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Rising country star Alana Springsteen opens up about first album, touring with Luke Bryan

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:50 GMT

Country music knows how to get us all up in our feels and tug at our heartstrings … and up-and-coming artist Alana Springsteen knows just how to do that. She’s sharing her journey from creating her first album and touring with some of the greats in country music.Alana Springsteen (singing): “What if we don’t have to choose.”Country music star in the making Alana Springsteen debuted her new album, called “Twenty Something,” which is broken down into three parts: “Messing It Up”, “Figuring It Out” and “Getting It Right.”Alana Springsteen: “Each one kind of touches on different tones of what it’s like to be in your 20s and different phases of all of that, and it’s fun to end it on a high note, though, because overall, like my life, the past two years has been just a dream come true.”And now she’s touring with Luke Bryan, who she saw at the Grand Ole Opry when she was 10.10-year-old Ala...

Orioles’ offense backs up a shaky Kyle Gibson with 16 hits in 9-4 win over Athletics

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:50 GMT

Few offenses in the major leagues have had its starter’s back more than the Orioles for Kyle Gibson.The veteran starting pitcher struggled again Friday night against the Oakland Athletics, allowing nine hits and four runs in five innings, but Baltimore’s bats backed him up with nine runs in the first five frames en route to a 9-4 win.The offense, which totaled 16 hits, delivered Gibson his team-best 12th win of the season despite the 35-year-old owning a 4.97 ERA. Friday was the sixth time this season Gibson’s offense has given him seven or more runs of support while he was on the mound — the most of any Orioles starter.Eight Orioles batters either recorded an extra-base hit or an RBI as the lineup came out hot after Thursday’s day off, scoring three in the first inning and two more in the second, fourth and fifth. The Orioles’ top-of-the-order duo of Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson — the organization’s first two picks in the 2019...

Editorial: Given history, RFK Jr. merits Secret Service protection

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:50 GMT

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is running a long-shot campaign against incumbent Joe Biden for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination. He’s polling at about 15%, nearly 50 points behind the president. Among the party faithful, his unfavorable ratings are quite high, according to a compilation of surveys published this month on FiveThirtyEight.Nevertheless, the White House is taking no chances given Biden’s obvious and many vulnerabilities. Rather than ignore Kennedy, the administration has from time to time harshly criticized his public statements, some of which have been controversial. And now Kennedy complains that the president is taking more subtle swipes in an effort to minimize his candidacy.Last month, Kennedy tweeted that he had sought Secret Service protection, but that the agency ignored his request and then turned him down. “Since the assassination of my father in 1968, candidates for president are provided Secret Service protection. But not me,” he wrote.His campaign manager...

Books go behind the (often steamy) scenes of Hollywood

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:50 GMT

From hellhole to benign workplace, there’s a Tinsel Town for everyone in new books about making movies.Movie fans seem to think Hollywood is falling short this summer. “Barbenheimer” has helped turn around what was becoming a grim season, with other blockbusters such as the “Mission Impossible” and “Indiana Jones” sequels and “Elemental” not busting as many blocks as expected/hoped.Maybe those fans are filling in the gaps with Hollywood-themed books? For whatever reason, a lot of current and upcoming fiction tackles moviemaking, ranging from “From Dust to Stardust,” due Sept. 5 and mostly set in the silent film era, to Tom Hanks’ “The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece,” which takes place on the present-day set of a Marvel-like movie. There’s also Lindsay Lynch’s new “Do Tell,” whose main character is a gossip columnist in the era when “Gone With the Wind...

Walker: Lightbulbs on the White House chopping block

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:50 GMT

While everyone was worried about gas stoves and other household appliances, they weren’t watching what the other hand was doing: speeding up the ban on incandescent lightbulbs.The incandescent lightbulb has been on its deathbed since 2007 and officially breathed its last breath on Aug. 1. The rule was initially issued under the George W. Bush administration, sparking plenty of controversies to merit several postponements. Donald Trump rolled it back. But thanks to an administration focused on climate change, President Biden made it official. It is now illegal to manufacture and/or sell standard incandescent bulbs, which have been used since 1879.The Department of Energy contends the standards would save consumers $3 billion each year in utility costs and cut planet-warming carbon emissions by 222 million metric tons over the next 30 years, equivalent to emissions generated by 28 million homes in one year. The LED (light-emitting diode) bulb will now reign supreme.Sure, there are amp...

