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Movie review: ‘Past Lives’ is a gorgeous meditation on love, chance – and the choices we make

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:20 GMT

Two minutes away, the Uber app promises at one point in “Past Lives.” And if you’re like me, you may find yourself — perhaps for the first time in your Uber-riding life — hoping that promise is a bald-faced lie.Because you’ll want more minutes, many more, for the couple presumably about to be separated by that Uber, even though they’re simply staring at each other on the street, saying absolutely nothing.This is but one small moment of playwright Celine Song’s gorgeous, achingly wistful feature debut. But it highlights her striking confidence as a filmmaker. Time and again, Song, who both writes and directs here, makes the unflashy, understated choice — and in so doing, darned near breaks our hearts, with a tale that feels universal yet rich in detail, urgent yet unrushed. And if, also like me, you suddenly feel tears forming, they may surprise you, precisely because nobody’s been trying to force them.We begin with a trio chatting in a New York bar — a woman flanked by two men...

Nevada GOP sues to hold presidential caucus over primary in 2024

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:20 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Nevada Republican Party is suing the state in an effort to maintain its party-run caucuses, even as Nevada shifts to a presidential primary system beginning in 2024.Nevada lawmakers ditched the presidential caucus model in 2021, passing a law that says all major political parties with more than one candidate must hold their primary on the first Tuesday in February. The move pushed Nevada closer to the front of the presidential nominating calendar, upending decades of political tradition.The Republican Party, which has most recently kept Nevada’s caucuses as its fourth contest, opposed the change.Now, GOP leaders in the Western state are seeking a court order that would shield their party from holding a state-run primary on Feb. 6. The lawsuit — filed in Carson City by Republican National Committeewoman Sigal Chattah, who ran unsuccessfully last year for state attorney general — names Nevada and Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar as defendants.In a statement, the N...

Group wants to use Daley College as temporary housing for migrants in Chicago

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:20 GMT

CHICAGO -- Residents in a Chicago southwest neighborhood will get the chance to voice their opinion about the use of the facility at a meeting scheduled organized by 18th Ward Alderman Derrick Curtis Thursday evening.According to OEMC, nearly 10,000 migrants from Central and South America have arrived to Chicago since late august. At least 700 migrants are still waiting for their placement at a shelter or respite center.The city doesn’t have the space to house them currently, so hundreds of migrants have been living at Chicago police stations. Chicago City Council approves $51M aid for migrant care In an effort to address this issue, a group of Latino alder people have suggested Daley College on the 7500 block of South Pulaski Avenue in Chicago's Ford City neighborhood to be used as a temporary housing shelter site.The group said there are four buildings not in use and won’t interfere with the college’s programming, as well as it could potentially house about 600 people.WGN have r...

Jaylon Johnson won't be away from Bears OTAs for long

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:20 GMT

LAKE FOREST — One of the most talked about players not at Halas Hall at the moment for the Bears' voluntary offseason training activities talked about why he's been absent on Thursday.Jaylon Johnson also made it clear he won't be away for long. "I'm going to be there for sure next week," said the fourth-year cornerback on the "Keyshawn, JWill & Max" show on ESPN Radio on Thursday.Many were eager to know why Johnson, who is one of the best young players on the team, hasn't been in Lake Forest to work out with his teammates. This also comes as the cornerback is coming up on the final year of his contract that he signed after the Bears drafted him in the second round in 2020.Matt Eberflus offered few details other than to say that the hand injury that landed him on IR late in the 2022 season was healed.Johnson provided more clarity on his absence during the interview on ESPN Radio on Thursday. "I know I had a lot of things off the field going on. I have my daughter in Fresno, Calif...

Empower Brands recalls juicers after dozens of injury reports, including severe cuts

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:20 GMT

(WHTM) – Empower Brands is recalling hundreds of thousands of juicers due to laceration and ingestion hazards, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)."The juicers can rupture during use, striking consumers and posing a laceration hazard," the CPSC warns, adding that they may also leave small particle shavings in the juice, "posing an ingestion hazard to consumers." Tillamook recalling mislabeled ice creams that may contain wheat, soy Empower Brands is recalling around 469,000 of the Power XL Self-Cleaning Juicers, the company announced Thursday.The recall involves PowerXL models:Model SHL96UPC 7-52356-83067-0Model SHL90-SCUPC 7-52356-83138-7The model number and UPC codes are printed on the bottom of the model SHL 96 and on the back of the SHL90-SC juicer.Empower Brands is aware of 261 reported incidents, 47 of which included injuries. Some people had cuts so severe that the required emergency treatment and required stitches. Other consumers sought medical help ...

