WASHINGTON — NASA wants to come up with an out-of-this-world way to keep track of time, putting the moon on its own souped-up clock.
It’s not quite a time zone like those on Earth, but an entire frame of time reference for the moon. Because there’s less gravity on the moon, time there moves a tad quicker — 58.7 microseconds every day — compared to Earth. So the White House Tuesday instructed NASA and other U.S agencies to work with international agencies to come up with a new moon-centric time reference system.
“An atomic clock on the moon will tick at a different rate than a clock on Earth,” said Kevin Coggins, NASA’s top communications and navigation official. “It makes sense that when you go to another body, like the moon or Mars that each one gets its own heartbeat.”
So everything on the moon will operate on the speeded-up moon time, Coggins said.
The last time NASA sent astronauts to the moon they wore watches, but timing wasn’t as precise and critical as it now with GPS, satellites and intricate computer and communications systems, he said. Those microseconds matter when high tech systems interact, he said.
Last year, the European Space Agency said Earth needs to come up with a unified time for the moon, where a day lasts 29.5 Earth days.
The International Space Station, being in low Earth orbit, will continue to use coordinated universal time or UTC. But just where the new space time kicks in is something that NASA has to figure out. Even Earth’s time speeds up and slows down, requiring leap seconds.
Unlike on Earth, the moon will not have daylight saving time, Coggins said.
The White House wants NASA to come up with a preliminary idea by the end of the year and have a final plan by the end of 2026.
NASA is aiming to send astronauts around the moon in September 2025 and land people there a year later.
Judge sides with conservative group in its push to access, publish voter rolls online
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On Tuesday, a day after registrations opened and quickly filled for free youth swimming lessons this summer, St. Paul Parks and Recreation officials confirmed they had set aside 1,000 additional slots for low-income kids and others from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The city plans targeted outreach through its Rec Check after-school program and other nonprofit partners that work with young people, with the goal of more than doubling current enrollments.
“This is the same model we used last year,” said Clare Cloyd, a spokesperson for Parks and Rec. “They just weren’t free. We held lessons back for targeted enrollment using scholarships. This year, they’re all free. … We have a pretty good grasp on the lanes we expect to use for getting those spots filled.”
Targeted programs
St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and others have long pointed to inequities in water safety, leading to at least seven targeted programs, including free lifeguard training for city teens.
According to national studies, Black youth are more than three times as likely to drown as their white peers, leading many kids of color to avoid the water entirely. Carter highlighted those concerns during his budget address last August when he noted a planned $250,000 investment to support free swimming in city-owned pools.
“I expect this proposal to have the same impact on our pools that eliminating participation fees had on our recreation centers last year,” Carter said at the time.
On Monday, he made good on that promise when phone and online registration opened at 9 a.m. for free youth swimming classes this summer.
Hundreds signed up
The offering, announced by the city last week, caught many parents off-guard and led to a sudden deluge of registrations, overwhelming the computer system. Some St. Paul families reported receiving erroneous messages saying they were being denied because they live outside the city, even though they do not.
Still, in what parks officials called a positive sign, 763 youth slots were filled within two hours, and some lessons were full within minutes.
By comparison’s sake, the city’s fee-based swimming lessons usually fill within about a week or two, though prime scheduling hours can be snatched up the same day registration opens.
“The hundreds of residents who flocked to sign up for free swim lessons offered the strongest possible endorsement of the program’s value,” said the mayor, in a written statement on Tuesday. “We are aware that the rush created frustrating technical issues as hundreds of residents attempted to access our systems at the same time. These technical issues will be addressed.”
By JOEY CAPPELLETTI and JILL COLVIN (Associated Press)
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Donald Trump again used language denounced by Democrats to hammer President Joe Biden over his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border on Tuesday as he campaigned in two midwestern swing states likely to be critical to the outcome of the 2024 election.
Trump, who has accused migrants of “poisoning the blood of the country” and vowed to launch the largest domestic deportation operation in the country’s history if he wins a second term, delivered a speech in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in which he accused Biden of allowing a “bloodbath” that was “destroying the country.” The former president referred to immigrants in the U.S. illegally suspected of committing crimes as “animals,” using dehumanizing language that those who study extremism have warned increases the risk of violence.
