Looking for better fast-food fried chicken? Beyond the big-name drive-thrus, this chicken chain delivers superior taste and quality.
Food Republic – Restaurants, Reviews, Recipes, Cooking Tips
Category: News Feeds
Categories
Are Sprouted Sweet Potatoes Safe To Eat?
White potatoes aren’t safe to eat when they’ve sprouted, but what about when sweet potatoes have germinated and begun to grow into whole new plants?
Food Republic – Restaurants, Reviews, Recipes, Cooking Tips
When Kenny Chesney revealed the track list for his upcoming album Silver Sands Marina, there was one collaboration that immediately caught fans’ attention: “It Just Got Weird” featuring Megan Moroney. Now, the country star is opening up about how this duet came to be and the moment he realized the songstress would be the perfect addition to the track.
On July 30, Chesney returned to TalkShopLive to take questions from members of No Shoes Nation and discuss his 21st studio album arriving September 25 via his independent label, Hey Now Records.
During the conversation, the Tennessee native touched on several of the tracks including “It Just Got Weird.” He explained Moroney had heard from her friend and songwriter Jessie Jo Dillon that he had cut the track and she instantly wanted to be a part of it. She didn’t just volunteer herself, as Chesney says she “damn near insisted.”
“Megan called me and she goes, ‘I hear you cut a song because it just got weird.’ And she goes, ‘I want to sing on it.’”
Chesney didn’t put up much of a fight as he knew that she would “attack” the song in a way that would perfectly align with how he wanted it to sound.
“There’s something about her voice. I mean, just in the title, there’s a certain angst and a certain energy between the two people, and it had to be the perfect voice to do that. And I don’t know, sometimes when Megan sings, she sounds like she’s been up all night, in a great way,” he said, complimenting her signature rasp and unique tone of her voice.
@talkshoplive “She damn near insisted.” 😂 @Kenny Chesney shares how @Megan Moroney landed on “It Just Got Weird.” #KennyChesney #MeganMoroney #CountryMusic ♬ original sound – TalkShopLive 🛒
Fans have not yet heard the final recorded track from the project, but Chesney admitted he is “very happy” with how it turned out with the addition of Moroney’s vocals.
“Her voice is perfect for the emotion and the angst of that song, because like I said, there is a moment where you just know that it’s over. And whether you’re in your 20s or your 30s – No matter how old you are, you know.”
The song will appear on Silver Sands Marina, which also includes features with Lily Meola and Colbie Caillat. The project marks the start of a brand-new musical chapter for the 2025 Country Music Hall of Fame inductee.
As the first collection to drop on independent HEY NOW, these 11 songs are expected to be “unlike anything people have heard” from Kenny Chesney and it captures everything that he is known for, from positive vibes to easy-going humor, long drives and lasting memories.
“Some of them go deep, some of them will make people turn it up, a few will make them laugh… But, together, I think they’ll remind them how great it is to be alive. Even on days where you need a song like ‘Carry On,’ we’re making the best of what we’ve got.”
Fans have already gotten their hands on a few of the tracks including “Burn My Boat,” the title track and “Carry On,” Chesney’s first independent label single that marked his 100th charting single, making him the new record holder for Most Top 10s. He also became the 3rd artist in chart history to secure the entire country radio panel in its first week.
Talking with fans on TalkShopLive marked another step toward the release of Silver Sands Marina, giving Chesney the opportunity to pull back the curtain on the album and the stories behind it.
“I loved talking about Heart Life Music on TalkShopLive, because it let me get inside what we were trying to do and the process. It was a chance to show people how much telling my story meant to me, and I feel the same way about this record.”
The post Kenny Chesney Reveals Why Megan Moroney Was the Perfect Fit for New Duet ‘It Just Got Weird’ appeared first on Country Now.
Country Now
In this elegant fruit-forward tequila old fashioned, amber reposado tequila is mixed with muddled orange, brandied cherry, and a hint of black pepper.
Mashed – Fast Food, Celebrity Chefs, Grocery, Reviews
By: Corinne Smith, Alaska Beacon
The U.S. Department of Education is expected to award $41.3 million in grant funding through the Alaska Native Education Program to 26 Alaska grantees after some delay, according to an announcement from Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
The grant funding was expected on July 1, but has been delayed more than a month. Grantees alerted Murkowski’s office they had not yet received the funding, prompting Murkowski to press the U.S. Sec. of Education Linda McMahon to release the awarded funding, according to the statement on Aug. 5.
“Last week, I raised this issue with Secretary McMahon, and I’m pleased she agreed to expedite the obligation of the funds for the Alaska Native Education Program grants that Congress appropriated earlier this year,” Sen. Murkowski wrote.
The Alaska Native Education Program provides federal funding to “meet the unique education needs of Alaska Natives” and to support education programs to benefit Alaska Native people, according to the program website.
Officials with the U.S. Department of Education’s grant office for the program did not give a reason for the delay or specify when the funds will be dispensed after a query on Friday.
The grants are awarded to Tribes, tribal organizations and school districts with a majority of Alaska Native students to support a variety of initiatives across a three-year grant period.
