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The downside of making Daylight Saving Time permanent
One of the most famous quotes about politics is Otto von Bismarck’s observation that it’s the “art of the possible.”
We Called It the Greatest Rivalry in Sports. Readers Showed Us the Red Card.
England vs. Argentina may be the most explosive game of this World Cup. But Wall Street Journal readers ranked this grudge match far behind some of the famous feuds of U.S. sports.
Top 10 Mountain West Football Games of the Divisional Era
With the Mountain West changing, I thought it would be fun to go back and highlight the best players, games, and teams since the last phase of conference realignment 13 years ago. Previously, I’ve covered Top 10 football players, Top 10 basketball players, Top 10 Football Teams, and Top 10 Basketball Teams. Today’s list covers […]
Skullgirls Dev Accused Of Misconduct Working On Avatar Fighter
Paramount confirmed that the former Skullgirls and Indivisible CEO 'holds a position as an individual contributor' on its upcoming game
NASA’s Webb Discovers Hidden Planet in Famous Star System
Astronomers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope have discovered a giant planet outside our solar system, called an exoplanet, hiding within one of the
An All-Star goodbye? Plus, another World Cup surprise
The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! Earn some boos today. Coming up: 😳 Spain shocks France 🤨 Strange vibes at ASG 🔍 Another Leonard investigation There are days when the important sports events pile up. Sometimes I stare at the metaphorical mountain and feel lost. What stories are most important? What slice of the sports world am I leaving on the cutting room floor? Then I looked at my TV screen and saw the box score of the MLB All-Star Game. Nine’s a good...
Inside the states' case to block the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger
Winning a restraining order will be a crucial test for California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and his group. Some observers see the states' efforts as an uphill climb because the U.S. Justice Department last month approved the merger.
Peace Center 2026-27 schedule includes neo-soul, gravity-defying shows
Shows for the upcoming Peace Center season will run from Sept. 2, 2026 through June 2, 2027.
Cape Cod restaurants: New cocktail spots and cafes open in two towns
New cocktail spots and cafes are opening across Cape Cod, including a speakeasy-style lounge in Falmouth.
A large amount of the Universe is missing. Scientists think they may have found it | BBC Sky at Night Magazine
A lot of normal matter in the Universe is missing. Astronomers think they might have found it, and it's been hiding in plain sight all along.
ECU Health welcomes 152 new resident physicians and fellows to train across Eastern NC
WCTI ABC 12 Greenville and WYDO Fox 14 Greenville offer local and national news reporting, sports, and weather forecasts to viewers in the Greenville, New Bern, Washington, North Carolina region, including Farmville, Wilson, Rocky Mount, Goldsboro, Snow Hill, Pikeville, and Simpson, North Carolina.
Paramount-WBD merger could impact entertainment options
California Attorney General Rob Bonta joins "Here's the Scoop" to discuss how the merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery could impact the entertainment industry.
Cottonwood Fire drives tourist drought for Piute County businesses still open
While firefighters continue to make progress on the Cottonwood Fire in Fishlake National Forest, some business owners on the other side of the mountain in Piute
All-Star Game Discussion
Starting pitcher for the AL is Toronto’s Dylan Cease, the first Blue Jay to do so since 2009, when Roy Halladay did so. On the mound for the NL will be Cristopher Sánchez of the hometown Phillies. Weirdly, the last Phillies pitcher to start the All-Star Game was… Roy Halladay, in 2011. This is the […]
Classroom Champions: Mount Pleasant summer camp seeks sports equipment donations
A co-coordinator at Kaleidoscope Summer Camp at Carolina Park Elementary School is seeking sports equipment donations for students in kindergarten through 5th grade.
Somerset County leaders fault new state budget over mental health, 911 funding gaps
WJAC provides news, weather and sports information for Johnstown, Altoona, State College and DuBois, Pennsylvania. Our coverage area includes Bedford, Everett, Somerset, Meyersdale, Ebensburg, Windber, Hollidaysburg, Huntingdon, Mount Union, Tyrone, Bellefonte, Philipsburg, Clearfield, Punxsutawney, St. Marys, Brookville, Emporium, Treasure Lake, Ridgway, Centre Hall, Reynoldsville and Curwensville.
NSF Seafood Engine in New England wins $15M U.S. National Science Foundation award to strengthen fisheries and aquaculture
KINGSTON, R.I.—July 14, 2026— The U.S. National Science Foundation announced a major new award to bolster the American seafood industry through the NSF Regional Innovation Engines (NSF Engines) program within the Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships. The NSF Seafood Engine in New England, led by the Portsmouth-based non-profit NERACOOS, is a collaboration of seafood […]
Pro-Palestinian protester sues Trump administration, citing KKK Act
Mahmoud Khalil alleges private groups, including the conservative Heritage Foundation, and public leaders conspired to persecute him.
County business park to get first infrastructure, new name
New Hanover County’s Holly Shelter Business Park could be getting its first infrastructure and a new name in the coming months. The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a $6.5 million infrastructure construction contract and renaming on Monday. Once developed, the approximately 300-acre master-planned industrial park is expected to accommodate more than 2 million square feet of industrial space. The construction contract was awarded to Carolina Civilworks, which submitted the lowest responsive bid for the construction of the infrastructure, Akin Akinola, the county’s engineer, told commissioners on Monday. In May 2023, the county approved a development agreement with Sidbury Land & Property Company to establish the business park. The firm then conveyed approximately 52 acres to the county, giving officials the option to purchase another 200 acres, Akinola said. “The county’s role is to construct the initial public infrastructure that will make the site ready for future development,” he said. “Today’s contract award represents the first major construction phase of that project.” The first phase of development will include approximately 2,750 linear feet of business park roadway, a water main and fire hydrants, along with a sanitary sewer pump station, sewer force main and gravity sewer. Other infrastructure will include a right-turn lane on Holly Shelter Road, along with associated drainage, utilities and traffic control improvements. “Completing this work establishes the backbone infrastructure necessary to serve future development and positions the site for future economic investment,” Akinola said on Monday. County staff, in consultation with Wilmington Business Development officials, are also recommending renaming the park as the I-40 Coastal Commerce Park, said Jennifer Rigby, the county’s chief strategy officer. The new name would emphasize the park’s proximity to I-40 and its location on the coast, she said. Several county commissioners also asked to add New Hanover County's name to the business park's name to commemorate the county's contributions. “We are hoping to achieve space for our businesses to grow and expand here in New Hanover County,” Rigby said. “We’ve had great success with out Blue Clay Business Park and this is another opportunity to really provide locations for our businesses to grow and expand.”