“Under Crooked Joe Biden, every state is now a border state. Every town is now a border town,” Trump said at the DeVos Place, where he stood flanked by law enforcement officers in uniform before a line of flags.
While violent crime is down, Trump and other Republicans have seized on several high-profile crimes alleged to have been committed by immigrants in the U.S. illegally to attack Biden as illegal border crossings have hit record highs. Polls suggest Trump has an advantage over Biden on immigration issues as many prospective voters say they’re concerned about the impact of the crossings.
Trump will hold a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Wednesday evening as the state holds its presidential primaries.
Trump on Tuesday focused on the killing of Ruby Garcia, a Michigan woman who was found dead on the side of a Grand Rapids highway on March 22. Police say she was in a romantic relationship with the suspect, Brandon Ortiz-Vite. He told police he shot her multiple times during an argument before dropping her body on the side of the road and driving off in her red Mazda.
Trump incorrectly referred to the 25-year-old Garcia as a 17-year-old.
Authorities say Ortiz-Vite is a citizen of Mexico and had previously been deported following a drunken driving arrest. He does not have an attorney listed in court records.
Trump had told conservative Michigan radio host Justin Barclay on Monday that he’d “love to have” members of Garcia’s family attend his speech “if they’d like to be there — it’d be in my honor.” While they did not appear to have taken him up on the offer, Trump said in his remarks that he had spoken to some of her family.
Garcia’s sister, Mavi, however, disputed his account, telling FOX 17 that they had not. “No, he did not speak with us,” the outlet said she told them in a text message, declining to comment further.
She also pleaded on Facebook last week for reporters to stop politicizing her sister’s story, and on Wednesday asked or privacy, saying she only wanted “justice to be served” and to “be left alone.”
In his remarks, Trump also again mentioned the killing of Laken Riley, a nursing student in Georgia, for which a Venezuelan man is charged. Riley’s family attended Trump’s rally in Georgia last month and met with him backstage.
Trump referred to the suspect in Riley’s death as an “illegal alien animal.”
“The Democrats say, ‘Please don’t call them animals. They’re humans.’ I said, ‘No, they’re not humans, they’re not humans, they’re animals,’” he said.
FBI statistics show overall violent crime dropped again in the U.S. last year, continuing a downward trend after a pandemic-era spike. In Michigan, violent crime hit a three-year low in 2022, the most recent available data. Crime in Michigan’s largest city, Detroit, is also down, with the fewest homicides last year since 1966.
Top Republicans from across Michigan had packed into a conference room in downtown Grand Rapids to hear Trump speak in a county he won in 2016 but lost to Biden in 2020. Outside the event center, over 100 supporters stood in a cold rain to line the street where Trump’s motorcade was expected to pass.
At a nearby park, a small group advocating for immigration reform gathered to hold a moment of silence for Garcia while holding signs that read “No human being is illegal” and “Michigan welcomes immigrants.”
Biden’s campaign, which has been hammering Trump for his role in killing a bipartisan border deal that would have added more than 1,500 new Customs and Border Protection personnel, in addition to other restrictions, preempted the speech by accusing Trump of politicizing the death.
“Tomorrow, Donald Trump is coming to Grand Rapids where he is expected to once again try to politicize a tragedy and sow hate and division to hide from his own record of failing Michiganders,” said Alyssa Bradley, the Biden campaign’s Michigan communications director.
A poll asked voters if democracy is the ‘best system.’ Then came all the unexpected responses.
On Tuesday, the White House emphasized that immigration is a positive for the U.S. economy. They argued that recent gains in immigration have helped to boost employment and sustained growth as the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates to bring down inflation.
“We know immigrants strengthen our country and also strengthen our economy,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at Tuesday’s briefing, noting that immigrants were the ones doing the “critical work” on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore when it collapsed after being struck by a ship.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, said Monday that there is “a real problem on our southern border” and that it’s “really critical that Congress and the president solve the problem.”
