Political Briefs

By Kemberley Washington, CPA, Bankrate.com The IRS Direct File program, which lets taxpayers file their federal income tax return directly with the IRS for free, is doubling its reach to 24 states for the 2025 tax season, up from 12 states in 2024, the program’s pilot year. The Direct File program will also accept more types of tax situations for the 2025 tax season.

ATLANTA — First some bookkeeping, then a tasty morsel . . . even as Pat Riley would prefer days ahead being a bit less spicy than these past few. When it comes to the he said/he said in the Jimmy Butler debate, one significant element somehow has gotten lost in the timing element going forward for the Miami Heat: It does not matter if Jimmy Butler is still on the Heat books with his $52.4 million player option for 2025-26. The Heat’s payroll is not set up for the 2025 offseason, not since Terry Rozier was added last January, and, even before that, not since Duncan Robinson signed his five-year, $90 million contract in 2021. Rozier still will be on the books next season for $26.6 million (with only a sliver potentially non-guaranteed).

The news can be tough in a world often marked by suffering, disaster and war. Sometimes you need to stop and remember that good things happen all the time, all across the world, and 2024 was no different. Take a look at some of the stories that made us smile. Moo Deng FILE – Two-month-old baby hippo Moo Deng plays with a zookeeper in the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand, Thursday, Sept.

Dear Eric: I would love to hear from you and your readers if anyone has this experience and advice on how to manage the repercussions. Our daughter was recently wed to a great guy. The two of them decided on the wedding invite list. They knew exactly which family and friends they wanted to share their spectacular day with. Well, my sister did not receive an invite and now my family has completely disowned me.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I grew up in an era when it was customary to enclose a personal check in a greeting card as a gift. This worked for celebrations attended in person, and also when the card was mailed. Personal checks are being used less and less. I personally write maybe two or three per month. My adult daughter just attended the wedding of a college classmate, and where we live, the vast majority of wedding gifts are envelopes containing cash or checks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a “tragic incident” following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people, but stopped short of acknowledging that Moscow was responsible. Putin’s apology came as allegations mounted that the plane had been shot down by Russian air defenses attempting to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya. An official Kremlin statement issued Saturday said that air defense systems were firing near Grozny airport as the airliner “repeatedly” attempted to land there on Wednesday.