47 revelatory hours with Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced
To review this month’s supposed remake of 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, I must first correct the record. Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced isn’t a game about pirates (and assassins) in the 18th century Caribbean. Sure, sure, that’s what the trailers would have you believe. They’ve go their clips of Edward Kenway swinging his swords and steering his pirate ship into cannon-blasting combat against British frigates. Is Resynced truly a pirate game? Of the 47 hours I spent playing Resynced over the past few weeks, I will admit I spent maybe 44 (?) of them collecting plunder with Blackbeard, drinking rum with Anne Bonny and debating the pros and cons of the lawless pirate-run settlement Nassau with Benjamin Hornigold. I may in fact have spent dozens of hours sailing to remote islands, reading treasure maps, opening messages left in bottles, sinking the odd Man o’ War with a well-timed broadside, collecting sea shanties for my crew, befriending a pet monkey, and hunting whales. I am nevertheless neither so Gullible nor so Narrow-Minded as to call the magnificent Resynced a “pirate remake.” Oh no. Forget any reviews of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced you may have read. Forget what you yourself may have played, if you’ve spent any time with the game since its launch. What Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is really about I’m here to give you the scoop (spoilers for Resynced’s Animus menu lore, which many players are probably not going to see): Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, the new game whose development was led by Ubisoft Singapore, is set in the year 2096. It’s about a societal split, about revolution, about an old Assassin’s Creed adventure repurposed in the series’ distant future as propaganda or samizdat. It’s about the overheated future of 2096, essentially conquered by the series’ well-established nefarious Templar-run company Abstergo. (In this future, Abstergo is, among other things, remaking a 2013 pirate movie called Devils of the Caribbean, but this time in VR. The VR version will be backed by a marketing plan that involves AI influencers, a 10,000-avatar “metaverse premiere event” and that manufacturing of memes aimed at “50 million VR nodes.” See what I mean about Abstergo being evil?) Resynced is about a late 21st-century population mollified by the widespread use of Abstergo’s Animus devices which let people experience the lives of historical figures culled from “genetic memories.” It’s about an insurgent faction of Assassins. And it’s about a plan to wake the population into revolutionary fervor by showing them the memories of 18th century pirate Edward Kenway, who—as depicted in the original Black Flag and again in Resynced—gradually comes to an understanding about the Assassins of his day and their centuries old fight for freedom. Resynced is also about an AI developed within the late 21st-century Animus, called Ego. It has found a way to alter genetic memories, to create and show Animus users false ones. The game is about Ego’s efforts to tell the people experiencing Edward Kenway’s memories that Kenway was wrong, that fighting against order is folly, that we should crave a world where “compliance is rewarded with power.” Who are we in this game? We’re an unnamed Animus user in 2096 who experiences Kenway’s journey virtually. At four moments during Kenway’s exploits in the Caribbean our virtual jaunt can be interrupted for 10-15 minutes, as we explore Animus “rifts” where Ego explicitly tries to tell us how wrong Kenway was. None of this is what 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag was about, of course. That was a different game, even if you also spent dozens of hours pirating as Kenway in that game, across missions and a map that’s been faithfully reintroduced and rebuilt for Resynced. The 2013 Black Flag was about you playing as an unnamed researcher newly hired in 2013 by Abstergo Entertainment, the video game development wing of the Templars’ evil-corp. In that game, you were assigned to use the Animus to dive into the genetic memories of Desmond Miles, a man who died in Assassin’s Creed III and who was descended from a long line of Assassins (and at least one Templar) whose adventures were featured across the prior AC games. In 2013’s Black Flag, your mission was to plumb the Edward Kenway experience for material that Abstergo could use in productions such as the motion picture Devils of the Caribbean, though the Templars had some ulterior motives for the assignment. Resynced is therefore not a remake of 2013’s Black Flag. It’s a sequel. It is a new game about a new exploration of Edward Kenway’s pirate/assassin journey, set 83 years after the framing sequences of the original game. Resynced provides a new narrative framework that, thanks to the concept of an AI that wants to alter historical memories, arrives with creative justification to tweak a now-classic 13-year old game. That makes Resynced, already a hot seller, a tantalizing hint of where Ubisoft could go with a line of Assassin’s Creed remakes. They could remake the first game, the Ezio games, even the recent ones set in ancient Egypt and Greece. And for each, they could not just modernize the graphics and controls but expand and alter their sequences of events to use them as reference points for a conflict set in the late 21st century, as rival factions try to weaponize historical memories. Game File is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, even when that work consists of ravings about Assassin’s Creed’s modern day plot, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe A story most players will probably miss If you didn’t know any of this, I’m not surprised. If you played the game and still didn’t catch it, I’m not a bit shocked. If Ubisoft has no plans to do more of this, I won’t fall down. Almost all of what I’ve described is optional and missable in Black Flag Resynced. I nearly missed it myself, as I planned for a breezy playthrough of an old Assassin’s Creed favorite. Instead, I found myself in a 40+ hour hunt for the “real” story, buried deeper in Resynced than any gold-filled chest. The story of 2096 is Resynced’s meta-story, told in two remote pockets of the game: 1) four optional playable “rifts” that players may find as they proceed through Resynced’s pirate fantasy , 2) in dozens of text files tucked three menus deep in the game’s barely-interactive Animus hub. Assassin’s Creed games have almost always had a meta-story about people in the 21st century (usually matching the game’s release year) and their connections to the main history portions you play. Those meta-stories have always been squeezed into the margins, though seldom as severely and as, uh, graphiaclly simple, as in recent games. Back in 2013, the modern-day exploits of you as an Abstergo Entertainment employee were prominent. They were portrayed via first-person portions that occasionally interrupted the third-person Kenway experience and could be explored for hours, complete with their own missions, side quests and puzzles. Resynced’s 2096 story—of Assassin “Watchers” vs. Abstergo/Tempar goons, of rogue AIs, of panicking scientists, of a woman wondering why her Animus-addicted husband is muttering about Mary Read (“What does he mean by Assassins?”), of a fight for the population’s hearts and minds via varying interpretations of Edward Kenway’s life choices—is mostly told through unlockable text files. The files are interesting. Offered via diary entries, intercepted chats and news reports, they present varied perspectives of a world in crisis. One set works as a narrative puzzle as it reveals the Rashomonic interpretations of a massacre, or was that a successful Assassin hit? Another favorite reveals the rising bitterness of a person who, through Edward Kenway’s journey, now shakes at the ignored evil around him. One surmises that Ubisoft is averse to putting the Assassin’s Creed’s meta-story in the way of more marketable pirate playgrounds and ninja/samurai epics. Instead, we get a better-than-nothing text-in-menus approach introduced in 2025’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows. In Shadows, players unlocked the meta-story text files largely via time-gated missions that called on the user to kill X number of enemy type Y, clear three enemy castles, re-win a three-phase fighting tournament, and other grinds. Time restrictions on accessing these missions and unlocking the files meant it could take players months to access the full story in-game. But even in the most hardcore Assassin’s Creed hangouts, the fanbase instead seemed to throw up their hands rather than grind to keep up. In Resynced, Ubisoft has shown some mercy, diminishing the amount of new text files that are tied to timed grinds. Now, most of the text-based 2096 lore are associated with “data file” collectibles that players can find in the world. That includes a batch of written entries that explain a historical link between the feudal Japan era in Shadows and the piracy adventures in Black Flag. Players who explore a lot will find dozens of data files, though the game does not appear to offer any in-game tracker for finding each one. You just need to keep looking for them. As of this writing, I have most of them, but not all. I can’t find any full guide for them online. And even Ubisoft’s optional $5 microtransaction that reveals lots of items in-game does not appear to reveal the locations of the text files (at least the official description omits them from its collectibles list). That’s not a huge bother, because tracking the data files down compelled me to re-explore the waves and islands of Black Flag. That was a thoroughly pleasant task to do for the first time in a dozen years. I expect many players, though, will be content to wait for the files to be reproduced in an online AC wiki somewhere, the easier to read on a web page. It may not seem enticing to play a video game in order to gradually unlock pages of text to read. Why not, you may ask, just read a book, where they put the pages in order? For one, they’ve not tucked this latest installment of Assassin’s Creed’s meta saga in a book. I also enjoy the unordered delivery, the dawning comprehension of a story about 2096’s desperate people and questionable tech, which I glimpsed first at its middle, then the end, then the front, then other moments in between1. I am also enamored with the idea of the Assassin’s Creed games I’ve previously played, including Black Flag, being repurposed for an information war. The ideas in Resynced’s meta-story, which builds off characters and ideas in Shadows’ chunks of text, are strong. The potential of where they could go with it is exciting. As for the pirate stuff? Looks great, controls pretty well, is fun to play and oh so speedy in terms of how much of a good time you can have with each sit-down. It never gets old to chase a new shanty page across a rooftop, bombard a fort with upgraded mortars or use a diving bell to explore sunken wrecks (hats off to the team at Ubisoft Barcelona that worked on the underwater portions in Resynced; that team is now facing layoffs, such is the misery of modern gaming and oft-troubled Ubisoft). New pirate missions in Resynced involving new ally characters are brief, dramatic and add more to Edward’s story, even if the gameplay perks they provide barely enhance the gameplay. A new denouement for high-class pirate Stede Bonnet is affecting; a new hunt for Blackbeard’s treasure is a welcome extra moment. A new epilogue to hunt down a pirate killer, on the other hand, over-complicates Kenway’s character. The ending credits remain my favorite of any game I’ve ever played. Black Flag provides great source material. The revisit is well-made and a great sign of what could be. It is offered in a different wrapper that hints at an opportunity for more interesting remakes to come, should Ubisoft choose to pursue such treasures—and as we brace to resist or comply with an Abstergo future. 1 The messages that Edward Kenway finds in bottles tell another out-of-order story, one about a man reckoning with the strange memories and voices he’s heard in his head since he was a boy. That tale was also in the 2013 game and develops into one of Black Flag’s most compelling character arcs. In Resynced, it has lost its climax, because the bottle story previously paid off in the halls of the first-person Abstergo Entertainment, which is exclusive to the older game. An altered resolution, written by the 2013 game’s lead writer is fine, doesn’t invalidate the 2013 version, but makes for an inferior final note.