Attorney General Ken Paxton is now suspended without pay after impeachment

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:20 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- After Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was suspended last week after he was impeached from office, he will now be suspended with no pay, according to a letter from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.On Saturday, the Texas House voted 121-23 to impeach Paxton.The vote approved the 20 articles of impeachment that the House General Investigating Committee laid out Thursday. These articles were the result of a two-month investigation that began after Paxton asked to use state funds to settle a $3.3 million whistleblower lawsuit filed by four former employees who accused him of wrongdoing.The letter from the Texas Comptroller said in part, "Per the Texas Constitution Article 15, Section 5, 'all officers against whom articles of impeachment may be preferred shall be suspended from the exercise of the duties of their office, during the pendency of such impeachment."Furthermore, no salary payment may occur to Paxton while in suspended status, according to the Texas C...

Ocean waves detected, signaling an imminent El Niño pattern

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:20 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A phenomenon, called Kelvin waves, has just been detected in the Pacific Ocean -- a sign that the developing El Niño pattern is imminent. Significant El Niño pattern developing The International Sea Level Satellite, the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich, detected these 2-4 inch ripples in the ocean that extend for hundreds of miles. These Kelvin waves occurring along the Equator are due to westerly winds that drive warmer sea water to the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The accumulation of unusually warmer water in the Eastern Pacific Ocean causes a weather pattern change due to a shift in jet streams. With a jet stream shifted further south, this could allow more storms to be driven into Central Texas.The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite is able to monitor ocean conditions by using a radar altimeter to measure the height of the ocean's surface.The Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite pictured here detects sea level height data. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech What it takes fo...

Austin could limit Barton Springs Road vehicle traffic in 1-year safety pilot

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:20 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The City of Austin could reduce vehicle traffic along Barton Springs Road to one lane in each direction as part of a proposed year-long safety improvements pilot.City leaders announced the proposal in a memo on Thursday, detailing planned safety upgrades to curtail serious injuries and fatalities along the roadway as a result of traffic crashes.The proposed pilot project follows a crash along Barton Springs Road in April 2022 that resulted in 10 people being seriously injured, per the memo.If approved, the pilot's planned safety improvements include:One vehicle lane in each direction between Azie Morton Road and South Lamar BoulevardAdditional vehicle lanes provided at the intersections of South Lamar Boulevard, Azie Morton Road to "maintain motor vehicle capacity" along Barton SpringsWiden bicycle lanes and add physical separations from motor vehicle trafficConstruct "safer and shorter pedestrian crossings on Barton Springs Road and side streets"Work to connect a fu...

Vote restored to MN felons on supervised release

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:20 GMT

More than 50,000 people with felony convictions on supervised release in Minnesota are now eligible to vote under a new state law.To commemorate the new law taking effect, a group of newly enfranchised registered to vote Thursday at Arlington Hills Community Center in St. Paul. Secretary of State Steve Simon, the state’s top elections official, said it was Minnesota’s “largest single act of enfranchisement” since the voting age changed from 21 to 18 half a century ago.“Our democracy faces a lot of challenges and a lot of threats. We have to protect it,” Simon said in remarks ahead of the registrations. “And I think what has happened today is part of that protection of democracy.”Simon, a Democrat, and organizers with Restore the Vote, an activist group that pushed for years to end the ban on felon voting, say the next step is spreading the word that people on parole or probation for felonies can vote.The first to fill out registration paperwork was Jen Schroeder, a...

Review: Minnesota Orchestra presents works of unity and strength

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:43:20 GMT

A theme of friendship marks Minnesota Orchestra’s “Park and Ainomäe Play Brahms” concert at Orchestra Hall, featuring the orchestra’s first associate concertmaster Susie Park and associate principal cello Silver Ainomäe. In the concert, there are two works that have at their heart an homage to a composer’s good friend.First, the two soloists play Double Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra, which Johannes Brahms dedicated to his estranged friend, Joseph Joachim. The two had a breach in their relationship after Brahms took the side of Joachim’s wife, opera singer Amalie Marie Joachim, in their divorce. Writing the double concerto was a gesture of reconciliation. Joachim did perform the work, along with cellist Robert Hausmann, for whom it was also written.Ainomäe takes the first solo, performing a stern, intense line before being joined by Park in a gentle echo. They dive into virtuosic cadenza playing, then are joined again by the lively orchestra.The piece works much like a clo...