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Higgins: Plenty of pork spending in Davis-Bacon

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:56:42 GMT

Forcing federally funded public works projects to pay the so-called prevailing wage is a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. The intention behind the Davis-Bacon Wage Act, which requires any federal project to use prevailing wages, is to boost worker pay. The practical effect is to substantially drive up the cost of those projects.Those costs are ultimately paid for with taxpayer dollars, so it is ordinary citizens shouldering the higher costs. Instead, the government should institute a genuinely competitive bidding process, which would save taxpayers money.The Davis-Bacon Act was passed in 1931 and was initially meant to counter a Depression-era practice of literally busing in workers from a lower-paying region so employers didn’t have to hire local workers who would not work for the wages being offered.Busing in unskilled labor is rarely a factor with the law, as most federal projects involve skilled labor. The present-day purpose behind the Davis-Bacon Act is to boost unio...

Dear Abby: DIL’s fertility struggles strain on family

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:56:42 GMT

Dear Abby: My son married a wonderful woman. Sadly, they are having great difficulty conceiving a baby. They have opted out of many conventional medical procedures because of their religious beliefs, for which I admire them.While their struggles persist, another close family member has recently had a baby. My daughter-in-law has chosen not to see this family member or the baby because of the emotional pain of not being able to conceive herself. My son, who I know is torn, is supporting his wife. Our visits with them never include the new mom, dad and baby. My son has met the baby twice on the down-low without my DIL.Our hearts are heavy. Our nuclear family has always been close, but this is putting a strain on the rest of us, although we empathize with my DIL’s emotional pain. What advice can you offer for this situation? — Saddened in the EastDear Saddened: Your daughter-in-law’s circle of friends (not to mention family) is going to shrink to nothing if she persis...

Jury selection set to begin in the first trial in the Georgia election case against Trump and others

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:56:42 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Jury selection is set to begin Friday for the first defendant to go to trial in the Georgia case that accuses former President Donald Trump and others of illegally scheming to overturn the 2020 election in the state.Lawyer Kenneth Chesebro was indicted just over two months ago along with Trump and 17 others. Two of those others — including Sidney Powell, who was supposed to go on trial with Chesebro — have already pleaded guilty to reduced charges, and no trial date has been set yet for the rest.If Chesebro doesn’t take a plea deal before the trial starts, the proceedings will provide a first extensive look at the evidence that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her team have amassed against him and the rest of the defendants.Here’s what to expect:TRUMP WILL LOOM LARGE OVER THE TRIALThere’s little doubt that the former president will be a central figure in the proceedings, even though he’s not expected to be there. After all, the i...

Donald Trump is dominating the GOP primary and settling into a new role: Defendant

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:56:42 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — After turns as a real estate magnate, a New York tabloid mainstay, a reality TV star and president of the United States, Donald Trump is settling into a new role: defendant.The front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination spent two days this week in a Manhattan courtroom where a civil fraud trial is unfolding. Trump is accused of grossly inflating his net worth and the value of marquee assets on paperwork used to secure financing and make deals.In the courtroom, Trump is often subdued, sitting between his lawyers and staring straight ahead with a scowl as he studiously ignores his adversary, New York Attorney General Letitia James. But when he steps into the hallway where a phalanx of TV cameras awaits, Trump transforms into his familiar political persona, eager to spin the proceedings in his favor. “If I wasn’t here, probably — maybe — people wouldn’t see the facts the way they are,” Trump said during one of his swings before the cameras on Wednesda...

After 189 bodies were found in Colorado funeral home, evidence suggests families received fake ashes

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:56:42 GMT

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado funeral home where 189 decaying bodies were discovered this month appears to have fabricated cremation records and may have given families fake ashes, according to information gathered by The Associated Press from customers and crematories.The families that did business with Return to Nature Funeral Home fear their loved ones weren’t cremated at all and instead could be among the yet unidentified corpses authorities discovered after responding to a report of an “ abhorrent smell.”“My mom’s last wish was for her remains to be scattered in a place she loved, not rotting away in a building,” said Tanya Wilson, who believes the ashes she spread in Hawaii in August were fake. “Any peace that we had, thinking that we honored her wishes, you know, was just completely ripped away from us.”Return to Nature gave Wilson’s family and some others death certificates stating their loved ones’ remains had been handled by one of two crematories. But th...

