Arguments about past presidents shape the nation’s understanding of itself and hence its unfolding future. In recent years, biographies by nonacademics have rescued some presidents from progressive academia’s indifference or condescension: John Adams (rescued by David McCullough), Ulysses S. Grant (by Ron Chernow), Calvin Coolidge (by Amity Shlaes). The rehabilitation of those presidents’ reputations have been acts of justice, as is Christopher Cox’s destruction of Woodrow Wilson’s place in progressivism’s pantheon. In “Woodrow Wilson: The Light Withdrawn,” Cox, former congressman and former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, demonstrates that the 28th president was the nation’s nastiest. Without belaboring the point, Cox presents an Everest of evidence that Wilson’s progressivism smoothly melded with his authoritarianism and oceanic capacity for contempt. His books featured ostentatious initials: “Woodrow Wilson Ph.D., LL.D.” But he wrote no doctoral dissertation for his 18-month Ph.D. He dropped out of law school. His doctorate of law was honorary. But because of those initials, and because he vaulted in three years from Princeton University’s presidency to New Jersey’s governorship to the U.S. presidency, and because he authored books, he is remembered as a scholar in politics. Actually, he was an intellectual manque using academia as a springboard into politics. His books were thin gruel, often laced with scabrous racism. His first, “Congressional Government,” contained only 52 citations, but he got it counted as a doctoral dissertation. He wrote it while a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University, yet he only once visited the U.S. Capitol 37 miles away. “I have no patience for the tedious toil of ‘research,’” he said. “I hate the place,” he said of Bryn Mawr, a women’s college that provided his first faculty job. He thought teaching women was pointless. Cox ignores the well-plowed ground of Wilson’s domestic achievements — the progressive income tax, the Federal Reserve. Instead, Cox braids Wilson’s aggressive white-male supremacy and hostility toward women’s suffrage. His was a life defined by disdaining. For postgraduate education, Johns Hopkins recruited German-trained faculty steeped in that nation’s statism and belief in the racial superiority of Teutonic people. Wilson’s Johns Hopkins classmate and lifelong friend Thomas Dixon wrote the novel that became the silent movie “The Birth of a Nation.” Wilson made this celebration of the Ku Klux Klan the first movie shown in the White House. During the movie, the screen showed quotes from Wilson’s “History of the American People,” such as: “In the villages the negroes were the office holders, men who knew none of the uses of authority, except its insolences.” And: “At last there had sprung into existence a great Ku Klux Klan ... to protect the Southern country” and Southerners’ “Aryan birthright.” Wilson’s White House gala — guests in evening dress — gave “The Birth of a Nation” a presidential imprimatur. The movie, which became a national sensation, normalized the Klan and helped to revive lynching. Though the term “fascism” is more frequently bandied than defined, it fits Wilson’s amalgam of racism (he meticulously resegregated the federal workforce), statism, and wartime censorship and prosecutions. Dissent was “disloyalty” deserving “a firm hand of stern repression.” Benito Mussolini: “All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.” Wilson: “I am perfectly sure that the state has got to control everything that everybody needs and uses.” Wilson created the Committee on Public Information to “mobilize the mind of America.” The committee soon had more than 150,000 employees disseminating propaganda, monitoring publications and providing them with government-written content. The committee was echoed in the Biden administration’s pressuring of social media to suppress what it considered dis- or misinformation. Cox provides a stunning chronicle of Wilson’s complacent, even gleeful, acceptance of police and mob brutality, often in front of the White House, against suffragists. And of the torture — no milder word will suffice — of the women incarcerated in stomach-turning squalor, at the mercy of sadists. “Appropriate,” Wilson said. An appropriate judgment from the man who dismissed as empty verbiage the first two paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence. Historian C. Vann Woodward, author of “The Strange Career of Jim Crow,” said white-male supremacy was the crux of Southern progressivism. Wilson’s political career demonstrated that it was not discordant with national progressivism’s belief that a superior few should control the benighted many. John Greenleaf Whittier, disillusioned by Daniel Webster’s support of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act, wrote of Webster: “So fallen! so lost! the light withdrawn / Which once he wore!” True, too, of Wilson. Will writes for The Washington Post. Get local news delivered to your inbox!WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court sounded hesitant Wednesday to second-guess Tennessee lawmakers who banned gender-affirming care for minors, as justices heard warnings that upholding the law could lead to other state or national restrictions on transgender Americans. During more than two hours of oral argument, members of the court’s conservative wing repeatedly expressed reticence to step into policy disputes over access to transgender care for minors, raising questions about the science behind the care and the fallout for other transgender issues such as access to women’s sports. The state law bans puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgery for minors for the purpose of medically transitioning their gender. Challengers have asked the justices to rule that the law unconstitutionally discriminates on the basis of sex because it prohibits access to that care when it is for the purpose of gender transition. Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh said there were “forceful policy arguments” on both sides of the Tennessee law, including how the ban harmed transgender children but also prevented a small number of children from being harmed by the treatments. Kavanaugh said that disputes about the medical efficacy of treatments “strikes me as a pretty yellow light or red light” for the court to intervene. “So it seems to me that we look to the Constitution, and the Constitution doesn’t take sides on how to resolve that medical and policy debate,” Kavanaugh said. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. repeatedly brought up disputes about the medical science behind gender-affirming care and wondered whether it would be better to “leave those determinations to legislative bodies rather than try to determine them ourselves.” Roberts later said it was “very troubling” that the court could step into an area where they are “bereft of expertise” around complicated questions of medical effectiveness. And Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. repeatedly brought up a literature review in the United Kingdom that questioned the efficacy of gender-affirming care and recent decisions by medical bodies in the U.K. and Sweden to restrict access. Families and doctors of transgender children, as well as the Biden administration, challenged the law, arguing it violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause because it prohibits access to those medicines based on gender transition but not for other conditions such as precocious puberty. The challengers and major medical organizations have maintained that the treatments are effective, including by reducing depression and suicidal ideation among transgender children. About two dozen states have similar laws banning access to gender-affirming care for minors, and the case comes to the court as Republicans nationwide, including in Congress, have said they intend to impose more restrictions on the care. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar told the justices Wednesday that upholding the law, which explicitly states its goal for minors to “appreciate their sex,” allows transgender youth in the state to suffer. “It doesn’t matter what parents decide is best for their children. It doesn’t matter what patients would choose for themselves. And it doesn’t matter if doctors believe this treatment is essential for individual patients,” Prelogar said. The Tennessee law “categorically bans treatment when and only when it’s inconsistent with the patient’s birth sex.” Prelogar pointed out that the treatments are restricted but still available in the U.K. and Sweden rather than the ban that Tennessee imposed. Prelogar and Chase Strangio, attorney for the families challenging the law, both pointed to West Virginia’s law as an example, because the state has restricted gender-affirming care rather than banning access and has yet to face legal challenge. Prelogar said the justices also could send the case back to the lower court with instructions to make sure the state better justifies with evidence its efforts to restrict the treatments. J. Matthew Rice, arguing for Tennessee, claimed the treatments were “risky and unproven” and said the law turned on the medical purposes of taking hormones or puberty blockers, rather than a sex classification. Rice also compared gender-affirming care to assisted suicide, lobotomies and eugenics that states had a right to regulate. “The Equal Protection Clause does not require the states to blind themselves to medical reality or to treat unlike things the same, and it does not constitutionalize one side’s view of a disputed medical question,” Rice said. Rice argued that the challengers could not eliminate risks from the procedures or the possibility that patients could detransition later, at which point Justice Sonia Sotomayor interrupted to say, “Every medical treatment has risks.” Sotomayor raised the concern that the same logic could apply to medical care for adults, and that upholding Tennessee’s law would be “licensing states to deprive full adults of the choice of which sex to adopt.” Sotomayor also downplayed the ability of the democratic process to protect such a small minority of the population if the court doesn’t intervene. “It didn’t protect women for centuries,” she said. President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign included explicit promises to target transgender care, and members of Congress have said they intend to legislate on the issue when they come into power with a trifecta in January. