Jeremy T. Ringfield's Blog, page 233

Horoscope Jan. 16, 2026: John Carpenter, budget wisely this year and explore options to avoid debt

CELEBRITIES BORN ON THIS DAY: Max Joseph, 43; Richard T. Jones, 53; Debbie Allen, 75; John Carpenter, 77.[image error]Max Joseph Happy Birthday: Entertainment comes at a price. Take your time when making purchases or investing in something you will have to live with for a long time. Budget wisely this year and explore options that help you avoid debt. Get in shape by running, cycling, hiking and returning to nature, and it will surpass your expectations and revive your confidence. Make personal success and saving money your goal. Your numbers are 3, 12, 22, 27, 33, 36, 47. ARIES (March 21-April 19): Tidy up, clear a passage that leads to what you want to do next and get started. An energetic approach to life will help you stay in shape and take better care of yourself and what and who you value. Stick to the facts and be kind, and doors will open. 5 stars TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Curb your emotions and concentrate on what you must achieve. The more focused you are, the less criticism and interference you’ll encounter. Refuse to pay for something you don’t want or for someone else’s mistake. Be blunt and stick close to home and those you love. 5 stars GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Don’t push your luck with people in the know; if you mislead or promise the impossible, you’ll face the consequences. A tempting offer will be a trap that holds you accountable. Proceed with caution, ask questions and avoid committing to something or someone questionable. Excessive behavior is the enemy. 2 stars CANCER (June 21-July 22): Concentrate on getting ahead. Communication and following through with your promises will put you in command. Dial negativity back a notch and spice up your vocabulary to impress and express what you want to achieve. Reward yourself; it will give you the boost you need to outperform the competition. 4 stars LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Money and emotions will lead to unnecessary purchases. If you need a place to reflect, walk in the woods. Returning to nature will improve your perspective and encourage alternative paths to a happier lifestyle. Once you realize your options, you’ll find it easier to develop positive alternatives. 3 stars VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Keep your eye on what’s happening around you. The response you receive from others will tell you what to consider doing next. Simplicity and a tight budget will help ease stress and offer freedom to do something you enjoy. Choose peace of mind over dollars and cents. 3 stars LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Listen and learn. Put a call out to experts; it will spark your imagination and help you to personalize the information you gather to fine-tune what you want to pursue. The smoothest route is the one that is well thought out and tailored to fit your circumstances. 3 stars SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Don’t bank on someone else changing to suit your needs. Size up whatever situation you face regarding partnerships, and take care of what matters to you most. The best way to stabilize your living circumstances is to make your surroundings comfortable, convenient and geared toward personal progress. 2 stars SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Look for opportunities and partnerships, and study the most efficient way to follow through with your plans with the least change and dollars spent. Refrain from letting a fast-talking sales pitch result in emotional, physical or financial trouble. Avoid those touting negativity, and put your best foot forward. 5 stars CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Make a point to talk to experts, expand your mind and discover what’s available to you in your community. A job offer or promotion is within reach if you take the initiative, send out resumes or pick up additional skills. Use your charm and expertise to advance. 3 stars AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Observation will help you avoid a mistake. You may crave change, but sit tight if the timing is off. Spend more time rearranging or clearing your space to suit your needs. How functional your surroundings are will make the difference between success and failure. 3 stars PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): You can be receptive without going overboard. An offer that isn’t applicable has no value. Focus on what benefits you or raises your awareness, skills or possibility for success, convenience or comfort. Choose what makes the most sense and offers you something of value. Personal growth is favored. 3 stars Birthday Baby: You are diplomatic, entertaining and upfront. You are cautious and organized. 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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Warriors escape with win over Timberwolves to cap tumultuous trip

MINNEAPOLIS — The Warriors hit their low-point of the season north of the border, but bounced back against the Timberwolves stateside.

Golden State dominated the first quarter, building a 24-point lead behind swarming defense and a barrage of 3-pointers.

No lead is safe in the NBA, especially a Warriors lead. Minnesota clawed back, quarter by quarter, offensive rebound by offensive rebound, free throw after free throw, tying the game late in the fourth quarter.

But Steph Curry elevated down the stretch, nailing two 3-pointers in the last three minutes. Curry finished with 31 points and eight rebounds in a season-high 37 minutes.

Despite some late-game turnover and foul-shooting drama, the Warriors held on for a 116-115 win. Andrew Wiggins (24 points), Trayce Jackson-Davis (15 rebounds) and Buddy Hield (18 points) made major contributions. The Warriors lost every quarter after the first, but their early onslaught held just enough to sneak back home to the Bay Area with a win.

The Warriors (20-20) overcame the absences of Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Brandin Podziemski and Kyle Anderson in the victory. They took three of four in the season series against Minnesota and finished their four-game road trip 2-2.

