NATIONAL HEADLINES

Did you know you can get breaking newz as it happens?   We update breaking news on our Facebook page often during the day.  Always on.  Always free.  Always ad free.  LIKE US on Facebook to get breaking news as it happens. 

A Navy helicopter and a fighter jet, both conducting routine operations from the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier, went down in the South China Sea about 30 minutes apart Sunday, the U.S. Pacific Fleet said in a statement this morning.  Click here for the full story.

New images available Thursday appear to show the entire White House East Wing has been demolished to make way for President Donald Trump's $300 million ballroom.  White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the demolition as she faced questions from reporters at Thursday's briefing.  Click here for the full story, video, and photos!

Food banks are seeing a surge of demand across the country as the government shutdown weathers its fourth week – and military families are among those turning to public pantries to put food on the table.  The Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA), a nonprofit that provides support and assistance to military families, told ABC News that they've seen a 30%-75% jump in demand at its food banks near military bases since the shutdown began.  Click here for more on this story.

As we all know, torrential rains triggered flash flooding in central Texas on July 4th, killing more than 100 people, including dozens of children who were at summer camps along the Guadalupe River. The river rose more than 20 feet in less than two hours. People are still missing.  As search and rescue continues, charities are on the ground providing aid. You can help by clicking HERE or using the form below.  The need is still great and so is the caring.  Your help is still needed.

Click here to read about how a person has been arrested after driving his car into a security gate near the White House on Tuesday night, the U.S. Secret Service said.

It happened at about 10:37 p.m. at a security gate at 17th and E streets southwest of the White House, the Secret Service said in a statement.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a nonprofit chartered by Congress to further the historic preservation policy in the U.S., has written a letter urging the Trump administration to pause the demolition of the East Wing of the White House until a review of President Trump's ballroom plans is completed.  The letter, sent Tuesday and addressed to the National Capital Planning Commission, National Park Service and Commission of Fine Arts, voices concern about the size of the ballroom annex.  Click here for more on this story.  

 Federal officials found what they have described as a "suspicious stand" near an area of Palm Beach International Airport used by Air Force One when President Trump travels to Florida, FBI Director Kash Patel said Sunday in a social media post. 

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on Wednesday issued a sweeping emergency order directing all federal agencies to immediately patch critical vulnerabilities in certain devices and software made by F5, a technology vendor, after confirming a nation-state cyber actor gained unauthorized access to F5's source code.   CISA — a part of the Department of Homeland Security that manages risks to the U.S.'s cyber and physical infrastructure — issued Emergency Directive 26-01 following the company's disclosure that a foreign threat actor had maintained long-term, persistent access to its internal development and engineering environments using source code.