WASHINGTON — Debate over President Donald Trump’s sweeping budget-and-policy package is over on Capitol Hill. Now the argument goes national.

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From the Central Valley of California to Midwestern battlegrounds and suburban districts of the northeast, the new law already is shaping the 2026 midterm battle for control of the House of Representatives. The outcome will set the tone for Trump’s final two years in the Oval Office.

Democrats need a net gain of three House seats to break the GOP’s chokehold on Washington and reestablish a power center to counter Trump. There’s added pressure to flip the House given that midterm Senate contests are concentrated in Republican-leaning states, making it harder for Democrats to reclaim that chamber.

As Republicans see it, they’ve now delivered broad tax cuts, an unprecedented investment in immigration enforcement and new restraints on social safety net programs. Democrats see a law that rolls back health insurance access and raises costs for middle-class Americans while cutting taxes mostly for the rich, curtailing green energy initiatives and restricting some workers’ organizing rights.

“It represents the broken promise they made to the American people,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene, a Washington Democrat who chairs the party’s House campaign arm. “We’re going to continue to hold Republicans accountable for this vote.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., right, leaves his office with Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., left, and Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., center, shortly after speaking in the House chamber during the final vote for President Donald Trump’s signature bill of tax breaks and spending cuts, Thursday, July 3, 2025, at the Capitol in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Parties gear up for a fight

Whether voters see it that way will be determined on a district-by-district level, but the battle will be more intense in some places than others. Among the 435 House districts, only 69 contests were decided by less than 10 percentage points in the 2024 general election.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has so far identified 26 Democratic-held seats it must defend vigorously, along with 35 GOP-held seats it believes could be ripe to flip. Republicans’ campaign arm, the National Republican Congressional Committee, has so far listed 18 GOP incumbents as priorities, plus two districts opened by retirements.

There are a historically low number of so-called crossover districts: Only 13 Democrats represent districts Trump carried in 2024, while just three Republicans serve districts Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris carried.

Both committees are busy recruiting challengers and open-seat candidates and more retirements could come, so the competitive map will evolve. Still, there are clusters of districts guaranteed to influence the national result.

California, despite its clear lean to Democrats statewide, has at least nine House districts expected to be up for grabs: three in the Central Valley and six in southern California. Six are held by Democrats, three by the GOP.

Pennsylvania features four districts that have been among the closest national House races for several consecutive cycles. They include a suburban Philadelphia seat represented by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, one of just two House Republicans to vote against Trump’s bill and one of the three GOP lawmakers from a district Harris won. Fitzpatrick cited the Medicaid cuts.

Vice President JD Vance plans on Wednesday to be in Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan’s northwest Pennsylvania district to tout the GOP package. Bresnahan’s seat is a top Democratic target.

Iowa and Wisconsin, meanwhile, feature four contiguous GOP-held districts in farm-heavy regions where voters could be swayed by fallout from Trump’s tariffs.

FILE – U.S. Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., poses for a photo in Washington on Jan. 6, 2015. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

Democrats fight to define the GOP

Beyond bumper-sticker labels — Trump’s preferred “Big Beautiful Bill” versus Democrats’ “Big Ugly Bill” retort — the 900-page law is, in fact, an array of policies with varying impact.

Democrats hammer Medicaid and food assistance cuts, some timed to take full effect only after the 2026 midterms, along with Republicans’ refusal to extend tax credits to some people who obtained health insurance through the Affordable Care Act.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 11.8 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2034 if the bill became law; 3 million more would not qualify for food stamps, also known as SNAP benefits.

“Folks will die here in Louisiana and in other parts of the country,” House Minority Leader Jeffries warned last week during a town hall in Republican Speaker Mike Johnson’s home state of Louisiana.

Jeffries singled out vulnerable Republicans like California Rep. David Valadao, who represents a heavily agricultural Central Valley district where more than half the population is eligible for the joint state-federal insurance program. California allows immigrants with legal status and those who are undocumented to qualify for Medicaid, so not all Medicaid recipients are voters. But the program helps finance the overall health care system, including nursing homes and hospitals.

Republicans highlight the law’s tightened work requirements for Medicaid enrollees. They argue it’s a popular provision that will strengthen the program.

