Trump says he’s placing Washington police under federal control and deploying the National Guard

Trump says he’s placing Washington police under federal control and deploying the National Guard

By DAVID KLEPPER Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday he’s placing the Washington, D.C., police department under federal control and deploying the National Guard to make the nation’s capital safer.

Trump has promised new steps to tackle homelessness and crime in Washington, prompting the city’s mayor to voice concerns about the potential use of the National Guard to patrol the streets.

Ahead of a news conference, Trump said Monday on social media that the nation’s capital would be “LIBERATED today!” He said he would end the “days of ruthlessly killing, or hurting, innocent people.”

For Trump, the effort to take over public safety in Washington reflects a next step in his law enforcement agenda after his aggressive push to stop illegal border crossings. But the move involves at least 500 federal law enforcement officials, raising fundamental questions about how an increasingly emboldened federal government will interact with its state and local counterparts.

Combating crime

The president has used his social media and White House megaphones to message that his administration is tough on crime, yet his ability to shape policy might be limited outside of Washington, which has a unique status as a congressionally established federal district. Nor is it clear how his push would address the root causes of homelessness and crime.

About 500 federal law enforcement officers are being tasked with deploying throughout the nation’s capital as part of the Trump administration’s effort to combat crime, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Monday.

More than 100 FBI agents and about 40 agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are among federal law enforcement personnel being assigned to patrols in Washington, the person briefed on the plans said. The Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Marshals Service are also contributing officers.

The person was not authorized to publicly discuss personnel matters and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity. The Justice Department didn’t immediately have a comment Monday morning.

Focusing on homelessness

Trump in a Sunday social media post had emphasized the removal of Washington’s homeless population, though it was unclear where the thousands of people would go.

“The Homeless have to move out, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump wrote Sunday. “We will give you places to stay, but FAR from the Capital. The Criminals, you don’t have to move out. We’re going to put you in jail where you belong.”

Last week, the Republican president directed federal law enforcement agencies to increase their presence in Washington for seven days, with the option “to extend as needed.”

On Friday night, federal agencies including the Secret Service, the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service assigned more than 120 officers and agents to assist in Washington.

Trump said last week that he was considering ways for the federal government to seize control of Washington, asserting that crime was “ridiculous” and the city was “unsafe,” after the recent assault of a high-profile member of the Department of Government Efficiency.

The National Guard

Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, questioned the effectiveness of using the Guard to enforce city laws and said the federal government could be far more helpful by funding more prosecutors or filling the 15 vacancies on the D.C. Superior Court, some of which have been open for years.

Bowser cannot activate the National Guard herself, but she can submit a request to the Pentagon.

“I just think that’s not the most efficient use of our Guard,” she said Sunday on MSNBC’s “The Weekend,” acknowledging it is “the president’s call about how to deploy the Guard.”

Bowser was making her first public comments since Trump started posting about crime in Washington last week. She noted that violent crime in Washington has decreased since a rise in 2023. Trump’s weekend posts depicted the district as “one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the World.”

For Bowser, “Any comparison to a war-torn country is hyperbolic and false.”

Crime statistics

Police statistics show homicides, robberies and burglaries are down this year when compared with this time in 2024. Overall, violent crime is down 26% compared with this time a year ago.

Trump offered no details in Truth Social posts over the weekend about possible new actions to address crime levels he argues are dangerous for citizens, tourists and workers alike. The White House declined to offer additional details about Monday’s announcement.

The police department and the mayor’s office did not respond to questions about what Trump might do next.

The president criticized the district as full of “tents, squalor, filth, and Crime,” and he seems to have been set off by the attack on Edward Coristine, among the most visible figures of the bureaucracy-cutting effort known as DOGE. Police arrested two 15-year-olds in the attempted carjacking and said they were looking for others.

“This has to be the best run place in the country, not the worst run place in the country,” Trump said Wednesday.

