Blog

Junk Food Bans For SNAP Users In Some States Starting 2026: What To Know

Americans using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to purchase groceries may need to adjust their shopping habits in 2026 as some states will prohibit the use of SNAP funds to purchase certain “junk foods.”

Also starting next year, states will have to shoulder a larger portion of the cost of running the program. In addition, states could lose funds if their payment error rate is too high.

Here is what to know about the overhaul of America’s largest nutrition program.

Restrictions on Purchases in Some States

Eighteen states will restrict the purchase of certain foods lacking in nutritional value next year. The changes are being made under the banner of the Make America Healthy Again initiative launched by the Department of Health and Human Services. To institute the changes, the states had to submit and have approved a waiver of federal rules from the Department of Agriculture, which oversees the nutrition program.

The starting dates for the restrictions and the foods prohibited vary by state.

Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah, and West Virginia will implement purchase restrictions on Jan. 1, 2026. Idaho, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Colorado, Texas, Virginia, and Florida have starting dates from February to April. Arkansas, Tennessee, Hawaii, South Carolina, North Dakota, and Missouri will begin their bans between July and October.

Most of these states have removed candy, soda, and energy drinks from the list of SNAP-eligible items.

In Tennessee and Iowa, SNAP beneficiaries cannot use the funds to purchase processed foods. Tennessee defines a processed food as one that has been changed in any way from its natural state.

Prepared desserts, such as cakes and cookies, are restricted in Florida and Missouri.

In Iowa, foods that are prepared for consumption or come with eating utensils may not be purchased with SNAP funds. Cold, unpackaged foods without utensils, such as bread, fruit, or canned goods, are still permitted.

Keep reading

No criminal charges for Hawaii Island police officer in the death of K-9 police dog

There will be no criminal charges filed against Hawaii Police Department Officer Sidra Brown, the handler of K-9 Archer, the narcotics detection dog that died Sept. 4 after being left unattended in a police vehicle in Kona.

Archer was a 6-year-old narcotics detection dog.

The Dept. of the Attorney General said, “After careful consideration of the evidence associated with this case, examination of the scene, and possible applicable law, our office has declined to prosecute this matter due to insufficient evidence of a crime.”

Hawaii has both misdemeanor and felony charges for animal cruelty. First- degree animal cruelty is a Class C felony punishable by five years imprisonment.

Officer Brown was reassigned to another position while the police department continues its own administrative investigation.

The police department told the paper that it will now have heat detectors in patrol cars with K-9’s as well as collars that will be connected to the officer’s cellphone to monitor the dogs’ health at all times.

Warnings from the collar would be sent to its handler if it’s in distress.

Keep reading

Politico Claims That The ‘Far-Right’ Has “Stolen” Christmas By Daring To Call It Christian

A Christmas Eve screed from Politico has ignited online mockery, with the outlet claiming ‘far-right’ leaders are weaponizing the holiday by emphasizing its Christian origins amid secular pressures and immigration debates.

The article spotlights Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and others for framing Christmas as a “marker of Christian civilization” being under threat. It accuses far-right parties in Italy, France, Spain, and Germany of repurposing seasonal cheer into a culture war tool, positioning themselves against a “hostile, secular left.”

Roberts highlights Meloni’s defense of traditions, quoting her past remarks: “How can my culture offend you?” in reference to nativity scenes in public spaces. The piece notes Brothers of Italy’s lavish Christmas festival, complete with Santa and ice-skating, as a “spectacle” to rally supporters.

So called ‘experts’ like University of Surrey professor Daniele Albertazzi are cited, explaining how post-2010 Islamic terror attacks shifted the radical right to embrace “cultural Christianity” as an identity marker against perceived threats.

The piece notes how in Germany, the AfD warns of Christmas markets losing their “German character,” while in Italy, right-wing figures attack schools for scrubbing religious references from songs. Brothers of Italy MP Marta Schifone is quoted: “For us, traditions represent our roots, who we are, who we have been, and the history that made us what we are today. Those roots must be celebrated and absolutely defended.”

Politico claims those on the right are not really religious, but use Christianity as “civilizational shorthand” to draw boundaries, framing it as manipulative, while glossing over leftist efforts to neuter Christmas with “holiday season” jargon for “inclusivity.”

Online, the backlash was swift and savage, with users dismantling the premise that acknowledging Christmas’s Christian roots is some radical act.