43 Years Ago, Scientists Dropped Gophers Onto a Volcano. Today, They’re Tiny Heroes.
A bunch of gophers helped restore the plant life around Mount St. Helens after the devastating eruption in May 1980.
Mahmoud Khalil files lawsuit against federal government, private groups
Khalil alleges the groups were part of a conspiracy to suppress criticism of Israel.
'This was the easy part for Alonso'
The Drake Suite at Stamford Bridge is adorned with pictures of Chelsea managers holding trophies. Many of these pictures are of Jose Mourinho, but fellow Premier League winner Antonio Conte also features. Xabi Alonso motioned to these as he answered a question on his illustrious predecessors during his unveiling news conference on Monday, saying he is "really honoured and privileged" to follow in their footsteps.
Mountain Brook passes home business ordinance after more than a year of debate
Mountain Brook passed an ordinance limiting home-based client businesses, giving affected owners a year to comply or close.
New rumours suggest Nintendo could be looking into upgrading the Switch 2 with an OLED screen
It's been claimed serious talks about upgrading the Switch 2 with an OLED screen are underway at Nintendo, but nothing has been decided yet.
Heat can be deadly, but sunshine itself? Science says we could use more of it
Extreme exposure should be avoided, but we’ve gone too far the other way – enjoyed safely, the sun can have enormous health benefits, says author and MIT journalism fellow Rowan Jacobsen
Tuesday’s Everton News: Spence pricetag, Grealish business, Luiz links, Finnigan extends
Your daily dose of Everton news and rumours
Fans of the Arctic
Sediment eroded from ice-capped mountains splays out across a broad river valley on Russia’s Severny Island.
Rumour: Nintendo Is Reportedly Considering A Switch 2 OLED Model
Switch 2 launched with an LCD panel
Mountain Brook city council approves new home-based business ordinance
Tutors, music instructors, and athletic coaches will be limited to two students at a time, while animal boarding and retail sales will be banned.
Graham’s Death Complicates G.O.P. Agenda in Congress
Senators returned to the Capitol mourning their colleague, who played pivotal roles on multiple issues confronting lawmakers.
Donald Warren "Don" Iwerks
Donald Warren “Don” Iwerks, the Oscar ®winning film pioneer, Disney Legend, and son of Mickey Mouse co-creator Ub Iwerks, whose
The Quintessential Trump-era Politician
In 2020, I wrote an article about collaboration and collaborators. The title was History Will Judge the Complicit, and it started with the story of two famous East Germans, Markus Wolf and Wolfgang Leonhard, who both landed in East Berlin just after the end of the war. Although they came from very similar backgrounds, the former stuck with the regime, eventually becoming its spy boss; the latter, horrified by the brutal reality of Soviet-style communism, escaped. By way of juxtaposition, I also wrote about Lyndsey Graham and Mitt Romney. These two men also made very different decisions when confronted by Donald Trump’s assault on the ideals that they had both grown up believing: A glance at their biographies would not have led many to predict what happened next. On paper, Graham would have seemed, in 2016, like the man with deeper ties to the military, to the rule of law, and to an old-fashioned idea of American patriotism and American responsibility in the world. Romney, by contrast, with his shifts between the center and the right, with his multiple careers in business and politics, would have seemed less deeply attached to those same old-fashioned patriotic ideals. Most of us register soldiers as loyal patriots, and management consultants as self-interested. We assume people from small towns in South Carolina are more likely to resist political pressure than people who have lived in many places. Intuitively, we think that loyalty to a particular place implies loyalty to a set of values. But in this case the clichés were wrong. It was Graham who made excuses for Trump’s abuse of power. It was Graham—a JAG Corps lawyer—who downplayed the evidence that the president had attempted to manipulate foreign courts and blackmail a foreign leader into launching a phony investigation into a political rival. It was Graham who abandoned his own stated support for bipartisanship and instead pushed for a hyperpartisan Senate Judiciary Committee investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden’s son. It was Graham who played golf with Trump, who made excuses for him on television, who supported the president even as he slowly destroyed the American alliances—with Europeans, with the Kurds—that Graham had defended all his life. By contrast, it was Romney who, in February, became the only Republican senator to break ranks with his colleagues, voting to impeach the president. “Corrupting an election to keep oneself in office,” he said, is “perhaps the most abusive and destructive violation of one’s oath of office that I can imagine.” In the wake of Graham’s unexpected death on Saturday, I wrote about him again. He was, in many ways, the quintessential politician of Trump’s Washington, a man who shifted 180 degrees. Graham had been a fervent American patriot, proud reserve officer and military lawyer; he became one of the most important defenders of a president who believes soldiers are “suckers and losers” and shows no respect for law of any kind. As his politics changed, his language grew coarser and his behavior grew worse: He urged Israel to “level the place” in Gaza, and insulted the Danish prime minister in Munich, prompting a colleague, Senator Elissa Slotkin, to issue an apology. Here’s an excerpt from the article, which you can read in The Atlantic (gift link here) Like his close friend John McCain, Graham believed that America should stand at the center of a broad democratic alliance. The few times I met him were in that context, at the Munich Security Conference or at other European-American gatherings, which he once attended with great regularity. He also took seriously the practice of American democracy at home. In a 2014 conversation with The Atlantic, he described himself as a pragmatic politician who eschewed populist slogans. “I know Washington is broken, but what’s broken about it is everybody yelling and nobody trying to fix it,” he said. “I’m trying.” When Donald Trump first appeared in U.S. politics, Graham recognized him immediately for what he was: the spokesman for an alien ideology, one radically different from the idealistic patriotism that Graham had practiced and preached since childhood. Trump privately mocked the military that Graham loved as nothing but “suckers and losers.” He put falsehoods, cynicism, and personal greed at the center of his politics, while expressing disdain for transparency, accountability, and democracy itself. In 2015, Graham described Trump as a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot” who should “go to hell.” Also as a “nutjob.” When Trump won, Graham understood, as did so many others, that he would have to make some important choices. For a while, he went silent. In the spring of 2016, I saw him at one of those conferences in Europe. He seemed too depressed to speak. But then, like many other Republicans—and, more important, like many other people who have lived under political occupation or experienced radical regime change—he made the decision to abandon his previous ideals, to bury the patriotism that was once so important to him, and to become, instead, a loud, opportunistic collaborator. As I wrote in 2020, it’s very hard to look in to anyone’s heart and to understand their motivations from the outside. But it does seem that Graham had a deep need to be relevant, to be in the game, to be a player, at any cost. And that, rather than any particular achievement, is what he will be remembered for. Continuing to monitor conflicts of interest, ostentatious emoluments, outright corruption and policy changes that will facilitate outright corruption. (Read my original article, Kleptocracy Inc and check out the SNF Agora Institute chart) June 27 Trump diverted funds from more than 900 projects nationwide—including safety upgrades at national parks—to finance beautification projects around Washington, including $700,000 used to fix a White House walkway. June 28 After a years-long Department of Justice investigation into Abbott Laboratories over its management of a baby formula facility where potentially deadly bacteria turned up enough evidence to criminally charge the firm, top department officials instead opted for a financial penalty—illustrating the department’s move away from strict corporate enforcement under the Trump administration. June 29 Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stacked the Defense Policy Board—which is charged with providing independent national security recommendations to the Office of the Secretary of Defense—with Trump allies, including tech billionaire Marc Andreessen, who has invested in defense contractors like OpenAI and SpaceX, after purging the panel last year. Trump purchased between $1 million and $5 million worth of stock in Axon—which makes about 90% of US tasers—two weeks before ICE solicited bids for a $220 million taser contract. The White House unveiled limited-edition US passports for America’s 250th birthday, featuring a portrait of Trump overlaid on the Declaration of Independence. June 30 Trump made around $1.2 billion from his various crypto companies last year, including more than $500 million from World Liberty Financial and $600 million from sales of his meme coin. Trump is considering issuing 250 pardons to commemorate America’s 250th birthday. These are expected to be largely doled out through the Office of the Pardon Attorney’s informal network of intermediaries. White-collar defense attorneys say they can typically