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Dear Abby: T-Day venue change serves up bickering

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:51 GMT

Dear Abby: For the last six years, my partner and I have hosted family Thanksgiving dinners. I always spend more time and energy than I have to make it beautiful and successful. This year, I have neither the budget nor a desire for the stress. I made it known early that we wouldn’t be hosting this year.Surprisingly, my little sister volunteered to host, and she sent an invitation to the usual crowd. The next day, she called me to tell me that although she would host, she couldn’t possibly be expected to do all that work, and she told me to bring the turkey.She said I was free to cook it at my place or “come a bit early” to cook it there. Shocked, I told her absolutely not, because avoiding this responsibility was the reason I’m not hosting. I was planning on bringing a side or dessert as is usual for guests, but not the main dish. She got mad and said I was ruining Thanksgiving.I feel a growing responsibility to help her out, even though I don’t n...

El Niño is expected to drive weather in winter. How San Diego may be impacted

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:51 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- El Niño is anticipated to stick around across the country through winter for the first time in years, bringing with it seasonal weather that's likely to be wetter than normal.The climate pattern is expected to be a stark change from the last three winters that have been dominated by La Niña, which typically means a dry winter in the southern half of the U.S. and colder, wetter conditions across the north.This year's winter outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) forecasts that the southern states have the best chance to get heavier-than-average precipitation from December to February. An underground railway could become a reality in North County: SANDAG After the driest three-year period on record, California has already been battered by extensive precipitation this year, between a series of unrelenting atmospheric rivers that hit last winter and more recently, Tropical Storm Hilary.The rainfall...

Live updates | Israel says it’s stepping up attacks on the Gaza Strip

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:51 GMT

Aid deliveries have begun moving into the besieged Gaza Strip, two weeks after the militant group Hamas rampaged through southern Israel and Israel responded with airstrikes.Israel says Hamas has freed two American hostages who had been held in Gaza since the war began Oct. 7. Israeli airstrikes continued to hit southern Gaza, an area swollen by civilians who fled there from the north on Israeli instructions. Israel’s military spokesman said the country is stepping up its attacks, coming amid growing expectations of a ground offensive.The war, in its 16th day Sunday, is the deadliest of five Gaza wars for both sides. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Saturday that the death toll has reached 4,385, while 13,561 people have been wounded.More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly in the initial attack on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants stormed into Israel. In addition, 203 people were believed captured by Hamas during the incursion and taken into Gaza, the Israeli mili...

St. Lawrence Seaway to shut down as workers go on strike

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:51 GMT

Unifor says the St. Lawrence Seaway is poised to shut down as hundreds of workers walk off the job today.The halt is expected to affect cargo shipments immediately along the corridor, which runs between Montreal and Lake Erie and carried $16.7 billion worth of cargo last year.The union said this week that it remained miles apart from management on wages, which were the key wedge in discussions.The St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation said Friday it remained committed to negotiating in good faith, but said progress had been slow and that the union’s wage demands could lead to higher tolls.Some 360 workers ranging from engineers to administrators comprise the five union locals who were in negotiations with the management authority until Saturday night.Talks began in June with the help of a federal mediator, and continued after Unifor issued a 72-hour strike notice to the employer.This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2023.The Canadian Press

Philadelphia Orchestra and musicians agree to 3-year labor deal with 15.8% salary increase

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:51 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra Association have ratified a collective bargaining agreement calling for minimum salaries to increase by 15.8% over three years.The deal announced Saturday night with Local 77 of the American Federation of Musicians covers Sept. 11 this year through Sept. 13, 2026. Increases in the agreement include 6% in the first year, 4.5% in the second and 4.5% in the third. The agreement replaces a four-year contract that expired Sept. 10.“Following the unprecedented disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic, our joint challenge was to find a new and financially responsible path forward,” Ralph W. Muller and Michael D. Zisman, co-chairs of The Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center Inc., said in a statement.The union said the deal requires management to increase the number of musicians hired each year and to ensure the contractual level of 105 musicians and two librarians is met. Substitute and extra musicians...

