Jeremy T. Ringfield's Blog, page 190

Horoscopes March 15, 2025: Eva Longoria, focus on socializing and physical activity

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Kellan Lutz, 40; will.i.am, 50; Eva Longoria, 50; Bret Michaels, 62.

Happy Birthday: Focus on socializing and physical activity. Make health and fitness a priority, and make looking and feeling your best a personal goal. Reach out to those who support similar aspirations. Choose destinations that endorse the lifestyle you want to adopt, and it will be easier to stick to your game plan and reach your objective. Put greater emphasis on learning, travel and communication, and the positive changes you develop will be gratifying. Your numbers are 9, 13, 22, 27, 35, 42, 46.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Look for the good in everyone you deal with today. A smile or kind gesture will further you more than making demands or offering a negative response. Pay attention to detail when dealing with institutions or paperwork that can determine your health or financial status. Self-love and nurturing are favored. 3 stars

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Improve your living space, lifestyle or relationship with associates. Keep the peace regardless of how others react. A financial opportunity can free up accumulated debt. Make changes to how you handle your money, and use your skills to bring in extra cash. Take responsibility for your happiness. 3 stars

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Consider what makes you happy and follow the path that will take you there. Refuse to let anyone goad you into something you don’t want to do by making you feel guilty. Speak up and offer suggestions, but go about your business to ensure you satisfy your needs. 5 stars

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Pay attention to what others expect of you and what’s at stake. Worry less about trivial matters, and focus more on handling issues without delay. Less complaining and more action will help you dodge negativity and outside interference. Put your emotions on the back burner and do your best, and you will excel. 2 stars

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Stay on top of matters, go directly to the source and interact with those who can help you get things done. Be accommodating, but set boundaries that ensure you don’t have to give up what’s important to you. Your generosity is noble, but only if your offer is within your emotional capacity and financial budget. 4 stars

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): A change of scenery will do you good. Whether you travel to your old stomping grounds or to places you’ve never been, the difference between the present, past and future will spark your imagination, encourage new beginnings and release you from being stuck in the present. 3 stars

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Live and learn. Look around and consider ways to improve your surroundings, relationships and lifestyle. Set personal goals and build a routine around whatever lowers stress and helps you build strength, confidence and a path to a brighter future. Make learning and exploring potential prospects a priority. 3 stars

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Participating, being active and mingling with those who share your interests will help you find your desired happiness. Don’t sit idle when there is so little time and much to explore. Gather information, observe what’s available and create a plan that excites you. Positive change is within reach. 3 stars

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Take what others say with a grain of salt, and refuse to become unnerved or opt to respond unnecessarily. Concentrate more on yourself and your environment, and make peace, love and happiness your focal point. Romance is in the stars, and with the right person, the sky’s the limit. 4 stars

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Travel, attend a reunion or revisit something you must address before you can feel comfortable moving forward. Anger doesn’t solve problems, but rational alternatives can. Be true to yourself, be honest with others, set the stage for positive change and take the most inviting path. It’s your life; live it your way. 2 stars

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Invest more time and money in your surroundings, your skills and the prospects that interest you. A financial gain is possible if you build equity instead of spending on items that offer momentary joy but add to your debt. Make raising your qualifications a priority. Romance is on the rise. 5 stars

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): It’s up to you to implement change. Look around you, and if something doesn’t feel right or suit your needs, adjust and carry on. Communication will lead to opportunities and the possibility of a joint venture. Set rules around shared expenses. If doubt sets in, take a pass. 3 stars

Birthday Baby: You are informative, charming and persistent. You are sensitive and kind.

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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How Matos’ refined approach could land him on SF Giants’ Opening Day roster

PHOENIX, Ariz. — Luis Matos had a concrete plan in place when traveled to his native Venezuela to play winter ball, one that was equal parts simple and necessary: swing at good pitches.

With that goal in place, Matos won Rookie of the Year for Tiburones de La Guaira in the Venezuela Winter League, hitting .300 with 10 home runs and 41 RBIs. That refined approach remains his modus operandi in Arizona — a refined approach that could land him on the Opening Day roster.

“The whole idea here was to have a plan,” Matos said through team interpreter Erwin Higueros, “to have an idea and come in and hit — not just come to bat and swing like crazy. Ever since I played winter ball in Venezuela, that was my whole approach: make sure that I swung at good pitches.”

Matos, 23, checked that box on Friday afternoon at American Family Fields of Phoenix against the Milwaukee Brewers, launching a no-doubt, two-run home run halfway up the grass in left field for his second homer of spring. Of equal importance was what Matos avoided: swinging at bad pitches. In his final plate appearance, Matos laid off four pitches out of the zone and drew his first walk of Cactus League play. Matos made a leaping catch and crashed into the center-field wall, continuing to strengthen his case to be San Francisco’s fourth outfielder.

“I’m not one of those (players) who’s looking for walks, but it’s good to have one,” Matos said. “I’m going to become more and more patient at the plate.”

Matos possesses some of the best bat-to-ball skills in the organization, likely second behind only Jung Hoo Lee. Over two major-league seasons, Matos has made contact on 85.5% of pitches he’s swung at, which would be the 15th-best mark in baseball last season. It should come as no surprise, then, that Matos is excellent at minimizing whiffs and strikeouts. The area where Matos stands to most improve is tempering his aggressiveness.

Last season, Matos had one of the worst chase rates in baseball. He swung at 40.1% of pitches he saw that were outside the strike zone, and if Matos had enough plate appearances to qualify, he’d rank in roughly the third percentile. With such a swing-happy approach, Matos only walked in 3.2% of all plate appearances last season, which would’ve been the fourth-lowest mark in all of baseball.

