Jeremy T. Ringfield's Blog, page 170
April 4, 2025
For romance novelist Abby Jimenez, it’s one happy ending after another
Abby Jimenez is renowned for her romance novels, a number of which have become bestsellers. Her seventh book, “Say You’ll Remember Me,” is being released Tuesday.
But, prior to becoming an author, the Twin Cities resident gained fame as a baker. She has appeared on cooking shows, such as TLC’s “Fabulous Cakes” and the Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars.”
Jimenez’s local fans can get their fill of their idol at her Nadia Cakes cupcake shops in Maple Grove and Woodbury. Coffee is on tap. Specialty cupcakes such as Unicorn Poop (a tradition for April Fools) are at the ready. Stacks of her books — signed, of course — are available for purchase.
And her social media? It’s a hoot. Place a special order for her vagina-shaped cake, which has quite a viral backstory.
Jimenez, 45, says she is living her dream, married to her one true love — we’ll call the shy guy Mr. Jimenez — who is her business partner and upon which the men in her novels are, to one degree or another, based.
A bakery is bornThe couple met at Express, the clothing retailer where both worked as high-volume store managers in California.
Jimenez was pregnant with her third child in 2007 when she lost her job and, at about the same time, her beloved day care arrangement went by the wayside. “It was kind of a shocking situation to be in, all of a sudden,” she said. “I was depressed. I was devastated.”
In what would be a decisive life’s moment, Jimenez signed up for cake-decorating classes at her local Michaels for several months. She figured she could sell cakes out of her home, even with her young children getting their paws into the ingredients. In 2007, Nadia Cakes (the nickname of her second daughter) was born.

“I would do by myself what now takes four full-time people to do,” she said. “I baked every cake. I decorated every cake. I did every consultation. I did all the billing. I did everything. All the deliveries.”
She developed a case of carpal tunnel syndrome so nasty it required surgery, so Mr. Jimenez suggested they open a proper bakery with a full staff … but they had no money. So, in what she calls a “banana pants” move, they put $125,000 on credit card checks with no interest for a year.
“We were so cash-poor that we didn’t even have enough in the register to make change. It was very, very, very scary,” she said.
The gamble paid off.
“The day we opened (in 2009), we opened to immediate success,” she said. “All the people who came to order cakes out of my house showed up and supported the business. And within three weeks of Nadia Cakes opening, my husband quit his full-time job to become CFO of our business.”
Jimenez did a good job of putting her store on the map, so calls from pastry-related reality shows, such as TLC’s “Fabulous Cakes” and the Food Network’s “Cupcake Wars,” began to roll in. Jimenez, her staff and her store were suddenly, collectively, TV stars.
“Fabulous Cakes” had a relaxed documentary-style format that “wasn’t as popular but it was a lot more fun to do,” Jimenez said. “Cupcake Wars” is a competition show; that’s more stressful.
She told a camera at the time, “I am an extremely competitive person. I will run through that kitchen and do whatever it takes. I will not stop until I win ‘Cupcake Wars.’”
Minnesota-boundThe Jimenezes were starting to plan where to put their kids in schools — and it was looking like California wouldn’t be it.
“We were also looking at other, you know, places to open up bakeries,” she said. “And we just kind of realized we didn’t want to do it in California. It’s really expensive to have a business in California. And so we thought: ‘You know what? Let’s take a five-week cross-country trip to see if there’s any other place that we want to live.’
“That’s how we found Minnesota.”
After setting up her Maple Grove store in 2011 and the Woodbury one in 2013, she took up the second of her major hobbies: writing. Her first book-length project, a dystopian young-adult novel, flopped in her online writers group, but a rom-com was a hit. Egged on by the other group members, she began hunting for an agent.
Her manuscript would eventually become the popular “The Happy Ever Playlist.” (Another of her novels, “The Friend Zone,” would end up being published first.)
RELATED: Abby Jimenez’s romance novels, as ranked by our reader
“Rom-coms are so much easier to write because they are set in the real world,” Jimenez said.
“Romance exists in the folds of everyday life,” she said. “You know, like Sloan in ‘Happy Ever’ is dealing with complicated grief” when she meets Jason — or, more precisely, Jason’s dog, who tumbles through her car’s sunroof. Jason has issues of his own.

Alexis in “Part of Your World” is suffering mental and emotional abuse from her ex while trying to nurture a relationship with a man in a far-off town.
“Of course, I did a ton of research on domestic violence,” Jimenez said. “And I asked in my reader group if there were any domestic violence advocates or survivors who could help advise me on the book. I had them read copies as I wrote them.”
Brianna of “Yours Truly” has another problem — Her brother is desperately in need of a kidney transplant with dim prospects of ever obtaining one.
Jimenez ripped this topic from her own life. In 2020, her hair started falling out. She was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that was attacking her kidneys. She is now in remission, but remembers “the very real possibility that I might, at some point in my life, need a transplant. It was a terrifying time.”
Readers seem to like Jimenez’s authenticity. “Part of Your World” was a No. 1 New York Times bestseller in 2024. “Life’s too Short” won the 2022 Minnesota Book Award for genre fiction.
Going viralWhen her agent took her on, she instructed Jimenez to set up public personal social media profiles to promote her books.
“I’m a private person, so I very reluctantly signed up for “authorabbyjimenez” profiles on Facebook, Instagram and X. And, you know, I didn’t have too many followers out of the gate.
“But then the vageode thing happened.”
A Nadia Cakes geode rock cake with pink frosting and a gash of rock candy down the side went viral in January 2018 because it looked an awful lot like a vagina.
When messages began coming in, social media manager Jimenez had choices. She could have hurriedly pulled the product or deleted the messages. Instead, she faced the social-media storm head-on.