“I voted for this bill because it does preserve the Medicaid program for its intended recipients — children, pregnant women, the disabled, and elderly,” Valadao said. “I know how important the program is for my constituents.”

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks during a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony for three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond at the Capitol, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Republicans hope voters see lower taxes

The law includes $4.5 trillion in tax cuts. It makes permanent existing rates and brackets approved during Trump’s first term. Republicans and their allies have hammered vulnerable Democrats for “raising costs” on American households by opposing the bill.

GOP campaign aides point to the popularity of individual provisions: boosting the $2,000 child tax credit to $2,200 (some families at lower income levels would not get the full credit), new deductions on tip and overtime income and auto loans; and a new deduction for older adults earning less than $75,000 a year.

“Everyone will have more take home pay. They’ll have more jobs and opportunity,” Johnson said in a Fox News Sunday interview. “The economy will be doing better and we’ll be able to point to that as the obvious result of what we did.”

Democrats note that the biggest beneficiaries of Trump’s tax code are wealthy Americans and corporations. Pairing that with safety net cuts, Florida Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz concluded, “The cruelty is the point.”

Immigration, meanwhile, was Trump’s strongest issue in 2024. NRCC aides say that will continue with the new law’s investments in immigration enforcement. Democrats believe the Trump administration has overplayed its hand with its push for mass deportation.

Playing the Trump card

The president is a titanic variable.

Democrats point to 2018, when they notched a 40-seat net gain in House seats to take control away from the GOP. This year, Democrats have enjoyed a double-digit swing in special elections around the country when compared to 2024 presidential results. Similar trends emerged in 2017 after Trump’s 2016 victory. Democrats say that reflects voter discontent with Trump once he’s actually in charge.

Republicans answer that Trump’s job approval remains higher at this point than in 2017. But the GOP’s effort is further complicated by ongoing realignments: Since Trump’s emergence, Democrats have gained affluent white voters -– like those in suburban swing districts -– while Trump has drawn more working-class voters across racial and ethnic groups. But Republicans face a stiffer challenge of replicating Trump’s coalition in a midterm election without him on the ballot.

Democrats, meanwhile, must corral voters who are not a threat to vote for Republicans but could stay home.

Jeffries said he’s determined not to let that happen: “We’re going to do everything we can until we end this national nightmare.”

Cooper reported from Phoenix. Brook reported from New Orleans. Associated Press reporters Michael Blood in Los Angeles and Marc Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed.

By WAFAA SHURAFA, FATMA KHALED and SALLY ABOU ALJOUD

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight killed at least 31 people, according to local hospitals, as United Nations agencies warned that critical fuel shortages put hospitals and other critical infrastructure at risk.

The latest attacks came after U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held two days of talks last week that ended with no sign of a breakthrough in negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage release.

Twelve people were killed by strikes in southern Gaza, including three who were waiting at an aid distribution point, according to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, which received the bodies. Shifa Hospital in Gaza City also received 12 bodies, including three children and two women, after a series of strikes in the north, according to the hospital’s director, Dr. Mohammed Abu Selmia.

Al-Awda Hospital reported seven killed and 11 wounded in strikes in central Gaza.

The Israeli military says it only targets combatants and tries to avoid harming civilians. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because they operate in densely populated areas. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Fuel crisis warning

U.N. agencies, including those providing food and health care, reiterated a warning made at the weekend that without adequate fuel, they “will likely be forced to stop their operations entirely.”

In a joint statement, they said that hospitals are already going dark and ambulances can no longer move. Without fuel, transport, water production, sanitation and telecommunications will shut down and bakeries and community kitchens cannot operate, they said.

The agencies confirmed that some 150,000 liters of fuel entered Gaza last week — the first delivery in 130 days. But they said it is “a small fraction of what is needed each day to keep daily life and critical aid operations running.”

“The United Nations agencies and humanitarian partners cannot overstate the urgency of this moment: fuel must be allowed into Gaza in sufficient quantities and consistently to sustain life-saving operations,” they said.

The agencies signing the statement were the U.N. humanitarian office OCHA, food agency WFP, health organization WHO, children’s agency UNICEF, the agency helping Palestinian refugees UNRWA, population agency UNFPA, development agency UNDP, and UNOPS which oversees procurement and provides management services.

