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‘The Royal Hotel’ well worth checking into

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:33 GMT

Another gift from South Australia, after the recent hit “Talk to Me,” “The Royal Hotel” is a cautionary trip to a dark and arid corner of mindless, toxic masculinity. Hanna (Julia Garner, “The Assistant”) ) and Liv (Jessica Henwick, “Glass Onion”) are two young women from Canada (or so they say), who have run out of friends and money aboard a cruise ship and decide to take jobs at a pub in a remote corner of Australia, where the clientele are sex-starved local miners. Cue the Hitchcock shot of the two women being dropped off in the middle of dusty nowhere by a bus.When Liv and Hanna first arrive at the pub, they meet at-first-frosty cook and caretaker Carol (Ursula Yovich, “Australia”) and pub owner Billy (Hugo Weaving), who just happens to be a drunk and keeps pickled snakes in glass jars on shelves behind the bar. Hanna and Liv also run into their predecessors in rooms upstairs, Jules (Alex Malone) and Cassie (Kate Cheel), Englishwomen whose going-away party runs out of control.Af...

Week 5 recap: Chicago Bears snap a 14-game skid, beating the Washington Commanders 40-20 for 1st win of the season

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:33 GMT

After 346 days, the Chicago Bears losing streak finally has ended.Bears quarterback Justin Fields and wide receiver DJ Moore connected again and again in front of a national TV audience Thursday night at FedEx Field to lift the Bears to a 40-20 victory over the Washington Commanders.Fields threw for 282 yards and four touchdowns, and Moore had eight catches for a career-high 230 yards and three touchdowns as the Bears halted their franchise-record losing streak at 14 games. It was their first win since Oct. 24, 2022 against the Patriots in New England.The win didn’t come without a little drama, however.After the Bears shot to a 27-3 halftime lead behind three Fields touchdown passes, the offense dried up and the Commanders clawed back to within 30-20, in part due to multiple Bears injuries.The Commanders had a chance to pull within a touchdown, but kicker Joey Slye missed a 46-yard field-goal attempt wide right with 5 minutes, 14 seconds to play.On the ensuing drive, Moore ca...

Rebecca Miller & cast reimagine screwball comedy in ‘She Came to Me’

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:33 GMT

BERLIN, Germany – Rebecca Miller, whose wacky, one of a kind comedy “She Came To Me” opens Friday, is in the unique position of being famous by birth and by marriage.The daughter of “Death of a Salesman” and “The Crucible” playwright Arthur Miller and his third wife, the photographer Inge Morath, she’s married to the revered Oscar-winning and retired actor Daniel Day-Lewis.As a writer, director, Miller, 61, goes her own way. When “She Came to Me,” which stars Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway and Marisa Tomei, world premiered last winter at the Berlin Film Festival, Day-Lewis was nowhere to be seen: This was strictly a Miller showcase.Best described as a screwball comedy, “She Came to Me” focuses on Dinklage in a scene-stealing role as an opera composer – who’s been blocked for five years — whose marriage to Hathaway becomes crazily complicated when he encounters and is attracted to Tomei’s tugboat captain.Tomei found inspiration “watching a lot of Giulietta Masina (Italian direct...

Editorial: Biden is building the border wall he promised not to

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:33 GMT

President Biden, what took you so long?After nearly six million illegal border crossings since he assumed office, cities and states around the country overwhelmed with migrants seeking shelter, and an influx of new arrivals daily, Biden has had an epiphany: his border policy is a disaster.He won’t admit as much, of course, in Biden’s worldview he’s a problem-solving, economy-rescuing, unifying leader who’s going to save us all from climate change.Until he was tripped by the sandbag of reality.Now the Biden Administration is using executive power to waive 26 federal laws in South Texas to allow border wall construction, according to reports.This is the one thing Biden can truthfully say was “like that when he got here.” Former President Donald Trump was constructing such a wall, and Biden vowed on the 2020 campaign trail that “There will not be another foot of wall constructed on my administration.”That pledge, it seems, was “tran...

Dear Abby: Where relative goes, bugs follow

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:33 GMT

Dear Abby: One of my family members is a loner. I’m the closest relative to them. They invite my children and me over for holiday dinners, but the house is dirty with roaches galore. The bugs even crawl on you during the day on the couch. I don’t want to go there for this reason.I’m also cautious about inviting them to visit here because I once asked them to housesit for me for four days, and I came home to roaches in my house. How do I break it to them gently that the sanitary conditions are troubling, and I don’t want to be in their home nor have them in mine? — Bugged in the Mid-AtlanticDear Bugged: You need to inform this relative that they have a serious insect problem. Roaches carry bacteria, funguses and molds, and also spread disease. Fortunately, with the help of a professional exterminator, an infestation can be handled — but not unless the problem is recognized and addressed.If your relative is unaware that they caused an infestation in...