“He hasn’t walked yet, but his thing is swinging,” said manager Bob Melvin before Friday’s 11-5 loss to the Brewers. “He’s getting better pitches to hit, and that’s always going to be the most important thing: not chasing too much. Last year, when . Then, all of a sudden, he was a little bit too aggressive. So, even though he hasn’t walked, we’ve seen him get a little deeper in counts and I think that’s a progression for him.”

The Giants entered this spring with Matos, Grant McCray and Marco Luciano as their three main candidates to win that fourth outfielder role. While Luciano was technically in the mix, Matos and McCray stood out as the favorites considering Luciano was converting from middle infielder to corner outfielder. When Luciano was part of the first wave of cuts, the battle between Matos and McCray began in earnest.

Over the last several weeks, Matos and McCray done their respective parts to make the team. Matos owns a .364 batting average and .923 OPS with two homers, two steals and 11 RBIs; McCray has a .323 batting average and .963 OPS with one homer, four RBIs and four steals. They’ve both played well, so who has the edge? On Friday morning, Melvin may have tipped his hand when asked about stolen bases.

“Some of our faster guys that are stealing bases potentially might not be here to start the season,” Melvin said.

McCray, arguably the fastest player in camp, definitely fits that profile. There are other factors working in Matos’ favor, too.

For as well as McCray has played this spring, he’s only played 37 games in the majors compared to Matos’ 121 games. McCray flashed both power (five homers) and speed (five steals) during his brief time in San Francisco but struck out in 43.1% of his plate appearances last season.

The 23-year-old Matos also has the benefit of being a right-handed hitter, one who can start for the left-handed hitting Mike Yastrzemski on days that the opposing team starts a lefty. Matos has hit better against lefties (.758 OPS) compared to righties (.561 OPS); Yastrzemski, unsurprisingly, has been the opposite, owning an .809 OPS against righties compared to a .686 OPS against lefties. Over the last four seasons, specifically, Yastrzemski has a .580 OPS against left-handers. Matos’ homer on Friday, appropriately enough, was against left-hander Nestor Cortes.

“My mindset is that I can only control what I can control,” Matos said. “My performance is going to dictate what the team wants to do with me.”

Roupp shoves against minor league competition

The competition for the fifth spot in the Giants’ rotation continued to heat up as Landen Roupp threw five scoreless innings at Papago Park with 13 strikeouts to one walk.

Yes, 13 strikeouts.

Roupp, 26, set the tone for his outing by punching out the first nine batters that he faced, landing 51 of the 66 pitches that he threw for strikes. The outing represented a positive momentum swing for Roupp, who allowed five earned runs over 3 2/3 innings against the Chicago Cubs in his last outing.

Interestingly enough, Melvin opted to watch Roupp’s start over at Papago Park instead of managing the Giants against the Brewers at American Family Fields of Phoenix.

Hicks kicks habit

Jordan Hicks put on a significant amount of weight this offseason to prepare for his second season as a starting pitcher. He made an equally important life decision to ensure he maintains that weight.

The 28-year-old Hicks told reporters after his start on Friday that he quit nicotine this offseason, which he believed suppressed his appetite. Along with quitting nicotine, Hicks said he hasn’t drank alcohol since last season and plans to be in the weight room twice per week. While Hicks said he might have an occasional beer, he has no intention of returning to nicotine.

“It’s unhealthy in general,” said Hicks, who pitched 2 2/3 innings and allowed four earned runs on a grand slam to Christian Yelich. “I’m just at that age where if you don’t quit, you’re going to do it for life. I didn’t want to be that person — no knock on anybody, but it’s just not me anymore.

Kurtenbach: The 49ers aren’t trying in free agency, so it’s time to trade down in the draft | Mock Draft 3.0

The 49ers have been showing player after player the door. And while that’s not a problem — a lot of those players overstayed their welcome and underplayed their new contracts — the issue is that no one is coming in to truly replace those players who have exited.

As of Friday morning, the 49ers still need starters — or, if we’re being generous serious camp competition — at one safety spot, weak-side linebacker, the 1,3, and 5 technique on the defensive line, third cornerback, X receiver, left guard, and fullback (if they use a fullback in 2025).

And yet the plan seems to be for the 49ers to fill those copious needs in the NFL Draft.

This is a good time to issue this reminder: Every team drafts for need, particularly early, when the players are expected to provide more immediate impact, but it’s the bad teams that go into Day 2 and Day 3 still “needing” something.

So unless the 49ers can do the wildly improbable and pick up players in a clean sweep in this, the final, cheapest wave of NFL Free Agency (they’ve already let a viable starting 1 technique, Jeremiah Ledbetter, sign with the Giants for a deal that is worth a max of $2 million for the 2025 season — an inauspicious sign), they’re going to be one of those bade teams on Days 2 and 3.

If so, this team should start working on trade-downs now. Consolidating picks between 15 and 50 is the best way to maximize the overall value of the team’s draft capital.

With that in mind, here’s my third mock draft of the offseason:

Trades: Pick Nos. 11 and 100 to Indianapolis for Nos. 14 and 45; Pick Nos. 14, 113, and 249 to Cincinnati for Nos. 17 and 49.

» As unlikely as it might be for the 49ers to trade down not once but twice before making their first selection — everyone is looking to trade down these days — such moves are necessary. If San Francisco can pull off the moves, they can pick four times in the top 50 — where players are expected to have a Day 1 impact — and once again before pick 100, where players should be expected to have a role their rookie season. Even then, the Niners can fill all the vacancies on their roster.

