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Cameron Williams, a library worker in Chattanooga, Tenn., who helped organize protests against police brutality, was fired from his job after being accused of appearing in a social media video burning copies of books by former President Donald Trump and conservative author Ann Coulter.

Bob Dole, 97, the longtime Republican Kansas senator who ran for president in 1996, announced he is beginning treatment for Stage 4 lung cancer, saying that while he's facing hurdles, "I join millions of Americans who face significant health challenges of their own."

Ivanka Trump, 39, the daughter of former President Donald Trump, won't seek Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's U.S. Senate seat in 2022, a Rubio spokesman said, as Ivanka Trump, in a statement, called the GOP incumbent "a tremendous advocate for working families."

Gail Samuel, current president of the Hollywood Bowl and chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, will become the first female president and chief operating officer of the Boston Symphony Orchestra when she takes over in June.

Brent Bennett, 37, of Hartford, Ala., who bought cattle from a Thomas County stockyard last year but still owes $383,000 because of bounced checks and unpaid bills, was charged with theft by deception, sheriff's investigators said.

Robert Lombardo, 46, of Leesville, La., faces two counts of second-degree murder after deputies discovered the bodies of his 83-year-old father and 60-year-old stepmother in their home when a family member notified authorities that Lombardo had said "he had beaten his parents to death."

Jamilla Hall, who once worked for the Florida Prepaid College Program, has been sentenced to two years and nine months in federal prison for stealing about $42,000 from people who had been paying into the system.

Katsiaryna Bakhvalava, 27, and Daria Chultsova, 23, journalists with Polish-funded Belsat TV, were convicted of violating public order and sentenced to two years in prison for covering a public protest against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko.

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In the news - Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Its starting over, Mr. Harrison said in an interview, noting that conservative radio consumers can simply switch to other popular Limbaugh-like hosts, including Mr. Hannity, Glenn Beck and Mark Levin. (iHeartMedia might not mind: It also syndicates Mr. Beck and Mr. Hannity.)

Mr. Limbaughs success may have ensured his shows eventual obsolescence.

He was the first conservative icon in national media, bringing an ideology more closely associated with elite organs like National Review to a mass audience. His shock-jock antics infuriated Democratic presidents and endeared himself to Republican ones; as early as 1992, President George Bush invited him to spend a night in the Lincoln Bedroom.

Before Fox News and the MAGA internet, Mr. Limbaughs program was the only megaphone for his divisive, hyperpartisan brand of commentary. Theres something magical about the intimacy of radio that younger readers simply cannot possibly appreciate, the commentator Matt Lewis wrote in The Daily Beast after Mr. Limbaughs death, echoing other conservatives who reminisced about childhood listening sessions.

There is no doubt his show remained influential with the Slightly Less Online set, particularly among working-class listeners whose jobs might not afford nonstop access to a social media platform during the business day. Mr. Limbaugh even scored some headlines in December when he mused that the nation might be trending toward secession.

But Mr. Limbaughs latter-day commentary while still ribald and unrepentant was often indistinguishable from that of dozens of other pundits.

He created the genre, which then flooded the market with competitors, some less talented, some more, said Ann Coulter, the conservative provocateur. Only one person can be the pioneer but after that, its dog-eat-dog. (Even Fox News, which long enjoyed a monopoly on conservative TV, has now been forced to contend with upstart rivals, like Newsmax, that appeal to far-right viewers.)

Because he depended on a publicly traded conglomerate for his paycheck, Mr. Limbaugh was also beholden to the kinds of corporate guidelines that fringier online platforms could happily ignore. After the election, Mr. Limbaugh defended President Trumps lies about voter fraud and as late as Inauguration Day insisted that Joseph R. Biden Jr. didnt win this thing fair and square but he stopped short of explicitly calling for violence. It was a guest on The Alex Jones Show who explicitly called for supporters to occupy the Capitol.

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Where Will Rush Limbaughs 15 Million Listeners Go Now? - The New York Times

Mr. Sanders took aim at the recent news that a moderate think tank, Third Way, was working on a project seeking to push Democrats toward the center for the midterm elections. He said that issues like canceling student debt, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and combating climate change were political winners.

