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Editorial: Federal law shouldn’t shield AI chatbots from liability

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:23 GMT

The erupting world of artificial intelligence poses a threat to jobs, political stability, world peace and health and even, as leading AI figures warned last week, the existence of mankind.“Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” 350 AI scientists and other notable figures cautioned in an open letter from the Center for AI Safety, a nonprofit organization.This Pandora’s Box cannot be closed. The challenge now is how to reap the benefits of AI while harnessing its threats and misuse. One tentacle of the creature we have let loose is the potential disinformation that could damage reputations, provide deadly medical advice or be used to alter political outcomes.The concept of digital disinformation is not new. We’ve seen it proliferate for decades now on the internet and, more recently, on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. And we’ve seen the owners of th...

Police: Man kidnapped in Vacaville, ‘shot at’; two suspects arrested after pursuit

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:23 GMT

Rio Vista police officers arrested two men suspected of a late-May kidnapping of a man in Vacaville and then shooting at him in rural Solano County, but the Rio Vista police chief, citing most of the information as “confidential and sensitive” to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation, released only basic details of the alleged crimes.In a social media post late Friday, Police Chief Jon Mazer said the Solano County Sheriff’s Office on May 31 received a report that a man was kidnapped at gunpoint in Vacaville, forced to drive to a remote site in unincorporated Solano County, assaulted, and “shot at.”Deputies arrived and verified an assault and shooting had occurred, and the victim, whom Mazer did not identify, was transported to an area hospital, but Mazer did not indicate if the victim was actually wounded during the shooting and treated for injuries.His department’s officers, in contact with Sheriff patrol deputies at the time, had instant information about the call.A R...

Opinion: Gilroy’s future: climate resilience or foolhardy sprawl?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:23 GMT

It’s 2023, but Gilroy just can’t get its head out of 1960s sprawl development. This week, Gilroy will ask a Santa Clara County agency responsible for stopping sprawl to look the other way and approve its plan to destroy a large swath of the city’s surrounding farmland for low-density housing. If this happens, it will hurt both Gilroy’s climate resilience and taxpayers’ wallets.When it comes to housing, location matters. If we build sprawl development — pushing new residential growth out to the open space on the edges of our cities — we not only destroy our open space and farmland, but we also put people and homes at greater risk of wildfire, flooding and other climate-change impacts. And we make the climate crisis worse by forcing residents into their cars for long, traffic-filled commutes to work, school and daily errands. The right place for new housing is in urban infill areas, near public transit hubs and job centers, creating neighborhoods that are walkable, vibrant...

Walters: The one big flaw in California’s local redistricting reforms

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:23 GMT

Gerrymandering – the redrawing of legislative districts to benefit specific political parties, political factions or individual political figures – dominated post-census redistricting in California for decades.The Legislature long wielded redistricting authority for itself and the state’s congressional delegation, and every 10 years its power players would carve up California to help themselves, their parties and their loyalists gain or retain office.The districts they created often defied cartographic or demographic rationality. Michael Berman, who died recently, was long regarded as a savant who could make or break political careers in how he drew lines for his brother, long-serving legislator and Congressman Howard Berman, and others in their orbit.After one particularly creative round of redistricting in the 1980s, the late Congressman Phil Burton, described the lines he drew as “my contribution to modern art.”Occasionally, when Republican governors balked at signing redistricti...

A look at the California quail, our state bird

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:23 GMT

One thing I like about California is our choice of official state bird: the California quail. Most sports teams and schools pick rather fierce and aggressive animals for the mascots. The United States puts bald eagles everywhere. Benjamin Franklin famously advocated for the wild turkey as a better national representative than the eagle, and something of that same spirit is evoked by California’s choice — we would rather champion a peaceful, social bird than one of imposingly aggressive appearance. Quail are wonderful creatures, and now is the best time of year to enjoy them.That’s because it’s the baby season! That is true of birds in general from April to July or so, but from the casual observer’s standpoint, the childhood of most songbirds is a rather negligible event. Most neighborhood birds have what are called altricial young: they are helpless at birth, unable to fly or thermoregulate and spend their first weeks of life confined to the nest, where we rarely even see them. By t...

