Arlington has more than enough apartments and temporary residents
It is considering yet another apartment development at the former site of the Randol Mill Nursing and Retirement Villa. To the north along Randol Mill Road are scores of apartments. And they all usually have 'for lease' banners flying.
We do not want or need more apartments in this area. The zoning applicant, Avenue 5 Residential, has nice developments in other parts of Arlington. But it's already received its fair share of our city.
- Deborah Cartwright, Arlington
Will there be a treaty to stop Russia from launching shells and missiles and killing people in Ukraine? President Donald Trump must decide quickly on a swift and certain answer. It appears Russian President Vladimir Putin is calling Trump's bluff, concluding the president won't impose sanctions on Russia.
This is a moment of truth, and the American people better ask ourselves: Will Trump take a firm and decisive stand, or is he using a stalling tactic?
- John Patrick King, Fort Worth
I served on Fort Worth's Redistricting Task Force in 2020 to 2021. Our panel and the City Council respected our city's minorities. We did not reduce the voting strength of any minority to favor any incumbent, challenger or political party.
Any redistricting that dilutes the voting strength of any minority is morally reprehensible and legally wrong. Disenfranchising minorities today will have serious future political consequences for those responsible, their parties and their communities.
Redistricting is best done every 10 years. Tarrant County's process is premature.
- Bill Schur, Fort Worth
Maureen Dowd quotes Glenn Thrush in her column in Monday's Star-Telegram online Edition, 'Tech Bro had to go,' as saying that Donald Trump 'is employing the vast power of his office to redefine criminality to suit his needs — using pardons to inoculate criminals he happens to like, downplaying corruption and fraud as crimes, and seeking to stigmatize political opponents by labeling them criminals.'
In light of recent revelations about Joe Biden's health and the questionable use of an autopen to sign documents, Thrush would do well to substitute 'Biden' for 'Trump' in that sentence.
- Mark Swanson, Mansfield
A high tariff has two purposes: to raise a lot of money for the federal treasury and to protect some American businesses against unfair foreign competition. It also results in a high sales tax for the American purchaser of imported products. Most economists forecast that the tariff wars will cost the American family around $1,000 a year.
That cost is an indirect and variable sales tax that could reach 30% on Chinese materials and products imported under tariffs. Who wins? The U.S. Treasury. Who loses? The American public. Do we really want a sales tax of up to 30%?
Tariffs accounted for the vast majority of federal revenue until the Civil War. Tariffs to protect American businesses from unfair foreign competition began in 1816. But high tariffs have been economic disasters.
- Marshall J. 'Joe' McFarland, Stephenville
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Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
EU and US agree trade deal, with 15% tariffs for European exports to America
The United States and European Union have reached a trade deal, ending a months-long standoff between two of the world's key economic partners. After make-or-break negotiations between President Donald Trump and European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen in Scotland, the pair agreed on a blanket US tariff on all EU goods of 15%. That is half the 30% import tax rate Trump had threatened to implement starting on Friday. Trump said the 27-member bloc would open its markets to US exporters with zero per cent tariffs on certain products. Von der Leyen also hailed the deal, saying it would bring stability for both allies, who together account for almost a third of global trade. Trump has threatened tariffs against major US trade partners in a bid to reorder the global economy and trim the American trade deficit. As well as the EU, he has also struck tariff agreements with the UK, Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam, although he has not achieved his goal of "90 deals in 90 days". Sunday's deal was announced after private talks between Trump and Von der Leyen at his Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire. Trump - who is on a five-day visit to Scotland - said following a brief meeting with the European Commission president: "We have reached a deal. It's a good deal for everybody." "It's going to bring us closer together," he added. Von der Leyen also hailed it as a "huge deal", after "tough negotiations". Under the agreement, Trump said the EU would boost its investment in the US by $600bn (£446bn), purchase hundreds of billions of dollars of American military equipment and spend $750bn on energy. That investment in American liquified natural gas, oil and nuclear fuels would, Von der Leyen said, help reduce European reliance on Russian power sources. "I want to thank President Trump personally for his personal commitment and his leadership to achieve this breakthrough," she said. "He is a tough negotiator, but he is also a dealmaker." The US president also said a 50% tariff he has implemented on steel and aluminium globally would stay in place. Both sides can paint this agreement as something of a victory. For the EU, the tariffs could have been worse: it is not as good as the UK's 10% tariff rate, but