Keep reading

China Deploys Humanoid AI Robots to Guard Border

China is dispatching a new kind of recruit to its bustling border with Vietnam: humanoid robots. The UBTECH Walker S2 machines will patrol the Fangchenggang crossing in a high-stakes trial of AI technology.

The above video from UBTECH shows hundreds of these bipedal bots marching in formation, “staring” out at the world with two eye-sized cameras mounted over digital displays. Sophisticated sensors and software help them balance and navigate crowded spaces, and the droids also autonomously swap their own batteries to minimize downtime. At the end of the video, the bots file into multiple Chinese shipping containers and give a salute.

Border officials claim the robots’ roles will be diverse, from guiding passenger lines to checking cargo IDs and seals. The deployment is part of China’s national strategy to lead the global robotics race; footage released earlier this month shows a different model of android soldier deployed near the country’s border with India.

Keep reading

Ilhan Omar’s hubby’s $30M firm quietly scrubs names from website – as ‘Squad’ member faces mounting questions on sudden wealth amid Minnesota welfare fraud

Embattled Rep. Ilhan Omar’s husband’s venture capital firm quietly scrubbed key officer details — including former Obama officials — as scrutiny grows over the family’s skyrocketing wealth, The Post has learned.

Omar (D-MN) went from nearly broke to being worth up to $30 million in just a year — as a massive, up to $9 billion fraud scheme involving the Somali community in her district unfolded right under her nose in Minnesota.

Close to 90 people have been charged so far, including at least three with direct ties to the lefty Squad member, though she has not been charged.

It was Somalia-born Omar — who was seen in a resurfaced video last month dishing out food in a restaurant now at the heart of the scandal — who introduced the legislation critics say paved the way for what the feds have called the largest fraud of the pandemic.

The Jimmy Choo wearing socialist introduced the MEALS Act in Congress in 2020, relaxing oversight of government sponsored children’s meals programs during the pandemic, which critics say allowed fraudsters to claim they served millions of meals without verification, while pocketing millions of dollars in government subsidies.

Shortly after the scheme played out, Omar’s husband, political consultant Tim Mynett, launched Rose Lake Capital in 2022, a venture capital management firm.

Keep reading

Front Companies? Bombshell Report Exposes Network Of Somali-Linked “Empty” Daycares Across Minnesota

Left-wing Governor Tim Walz, under intensifying federal pressure, faces a widening Somali-linked fraud scandal in Minnesota. Federal prosecutors state that the scheme currently totals at least $9 billion, with the final figure potentially much higher. Recent reporting by Ryan Thorpe and Christopher F. Rufo alleges that some welfare funds were funneled into an overseas terrorist organization. Now, a bombshell video from a citizen journalist suggests the fraud extends beyond Medicaid into the state’s daycare system.

A 42-minute bombshell video by journalist Nick Shirley and a local private investigator documents an on-the-ground investigation in Minneapolis that alleges massive, ongoing fraud in government-funded social services. The main focus is on Somali-owned businesses in child daycare, adult/autism care, home healthcare, and non-emergency medical transportation programs that draw from the taxpayer-funded Child Care Assistance Program.

Shirley claims his team uncovered more than $110 million in questionable payments to Somali-owned businesses on just the first day of their investigation, as part of a broader welfare fraud scandal totaling upwards of $9 billion.

Shirley and the investigator visited several childcare facilities that had no visible children, toys, or activities during peak hours. Staff could not answer basic questions about rates or licenses. Both were denied entry to the reception areas of these facilities:

  • Quality Learing Center: Licensed for 99 children; received $4 million over two years. Sign misspells “learning” as “learing”; no children visible, doors locked, no playground.
  • Future Leaders Early Learning Center: Licensed for 90 children; received $6.67 million over two years. Facility empty; staff evasive when asked about child numbers.
  • Mako Child Care and Mini Child Care Center (combined): Licensed for 120 children; received $1.3M (2020), $987K (2021), $714K (2022), $1.6M (2025). No children observed.
  • ABC Learning Center: Licensed for 40 children; nearly $3 million over three years. Blacked-out windows, no activity.
  • Sweet Angel Child Care: Licensed for 74 children; $1.26 million in 2025 alone.

Millions of taxpayer dollars went to one daycare company that could not even spell “learning” correctly…

Keep reading

NYC teachers discover teens can’t read clocks after school cellphone ban

Time got away from them!

New York City teachers have found that scores of teenagers can’t read traditional clocks after a cellphone ban in schools statewide — because students figured the skill would be useless in the digital era, according to a report.

“The constant refrain is ‘Miss, what time is it?’” said Madi Mornhinweg, who teaches high school English in Manhattan.