The competitive spirit Golden State had been lacking appears back. The loss to Toronto that brought them below .500 for the first time this season is in the past. The trade deadline talk of not mortgaging the future will remain for the next few weeks, but games like Wednesday were much needed for any direction the franchise chooses.

The Target Center crowd’s tradition is to stay standing until the first Timberwolves basket. The Warriors had the arena on its feet for the first 4:27.

Golden State forced eight straight clanks from the Wolves. They missed from outside, inside and and everywhere in between as the Warriors scored the game’s first 13 points.

The first quarter was perhaps the most connected the Warriors have looked since their 12-3 start to the season. They swarmed defensively, forcing turnovers, and pushed the pace accordingly. It helped that Curry hit his first four 3-pointers, the last of which he held the follow-through with a 29-8 lead.

Right before that triple, Curry found Buddy Hield for a 3 with a no-look pass as two Timberwolves swarmed him at midcourt.

Part of the Warriors’ hot start came because of Gui Santos, who got his first career start. Santos probably isn’t a long-term answer, but he brings the type of energy and connectivity the Warriors have often lacked this year.

Undersized without Green (illness), Anderson (hamstring) and Kuminga (ankle), Jackson-Davis rose to the challenge against Minnesota’s humongous frontcourt. The second-year center grabbed six first-quarter boards and finished an alley-oop dunk to put Golden State up 34-10.

The Warriors played much more handsy defense than in recent memory, forcing as many turnovers (5) as they allowed field goals in the first quarter.

Golden State’s offense, ranked in the bottom third of the league for almost two months, was bound for regression. With Curry on the bench in the second quarter, it stalled out, allowing Minnesota to embark on a 9-0 run. With Curry back, Golden State recovered and entered halftime with a 55-42 edge.

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The Wolves tried to impose their will in the paint in the second half, and Donte DiVincenzo poured in nine straight points at one point, but the Warriors maintained their lead. Even as the game slowed with a plethora of fouls, Golden State executed in the halfcourt. Moses Moody finished a shot over Rudy Gobert and Gary Payton II — in his first action since missing 10 games — cut baseline for a layup.

Every time the Timberwolves made a run, the Warriors steadied. Wiggins got aggressive, bullying his way to the line for eight foul shots in the third quarter alone.

But in the fourth, the Timberwolves got to loose balls first, crashed the offensive glass and ramped up their on-ball defense. They stifled Curry with double teams and closed defensive possessions with rebounds.

Clinging to a three-point lead, Wiggins muscled his way into the lane for a finger roll, bailing out a possession that looked headed for nowhere land at 7:29. In the middle portion of the fourth, as Curry sat, Wiggins and Moody kept the offense afloat.

Schroder (12 points) fouled out with 4:10 left, and Naz Reid put back a missed foul shot to inch the Wolves within two.

With 2:32 left, Curry drained a corner 3 for his first points of the fourth quarter. DiVincenzo answered with his sixth trey of the night, and Curry misfired on a catch-and-shoot chance. Reid stuffed Wiggins in the lane and high-jumped for a loose ball, earning game-tying foul shots with 1:07.

Curry pump-faked and canned another 3 in the corner to put the Warriors back up 3, chirping a fan in the front row as Minnesota called timeout. A pair of Wiggins foul shots — his 11th and 12th against his former team — found the bottom of the net.

Beyond a late inbounds turnover and iffy foul shooting, the Warriors converted just enough in winning time.

Trump adviser says president-elect is exploring options to “preserve” TikTok

Trump’s pick for national security adviser, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, said in an interview on Wednesday that the president-elect is exploring options to “preserve” TikTok.

Waltz made the comment when Fox News anchor Bret Baier asked him about a report from The Washington Post that said Trump was considering an executive order to suspend enforcement of a federal law that could ban the popular platform nationwide by Sunday.

Last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a legal challenge to the statute brought by TikTok, its China-based parent company ByteDance, and users of the app. The Justices seemed likely to uphold the law, which requires ByteDance to divest TikTok on national security grounds or face a ban in one of its biggest markets.

“If the Supreme Court comes out with a ruling in favor of the law, President Trump has been very clear: Number one, TikTok is a great platform that many Americans use and has been great for his campaign and getting his message out. But number two, he’s going to protect their data,” Waltz said.

“He’s a deal maker. I don’t want to get ahead of our executive orders, but we’re going to create this space to put that deal in place,” he added.

Separately on Wednesday, Pam Bondi, Trump’s pick for attorney general, dodged a question during a Senate hearing on whether she’d uphold a TikTok ban.

Trump has reversed his position on the popular app, having tried to ban it during his first term in office over national security concerns. He joined TikTok during his 2024 presidential campaign and his team used it to connect with younger voters, especially male voters, by pushing content that was often macho and aimed at going viral. He pledged to “save TikTok” during the campaign and has credited the platform with helping him win more youth votes.

