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Magic & murder star in ‘Sanctuary: A Witch’s Tale’

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 21:40:24 GMT

Ireland’s Elaine Cassidy stars in Thursday’s contemporary take on the spiritually possessed in “Sanctuary: A Witch’s Tale.”We learn that the town of Sanctuary is England’s equivalent of Salem, Massachusetts. It is a place where witches and their spells and healing powers are respected and licensed, like doctors or pharmacists.Cassidy’s Sarah Fenn becomes a suspect in a murder investigation that involves her teenage daughter Harper who has not inherited her mother’s abilities and is not a witch.As for this twist on the traditional, Cassidy notes, “To me this feels like a world that we completely know. It’s the world we live in.“The only difference is that the way you go to the chiropractor, to the herbalist, some people go to the witch. This is a world where witches have a place in society. There’s certain jobs that they’re not allowed to ever take. You can never be in government because of the fear of using your power to make change legally.  It’s a wor...

Pawlicki: Who might Trump pick as running mate?

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 21:40:24 GMT

Choosing a vice president to run on the 2024 Republican ticket will be difficult. If selected as the Republican presidential nominee, which is likely, Donald Trump’s personal needs will dominate.Trump’s most obvious requirement for any potential pick is absolute loyalty, a requirement with no exceptions for the thin-skinned former president.What the VP candidate brings is usually the first consideration in their selection. The Kennedy clan disliked LBJ, but he could give Texas electoral votes and congressional leadership, so he was on the ticket. Nationally, little-known Indiana governor Mike Pence, chosen by Trump in 2016, was selected primarily for his strength among evangelists, an essential component of the Republican base.Those on the Republican presidential debate stage are unlikely to be in the running.“Would you support him, should Trump be the Republican nominee?” was the question asked of those on the initial debate stage. All but two, Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson and ...

Editorial: Does Boston City Council deserve pay hike?

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 21:40:24 GMT

The freshly sworn-in members of the Boston City Council started the year off by getting a pay raise right out of the gate.Must be nice.The raise has been in the pipeline for two years, when the council voted for a heftier boost. Mayor Michelle Wu vetoed it, and the council came back with a slightly downsized pay hike.This year, councilors will get $115,000 (up from $103,500) and an additional $5,000 next year and another $5,000 in 2026.The question is: Do they deserve it?In most private-sector companies, pay raises are linked to performance reviews: turn in a stellar year, and you are rewarded. But with the state of dysfunction so robustly displayed by the council over the last year, what are they being rewarded for? And if raises are not, in large part, based on merit, they should be.One could make the argument that elections are the ultimate performance review, but with historically low turnouts for city council elections, that point is weak.Not so for members of Congress. Members...

Dear Abby: New GF is pal’s ex, should I tell him?

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 21:40:24 GMT

Dear Abby: I am a 40-plus-year-old single male. I recently started hanging out with one of my friend “Tom’s” ex-girlfriends. It is now turning into more than friends. “Pam” and I both have feelings for each other. She and Tom dated for five months and broke up eight months ago.Do I owe it to Tom to ask his permission or tell him I’m seeing her? Pam has asked me to not say anything and to let him find out on his own, which will happen because we have many mutual friends. I want to respect her choice. But also, as Tom’s friend, I feel the right thing to do is tell him. Please advise. I’m stuck between her wishes and doing what I think is right. — Stuck in the Middle in IowaDear Stuck: Have a talk with Pam. Explain that you are not sure how Tom will react if he sees the two of you arm-in-arm with no warning. He may not care, but he also could be upset that you are dating and hid it from him. Then tell Pam that, in light of your frie...

Rescuers search for possible missing swimmer near Ocean Beach Pier

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 21:40:24 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- First responders on Monday night are searching for a swimmer who possibly got swept away in Ocean Beach, authorities said.The man was last seen entering the water near the Ocean Beach Pier, the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) confirmed to FOX 5. Large waves damage Ocean Beach Pier SDPD's chopper, lifeguards, as well as the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department are assisting with the search.Check back for updates on this developing story.

