New York Auctions Off To A Strong Start

‘Safe and Sound’ by Laura McHugh. Random House, 304 pages, $29 Small towns can be a sanctuary, offering the comfort of family, friends, familiar surroundings and an assured future. But for sisters Amelia and Kylee Crow, their small town of Beaumont, Missouri, is a trap, holding only a dismal future, as Laura McHugh explores in her outstanding “Safe and Sound.” Beautifully written with precise character studies, “Safe and Sound” joins the growing legion of rural mysteries, where everyone thinks they know everything about their neighbors, but that is far from the truth.

Gov. Ron DeSantis scoffed at assertions from Democratic leaders that the political landscape has changed in Florida, giving President Joe Biden a chance at winning the state in November. Before he said anything in response to a reporter’s question Tuesday, he gave a non-verbal answer: A snort, a laugh and a shaking head. Clearly, his answer was “no.” And he suggested it would be great if the Biden campaign spends lots of money in Florida — great for Republicans, that is, because in DeSantis’ view it would be wasted. Also, he said, the Democrats’ efforts to use the abortion issue — and the state ban on abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy that goes into effect Wednesday — won’t alter the final results. He first pointed to the significant shift in registered voters in Florida.

Chris Marquette and Michael Macagnone | CQ-Roll Call (TNS) WASHINGTON — A deep unease trickled through Jacob Glick’s entire body. He had started a virtual deposition of Jim Watkins, the large, scruffy QAnon conspiracy theorist who runs 8kun, a website filled with hateful, racist content that included calls for violence at the Capitol on Jan.

Michael Macagnone | CQ-Roll Call (TNS) WASHINGTON — How the Supreme Court rules on presidential immunity in former President Donald Trump’s effort to jettison his federal charges could have some collateral damage: Congress’ impeachment power. At oral arguments in the case Thursday, Trump attorney D. John Sauer told the justices that the nation’s founders decided impeachment was the check on a president’s behavior in office — and not criminal prosecution. But several justices and outside experts said Sauer’s arguments, taken together, laid out a diminished version of impeachment power, which normally allows Congress to remove a federal officer for treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors. That rarely invoked power, used about two dozen times in the nation’s history, should instead have special rules for presidents, Sauer said. Sauer told the justices that presidents could only face criminal charges once they are impeached and convicted in the Senate.

By COLLIN BINKLEY (AP Education Writer) WASHINGTON (AP) — Another six Republican states are piling on to challenge the Biden administration’s newly expanded campus sexual assault rules, saying they overstep the president’s authority and undermine the Title IX anti-discrimination law. A federal lawsuit, led by Tennessee and West Virginia, on Tuesday asks a judge to halt and overturn the new policy.