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Editorial: Billions in COVID $$ still sitting around

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:49 GMT

Given the magnitude of the amount allocated, it’s unlikely we’ll ever truly know the extent to which con artists, fraudsters and elected officials stole, wasted or misappropriated the billions in taxpayer funds distributed as part of the government’s response to the pandemic.But one thing we do know: Washington showered so much money on states and local governments that most haven’t come close to spending it all. Recently, the Government Accountability Office released a quarterly report that tracks coronavirus spending through March 31, about three years from the onset of the pandemic.“States reported obligating 60% ($118.3 billion) and spending 45% ($88.2 billion)” of State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds, the office reported. “Localities reported obligating 54% ($67/5 billion) and spending 38% ($47.9 billion) of their awards during the same period.”How was the money distributed?“The states and localities reported spending the largest amount of their awards to replace revenue lost ...

TV Q&A: Will more ‘Suits’ episodes get tailored?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:49 GMT

You have questions. I have some answers.Q: I recently finished watching all of “Suits” on Netflix. I know it ended, but is there a chance of new episodes? I really enjoyed it.A: As you may know, “Suits” became a sensation this summer, four years after its original nine-season run ended, when it spent three months at the top of the ratings for streaming shows. That, of course, led to fans’ hopes for more — and hesitation from “Suits” creator Aaron Korsh, who said “it’s really hard work to come up with plots for a show that you love and care about and want to be great.” But not long ago, the Hollywood Reporter said Korsh “is in the early stages of developing a show set in the world of (“Suits”) … but it’s not a reboot or sequel. Instead, the potential series would feature new characters and a new setting, similar to other multi-show franchises.” The report added that any return of the original shows’ characters “is a question for much further down the road.”Q: When I was a young kid i...

Michael Connelly takes Bosch on ‘Resurrection Walk’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:49 GMT

After 30 years of writing bestsellers, “Bosch” and “Lincoln Lawyer” author Michael Connelly knows, “In television they want you in the writers’ room.  In movies, they don’t want to know you.”Harry Bosch is currently on view in two different guises: The Freevee series “Bosch: Legacy S2” began with Bosch, now a private investigator, trying to save his kidnapped daughter Maddie (Madison Lintz).A very different, older Bosch — a 73-year-old cancer patient undergoing an experimental nuclear medicine trial – costars in Connelly’s new Lincoln Lawyer novel “Resurrection Walk” alongside his half-brother Mickey Haller. Bosch is driving the Lincoln for his sibling in order to qualify for the medical trial.Bosch inhabits these two different spheres because they have always been thus. The Bosch books now number 24 and began in 1992.  “Bosch,” the hit Amazon series, ran seven seasons (2014-2021) followed in 2022 by the “Bosch: Legacy” spin-off.These different arenas work because, Conne...

Do I need to take parenting class amid divorce?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:49 GMT

Q. I am getting ready to file for divorce and I am getting very mixed information.  My sister was divorced just before the pandemic in 2020 and said I need to take a parent education class even if we have an agreement on custody.  My best friend was divorced earlier this year and said my sister is wrong because even though they were fighting about custody, she never had to take a class about how to be a parent after divorce.I am trying to be proactive and get as much as possible done up front as I can. If my husband and I need to take a class, I would like to do it now. We do have three children but there is no question about custody.  I am a stay-at-home mom and he travels a ton for work. We know what we are going to do about the children.A. When your sister got divorced, there was standing order dating back many years which required parents to attend a parent education class.  At that time there were a number of approved courses that could be taken to meet the requirement.  Most o...

Dear Abby: T-Day venue change serves up bickering

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:49 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 Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:49 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 Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:49 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 Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:49 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 Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:49 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 Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:12:49 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...