Aurelia Butler

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    Columbia University’s Concessions to Trump Seen as a Watershed

    Threatened with losing $400 million in federal funding, the university agreed to overhaul its protest policies and security practices.Many professors saw it as surrender, a reward to the Trump administration’s heavy hand. Conservative critics of academia celebrated it as an overdue, righteous reset by an Ivy League university.Columbia University’s concession on Friday to a roster of government demands as it sought to restore about $400 million in federal funding is being widely viewed as a watershed in Washington’s relationships with the nation’s colleges.By design, the consequences will be felt immediately on Columbia’s campus, where, for example, some security personnel will soon have arrest powers and an academic department that had drawn conservative scrutiny is expected to face stringent oversight. But they also stand to shape colleges far from Manhattan. “Columbia is folding and the other universities will follow suit,” Christopher Rufo, an activist and senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, wrote on social media after the university’s announcement on Friday.“They must restore the pursuit of truth, rather than ideological activism, as their highest mission,” said Mr. Rufo, who is close to the Trump administration and has helped make battles against diversity and equity into a conservative rallying cry. He added: “This is only the beginning.”The end is not clear. Columbia’s moves on Friday — revealed in a letter to the campus from the interim president, Dr. Katrina A. Armstrong — were essentially an opening bid in negotiations with the federal government to let the $400 million flow again. But the Trump administration has not publicly said what other concessions it might seek from Columbia or the dozens of other universities, from Hawaii to Harvard, that it has started to scrutinize since taking power on Jan. 20.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    With New Decree, Trump Threatens Lawyers and Law Firms

    President Trump broadened his campaign of retaliation against lawyers he dislikes with a new memorandum that threatens to use government power to punish any law firms that, in his view, unfairly challenge his administration.The memorandum directs the heads of the Justice and Homeland Security Departments to “seek sanctions against attorneys and law firms who engage in frivolous, unreasonable and vexatious litigation against the United States” or in matters that come before federal agencies.Mr. Trump issued the order late Friday night, after a tumultuous week for the American legal community in which one of the country’s premier firms, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, struck a deal with the White House to spare the company from a punitive decree issued by Mr. Trump the previous week.Vanita Gupta, who as a civil rights lawyer and a former Justice Department official has both sued the government and defended it in court, said Mr. Trump’s memo “attacks the very foundations of our legal system by threatening and intimidating litigants who aim to hold our government accountable to the law and the Constitution.”In response to criticism of the memo, a White House spokeswoman, Taylor Rogers, said: “President Trump is delivering on his promise to ensure the judicial system is no longer weaponized against the American people. President Trump’s only retribution is success and historic achievements for the American people.”The president has long complained that Democratic-leaning lawyers and law firms have pursued what he calls “lawfare” in the form of investigations and lawsuits against him and his allies that he claims are motivated by politics. Since being sworn into office he has targeted three firms, but the new memo seems to threaten similar punishment for any lawyer or firm who raises his ire.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Venezuela Says It Will Resume Accepting U.S. Deportation Flights

    Venezuela announced Saturday that it had reached an agreement with the Trump administration to resume accepting deportation flights carrying migrants who were in the United States illegally, with the first one landing as soon as Sunday.Part of Venezuela’s willingness to accept the flights appeared related to the plight of Venezuelan migrants whom the Trump administration recently sent to notorious prisons in El Salvador with little to no due process. In a statement on Saturday, a representative for the Venezuelan government said: “Migration isn’t a crime, and we will not rest until we achieve the return of all of those in need and rescue our brothers kidnapped in El Salvador.”The White House did not respond to a request for comment Saturday, though one of the president’s close allies, Richard Grenell, said earlier this month that the Venezuelans had agreed to accept the flights.Venezuela’s autocratic leader, Nicolás Maduro, suspended the deportation cooperation after the Trump administration revoked a Biden-era policy that allowed more oil to be produced in Venezuela and exported.Since the suspension of the flights, Mr. Maduro has come under intense pressure from the Trump administration, which has been pressing various Latin American nations to take in more deportees. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on social media that Venezuela would face new “severe and escalating” sanctions if it refused to accept its repatriated citizens.Venezuelans have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in record numbers in recent years, in response to the economic and social crisis consuming the nation, which Mr. Maduro blames on U.S. sanctions against his regime.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Capsized Boat Near Jacksonville, Fla., Leaves 1 Dead and 3 Missing

