samhexum

HGTV Renews The Flip Off, Orders Home Town Spinoff and More Amid Cancellation Spree TVLINE.COM HGTV is doing some renovations, renewing 'The Flip Off' and ordering a 'Home Town' spinoff, following a...

Taste of the neighborhood: new restaurants to try in Forest Hills QNS.COM Forest Hills is buzzing with new restaurants and cafes popping up all over the community. The...

Denmark ending letter deliveries is a sign of the digital times APPLE.NEWS PostNord blames sharply falling demand - will other post firms around the world follow suit? Blanche: “You know, there's something rotten in the state of Denmark.” Rose: “It's their cheese. They refuse to use preservatives.” it's been too long since I've had an opportunity to quote the girls!

The top of a historic tree in Oregon is on fire, and investigators are trying to figure out how it happened. The Doerner Fir, a Douglas fir tree that was believed to be about 450 years old and 325 feet tall, caught fire and has been burning since Aug. 17. USA TODAY confirmed that the treetop was still burning Aug. 20, even as firefighters tried to extinguish the blaze, which is contained to the single tree. The tree is in a wooded area near Coquille, Oregon, said Brett Weidemiller, an assistant unit forester with the Coos Forest Protective Association. Weidemiller said crews are working with helicopters, drones and ground-level sprinklers to preserve the tree and ensure the fire doesn't spread. While the cause of the fire remains unclear, Weidemiller said investigators have eliminating lightning as a possibility. "We have tracking mechanisms and time-date stamps to track lightning in that area," he said. "There was no indication of any lightning in the area at the time (the fire ignited)." The tree, the trunk of which has a diameter of 11.5 feet, is one of the tallest non-redwood trees in the world, though it has lost about 50 to 70 feet from its top, Weidemiller said. Falling limbs and branches are a hazard, he added, so firefighters can't be too close to the tree. The Doerner Fir is situated in the Coast Range Mountains about 50 miles from the Coos Bay, and there is a trail and recreation area that draws visitors year-round for hiking through the old-growth forest. The trail leading to the Doerner Fir is closed indefinitely because of the fire.

Seems like it would be simpler to just fly to Chicago and order a deep dish pizza.

And Just Like That EPs Defend the Polarizing Series Finale (‘It Felt Like the Most Honest Way to End’ It), Respond to Fan Backlash TVLINE.COM 'And Just Like That's' EPs make a case in favor of the controversial series finale — and they respond to...