win pardons for clients for $2 million. Last year, Trump administration officials awarded a no-bid contract worth up to $500 million to Clark Construction for the White House ballroom—negotiations in which the president was directly involved. July 1 The Amazon MGM Studios documentary about Melania Trump earned the First Lady more than $10 million. Trump made hundreds of individual stock purchases worth as much as $12.8 million the day before his announcement pausing “Liberation Day” tariffs for 90 days sent the S&P 500 soaring nearly 10%—one of the largest single-day gains ever. Mar-a-Lago and Trump National Doral saw record surges in revenue during Trump’s first year in office, earning $77.5 million and $121.9 million respectively, compared to average annual revenues of $25 million and $75 million during Trump’s first term. Entities across the Persian Gulf paid more than $300 million to Trump’s businesses last year, including $263 million from the sale of half his stake in World Liberty Financial to a firm backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a top UAE royal and brother of the country’s president. Kash Patel failed to properly disclose his stock purchase of a Department of Justice contractor, MicroStrategy, worth up to $250,000 last year, despite laws requiring disclosure within 45 days of the trade. July 2 Trump has been directing administration officials to steer more government contracts—so far worth more than $2.4 billion—to Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin aerospace firm, after Amazon gave $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund, donated to the White House ballroom project, and reached a $40 million deal to license a Melania Trump documentary. Alongside the billions he made from cryptocurrency last year, Trump earned millions of dollars from real estate licensing fees, including $21 million from organizations in the UAE and $9.2 million in Saudi Arabia, along with smaller sums from merchandise sales, including $4.7 million from Trump Watches and $35,920 from 45 Guitar, a guitar brand endorsed by the president. House Democrats accused consultants tied to the Trump administration of financial fraud, alleging they gave prospective donors to America250—the bipartisan committee created by Congress to celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial—the banking and routing numbers for Freedom 250, the White House’s fund for events like the UFC cage fight. Democrats also allege that Freedom 250’s CEO traveled to the World Economic Forum in Davos to solicit donations from foreign government officials and business leaders. The Trump administration’s proposed rollback of gun regulations would lift the prohibition on mailing handguns to individuals, a significant win for GrabAGun—the direct-to-consumer firearm retailer on whose board Donald Trump Jr. sits and in which he holds a 1.1% ownership stake. GrabAGun currently must rely on a middleman to transfer firearms to customers. Trump’s financial disclosure revealed that he made more than 21,000 securities trades during his first year back in office, growing his investment account to at least $858 million across stakes in around 1,600 companies, compared to the 13 total trades Joe Biden made during his entire presidency. July 4 Nearly 1 million people who bought the president’s meme coin—Trump Coin—collectively lost $3.8 billion on the token, while he walked away with $636 million. July 6 Shares of Dell closed up 4.4% after Trump recommended people buy the firm’s computers during a speech announcing the launch of Trump investment accounts for children, boosting the more than $1 million worth of shares the president owns in the company. July 9 Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh named crypto investor and Trump ally Marc Andreessen to a task force aimed at modernizing the Federal Reserve, including rethinking its approach to inflation—a key factor keeping interest rates elevated. Palm Beach International Airport has officially changed its name to Trump International Airport—a move that will require Florida to pay royalties to the president’s family for licensing his name. I was there a few months ago, during a trip to Barcelona. The sculptures were a revelation, I’d never seen so many together before. Each one has its own personality. Enjoy the good weather, if you are lucky enough to have it. History Will Judge the Complicit The Quintessential Politician Autocracy Inc Open Letters, from Anne Applebaum is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe
New York among 12 states challenging Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros.
The lawsuit argues that the $81 billion mega merger would “extinguish competition” in Hollywood and threaten jobs across the industry.
Paramount Says States' Effort To Block WBD Deal "Will Only Harm Entertainment Workers"
Paramount hit back at an antitrust lawsuit filed Monday by attorneys general of 12 states seeking to block the company's pending $110 billion merger.
California attorney general files lawsuit to block Warner Bros.-Paramount merger
The lawsuit was announced Monday
California attorney general files lawsuit to block Warner Bros.-Paramount merger
The lawsuit was announced Monday
Priscilla Presley’s Son Defends GoFundMe for Driveway Pizza Business
Priscilla Presley’s son Navarone Garibaldi Garcia is defending his decision to crowdfund a new pizza business after critics questioned why someone from a famous family ... Read More
UNE business dean leaving for post in Florida; interim leader named
Norm O’Reilly, inaugural dean of the University of New England’s College of Business, will leave his post after Aug. 28. Amir Mousavian will serve as acting dean.
Handover of Health Commodities
Joint Handover of Health Commodities Speech of Chargé d’Affaires Steve Bremner (…) Thank you for joining us. I am here today to demonstrate how U.S. foreign assistance under President Trump’s America First Global Health Strategy and our bilateral health MOU makes America safer and stronger while helping Madagascar build a more self-reliant health system. Through our bilateral Global Health Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in December 2025 with the Ministry of Public Health, our two governments outlined shared priorities and responsibilities, including a strong focus on infectious disease threats and Madagascar’s increasing ownership and co-investment in its own health system. The MOU outlines the structure and terms of U.S. support to Madagascar’s health sector from 2026 through 2030, with a total commitment of $134,305,000 from the U.S. government and $41,216,252 from the Government of Madagascar to work jointly to address malaria, maternal and child health, polio and global health security issues. Stronger health systems help prevent instability and reduce the risk that infectious diseases reach the United States, making both our countries safer. America First foreign assistance is clear and disciplined: It is a tool of strategic engagement, not global charity. Every U.S. taxpayer dollar must show measurable results, reduce long-term dependence on U.S. taxpayer resources, and support greater self-reliance in recipient countries. Support must be efficient and targeted, with zero tolerance for fraud, waste, or abuse. This year, through the U.S.-funded Global Health Supply Chain Program – Procurement and Supply Management project, we are distributing: 989,250 long-lasting insecticide-treated nets, worth $2,000,000 to 63 districts and 1,661 Community Health Centers across Madagascar, with the third and final delivery of these nets having arrived in late June. Through the U.S.-funded Momentum Country and Global Leadership (MCGL) project, we are funding: The full cost of Starlink internet connectivity equipment procurement, installation, and one-year subscription for 31 priority District and Regional Health Offices. Through the U.S.-funded Strengthening Infectious Disease Detection Systems project, we are supplying: 908,523 pieces of critical medical equipment and a modernized digital surveillance system to the Ministry of Public Health. These materials will strengthen health systems, improve response capabilities, and help those most in need of protection from mosquito-borne diseases — particularly malaria, which continues to claim the lives of children and women at an unacceptable rate. Deployed effectively, they will contribute to reducing maternal and newborn mortality in rural and hard-to-reach communities where the need is greatest. In these same underserved areas, Starlink connectivity will play a critical role in enabling the rapid transmission of health data and information to central levels, ensuring that decision-makers receive timely, actionable intelligence and can mount swift, coordinated responses to protect populations. For Americans, this support delivers concrete benefits. Stronger health systems in Madagascar help detect and contain infectious diseases before they spread across borders, protecting American and Malagasy families. More stable, healthier countries can expand trade and economic cooperation with the United States. Our goal is not permanent support; it is temporary, targeted assistance that helps Madagascar save lives while achieving greater self-reliance and independence from foreign assistance. To the health workers and community health agents here that will use the products we’re delivering today: your dedication and skills save lives. Your work exemplifies the kind of local ownership that will enable Madagascar to reduce dependence on foreign assistance and manage the country’s health challenges. This targeted support delivers results today while helping Madagascar build toward a future where it can sustain and expand those health gains independently, ensuring that today’s U.S. support leads to Madagascar’s self-sufficiency. Thank you, Misaotra.
