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Kafer: Far right and far left are wrong on Ukraine

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:42 GMT

“While it is not a mainstream position within the Republican Party, it is becoming a contested position,” Dominik Stecuła, professor of political science at Colorado State University, told me. Should it become a majority opinion within the GOP, it will be disastrous for the party and the nation. That’s why I’m weighing in on the necessity of American support for Ukraine in a space normally reserved for Colorado issues.The far right is wrong to oppose funding for Ukraine’s defense. They contend NATO pushed Putin into making an understandable preemptive strike against a potentially hostile neighbor whose pro-west bias and desire for self-determination are the result of western machinations. Some even suggest that Ukraine rightfully belongs to Russia.They are mistaken. Ukrainian nationalist sentiment germinated under Russian czars and Ukrainians fought a war of independence between 1917 and 1922, the loss of which resulted in seven more decades of Russian domination. Today, Ukraine, li...

Avalanche Journal: Mikko Rantanen’s ring finger taunt belongs in a different conversation from his referee bickering. One is good.

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:42 GMT

Last Saturday, Mikko Rantanen taunted opposing fans by gesturing to his finger, reminding the Dallas Stars he has something that only exists in their imagination – a Stanley Cup ring. On Sunday, Rantanen complained about a call that only existed in his imagination.One is good. The other is bad. Regardless, they belong in separate conversations.Rantanen’s temperament has received attention around the hockey world throughout the past week, for two different reasons that have been conveniently stuffed together because of timing.First, there is his one occasional flaw: The player known locally as “the moose” often lowers his antlers at the referees. His habit of arguing calls tends to become exacerbated by losing streaks, and it came to a head last Sunday when Rantanen was called for his second unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in as many days. It led to a constructive reprimanding from coach Jared Bednar.And it was all a misunderstanding.Rantanen had been entrench...

Cannabis Industry Waits for New York Sales Numbers

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:42 GMT

As state recreational markets have rolled out in recent years, one of the big moments is the first release of sales numbers. So why haven’t we seen that data in New York yet?Because they’ve only been able to get three dispensaries open in three months. Some argue the data would show just how badly they messed up the launch by opening one dispensary at a time. While the state recently approved another group of operators that will put the statewide dispensary count north of 60, there is still a lot of work to be done. Currently, it would take nearly five hours for someone on the Canadian border to get to the state’s first operating dispensary outside of the city, Just Breath located in Binghamton.And it’s not just a geography game, it’s a numbers game, too. Currently, New York has about one dispensary per 6 million people. And there are only about 25 cash registers for 20 million people. Once the latest set of dispensaries that received state approval open, it will be roughly one disp...

Five-bedroom home in Palo Alto sells for $3.2 million

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:42 GMT

806 Rorke Way – Google Street ViewA 1,835-square-foot house built in 1955 has changed hands. The property located in the 800 block of Rorke Way in Palo Alto was sold on Feb. 17, 2023 for $3,246,000, or $1,769 per square foot. The property features five bedrooms, two bathrooms, a garage, and two parking spaces. The backyard also has a pool. The unit sits on a 6,489-square-foot lot.These nearby houses have also recently been purchased:In October 2022, a 1,769-square-foot home on Rorke Way in Palo Alto sold for $3,100,000, a price per square foot of $1,752. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.A 2,384-square-foot home on the 700 block of Holly Oak Drive in Palo Alto sold in September 2022 for $4,200,000, a price per square foot of $1,762. The home has 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.On Ross Court, Palo Alto, in December 2022, a 1,854-square-foot home was sold for $3,190,000, a price per square foot of $1,721. The home has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. 

Opinion: How to get kids to hate taking English classes in school

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:42 GMT

Imagine a world without English majors. In the last decade, the study of English and history in college has fallen by a third. At Columbia University, the share of English majors fell from 10% to 5% between 2002 and 2020. According to a recent story in The New Yorker, “The End of the English Major,” this decline is largely a result of economic factors — which departments get funded, what students earn after graduation, etc. Fields once wide open to English majors — teaching, academia, publishing, the arts, nonprofits, the media — have collapsed or become less desirable. Facing astronomical debt and an uncertain job market, students may find majors like communication arts and digital storytelling more pragmatic.That’s definitely a big part of the story. Yet many would-be humanities majors have turned toward, not more pragmatic degrees, but more esoteric, interdisciplinary majors, filled with courses that encourage use of words like “hegemony,” “intersectional” and “paradigm.” These e...