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said she found similarities between Tennessee’s argument and the ones made by Virginia to try and uphold anti-miscegenation laws in Loving v. Virginia. Jackson pointed out that Virginia pointed to “disputed” medical science about race-mixing to try and justify the law. “I wonder if Virginia could have gotten away with what they did here by making a classification argument,” Jackson said. Justice Elena Kagan rejected Tennessee’s effort to categorize the use of hormones and puberty blockers as different medical purposes. “The whole thing is imbued with sex,” Kagan said. “It is a dodge to say it is based on a medical purpose.” On Wednesday, Rep. Mark E. Green, R-Tenn., praised the state’s stance in a post on social media. “Tennessee is leading the way and standing up for our children. Minors must be protected from these harmful and irreversible medical experiments,” Green posted. Similarly, Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., posted on X calling gender-affirming care “child abuse.” Mace has previously said she would back legislation to bar access for transgender individuals to the bathrooms of the gender they identify as. ©2024 CQ-Roll Call, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Visit cqrollcall.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Liverpool held by Newcastle in thriller, Arsenal and Chelsea close gap
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Australia's proposal to ban under-16s from social media platforms is "rushed", social media companies claimed Tuesday, expressing "serious concerns" about potential unintended consequences. The landmark legislation would force social media firms to prevent young teens from accessing their platforms or face fines of up to Aus$50 million (US$32.5 million). Platforms such as X, Snapchat, TikTok, and Meta have criticised the 24-hour time frame given for stakeholder comments, claiming a lack of consultation and inadequate details about how the legislation would work. X said in its submission that it had "serious concerns" the ban would have "a negative impact" on children, adding it breached their "rights to freedom of expression and access to information". The company added that the proposed law was "vague" and "highly problematic" and that there was "no evidence" that it would work. Australia is among the vanguard of nations trying to clean up social media, and the proposed age limit would be among the world's strictest measures aimed at children. The proposed laws, which were presented to parliament last week, would also include robust privacy provisions that require tech platforms to delete any age-verification information collected. The government is trying to approve the law this week, before parliament breaks for the rest of the year. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said in its submission the ban would "fail" in its current form because there was not enough consultation with stakeholders. "More time should be taken to get this bill right," it said. TikTok raised concerns over the privacy provisions -- including that they overlapped and contradicted other legislation -- and the limited time to consult stakeholders. "Its rushed passage poses a serious risk of further unintended consequences," the company's submission said. Key details about how social media companies are expected to enforce the ban remain unclear. Some companies will be granted exemptions from the ban, such as YouTube, which teenagers may need to use for school work or other reasons. Once celebrated as a means of staying connected and informed, social media platforms have been tarnished by cyberbullying, the spread of illegal content, and election-meddling claims. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese insisted Tuesday that "social media is causing social harm". "It can be a weapon for bullies, a platform for peer pressure, a driver of anxiety, a vehicle for scammers and, worst of all, a tool for online predators," he wrote in an opinion piece. "And because it is young Australians who are most engaged with this technology -- it is young Australians who are most at risk." The laws would give families "peace of mind" that their children's well-being and mental health were being prioritised, he said. If the proposed law passes, tech platforms would be given a one-year grace period to figure out how to implement and enforce the ban. The proposal comes just months before Australians go to the polls in a general election that must be held in the first half of 2025. lec/arb/fox
Bieber re-signs with GuardiansIt looked like a recipe for disaster. So, when his country's swimmers were being accused of doping earlier this year, one Chinese official cooked up something fast. He blamed it on contaminated noodles. In fact, he argued, it could have been a culinary conspiracy concocted by criminals, whose actions led to the cooking wine used to prepare the noodles being laced with a banned heart drug that found its way into an athlete's system. This theory was spelled out to international anti-doping officials during a meeting and, after weeks of wrangling, finally made it into the thousands of pages of data handed over to the lawyer who investigated the case involving 23 Chinese swimmers who had tested positive for that same drug. The attorney, appointed by the World Anti-Doping Agency, refused to consider that scenario as he sifted through the evidence. In spelling out his reasoning, lawyer Eric Cottier paid heed to the half-baked nature of the theory. "The Investigator considers this scenario, which he has described in the conditional tense, to be possible, no less, no more," Cottier wrote. Even without the contaminated-noodles theory, Cottier found