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Jarvis: Pandemic is over, pandemic stress isn’t

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:51:20 GMT

Survey after survey tells us that Americans are struggling. The latest, the American Psychological Association’s annual gauge of stress in the U.S., reveals that people continue to feel worse than before the pandemic. The question is what to do about it.And it’s no wonder that people are so stressed out: Humans have finite mental resources, and they’ve been decidedly depleted by years of dealing with COVID and its fallout, plus economic woes and worries about geopolitical upheaval. In the APA survey, which was conducted in August, nearly a quarter of adults reported operating at the highest levels of stress, rating it at least an 8 out of 10. Among parents, self-reported stress was so extreme that nearly half said it was “completely overwhelming” on most days, and 41% reported that it impedes their function.The APA’s survey of adults shows stress levels are highest among those age 18–45, who reported the biggest increases since pre-pandemic times.That group also saw a marked increas...

Editorial: It’s a border crisis, not a work permit problem

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:51:20 GMT

As overwhelmed Blue State governors struggle to secure shelter and funding for the ceaseless influx of migrants, the allegiance to all-things-Biden is starting to crack.Last week, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker wrote a letter to the president that “the federal government’s lack of intervention and coordination at the border has created an untenable situation for Illinois,” as NBC News reported. Chicago is set to host the 2024 Democratic National Convention.Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, said in September “Time and again, I’ve asked the Biden administration for assistance at the border, but instead, they have chosen to redirect resources to speed the release of migrants without the support and coordination our local communities deserve.”Our own Maura Healey isn’t there yet.As the Herald reported, the state’s shelter system is at or approaching maximum capacity of 7,500 families. Healey did not directly say what happens to a family seeking Emergency Assistance shelter ...

Dear Abby: Living with MIL a non-stop fight

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:51:20 GMT

Dear Abby: I’m a 35-year-old woman who is married to a 27-year-old man. We currently live in the same house as his mother. She lives downstairs; we live upstairs. Thanks to my husband’s upbringing, he has a hair-trigger temper. His dad has an explosive temper, and his mother is a narcissist. He’s never directed it at me, but his mother sets him off.Sometimes, I think she does it on purpose because she has some kind of victim complex. I have tried everything to help him control his temper; nothing has worked. It has become normal for me to end the day with them fighting. I am exhausted by them. If they’re home before I go to work, they’ll get into some sort of yelling match. When I’m finishing my workday, he’ll call me and I’ll hear them arguing on the phone.I’m tired of the fighting. It’s creating so much anxiety and depression. I have told him this and asked him to at least try to stop, but it’s still the same. What ...

Celtics unable to overcome Anthony Edwards’ 38 points in first loss of season

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:51:20 GMT

The Celtics finally met their match.On a night when the Celtics’ offense finally looked mortal, it almost didn’t matter. Kristaps Porzingis was stuck in foul trouble. Jrue Holiday couldn’t buy a shot. Even without Derrick White again, the Celtics were in position for a tough road victory in Minnesota.Then Anthony Edwards happened.The Timberwolves guard and fastest rising NBA superstar scored 38 points, including eight in overtime. The Celtics couldn’t stop him on the court, and they couldn’t take advantage when he was off it as he dealt with foul trouble. They didn’t get enough outside of Jayson Tatum, who scored 32 points, or Jaylen Brown, who added 26. Instead, they dropped their first game of the season with a 114-109 loss to the Timberwolves.Edwards proved to be the difference.“He’s a great player,” C’s coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters in Minnesota. “He’s gonna make shots. I thought he made some difficult ones.”The Celtics’ offense went stale against Minnesota, the league’s top...

SDG&E income-based billing structure met with pushback during utility commission meeting

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:51:20 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) held a hearing in Escondido Monday afternoon to hear from the public on San Diego Gas & Electric's budget. While the hearing was not focused on the potential new income-based fee structure, members of the public took it as a chance to make their voices heard in front of the CPUC.The proposal from SDG&E's fixed rates is below: ·         Household income $28,000 – $69,000 = $34/month.·         Household income from $69,000 – $180,000 = $73/month.·         Household income $180,000+ = $128/month.This does not include the electricity usage charges. San Diego is among the highest electricity prices in the nation.Among the many San Diegans that spoke out against the idea was County Supervisor Jim Desmond, who represents the North County, including Escondido."It's really going to hurt ,o...

How are people supposed to rebuild Paradise, California, when nobody can afford home insurance?

