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For the Conservatives’ messenger on firearms, thoughtfulness is a secret weapon

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:49 GMT

OTTAWA — For Raquel Dancho, words have always come easily. She remembers her parents saying she was less than a year old when she started stringing them together, speaking in short sentences. “Everyone’s born with natural gifts,” she said in an interview from her Parliament Hill office. “I’ve always just been a good communicator.”Today, Dancho is the federal Conservative Party’s main voice on one of the country’s most heated topics: firearms and crime. The issue of gun control had backfired for former party leader Erin O’Toole in the 2021 federal election. He angered supporters by backtracking on a pledge to repeal a federal Liberal ban of so-called assault-style weapons after an attack from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.Following that campaign, O’Toole needed a communicator in Parliament with the skills to go toe-to-toe with the Liberals on a tough file, in a way that avoided getting the party into trouble.Enter Dancho, who had ...

St. Louis fire chief warns railroads to hand over life-saving supplies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:49 GMT

ST. LOUIS - St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson says he’s been battling for about a decade for the railroads to bring critical safety supplies closer to the city.He said there’s no question we’ll need those supplies.“It’s not if, it’s when. We know it’s going to happen,” Jenkerson said.He was referring to the explosive train derailment in Ohio. He said it’s almost always on his mind.“We’ve got an issue right now,” Jenkerson said. Top story: St. Louis fire chief warns railroads to hand over life-saving supplies He explained that certain toxic chemicals need specific fire suppression agents to combat.“We tried imploring the railroad to… give us the products," Jenkerson said. "Give us the equipment to provide foam and provide fire-fighting type supplies on top of these trains, and it was like, 'Okay, we’re going to do it.' It never materialized.”On the other side of the state, the railroads are currently storing those fire suppression chemicals, according to Jenkerson.“Everything’s...

Ask Amy: Trapped in a snowbank, wife wants out

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:49 GMT

Dear Amy: I am 64 and retired. My husband is 62 and has his own home-based business.He said he was going to retire, but now he’s saying he will just work part time so that we will have extra money “to play.”We moved to an extremely small town, which has very few entertainment opportunities. It entails over two hours of driving to get all but the most basic of medical care.Most of the women here grew up with their friends, and are not welcoming.There is also snow on the ground for six months of the year, and I have physical problems that make it difficult and risky for me to walk in snow.My husband is happy here. He has friends through his work and doesn’t really care about spending time with people.He’s an outdoor guy. All I do is watch TV with him or wait for him to not be working.I want to move to a place where I have more options for friendship and entertainment, but he refuses to move.He doesn’t like to travel, and I am afraid the rest of my life will be ...

Horoscopes March 11, 2023: Anthony Davis, get the ball rolling

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:49 GMT

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Anthony Davis, 30; Thora Birch, 41; Johnny Knoxville, 52; Terrence Howard, 54.Johnny Knoxville (DIA DIPASUPIL/GETTY IMAGES) Happy Birthday: You’ll have the drive, intelligence and insight to get things done your way this year. It’s up to you to get the ball rolling and bring about positive change that will generate enough cash to live how you want. A shift in your routine or how you earn money will encourage brighter days ahead. Don’t settle for less than what you want. Your numbers are 5, 22, 24, 29, 35, 36, 44.ARIES (March 21-April 19): A partnership will change how you handle personal, legal and financial matters. Find your best outlet to maintain fitness and good health. A physical challenge will be daunting but also make you aware of what to incorporate into your daily routine. 3 starsTAURUS (April 20-May 20): Your desire to handle everything will help you maintain control, but it will also run you ragged. Call on someone you...

Word Game: March 11, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:49 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — MEASURED (MEASURED: MEZH-erd: Careful; restrained.)Average mark 37 wordsTime limit 60 minutesCan you find 53 or more words in MEASURED? The list will be published Monday.YESTERDAY’S WORD — HOMOPHONES hemp home hone hoop hope hose omen oomph oops open mesh mono moon moose mope peon peso phone poem pome pone pooh pose posh noes nope nosh noose epos shoe shoo shone shop snoop some sone soon spoonTo purchase the Word Game book, visit WordGameBooks.com. Order it now for just $5 while supplies last!RULES OF THE GAME:1. Words must be of four or more letters.2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” are not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible.4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.Contact Word Game creator Kathleen Saxe at...