“There was a solution on the table. It was actually the former president that encouraged Republicans to walk away from getting it done,” Whitmer said. “I don’t have a lot of tolerance for political points when it continues to endanger our economy and, to some extent, our people as we saw play out in Grand Rapids recently.”
Trump has been leaning into inflammatory rhetoric about the surge of migrants at the southern border. He has portrayed migrants as “poisoning the blood of the country,” questioned whether some should even be considered people, and claimed, without evidence, that countries have been emptying their prisons and mental asylums into the U.S.
He has also accused Biden and the Democrats of trying to “collapse the American system, nullify the will of the actual American voters and establish a new base of power that gives them control for generations.”
Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writers Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.
NADI, Fiji Islands — “That’s Tom Hanks’ island, in ‘Cast Away’ the movie,” said the passenger sitting nearby, on the rear deck.
We’d seen him standing in line, a college kid in a red shirt, packing and repacking a knapsack while we waited to board the early morning ferry out of Viti Levu, largest of Fiji’s 330 islands. Leaning over the railing, he pointed at the horizon and a faint grey-green shape.
“Its real name is Modriki, and it’s small, just 100 acres,” he said. “But the beach is awesome. Tourists can’t wait to go.”
No surprise there. For most South Pacific travelers, nothing rivals Fiji’s sandy beaches, palm-shaded gardens, starry nights and Melanesian hospitality. We’d island-hopped over the years, tried a dozen different beach resorts, and liked most of them. Until 2019, when we joined a hiking group for a long look at the island’s mountains.
Horses are cheaper than trucks, say Fiji farmers, if you’re out to see a neighbor. (Steve Haggerty/TNS)
Navala Village, Fiji’s last traditionally thatched village, is an hour from the Fiji Orchid Hotel and welcomes visitors. (Steve Haggerty/TNS)
Families on vacation make new friends in the pool near the Toba Bar & Grill, Intercontinental Hotel & Resort, Fiji. (Steve Haggerty/TNS)
For a last-minute weekend on Lomani Island, take the one-hour ferry trip from Port Denerau. (Steve Haggerty/TNS)
The Nausori Highland Road, scaling ancient lava slopes, reveals the origins of Fiji’s birth. (Steve Haggerty/TNS)
Daring travelers join a Fijian warrior at the International Hotel & Resort’s evening Torch Lighting Ceremony, Fiji Islands. (Steve Haggerty/TNS)
Natadola Bay’s public beach, beside the Intercontinental Hotel & Resort, is one of Viti Levu’s best. (Steve Haggerty/TNS)
Fiji’s farming families grow vegetables year around to sell at Nadi’s Outdoor Market. (Steve Haggerty/TNS)
Finally last fall, with COVID in decline and Fiji open for tourists, we hopped a plane and headed back, this time for another look at what makes the country tick. Finding hotels wasn’t easy; Fiji is to Australians what Hawaii is to Americans. But we crossed our fingers, found five with rooms and struck gold at three places begging for a repeat visit.
The Fiji Orchid, a stately manor house near Viti Levu’s northwest shore and the former home of Hollywood actor Raymond Burr, star of the detective series “Perry Mason,” felt nothing like a hotel and everything like a home away from home. With an inviting living room and framed memorabilia, it beckoned at the end of a very long day.
Hotel Manager Deepika Dimlesh arranged an authentic Fijian dinner, and co-owner Gordon Leewie told tales of Fiji life in the early days. Though Nadi (NAN-dee) International Airport was 20 minutes away, our bure (BOO-ray, room, house), one of six in the lush tropical garden, was as quiet as a cemetery.
“We’ve had guests who stayed for weeks,” said Dimlesh at dinner. “One was even writing a book. But most are international travelers, businessmen flying through. We tell them, if you have a layover don’t try to sleep in the lounge. We’ll pick you up, you can use the pool, eat dinner or go to bed, and we’ll drive you back.”
Curious about Lautoka, Viti Levu’s second-largest town on the northwest shore, we hired tour guide and driver Kesho Goundar, who (like many Fijians) speaks Fijian, English and Hindi. Stopping at the town’s huge covered market, he bought a couple of kava “sticks,” the gifts we would need – for the chief – if we visited a village.
