A Landmark With A Long Past St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Buffalo, New York, was built in 1886 and stood for generations as a major Catholic landmark on Broadway. The church permanently closed in August 2024 after years of decline and uncertainty over its future. It was later sold for $250,000 to an Islamic community, with reports and social media posts saying the site was being eyed for conversion into a mosque. That kind of change can stir strong public feelings, especially when an old church building is involved, but the facts on the fire investigation are separate from the debate over the property’s next use. https://twitter.com/father_rmv/status/1822763133187825825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Fire Crews Return Within Days Buffalo firefighters were called back to the former church around 5:45 p.m. Tuesday after reports of another fire inside the building. According to local reporting, fire crews found the fire and put it out before it spread through most of the structure. Officials had not released the exact location of the fire inside the building or the full extent of the damage. The Tuesday response came only days after firefighters battled a three-alarm fire at the same site last Friday, adding to the strain on a building that…

The Amendment Went Down With Republican HelpFour Republicans voted with Democrats against an amendment that would have put President Donald Trump’s executive order on transgender military service into federal law. The order bars transgender individuals from serving in the U.S. military, and the amendment was designed to make that policy harder for a future president to undo with the stroke of a pen. Instead, the measure was defeated, which means the policy remains tied to executive action rather than statute. In Washington terms, that is the difference between a locked door and a sticky note that says, “Please do not change this.”Why Codifying the Order MatteredExecutive orders can move fast, which is why presidents love them and lobbyists learn to live with them. But they are also easy to reverse. A later administration can wipe out a prior order without needing Congress to do much of anything, which is often Congress’s preferred level of exertion. Supporters of the amendment wanted Congress to take a clear position and make the policy part of law. That would have shifted the matter from presidential policy to legislative command. The failed vote keeps the issue in the familiar swamp of temporary rules, future lawsuits,…