MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty ImagesFaced with a struggling domestic agenda and the increasing likelihood of a Democratic electoral rout in November, President Joe Biden — in a nearly two-hour-long press conference Wednesday — finally conceded that chopping up his signature Build Back Better (BBB) package may be the only remaining path to passing any of his legislative agenda. Even worse, Biden conceded that his plan to divide BBB into standalone bills will likely mean tough choices over what portions of the package survive and which die. Originally floated at a lofty $3.5 trillion over 10 years, Biden was only willing to specifically name universal pre-kindergarten and $500 billion in new climate funding as priorities for his new, stripped-down approach. That’s a huge red flag for progressiv...
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San Francisco 49ers director of personnel Ran Carthon walks onto the field before an NFL football game between the 49ers and the Minnesota Vikings in Santa Clara, Calif., Sunday, Nov. 28, 2021. | Jed Jacobsohn, AP PhotosCarthon, whose 49ers are in the second round of the NFC playoffs, conducted a similar interview with the Giants on Monday. Add another name to the Bears’ general manager search: Ran Carthon. The Bears interviewed Carthon, the 49ers’ player personnel director, on Wednesday. Carthon, whose team is in the second round of the NFC playoffs, conducted a similar interview with the Giants on Monday. Carthon was the pro personnel director for the previous five seasons with the 49ers before being promoted last year. He was the Rams’ pro personnel director from 2012-16. Carthon p...
Read MoreBryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, center, talks to journalists while at the Capitol in Salt Lake City to meet with lawmakers on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022, to discuss elimination of the death penalty in Utah. With Stevenson are Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, left, and Rep. Lowry Snow, R-Santa Clara. | Spenser Heaps, Deseret NewsBryan Stevenson calls capital punishment an ‘obstacle’ to public safety in Utah Utah is ready to abolish the death penalty, author and activist Bryan Stevenson told lawmakers on Wednesday. “Utah is a state where no one has been sentenced to death for a crime that’s taken place anytime in the last 20 years,” he said, yet the state has still spent millions of dollars on litigation and appeals for those sentenced to death prev
Read MoreTrevor Bauer is coming back … at least on social media. One of the most active (and divisive) online presences on the various platforms among MLB players, the controversial right-hander essentially went silent after sexual assault allegations aimed at him became public last July. The only post on his Twitter account (@BauerOutage) between late June and October was one disputing a Washington Post report that he had been involved in another incident in Ohio during June 2020. Last August, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge rejected the request to extend a temporary restraining order made by a San Diego woman who has accused him of sexual assault during meetings at his Pasadena home last April and May. Bauer has denied the charges and filed a notice with the L.A. County court in Septemb
Read MoreLetters: Roads not rail | Boost rental aid | Single-payer plan | Canopy crisis | Impeachment vote | Steer clear
Submit your letter to the editor via this form. Read more Letters to the Editor. Direct surplus to roads, not to high-speed rail Gov. Newsom wants to commit more money to the bullet train (“Newsom doubles down on rail project,” Page B1, Jan. 14). This is the train that we were lied to about cost and construction time when it was on the ballot. I strongly recommend Newsom forget the train and commit some of the state budget surplus to: • Expanding Interstate 5 to three or four lanes. This will save many dollars compared to the train; save considerable fertile farmland, which is so important given pending worldwide food shortages; and greatly reduce carbon emissions, as vehicles will no longer be in heavy traffic on Interstate 5. • Repairing existing freeways such as Interstate 680 from San
Read MoreIn this April 12, 2019 file photo, Alec Baldwin attends the “Exploring the Arts” 20th anniversary Gala at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. | GettyThe lawsuit comes as Baldwin is immersed in an ongoing investigation into the death of a cinematographer and the wounding of a director last fall after a prop gun the actor was holding on a movie set went off. CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The widow and two sisters of a U.S. Marine killed in Afghanistan are suing Alec Baldwin, alleging the actor exposed them to a flood of social media hatred by claiming on Instagram that one sister was an “insurrectionist” for attending former President Donald Trump’s Washington, D.C., rally on Jan. 6 last year. The sister, Roice McCollum, protested peacefully and legally; was not among those who stormed the U.S. Ca
Read MoreMicrosoft stunned the gaming industry when it announced Tuesday it’s buying game publisher Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, a deal that would immediately make the tech behemoth a bigger video-game company than Nintendo. | Mark Lennihan / APFor the average person playing Candy Crush or Call of Duty, ‘There will probably be no changes at all,’ one analyst says. But it could be good news for game development. Microsoft stunned the gaming industry when it announced Tuesday it’s buying game publisher Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion in a deal that would make it a larger video-game company than Nintendo. The maker of the Xbox gaming system said acquiring the owner of Candy Crush, Call of Duty, Overwatch and Diablo would be good for gamers and advance its ambitions for the metaverse —
Read MoreSouthern California quarterback Jaxson Dart (2) throws during warmups before an NCAA college football game against Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021. | Paul Sancya, Associated PressThe latest online chatter indicates that Dart, who played at USC last season and who recently checked out Oklahoma and Ole Miss, is in Provo for a visit Jaxson Dart is one of the hottest names in NCAA transfer portal talks right now. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound quarterback, who played for USC as a freshman in 2021, is ranked the No. 3 available player in the transfer portal by 247 Sports. Dart recently shared social media posts of visits he took to Oklahoma and Ole Miss, both Power Five programs that have needs at quarterback with departures at the position. The latest chatter includes possib...
