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Dear Abby: Rude guests mock woman’s treasured items

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:47 GMT

Dear Abby: How do I deal with guests and friends who make unfortunate comments about personal belongings in my home? For example, I have a favorite print of a woman seated at a table. A friend commented, “Oh, we used to call her Mrs. Potato Head.” About my beautiful handwoven table runner depicting sliced fruit, a guest said, “Oh, those look like women’s private parts!” I also display a beautiful statue of the three Graces, which I inherited from my beloved mother. Another friend piped up, “Oh, the three lesbians!” They have stolen the joy I had about the pieces. I can no longer look at these treasures without being reminded of those stupid, thoughtless remarks, and so I had to get rid of them. What do I do if this happens again, or how do I prevent it? — Proud of Possessions in MaineDear Proud:  No one should feel forced to get rid of objects they love because someone makes a thoughtless remark. If you get rid of anything, consider di...

Judge Chutkan to hear arguments in protective order fight in Trump’s 2020 election conspiracy case

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:47 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal judge overseeing the 2020 election conspiracy case against Donald Trump will hear arguments Friday over a request by prosecutors for a protective order seeking to bar the former president from publicly disclosing evidence shared by the government.The protective order sought by special counsel Jack Smith’s team has become an early flashpoint in the case accusing the Republican of illegally scheming to subvert the will of voters and cling to power after he lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Protective orders aren’t unusual in criminal cases, and they’re different from “gag orders” that bar parties from talking publicly about an ongoing case outside the courtroom. But lawyers for Trump — who has railed against prosecutors and U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan on social media and during campaign events — say the proposed protective order goes too far and would restrict Trump’s free speech rights. In seeking the protective order, prosecutors...

What to stream this weekend: Gal Gadot, ‘Red, White & Royal Blue’ and ‘Only Murders in the Building’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:47 GMT

The return of the mystery-comedy “Only Murders in the Building” and Gal Gadot getting her “Mission: Impossible”-style action film with the international espionage thriller “Heart of Stone” are among 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 “Superfan,” a new one-hour game show that features music superstars crowning their biggest fan, and a royal rom-com adaptation of Casey McQuiston’s bestseller “Red, White and Royal Blue” lands on Prime Video.NEW MOVIES TO STREAM— Gal Gadot gets her “Mission: Impossible”-style action film in the international espionage thriller “Heart of Stone.” The film, debuting Friday on Netflix, stars the “Wonder Woman” actor as a superspy for a shadowy global peacekeeping agency called the Charter. “Heart of Stone,” directed by Tom Harper, boasts plenty of stunt sequences and international locales, with Gadot starring along...

Fast-moving Hawaii fires will take a heavy toll on the state’s environment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:47 GMT

The fast-moving wildfires that raked Maui this week took a heavy toll on humans and property, killing at least 53 people and devastating the historic town of Lahaina. But their effects on the landscape and environment in Hawaii are also expected to be significant.Experts say the fires are likely to transform the landscape in unwanted ways including hastening erosion, sending sediment into waterways and degrading coral that is critically important to the islands, marine life and the humans who live nearby.A look at some of those potential impacts:CORALThe wildfires struck Hawaii just as Jamison Gove, a Honolulu-based oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, was publishing research in Nature on Hawaii coral reefs’ recovering from a 2015 marine heat wave. That work highlighted the threat to coral from land-based contaminants running off into the ocean.Gove said Thursday that burning homes, commercial structures and cars and trucks would make any run...

Millions of kids are missing weeks of school as attendance tanks across the US

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:47 GMT

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — When in-person school resumed after pandemic closures, Rousmery Negrón and her 11-year-old son both noticed a change: School seemed less welcoming. Parents were no longer allowed in the building without appointments, she said, and punishments were more severe. Everyone seemed less tolerant, more angry. Negrón’s son told her he overheard a teacher mocking his learning disabilities, calling him an ugly name. Her son didn’t want to go to school anymore. And she didn’t feel he was safe there.He would end up missing more than five months of sixth grade.Across the country, students have been absent at record rates since schools reopened during the pandemic. More than a quarter of students missed at least 10% of the 2021-22 school year, making them chronically absent, according to the most recent data available. Before the pandemic, only 15% of students missed that much school. All told, an estimated 6.5 million additional students became chronically absent,...

