore wind production by executive order on his first day in office.

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However, these latest comments suggest the incoming administration may seek to halt all new wind energy developments, both onshore and offshore.

According to the Department of Energy (DOE), wind power is one of the fastest-growing and most cost-effective electricity sources in the country. To date, over 153 gigawatts of wind power capacity have been installed nationwide. Over two-thirds of that total is located in states won by Trump in the 2024 election.

The conflicting claims from Trump and the DOE over the cost of wind energy reflect broader challenges in comparing the total costs of renewable energy with traditional power sources.

Experts note that building a wind farm is often less expensive than constructing a gas-fired power plant to generate the same amount of electricity. However, wind energy can involve additional costs, such as long-distance transmission lines and backup energy sources, due to its intermittent nature. In contrast, gas plants can provide electricity on demand.

Meanwhile, the wind energy industry has also faced growing obstacles, including opposition from over 400 counties, delays in connecting projects to the grid and slowed installation rates.

While Trump cannot directly prevent wind farms from being built on private lands, he could phase out production tax credits, a key government subsidy for private wind projects.

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His administration will have influence over wind energy developments on federally owned lands and waters. However, companies holding existing leases would still have the legal right to be issued permits to proceed if they choose to move forward with their projects.

Outgoing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director PJ Lechleitner says President Joe Biden “absolutely” should have acted sooner to tighten restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border, NBC News reported. “The administration should’ve taken that action earlier,” Lechleitner said. “And I think the career people in DHS would’ve liked that. And I think all of us in DHS, quite frankly, I don’t know if anybody in DHS wouldn’t have wanted that earlier.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data shows more than 11 million migrants are known to have crossed the southern border during Biden’s time in office, including a record 302,034 encounters along the border in December 2023.

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It wasn’t until June 2024 that President Biden took action, signing an executive order, barring “migrants who cross the Southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum.”

Following Biden’s executive order, migrant crossings fell to 104,100 in July 2024, one month after the measure was implemented.

Lechleitner criticized the delay in Biden’s action, calling it “unfortunate,” because ICE could have done more if the president had acted sooner.

“We could’ve put more resources to it,” Lechleitner told NBC News. “Either at CBP and for the border itself and with ICE. We could’ve gone and got more of these individuals who are on the non-detained docket. And we could’ve detained more people, and we could’ve removed more people. And I think we could’ve used more resources and support, and we could’ve done that in the last, you know, four years.”

Lechleitner, who has been with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) since its inception in 2003, said the agency is chronically underfunded.

As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office, he has promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, focusing on those with criminal records. However, Lechleitner expressed doubts about the feasibility of those plans without additional funding and resources.

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“I wish the incoming administration well,” Lechleitner said. “But if the agency can’t find more funding and resources, the number of deportations won’t increase. It’ll be expensive and difficult.”

Lechleitner is set to leave his position in the coming week as the incoming Trump administration brings in its own ICE appointee.

Cameras appeared to show President-elect Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama having a heart-to-heart at the late President Jimmy Carter’s funeral, with moments that went back and forth between solemnity and laughter. Those who saw the exchange noticed and wanted to know what they were talking about.