Why Draymond Green is missing third straight Warriors game

MINNEAPOLIS — Draymond Green missed his third straight game on Wednesday after getting ruled out with an illness and a back injury, with the former being more significant than the latter.

Green was seen walking out of morning shootaround as it opened to the media at the Target Center. He participated, but “looked like a ghost” doing so, head coach Steve Kerr said.

“He woke up not feeling well at all,” Kerr said. “He was hoping that he’d feel better after a nap this afternoon, some hydration, but he’s just not been well.”

Green remains paramount to the Warriors, especially on the defensive end. Golden State is seven points per 100 possessions better with him on the court compared to him off it.

Missing Green against Minnesota is a major challenge. The Timberwolves are one of the biggest teams in the league, with Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle and Naz Reid in the front court, as well as Anthony Edwards putting pressure on the rim.

The Warriors weren’t able to get two-way center Quinten Post to Minnesota in time because of a logistical challenges, Kerr said, so their options include Kevon Looney, Trayce Jackson-Davis and Gui Santos in the nationally televised game.

Kyle Anderson (left hamstring soreness) is also out, as well as Brandin Podziemski (abdominal strain) and Jonathan Kuminga (ankle sprain). Gary Payton II is making his return from a calf strain after 10 missed games and should play a factor as a diver, but he’s 6-foot-2.

“We’ve got to fight,” Kerr said. “We’ll mix and match combinations, see what we can do. Sometimes in games like these, you go small, try to spread people out, play fast. But we also have some guys who can match up.”

In 2022, Green missed two months with the same L5-S1 disc injury, though Kerr said this current injury isn’t similar to that one, in which Green had a herniated disc.

Green played in two of the Warriors’ first three meetings with the Timberwolves this season. Wednesday night was the last time the two teams will play in the regular season.

The Warriors are 1-2 on their current four-game road trip, with the Timberwolves matchup representing the last game before heading home to the Bay. Their last loss, a 104-101 defeat to the nine-win Toronto Raptors, was one of the most frustrating of the season in the locker room and sunk the team to below .500.

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Kerr took full accountability after that game, saying it’s his job as the coach to “find a way to help this team.” While the Warriors appreciated the sentiment, everyone knows Golden State’s issues don’t start and end with the head coach.

“I don’t think that’s on him,” Andrew Wiggins said. “That’s what a leader does. Steve’s a leader. It’s on everybody.”

“When you’re going through a rut like this, playing .500 basketball or below that, you’ve got to look at yourself, not the coach,” Kevon Looney said. “We’re out there on the court, we control what happens. And we’ve got to do better.”

Before the Timberwolves game, the Warriors are 7-17 since starting the season 12-3.

High School girls wrestling: Myers leaving a legacy in more than one sport at Monterey

MONTEREY – Growing up participating in rugby and gymnastics, Ella Myers was anything but a good fit in both sports.

The flexibility of gymnastics was challenging. Doing the splits wasn’t going to happen. While the physicality of rugby had an appeal, Myers only played on teams with boys.

What the two sports did have a blend of was wrestling – where finesse and the physical aspect come together.

“There was a lot of failure in gymnastics,” the Monterey High multi-sport standout said. “I was good at rope climbing. Learning how to deal with that mentality of failure taught me to keep working.”

While softball is taking Myers to UC Santa Barbara next spring on an athletic scholarship, wrestling has become a passion for the 18-year-old, who is chasing a third straight state meet appearance.

Myers, who broke the Monterey school record last year with 45 wins, is attempting to become the first girl on campus to win four straight Pacific Coast Athletic League wrestling titles.

“I remember thinking after my first practice ‘this is so hard,’” Myers said. “Even after drowning (in a figure of speech) in water polo my freshman year, wrestling was kind of a shock.”

Stabilizing Myers’ mental state was the fact that her older brother Ethan was wrestling and her dad was a former state wrestler while growing up in Iowa.

“Having my older brother there was big,” said Myers, the Herald’s 2024 Female Athlete of the Year. “I remember telling myself if he can do it, I can do it. Now my younger brother is wrestling.”

The fire that Myers breathes when in the circle in softball, evolved in wrestling as she has never lost a league match in her weight class, which is 140 pounds this winter.

Currently undefeated this year, the reigning Central Coast Section champion rewrote the single-season school record for wins (45) and has the career record for wins at Monterey with 130 and counting – with four of her 10 losses coming at state.

“There are some similarities in gymnastics to the body movements in wrestling,” Myers said. “I always loved the physicality of rugby. It’s translated well to wrestling.”

While Myers is fully dedicated to the sport during the season, she was excused to miss one week after being invited to try out for the USA 18-under softball team in Florida.

Upon returning, she won her first tournament title and has pinned all but one opponent this year — this after pinning 28 opponents last year.

