Elections

Also, did you know Oregon has two time zones?Oregon’s state senate failed to advance a bill on Tuesday that would have abolished daylight saving time in most of the state and switched it to standard time for the entire year, the latest chapter in an effort by states to settle on whether clocks need to fall back or spring forward at all.The bill proposed that the part of the state in the Pacific Time Zone — almost all of the state is, save Malheur County, which is on Mountain time — abolish “the annual one-hour change in time from standard time to daylight saving time.”The measure isn’t entirely dead: The state senate sent the bill back to committee to be amended to make sure that if it were to happen Oregon wouldn’t be the only state in the region switching to permanent standard time.Lawmakers in Oregon’s neighboring states have proposed similar bills. In Idaho this week, a bill was introduced to get rid of daylight saving time, and there is a similar bill in front of California’s Assembly. In Washington State, a bill to abolish daylight saving time and return to permanent standard time failed last month.“We are leading the way,” Kim Thatcher, a sponsor of the Oregon bill, said on the State Senate floor this week before the bill’s failure. “I think we’re not going to be alone in this, but there might be a little weirdness at first, just know that.”Oregon would have been the first West Coast state to spend its entire year on standard time. Arizona (except for the Navajo nation) and Hawaii also observe standard time year-round. And in 2022, Mexico ended daylight saving time for most of the country, but carved out an exception for the area along the U.S. border.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

Voters will choose nominees for president and weigh in on state and local contests that could have big ramifications.Voting in Delhi on Super Tuesday in 2020.Max Whittaker for The New York TimesPrimary season is officially underway for the 22 million registered voters in California.Ballots have already gone out for the March 5 primary, in which voters will choose their nominees for president, and also weigh in on a number of state and local contests that could have big ramifications for the state’s future.Voters will have their say on a ballot measure championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that would finance mental health treatment; choose candidates for the State Legislature; and decide many local races, including the crowded contest for district attorney in Los Angeles.Ballots were sent on Feb. 5 to every registered voter in the state, and they can be returned by mail or handed in at secure drop-off locations or county elections offices. Some locations for early in-person voting will open on Saturday.Here are some of the key races.Dianne Feinstein’s Senate seatWhen Dianne Feinstein died in September, the U.S. Senate seat that she had held for more than three decades fell vacant. Newsom swiftly appointed Laphonza Butler to serve until elections could be held to fill the vacancy, and Butler decided not to run, clearing the way for an open primary race.Four leading candidates have emerged from a crowded field:Representative Adam Schiff, 63, Democrat of Burbank, currently the front-runner in polls and perhaps best known for having served as the lead prosecutor in the first impeachment trial of Donald Trump;Representative Katie Porter, 50, an Orange County Democrat known for grilling powerful leaders during congressional hearings;Representative Barbara Lee, 77, Democrat of Oakland and a longtime progressive;Steve Garvey, 75, a former first baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres and the only Republican among the four leaders.In California’s election system, all candidates, regardless of party, compete in a single primary, and the two who receive the most votes advance to the general election. For a while, it seemed that Schiff and Porter were headed for an intraparty battle in November. But Garvey’s fame and some strategic ads from Schiff have made Garvey a serious threat to knock Porter out of the running, as my colleague Shawn Hubler explained Tuesday.An Emerson College poll released on Tuesday showed Garvey overtaking Porter for second place in the primary race. Since Schiff appears to be well positioned to survive the primary, the main question is whether Porter will as well, and give him a serious challenge in November. Garvey would stand little chance of winning the general election; California voters haven’t elected a Republican in a statewide race since 2006.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

