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Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Fact Finding
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today's puzzle before reading further! Fact Finding Constructor: Catherine Cetta Editor: Amanda Rafkin GONG (1A: ___ bath (meditation practice that involves healing vibrations)) As is suggested by its name, a GONG bath involves being immersed in sound produced by GONGs. They are touted as promoting deep relaxation and stress relief, as well as enhanced creativity. ETTA (9A: "Tell Mama" singer James) "Tell Mama" is the title song from ETTA James' seventh studio album, released in 1968. The song was one of the biggest hits of ETTA James' career, but in her 2003 memoir, the singer confessed that she never cared for the song. OREO (13A: Cookie with a Double Stuf variety) Our crossword friend OREO is making its first June appearance and its 14th appearance of 2025. APES (14A: Bonobos and orangutans) Bonobos are an endangered species of great APE that live in an area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Central Africa. Orangutans are a red-haired species of great APE that spend most of their time in trees. They are found in Borneo and Sumatra in Southeast Asia. LITTLE CAT FEET (19A: Metaphor for fog's silent arrival, in a Carl Sandburg poem) "Fog" is a poem by Carl Sandburg that was first published in 1916. "The fog comes / on LITTLE CAT FEET / It sits looking / over harbor and city / on silent haunches / and then moves on." My cat, Willow, says, "Hey, I have LITTLE CAT FEET!" HOP (24A: Sock ___ ('60s dance movement)) Sock HOPs were dances that were often held in school gymnasiums. The dances earned their name because dancers were required to remove their shoes in order to avoid damaging the gyms' varnished floors. I remember going to a sock HOP when I was in junior high school. That wasn't in the '60s though – it was 1977. ALASKA (28A: Denali's state) Denali is a mountain in the Alaskan Range and is the centerpiece of Denali National Park in ALASKA. With a summit elevation of 20,310 feet, Denali is the highest mountain in North America. AMINO (33A: ___ acids (molecules that combine to form proteins)) Over 500 AMINO acids (organic compounds containing AMINO and carboxylic acid groups) exist in nature. Only 22 of these AMINO acids are proteinogenic, that is, incorporated into proteins as directed by the genetic code of organisms. As proteins are the building blocks of muscles, AMINO acids, which are the building blocks of proteins, are necessary for muscle growth. Hooray for science in the crossword! IGA (48A: Tennis star Swiatek) IGA Świątek, a professional tennis player from Poland, won the French Open in 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2024, and the U.S. Open in 2022. GOBLIN (1D: Green ___ (Spider-Man villain)) In Marvel Comics, the alias, Green GOBLIN, has been used by at least four different supervillains, the first of which was Norman Osborne. The Green GOBLIN's superpowers (and insanity) are chemically induced, the result of ingesting Goblin formula, an unstable performance-enhancing serum. The weapons used by GREEN GOBLIN resemble bats, ghosts, and jack-o'-lanterns. EPIC (6D: "Beowulf," e.g.) Beowulf is an English EPIC poem dating to between 700-1000 CE. Its author is unknown. Beowulf, named for its hero, is one of the most often translated works of Old English literature. XENA (7D: TV's warrior princess) XENA is the title character of the TV show XENA: Warrior Princess, which originally aired from 1995 to 2001. Lucy Lawless portrayed XENA. ALEX (15D: Two-time Women's World Cup champion Morgan) ALEX Morgan is a former professional soccer player. She played for a number of teams during her career, including NWSL's San Diego Wave FC (2022-2024). ALEX Morgan also played on the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team, and was a part of the 2015 and 2019 World Cup-winning teams. I have previously written about her "sipping tea" goal celebration at the 2019 World Cup. Fun fact: In the 2018 movie: ALEX & Me, ALEX Morgan plays a fictionalized version of herself. PAD (26D: ___ see ew) PAD see ew is a Thai stir-fried noodle dish. We have seen this dish a couple of times recently in clues for the word "Thai." RARITY (43D: Black sheep or blue lobster, for example) I wasn't able to find specific data about the RARITY of black sheep, but I found a couple of sources that said a blue lobster is a one in 2 million occurrence. That is indeed a RARITY. TAPAS (50D: Chopitos and croquetas, e.g.) TAPAS are a variety of appetizers or snacks that are popular in Spanish cuisine. Chopitos are battered and fried cuttlefish (baby squid). Croquetas are a type of fried dumpling made of a thick batter surrounding a filling. NEMO (52D: "Finding Dory" fish) Finding Dory is a 2016 animated movie that is a sequel and a spin-off of the 2003 movie Finding NEMO. A couple of other clues I especially enjoyed: YELP (64A: "You stepped on my foot!" sound) TSK TSK (8D: "I disapprove!" sound) LITTLE CAT FEET (19A: Metaphor for fog's silent arrival, in a Carl Sandburg poem) I CAN'T FACE IT (36A: "This is too much for me!") INTERNET CAFE (51A: