Perry Mason’ captures 1930s Los Angeles

April 27, 2023

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Early in the second season finale of “Perry Mason,” which aired Monday, the titular character pulls up on his motorcycle to Los Angeles City Hall and pauses for a long moment. He stares up at the edifice, as if sizing up an opponent, before walking in with hopes to intercede with a judge on behalf of his clients. Although the scene has no dialogue, the shot of City Hall is pregnant with meaning, almost taunting the maverick lawyer for having the audacity to think he could bring about justice within such a corrupt system. It’s one of many scenes throughout ...

Woman got $0 from condo sale: U.S. Supreme Court to decide fairness

April 27, 2023

By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON — Geraldine Tyler, now 94, lost her one-bedroom condo in Minneapolis over $2,300 in unpaid taxes, plus interest and penalties. Hennepin County sold the apartment for $40,000 and kept every penny. Tyler’s lawyers say the county violated ...

Long after heyday, soda fountain pharmacies still got fizz

April 20, 2023

KENOVA, W.Va. — The jukebox plays Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” as Malli Jarrett and Nathaniel Fornash take turns at the Griffith & Feil Drug food counter preparing old-fashioned, soda-fountain phosphate drinks. Soda fountains like this were hugely popular a century ago. Often located ...

‘Saving our Theatre’ — Documentary focuses on challenges of community art, drama

April 13, 2023

NEGAUNEE — Hard work helped Dan Korhonen turn a hobby into realizing a dream. It started with “The Iron Town,” a short documentary film about his hometown, the city of Negaunee, in 2022. Korhonen, who says he has always been community-minded, works for the Michigan Department of ...

New Anthony Fauci documentary on PBS covers a career of crises

March 23, 2023

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK — There’s a moment in the new PBS documentary about Dr. Anthony Fauci when a protester holds up a handmade sign reading, “Dr. Fauci, You Are Killing Us.” It says something about Fauci that it’s not initially clear when that sign ...

Beloved and debated: French bulldog becomes top US dog breed

March 16, 2023

NEW YORK (AP) — For the first time in three decades, the U.S. has a new favorite dog breed, according to the American Kennel Club. Adorable in some eyes, deplorable in others, the sturdy, push-faced, perky-eared, world-weary-looking and distinctively droll French bulldog became the ...