Yankees drafted player after he admitted he drew swastika on Jewish student’s door in college. Why? When the New York Yankees drafted University of Utah shortstop Core Jackson in the fifth round in July, they were aware that he had drawn a swastika on the dorm room door of a Jewish student in 2021, when he was a 17-year-old freshman at the University of Nebraska. Jackson voluntarily called teams to tell them about his actions before the 2024 draft. In a phone interview with The Athletic, Jackson said that he was “blackout drunk” when he drew the swastika, and that he had no recollection of the incident or why he did it. He said he knows that he made a “really stupid mistake,” and that he has learned and grown since that time and is no longer “the person he was when it all happened.” The University of Nebraska declined to discuss any specifics of the incident, and the university police did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Yankees amateur scouting director Damon Oppenheimer said the team’s decision followed the most thorough “due diligence” look into a player in his 23 years on the job, and that it was cleared directly with owner Hal Steinbrenner. The draft pick came after multiple members of the organization had conversations with Jackson and those close to him, and after discussing the situation with multiple high-ranking Jewish members of the club, including team president Randy Levine, who supported the decision to draft Jackson. The club, however, did not speak with anyone at Nebraska about the incident, according to Oppenheimer. Jackson also was charged with driving under the influence on Utah’s campus in September 2024. According to his agent, Blake Corosky of True Gravity Baseball, the charge was later reduced to impaired driving, a misdemeanor. Corosky said Jackson had performed community service, received substance abuse training and paid fines. Jackson said he hasn’t “touched a drop of alcohol” in the months since. Oppenheimer said he thought the swastika incident “affected (Jackson’s) draft status” and was likely part of teams’ calculus when he went undrafted in 2024. (Jackson transferred to a junior college for the 2023 season and played for Utah the past two seasons). “I think that his tool set, his athleticism, his performance was definitely something that would have gone a lot higher in the draft,” the scouting director added. The Yankees drafted Jackson at No. 164 overall this July, signing him to a bonus of $147,500, well under the pick’s $411,1000 slot value. “I think it’s important that it is part of my story,” said Jackson, now 21. “I have this platform now that God has given me, and I can share my story about his forgiveness.” The greater New York area was home to about 1.4 million people who identified as Jewish as of 2023, according to a study by the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York, making it the largest Jewish community in the world outside of Israel. The Yankees were “looking to find the good in this,” Oppenheimer said. “He’s shown his accountability here,” Oppenheimer said. “I think his actions have shown his remorse. He’s acknowledged it. I think he’s taken the right steps to continue to learn, to understand what he’s done.” Jackson said he was so drunk the night he drew the swastika, in October 2021, that he blacked out and doesn’t remember any of the incident. He claims that he didn’t know who lived in the dorm room, and said that he “broke down in tears” the next day when someone told him what he had done. “I felt like the worst person in the world,” he said. “I don’t want there to be any excuses for my actions.” He said he wanted to apologize to the student, but that campus police told him to not contact them. He said the University of Nebraska fined him, had him undergo basic sensitivity training online and made him perform community service after the incident, but that there were “no other repercussions.” He was not arrested, and he played on the university’s baseball team the following spring. A Nebraska spokesperson declined to comment on the situation, but said that it “takes discrimination and similar allegations very seriously and has policies and procedures in place to rapidly respond to student concerns.” The Athletic was not able to identify or speak with the victim, or to independently verify Jackson’s version of events. A Freedom of Information Act request submitted to the University of Nebraska asking for documents pertaining to the incident had not received a response at the time of publication. Jackson played for the Nebraska baseball team in 2022, hitting .210 in 44 games, but left the school that summer. He described his freshman year as “being in a dark place,” and said that he departed because he was not “growing in my faith or getting better at baseball.” Jackson said he didn’t have any Division I offers upon leaving Nebraska, so he played his sophomore year at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, hitting .321 with four homers, 33 RBIs and a .907 OPS. He was eligible for the draft in 2023 but wasn’t selected, and then enrolled at the University of Utah, where in 2024 he hit .363 with four home runs, 41 RBIs and a .979 OPS as a junior. That spring, he began attracting the attention of MLB teams intrigued by his arm strength, right-handed power and athleticism. At the end of his first interview with a Boston Red Sox scout, Jackson was asked if there was anything else he wanted to talk about. Jackson told him about the swastika incident. “Everybody found out about it (then),” said Corosky, Jackson’s agent. “Including us.” After hearing the story from Jackson, Corosky said he considered no longer advising the shortstop. Corosky also represented Jacob Steinmetz, an Arizona Diamondbacks pitching prospect and the first practicing Orthodox Jewish player ever drafted. As a courtesy, Corosky said that he called Jacob’s father, Elliot, who is the head men’s basketball coach at Yeshiva University, a Division III Orthodox Jewish school in New York City. He wanted Elliot to be aware of what had happened. Corosky told Elliot Steinmetz that Jackson appeared “extremely