He called Bowser “a good person who has tried, but she has been given many chances.”

Trump has repeatedly suggested that the rule of Washington could be returned to federal authorities. Doing so would require a repeal of the Home Rule Act of 1973 in Congress, a step Trump said lawyers are examining. It could face steep pushback.

Bowser acknowledged that the law allows the president to take more control over the city’s police, but only if certain conditions are met.

“None of those conditions exist in our city right now,” she said. “We are not experiencing a spike in crime. In fact, we’re watching our crime numbers go down.”

___

Associated Press writers Ashraf Khalil, Alanna Durkin Richer and Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.

Judge denies request to unseal transcripts from grand jury that indicted Ghislaine Maxwell

Judge denies request to unseal transcripts from grand jury that indicted Ghislaine Maxwell

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Transcripts of the secret grand jury testimony that led to the sex trafficking indictment of Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell won’t be released, a judge decided Monday.

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said in a written ruling that the government had suggested that the materials could be released publicly “casually or promiscuously,” which would risk “unraveling the foundations of secrecy upon which the grand jury is premised” and eroding confidence by persons called to testify before future grand juries,

“And it is no answer to argue that releasing the grand jury materials, because they are redundant of the evidence at Maxwell’s trial, would be innocuous. The same could be said for almost any grand jury testimony, by summary witnesses or others, given in support of charges that later proceeded to trial,” he added.

Federal prosecutors had asked to unseal the documents, in an effort to calm a whirlpool of suspicions about what the government knows about Epstein, a well-connected financier who died behind bars while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Maxwell, his socialite ex-girlfriend, was later convicted of helping him prey on underage girls.

It’s unclear how much the transcripts would have revealed since the Justice Department has acknowledged that they contained no testimony from witnesses who were not members of law enforcement.

Maxwell recently was interviewed by the Justice Department and was moved from a prison in Florida to a prison camp in Texas. Her attorney says she testified truthfully.

Prosecutors have said much of what was discussed behind the grand jury’s closed doors ultimately became public at Maxwell’s 2021 trial in 2021, in victims’ civil lawsuits or in public statements from victims and witnesses. The only grand jury witnesses were law enforcement officers.

The decision about the grand jury transcripts doesn’t affect thousands of other pages that the government possesses but has declined to release. The Justice Department has said much of the material was court-sealed to protect victims and little of it would have come out if Epstein had gone to trial.

Another federal judge still is weighing whether to release the transcripts from the grand jury testimony that led to Epstein’s indictment.

A federal judge in Florida declined to release grand jury documents from an investigation there in 2005 and 2007.

Some Epstein victims supported releasing the grand jury transcripts with some redactions. Other accusers said the debate over the material was causing them anguish.

Maxwell, who’s appealing her conviction, opposed unsealing the documents. Her lawyers said she hasn’t seen them but believed they were full of questionable statements that her defense had no opportunity to challenge.

The Epstein saga has again become a national flashpoint six years after authorities said the financier killed himself. The 66-year-old was facing federal sex trafficking charges involving dozens of teenage girls and young women, some as young as 14.

Epstein already had served jail time and registered as a sex offender after pleading guilty to Florida prostitution offenses in a 2008 deal that let him avoid federal charges at the time.

President Donald Trump later raised questions about Epstein’s death, and Trump allies stoked conspiracy theories that dark secrets were covered up to protect powerful people. Some of those allies got powerful positions in Trump’s Justice Department and promised to pull back the curtain on the Epstein investigation — but then announced this summer that nothing more would be released and that a long-rumored Epstein “client list” doesn’t exist.

The about-face only amplified the clamor for transparency. After trying unsuccessfully to change the subject and denigrating his own supporters for not moving on, the president told Attorney General Pam Bondi to ask courts to unseal the grand jury transcripts.

Meanwhile, the House Oversight Committee has subpoenaed the Justice Department for files in the case. The committee also issued subpoenas to conduct sworn questioning of former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and eight former top law enforcement officials.