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:51:20 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Heidi Lange was among the first to rebuild after the deadliest wildfire in California history destroyed her home in 2018 along with much of the town of Paradise. After the fire, she got divorced, which left her with only half the money paid out by insurance — but she budgeted, planned ahead and even paid extra for stucco siding and a metal roof to make her new house more resistant to fire. She thought the hard part was over. So the office manager was stunned to learn nearly four years living in the same home, this month the annual premium on her home insurance would rise dramatically — from $1,200 to $9,750.“To see we’ve come so far, only to have the legs kicked out from under us,” she said. “This is so crazy to me. How is this the biggest thing we’re dealing with?”The soaring cost of home insurance has consumed the town of Paradise, residents and officials say, as it prepares to commemorate the five-year anniversary of the Nov. 8, 2018, Camp Fire. Residents hav...

Pennsylvania voters weigh abortion rights in open state Supreme Court seat

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:51:20 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania voters will make a decision with implications for the future of voting and abortion rights in a presidential battleground state when they choose the winner in Tuesday’s election for an open state Supreme Court seat.The race between Democrat Dan McCaffery and Republican Carolyn Carluccio will not change the fact that Democrats hold a majority on the seven-seat bench. Democrats currently hold a 4-2 majority with an open seat following the death last year of Chief Justice Max Baer, a Democrat.Justices serve 10-year terms before they must run for retention to stay on the court.McCaffery is a former Philadelphia prosecutor and judge who sits on a statewide appellate court, the Superior Court. Carolyn Carluccio is a Montgomery County judge and a former federal prosecutor and public defender. The state’s highest court has issued pivotal decisions on major election-related cases in recent years, including throwing out GOP-drawn congressional d...

Voters in Pennsylvania to elect Philadelphia mayor, Allegheny County executive

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:51:20 GMT

Voters on both ends of Pennsylvania are deciding Tuesday who will lead the state’s most populous counties, in races that could help shape how Democrats talk about crime, progressive policy and abortion in the political arena.The results in Philadelphia and Allegheny County, which is home to Pittsburgh, will set the electoral stage for 2024, when the state will be a presidential battleground state, with candidates taking lessons about how Democrats see crime and the strength of progressives in local races. into the next election cycle.In Philadelphia, the nation’s sixth largest city, voters will choose a new mayor between Democrat Cherelle Parker and Republican David Oh. Parker, 51, a former state legislator and former city councilmember, is favored to win in the heavily Democratic stronghold. Her tough-on-crime and moderate approach resonated with voters in a crowded primary in May.Oh, 63, also a former city councilmember, has built a broad coalition in public office and empha...

Ex-gang leader to get date for murder trial stemming from 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:51:20 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A former Southern California street gang leader charged with killing rap icon Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas in 1996 is expected Tuesday to learn the date for his murder trial, probably next year.Duane Keith “Keffe D” Davis won’t face the death penalty but could be sentenced to life in prison if he’s convicted of one of hip-hop’s most talked-about killings. He pleaded not guilty last Thursday and remains jailed in Las Vegas.Davis, 60, is originally from Compton, California. He was arrested Sept. 29 outside a Las Vegas-area home where police served a search warrant July 17.In recent years, Davis said in interviews and a 2019 tell-all memoir that he orchestrated the drive-by shooting that killed Shakur at age 25 and wounded rap music mogul Marion “Suge” Knight. Knight, now 58, is serving 28 years in a California prison for the death of a Compton businessman in 2015.Davis is the only person still alive who was in the vehicle from which shots were fired. He has also sa...

Special counsel in Hunter Biden case to testify before lawmakers in ‘unprecedented step’

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:51:20 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The prosecutor overseeing the Hunter Biden investigation is expected to testify on Tuesday, marking the first time a special counsel will appear before Congress in the middle of a probe. It comes as House Republicans are aiming to ramp up their impeachment inquiry into the president and his family after weeks of stalemate. David Weiss is set to appear for a transcribed interview before members of the House Judiciary Committee as the U.S. attorney battles Republican allegations that he did not have full authority in the yearslong case into the president’s son. “Mr. Weiss is prepared to take this unprecedented step of testifying before the conclusion of his investigation to make clear that he’s had and continues to have full authority over his investigation and to bring charges in any jurisdiction,” Wyn Hornbuckle, a spokesperson for Weiss, said in a statement Monday.The rare move by the Justice Department to allow a special counsel or any federal prosecutor to...