“Instead of being offended by what everybody was saying or just deleting the post, I engaged with and was laughing with them and using that to sell my product,” she said.
The message thread with Jimenez’s memorable posts is still available on Facebook.
The vageode fuss “had a tangible effect on my book sales” even though it didn’t take place on her personal Facebook account. “It definitely did.”
Her social media use took a significant turn in 2021, when she joined TikTok and, counterintuitively, reduced mentions of her books to a trickle (she kept the book promos on full blast on her other channels).
Instead, TikTok is where she now nurtures a reader community focused largely on hijinks in her household — often including Stuntman Mike, Tess and her two other dogs, along with her daughter Maya, who plays 15 musical instruments and delights in sparring with mom (one such video has logged more than 1 million views).
Mr. Jimenez is media-shy but makes cameos.
His moustachioed appearance lakeside to bring his wife tacos made her fans swoon.
“Every man that I write into my romance novels is one part that man,” she said on the video. “They do exist.”
In another video, Mr. Jimenez had a bit of fun with the vasectomy he had just undergone. Pictures show him with an animal cone around his head and a “this stud has been retired” sign hanging from his neck.
“I love that man,” Jimenez murmured on the video.
At a California airport one day, she had “the coolest reader interaction story I have probably ever had.” Her husband happened to spot a young passenger with a cool backpack.
The girl turned around, saw her and gasped, Jimenez said. They were both bound for a romance book conference. The girl’s birthday was the next day. It felt like a birthday for Jimenez, too, because the girl had two of her books in that bag, and she was able to sign the novels and take pictures.
Another such chance encounter in an airport concourse made her “want to cry, ‘that was so cool,’” she said. “I think I was as excited to meet her as she was excited to meet me.”
Jimenez has become TikTok-notorious so many times, in so many venues, that she has had to assemble connect-the-dots videos for her viewers so they can grasp the scope of her personal and professional personas.
Her new bookJimenez’s new novel, “Say You’ll Remember Me,” partly focuses on a veterinarian, Xavier, who is struggling to keep a financially troubled clinic afloat. The other protagonist, Samantha, is caring for her mother, who has advanced Alzheimer’s disease.
Xavier and Samantha are fighting to keep a long-distance relationship alive. Every Abby Jimenez book throws up dire circumstances in love’s way, but X. and Sam seem to get double or triple the trouble.
The book cover, showing a happy couple on a beach accompanied by a dog with a stick in its mouth, seems cheerily dissonant.
That’s intentional, Jimenez explained in a TikTok about an earlier, similarly discordant cover.
“Every one of my books is going to have a cartoon-y cover and a completely tear-you-to-pieces inside. But, did I or did I not make you whole at the end? Are you not smiling, are you not happy in love with these characters laughing and crying happy tears at the end of this book? Yes, you are. I will keep doing what I do.
“You will be on the beach sobbing into your mimosa, just the way I like it.”
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By Arthur Allen, KFF Health News
Sue Sheridan’s baby boy, Cal, suffered brain damage from undetected jaundice in 1995. Helen Haskell’s 15-year-old son, Lewis, died after surgery in 2000 because weekend hospital staffers didn’t realize he was in shock. The episodes turned both women into advocates for patients and spurred research that made American health care safer.
On April 1, the Trump administration slashed the organization that supported that research — the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, or AHRQ — and fired roughly half of its remaining employees as part of a perplexing reorganization of the federal Health and Human Services Department.
Haskell, of Columbia, South Carolina, has done research and helped write AHRQ-published surveys and guidebooks on patient engagement for hospitals. The dissolution of AHRQ is dislodging scores of experienced patient-safety experts, a brain drain that will be impossible to rectify, she said.
Survey data gathered by AHRQ provides much of what is known about hospitalizations for motor accidents, measles, methamphetamine, and thousands of other medical issues.
“Nobody does these things except AHRQ,” she said. “They’re all we’ve got. And now the barn door’s closed.”

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posted on the social platform X on April 1 that layoffs at HHS, aimed at reducing the department’s workforce by about 20,000 employees, were the result of alleged inefficacy. “What we’ve been doing isn’t working,” he said. “Despite spending $1.9 trillion in annual costs, Americans are getting sicker every year.”
But neither Kennedy nor President Donald Trump have explained why individual agencies such as AHRQ were targeted for cuts or indicated whether any of their work would continue.
At their first meeting with the leadership of AHRQ last month, officials from Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency said that they didn’t know what the agency did — and that its budget would be cut by 80% to 90%, according to two people with knowledge of the meeting who were granted anonymity because of fears of retribution.
On March 28, the administration said AHRQ would merge with HHS’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
An AHRQ spokesperson, Rachel Seeger, said its acting chief, Mamatha Pancholi, was unavailable to answer questions.
Created on the foundation of an earlier agency in 1999, AHRQ has had two major functions: collecting survey data on U.S. health care expenditures, experiences, and outcomes; and funding research aimed at improving the safety and delivery of health care. It also has published tools and guidelines to enhance patient safety.
Its latest budget of $513 million amounts to about 0.04% of HHS spending.
“If you’re going to spend $5 trillion a year on health care, it would be nice to know what the best use of that money is,” said a senior AHRQ official who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of losing his job. “To gut a 300-member, $500 million agency for no other reason than to placate a need to see blood seems really shortsighted.”
