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The Orioles didn’t score until the ninth inning Wednesday. It took them seven innings Thursday. Austin Hays didn’t wait long Friday.

Batting leadoff, Hays homered on the first pitch he saw to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead. The early run — as well as the ones Baltimore scored in the second and fifth innings — mattered immensely, as the Orioles found themselves in a one-run game, relying on their bullpen to hold the tight lead.

Mike Baumann, Yennier Cano and Félix Bautista delivered, following another solid start from Tyler Wells to hand the Orioles a 3-2 victory over the visiting Kansas City Royals.

Wells delivered 6 2/3 efficient innings to maintain his status as one of the best pitchers in the American League. Baumann stranded two runners in scoring position with a two-out strikeout in the seventh. Cano won a nine-pitch battle with Salvador Pérez, inducing a ground ball double play, for a scoreless eighth. And Bautista continued his dominance in the ninth, striking out two batters and retiring the side in order for his 17th save of the season.

After Hays’ leadoff home run, Jorge Mateo singled home Gunnar Henderson, who recorded his first career three-hit game, in the second inning, and Anthony Santander roped an RBI double for the Orioles’ third run.

The close game is nothing new. The Orioles are 12-7 in one-run games, and 55 of their 63 contests have been decided by four runs or fewer. They are 35-20 in those games.

After going 0-2 in their first weekend in the new City Connect uniforms, the Orioles earned their first win in the new threads. Baltimore is 39-24 and owners of the third-best record in the major leagues.

Around the horn

• Ryan Mountcastle wasn’t in Friday’s lineup for the third time in seven games, but instead of manager Brandon Hyde giving him a day off to get his slumping swing right, the first baseman was out with an illness. “Just tried to play through it yesterday. I could tell he wasn’t feeling well, and he tried to battle through it,” Hyde said before the game. “He’s still feeling a little sick today, so we decided to give him a day today.” Mountcastle has four hits in his past 30 at-bats with 11 strikeouts and no extra-base hits.
• Before the game, the Orioles optioned left-hander Bruce Zimmermann to Triple-A Norfolk and recalled lefty Nick Vespi. Zimmermann provided long relief twice during the road trip, including three innings to keep the bullpen fresh when they were leaned upon in Thursday’s win. He gave up four runs in five innings. Vespi, who split his 2022 season between Norfolk and Baltimore, has a 1.77 ERA in 20 1/3 innings with the Tides this year. Vespi was previously recalled in mid-May, but he didn’t pitch in his few days with the Orioles.
• The Orioles announced that Cole Irvin will start Saturday. Baltimore had an open spot in the rotation after sending down Grayson Rodriguez in late May, and rather than go with a bullpen game, the Orioles are bringing back the left-hander they traded for this offseason. The stint will be Irvin’s third in Baltimore this year. He’s allowed two or fewer runs in his past five starts with Norfolk.
• Rodriguez started his second game at Triple-A since being demoted, scattering seven hits and one walk while allowing three runs in six innings. He struck out 10. One walk is an encouraging sign after he walked five in his previous start, especially considering fastball command was an area the Orioles want to see Rodriguez improve. Also for Norfolk, Heston Kjerstad hit an inside-the-park home run for his first Triple-A homer.

This story will be updated.

Royals at Orioles

Saturday, 4:05 p.m.

TV: MASN2

Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM

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Nearly a year ago, Rafael Devers left Gerrit Cole searching for solutions.

“I’m open to suggestions,” the Yankees ace said when asked how he planned to get Devers out moving forward. Devers had just taken Cole deep twice in a Yankees win at Fenway Park on July 7, adding to the Boston third baseman’s success against the pitcher.

That success continued on Friday night in the Bronx, as Devers helped the basement-dwelling Red Sox score their first two runs in a 3-2 win over the Yankees.

Boston got on the board first when Triston Casas singled off Cole in the fourth inning. That hit drove in Devers, who doubled off Cole earlier in the frame. Devers then homered off Cole in the sixth inning.

Cole threw the left-handed hitter a 90.2 mph changeup just below the zone, but that didn’t stop Devers from going the other way for a solo shot.

Devers has now crushed seven career homers off Cole. No batter has hit more off the right-hander.

While Devers continued to thrive, Cole only allowed those two runs over six innings. He also totaled seven hits, one walk, six strikeouts and 101 pitches. He now has a 2.84 ERA this season.

Enrique Hernandez added his own solo homer off Albert Abreu in the seventh.