problems with the way WADA and the Chinese handled the case but ultimately determined WADA had acted reasonably in not appealing China's conclusion that its athletes had been inadvertently contaminated. Critics of the way the China case was handled can't help but wonder if a wider exploration of the noodle theory, details of which were discovered by The Associated Press via notes and emails from after the meeting where it was delivered, might have lent a different flavor to Cottier's conclusions. "There are more story twists to the ways the Chinese explain the TMZ case than a James Bond movie," said Rob Koehler, the director general of the advocacy group Global Athlete. "And all of it is complete fiction." In April, reporting from the New York Times and the German broadcaster ARD revealed that the 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine, also known as TMZ. China's anti-doping agency determined the athletes had been contaminated, and so, did not sanction them. WADA accepted that explanation, did not press the case further, and China was never made to deliver a public notice about the "no-fault findings," as is often seen in similar cases. The stock explanation for the contamination was that traces of TMZ were found in the kitchen of a hotel where the swimmers were staying. In his 58-page report, Cottier relayed some suspicions about the feasibility of that chain of events — noting that WADA's chief scientist "saw no other solution than to accept it, even if he continued to have doubts about the reality of contamination as described by the Chinese authorities." But without evidence to support pursuing the case, and with the chance of winning an appeal at almost nil, Cottier determined WADA's "decision not to appeal appears indisputably reasonable." A mystery remained: How did those traces of TMZ get into the kitchen? Shortly after the doping positives were revealed, the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations held a meeting on April 30 where it heard from the leader of China's agency, Li Zhiquan. Li's presentation was mostly filled with the same talking points that have been delivered throughout the saga — that the positive tests resulted from contamination from the kitchen. But he expanded on one way the kitchen might have become contaminated, harkening to another case in China involving a low-level TMZ positive. A pharmaceutical factory, he explained, had used industrial alcohol in the distillation process for producing TMZ. The industrial alcohol laced with the drug "then entered the market through illegal channels," he said. The alcohol "was re-used by the perpetrators to process and produce cooking wine, which is an important seasoning used locally to make beef noodles," Li said. "The contaminated beef noodles were consumed by that athlete, resulting in an extremely low concentration of TMZ in the positive sample. "The wrongdoers involved have been brought to justice." This new information raised eyebrows among the anti-doping leaders listening to Li's report. So much so that over the next month, several emails ensued to make sure the details about the noodles and wine made their way to WADA lawyers, who could then pass it onto Cottier. Eventually, Li did pass on the information to WADA general counsel Ross Wenzel and, just to be sure, one of the anti-doping leaders forwarded it, as well, according to the emails seen by the AP. All this came with Li's request that the noodles story be kept confidential. Turns out, it made it into Cottier's report, though he took the information with a grain of salt. "Indeed, giving it more attention would have required it to be documented, then scientifically verified and validated," he wrote. Neither Wenzel nor officials at the Chinese anti-doping agency returned messages from AP asking about the noodles conspiracy and the other athlete who Li suggested had been contaminated by them. Meanwhile, 11 of the swimmers who originally tested positive competed at the Paris Games earlier this year in a meet held under the cloud of the Chinese doping case. Though WADA considers the case closed, Koehler and others point to situations like this as one of many reasons that an investigation by someone other than Cottier, who was hired by WADA, is still needed. "It gives the appearance that people are just making things up as they go along on this, and hoping the story just goes away," Koehler said. "Which clearly it has not." Get local news delivered to your inbox!
On game day, the Allstate Championship Tailgate, taking place just outside Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the Home Depot Backyard, will feature country acts on the Capital One Music Stage, including global superstar Kane Brown and iHeartCountry “On The Verge” artist Ashley Cooke. The concerts are just two of the festivities visiting fans can enjoy in the days leading up to the big game. The fan experience for both ticket holders and the general public has been a focus for event planners. All weekend long, an estimated 100,000 people from across the country are expected to attend fan events preceding kickoff. “It will be an opportunity for fans of all ages to come together to sample what college football is all about, and you don’t have to have a ticket to the game to be a part of it,” said Bill Hancock, executive director of the CFP in a press release. “We’ve worked closely with the Atlanta Football Host Committee to develop fan-friendly events