Bill Clinton, a Democrat, was one of Epstein’s many famous former friends. So was Trump, a Republican. Both men have said they knew nothing of Epstein’s crimes until he was charged, and Epstein’s accusers have not alleged any wrongdoing by Trump or Clinton.

Judge denies request to unseal transcripts from grand jury that indicted Ghislaine Maxwell

Judge denies request to unseal transcripts from grand jury that indicted Ghislaine Maxwell

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Transcripts of the secret grand jury testimony that led to the sex trafficking indictment of Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell won’t be released, a judge decided Monday.

Judge Paul A. Engelmayer said in a written ruling that the government had suggested that the materials could be released publicly “casually or promiscuously,” which would risk “unraveling the foundations of secrecy upon which the grand jury is premised” and eroding confidence by persons called to testify before future grand juries,

“And it is no answer to argue that releasing the grand jury materials, because they are redundant of the evidence at Maxwell’s trial, would be innocuous. The same could be said for almost any grand jury testimony, by summary witnesses or others, given in support of charges that later proceeded to trial,” he added.

Federal prosecutors had asked to unseal the documents, in an effort to calm a whirlpool of suspicions about what the government knows about Epstein, a well-connected financier who died behind bars while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. Maxwell, his socialite ex-girlfriend, was later convicted of helping him prey on underage girls.

It’s unclear how much the transcripts would have revealed since the Justice Department has acknowledged that they contained no testimony from witnesses who were not members of law enforcement.

Maxwell recently was interviewed by the Justice Department and was moved from a prison in Florida to a prison camp in Texas. Her attorney says she testified truthfully.

Prosecutors have said much of what was discussed behind the grand jury’s closed doors ultimately became public at Maxwell’s 2021 trial in 2021, in victims’ civil lawsuits or in public statements from victims and witnesses. The only grand jury witnesses were law enforcement officers.

The decision about the grand jury transcripts doesn’t affect thousands of other pages that the government possesses but has declined to release. The Justice Department has said much of the material was court-sealed to protect victims and little of it would have come out if Epstein had gone to trial.

Another federal judge still is weighing whether to release the transcripts from the grand jury testimony that led to Epstein’s indictment.

A federal judge in Florida declined to release grand jury documents from an investigation there in 2005 and 2007.

Some Epstein victims supported releasing the grand jury transcripts with some redactions. Other accusers said the debate over the material was causing them anguish.

Maxwell, who’s appealing her conviction, opposed unsealing the documents. Her lawyers said she hasn’t seen them but believed they were full of questionable statements that her defense had no opportunity to challenge.

The Epstein saga has again become a national flashpoint six years after authorities said the financier killed himself. The 66-year-old was facing federal sex trafficking charges involving dozens of teenage girls and young women, some as young as 14.

Epstein already had served jail time and registered as a sex offender after pleading guilty to Florida prostitution offenses in a 2008 deal that let him avoid federal charges at the time.

President Donald Trump later raised questions about Epstein’s death, and Trump allies stoked conspiracy theories that dark secrets were covered up to protect powerful people. Some of those allies got powerful positions in Trump’s Justice Department and promised to pull back the curtain on the Epstein investigation — but then announced this summer that nothing more would be released and that a long-rumored Epstein “client list” doesn’t exist.

The about-face only amplified the clamor for transparency. After trying unsuccessfully to change the subject and denigrating his own supporters for not moving on, the president told Attorney General Pam Bondi to ask courts to unseal the grand jury transcripts.

Meanwhile, the House Oversight Committee has subpoenaed the Justice Department for files in the case. The committee also issued subpoenas to conduct sworn questioning of former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and eight former top law enforcement officials.

Bill Clinton, a Democrat, was one of Epstein’s many famous former friends. So was Trump, a Republican. Both men have said they knew nothing of Epstein’s crimes until he was charged, and Epstein’s accusers have not alleged any wrongdoing by Trump or Clinton.