Strike kills Hamas fighter who held hostage

Israel’s military said a June 19 strike killed Muhammad Nasr Ali Quneita, a senior Hamas fighter who it said had taken part in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack and held hostage Emily Damari, a dual Israeli-British citizen, in his home at the start of the war.

There was no comment from Hamas and no independent confirmation.

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Thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed into Israel that day, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 people, most of whom have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. They are still holding 50 hostages, less than half of them believed to be alive.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 58,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which has said women and children make up more than half of the dead. It does not distinguish between civilians and fighters in its tally.

The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and is led by medical professionals. The United Nations and other experts consider its figures to be the most reliable count of war casualties.

Israel’s air and ground war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and driven some 90% of the population from their homes. Aid groups say they have struggled to bring in food and other assistance because of Israeli military restrictions and the breakdown of law and order, and experts have warned of famine.

Khaled reported from Cairo and AlJoud from Beirut. Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.

By KIM COOK

You can only sit in front of the fridge with the door open for so long.

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As heat waves blast the world like a blow dryer on high, folks are reaching for anything that promises a little personal chill: portable mini fans, cooling neck wraps, high-tech vests and all kinds of heat-beating headwear.

Of course, cooling gear helps most when paired with basic and safe strategies against the heat: most importantly hydration, shade and rest. Stay out of extreme heat when possible, and know the signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

Yet these wearable wonders and breezy gadgets can offer some relief. They might look quirky, but when the AC struggles and the sidewalk feels like a stovetop, they can start to seem like must-haves.

When you’re at home

Indoors, stay comfy with cool-feel sheets (like those with a silky finish or lightweight fibers), bed fans (where a nozzle inserted into the bed linens pumps a flow of air around you), or a cooling pillow or chill pad, which are filled with a gel that can stay cool for hours. Sleep-product brands include Serta, Sealy, Casper, Pluto and Threshold.

The chill pads can work for your own bed and the pets’ bed too. There are chillable full-size mattresses (Chilipad, 8Sleep and BedJet get good reviews from The Spruce) and smaller, simple pads (CoolCare and Sharper Image, among others).

Outdoor wearables

Clare Epstein, an employee safety expert with Vector Solutions in Tampa, Florida, works to reduce heat stress for at-risk employees in industries like construction, aviation and agriculture. She recommends wearables like cooling scarves and evaporative cooling vests.

“By soaking the fabric in cold water at the beginning of the day, the vest slowly cools, and keeps the wearer cool,” she says.

Clothes made of “phase change materials,” or PCMs, contain gel capsules or pads that can help moderate body temperatures. Uline.com advertises a vest that stays under 60 degrees for a few hours, and AlphaCool offers a neck tube that performs similarly. Another feature of the tube, which is made of a polymer material, is that it doesn’t get overly chilled, so it’s safe for kids to use.

Also for kids, there’s a line of plush toys from Warmies that includes little critters of the farmyard, ocean, forest and safari that can be popped in the freezer before a trip to the park or playground.

This image released by Warmies shows plush animal toys that can be popped in the freezer to provide cooling comfort. (Warmies via AP)

Wearable items that incorporate small fans or thermoelectric coolers are also good, Epstein says. And there are vests with tubed reservoirs you can fill with water or electrolytes so you can sip as you go.

“These encourage people to take more water breaks, and stay hydrated,” says Epstein.

The wearables range is extensive. Along with cooling buffs, headbands, wristbands, socks and scarves, there are cooling brimmed hats and ball caps. Brands include Mission, Ergodyne, and Sunday Afternoon.

If you’d prefer a refreshing breeze, USB-chargeable handheld or wearable fans might do the job.

Chill advice

Lynn Campbell, co-founder of 10Adventures travel company in Calgary, Alberta, takes a lot of strenuous hiking and cycling trips with her husband, Richard. They’ve developed some easy hacks for hot days.

“We’ll wake up early, so we’re done by 10 or 11 a.m., or if we’re out on the trails, split the day in two, so we rest by water or in the shade over the hottest part” of the day, she says.

Wear light colors and thin, breathable fabrics.

And bring an umbrella. “This is a game-changer,” Campbell says. “Now we always pack ultralight, compact ones; they’re incredible.”