Garrett Whitlock, meanwhile, pitched better than his 5.61 ERA. The former Yankees prospect, snatched away by the Red Sox in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft, held the Bombers to two runs (one earned) over 6.1 innings. Whitlock tallied seven hits, one walk and six strikeouts over 88 pitches.

The one earned run came off the bat of Josh Donaldson, as he homered in the sixth. Donaldson has hit four home runs since coming off the injured list on June 2.

The Yankees scored their other run in the seventh when Isiah Kiner-Falefa picked up an infield single, stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error and dashed home on a wild pitch.

With the Yankees’ first game of the season against the Red Sox wrapped up, the team will turn it’s attention to Tanner Houck, Boston’s Saturday starter. Domingo German, meanwhile, will take the ball for the Yankees in the series’ second game.

German has been the Yankees’ second-best starter this season, recording a 3.69 ERA over 11 outings and 61 innings. He most recently limited the Dodgers to one run over 6.2 innings in Los Angeles on June 4.

Sunday’s series finale features a matchup between two young right-handers, as Clarke Schmidt lines up with Boston’s Bryan Bello.

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Pedro Grifol wouldn’t categorize Eloy Jiménez’s status as day to day.

But the Chicago White Sox manager said it’s possible that the outfielder/designated hitter could return to action in four to five days as he recovers from left lower-leg discomfort.

“You still have to see how he progresses,” Grifol said Friday afternoon. “But overall, a pretty good exam. You always want to avoid the DL, but sometimes it’s inevitable. In this particular case, the evaluation was good, it was positive. He’s not day-to-day, we’re looking at probably 4-5 days.”

The Sox were without Jiménez for Friday’s series opener against the Miami Marlins at Guaranteed Rate Field.

He exited the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in the ninth after running slowly to first while trying to beat out a double play. The throw to first was wild and Jiménez reached second, and he was checked on by the training staff before leaving the game.

Grifol said the injury was “like right below the calf.”

“I think he felt it in the first game,” Grifol said. “That’s what he said to me, he felt it a little bit in the first game and didn’t think too much of it and then felt it obviously in that double play.”

Jiménez played a big role in the first game of the doubleheader, hitting the go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning. It was the final of four homers hit by the Sox, as he joined Jake Burger, Luis Robert Jr. and Yoán Moncada in the 6-5 victory.

It was the first time Jiménez, Robert and Moncada homered in the same game.

“That’s crazy because I thought we had that kind of game before,” Jiménez said Thursday in New York after being told the note between games of the doubleheader.

Grifol said Friday of the trio: “They’re capable of doing that a lot in this game, especially when they’re in the lineup together and they’re healthy together, so it doesn’t surprise me that they did it, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they did it again.”

While Moncada is aiming to return to his nice start — he’s hitting 7-for-52 (.135) with a homer and four RBIs in his last 16 games — Robert strung together three multihit games in his last four entering Friday, hitting .467 during the stretch.

Robert is 11-for-31 (.355) with one homer, one RBI and four multihit performances in his last eight games.

“He continues to work on the things he needs to improve on,” Grifol said of Robert after Thursday’s Game 1, when he had three hits. “With him, it’s all about swinging at strikes. He continues to work on it and (Thursday) he had a really good first game, swinging at strikes.

“If he can get pitches in the strike zone, he’s going to be really, really dangerous. We think he’s dangerous now, if he can consistently get pitches in the strike zone, really special things.”

Robert, who with 14 homers has already surpassed his total of 12 last season, and Moncada will be among those counted on without Jiménez.

Jiménez is slashing .257/.315/.434 with six homers and 24 RBIs in 35 games during a season that was interrupted by an appendectomy in early May. He has two homers and nine RBIs in his 10 games since returning.

“He had it in his mind that he was going to come back sooner rather than later, and he did a really good job on the mental side of it,” Grifol said Friday. “He made it back and he picked up right where he left off. Big home run yesterday. He’s done a good job.”

As Jiménez recovers, the Sox can utilize both Burger and Gavin Sheets.

“When you have the depth that we have, the key is to keep guys in rhythm,” Grifol said. “Sometimes it’s hard. We’ve avoided the handiness part of it — righties you play, lefties you play — we’ve gone a little deeper than that. That’s how we’ve been able to keep them in rhythm and when you do have an injury, it allows for others to just go ahead and take the bulk of those ABs.

“Grateful that we have some depth to be able to do that. We certainly miss Eloy’s bat, but we replace Eloy with a Sheets or Burger, that’s pretty good. I prefer having them all, but for the next four, five days we won’t.”