United States Delivers Life-Saving Health Supplies and equipment to Madagascar
United States Delivers Life-Saving Health Supplies and equipment to Madagascar U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Steve Bremner presided over a handover ceremony to the Government of Madagascar, represented by President of the Refoundation Col. Michaël Randrianirina, marking the delivery of nearly one million mosquito nets, over 900,000 pieces of critical laboratory equipment, and 33 internet connectivity systems. The assistance – valued at more than $2.2 million – is part of a broader U.S.-Madagascar health partnership, outlined in our bilateral Global Health Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in December 2025, totaling $134 million from the U.S. government from 2026 through 2030. “This assistance is clear and disciplined – it is a tool of strategic engagement, not global charity,” said Chargé d’Affaires Steve Bremner. “Every U.S. taxpayer dollar must show measurable results, reduce long-term dependence on U.S. resources, and support greater self-reliance. Stronger health systems in Madagascar help detect and contain infectious diseases before they spread across borders, protecting American and Malagasy families alike.” The assistance includes: 989,250 long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets - worth $2 million – will be distributed to 63 districts and 1,661 community health centers across Madagascar. Malaria remains one of the leading causes of death in the country, claiming the lives of children and women at an unacceptable rate. The third and final delivery of these nets arrived in late June and will be distributed starting this July until mid-October, ensuring that those most at risk of mosquito-borne disease now have access to this basic but life-saving protection. U.S.-funded Global Health Supply Chain Program – Procurement and Supply Management (GHSC-PSM) project will ensure the distribution. 908,523 pieces of critical medical and laboratory equipment – valued at $180,000 – including personal protective equipment, laboratory supplies, diagnostic tools, and cold chain equipment – along with a modernized digital surveillance system to Madagascar’s Ministry of Public Health. This support through the STRIDES (Strengthening Infectious Disease Detection Systems) program bolsters Madagascar’s ability to detect and respond to outbreaks of diseases such as monkeypox, plague, rabies, polio, and Ebola before they become regional or global threats. Over $30,000 of funding for the full procurement, installation, and first year of service for 33 Starlink satellite internet systems at priority districts and regional health offices across the country. These systems will allow health workers in remote and underserved communities to transmit health data quickly to central decision-makers – enabling faster, better-coordinated responses when disease outbreaks occur. U.S.-funded Momentum Country and Global Leadership (MCGL) will implement this project. As the country’s largest bilateral health donor, the United States remains committed to the principle that a stronger, healthier Madagascar makes for a stronger, safer world – and a stronger, safer America.
Experience Virginia's first alpine coaster ride
Massanutten Resort launched Mountain Mayhem, Virginia's first alpine coaster, featuring 360-degree spirals.
Gossip: Sunderland among four clubs keen on Muharemovic
Sassuolo defender Tarik Muharemovic remains a target for Premier League clubs with Sunderland, Newcastle, Leeds and Bournemouth all keen on the 23-year-old Bosnia-Herzegovina international. Corriere dello Sport via Football Italia) Meanwhile, the Black Cats are aiming to make Roma's 23-year-old Argentine winger Matias Soule their first signing of the summer. He is valued at about 35m euros (£30m) (Northern Echo)
Rays 2026 Draft: Rounds 11-20
The back half of the MLB Draft is where we leave the bonus pool minimums behind. Some players might sign for pretty decent amounts, but it’s the wild west and most will not demand much compensation to fill the Rays org needs. Out of their 21 selections overall, the Rays took 17 pitchers, and that […]
Science is pushing back on the hype over cold plunges
Can an ice bath really help you lose weight, keep you mentally sharp, and speed up your post-workout recovery? Mounting research is throwing water on those claims.
Storytelling events coming soon to Southwest Va.
ABINGDON, Va. — Round the Mountain Artisan Network is hosting two upcoming Storytelling Workshops designed to help Southwest Virginia artisans strengthen their personal and professional storytelling skills.
McConnell says fall led to hospitalization, breaking weeks of silence on health
Sen. Mitch McConnell on Sunday revealed for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalization, breaking the silence about his condition after weeks of mounting speculation about the Kentucky Republican’s health. McConnell, 84, said in a statement that he was “briefly unconscious” around the time he was first taken to the hospital and has undergone a battery of…
Mitch McConnell reveals fall led to hospitalization after weeks of silence
Senator says in statement he has undergone battery of tests after weeks of mounting speculation about his health
Obsidian Director Blasts People 'Running Their Mouths' About How the Studio Has Changed Following Xbox Layoffs
Obsidian Entertainment director Brandon Adler is tired of seeing "cold take artists" who are "running their mouths" about the studio following recent Xbox layoffs.
Sen. Mitch McConnell releases photo from hospital, breaking silence on health condition
Sen. Mitch McConnell on Sunday revealed for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalization, breaking the silence about his condition after weeks of mounting speculation about the Kentucky Republican’s health.
Sen. Mitch McConnell says a fall led to his hospitalization, breaking weeks of silence about health condition
Sen. Mitch McConnell on Sunday revealed for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalization, breaking the silence about his condition after weeks of mounting speculation about the Kentucky Republican’s health.
Sen. Mitch McConnell says a fall led to his hospitalization
Sen. Mitch McConnell is revealing for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalization, breaking the silence about his condition after weeks of mounting speculation about the Kentucky Republican’s health.
McConnell Says a Fall Led to His Hospitalization, Breaking Weeks of Silence About Health Condition
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Mitch McConnell on Sunday revealed for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalization, breaking the silence about his condition after weeks of mounting speculation about the Kentucky Republican’s health. The statement comes following his hospitalization on June 14.
Trump Mourns Graham as ‘Great Politician’ and ‘Member of the Family’
In an interview on Sunday, President Trump recounted his last conversation with Senator Lindsey Graham, hours before his death. Mr. Graham sounded “perfect,” he said.
'America and the world have lost a determined leader': Tributes pour in after Sen Lindsey Graham's death
Trump called Lindsey Graham "a true American Patriot" on Truth Social as world leaders from Ukraine, Israel and NATO mourned the senator's sudden death.
At Family Science Night, Wonder Comes Before Answers.