“I should be better this year, I expect to be better,” Myers said. “I’ve improved my moves, my technique. I know what my pinning combinations are. I’m stronger and smarter on the mats.”

What has helped Myers this year is she’s in the same weight class as last year, when she chose to jump from 131 as a sophomore to the 140-pound class.

“My performance has improved significantly since I’m able to eat and fuel my body better,” the 5-foot-5 Myers said. “I have gained more muscle. The downside is the girls I’m wrestling are strong, too.”

While she’s often under the weight, Myers isn’t cutting weight. Training with the boys has improved her strength and opened her eyes to a different style.

“Guys wrestling is more violent,” Myers said. “They attack. I am getting my butt whipped in practice. But it’s been helpful. I know the girls I wrestle don’t get to see that.”

Myers believes it’s given her an advantage when she competes – has made her more aggressive, as evident by the amount of pins she’s piled up over the last two years.

“It’s given me a different mindset in going after opponents,” Myers said. “I’m more prepared for the violence. In practice, I have to take advantage of their weaknesses just to compete.”

Because Myers does have a training program twice a week for softball, the biggest challenge might be keeping her full attention on wrestling.

“What I need to focus on for softball takes a little of my attention from wrestling,” Myers said. “Flipping the switch isn’t easy. A week in Florida eating well doesn’t help.”

Yet, her conditioning is something that Myers never leaves behind. Self motivated, no one will ever question her dedication and inner drive — no matter what sport or season she’s in.

“I had a winter softball tournament,” Myers said. “We were running pole-to-pole for warmups. Girls are gassed. I’m thinking this is an eighth of our warmups in wrestling. I feel great.”

Having chosen wrestling and water polo as high school sports to keep her busy before softball season, Myers, who has pitched and hit the Toreadores to two CCS titles and a NorCal championship, believes it’s helped her become a better softball player.

“Doing other sports helps a ton,” said Myers, who has played softball for more than a decade. “In softball, you have to be aware of your body because of its mechanics. I’m working different muscles in water polo and wrestling.”

With two state meet appearances under her belt, Myers was overwhelmed her first year and sick last season in dropping two of three matches.

“The first year was a complete shock,” Myers said. “Last year my goal was to podium. Obviously, it didn’t happen. It sucks to wrestle when you can’t breathe. But I felt I did better.”

What’s different for Myers is confidence. The shock of facing nationally-ranked wrestlers is gone. While there is respect, there is no fear in facing competitors who have wrestled their entire lives.

“I’ve had the mentality that I can beat anyone,” Myers said. “But this year I believe it. This is my last year. I have nothing to lose. I have to give everything, knowing I won’t have a chance to do this again.”

Ironically, her rise in the sport in capturing a CCS title last year and competing in the state championships two straight years has created some interest from colleges.

But that’s as far as it’s gone. While there will be a gap in her life when wrestling comes to an end, softball is taking her on her next journey.

“There was a slight thought of wrestling in college,” Myers said. “There was some interest. But I said it can’t happen. Softball has been my focus since Day 1.”

Yet, wrestling has grabbed a portion of her heart as well. While softball becomes a full-time gig next year, Myers would love to be involved in wrestling in other avenues in the future.

“I’m dreading knowing this is my last year as a wrestler,” Myers said. “I hope to come back some day and help coach. I want to stay connected to it. I don’t want to let go of wrestling forever.”

Conservancy conveys Pico Blanco to Esselen Tribe of Monterey County

BIG SUR – The Western Rivers Conservancy has conveyed the 327-acre Pico Blanco property on the Little Sur River to the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County for permanent conservation and stewardship becoming the second tract it has placed in tribal hands, the Conservancy announced Wednesday.

“The Pico Blanco area, defined by the Little Sur River, is the spiritual, cultural and geographical center for the Esselen Tribe,” said Tribal Chairman and President Tom Little Bear Nason, in a press release. “To have the opportunity for our tribal members to reconnect with more of the river and these ancient redwoods fulfills a deeply meaningful part of our mission. We appreciate the spirit of partnership from Western Rivers Conservancy and California’s Wildlife Conservation Board that has made this possible.”

The Pico Blanco property is made up of two parcels of undeveloped land that was formerly part of Camp Pico Blanco Boy Scout camp and was once owned by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, who donated the land to the Boy Scouts in the 1950s.

The Boy Scouts had not been able to use the camp for more than eight years after wildfires and heavy rains took their toll on the forest and roads accessing the site. Firefighters have saved the camp three times including from the 1977 Marble Cone, the 2008 Basin Complex and the 2016 Soberanes fires.

Western Rivers Conservancy worked with the Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council of Boy Scouts of America and the Esselen Tribe since 2019 to acquire the property and secured funding from the Wildlife Conservation Board to purchase and convey the property to the Tribe. Individual donors provided support to Western Rivers Conservancy for costs that were critical to the project.

