Today is Thursday, Feb. 20, the 51st day of 2025. There are 314 days left in the year. Today in history: On Feb. 20, 1792, President George Washington signed an act creating the United States Post Office Department, the predecessor of the U.S. Postal Service. Also on this date: In 1862, William Wallace Lincoln, the 11-year-old son of President Abraham Lincoln and first lady Mary Todd Lincoln, died at the White House from what was believed to be typhoid fever. In 1905, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, upheld, 7-2, compulsory vaccination laws intended to protect the public’s…
Author: MAK Gojar
“The dictator craze,” they called it. In the worst of the Great Depression, a time of 25% unemployment, some called for an American-style dictatorship. Democracy wasn’t working very well, time for a change, argued the American Legion veteran’s organization: In a 1932 resolution, it declared the “present situation” too threatening for “existing political methods.” Some in the media echoed the sentiment. Barron’s magazine acknowledged the paradox of a dictatorship course-correcting a broken capitalist democracy. But it was worth a shot, as long as our dictator was a “genial and lighthearted dictator … a mild species of dictatorship.” Hollywood loved the…
Filmmakers tinker with the question of tone from project to project, many not as much as they should. But writer-director Osgood Perkins has no problem with tonal adjustment. His recent and most popular feature, last year’s “Longlegs,” worked in a sustained register of steady, clammy, creepily effective dread. Perkins makes a hard left into merrily grotesque slapstick with his new film, his fifth, “The Monkey.” The knob has been turned to a distinctly different tonal setting: Merry death, dismemberment and nicely timed sight gags, rolling along, with a dash of sincere parent/child bonding. Essentially a series of sketch-comedy illustrations of…
“Shoulda been a movie” is my battle cry about so many streaming series. But I’m not sure Netflix’s “Zero Day” is sturdy enough to even work as a stand-alone film. The six-episode conspiracy thriller starring Robert De Niro is too convoluted to generate real intrigue. De Niro plays a former president, named George Mullen, who is called back into action by the current president (Angela Bassett) after a nationwide cyber attack. Who is behind it? Mullen heads up the commission tasked with finding out, and he’s been given all kinds of powers that make the Constitution moot. Complicating matters are…
As if Chicago didn’t have enough problems. Here comes Godzilla, as in Gojira, the Big G, Tokyo’s Own. “Da King of da Monsters has come to da Windy City!” a shocked CTA train operator gulps in “Godzilla vs. Chicago,” the first issue of a limited “Godzilla vs. America” series by IDW, the publisher of the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Star Trek” and “Goosebumps” comics. Unfortunately, Blue Line service is interrupted. Also impacted by a giant radioactive lizard tramping through Illinois: Soldier Field, the Bears, Michigan Avenue, Interstate 94, Navy Pier, Millennium Park, Garfield Park Conservatory, Cottage Grove, hot dog stands,…
American Airlines is planning to boost flying capacity out of O’Hare International Airport this year, marking a departure from the airline’s pullback at its Chicago hub in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The carrier will fly to nine new domestic and international cities from Chicago in 2025 and use larger planes, American announced Thursday. The service additions will mean American is scheduling 25% more seats out of Chicago this summer and 22% more flights than last year, according to the airline. All told, the airline said it would have more space on flights out of Chicago than ever before.…
BOSTON — The U.S. and Canadian hockey teams tried to skate back the geopolitical tension that has infiltrated the 4 Nations Face-Off as they looked ahead to the championship game Thursday night for what has turned into one of the best international hockey tournaments in decades. Setting aside the animosity that has been building over tariff talks, anthems and annexation, the players and coaches said they wanted to leave their fans with an appreciation for the game like the one they picked up from iconic events like the United States’ “Miracle on Ice” victory over the Soviet Union at the…
MILAN — The United Arab Emirates’ conglomerate Edge Group has announced the expansion of its international multi-domain testing site for weapons, aiming to boost the range’s utility in exercising drone operations. The XRange, of which a mock-up was unveiled at the Dubai Airshow in 2023, is located southwest of Abu Dhabi on the 135-square-mile island of Abu Al Abyad, the equivalent of nearly twice the area of Washington, D.C. The site’s expansion will include the construction of a secondary 1.2-kilometer runway to support unmanned aerial systems’ take-off and landing, two new emergency runways to boost recovery capabilities, and a new,…
BOSTON — The U.S. and Canadian hockey teams tried to skate back the geopolitical tension that has infiltrated the 4 Nations Face-Off as they looked ahead to the championship game Thursday night for what has turned into one of the best international hockey tournaments in decades. Setting aside the animosity that has been building over tariff talks, anthems and annexation, the players and coaches said they wanted to leave their fans with an appreciation for the game like the one they picked up from iconic events like the United States’ “Miracle on Ice” victory over the Soviet Union at the…
The collision happened Feb. 3 at Grand Avenue and Park View Terrace. OAKLAND – Authorities on Wednesday arrested a suspect in connection with a fatal hit-and-run earlier this month in Oakland. Related Articles Crashes and Disasters | Man arrested on suspicion of robbing East Bay convenience store at gunpoint Crashes and Disasters | Suspect named in 1990 rape and murder of woman jogging in East Bay park Crashes and Disasters | Friends convicted in East Bay shooting that left one man dead, another injured Crashes and Disasters | Ursula Jones Dickson sworn in as Alameda County’s new top prosecutor, succeeding…