Hangout spots where customers pay for access to the web) FACT FINDING: An anagram of the word FACT is found in each theme answer: LITTLE CAT FEET, I CAN'T FACE IT, and INTERNET CAFE. I'll be honest – it took me a moment to FIND these FACTs. At first I was not looking for a hidden anagram theme. Once I realized that FACT, I was able to identify the scrambled FACTs: CAT/F, T/FAC, and T/CAF. Thank you, Catherine, for this enjoyable puzzle. One more thing today: The first blog I wrote about a USA Today crossword was about the June 9, 2020 puzzle. That means today is my 5th blogiversary! I'm delighted to still be writing about the USA Today crossword, as doing so brings me great joy. I'm ecstatic (and honestly a little amazed) to now be doing so for USA Today. And I continue to be grateful for you, the readers. USA TODAY's Daily Crossword Puzzles Sudoku & Crossword Puzzle Answers This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Crossword Blog & Answers for June 9, 2025 by Sally Hoelscher
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
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State officials say Hotel Niagara deal still in the works
The Hotel Niagara officially opened for business in downtown Niagara Falls on April 8, 1925. On the eve of the 100-year anniversary of that date, officials representing a state-run development agency in Niagara Falls say they're still working with a developer interested in reopening the hotel for the first time in decades. 'The Empire State Development Corp. continues to work with Brine Wells to get the project started. We are hopeful that work will begin soon,' the agency said in response to a request for an update on the long-delayed hotel project. The landmark Hotel Niagara building, which was listed on the National List of Historic Places in 2008, was built by Falls businessman Frank A. Dudley and designed by the Western New York architectural firm Esenwein & Johnson. GUEST VIEW: Hotel Niagara, 1938: Poetry, Politics, and Civic Engagement It was disheartening to see a shattered glass door at the entrance to the Hotel Niagara recently, close to the 100th anniversary of its official opening, on April 8, 1925. But the promise of the hotel's restoration provides an occasion to recover its past as a place of civic and social engagement and a city's ideals. Stories circulate of celebrity figures whose legendary lives lend an aura of glamour and intrigue to the hotel's history. The visit of the widely admired twentieth-century American poet Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) is less known, however. When he lectured in the ballroom, on the evening of December 6, 1938, he echoed the aspirations of communal action upon which the hotel was founded, and he did so at a moment when democracy was under threat globally. The 12-story steel frame and concrete hotel, located on Rainbow Boulevard, was constructed in 1924 and dedicated on April 8 the following year. From opening as the Hotel Niagara in 1925, the hotel operated for decades under various names, including John's Niagara Hotel, the Park's Inn, the International, Days Inn-Falls View and Travelodge Niagara Falls. The hotel closed in 2007 for renovations that were never completed. Three years later, the State Bank of Texas foreclosed on the property after it was abandoned by its former owners, Amidee Hotels & Resorts. Since then, the property has been subject to numerous sales as well as development plans that never came to pass. Vancouver developer Jamil Kara purchased the property for $1.25 million at a foreclosure auction in April 2011 for $1.25 million. In September of that year, the building was sold to Toronto developer Harry Stinson. In March 2016, USA Niagara Development Corp., a Falls-based subsidiary of ESD, announced that it had reached an agreement to buy the property from Stinson and would seek a request for proposals from developers interested in renovating the building. In December 2019, the firm Brine Wells, which was previously involved in the restoration of the Hotel Syracuse as the Marriott Syracuse Downtown in Syracuse, was selected by the state as the preferred developer for Hotel Niagara. The company's initial $42 million renovation plan, which was in line to receive $10.6 million in state and federal tax credits, was stalled amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Last June, Brine Wells submitted a new plan for restoring the structure at a cost of $50.8 million. The company's new plans call for 160 guest rooms, two ballrooms, a restaurant, a lounge, an exterior patio and a rooftop lounge. The Hotel Niagara property became embroiled in a lawsuit last year with local developer, Merani Hotel Group, filing a complaint in which it claimed Brine Wells accomplished nothing with the building since 2017. Brine Wells filed a counterclaim, alleging Merani interfered with the company's business relationships and their actions jeopardized the hotel's redevelopment. State officials said Monday the two parties have since resolved the lawsuit and the legal claims are no longer viewed as an impediment in moving the project forward. They have not offered a firm timetable for getting the project completed and the hotel reopened.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