“Western Rivers’ years-long partnership with the Esselen Tribe has delivered tremendous conservation wins for the Little Sur River with its majestic redwoods, threatened fish and endangered wildlife, while returning it to its original stewards, the Esselen people,” said Nelson Mathews, Western Rivers Conservancy interim president, in the release. “We are honored once again to work with a Tribal partner to achieve our shared goals of permanently protecting the West’s precious waterways.”

The Pico Blanco property holds significant sacred and cultural meaning for the Esselen Tribe, as it is located at the base of a white limestone-topped mountain they call Pixchi – or Pico Blanco – which the tribe considers the “Center of the Esselen World” and is where its creation story began, according to the Western Rivers Conservancy.

Ecologically, the land features 1.3 miles of the Little Sur River, which provides critical habitat for numerous imperiled species, as well as one of the largest stands of old-growth redwoods on the Central Coast of California. The Wildlife Conservation Board provided funding for the purchase of the property.

The Pico Blanco property is the second piece of ancestral land the Western Rivers Conservancy has conveyed to the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County.

In July 2020, the Conservancy completed a landmark conservation project that placed the 1,199-acre Adler Ranch – now renamed Eagle Peak – located roughly 20 miles south of Monterey and just a mile downstream from Pico Blanco, into Tribal ownership. The Pico Blanco conveyance of land adds 327 acres and 1.3 miles of the Little Sur River to that ownership.

The Little Sur River and Pico Blanco are environmentally rich with the river flowing more than 25 miles from its headwaters in the Santa Lucia Mountains in the Ventana Wilderness into a deep, redwood-shaded valley before it empties into the Pacific Ocean north of Andrew Molera State Park. The river provides habitat for imperiled fish and wildlife, including endangered California condor, threatened California red-legged frog, California spotted owl and numerous other species. The Little Sur is considered the Central Coast’s most important and pristine spawning stream for threatened South-Central California Coast steelhead. Combined, the Pico Blanco and Eagle Peak conveyances to the Esselen Tribe conserve 2.3 miles of vitally important habitat for these precious species.

(Western Rivers Conservancy)

Western Rivers Conservancy purchases land along rivers and streams in the West to conserve habitat for fish and wildlife, protect key sources of cold water and create public access for all to enjoy, according to the organization. To ensure the lands it acquires are protected in perpetuity, the Conservancy transfers them to long-term stewards including the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, state parks and Tribal Nations. It has created sanctuaries for fish and wildlife and secured recreational access along 250 rivers and streams around the West. It has protected more than 440 river miles and over 220,000 acres of land in nine western states.

The Esselen Tribe of Monterey County says its mission is to preserve and to protect its cultural heritage and ancestral sacred sites. Its efforts are not solely dedicated to the Esselen Tribe, but encompass protection and preservation of the Esselen, Rumsen, Chalone, Sureño, Chunchunes and Guatcharrone people, which includes but is not limited to the villages of Achasta, Chalon, Echilat, Ensen, Excelen, Esslenajan, Ixchenta, Jojopan, Kuchun, Pachepas, Sargenta-Ruc, Soccoronda and Tucutnut, all which are located within sacred prehistoric and historic tribal lands of Monterey County. The Esselen Tribe of Monterey County formed a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with the goal of continuing cultural traditions and preserving the cultural heritage of the historic tribes that are located within Monterey County, along with protecting and preserving the recognized and unrecognized sacred lands and archeological sites.

Seaside Police Department implements emergency database for residents with disabilities, new alert system

SEASIDE >> The Seaside Police Department unveiled new technology for police officers and patrol cars, making them the first in the state to integrate the systems into their day-to-day work.

The department is partnering with the National Public Safety Alliance for Individuals with Disabilities, also known as AID, to provide record keeping of people with disabilities for emergency situations. Through the AID program, people with disabilities or their family members can register in a database that first responders will be able to access including emergency contact information, a physical description, a photograph and the person’s disability.

“This is groundbreaking, and we are the first in the state of California to adopt this program and we’re very proud of that,” said Seaside Police Chief Nick Borges at a press conference Wednesday. “This will allow us to have a better interaction and a better response.”

Seaside Police Chief Nick Borges speaks during a press conference announcing a new database for people with disabilities to enter emergency information and a new alert system that will tell residents when a police pursuit is nearby. The department is the first in the state of California to implement both programs. (Kyarra Harris — Monterey Herald)

The program came to the department’s attention after a resident went to the police department a few months ago and asked about registering a family member.

“Our records team did the homework and research and we had a demo set up within a couple of weeks,” Borges said. “We were just mindblown that something like this existed. This is going to help us have better interactions with our community members with disabilities.”

The department will also be implementing Pursuit Alert into patrol vehicles, an alert system that will notify drivers of nearby high-speed pursuits and emergency responses. The alerts come through the company’s Digital Siren app and can also integrate with third-party apps like Waze and Apple Maps.

