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Henck: IRS must be called out for its abuses

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:21 GMT

Because of a lack of accountability dating back decades, the Internal Revenue Service has become a corrupt and dysfunctional shell of its former self. It has lost the ability and the moral authority to enforce the Internal Revenue Code.I know this because, unfortunately, I had a front-row seat.I was an IRS attorney for 30 years until I was forced out in 2017 for being a whistleblower. The theory used by the IRS and its Mr. Fix It, the IRS inspector general (TIGTA), was that I violated taxpayer privacy because my name appeared in a Washington Post article. It was a ludicrous argument, but that did not matter.Unfortunately, this is now par for the course for the IRS. In the last two years, numerous tax returns have illegally leaked out of the IRS to ProPublica (TIGTA has “investigated” the leak for two years even though it could have solved the case within a week because of a system called UNAX). The IRS flat-out lied about middle-class tax audits not increasing despite an $87 billion...

Welcome autumn into your home with fresh colors, textures

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:21 GMT

Of all the seasonal redecorating opportunities out there go, fall is almost always one of the loveliest. Everything about it just feels so good. The deep, rich colors of the trees and fall skies are a delight, and the textures of nature — from crisp foliage and soft grasses — inspire all the comforting textures with which we fill our homes.So are you ready? Set? Get cozy.Fall demands sumptuous pillows, as well as tones both vibrant and earthy. And for menswear-inspired patterns. That includes the likes of Ralph Lauren Home’s Althea Throw Pillow ($250 on ralphlauren.com). With its structured plaid patterns and leather-knotted buttons, it works on beds as well as it does on sofas.Also irresistibly soft — and also pretty in plaid — is the Lambswool Pillow Cover ($99 on williams-sonoma.com). The luxurious accent pillow takes traditional patterns and modernizes them into a new multicolored configuration in yarn-dyed wool in a twill weave.The comfort zone certainly doesn’t end there. Find...

Chicago Cubs lose another vital game to the Atlanta Braves in extra innings: ‘We’ve got 4 games left to get this thing done’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:21 GMT

The Chicago Cubs again found themselves holding a lead late against the Atlanta Braves.And again they were on the wrong end of a vital game Wednesday at Truist Park, losing 6-5 in 10 innings after twice failing to maintain a one-run lead in the ninth and 10th innings.Marcell Ozuna slugged the tying solo home run off Mark Leiter Jr. with one out in the ninth in the right-handed reliever’s first appearance in a week. José Cuas cleaned up the traffic in relief of Leiter, retiring both Braves batters to strand the winning run in scoring position.The Cubs reclaimed the lead in the 10th on Ian Happ’s sacrifice fly, but their one-run lead didn’t hold. Ronald Acuña Jr. tied it with an RBI single, swiped second base for his 70th stolen base of the year, and scored on Ozzie Albies’ single off Daniel Palencia to end it.“We’ve got to do some little things a little bit better,” manager David Ross said. “Trying to get runners in fr...

Lucas: Democrats put climate before crime & costs

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:21 GMT

If you were looking for information about skyrocketing gas and grocery prices, increased crime or the illegal immigrant influx, you came to the wrong place.While those are the issues everyone else is talking about, speakers at the 2023 Massachusetts Democratic convention in Lowell last weekend instead talked about everything else, especially abortion, green energy, climate change, saving the planet and the Republican threat to democracy.No one, including Gov. Maura Healey, nor local Lowell politicians like U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan or state Sen. Edward Markey or Lowell Mayor Sokhary Chau  even mentioned the 900 illegal migrants from Venezuela and Haiti who are moving into the city’s only downtown hotel. Lowell City Manager Tom Golden did not even show up.That hotel, the UMass-owned Lowell Inn and Conference Center, is a short walk from the Tsongas Convention Center where the Democratic gathering was held. Dormitory students were kicked out and immigrants are moving in.But it was unmenti...

Dear Abby: Hubby’s younger ‘crush’ is back in town

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:21 GMT

Dear Abby: When our son went to college years ago, he traveled all summer with a school-sponsored ministry singing group. The members were all smart, attractive, talented young men and women — a group of four.I stopped going to his concerts because my husband became attracted to one of the young women. She was very outgoing and annoying, so I didn’t mind letting my husband go alone. After they all graduated, I thought I’d never see her again. Now, all these years later, she’s a missionary, and the church we attend is sponsoring her, so I have had to see her once and I’ll probably have to see her again.I know to keep quiet about it because my husband says he doesn’t want to hear it. I don’t honestly think his thoughts are inappropriate. I just think he’s not aware of how obviously attracted he is to this young woman. I don’t act that way toward other men, even if they are attractive. Maybe especially if they are attractive. I wond...

