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The Republican primary in the Attorney Generals race had another wild twist Monday evening when Louie Gohmert, the Tea Party congressman and outspoken Trump enthusiast, declared he was officially a candidate.

Gohmert had fueled speculation that he was going to run when he announced that he was exploring that option. That event was particularly chaotic as a live feed failed to operate. However, video of the event shows Gohmert talking about Ken Paxtons legal woes. We could lose that seat, he said.

There was a lot of drama Monday about whether Gohmert would actually file since he had a self-imposed deadline of raising 1 million over ten days. Ultimately, Gohmert made his announcement on Newsmax saying that he had achieved his fundraising goal.

With Gohmert jumping in, another candidate jumped out. And though State Rep. Matt Krause ended his bid for attorney general, he is now running for Tarrant County District Attorney. Earlier this month Republican incumbent Sharen Wilson announced she was not running for re-election. Krause gained infamy earlier this year when he launched an investigation into books at school districts and libraries.

Other Republicans still in the primary for attorney general include current Land Commissioner George P. Bush and Eva Guzman, a former Republican member of the Texas Supreme Court. Bush courted the Trump endorsement, but ultimately was given the cold shoulder.

For now current Attorney General Ken Paxton appears to have all the momentum. Polls show him comfortably on top in the Republican primary, though they were conducted before this latest shakeup.

And Gohmert could be on to something in regards to Paxtons legal woes. Six years ago he was indicted by a grand jury for felony securities fraud. He is also allegedly being investigated by the FBI for a separate incident of bribery and abuse of office.

Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

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A Wild New Shakeup in the Republican AG Primary - The Texas Signal

Activities for the annual RISE (Rebels Impact through Service and Engagement) fundraiser will begin this month. The fundraiser benefits the Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Program at UAB.

Here are a list of this years events:

When: Dec. 5, 4-6 p.m.

Where: Vestavia Hills High School - Gym

Cost: $10 per child/Adults Free

Details: Featuring Santa Claus (free pictures), a sing-a-long with Jovi the Elf, snowballfights with Buddy the Elf, crafts and food!

Web: on gofan.co under Vestavia Hills High School

When: Feb. 5, 10-11:30 a.m.

Where: Vestavia Hills United Methodist Church/Tyson Hall

Cost: $10 per child/Adults Free

Details: Featuring a tea party with Alice in Wonderland, the Mad Hatter, and Fancy Nancy. For ages 2 and older.

Web: Tickets on gofan.co under Vestavia Hills High School

When: Feb. 12, 8 a.m. to noon

Where: Vestavia Hills Civic Center, 1973 Merryvale Road 35216

Details: Come find a treasure!

When: March 5, 8:30 a.m.

Where: Vestavia Hills High School Football Stadium

Cost: $20 per person (includes t-shirt)

Details: For children in grades1-5. Register online no later than Feb. 22.

Web: go.uab.edy/vhhsrise

When: March 5, 10 a.m.

Where: Vestavia Hills High School Front Parking Lot

Cost: $20 per person (includes t-shirt)

Details: For children grade 6 and above and adults. Register no later than Feb. 22.

Web: go.uab.edy/vhhsrise

When: March 19, 9-11 a.m.

Where: Vestavia Hills Civic Center (Formerly Golds Gym)

Cost: $15 per child/Adults Free

Details: Featuring Touch-a-Truck and Character Party.

Web: Tickets available on gofan.co

Submitted by Kym Prewitt.

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RISE to begin this month - VestaviaVoice.com - Vestavia Voice

HUNDREDS of people took to the streets of Worcester to challenge violence against women and girls.

An estimated 400 women, male and non-binary allies joined forces at Boston Tea Party at 7.30pm on Thursday evening (November 25) before making their way through Worcesters city centre.

Attendees were encouraged to make as much noise as possible when they passed pubs and venues where women had experienced violence and sexual assaults.

Powerful banners were also on display, conveying messages such as My body, My property, Your respect.

