The Washington Blade reports: A transgender former journalist pulled off a surprise victory in a Virginia primary on Tuesday, winning the Democratic nomination to face off against anti-LGBT Del. Bob Marshall (R-Prince William) in the general election. Danica Roem, who was seeking the Democratic nomination to run for the 13th District seat in Virginia’s House of Delegates, beat out Steve …

Kyle Mantyla reports at Right Wing Watch: “Coach” Dave Daubenmire interviewed fellow right-wing activist Sheila Zilinsky on his “Pass The Salt Live” webcast this morning, where Zilinsky claimed that her prayers caused Hillary Clinton to have health problems and stated that California governor Jerry Brown “should be hanging from a rope.” Zilinsky lamented that “Christians are not being taught spiritual …

The Associated Press reports: A national meeting of Southern Baptists will consider condemning the political movement known as the “alt-right” amid an uproar over the denomination’s commitment to confronting prejudice. Leaders of the faith group initially refused to take up a proposal that they repudiate the political group that emerged dramatically during the U.S. presidential election, mixing racism, white nationalism …

The Washington Post reports: House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) addressed the House on Wednesday after the shooting at the Republican congressional baseball practice. “We are united in our shock, united in our anguish. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us,” Ryan said. He named the victims of the shootings, including two Capitol Police officers, …

“I have just been informed that the alleged shooter at the Republican baseball practice is someone who apparently volunteered on my presidential campaign. I am sickened by this despicable act. Let me be as clear as I can be. Violence of any kind is unacceptable in our society and I condemn this action in the strongest possible terms. Real change …

The Hill reports: A House Democrat scheduled to play in the Congressional Baseball Game said Wednesday the charity event will still happen despite this morning’s shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) and several others. Rep. Eric. Swalwell (D-Calif.) tweeted that the game will continue as scheduled on Thursday evening. “The #congressionalbaseballgame is on,” Swallwell tweeted. “We will play for charity, …

At 11:30AM Trump will issue a statement from the White House on this morning’s mass shooting in Alexandria, Virginia where Republican members of the House and Senate were practicing for an upcoming charity baseball game. Watch live below.

The Washington Post reports: The shooter at the GOP congressional baseball practice this morning is James T. Hodgkinson of Belleville, Ill., according to law enforcement officials. Hodgkinson, 66, owns a home inspection business. His home inspection license expired in November 2016 and was not renewed, state records show. Hodgkinson was charged in April 2006 with battery and aiding damage to …

The Associated Press reports: A deadly overnight fire raced through a 24-story apartment tower in London on Wednesday, killing at least six people and injuring 74 others, police said. Witnesses reported seeing residents throw babies and small children from high windows to people on the sidewalk in a desperate effort to save them from the flames. The inferno lit up …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump has “no intention” of firing special prosecutor Robert Mueller, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said late Tuesday night. “While the president has the right to, he has no intention to do so,” Sanders said when asked during a gaggle aboard Air Force One whether Trump will fire Mueller. Sanders’ remarks — which came after …

An early report from Fox News: House Majority Whip Steve Scalise was shot in the hip and at least one other aide was also hit in the chest by a gunman with a rifle who opened fire at a baseball practice in Virginia Wednesday morning, Fox News confirmed. Police tweeted they “believed” the gunman was in custody. Sen. Mike Lee …

The New York Times reports: Nearly 200 Democratic members of Congress are expected to file a federal lawsuit on Wednesday accusing President Trump of violating the Constitution by profiting from business dealings with foreign governments. The plaintiffs — believed to be the most members of Congress to ever sue a sitting president — contend that Mr. Trump has ignored a …

The BBC reports: A fire has broken out in a tower block in London with reports that people are trapped in their homes. The fire in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower in Latimer Road in White City broke out in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The fire brigade said on Twitter they were responding to a fire on the Lancaster …

AL.com reports: Several members of white nationalist groups dressed in Ku Klux Klan robes and other regalia staged a protest at a Sunday event in Florence described by organizers as Northwest Alabama’s first-ever LGBTQ pride parade. The relatively rare sight of people wearing KKK robes in public left many of the hundreds of LGBTQ folks and allies who attended the …

The Kansas City Star reports: In a live video posted to Facebook, a Missouri lawmaker cuts off the head of a chicken while announcing he wants to stop abortions in the state. State Rep. Mike Moon, an Ash Grove Republican, posted the video Monday afternoon. In it, he segues from saying that God entrusted humans to protect and care for …

The Detroit Free Press reports: A Livingston County man is heading to prison for slapping his teen daughter during an argument that she says arose after he and other members of the family tried to perform a forced exorcism. William Ellis Watt of Gregory was sentenced to one to 10 years in prison for third-offense domestic violence Friday for an …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump told Republican senators Tuesday that the House-passed health care bill is “mean” and urged them to craft a version that is “more generous,” congressional sources said. The president’s comments, at a White House lunch with 15 GOP senators, came as Senate Republican leaders’ attempts to write their own health care package have been …

The Guardian reports: The reality of working in a factory making clothes for Ivanka Trump’s label has been laid bare, with employees speaking of being paid so little they cannot live with their children, anti-union intimidation and women being offered a bonus if they don’t take time off while menstruating. The Guardian has spoken to more than a dozen workers …

The Los Angeles Times reports: Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions denied “stonewalling” in his testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee as Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) pressed him on his refusal to answer questions. Sessions declined to elaborate about his conversations with President Trump concerning the handling of the investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential election. But “I am not …

The Washington Post reports: Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s testimony has been marked by some heated moments, including tense debates over whether he is “stonewalling” the committee. And then came Sen. Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas. The first-term senator opened by suggesting Democrats on the committee were going down “rabbit trails,” invoked the novels of John le Carré and the James …