President Biden signs $770 billion defense bill

President Joe Biden signed a nearly $770 billion defense bill into law on Monday, which includes an overhaul on sex assault crimes prosecution.The National Defense Authorization Act for military appropriations in the 2022 fiscal year includes $740 billion for the Department of Defense, which is $25 billion more than Biden’s budget request. It also includes …

CDC cuts COVID-19 isolation guidance down to 5 days amid Omicron surge

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) announced on Monday that Americans who test positive for COVID-19 but do not have symptoms can stop isolating after five days as long as they continue wearing masks, cutting in half the agency’s previous isolation period down from 10 days.  The CDC also said it was loosening …

Meghan King reveals separation from husband Cuffe Biden Owens after 2 months of marriage

Former “Real Housewives of Orange County” cast member Meghan King has split from husband Cuffe Owens after just two months of marriage. Owens is the son of Valerie Owens, who is President Biden’s younger sister. The 37-year-old King revealed news of the split from Owens, 42, in a series of Instagram stories on Monday. King …

Take a look at the new trailer for ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’

Marvel released the first trailer for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, a sequel to 2016’s Doctor Strange.  The film is a follow-up to Doctor Strange’s (Benedict Cumberbatch) most recent appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and will pick up on the revelations around Wanda Maximoff / The Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) from ‘WandaVision.’ …

Holiday Flights Continue to be Canceled

Getting back home after the Christmas holiday has become a challenge to many who are flying. Airlines have canceled more than 4,000 flights since Friday. There were over 1,000 U.S. cancellations today, Dec. 27, alone. Staffing shortages and bad weather are being attributed for the delays and cancelations. Flight cancellations that disrupted holiday travel stretched …

Augusta Army Free COVID Vaccination Clinic Continues

You can get your free COVID-19 vaccination, first or second shot, or booster, at the Augusta Armory on Western Avenue this week on Tuesday and Wednesday. Latest on COVID-19 in Maine I hope that everyone had a good Christmas. The #COVID19 #vaccine clinic at the Augusta Armory is open this week from 9AM-4PM on:– Monday …

Retail holiday sales jump 8.5% compared to 2020, with big online gains

According to a report published Sunday by the credit card company Mastercard, retail sales during the holiday season jumped 8.5% compared with 2020  E-commerce sales were up 11% in 2021 for the holiday season running from Nov. 1 to Dec. 24 compared to the previous year, and online sales were up a massive 61% from …

Dr. Fauci warns Omicron cases may get ‘much higher’ as more flights are canceled over the Christmas weekend

On Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned that cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant are likely to climb “much higher” as the variant wreaked havoc on holiday traveling, with 2,271 flights cancelled as of Sunday.  Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told ABC New’s This Week that  “every day it (Omicron cases) …

Take a look at Zendaya in the trailer for Season 2 of ‘Euphoria’

HBO has unveiled the first official trailer for season 2 of Euphoria.  Zendaya returns as Rue Bennett, and is joined by other familiar faces as she “must find hope while balancing the pressures of love, loss, and addiction,” per a series synopsis. The return of the drama—which was supposed to be filmed in March 2020 …

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ tops North American box office for second weekend

Spider-Man: No Way Home is the No. 1 movie in North America for a second weekend, earning an additional $83 million in ticket sales as of Sunday night.   The film, starring Tom Holland and Zendaya, has earned about $467 million domestically. Last weekend it brought in $253 million of the total $283 million gross of …