Deconstructed Burger Bowls

Deconstructed Burger Bowls

This recipe is a great way to mix up your dinner menu with a healthy spin on a favorite classic. These burger bowls are great for prepping in advance and super easy to customize.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground beef or turkey
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/2 head of lettuce, chopped roughly
  • 1 tomato, diced
  • a few pickles
  • 1/2 red onion, diced
  • 1 tsp cooking oil
  • 1-2 russets potatoes, diced
  • condiments of your choice

Instructions

1. Cook the meat
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and cook meat thoroughly until it is browned. About halfway trough cooking, mix spices in a separate bowl and incorporate about 1/2 of the spice mixture into the meat.

2. Cook the potatoes
Dice potatoes and cook over medium-high heat for 10-15 minutes in a skillet.

3. Prep the veggies
Dice onion and tomato and roughly chop lettuce. Do the same for other toppings of your choice that require preparation.

4. Assemble bowls
Create your burger bowl, adding meat, potatoes and veggies to your preference, as well as condiments.

5. Serve it hot
Enjoy right away and store leftovers in separate containers in the fridge for easy repeat meals.

KIX Cares Supports The Salvation Army’s School Supply Giveaway

KIX Cares Supports The Salvation Army’s School Supply Giveaway

To assist students of all ages, The Salvation Army is providing backpacks filled with school supplies. The School Supply Giveaway is on Friday, August 15th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. (or until supply lasts) at The Salvation Army Community Center at 902 Wake Forest Road. This is a first-come, first-served event. Recipients must show proof of Wake County residency!

August 11th 2025

August 11th 2025

Thought of the Day

August 11th 2024
Photo by Getty Images

When you can think of yesterday without regret and of tomorrow without fear, then you are on the road to success.

Walden: N.C. economy still strong despite national slowdown

Walden: N.C. economy still strong despite national slowdown

RALEIGH, N.C. (WPTF) — While the national economy shows signs of slowing, North Carolina remains in good shape, according to N.C. State University Economist Emeritus Dr. Mike Walden.

Walden, the guest on this week’s Carolina Newsmakers, said tracking the effectiveness of tariffs is challenging and most economists did not expect the U.S. to be in its current position. He noted that President Donald Trump’s administration has taken a new approach to trade policy.

Trump on Thursday imposed higher import taxes on more than 60 countries and the European Union, with rates of 10% or higher. Products from the EU, Japan and South Korea are taxed at 15%, while imports from Taiwan, Vietnam and Bangladesh face 20% tariffs. Walden said the trade policies in place for the last 80 years no longer work in today’s global economy.

Walden acknowledged that tariffs are causing some economic pains and that Trump anticipates a period of adjustment as companies adapt to the new taxes. Businesses that import goods from other countries incur the tariffs directly, Walden said, leaving them to either absorb the cost, raise prices or accept lower returns.

So far, many companies are absorbing the added expense, but Walden said that will not continue indefinitely.

Despite the potential for short-term disruption, Walden said the tariffs are unlikely to push the U.S. into a recession in the immediate future. The White House believes the policy will provide clarity and spur new investment, helping restore the nation’s position as a manufacturing power.

Mike Walden is the guest on this week’s edition of Carolina Newsmakers, airing Sunday at 7 a.m. on WPTF and this weekend on many NCN stations.

Salvia: A colorful, hardy favorite for Carolina gardens

Salvia: A colorful, hardy favorite for Carolina gardens

By MIKE RALEY WPTF Weekend Gardener

Everyone should have some type of salvia in their landscape. Sage advice, I must say, if you like puns that is! Salvia also is known for its medicinal qualities for oral health, digestion problems and cognitive issues. I for one have never considered eating salvia. Sage is, of course, considered a culinary herb, so I suppose I have eaten some over the years.