Related Articles Supreme Court allows Trump administration to cut teacher-training money, for now About 500 law firms sign brief challenging Trump’s executive orders targeting the legal community Congress has the power to halt Trump’s tariffs. But Republicans aren’t ready to use it California State Library’s federal aid cut retroactively without warning Judge moves legal case of detained Turkish Tufts University student to VermontNewly sworn-in FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, a surgeon who has advocated for patient safety, wrote or co-authored at least 10 research papers supported by AHRQ funding since 1998. AHRQ research and guidelines played a key role in lowering the incidence of hospital-acquired infections — such as deadly blood infections caused by contaminated IV lines, which fell 28% from 2015 to 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Medical residents training in the 1980s were taught that such infections were an inevitable, often fatal byproduct of heart surgery, but AHRQ-funded research “showed that fairly simple checklists about preventing infections would be effective at going to zero,” said Richard Kronick, a University of California-San Diego researcher who led AHRQ from 2013 to 2016.
Medical errors caused by missed diagnoses, drug errors, hospital infections, and other factors kill and maim tens of thousands of Americans each year. Makary published a controversial study in 2016 hypothesizing that errors killed 250,000 people a year in the U.S. — making medical mistakes the nation’s third-leading cause of death.
“There are all kinds of terrible things about our health care system’s outcomes and how we pay for it, the most expensive care in the world,” Kronick said. “Without AHRQ, we’d be doing even worse.”
AHRQ-funded researchers such as Hardeep Singh at Baylor College of Medicine have chipped away at patient safety risks for more than two decades. Singh devises ways to integrate technologies like telemedicine and artificial intelligence into electronic health records to alert doctors to potential prescribing errors or misdiagnoses.
Singh has 15 scholars and support staff members supported by three AHRQ grants worth about $1.5 million, he said. The elimination of the agency’s office that funds outside researchers, among the cuts announced this week, is potentially “career-ending,” he said. “We need safety research to protect our patients from harms in health care. No organization in the world does more for that than AHRQ.”
Republicans have long been skeptical of AHRQ and the agency that preceded it. Some doctors saw it as meddling in their medical practices, while some GOP Congress members viewed it as duplicating the mission of the National Institutes of Health.
But when the Trump administration proposed merging it with NIH in 2018, a House-ordered study into health research priorities validated AHRQ’s valuable role.
Now, the naysayers have triumphed.
Gordon Schiff, a Harvard Medical School internist who has received AHRQ funding since 2001, was among the first to learn about policy changes there when in February he got an email from the editors of an AHRQ patient-safety website informing him “regretfully” that a 2022 case study on suicide prevention he co-authored had been removed “due to a perception that it violates the White House policy on websites ‘that inculcate or promote gender ideology.’”
The article was not about gender issues. It briefly mentioned that LGBTQ men were at a higher risk for suicide than the general population. Schiff was offered the option of removing the LGBTQ reference but refused. He and Harvard colleague Celeste Royce have sued AHRQ, HHS, and the Office of Personnel Management over removal of the article.
“All we were doing was presenting evidence-based risk factors from the literature,” he said. “To censor them would be a violation of scientific integrity and undermine the trustworthiness of these websites.”
PSNet, the AHRQ publication where Schiff and Royce’s article appeared, has been dissolved, although its website was still up as of April 2. Roughly half of AHRQ’s 300 staffers resigned following the initial DOGE warning; 111 staff members were fired April 1, according to an email that a top executive, Jeffrey Toven, sent to employees and was shown to KFF Health News. AHRQ’s remaining leadership was in the dark about Kennedy’s plans, he said.
HHS spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment. Stephen Parente, a University of Minnesota finance professor who said he consults informally with Trump health officials, said much of AHRQ’s work could be done by others. Its most vital services have been surveys that Westat, a private research company, performs for AHRQ on contract, said Parente, who was chief economist for health policy in the first Trump administration.
At the height of the COVID pandemic, he said, data produced by AHRQ and other government sources were outclassed by private sources. To track COVID, he relied on daily feeds of private insurance data from around the country.
Still, Parente said, the virtual disappearance of AHRQ means “we’re going to lose a culture of research that is measured, thoughtful, and provides a channel for young investigators to make their marks.”
A climate of deep depression has settled over the agency’s Rockville, Maryland, headquarters, the unnamed AHRQ official said: “Almost everyone loves their job here. We’re almost all PhDs in my center — a very collegial, talented group.”
The official said he was “generally skeptical” that AHRQ’s merger with the assistant secretary’s office would keep its mission alive. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the CDC conduct some health system quality research, but they are also losing staff, Harvard’s Schiff noted.
One of Schiff’s current AHRQ projects involved interviewing late-stage cancer patients to determine whether they could have been diagnosed earlier.
“The general public, I think, would like cancer to be diagnosed earlier, not when it’s stage 4 or stage 3,” he said. “There are things we could learn to improve our care and get more timely diagnosis of cancer.”
“Medical errors and patient safety risks aren’t going to go away on their own,” he said.
With input from Sheridan and other mothers of children who suffered from jaundice-related brain damage, AHRQ launched research that led to a change in the standard of care whereby all newborns in the U.S. are tested for jaundice before discharge from hospitals. Cases of jaundice-related brain damage declined from 7 per 100,000 to about 2 per 100,000 newborns from 1997 to 2012.
The misfortune of Lewis, Haskell’s son, led to a change in South Carolina law and later to a national requirement for hospitals to enable patients to demand emergency responses under certain circumstances.
Singh, a leading researcher on AI in health care, sees bitter irony in the way the Elon Musk-led DOGE has taken an ax to AHRQ, which recently put out a new request for proposals to study the technology. “Some think AI will fix health care without a human in the loop,” Singh said. “I doubt we get there by dismantling people who support or perform patient safety research. You need a human in the loop.”
©2025 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Horoscopes April 4, 2025: Robert Downey Jr., expand your destinations this year
CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Robert Downey Jr., 60; David Cross, 61; Christine Lahti, 75; Craig T. Nelson, 81.
