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Bridge: Sept. 28, 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:08 GMT

I used to read a bridge column written by someone who had pet phrases he worked overtime. (“The play at 3NT left something to be desired: namely, nine tricks.”) A favorite was “Darkness descended on declarer.”At today’s four spades, South won the first heart, drew trumps and exited with a heart. East took the king and led a low club, and the defenders were able to take three clubs.When did darkness descend on declarer?FIRST TRICKThe lights went out at Trick One. South must duck West’s queen of hearts. He wins the next heart (no West would shift to the king of clubs), leads a diamond to dummy, ruffs the last heart high, leads a diamond to dummy and ruffs a diamond high.South then draws trumps with the A-10 and leads a club. West can take the jack and king, but then he must lead a red card for a fatal ruff-sluff.An end play is South’s best chance. East has the king of hearts, and if he had the A-K of clubs and maybe a diamond honor, he might h...

Ask Amy: I’m not a morning person, and she won’t respect my boundaries

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:08 GMT

Dear Amy: I am the only “not-morning” person in my family.Talking in the morning, or any noise, smell or stimulation really, isn’t just annoying but actually more akin to painful. It’s like nails on a chalkboard, or being pinched – it elicits an involuntary reaction of cringe and a desire to retreat.My mother takes this really personally.First thing in the morning she wants to tell me things or, worse, ask me things. At best, I can muster a “good morning” and a grunt, but I don’t think she’s ever understood just how much restraint is required for anything other than a snarl.She’s repeatedly accused me of being rude or mad at her, and the simple truth is that it’s not her – I just don’t want to talk in the morning, at all, to anybody.I have been explaining this for years, and to be honest I actually feel she’s being rude for not respecting this simple boundary.It starts both our days off wrong, to the extent that I just stay in my room until she...

They Promised “Advanced Recycling” for Plastics and Delivered Toxic Waste

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:08 GMT

Head south on state Highway 96, past a stretch of soybean crops and tobacco fields, and you’ll arrive in Zebulon, North Carolina, population 8,665. There, on a quiet stretch of Industrial Drive, sits a nondescript commercial building. It’s easy to miss; the name on the front door is barely legible. But atop that humble three-acre lot lies a leading solution to the global plastic pollution crisis — well, according to the plastic industry.The facility is home to the 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week operations of Braven Environmental, a company that says it can recycle nearly 90 percent of plastic waste through a form of chemical recycling called pyrolysis. Traditional recycling is able to process only about 8.7 percent of America’s plastic waste; pyrolysis uses high temperatures and low-oxygen conditions to break down the remaining plastics, like films and Styrofoam, ideally turning them into feedstock oil for new plastic production.The American Chemistry Council, the country’s lead...

Child Care at a Crossroads: COVID pandemic exacerbated decline in DC-area child care facilities

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:08 GMT

The number of child care providers, especially in-home child care providers, was on a steady decline before the pandemic. But the pandemic only exacerbated the problem, driving some out of business while dissuading others from starting new child care businesses, since no one wanted extra people inside their homes.In 2021, the federal government set aside $24 billion in stabilization funding to help keep child care providers in business. But those funds expire this weekend, and finding more money or another solution remains in the discussion stage at a time when providers say action is needed.Too much asked of staff, for too little pay“Staffing is a big problem,” said Anabela Rodas, who operates a licensed day care center from her home in Aspen Hill. “Hiring people and then retaining people, because this profession does not pay a lot. But the requirements are high, because we want quality child care. We want teachers. This is not babysitter service.”In Maryland, the list of regulatio...

Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci hopes Union Berlin success will lay path for Euro 2024 finale

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:08 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Italy defender Leonardo Bonucci is hoping his “crazy decision” to join Union Berlin pays off at the European Championship next year.The 36-year-old Bonucci, who joined Union from Italian giant Juventus on the last day of the summer transfer window, aims to end his international career on a high when Italy defends its title at Euro 2024.Germany will host the tournament and Bonucci has arrived in the country a whole season before his potential teammates after choosing to leave Italy’s Serie A for the first time.It wasn’t his first choice. Bonucci initially wanted to see out the remaining year of his contract at Juventus, where he made more than 500 appearances, but coach Massimiliano Allegri told the player he was no longer wanted. Bonucci sent a legal notice to the club after being excluded from preseason training.Union and Italian club Lazio offered a way out. Bonucci opted for the former — a team that was only promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time in 2019 — de...