The project was spearheaded by Seaside Commander Matthew Doza who said the goal was to provide a safer environment for both police and drivers. Police pursuits account for thousands of deaths each year according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“When we first heard about the program, we thought it was something every police department should have,” Doza said. “It was easy to integrate it into our computer system and we want to encourage others to start using it.”

With the new system in place, drivers can be alerted within a one-mile radius of a patrol car that’s in pursuit of a suspect. With the heads up, drivers can make a decision on whether to take the next exit or pullover with less anxiety or panic.

“Our technology aims to provide a 30- to 45-second warning to innocent drivers who may be unknowlingly entering a dangerous area,” said Joe Cameron, chief operating officer for Pursuit Alert. “It’s not just for pursuits either, drivers can be alerted to emergency road closures or an active shooter incident.”

The department has already installed the software on a couple of patrol vehicles and plan to have all of the vehicles ready in a month.

Rubio vows to place US interests ‘above all else’ as Trump’s top diplomat

By FARNOUSH AMIRI and MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is promising to implement President-elect Donald Trump’s “America First” vision as secretary of state, vowing in his confirmation hearing Wednesday that the incoming administration will forge a new path by placing American interests “above all else.”

“Placing our core national interests above all else is not isolationism,” Rubio will tell the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, according to an opening statement obtained by The Associated Press. “It is the commonsense realization that a foreign policy centered on our national interest is not some outdated relic.”

“The postwar global order is not just obsolete; it is now a weapon being used against us,” Rubio says.

It’s a remarkable opening salvo from Rubio, who was born in Miami to Cuban immigrants, and who, if confirmed, would become the first Latino ever to serve as the nation’s top diplomat.

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The confirmation hearing begins a new chapter in the political career of the 53-year-old Florida Republican, whose relationship with Trump has evolved over the last decade. Once rivals trading schoolyard insults as they campaigned for president in 2016, the two men became close allies as Trump campaigned for another White House term last year.

Rubio first came to Washington as part of the “tea party” wave in 2010 and once advocated for allowing a path to citizenship for immigrants in the country illegally. But like other Republicans, Rubio’s views on immigration have shifted toward the hardline stance of Trump, who has pledged to aggressively pursue deportations once he takes office on Monday.

Unlike many of Trump’s Cabinet selections, Rubio is expected to easily win confirmation, notching support not only from Republicans but also Democrats who endorse him as a “responsible” pick to represent the U.S. abroad. Many expect he will be among the first of Trump’s Cabinet picks approved.

Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz, who served alongside Rubio on the Foreign Relations Committee, said he has high hopes that the Florida Republican will reject the isolationist approach of other Trump allies.

“I think Marco is a hawk, but he’s also an internationalist, and I think the challenge for him will be to maintain the long bipartisan tradition of America being indispensable in world affairs,” the Hawaii lawmaker told AP. “And there are people in the Trump world who want us to run away from being the leaders of the free world. And I’m hoping that Marco’s instincts towards American strength will win the day.”

Rubio’s approach to foreign affairs is grounded in his years of service on the Foreign Relations committee and the Senate Intelligence panel. In his speeches and writings, he’s delivered increasingly stern warnings about growing military and economic threats to the United States, particularly from China, which he says has benefited from a “global world order” that he characterizes as obsolete.

China, Rubio will tell the committee, has “lied, cheated, hacked, and stolen their way to global superpower status, at our expense.”

If confirmed, Rubio will become the leader of U.S. foreign policy — though his role will surely remain secondary to Trump, who relishes the global stage and frequently uses the bully pulpit against America’s allies.

Even before taking office, Trump has stirred angst in foreign capitals by threatening to seize the Panama Canal and Greenland and suggesting he will pressure Canada to become the nation’s 51st state.

By winning another term, Trump has won an “unmistakable mandate from the voters,” Rubio will say.

“They want a strong America. Engaged in the world. But guided by a clear objective, to promote peace abroad, and security and prosperity here at home.”

A Biden administration decision to rescind Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism with just days left in office is likely to irk Rubio, who has long supported tough sanctions on the communist-run island.

Rubio’s office did not respond to multiple queries Tuesday about the senator’s reaction to the move, which many believe will almost certainly be reversed by the Trump administration.

Secretaries of state have played a key role in formulating the foreign policy of the country since its founding, starting with the first one, Thomas Jefferson, who served in the top Cabinet position under President George Washington.

Since then, Jefferson, as well as his 19th century successors James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren and James Buchanan, have all gone on to be elected president.

More recent secretaries of state have been less successful in their political ambitions, including John Kerry, who lost the 2004 presidential election to President George W. Bush before becoming the top diplomat, and Hillary Clinton, who lost the 2016 election to Trump.