Organisations including Worcestershire's Women's Equality Party, West Mercia Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre, West Mercia Women's Aid, Joy Project, Out2gether, University of Worcester and Worcester Community Trust all took part.

Sarennah Longworth-Cook, co-founder of Out2gether, an LGBTQ+ group for Worcestershire, said: "We're here tonight because we have a lot of women members, and that includes a diversity of women, so we have lesbians, bisexual women, trans women and non-binary persons.

"But we also find anyone who's visibly LGBTQ+ on the streets experiences the same violence - whether that's verbal abuse, physical violence or the threat of violence from straight men - as the rest of the women who are here.

"So we really want to add our voice to the women's voice, and say 'this is just not good enough.

"We all have a part to play in this, the statistics for male violence are so high.

"It means it might not be all men, but it's probably men we work with and live alongside, they're in our lives whether we know it or not."

After making their way through the city centre, the march came full circle to Boston Tea Party, where walkers warmed up with teas and coffees and further talks were held.

One woman, who wished not to be named, said: It is amazing to see so many people have come out for the march, there are so many more here than I was expecting.

But at the same time, I think it shows the shere amount of women who have been affected by male violence, and there will be countless others at home who couldnt make it here tonight, too. It has to stop.

Edward John McCrorie Mayne was one of the male walkers who was supporting from the back of the demonstration.

He said: "Two out of three women are sexually harassed or assaulted on the street, that just isn't acceptable.

"As a guy I feel like we need to stand behind the women and say 'this is not ok', we need to make the streets safe again.

"It's all good women coming forward and speaking out, but this actually needs to be backed by us as well, and it starts by us showing our support.

"So that's why I came out tonight, to show my support.

"I think some men can feel offended when they're asked to come and support women because they think 'I'd never do anything like that, so why should I support it?'

"Well, we need to stand behind women and show we're with them."

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PICTURES: Hundreds took to the streets for Reclaim the Night march - Worcester News

If Donald Trump tries to run for president again, one of his former campaign advisers has a plan to dissuade him. Anticipating that Trump may not know who Adlai Stevenson was or that he lost two straight presidential elections in the 1950s, this ex-adviser figures he or someone else might need to explain the mans unhappy fate. Theyll remind Trump that if he were beaten in 2024, he would join Stevenson as one of historys serial losers. I think that would resonate, said this person, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to talk more freely. Trump hates losers.

Trump might not listen to his former campaign confidant. But the mere fact that someone who worked to elect Trump the first time is rehearsing arguments to stop a comeback suggests that the former presidents tight grip on the Republican Party may be slipping. A few other developments in recent weeks point to the early stirrings of a Republican Party in which Trump is sidelined. Glenn Youngkins recent victory in the Virginia governors race demonstrated that a Republican candidate could win in a battleground state without yoking himself to Trump. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, now making the rounds to promote a new book that counters Trumps claim that he won the 2020 election, signaled that he might run for the 2024 GOP nomination whether or not Trump enters the race. A poll last month offered encouraging news for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in New Hampshire, the state that traditionally holds the first primary contest of the presidential-election season. Though Trump was the first choice among likely Republican voters, DeSantiss favorability rating had climbed to 62 percent, eight points higher than Trumps.

Unlike past presidents who willingly ceded the stage after defeat, Trump has made himself impossible to ignore since leaving office earlier this year. Hes behaving like a candidate-in-waiting. Id be shocked if he doesnt run, Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and Trump ally, told me. I think Trump is our best pick, to be honest with you, because everybody knows his flaws, but his successes are in stark contrast to what were experiencing now. (A pandemic, two impeachments, and an economic collapse dont sound like triumphs, but thats a topic for another time.)

Read: Whatever happened to Donald Trump?

