Sixteen-year-old Ralph Yarl was picking up his two younger brothers at their friend’s house. But he made a mistake: He went to 115th Street in Kansas City instead of 115th Terrace. When Ralph knocked on the wrong door, 84-year-old Andrew Lester shouted, “Don’t come around here” and shot him twice, once in the head.
It was another weekend of violence and disorder in Chicago. “At least 32 shot, eight fatally, in weekend violence across city,” read one headline on the WLS-TV news website. Another headline said, “15 arrested in connection with Loop chaos after two teens shot.” That story went on to report that a “large disturbance” — more accurately, a small riot — took place in the city’s downtown area. Videos of the incident showed crowds of young people jumping on cars and buses. Later, at least one person pulled out a gun.
On Good Friday, a judge made a ruling in Texas to sideline one of the drugs used in chemical abortions. The ruling never went into practice, and that decision will likely wind up in the Supreme Court before long. It was a sober reminder that abortion in the United States is both far from over and intensely complicated. Reactions were — as is typical in the wake of last June’s Supreme Court ruling that ended Roe v. Wade — hysterical.
Billy’s been a busy guy ever since he became the official town dog here. Sally had been the town dog until she passed away on Doc’s porch, and then Billy’s owner died just two weeks after that, so it was something of a natural progression. Sometimes offices are filled without an election.
A commutation of a socialist convicted of sedition. A pardon of a president criticized for traducing the Constitution. A former president indicted on 34 counts and facing multiple additional court battles.
For the experts who examine trends in pews, the post-pandemic tea leaves have been hard to read — with a few people going to church more often, others staying away and some still watching services online.
Our landlord, Jorge, loves his suns. I am sure he loves his son, Jorge Jr., as well, but I am talking about the other kind of sun.
To hear some people tell it, social media — Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc. — have driven Americans crazy. Our very democracy is imperiled by mis- and disinformation circulating online among angry crackpots fomenting civil war between rival “tribes” that sound like street gangs.
Sound public policy depends on a careful calibration of competing interests, a weighing of values and variables. Good outcomes seldom come from slapping slogans on a complex problem or imposing ideological rigidities.
Justin always seems shocked that I remember his name. It’s such a small thing, but it sure seems to mean a great deal to him.
The United States Constitution and all the state constitutions establish legislatures and give those legislatures the authority to set their own rules. The constitutions also give lawmakers the authority to punish members for violating those rules.
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — News flash: Even in steamy Florida, American politics have become subject to flash-freezing. The country’s civic life has turned cryogenic.
Spring mornings are a lot like Christmas. Each day we get up and go out into the yard, or walk along the creek or visit the horses in the pasture. And each day, each morning, we find something new the sun has brought us.
I saw the burro wearing pants and carrying a basket filled with paper flowers. “Oh, my gosh!” I said. “That poor burro.”
The Bible’s shortest verse — “Jesus wept” — is also one of its most important.
The TV meteorologist kept saying the tornado would strike the University of Arkansas Medical Center at 2:30 p.m. and Arkansas Children’s Hospital three minutes later. If so, we’d have taken a direct hit sometime in between. I kept watching the radar and telling my wife that the accursed thing would pass us to the north and west. I’ve always been a map guy, and I know that tornadoes track southwest to northeast.
We haven’t been with family since before the pandemic. Nor have we felt all that positive about travel. But we are jumping into it this week, as we have planned a family reunion where we will share some beach time together.
Alvin Bragg, the local district attorney in Manhattan who has led the effort to indict former President Donald Trump, is an elected official. He ran for his current office in 2021. In that campaign, he won a Democratic primary crowded with fellow Democrats who promised that, if elected, they would go after Trump. Now, having been elected, Bragg is going after Trump.
You may have heard the name Mark Houck. He was arrested last September — FBI agents stormed his home early one Saturday morning, shocking him awake, along with his wife and their young children. To this day, one of the youngest is still having nightmares.
Memo to members of the greatest generation and baby boomers