Happy Birthday: Expand your destinations this year. Venture into neighborhoods of interest, organizations and groups you believe in, and social establishments that cater to your whims and like-minded people. Explore what life has to offer, and it will help you make choices that provide growth, experience and new possibilities. You are overdue for a change that encourages you to target your skills in a changing market. Your numbers are 7, 11, 21, 26, 34, 42, 45.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Keep your thoughts and feelings to yourself. Gather information first before you address issues based on half-truths. Emotional misunderstandings will surface if you send mixed messages or make misleading gestures. Focus more on verifying facts and paying attention to what’s happening around you. 2 stars
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Stick to the facts and keep explanations short and to the point, and you’ll maintain a steady pace forward with little interference. Home improvements, taking care of time-sensitive issues and lowering your overhead will put your mind at rest. Reach out to someone you love and make social plans. 4 stars
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Size down and take on less. Do your own thing; if you follow in someone else’s footsteps, you’ll fall short of your expectations. It’s time to create opportunities and utilize your attributes to gain recognition and rewards for your achievements. You’ll get a unique perspective when conversing with someone from a different background. 3 stars
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Put your emotions aside and your energy into something positive and constructive. How you choose to use your time and talents will determine your success. Focus on what brings the highest returns and make a point to nurture what’s meaningful to you. Self-improvement and romance are favored. 3 stars
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Concentrate on something you enjoy doing. Let your creative imagination take over, and see what develops. Travel, educational pursuits and hanging out with inspiring people will turn into unique actions that lead to positive change. Touching base with past associates will help put different lifestyle changes in perspective. 3 stars
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): A new plan will help you understand your options and navigate your way forward. Participating in an event, meeting or pastime that encourages positive change or enforces the backup you require to reach your goals is in your best interest. Trust in your instincts, and do what feels right. 4 stars
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Leave your comfort zone and venture into unknown territory. The experience will help build a foundation for new beginnings and offer insight into what you no longer need. It’s up to you to make things happen. Invest more time and money into developing what excites you most. 2 stars
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Diversify, try something you’ve never done before and engage in conversations that offer a unique perspective regarding life choices, places you frequent and documentaries that impact you personally. Question your long-term plans and the mountains you must climb to reach your destination. Make health and love a priority. 5 stars
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Look past the roadblocks and into the possibilities. Listen carefully and devise a plan to help you take the road less traveled if it will help you reach your destination with greater insight into who you are and what you want to achieve. Become the mastermind of your success. 3 stars
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Separate feelings and money. Spending on things you don’t require to service an emotional need will leave you cash poor. Put more thought into how to use your talents, experience and connections to get ahead. Success comes to those who put in the work and effort. 3 stars
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Declutter your space and make room for something you want to pursue. Having a place that facilitates your dreams, hopes and wishes will be the pick-me-up you need to get things up and running to your specifications. Set a budget, implement innovative plans and pursue what makes you happy. 3 stars
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Explore activities and pastimes that interest you. Socializing, networking and interacting with people searching for something new and exciting will not disappoint you. Engage, participate and share your charm, enthusiasm and plans with someone you deem special. Refuse to let emotions cloud your vision or stand between you and your desires. 5 stars
Birthday Baby: You are entertaining, helpful and progressive. You are passionate and persistent.
1 star: Avoid conflicts; work behind the scenes. 2 stars: You can accomplish, but don’t rely on others. 3 stars: Focus and you’ll reach your goals. 4 stars: Aim high; start new projects. 5 stars: Nothing can stop you; go for gold.
Visit Eugenialast.com, or join Eugenia on Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn.
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April 3, 2025
Curry, Podziemski go off, power Warriors to thrilling win over LeBron-Doncic Lakers
LOS ANGELES – Floyd Mayweather, Trinity Rodman, Young Thug and beloved hometown hooper Pau Gasol were among the celebrities dotting the Crypto.com Arena crowd on Thursday night.
They came to see dazzling performances by visiting Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler against purple-and-gold superstars LeBron James and Luka Doncic in the first matchup between the bitter rivals with retooled lineups and ambitions of securing homecourt advantage in the first round of the upcoming Western Conference playoffs.
And as expected, the big names had big nights in Golden State’s thrilling 123-116 victory in Southern California.
Curry scored 37, James put in 33 after a scoreless first quarter, Doncic totaled 19 points and seven assists.
Jonathan Kuminga had 18 points after missing Tuesday’s game with a bruised pelvis. Butler scored 11 and Austin Reaves scored 31 and almost single-handedly brought the Lakers back in the fourth quarter.
James and Curry traded baskets late in fourth, and 28-point scorer Brandin Podziemski made a big three-pointer, only to be answered by Austin Reaves to keep the lead at seven.
Reaves made another three after two Butler free throws to cut the Warriors’ advantage to 119-113, but Defensive Player of the Year candidate Draymond Green had the stop of the night when he came up with a steal on the ensuing Lakers possession.
The Warriors (45-31) are the fifth seed, now a half-game in front of sixth-seeded Memphis (45-32) and the No. 7 seed Minnesota (45-32) in the West standings. The Lakers (46-30) remained the No. 3 seed.
The Warriors led 60-47 at halftime, and 88-77 after three quarters. Golden State finished its six-game road trip 4-2, both losses coming with Curry out of the lineup with a bruised pelvis.
The Warriors will play host to No. 4 seed Denver on Friday night.
Gary Payton II, Jonathan Kuminga near return to Warriors rotation
LOS ANGELES – The Warriors’ best perimeter defender is almost ready to return to the lineup.
Gary Payton II, who has missed the past three games with a partial tear in his left thumb, participated in the team’s shootaround at UCLA on Thursday morning.
He was ruled out of the team’s game against the Lakers, but the team announced he will be listed as day-to-day moving forward.