Amid widespread food shortages and a breakdown in civil order, groups of desperate civilians in Gaza are regularly attempting to ambush aid convoys, according to two Western officials who were recently in the enclave and images of one such ambush reviewed by The New York Times.In the images, several dozen young men, some of them carrying clubs, attempt to block the passage of a convoy of trucks as they drive along a major highway in southern Gaza after entering the territory from Egypt. The trucks are briefly forced off the road as the drivers swerve to avoid hitting the men. Some of the assailants throw stones at the trucks’ windshields, seemingly to try to stop them.The images, with time stamps indicating they were taken in recent days, were reviewed by a reporter for The Times.Such attacks have become common since Israel’s invasion last year as desperate civilians face starvation in pockets of the enclave, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid complicating their work in Gaza. In one recent attack, assailants threw an ax at a driver’s cabin, attempting to break into it, while in another the attackers hurled a cement block, according to one of the officials.Israel blames much of the theft on Hamas, which it accuses of siphoning off supplies for its own forces.But the Western officials said the attacks appeared to be mostly organized by groups of Gazans who were unaffiliated with Hamas, or were the spontaneous acts of desperate civilians. Hamas officials are barely present on the ground in any part of Gaza, the officials said, and international aid organizations are no longer coordinating their movements with the group that until October controlled the entirety of the territory.The ambushes on aid convoys are partly a result of a breakdown in law enforcement, the officials said. Gazan policemen are now refusing to protect the convoys because they fear they will be targeted by Israel because of their affiliation with the Hamas-run government, the officials said. That leaves the convoys more vulnerable, they added.Foreign diplomats privately say that enough food is reaching the Gazan border via Egypt to prevent famine, but the problem is its distribution to areas beyond Rafah, the southern city that lines the border with Egypt.In northern Gaza, aid groups say another major obstacle is the difficulty in coordinating safe passage with the Israeli military.Unlike southern Gaza, the north is mostly under full Israeli control, and aid groups say Israel regularly blocks access to Gaza City and its surrounding districts.Israel has accused the aid groups of failing to coordinate their convoys closely enough with the Israeli government, and says that not all requests for access can be granted because of continued fighting.In one case in early February, the United Nations accused the Israeli navy of shelling an aid convoy heading up Gaza’s coastal road toward Gaza City. The Israeli military said it was looking into the claim. More

A reader had hoped that her grandmother’s ring would stay in the family, perhaps to pass on to her daughter, but her former sister-in-law has so far refused to give it back.When my brother got engaged, he gave his fiancée — with my blessing — a ring that is a family heirloom. It belonged to our grandmother, who died before we were born. It didn’t occur to me that the ring was possibly leaving our family, which is what happened when they later divorced. My brother asked his ex-wife if she would return the ring, but she refused. I’ve tried to let this go: It’s just an object and not worth a lot of money, but I still harbor hard feelings. I was fond of my former sister-in-law; she was sweet to me and my kids. But we don’t have many things that belonged to my grandparents, and I’d rather give the ring to my daughter than let a stranger hang on to it. (My brother’s ex-wife doesn’t have children.) May I ask for it back?EX-SISTER-IN-LAWPerhaps the single greatest tool in conflict resolution is our imagination. Here, for instance, by picturing ourselves in your former sister-in-law’s place, we may cook up a compromise that works for everyone.I certainly understand your emotional attachment to a ring that belonged to your grandmother. It’s odd, though, that you don’t seem to acknowledge your former sister-in-law’s more direct relationship with it: It was her engagement ring. She may have worn it every day of her married life. And the ultimate dissolution of the marriage doesn’t change the fact that the ring may still symbolize the love and hope she once felt for your brother and their life together. (She is also its legal owner — and hardly a “stranger,” as you call her.)Now, it’s good that you are fond of your former sister-in-law. Go to her: Acknowledge her possible feelings about the ring, express your own — and ask if she would consider leaving it to your daughter in her will. This would respect everyone’s attachment to the heirloom. It’s also possible, of course, that I am being too rosy here, and your former sister-in-law is hanging on to the ring out of anger or hurt feelings — in which case, you may commiserate with her and offer to buy it back.Miguel PorlanGreat Story, but Maybe Hold the Demographics?Whenever a particular relative tells a story, she tends to mention people’s race, ethnicity or religion. “I met a wonderful Jewish man the other day,” for instance. Or “I had an Uber ride with the nicest Armenian woman.” When other people tell stories, a similar thing occurs: “Klein is a German name,” she’ll say. “Is she German?” Part of me believes this is just another piece of information to her; another part thinks it’s cringeworthy. Should I say something?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

