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Mccaughey: Donald Trump deserves to get a fair trial

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:30:32 GMT

In America, every defendant is supposed to get a fair trial. It’s guaranteed in our Bill of Rights. That guarantee sets us apart from banana republics, and we take pride in it.Democratic prosecutors have rolled out four indictments against former President Donald Trump, including the latest by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, announced last Monday.Will he get fair trials? In Georgia, it’s too soon to say, but in Washington, D.C., the writing is on the wall. Federal prosecutor Jack Smith already is telling a string of lies to rig the trial against Trump for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 election. The Left and the liberal media are going along.Whether you like Trump or loathe him, Smith’s legal trickery should trouble you. It diminishes us as a nation and threatens your own rights.Here are Smith’s four biggest lies since he indicted Trump on Aug. 1:Lie No. 1: Smith claims the public is entitled to a speedy trial.Truth: Smith is pushing t...

Should you relocate when looking for a new job?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:30:32 GMT

The luxury of working near a big city or center of industry is not shared by everyone. Even though remote working has become more acceptable in recent years, many firms still want employees to come into an office.This begs the question of whether individuals should consider relocating when looking for a new job. It’s a personal decision, and one that has the potential to affect professionals’ lives in many ways. Individuals can consider these factors before applying for jobs that might require them to relocate.Relocation expensesIt is important to weigh the benefits of a new job with the expenses related to relocation. It may take some time to recover lost funds associated with moving, and you might not want to put your financial stability in jeopardy. Some companies are willing to offer relocation services or a moving stipend. Check with the hiring manager to see what, if anything, is offered. Assistance also may extend to helping a spouse find a new job or helping you ...

Editorial: Budget deficit soars as inflation makes a comeback

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:30:32 GMT

As inflation cooled over the past year, President Joe Biden ran atop the podium to claim his medal. Turns out the race wasn’t over.This month, the government announced that inflation bumped up 3.2% in July, with core prices rising 4.7%. It’s the first upturn in the economic gauge since last year, and it was driven by higher prices for food and services, including automobile repair and housing costs.To be sure, this is not the 9.1% inflation from a year ago. But it’s also well above the rate when Biden took office. Any credit the president takes for tamping down rising prices must also recognize that it was “Bidenomics” which created the problem in the first place.Economists sympathetic to the White House insist the July increase is an outlier. We’ll see. Other economists “are predicting that rising oil and gas costs could lead to another rise in inflation in August, though they expect prices to settle back down this fall,” according to The Washington Post.But despite the varying opi...

BC linebackers coach Paul Rhoads brings expertise to Eagles front seven

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:30:32 GMT

Outside linebackers’ instructor at a Power 5 program sounds like a strategic introductory position to launch a college coaching career.That is certainly not the case for Boston College first-year OLB coach Paul Rhoads.Rhoads brings over three decades of experience as a head coach, defensive coordinator and position coach at the Power-5 level to the BC program. Rhoads has done previous stints in the Big East, the Pac 12, the Big 12, the Big Ten and the SEC.Rhoads served as head coach at Iowa State for seven seasons, defensive coordinator at Auburn, Pittsburgh and Arizona and defensive backs coach at UCLA and Arkansas. Rhoads’ last job was defensive analyst for head coach Ryan Day at Ohio State.Following a team scrimmage at Alumni Stadium, Rhoads held court for the first-time during BC media day on Sunday afternoon inside the Fish Field House. The first topic on the agenda was what brought him to the Heights.“This one just happened to be the right time and place,” said Rhoads. “...

Dear Abby: Tribute to late wife irks current spouse

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:30:32 GMT

Dear Abby: My husband, “Randall,” was a widower when we met. His wife, “Sylvia,” had passed away in November 2010. We got married in October 2015. I recently was shocked to discover that Randall has kept Sylvia’s Facebook page open, supposedly so his grandchildren can send her messages on her birthday or anytime they feel like it.Last September, he posted a message that read: “Happy Anniversary. Love you and miss you. 52 years today.” (If she were still living, that day would have marked 52 years of marriage.) When I read it, I realized that, in his heart, he still feels married to her. Am I wrong for feeling that way? — One of Two WivesDear One: I don’t think you are wrong, but please understand that some people don’t completely get over the death of a loved one, and your husband may be one of them. It’s not that unusual, if my Facebook is any example. People post about their departed parents, grandparents and even t...

