RUSSIAN PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (Kremlin.ru/Wikipedia).

About a dozen Russian generals have been killed during the invasion of Ukraine.

Now The New York Times is reporting that American intelligence is helping the defenders to target and kill the generals of the invading army.

The Times refers to unnamed sources in the Pentagon saying the U.S. is focusing on finding the location of often-moved military headquarters, making it easier for the Ukrainians to use artillery and other weapons to kill the generals and thereby disrupt the chain of command.

Locating those command centers is achieved in part by the use of satellites, which can magnify objects on the Earth by many factors.

A Pentagon spokesman declined to give any specifics on what’s provided, except to say the U.S. provides “Ukraine with information and intelligence that they can use to defend themselves.”

Also in the news ….

Comedian Dave Chappelle was tackled on-stage by a man Tuesday night. The man, identified as Isiah Lee, 23, was overpowered and arrested. He was carrying a replica gun with a knife blade inside and was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon. Chris Rock was at the performance and quipped, “Was that Will Smith?”

Sports: Alabama an early college no. 1

WHO IS NUMBER ONE this fall? (Shutterstock).

It’s apparently not too early to start thinking about the fall 2022 college football season. USA Today has brought out its very early pre-season top 25.

Alabama, not defending champion Georgia, is ranked at the top. The rest of the top 10 are Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Clemson, Utah, Michigan, Texas A&M, Brigham Young and North Carolina State.

Where are the West Coast teams? Oregon is 14th and UCLA is 24th.

Weather: Hang on … the sun’s on its way

It’s been cloudy on and off recently for the West Orange County area, but don’t despair – lots of sun is on its way.

According to forecasts, although Thursday should have partly cloudy skies and a high of 78 (57 overnight), warmer temperatures and clearer skies are not far behind. Friday will be mostly sunny (76/59), but after that we should see lots of the sun for the next week and a half.

Business: Costs rise, but Wall Street cheers

INFLATION is a worry (Shutterstock).

It may seem counter-intuitive, but an increase in interest rates is sending the stock  markets soaring.

The Federal Reserve announced it was raising the prime lending rate by a half point. That will raise the cost of borrowing money to by cars, homes, etc. But investors are happy, according to CNN, that it may help cool off inflation a bit. They’re even happier that Chair Jerome Powell said the Fed would not consider raising rates by more than a half point at a time which – it’s hoped – wouldn’t cool the economy so much it slides into recession.

The Dow Jones Average gained 931 points (2.8 percent) on Wednesday, and the other big players surged as well. The S&P 500 rose by 3 percent and Nasdaq by 3.2 percent.