Also, pour cool water on your head and back. “We freeze a few bottles of water so we can pour ice water on us to cool down,” Campbell says. “Putting the bottles under the armpits, in the groin, or on the back of the neck can effectively cool a person down.”

And Annita Katee, a contributing writer for Apartment Therapy, has another way to prep your bed on hot nights:

“Pop your sheets into the freezer at least two hours before bedtime, then pull them out right before you hit the sack,” she wrote in a recent post. She folds hers into a zipped plastic bag, flattens it, then sets it on a freezer shelf between ice packs.

“The result? A delightfully cool bed that feels like a refreshing oasis against the heat.”

New York-based writer Kim Cook covers design and decor topics regularly for The AP. Follow her on Instagram at @kimcookhome.

For more AP Lifestyles stories, go to https://apnews.com/lifestyle

I kept thinking “Oh! Darling” — and not because my husband languished in a hammock while slurping a Bahama Mama rum cocktail.

Along pale pink sands, on the Bahamian island of Eleuthera, we were staying in the Potlatch Club cottage where music icon Paul McCartney and wife Linda honeymooned in March 1969. While here, the Beatles heartthrob jotted down lyrics to “Oh! Darling,” and “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window” on Potlatch-logo stationary; both songs appeared on the Fab Four’s final album, “Abbey Road,” later that year.

A walk along the Potlatch Club’s beach is a remarkable, solitary experience on the island of Eleuthera. (Photo by Norma Meyer)

Believe me darlin’: This chic, renovated one-bedroom had been abandoned and buried by the smothering jungle for nearly 40 years. In fact, the entire original Potlatch Club, once a 1960s and ‘70s hideaway for elites and celebrities  — including Greta Garbo, Cliff Robertson and Richard Widmark — had been swallowed up by nature, looted, lashed by hurricane winds and long forgotten.

The grounds of the Potlatch Club include meandering paths and manicured lawns leading to aquamarine seas. (Photo by Norma Meyer)

That is, until Caribbean-born entrepreneurs Hans Febles and Bruce Loshusan spent almost eight years meticulously raising the decrepit Potlatch from the dead; 11 accommodations in whitewashed cottages debuted last summer on 12 gorgeously landscaped acres that feel like your own private oceanfront estate.

“We bought the property not knowing its history,” Febles said. And that’s a crazy story in itself.

Queen’s Bath is a striking collection of natural warm pools carved by crashing waves along the Atlantic side of Eleuthera. (Photo by Norma Meyer)

Eleuthera is a rugged, low-key, 110-mile-long, twig-thin island with crystalline aqua seas, no traffic lights, a strip dubbed “the narrowest place on Earth,” one two-lane potholed main road, and wondrous skylit caves shielding bats and spirits of shipwrecked Puritans. A major happening is Eleuthera’s annual pineapple festival, when contestants draped in 30-gallon trash bags frantically try to devour a strung pineapple as fast as they can. The island’s 100 or so largely empty, pristine beaches are gaspingly beautiful (and just a 40-minute flight from Miami). Tourists can snorkel and book fishing trips, however because it’s so relaxed, the island’s candid slogan is: “Eleuthera, it’s not for everyone.”

In 1967, a trio of moneyed New York socialites opened the Potlatch Club after building homes and cottages on what had been a 1923 pineapple plantation. They did so at the urging of a friend, Elizabeth Taylor (not the actress) who went to golf in Eleuthera and decided a plethora of posh pals needed a discreet tropical resort. The three Potlatch owners included two former debutantes and Junior Leaguers — Diana Adams, then married to a top-drawer tax attorney, and divorcee Marie Driggs, whose son, Tony, became Potlatch’s tennis pro on the cork-turf court. Joining them was Driggs’ partner, Elizabeth Fitzgerald, an outstanding pianist who studied the ivories in Paris.

The Potlatch was an invitation-only retreat with thatched tiki umbrellas poolside and rooms filled with classy European antiques such as an oak wainscot chair dated 1657. Since guests were “invited” many didn’t feel the need to pay anything.

Soon after Febles and Loshusan broke ground in 2016,  Driggs’ late son Tony shared the piecemeal heyday history and some visitor names with the new owners who had no clue. Among the VIPs: Prince Charles, Lord Mountbatten, Broadway legend Mary Martin, actor Raymond Burr, actress and Post Cereals heiress Dina Merrill. Even, he said, Ringo.