83-year-old man found on Marin road with ‘suspicious’ head wound dies

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:23 GMT

The Marin County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the “suspicious” death of a man in the San Geronimo Valley.The investigation started Friday evening after dispatchers received a report of a man on the ground near Wild Iris Road and Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. The site is just west of the San Geronimo Valley Community Center.Medics found man with a “substantial” head injury, the sheriff’s department said. Medics took the man to a hospital, and he was pronounced dead there.The sheriff’s department has not released the man’s name, but said he was 83 years old and lived in the valley.Autopsy results and the suspected cause of the injury were not released Sunday. Potential sources with information for the investigation can call 415-479-2311.

What should the National Zoo name its baby gorilla?

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:23 GMT

The National Zoo wants input on what to call its baby western lowland gorilla; here’s how you can vote on a name this week.Through a gender reveal party hosted Monday, the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute announced that the baby born on May 27 is a girl.The baby, born to parents Calaya (mother, 20 years old) and Baraka (father, 31 years old), seems “healthy and strong,” and Calaya’s parenting skills are “excellent,” zoo staff said in a news release.The deadline to vote on the three potential names is Friday at midnight. Here are the options for baby names:Lola (LOH-lah) | Yoruba for “greatness”Mkali (M-KAH-lee) | Swahili for “fierce”Zahra (ZAH-rah) | Swahili for “beautiful flower”The newborn also has a 5-year-old brother, Moke, at the zoo. Other gorillas in the zoo’s troop include 41-year-old Mandara and her 14-year-old daughter, Kibibi.Western lowland gorillas are critically endangered, with the biggest threats ...

LeBron James named honorary starter for 24 Hours of Le Mans

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:23 GMT

LE MANS, France (AP) — NBA superstar LeBron James has been named the official starter for the centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans, which this year is welcoming American teams to the world’s most prestigious endurance race.The NBA’s all-time leading scorer said he’s honored to be included in the celebration of 100 years at Le Mans.“There’s nothing like seeing and experiencing sports at their highest level,” James said in a statement. “It’s an honor for me to be part of this historic moment in motorsport and help celebrate the centenary of one of the biggest sporting events in the world.“I look forward to kicking off this iconic race and watching its world-class drivers compete on Le Mans’ global stage.”The twice-round-the-clock race begins Saturday. The role of honorary starter has since 1949 typically been given to a celebrity. Previous honorary starters include Rafael Nadal, Brad Pitt and Steve McQueen. Track action at Le Mans resumes Wednesday and the 62-car field this...

Supreme Court opened the door to states’ voting restrictions. Now a new ruling could widen them.

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:23 GMT

ATLANTA (AP) — Within hours of a U.S. Supreme Court decision dismantling a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, Texas lawmakers announced plans to implement a strict voter ID law that had been blocked by a federal court. Lawmakers in Alabama said they would press forward with a similar law that had been on hold.The ruling continues to reverberate across the country a decade later, as Republican-led states pass voting restrictions that, in several cases, would have been subject to federal review had the conservative-leaning court left the provision intact. At the same time, the justices have continued to take other cases challenging elements of the landmark 1965 law that was born from the sometimes violent struggle for the right of Black Americans to cast ballots.The justices are expected to rule in the coming weeks in a new case out of Alabama that could make it much more difficult for minority groups to sue over gerrymandered political maps that dilute their representation.“At t...

Large landfill fire in Fairfax Co. fills surrounding areas with smoke, no injuries

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:10:23 GMT

A landfill fire in Lorton, Virginia, is to blame for plumes of smoke visible from parts of Route 1 and Interstate 95 Tuesday morning.According to the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department, the fire broke out at around 11 p.m. Monday in the 9900 block of Richmond Highway.Firefighters quickly controlled and contained the fire.UPDATE 9900 blk Richmond Hwy: #FCFRD units remain on scene of a large outside fire. The fire is contained. No reported injuries. Smoke is visible in the area, including from Rte. 1 and I-95. pic.twitter.com/56Z8VUatX3— Fairfax County Fire/Rescue (@ffxfirerescue) June 6, 2023Officials told partners at 7News that fire crews worked overnight to get “the large volume of fire under control.” Fire truck were reportedly seen leaving and returning back to the area to refill with water because there was no fire hydrant access inside the landfill.WTOP’s Traffic Center reports that the smoke from the fire is causing rubbernecking and adding to the dela...