There are over a thousand salvia species and just as many cultivars and hybrids. Just like several plants I have in my yard, salvia is part of the mint family. Most salvia flowers don’t have fragrance, however their foliage does. Salvia is also a pollinator favorite. Bees, butterflies and hummingbirds just love the taste of salvia. It thrives in full sun, but can also take partial shade. I think six to eight hours of sun works best. Some of the lighter colored varieties that might need a little afternoon shade in the summer.

Like just about every plant we enjoy here in North Carolina, salvia needs a well-drained soil. When planting, use some type of organic matter.

We often have drought conditions in North Carolina somewhere in the state each year. Salvia is a flower that adapts to these conditions once established. You should water salvia on a regular basis till established and during dry times.

Normally one would plant salvia after the average last frost in your area. In Raleigh that average date is April 15th. Break up the soil and dig the whole twice as wide as the rootball and about as deep. Add organic matter. Before placing the rootball in the hole, loosen the roots a bit and then plant with the top of the rootball level with the top of the soil surface. Fill in the soil mixed with organic matter and tamp down. It is always good to add 2 or 3 inches of mulch to the surface around the plant to protect the root system and preserve moisture.

I wouldn’t worry too much about fertilizing salvia if you’ve done your proper prep work, and normally I worry about everything. If you are overwhelmed with the urge to fertilize any plant, use a balanced, slow-release type.

Be cognizant of spent blooms in flowering plants. Salvia varieties will need some deadheading to encourage more blooms. Blooms give you more pleasure and then plants are more cost effective.

Summer pests might include aphids and spider mites. You may also experience some fungal disease problems especially with our summer humidity. The folks at NC State tell me salvia doesn’t seem to be a deer’s favorite food. However, Anne Clapp used to point out that when deer are hungry, they are likely to eat most any plant.

There are perennial and annual varieties of salvia. While most of these lovely plants we enjoy are not native to North Carolina, there are a few that are: Lyreleaf Sage, Azure Blue Sage and Nettleleaf Sage are among the varieties native to the “Tar Heel State”. However, salvia standards used by most of us in North Carolina include Salvia splendens, Salvia France’s, and Salvia leucantha. I love the Azure Blue and Scarlet Sage which are extraordinary red salvia and “Wolfpack” fans will dig the most. Many salvia varieties are native to places like the Mediterranean and Mexico.

We have spoken often on the “Weekend Gardener” about year round color in the landscape. Salvia will lend brilliant color to your yard from late April to the last frost of the year. And your favorite pollinators will thank you.

Republican Winsome Earle-Sears is on the defensive in Virginia’s race for governor

Republican Winsome Earle-Sears is on the defensive in Virginia’s race for governor

By OLIVIA DIAZ Associated Press/Report for America

HOPEWELL, Va. (AP) — Against an olive drab backdrop in a barbecue joint filled with the aroma of pulled pork and the sweat of a Virginia summer, Republican Winsome Earle-Sears told voters she was running her campaign for governor like a military-style operation.

The lieutenant governor, a former Marine, said she would protect Virginia just as she did America. The way the Earle-Sears tells it, not all attacks come from soldiers.

Earlier that day, she was asked on national television why Republican President Donald Trump had not endorsed her and whether she stood by her description of him as liability back in 2022, before his return to the Oval Office about two years later. She challenged the question as backward-looking and called the interview by CNN’s Manu Raju a trap. The interview quickly unraveled into a squabble.

“They ambushed me to talk about things that are so in the past, when we’ve got to move forward,” she told a crowd gathered at Saucy’s Sit-Down Bar.B.Q, a mainstay in Hopewell.

Her words in both settings, while cast in military terms, reflected a campaign on the defensive.

Underfunded and lacking unity

Earle-Sears, who faces Democrat Abigail Spanberger, a former congresswoman, in November, is taking her “Operation Defend & Deliver” campaign across the state. The off-year election all but guarantees that Virginia will have its first female governor in a race that offers an early sense of voter sentiment before the 2026 midterms.