remorseful,” but also “doesn’t (understand) exactly what he did.” After Steinmetz’s initial anger faded, he suggested that Corosky consider trying to educate Jackson about antisemitism. A few hours later, Steinmetz called Jackson. “Right away,” he said, “you could tell (Jackson) was the nicest, sweetest kid in the world, (but) dumb as rocks when it came to these kinds of issues.” According to Steinmetz, Jackson hadn’t seemed to fully grasp the dark history behind the swastika — the symbol that represented the German Nazi Party in the 20th century and is still being used by neo-Nazis worldwide. Jackson told Steinmetz that his education on the symbol was limited. Jackson grew up in a Christian household in Wyoming, Ontario, a rural town about 30 minutes from the Michigan border, and told The Athletic that he had hardly encountered Jewish people or learned about Jewish history in school. Steinmetz had a point he wanted to impress upon Jackson. “If I walked into a hall and saw a swastika, I’d be pissed off,” Steinmetz said. “My grandparents would be freaked out and terrified by it.” Corosky ultimately told Jackson he would continue advising him, but under two conditions. First, Jackson would have to call a representative from each of the 30 teams in Major League Baseball and describe what he did. He told Jackson “not to pull any punches” no matter how difficult it was to talk about. Second, Jackson would have to work with Steinmetz on “some intense, gut-wrenching understanding of why what he did was so hurtful and awful.” Jackson agreed. “Obviously,” he said of calling teams to inform them, “it wasn’t easy, but it was part of growing up and understanding to take ownership of my actions.” Most scouts told Jackson they appreciated his candidness. Steinmetz reached out to the head of Holocaust studies at Yeshiva, who put him in contact with Ann Squicciarini, then a graduate student at the school. Squicciarini, who is Christian, had enrolled in Yeshiva’s Holocaust education program in the wake of two Jewish students being attacked in her native Brooklyn in May 2021. Squicciarini designed a five-week course for Jackson, including video and reading assignments, and the pair met for an hour each week. Squicciarini logged everything, and sent post-session reports to Steinmetz. “He was attentive and engaged,” Squicciarini said. Neither she nor Steinmetz were paid to work with Jackson; both said they wanted to use education to fight hate. Ari Kohen, the director of the Harris Center for Judaic Studies at Nebraska, said that it’s “absolutely crucial” for society to learn how to teach antisemitism and preach awareness of “all forms of bigotry, truthfully, to young people today.” “I don’t feel that we have fully figured it out at this point,” said Kohen, who was at the Harris Center when Jackson drew the swastika but had not been aware of the incident before being contacted by The Athletic. “Especially with how quickly our culture changes, thanks to social media, thanks to the meme-ification of all these things.” It’s important to try to educate someone who commits an act of hate, Kohen said. “If we drive to punish,” he said, “that doesn’t allow us to take that teachable opportunity. There’s a lot that I think we miss.” Steinmetz agreed. “It’s not redeemable if you think it’s just a joke,” he said. “It’s redeemable if you do the work, take the path back (and) prove to people you’re not just doing it to get a job out of it.” Oppenheimer, the Yankees’ scouting director, has known Utah head coach Gary Henderson for more than 40 years. Henderson called him about Jackson in the fall of 2024 — well after the Yankees were aware of what Jackson had done. Other teams had been “very active in trying to understand the situation,” including the Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays and San Diego Padres, Corosky said. Jackson worked out for the Detroit Tigers and the Yankees. Henderson told Oppenheimer that Jackson was “really playing well” and that “he’s turned a corner. He’s been a good person, a good teammate.” That’s when the Yankees’ conversations began. Jackson met twice with Steve Nagy, the Yankees’ scout who covers Utah as part of the Four Corners region, who “heard the story for himself,” Oppenheimer said. Oppenheimer himself talked to Corosky, and then with Jackson and Steinmetz. Oppenheimer also met via video conference call with Jackson and Yankees director of mental conditioning Chris Passarella, who signed off on the decision. Yankees national cross checker Mike Wagner, who is Jewish, met with Steinmetz. Oppenheimer met with assistant director of player development Stephen Swindal Jr., who is also Jewish, to discuss Jackson. Oppenheimer also called general manager Brian Cashman and Steinbrenner, who rarely gets involved in player selection, and arranged a conference call that Oppenheimer attended with Steinmetz and Levine. The Yankees did not speak with anyone from the University of Nebraska, according to Oppenheimer, but they felt their process was thorough. “I don’t think we’ve ever done this,” Oppenheimer said regarding the breadth of their inquiry into a single draftee. “(Yankees brass) has knowledge of the players we think we’re going to be involved in, but not to the degree that they needed to be aware of (this) situation.” “I feel that moving forward,” Oppenheimer said, “we’ve got a good citizen and a good person and a good baseball player.” Minutes after the Yankees drafted Jackson on July 14, he called Steinmetz. “He was thanking me for everything I did,” Steinmetz said, “how much it means to him, how he’s not going to let me down and how he’s going to get to work.” Oppenheimer said he already made the player development staff aware of Jackson’s history, and that Jackson has had no issues since joining the Yankees, who quickly promoted him to High-A Hudson Valley. Jackson said he understands that people may be upset by his past. “I would ask for their forgiveness and let them know I’m not the same person I was when that happened,” he said. “I’ve grown up. I’ve learned. I’ve reconciled. I’ve done the things I needed to do to learn about it.”

