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Hotline mailbag: Media rights and expansion timelines (how long could this go?), the linear calculation, SDSU’s wait, survival odds and more

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:00 GMT

The Hotline mailbag is published every week. Send questions to [email protected] and include ‘mailbag’ in the subject line — or hit me on Twitter: @WilnerHotline.Some questions have been edited for clarity and brevity.Which will come first: Spring, or a Pac-12 media rights deal? Also, what’s the absolute latest that anyone in the past has signed a new media deal? Still seems like the Pac-12 can drag this out another six months or so and be just fine. — @TaquineurWell, spring is here, and there’s no deal. Nor does it seem like the Pac-12 is on the brink of announcing a deal.We can speculate on reasons for the holdup, with one possibility being the media rights piece and the other being expansion: The legal aspect of drawing up contracts and formally adding members takes time.If the Pac-12 intends to land three planes at once — reach a media deal; sign a grant-of-rights agreement; and officially add new schools — before it announces anythi...

Following another pedestrian death, East Bay city gives update on traffic safety measures and more

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:00 GMT

Only weeks after a Pittsburg teenager was killed in a crosswalk near her school, city staff assured residents and council members that some additional safety measures — including a push-button-activated crosswalk light to alert drivers about pedestrians — would soon be operable there. Features such as raised crosswalks, rapid flashing beacons, signage and other safety measures could be considered in other high-traffic areas.The report about ongoing traffic safety measures and what could be done in the future comes after the teen’s friends and community members demanded action during a recent council meeting. Mayor Shanelle Scales-Preston asked staff for a report on traffic safety measures and progress on the current project near Golden Gate Community School where the teenager was hit.Brooke Jeffrey, 17, was fatally struck in the early evening on March 7 by a hit-and-run driver while she was in the crosswalk on Stoneman Avenue at Briarcliff Drive while walking to meet her...

White House mostly blames Trump for chaotic Afghan withdrawal

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:00 GMT

By Zeke Miller and Nomaan Merchant | Associated PressWASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s administration on Thursday laid the blame on his predecessor, President Donald Trump, for the deadly and chaotic 2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan that brought about some of the darkest moments of Biden’s presidency.The White House publicly released a 12-page summary of the results of the so-called ” hotwash ” of U.S. policies around the ending of the nation’s longest war, taking little responsibility for its own actions and asserting that Biden was “severely constrained” by Trump’s decisions.The administration said detailed reviews conducted by the State Department and the Pentagon, which were transmitted privately to Congress on Thursday, were highly classified and would not be released publicly.“President Biden’s choices for how to execute a withdrawal from Afghanistan were severely constrained by conditions created by h...

Can Tom Cruise rescue James Corden as he faces new ‘obnoxious’ accusations?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:00 GMT

To bring a glorious end to his late-night show April 27, James Corden and CBS announced Sunday that they have big, big plans, including asking Tom Cruise to perform with the host in a Carpool Karaoke primetime special that will air before the last hour of his show.But as Corden described his plans to wind down “The Late Late Show,” also featuring a special appearance by Adele, the publicly ebullient entertainer was hit by new claims that he’s privately “obnoxious” and rude to people he would consider underlings.Tom Cruise poses for the media during the ‘Top Gun Maverick’ UK premiere at a central London cinema, on Thursday, May 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali) This new allegations come from a British TV director who worked with Corden in 2013 on his sports-based comedy game show “A League of Their Own.” The director, Craig Duncan, branded Corden the “most difficult and obnoxious presenter” he’s ever work...

NBA denies Mavericks’ protest of recent loss to Warriors

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:00 GMT

The NBA called Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban’s complaint of a third-quarter sequence in last month’s loss to the Golden State Warriors “inaccurate” and denied his team’s protest of the close defeat. The Mavericks argued officials didn’t properly communicate which team had possession of the ball after stoppage of play late in the third quarter of the March 22 game, ultimately leading to an uncontested Warriors’ basket. The NBA on Thursday said the Mavericks couldn’t prove they were denied a fair chance to win the game.After the timeout, Jordan Poole emphatically urged the official to hand him the ball when he noticed Dallas on the opposite end of the floor. Poole threw an inbound pass to Looney for an effortless dunk with 1:54 left in the quarter. The Warriors went on to win 127-125 and also notched the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Mavericks. After the game, Cuban called that moment the “worst officiating non-call mista...