“We’re going to get Gary back soon,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said pregame.
Payton, 32, has suited up 58 times this season and has averaged 6.6 points and 3.0 rebounds per game in 14.9 minutes per game.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Kuminga warmed up on Thursday night, but remained a game time decision with a right pelvic contusion he suffered in San Antonio last week.
“He’s going to warm up and we’ll see,” Kerr said.
Kuminga was listed as “available” on the official injury report after Kerr’s media availability.
The 6-foot-9 forward is averaging and even 16 points per game this season.
The Warriors (44-31) are the fifth seed, now a half-game in front of sixth-seeded Minnesota (44-32) and the No. 7 seed Los Angeles Clippers (44-32) in the West standings. The Lakers (46-29) entered the game as the No. 3 seed.
Podziemski, Reddick, sees similarities
The Warriors and Lakers each rebuilt their rosters at midseason, trades for Jimmy Butler and Luka Doncic respectively rendering their pre-trade results – three Lakers victories over Golden State – meaningless.
The Warriors are 19-5 since adding Butler, while Los Angeles is 15-10 following its blockbuster trade for Doncic.
The Lakers don’t play at quite the breakneck pace they did when center Anthony Davis was running to the rim, but Los Angeles is still effective when it hits the open court.
“They play a little bit different with Luka,” Brandin Podziemski said after shootaround. “They play slower, but they’re still No. 1 in transition PPP (points per possession), and a lot of rim attempts in transition. So we figure if we can keep a man on a man and keep them out of transition, we’ll be fine.”
Lakers coach JJ Redick also pushed back on the notion that the Warriors have been a completely different team with Jimmy Butler.
“They’re doing a lot of the same stuff, and we’ve got to be great with our off-ball discipline and Curry awareness, and it’s hell to try and guard him,” Redick said.
Although Butler has given Golden State a second ballhandler who can draw fouls (7.6 free throw attempts per game with the Warriors) and find open shooters (6.2 assists per game), Redick highlighted his defensive impact as the Lakers are concerned about.
Kerr agreed.
“Draymond and Jimmy are incredibly high IQ players, and the two of them working together, it’s beautiful to watch,” Kerr said. “They read off each other. We might be in a scheme that we don’t get to for whatever reason and it doesn’t phase them. They just instantly react to what’s in front of them.”
Thursday begins a run of three consecutive games against teams seeded higher than Golden State..
After ending its six-game road trip in Los Angeles, the Warriors will take a quick flight back to the Bay Area to play a home game against third-seeded Denver on Friday.
After one day off, Golden State will play host to No. 2 seed Houston.
“It does feel like a playoff game,” Kerr said. “With this play-in situation, there’s eight teams that would’ve been in in the clear under the old format, and it would have just been about seeding. We’re all desperate to avoid that play-in, and so it’s created a race.”
Republicans moving ahead with Trump’s ‘big’ bill of tax breaks and spending cuts amid tariff uproar
By LISA MASCARO
WASHINGTON (AP) — After a long wait, the Senate is launching action on President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” of tax breaks and spending cuts at a risky moment for the U.S. and global economy.
Related Articles No more cheap skirts: Trump ends tax exemption for low-value Chinese imports Trump says he supports proxy voting for new parents in Congress Lawyers for a detained Tufts student from Turkey demand she be returned to Massachusetts States sue to block Trump’s election order, saying it violates the Constitution Federal judge says she will temporarily block billions in health funding cuts to statesMore than a month after House Republicans surprised Washington by advancing their framework for Trump’s tax breaks and spending cuts package, Senate Republicans voted Thursday to start working on their version. The 52-48 vote sets the stage for back-to-back Senate all-nighters spilling into Friday and the weekend.
But work on the multitrillion-dollar package is coming as markets at home and abroad are on edge in the aftermath Trump’s vast tariffs scheme, complicating an already difficult political and procedural undertaking.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., opened the chamber Thursday saying they were expected to begin “as soon as today” embarking on what they hope will become the GOP’s signature domestic policy package.
Trump says he’s on board and Republicans, in control of Congress, are eager to show the party is making progress toward delivering on their campaign promises. After that, it’s still long weeks, if not months, to go toward a final product.
Democrats, as the minority party, don’t have the votes to stop the GOP plan. But they intend to use the procedural tools available to prolong the process. Democrats argue that Republicans are focusing on tax breaks for the wealthy at the expense of the programs and services millions of Americans rely on for help with health care, child care, school lunches and other everyday needs.
“They’re mean, they’re nasty, they’re uncaring,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said about the Republicans.
Senate Democrats are ready to spend the night and day ahead with floor debates over potential GOP cuts to Medicaid, veterans programs, DOGE cuts and the impact of Trump’s tariffs. “We, tonight and tomorrow, are going to show just who they are,” Schumer said.
Fundamental to the Senate package is making sure Trump’s first-term tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of the year, are continued and made a permanent fixture of the tax code. The senators also will consider adding Trump’s proposed tax cuts on tipped wages, Social Security income and others.
The Senate package also would bolster border security funds by some $175 billion to carry out Trump’s mass deportation campaign, which is running short of cash, and it would add national security funds for the Pentagon — all priorities the Senate GOP tucked into an earlier version that was panned by House Republicans.
What’s unclear is how it will all be paid for, since Republican deficit hawks typically require spending offsets to help defray the lost tax revenue and avoid piling onto the nation’s $36 trillion debt load.
While House Republicans approved their package with $4.5 trillion in tax breaks and up to $2 trillion in spending cuts, the Senate Republicans are taking a different tack.
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham is making the case that since the existing Trump tax breaks are the current policy, they are not considered new, and do not need to be offset with reductions in spending — an approach Democrats compare to “going nuclear” with the normal rules. Democrats are vowing to put the strategy to the test before the Senate parliamentarian.
