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Explanation: Stars trail through a clear morning sky in this postcard from a rotating planet. The timelapse image is constructed from consecutive exposures made over nearly three hours with a camera fixed to a tripod beside the Forbidden City in Beijing, China on June 24. Arcing above the eastern horizon after the series of exposures began, a waning crescent Moon left the brightest streak and watery reflection. On that date the planets of the Solar System were also lined up along the ecliptic and left their own trails before sunrise. Saturn was first to rise on that morning and the...

At the beginning of the year, Oregon’s gas tax increased by 2-cent as part of a staggered 10-cent increase from the 2017 Transportation Tax Bill. Now in July, Oregon’s minimum wage will increase by 50-cents to 75-cents depending on the region in Oregon. Oregon has been among the top 5 highest minimum wage states in America, so this increase is already on top of a high increase. Next up in 6 months, is the Paid Family Tax which will go into effect. This was enacted by the Legislature that will levy a 1% tax on wages to pay for family...

Wyoming Republican primary candidate Harriet Hageman on Thursday night’s debate stage slammed opponent Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) for being “obsessed” with the partisan January 6 Committee while failing to address relevant issues to Wyoming. Referencing Cheney’s deep participation in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) committee, Hageman said on stage that “the press and certain people have obsessed over January 6.” “The only time that the January 6 situation ever comes up is when people talk about how unfair this entire committee is,” Hageman said about her 30,000 miles of campaign travel through Wyoming. She continually “focuses an awful lot of...

First Lady Jill Biden thanked Sesame Street's Elmo for getting the COVID-19 vaccine Friday, before visiting youngsters in Virginia getting their jabs. 'Our friend Elmo and his dad, Louie, talked to their pediatrician and learned that getting the vaccine is the best way to keep Elmo and the whole Sesame Street neighborhood safe and healthy!' 'So, reach out to your pediatrician to get the answers you need.' Her compliment comes as Sen. Ted Cruz continued to complain about Sesame Street using Elmo to encourage child vaccinations. 'Corporate media having fun pretending I’m in a fight with the red furry muppet...

Vanity as it is not an official news story yet. Paul Sperry @PaulSperry30 BREAKING: Internal email reveals day before Jan 6 riot, US Capitol Police intel unit warned "BLM from Baltimore" was bussing in rioters: "BLM/Antif will wear MAGA hats, wear camo, and attempt to blend in with MAGA crowd" so violence blamed on Trump supporters attending Trump rally https://mobile.twitter.com/PaulSperry30/status/1542961119932866566

Friday marks the third day of protests over the Akron police shooting death of 25-year-old Jayland Walker, an Akron DoorDash driver who was killed by multiple shots following a police chase on Monday. Previous protests were small, a couple dozen people. But as news of Walker's death spread across the city and national organizations like Black Lives Matter took note, today's protest downtown is expected to grow. Reporters and photographers from The Akron Beacon Journal will be reporting live from today's protest. Follow their reporting as it unfolds below. The details surrounding Walker's shootings remain unclear. Police have offered a...

Ukraine's culture of cooking borsch, the hearty soup with beets and cabbage, has made it to UNESCO's list of heritage traditions "in need of urgent safeguarding" because of Russia's invasion. Often written borscht in English, the soup is widely eaten across Eastern Europe and is extremely common in Russia. But Ukraine considers it a national dish, or as UNESCO put it: "part of the fabric of Ukrainian society, cultural heritage, identity and tradition." "The victory in the war for borsch is ours!" Ukraine's Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko posted on Telegram, declaring the soup to be "officially" Ukrainian. "Remember and be...

A Florida man with an application pending to Walt Disney World Security, stole an R2-D2 droid worth up to $10,000 and posed as a staff member because he wanted to show weaknesses in the security of the resorts so he could get a better paying job, sheriff’s deputies say. David Proudfoot, 44, of Kissimmee, remains in custody on a charge of grand theft and obstruction of information, according to an arrest affidavit. Bradford Betz Thu, June 30, 2022 at 7:21 PM A Florida man with an application pending to Walt Disney World Security, stole an R2-D2 droid worth up to...

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A Detroit ice cream store said it will deny service to police officers if they are wearing tactical body armor. Cold Truth Soft Serve, located at 4240 Cass Avenue, posted a photo on social media of a Detroit police cruiser parked in front of their shop with the caption, "We can tolerate the parking however you please but we will not serve anyone wearing body armor." The owner, Tim Mahoney, released a statement defending the vegan establishment, which he said prides itself on being a family and community business. "There are times when police units come through and are outfitted...