The Potlatch cottage where Paul McCartney and wife Linda honeymooned in 1969 has gotten a whole new chic look. (Photo by Norma Meyer)

“There’s not a lot of photographs or paperwork on who stayed because they wanted privacy,” said Febles, who lives on-site. “I did find a bill for Walter Cronkite and Merv Griffin.”

With draining funds, the socialites sold the furnished Potlatch Club in 1978 to a Canadian investor who never opened it as a hotel. Sometime in the ‘80s, the Potlatch plummeted into foreclosure and decades of ruin.

Then one day, Febles and Loshusan were driving with a real estate agent after viewing another possible hotel venue, when they glimpsed the barely visible clubhouse constructed in 1923 and part of the bygone Potlatch. The area was so overgrown, they had no idea the vast lot stretched to the beach. “There were trees coming up from what had been the pool,” Febles recalled. But in his mind, he foresaw his hotel goal: “Timeless elegance.”

“When it went bankrupt and was in probate for a couple years, locals used to go there and take whatever they wanted,” Febles said. Surprisingly, once the duo purchased the land, excited neighbors stopped by to give them Potlatch cups, napkins, brochures, and other items. “They felt like, finally, someone’s doing something here.”

One man offered to return the heavy piano he somehow moved from the shuttered Potlatch. The damaged piano had long been neglected in his garage and although unusable, the baby grand mahogany Bosendorfer graces the new Potlatch’s library. Prior co-owner Elizabeth Fitzgerald had often played it for guests.

In a reception area, an original restored cabinet now houses tasseled key chains from the earlier Potlatch Club. (Photo by Norma Meyer)

A dilapidated wood cabinet, rained on for decades, was discovered in the ramshackle premises. Now restored, it holds the original tasseled Potlatch room key chains, which Febles located in a stashed box with keys that had “Potlatch” misspelled. “I couldn’t try a key to see if it worked. There were no doors anywhere, everyone had taken them.”

The clubhouse still features its 1923 black-and-white checkered floor set in sand; a section had cratered into the ground but was repaired for Potlatch 2.0.

Eleuthera, with the rest of the Bahamas, remained a British colony until gaining independence in 1973. Which explains why the first Potlatch’s general manager wore dressy Scottish kilts (supposedly he was hired because of his finesse for playing backgammon and bridge). The current GM, Bhutan-born Kezang Dorji, is a gem who worked as a high-end butler for Keith Richards, Christie Brinkley, and Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, and exudes his homeland’s Gross National Happiness attitude. (Both Dorji and laid-back Febles are hands-on, even toting guests’ luggage to their quarters. In the mornings, you might spot shorts-clad Febles picking stray blades from the perfectly manicured green lawns. He’s often joined by two statuesque wild herons.)

Potlatch co-owner Hans Febles (right) and general manager Kezang Dorji sit near the original Potlatch’s motto: La Vita E Bella, which means “Life Is Beautiful” in Italian. (Photo by Norma Meyer)

Of the Bahamas’ 700 islands, Eleuthera ranked as the “pineapple capital” in the mid-19th century, shipping tons of the tangy fruit to the United States and England. After exports bottomed out, so did pineapple cultivation — there’s only about 15 farmers now. At Eleuthera’s recent 36th annual Pineapple Festival, fans of the prickly crop munched pineapple tarts, perused pineapple-themed paintings, and danced to boisterous bands in a park.

Sugarloaf pineapples, a special sweet variety, are grown on the family-owned Eleuthera Pineapple Farm. (Photo by Norma Meyer)

“This is where it all began, this is the place internationally where people bought pineapples from,” enthused Bekera Taylor, who owns a one-acre farm. Inside a festival booth, she sold Eleuthera’s special Sugarloaf variety (“they’re sugary sweet and shaped like a loaf of bread”), next to homemade pineapple ketchup, pineapple barbecue sauce, pineapple pepper jelly, and pineapple chips. She’s hoping to launch a pineapple winery.