Dear Abby: BF’s preaching making woman’s life hell

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:50 GMT

Dear Abby: I’ve been in a relationship with a wonderful man for two years. He’s a minister. He and his late wife used to travel all over the world spreading the word. I’m from a less conservative, more spiritual background. I attend an all-denominational church that accepts everyone. My views on politics are also different from his. He constantly quotes the Bible and believes I’ll go to hell if I don’t follow the word of God daily. I was baptized Pentecostal at a young age, but that is not something I believe anymore, and his constant preaching is exhausting.I am a strong woman, and I have voiced how I feel about this. He’s the best man I’ve ever been with. He’s kind, considerate, loving, helpful and loves my family. I am recovering from Guillain-Barre syndrome, and he has helped me walk, helped out in the business and has been so good to me. I am now mostly recovered, and everything would be perfect except for politics and religion. I...

Tropical Storm Watch upgraded to warning for Southern California

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:50 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- The Tropical Storm Watch has been upgraded to a Tropical Storm Warning across Southern California as Hurricane Hilary continues moving north.The warning was issued at 8 p.m., impacting areas within San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties.A full list of impacts for communities in the warning area can be found here. Radar: Tracking Hilary According to the National Weather Service, a Tropical Storm Warning means that tropical storm conditions -- such as strong winds or heavy precipitation -- are expected to set in within 36 hours.Hilary's window for tropical storm force winds are expected to be Saturday night into early Sunday for those in the warning areas, weather officials said. Previous forecasts indicated that this impact would hit Sunday afternoon.Heavy rainfall associated with Hilary is also anticipated for much of the Southern California region, NWS said, reaching its peak Sunday into Monday morning.Rainfall amounts forecasted range ...

No winning ticket sold for Friday’s $18 million Lotto Max jackpot

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:50 GMT

There was no winning ticket sold in Friday’s Lotto Max $18 million draw.The jackpot for the next draw on Aug. 22 will be an estimated $23 million.The Canadian Press

Thousands more Mauritanians are making their way to the US, thanks to a route spread on social media

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:50 GMT

CINCINNATI (AP) — Aissata Sall was scrolling through WhatsApp in May when she first learned about the new route to the United States. For Ibrahima Sow, the discovery came on TikTok a few weeks later. By the time their paths crossed at the tidy one-story brick house in Cincinnati, they had encountered hundreds of other Mauritanians, nearly all of them following a new path surging in popularity among younger migrants from the West African nation, thanks largely to social media. “Four months ago, it just went crazy,” said Oumar Ball, who arrived in Cincinnati from Mauritania in 1997 and recently opened his home to Sow, Sall and more than a dozen other new migrants. “My phone hasn’t stopped ringing.” The spike in migration was made possible by the discovery this year of a new route through Nicaragua, where relaxed entry requirements allow Mauritanians and a handful of other foreign nationals to purchase a low-cost visa without proof of onward travel. As word of the entry point spreads, ...

Japan’s Kishida to visit Fukushima plant before deciding date to start controversial water release

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:50 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he will visit the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant on Sunday before setting a release date for its treated radioactive wastewater, as his government continues working to promote understanding over the controversial plan at home and abroad.“The government has reached the final stage where we should make a decision,” Kishida told reporters in Washington on Friday after wrapping up his summit with U.S. and South Korean leaders at the American presidential retreat of Camp David.Since the government announced the release plan two years ago, it has faced strong opposition from Japanese fishing organizations, which worry about further damage to the reputation of their seafood as they struggle to recover from the accident. Groups in South Korea and China have also raised concerns, turning it into a political and diplomatic issue.The government and the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., say the water must be removed ...