DJ Daniel sworn in as NYC Deputy Mayor!

This folks should bring tears to us all. This kid is a hero to this country, and someone we should all learn from. Mayor Eric Adams welcomed DJ Daniel, the 13-year-old cancer survivor who was honored by President Trump, to New York City on Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025. Devarjaye “DJ” Daniel of Houston, Texas, has already collected more than a thousand law-enforcement badges and netted his latest honorary title as the Big Apple’s top mayoral liaison on public safety at a touching City Hall ceremony.

“He has moved across the country doing what he loves, and you know in this city, public safety has always been this administration’s top priority,” Mayor Eric Adams said of DJ. “It has been DJ’s top priority as well,” Hizzoner said. DJ has bravely battled brain cancer since 2018 while traveling nationwide to fulfill his dreams of becoming a law-enforcement officer and raising awareness for the heroic job police carry out.

He’s been sworn into more than 1,300 police departments and was even appointed a Secret Service agent during Trump’s presidential speech to Congress in March. “Today we are proud to add one more role to his list of achievements, and that’s the deputy mayor of public safety for the city of New York,” Adams said of the young teen. The city’s deputy mayor is the point person in the mayor’s office for developing strategies and coordinating emergency responses involving local law-enforcement and other agencies. DJ was previously sworn in as NYPD commissioner in 2022 at age 10.

The child Tuesday received a proclamation and “NYC Deputy Mayor Public Safety” shirt just like the one officially worn by Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry. DJ, speaking at the City Hall event and decked out in his usual full police uniform, including a prop gun, for such events emphasized his father’s dedication to helping him live out his dream. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my daddy,” he said in reference to father Theodis, who was on hand. “My dad’s been driving me everywhere no matter how tired he is. He still gets the job done.”

Leading up to the swearing-in, which was also attended by NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch and Chief of the Department John Chell, Adams attempted to jokingly troll online observers. “BREAKING: Deputy Mayor Kaz Daughtry is stepping aside. Join me at 10:15am for more information,” Adams tweeted. The tweet led to a brief whirlwind of speculation that the Adams administration was facing down another departure after he suffered a mass exodus of deputy-mayor resignations earlier this year.

Daughtry cleared up the confusion. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not going I’ll be here for the next four years,” said Daughtry, whose boss is running for reelection. “But I will be stepping down just for a small bit today, and DJ Daniel will be taking my place as the deputy mayor for public safety.” DJ is expected to swing by various Big Apple landmarks while checking out different areas of the NYPD throughout Tuesday.

Tisch said in a social media post DJ visited the NYPD’s mounted unit and K9s as part of his day with New York’s Finest. “First a cop, and now our Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, DJ is working overtime to keep New Yorkers safe,” she said. He’ll also make an appearance at Yankee Stadium ahead of the Yanks’ matchup against the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night.

Abducted by aliens in Pascagoula in 1973 Calvin Parker has passed away Rest in Peace

Now the latest chronicle features what he's learned since he wrote the first book including accounts from other people who say they saw the abduction. (Photo source: Calvin Parker)(Photo source: Calvin Parker)

Cancer has claimed another good person as Calvin Parker is on the final voyage we all get to take only once. He's not without a great life and amazing story. The Pascagoula man known around the world for his tale of alien abduction, according to a friend of the family, Parker passed away August 24, 2023 after a long battle with kidney cancer. He was at home, surrounded by loved ones, including his wife, Waynette.

The night of Oct. 11, 1973, something happened on the banks of the Pascagoula River that Calvin Parker and Charles Hickson would spend the rest of their lives trying to explain.

It’s a story well-known to locals, that WLOX News has reported on numerous times over the years. Hickson and Parker both wrote books about it.

The two men were fishing near Ingalls Shipyard when they said they suddenly heard a piercing sound, and spotted a large UFO hovering behind them. There were three beings on board that carried the men on to the spaceship to examine them. After about 30 minutes, they were returned to the riverbank, and the UFO took off.

This is an illustration of what Calvin Parker and Charles Hickson described they saw the night of the alleged alien abduction.(WLOX)

Parker and Hickson tried to report what happened to officials at Keesler Air Force Base, but the military directed them to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators there had a cassette tape recording as the men talked about their alien encounter the night it happened. WLOX News shared excerpts from those tapes when they were rediscovered in the late 90s/early 2000s. 

After the mysterious abduction, Hickson and Parker both passed lie detector tests and were even questioned under hypnosis. Investigators are on record saying the pair’s story never wavered.

Despite that, they were ridiculed and doubted by many. That’s what kept Maria Blair from coming forward for 45 years. On that same October night, Blair was near the river waiting for her husband, Jerry, to leave on a boat to work off shore. Jerry fell asleep and Maria saw a strange, blue light streaking back and forth. She didn’t think much of it, until the next day when she heard about Parker and Hickson’s story.

“When she would talk about it I would tell her to shut up people are going to think you’re crazy,” said Jerry Blair.

In 2019, after seeing a media report about the abduction, Blair finally got the courage to come forward. She said her motivation was to give Calvin Parker and Charles Hickson’s story validation.

In 1973 Maria Blair and Calvin Parker were separated by a river. Now with a 45 year old secret washed under the bridge, Maria met Calvin face to face for the first time at the same spot on the Pascagoula River where the alleged abduction occurred.(WLOX)

That same year, the city of Pascagoula, the Jackson County Historical Society, and Main Street Pascagoula erected a historical marker at Lighthouse Park which describes the events of that night. Hickson died in 2011, and wouldn’t get to see the marker, which describes the encounter as America’s “best documented case of alien abduction.”

But Parker was there, and told WLOX News how much it meant to finally be recognized after years of being ridiculed. “It is emotional for me. I can’t really describe it because I would break out in tears if I do,” Parker said in 2019. “I wish when I died I could be buried right here underneath this plaque, that would explain it the best. It is quite an honor.”

In 2019, a historical marker was erected at Lighthouse Park in Pascagoula which describes Calvin Parker and Charles Hickson's alleged encounter with a UFO in 1973. It's described as America's "best documented case of alien abduction."(WLOX)