Pineapple farmer Bekera Taylor sells her juicy harvest at the 36th annual Pineapple Festival in Gregory Town on the island of Eleuthera. (Photo by Norma Meyer)

Thanks to a stormy shipwreck, Eleuthera is also “the birthplace of the Bahamas.” In 1648, a group of English Puritans set sail from Bermuda to avoid religious persecution only to smack into Devil’s Backbone reef. They managed to get ashore, name their refuge “Eleuthera” from the Greek word for “free,” and take shelter in Preacher’s Cave where they carved Pulpit Rock for sermons. I had the willies in the cave, but then it’s also an ancient burial ground for the extinct Lucayan people; archeologists dug up a shaman’s remains, a beheaded skeleton and a 1,000-year-old tooth.

The Glass Window Bridge splits the Blight of Eleuthera waters (right) from the opposite Atlantic Ocean. (Photo by Norma Meyer)

Another must-see is the Glass Window Bridge, a 30-foot-wide natural rock formation (“the narrowest place on Earth”) topped by a manmade paved bridge (no glass). Visually striking, the calm, turquoise Bight of Eleuthera waters lie on one side; on the other the churning cobalt Atlantic.

Potlatch isn’t within walking distance of much, although the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve beckoned a block away. I fixated on medicinal flora and learned home-brewed tea from horse bush relives chest congestion, a bound thatch palm can “pull de heat out a de head,” according to a sign, and snakeroot cures intestinal worms. Also, from Potlatch, a 10-minute stroll on powdery sands brought us to funky beach bar Tippy’s; the men’s restroom door is labeled “Bob” and covered by Marley’s likeness.

An Eleuthera hangout for 20 years,Tippy’s beach bar has an unusual men’s restroom door. (Photo by Norma Meyer)

One balmy morning, about 45 miles from Potlatch, we hopped on a five-minute water taxi ride to tiny Harbour Island, known as the “Nantucket of the Bahamas” and luring privileged visitors and multi-million-dollar yachts. (Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce vacationed there.) The main mode of transportation — golf carts — puttered past brightly colored colonial-era homes erected by British Loyalists starting in the 1700s.

Adhering to a funereal tradition, mourners parade down a street on Harbour Island, across from Eleuthera. (Photo by Norma Meyer)

On a side street, a lively brass band paraded with a coffin containing a departed gent, as we popped into Vic-Hum Club, a 70-year-old landmark bar totally plastered with memorabilia. Co-owner Jay-Jay Percentie — an exuberant local councilman, justice of the peace and self-anointed Prince of Dunmore (the only town on Harbour Island) — proudly took the “world’s largest coconut” off a shelf.

Jay-Jay Percentie, co-owner of the Vic-Hum bar on Harbour Island, holds “the world’s largest coconut” that supposedly washed up on a nearby beach. (Photo by Norma Meyer)

“It’s got a diameter of 33 inches even though it’s shrunk over 40 years,” he boasted, holding out the monstrous, hefty, hard-shelled thing. “It washed up in 1983. Maybe it came from Indonesia. It sure traveled over the Atlantic Ocean to make it here.”

A mystery yes, but back at the Potlatch, there were more secrets to unravel. The word “potlatch” refers to a North American Indigenous ceremony during which possessions are given away to show wealth, fortuitous for the initial owners and freebie clientele. (The new hotel offers breakfast-inclusive rates from $659 — and yes, you must pay.)

To channel the past, I quietly sat in Potlatch’s library, surrounded by the long-lost piano, worn tennis rackets that Febles found stored, vintage photos of the early Potlatch, and its brochure stating “children under ten must be accompanied by a nurse.” On the wall hung a copy of Sir Paul’s handwritten lyrics to “Oh! Darling” on Potlatch notepaper. Febles said he acquired the duplicate from the Liverpool Beatles Museum that retains the original.

Houdini wasn’t around but this original deck of Potlatch cards disappeared from a shelf in the new Potlatch Club before mysteriously re-appearing days later. (Photo by Norma Meyer)

However, one prized relic is no longer on display. Months ago, a deck of old playing cards, inscribed “Potlatch Club” in gold letters, had been exhibited under a glass dome in the library. Suddenly, the deck vanished. Febles said guests had already checked out and weren’t suspects. Five days later, the card deck magically reappeared right beside the glass dome. Perhaps borrowed by Potlatch ghosts for a friendly game of bridge.