Bridge: March 11, 2023

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:49 GMT

“Simple Saturday” columns focus on basic technique and logical thinking.Defenders usually play “second hand low.” They may compel declarer, who is third to play, to guess what to do or to spend a high card to prevent the other defender from winning cheaply. But declarer can take advantage of that tendency.At today’s 3NT, South wins the first spade with the ace and counts six top tricks: two spades and four diamonds. Meanwhile, East has entries and threatens to establish and cash three spades.EIGHT TRICKSIf South leads a club next or a heart to dummy’s king, East will win and set up the spades, and South will have at most eight tricks. To succeed, South leads a diamond to dummy and returns a low heart through East, who has the ace for his opening bid.East must play second hand low: If he takes the ace, South wins three heart tricks and nine in all. If East plays low, South wins and forces out the ace of clubs, winning two clubs, four diamonds, two ...

Trump’s Last Defense Secretary Has Regrets — But Not About Jan. 6

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:49 GMT

When bureaucrats get big promotions, they tend to receive congratulations from their friends, but after Christopher Miller landed the biggest job of his life, his wife and some of his colleagues were horrified.It was November 9, 2020, the day President Donald Trump fired his secretary of defense, Mark Esper. It was widely assumed that Trump would install an acolyte who would do whatever was needed to help the defeated president stay in power. Esper, just days before, had confided to a journalist, “Who’s going to come in behind me? It’s going to be a real yes man. And then God help us.”Trump appointed Miller, an unknown whose rise was so far-fetched that the secretary of the Army, Ryan McCarthy, had to Google his new boss to figure out who he was. Wikipedia was useless because at the time, Miller didn’t merit an entry.After retiring from the Army as a Special Forces colonel in 2014, Miller moved from one mid-level job to another in Washington, D.C., a nobody in a city of somebodies. ...

¿Qué ha sido de Will Smith un año después de golpear en los Oscar a Chris Rock?

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:49 GMT

(CNN Español) — Will Smith tiene prohibido asistir este año (y los próximos nueve) a los Premios Oscar, pero seguramente sea el primer nombre en el que piense el público durante la ceremonia de este domingo en Hollywood.Luego de la bofetada que le propinó a Chris Rock en la edición 2022 de los premios, el príncipe del rap de Bel-Air se enfrentó al ostracismo: renunció a la Academia y, pocos días después, la organización anunció que tenía prohibido asistir a cualquiera de sus eventos, incluidos los Oscar, durante 10 años.Casi 12 meses después, el tema sigue en boga. El fin de semana previo a la entrega de los Oscar 2023, justamente, Chris Rock hizo un especial de Netflix en el que abordó el asunto.Pero no es lo único por lo que se habla de él: al menos dos proyectos cinematográficos, la premiada “Emancipation” y la secuela de “I Am Legend” en proceso, han vuelto a poner a Smith en el centro de conversaciones vinculadas a sus actuaciones.‘Emancipati...

Among Orioles’ spring stars, Heston Kjerstad grateful to have focus on baseball: ‘That’s all I want to do’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:49 GMT

Heston Kjerstad’s offseason was shorter than a typical player’s. He still felt it lasted too long.“I was getting pretty bored,” Kjerstad said, “itching to get back out here to play again.”Much of Kjerstad’s time in the Orioles’ farm system has been spent with that itch. Drafted second overall in 2020, the outfielder went two years before taking an at-bat for a Baltimore affiliate, developing the heart condition myocarditis shortly after the draft and suffering a severe left hamstring strain last spring.He’s spent this one showing “what kind of hitter he can be,” manager Brandon Hyde said. Kjerstad has eight hits in his 17 spring at-bats, homering the other way in the first two and lacing a 107.2 mph triple Thursday in Clearwater. Entering Friday’s exhibition — in which he went 0-for-2 but hit the ball hard twice — only four players throughout the league had as many plate appearances as Kjerstad with ...

Woman dead, man in custody after Scarborough incident

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:27:49 GMT

The homicide unit has been called in after the body of a woman was discovered in a Scarborough apartment. Police say they were called to an apartment in the area of Sheppard Avenue East and Kingston Road just after 1 p.m. Friday. When they arrived they found a woman suffering from life-threatening injuries who was later pronounced dead at the scene. Police say a man has been taken into custody but provided no further details. It’s unknown at this time what the relationship is, if any, between the man and the woman.