Round 1 – Pick No. 17: Walter Nolen, DT, Ole Miss

» I’m not pivoting off Nolen as the man to take in the first round. His draft stock has slipped, with off-the-field concerns leading the way. I can’t corroborate any of those concerns, so I will go with what’s been on the field: a tailor-made 3-technique for the 49ers’ one-gap system. Concerns about his motor or finishing ability are nitpicky at best — his high-end reps are the best in the class at this position. If the Niners can land their guy and add a couple more picks in the second round, they need to do it.

Round 2 – Pick No. 43: Trey Amos, CB, Ole Miss

» And I’ll stick with Amos at No. 43, as well. Frankly, I’m shocked there isn’t more hype around him, but until he is, he’s my pick for the Niners with this pick. As I said last time: “Amos might be a perfect Cover-3 cornerback. He’s smooth, smart, and willing to engage in the run game… With Renardo Green, Deommodore Lenoir, and Amos, the Niners would be set at cornerback for a half-decade.”

Round 2 – Pick No. 45: Landon Jackson, DE, Arkansas

» It’s hard to find players that can set the edge on the outside in this draft. Yes, there is the bull-rushing specialist, Shemar Stewart, but he’ll be well off the board by here (even if I wouldn’t take him before pick No. 20.) Jackson might not have great pass-rush moves, but at 6-foot-6 and 265 pounds, he, indeed, can set an edge. With serious athletic upside, this is a safe bet of a pick.

Round 2 – Pick No. 49: Alfred Collins, DT, Texas

» Here’s your starting 1 technique. At 6-foot-6, 332 pounds and with 35-inch arms and an 85-inch wingspan, Collins is a colossus. He also has absurd pop off the line for a big man. His lack of bounce off opposing linemen will ensure he’s around at this juncture of the draft, but it will also ensure that the A-gap is plugged.

Round 3 – Pick No. 75: Wyatt Milum, OT, West Virginia

» I’m still all-in on Millum, but as predicted his short arms are scaring teams away. Undeterred and always loving a sale, I pick up a swing tackle for the 2025 season and a starter in 2026 and beyond.

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Round 4 – Pick No. 138: Cody Simon, LB, Ohio State

» I do not love this linebacker class. But I like Simon, who isn’t quite a middle linebacker but not quite a fill weak-side space backer, either. That’s going to ding his draft stock — justifiably. But it’s a big win for the 49ers, who effectively use two Mike linebackers behind their wide-split line. Simon will provide competent, if unspectacular competition for Dee Winters, who is being given the starting Will job Dre Greenlaw vacated when he signed with the Broncos.

Round 5 – Pick No. 147: Dont’e Thornton Jr., WR, Tennessee

» Is he a good receiver? Not particularly. But you know what he is? Fast. Running a 4.3-second 40-yard dash at 6-foot-5 is absurd, and inside an offense that can scheme free releases off the line of scrimmage, it’s a serious weapon. This is the kind of receiver who is either a Day 1 star or a guy who bounces around the league for five years. At 147, I think the risk outweighs the possible reward.

Round 6 – Pick No. 187: Hollin Pierce, OT, Rutgers

» I still want the mountain on my roster. The Niners can’t afford to leave this draft without two offensive linemen, even though one could argue that on this roster, o-line might be a strong suit.

Round 7 – Pick No. 227: Drew Kendall, C/OG, Boston College

» Kendall is a profoundly competent interior offensive lineman who put up impressive combine numbers, which included the fourth-best 3-cone time of all linemen in Indianapolis. I, for one, would gladly take him early on Day 3, but so long as his stock remains with the late-round fliers, he’ll be a personal favorite.

Round 7 – Pick No. 252: Johnny Walker, DE, Missouri’

» Walker produced for Mizzou last season, forcing three fumbles and registering 9.5 sacks for a 10-win team. I see enough bend and burst to be an NFL rotational end. Yet there seems to be no love for him — he wasn’t even invited to the combine. A team will take him and find it very, very difficult to cut him come August.

 

 

Rubio says South Africa’s ambassador to the US ‘is no longer welcome’ in the country

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that South Africa’s ambassador to the United States “is no longer welcome” in the country.

Rubio, in a post on X, accused Ebrahim Rasool of being a “race-baiting politician” who hates President Donald Trump and declared him “persona non grata.” He didn’t give further reasoning.

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The State Department did not have additional details, and it was unclear whether the ambassador was even in the U.S. at the time the decision was made. Rubio posted as he was flying back to Washington from a Group of 7 foreign ministers in Quebec.

It comes after Trump signed an executive order that cut aid and assistance to the Black-led South African government. In the order, Trump said South Africa’s Afrikaners, who are descendants of mainly Dutch colonial settlers, were being targeted by a new law that allows the government to expropriate private land.

The South African government has denied its new law is tied to race and says Trump’s claims over the country and the law have been full of misinformation and distortions.

Phone calls to the South African Embassy seeking comment, made at the end of the work day, were not answered.

Federal judge considers blocking DOGE from accessing Social Security data of millions of Americans

By LEA SKENE and LINDSAY WHITEHURST

BALTIMORE (AP) — A federal judge is considering whether to temporarily block Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Social Security Administration systems that hold sensitive data on millions of Americans.

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A group of labor unions and retirees sued the Trump administration and asked the court to issue an emergency order limiting DOGE’s access to the agency and its data.

DOGE’s “nearly unlimited” access violates privacy laws and presents massive information security risks, they said. A recently departed Social Security official who saw the DOGE team sweep into the agency said she is deeply worried about sensitive information being exposed.

The administration has said DOGE is targeting waste and fraud in the federal government.

