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Recipe: Meringue-kiss cookies are a delicious treat

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:20 GMT

With or without crushed peppermint candies, these meringue-kiss cookies are a scrumptious treat. If you have an electric stand mixer, they are a cinch to prepare. If not, an electric hand mixer can be used, but the process is more challenging.Try to work quickly once the kisses are formed on the parchment-lined baking sheet; they tend to deflate if left to sit too long before baking.Meringue Kisses, With or Without Peppermint CandiesYield: About 72 cookiesINGREDIENTSParchment paper2 large egg whites1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar1/8 teaspoon table salt2/3 cup (4 2/3 ounces) granulated sugar1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract2 cups (12 ounces) mini semisweet chocolate chips, divided useOptional: 3 tablespoons crushed peppermint candies (about 7 round peppermint candies, crushed)2 teaspoons vegetable oilDIRECTIONS1. Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 275 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.2. Using an electric stand mixer fitted with the...

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 90, falls at home and goes to hospital, but scans are clear, her office says

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:20 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the oldest member of Congress, fell in her home and went to a hospital for a short time, her office said on Wednesday.The 90-year-old California Democrat, who has faced mounting concerns about her health and her ability to perform the duties of a senator, “briefly went to the hospital yesterday afternoon as a precaution after a minor fall in her home,” her office said in a statement.All of her scans were clear, and she returned home later Tuesday, said her spokesman Adam Russell, who provided no further details.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said in a statement he spoke with Feinstein on Wednesday morning.“She said she suffered no injuries and briefly went to the hospital as a precaution,” Schumer said. “I’m glad she is back home now and is doing well.”The San Francisco hospital visit comes after Feinstein missed months of work in Washington earlier this year when she was hospitalized for the shingles virus and its side...

‘Conscience’ bills let medical providers opt out of providing a wide range of care

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:20 GMT

Carly Graf | (TNS) KFF Health NewsA new Montana law will provide sweeping legal protections to health care practitioners who refuse to prescribe marijuana or participate in procedures and treatments such as abortion, medically assisted death, gender-affirming care, or others that run afoul of their ethical, moral, or religious beliefs or principles.The law, which goes into effect in October, will gut patients’ ability to take legal action if they believe they didn’t receive proper care due to a conscientious objection by a provider or an institution, such as a hospital.So-called medical conscience objection laws have existed at the state and federal levels for years, with most protecting providers who refuse to perform an abortion or sterilization procedure. But the new Montana law, and others like it that have passed or been introduced in statehouses across the U.S., goes further, to the point of undermining patient care and threatening the right of people to receive lifesaving and...

Bankrate: More cardholders carrying credit card balances in high rate environment

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:20 GMT

Poonkulali Thangavelu | Bankrate.com (TNS)More cardholders are carrying more credit card debt than ever before, and they’re paying a steep price for the privilege, a Bankrate survey on credit card debt finds. According to new data, 47% of credit cardholders currently carry debt from month to month — up slightly from 46% in December 2022 and 39% in December 2021.While emergency expenses are the prime culprit, consumers are also hard pressed to chip away at the debt in today’s high interest rate environment. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, credit card debt was at $986 billion at the end of March, up $145 billion from the first quarter of 2022.Inflation, which has moderated after reaching a 40-year high of 9.1% in June last year, has pushed up the costs of the goods and services, while — at the same time — the Fed has raised its target interest rate past 5% through a series of rate hikes. This has taken average credit card interest rates north of 20%, making it more ...

In-state tuition for undocumented students becomes law under signed FY24 budget

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:20 GMT

Gov. Maura Healey signed a $55.9 billion budget Wednesday that provides eligible undocumented students in-state tuition rates at public universities and colleges and offers free meals for students at public and some private schools.The budget Healey signed largely avoids conflict with proposals approved by the Democratic-led Legislature last month. It also represents the latest spending plan outside of the pandemic since 2001, when lawmakers sent the budget to the governor’s desk in November and it was signed at the start of December.House Speaker Ronald Mariano said he was not surprised budget negotiations “went a little long” because of all the factors that were in play, including parallel conversations on tax relief and how to spend new surtax revenue.“But I’m constantly surprised that everyone seems to have forgotten what was at stake here and what we were trying to accomplish,” the Quincy Democrat told reporters. “And to come up with a document that is this fair, and as t...

