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Nicholas Firkus murder trial jurors didn’t get to hear from his 2nd wife. She says he lied to her about finances, too.

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:57 GMT

Rachel Brattin believed her husband was lying to her, but it wasn’t until she looked in his sock drawer that she realized how big of a secret he was keeping.Hidden in the drawer was a document saying they were behind on their property taxes and their Mounds View home was in danger of foreclosure. Her husband at the time, Nicholas Firkus, was in charge of their finances.Brattin knew Firkus’ previous home had been foreclosed on years earlier and then there’d been a tragedy that ended with the death of his first wife.Now, she had questions. “I wasn’t sure how mad he would be that I knew,” she said recently of finding the paperwork about their home. “I didn’t know how desperate he would feel. I just wasn’t sure and I wasn’t willing to risk the safety of my kids to find out.”She woke the three children she had with Firkus, buckled them into their carseats and drove away while Firkus slept.In the years that followed, prosec...

Chasing the music: Widely praised as Frankie Valli in CDT’s ‘Jersey Boys,’ St. Paul native Will Dusek is an actor to watch

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:57 GMT

As the lights go down on “Jersey Boys” at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres, Frankie Valli rips off his bow tie and whips it around his head.Backstage, actor Will Dusek transforms from the famous Four Seasons falsetto back into himself. Putting his costume away is almost automatic by this point, he said, so he’s thinking: Gotta go get gas. Gotta walk the dog, as a favor to his grandma, with whom he lives. Gotta run to the grocery store. Gotta eat something. He’s ravenous.“After the show, I always need to get something in my system,” he said. “My nightly ritual is to eat my fridge and then stay awake for two hours because you’re just wired after the show.”Actor Will Dusek sings as Four Seasons legend Frankie Valli during a 2023 performance of “Jersey Boys” at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres. Dusek, 23, said it takes plenty of practice and lengthy vocal warm-ups to emulate Valli’s famous high-pitched voice. (Photo courtesy Dan Norman / Chanhassen Dinner Theatres)Dusek, 23, g...

Noah Feldman: Israel-Hamas war tests left’s views on cancel culture

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:57 GMT

Most people seem to think that free speech means saying whatever you want without consequences. But that’s never been true — at least, legally speaking. The First Amendment stops the government from punishing you for your opinions. Beyond that, you’re on your own.Some institutions, like universities, promise their members they won’t be punished for free expression. But for-profit employers rarely promise to protect employees’ speech, for market-oriented reasons. Because companies care about what customers and clients think, they typically reserve the authority to make workers comply with their preferred speech policies.So-called “cancel culture” offers a clear example of how what you say can have consequences. Those canceled in recent years mostly found they had little recourse other than abjectly apologizing and hoping the cancellation would have a sell-by date. Consequences ranged from getting fired to losing work to simply being criticize...

Word Game: Oct. 29, 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:57 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — DETRITUS (DETRITUS: dih-TRY-tus: Debris, flotsam, wreckage, etc.)Average mark 43 wordsTime limit 60 minutesCan you find 56 or more words in DETRITUS?TODAY’S WORD — DETRITUS deist diet dire dirt dries driest dues duet dust duster dustier duties edit etui test tide tied tier tire titer tried tries trite true truest trust rest ride rise rite rude rudest rued ruse rust rutted ides used user utter side sire site sitter stet stir stride strut stud sued suer suet suit suite surd sureTo purchase the Word Game book, visit WordGameBooks.com. Order it now for just $5 while supplies last!RULES OF THE GAME:1. Words must be of four or more letters.2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed.3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. For example, if “bake” is used, “baked” or “bakes” are not allowed, but “bake” and “baking” are admissible.4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar ...

Bridge: Oct. 29, 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:57 GMT

Many players use the “Law of Total Tricks” to make competitive decisions. The Law states that the total number of trumps each side has in its best trump suit equals the total number of tricks available. Today’s North-South have nine spades, East-West have 10 diamonds. So, 19 tricks should be won at spade and diamond contracts.In a team match, both East-West pairs saved at five diamonds over North-South’s four spades. At one table, South assessed the total number of trumps accurately: He doubled five diamonds, reasoning that if he could win 11 tricks at spades, he would be plus 500 on defense, a decent result. Nor was he sure of making five spades. As it happened, North-South were only plus 100.At the other table, South doubted that he would get rich against five diamonds doubled; he tried for plus 650 at five spades.West led a diamond, and East won and returned a diamond. South ruffed in dummy and took the A-K of trumps. When West discarded, South drew the mi...