Scientists debate whether this object is the brightest in the visible universe, as a new study suggests.Astronomers claimed on Monday that they had discovered what might be the hungriest, most luminous object in the visible universe — a supermassive black hole that was swallowing a star a day. That would be the mass equivalent of 370 suns a year disappearing down a cosmic gullet 11 billion years ago at the dawn of time.Burp indeed.In a paper published in Nature Astronomy, Christian Wolf of the Australian National University and his colleagues from Australia and Europe, called the object at the center of a newly discovered quasar known as J0529-4351 “the fastest growing black hole in the universe.”According to their estimates, this black hole tipped the scales as one of the most massive black holes ever found: 17 billion times as massive as the sun.But other astrophysicists cast doubt on the result, questioning the methods by which the mass and luminosity of the new quasar had been estimated. They said the calculations were too uncertain to be conclusive. “They may have the right value, but I don’t think other observers would be shocked if it turned out the true mass was somewhat less,” said Daniel Holz, a theoretical astrophysicist at the University of Chicago.“It does seem like an extreme object,” he said. But, he added, “I would be shocked if this turned out to be the most luminous quasar on the sky.”Jenny Greene, a professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University, called the result “cute.”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 American assessments are divided, however, and President Vladimir Putin denied having such an intention, saying that Russia was “categorically against” it.American intelligence agencies have told their closest European allies that if Russia is going to launch a nuclear weapon into orbit, it will probably do so this year — but that it might instead launch a harmless “dummy” warhead into orbit to leave the West guessing about its capabilities.The assessment came as American intelligence officials conducted a series of rushed, classified briefings for their NATO and Asian allies, as details of the American assessment of Russia’s intentions began to leak out.The American intelligence agencies are sharply divided in their opinion about what President Vladimir V. Putin is planning, and on Tuesday Mr. Putin rejected the accusation that he intended to place a nuclear weapon in orbit and his defense minister said the intelligence warning was manufactured in an effort to get Congress to authorize more aid for Ukraine.During a meeting with the defense minister, Sergei K. Shoigu, Mr. Putin said Russia had always been “categorically against” placing nuclear weapons in space, and had respected the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which prohibits weaponizing space, including the placement of nuclear weapons in orbit.“We not only call for the observance of the existing agreements that we have in this area,” he was quoted as saying by the Russian state media, “but we have proposed many times to strengthen these joint efforts.”On Wednesday, Mr. Putin reinforced the central role he believes Russia’s nuclear arsenal plays in the country’s defenses: Visiting an aviation factory, he climbed into the bomb bay of a Tu-160M strategic bomber, the most modern in the Russian fleet.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

Jeffrey Martinovic points out the obvious.Jump to: Today’s Theme | Tricky CluesWEDNESDAY PUZZLE — The 15-letter entry at the center of today’s crossword brought to mind a memorable scene from the 1996 movie “Matilda,” in which a class of elementary school students are terrorized by their principal, Miss Trunchbull. When a student demonstrates her ease spelling this particular word — clued in today’s puzzle as the “Landmark on which most U.S. radio stations base the starts of their call signs, with ‘W’ on the east and ‘K’ on the west” (40A) — Miss Trunchbull explodes with rage.I hope you stay comparatively positive as you make your way through Jeffrey Martinovic’s grid, which offers both a wonderful Wednesday challenge and a chance to learn something new about how certain proper nouns in our language have evolved. I might even say that you’ll learn twice as much as you expect to.Today’s ThemeWhether or not you had any difficulty spelling the name of the MISSISSIPPI RIVER (40A), you might have struggled to make sense of the revealer at 63-Across. It suggests that all of today’s themed entries are TAUTOLOGICAL in relation to the bracketed languages at the end of their clues. Say that again? (Get it?)A tautology, for those unfamiliar, is the needless repetition of an idea in different words. It has a separate application — albeit a similar meaning — in logic, but here it’s intended with its simplest definition. But what makes the theme entries in today’s grid repetitive in relation to the bracketed languages that follow them? Well, let’s look at a few examples.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

Frozen embryos in test tubes must be considered children, judges ruled. The White House called it a predictable consequence of the overturn of Roe v. Wade.An Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling that frozen embryos in test tubes should be considered children has sent shock waves through the world of reproductive medicine, casting doubt over fertility care for would-be parents in the state and raising complex legal questions with implications extending far beyond Alabama.On Tuesday, Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said the ruling would cause “exactly the type of chaos that we expected when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and paved the way for politicians to dictate some of the most personal decisions families can make.”Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as President Biden traveled to California, Ms. Jean-Pierre reiterated the Biden administration’s call for Congress to codify the protections of Roe v. Wade into federal law.“As a reminder, this is the same state whose attorney general threatened to prosecute people who help women travel out of state to seek the care they need,” she said, referring to Alabama, which began enforcing a total abortion ban in June 2022.The judges issued the ruling on Friday in appeals cases brought by couples whose embryos were destroyed in 2020, when a hospital patient removed frozen embryos from tanks of liquid nitrogen in Mobile and dropped them on the floor.Referencing antiabortion language in the state constitution, the judges’ majority opinion said that an 1872 statute allowing parents to sue over the wrongful death of a minor child applies to unborn children, with no exception for “extrauterine children.”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