that thousands will enjoy come January.” On Saturday, Jan. 18, Playoff Fan Central will open at the Georgia World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta. The free, family-friendly experience will include games, clinics, pep rallies, special guest appearances, autograph signings and exhibits celebrating college football and its history. That day, fans can also attend Media Day, presented by Great Clips, which will feature one-hour sessions with student-athletes and coaches from each of the College Football Playoff national championship participating teams. ESPN and social media giants X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will be taping live broadcasts from the event. On Sunday, Jan. 19, the Trophy Trot, both a 5K and 10K race, will wind its way through the streets of downtown Atlanta. Each Trophy Trot participant will receive a T-shirt and finisher’s medal. Participants can register at atlantatrackclub.org . On Sunday evening, the Georgia Aquarium will host the Taste of the Championship dining event, which offers attendees the opportunity to indulge in food and drink prepared by local Atlanta chefs. This premium experience serves as an elevated exploration of local cuisine on the eve of the national championship. Tickets to the Taste of the Championship event are available on etix.com . Atlanta is the first city ever to repeat as host for the CFP national championship. The playoff was previously held in Atlanta in 2018. “We are honored to be the first city to repeat as host for the CFP national championship and look forward to welcoming college football fans from around the country in January,” said Dan Corso, president of the Atlanta Sports Council and Atlanta Football Host Committee. “This event gives us another opportunity to showcase our incredible city.” The College Football Playoff is the event that crowns the national champion in college football. The quarterfinals and semifinals rotate annually among six bowl games — the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic, Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, Capital One Orange Bowl, Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl Game presented by Prudential and the Allstate Sugar Bowl. This year’s quarterfinals will take place on Dec. 31, 2024 and Jan. 1, 2025, while the semifinals will be Jan. 9-10, 2025. The CFP national championship will be Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. For additional information on the College Football Playoff, visit CollegeFootballPlayoff.com .
Players must be assigned female at birth or have transitioned to female before going through male puberty to compete in LPGA tournaments or the eight USGA championships for females under new gender policies published Wednesday. The policies, which begin in 2025, follow more than a year of study involving medicine, science, sport physiology and gender policy law. The updated policies would rule out eligibility for Hailey Davidson, who missed qualifying for the U.S. Women's Open this year by one shot and came up short in LPGA Q-school. Davidson, who turned 32 on Tuesday, began hormone treatments when she was in her early 20s in 2015 and in 2021 underwent gender-affirming surgery, which was required under the LPGA's previous gender policy. She had won this year on a Florida mini-tour called NXXT Golf until the circuit announced in March that players had to be assigned female at birth. “Can't say I didn't see this coming,” Davidson wrote Wednesday on an Instagram story. “Banned from the Epson and the LPGA. All the silence and people wanting to stay ‘neutral’ thanks for absolutely nothing. This happened because of all your silence.” LPGA commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, who is resigning in January, said the new gender policy "is reflective of an extensive, science-based and inclusive approach." By making it to the second stage of Q-school, Davidson would have had very limited status on the Epson Tour, the pathway to the LPGA. The LPGA and USGA say their policies were geared toward being inclusive of gender identities and expression while striving for equity in competition. The LPGA said its working group of experts advised that the effects of male puberty allowed for competitive advantages in golf compared with players who had not gone through puberty. “Our policy is reflective of an extensive, science-based and inclusive approach,” said LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan, who announced Monday that she is resigning in January. "The policy represents our continued commitment to ensuring that all feel welcome within our organization, while preserving the fairness and competitive equity of our elite competitions.” Mike Whan, the former LPGA commissioner and now CEO of the USGA, said it developed the updated policy independently and later discovered it was similar to those used by swimming, track and field, and other sports. United States Golf Association CEO Mike Whan said the new policy will prevent anyone from having "a competitive advantage based on their gender." “It starts with competitive fairness as the North star,” Whan said in a telephone interview. “We tried not to get into politics, or state by state or any of that stuff. We just simply said, ‘Where would somebody — at least medically today — where do we believe somebody would have a competitive advantage in the field?’ And we needed to draw a line. “We needed to be able to walk into any women's event and say with confidence that nobody here has a competitive advantage based on their gender. And this policy delivers that.” The “Competitive Fairness Gender Policy” for the USGA takes effect for the 2025 championship season that starts with the U.S. Women's Amateur Four-Ball on May 10-14. Qualifying began late this year, though there were no transgender players who took part. “Will that change in the years to come as medicine changes? Probably,” Whan said. “But I think today this stacks up.” The LPGA “Gender Policy for Competition Eligibility” would apply to the LPGA Tour, Epson Tour, Ladies European Tour and qualifying for the tours. Players assigned male at birth must prove they have not experienced any part of puberty beyond the first stage or after age 12, whichever comes first, and then meet limitation standards for testosterone levels. The LPGA begins its 75th season on Jan. 30 with the Tournament of Champions in Orlando, Florida. Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen, foreground right, dives toward the end zone to score past San Francisco 49ers defensive end Robert Beal Jr. (51) and linebacker Dee Winters during the second half of an NFL football game in Orchard Park, N.Y., Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus) Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green goes up for a dunk during the second half of an Emirates NBA cup basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr) Mari Fukada of Japan falls as she competes in the women's Snowboard Big Air qualifying round during the FIS Snowboard & Freeski World Cup 2024 at the Shougang Park in Beijing, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) LSU punter Peyton Todd (38) kneels in prayer before an NCAA college football game against Oklahoma in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. LSU won 37-17. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) South Africa's captain Temba Bavuma misses a catch during the fourth day of the first Test cricket match between South Africa and Sri Lanka, at Kingsmead stadium in Durban, South Africa, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe) Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, left, is hit by Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey, center, as Eagles wide receiver Parris Campbell (80) looks on during a touchdown run by Barkley in the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough) Los Angeles Kings left wing Warren Foegele, left, trips San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini, center, during the third period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Nov. 25, 2024, in San Jose, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez) Olympiacos' Francisco Ortega, right, challenges for the ball with FCSB's David Miculescu during the Europa League league phase soccer match between FCSB and Olympiacos at the National Arena stadium, in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru) Brazil's Botafogo soccer fans react during the Copa Libertadores title match against Atletico Mineiro in Argentina, during a watch party at Nilton Santos Stadium, in Rio de Janeiro, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado) Seattle Kraken fans react after a goal by center Matty Beniers against the San Jose Sharks was disallowed due to goaltender interference during the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Seattle. The Sharks won 4-2. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson) New York Islanders left wing Anders Lee (27), center, fight for the puck with Boston Bruins defensemen Parker Wotherspoon (29), left, and Brandon Carlo (25), right during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) Jiyai Shin of Korea watches her shot on the 10th hole during the final round of the Australian Open golf championship at the Kingston Heath Golf Club in Melbourne, Australia, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake) Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland competes in the women's Freeski Big Air qualifying round during the FIS Snowboard & Freeski World Cup 2024 at the Shougang Park in Beijing, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) Lara Gut-Behrami, of Switzerland, competes during a women's World Cup giant slalom skiing race, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024, in Killington, Vt. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin cools off during first period of an NHL hockey game against the Boston Bruins, Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson) Brazil's Amanda Gutierres, second right, is congratulated by teammate Yasmin, right, after scoring her team's first goal during a soccer international between Brazil and Australia in Brisbane, Australia, Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Pat Hoelscher) Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers (89) tries to leap over Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Joshua Williams (2) during the first half of an NFL football game in Kansas City, Mo., Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga) Luiz Henrique of Brazil's Botafogo, right. is fouled by goalkeeper Everson of Brazil's Atletico Mineiro inside the penalty area during a Copa Libertadores final soccer match at Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) England's Alessia Russo, left, and United States' Naomi Girma challenge for the ball during the International friendly women soccer match between England and United States at Wembley stadium in London, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth) Gold medalists Team Netherlands competes in the Team Sprint Women race of the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Beijing 2024 held at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan) Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones (33) reaches for an incomplete pass ahead of Arizona Cardinals linebacker Mack Wilson Sr. (2) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr) Melanie Meillard, center, of Switzerland, competes during the second run in a women's World Cup slalom skiing race, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in Killington, Vt. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) South Carolina guard Maddy McDaniel (1) drives to the basket against UCLA forward Janiah Barker (0) and center Lauren Betts (51) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer) Sent weekly directly to your inbox!
UnitedHealthcare CEO kept a low public profile. Then he was shot to death in New YorkRICHMOND — With speeding and sideshows occupying intersections still a persistent issue in Richmond, councilmembers are set to consider directing staff to urgently identify measures to bring safety to city streets. An item on Tuesday night’s Richmond City Council agenda calls for staff to identify traffic calming measures that would abate speeding and donuts in at least six areas throughout the city in an effort to address a serious public safety risk that’s resulted in property damage, injuries and death in the last year alone. “I’d venture to say that no city street is safe,” said Richmond Police Capt. Matt Stonebraker during a monthly crime prevention meeting focused on sideshows held on Oct. 23. The staff report for the item, brought forward by Councilmember Cesar Zepeda, did not specify which six locations should be studied but Canal Boulevard was called out as a specific area of concern. In mid-October, a 16-year-old was killed and her 11-year-old sister injured in a speeding accident on the 600 block of Canal Boulevard. Richmond officers arrested nine people and impounded four cars just weeks ago in response to a sideshow with more than 50 vehicles and 200 participants on the same street. Sideshows have also occurred near Hilltop Mall. Participants of a large sideshow in late September damaged multiple cars at nearby auto dealerships and a Richmond Police Department vehicle, the department shared on its social media platforms. The “well organized” unauthorized events, which have grown in size, are occurring nearly every weekend and pull in crowds from outside the region, Stonebraker said. “It’s dangerous not only for the participants, not only for the spectators, but for the community at large and everyone around them or anybody that’s there,” Stonebraker said. “It’s dangerous. We want them to stop and we’re doing everything we can at this point to curb that.” Mayor Eduardo Martinez made his stance on the issue clear in an Oct. 1 Facebook post. Martinez, who has advocated for creating a space where sideshows can occur legally, said he is not in support of and has never encouraged breaking the law. The mayor noted in his post that sideshows — a term he’s wary of using because it does not fully encompass all types of reckless driving and can be used to demonize different parts of the community — are a regional issue. Similarly, Stonebraker said it’s typical for sideshows to travel from San Jose, through the East Bay and San Francisco, up to Sacramento. About 15 sideshows occurred in September alone, an average of about three a week, said Sgt. Enrik Melgoza during the October crime prevention meeting. To address the problem locally, Martinez said the city is working on hiring additional personnel, collaborating with neighboring agencies and deploying Flock cameras that collect vehicle information used to track down suspects. “I am fully committed to ensuring that our city remains safe for all residents, businesses, and visitors,” Martinez said. “These lawless actions do not represent the values of our Richmond residents, and we will do everything in our power to protect our community.” Police spokesperson Lynelle Sanchez said the department is also routinely monitoring for speeding in key corridors like Macdonald Avenue and 23rd Street. Officers issued 17 citations to drivers who failed to yield to pedestrians or were speeding near crosswalks during a recent traffic operation, she said. If the council back’s Zepeda’s request, staff would be directed to return before the end of January 2025 with identified traffic calming measures. Tawfic Halaby, deputy Public Works director of operations and maintenance, said during last month’s crime prevention meeting that the department is reaching out to neighboring jurisdictions to determine what types of measures have been successful. In the meantime, Sanchez encouraged the public to do their part in preventing traffic accidents by driving safely. “We really need the community to come together to make sure everyone stays safe,” Sanchez said. “Everybody’s in a rush trying to get home and feed their kids, but as residents we can do our part to help each other, especially around gatherings of people before and after school.” Zepeda did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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