BAR HARBOR—Family Science Night isn’t really about science. It’s about wonder. It’s about watching a five-year-old realize that the tiny creature under a microscope is a real living thing. It’s about a teenager discovering that the scientist explaining genetics or regeneration isn’t much older than they are. It’s about parents seeing curiosity spread across a child’s face the way excitement spreads across a crowd at a Fourth of July parade. For one evening, families realize that the laboratory isn’t some secretive place where knowledge is hidden behind white coats and closed doors. They learn that the lab is a place their neighbors work, their friends’ parents work, and it becomes a place where questions matter more than answers. It’s a place where wonder is the origin for knowledge. At the lab, children learn that it’s okay not to know. Adults remember that they once asked “Why?” about everything. Scientists are reminded why they fell in love with discovery in the first place. There are experiments, games, obstacle courses, and demonstrations, of course. But those are really just invitations—to touch, to explore, to laugh, to make mistakes, and to ask one more question. In a world that often rewards certainty, Family Science Night celebrates curiosity. And perhaps that’s its greatest gift. Long after the microscopes are packed away and the experiments are over, what families take home isn’t just a few new facts about biology. They take home the feeling that discovery belongs to everyone—that science isn’t something happening somewhere else by someone else. It’s simply what happens when people are given permission to wonder. A Family Science Night at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory is one of those rare community events where children and adults can experience science as something they do, not just something they read about. Hands on discovery allows hands-on learning and joy. Real scientists, some local, some scientist-interns (but still scientists) just in college make science real, approachable, and exciting. And there, complex ideas like forever chemical-filtration, DNA and so much more become not complex. Instead, they become fun. Summer fellows are challenged to explain cutting-edge biomedical research in ways a first-grader—and their grandparent—can understand. Past activities have explored gene expression, kidney function, axolotl regeneration, worms, microplastics, and phytoplankton through games and creative demonstrations. Though it’s called family night, you can also see adults going from station to station, exploring, learning together across ages. Family Science Night reflects the laboratory’s broader mission of breaking down barriers between researchers and the public, helping people understand how scientific discoveries relate to everyday life and the health of Maine’s environment. Family Science Night transforms a world-class research laboratory into a giant interactive classroom, where curiosity is encouraged, questions are celebrated, and families discover that science isn’t just something that happens in a lab—it’s an adventure anyone can join. About MDI Biological Laboratory For more than 125 years, MDI Bio Lab has been a center for training and research in comparative biology. In the last two decades its biomedical research has focused on aging, regeneration, and environmental toxins. The Laboratory houses 11 research groups staffed by an international team of world-class scientists and graduate students. It also leads a statewide network of colleges, universities and research institutions that collaborate to provide training, research experiences and financial support to help young Mainers play a bigger role in today’s biomedical revolution. Located on Maine’s rugged coast, the Laboratory’s 100+ acre campus houses research facilities, cottages and dorms that house visiting scientists and students. It is also home to MDI Bioscience, a subsidiary working to design innovative techniques to speed the drug discovery process. LINKS TO LEARN MORE NIH INBRE MDI BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY Photos: Carrie Jones and Shaun Farrar/Bar Harbor Story HELP SUPPORT THE BAR HARBOR STORY When we started The Bar Harbor Story, we didn’t know if anyone would read it. But you showed up. You shared. You sent tips. Now—over 400,000 views every month later—it’s clear: people here care about their community and each other. We’ve kept everything free because news should never be out of reach, but every one of our stories takes time to write, and your support keeps The Bar Harbor Story going. If you value our work, please consider a paid subscription, a founding membership, or a sponsorship. It truly helps us cover one more meeting, tell one more story, shine one more light. Even $5 a month makes a difference. Click here to become a one-time supporter now. Thank you so much for being here. Founding member information can be found here. Have questions about sponsorships? Just send Shaun an email at sfarrar86@gmail.com, he’d love to hear from you. Subscribe Share Bar Harbor Story Share Leave a comment
Musical entertainment to fill the main stage at Monmouth County Fair
Mushmouth will appear at the upcoming Monmouth County Fair
Musical entertainment to fill the main stage at Monmouth County Fair<p>
Mushmouth will appear at the upcoming Monmouth County Fair
Alzheimer's tau protein has a surprising secret role in memory
Researchers found that tau is essential for turning new experiences into lasting memories by helping organize the brain's memory-storing cells. The mouse study also revealed how abnormal tau may contribute to Alzheimer's by disrupting both the formation of new memories and the recall of existing ones.
PSP Mercer investigating stolen checks from business, nearly $40k taken
The person deposited the amount of $37,800 into an unknown PNC Bank Account.
Surprising things about flying first class on Japan Airlines; review
I was surprising by how well Japan Airlines' famous 13-year-old cabin has held up, and the Japanese cuisine, which came with caviar, was delicious.
Waiting for insurance coverage for GLP-1s for weight loss? Keep waiting.
The corporations that pay for private employee health insurance are not ready to swallow the high costs of the enormously popular drugs, said the CEO of CVS Health.
They're Building Half A Bridge to Save Science...
Today’s post is about science: what you can do now to protect it from unprecedented threats, and how your action is the first half of a long-term program that Congress must take up next. Let me start with describing the embryonic state of science advocacy. There are many well-meaning organizations: the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Research!America, and subject-specific organizations such as the Society for Neuroscience and the American Physical Society. Their general approach is to emphasize the common good: the remarkable value that science and innovation have provided to all Americans. However, these organizations are offering an incomplete solution. Before I start, a preliminary: If you already know about the threat, go ahead and weigh in with OMB at this link. Ideas about what to say come from Research!America and the American Physical Society. You have until Monday, July 13 at 11:59pm Eastern. Then come back here and read the rest of this post. Finally, get in touch with whoever is likely to be your next member of Congress in 2027. The threat: An end to merit-based science… The onslaught of attacks on science is accelerating. It’s not just cuts to grants, which was the last battle. That battle is not done yet, but there is a new and worse threat. Now comes a proposed public rule from the Office of Management and Budget. The rule would take decision-making power over grants away from experts and put it into the hands of political appointees. Former NIH official Elizabeth Ginexi wrote an excellent summary of what OMB is trying to do, which is codify the executive branch’s ability to award or terminate grants, for arbitrary cause or no stated cause. Since World War II, a necessary step in scientific grant-making has been consideration of scientific merit. This approach has made America into a dominant scientific superpower, the envy of the world. Of course, political considerations do come into the mix. The proposed rule tilts the balance dramatically away from merit. …but why? Many people have difficulty comprehending why Russell Vought and OMB would want to damage science in this way. If you’re a working scientist, you are likely to be particularly uncomprehending. Who would hurt an activity so self-evidently good? The answer is: this is part of the program to replace the rule of law with a personalist regime. OMB Director Russell Vought, a Christian nationalist, would like to implement what legal scholars call a “unitary executive,” and what I would call a dictatorship. Or if you like, a personalist authoritarian regime. I am a working scientist. This rule will debilitate my research. It may chill the speech of scientists for speaking freely in the public sphere. It is a form of personalizing power and decision-making within the executive branch. In short, it sacrifices science in the service of tyranny. To Russell Vought, a decrease in the quality of science might be an acceptable cost. He might even consider it an added benefit to weaken a pillar of soft U.S. power based on knowledge and skepticism. The professional societies are building half a bridge The nonprofits are asking you to make public comment. Public comment is like building the first half of a bridge. Before implementation, OMB is compelled by law to have a period of public comment. Rules have to be consistent with the law and the Constitution. They express the federal government’s stance toward how those laws will be implemented. When a presidential administration works in good faith, these public comments are used to inform their eventual action, and sometimes mitigate it. The comment period reflects our First Amendment right to petition our government. The executive branch is then supposed to take those comments into account - completing the bridge between us, the people, and our government. Project 2025 seeks to take away the second half of the bridge. We have to replace it. The first half of the bridge Organizations like AAAS, Research!America, and SfN are partly right. You should certainly comment. Their core model is earnest: if enough of us make noise, then we will achieve change. This idealistic point of view is offered in good faith. That point of view is also currently bullshit. The fundamental reason is that the federal rulemaking process has two parts: There has to be a period of public comment. OMB makes the final rule…but is free to disregard public comment. Oops. That’s a loophole. However, not all is lost. Congress can complete the bridge Congress has enormous power. That power suggests a roadmap for how to proceed. This lawless administration is still going to issue that rule. Nonetheless, your comments still play an essential role. Here are two steps you can take. Step 1: Send your comment to your Representative and Senator. Whether they are Democrats or Republicans, many of them support science. Whatever you wrote as public comment in the Federal Register, also send it to your member of Congress. You can include information about jobs in your district or state by looking at Joshua Weitz’s ScienceMatters interactive map. Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and give your town, zip code, or state, then deliver your message. Step 2: Politicize the hell out of science. You heard me, politicize it as an issue. We hear a lot from the old scientific establishment about science being nonpartisan. This is obsolete, sentimental thinking. Under normal conditions, it was true. But we can no longer make that assumption. We can keep on pretending, but we’re putting science at risk. There is a way forward. Rules are subordinate to the law…and Congress makes laws. Therefore Congress can step in. In this fall’s election, it is likely that Democrats will retake the House of Representatives. That puts at least one chamber of Congress in the hands of Democrats. They are far more inclined than the current Congress to investigate and legislate. This opens a path to undoing the damage. It also creates a permission structure for pro-science Republicans to find a way back from the brink. We have to encourage them. In the House, every district is up every two years. In your district, contact both of the major party candidates. If your state has a Senate race, contact those candidates too. Specifically mention the proposed OMB rule. Ask for two things: For this year’s appropriations process in August and September, ask that amendments be added to stop the implementation of the new rule. Those amendments should support peer-reviewed science and stop political interference. Looking ahead to next year, ask the Congressman/Congresswoman/Senator to work to hold hearings in 2027 on the importance and benefits of peer-reviewed science for health and prosperity. What hearings and amendments will accomplish Congress can use its investigatory power to summon heads of agencies and the director of the OMB. That will allow fact-finding regarding the consequences of this rule. Congress can override the rule through the appropriations process. They can write into statute a requirement to follow peer review and best scientific practices. In this way, Congress can stop the attacks on science. Postscript: Moving forward Now I have a request for you, to help me. As many of you know, I ran for Congress in order to save democracy and science. Although I did not win, that battle continues by other means. I met and heard from thousands of supporters both here in New Jersey and nationally. I learned that pro-science, pro-democracy activists have the potential to become a much greater force. In the weeks and months ahead, I will be building ways to harness that energy. I will be announcing those plans soon. In the meantime, an important step is to wind down the Congressional campaign, which has a few remaining bills to pay. Please help me retire that last debt.
The First Test of Bar Harbor's New Entertainment Rules.
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by the Bar Harbor Historical Society. BAR HARBOR—The Finback Alehouse was the first real test of the town’s new special amusement permit process, July 7 while eight other permits sailed through the process last week. The permit allows music in places where liquor is served. The town’s ordinance which was recently tweaked for a new process allows for the regulation of noise and hours of activity. The only discussion at the July Town Council meeting was about the Finback Alehouse on Cottage Street, in the heart of Bar Harbor’s downtown district. The Finback’s distinctive design—a front wall that is like a garage door that can be opened and closed—was a key to that discussion. The restaurant, which often hosts live bands, singers, and karaoke, at night, has had one substantiated noise complaint this season, which is documented on its application. According to Bar Harbor Police Chief David Kerns, most complaints about noise happen after 10 p.m., and if the Finback had two more violations within a year, they’d have to stop having music. One town councilor said that he’d have no problem reissuing the permit if the door was down. The permit passed through the process with no conditions. Vice Chair Earl Brechlin moved the motion with two time changes for two holiday weekend dates. It passed unanimously. The council asked the Finback why they’d chosen an indoor license with a wall that can be opened to the street. Dale Stockburger, representing the Finback, said he’d applied for an indoor permit rather than an outdoor structure or partial structure (which is usually applied to tents or pavilions). The restaurant has traditionally had an indoor license. Stockburger said that whether the door is open or closed is immaterial because he now stands outside with a decibel reader to make sure that the music isn’t too loud. OTHER SPECIAL AMUSEMENT PERMITS New Councilor Deborah Vickers worried that she had potential conflicts of interests on two other renewals due to the location of her employee housing. Vickers co-owns the Black Friar Inn. They have employee housing directly behind the Finback, which is also 300 yards from the Bar Harbor Inn, she explained. The Bar Harbor Inn also had a permit up for renewal. The councilors unanimously voted she did not have a conflict of interest. The councilors approved permits at The Bluenose Inn, 90 Eden St, Class A; Acadia Hotel Downtown, 20 Mount Desert St, Class A and C; the Bar Harbor Inn, 8 Newport Dr, Class A, B, C and D; C-Ray Lobster, 882 State Hwy 3, Class D; Holiday Inn Bar Harbor Regency, 123 Eden Street, Class B; Finback Alehouse, 30 Cottage St, Class B; Project Social, 278 Main St, Class C and D; Bar Harbor Beer Works, 119 Main St, Class B and D; and Mainely Meat BBQ Dreamwood Hill, 369 State Hwy 3, Class D. That process is laid out in the Special Amusement Ordinance of the Bar Harbor Town Code which is Chapter 14 of the town code. Special amusement permits have class codes. These are the meanings: Number - how many musicians are allowed by the permit. Class A - Indoor non-amplified entertainment. Class B - Indoor amplified entertainment or dancing. Class C - Outdoor non-amplified entertainment. Class D - Outdoor amplified entertainment. RESIDENCE LICENSES RENEWED AND A TAXI LICENSE The councilors also renewed the licenses for three specific sorts of residences that require that yearly renewal per the town code. The employee living quarters at Atlantic Oceanside Hotel, 119 Eden St and another at 278 Main Street were renewed. The shared accommodations license renewal at 39 Kebo Street also occurred. These are annual renewals. Bernard Taxi Services’ license was also renewed. This license had been added to the agenda at the meeting. Bar Harbor Update on Leaf and Grass Clipping Disposal BAR HARBOR — Bar Harbor residents will still have a place to throw away their leaf and grass clippings this summer. The town’s agreement with EMR in Southwest Harbor for disposing of those items will continue through November 30. The agreement, according to a town press release, will continue “while the Town continues evaluating long term composting solutions and the required state permitting process.” As of July 1, residents bringing their grass and leaves across the island to the facility in Southwest Harbor will have to fill out a property registration card. Each property can throw out up to 85 pounds of the grass and leaves. “Any disposal exceeding the 85 pound allowance during this period will be the responsibility of the property owner at the applicable disposal rate,” the press release explains. LINKS TO LEARN MORE Watch the meeting Meeting agenda QUICK NOTE: We’d released the Bar Harbor Leaf information as a brief, but wanted to make sure that people saw it, so we’ve included it here, too. HELP SUPPORT THE BAR HARBOR STORY When we started The Bar Harbor Story, we didn’t know if anyone would read it. But you showed up. You shared. You sent tips. Now—over 400,000 views every month later—it’s clear: people here care about their community and each other. We’ve kept everything free because news should never be out of reach, but every one of our stories takes time to write, and your support keeps The Bar Harbor Story going. If you value our work, please consider a paid subscription, a founding membership, or a sponsorship. It truly helps us cover one more meeting, tell one more story, shine one more light. Even $5 a month makes a difference. Click here to become a one-time supporter now. Thank you so much for being here. Founding member information can be found here. Have questions about sponsorships? Just send Shaun an email at sfarrar86@gmail.com, he’d love to hear from you. Subscribe Share Bar Harbor Story Share Leave a comment
Jayden Adams dies at 25: Sports world mourns sudden passing of South Africa midfielder after World Cup
Here is what's known about Adams' death following his appearances for South Africa at the 2026 World Cup.