Many GOP politicians covet a Trump endorsement in the upcoming midterm races, and he is raising tens of millions of dollars that he can spread among congressional candidates who are protective of his interests. Hes continually in the news as investigators unpack his role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election results. When families gather for Thanksgiving this week, its a fair bet that there will be a lot more people stewing over Trump than musing about the sitting president, Joe Biden. This will be the sixth consecutive Thanksgiving where Trump talk will be on the menu, Kellyanne Conway, a former counselor to the president, told me. People are still obsessed with him.

Trump wants to keep it that way. His status within the GOP helps him command the boundless attention he craves, and hes not about to lose that dominance without a fight. He lashed back at Christies impertinence in suggesting that its time to accept that Biden won the 2020 election. Christie, Trump said in a statement, was absolutely massacred for such heresy. Privately, the former president has been dismissive of maybe his most formidable potential rival for the 2024 party nomination: DeSantis. When DeSantiss name pops up in conversations, Trump is prone to reminding everyone in earshot that his endorsement in Floridas 2018 GOP gubernatorial primary lifted DeSantis over the presumed favorite, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, one person close to the former president told me. Trump reminds everybody that he made DeSantis, this person said. Theres no doubt that Trump made him, and no doubt that Ron resents that he gets reminded of that all the time.

Trumps most potent means of retaining his hold on his party is perpetuating the idea that hell be back on the ballot in three years. Whether he goes through with launching a reelection campaign may be beside the point. Stepping aside would be tantamount to inviting a slew of Republican candidates to jump in the 2024 presidential-nomination race and fill the space hes vacating. Trump is not about to let his relevancy plummet.

Imagine what would happen if he said, After careful consideration, I wont be a candidate in 2024, John Bolton, the former Trump White House national security adviser, told me. You can hear the spotlight switches turning off. Hell talk about it [running for president again] right up until the point when he doesnt.

Boltons belief is that, in the end, Trump wont run and risk another defeat. On this point, the signs seem mixed. Trump has been coy. He gave an interview to Fox News earlier this month saying he would probably wait until after the midterm elections to announce whether hell run, though he added, I think a lot of people will be very happy, frankly, with the decision. Hes lost some weight, perhaps an indication that hes girding for one more race, or maybe just the natural result of less stress-eating, as some in his orbit told me.

Read: What I saw at the White House on Trumps last day

Earlier this year, a group of Trump-administration alumni started a nonprofit called the America First Policy Institute. Its a kind of placeholder for the next Trump administration should he run again and win, a second former campaign adviser told me. (Trumps son-in-law and former senior White House adviser, Jared Kushner, is not involved in plotting Trumps possible return, a person familiar with the matter told me. Kushner is writing a book that is due out next year.)

A more immediate test of Trumps clout will come during the midterms. Hes so focused on punishing perceived enemies within the GOP that he may wind up endorsing challengers with no real chance of winning. Take Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the only Senate Republican who both voted to convict Trump in the impeachment trial this year and will be on the ballot next November. Trump has already endorsed one of her opponents, Kelly Tshibaka. But Murkowski, who has served in the Senate for nearly two decades, has proved a tenacious campaigner. In 2010, she won a write-in campaign against a conservative Tea Party opponent, the first senator to pull off such a feat in a half century. Tshibaka will have trouble deposing the resilient Murkowski, and if she fails, Trump wont seem like the kingmaker he imagines himself to be.

Much the same dynamic holds true in Wyoming. Trump has targeted Representative Liz Cheney, who voted to impeach him in January and now serves on the House committee investigating the insurrection at the Capitol. He endorsed one of Cheneys primary challengers, Harriet Hageman, after meeting with other possible rivals at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club. Polling shows that Cheney will have a tough race. Yet if she and Murkowski both win, Trump will look like a fucking dummy because he endorsed the wrong people, the second former campaign adviser said.

Trumps bond with the Republican base is emotional, not rational. If it were rational, his voters might recognize that the party struggled on his watch and risks further losses if he remains its putative leader. After all, when he returned to Mar-a-Lago as a private citizen, the House, Senate, and White House were under Democratic controland they still are. Even Graham concedes that Trump could blow the next election too, if he runs a general campaign that obsesses about his 2020 defeat. If it becomes a grievance campaign, were in trouble, he said.

