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Keeler: Why does Nikola Jokic keep winning NBA MVP awards while Joel Embiid doesn’t? The Joker shows up for a showdown.

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:27:48 GMT

When we finally caught up with Joel Embiid, he was sitting high up in Section 130 at Ball Arena Monday night, enthralled by the halftime show. Gotta admit, the dude looked a lot shorter in person.“I get a lot of grief for this,” laughed Bryce Margolis of Boulder, flashing his No. 21 76ers jersey proudly in the stands, repping Philly even when Embiid wasn’t. “They just give me the ‘MVP’ (expletive). You know how it goes. As a Philly fan, I think we’re looking for a ring and not the MVP trophy.”Yeah, well, good luck, pal. Especially with that last one. MVPs are for dudes, as my old pal Steve Addazio liked to say. And dudes show up.They show up on the road. They show up at sea level. They show up at altitude. They show up big where they’re loved. They show up even bigger where they’re despised.NBA TV showed up Monday night. The New York Times showed up. ESPN showed up. Nikola Jokic showed up, dropping yet another triple-double (25 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists) for the hater...

Broncos Mailbag: Why sign Zach Allen instead of Dre’Mont Jones on defensive line?

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:27:48 GMT

Denver Post Broncos writer Parker Gabriel posts his Broncos Mailbag periodically during the offseason. Click here to submit a question.Parker, you wrote recently that the Broncos could have afforded to keep Dre’Mont Jones because the money they gave Zach Allen was similar. We know what Dre’Mont brought and his star was on the rise. We only know what we think we got in Zach Allen. As a Buckeye, I was saddened to see Dre’Mont go. Realizing the jury is out on Allen, I wonder what you think of this “trade-off”? Did we win, lose or draw?— Dan Rish, Albuquerque, N.M.Dan, thanks for kicking this thing off with a good question. Indeed, at the end of the day Jones and Allen ended up getting similar — although not identical — contracts.Allen did end up checking in at a slightly lower average annual value of $15.25 million compared to $17.18 million for Jones, but Allen got more guaranteed money at $32.5 million than Jones’ $30 million. Either way, they both...

Opinion: Wildlife crossings work for both drivers and animals

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:27:48 GMT

A deer stands paralyzed in the middle of a mountain highway, stunned by the lights and deafening roar of an 18-wheeler barreling toward it. At the last second, the deer leaps back into the forest.This time, the deer and the trucker avoid a fatal collision, but this stretch of Interstate 5 in southern Oregon is a known killing field for wildlife and dangerous for motorists. The highway cuts through a critical connection for wildlife moving between two mountain ranges and home to the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, which is the only national monument specifically established for the protection of its rich biodiversity.In this country, according to Federal Highway Administration estimates, 1-2 million motor vehicles crash into large animals such as deer each year. “These wildlife-vehicle collisions cause approximately 200 human deaths, 26,000 injuries and at least $8 billion in property damage and other costs,” according to The Pew Trust. In Oregon alone, the Oregon Department of T...

Opinion: Congress doesn’t want to pay the debts it ran up? Just another day in Washington

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:27:48 GMT

Even if you look merely on the surface, there is something deeply shameful about the debate now dominating Washington.Through the years, members of Congress from both parties have happily chosen to spend more money than the government takes in, creating ever-increasing deficits funded by a growing ocean of public debt. Now, the bills are coming due, with the Congressional Budget Office reporting that America’s government will tack another $19 trillion in debt onto the $30 trillion we already owe. But remarkably enough, many of the same members of Congress who ran up the debt are now threatening not to pay unless they are granted certain policy concessions. In other words, they’re prepared to let the greatest country in the history of mankind renege on its debts. That sort of political hostage-taking is plainly shameful.But perhaps even more dispiriting is that this kind of behavior is not an outlier. Quite the opposite, it’s simply the latest illustration of what is a more perennial...

McManus: The law is on Trump’s tail, and he sounds pretty worried

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:27:48 GMT

Donald Trump is beginning to sound panicky.“WHY WON’T BRAGG DROP THIS CASE?” he wrote on his Truth Social account last week of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is investigating Trump’s alleged payment of hush money to a porn star. “… THIS IS NO LEGAL SYSTEM, THIS IS THE GESTAPO, THIS IS RUSSIA AND CHINA, BUT WORSE.”In a string of social media posts, the former president called Bragg, who is Black, “a degenerate psychopath” and an “animal.”Trump urged his supporters to “PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!” and warned that indicting him could result in “death & destruction.”All that over an indictment that hasn’t been delivered, in a probe looking at whether Trump treated the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels as a business expense.There’s a baroque theory that Trump welcomes criminal prosecutions because every battle makes him a hero in the eyes of his followers.But he did...