Hilary moves through San Diego as California's first tropical storm in decades

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:30:32 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- Tropical Storm Hilary's center moved right through San Diego County Sunday evening, making it the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in 84 years.Sunday morning, Hilary was downgraded from a hurricane just hours before making landfall along Baja California's coast, hitting about 150 miles south of Ensenada around 11:20 a.m.The storm then continued on its northward trek, with its center hitting San Diego County by 5 p.m. By 6 p.m., meteorologists said the region had experienced its heaviest precipitation. Steady, intermittent rain was expected to continue through the evening as the back edge of the storm lifts out of the area, Alex Tardy with National Weather Service said to FOX 5. Alex Tardy with National Weather Service said to FOX 5. Flash flood risk, however, will remain in place, particularly for residents in the mountains and deserts. The storm was then on track to head north into inland desert areas. MORE: Tracking Hilary Initial forecasts from the N...

Three years after a foiled plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor, the final trial is set to begin

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:30:32 GMT

BELLAIRE, Mich. (AP) — Nearly three years after authorities foiled a bizarre plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the last defendants accused of taking part go on trial Monday.Eric Molitor and brothers William Null and Michael Null were among 14 men, described by prosecutors as anti-government extremists, charged in the scheme weeks before the November 2020 election. They were angered by Whitmer’s COVID-19 policies, which shut down schools and restricted the economy, investigators said in court filings.The plotters were members of paramilitary groups and spoke of attacking the state Capitol and police to ignite civil war, the documents said.Nine men so far have been convicted in state or federal court, including four who pleaded guilty. Two others were acquitted at trial.Jury selection in the final case is set to begin Monday. Opening arguments are scheduled for Wednesday in rural Antrim County, a tourist haven known for cherry and apple orchards, sparkling lakes and...

Immigrant workers’ lives, livelihoods and documents in limbo after the Hawaii fire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:30:32 GMT

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Freddy Tomas was working in his yard in Lahaina when the fire advanced with stunning speed right up to his fence. He rushed to save valuables from a safe inside his house but realized he didn’t have time and fled, his face blackened with soot.Days after fleeing in his pickup truck, amid smoke so thick he could only follow the red taillights of the vehicle in front of him and pray they were going the right way, the retired hotel worker from the Philippines returned to his destroyed home with his son to look for the safe. Tomas, 65, said it had contained passports, naturalization papers, other important documents and $35,000. After sifting through the ashes, father and son found the safe, but it had popped open in the fire, whipped by hurricane-force winds, and its contents were incinerated.For immigrants like Tomas, Lahaina was an oasis, with nearly double the foreign-born population of the U.S. mainland. Now, those workers are trying to piece their lives...

Trump and his allies double down on election lies after indictments for trying to undo 2020 results

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:30:32 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal indictment and one in Georgia charging Donald Trump with lying about the 2020 election to overturn President Joe Biden’s win have done nothing to slow the geyser of election falsehoods flowing from the former president and his supporters.Just two days after the Georgia indictment, one of Trump’s most enthusiastic backers took the stage at a conference in Missouri to again spread election misinformation. Mike Lindell, the owner of MyPillow who is a vocal promoter of the myth that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, kicked off an event on purported election crimes with a video about fraud.It included footage from November 2020 that purported to show a Fulton County, Georgia, election worker pulling a briefcase of ballots from under a desk to surreptitiously add them to the tally.As evidence has since shown, the worker, Ruby Freeman, was simply doing her job — pulling out a standard government container full of real ballots that had to be counted. Thr...

Global food security is at crossroads as rice shortages and surging prices hit the most vulnerable

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:30:32 GMT

Francis Ndege isn’t sure if his customers in Africa’s largest slum can afford to keep buying rice from him.Prices for rice grown in Kenya soared a while ago because of higher fertilizer prices and a yearslong drought in the Horn of Africa that has reduced production. Cheap rice imported from India had filled the gap, feeding many of the hundreds of thousands of residents in Nairobi’s Kibera slum who survive on less than $2 a day.But that is changing. The price of a 25-kilogram (55-pound) bag of rice has risen by a fifth since June. Wholesalers are yet to receive new stocks since India, the world’s largest exporter of rice by far, said last month that it would ban some rice shipments. It’s an effort by the world’s most populous nation to control domestic prices ahead of a key election year — but it’s left a yawning gap of around 9.5 million metric tons (10.4 tons) of rice that people around the world need, roughly a fifth of global exports.“I’m really hoping the imp...