Top Of The Morning, March 8, 2019

Dear Eric: I have a widowed friend I’ll call Vivian. Since her husband died a few years ago, my husband and I have invited her to have dinner with us on several occasions. Recently, I invited her to join us on a certain Friday. I asked about 10 days in advance, and we then settled on a time and restaurant. Everything was fine until about three days before our date.

By MICHELLE L. PRICE and COLLEEN LONG, Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, was chosen Thursday by Donald Trump to serve as U. S. attorney general hours after his first choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew from consideration after a federal sex trafficking investigation and ethics probe made his ability to be confirmed dubious. The 59-year-old has long been in Trump’s orbit and her name had been floated during his first term as a potential candidate for the nation’s highest law enforcement role. If confirmed by the Republican-led Senate, Bondi would instantly become one of the most closely watched members of Trump’s Cabinet given the Republican’s threat to pursue retribution against perceived adversaries and concern among Democrats that he will look to bend the Justice Department to his will. Here’s a few things to know about Bondi: She’s long been a fixture in Trump’s world Bondi has been a longtime and early ally.

Welcome to The Void©! Your scream is very important to us. Please listen carefully as our Politics as Usual scream option is no longer available and our menu options have changed. CourtesyPat Beall is an editorial writer and columnist for the Sun Sentinel, focusing mainly on Palm Beach County issues. To scream into The Void© due to an Excess of Elon, press one.

A Lake Worth Beach woman is facing charges months after a violent crash that killed a young boy and his mother and father. Dawn Michele Howard, 54, turned herself into jail Wednesday. She is facing three counts of DUI manslaughter and three counts of vehicular homicide in connection with the July 10 crash that killed Grechy Almaguer-Perez, 43, and 10-year-old Diego Cordoves-Almaguer.

It began with a phone call on Halloween to report the sound of gunshots. When police arrived at a Margate home, a woman told them her brother often shot his guns at the house, according to court records, and that she sometimes feared him. That day, officers would enter his room and happen upon a disturbing collection of over 40 items: drawings of local schools and parks labeled with the N-word; a list of synagogues, Jewish businesses and the name of Congressman Jared Moskowitz; and a stockpile of six guns, several rounds of ammunition, smoke grenades and a Ghillie suit. John Lapinski Jr., 41, had amassed the arsenal despite multiple laws that ought to have prevented a man with both a felony record and a domestic violence injunction from purchasing guns, according to prosecutors. The circumstances of his arrest highlight the increasing precariousness of preventing acts of mass violence or domestic terrorism, which often seem to rely on chance encounters or tips from acquaintances and loved ones.

Q: What happens when Terry Rozier returns? – Phil. A: This is such an open-ended question that I could go in a variety of directions. But I’ll assume you are asking whether Terry Rozier returns to the starting lineup. Part of it could be the opponent. But with Dallas without sidelined Luka Doncic, there shouldn’t be as much of a need to consider additional defensive components beyond Haywood Highsmith, who potentially could defend Kyrie Irving.