Mail-In Voting Did Not Swell Turnout or Boost Democrats, Study Finds (Dan)
The author writes, “Mail-in voting did not significantly increase turnout nor did it benefit Democrats in the 2020 election, a new study has found, undermining the talking point, advanced by Donald Trump and others, that mail-in ballots cost him the election. States that required an excuse to vote by mail saw increases in turnout similar to those that did not, the researchers from Stanford found. In Texas, where only voters ages 65 and up can vote by mail without an excuse, Democratic turnout did not ‘substantially increase’ relative to Republican turnout.”
Claimed Value of Sleepy New York Estate Could Come to Haunt Donald Trump (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “It’s sleepy by Donald Trump’s standards, but the former president’s century-old estate in New York’s Westchester County could end up being one of his bigger legal nightmares. Seven Springs, a 213-acre swath of nature surrounding a Georgian-style mansion, is a subject of two state investigations: a criminal probe by Manhattan Dist. Atty. Cyrus Vance Jr. and a civil inquiry by New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James. Both investigations focus on whether Trump manipulated the property’s value to reap greater tax benefits from an environmental conservation arrangement he made at the end of 2015 while running for president.”
Japan Mourns Lost Souls 10 Years After Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Crisis (Russ)
From the Japan Times: “Tears, prayers and resolve to pass on lessons learned swept Japan on Thursday as the country marked 10 years since a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated its northeastern coast, with services to mourn the more than 15,000 lives lost held in the hardest-hit areas and Tokyo. Residents in the severely affected prefectures of Fukushima, Iwate and Miyagi observed a moment of silence at 2:46 p.m., exactly a decade after the huge quake shook eastern and northeastern Japan, triggering a tsunami and the world’s worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl crisis.”
There’s a Better Way to Parent: Less Yelling, Less Praise (Bethany)
From the Atlantic: “When Michaeleen Doucleff met parents from around the world, she encountered millennia-old methods of raising good kids that made American parenting seem bizarre and ineffective.”
VIDEO: The 91-Year-Old Policeman Still Patrolling the Streets (Mili)
From the BBC: “After working in law enforcement for nearly 56 years, LC ‘Buckshot’ Smith is one of the oldest police officers in the US. At 91, he continues serving his small town in Arkansas.”
New York Woman Finds Empty Apartment Behind Her Bathroom Mirror (Dana)
The author writes, “A New York woman investigating a hole behind her bathroom mirror went through the proverbial looking glass and made a startling discovery — an entire empty apartment. Samantha Hartsoe, who chronicled her discovery in a series of TikTok videos, said she was investigating the source of a cold draft in her Roosevelt Island apartment, and she tracked the blowing air to her bathroom mirror. Hartsoe removed the mirror and discovered it was hiding a large, square hole into a dark room. ‘Curiosity killed the cat, curiosity is going to kill me,’ Hartsoe recalled thinking in an interview with NBC New York. ‘I can’t not know what’s on the other side of my bathroom.”