The most successful secretaries of state have been known for their closeness to the presidents whom they serve, notably James Baker under George H.W. Bush, Condoleezza Rice under George W. Bush and, to some extent, Clinton under Barack Obama.

Like Clinton, Rubio was once a political rival to the president-elect who nominated them. However, the Clinton-Obama relationship during the 2008 Democratic primaries was not nearly as hostile as that between Trump and Rubio in the 2016 GOP primaries, which was marked by name-calling and personal insults.

Trump had an acrimonious relationship with his first secretary of state, Rex Tillerson. Trump fired him from the position via a social media post less than two years into his term.

Associated Press writer Matt Brown contributed to this report.

New York Daily News, NY Times ask federal judge to reject OpenAI, Microsoft challenges to copyright suit

Lawyers for the New York Daily News, The New York Times, and other newspapers Tuesday asked a Manhattan judge to reject an effort by OpenAI and Microsoft to dismiss parts of their lawsuits accusing the tech giants of stealing reporters’ stories to train their AI products.

The News, its affiliated newspapers in MediaNews Group and Tribune Publishing, The Times and the Center for Investigative Reporting have accused OpenAI and Microsoft of pilfering millions of their copyrighted news stories — without consent, credit, or compensation — to fuel lucrative AI products exploding in popularity like ChatGPT and Copilot.

Microsoft and OpenAI don’t deny they depend on copyrighted material but say it’s their right under the fair use doctrine and that their products are “a powerful tool for human flourishing.” 

The doctrine permits the use of copyrighted materials without permission under certain conditions, including transforming the work for educational purposes provided it does not hurt the current or future market for the materials.

Within their motions to dismiss portions of the case — the topic of Tuesday’s hearing before Manhattan federal court Judge Sidney Stein — Microsoft and OpenAI did not challenge core portions of the case, ensuring the copyright infringement claims at the heart of the case can go forward.

The motions respectively argue the newspapers failed to cite examples of infringement, provide evidence that the tech companies knowingly contributed to it, and didn’t file suit within the statute of limitations, among other arguments. The cases were filed separately and have been consolidated into one case.

Steven Lieberman, a lawyer for The News and The Times, said the tech companies knew that removing the publishers’ copyright management information from their data reserves would obscure or cover up signs of infringement.

But he said his firm employed teams of experts to locate the publishers’ content hidden within the brains of ChatGPT, noting they ultimately found “millions” of examples.

“We wouldn’t have had to do this if they didn’t take steps to conceal their infringement,” Lieberman said. 

Microsoft and OpenAI are accused in the litigation of harming the newspapers’ subscription-based business model by misappropriating journalists’ work and providing it for free. The cases allege that the AI models also risk tarnishing reporters’ reputations by sometimes misstating their reporting or attributing it to others.

OpenAI’s motions to dismiss, in part, argued that any “regurgitation” of news stories or “hallucinations” — when the chatbot provides false or fabricated information — was unintended and uncommon.

Joseph Gratz, a San Francisco-based attorney representing OpenAI, told Stein that the models can only learn to understand language, the relationships between words, and facts by being fed “trillions” of examples. 

He said their purpose wasn’t to provide a verbatim representation of the content from which they draw or evade publisher’s paywalls — an increasingly important source of revenue for many newspaper publishers.

“You can say, ‘Hey, here is a letter to my landlord, can you make it sound less angry?’ And it will do that,” Gratz said. “You can say, ‘Write me a poem about the architecture of 500 Pearl St.’”

The News’ suit filed in April 2024, which followed The Times’, alleges that “Microsoft and OpenAI simply take the work product of reporters, journalists, editorial writers, editors and others who contribute to the work of local newspapers — all without any regard for the efforts, much less the legal rights, of those who create and publish the news on which local communities rely.”

“OpenAI, which used to pretend it was a non-profit organization, now has a market capitalization of over $90 billion. Yet they both continue to deny that they owe anything to even a single newspaper whose content they have copied, and continue to copy, to build and operate their GenAI products,” the suit reads.

The News brought its suit alongside its sister newspapers, the Mercury News, Denver Post, Orange County Register, and St. Paul Pioneer-Press; Tribune Publishing’s Chicago Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

The suits seek unspecified damages, restitution of profits, and an order from Stein requiring Microsoft and OpenAI to refrain from copyright infringement.

Stein reserved issuing a decision on the motions on Tuesday.

“I have a lot to think about,” the judge said. “You’ll get an opinion in due course.”

Attorneys and representatives for Microsoft and OpenAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Kurtenbach: The Warriors aren’t preserving the future — they’re giving up

The Warriors have given up.

Try as they might, there’s no other way to sell it; no other way to spin it.

The Dubs might provide lip service, saying they can put this season back on the right track and that there’s another 12-3 run in them. But they know what the score is: It’s their sub-.500 record in the standings and their incredible slide into irrelevance since Thanksgiving.