Powerful earthquakes leave at least 30 dead, destroy buildings along Japan's western coast

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 21:40:24 GMT

WAJIMA, Japan (AP) — A series of powerful earthquakes hit western Japan, leaving at least 30 people dead and damaging buildings, vehicles and boats, with officials warning people in some areas on Tuesday to stay away from their homes because of a risk of more strong quakes.Aftershocks continued to shake Ishikawa prefecture and nearby areas a day after a magnitude 7.6 temblor slammed the area on Monday afternoon. Thirty people were confirmed dead in Ishikawa, officials said. Seven others were seriously injured, while damage to homes was so great that it could not immediately be assessed, they said. “Saving lives is our priority and we are fighting a battle against time,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tuesday. “It is critical that people trapped in homes get rescued immediately.” A quake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.6 shook the area as he was speaking. Japan's military dispatched 1,000 soldiers to the disaster zones to join rescue efforts, Kishida said, stressing they were fa...

Brazil’s economy improves during President Lula’s first year back, but a political divide remains

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 21:40:24 GMT

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva likes to boast he had a good first year after returning to the job. The economy is improving, Congress passed a long-overdue tax reform bill, rioters who wanted to oust him are now in jail, and his predecessor and foe Jair Bolsonaro is barred from running for office until 2030.Still, the 78-year-old leader has struggled to boost his support among citizens and lawmakers. Some major setbacks, including a series of votes by Congress to override his vetoes, signaled that Lula’s future could be less productive in a Brazil almost evenly split between his supporters and Bolsonaro’s.“Brazil’s political polarization is such that it crystallized the opinions of Lula and Bolsonaro voters beyond the economy,” said political consultant Thomas Traumann, the author of a recent best-selling book on Brazil’s political divisions. “These groups are separated by very different world views, the values that form the identity ...

Ex-gang leader makes his bid in Las Vegas court for house arrest before trial in Tupac Shakur case

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 21:40:24 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A former Los Angeles-area gang leader charged with killing hip-hop music icon Tupac Shakur in 1996 in Las Vegas plans to ask a judge on Tuesday to release him to house arrest ahead of the trial in June.Court-appointed lawyers for Duane “Keffe D” Davis say their 60-year-old client is in poor health, poses no danger to the community and won’t flee to avoid trial. They want the judge to set his bail at not more than $100,000.Davis has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge and has remained jailed without bail since his arrest Sept. 29 outside his home in suburban Henderson, where Las Vegas police had served a search warrant in mid-July. He is the only person ever charged with a crime in the shooting that also wounded rap music mogul Marion “Suge” Knight.Prosecutors allege in a court filing submitted last week that jail telephone recordings and a list of names provided to Davis’ family members show that there are witnesses at risk of harm if Davis was released.They also ...

A missing person with no memory: How investigators solved the cold case of Seven Doe

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 21:40:24 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — Buried at the edge of a Chicago Catholic cemetery are an elderly person’s remains marked only by a cement cylinder deep in the ground labeled with the numbers 04985. The person died in 2015 at a nursing home not remembering much, including their own name.They went by Seven. Now police specializing in missing people and cold cases have discovered Seven’s identity in one of the most unusual investigations the Cook County sheriff’s office has pursued and one that could change state law. Using post-mortem fingerprints, investigators identified Seven as 75-year-old Reba C. Bailey, an Illinois veteran missing since the 1970s.The breakthrough is bringing closure to generations of relatives and friends. But whether they knew the name or the numeral, the investigation has unearthed more mysteries about how Reba, a Women’s Army Corps veteran raised in a large family, became homeless with no recollection, aside from wanting to be identified as a man called Seven.Public records, ...

Biden and Trump are poised for a potential rematch that could shake American politics

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 21:40:24 GMT

LACONIA, N.H. (AP) — U.S. presidential elections have been rocked in recent years by economic disaster, stunning gaffes, secret video and a pandemic. But for all the tumult that defined those campaigns, the volatility surrounding this year’s presidential contest has few modern parallels, posing profound challenges to the future of American democracy. Not since the Supreme Court effectively decided the 2000 campaign in favor of Republican George W. Bush has the judiciary been so intertwined with presidential politics. In the coming weeks, the high court is expected to weigh whether states can ban former President Donald Trump from the ballot for his role in leading the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Meanwhile, a federal appeals court is weighing Trump’s argument that he’s immune from prosecution. The maneuvers are unfolding as prosecutors from New York to Washington and Atlanta move forward with 91 indictments across four criminal cases involving everything from Trum...