Just two weeks after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 storm, carving a trail of destruction and causing at least 227 deaths throughout six states, Hurricane Milton pummeled Sarasota, Florida, where I live, with Category 3 winds of more than 100 mph.

The 2024 election marks the collapse of the mainstream media as we know it.

All politics is local, as they say, and it’s understandable that many voters will cast ballots in the presidential election based on pocketbook issues. But they also shouldn’t ignore the bigger picture.

It’s the worst-case presidential election scenario — a 269–269 tie in the Electoral College. In our hyper-competitive political era, such a scenario, though still unlikely, is becoming increasingly plausible, and we need to grapple with its implications.

With an E. coli scare linked to some of its Quarter Pounders, likely the slivered onions thereupon, McDonald’s and its franchisees have had a rough go of late, as reflected in its share price gyrations. But this week brought some good news for the Chicago-based fast-food giant.

Watching election night on cable or network news is a great national tradition. Memorable moments arise as the networks announce their projections in key states. Anchors and commentators demonstrate extraordinary understanding of the unique politics of hundreds of cities and counties across the country. As the results of the most consequential election on the planet unfold, there’s a powerful sense of shared witness.

People often ask me about China’s espionage activity in Hawaii.

All Americans are facing rising prices under the Biden-Harris administration, despite its claim that it’s “fighting to lower costs,” but the burden of soaring costs falls disproportionately on low-income families.

One thing about getting older is that increasing loss is the lay of all the land. Loss of nimble limbs, incremental hearing loss, cataracts (of course). Loss of friends, of family, of famous icons we grew up alongside. It’s such a steady, relentless beat. It doesn’t (yet) take away the dance, but it changes the steps, forcing the dancer to adjust the tap and shuffle.

In New Hampshire last week Joe Biden accidentally on purpose revealed what Donald Trump and his supporters have long claimed, that the Justice Department’s prosecution of Trump is purely political.

Social critics, editorial writers and authors are pleading these days for an end to America’s long emphasis on completing four years of college. They have a point. My father had nothing more than a two-year junior college degree when he turned writing skills learned in the Army into a middle-class life that included bachelor’s degrees for both of his sons.

For three years, from the ages of 13 to 15, I attended an evangelical Christian summer camp in Wears Valley, Tennessee. Billed as an adventure camp (it included activities such as archery and river tubing), this was the first place where I was exposed to an ideology that would later become known as “Trumpism.”

If you care about the migrant crisis, you need to understand what’s happening to Indigenous people and the environment in Central America. Displacement is surging as hurricanes including Helene and Milton intensify due to climate change. Climate refugees, many of them Indigenous, continue arriving in the United States daily.

The Chicago Teachers Union, representing more than 25,000 educators, touts itself as “the most democratic institution devoted to this city’s schools.” But for more than four years, the CTU has failed to publish mandatory audited financial reports, an obligation intended to maintain transparency and trust between CTU leadership and its members.

Get ready for President JD Vance.