And now, at the season’s nadir, it’s clear that they suspect there isn’t a fix that can correct this squad’s woes.

So instead of freaking out, they’re giving in.

They’re wallowing in misery, accepting their mediocrity, and promoting organizational prudence as a coping mechanism.

Yes, the Warriors—at least the Warriors whose opinions matter, Steph Curry, Steve Kerr, and Draymond Green—are now keen to talk about this franchise’s future and how foolish it would be for anyone to jeopardize it for the sake of maximizing this season.

“You have to be realistic organizationally about where you are, ” Kerr said. “And you have to keep in mind what’s coming ahead in the future. I probably won’t be around, but I would tell you, if this organization gave away the next six or seven drafts for a wild swing, that would be the most irresponsible thing they could do.”

Indeed, it would be.

But who said anything about a wild swing or a super-package of draft picks? Surely that can’t be the only path to improve these Warriors?

Nevertheless, Curry added this:

“Desperate trades or desperate moves that deplete the future… there is a responsibility on keeping the franchise in a good space and good spot… where we leave this thing when we’re done,” he said.

And as for Green:

“The beautiful part about being in the space that we’re in is, Steve Kerr, Steph Curry, and myself all disagree with mortgaging off the future of this organization, saying that we’re going for it right now,” the forward told Yahoo Sports last week. “Bad teams do that. Bad organizations do that. We’re not [either] one.”

That quote came before the Warriors subsequently lost — make that 17 of their last 24 — to the now-nine-win Raptors, arguably the league’s worst team.

But sure, the Warriors are not a bad team. Let’s go with that.

As for the organization? Perhaps “bad” is too heavy of an adjective — we’re not talking about the Hornets here. But the Warriors can no longer consider themselves a good or great organization. Yes, Father Time comes for everyone, and the Warriors’ dynastic run would never last forever. Still, the fact that Green and Kerr and Curry are deflecting notions that Golden State has turned into an also-ran in both the standings and in league stature is informative, no?

I can assure you that unquestionably good organizations never have to deflect such questions.

And they certainly don’t find themselves a few steps behind on nearly everything. Remember, these Warriors were late to recognize that this current edition of the Dubs would require a true No. 2 scorer next to Curry or, at least, a bit of spacing at center to allow Green to play forward. But because they didn’t make such moves in the summer, they’re now in a position where acquiring such a player (or players) would be considered a “wild swing.” All of this was because the Dubs’ front office — given quarter by the team’s stars and coach (one that persists) — was stuck in a state of indecision about whether to prioritize the present or the future.

The good news is Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy and the Lacob family now have their answer to that paralyzing question, as the three most important Dubs have all rendered a public verdict:

Go with the future.

And in a few years, it’ll look like an incredible mistake.

Because what is the future the Warriors are preserving here?

This team isn’t operating on two timelines — they don’t even have one that’s worthwhile right now.

Surely, the Warriors don’t think some collection of Kuminga, Brandon Podziemski, and Trayce Jackson-Davis constitutes a continuation of this franchise’s once-winning ways.

The Warriors (rightly) don’t believe Kuminga is a max-contract player, but they’ll go all-in on him as this team’s future centerpiece?

Make it make sense!

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Are we talking about a future filled with lottery balls, hoping that they bounce the right way? That was the Dubs’ future for roughly 20 years before Curry broke out as an MVP. Now that he’s lost a step, the Warriors’ best plan is to hope they can find another one?

Hey, maybe they can draft the next James Wiseman.

There’s hubris, and then there’s downright stupidity. Banking on a vague and fanciful “future” would qualify as the latter.

In Curry, Green, and Kerr, the Warriors were able to build something historic amid a basketball wasteland. I understand that they’ve turned the laughingstock franchise into a premier organization in professional sports, but to pretend as if their success is the new status quo is aggressive. (And that’s the nice way to put it.)

Kerr should know. Nearly 30 years later, his former team, the Chicago Bulls, are still in their post-Michael Jordan future, having won five total playoff series since 1998. And that’s with the ping-pong balls bouncing their way more than a few times (eight top-five picks, including No. 1 in 1999 and 2008) and found incredible luck a few times after that (Jimmy Butler as the last pick in the 2011 first round).

But don’t worry, the Bulls — bastions of mediocrity and wholly unimportant in the NBA landscape — still have a packed house at the United Center night after night. So what’s the incentive to get better?

Yes, maybe I’m the dummy here. Perhaps the Warriors don’t need to do anything because they already have their season-ticket holders on 30-year contracts. With a borderline compulsory audience, you only need to put out something faintly resembling basketball to keep the coffers full.

Why bother taking a risk?

After all, it’s much easier to embrace the unexciting, wholly irrelevant present and future and pretend that you’re doing the right thing by doing nothing.