THE FEDERAL RESERVE moved to slow inflation by raising a key interest rate (Shutterstock).

The Federal Reserve system took a mighty swing against inflation on Friday, raising its key rate by three-quarters of a point, the biggest jump since 1994.

According to The Associated Press, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said, “We thought strong action was warranted at this meeting, and we delivered that.”

Wall Street signaled its approval as all three major stock indexes posted big gains.

The move came after last week’s announcement that the cost of living had risen by 8.6 percent in May. Powell indicated that the Fed was seeking to cool the inflation rate to 2 percent, even if it lead to a small rise in unemployment.

$1 billion and more guns for Ukraine

One billion dollars in military assistance – including longer range weapons – will be sent to Ukraine to help that country resist Russian advances in eastern regions of that nation.

The announcement was made Wednesday in Washington. The aid on its way will include anti-ship missiles and long-range rockets, as well as providing training for Ukrainian troops.

Also in the news … Sarah Palin, former governor of Alaska and the 2008 Republican nominee for vice president, will advance to the “final four”  runoff of candidates to fill that state’s only seat in the House of Representatives. She topped 50 candidates with 28.3 percent of the vote.

Sports: Dodgers defeat the Angels, 4-1

Facing superior pitching with its temporarily missing offense, the Los Angeles Angels went down to a 4-1 defeat by the Los Angeles Dodgers Wednesday night to give the Blue Crew a sweep of their two-game series in Chavez Ravine,

Tyler Anderson (8-0) took a no-hitter into the ninth inning until Shohei Ohtani tripled and scored on a single by Matt Duffy. The Halos finished with just two hits in the game, and scored just one run in 18 innings against the Dodgers.

The outcome dropped the Angels’ record to 29-35, still in third in the American League West.

With the win, the Dodgers (39-23) managed to stay a few percentage points ahead of the second place San Diego Padres (40-24) in the National League West.

Against the Halos, they collected six hits, with Will Smith hitting a three-run home run in the first inning.

Trea Turner had a solo homer for the other  LAD run.

Anderson went 8.1 innings and yielded just one hit and one run. He struck out eight batters and walked two.

Angel starter Reid Detmers (2-3) , who pitched a no-hitter a few weeks ago, lasted just 3.2 innings after yielding four hits and four runs on two homers. He left with six strikeouts and three walks.

On Thursday, the Angels will visit the Seattle Mariners. The Dodgers will have Thursday off and host the Cleveland Guardians on Friday.

Weather: Sunny by Saturday

The weather in the West Orange County area has been pleasant and spring-like, but summer skies with lots of sun still haven’t arrived. The forecast calls for partly cloudy conditions on Thursday with a daytime high of 80 and an overnight low of 64. Friday should be similar with a high of 74 (59). However, sunny skies are predicted to finally show up on Saturday with a high of 72 (59). Sunday will see more sun and also the beginning of a warming trend to 77 (61) and 82 (63) on Monday.