David Cameron’s Conservative Party has won an overall majority in the UK General Election. Labour Party leader Ed Miliband has resigned after a crushing defeat, with Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg and UKIP’s Nigel Farage also stepping down.

Addressing the nation on Friday afternoon, Cameron confirmed the Tories would form a Conservative majority government.

Cameron, who had just returned from a meeting with the Queen at Buckingham Palace, said Britain “is on the brink of something special.”

He acknowledged Britain needs work, particularly with respect to the cost of living crisis and housing crisis, and said these issues are very much on the Conservatives’ radar.

While the party made gains at the expense of the Liberal Democrats, Labour failed to capture target seats from the Conservatives in England.

In one case, quite the opposite occurred with Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls being turfed out of his Morley and Outwood seat by Tory Andrea Jenkyns.

Thanking his supporters in Doncaster North, Miliband said it had been a “disappointing and difficult night.” He admitted a “surge of nationalism overwhelmed our party” and that he was “deeply sorry for what happened” to his Labour colleagues who lost their seats to the SNP.

The next government will face a “difficult task of keeping our country together,” he added.

Cameron’s current coalition partner, the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats, have been utterly decimated.

While Clegg held his seat by an extremely tight margin, every other Liberal Democrat cabinet minister was eliminated. In astonishing scenes, Business Secretary Vince Cable, Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander, former party leader Charles Kennedy, Energy Secretary Ed Davey and Deputy Leader Simon Hughes were among leading party ministers to lose their seats.

As a result, Clegg has formally resigned as leader.

As the dust settles following what has been an extraordinarily tenuous campaign race, David Cameron is set to remain as Prime Minister.

By far the biggest story of election night, however, is the SNP surge. Former SNP leader Alex Salmond, who won his Gordon constituency, claimed “the Scottish lion has roared across the country this morning.”

While party leader and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon cautioned a second independence referendum is not guaranteed by the result, the future of the United Kingdom remains increasingly in doubt.

Other highlights of the night include a win for London Mayor Boris Johnson in Uxbridge and Ruslip South. Green Party leader Natalie Bennett failed to secure her central London seat, but pushed her Liberal Democrat rival into fourth place. Douglas Carswell was returned to office as UKIP’s first MP to win a seat in a general election.

With moments of memory or military pomp, Europe is marking 70 years since defeating the Nazis in a war that changed the continent forever. The observations began overnight in Poland and will continue through the weekend.

“With this signature, the German people and armed forces are for better or worse delivered into the victor’s hands,” Alfred Jodl – a general in Adolf Hitler’s army until the dictator killed himself a week before – said after signing the Nazis’ surrender in 1945. “In this war, which has lasted more than five years, both have achieved and suffered more than perhaps any other people in the world.”

A previously unthinkable number of people died in Europe during World War II – 8 million Germans, 5.6 million Poles, 24 million Soviets, plus over 6 million European Jews – many of them at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators. The war killed 60 million in Europe and Asia, an estimated 45 million of them civilians.

Desert Hot Springs, California (May 7, 2015) – The City of Desert Hot Springs is pleased to announce the hiring of Police Chief Dale Mondary. City Manager Martín Magaña, with the full support of the City Council of the City of Desert Hot Springs, has selected Dale Mondary as its new Police Chief. Mondary will begin working with the City effective June 22, 2015, when he will work with current Interim Chief of Police Jeff Kirkpatrick for a one-week transition period before assuming the helm of the Police Department on June 29, 2015.

Mondary is currently a Captain with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, where he serves as the Commander of the Morongo Basin Station. In that role, he is the Chief of Police for the Town of Yucca Valley and the City of Twentynine Palms.

Chief Select Mondary is a 24 year member of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, where he moved through the ranks as a jail deputy, patrol deputy, detective, sergeant, lieutenant and current rank of Captain. Prior to his assignment as the Morongo Station Commander, he was the Commander over the County’s Court

Services Division, which included security in all 14 County Courthouses, as well as the Department’s Civil Enforcement Division, and a staff of over 200. During his career, he has served as the Executive Officer at Central Jail, the Morongo Station and the Bureau of Administration, where he assisted with the Department’s 550 Million-Dollar budget.

Mondary grew up in Jasonville, Indiana. After graduating from Shakamak High School, he joined the Army and served at Fort Riley, KS, as a Military Police Officer. He then served for nearly 10 years as a Police Officer for the Junction City, KS, Police Department.

Mondary has a Master’s Degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice and is a graduate of the 246th Session of the FBI National Academy. He has been actively involved in the Yucca Valley Community as a member of the Rotary Club, Footprints, Kiwanis, and the Yucca Valley High School Volleyball Booster Club. He has also served as a youth basketball and softball coach, as well as a volunteer umpire for Tri-Valley Little League.

Chief Mondary is a 21 year resident of Yucca Valley, where he lives with his wife of 31 years, Danette. They have three adult children.

Mondary said that accepting the position was a bittersweet decision. “I love the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and the opportunities they have given me, and working for John McMahon is the highlight of my career. I would have only left for the ideal opportunity, and Desert Hot Springs provides me that opportunity. I can be a Chief of Police, be actively involved in my new community, without having to uproot and relocate my family. I look forward to continuing to build the Department in the direction that Chief Kirkpatrick and Chief Maynard started. They will be a great resource for me and I am excited about the direction that City Manager Martín Magaña and the City Council are taking the City,” he stated.

It’s hard to believe that this is the 9th Stagecoach event, and that it has become one of the topmost country music festivals in the U.S. The event brings in the highest country stars along with stars from yesteryear and stars from a diverse type of music for all to enjoy. That is what makes this event so different from other festivals, the diversity of the music. Country, Blue Grass with fiddles, Harmonicas and accordions, Country rock and even some rock and pop performers. Music for all as stage areas was filled for some of the most well known stars.

They just announced the top female vocalist of the year, Miranda Lambert, stole the show with her songs, ‘Short Shorts’ and ‘Lace Nylons’. She showed why she was chosen as the entertainer of the year. Miranda was the headliner for Saturday, and she followed Justin Moore and Dierks Bentley that had the crowd wanting more. Friday night’s performers were Jake Owen, and Kip Moore followed by Headliner Tim McGraw. Sunday night had top names, The Band Perry and Sara Evans followed by headliner Blake Sheldon, well known for his judging on the Voice. All these acts were on the Mane Stage.

The other Palomino stage saw stars like Gregg Allman, Mickey Gilley, George Thorogood, Oakridge Boys, Eric Burdon, The Time Jumpers with Vince Gill, Merle Haggard and ZZ Top that had the whole area filled to overflowing with people. People were finding space to dance outside the Palomino stage. Mustang Stage saw so many performers from some of the alternative types of music and many newcomers that are making a name for themselves in music, Balsam Range, Hot Rize; Steve Earle and Devil Makes Three to name just a few.

There is so much more to do and see at Stagecoach. There is the Honkytonks where people can hear new musicians, and DJs perform where they can also dance. The vendors were so numerous with a variety of foods offered, Clothes to buy, Hats and cowboy gear, Tattoo’s parlors with the real and fake variety, a place to make a personal tee-shirt and much more. There were water stations, shade areas and charging stations for cell phones and hay bales for people to sit and rest. It’s no wonder tickets sell out so fast for this event.