Powerball jackpot rises to $925 million after another drawing without a big winner

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:21 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Powerball jackpot climbed to an estimated $925 million after no players hit it big Wednesday night, continuing a stretch of lottery futility that has lasted for more than two months.The winning numbers were: 1, 7, 46, 47, 63 and 7.The jackpot for the next drawing Saturday night remains the world’s ninth-largest lottery prize of all time, behind earlier prizes in the Powerball and Mega Millions games that all topped $1 billion.The jackpot has grown so large because there have now been 30 consecutive drawings without a big winner, dating back to July 19. Powerball’s terrible odds of 1 in 292.2 million are designed to generate big jackpots, with prizes becoming ever larger as they repeatedly roll over when no one wins.The largest jackpot was a $2.04 billion Powerball prize hit by a player in California in November 2022.In most states, a Powerball ticket costs $2 and players can select their own numbers or leave that task to a computer.The $925 million jackpo...

The woman who torched Wyoming’s lone, full-service abortion clinic is about to be sentenced

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:21 GMT

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A woman who says anxiety and nightmares led her to set fire to Wyoming’s only full-service abortion clinic, setting back the facility’s opening almost a year, is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday.Lorna Roxanne Green could be sentenced to 20 years in prison for burning the Wellspring Health Access facility in Casper. She pleaded guilty to a federal arson charge in July.Green said at that hearing she regretted what she did and took full responsibility.“I knew right after” setting fire to the clinic that it was wrong, she told U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson.The May 2022 fire happened weeks before the clinic was to open. Extensive damage to the building being remodeled for the clinic kept it from opening for almost a year.Green admitted to breaking in, pouring gasoline around the inside of the building and lighting it on fire, according to court documents.The Casper College mechanical engineering student showed no sign of anti-abortion views on...

Trump goes to Michigan to rail against Biden’s electric vehicle push while GOP rivals debate

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:21 GMT

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — As his Republican rivals sparred onstage in California at their second primary debate, Donald Trump was in battleground Michigan Wednesday night working to win over blue-collar voters by lambasting President Joe Biden and his push for electric cars in the midst of an autoworkers’ strike.“I will not allow under any circumstances the American automobile industry to die,” Trump said at Drake Enterprises, a non-unionized auto parts supplier in Clinton Township, about a half-hour outside Detroit.The Republican front-runner’s trip came a day after Biden became the first sitting president in U.S. history to walk a picket line as he joined United Auto Workers in Detroit. The dueling appearances had the feel of the opening salvo of the 2024 general election, which increasingly looks like a rematch between Trump and Biden, even though primary voting won’t begin until next year.Trump’s decision to skip another debate comes as he maintains a commanding lead ...

Lotto 649 winning numbers for Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:21 GMT

TORONTO — The winning numbers in Wednesday’s Lotto 649 draw for an estimated $5 million: 09, 17, 25, 30, 38 & 48.Bonus: 35The winning number for the guaranteed $1 million: 50755138-03 In the event of any discrepancy between this list and the official winning numbers, the latter shall prevail.The Canadian Press

Taiwan launches the island’s first domestically made submarine for testing

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 15:58:21 GMT

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s president launched the island’s first domestically made submarine for testing Thursday at a port in Kaohsiung. The submarine, if successful in its tests, will be a major breakthrough for Taiwan in shipbuilding and design.“In the past, a domestic made submarine was considered impossible, but today a submarine designed and built by our countrymen is in front of you,” said President Tsai Ing-wen at the launch ceremony. “It is the concrete realization of our resolution to protect” Taiwan. The process was “torturous,” said Cheng Wen-lon, head of Taiwan’s CSBC Corporation, which led the constructions of the submarine. But its completion marks an important milestone in Taiwan’s strategy of adopting asymmetric warfare. “Although we have worked quietly the past several years, it doesn’t mean the process was very smooth,” he said at the ceremony held in CSBC’s shipyard. After years of construction and design, th...