The American working class today white, Black, Latino they are hurting. They want us to respond vigorously, he said. If we do so, I think that they will reward us in 2022. If we fail them, and the Republicans can go around and say, Hey, you gave these people the House, the Senate and the White House and they did nothing for you, we will not do well in 2022.

Still, the entrenchment by moderate senators and the presidents current deference to it presents a challenge for activists hoping to influence the administration. And while progressive elected officials are confident that Mr. Biden will side with them in the end, a growing chorus of activists is looking to him for more immediate action.

K Trainor, a student activist who has worked with progressive groups to turn out college students for Democrats, said Mr. Bidens answer at the town hall was deeply disappointing. She said that if the administration didnt deliver for young voters, it would make it harder to persuade them to turn out in future elections.

I think a lot of people in my generation are asking, Where is the courage? Ms. Trainor said. It feels like theyre backtracking and were not even 100 days in.

The Rev. William J. Barber II, a co-chair of the Poor Peoples Campaign who organized the West Virginia workers meeting with Mr. Manchin, said the debate reflected an ugly underbelly of Democratic politics. While poor and low-income workers, particularly those who are racial minorities or young people, make up the core of the Democratic base, he said, the policies that they care about most have often been sacrificed because of political calculations.

They are the human cost of the big tent, he said.

Democrats ran on this, they put it in their platform and they said this is what needs to happen, Dr. Barber said. It would be the ultimate abandonment and betrayal to then get here and have the power to do it, and then retreat.

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Democrats Big Tent Helped Them Win. Now It Threatens Bidens Agenda. - The New York Times

Democrats won the majority, and they should act like it. They promised Americans bold relief, and they shouldnt let Republicans use procedural hurdles like the filibuster to block their agenda. The best chance of keeping Republicans from permanently controlling the levers of power is by passing big, bold democracy reforms and the only way we do that is by eliminating the filibuster. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is too eager to use it.

In his first few months as Senate minority leader, McConnell has given us a preview of how Republicans will behave for the next four years. They will use every tool at their disposal, like the filibuster, to cling to power and stop progress.

They used it to block civil rights legislation in the 1960s. They used it to block background checks for gun sales in 2013. And theyll use it to block everything Democrats want to do in 2021. I am asking that California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla support ending the filibuster.

Lori Saltveit, Corte Madera

Wonderful love poems

Regarding Kirsten Menger-Andersons Valentines Day lament in My search for love poems turns up bias (Insight, Feb. 14): It is true that men have written the bulk of famous love poems. But definitely not all. Menger-Anderson should check out two of the most beautiful love poems ever written: one by Anne Bradstreet (To My Dear and Loving Husband) and one by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (How Do I Love Thee? Sonnet 43).

Blair Hoffman, Moraga

Fix the supply chain

Regarding Auto industry bets future on batteries (Business, Feb. 17): Behind the coronavirus pandemic, there is another crisis lurking around. It is now frequently ravaging through the country, inflicting extreme weather, causing wildfires and snowstorms, destroying homes, and taking lives. There is no time to waste in tackling the imminent threat of climate change.

Although electrification of vehicles and transportation fleets is a step in the right direction, without a sustainable manufacturing supply chain, it will fall short of its promises to mitigate the climate crisis.

Manufacturing batteries from scarce minerals displaces the carbon footprint from consumers to the supply chain, depletes natural resources and is not sustainable for production at scale. Research in the battery industry is rapidly growing; however, government-funded research must focus on solutions that are transferable to commercial products and can be used for manufacturing at scale. Otherwise, funds and time are wasted as the link between research and mass production is broken.

Elham Sakhaee, Union City

Dont deny opportunity

Bureaucrats are not known for wisdom, as the San Francisco School Board has recently affirmed by its recent school renaming mania and especially the changes regarding enrollment at Lowell High School. If there is some racial or ethnic unbalance of opportunity, then find the reason for that and do something about it (such as improve education in the lower grades). It makes no sense to remedy the unbalance by denying opportunity for all.

Howard Kraus, El Cerrito

Restaurants rights

Regarding Restaurants may pay high price for ignoring employees values (Front Page, Feb. 15): The coverage of the Girl & the Fig controversy mostly misses the point. At issue is whether a business has a right to keep its facilities apolitical. Or, alternatively, does a butcher shop have to let the counter help wear T-shirts saying Meat Kills? Does a property management firm have to let the receptionist sport a button that says Rent is Theft?