McDonald’s is lowering prices at its U.S. franchises. Starting next month, eight popular combo meals from McDonald's menu will be priced at 15% less than the cost of buying each item separately, The Wall Street Journal reported. McDonald's has also reportedly agreed to offer U.S. franchisees financial support to compensate for the upcoming price drops, per the outlet. The price changes – which will affect the Big Mac, Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Chicken McNuggets, McCrispy, Egg McMuffin and other breakfast sandwiches – will go into effect early this September, with franchisees instructed to keep the discounts running through the start of next year. In November, Sausage, Egg and Cheese McGriddle and 10-piece Chicken McNuggets meals will roll out at price points of $5 and $8. Restaurants will also sell Sausage Egg McMuffins for $5 and Big Mac meals for $8. “Customers are telling us they need more of the everyday value and affordability that defines the McDonald’s brand,” Joe Erlinger, head of McDonald’s U.S. business, said in an internal message following the company’s earnings report, according to the WSJ. In an earnings call earlier this month, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski noted that combo meals being priced at over $10 has shaped “value perceptions in a negative way.” “The single biggest driver of what shapes a consumer’s overall perception of McDonald’s value is the menu board,” Kempczinski told analysts on the call. “And it’s when they drive up to the restaurant and they see the menu board…that’s the number one driver. We’ve got to get that fixed.” McDonald’s did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. Over the summer, McDonald's launched a variety of new food items to help attract consumers back into their dining areas. In June, McDonald’s brought back the beloved Snack Wrap to menus nationwide, causing an online frenzy. The chain also released Spicy McMuffins for a limited time in July, which added a spicy twist to the longstanding breakfast item. Themed meals have also been a trend for the company, like the chain's recent collaboration with A Minecraft Movie and this month's release of the nostalgia-inducing McDonaldland Meal.

