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One of the greatest hockey stars to lace up their skates in Minnesota spread some holiday cheer by dropping by the house of one of the state's oldest fans. 108-year-old Dorothy Heckmann was enjoying the holidays with her family while wearing her Minnesota Wild hockey jersey. But while she was lounging in her chair, she received some attention from a visitor: Hockey Hall-of-Famer Mike Modano. The priceless look of shock and joy on Heckmann's face for the surprise is worth a thousand words as Modano shook her hand. As Modano wished her a Merry Christmas, Heckmann replied, 'Oh my goodness,...

A viral post featuring a notice from a local McDonald’s restaurant is drawing new attention to concerns about rising crime in Uptown Minneapolis. Attached to a door, the sign reads: "Attention guests, effective Friday, December 5th, our dining room doors will be locked and attended [to] during our normal business hours of 5am-10pm to ensure a safe environment." "We will deny access to any individual who we consider a risk to maintaining a safe environment for our guests," it continued. McDonald's confirmed the notice to Fox News Digital. Mike Darula, local owner and operator of the franchise, told Fox News...

A planned Christmas Eve jazz concert at the Kennedy Center, a holiday tradition dating back more than 20 years, has been canceled. The show’s host, musician Chuck Redd, says that he called off the performance in the wake of the White House announcing last week that President Donald Trump’s name would be added to the facility. As of last Friday, the building’s facade reads The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. According to the White House, the president’s handpicked board approved the decision, which scholars have said violates the law. Trump had...

Christmas

A potential veto of Chicago’s 2026 budget by Mayor Brandon Johnson could trigger the Windy City's first-ever municipal shutdown. Johnson reportedly rebuked the budget passed by council over the weekend, which lacks the mayor’s favored per-employee "head tax" on corporations, as "morally bankrupt." If Johnson were to veto the budget, it would place the onus back on city council to rehash a plan that could get signed before Dec. 30 – or plunge the city into shutdown. City Council lacks any Republican representation – with a Democratic majority of 48 plus two independents, so the situation represents a clash within...

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Even foods most Americans consider "healthy" can pose serious foodborne illness risks, experts warn — and several say salads, sprouts and deli meats are among the everyday items they personally refuse to eat. One Seattle attorney who has spent decades litigating some of the country's worst foodborne illness outbreaks recently told The Washington Post that his well-done burger and steak order has prompted chefs to come out and ask what's wrong with him. "I explain what I do for a living," Bill Marler told the outlet. "It's an occupational hazard." He said he no longer touches bagged salads, fruit cups...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media. I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ~ 1 Timothy 2:1-2 Religion Forum Threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. IMMANUEL - GOD WITH US

It started out as a joyous Christmas Eve at the Sodder home on December 24, 1945. George and Jennie Sodder were spending the festive holiday with nine of their ten children, ages 2 to 18, at their home in Fayetteville, West Virginia. Then a devastating house fire broke out and five of their children - Maurice, 14; Martha Lee, 12; Louis, 10; Jennie, 8; and Betty, 5 - mysteriously perished. Four of their children had escaped; the tenth child - one of their sons - was away in the service at the time. The bodies of the five missing children...

Thousands of California residents found themselves under evacuation orders on Christmas morning, as disastrous floods and debris flows closed down major highways. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared a state of emergency as the holiday period was forecast to be a washout for the Golden State - with coastal areas expected to see several months' worth of rain within just a few days. Some parts of Los Angeles County had already seen more than 11 inches of rain as of Wednesday night, as more than 61,000 California residents were without power, according to PowerOutage.us. But meteorologists warn this is just...

Politico is framing the celebration of Christmas as a “far-right” front in Europe, arguing that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her party have made it a “spectacle.” Conservative social media users blasted the left-wing outlet’s Wednesday article, “How the far right stole Christmas,” authored by Rome correspondent Hannah Roberts. […] In the Christmas Eve piece, Roberts wrote that the holiday “is becoming a new front line in Europe’s culture wars,” with so-called “far-right” parties and politicians “claiming the festive season as their own.” The evidence?: Meloni’s defense of public Nativity scenes and other long-standing Christmas traditions in her majority-Catholic...