is the same as the 15% rate that Japan negotiated. For the US it equates to the expectation of roughly $90bn of tariff revenue into government coffers – based on last year's trade figures, plus there's hundreds of billions of dollars of investment now due to come into the US. How are trade deals actually negotiated? They made America's clothing. Now they are getting punished for it In pictures: President Trump's private visit to Scotland Trade in goods between the EU and US totalled about $975.9bn last year. Last year the US imported about $606bn in goods from the EU and exported around $370bn. That imbalance, or trade deficit, is a sticking point for Trump. He says trade relationships like this mean the US is "losing". If he had followed through on tariffs against Europe, import taxes would have been levied on products from Spanish pharmaceuticals to Italian leather, German electronics and French cheese. The EU had said it was prepared to retaliate with tariffs on US goods including car parts, Boeing planes and beef. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer plans his own meeting with Trump at Turnberry on Monday. Trump will be in Aberdeen on Tuesday, where his family has another golf course and is opening a third next month. The president and his sons plan to help cut the ribbon on the new fairway. Australia to lift import ban on US beef after Trump tariffs tiff


The Hill
15 minutes ago
- The Hill
Van Hollen: ‘A big lie' that UN aid for Gaza has been ‘systematically' stolen by Hamas
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said Sunday there is no truth to claims that United Nations aid for Palestinians in Gaza has been 'systematically' stolen by Hamas. 'This is a big lie, the claim that when the U.N. organizations were delivering food to Palestinians, civilians, that it was being systematically diverted to Hamas,' Van Hollen told CBS News's Margaret Brennan on 'Face the Nation.' 'I want to say loudly and clearly, this is a big lie,' the Maryland senator added. On Sunday, Trump said Hamas is stealing food that was meant for people in Gaza, saying to reporters on multiple occasions that goods are being stolen as he was pressed on the hunger crisis in the region. Trump, alongside President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in Turnberry, Scotland, was questioned about his response to the images of starving children in Gaza. 'When I see the children and when I see, especially over the last couple of weeks people are stealing the food, they're stealing the money, they're stealing the money for the food. They're stealing weapons, they're stealing everything,' the president said. 'It's a mess, that whole place is a mess. The Gaza Strip, you know it was given many years ago so they could have peace. That didn't work out too well,' Trump continued. House Speaker Mike Johnson echoed Trump on Sunday's 'Meet the Press' on NBC News. 'This is important to note: Israel, since this war began, has supplied over 94,000 truckloads full of food. It's enough food to feed 2 million people for two years trying to get that into Gaza. But Hamas has stolen the food, a huge amount,' Johnson said. He also criticized 'the system,' calling it 'broken,' adding that beginning tomorrow, the Israeli military will open 'new channels of distribution to get it [food] to those people who are desperately in need.' Former President Obama said on Sunday that 'aid must be permitted to reach people in Gaza.' 'There is no justification for keeping food and water away from civilian families,' the former president added in a post on the social platform X on Sunday.

Boston Globe
15 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
'Relieved': Educators await Trump administration to release $6 billion in frozen funding
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President Trump had proposed cutting the Migrant Education Program altogether in the next Last year, the grant served 438 students for summer programs statewide, said Emily Hoffman, director of the program in Massachusetts. The loss of the program at Boland Elementary is 'heartbreaking' and a 'huge step backwards,' as students are going without much-needed services, said Lisa Bakowski, the school's principal, who oversaw the program for the past three summers. Bakowski said the children enrolled in the program are among the most vulnerable in the community. Their parents work in the fields all day and often don't speak English. 'It sickens me that it's become a political issue when it really should never have been,' Bakowski said. 'It's about the betterment of humanity and being able to work to assist and provide for pockets of our community that need it.' Related : Other programs targeted in the freeze weren't immediately impacted. The largest grant frozen, known as Advertisement In previous years, Boston Public Schools used the funding to provide additional support for the district's recruitment efforts and educator preparation, including through an intensive 12-month program that prepares aspiring teachers to enter the classroom at no cost to them. Following the freeze announcement, BPS 'identified temporary one-time funding to maintain these efforts, which will continue in Fiscal Year 2026 despite the funding freeze with the hopes that the funding will eventually be available,' a spokesperson said in a statement Thursday. Massachusetts districts received $27 million in fiscal year 2025 for teacher training, with BPS receiving about Marcela Rodrigues can be reached at