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Stuck in a downward spiral with long-term girlfriend

Dear Annie: My girlfriend and I have been in a relationship for 12 years now. We have a lot of history. I’m 54 and she is 55 now. We were best friends for a year in high school and we had a few incidents when we kissed back in the day. I left home for the Air Force in 1988. We kept in contact here and there. We both have been married. She had kids; I didn’t. I moved back home in 2010, and we became romantically involved and moved in together six months later. It was good for a while, and then we started growing apart because she is insecure and I am not emotional at all. I also deal ...

Don’t leave garbled voicemails

Dear Heloise: I seldom answer my phone and let the answering machine take messages. I’ve noticed several times this week that the person leaving a message mumbles the last digits when giving a return phone number. These calls concern returning equipment, and you have to get the right person. I just wait until they call again, which delays everything. If you leave a message, please talk slowly and give your return number clearly. I read your column every day in the Republican-American, which is published in Waterbury, Connecticut. -- Carolyn McDonough, Canaan, Connecticut HAIRSPRAY ...

People in the News

Report: Racist text helped spur Fox to oust Tucker Carlson NEW YORK (AP) — Text messages that helped lead Fox News to part ways with star host Tucker Carlson included one in which he declared that Trump supporters beating a protester was “not how white men fight,” according to The New York Times. The text was one of a trove of messages from Carlson and other Fox News hosts uncovered in a defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems against the network for airing false allegations that the company’s machines were used to steal the 2020 election from former President ...

Fed raises key rate but hints it may pause amid bank turmoil

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve reinforced its fight against high inflation Wednesday by raising its key interest rate by a quarter-point to the highest level in 16 years. But the Fed also signaled that it may now pause its streak of 10 rate hikes, which have made borrowing for consumers and businesses steadily more expensive. In a statement after its latest policy meeting, the Fed removed a sentence from its previous statement that had said “some additional” rate hikes might be needed. It replaced it with language that said it will consider a range of factors in “determining ...

International

Israeli airstrikes on Gaza kill Palestinian as violence ebbs JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip killed a 58-year-old man and wounded five others on Wednesday, Palestinian health officials said, even as the latest spasm of violence between Israel and Palestinian militants in the enclave appeared to ebb. Israeli fighter jets struck targets in Gaza in response to salvos of rockets launched by Palestinian militants at Israeli territory on Tuesday. But after sunrise, the violence seemed to subside as both sides signaled they wanted to avoid a wider conflict. ...

National

Man dies after being placed in headlock on NYC subway NEW YORK (AP) — A man suffering an apparent mental health episode aboard a New York City subway died this week after being placed in a headlock by a fellow rider, according to police officials and video of the encounter. Jordan Neely, 30, was shouting and pacing aboard an F train in Manhattan on Monday afternoon, witnesses and police said, when he was taken to the floor by another passenger. Video of the altercation posted online by a freelance journalist showed the man lying beneath Neely, holding him in a headlock position for ...