    One adult and two children are missing, and four others were rescued on the St. Johns River near Jacksonville, Fla. They were on the water to take pictures of the sunset, an official said.One person died and three others were missing, including two children, after a small boat capsized on a river near Jacksonville, Fla., on Friday night, the authorities said.The U.S. Coast Guard received reports of an overturned vessel around 7 p.m. near Goat Island, which is north of Jacksonville. No one was wearing life jackets, according to a Coast Guard news release.Officials said that the people on board had set out to take photos of the sunset while on the St. Johns River, which is the longest river in Florida and winds through and around Jacksonville.The marine unit of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office rescued four boaters who were perched atop the overturned boat. According to the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, none of the survivors were taken to a hospital.There were four others thought to have been underneath the boat. Divers from the sheriff’s office did not find any people underneath the boat, however.“A Coast Guard Station Mayport rescue surface swimmer attempted to contact the people reportedly underneath the vessel but received no responses,” according to the news release.A crew from the sheriff’s office discovered a person in the water who was dead, said Capt. Eric Prosswimmer, a spokesman for the fire department.It was not immediately clear what caused the boat to capsize. Additional details about those on board were not released.“It’s an 18-foot watercraft boat — a pleasure craft so to speak,” Captain Prosswimmer told reporters on Friday night. “We have recovered the boat, and it was flipped. We flipped it back over, and it was towed back to the dock.”Crews from the Coast Guard, Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department, the sheriff’s office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were engaged in the search. Two helicopters were also deployed in the search.The weather was calm in Jacksonville on Friday evening, with a light breeze and passing clouds. More

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    Chomps Recalls Beef and Turkey Sticks Over ‘Pieces of Metal’ Complaints

    The snack sticks included in the recall were packaged at a single facility in Idaho from Jan. 16 through Jan. 23, the company said.Nearly 30,000 pounds of ready-to-eat beef sticks were recalled on Thursday after consumers complained that they had found metal fragments in them, food safety and company officials said.The voluntary recall affects Chomps Original Beef Sticks, but the company said in a statement posted online on Thursday and Friday that it was including Original Turkey sticks and additional product lots that were produced at Idaho Smokehouse Partners, based in Shelley, Idaho.The Food Safety and Inspection Service, which is under the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said in a statement that the agency was informed of “two consumer complaints reporting that pieces of metal were found in the product.”The products subject to the recall were packaged at a single facility from Jan. 16 through Jan. 23, according to Chomps. The Food Safety and Inspection Service said that the recalled items were shipped to retail locations in California and Illinois.The company said the turkey products added to the recall were not included in the 29,541 pounds of recalled beef sticks reported by federal regulators, but it did not provide a weight for the additional items.There have been no confirmed injuries from consuming the products, the Food Safety and Inspection Service said, adding that anyone who is concerned about an injury should contact a health care provider.Consumers who purchased the recalled items are urged to throw them away or return them to the store.Idaho Smokehouse Partners said in a statement on Saturday that after becoming “aware of the two complaints,” it “worked with regulatory authorities on the best way to protect consumers from this issue.”“We are taking this action because we are committed to the highest food safety standards for the consumers of our products,” the company added.Chomps said in a statement on Saturday that the decision to recall the items was “made following a thorough investigation conducted alongside our manufacturing partner” and under the oversight of the Agriculture Department.The company said it “chose to broaden the scope of the recall beyond what was required, ensuring that all product packaged during that time frame was fully accounted for and removed from the market.”Chomps also said that it had added “further safeguards to prevent this from happening again.” More

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    Thomas Hoobler, Half of a Prolific Writing Couple, Dies at 82

    He and his wife, Dorothy Hoobler, wrote 103 books, most recently one about presidential love letters, “Are You Prepared for the Storm of Love Making?”Thomas Hoobler, who with his wife, Dorothy Hoobler, wrote 103 books across a vast range of subjects, including young-adult biographies of Margaret Mead, mystery novels set in 18th-century Japan and, most recently, a book about presidential love letters with the attention-grabbing title “Are You Prepared for the Storm of Love Making?,” died on Feb. 22 in Manhattan. He was 82.His wife and their daughter, Ellen Hoobler-Banavadikar, said the cause of his death, at a hospital, was a stroke. His death was not widely reported at the time.The Hooblers were journeyman writers, contributing to series that will be familiar to any pre-teenager or parent of a pre-teenager, including Penguin’s wildly successful history books known by fans as “Big Heads” for their cartoonish covers, which bore titles like “Where Are the Great Pyramids?” (2015) and “What Was the San Francisco Earthquake?” (2016).The couple also wrote their own series. They were proudest of the 10 “American Family Albums” they wrote for Oxford University Press, starting with “The Chinese American Family Album” in 1994. The series, which drew on diaries, photographs and newspaper clippings to tell the story of the American immigrant experience, won a slew of honors, according to the Hooblers’ website, including three awards from the Parents’ Choice Foundation, a nonprofit guide to children’s media and toys.The Hooblers wrote 10 “American Family Albums” for Oxford University Press, starting with “The Chinese American Family Album” in 1994.Oxford University PressSuch recognition was typical of the Hooblers’ output for young readers, which drew on extensive research but presented history and personalities in compelling, age-appropriate language.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    George Foreman Turned a Home Grill Into a Culinary Heavyweight

