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Editorial: Farm Bill must say no to Big Sugar subsidies

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:41:49 GMT

Sugar in the U.S. costs nearly twice as much as elsewhere in the world, raising prices for candy, baked goods, ice cream and more. The reason is no mystery. A government farm-subsidy program in effect since the 1930s blocks cheaper imports and controls the price and quantity of sugar in our marketplace. As in the days of Soviet central planning, the program benefits a few at the expense of the many.The main culprits? A small group of domestic sugar processors, sugar cane growers in Florida, Louisiana and Texas, and sugar beet producers in a handful of mostly northern states. Lining the pockets of this wealthy, politically connected pressure group costs U.S. consumers at least $2.4 billion at the grocery store each year.Someday, the price-gouging must stop, and reformers have high hopes for the 2023 Farm Bill — the federal farm and food policy legislation that comes up for renewal every five years. Voters are justifiably angry about the high cost of food, and no doubt would support e...

‘Jagged Little Pill’ star Lauren Chanel takes deep dive into role

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:41:49 GMT

Every night, Lauren Chanel spends two hours playing Frankie Healy, a Black, adopted 16-year-old who rages against her wealthy, white, Stepford Wife-like mother, Mary Jane Healy. For Chanel, diving daily into the role of Frankie in “Jagged Little Pill” can be overwhelming.“This show requires all of you,” Chanel told the Herald. “It’s mentally, physically draining. Yes, acting is not real, and we know that. But sometimes your body and mind have a disconnect, so your mind knows it’s fake but your body is going through something physically. That can mean trembling. It can mean hearing words that trigger a certain experience. The show is exhausting.”But the exhaustion comes with tremendous artistic satisfaction.Despite being based on Alanis Morissette’s 1995 album “Jagged Little Pill,” this is no silly jukebox musical indulgence. This is a decidedly modern Broadway production – “Jagged Little Pill” plays at the Citizens Bank Opera House June 13 -25.Developed at Cambridge’s American Reper...

Dear Abby: Spouse wants to travel before it’s too late

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:41:49 GMT

Dear Abby: I was diagnosed with chronic heart failure seven years ago. It has no cure. I want to see and do more before my life is over. My husband and I have been married 29 years. After talking about this with my therapist, I was finally able to express it to my husband. He said he understands, but we will need to save for a trip and won’t be able to go until late next year.I have told him I need to go somewhere to see more of the world very soon. I’d be willing to go by myself. He told me we needed to close out an old bank account in which there was $3,000. We have spent other money I don’t think was necessary. We are going to his sister’s wedding in a few months, which will cost around $2,500, and he’s already talking about how he’s going to take his annual vacation to see his family.My sister said she and I should take a trip together this year to a destination four hours by car. It would be for about four days. My husband said “we̵...

Bail hearing set for Utah woman accused of killing husband then writing grief book for kids

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:41:49 GMT

PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — A Utah woman who wrote a children’s book about coping with grief after her husband’s death, and was later accused of fatally poisoning him, is scheduled to appear in court Monday to determine whether she should remain detained or have an opportunity to post bail.Kouri Richins, 33, is charged with murder and drug possession. Prosecutors say in court documents that she slipped five times the lethal dose of fentanyl into a Moscow mule cocktail she made for her husband, Eric Richins, amid marital disputes and fights over a multimillion-dollar mansion she ultimately purchased as an investment.The mother of three self-published an illustrated book about an angelic father watching over his sons. The case became a true-crime fixation when charges were filed last month, prompting people to pore over the children’s book and scrutinize remarks she made while promoting it as a tool to help children grieve the loss of a loved one. Prosecutors have painted a picture o...

New Zealand public radio apologizes for publishing ‘pro-Kremlin garbage’ after wire stories altered

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:41:49 GMT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The head of New Zealand’s public radio station apologized Monday for publishing “pro-Kremlin garbage” on its website after more than a dozen wire stories on the Ukraine war were found to have been altered.Most of the stories, which date back more than a year, were written by the Reuters news agency and were changed at Radio New Zealand to include Russian propaganda. A digital journalist from RNZ has been placed on leave pending the result of an employment investigation.Paul Thompson, the chief executive of taxpayer-funded RNZ, said it had found issues in 16 stories and was republishing them on its website with corrections and editor’s notes. He said he was commissioning an external review of the organization’s editing processes.“It is so disappointing. I’m gutted. It’s painful. It’s shocking,” Thompson said on RNZ’s Nine to Noon show. “We have to get to the bottom of how it happened.” Thompson said it had forensically reviewed about 2...