An Earle-Sears victory also would make her the first Black woman to serve as a governor, according to the Center for American Women in Politics. But that feels like a distant prospect at the moment.

The nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project says Spanberger has raised more than $27 million so far, with more than $15 million on hand. Nearly every Democrat in Virginia politics has pledged to support her. When Democrats Ghazala Hashmi and Jay Jones won their respective primary races for lieutenant governor and attorney general, the three nominees went on a bus tour across Virginia.

Earle-Sears’ ticket lacks that kind of unity, though that is not entirely of her doing.

Once the Republican statewide nominees had solidified before the June primaries, GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin asked John Reid, the candidate for lieutenant governor, to leave the ticket after opposition research linked him to a social media account with sexually explicit photos. Reid denied the allegations and refused to step down, but a rally for the statewide ticket was canceled.

After that, the three top Republican candidates did not campaign together for months.

Earle-Sears’ campaign, meanwhile, has had its own challenges.

This summer, a pastor with little political experience stepped down from managing her campaign, and her team has failed to gain traction with big money donors. Attorney General Jason Miyares, seeking a second term, has raised nearly as much money, with roughly $2 million short of the lieutenant governor. He has more in the bank — nearly $7 million compared with almost $5 million for Earle-Sears.

One of her biggest donors, a political action committee tied to the Republican Governors Association, gave $500,000 to her campaign in June. But by this time in August 2021, the association had donated more than $2 million to Youngkin’s campaign.

Responding to written questions about the donations, a spokesperson for the association said: “Winsome Earle-Sears is the only candidate in this race who will keep Virginia on the right track forged by Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Under their leadership, parents’ rights have been protected, Virginia’s economy is growing, and communities are safe.”

Youngkin, who is term-limited, has offered more than $21,000 in support to Earle-Sears through his political action committee between March and June.

When asked in June whether he would give more, his PAC said the governor was “working to elect the entire GOP ticket and is urging all Virginians to support the commonsense team this November to keep Virginia winning.”

Tepid support from Trump

Republicans went into this election facing tough sledding in swing-state Virginia. Ever since Democrat Jimmy Carter won the White House in 1976, Virginia has backed a governor from the opposite party of a first-term president in the following year. Whatever the outcome in Virginia, 2025 is a special case, given the gap between Trump’s terms.

Trump stopped short of an outright endorsement when asked last weekend about supporting Earle-Sears.

“I mean, I would,” he said. “I think probably she’s got a tough race. … She shouldn’t have, because the candidate she’s running against is not very good, but I think she’s got a tough race. But I would.”

Many state Republicans are more forceful about standing behind their nominee.

At the Hopewell gathering, Republican Dels. Mike Cherry and Scott Wyatt, who are seeking reelection, urged voters to back the lieutenant governor. In a prayer, Cherry asked God to “imbue her with strength and stamina for the days that are to come in the final, waning days of this election.” Wyatt encouraged voters to help Earle-Sears continue the successes of Youngkin’s administration.

Then Earle-Sears walked onto the stage, smiling and cracking jokes. She described a political climate where Democrats and the media were hitting her with everything they’ve got. She predicted that she would show them come November.

“How many of you have seen or read about the polls, which say I am 10 points down?” she said. “Don’t believe it.”

Not that she doesn’t need more money to make that happen.

“Are we going to pass the offering bucket?” Earle-Sears said to a chuckling crowd. “OK, see, you’re laughing again, and I’m not laughing because that’s what it’s going to take for us to win.”

Jen Pawol breaks MLB’s gender barrier as the first female umpire to work a regular-season game

Jen Pawol breaks MLB’s gender barrier as the first female umpire to work a regular-season game

By CHARLES ODUM AP Sports Writer

ATLANTA (AP) — Jen Pawol felt love and support from fans, family, peers and players as she made history as the first female umpire to work a regular-season game in the major leagues.

