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Lowry: Gag order on Donald Trump shameful

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:45 GMT

If you’ve always thought that federal judges ought to determine what presidential candidates can and can’t say about political matters, you should love Judge Tanya Chutkan’s partial gag order against Donald Trump.Chutkan is hearing the Jan. 6 case against Trump brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith and has decided to partially muzzle Trump with an order that is nonsensical and possibly unconstitutional.It stipulates that Trump can still criticize the Biden administration and the Department of Justice and the “campaign platforms and policies” of his GOP rivals, including former Vice President Mike Pence. And Trump can continue to say he’s “innocent of the charges against him.”Chutkan has forbidden Trump from statements targeting the special counsel, Jack Smith, who brought the charges against him, or “any reasonably foreseeable witness or the substance of their testimony.”There’s no doubt that Trump’s commentary ...

Dear Abby: Confused by doc’s exam-less physical

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:45 GMT

Dear Abby: I am a man in my 50s. A few months ago, I had a routine doctor’s appointment, with a new primary care physician. I intended the appointment to be a complete, regular physical. I don’t (thankfully) have any major physical health issues that I know of. But I was always taught it is wise to have periodic physical exams, in case there is a less obvious medical issue, as well as get to know one’s doctor.I went for the physical exam. I was not asked to undress as I have been with all my previous doctors. The doctor seemed nice, but I found it strange that I wasn’t examined physically. I find it hard to understand how a doctor could properly examine me without me undressing. The doctor should be used to seeing bodies, and I cannot understand why the doctor or staff were reluctant to ask me to undress.I found this all very confusing. Perhaps there was some miscommunication? I don’t know if this is unusual, temporary or a new normal that I haven’...

No winning ticket sold for Tuesday’s $32 million Lotto Max jackpot

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:45 GMT

There was no winning ticket sold in Tuesday’s Lotto Max $32 million draw.The jackpot for the next draw on Oct. 27 will be an estimated $50 million, with two $1 million Maxmillion prizes up for grabs.The Canadian Press

Lotto Max winning numbers for Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:45 GMT

TORONTO — The winning numbers in Tuesday’s Lotto Max draw for an estimated $32 million: 04, 15, 16, 17, 23, 27 & 47. Bonus: 01In the event of any discrepancy between this list and the official winning numbers, the latter shall prevail.The Canadian Press

‘Shaft’ star Richard Roundtree, considered the ‘first Black action’ movie hero, has died at 81

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:45 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Richard Roundtree, the trailblazing Black actor who starred as the ultra-smooth private detective “Shaft” in several films beginning in the early 1970s, has died. He was 81.Roundtree’s longtime manager, Patrick McMinn, said the actor had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died at his home in Los Angeles on Tuesday. He was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993 and underwent a double mastectomy.“Richard’s work and career served as a turning point for African American leading men,” McMinn said. “The impact he had on the industry cannot be overstated.”Roundtree, who was born in New Rochelle, New York, was considered as the “first Black action hero” and became one of the leading actors in the blaxploitation genre through his New York street smart John Shaft character in the Gordon Parks-directed film in 1971. At age 28, it was Roundtree’s first feature film appearance after starting his career as a model.Roundtree’s “Shaft” was part of a change in how Black movie...

Vermont ski town says it’s ‘waiting with open arms’ for the winter season after severe flooding

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:45 GMT

LUDLOW, Vt. (AP) — The debris and mud slide near the base of the road to the Okemo ski resort have long been cleared away, and open flags now hang outside shops and restaurants in a small Vermont ski town hit by severe flooding this summer. As winter approaches and the fall tourism season lingers, Ludlow businesses that lost out on summer tourism want to get the word out that they are open, even though some are still in the throes of rebuilding. “As far as our businesses, I’d say 90% plus have reopened,” Ludlow Town Manager Brendan McNamara said. “Some are still just coming down that final stretch to open, especially for the fall-winter season, but we’ve come a long way and town is ready for the winter season. Waiting with open arms.” Ludlow was one of the Vermont communities hit hardest by the July flooding that not only inundated businesses and homes with floodwaters but heavily damaged the town post office and wastewater treatment plant.The post office reo...

Born after Superstorm Sandy’s destruction, 2 big flood control projects get underway in New Jersey

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:45 GMT

HOBOKEN, N.J. (AP) — A decade after they were first envisioned in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy ’s destruction, two of the largest flood control projects designed to protect the densely populated cities of New Jersey that lie just outside New York City will finally get underway Wednesday.A project in Hoboken, which was inundated by flooding during the 2012 storm, and another in the densely populated Meadowlands region, which also saw catastrophic flooding, will kick off. The projects will cost nearly $298 million and are designed to protect some of the region’s most vulnerable communities.Both projects were formulated by the group Rebuild By Design, which was initiated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2013, and New Jersey environmental officials. Rebuild By Design looked at ways to reduce flood risk and increase resiliency in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, and it launched a series of projects that are in various phases of planning or constr...

Support for Israel becomes a top issue for Iowa evangelicals key to the first Republican caucuses

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:45 GMT

NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Steve Rowland peered beneath the brim of his baseball cap and admonished the roughly 500 people at Rising Sun Church of Christ in the Des Moines suburb of Altoona.It had been three days since Hamas attacked Israel and killed hundreds of civilians. In Iowa, where evangelical Christians dominate the first-in-the-nation Republican presidential caucuses, Rowland and other pastors are delivering a message meant to resonate both biblically and politically.“What we’re seeing in that region is pure evil,” Rowland said. “Israel has mobilized their army and they are intent on stamping out evil, and we should be behind them. That’s where we should be, and I want you to know that, as a pastor.” Support for Israel has leapt to a top priority for evangelicals in the leadoff Republican presidential caucuses now less than three months away, according to interviews with more than a dozen Iowa conservative activists. While curbing abortion has for decades energized Chr...

Parents like private school vouchers so much that demand is exceeding budgets in some states

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:45 GMT

In some states, higher-income families can now use taxpayer money to cover private school tuition — and more people than projected are taking the offer, which might force scrambles to shore up state budgets.It’s especially an issue in states like Arizona and Iowa, where at least some families whose children were already in private school can now take advantage of public funding.“It busts the budget because it’s taking on as a public expense what’s previously been a private cost,” said Josh Cowen, an education policy professor at Michigan State University.Advocates for school choice pitch vouchers as a way to give students in low-performing schools a way out – and, increasingly, to give parents control over what their children are taught.Programs funded through vouchers, tax credits or scholarships have been around since the 1990s and are now available in the majority of states. Whether students who change schools with the use of taxpayer money achieve better educational ...

Mike Johnson is the latest GOP nominee for House speaker as Republican infighting shows no end

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:48:45 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans chose Rep. Mike Johnson as their latest nominee for House speaker desperate to unite their fractious majority and end the chaos, just hours after an earlier pick abruptly withdrew in the face of opposition from Donald Trump. Johnson of Louisiana, a lower-ranked member of the House GOP leadership team, becomes the fourth Republican nominee in what has become an almost absurd cycle of political infighting since Kevin McCarthy’s ouster as GOP factions jockey for power. When the House convenes at noon Wednesday ahead of a floor vote, Johnson, who won the majority behind closed doors, will need almost all Republicans in the public roll call to win the gavel. “Mike! Mike! Mike!” lawmakers chanted at a press conference late Tuesday night, surrounding Johnson and posing for selfies in a show of support.Three weeks on, the Republicans have been frittering away their majority status — a maddening embarrassment to some, democracy in action to others, but not...