Author: rpnadmin

Politics / April 29, 2025 After 100 days of chaos, the president’s numbers are in free fall, and that’s emboldening his critics everywhere—even in Alabama. Ad Policy President Donald Trump walks toward the White House in Washington, DC, on April 27, 2025.(Annabelle Gordon / AFP via Getty Images) After the first 100 days of his second term, Donald Trump occupies the national stage as a historically unpopular president—a suddenly exposed and challenged commander in chief whose combination of scorching ineptitude and creeping authoritarianism has removed the veil of invincibility that Trump obtained in the period leading up to and immediately…

The owner of a Pittsburgh funeral home dumped the remains of thousands of dogs and cats in a landfill after their owners had paid more than $650,000 for their cremation and burial — then handed them back the ashes of unknown animals, according to prosecutors in Pennsylvania.Patrick Vereb, 70, the owner of Vereb Funeral Home and Eternity Pet Memorial in Pittsburgh, was charged on Monday with felony counts of theft by deception, receiving stolen property and deceptive business practices, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General said in a statement.Mr. Vereb surrendered Monday afternoon to the authorities and was arraigned on…

Big Lots is planning to reopen 132 more stores in May as the bankrupt discount retailer works to rebuild its brand under new ownership.After filing for bankruptcy in September of last year and moving to liquidate its stores, the Ohio-based retailer in December reached a last-minute deal to be acquired by Gordon Brothers Retail Partners, a Boston-based asset advisory firm. As part of that agreement, between 200 and 400 Big Lots stores set to be closed were acquired by Variety Wholesalers, a discount retailer with more than 400 stores in the U.S. Variety Wholesalers continues to operate them under the Big Lots…

President Trump plans to sign an executive order Tuesday that will walk back some tariffs for carmakers, administration officials said, removing some levies that Ford, General Motors and others have complained would backfire on U.S. manufacturing by raising the cost of production and squeezing their profits.The changes will modify Mr. Trump’s tariffs so that carmakers who pay a 25 percent tariff on imported cars are not subject to other levies, for example on steel and aluminum, officials said in a call with reporters Tuesday.Carmakers will also be able to qualify for tariff relief for a proportion of the cost of…

Very early on a fall morning in 2017, F.B.I. agents knocked down the front door of a home in Atlanta with a battering ram. Guns drawn, they set off a flash-bang grenade and charged inside.The couple who lived there, Hilliard Toi Cliatt and Curtrina Martin, barricaded themselves in a closet. The agents dragged Mr. Cliatt out at gunpoint and handcuffed him. They told Ms. Martin to keep her hands up as she pleaded to see her 7-year-old son, who had been asleep in another room.As they questioned Mr. Cliatt, he gave his address. It was different from the one the…

At age 90, Renée Richards plays a lot of golf.”Yesterday I played 18 holes. I’m going to play 18 holes in my league today, and if I feel okay, I’ll play 18 holes tomorrow,” said Richards recently.The former professional tennis player and ophthalmologist made headlines in the 1970s, when after transitioning to female she sued and won the right to play in the U.S. Open. During her half-decade pro career, the doctor peaked at 20th in the world and in 1977 made the U.S. open finals in doubles, where she lost to a pair that included tennis legend Martina Navratilova.…

President Trump and his adviser Elon Musk speak before departing the White House on his way to his South Florida home in Mar-a-Lago on March 14. Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images A coalition of labor unions, nonprofits and local governments including Chicago, Baltimore and Harris County, Texas, has mounted the broadest legal challenge yet to President Trump’s massive overhaul of the federal government. In a lawsuit filed late Monday, the plaintiffs charge that actions taken by the president, Elon Musk and the heads of nearly two dozen federal agencies to dramatically…

There’s a fresh spat brewing between the White House and Amazon.Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, on Tuesday accused the online retail giant of being “hostile and political,” citing a report — disputed by Amazon — from Punchbowl News saying that the company would start displaying the exact cost of tariff-related price increases alongside its products.Displaying the import fees would have made clear to American consumers that they are shouldering the cost of President Trump’s tariff policies rather than China, as he and his top officials have often claimed would be the case.An Amazon spokesman said the company had…

UPS on Tuesday announced it is planning to cut 20,000 jobs this year, part of a cost-cutting effort that’s linked to fewer deliveries from Amazon, its biggest customer. The shipping company, which operates in over 200 countries, currently has around 490,000 employees. The layoffs will impact slightly over 4% of its workforce.The move is part of the company’s plan to consolidate UPS’s facilities and workforce. Along with the job cuts, the company announced it will also close 73 of its buildings by the end of June 2025 and said that it may target additional buildings for closure. “These actions will enable us…

Activism / April 29, 2025 The American people can smell a rat. If we want to be trusted partners, we have to show we are worthy of the trust and be willing to do what it takes to engage, explain and bring people to us. Ad Policy Seattle Mayor Ed Murray (C) celebrates with supporters after signing a bill that raises the city’s minimum wage to $15 an hour on June 3, 2014, in Seattle, Washington.(David Ryder / Getty Images) As Democrats and millions of Americans across the country stand up to Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the rest of…