“It was amazing when we took the field,” Pawol said. “It seemed like quite a few people were clapping and calling my name. That was pretty intense and emotional.”

Pawol’s much-anticipated debut came as the first base umpire for Saturday’s first game of a split doubleheader between the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins. It was a smooth debut.

“She did a good job,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “You can tell she knows what she does.”

Pawol said she had a group of about 30 friends and family members, including her father, at the game and she immediately identified a major difference of working in a major league stadium. Those familiar faces were not so easy to find at Truist Park.

“When I looked up they weren’t in the lower tier like in the minor leagues,” Pawol said. “When I looked up it took me a while. Whoa, they’re up there! I’ll never forget that. That was just awesome.

“The dream actually came true today. I’m still living in it. I’m so grateful to my family and Major League Baseball for creating such an incredible work environment. … I’m just so thankful.”

Pawol’s first real test came in the third inning of Atlanta’s 7-1 win when she called Braves catcher Sean Murphy safe on a close play. Marlins manager Clayton McCullough did not challenge the call.

Pawol also showed she will make animated calls. When Miami’s Xavier Edwards grounded into a double play in the third inning, Pawol pumped her fist and lifted her leg when she called Edwards out.

Pawol couldn’t help but notice her debut was being watched closely. Fans responded with a warm ovation when the video board focused on the umpire between innings, forcing her to take a quick glance at her image.

Pawol worked third base in the second game of the doubleheader. She will be in the spotlight when she calls pitches behind the plate in Sunday’s final game of the series. As a rover, she’ll then be waiting for her next assignment.

While she waits, the umpire cap she wore in her first game will be on the way to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

“This is one of the proudest moments in all my career,” crew chief Chris Guccione said. “I’ve been blessed with working playoffs, I’ve worked two World Series, All-Star games, and this is right up there. It gives me chills even thinking about it. And the magnitude, it just hit me just now the magnitude of this thing and how hard she’s worked.

“This is just a great role model for girls and women out there and I’m just so proud of her. This is a special moment. I’m so proud of her.”

There was much anticipation for her historic debut on Saturday. A crowd of photographers gathered while waiting for the umpires to walk onto the field from their entry ramp near the Marlins dugout.

McCullough and Braves bench coach Walt Weiss greeted Pawol when lineups were exchanged at home plate before the game. Pawol then jogged down the first base line. She shook hands with Marlins first base coach Tyler Smarslok before taking her position on the right field line for the first pitch.

Pawol said Thursday she was “overcome with emotion” when notified she would make her Major League Baseball debut this weekend.

Pawol, 48, has been working in the minor leagues since she was assigned to the Gulf Coast League in 2016. She was assigned the Triple-A championship game in 2023 and worked spring training games in 2024 and again this year.

“Anytime anybody grinds their way through the minor leagues, I don’t care who it is, that’s a tough thing,” Snitker said. “I’m happy for anybody who grinds it out.”

Asked if she is prepared for a confrontation with a manager upset about a call, including some known to kick dirt onto umpires, Pawol said it wouldn’t be the first time.

“More than dozens of times,” she said. “It doesn’t go very well for him. The night is usually over for him. It’s just part of the game.”

Pawol, who is from New Jersey, had only a few days to prepare for Saturday’s doubleheader. She said she was told of her long-awaited promotion during a Wednesday conference call with director of umpire development Rich Rieker and vice president of umpire operations Matt McKendry.

Pawol was a three-time all-conference softball selection pick at Hofstra. She worked as an NCAA softball umpire from 2010-16.

Pawol’s rise to make MLB history came 28 years after the NBA gender barrier for game officials was broken and 10 years after the NFL hired its first full-time female official. The men’s soccer World Cup first hired a female referee three years ago. The NHL has not had any women as on-ice officials.

Recent News

Powered By SoCast