Moms for Liberty rises as power player in GOP politics after attacking schools over gender, race

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:41:49 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — To its members, it’s a grassroots army of “joyful warriors” who “don’t co-parent with the government.”To anti-hate researchers, it’s a well-connected extremist group that attacks inclusion in schools.And to Republicans vying for the presidency, it has become a potential key partner in the fight for the 2024 nomination.Moms for Liberty didn’t exist during the last presidential campaign, but the Florida-based nonprofit that champions “ parental rights ” in education has rapidly become a major player for 2024, boosted in part by GOP operatives, politicians and donors.The group that has been at the forefront of the conservative movement targeting books that reference race and gender identity and electing right-wing candidates to local school boards nationwide is hosting one of the next major gatherings for Republican presidential primary contenders. At least four are listed as speakers at the Moms for Liberty annual summit in Philadelphia later this month.Former Pr...

Montana youth first to trial over whether state obligated to protect residents from climate change

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:41:49 GMT

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — A group of Montana youth who say their lives are already being affected by climate change and that state government is failing to protect them are the first of dozens of such efforts to get their lawsuit to trial Monday. They will try to persuade a judge that the state’s allegiance to fossil fuel development endangers their health and livelihoods and those of future generations.The 16 plaintiffs argue that Montana has a constitutional obligation to protect residents from climate change in a case experts say could set legal precedent, but isn’t likely to make immediate changes to policy in the fossil fuel-friendly state. Environmentalists have called the planned two-week bench trial a turning point because similar suits in nearly every state have already been dismissed. A favorable decision could add to a handful of rulings globally that have declared governments have a duty to protect citizens from climate change.One reason the case may have made it so far...

The Great Grift: Five things to know about how COVID-19 relief aid was stolen or wasted

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:41:49 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The greatest grift in U.S. history was brazen, even simple. Criminals and gangs grabbed the money. So did an U.S. soldier in Georgia, the pastors of a defunct church in Texas, a former state lawmaker in Missouri and a roofing contractor in Montana.Over the last three years, thieves plundered billions of dollars in federal COVID-19 relief aid intended to combat the worst pandemic in a century and to stabilize an economy in free fall.Here are some key takeaways from an Associated Press analysis of what may have been stolen or wasted.How much was stolen?An Associated Press analysis found that fraudsters potentially stole more than $280 billion in COVID-19 relief funding; another $123 billion was wasted or misspent. Combined, the loss represents a jarring 10% of the $4.2 trillion the U.S. government has so far disbursed in COVID-relief aid.That number is certain to grow as investigators dig deeper into thousands of potential schemes.There are myriad reasons for the sta...

School’s out and Jill Biden is gearing up to raise money for President Biden’s reelection campaign

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:41:49 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — At almost every stop last year, Jill Biden delivered a clear message to supporters as she campaigned for Democrats in the run-up to the 2022 midterm elections: Put voting on your “to-do” list, she’d say. “Like a lot of educators, to stay organized, I use to-do lists,” said Biden, a community college English professor. “So this election is going to be won or lost by where voting falls on your to-do list.”“Put voting at the top of your to-do list,” she implored.This year, the first lady has a new task atop her list. Though the 2024 election in which President Joe Biden is seeking reelection is more than a year away, helping him win a second term is a top priority for the first lady now that school’s out for the summer.A week after she returned from a grueling six-day trip abroad, the first lady is ready for her first solo outing of the 2024 campaign season. She heads out Monday on a three-day fundraising swing to New York City, San Francisco and Los Angel...

Biden to host outgoing NATO secretary-general Stoltenberg as competition to replace him heats up

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 13:41:49 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is welcoming outgoing NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg to the White House for talks on Monday as the competition to find his successor to lead the military alliance heats up.Stoltenberg, who has led the NATO since 2014 and has had his tenure extended three times, said earlier this year he would move on when his current time expires at the end of September. The jockeying to replace him is intensifying as leaders of the 31-member military alliance are set to meet next month for their annual summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.Last week, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made the case for U.K. Defense Minister Ben Wallace directly to Biden. The U.S. president also met with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, another potential contender.Asked about the NATO job at a news conference with Sunak by his side, Biden called Wallace “very qualified” but noted that the conversation among NATO leaders to find a “consensus” pick to replace Stoltenberg w...