Then it was on to the Sabeto Mountains and the Garden of the Sleeping Giant. A popular park, it was founded by Burr, a worldwide orchid collector. Hundreds of orchids, planted along the trail to the summit, a huge head-like rock, are the highlight of a visit. And the adjacent forest — a tower of vines, shadowy branches and strange flowers — was a set waiting for a movie.
The next day we headed upcountry to Navala Village, the country’s last thatched village, driving past barnyards, gardens, sugar cane fields, villages, the occasional manufacturing plant and Methodist, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu and Catholic-oriented primary schools.
At first glance Navala looked empty, until guide Mark Navaroka came out to collect our $25 entrance fee and a kava stick for the chief.
Sleep vacations are the latest dreamy travel trend
“This is how we used to build houses,” he said, leading us inside the chief’s official structure, where a couple of village leaders sat cross-legged, talking. “They built it in 1954 when five dying Catholic villages joined together,” he continued, leading the way to the school and church.
Turning onto the Nausori Highland Road – not another car in sight – we lurched uphill over a rocky, pot-holed track for more than an hour, each hill steeper than the one before, until we rounded the top, a photographer’s delight. Finally, around the corner, we passed two hunters on horseback with rifles and dogs.
Moving to Viti Levu’s southwest corner, we checked into the Intercontinental Fiji Golf Resort & Spa, a 35-acre landscaped property on Natadola Bay. And instead of salesmen in suits, the hotel was as busy as a country club on a holiday weekend. Dads and kids played volleyball; moms worked out at a fitness center. We spotted kids racing hermit crabs, and others learning Fijian words and Polynesian dances. Menus at the hotel’s several restaurants listed continental and some Fijian dishes, and our favorite, the lively Toba Bar & Grill, took our order in five minutes and served the food in 10.
Coaxed into trying the Jet Ski “experience,” we flew over the waves, riding tandem behind two watersports guides. But the skis were trumped by the hotel’s Coral Planting project, headed by marine scientists Lawaci Koroyawa and Luke Romatanababa. Joining them in the water, we learned how to plant healthy corals onto damaged reefs.
Most memorable was the river cruise with Singatoka River Safari. Wide and long, the river winds through an endless valley, weaving past rocky hills, farms and meadows. Children splashed in it and men scrubbed their horses, waving as we passed. Pastoral and peaceful, it was a nod to an older century.
The 35-mile-long trip ended at a village, with a tour, lunch at the community center and a kava ceremony — shared cups – with the chief and town fathers. Kava is calming, some say. Just more weak tea, say others.
How many villages are there, we wondered. “Hundreds, but that’s not all,” said the hotel’s desk clerk. Each indigenous Fijian family belongs to a village that owns the land its on. It’s like a clan, she explained. And only indigenous Fijians can own land. So add all the villages and their land and it’s nearly 90% of the country. “The government makes Fiji’s laws, but the villages rule themselves. That’s why they’re important.”
As our last week approached, we took the ferry to Lomani Island Resort – yes, an adults-only beach resort – on Malolo Lailai island, a single hour’s ferry ride to the mainland and Nadi International Airport. You can stay overnight and still make it to the airport on time.
But it wasn’t the beach that earned the gold star. It was the charming cottages, each with a private yard and plunge pool. The smiling waiters and creative, chef-designed meals, served at candle-lit tables. The “double-X” swimming pool and the water sports center.
“It’s peaceful here,” said Shelley White, the general manager, when we met at the cocktail hour. “And quiet. But with Nadi next door, we stay busy with weddings and anniversaries, and lately, even business retreats. We can order everything we need and get it delivered the next day,” she said.
“Still, we love to have visitors like you, people who know this place and like it,” she added, with a puckish smile. “Let me know the next time you travel. I might decide to come along.”
If you go
Fiji Airways flies from Los Angeles, with Fijian attendants and quality service, and includes dinner, breakfast and snacks. Departures leave just before midnight and arrive at 5:30 a.m. Fiji Airways also flies from San Francisco and Honolulu.
Air New Zealand flies from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Honolulu
American Airlines flies from Los Angeles and San Francisco