During a Friday hearing on the issue in federal court in Baltimore, U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander repeatedly questioned attorneys for the government about why the DOGE team needed such a large quantity of sensitive personal information about Social Security recipients, including health records for disability applicants. She questioned whether a more targeted approach would allow DOGE to uncover improper payments without accessing so much data.

“This is like hitting a fly with a sledgehammer,” she said of the Trump administration’s approach.

While alluding to technical issues that could affect her ruling, the judge said she was struggling to understand why DOGE’s actions were necessary, calling them “extremely worrisome and surprising.”

“What’s the excuse for that — or the justification?” she asked.

The Trump administration says DOGE has a 10-person team of federal employees at the Social Security Administration, seven of whom have been granted read-only access to agency systems or personally identifiable information. They have received privacy training, and eight had passed background checks as of Wednesday, government lawyers said in court documents.

They argued in court that the DOGE access doesn’t deviate significantly from normal practices inside the agency, where employees and auditors are routinely allowed to search its databases.

But attorneys for the plaintiffs called it unprecedented.

“This is, in fact, a sea change” in terms of how the agency protects personal information, said Alethea Anne Swift, an attorney with the legal services group Democracy Forward, which is behind the lawsuit.

Outside the courthouse ahead of the hearing, dozens of union workers and retirees rallied in support of the plaintiffs and expressed concern over whether their Social Security benefits are at risk.

“We want Elon Musk and the DOGE group to take their hands off Social Security,” said Ronnie Bailey, 75, a retired Maryland corrections officer and Vietnam veteran. “When you talk about people’s lifelines, Social Security is not waste.”

Agnes Watkins, a retired nurse, said she relies on Social Security checks to pay her mortgage and cover other basic necessities. She said she’s disturbed at the thought that “anybody can just come in and gain access to private information.”

“It doesn’t feel secure,” she said.

The group held signs calling for the protection of Social Security benefits and shouted “Down with DOGE” and other chants.

DOGE has also accessed other government databases, including at the Treasury and IRS.

At Social Security, DOGE staffers swept into the agency days after Trump’s inauguration and pressed for a software engineer to quickly get access to data systems that are normally carefully restricted even within the government, a former official said in court documents.

The team appeared to be searching for fraud based on inaccuracies and misunderstandings, according Tiffany Flick, the former acting chief of staff to the acting commissioner.

“I am deeply concerned about DOGE’s access to SSA systems and the potential to inappropriately and inaccurately disclose this information, especially given the rushed nature in which we were required to onboard,” she said.

Hollander, who is based in Baltimore and was appointed by President Barack Obama, is the latest judge to consider a DOGE related case. The team has drawn nearly two dozen lawsuits, some of which have shed light on staffing and operations that have largely been kept under wraps.

Several judges have raised questions about DOGE’s sweeping cost-cutting efforts, but they have not always agreed that the risks are imminent enough to block the team from government systems.

Whitehurst reported from Washington.

Slicing into Pi Day: These are America’s favorite pies

By Alex Orellana

In celebration of Pi Day on March 14 (3/14)—a food holiday savored for making math just a little sweeter—Instacart serves up a healthy slice of its ordering data to determine which pies win Americans’ hearts and stomachs, uncovering surprising regional favorites and unexpected sweet trends.

InstacartAmerica’s Most Popular Pies

When it comes to the most popular pies nationwide, apple pie earns the blue ribbon, accounting for nearly a third (29%) of all pie sales in 2024. Coming in second and third, respectively, are pumpkin pie, with 23%, and pecan pie, with 9% of all pie sales—proving there’s a reason why these classics don’t stay on the pie plate for long. Meanwhile, raspberry and vanilla cream pie don’t get as much fanfare, with each representing only 0.02% of pies sold.

InstacartA Cut of State by State and Regional Trends

The data also shows that consumers’ pie preferences differ greatly depending on the state or region they live in:

Pumpkin passion: While pumpkin pie is synonymous with fall, West Coasters—and surprisingly, Floridians—show a year-round appreciation for its flavor.Cherry craze: Cherry pie dominates in the Midwest, with a “cherry belt” running from Arizona to West Virginia.Southern classic: No matter how you pronounce it, pecan pie is the reigning favorite in the South, from Texas to the Carolinas.Diverse East Coast palates: The East Coast offers a variety of pie favorites: chocolate pie, lemon meringue, and key lime stand out. New Englanders also love blueberry pie; it’s the most uniquely popular pie in Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.InstacartCity by City Taste Test

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Local love: Marionberry pie shines in the Pacific Northwest, reflecting the regional berry’s roots. Portland, Oregon, residents order this treat 17 times more often than the national average, followed by Seattle at 14 times.Something sweet: Sweet potato pie has a loyal following across Southern and Midwestern cities, including Atlanta (6.5x national average), Detroit (5.4x), Memphis, Tennessee (4.5x), and Washington D.C. (4.1x).A tart twist: In Philadelphia and Baltimore, lemon meringue pie takes center stage, with orders four and three times higher than the national average, respectively.Pulling for peach: Peach pie holds its own in Denver and Los Angeles, with sales exceeding twice the national average (2.7x and 2x, respectively).InstacartPeeking Into Pie Prep:

What about the ingredients behind these delectable desserts? Pie-making at home has its champions:

Scratch-made love: Vermont led the charge, buying pie crusts and fillings 83% more often than the national average in 2024. West Virginia (75% more often), Mississippi (68%), Wisconsin (64%), and Kentucky (62%) also showed a strong appetite for pie-making essentials.Less homemade prep: Conversely, Hawaii purchased crusts and fillings at the lowest rate—57% below the national average. California (47% less often), Washington D.C. (-41%), Nevada (-35%), and Washington State (-29%) made up the rest of the bottom five.InstacartSweetest Shopping Days

When do Americans buy the most pies? No surprise here—it’s the day before Thanksgiving. On that day, pie sales skyrocketed, with 1,059% more carts containing pies compared to the average in 2024. But don’t count out Pi Day. On March 14, 2024, Instacart orders containing pies increased 60% over the yearly average.