“Grants provide, for example, culturally relevant curriculum, tutoring and other academic supports, indigenous language revitalization, workforce development opportunities, teacher professional development, postsecondary planning and support, and success, early childhood education, and afterschool programming,” Murkowski said in the statement.
“I will continue to champion this program and work with the Department to ensure this funding is administered more expeditiously going forward,” she said.
Grantees include several early learning and literacy programs. Millions are slated for Indigenous language, art, science, and medicine including $2.1 million for the Baby Raven Reads project by Sealaska Heritage Institute and $1.4 million for tutoring and college readiness programs through the Rural Indigenous Students College Readiness Alliance launched by the Bering Strait and Lower Kuskokwim School Districts, two of Alaska’s largest, rural districts.
Rosita Kaaháni Worl, president of the Sealaska Heritage Institute, a Native non-profit corporation focused on Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures, said her organization was one of the grantees that alerted Murkwoski’s office to the delay. Sealaska has not received its grant funds yet.
Worl said in an interview Friday that federal funds and support for Alaska Native communities is critical, given Alaska’s history of suppressing Native education and language.
“So these programs have helped us overcome the effects of that kind of suppression,” she said. “Our data shows definitely that it promotes and enhances Native education, and we show that through all of our evaluations…it’s led to higher academic performance.”
She said SHI has seen success in early childhood programs like Baby Raven Reads project and initiatives to support students continuing education, which reduces drop out rates. “We’re still behind non-natives, but we’re gaining ground,” she said.
Worl said the federal support helps Sealaska Heritage Institute provide annual funding for education across Southeast Alaska where state funding has fallen short. SHI provides $1 million each year to the Juneau School District and $2 million annually to the University of Alaska Southeast, as well as funding to support school districts across the region for teacher training, arts and language programs.
“It’s a program that has proven benefits,” she said. “There, there’s no doubt about it.”
NOTN- Federal officials say they are preparing both short- and long-term defenses as another glacial outburst flood is expected to hit Juneau’s Mendenhall River in the coming days, continuing a pattern of annual summer flooding that has put homes and lives at risk.
In a briefing Thursday, U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has strengthened temporary protections ahead of the anticipated 2026 glacial outburst flood, and they’ve been gearing up to launch an unprecedented effort to drain water from Suicide Basin, the source of the destructive floods.
Sullivan said the Corps and local partners have invested about $45 million to make Hesco barrier floodwalls along the Mendenhall River taller and wider, and deployed roughly 40% of the Corps’ global pump inventory to Juneau as a backup if the river overtops or breaches the barriers.
“The fact that one of America’s capital cities in our country floods every summer at the risk of not only property but lives, you know, these floods are very risky for not just the safety of our own citizens, it’s a huge, unique challenge.” Sullivan said.” “The Corps of Engineers now has deployed 40% of all the pumps in the Corps of Engineers inventory for the world… in Juneau, just in case.”
Telle said the Corps will move quickly after this year’s flood to seek private-sector proposals for a faster, less costly way to evacuate water from Suicide Basin.
“We believe that evacuating water from Suicide Basin is fundamentally the best way to prevent this from happening in the future,” Telle said, ““We have a phenomenon here in Juneau that’s unlike any other in our entire portfolio.”
According to stories by both KTOO and the Juneau Independent, a local mining executive presented ideas that could cut the cost in half of teh proposed Lake Tap solution in half, groups like Juneau Flood Solutions have supported this effort.
Officials warned the public not to be complacent even with higher barriers in place, saying debris impacts remain a major threat and urging residents to treat the coming flood as a serious safety risk.
Reading Time: 2 minutes
Don Draper, Dick Whitman — whatever names he may have gone by before, Jon Hamm will soon be known as Dad.
Yes, the Mad Men star and his wife, Anna Osceola, are expecting their first child together, the Daily Mail reported on Monday.
The couple has not publicly commented on the pregnancy, and representatives for both actors did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Hamm, 55, and Osceola, 38, have been married since June 2023. The couple exchanged vows at Anderson Canyon in Big Sur, California — a location that holds special significance for Mad Men fans.
Jon and Anna met there while filming the finale of the hit AMC drama.
(And “the real Don Draper’s” wife was named Anna!)
He previously dated writer Jennifer Westfeldt for 18 years.
Their wedding reportedly included several famous friends, including Billy Crudup, Paul Rudd, and Tina Fey.
Now, the couple is preparing to welcome a new addition to their family.
While Hamm and Osceola have largely kept their personal lives private, Jon has been candid in recent years about his changing feelings toward marriage and fatherhood.
In a 2024 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he admitted that he once had complicated feelings about marriage because of his parents’ divorce.
But his relationship with Osceola changed his perspective.
Hamm said he hoped their marriage would “turn into kids” and acknowledged that becoming a father later in life would make him an “old dad.”
“It’s not lost on me that I’m 53,” he said at the time. “I will be the old dad, but so it goes. It could be a good thing. We’ll see.”
Hamm had previously spoken about how his relationship with Osceola helped him envision a future that included marriage, children, and a different definition of happiness.