DeSantis is resetting his campaign again. Some Republicans worry his message is getting in the way

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:47 GMT

CORALVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Ron DeSantis largely dismissed his own decision to replace his campaign leadership team as he returned to Iowa on Thursday in the midst of a weeks-long reset. The Republican presidential hopeful also made no mention of the two rounds of campaign layoffs he made recently in response to unexpected fundraising troubles.Instead, the Florida governor leaned into his central message — a self-described “war on woke” — and flashed a big smile as he courted an audience of roughly 200 cheering Republicans gathered at a family restaurant for the first of four scheduled stops on his latest bus tour through the first-in-the-nation caucus state. “We’re clicking. We’re doing well,” DeSantis told reporters after a fiery speech, dismissing questions about the turmoil that has plagued his White House bid in recent weeks. He said the average voter is far more focused on his plans for the country than his campaign leadership. “This process stuff, I think, is way overblown.”Wheth...

EPA weighs formal review of vinyl chloride, toxic chemical that burned in Ohio train derailment

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:47 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration says it could soon launch a formal evaluation of risks posed by vinyl chloride, the cancer-causing chemical that burned in a towering plume of toxic black smoke following the fiery train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.The Environmental Protection Agency is set to review risks posed by a handful of chemicals later this year, and is considering chemicals used for plastic production as a key benchmark. Vinyl chloride is among a range of chemicals eligible for review, and “EPA could begin a risk evaluation on vinyl chloride in the near future,” the agency said in a statement to The Associated Press.If selected, EPA would study vinyl chloride to determine whether it poses an “unreasonable risk to human health or the environment,” a process that would take at least three years.Environmental and public health activists cheered the development, saying EPA should have banned vinyl chloride years ago.“If one positive thing can c...

Wildfire devastates Hawaii’s Lahaina, historic town and onetime capital of former kingdom

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:47 GMT

KAHULUI, Hawaii (AP) — The wildfire that has brought sheer devastation to Maui is especially heartbreaking for Hawaii because it struck one of its most historic towns and the onetime capital of the former kingdom.Lahaina holds deep cultural significance for Hawaiians. The town was once the royal residence of King Kamehameha, who unified Hawaii under a single kingdom by defeating the other islands’ chiefs. His successors made it the capital from 1820 to 1845, according to the National Park Service.Kings and queens are buried in the graveyard of the 200-year-old stone Wainee Church. Later named Waiola, the church that once sat up to 200 people was photographed apparently engulfed in flames this week. “It was really the political center for Hawaii,” said Davianna McGregor, a retired professor of ethnic studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Dozens of people were killed and hundreds of structures were damaged or destroyed in the blaze that ignited Tuesday and quickly spread throu...

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried returns to New York as prosecutors push for his incarceration

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:47 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is returning to New York City for a court hearing Friday that could decide whether the fallen cryptocurrency wiz must go to jail while he awaits trial.Prosecutors have asked a judge to revoke Bankman-Fried’s bail, claiming he tried to harass a key witness in his fraud case. His lawyers insist he shouldn’t be jailed for trying to protect his reputation against a barrage of unfavorable news stories.The 31-year-old has been under house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California, since his December extradition from the Bahamas on charges that he defrauded investors in his businesses and illegally diverted millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency from customers using his FTX exchange.Bankman-Fried’s $250 million bail package severely restricts his internet and phone usage.Two weeks ago, prosecutors surprised Bankman-Fried’s attorneys by demanding his incarceration, saying he violated those rules by ...

Concert review: Pink sets a Target Field attendance record with colorful evening of her hits

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:15:47 GMT

Icon award winner Pink performs at the iHeartRadio Music Awards on Monday, March 27, 2023, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)Pop superstar Pink made history Thursday night at Target Field. She stands as the first woman to headline the downtown Minneapolis ballpark and, as she gleefully proclaimed from the stage, her show set a new concert attendance record for the venue.The exact number wasn’t available Thursday night, but a 2015 Kenny Chesney and Jason Aldean show held the previous record of 44,152. Really, though, it wasn’t much of a surprise, as Pink’s first local stadium show has been one of the hottest tickets in a summer full of them, with only obstructed-view and single seats available in recent weeks. Also, Pink’s previous two tours each included a pair of sold-out local stops. Clearly, the demand is there, even if she hasn’t had a significant hit since 2017.Dubbed the Summer Carnival, Pink’s summer outing burst...