Results from the opening round of the North Coast Section boys, girls basketball playoffs. Moreau Catholic coach Frank Knight, shown here in a file photo, helped guide his team to a victory over Head-Royce in the first round of the NCS Division II playoffs on Wednesday night. (Joseph Dycus/Bay Area News Group) Boys basketball Open Division Thursday’s opening round No. 1 De La Salle (25-4), bye No. 2 Salesian (25-2), bye No. 4 Dublin (23-5) at No. 5 Liberty (24-2), 7 p.m. No. 6 California (23-5) at No. 3 San Ramon Valley (19-8), 7 p.m. Division I Tuesday’s opening round…
Established in 1996, the federal agency helps manage the 1,500-acre Presidio of San Francisco. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group) Visitors arrive to view the Presidio Tunnel Tops in San Francisco in July 2022. The 14-acre parkland features interactive play and education facilities for youth and families. Construction of the Presidio Tunnel Tops began in 2013 and was built over the U.S. Highway 101 tunnels. SAN FRANCISCO – President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order calling for the swift elimination of the Presidio Trust, the federal agency that political rival Nancy Pelosi helped establish in 1996 to oversee…
San Jose Barracuda goalie Yaroslav Askarov left Wednesday night’s game against the Ontario Reign in the first period San Jose Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (30) waits for the start of the second period against the Pittsburgh Penguins at the SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on Monday, Jan. 27, 2025. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) SAN JOSE – San Jose Barracuda goalie Yaroslav Askarov left Wednesday night’s game against the Ontario Reign in the first period with what appeared to be a lower-body injury. Askarov allowed two goals in the first 8:05 of the first period as the Reign…
NCS basketball playoffs: Head-Royce coach dismisses new playoff format. Moreau Catholic rolls. Heritage upsets St. Mary’s-Berkeley. Moreau Catholic’s Kellen Hampton (23) scores a 3-point basket against California’s Kellen Torrey (2) in the first quarter in the North Coast Section Division II semifinals game at Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward, Calif., on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) [embedded content] HAYWARD — It was evident from tip-off that No. 16 Head-Royce was outmatched. On the other side of the floor was top-seeded Moreau Catholic – an East Bay powerhouse led by three-star Pacific commit Kellen Hampton. …
A WA Liberal candidate has been forced to resign after a media interview in which he expressed views leader Libby Mettam deemed intolerable. A WA Liberal candidate has been forced to resign after a media interview in which he expressed views leader Libby Mettam deemed intolerable. By Hamish Hastie February 20, 2025 — 6.45pm A WA Liberal candidate has been forced to resign after a media interview in which he expressed views leader Libby Mettam deemed intolerable. Darren Spackman made headlines on Wednesday after WAtoday revealed the candidate running for a seat with one of the highest populations of Indigenous…
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is considering firing or removing generals and senior officers as early as this week, according to multiple officials.
When Russian troops rolled into Ukraine three years ago, they brought their parade uniforms with them on the push to Kyiv. President Vladimir Putin expected a quick victory. What Putin dubbed the “special military operation” has turned into Europe’s largest conflict since World War II. Tens of thousands have been killed, entire cities have been reduced to smoldering ruins, millions of Ukrainians became refugees, and Russia was isolated from the West. Now as senior Russian and U.S. officials are talking again and setting the stage for summit meeting, Putin appears closer than ever to cementing Moscow’s gains of about a…
Walmart delivered another year of strong sales and profits with its competitive prices an increasingly strong magnet for inflation-weary shoppers, but this year appears to come with new challenges. The outlook from the nation’s largest retailer for 2025 is as much as 27 cents below analyst projections for per-share earnings and for the quarter, Walmart’s expectations are as much as 7 cents below Wall Street projections. Its sales outlook is also disappointing, potentially a reflection of rising challenges ahead as consumers pull back on spending and President Donald Trump’s tariffs on China and other countries threaten the low-price model that…
Pope Francis is continuing his recovery from pneumonia, eating breakfast out of bed on Thursday morning after a sixth peaceful night at the hospital, the Vatican said. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni issued a new update after confirming late Wednesday that new blood tests showed a “slight improvement” in some inflammation indices for the 88-year-old pontiff, who had an acute case of pneumonia in 2023 and is prone to respiratory infections in winter. Francis was visited Wednesday by Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, his first known VIP visitor. She reported after their 20-minute visit that Francis was in good spirits and had…
After watching videos of a Delta Air Lines jet catch fire upon landing and flip over on a Toronto runway, it’s fair to wonder how anyone could have survived. But aviation experts said it was not surprising that all 76 passengers and four crew walked away from Monday’s disaster, with 21 people suffering minor injuries and only one still hospitalized on Wednesday. It’s a credit, they said, to advances in plane design as well as a crew that flawlessly executed an evacuation plan. “When I first saw (footage of) that aircraft upside down at the airport, I was like: ‘How…