Read MoreStart the day right (Picture: Getty/Metro.co.uk)We’re inching closer to the weekend, and you likely need an extra boost to push you through. That’s where your star sign comes in handy. Have a lot of responsibilities, Taurus? Now’s the time to set a plan in place. Feeling overwhelmed, Capricorn? Little plans will help the big stuff to sort itself out. Read on for a full set of forecasts. Aries March 21 to April 20 The Leo Moon may find you in a playful mood and by indulging a hobby, sport or romance, you’ll enjoy a much-needed boost. But duty also calls and with the Sun in the last degree of Capricorn you could get a nudge to tie up loose ends. This is also a chance to renegotiate a deal. Head here for everything you need to know about being an Aries Taurus
Read MoreScott McTominay ‘couldn’t breathe properly’ during man Utd win at Brentford, reveals Ralf Rangnick
Scott McTominay returned to the pitch to applaud Manchester United fans after the win at Brentford (Picture: Getty Images)Ralf Rangnick says Scott McTominay couldn’t breathe properly after a blow to the back during Manchester United’s win at Brentford on Wednesday, but the midfielder should not be in danger of missing Saturday’s clash with West Ham. United beat the Bees 3-1 in the Premier League thanks to goals from Anthony Elanga, Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford before a late Ivan Toney consolation. The Red Devils had been a long way off the pace in the first half but dramatically improved after the break, with all the goals coming in the second half. There was one concern for Rangnick in the second stanza, though, when McTominay was forced off on 84 minutes, with the manag...
Read MoreThe phone rings, revealing not just a call from a new number — but one from a new country as well (at least for me). So, I answer my first-ever call from Iceland and hear a wonderfully familiar voice greet me on the other end: “Good morning. My name is Bjork.” Thus begins a very cool ride of a conversation with one of the greatest pop artists of the last 30-plus years, one who got her start with the legendary avant-rockers the Sugarcubes in the mid-‘80s and went on to an even more accomplished solo career beginning with 1993’s appropriately named “Debut.” Since then, Bjork has released eight other full-length albums, compiling a daring, far-reaching and ultimately fulfilling body of work that rivals David Bowie and Roxy Music. To put it very bluntly, it’s absolutely absurd that this ground
Read MoreOn this season's newest episode of 90 Day Fiance: Before The 90 Days, viewers finally got to "meet" Ben Rathbun. He's a divorced dad. He's a fitness model. He insists that he's not in a midlife crisis. He's a cult survivor. Ben's girlfriend is a 24-year-old girl named Mahogany who lives in Panama, never video chats, and edits her photos beyond recognition. Cyber-sleuth superfans think that they tracked down the "real" Mahogany, but things just get weirder from there. When Ben Rathbun introduced himself, it was only on the sixth episode of the season. Viewers got their first glimpse of him as he showed off his incredibly fit body. It was his fitness modeling that led him to "meet" Mahogany, but he had a long journey before that. Ben grew up in a toxic, repre...
Read MoreBy Mark Sherman | Associated Press WASHINGTON — In a rebuff to former President Donald Trump, the Supreme Court is allowing the release of presidential documents sought by the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. The justices on Wednesday rejected a bid by Trump to withhold the documents from the committee until the issue is finally resolved by the courts. Trump’s lawyers had hoped to prolong the court fight and keep the documents on hold. Following the high court’s action, there is no legal impediment to turning over the documents, which are held by the National Archives and Records Administration. They include presidential diaries, visitor logs, speech drafts and handwritten notes dealing with Jan. 6 from the files of former chief of staff Mark Meadows. Alone a...
Read MoreAmber Portwood to Farrah Abraham: You’re a Liar and a Fool, and Likely Committed Assault!
Amber Portwood knows a thing or two about being famous. And also about Farrah Abraham. And also about losing one's temper and possibly committing felony assault and/or battery. For all these reasons, it was only natural for E! News to reach out to the mother of two in order to gauge her opinion on the latest Farrah Abraham scandal. Abraham, who just appeared again on screen this month with Portwood on Teen Mom: Family Reunion (at Amber's behest, according to a recent report) was placed under citizen's arrest this past Saturday night. TMZ reported over the weekend that Farrah and a friend were out at a club in Hollywood called Grandmaster Records when someone started to taunt Abraham... and she totallly lost it in response. Specifically, Farrah was arrested for slapping ...
Read MoreFor years, Donald Trump punctuated his reality TV spiels and presidential speeches with claims that his business and his many gold-plated properties were “huge,” “amazing,” the biggest and the best. Now the New York attorney general’s office says it has uncovered evidence that his comments were not just puffery for the public. The office's civil investigation into Trump found that he and his company regularly fudged the value of assets on financial statements given to banks, insurers and tax authorities. But that doesn’t mean the Trump Organization will be shut down, Trump Tower padlocked and the former president hauled off to prison. Lawyers who examined the details of the allegations told The Associated Press that while Attorney General Letitia James could potentially bring a lawsuit all
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