You can say THAT again!

Cod Vs Tilapia: Here's The Actual Difference APPLE.NEWS They look similar but they have many differences in taste and preparation methods. Here's the lowdown on... tilapia have the unique distinction of being one of the only fish in the world that can live in both freshwater and saltwater

The Shops at Skyview held a culinary lab event featuring multiple food workshops, a meal demonstration and a lunchbox competition on Thursday, Aug. 14, on the fourth level of the mall, located at 40-24 College Point Blvd. in Flushing. The culinary lab is part of a multi-week “Skyview High”-themed series of events intended to immerse local teens and young adults into the vibrant and captivating facets of Asian culture, art and food. Participants in the events will have the opportunity to earn “credits” that will allow them to attend a by-invitation only commencement ceremony on Saturday, Aug. 30, with K-Pop artist Kang Daniel set to make a special appearance there. Photos: The Shops at Skyview hosts special culinary lab event – QNS QNS.COM The Shops at Skyview held a culinary lab event featuring multiple food workshops, a meal demonstration...

My niece got a job at Disney and moved to Fla. one year out of college.

Because many of us have been boiling pasta since we learned how to cook—maybe even thanks to good ‘ole boxed Kraft Macaroni and Cheese—we might think we’re pros. However, on a recent trip to Academia Barilla, Barilla’s culinary school in Parma, Italy, I learned that there’s more of an art to making pasta than you may have thought. Chef Marcello Zaccaria shared many tips for making restaurant-quality pasta at home, from using julienned vegetables in dishes with long pasta and cubed veggies in dishes with short pasta to the notion that we should be tasting our pasta water to ensure it’s salted to perfection. However, there’s one mistake you might be making that could throw off your entire pasta recipe—and it’s a mistake made at the start of cooking. According to Marcello, your pasta-to-sauce ratio can really make or break the dish. So, there are two ratios you should live by. When you’re cooking a pasta dish with marinara, Alfredo, vodka, or any other sauce that’s not pesto, you’ll want to use an even 100 grams of dry pasta to 100 grams of sauce. If you have one, use a food scale to get a precise measurement, but if you don’t, 100 grams of dry pasta is about 1 cup and 100 grams of pasta sauce is about 1/2 cup. For pasta dishes made with pesto, you’ll use the same 100 grams of dry pasta, but only 50 grams of pesto—or 1/4 cup. To make the perfect bowl of pasta, you’ll cook your desired noodles in salted water—without breaking the pasta—according to package instructions. However, Marcello recommends pulling the pasta off the heat about one to two minutes before the package suggests for al dente pasta. That way, you can finish the pasta in the sauce on the stove unless you’re making a pesto dish. Pesto should never be heated on the stove, according to Chef Marcello, instead, cook the pasta all the way until al dente, drain it, and then add it to a separate heat-safe bowl with your pesto. Marcelllo recommends covering the bowl with plastic wrap or something else to seal it in, then shaking the bowl to ensure the pesto coats every noodle. It’s a simple trick, but it will take your pasta dish from an at-home meal to one that transports you to the streets of Italy.

Dept. Q Renewed for Season 2 at Netflix TVLINE.COM Dept. Q isn't shutting down any time soon: Netflix has renewed the crime procedural for Season 2, TVLine...

The One Bourbon You Should Bring Home From Every State APPLE.NEWS words: Published: illustrations: Bourbon doesn’t have to be made in Kentucky. In fact, bourbon is now... The One Bourbon You Should Bring Home From Every State

I went to a store I'd never been to last night (good sale on grapes and blueberries and it's close to one of my regular stores, which I went to afterwards). My items were given to me in a plastic shopping bag, which is still illegal, as far as I know.

This topic is a pip!

The Padres put on a base running clinic worthy of the Yankees last night… The game started thusly: Single, caught stealing Double Single, runner stops at third, then runner at first caught stealing Fly ball to end inning so the game starts with three consecutive hits, including a double and no runs are scored and only four men bat. Then Xander Bogarts led off the second inning with a single and was caught stealing.

The Worst Olive Garden Pasta Is Just A Plate Of Goop I thought Gwyneth's company had higher standards than that. The Worst Olive Garden Pasta Is Just A Plate Of Goop APPLE.NEWS There are at least 11 different dishes you should avoid ordering the next time you visit Olive Garden. One...

Maybe not dead, just stagnant and stuck in place... Nobody’s Buying Homes, Nobody’s Switching Jobs—and America’s Mobility Is Stalling APPLE.NEWS The paralysis has left many people in houses that are too small, in jobs they don’t love or shackled with ‘golden... Nobody’s Buying Homes, Nobody’s Switching Jobs—and America’s Mobility Is Stalling The paralysis has left many people in houses that are too small, in jobs they don’t love or shackled with ‘golden handcuffs.’ For everyone, there are economic consequences

How To Stop Your Bag Of Ice From Turning Into One Huge Cube APPLE.NEWS Few things are as frustrating as trying to scoop ice out of a bag with cubes that have melted together... How To Stop Your Bag Of Ice From Turning Into One Huge Cube maybe this is one time you'd WANT a huge cube...

Just throw them out and be done with that shitake.

New Brooklyn school dedicated to supporting students with dyslexia, other disabilities set to open in September https://www.amny.com/news/new-public-school-in-brooklyn-dyslexia/ shouldn't that be aixelsyd? (sorry, I had to)

‘We followed the rules’: 12 NYC cannabis businesses sue state to block school-distance rule change | amNewYork WWW.AMNY.COM A dozen NYC-based cannabis businesses are suing to block the state Office of Cannabis... EXCLUSIVE: Age verification coming to Citi Bike in bid to put the brakes on underage riders | amNewYork WWW.AMNY.COM Citi Bike users will soon have to verify their age to use the service, amNewYork has learned.

The 9 Worst Restaurant Chains In 2025 (According To Customer Satisfaction) APPLE.NEWS The US has plenty of casual dining restaurant chains, but some are falling from favor. In 2025...