Aurelia Butler

Kelly Morenus opens our solving weekend.Jump to: Tricky CluesFRIDAY PUZZLE — This is Kelly Morenus’s second puzzle in The New York Times (with more to come!), and it’s high time we got to know her.Ms. Morenus is a middle school social studies teacher on Long Island who conducts her classes in Spanish as part of an immersion program. When she’s not making puzzles, she likes to read, binge Britbox shows, sew, travel (often solo) and hang out with her two dogs, Eli and Lucy.“I love the challenge of making a puzzle with fun entries and clean fill,” Ms. Morenus said in an email. “I’d love to craft a themed puzzle, but, alas, all of my themes have been rejected so far. Hopefully one of these days I will land on a worthy theme!“I’m also looking forward to attending the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament for the first time this year,” she continued. “I don’t consider myself a speedy solver, but I think it will be fun to attend and meet other puzzle people. If you’re there, I’d love to say hello!”It’s interesting to note that her grid design is nearly identical to the layout she used last time. There’s nothing wrong with that, mind you. Some constructors find certain grid designs easier to fill than others, and the ones Ms. Morenus chose are amusing to look at and to solve. They have room for those long, luxurious stair-step entries at the top and the bottom, as well as the fun diagonal slide to the center of the grid.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

Ellen L. Weintraub, the chairwoman of the Federal Election Commission, said on Thursday that President Trump had moved to fire her.Ms. Weintraub, who has served as a Democratic commissioner on the bipartisan panel since 2002, posted a short letter signed by Mr. Trump on social media that said she was “hereby removed” from the commission effective immediately. She said in an interview that she did not see the president’s move as legally valid, and that she was considering her options on how to respond.“There’s a perfectly legal way for him to replace me,” Ms. Weintraub said on Thursday evening. “But just flat-out firing me, that is not it.”The F.E.C., the nation’s top campaign watchdog agency, is made up of six commissioners, three aligned with Democrats and three with Republicans. That structure has contributed to repeated partisan deadlocks over elections investigations that scrutinize one party or another. Ms. Weintraub’s term as commissioner expired in 2007, but she has continued to serve on the board. The position of chair rotates every year. Ms. Weintraub took up the post again in January.A commissioner is removed only after a replacement is nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, and Ms. Weintraub said that the president did not have the power to force her off the commission before that. Mr. Trump did not name a successor to Ms. Weintraub in his letter, and it would take weeks at least for his choice for commissioner to be approved by the Senate.Trevor Potter, a former commissioner and chairman of the commission nominated by President George H.W. Bush, denounced the move to fire Ms. Weintraub in a statement, saying that doing so would violate constitutional separation of powers.“Congress explicitly, and intentionally, created the F.E.C. to be an independent, bipartisan federal agency whose commissioners are confirmed by Congress,” said Mr. Potter, who is now the president of the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan campaign watchdog. He added: “As the only agency that regulates the president, Congress intentionally did not grant the president the power to fire F.E.C. commissioners.”The White House did not respond to requests for comment.Ms. Weintraub was the chief architect of a novel strategy to further paralyze the commission in partisan deadlocks in order to compel enforcement of the nation’s election laws through the courts. She previously described it as a last resort after years of enforcement efforts being stymied by the three Republicans on the commission.Ms. Weintraub on Thursday also pointed to her public statements about F.E.C. complaints focused on Mr. Trump’s presidential campaigns as one reason she may have earned the president’s ire.“There have been dozens of complaints filed against the president,” Ms. Weintraub said, noting that the commission has not been able to pursue them because of the 3-to-3 partisan deadlock.She added, “I have pointed that out. I’ve written about this. So I’m not really surprised that I am on their radar.” More

President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday placing sanctions on the International Criminal Court, saying that his administration would “impose tangible and significant consequences” on people who work on investigations that threaten the national security of the United States and its allies, including Israel.The court faced backlash from the U.S. and Israel in November over its decision to issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the course of its conflict with Hamas in Gaza.Mr. Trump’s order said that the court’s actions against Israel and its preliminary investigations concerning the United States “set a dangerous precedent, directly endangering current and former United States personnel” by exposing them to harassment and the risk of international criminal prosecution.“The I.C.C. has, without a legitimate basis, asserted jurisdiction over and opened preliminary investigations concerning personnel of the United States and certain of its allies, including Israel, and has further abused its power” in issuing the warrants for Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Gallant, the order said.The order said the sanctions could include the blocking of purchases of property and assets, and barring I.C.C. officials and their immediate family members from entering the United States.Neither the United States nor Israel recognizes the I.C.C.’s jurisdiction, but the court accepted Palestine as a member in 2015, giving it jurisdiction over international crimes that take place in Gaza.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

The state’s regulator wants insurance carriers to pay full policy limits without requiring victims to itemize every object in their destroyed homes.California’s top insurance regulator urged insurance carriers on Thursday to pay policyholders the full amount of the belongings in their coverage without requiring them to itemize every object lost — an undertaking that has burdened thousands of residents whose homes were destroyed by wildfires last month.In a notice that said policyholders are “overwhelmed,” Ricardo Lara, California’s insurance commissioner, gave insurance companies a deadline of Feb. 28 to inform the state agency on whether they would comply.Consumer advocates have long criticized the demand by many insurance carriers that homeowners to make detailed lists if they hope to get their full coverage amount.The stress is compounded in places like California’s burn zone, where many families are scrambling to find new places to live and new schools for their children. The monumental task of remembering all items inside a home that no longer exists is adding unbearable strain, said Michael Soller, the deputy insurance commissioner, in an interview.Mr. Soller said he and his colleagues continue to hear from homeowners about “the agony of having to go through the process of filling out an inventory after you just lost everything.”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