This story was produced by Instacart and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.

 

An art critic’s guide to Paris, from the Louvre to Dali

By Alicia Eler, The Minnesota Star Tribune

To some, Paris is the City of Light. To others, it’s the City of Love. But to art lovers, it’s simply the city of art — and there’s so much to see that it’s hard to know where to start. As a visual art critic and arts reporter, here’s what caught my eye when I was in Paris — and what I suggest doing when you go next.

The Louvre

Time: 6-8 hours

Cost: 22 euros (about $23)

What is it? The Louvre is one of the most famous art museums in the world. Built as a military fortress in the 13th century, it transformed into a residence for the royal family and then became a museum in 1793. Grab a coffee and stand in the longest line ever, even if you have a ticket — it’s worth the wait.

This beautiful human-animal hybrid creature is known as “lamassu,” and was known as a sign of divinity in the Mesopotamian world. Created during the Assyrian Empire in the late 8th century B.C., in an area that is now Iraq, it guarded the Palace of Sargon II. It was excavated in the mid-19th cen., and lives on at the Louvre Museum in Paris. (Alicia Eler/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS)

What to see: The Egyptian wing is one of the largest in the world, with more than 50,000 objects. Don’t miss the well preserved mummy of Pacheri from the Ptolemaic period (305-30 B.C.), wrapped entirely in strips of linen. “In the Department of Oriental Antiques, stand between two giant lamassu, mythological creatures from the 8th century B.C. that are referenced in the poem the Epic of Gilgamesh. Author Elif Shafak’s latest novel, “There Are Rivers in the Sky,” centers around the 19th-century excavations of these statues. From there, hop over to the Denon Wing and check out the French Crown Jewels in Gallery d’Appolon, where a crowd gathers around the glistening crown of Louis XV, covered in diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires. The 11 paintings in the gallery tell the story of the Sun and Apollo, with works by nine French artists, including Eugène Delacroix and Charles Louis Muller. If you can stand the crowds, try to take a selfie with the Mona Lisa, who now has her own room.

Musée d’Orsay (Orsay Museum)

Time: 4-5 hours

Cost: 11-16 euros ($11-$17)

What is it? Musée d’Orsay is housed in a former railway station built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900. Take an elevator straight to the top and see the giant clock, which was designed for the train station. Gaze through the transparent frame and see the city framed in various ways, then pose for a selfie with it.

Van Gogh’s famous “Portrait of the Artist” is one of the many iconic artworks on view at Musée d’Orsay in Paris. (Alicia Eler/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS)

What to see: Take a stroll along the River Seine, taking in the history of Paris before getting in line at the Orsay.

Musée d’Orsay boasts incredible 19th-century paintings such as Edouard Manet’s controversial nude “Olympia,” Auguste Clésinger’s famous marble sculpture “Woman Bitten by a Serpent,” countless Van Goghs, many works by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and other artists of the Moulin Rouge era, as well as special exhibitions.

The Quai Branly Museum

Time: 2-3 hours

Cost: 11-14 euros ($11-$15)

What is it? Before you spend hours waiting to get to the top of the Eiffel Tower, make a stop at Quai Branly, which features Indigenous and non-Western art. It’s located in one of the most scenic old parts of Paris, filled with winding cobblestone streets and cafes where employees reluctantly serve you, the tourist, one more buttery soft croissant. (You can try to order in French, but be prepared to get a snarky response in English.)

A ceramic tile from Iran, circa mid-19th cen., on view at the Quai Branly Museum of non-Western art. (Alicia Eler/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS)

What to see: This is the only museum I found in Paris that speaks so directly and honestly about the devastating impact of colonialism on Indigenous culture and art. Entire collections explore the Aztec society before and after Spanish colonialization, including paintings of the caste systems put in place by Europeans. (These paintings were also on view last year at Mia.) Another section features art from French Caribbean colonies, such as Haiti, which gained independence from France in 1804. Masks from African countries, artifacts from voodoo ceremonies, objects from Inuit tribes, window frames and ceramic artifacts from Iran, and masks from Sri Lanka used in exorcisms are some of the many objects to explore.

Dalí Paris

Time: 1-2 hours

Cost: 11-16 euros ($11-$17)

What is it? The largest private collection of art by the Spanish Surrealist master Salvador Dalí lives in the heart of the Montmartre district.

What to see: Journey to Montmartre, made famous by Toulouse-Lautrec’s chronicling of its nightlife. This museum is off another heavy tourist area filled with artists from all over the world practicing plein air painting and selling their goods directly to you (some even do caricatures). As you make your way to the museum, the smell of sweet perfume or heavy cologne, depending on whom you’re passing, will collide with vendors cooking fresh crepes.

Dalí Paris, a museum in France devoted to Salvador Dalí, has over 300 works in its collection. The Surrealist master was obsessed with time. (Alicia Eler/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS)

Dalí was famously obsessed with time, and at this museum there are various melting clocks throughout the galleries, hanging from rods or hangers or draped over a sculpture of a tree. Don’t miss Dalí’s Tarot watercolors, a giant thumb sculpture, and a sculpture of Venus with drawers installed in her body. All the works feed back into the artist’s fascination with the subconscious.