Instead, Senate Republicans are considering offsets mostly for any new Trump tax breaks. Raising alarms from the most conservative budget hawks, the senators have set a floor of about $4 billion in budget reductions to health and other programs — a fraction of the package’s expected $4 trillion-plus price tag for tax breaks.
GOP leaders are assuring the deficit hawks within their own ranks that the legislation says the cuts can rise to as much as $2 trillion.
After an expected Friday night vote-a-rama, with dozens of amendments being offered to the package, the senators are planning to stay into Saturday if needed to take a final vote to approve it, sending it to the House for action.
The House and Senate will ultimately need to merge their frameworks into a final product, expected in May, but House Speaker Mike Johnson’s intention to have it all wrapped up by Memorial Day could prove optimistic.
The political environment is uncertain, and the public’s appetite for steep budget cuts is being tested in real time, with Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency headed by billionaire Elon Musk blazing through federal offices, firing thousands of workers and shuttering long-running government mainstays — from scientific research projects on diseases to educational services for schoolchildren to offices that help with Social Security, tax filing and the weather.
At the same time, the staunchest fiscal conservatives in both the House and Senate, many aligned with the Freedom Caucus, are pushing for even more cuts.
Trump told senators publicly and privately this week he would have their backs, particularly when it comes to standing up for the spending reductions. At a White House announcing the tariffs Wednesday, Trump said the Senate plan had his “complete and total support.”
The president’s steep tariffs threw the global economy into a tailspin Thursday, with stocks down around the world, the U.S. markets leading the way.
Associated Press writers Leah Askarinam and Kevin Freking contributed to this report.
No more cheap skirts: Trump ends tax exemption for low-value Chinese imports
By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO and DIDI TANG
A notice to customers dazzled by the low-priced products on Chinese shopping apps: the days of getting trendy clothing, tools and gag gifts that cost less than lunch delivered to your door in 10 days are probably numbered.
Related Articles Anthem Blue Cross, Aspire Health restore coverage in Monterey County No gift money? No problem. How to afford a house on your own Trump’s tariffs aren’t strictly reciprocal. Here’s how he calculated them Fear that Trump tariffs will spark recession wipes out $2 trillion in value from US stock values These are the places affected by Trump’s tariffsPresident Donald Trump is ending a little-known but widely used exemption that has allowed as many as 4 million low-value parcels — most of them originating in China — to arrive in the U.S. every day tax-free.
An executive order the president signed Wednesday will eliminate the “de minimis provision” for goods from China and Hong Kong on May 2. The tax exemption, which applies to packages valued at $800 or less, has helped China-founded e-commerce companies like Shein and Temu to thrive while cutting into the U.S. retail market.
“Shoppers had a full array of product and options of timing,” Marshal Cohen, chief retail advisor at market research firm Circana, said. “Now, they’re going to have a limited array of options and timing: so you can still buy this product, but you may have to wait three or four weeks.”
U.S. politicians, law enforcement agencies and business groups have described the long-standing policy as a trade loophole that gave inexpensive Chinese goods an advantage and served as a portal for illicit drugs and counterfeits to enter the country.
The sweeping tariffs Trump announced on Wednesday also aim to end the duty-free exception for all imported goods worth less than $800, but only when the U.S. government has the personnel in place to process parcels from every country.
What will be the effect on prices and shipping times?A White House fact sheet said small packages of Chinese products sent through the international postal network will be subject to a duty rate of either 30% of their value or $25 per item, an amount that will increase to $50 per item after June 1.
Commercial carriers such as FedEx and UPS will be required to report shipment details and remit the appropriate duties to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, according to the White House. After Trump’s latest round of tariffs, the tariff rate for Chinese products will be at least 54%.
Supporters of the de minimis exception have argued that its elimination would drive up costs and hurt low-income consumers and small businesses.
The tariff costs threaten to deal a blow to the U.S. operations of companies like Shein and Temu, which rapidly expanded in the U.S. using the de minimis provision to deliver ultra-cheap fast fashion items from China.

However, it’s unclear what impact the loss of the tax exemption will have on the two online retailers, as well as on American companies like Amazon and Walmart, whose platforms include virtual marketplaces where international sellers offer products.
Shein and Temu already have been building warehouses in the U.S. so they could get orders to U.S. shoppers more quickly. Shein recently opened a fulfillment and logistics hub in the Seattle area. Neither company could be reached for comment Thursday.
Ram Ben Tzion, chief executive officer of the digital vetting platform Publican, said he expected the companies to “be forced to rethink their business strategy and possibly explore opting out of the U.S. market.”
In an emailed statement to AP, FedEx said it would support its customers to adapt to the new regulatory requirements and said it would be important for shippers to have “paperwork completed correctly ahead of pick-up” for shipments to move smoothly.
Hilton Beckham, an assistant commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the federal agency was ready to implement the latest tariffs.
“Our automated systems are fully updated to capture, assess, and administer all new duties, and clear guidance will be provided to support uniform enforcement across the nation,” Beckham said.
Ben Tzion, of Publican, said he would “highly doubt” the U.S. government was ready to process the huge number of low-value shipments to be taxed starting next month.
The Hong Kong government said the HongKong Post would “temporarily maintain” postal services to the U.S through May 2 but “will not collect any so-called tariffs on behalf of the U.S. authorities.”
What is the de minimis provision?Introduced in 1938, the de minimis exception was intended to facilitate the flow of small packages valued at no more than $5, the equivalent of about $109 today. The threshold increased to $200 in 1994 and $800 in 2016. But the rapid rise of cross-border e-commerce, driven by China, has challenged the intent of the decades-old customs exception rule.