Perhaps the Adlai Stevenson example will prove persuasive. If Trump sees his poll numbers sliding over the next couple of years, if his involvement in the midterms backfires, he might stand down, as some of his allies predict. I dont think he wants to risk losing twice, Newt Gingrich, the former Republican House speaker, told me. Once, you can argue about the outcome. Twice, it becomes a repudiation.

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Will Trump Run for President in 2024? - The Atlantic

Its the final of The Great British Baking Show! The last 10 weeks have just flown by and we are down to the last three bakers! Each of them has won the star baker title twice and the ultimate honor of two handshakes from judge Paul Hollywood. The challenges they faced were tricky but allowed them to show off their considerable talent.

Signature Challenge

For the signature challenge, the bakers were asked to make a decorated carrot cake. They could use whatever complementary flavors, fillings, and decorations they wanted. They had two hours and 15 minutes to make their cake. This was not a lot of time considering the bakers needed to be able to cool their cakes to decorate them. The bakers were all evenly matched in this challenge, receiving a mixture of positive and negative feedback.

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Crystelle decided to be ambitious and made a four-tiered spiced carrot cake. Her cakes were sandwiched with orange curd and decorated with pistachio and mascarpone frosting and pistachio praline. Her four-tiered cake didnt go down too well with the judges though. Due to it being so tall, the sponges had retained some heat and so her curd and frosting had melted slightly. This meant that her sponges had moved and were slightly wonky. Crystelle even had to use dowels to keep her cake upright. However, they loved her flavors and thought they were very well-balanced.

Chigs, who only started baking 18 months ago, was making his second ever carrot cake. His sponges were sandwiched with star anise infused pineapple jam and topped with classic cream cheese icing. The judges loved his decoration and his pipework and also enjoyed the flavor of his pineapple jam. However, they thought his cake was rubbery and stodgy due to the large number of carrots he had used.

Giuseppe made an orange-zest infused carrot cake sponge, sandwiched with fig and walnut jam. This was then decorated with orange cream cheese icing, candied walnuts and fresh figs. Whereas Crystelle and Chigs had made the challenge easier for themselves by baking individual sponges for their layers, Giuseppe made one large cake that he then sliced up. This meant that his cake took a lot longer to bake and didnt have much time to cool. As a result, his icing had melted slightly and his cakes had shifted a little. The heat also meant that the jam and cream cheese had soaked into the hot sponges, making the judges question at first whether the cake was underbaked or stodgy. Despite this, his cake was pretty but more importantly it was delicious. The judges particularly loved the fig flavor.

Technical Challenge

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For the technical challenge, they were asked to bake 12 Belgian buns filled with sultanas and lemon curd. The judges expected a coiled, slightly chewy bun with a hint of sweetness from the lemon curd. They had two and a half hours to follow the pared back recipe and the bakes were then ranked from worst to best in a blind judging. However, the bakers didnt quite realise how pared back the recipe would be this week. It contained only two instructions!

Crystelle seemed to be at a slight advantage because she had made a curd in the signature challenge and she knew what Belgian buns were. At first, it seemed like Chigs was going to come in last place due to rolling his dough the wrong way. The way he rolled his buns meant that they were very tall and did not have enough spirals. However, the turning point in this challenge came down to how long to leave the buns in the oven for. Crystelle and Chigs pulled their buns out of the oven quite early to leave themselves with enough time to cool and decorate them. However, Giuseppe decided to leave his in the oven for longer.

Giuseppes buns were neatly iced and perfectly shaped. The judges commented that they were exceptional and would have come in first place if he hadnt left them in the oven for so long. His buns were very dark in color and were very dry and overbaked. This left him in last place.