Side trip: Exploring Montmartre

Climb atop the highest point in Paris at Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre. The Basilica of the Sacred Heart overlooks the entire city, making it a key spot for breathtaking photos. Built in the 19th century and designed by Paul Abadie with Romanesque and Byzantine inspirations, the basilica also has the largest bell in France, measuring almost 10 feet in diameter and weighing over 40,000 pounds. The line is outrageous but entrance is free, and it can be fun to eavesdrop on conversations, guessing which language is being spoken. I heard French, Turkish and Spanish.

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Keep your eyes peeled for street art. While roaming Montmartre, take in the pixelated video game mosaics by the artist Invader (Franck Slama), a larger-than-life mural of Toulouse-Lautrec, or the famous windmill at Le Moulin de la Galette, a hangout for Van Gogh and other artists of the era that lives on as a restaurant.

See gravestones of famous artists at Montmartre Cemetery. If you’re feeling morbid, visit the graves of artists like Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Jean Bauchet (proprietor of the Moulin Rouge) and more.

Time-travel at the Moulin Rouge Cabaret. It’s not exactly the same 1889 nightclub that Toulouse-Lautrec painted, but the location and stage remain intact. Walk into history with this overpriced yet very fun experience (try the 11 p.m. show without dinner to save money). At the birthplace of can-can and cabaret, this two-hour show is worth staying up late for.

©2025 The Minnesota Star Tribune. Visit startribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

‘Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna’ review: A tragedy retold

Filmed in New Mexico, the Alec Baldwin Western “Rust” became infamous when work on the 2021 movie culminated in the accidental fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The Hulu documentary “Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna” re-examines what happened on the troubled set, and it features interviews with several people involved, some of whom express a bitter frustration with how the tragedy was discussed online. Actor Josh Hopkins, for example, calls the internet “the land of cowards,” which he found “enraging because they don’t know anything about a movie set and don’t know anything about the hearts of the people involved.”

That he and his colleagues would focus on public outrage, when one might have expected anger directed toward their employers, is stunning. But the Occupational Safety and Health Administration inspector assigned to the case (identified here only as Lorenzo) is blunt about where the focus should be: “Every worker in America has a right to a safe workplace.” In addition to Hutchins, “Rust” director Joel Souza was shot in the shoulder and survived.

In the immediate aftermath of that October day, it became clear this was not an unexplainable event. That’s reinforced in director Rachel Mason’s documentary, as well. “Every accident is preceded by a series of failures,” says the OSHA inspector. That anyone on set would direct their ire at the public’s response, rather than at those who oversaw this series of failures, is baffling. It’s also conspicuous that no one gives voice to the fear: That could have been me. Were career preservation instincts guiding what they were willing to say on camera?

Mason embarked on the documentary at the behest of Hutchins’ widower, Matthew Hutchins, who wanted her humanity re-centered. “But I realized I couldn’t make a film about her life unless I understood how she died,” Mason says in the film. Perhaps this is why she fails to capture who Hutchins was beyond some nice words spoken about her by close friends. Notably, Matthew is not interviewed. That’s understandable. It’s also a problem for the film. Despite its well-intentioned aims, “Last Take” reduces Hutchins’ life to the circumstances of her death.

If you were enraged when the story first broke, the documentary will re-enrage you all over again. Three people were held criminally liable for the shooting, despite the OSHA inspector’s opinion that there was “no way this is only limited to three people.”

The Hulu press materials are careful to phrase the involvement of the film’s star in passive terms: “A prop gun held by actor Alec Baldwin fired a live bullet.” Baldwin was also a producer on the film and he was charged with involuntary manslaughter. The case was dismissed after the judge ruled the prosecution had withheld evidence. (The film’s other producers are not discussed in the documentary.)  Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. And first assistant director Dave Halls pled no contest to negligent use of a deadly weapon and was given six months probation. (The prosecutor tells Mason she also offered Gutierrez-Reed a deal that would have resulted in no jail time, but Gutierrez-Reed chose a trial instead.)

Budgets on independent films are always tight and there is intense pressure to stretch a dollar. “Where is management’s priority?” asks the OSHA inspector. “Are we pushing production, production, production over people’s safety due to money?”

OSHA ultimately issued something called a “willful citation.” According to the inspector, “There was enough input from management, enough knowledge, enough warning, enough complaints — all of these red flags — and management said, ‘Well, let’s just move on.’ We call that plain indifference.” A slide then appears on screen: “In February 2023, OSHA agreed to settle with ‘Rust’ Productions, who were not required to admit any wrongdoing.”

The film doesn’t ask about the decision-making behind this outcome, but a consistent theme emerges relating to the question of who is culpable. Clips from various TV interviews include one featuring Baldwin, who states that “someone is responsible for what happened and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.” Mason then cuts to a different clip featuring Hutchins’ husband. He sees things differently: “The idea that the person holding the gun causing it to discharge is not responsible is absurd to me. Every individual who touches a firearm has a responsibility for gun safety.”

Baldwin, his wife and their children are currently featured in a new TLC series about their lives. According to People magazine, this prompted a response from Hutchins’ family members: “Is his reality show just a veiled attempt to create sympathy for himself with a future jury pool in our civil case? Is this just a shameless attempt to portray him as the real victim in this case?” The same report notes that Baldwin “never called or tried to contact her parents or sister to say that he was sorry, and to this day he has never taken responsibility for Halyna’s death.” Hutchins is also survived by a young son.

Why was there real ammunition on set to begin with? How did those live rounds get mixed in with dummy rounds and loaded into Baldwin’s pistol? Nobody appears to have an answer. Early in the news cycle, one rumored theory took hold: Were crew members doing target practice? The film doesn’t address this possibility beyond a brief mention by the OSHA inspector: “Through our interviews, we were able to determine that no one was shooting recreationally on set.”