During a 2022 appearance on Howard Stern’s SiriusXM show, Hamm explained that he felt “settled and comfortable” in his relationship and that it had opened his mind to possibilities he had not previously considered.
That included “being married, having kids, defining a new version of happiness, life, wellness.”
And now, that future is becoming a reality.
Our sincere congratulations go out to Jon and Anna!
Jon Hamm Expecting First Child With Wife Anna Osceola was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.
The Hollywood Gossip
Much like other classic summer sides, macaroni salad is normally served cold and creamy, though it was prepared a bit differently back in the 1970s.
Food Republic – Restaurants, Reviews, Recipes, Cooking Tips
Members of President Donald Trump’s political team asked Ohio Republicans last week not to wage a public pressure campaign against embattled GOP Rep. Max Miller, after they became increasingly convinced he wouldn’t end his reelection bid.
Their engagement, according to three people granted anonymity to share direct knowledge of private conversations, came as Miller insists he has no plans to withdraw despite serious allegations of domestic abuse, which he denies. Before that, some White House officials and Republicans had urged Miller to drop out of his race for reelection.
Miller’s determination to remain in the race would render efforts to oust him moot, administration officials reasoned in calls with party leaders and other Republicans in the state over the past week. It would complicate messaging, the officials argued, when those same leaders would likely later have to defend Miller’s candidacy against a Democratic challenger.
“They basically told us to back off,” said one Ohio Republican involved in the conversations, “and let the voters decide.”
Miller faced a 4 p.m. Monday deadline to drop out, and state party leaders would have had to schedule a meeting to discuss his replacement two days prior to that.
At one point, Republicans in the state discussed scheduling the required meeting to replace Miller, in the hopes it would pressure him to drop out of the race, according to two of the people. But Ohio Republicans scuttled that effort as White House officials warned them that Miller would not drop out and Republicans would likely have to defend the seat without a new GOP replacement contender.
Spokespeople for Miller and for the White House did not respond to requests for comment.
Some Republicans argue they have no choice but to close ranks around a candidate accused by his former father-in-law, Ohio GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno, of being unfit to serve and needing psychological help; Ohio’s other Republican senator, Jon Husted, has also said Miller should resign and not run for reelection. Miller has remained defiant amid the calls to resign.
Allegations from Emily Moreno, the senator’s daughter and Miller’s ex-wife, include that Miller held a gun to her head and broke their daughter’s collarbone. Many of the allegations were contained in state investigatory documents related to a child abuse probe. Miller has denied the allegations.
Speaker Mike Johnson has so far declined to weigh into Miller’s candidacy as well, telling POLITICO in an interview that he will let the House Ethics Committee process play out first. The committee announced an investigation into Miller last week, after the representative said he would file paperwork to investigate himself.
The allegations could haunt Miller in his competitive race this November against Democrat Brian Poindexter, a union ironworker already benefitting from the political headwinds facing Republicans — from high gas prices to the ongoing war in Iran.
“As I’ve said before, if the accusations against Max Miller are proven true, he should be in prison, not in Congress. It’s unfortunate that Miller has chosen to keep putting his ex-wife and her family through this nightmare in the public spotlight,” Poindexter said in a statement when it became official Miller was staying on the ballot. “But let me be perfectly clear. I got into this campaign to fight for my neighbors and for working people across this district. That continues to be my north star.”
It comes at a time when Republicans cannot afford to lose any members of their slim majority without risking a House Democratic takeover in 2027. Ohio’s 7th Congressional District was, just weeks ago, considered safely red; now, Republicans have polling that shows Miller underwater in his district.
Some National Republicans argue the seat will inevitably stay in GOP hands. It is a reliably conservative district Trump won by 11 points in 2024. Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters said in an interview Sunday with NewsNation that the party’s main campaign fundraising arm would likely continue to support Miller’s reelection bid.
“We’re gonna support our nominees,” Gruters said. “We need to make sure we hold the majorities. Max, I’m sure, is on that side, but listen, everybody has to prove that they are capable of winning, and then we’re going to look at our resources and make the decisions.”
But other Republicans fear that Miller’s decision to remain in the race will force party committees to spend heavily.
“It’s still winnable, it’s just going to be expensive,” said one national Republican operative, like others granted anonymity to speak candidly. “At a time when Republicans are playing defense, like you’re just spreading your dollars thinner and thinner across the board.”
A second Ohio-based Republican said they are “concerned” that the allegations against Miller are “going to result in fewer votes, less ability to fundraise.”
“Nothing good comes out of this,” the Republican said. “He’s not going to gain any votes, and he’s not going to gain any fundraising, and he’s going to be completely distracted. It’s a sideshow.”
Another White House official last week noted the growing sense of inevitability that Miller would remain in the race, once the two-term lawmaker and former Trump aide began comparing his situation to attempts over the years to take down Trump for similar accusations of abuse and misconduct.
“I don’t think he’s going anywhere,” the White House official told POLITICO after the president spoke with Miller on the matter.
Politics
Bacon can be hit or miss depending on the brand, but if you ask Sam’s Club shoppers, this package is affordable, delicious, and always worth it.
Mashed – Fast Food, Celebrity Chefs, Grocery, Reviews