Day: February 22, 2017

Nobel-winning economist Kenneth Arrow dies at 95

Kenneth Arrow, the youngest-ever winner of a Nobel prize for economics whose theories on risk, innovation and the basic mathematics of markets influenced thinking on everything from voting to health insurance and high finance, has died. Kenneth Arrow, the youngest-ever winner of a Nobel prize for economics whose theories on risk, innovation and the basic mathematics of markets influenced thinking on everything from voting to health insurance and high finance, has died.

(Scott Sommerdorf | The Salt Lake Tribune) U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch,…

The Salt Lake Tribune) U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, listens as Senate President Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, thanks him for speaking in the Utah Senate, Wednesday, February 22, 2017. The Salt Lake Tribune) U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, listens as Senate President Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, thanks him for speaking in the Utah Senate, Wednesday, February 22, 2017.

Political correctness had gone mad, writes Trevor Phillips

A few weeks ago, I observed that Barack Obama’s iconic status as the first African-American U.S. President should not obscure his mixed political record. As a black man and former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, you might think I would be surprised to face a charge of racism – but I was not.

Media more trustworthy than Trump, poll finds

That is the finding of a Quinnipiac University poll which shows a dramatic split between Republicans and other Americans when it comes to matters of trust. Quinnipiac’s survey found that 52% of voters trust the media more than they trust Trump, while only 37% said they trusted Trump more.

Activists plan town hall meeting without Newhouse

Yesenia Martinez, left, and Denny Rielly interact as more than 100 protestors gather Wednesday outside Rep. Dan Newhouse’s office in downtown Yakima. A maintenance worker with The Tower holds the door closed Wednesday as protestors chant from the other side of the glass after marching to the building housing Rep. Dan Newhouse’s office in downtown Yakima.

LaMalfa answers questions about Oroville Dam in Red Bluff

Red Bluff >> Rep. Doug LaMalfa made himself available for questions Tuesday at the Tehama County Tea Party Patriots meeting at the Westside Grange Hall, where much of the discussion involved the recent emergency situation at the Oroville Dam leading to the evacuation of more than 180,000 people. “We’ve had quite the week with rainfall and the incident involving the dam’s spillway,” LaMalfa said.

Trump confidante says administration has ‘got to slow down,’ stop media war

Chris Ruddy, CEO of conservative outlet Newsmax Media, has been a friend of Trump’s for nearly 20 years, much of that time as a member of the president’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach. He told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl and Rick Klein on the “Powerhouse Politics” podcast that the administration has been experiencing “messaging problems” during the first month in office, but calling those issues chaos “overstates it.”

Trump administration reverses transgender bathroom guidance

As Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly stepped off a plane in Mexico Wednesday evening, tensions were brewing th… U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., will hold its first field hearing of … LINCOLN, Neb. _ Nebraska receivers coach Keith Williams was sentenced Wednesday to 30 days in jail, three years’ probation and fined $1,000 after pleading no contest to t… — Tom Brady’s Super Bowl jersey went missing from his locker after the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl 51 victory.

USCG Awards Polar Icebreaker Contracts

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, a heavy icebreaker homeported in Seattle, Washington, rests in the ice as the motor vessel Ocean Giant departs from the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station, Feb. 1, 2017. One of the primary responsibilities of the Polar Star’s crew is to provide an escort for the Ocean Giant through the frozen Ross Sea off of Antarctica.

Keel Laid for USS Frank E. Petersen

The keel of future guided-missile destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen, Jr. was ceremoniously laid Feb. 21 at Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard. Although official construction of DDG 121 began April 2016, the keel laying symbolically recognizes the ceremonial beginning of the ship.

Sen. Bill Cassidy’s town hall: Fractious and furious constituents shout down the senator

Town halls around the country are fractious affairs these days for Republican members of Congress, but the crowd of hundreds that showed up at the Jefferson Parish East Bank Regional Library in Metairie today for a town hall with U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy was so raucous and furious that CNN began carrying it live. People began arriving around noon to line up and hold a parking lot rally before the doors opened at 3 p.m., so attendees already were tired of waiting when Cassidy arrived 22 minutes late to the 3:30 p.m. town hall.

In Addition to the Number of Women in the Niagara Falls Area

So the lady friend was rather upset that many of you were under the impression that the dogs do not like her, which is my fault because when I was calling Rosie and Thurston assholes, it seemed to imply they were assholes because they do not like her. That’s not the case- they’re just assholes because they are all up in her grill like they are with me and everyone else.

McCain makes secret trip to Syria to visit U.S. forces

Sen. John McCain, one of President Donald Trump’s harshest critics, made a secret trip to northern Syria to visit U.S. forces stationed there and discuss the campaign for defeating the Islamic State extremists, his office said Wednesday. The Arizona Republican’s visit to the war-torn country occurred as a major battle nears to oust the militants from Raqqa, the capital of the Islamic State’s self-declared caliphate.