Special counsel got a search warrant for Twitter to turn over info on Trump’s account, documents say

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:20 GMT

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER | Associated PressSpecial counsel Jack Smith’s team obtained a search warrant in January for records related to former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account, and a judge levied a $350,000 fine on the company for a delay in complying, according to court documents released Wednesday.The details were included in a decision from the federal appeals court in Washington rejecting Twitter’s claim that it should not have been held in contempt or sanctioned.X, the San Francisco-based platform formerly known as Twitter, sent an automated reply to a request for comment, saying it would respond soon.The filing says prosecutors got the search warrant directing Twitter to produce information on Trump’s account after a court “found probable cause to search the Twitter account for evidence of criminal offenses.” The government also obtained a nondisclosure agreement prohibiting Twitter from disclosing the search warrant, the filing says...

Emergency official says multiple Maui wildfire burn patients have been flown to Honolulu hospital

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:20 GMT

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER | Associated PressHONOLULU (AP) — Wind-whipped wildfires raced through parts of Hawaii on Wednesday, destroying homes and businesses in a historic town on the island of Maui, injuring several people, forcing evacuations and leading some to flee to the relative safety of the ocean, where they were rescued by the Coast Guard.Fire was widespread in Lahaina Town, including on Front Street, a shopping and dining area that is popular with tourists, County of Maui spokesperson Mahina Martin said by phone early Wednesday. Traffic has been very heavy as people try to evacuate the area, and officials asked people who weren’t in an evacuation area to shelter in place to avoid adding to the traffic, she said. Photos posted by the county overnight showed a line of flames blazing across an intersection and leaping above buildings in the town center that dates to the 1700s and is on the National Register of Historic Places.“Do NOT go to Lahaina Town,” the county tweeted ...

San Diego man found dead on Tucson hike during extreme weather conditions

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:20 GMT

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A California man reported missing on a hike in Tucson has been found dead, authorities said Wednesday.Pima County Sheriff’s officials say the body of 46-year-old Kyle Chance, of San Diego, was located near the Starr Pass area about 4 p.m. Tuesday.“There was no indication of foul play. More information regarding the cause of death will be available at a later date," Sheriff’s Deputy Gordon Downing said in a statement Wednesday. “The initial indication is that it was related to exposure to the weather conditions."The high in Tuscon was 93 degrees Fahrenheit (33.9 Celsius) Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.Downing said Chance started his hike around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday and was reported missing later in the day.The sheriff department’s search and rescue crew joined Tucson police, Drexel Heights fire personnel and an Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter in the search.

Religious group sues Quebec government for blocking event over abortion concerns

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:20 GMT

QUEBEC — A Christian group announced Wednesday it is suing the Quebec government after the tourism minister cancelled a religious gathering last June at a publicly owned convention centre because she assumed the event would promote anti-abortion views.British Columbia-based Harvest Ministries International filed a motion in Quebec Superior Court against Minister Caroline Proulx, the convention centre and Quebec’s attorney general. The court filing, dated Aug. 2, argues that the cancellation of the “Faith, Fire and Freedom” rally was a violation of the group’s Charter rights to non-discrimination and to freedom of religion, expression, opinion, and peaceful assembly. The group is asking for more than $200,000 in compensation for moral and material loss, and for punitive damages. It is also asking for a declaration that its rights were unjustly interfered with.In early June, Proulx cancelled a 10-day event at the Quebec City Convention Centre by Harvest Ministr...

Things to know about a vote in Ohio, court action in Kansas and Utah and other abortion developments

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:20 GMT

Voters in Ohio and judges across the U.S. are weighing in on the future of abortion access in several states more than a year after the nation’s top court overturned Roe v. Wade and the right to an abortion, setting off a series of policy shifts.Here are the latest developments.WHAT VOTERS SAYOhio voters on Tuesday rejected a ballot question that would have raised the threshold for future constitutional amendments and required at least 60% support for a measure to pass instead of a simple majority.The new policy would have been in place in November, when voters will be asked to amend the state constitution to give voters the right to make their own reproductive decisions, including both fertility treatment and abortion.Ohio, where Republicans control the state government, has a law banning abortions after cardiac activity can be detected — which is around six weeks and often before women realize they’re pregnant. Enforcement of the ban is on hold while courts consider its lega...