Republicans are facing death threats as the election for speaker gets mired in personal feuds

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:56:42 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — It was the thing that was supposed to make Rep. Jim Jordan the 56th speaker of the House.An onslaught of pressure from the Republican Party base, allies predicted, would compel the GOP’s moderate and establishment members to support Jordan, a hero of the far-right, and help him secure the votes for the gavel. But as the pressure campaign devolved this week into death threats against lawmakers and their families, something unexpected happened: Positions hardened, and a ragtag coalition of roughly 20 House Republicans rose up to deny Jordan the speakership. In doing so, they defied a belief of many in Washington — that moderates have no backbone.“Bullying don’t work,” said Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican centrist who has led the opposition to Jordan’s nomination.Still, Bacon said the harassing text messages and phone calls have taken a toll. His wife slept with a loaded gun near her bedside one night. Other Republicans said their families have been thr...

Maryland police investigating fatal shooting of a circuit court judge

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:56:42 GMT

Authorities in Maryland were investigating the fatal shooting of a circuit court judge on Thursday night, a news report said.Circuit Court Administrative Judge Brett R. Wilson confirmed the investigation into the attack against a Washington County Circuit Court judge, the Herald-Mail reported.Washington County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Carly Hose said they are investigating a shooting.A Maryland State Police corporal told The Herald-Mail that state police were assisting the sheriff’s office in the area of Olde Waterford Road north of Hagerstown.Associated Press, The Associated Press

What to stream this week: The Rolling Stones, John le Carré, ‘Living for the Dead’ and Harry Bosch

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:56:42 GMT

A fresh Rolling Stones album, a revealing documentary on spy novelist John le Carré and “Living for the Dead,” a new Hulu series that’s like “Queer Eye” meets “Ghost Hunters” are some of the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near youAmong the offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists are comedian Heather McMahan’s first network comedy special called “The Son I Never Had” and Nida Manzoor’s rollicking action-comedy movie “Polite Society.”NEW MOVIES TO STREAM— John le Carré, whose birth name was David Cornwell, died in 2020. But before his death, the author of “The Spy Who Came in From the Cold” and “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” sat down with documentarian Errol Morris for a series of probing interviews. The result, “The Pigeon Tunnel,” is one of the non-fiction highlights of the movie year. In the film, which streams Friday on Apple TV+, Cornwell discusses his career as a spy, his books and historical truth i...

Rep. Jim Jordan will try again for House gavel, but Republicans won’t back the hardline Trump ally

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:56:42 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite deepening opposition, Rep. Jim Jordan is expected to try a third vote to become House speaker, even as his Republican colleagues are explicitly warning the hard-edged ally of Donald Trump that no more threats or promises can win over their support.The House is scheduled to convene Friday but Republicans have no realistic or workable plan to unite the fractured GOP majority, elect a new speaker and return to the work of Congress that has been languishing since hardliners ousted Kevin McCarthy at the start of the month. Jordan has scheduled an early morning press conference ahead of the session.After two failed votes, Jordan’s third attempt at the gavel is not expected to end any better. In fact, Friday is likely to produce an even worse tally for the fiery Judiciary Committee chairman — in large part because more centrist rank-and-file Republicans are revolting over the hardball tactics being used to win their votes. They have been bombarded with haras...

2 San Antonio police officers shot and wounded during domestic disturbance call; suspect surrenders

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:56:42 GMT

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) — Two San Antonio police officers were shot and seriously wounded Wednesday night as they tried to stop a man from burning a home during a domestic dispute, authorities said.The officers were shot at around 7:30 p.m. while answering a disturbance call on the city’s northeast side and were in surgery late Wednesday night, police said. There was no immediate word on their conditions.At a news conference, Police Chief William McManus said a man who had gone to the home to retrieve his children argued with his wife, threatened to set the home ablaze and started to douse it with gasoline.The woman and children weren’t hurt, but after the officers arrived, the man went upstairs and shot both officers with a long gun through a window, McManus said.The first officer was shot three times and collapsed while the second was hit by a bullet but took cover behind a parked car nearby and exchanged gunfire with the man, the police chief said.More officers arrive...