A Bitcoin pioneer’s apartment purchase was rejected by the building’s residents after he was in escrow. The sellers — including a powerful Democrat — say they don’t care about his politics.In San Francisco, it is informally called “Susie’s Building” in deference to the owner of the 12th-floor penthouse with wraparound views of the bay. Susie Tompkins Buell, a power broker in Democratic politics, is known for throwing lavish fund-raising parties and writing checks so large they can start a campaign.A who’s who of the Democratic Party has made a point of stopping by over the years. Bill and Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama. Kamala Harris. Nancy Pelosi. The political elite in San Francisco still recall the time Mr. Clinton’s Secret Service agents got trapped in Ms. Tompkins Buell’s elevator and had to be rescued by firefighters.In other words, the Pacific Heights tower built in the 1920s is not the sort of place where you would expect to find an acerbic, conservative cryptocurrency executive with a fondness for President Trump and Elon Musk.Nonetheless, Jesse Powell wanted in.Mr. Powell, an early Bitcoin proponent and the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, had his heart set on unit No. 9 and its sprawling 3,500 square feet three levels below Ms. Tompkins Buell’s penthouse. The living room’s picture windows offer stunning views of the sparkling bay, the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island.He could have figured there would be problems, given his conservative politics and his past. But what would unfold wasn’t just a feud between a co-op board and a buyer whose reputation preceded him. The dispute in Susie’s Building would lead to a lawsuit this week and would become the latest political skirmish in a polarized nation.Jesse Powell, the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, said he believed residents of a San Francisco co-op rejected his purchase of a unit in their building because of his political views.David Paul Morris/BloombergWe 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

The Senate voted along party lines, 53 to 47, to confirm Russell T. Vought — an architect of the ultraconservative Project 2025 policy agenda — to lead the White House budget office. Thursday’s vote Total 53 0 53 0 47 45 0 2 Mr. Vought led the White House Office of Management and Budget during […] More

Asked during her visit on Thursday if she was considering running for governor of California, Ms. Harris did not give a direct answer, but did not rule it out either.Former Vice President Kamala Harris toured fire damage in Pacific Palisades on Thursday and met with local officials, her first visit to the neighborhood since the devastating wildfires last month and one of her few public appearances since leaving office.On a block where many homes had been reduced to rubble and only chimneys remained, Ms. Harris walked down El Medio Avenue, an area hit hard by the Palisades fire, which burned more than 23,000 acres and destroyed more than 6,000 structures, including homes and businesses, in the Los Angeles neighborhood. Ms. Harris then walked down the street toward Asilomar View Park, which overlooks the remains of a mobile home park destroyed by the flames.“You can smell the smoke that was here,” Ms. Harris said. “You can feel the toxicity, frankly, of the environment. You can feel the energy of all of the folks who are still here on the ground doing the work of trying to make this area safe, and then, at some point, provide a pathway to rebuild them.”Ms. Harris also visited the Westwood Recreation Center, which has served as an emergency shelter and relief center. Outside the recreation center, Ms. Harris was asked by reporters whether she was considering running for governor of California. Ms. Harris did not give a direct answer, but did not rule out such a run.“I have been home for two weeks and three days,” Ms. Harris said. “My plans are to be in touch with my community, to be in touch with the leaders and figure out what I can do to support them, and, most importantly, to lift up the folks who are surviving this extraordinary crisis.”The former vice president’s visit to Pacific Palisades comes as interest grows over who will run in 2026 to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, who’s barred by law from seeking a third term. Ms. Harris’s visit to the neighborhood came nearly two weeks after President Trump and the first lady, Melania Trump, toured the Palisades.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

Emboldened by President Trump, West Virginia and other states are challenging a law that makes corporate polluters pay for past emissions.Twenty-two states, led by West Virginia, are suing to block a recently approved New York law that requires fossil fuel companies to pay billions of dollars a year for contributing to climate change.Under the law, called the Climate Change Superfund Act, the country’s biggest producers of greenhouse gas emissions between the years 2000 and 2024 must pay a combined total of $3 billion annually for the next 25 years.The collected funds will help to repair and upgrade infrastructure in New York that is damaged or threatened by extreme weather, which is becoming more common because of emissions generated by such companies. Some projects could include the restoration of coastal wetlands, improvements to storm water drainage systems, and the installation of energy-efficient cooling systems in buildings.The measure, which was signed into law in December, is slated to go into effect in 2028.At a news conference on Thursday unveiling the legal challenge, the attorney general of West Virginia, John B. McCuskey, said the legislation overreached by seeking to hold energy companies liable in New York no matter where they are based.“This lawsuit is to ensure that these misguided policies, being forced from one state onto the entire nation, will not lead America into the doldrums of an energy crisis, allowing China, India and Russia to overtake our energy independence,” Mr. McCuskey said in a statement.West Virginia, a top producer of coal, is joined in the lawsuit by 21 other states, including major oil, gas or coal producers like Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma and North Dakota. The West Virginia Coal Association and the Gas and Oil Association of West Virginia are also among the plaintiffs.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