    The former boxer transformed American cooking, and himself, with an appliance that remains a cultural touchstone.The George Foreman Lean Mean Fat Reducing Grilling Machine was the kitchen appliance America didn’t know it needed.When it arrived in the mid-1990s, Food Network and food blogging had just been born. Martha Stewart was redefining home entertaining, and Richard Simmons had made low-fat fun. Salsa was outselling ketchup for the first time, a reflection of the country’s changing demographics and its surging interest in food and cooking.Mr. Foreman, who had left boxing and became an evangelical preacher, was making money as a pitchman for Doritos and mufflers. He wasn’t an instant convert to the grill. An early model that the Salton company shipped him, as it searched for a spokesman, sat unused until his wife, Mary, pulled it out and made a couple of hamburgers.Mr. Foreman agreed to let Salton, a manufacturer of juice extractors and pasta makers, slap his name on the grill, and by 1996 it had sold $5 million worth. The company would go on to sell more than 100 million of the appliances.The George Foreman Grill infused itself into all layers of society. It became a dorm-room staple and a star on late-night television. Chefs at the sprawling Tavern on the Green in New York City set one up near the dining room to quickly grill tuna steaks for salade niçoise. Jimmy Breslin, the tough-talking newspaper columnist from Queens, kept one on the counter in his New York apartment and raved about it to visitors.Mr. Foreman and his grill became stars on late-night television, like this 1996 appearance on “The Tonight Show.”Margaret C. Norton/NBC Universal via Getty ImagesWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Shooting at Park in New Mexico Leaves at At Least 3 Dead and 16 Injured

    The shooting happened at a gathering of drivers of modified sports cars. Witnesses said there was an altercation before the gunfire.Three people were killed and at least 16 people were injured during a shooting at a park Friday night in Las Cruces, N.M., according to Johana Bencomo, the mayor pro tem.“Part of me wanted to write that this is something you never really think is going to happen in your city, but that actually feels deeply untrue,” Ms. Bencomo wrote.The shooting happened around 10 p.m. on Friday near the parking lot at Young Park, the police said on social media.Officers arrived and found multiple people with gunshot wounds. They were sent to hospitals, including the University Medical Center of El Paso in Texas.Andrew Cummins, a spokesman for Memorial Medical Center in Las Cruces, said the center received six patients, all with gunshot wounds, and five of them were flown from the medical center to El Paso.Witnesses said the shooting took place at a monthly gathering where drivers of modified sports cars show them off.Around 200 people had gathered for the event, they said, which had a party-like atmosphere. They described seeing an altercation before shots rang out and people began to flee. At least one man had what looked like an assault-style weapon, witnesses said.“They just started shooting and they just started running around everybody,” said Angel Legaspy, a 20-year-old whose parked car was hit by bullets. The shooting was indiscriminate, “like all over the place,” he said.Manuel Urbina, who was visiting from Wyoming, came to the park to check out the city’s car scene. He said things were calm aside from the occasional squeal of a skidding car or the roar of its engine. Then he heard shots.“People were running everywhere,” he said. “We all started to run, and then I saw a young man laid out on the ground.”Witnesses described seeing an altercation before shots were heard and people began to flee. Paul Ratje for The New York TimesThe police said they had not identified any suspects or possible motive.“We’re still trying to identify who the shooter or shooters are,” Danny Trujillo, a public information officer for the city of Las Cruces, said early Saturday.The police asked anyone who has video or images of the events, particularly any that show the shooting or people with firearms, to submit them.While the circumstances of the shooting in Las Cruces remain unclear, New Mexico has struggled in recent years with violent crime.The violent crime rate there was twice the national average in 2023, according to the Council of State Governments Justice Center. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, has made combating crime a priority.Las Cruces became a flashpoint in the state’s debate over crime in February 2024, when a police officer, Jonah Hernandez, was stabbed to death after responding to a trespassing call.By August of 2024, violent crime in the city was up 46 percent compared to the same period in 2023.Isabelle Taft More