Stay up to date with live coverage of the Trump administration and national politics Wednesday as President Trump wishes Americans a Merry Christmas on Christmas Eve just days after declaring the day a national holiday. Meanwhile, The US military has moved a large number of special-operations aircraft, troops and equipment into the Caribbean as Trump openly considers military action to oust Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, according to a new report. President Trump took to Truth Social Wednesday to wish Americans a "MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!" Trump will be spending the holiday at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Last week, Trump took executive...

I'm 75% of the way through writing my fantasy trilogy and I heard a piece of music on Youtube that to me screamed for lyrics. If I write my own lyrics based on it and have my characters listen to someone singing it, can I legally use it in my book or is it problematic from a copyright standpoint? Do I have to get permission from the music composer? Am I better off just dropping the idea?

Keir Starmer has admitted people are 'still struggling with the cost of living' in a downbeat Christmas message. After a chaotic year and with the threat of a Labour coup rising, the PM used his festive address to insist his 'priority' is making life easier in Britain. But he urged everyone to 'do our bit' by 'reaching out' to friends, relatives and neighbours over the season. Sir Keir is finishing 2025 on an humiliating note, after he U-turned on the government's flagship farms tax in the face of opposition from Labour MPs. It is the latest in a string of...

The recent presidential elections in Honduras felt like the never-ending story in recent weeks, but we can officially report that Nasry "Tito" Asfura is the winner. He's the conservative candidate who was backed by Donald Trump earlier this year. It was close. Asfura received just over 40% of the vote, while center-right candidate Salvador Nasralla got about 39.5%. The far-left socialist candidate, Rixi Moncada, who was hand-picked by the sitting president received about 19% of the vote. The inauguration is scheduled for Jan. 27, 2026, and, despite initial claims of fraud, current president Xiomara Castro promises there will be a...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would be willing to withdraw troops from the country’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end Russia’s war, if Moscow also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces. The proposal offered another potential compromise on control of the Donbas region, which has been a major sticking point in peace negotiations. Zelenskyy said the U.S. proposed the creation of a “free economic zone,” which he said should be demilitarized. But it was unclear what that idea would mean for governance or development of the region. A...

The Epstein papers have dropped, and, of course, as anyone with the brain power exceeding that of your common garden snail could’ve told you, it turned out to be more disappointing than a Bulwark staffer’s wife’s wedding night. If you were looking for a giant Trump conspiracy, all you got was Bill Clinton floating in a tub with some bimbo. And if that surprises you, I can only assume that someone accompanies you everywhere you go, reminding you to breathe. Out at AmFest, the Turning Point USA convention, one of the big topics was the USS Liberty incident from 1967....

Almost 100 Minnesota mayors banded together to tell Gov. Tim Walz and state lawmakers that they object to citizens suffering from higher taxes and reduced services—problems they blame on state spending and rampant government program fraud.The Minnesota capitol building in St. Paul, Minn., on Dec. 8, 2025.Jenn Ackerman for The Epoch TimesThe message, conveyed in a two-page letter, can best be summed up by saying, “Clean up your act,” Diane Cash, mayor of Crosby, a small city in north-central Minnesota, told The Epoch Times on Dec. 23, a day after the letter was sent.The mayors are urging state leaders, “Put...

There continues to be a debate among global geopolitical analysts regarding whether the United States and China are engaged in a Cold War or a competition for global dominance.The answer is irrelevant.By anyone's observation, China seeks to dominate the 21st century, and they will do so by "any means necessary." In the process, they will use their military might to create a sphere of influence that is designed to cow nations that range from Japan to Australia to India.Their invasion of Taiwan is almost a foregone conclusion among many military observers, who believe it is not a question of if...

Nvidia has agreed to buy assets from Groq, a designer of high-performance artificial intelligence accelerator chips, for $20 billion in cash, according to Alex Davis, CEO of Disruptive, which led the startup’s latest financing round in September. Davis, whose firm has invested more than half a billion dollars in Groq since the company was founded in 2016, said the deal came together quickly. Groq raised $750 million at a valuation of about $6.9 billion three months ago. Investors in the round included Blackrock and Neuberger Berman, as well as Samsung, Cisco , Altimeter and 1789 Capital, where Donald Trump Jr....