Ranch dressing soap is on the menu at Wingstop: Here’s how to get it March 10, National Ranch Day

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:42 GMT

If you want to feel as fresh as a celery stick, Wingstop has an offer for you.The chicken wing chain has partnered with Buff City Soap on bars of ranch dressing-scented soap and will be given away to an extremely limited number of them on Friday, March 10 in honor of National Ranch Day.According to a news release, the soap has the look and smell of Wingstop dressing with false carrot and celery sticks poking out of it and notes of buttermilk, parsley and dill.The first 100 people to visit BatheInRanch.com at 10 a.m. Central time (8 a.m. Pacific) on Friday, March 10 will be shipped a bar of soap, the news release said.Wingstop will also be giving away servings of real ranch dressing to online or app customers who use the promo code “FREERANCH” at checkout on Friday, the news release said.Want more? Van Leeuwen Ice Cream and Hidden Valley have partnered on an Original Ranch Dressing ice cream that will be available at 3,500 Walmart stores from March 20 through May 28, according to a ...

Yeti recalls 1.9 million coolers, cases over magnet hazard

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:42 GMT

U.S. product regulators said Thursday that Yeti has recalled 1.9 million coolers and gear cases because magnets can come detached from them, posing a risk of serious injury or death.The Consumer Product Safety Commission said consumers should immediately stop using the four recalled products and contact Yeti for refund information.The closures on the recalled products can fail, resulting in detached magnets, the CPSC said. If swallowed, two or more high-powered magnets can attract to each other or to another metal object and get stuck in the digestive system. The CPSC said if that happens, it can cause perforations, twisting and blockage of the intestines, potentially resulting in infection, blood poisoning and death.The products being recalled are the Sidekick dry gear case, M20 soft backpack cooler and M30 soft cooler, version 1.0 and 2.0.The coolers and gear bags were sold at Dick’s Sporting Goods, Ace Hardware, Academy Sports and Outdoors, Yeti and other stores, including Amazon...

Accused of killing missing wife, Bay Area man enters not-guilty plea at arraignment

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:42 GMT

A 61-year-old Fairfield man accused of the mid-February death of his wife sat silently, looking haggard and lacking sleep, as his lawyer entered a not-guilty plea to a murder charge Thursday in Solano County Superior Court.Gregory Grant Hobson’s attorney, Solano County Chief Deputy Public Defender Oscar J. Bobrow, entered the plea during the early afternoon session in Department 11, where Hobson faced jail arraignment, in the Justice Center in Fairfield.Hobson registered no visible emotional response to Bobrow’s statement to Judge William J. Pendergast during the brief proceeding in the Justice Center in Fairfield.RELATED: Missing since Valentine’s Day, Bay Area mother confirmed deadThe judge then assigned the case to Department 23, Judge John B. Ellis’ courtroom, and ordered Hobson to return there at 8:30 a.m. April 13 for a readiness conference and a preliminary hearing setting.Chief Deputy District Attorney Bruce Flynn will lead the prosecution. His criminal complaint, filed Feb....

Opinion: How Trump could lose the primaries but win the nomination

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:42 GMT

Here’s another headache for Republicans who don’t want to see Donald Trump as their presidential nominee in 2024: There’s a mechanism that could allow him to get the party’s nomination even if he’s defeated in its primaries and caucuses.It has to do with the decentralized way that Republicans decide their nomination — which is different from the strict procedures that Democrats have mandated for state parties since the 1970s.Republicans do have some national rules affecting the calendar and delegate selection, but in many ways the states are free to do what they want.The issue is the difference between delegate allocation and delegate selection. Allocation is about which candidate the delegates to the convention are bound to, or supposed to vote for. Selection is about which people are chosen as delegates.On the Democratic side, the two are tightly connected. Candidates have “slates” of delegates; effect, they choose their own delegates. For Republicans, allocation and selection are...

Alfred Hitchcock to be celebrated in Santa Cruz County festival

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:12:42 GMT

SCOTTS VALLEY — Alfred Hitchcock is one of the most celebrated and influential filmmakers of all time. Directing 52 feature films between 1925 and 1976, many considered among the best motion pictures of all time, Hitchcock’s legacy as the “Master of Suspense” is well-documented.What might not be known to everybody is that, for much of Hitchcock’s career, he lived on a 200-acre estate in Scotts Valley, positioning him to film many of his movies in Northern California. His filmography, as well as his time in Scotts Valley, will be celebrated when the city hosts its first Alfred Hitchcock Festival this weekend, featuring screenings of “Shadow of a Doubt” and “Vertigo,” an interview with his granddaughter, and wine made on Hitchcock’s former property.Victor Alejandro, chairman of the festival planning committee and treasurer for the Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce, said he moved to Scotts Valley in 2014 and later learned that Hitchcock lived in the area.“I was surprised we didn’t talk...