Chinese exports of low-value packages soared to $66 billion in 2023, up from $5.3 billion in 2018, according to a February report by the Congressional Research Service. And the U.S. market has been a major destination.
The Chinese government, which sees cross-border e-commerce as a critical part of its foreign trade, has introduced favorable policies, including financial support and infrastructure building, to foster its growth.
Former President Joe Biden proposed a rule last year that said foreign companies can’t avoid tariffs simply by shipping goods that they claim to be worth $800 or less. Trump tried in February to end the exception but his initial order was called off within days when it appeared the U.S. was not prepared to process and collect tariffs on the millions of parcels.
U.S. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, a Democrat from Connecticut, said she was pleased Trump acted a second time to eliminate the rule.
“For too long, this customs loophole has let foreign exporters flood our market with cheap goods and helped drug traffickers move fentanyl past our borders — resulting in factory closures, job losses, and deaths,” DeLauro said.
An explosion of cheap goodsIn 2023, for the first time, more than 1 billion such packages came through U.S. customs, up from 134 million in 2015. By the end of last year, Customs and Border Protection said it was processing about 4 million small shipments a day.
The cheap prices and increasing popularity of Shein and Temu squeezed fast-fashion retailers like Forever 21 and H&M. Forever 21 blamed the tax exemption in part for its decision to file for bankruptcy last month and close its U.S. stores,
“We have been unable to find a sustainable path forward, given competition from foreign fast-fashion companies, which have been able to take advantage of the de minimis exemption to undercut our brand on pricing and margin,” Chief Financial Officer Brad Sell said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Amazon launched late last year a low- cost online storefront featuring electronics, apparel and other products priced under $20, in an apparent effort to compete with Temu and Shein. Amazon shipped the products to U.S. customers from a warehouse it operates in China, according to documentation the company provided to sellers.
Trump says he supports proxy voting for new parents in Congress
By SEUNG MIN KIM
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday endorsed a proposal that would allow new parents in Congress to vote by proxy, rather than in person.
Related Articles Republicans moving ahead with Trump’s ‘big’ bill of tax breaks and spending cuts amid tariff uproar No more cheap skirts: Trump ends tax exemption for low-value Chinese imports Lawyers for a detained Tufts student from Turkey demand she be returned to Massachusetts States sue to block Trump’s election order, saying it violates the Constitution Federal judge says she will temporarily block billions in health funding cuts to statesTrump’s position, articulated to reporters on Air Force One on Thursday, puts him at odds with House Speaker Mike Johnson, who mounted an aggressive push to kill that effort this week but was foiled by nine of his own members, along with all Democrats.
Though the president said he would defer to Johnson on the operations of the House, he also said that “I don’t know why it’s controversial.” Trump said he had spoken to Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, the leading Republican proponent of the effort.
“You’re having a baby, I think you should be able to call in and vote,” Trump told reporters on Thursday as he traveled to Florida. “I’m in favor of that.”
Luna and Democratic Rep. Brittany Pettersen of Colorado have led an effort that would allow new parents in Congress to vote by proxy for 12 weeks as they care for their newborns. It has the support of the majority of the House, with 218 lawmakers signing on to a so-called discharge petition that would force the measure on the House floor for consideration.
But Johnson is an adamant opponent of casting votes by proxy, saying that doing so is an affront to the Constitution and invoked similar efforts instituted by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
“It was quickly abused. Republicans put an end to it then, and we cannot allow it again,” Johnson said in a lengthy social media post this week. The speaker says he is working on “every possible accommodation” aside from being able to vote by proxy to aid new mothers in Congress.
Johnson attempted to squash the proxy effort in a dramatic floor vote earlier this week, but nine of his own Republicans joined all Democrats in rejecting his plan, 206-222. The speaker canceled House votes for the rest of the week while supporters of the proxy voting plan were undeterred and vowed to continue to push for it.
Lawyers for a detained Tufts student from Turkey demand she be returned to Massachusetts
By MICHAEL CASEY
BOSTON (AP) — Lawyers for a Tufts University doctoral student from Turkey who was seized by immigration officials off a street near Boston argued in federal court Thursday that she should be returned to Massachusetts, while the U.S. government insisted it did nothing wrong in moving her to a detention center in Louisiana.
Related Articles Republicans moving ahead with Trump’s ‘big’ bill of tax breaks and spending cuts amid tariff uproar No more cheap skirts: Trump ends tax exemption for low-value Chinese imports Trump says he supports proxy voting for new parents in Congress States sue to block Trump’s election order, saying it violates the Constitution Federal judge says she will temporarily block billions in health funding cuts to statesRumeysa Ozturk, 30, was taken into custody as she walked along a suburban street March 25. After being transported to New Hampshire and then Vermont, she was put on a plane the next day and moved to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement center in Basile, Louisiana.
“She was grabbed by federal agents in front of her home and taken over the course of several hours to Vermont without any way to contact counsel or counsel to contact her and with her location for period 22 hours being undisclosed to the Department of Justice attorneys in this case,” Adriana Lafaille, one of her attorneys, told the court.
Ozturk’s lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Denise Casper to order that she be immediately returned to Massachusetts and released from custody. If Ozturk isn’t returned to Massachusetts, Lafaille added, she should be taken to Vermont.
Mark Sauter, a Justice Department lawyer, argued that ICE had a plan for her transport before she was detained and only moved her to Louisiana because there was no bed space for female immigration detainees in New England.
“There was no attempt to manipulate the jurisdiction,” Sauter told the court.
The U.S. attorneys have argued the case should go before an immigration judge.
Ozturk had been moved to Vermont by the time Casper in Boston had ordered authorities to keep her in Massachusetts, they said.