On the day of the shooting, Baldwin was interviewed by a sheriff’s detective and in the video he’s seen drawing a diagram to explain the setup: “I sat here, and the camera was here, and she was here, and Joel was here.” The detective stops him: “She being … Halyna?”

It’s striking that Baldwin refers to Souza by name but not Hutchins. Not long after, another detective says that Hutchins has died: “Joel’s still at the hospital. But the other person involved didn’t make it.” Once again, Souza is named and Hutchins is not. How quickly she has been downgraded to “the other person.”

In later footage, Baldwin and his wife confront a group of paparazzi and a photographer admits to not remembering Hutchins’ name. The Baldwins shame him, but their righteous indignation feels insincere considering Baldwin wasn’t using her name in that footage with detectives.

“There was an ugly frenzy” around the case, says Souza. “They sort of erased her from it really quickly.” He seems to be talking about the media. Another possible takeaway: The erasure was even broader.

At least the documentary puts Hutchins’ name right in the title.

“Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna” — 2.5 stars (out of 4)

Where to watch: Hulu

Nina Metz is a Tribune critic.

‘Novocaine’ review: Amid a sea of brutality, Jack Quaid and Amber Midthunder take the pain away

“Novocaine” arrives with one bag of good news, and one bag that should’ve packed a little lighter on the ultraviolence.

I write this with a full understanding that other people may not agree. They’ll enjoy both bags, especially since the movie’s admiring close-ups of fingernail torture and the like, especially in a story of a man whose genetic order renders him insensitive to pain, goes for the laugh as often as not.

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But it hurts seeing “Novocaine” squander a promising setup, with an unusually effective depiction of a romance in its first-date stage. The movie’s star, Jack Quaid, best known for “The Boys,” acquits himself with a breezy, Jack Lemmony air here, if Jack Lemmon found himself in a prequel to “The Equalizer” sometime around 1957.

Quaid’s character, Nate, has lived a cautious, hermetic life given his condition known as congenital insensitivity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPT, and it’s a real if extremely rare condition). CIPT, as we learn from “Novocaine’s” somewhat fanciful idea of the particulars, has the enormous downside of messing with his awareness if he happens to injure himself and not see or feel the effects in time to prevent serious trouble. He’s hardly immortal. So Nathan lays low out of habit, dating little and gaming much. (Jacob Batalon gets an enjoyable turn as Nate’s online fellow gamer.)

At the San Diego credit union where Nate works as junior manager, coworker Sherry, played by the deservedly busy actress Amber Midthunder, seems at least half as sweet on him as Nate feels about her. This may be grade inflation, since nobody seems to write first-date sequences with anything like a human pulse anymore, but “Novocaine” does a deft job with their budding attraction. It takes its time, establishes a few things and finds ways to make Nate and Sherry likable — and somehow, directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen and screenwriter Lars Jacobson avoid the cliche of a wordless montage, backed by song. Bold risk! Actual dialogue, delivered by actual actors acting!

Amber Midthunder as Sherry, with Jack Quaid as Nate, in “Novocaine.” (Marcos Cruz/Paramount Pictures)

Anyone who’s seen the trailer knows that “Novocaine” is really an action movie, waiting for its cue to start slicing and walloping. When the credit union is robbed in broad daylight by three generic killers, boom, it’s multiple bullet-fiddled police officers dead on the street. Sherry becomes a hostage, whisked away at gunpoint by the killers.

I’ll lay off any further plot discussion other than to say “Novocaine” has a nicely finessed twist around the midpoint, and thereafter a pretty simple line of attack. Nate leaps into action-hero mode, and the film’s mayhem blowouts include a multi-weapon melee in a restaurant kitchen, leaving our gangly hero horribly burned but quite chipper about it, since his adversary is less fortunate.

Sound fun? Sure, for what it is, and for a while. After that while, the violence takes over and the finesse goes south while the “Taken” and “John Wick” riffs grow tiresome. The cardboard psychos are a drag, and while some nicely staged “kills” (odious noun, there) pop up, gushing blood, in the climactic booby-trapped house showdown, I kind of hate that stuff. By the end of “Novocaine,” it’s as if the filmmakers — who have talent, and who are now off and running in a commercial sense — forgot how their movie started: with Quaid and Midthunder getting the material and the screen time needed to hook an audience’s interest, before the jocular sadism commenced in earnest.

“Novocaine” — 2 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for strong bloody violence, grisly images, and language throughout)

Running time: 1:50

How to watch: Premiered in theaters March 13

Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.

5 years later: How COVID changed health care

By Anya Sostek, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

PITTSBURGH — John Sullivan, chief medical officer of St. Clair Health System in Pittsburgh, spent 33 years in the Navy. And when he thinks back to this week five years ago, he likens the early COVID-19 days to a military deployment.

“I still get a little PTSD talking about this, honestly, thinking back on that week,” he said. “We were scared for our own lives, working longer hours than we ever had before. For all of us leading health care systems, we were making enormously consequential decisions, often many every day, without really any information.”

What happened during those early weeks and months of the COVID pandemic changed the face of health care — both in terms of the people working within it and the way that health care is delivered.

Vaccines entered the health care system in ways that they hadn’t before, from cameras following a UPS van bringing the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine into Western Pennsylvania to a carefully orchestrated hierarchy of who was eligible to receive vaccines by age and health conditions to vaccine contrarianism and distrust of the health care system.

Masking also arrived suddenly, with statewide recommendations in April 2020 and mandates that June, followed by pushback from some segments of the public. The state and county health departments issued public health orders such as closing schools, restaurants and other businesses that affected all Pennsylvanians.

