Opinion

Propelled by surging costs for gas, food and housing, consumer inflation jumped 7.9% over the past year, the sharpest spike since 1982 and likely only a harbinger of even higher prices to come. The increase reported Thursday by the Labor Department reflected the 12 months ending in February and didn’t include most of the oil and gas price increases that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb.

More than 27,000 mail ballots in Texas were flagged for rejection in the first test of new voting restrictions enacted across the U.S., jeopardizing votes cast by Democrats and Republicans alike and in counties big and small, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.

To the editor: Just when I thought I could give my poor, overworked fingers a break, our state representative, Pat Proctor, does more crazy stuff that I have to respond to. First he attacks schools, then school boards (Leavenworth and Lansing), politicizes non-political elections, attacks school Superintendent Dr.

Rising gas prices pose a fresh election year challenge for President Joe Biden. He’s balancing concerns about costs at the pump in the U.S. against calls from both parties to step up penalties on Russian President Vladimir Putin following his invasion of Ukraine.

The New York Times’ frontpage photo Monday of the grisly aftermath of a Russian attack on civilians in Ukraine offers a reminder of how journalists try to weigh the sensibilities of customers with the need to illustrate the reality of war.