Not enough public restrooms in downtown San Diego: Grand Jury report

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:33 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A Grand Jury report filed in May focuses on issues concerning the lack of available public restrooms in downtown San Diego.“There’s not enough bathrooms for homeless people, but there’s not enough bathrooms just for our citizens and certainly not for the tourists,” Homeless advocate Michael McConne said.McConnell says it’s about time the city stepped up to address the issue.“When folks don’t have sanitary places to go to the bathroom or wash their hands, we had that huge Hepatis A outbreak, so it’s just public health,“ McConnell said.On Thursday, the Community and Neighborhood Services Committee met up to go over the report. It includes eight findings and eight recommendations directed to the mayor and city council.Finding one says current restroom facilities in the downtown area are inadequate to provide 24/7 public access. The city agrees with this finding. These were the top baby names in San Diego County last year “It’s not always easy to find a restroom, we can d...

Carlsbad ranks among safest US cities for trick-or-treating: study

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:33 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- It's October and that means spooky season is upon us.Trick-or-treating is a staple during Halloween, so knowing where to participate in the activity safely is very important for parents.Carlsbad was recently ranked the 18th safest city in the nation for trick-or-treating because of its low crime rate, high number of law enforcement employees and safe streets for pedestrians, according to a study by ChamberofCommerce.org. The study used five key metrics: pedestrian fatalities, violent crime, property crime, the number of registered sex offenders and number of law enforcement employees. Each metric was calculated per 10,000 residents. Raves popping up beneath San Diego freeways are ‘extremely dangerous’: CHP For crimes, 18.3 residents were involved in violent crime incidents while 180.2 in property crime incidents in Carlsbad, the research shows. There were 3.4 residents for the number of registered sex offenders.Law enforcement employees make up 15.5 of residents whil...

Man suspected of ghost gun possession arrested in North County

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:33 GMT

VISTA, Calif. -- A man who attempted to avoid deputies during a pedestrian stop was arrested Wednesday in Vista on suspicion of possessing a ghost gun, authorities said.Clinton Bailey, 51, was booked into the Vista Detention Facility, Sgt. Seung Park with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department (SDSO) said in a news release Thursday. He faces charges of possessing an illegal firearm and ammunition, as well as five felony warrants.The arrest occurred around 9 p.m. in the 1200 block of North Citrus Avenue, where authorities stopped a man who had multiple felony warrants, according to law enforcement. SDSU places seven fraternities on interim suspension "The man attempted to avoid the deputies. He was located and taken into custody following a foot pursuit. The man was found to be in possession of a ghost gun and loaded magazine," Park said.Ghost guns make it harder for law enforcement to investigate or solve a crime since they are not marked with serial numbers, unlike legal fire...

Icy floodwaters kill at least 31 in India’s Himalayan northeast after lake bursts through major dam

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:33 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Ice-cold floodwaters swept through mountain towns in India’s Himalayan northeast, killing at least 31 people, washing away houses and bridges, and forcing thousands of people to leave their homes, officials said Friday.The flood began shortly after midnight Wednesday, when the waters of a glacial lake overflowed, cracking open Sikkim State’s biggest hydroelectric dam and then cascading through towns in the valley below.It was the latest deadly flood to hit northeast India in a year of unusually heavy monsoon rains. Nearly 50 people died in flash floods and landslides in August in nearby Himachal Pradesh state, record rains in July killed more than 100 people over two weeks in northern India.More than 2,000 people were rescued after Wednesday’s floods, the Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority said in a statement, adding that state authorities set up 26 relief camps for more than 22,000 people impacted by the floods.Rescue workers were still searching for ...

Trump endorses Jim Jordan to succeed Kevin McCarthy as House speaker

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:43:33 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is officially backing Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the pugnacious House Judiciary Committee chairman and longtime Trump defender, to succeed Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker.“Congressman Jim Jordan has been a STAR long before making his very successful journey to Washington, D.C., representing Ohio’s 4th Congressional District,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site shortly after midnight. “He will be a GREAT Speaker of the House, & has my Complete & Total Endorsement!”The announcement came hours after Texas Rep. Troy Nehls said Thursday night that Trump had decided to back Jordan’s bid.___ Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.Jill Colvin And Farnoush Amiri, The Associated Press