“Clearly a lot of things have changed,” said Donald Whiting, who is now chair of neuroscience at Allegheny Health Network but was the health system’s chief medical officer from 2019 until earlier this year. “The most rapidly developed during COVID and most long-lasting single thing is telehealth. It was remarkable how quickly it rolled out — truly, within a matter of weeks — and how it was accepted by patients.”

Before COVID, telemedicine was often seen as an inferior option, or one to be used only in special circumstances. But as it became commonplace out of necessity early in the pandemic, a surprising thing happened.

“People started liking it,” said Dr. Whiting. “They started seeing it as a reasonable alternative to in-person visits, and there’s a whole younger generation that that’s their preference in a lot of cases.”

Kristen Walker, a therapist and clinical director at the Counseling & Wellness Center of Pittsburgh, now sees about 50% of her patients online. Prior to COVID, “it was very rare,” she said. “You may have done one or two here and there.”

The switch to online has not just opened up the ease of access for her local patient base, but has also allowed patients across Pennsylvania to access therapy — even in rural areas with limited in-person options.

“I’ve done so much virtually that I’ve never thought possible,” she said. “My job has changed because now I can see someone 200 miles away, still give them effective treatment, feel good about what I’m doing, and they can get what they need.”

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Patients getting behavioral health services across the AHN network are just as likely to do so virtually as they are to visit a doctor or therapist in person. Online access has also made therapy more efficient to deliver across a large health system, eliminating the need for patients and therapists to physically be in the same place, said Anil Singh, executive medical director for population health at Highmark Health.

“It’s really around slot utilization and the ability to have those openings within your schedule,” he said. “The ability to do that across a large population of providers allows that access to be easier. We’re not seeing the wait times that we would usually see.”

Dr. Singh, who is also a pulmonologist for AHN, uses telehealth for follow-up visits in his pulmonary practice. Patients from rural areas particularly appreciate the option, he said, which eliminates the need to drive into Pittsburgh, pay for parking, and often navigate hospitals, stairs and parking garages while managing breathing challenges or an oxygen tank.

Even in the neurosciences at AHN, about 12% of appointments are now virtual — an appealing option for patients with advanced neurologic conditions who may have difficulty traveling.

Telehealth is also expanding into more physical medicine. Highmark Health has had success using a Virtual Joint Health program in which patients complete physical therapy exercises with the guidance of a tablet that uses computer vision. More recently, it has added a program for virtual pelvic floor therapy.

“If you asked me six years ago would I have thought that virtual pelvic health is something we’d be talking about, the answer would be no,” said Dr. Singh. “It’s about listening to the patients and what are they asking for that they would rather do in the comfort of their own home.”

Aside from telehealth, one of the biggest changes to health care as a result of COVID came not in how care was delivered, but who was delivering it. In the early days of COVID, health care workers felt alone — and terrified.

“Everybody else was really sheltering in place but in the health care world, you were the one going out, fighting the battle,” said Dr. Whiting. “You felt like you were putting your life on the line every time you went to work.”

That fear, and other pressures, resulted in widespread resignations among health care workers, both in Pittsburgh and nationwide. One study found that about 100,000 registered nurses left the workforce during the pandemic.

“It was risky, it was harder, there was less joy in the work, we all had masks on all day and many people lost their reliable child care,” said Dr. Sullivan. “All of a sudden you had all these near-retirement departures, anyone with loss of child care stability and some people who questioned whether they were in the right field.”

Additionally, travel nursing agencies offering lucrative salaries drew nurses out of the regular hospital pool.

And the challenges of managing a thinning workforce were often more difficult than managing the COVID disease itself, said Dr. Sullivan. To recruit more workers, St. Clair Health System and other local health systems threw themselves into developing partnerships and other efforts to encourage more people to join the workforce.

UPMC launched initiatives to attract nurses with programs for students as young as middle school, and it increased capacity at the seven UPMC Schools of Nursing. In 2024, those schools graduated 550 nurses, up from 250 in 2022.

COVID has also led to more focus on the mental health of health care workers.

Ohio State University in 2020 launched its Buckeye Paws program, which continues to connect therapy dogs to staffers at the Wexner Medical Center. AHN still has decompression rooms for staff, as well as wellness programs and other behavioral health support.

The health care workforce at AHN has largely recovered from the losses that it suffered during COVID, said Dr. Whiting, though there are some specialized fields such as certified registered nurse anesthetists, where they still see shortages.

“We’re significantly better than we were,” he said, “but I think everyone is still building up staff to some degree.”

Early on in the pandemic, chief medical officers across the region began meeting weekly, at first through a Monday night phone call. And while this doesn’t sound remarkable, it was in a region that had traditionally been a competitive health care environment.

“This was your wartime cabinet,” said Dr. Sullivan, noting that the group has now been formalized as the Western PA Chief Medical Officers Consortium. “It’s a really valuable way to run a response to health care — not as competitors but as friends.”

The group helped navigate parts of the pandemic, issuing a statement in late 2021 urging the public to wear masks, get vaccinated and stick to approved therapies, and advocating for general health care issues as well. Just last month, the group addressed health care workplace violence after a shooting at UPMC Harrisburg.

As the federal COVID emergency declaration ended in spring 2023, the booster vaccines shifted from government to commercial oversight. Despite some delays with the commercial rollout, Pittsburghers started to see the new COVID vaccines that October, and following rollouts have more or less mirrored the arrival of the influenza vaccine.

In some ways, said Dr. Sullivan, it’s taken five years just to get back to the pre-COVID status quo.

“I find myself working on initiatives that were on my mind in early 2020,” he said. “We’re starting to get back to those things because a lot of the last few years have been firefighting — supplies, people, wave after wave of COVID, and other respiratory illnesses.”

© 2025 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Visit www.post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.