Venezuelan opposition holds presidential primary in exercise of democracy, but it could prove futile

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:51 GMT

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelans get a chance Sunday to pick who they think can end the decade-long crisis-ridden presidency of Nicolás Maduro.They will cast ballots in a primary election independently organized by the country’s opposition despite government repression and other obstacles.The contest is in itself an exercise in democracy because it required the deeply fractured opposition to work together to give the South American country its first presidential primary since 2012. But it could prove an exercise in futility if Maduro’s government wishes.While the administration agreed in principle at midweek to let the opposition choose its candidate for the 2024 presidential election, it also has already barred the primary’s frontrunner, Maria Corina Machado, from running for office and has in the past bent the law and breached agreements as it sees fit.Machado, a former lawmaker who supports free-market policies, is a longtime critic of the governing United Socialist Party of...

Mired in economic crisis, Argentines weigh whether to hand reins to anti-establishment populist

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:51 GMT

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina could take an unprecedented turn Sunday as frustrated voters weigh handing the presidency to an anti-establishment, right-wing populist who has shaken up the political system and pledges to drastically overhaul the state.Javier Milei, a self-described anarcho-capitalist who admires former U.S. President Donald Trump, sent shockwaves through the nation after receiving the most votes in August primaries. The economist and first-year lawmaker has said he will slash public spending, halve the number of government ministries, eliminate the central bank and replace the local currency with the U.S. dollar. He first made a name for himself with angry tirades blasting what he calls the “political caste” on television, and has gained support from Argentines struggling to make ends meet amid annual inflation of 140% and a rapidly depreciating currency. His platform also calls for reshaping Argentine culture, and he casts himself as a crusader against th...

Ukrainians prepare firewood and candles to brace for a winter of Russian strikes on the energy grid

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:51 GMT

MOSHCHUN, Ukraine (AP) — In the humble backyard of a destroyed house, a 13-year-old chops firewood to get ready for winter. His mother, Tetiana Yarema, has been preparing for months as she remembers last winter’s Russian strikes on the energy infrastructure that plunged Ukraine into darkness.“Those were dark days. I didn’t want anything. I just wanted to pack my things and go abroad,” said Yarema, 48, who says she ended up staying because of her son’s insistence.For the Yarema family, like millions of other Ukrainians touched by Russia’s war on Ukraine, winter is an especially challenging time. The mother and son live in trailers that were set up in their backyard after fighting in the early days of the war destroyed their house in Moshchun, a village about 25 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of Kyiv.“I have a feeling that when the cold sets in, they’ll start bombing again,” the woman said, echoing the sentiments of many Ukrainians. This time, however, they say they are better prepar...

North Dakota lawmakers are preparing to fix a budget mess. What’s on their plate?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:51 GMT

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota lawmakers are scheduled to be back in Bismarck on Monday to begin a special session to fix a budget mess after the state Supreme Court struck down a major funding bill last month.Here is a preview of the issues involved in the special session and what awaits Republican Gov. Doug Burgum and the Republican-controlled Legislature.WHAT CAUSED THE SPECIAL SESSION?Last month, the North Dakota Supreme Court struck down a major budget bill as unconstitutional. The bill was mainly intended to fund the state Office of Management and Budget but has typically been used in the past as a catchall or cleanup bill passed at the end of the biennial legislative session.By embracing too many different topics, the court ruled the measure violated the state constitution’s single-subject requirement for bills.The surprising decision came as a result of a lawsuit brought by the board overseeing the state’s government retirement plans. The board targeted a cha...

Police dog’s attack on Black trucker in Ohio echoes history

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:21:51 GMT

CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio (AP) — As Jadarrius Rose drove his 18-wheeler through rural Ohio, a simple missing mudflap caught the highway patrol’s eye. The trip ended with a police dog’s powerful jaws clamping down on Rose even as he tried to surrender. As he stood with his hands up beside the highway on July 4, at least six law enforcement officers surrounded him at a distance, one calling forcefully to the K-9 handler: “Do not release the dog,” highway patrol video shows.Nevertheless, a Belgian Malinois is seen on the video either breaking free or being set loose. At first, the animal seems confused, racing past Rose toward officers at the far end of the truck, then turning back and running for Rose, then 23.By then the trucker is on his knees, hands still high, as an officer shouts, “Get the dog off of him!”That day, Rose joined a long list of Black Americans attacked by police dogs, a history well documented by journalists, academics and filmmakers. Investigations into such cases ha...