Ask Amy: My wife’s family is horrible to me, and she pretends it’s not happening

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:57 GMT

Dear Amy: I can’t stand my wife’s family. Things were great in the early years but became progressively worse over time.Related ArticlesAdvice | Ask Amy: My husband has very definite views about our child’s schooling. Is he correct? Advice | Ask Amy: Should I just let the new boyfriend be a surprise at our holiday dinner? Advice | Ask Amy: I want the money my husband lent our friend. How do I get it? Advice | Ask Amy: I’m insulted that he ‘fixed’ my photo with Photoshop Advice | Ask Amy: She wants to be the cool grandma, and I’m not OK with her plan Out of the blue my father-in-law insisted on being called “Sir” – after a decade of me calling him by his first name.He worked hard and came from nothing but acts like no one else but him can have a successful life or career. He is always passive-aggressive toward me.My sister-in-law intentionally invaded my personal ...

Thousands break into UN aid warehouses in Gaza in a sign of growing desperation as war escalates

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:57 GMT

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Thousands of people broke into aid warehouses in Gaza to take food and “basic survival items,” a U.N. agency said Sunday, in a mark of growing desperation and the breakdown of public order three weeks into the war between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers.Tanks and infantry pushed into Gaza over the weekend as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a “second stage” in the war, three weeks after Hamas launched a brutal incursion into Israel. The widening ground offensive came as Israel pounded the territory from air, land and sea.The bombardment — described by Gaza residents as the most intense of the war — knocked out most communications in the territory late Friday, largely cutting off the besieged enclave’s 2.3 million people from the world. Communications were restored to many people in Gaza early Sunday, according to local telecoms companies, Internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.org and confirmation on the ground.The ...

Jasper Stubbs wins Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in a playoff

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:57 GMT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian Jasper Stubbs won at the second playoff hole to claim the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship on Sunday and an invitation to the 2024 Masters and a spot in next year’s British Open at Royal Troon.Stubbs came from six shots back to finished tied with Chinese pair Sampson Zheng and Ding Wenyi at 1-over 285 at Royal Melbourne and force a playoff. The 22-year-old Stubbs and Ding both made birdie at the tricky par-4 18th, but Zheng could only make par and was eliminated.Stubbs and 18-year-old Ding headed back to play the 18th again and while the Australian found the back of the green, Ding hit his approach into a greenside bunker.Stubbs then put his 13-metre birdie putt to within a whisker of the hole, and when Ding’s par putt lipped out, the Australian tapped in for the win and entry to the 2024 Masters and British Open.“The Masters is something every kid’s ever dreamed of,” Stubbs said. “It’s the one tournament that every golfer wants to play in the...

Motorcyclist killed in Anne Arundel Co. crash

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:57 GMT

Annapolis, Maryland, police have identified the motorcyclist killed in a crash Saturday afternoon.David Alan Nutter, 22, of Severna Park, was driving a motorcycle along West Street just before 1:40 p.m. when his vehicle collided with BMW sedan, police said in a news release.“The impact caused Mr. Nutter to be ejected from his motorcycle,” the department said. He was pronounced dead minutes after officers responded to the scene.No information was provided about the driver and any possible passengers inside the BMW.Police said West Street, as well as Poplar, North Homeland and South Homeland Avenues, were blocked Saturday afternoon while crash investigators were on the scene. These roads have since reopened.A map of the area where the deadly collision happened is below. Source

England wins toss and will field in Cricket World Cup match against India

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:30:57 GMT

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — England captain Jos Buttler won the toss and chose to field first in its Cricket World Cup match on Sunday against India.India is flying high – the only unbeaten team in the competition thus far. The hosts sit second on the points’ table with 10 points from five games. It trails South Africa – equal on points after six games – on net run-rate.England, meanwhile, is 10th on the table. The 2019 champions sunk to last spot again on Saturday evening as the Netherlands beat Bangladesh.It has a mere two points from only one win in five games – the worst run for a defending champion since 1999. Australia in 1992 is the only other defending champion to lose four (or more) matches in a World Cup.England has only beaten Bangladesh and still trails them on run-rate. It has lost to New Zealand, Afghanistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka.Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya is still unavailable for India and is nursing a left ankle injury. In his absence, the hosts have gone with a ...