Protecting Trump Tower Has Cost New York City $24 Million From Election to Inauguration

It cost New York City about $24 million to provide security at Trump Tower, President Donald Trump's skyscraper home in Manhattan, from Election Day to Inauguration Day, or $308,000 per day, New York's police commissioner said on Wednesday. The revelation prompted renewed calls for Congress to reimburse the city for the cost of protecting Trump's private residence on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, where his wife and their son continue to reside.

Around Livingston for Feb. 23, 2017

A Mobile Disaster Recovery Center has opened in Livingston Parish for homeowners, renters and business owners who sustained damage in the Feb. 7 tornadoes. The center will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays at the Livingston Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, 20399 Government Blvd., Livingston.

Three East Feliciana police jurors take aim at parish officials, FEMA …

Three people who say they are trying to help homeless victims of the August flooding berated the East Feliciana Parish Police Jury and parish homeland security officials Tuesday, accusing the latter of sabotaging efforts to obtain a FEMA trailer park in the parish. The Reileyville area of the town of Clinton was hit hard by the mid-August flooding, although some other areas of the parish also sustained damage.

Millions targeted for deportation

Millions of people living in the United States illegally could be targeted for deportation – including people simply arrested for traffic violations – under a sweeping rewrite of immigration enforcement policies announced Tuesday by the Trump administration. Any immigrant who is in the country illegally and is charged or convicted of any offense, or even suspected of a crime, will now be an enforcement priority, according to Homeland Security Department memos signed by Secretary John Kelly.

City Holds Public Meeting on Levee Study

John Lamb discusses the Feasibility and Suitability Management study for the Glasgow Levee with Rick Seiler and Mike Slatts on Feb. 15. The City of Glasgow, State and County Department of Emergency Services and members of the public met to discuss the recent Feasibility and Suitability Management study for the Glasgow Levee on Feb 15. The study issued a number of options for moving forward with bringing into compliance Levee encroachments in the area, so as to remain on the Army Corps of Engineers Levee program, according to City Manager Rob Kompel. Currently, there are as many as 54 buildings encroaching on the Levee and countless utilities.

Oklahoma Senate panel approves Real Id compliance measure

Members of an Oklahoma Senate panel criticized the costs of bringing the state’s drivers licenses into compliance with a federal anti-terrorism law before deciding to send the proposal to the floor for a final vote. Following more than one hour of discussion and debate, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 34-9 for the House-passed measure and sent it to the full Senate for consideration.

Emails: EPA’s Pruitt cozy with fossil fuel industry

While serving as Oklahoma’s attorney general, new Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt coordinated closely with fossil-fuel companies and special interest groups working to undermine federal efforts to curb planet-warming carbon emissions, newly released emails show. More than 7,500 pages were released under court order Tuesday evening after an Oklahoma judge ruled that Pruitt had been illegally withholding his correspondence, which is public record under state law, for the last two years.

Repair to flood-damaged Ascension Parish schools in design phase, bids out on two

The work to restore the five flood-damaged Ascension Parish public schools, as well as for other school district facilities that flooded, is now in the design phase, the School Board’s consultant reported this week. The work for two of those projects is out for bid – St. Amant Primary, with a bid due date of March 7, and St. Amant Middle, with a bid due date of March 28 – Todd Mann, project manager with consulting firm CSRS, of Baton Rouge, told the School Board on Tuesday.

LePage asks Trump ‘to make Maine woods great again’

Maine’s governor has asked Republican President Donald Trump to undo Democratic former President Barack Obama’s designation of a national monument. Republican Gov. Paul LePage asked Trump to take the unprecedented step of returning land in the northern part of the state to private ownership in a Feb. 14 letter.

Emails: EPA chief Pruitt cozy with fossil fuel industry

In this Tuesday photo, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt speaks in Washington. While Oklahoma’s attorney general, emails show that new Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt was in frequent contact with fossil fuel companies and special interest groups working to undermine federal efforts to curb planet-warming carbon emissions.

Perspectives on the 2018 Farm Bill from Kansas

A quest for a third straight crown got off to a good start last night as the Lady Bea… — Tom Brady’s Super Bowl jersey went missing from his locker after the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl 51 victory. It has an estimated value of $500,000, according … — The backlash by constituents at GOP town hall meetings across the country is a mix of genuine concern and “manufactured” anger instigated by “professiona… — Steve the “Crocodile Hunter” Irwin would have been 55 today.

Trump sends top aides to Mexico amid deep strains with US

President Donald Trump is sending his top diplomat and homeland security chief to Mexico on a fence-mending mission made all the more challenging by the actual fence he wants to build on the southern border. Ties between the countries have plunged since Trump took office a month ago, punctuated by Trump’s insistence that Mexico pay for a border wall and other demands on illegal immigration and trade.

$5 TRILLION Dollars

President Donald Trump’s sweeping crackdown on undocumented immigrants will strain an already tight U.S. job market, with one study suggesting that removing all of them would cost the economy as much as $5 trillion over 10 years. That represents the contribution of the millions of unauthorized workers to the world’s largest economy, about 3 percent of private-sector gross domestic product, according to a recent paper issued by the National Bureau of Economic Research.