“It’s a source of frustration because everyone wants to know how many minutes are left in class,” she told Gothamist. “It finally got to the point where I started saying, ‘Where’s the big hand and where’s the little hand?’”

Many tech-minded teens have no clue what time it is during the course of the school day because classrooms generally only have analog clocks on the walls, teachers told the outlet.

Keep reading

Fani Willis Hit With Explosive New Allegations Tied to MASSIVE Democrat Money Laundering Scheme

Fani Willis has more legal woes!

Evidence shows that Willis is involved with Massive Money Laundering!

On November 29,2025 Fox news published an article in which they stated “Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, an elected Democrat, is a disgrace to her office and the legal profession. She tried to bring down President Trump with a politically motivated indictment, but her vendetta came crashing to a pitiful end.”

This article was spot on.

Fani Willis had several serious ethical issues. As the aforementioned article points out: “Willis hired her secret (and married) boyfriend Nathan Wade, who had never tried a felony case.

He had been a lawyer in private practice and a municipal court judge. Somehow, he found his way onto Willis’ team, raking in $250 an hour from Fulton County taxpayers. He billed eight-hour days constantly, and he even billed 24 hours on one occasion. He wound up taking home almost $700,000.”

She does indeed deserve to be prosecuted for her moral and prosecutorial misconduct.

She also deserves to be prosecuted for her role in money laundering! 

Investigative Reporter Bob Cushman of The Freedom Press has just uncovered Fani Willis’s involvement with Massive Money Laundering.

Keep reading

New York Legalizes Doctors Prescribing Death

ew York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced in an op-ed last week that she will sign a bill legalizing medical assisted suicide for adults with a terminal illness.

Hochul says she is passing the Medical Aid in Dying Act due to the “genuine and deeply held belief that government must respect the rights and will of the people it serves.” To qualify, an adult must be “mentally competent” and have a “prognosis of six months or less to live,” the bill states.

The bill also makes it clear that anyone who makes the request for medical assisted suicide must not be considered “suicidal” and taking medication to intentionally end one’s life should not be considered a “suicide.”

This move lets New York join the club of 12 states and the District of Columbia that preach suicide as a form of “medical aid in dying.”

Although the act will allow “individual doctors and religiously affiliated health facilities” to decline offering suicide as a form of treatment to those who are suicidal, doctors must “promptly” transfer requesting clients to a health care provider who is “willing to permit the prescribing, dispensing, ordering or self-administering” of suicide medication.

“I heard stories of a parent or spouse pleading for an end to the suffering,” Hochul, whose own mom died from ALS, writes. “I am all too familiar with the pain of seeing someone you love suffer and feeling powerless to stop it.”

I have never had any form of terminal illness, but I watched my mom fight cancer for five years and die. It’s no easy thing to watch and I can conclude it’s even harder to fight. Yet, that doesn’t mean we should let our government allow the terminally ill to kill themselves as a form of so-called “healthcare.”

Keep reading

Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Government Allocates 2.3 Million Euros to Finance the «Digital Transformation» of the Cuban Regime

The Government of Spain, led by the socialist Pedro Sánchez, has approved an allocation of 2.3 million euros to finance the so-called «digital transformation» of public administration in Cuba.

This initiative is part of the «Cuba Digital» project, a program funded by the European Union with a total of 3 million euros, managed through the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIAPP), an entity dependent on the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The stated objective is to digitize governmental procedures, improve administrative efficiency, and promote economic modernization on the Caribbean island.

However, it is clear that the Cuban communist regime argue that this investment does not benefit the people, but rather strengthens the repressive capabilities of Miguel Díaz-Canel’s government.

According to reports, the funds are allocated to update computer systems that include census tools, population control, and digital surveillance, key elements for maintaining authoritarian control over the citizenry.

In a context where Cuba faces serious problems of connectivity and internet access for its inhabitants—with frequent outages and state censorship—this European «aid» seems to prioritize state infrastructure over the real needs of the population, which suffers economic shortages and limitations on freedom of expression.

The decision is framed within a historical relationship between the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) and the Cuban regime, which has included debt condonations and bilateral cooperations.

Recently, Spain activated a debt conversion program for up to 375 million euros, intended for «sustainable development» projects in Cuba, although critics see it as a financial lifeline for Castroism amid its economic crisis.

We had previously reported it in Gateway Hispanic, highlighting how Sánchez ignores national priorities while supporting the Cuban regime.

Keep reading