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Blue Ridge Parkway visits high despite Helene. Trump officials don't want it publicized
ASHEVILLE - Despite a natural disaster, two Western North Carolina national park sites remained among the most visited in the country in 2024, though a March 5 National Park Service memo indicated the Trump administration wishes to obscure information relevant to the number of visitors. While major sections of the roadway were devastated by Tropical Storm Helene in late September, the Blue Ridge Parkway, a skinny park that stretches 469 miles across the Blue Ridge Mountains from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Cherokee, remained among the most popular national park units, with more than 16.7 million visitors in 2024. Only decreasing from 2023 by around 24,000 visits, the parkway was only second to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, which had more than 17 million visitors in 2024. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which sprawls across a half-million acres of rugged, forested terrain in Western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee, was also among the most visited, with 12.1 million visitors. It was the most visited national park in the country. More: After DOGE firing, Carl Sandburg National Park Service ranger hopes to be reinstated In a March 5 memo, National Park Service administrators told staff that they would not be allowed to actively publicize the information, even though the federal agency had a record 331 million visitors in 2024, according to NPS data published March 5. It comes after roughly 1,000 park service employees were fired in February by the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, under the direction of billionaire Elon Musk as ordered by President Donald Trump. The memo read that there would be "no external communications rollout" for 2024's visitation data and that parks can publish final data online if "that is the park's standard process," but that no press release or "proactive communications, including social media posts" should be made. The memo was published publicly by Resistance Rangers, a group of current and former park service employees who have organized protests against recent firings across the country. The memo also came with a format for how to respond to visitation-related inquiries that begins with "Thanks for reaching out. You can access service wide and park data at A park service spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment from the Citizen Times. Phil Francis, chair of the executive committee for the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks, said that the visitation statistics typically reflect "good news" and opined that the lack of information about 2024's visitation was a product of what the current administration doesn't "want people to see." Francis previously served as the superintendent — the top job — for both the Smokies and the parkway. "One of the concerns is that the staffing levels of the parks are in decline. With the DOGE cuts to the parks, there's going to be even fewer people to manage record numbers of visitation," Francis said. "I'm just guessing that's probably what they don't want people to see." The release of visitation information typically comes with a reminder: a park's impact on the local economy. The 2023 park service economic impact report set the Smokies and the parkway among the top three national park units in the country. Together, the parks generated an estimated $5.1 billion economic output in 2023 and supported over 52,000 jobs, in surrounding communities, including Asheville, where the parkway is headquartered, according to the park service estimates. Francis called the park's economic impact "critical," and noted that with extended closures the Blue Ridge Parkway, which suffered damages that will cost over $1 billion to repair, should indicate that the park needs to be repaired to benefit the region. At least 57 known landslides were recorded after the storm and some major sections of the parkway remain entirely closed. The parkway's busiest months tend to be during the summer and fall, particularly when the leaves are changing. However, 2024 saw higher-than-usual use throughout the first eight months, with visitation peaking during June, July and August, but staying above usual use in February, March, April and May. August had the highest number of visitors, with over 2.1 million visiting the parkway, a 16% increase from 2023. Only 739,523 visited in October, a decline of nearly 66% compared to October 2023, when 2.2 million visited the parkway. Parkway closures can be monitored at Last year was the second time since 2017 that the parkway reached over 16 million visitors, having steadily increased in visitation since the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. 