Ozturk’s lawyers said at the time they filed the petition, they had no way of knowing where she was. They have said her detention violates her constitutional rights, including free speech and due process.
Casper issued no immediate decision on the matter after hearing arguments.
Ozturk is among several people with ties to American universities who attended demonstrations or publicly expressed support for Palestinians during the war in Gaza and who recently had visas revoked or been stopped from entering the U.S.
She was one of four students who wrote an op-ed in The Tufts Daily last year criticizing the university’s response to student activists’ demands. The student activists were demanding that Tufts “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide,” disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.
On Thursday, her lawyer released a letter from Ozturk in which she talked about her research and said she would continue to stand up against injustice.
“I believe the world is a more beautiful and peaceful place when we listen to each other and allow different perspectives to be in the room,” she wrote.
“Efforts to target me because of my op-ed in the Tufts Daily calling for the equal dignity and humanity of all people will not deter me from my commitment to advocate for the rights of youth and children,” she added.
Outside court Thursday, about 50 protesters chanting “Rumeysa Ozturk Now” and “ICE Out Of Boston” marched and held up signs like one reading: “No More Abductions.”
Recently, two dozen of Ozturk’s colleagues at Tufts University submitted letters to the court backing that request, describing her as a gentle, compassionate and cherished member of the Tufts community.
Reyyan Bilge, a close friend who collaborated with Ozturk on research, was present in court Thursday and described her as a “wonderful student, a wonderful human being.”
“It’s like a nightmare,” she said. “Who would have thought? She came here to do her job as a student, as an exceptional student … Out of the blue, she was taken for doing nothing wrong, How would you feel if you were to be either your daughter, or your niece, or like someone that’s close to you?”
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed the termination of Ozturk’s visa last week. The official said investigations found she had engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, but provided no evidence.
Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seizing about 250 hostages. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 50,000 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and destroyed much of the enclave.
Associated Press writers Kathy McCormack and Holly Ramer contributed from Concord, New Hampshire.
States sue to block Trump’s election order, saying it violates the Constitution
By LINDSAY WHITEHURST and CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic officials in 19 states filed a lawsuit Thursday against President Donald Trump’s attempt to reshape elections across the U.S., calling it an unconstitutional invasion of states’ clear authority to run their own elections.
Related Articles Republicans moving ahead with Trump’s ‘big’ bill of tax breaks and spending cuts amid tariff uproar No more cheap skirts: Trump ends tax exemption for low-value Chinese imports Trump says he supports proxy voting for new parents in Congress Lawyers for a detained Tufts student from Turkey demand she be returned to Massachusetts Federal judge says she will temporarily block billions in health funding cuts to statesThe lawsuit is the fourth against the executive order issued just a week ago. It seeks to block key aspects of it, including new requirements that people provide documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote and a demand that all mail ballots be received by Election Day.
“The President has no power to do any of this,” the state attorneys general wrote in court documents. “The Elections EO is unconstitutional, antidemocratic, and un-American.”
Trump’s order said the U.S. has failed “to enforce basic and necessary election protection.” Election officials have said recent elections have been among the most secure in U.S. history. There has been no indication of any widespread fraud, including when Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020.
The order is the culmination of Trump’s longstanding complaints about how U.S. elections are run. After his first win in 2016, Trump falsely claimed his popular vote total would have been much higher if not for “millions of people who voted illegally.” In 2020, Trump blamed a “rigged” election for his loss and falsely claimed widespread voter fraud and manipulation of voting machines.
Trump has argued his order secures the vote against illegal voting by noncitizens, though multiple studies and investigations in the states have shown that it’s rare.
It has received praise from the top election officials in some Republican states who say it could inhibit instances of voter fraud and will give them access to federal data to better maintain their voter rolls.
The order also requires states to exclude any mail-in or absentee ballots received after Election Day, and puts states’ federal funding at risk if election officials don’t comply. Some states count ballots as long as they are postmarked by Election Day or allow voters to correct minor errors on their ballots.
Forcing states to change, the suit says, would violate the broad authority the Constitution gives states to set their own election rules. It says they decide the “times, places and manner” of how elections are run.
Congress has the power to “make or alter” election regulations, at least for federal office, but the Constitution doesn’t mention any presidential authority over election administration.
“We are a democracy – not a monarchy – and this executive order is an authoritarian power grab,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha said the Trump administration is requiring states to either comply with an unconstitutional order or lose congressionally approved funding, something he said the president has no authority to do.
“In one fell swoop, this president is attempting to undermine elections and sidestep the Congress, and we’re not going to stand for it,” he said.

The attorney general and secretary of state in Nevada, a presidential battleground, defended their state’s elections as fair, secure and transparent, and objected to the president’s attempt to interfere in how they are run.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said Trump’s executive order was an attempt to impose “sweeping voting restrictions” across the country and disenfranchise voters.
A request sent to the White House was not immediately returned.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts by the Democratic attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.
Other lawsuits filed over the order argue it could disenfranchise voters because millions of eligible voting-age Americans do not have the proper documents readily available. People are already required to attest to being citizens, under penalty of perjury, in order to vote.
Under the order, documents acceptable to prove citizenship would be a U.S. passport, a REAL ID-compliant driver’s license that “indicates the applicant is a citizen,” and a valid photo ID as long as it is presented with proof of citizenship.
Democrats argue that millions of Americans do not have easy access to their birth certificates, about half don’t have a U.S. passport, and married women would need multiple documents if they had changed their name. That was a complication for some women during recent town elections in New Hampshire, the first ones held under a new state law requiring proof of citizenship to register.
Not all REAL ID-compliant driver’s licenses designate U.S. citizenship.
Cassidy reported from Atlanta.