China denies fentanyl trafficking with Mexico; blames US

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:00 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — China’s government on Thursday denied the country’s involvement in any illegal fentanyl trafficking with Mexico and said it had not been notified by Mexico’s government of any seizures of the precursor chemicals used to make the powerful drug.China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning made the comments in response to a question about a plea from Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador this week that China help stop chemicals used by Mexican drug traffickers to produce fentanyl. López Obrador cited U.S. pressure to stop the illegal trade.Similar to López Obrador’s comments in recent weeks, Mao placed the blame for the tens of thousands of fentanyl overdose deaths in the United States on that country.“The root cause of overdose lies in the U.S. itself, and the problem is completely made in the U.S. The U.S. should face up to its own problems, and take more substantive measures to strengthen domestic supervision and reduce demand,” Mao said. The U.S. gove...

High court: Trans girl can run girls track in West Virginia

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed a 12-year-old transgender girl in West Virginia to continue competing on her middle school’s girls sports teams while a lawsuit over a state ban continues.The justices refused to disturb an appeals court order that made it possible for the girl, Becky Pepper-Jackson, to continue playing on her school’s track and cross-country teams, where she regularly finishes near the back of the pack.Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas would have allowed West Virginia to enforce its law against Pepper-Jackson. Pepper-Jackson is in the middle of the outdoor track season. She had filed a lawsuit challenging the law, the Save Women’s Sports Act, which West Virginia lawmakers adopted in 2021. A federal appeals court had allowed her to compete while she appealed a lower court ruling that upheld the West Virginia law. Two weeks ago, track and field banned transgender athletes from international competitions. West Virginia is among 20 states ...

Lawyer: 25-year term sought for Russian opposition figure

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:00 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — A lawyer for jailed Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza Jr. said Thursday that the prosecutor in Kara-Murza’s closed-door trial for treason and spreading false information about the Russian military in Ukraine has called for a sentence of 25 years in prison.Kara-Murza, a journalist and a prominent opponent of the Kremlin, has been behind bars since his arrest a year ago.Russian media quoted lawyer Maria Esimont as saying the prosecutor is asking for the sentence to be served in a “strict regime” prison colony where conditions are harsh and prisoners are held in locked cells rather than in barracks. The defense is scheduled to present its closing arguments on Friday and Kara-Murza is expected to make a statement, she said.The charges against Kara-Murza stem from his March 15 speech to the Arizona House of Representatives in which he denounced Russia’s military action in Ukraine. Investigators added the treason charges while he was in custody.Russia adopt...

Utah woman who died in ice climbing accident saved another

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:00 GMT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Salt Lake City woman who died in a weekend ice climbing accident is being credited with saving the life of a fellow climber by pushing her out of the way when the ice above them fractured, officials said.Meg O’Neill, 41, and two others were climbing the 420 foot (128 meter) tall frozen Raven Falls in northeastern Utah on Sunday when the accident happened.Her death was confirmed by Camille Fiducia, the founder of an organization called Embark Outdoors, where O’Neill was the assistant director, KSTU-TV reports. O’Neill’s body was recovered Monday evening underneath what the Duchesne County Sheriff’s Office described as “two huge blocks of ice.”“Our sincere condolences to all effected by this tragedy, to the family of this brave, courageous woman who lost her life while saving another,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a Facebook post.A 24-year-old man in the climbing party fell about 40 feet (12 meters) and was injured while the 21-year-old...

Supreme Court says 12-year-old West Virginia transgender girl can play girls sports while case over state ban continues

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:18:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Supreme Court says 12-year-old West Virginia transgender girl can play girls sports while case over state ban continues.Source