Vital Statistics

Dear Eric: We have a dilemma that may seem trivial but it’s driving us crazy. We’re fortunate enough to have a vacation house on a small island. Water is kind of expensive, relatively. While we love to host extended family, one older relative horns in to do the dishes by hand although we have an excellent dishwasher. The hot water waste is incredible; it’s left running while the person talks and tells stories.

DEAR MISS MANNERS: I am in a regular walking group where I have become friends with about a third of the walkers. The rest I’m polite with but consider them acquaintances only. I host an annual party at my home for my friends. I send out private email invitations and don’t discuss the event during the walks. One of the walkers, a rather clingy person whom I consider only an acquaintance, told me she heard I was having a party, and invited herself.

By DAVID McHUGH, Associated Press FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday ordered parliament dissolved and set new elections for Feb. 23 in the wake of the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition, saying it was the only way to give the country a stable government capable of tackling its problems. Scholz lost a confidence vote on Dec.

A court hearing is scheduled Friday for the man accused of setting a woman on fire on a New York City subway train and fanning the flames with a shirt as she burned to death. Sebastian Zapeta has been charged with two counts of murder and one count of arson for the apparently random attack, which occurred early Sunday morning on a train stopped in Brooklyn. The 33-year-old man made his first court appearance earlier in the week.

Parts of Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas were under severe weather watches early Friday as the National Weather Service predicted a storm system in the Gulf of Mexico could bring high winds, hail and possible tornadoes to the region. “Heavy showers and thunderstorms continue to race across Louisiana and the Gulf waters at this time, with SETX in the clear for the rest of tonight.

Fort Lauderdale has toughened its stance in the long-running debate over whether to build a bridge or tunnel to get commuter trains across the New River, now saying a tunnel is the only option acceptable to the city. That’s the latest move in what some fear might turn into a stalemate between Fort Lauderdale and Broward County over the fate of mass transit in South Florida. The back and forth has some wondering whether either one will ever get built.