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Conor Sen: Walmart is now fighting inflation in a big way

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:10 GMT

Americans’ buying power has been squeezed since the start of 2022 as companies steadily raised prices to restore their profit margins — deflated by higher costs for freight and labor — to pre-pandemic levels. Now Walmart Inc. appears to be saying enough is enough.Consumer goods companies have been willing to hike prices on core products even if it meant selling fewer units, as long as the end result is more profit. But those price increases have been costing Walmart, too. That’s because Walmart earns higher margins on discretionary spending — categories like apparel and home goods — so for the company, household budgets being gobbled up by the basics is bad for business.Walmart is determined to push back against this trend. The chief of Walmart’s U.S. operations explained the strategy on the company’s recent earnings call, saying that “working with those suppliers that are on the prepared foods and consumable categories to get co...

Two magical summer reads — one for grown-ups, one for kids, both by Minnesotans

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:10 GMT

Do you believe in magic? You will after you read these involving novels that include all the staples of other-worldly fiction but with a contemporary feel.“Ink Blood Sister Scribe” by Emma Torzs (William Morrow, $30)Unlike most books, which simply absorbed the drop of blood they were offered, the words drank. As soon as she’d touched her finger to the page it began greedily swallowing her blood, her finger stinging with slight suction as if a tiny mouth was latched on, and the ink grew brighter, blacker, fiercer on the linen page. — From “Ink Blood Sister Scribe”“Ink Blood Sister Scribe” by Emma Torzs. (Book cover courtesy of William Morrow. Author portrait by Maxwell Collyard)It doesn’t matter how many TBR books are lying on every surface of your house. You have to make room for this debut novel from a Minneapolis author. It has everything we want in summer reads — old houses, hidden staircases, messages (and corpses) sent...

Minnesota man uses acupuncture to find relief from tick-borne illness

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:10 GMT

ANGLE INLET, Minn. — In September 2021, I wrote about Paul Colson, a third-generation owner of Jake’s Northwest Angle Resort and lifelong Northwest Angle resident, who in June of that year began getting sick every time he ate red meat.The first incident occurred after eating some elk sausage.“It was a gastrointestinal sort of thing,” Colson, who’s now 53, said at the time. “It wasn’t severe or anything, but it was like nausea, diarrhea, and I didn’t really think a whole lot of it.”A couple of days later, Colson and his wife, Karen, grilled up some pork steak, and he got sick again, this time more intensely and with a rash. A beef steak several days later produced the same reaction, he recalls.Something definitely wasn’t right.Fatty meat seemed to produce the strongest reactions, Colson recalls, so he wondered if maybe he was having gallbladder trouble, since fatty foods are known to trigger flare-ups.Then he got even sicker after eating some canned elk that had absolutely no f...

Ask Amy: A heartbreaking diagnosis changes everything

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:10 GMT

Dear Amy: My dearest friend in the world was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at a relatively young age.We met when we were new moms, and while my family moved far away after only a few years, we have maintained an incredibly close and meaningful relationship through all the joys and sorrows of life for over 30 years now. She is my rock.The friend who knows the good, the bad, and the ugly. And vice versa.And now I can hear she has regressed a little every time I talk to her on the phone, and our distance is too far for me to see her regularly.How do I handle the inevitable changes? How do I let her know I love her when she doesn’t recognize my voice anymore? How do I maintain any kind of relationship long distance? I have no map for our last journey and it is breaking my heart.Any advice would mean so much to me.Thank you,— Left BehindDear Left Behind: My first suggestion is that you should visit your friend in person as soon as possible. Book your trip today. Bring photos ...

Horoscopes May 28, 2023: Gladys Knight, play to win

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:10 GMT

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Carey Mulligan, 38; Kylie Minogue, 55; Christa Miller, 59; Gladys Knight, 79.Kylie Minogue (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images) Happy Birthday: Sticking to what and who you know best will make your life easier. Refuse to let outside interference upset your emotional well-being. Value close relationships and do your part to ensure you maintain your reputation and position. Refuse to allow the changes happening around you to dictate how you respond. Your actions will determine how well you do this year. Play to win. Your numbers are 6, 17, 21, 27, 36, 38, 42.ARIES (March 21-April 19): Sign up for something that is challenging, invigorating or competitive. Pumping yourself up to meet demands will make you feel alive. Pay attention, and don’t underestimate someone who asks too many questions. Protect yourself and your ideas from interference and manipulation. 3 starsTAURUS (April 20-May 20): Plan to have fun with people who share your interests....