Opinion: As Iraq War showed, consensus in foreign policy can be dangerous

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:27:48 GMT

With the 20th anniversary of the launch of the Iraq War, I’m reminded of the remarkable consensus behind that decision, which passed with strong bipartisan support. Experts, journalists and well-known media personalities joined the bandwagon too.Often, consensus is good. It clears away opposition and helps make things happen. But too often, quick agreement on hard problems is a sign of dangerous groupthink instead.This wide support has not aged well. It launched a bloody war, at a cost of $2 trillion and an estimated 300,000 lives. It led to a violent insurgency and the creation of the Islamic State militant group. Generations of Iraqis will continue to suffer the consequences.And so will America. Although the material suffering in Iraq dwarfs our own, I’m not sure America will ever escape the long tail of distrust that has understandably followed us since then.The original sin was the decision to go to war on a dishonest pretext. That foundation gave rise to our use of torture, ren...

Kurtenbach: Cult hero Sergio Romo ’emptied the tank’ one last time, exiting with a one-of-a-kind legacy

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:27:48 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO — One last hop out of the bullpen.One last blast of “El Mechón” on the Oracle Park soundsystem.A few more sliders, for old times’ sake, and a classy exit befitting a Giants legend.Sergio Romo didn’t have much in the tank when he entered the seventh inning of the Giants-A’s exhibition game on Monday night. He admitted as much.But he gave everything he had for the Giants one last time.“A couple of weeks ago, when I was sitting on the couch, they presented me with this opportunity. It didn’t matter how I felt physically. I knew it was an opportunity I couldn’t pass,” Romo said.“I can honestly say that, not just tonight, but my whole career, I emptied the tank. I gave it everything I had, every time.”And it was that attitude that made him a fan favorite throughout his improbable and exceptional 15-year career.“I took a lot of pride in challenging hitters,” Romo said. “I know I never lit up ...

Dive team locates body of missing 7-year-old boy in Moss Landing Harbor

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:27:48 GMT

MOSS LANDING — Authorities have confirmed that a body discovered in Moss Landing Harbor over the weekend was a 7-year-old child missing from the area since March 22.According to family and the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, the boy, identified as Edgar Espinoza, disappeared after he, his younger brother and mother had spent the day in Moss Landing. First responders converged on the area that same night, searching for Edgar and his mother, Florencia Ramirez-Urbano, 27, of Salinas, after the 3-year-old son was located alone near Jetty Road. The body of Ramirez-Urbano, who appeared to have drowned, was discovered soon after.A multi-agency search continued through 11:20 a.m. Saturday, when Sheriff’s Office divers, working with California Recovery Divers, found a child’s remains about 10 feet below the surface in the harbor. The Coroner Unit of the Sheriff’s Office has confirmed the recovered child was Edgar.Related ArticlesCrime and Public Safety | Missing plumber was asle...

Santa Cruz man alleged shooter in Hard Rock Lake Tahoe homicide

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:27:48 GMT

STATELINE, NEVADA — A man authorities say is a Santa Cruz County man was arrested in a manhunt after a fatal Hard Rock Hotel & Casino shooting Saturday.In a news conference the same day, Douglas County, Nevada, Sheriff Dan Coverley identified the alleged shooter as Edgar Julian Delgado, 24. Also arrested was Savannah Racquel Tautaupele, 26, apparently also of Santa Cruz, whose correct spelling of her last name Douglas County officials confirmed Monday.Law enforcement was called to the Hard Rock Hotel’s Center Bar at 8:08 a.m. that day for a report of an active shooter. There, officers found a man later identified as Omar Reyes Garcia, 32, of South Lake Tahoe, suffering from a single gunshot wound to his head. Garcia later died after receiving care at a nearby hospital, Coverley said.Hard Rock security staff provided law enforcement with security footage that led to the arrest of Delgado and Tautaupele by the El Dorado Sheriff’s Office across state lines, driving on Highway 50 ne...

Report: Employers would gladly replace workers with AI technology

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:27:48 GMT

Feeling dispensable in a world of artificial intelligence?Your fears are not unfounded. A new report from beautiful.ai shows 66% of workplace managers would gladly replace employees with AI tools if the technology produced comparable work.Sixty nine percent said it would “be financially beneficial” to replace employees with AI technology, with 68% citing lower payroll costs.“Companies are beginning to accept and adopt AI into their workflows to improve efficiency and increase output,” the report said. “In fact, 95% of those interviewed said that their teams have already started using AI tools.”Customer service representatives and IT support technicians are among the workers most likely to be replaced by AI technology. In the future, many cubicles will probably be unoccupied. (File photo) Beautiful.ai, which uses artificial intelligence to create corporate presentations and reports, polled 3,000 executives in management positions for “The Future of AI in the Workplace: A Survey ...