Chigs came in second due to rolling his buns wrong. They were also a little bit too chewy and solid. This left Crystelle in first place, winning her first ever technical challenge! Her buns were a nice uniform color, had good lemon curd, and tasted nice, even if her icing was a little erratic as she rushed at the end.

Showstopper Challenge

For the showstopper challenge, the bakers had four and a half hours to make a Mad Hatters tea party display. The judges wanted a display of sweet and savoury afternoon tea treats, showcasing at least four different baking disciplines. They wanted the bakers to capture some of the craziness of Alice in Wonderland whilst producing perfect bakes.

Chigs centrepiece was a blue Cheshire Cat cake, flavored with orange curd. This was accompanied by jammy dodger biscuits shaped like playing cards with strawberry, elderflower, and black pepper jam. He also baked chicken and mushroom pocket watch pies and brioche toadstools, filled with lemon and lime crme patissiere. The judges were impressed with the overall look of the display, particularly the cat cake and the playing card biscuits, which were beautiful. However, they were a little disappointed with the lack of smile on the Cheshire Cat because he ran out of time. They thought his pies and brioche were delicious. The playing cards were particularly good with an excellent buttery biscuit but Paul was disappointed that he couldnt taste the elderflower or black pepper. The cake was delicious and the flavors were very well-balanced.

Giuseppe made a chocolate and hazelnut tear and share brioche mushroom as his centrepiece. This were accompanied by mango and passionfruit drink-me panna cottas, orange and fig heart-shaped muffins, and asparagus and pea-filled choux buns used to make a caterpillar. Giuseppe was really pushing it with the time restraints as he had a lot of baking to do. It almost ended in disaster when he went to put something in the oven and realised that his oven was cold. He had left the door slightly open during pre-heating and so it had turned off. This lost him a lot of valuable time but he managed to pull it together.

The judges thought that Giuseppes display was simple but effective. The choux buns were delicious but a little too soft because of the creamy filling. They loved his brioche, though, as it was very complicated with multiple layers but was crisp and delicious. The muffins were cute, soft, and a lovely flavor. The standout were his panna cottas. The judges couldnt stop eating them! They thought they were delicious and the perfect texture. Both Paul and Prue took their bottle to finish off.

Crystelles centrepiece was a focaccia bread clock flavored with zaatar and garlic. This was accompanied by chickpea curry top hats, cardamom and pistachio toadstool nankhatai biscuits, and chai-flavored sponges decorated as talking flowers. Her display looked stunning and very colorful. The judges loved her biscuits which were something they werent familiar with. They liked the blend of spices and the fudge-like texture. They also loved her sponges and thought they were delicious and well-balanced. Crystelles pies were also lovely and the curry had a nice kick to it, even if the curry was a little solid. However, it all went wrong with her focaccia. The judges said it did not resemble a focaccia at all! There was no rise to it; it was raw and completely inedible. Sadly, this knocked Crystelle out of the running for winning the competition.

Results

For the results this week, there was a garden party for everyone who had been working within the Baking Show bubble. They got to try the bakers showstopper treats.

It was a very close decision with all of the bakers receiving mixed feedback on their bakes this week. It was finally announced that Giuseppe was the winner! No one was surprised with this decision except for Giuseppe. It was amazing to watch his reaction go from a complete blank look of shock to pure joy. Crystelle and Chigs were so unbelievably happy for him and he thoroughly deserved the win. He stood out as an amazing baker from week one and was consistent throughout the competition.

The win meant a lot to him personally as well. He got into baking because of his dad, who also loves baking. His dad is currently elderly and in poor health and so Giuseppe was emotional to win this title for him. They now plan to write a recipe book together to pass on their Italian bakes.

Baking Show Best Bits

Here are some of my favorite non-baking moments from this weeks episode!

Weve thoroughly enjoyed this season of The Great British Baking Show and we cant wait for it to return next year. Make sure you check back here for all the latest news.

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'The Great British Baking Show' Recap: Season 12, Episode 10 "The Final" - Nerds and Beyond