Bridge: May 28, 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:10 GMT

Progress in bidding is evident. The rise of play-for-pay has let full-time pros devote themselves to devising better methods. What constitutes progress, however, is open to debate.In a team match, both Wests upgraded their hand and opened one diamond, and East bid one heart. At one table, South risked two clubs (on a broken five-card suit between two bidding opponents!). West doubled, and the rout was on.West led the ace and ten of hearts, and East won and shifted to his singleton diamond: jack, queen. West cashed the ace — East threw a spade — and gave East a diamond ruff, and East led another heart. South ruffed with the ten, and West overruffed with the jack and gave East a diamond ruff.East next took his ace of spades and led a fourth heart. South should have pitched his king of spades, but he ruffed with the queen, and West overruffed and gave East a spade ruff. Then a fifth heart from East promoted a trump trick for West’s nine. Down six.In the replay, believ...

Word Game: May 28, 2023

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:10 GMT

TODAY’S WORD — RELAPSE (RELAPSE: ree-LAPS: A recurrence of symptoms after a period of improvement.)Average mark 44 wordsTime limit 60 minutesCan you find 56 or more words in RELAPSE?TODAY’S WORD — RELAPSE rale rasp real reap reel repeal repel resale reseal earl ease easel elapse else erase lapse lase laser leap leaper lease leer leper aper apse asleep pale paler pare parse peal pear pearl peel peer perse plea please pleaser prase presale sale saree seal sealer sear seep seer serape sere slap sleep spar spare spear spreeTo 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 n...

French Open Results

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:10 GMT

SundayAt Stade Roland GarrosParisPurse: €23,352,500Surface: Red clayPARIS (AP) _ Results Sunday from French Open at Stade Roland Garros (seedings in parentheses):Women’s SinglesFirst RoundMagdalena Frech, Poland, def. Zhang Shuai (29), China, 6-1, 6-1.Nadia Podoroska, Argentina, def. Jessika Ponchet, France, 6-0, 6-2.Aryna Sabalenka (2), Belarus, def. Marta Kostyuk, Ukraine, 6-3, 6-2.Source

Asiana Airlines suspende la venta de algunos asientos en salidas de emergencia tras el incidente de la puerta del avión

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:10 GMT

(CNN) — Asiana Airlines suspendió la venta de algunos asientos de salida de emergencia de aviones A321-200, según informó la compañía este domingo, tras un reciente incidente en el que un hombre abrió la puerta de un avión en pleno vuelo.A partir de este domingo, Asiana Airlines suspendió la venta del asiento 26A de 11 aviones A321-200, que operan con 174 plazas, y la del asiento 31A de tres aviones A321-200, que operan con 195 plazas, informó la aerolínea en un comunicado.“Esta medida es una precaución de seguridad y se aplica incluso si el vuelo está completo”, añadió.Momentos de terror en un avión de Asiana Airlines: la puerta se abrió mientras seguía en el aireUn hombre abrió la puerta de emergencia de un avión de Asiana Airlines justo antes de aterrizar el viernes por la tarde. Un funcionario de la aerolínea dijo que un hombre de unos 30 años que estaba sentado en el asiento de emergencia parecía haber abierto la puerta.Un total de 200 personas iban a bordo, e...

Indy 500 arrives with clear favorites, plenty of off-the-radar spoilers

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:00:10 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The favorites are well known after two weeks of qualifying and practice ahead of the Indy 500, which rolls off Sunday for its 107th running with one of the largest crowds in more than three decades expected to pack Indianapolis Motor Speedway.IndyCar points leader Alex Palou, the series champion two years ago, sits on the pole to lead the powerful quartet from Chip Ganassi Racing. Palou is the betting favorite at 5-1 odds, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, ahead of Pato O’Ward, the Mexican star for the equally stout Arrow McLaren, and Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon, who is still searching for a second Indy 500 win.Palou and Dixon have two more teammates capable of winning in defending champion Marcus Ericsson and two-time winner Takuma Sato, while O’Ward has McLaren teammates Felix Rosenqvist and former winners Alexander Rossi and Tony Kanaan.Things rarely go according to script in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” though. The chaos of 33 cars flying down th...