When a restaurateur invests maybe a million dollars to start a restaurant, can the front-of-the-house employees, by right, set a political agenda so as to offend and likely lose half the potential clientele? Righteousness of his cause notwithstanding, did Colin Kaepernick have the right to usurp the NFL stage for his own political purposes? The suggestion proffered by some Millennials that demands political transparency as a prerequisite for patronage would split the country already divided politically into one divided economically. We shop at our stores; they shop at theirs. Give me a break.

Albert Sukoff, Berkeley

Curb PG&Es power

Regarding Judge says PG&E was reckless before fire (Business, Feb. 4): Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has a well-earned reputation for repeatedly failing to protect our public health and safety. PG&Es legacy of death, destruction and irresponsibility continues to catch up with it in court. Most recently, U.S. District Judge William Alsup stated that PG&E has been a terror t-e-r-r-o-r to the people of the state of California. Judge Alsup appears to be one of the few public officials willing to stand against PG&Es vast political and financial power.

We need more public officials and courts to step up and rein in PG&Es reign of terror. We need much more effective oversight of its reckless behavior.

That means not only its exploding gas pipelines and wildfire-causing electric power lines, poles and transformers but also PG&Es numerous dams in the Sierra Nevada and its dangerous and salmon-destroying century-old dams on the Eel River in Californias northern coastal range.

David Keller, Petaluma

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Letters to the Editor: Democrats need to support ending the filibuster - San Francisco Chronicle

Democrats on Thursday unveiled Biden-backed legislation to overhaul the immigration system, which includes setting up a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Jemal Countess/Getty Images for UndocuBlack Net hide caption

Democrats on Thursday unveiled Biden-backed legislation to overhaul the immigration system, which includes setting up a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

Updated 4:25p.m. ET

Congressional Democrats unveiled a sweeping the U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, an immigration bill that includes setting up a path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States.

The measure is backed by President Biden and closely aligns with the plan he proposed on his first day in office. His administration and congressional Democrats are under pressure from immigration advocates to act quickly to move the bill, but it's unclear how quickly they will pursue passage.

"I look forward to working with leaders in the House and Senate to address the wrongdoings of the past administration and restore justice, humanity, and order to our immigration system," Biden said in a statement Thursday afternoon. "This is an important first step in pursuing immigration policies that unite families, grow and enhance our economy, and safeguard our security."

The Democratic bill includes a fast-track process for immigrants who were brought to the country by their parents at a young age (otherwise known as "DREAMers"), along with certain farmworkers and past recipients of temporary protected status, such as people who fled wars.

"We have 11 million undocumented people living, working and raising families in our communities without legal status," Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said during a news conference Thursday morning. "These are good and decent people who believe in the promise of America down to their bones."

Menendez was joined by Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., who shared her family's story of immigrating to the U.S.

"I am the daughter of immigrant parents from Mexico. They came to this country and they work hard and they sacrificed every day to provide for me and my brothers and sisters," she said. "Their story is like the story of so many others."

The plan seeks to boost the diversity visa program, a sharp departure from the Trump administration's goal to eliminate the program. The bill also replaces the term "alien" in U.S. immigration laws with "noncitizen."

It's anticipated that Republicans will oppose many provisions in the legislation, which could signal that Democrats will need to employ alternative measures to push it through the Senate where, under current rules, it needs 60 votes to proceed.

"The reason we have not gotten immigration reform over the finish line is not because of a lack of will," Menendez said. "It is because time and time again, we have compromised too much and capitulated too quickly to fringe voices who have refused to accept the humanity and contributions of immigrants to our country and dismiss everything, no matter how significant it is in terms of the national security, as amnesty."

During a CNN town hall on Tuesday, Biden indicated that though he considers a pathway to citizenship essential, he may be open to a piecemeal approach to immigration.

"There's things that I would deal by itself, but not at the expense of saying, 'I'm never going to do the other,' he said. "There is a reasonable path to citizenship."

Both former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush had attempted to put their stamp on immigration by unveiling proposals that included pathways to citizenship, but both plans were rejected by Congress.

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Democrats Unveil Sweeping Immigration Bill - NPR