Detienen a un menor por atacar con arma blanca a profesores y a un alumno en el sur de España

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:08 GMT

(CNN Español) — La Policía Nacional de España detuvo este jueves por la mañana a un menor de edad en el Instituto Elena García Amada, en Jerez de la Frontera, en la provincia de Cádiz, por haber atacado a tres profesores y un alumno con un arma blanca, según informó a CNN un portavoz de este cuerpo de seguridad.[Noticia en desarrollo]The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.Source

El soldado estadounidense Travis King regresa a EE.UU. tras ser liberado por Corea del Norte

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:08 GMT

(CNN) — El soldado del Ejército estadounidense Travis King está de regreso en EE.UU. después de ser liberado por Corea del Norte y aterrizó en San Antonio, Texas, este jueves temprano, según un funcionario del Departamento de Defensa.King llegó en un vuelo militar estadounidense y aterrizó en Kelly Field en la Base Conjunta San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston alrededor de la 1:30 am hora del este de EE.UU., dijo el funcionario.Una cámara de CNN capturó lo que parece ser King siendo escoltado fuera del avión por varias personas. Se encontraron con funcionarios que esperaban en el terreno y llevaron a King a otra área de la base militar, fuera de la vista de nuestra cámara.Hace unos dos meses King cruzó la línea de demarcación militar hacia Corea del Norte.El medio estatal norcoreano KCNA informó este miércoles que el Estado había decidido “expulsar” a King.Corea del Norte decidió “expulsar” al soldado del Ejército estadounidense Travis King, según medios estatalesOficiales...

Video appears to show Pvt. Travis King returning to U.S. after his release in North Korea, landing at San Antonio, Texas

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:08 GMT

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Video appears to show Pvt. Travis King returning to U.S. after his release in North Korea, landing at San Antonio, Texas.Source

Surfside commissioners approve luxury condo plan at Champlain Towers collapse site

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:08 GMT

Surfside commissioners voted 3-1 in favor of approving a luxury condo site plan for the location once occupied by the ill-fated Champlain Towers South. The contentious meeting saw intense exchanges between Commissioner Nelly Velasquez and Surfside Mayor Shlomo Danzinger, who has been accused of voicing racially insensitive comments towards Velasquez. Emotions ran high as former and current commissioners, Surfside residents, and the families of the victims turned out to protest the proposal. They gathered outside the chambers, voicing their concerns and demanding respect in the wake of the devastating tragedy that claimed 98 lives on June 24th, 2021.On Wednesday evening, developers presented detailed modifications to their plan, emphasizing compliance. According to the new proposal, trash collection would be relocated to the basement of the new building, with trucks still coming up on Collins Avenue to the intersection of 88th Street, where a memorial will be built.The loading dock a...

Staying Soggy and Unsettled into this Weekend

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:35:08 GMT

The relentless stretch of daily rain and thunderstorms will continue the rest of this week and unfortunately into the weekend. It’s all because of a stuck weather pattern with a slow-moving front across northern Florida and tropical moisture flowing in from the Caribbean Sea.This Thursday, expect a round of scattered showers and thunderstorms moving from the Florida Keys to parts of the metro in the morning. Then the afternoon and evening will feature mostly cloudy skies and random, pop-up showers and storms. Like the past few days, it won’t be a washout but just prepare for that anytime risk for rain. With the clouds in place, temperatures will be held near average in the upper 80s at most locations.Over the next few days, the King Tides will be back, which are higher than normal high tides. Through at least Friday morning, a Coastal Flood Advisory is in effect for Miami-Dade and Broward Counties and the lower Florida Keys.Friday and into the weekend will feature more o...