El Paso County Debates Tax Hike, Budget

Everyone deserves to live a meaningful life with dignity. No one deserves to fall through the cracks of society. Yet, far too many people with serious and persistent mental illness often do, because they have not been linked with a local service to help them rebuild their lives. The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that more than one in five U.

Dear Amy: My mother recently died, and I’m expecting a relatively substantial inheritance from her (my dad died several years ago). My younger brother, also not living, has two adult children. My mother (who was a difficult person) originally told me she intended to halve the inheritance between my brother and me when he was still alive, but after he died, she then decided to pass her entire inheritance to me, giving nothing to her grandchildren (who are my brother’s children). These granddaughters were good to her. My beloved brother always believed in fairness, and to me my mother’s favoritism is unacceptable. I would like to take half of my inheritance and gradually gift it to my two nieces (my brother’s children), on an annual basis so the gifts will stay under the legal limit where taxes would be incurred. The problem is that my control freak, anxiety-ridden husband of 40 years, who feels we need more money (most people could use more money), has told me what he intends to do with the inheritance. He wants to keep and invest it all, and to give a tiny amount to my sweet nieces, who were written out of the will. He sees this as a financial issue of our “need,” and feels it is generous to give anything to my nieces, but I view it as a marital issue and an issue of my wanting to do right by my dear brother, who would be brokenhearted to know about the situation. Your thoughts? — Loving Aunt Related Articles Advice | Ask Amy: These annoying men are ruining my favorite hangout Advice | Ask Amy: An older couple’s painful isolation continues after pandemic Advice | Ask Amy: My adult son lives with me but he is unemployed, depressed, angry and violent Advice | Ask Amy: Parents house violent and irrational son Advice | Ask Amy: We all pitched in for my sister’s wedding.

Q: Ira, Pat Riley has to stop playing to whims. It worked when Shaquille O’Neal wanted out of the Lakers, same with Goran Dragic and the Suns. But there are hundreds of players under contract. So get on the phone, find a deal,  get it done. We’re tired of waiting to see if players connive their way to the Heat.

Has anyone else watched the nine-minute YouTube video of Broward County’s new Port Everglades Bypass Road project? As you follow the animation through the various intersections, crossovers, twists, turns and transitions, it appears to be a design of desperation trying to do the impossible to alleviate the traffic nightmare that Fort Lauderdale has become.

By WAFAA SHURAFA, SAMY MAGDY and JOSEPH KRAUSS (Associated Press) DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — An Israeli airstrike killed 27 people in central Gaza, mostly women and children, and fighting with Hamas raged across the north on Sunday as Israel’s leaders aired divisions over who should govern Gaza after the war, now in its eighth month. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces criticism from the two other members of his War Cabinet, with his main political rival, Benny Gantz, threatening to leave the government if a plan is not created by June 8 that includes an international administration for postwar Gaza. U.

By TERRY SPENCER (Associated Press) Zephen Xaver walked into a central Florida bank in 2019, fatally shot five women and then called police to tell them what he did. Now 12 jurors will decide whether the 27-year-old former prison guard trainee is sentenced to death or life without parole. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in the sentencing trial after numerous delays caused by the pandemic, legal wrangling and attorney illness. Xaver pleaded guilty last year to five counts of first-degree murder for the Jan.