Obsidian Dev Slams 'Cold Take Artists' Running Their Mouths
Obsidian is reportedly still working on Avowed 2 as it spins up a new Fallout
60% of medieval knight tales lost to time
New research suggests that an enormous amount of chivalric manuscripts disappeared.
The world's highest-dwelling mammal is smaller than your hand
At the top of a 6,739-metre Andean volcano, where the air is thin, temperatures are almost always below freezing and humans struggle to survive, a tiny leaf-eared mouse has made itself at home — dining on toxic plants.
EAST TEXAS POLITICS: Reps. Hefner & Harris weigh in on East Texas groundwater fight
State Rep. Cole Hefner, R-Mount Pleasant, discusses efforts to create a new regional groundwater conservation district. Holland asks Hefner about the process, how the district would be funded and his response to those who worry about adding another layer of bureaucracy and regulation. Hefner also reacts to Gov. Greg Abbott calling for a ban on data centers in rural neighborhoods and whether he thinks a special session should be called to create new legislation related to data centers.
Unionized Bethesda Workers Plan Strike Over Xbox Mass Layoffs
Following the recent confirmation that layoffs related to Asha Sharma's Xbox reset have resulted in significant layoffs at ZeniMax-run studios—amounting to 50% of Id Software's workers and 25% of Bethesda's—OneBGS, the CWA-affiliated Bethesda Game Studios Union, has announced that its workers has...
MARSP mini-grant brings science to life for third grade students
IRON MOUNTAIN — The Dickinson Country branch of the Michigan Association of Retired School Personnel, or MARSP, awarded a $250 mini-grant to Iron Mountain North Elementary third grade teacher Sommer Spencer. The funds were used to purchase materials for students to participate in Ecosystems in Action: Growing Scientists Through Hands-On Investigation, an science project that […]
Deana Carter To Headline Marshall County Fair Entertainment Lineup
MOUNDSVILLE — This year’s Marshall County Fair, slated July 19-25, will include a performance by country music star Deana Carter, known for hit songs like “Strawberry Wine.” Carter is scheduled to perform at 9 p.m. Saturday, July 25, on the main festival stage at the Marshall County Fairgrounds, 1433 12th St., Moundsville. Opening for Carter […]
Eight school-based health clinics close in Southwest Virginia as federal funding pressures mount
The outreach program had served as an extension of health services into communities where access to primary care is limited. It has been funded by reinvesting savings from a federal drug pricing program back into the communities the clinics serve.
3 Lessons From Mountain Biking That Helped Me Build an 8-Figure Business
As an avid mountain biker, I've learned a lot about when to push and when to rest. Here's how it helped me grow a national brand.
Zarb School of Business Remembers Douglas L. Maine, MBA, '73, Chair of the Dean's Advisory Board
The Hofstra University community mourns the passing of Douglas L. Maine, MBA, '73, a distinguished business executive, visionary, philanthropist, and steadfast advocate for the Frank G. Zarb School of Business. Maine, who chaired the Zarb School's Dean's Advisory Board, leaves an extraordinary legac
Iran needs to see that we mean business: GOP lawmaker
Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., discusses concerns over a clause regarding the Strait of Hormuz in the MoU, reports of Iran-made drones in Cuba and NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani meeting a Cuban delegation.
Beloved American ice cream chain shuttering dozens of stores nationwide
From Alaska to Texas, Dairy Queen closures are mounting as franchisees face strict corporate compliance mandates and tightening economic pressures.
Why a 45-Second Sniper Mission Remains One of the Most Important Moments in Gaming History
Bomb Da Base Act II is GTA 3's most infamous early choke point, but how did this 45-second shooting gallery become so memorable?
MAGA's attack on science is even worse than it looks
In my post on America’s 250-year anniversary, I argued that respect for the individual was the “secret sauce” in the U.S.’ long-lasting preeminence among nations. But it was certainly not the only factor. There were plenty of institutional innovations that helped the U.S. stay on top — economically, militarily, and in terms of the attractiveness of its society. One of these was American science. Today we take things like the modern research university, government grants for science, public-to-private research spinoffs, etc. for granted, but a lot of that infrastructure wasn’t there before World War 2. It was either invented or scaled up massively by the U.S. government in the postwar period, led by far-sighted scientist-bureaucrats like Vannevar Bush (pictured above). If you want to read about this history, a good place to start would be Jonathan Gruber and Simon Johnson’s excellent book Jump-Starting America. Those scientific institutions didn’t exist in a vacuum, however. They were backed by the U.S. government’s abiding faith in the power of science — and, even more fundamentally, by deep popular trust in the scientific enterprise. Science gave us radar and the atom bomb in wartime, and in peacetime it gave us plastics, vaccines, cheap food, and a thousand other things that made our lives easier. Science was also the driver behind American industry — chemicals, aerospace, telecommunications, computers, electronics, and so on. We owed science our jobs, our livelihoods, our comfortable living standards, and our greatness and power as a nation. It’s little wonder that both political parties, even as they fought viciously over other issues, were steadfast in their support of science. For a long time, the only people who distrusted science were a hippie fringe on the left who disliked modernity (or thought they did, anyway), who also disliked American industry and American power, and who subscribed to an early version of degrowth environmentalism. America’s scientific enterprise is still strong, especially compared to the systems in Europe, Japan, Korea, and other developed countries. It has lost a lot of ground to China in a relative sense, but a lot of that is because of China’s incredible growth; as China has poured untold amounts of money and talent into its research labs, spending and output have overtaken the U.S. by some measures. There are a few ways in which China’s rise creates problems for American science — for example, top scientists can choose to work in China instead of in the U.S. — and of course there’s the concern that China’s technological strength will help its military to reign supreme. But overall, China’s rise in science should be good for American science, since American scientists can use Chinese discoveries for free and build on them. The much bigger problem is that the scientific enterprise America built during and after World War 2 is now being threatened with absolute decline. The biggest problem, of course, is that much of the country — the Republican half — has basically lost faith in the scientific enterprise. To what degree this loss of faith is justified is an open question, and deserves to be discussed openly. But the larger point — that the system that powered American dominance is under threat — is true either way. Most Americans still trust science, but MAGA Republicans don’t There’s a myth, popular in right-wing circles, that scientists have lost the trust of regular Americans — either due to the increasingly left-wing composition of academic departments, or to misbehavior during Covid, or to DEI-related research taking over science, etc. This also fits with a wider narrative that Americans are losing trust in all of our institutions. But it just isn’t true. Poll after poll shows that on the whole, Americans still trust scientists and want to spend more on science. For example, here’s a Pew poll from late 2025 showing that although about a fifth of Republicans did lose confidence in science in 2020, two thirds still have at least “a fair amount” of confidence: That same poll found that scientists are among America’s most trusted groups — even better trusted than the military! In fact, Americans trust scientists more than people in most other countries do. Other polls show that although Republican trust in science has dropped somewhat, Republican support for spending more on science remains very strong: A Pew poll in 2023 found the exact same thing: So when MAGA types tell you about scientists losing their credibility, or a drop in trust in science, they’re only talking about themselves. Whatever left-wing politicization of science happened during the Biden administration — and there was definitely some of that — it was not enough to make most Republicans lose faith in the scientific enterprise, or favor research cuts in order to purge unwanted ideology from the system. That doesn’t mean I think progressives should continue down the path of politicizing scientific research. They should not, and Biden made real missteps in this area. Objectivity clearly matters for public trust of science in the long term. But as of right now, there’s no crisis of trust in science, except among the smallish minority of people who are running around screaming that there’s a crisis of trust in science. But despite science’s overwhelming popularity and public trust, Trump and his administration are launching an unprecedented and devastating attack on American science — cutting funding, and forcing science projects to undergo ideological review by government commissars. Trump’s comprehensive attack on science
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