Day: August 17, 2023

Hawaii resident who barely escaped fire says ‘There is no way for us to find out who survived’ as death toll rises

KIHEI, Hawaii — Sanford Hill calls his escape from death “dumb luck.” He sits in temporary housing on the other side of Maui from his senior living facility in Lahaina. It was destroyed in the wildfire, and he is struggling to process how he made it — and wondering how many of his neighbors, all…

India and China pledge to maintain ‘peace and tranquility’ along disputed border despite tensions

BEIJING — Chinese and Indian military commanders pledged to “maintain the peace and tranquility” along their disputed border, China’s Defense Ministry said, in an apparent effort by the sides to stabilize the situation after a rise in tensions. China’s Defense Ministry issued a joint statement on social media late Tuesday saying the 19th round of commander-level talks…

Is Ohio’s Issue 1 blowout a fluke or a sign of things to come?

After months of bombastic (and frequently convoluted) messaging from Ohio conservatives, a mid-summer push to head off a November ballot initiative to enshrine abortion access into the state’s constitution failed dramatically, with voters rejecting a Republican-led proposal to significantly raise the threshold for constitutional amendments by a double-digit margin as of Wednesday morning. Opponents of the measure heralded the…

The past controversies of Benjamin Netanyahu

Protests have reached a boiling point in Israel after the government passed a bill to overhaul the country’s judiciary, limiting the ability of the Israeli Supreme Court to conduct oversight. These controversies have proven greatly unpopular, and at the center of the furor is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has continually pressed forward with the…

Ohio voters defeat GOP measure to raise referendum threshold

Voters in Ohio on Tuesday handily defeated a measure put forward by Republican lawmakers to make it more difficult for voters to amend the state constitution. State Issue 1, which would have raised the threshold for passing citizen-proposed amendments to 60%, from 50% plus one, failed 57% to 43% with nearly all votes counted. The…

The Check-In: Bring the hotel home, take a spin on the Oregon Carousel Trail, and more

Welcome to The Check-In, our weekend feature focusing on all things travel. Hotels are making it easier to bring the vacation experience home Sometimes, the souvenir you want most from a trip is the fluffy hotel robe you couldn’t take off or the intoxicating fragrance that wafted down the hallways. More and more properties are…