2014 13,941,749 2015 15,054,603 2016 15,175,578 2017 16,093,765 2018 14,690,418 2019 14,976,085 2020 14,099,485 2021 15,948,148 2022 15,711,004 2023 16,757,635 2024 16,733,639 The Great Smoky Mountains National Park was the most visited national park in 2024, but its reported 1.1 million visitor decrease from 2023 to 2024 was not due to a decrease in actual visitation, Smokies spokesperson Katie Liming told the Citizen Times. The decrease was "anticipated due to substantial statistical changes made to improve the accuracy of GSMNP's visitation data," where some changes include improvements in accounting for vehicles that re-enter the park and a more accurate representation of how many people are in each vehicle across seasons. "When we applied the new statistical procedures to the finalized 2023 visitation data for testing purposes, we observed an average decrease in monthly visitation of 8%. It's important to note that these statistical adjustments were only tested on the 2023 data and are not reflected in any public reports for that year. The 2023 data was solely used as a testing baseline to understand the potential implications of the new procedures," Liming told the Citizen Times. 2014 10,099,276 2015 10,712,674 2016 11,312,786 2017 11,338,893 2018 11,421,200 2019 12,547,743 2020 12,095,720 2021 14,161,548 2022 12,937,633 2023 13,297,647 2024 12,191,834 More: Blue Ridge Parkway Helene repairs to cost more than $1 billion; What to know More: Blue Ridge Parkway 'critical' land in Balsam Mountains conserved after decades-long deal Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@ Consider supporting this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times. This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: NPS: Blue Ridge Parkway visitation statistics should not be publicized
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04-03-2025
- Business
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Asheville Federal Complex could be sold by Trump administration; ID'd as ‘non-core asset'
ASHEVILLE – Recently identified as a non-core asset by the Trump administration, the Veach-Baley Federal Complex in downtown Asheville could be put up for sale, according to the U.S. General Services Administration. The agency's Public Buildings Service identified the property as one that is 'not core to government operations.' It's one of three federal properties in North Carolina that's been 'designated for disposal' and could be sold. 'Selling ensures that taxpayer dollars are no longer spent on vacant or underutilized federal spaces,' the GSA wrote on its website listing the 443 federal properties designated for disposal. 'Disposing of these assets helps eliminate costly maintenance and allows us to reinvest in high-quality work environments that support agency missions.' In a March 4 news release, the GSA said selling the non-core properties would save the federal government more than $430 million in annual operating costs. The agency added that the Public Buildings Service will begin to research strategies for 'potential disposition' and other considerations, like occupancy and cost of agency relocation, when determining whether to sell a property. '[Public Buildings Service] welcomes creative solutions, including sale-lease backs, ground leases and other forms of public/private partnerships to drive the full optimization of our space while delivering our federal employees the high quality work environments they need to fulfill their missions,' the agency said in a statement. While the GSA said that most of the non-core assets owned by the federal government consist of office space, the nearly 250,000-square-foot federal complex on Otis Street is one of three locations for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. It's also home to the National Climatic Data Center and the nation's climate archive from the last 30 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. More: After DOGE firing, Carl Sandburg National Park Service ranger hopes to be reinstated Recently, it's been a gathering place for local protestors to voice their opposition to the Trump administration's recent efforts to reshape the federal government through mass firings of federal workers. Some of those affected by cuts have been federal employees working on wildfire response and Helene recovery, the Citizen Times previously reported. Designed by architect James A. Wetmore, the building's construction was completed in 1930 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The complex is named after Judge James M. (Jim) Baley, Jr. and John B. 'Jack" Veach, a leader in the state's timber industry. At the time of its construction, it was described as 'one of the most handsome and modernly equipped federal buildings in the country.' The assessed tax value of the property is $4.3 million, according to Buncombe County tax records. The federal government is exempt from paying property taxes in North Carolina. This story will be updated. More: US Forest Service worker firings threaten Helene recovery in WNC, workers say More: Asheville veterans show in numbers with protesters against Trump's federal workforce purge Jacob Biba is the Helene recovery reporter at the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Email him at jbiba@ This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Trump administration may sell Federal complex in downtown Asheville