The Mother and Unborn Baby Care center in Southfield, MI has been hit by "Jane's Revenge". They broke 14 (!) windows and wrote "if abortions aren't safe, neither are you" in pink spraypaint. (Note: Southfield is a heavily black area and economically below median income, although it's also an area with a lot of business centers). We have a family member (wife's brother's wife) that is very heavily involved in the Center, and we've supported it as well. MAUBC-SE MI provides a broad range of services to pregnant women looking for help. Everything from counseling to ultrasounds to baby diapers....

Conservatives expressed outrage online after a leaked video of an episode of “Baymax!”, the new kids’ show streaming on Disney+, features a transgender man who buys tampons at a supermarket. Christopher Rufo, the conservative academic from the right-leaning think tank the Manhattan Institute, said he had “obtained leaked video” on Tuesday from an upcoming episode of “Baymax!”, which is a six-episode spinoff of the popular hit film “Big Hero 6.” In the scene, the protagonist, the Marvel Comics superhero nurse robot Baymax, is in the aisle of a supermarket in the fictional town of San Fransokyo browsing women’s hygiene products....

Meet Yuzu, a cute little White's Tree Frog with an "eating" problem. Video, 4 minutes & 26 seconds

The White House doubled down on President Biden’s warning that Americans will have to cope with high gas prices for “as long as it takes” for Ukraine to defeat Russia’s invasion — with a top economic adviser to the president saying that the future of the “liberal world order” depends on it. During an appearance on CNN Thursday, National Economic Council director Brian Deese was asked by anchor Victor Blackwell: “What do you say to those families who say, ‘Listen, we can’t afford to pay $4.85 a gallon for months, if not years. This is just not sustainable’?” “What you...

An 89-year-old woman was sucker-punched in the face by a man as she walked on an Upper Manhattan street this week, police said. The NYPD released images Friday of the suspect in Monday’s assault in Washington Heights. Police said the victim was walking with her family on W. 161st Street, near Broadway, around 4:30 p.m. when the man came up and slugged her in the face. The victim suffered an injury to her right eye and cheek. She refused medical attention, according to police. The assailant was last seen fleeing eastbound on W. 161st Street. Police believe he’s between 20...

(Left) The fishing hook that was found lodged in the fish's head. (Right) A receipt for the meal. Facebook/Lemon Mii While having dinner at a restaurant, one Malaysian family found something fishy in their food. A woman took to Facebook on June 22 to detail her family's dreadful experience at a fish head curry restaurant in Kuala Lumpur. They had ordered a large serving of curry fish head to share, but while tucking into their meal, her father discovered a fishing hook lodged in the fish head. Facebook user Lemon Mii uploaded a video of his plate showing the fishing...

Then-President Donald Trump angrily demanded to go to the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, and berated his protective detail when he didn't get his way, according to two Secret Service sources who say they heard about the incident from multiple agents, including the driver of the presidential SUV where it occurred. The sources tell CNN that stories circulated about the incident -- including details that are similar to how former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson described it to the House select committee investigating January 6 -- in the months immediately afterward the US Capitol attack and before she testified...

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday visited the “Christian community” of Sant’Egidio in Rome after visiting the Vatican and told the people there that she had “had the pleasure of attending Mass this morning with His Holiness.” “We had the pleasure of attending Mass this morning with His Holiness and many, many, many leaders of the Church,” said Pelosi. “And [Pope] Francis’ name always reminds me of St. Francis saying: ‘We preach the Gospel; sometimes, use words.’ We also pray that—ask God in his anthem, in his song of St. Francis, to make us all instruments of God’s peace,” she...

The Hagia Sophia, a Byzantine-era religious building in Istanbul, Turkey, was reportedly damaged last week when heavy cleaning equipment cracked the marble floors. It is just the latest incident in recent years that has seen the site damaged. The Hagia Sophia, constructed by the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I between 532 and 537, served as the largest Christian cathedral in the world until Constantinople was taken over by the Ottoman Empire in 1453. It was then turned into a mosque and subsequently into a museum by Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk in 1935. Considered one of the most important religious...

56 plus 18 equals 74. I watched my husband Bob as he held the little piece of plastic in his hand. While he was staring intently at the two pink lines, unable to comprehend the results of the test I’d just taken, I was busy doing the math. 74. Bob would be 74 when this baby graduated from high school. All the stereotypes of Hollywood actresses having children with geriatric men flashed in my mind. Three years ago, Bob and I discussed the possibility of having a third child.