During December, it’s nice to pause amongst the holiday hustle and think of all the blessings in our lives. For me, I’m incredibly grateful to be part of Hawaii Island, and our East Hawaii community that helps guide the mission of Child &Family Service. Everyday our dedicated staff, alongside other community partners in East Hawaii, bring hope and healing to those grappling with some of the most difficult life challenges.

To those who grumble that Jan. 6, 2021, is ancient history and everyone should just move on already, we offer rebuttal in the person of Missouri state Sen. Denny Hoskins. The Warrensburg Republican, who is in the running next year to become the state’s top election official, has filed legislation to require hand-counting of the state’s roughly 3 million ballots.

Humans have sailed the world’s oceans for thousands of years, but they haven’t all reached port. Researchers estimate that there are some three million shipwrecks worldwide, resting in shallow rivers and bays, coastal waters and the deep ocean. Many sank during catastrophes – some during storms or after running aground, others in battle or collisions with other vessels.

Every time I rip open a lovingly wrapped gift (and plenty of us will be doing a lot of that soon), one thing pops into my mind: trash.

In trying to win support from recalcitrant Republicans to reform a badly broken immigration system, the Biden administration has reportedly indicated it’d be open to indefinite authorities to expel asylum seekers and a huge expansion of our already largely unaccountable detention system.

The move by House Republicans Wednesday to formally open an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden was perhaps predictable back in January 2021 — with then-President Donald Trump’s second impeachment, for his role in the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol — or even as far back as December 2019, with Trump’s first impeachment, for trying to strong-arm Ukraine’s government into helping him win reelection.

For decades, the National Collegiate Athletic Association fought proposals that would’ve allowed schools to pay athletes. It went to court; it went to Congress. Whenever possible, it extolled the moral and financial benefits of amateurism. Then, last week, the NCAA abruptly changed its mind. Charlie Baker, the association’s president, released a proposal that would enable schools to pay athletes. It’s a profound and radical shift.

As world leaders gathered in Dubai for COP28 (the 2023 U.N. Climate Change Conference), animal advocates mobilized with a climate wake-up call: Not only does ditching meat, eggs and dairy save animals — it’s also the key to saving the world.

In exchange for approving a supplemental national-security bill providing aid to Israel and Ukraine, Republican lawmakers are insisting on a far-reaching crackdown on the flow of migrants at the US’s southern border. Many Democrats continue to resist the GOP’s demands. They should reconsider.

The straight party-line vote in Congress to impeach Joe Biden wasn’t about the president, but his wayward son, Hunter, who is facing a slew of federal criminal counts that he cheated on his taxes, as well as gun charges. The recovering drug addict and alcoholic is in a lot of trouble with Department of Justice Special Counsel David Weiss and could end up in prison for years. And it’s causing his dad major heartache and great political problems.

Artificial intelligence is developing faster than many of us can imagine and is now becoming an integral part of everyday life. So far, businesses are the primary catalysts for this deployment. Studies show that in one year of introducing a new type of AI, one-third of respondents reported their organizations were using the technology in some form, and 40% expected to up their usage investments.

While the Biden administration has maintained its strong support of Israel’s war aim of eliminating Hamas in Gaza, that support has for weeks been tempered by statements from U.S. officials saying Israel needs to minimize deaths of civilians as it continues fighting.

Kate Cox, a 31-year-old Dallas-Fort Worth married mother of two, might die. She’s not recovering from some tragic accident, nor does she have some kind of untreatable ailment. The best path to her health is eminently clear and medically proven: an abortion to terminate an unviable 20-week pregnancy, as recommended by her doctors.