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OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK – A search is underway for a Stanford University professor who did not return as scheduled from a hiking trip in Olympic National Park in Washington and missed a court hearing Friday related to domestic violence charges he faces in Santa Clara County.

Hunter Bryan Fraser, 44, set out Monday on a two-day, 40-mile trek, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. He was due back in Seattle by midday Wednesday.

Fraser was set to appear Friday morning in Santa Clara County Superior Court for a preliminary hearing. Prosecutors have charged him with inflicting corporal injury on a girlfriend.

Fraser was last seen Monday afternoon west of the Deer Park Campground and his family last heard from him via text Tuesday morning, according to the sheriff’s office.

On Wednesday around 6:15 p.m., park rangers notified the sheriff’s office that Fraser was overdue.

A deputy found Fraser’s vehicle in a dedicated parking area near the Deer Ridge Trailhead. Two Clallam County search and rescue teams were dispatched to the area, but Fraser had not been found as of Friday.

The sheriff’s office described Fraser as an “extremely experienced solo hiker” and noted he was equipped with a gray “well-supplied backpack” and a teal one-person tent.

Fraser is 6 feet 4 inches tall with a “trim build” and typically wears eyeglasses, the sheriff’s office said.

He is a biology professor at Stanford and the principal investigator at the Fraser Laboratory, according to a university profile. He is also a member of Bio-X, Stanford’s interdisciplinary biosciences institute; the Maternal & Child Health Research Institute; the Stanford Cancer Institute; and the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute.

In a statement issued on behalf of the biology department, Stanford spokesperson Joy Leighton reiterated many of the details provided by the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office.

“Hunter is an experienced outdoorsman and well supplied,” Leighton said. “We are hoping for his safe return.”

The criminal case against Fraser stems from a July 4, 2022 incident involving his girlfriend of 5½ years. The couple, which got into an argument the previous day, was playing a game with Fraser’s young daughter at their Stanford apartment when Fraser allegedly slammed a door into his girlfriend, striking her in the chest with the handle, according to a Stanford University Department of Public Safety incident report.

The girlfriend told police Fraser also threw her to the ground prior to hitting her with the door, the report stated.

Fraser was arrested and booked into county jail. He was initially charged with a misdemeanor, but prosecutors later re-filed the case as a felony, according to court records.

Tessa Stephenson, the deputy district attorney assigned to the case, said the preliminary hearing was rescheduled to June 28.

“I sincerely hope he will return home safely,” Stephenson said.

Anyone with information about Fraser’s whereabouts can call the sheriff’s office at 360-417-2459 and select option one.

Check back for updates.

By Nicky Robertson, Haley Talbot and Lauren Fox | CNN

The top two Republican leaders in the Senate remain silent a day after former President Donald Trump, the current GOP 2024 presidential frontrunner, was indicted by the federal government.

While the charges have yet to be unsealed, the top two Republicans in the Senate, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Minority Whip John Thune have not put out statements, a stark contrast to the swift reaction among House GOP leaders who quickly rushed to Trump’s defense.

“Today is indeed a dark day for the United States of America. It is unconscionable for a President to indict the leading candidate opposing him. Joe Biden kept classified documents for decades,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy tweeted Thursday night. “I, and every American who believes in the rule of law, stand with President Trump against this grave injustice. House Republicans will hold this brazen weaponization of power accountable.”

The third ranking GOP senator, John Barrasso of Wyoming, put out a statement Friday, saying, “This indictment certainly looks like an unequal application of justice.”

“Nobody is above the law,” Barrasso tweeted. “Yet it seems like some are.”

House and Senate Republican leaders have diverged for years on how and whether to even respond to Donald Trump’s legal woes. During Trump’s first indictment this spring, McConnell didn’t jump in to defend Trump and when he returned in April after a fall and was asked at a news conference by CNN’s Manu Raju about the indictment, he dodged.

“I may have hit my head, but I didn’t hit it that hard,” McConnell said at the time. “Good try.”

For McConnell, who has not maintained a relationship with Trump since January 6, 2021, the former president could be viewed as a distraction from his ultimate goals of recapturing the Senate. But for McCarthy, an alliance to Trump is an important factor for assuaging those in his right flank, especially at a moment when the House speaker has come under fire for a deal he cut with President Joe Biden on the debt ceiling.

There are still a number of Senate Republicans who have come out backing Trump including Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and who is backing the former president. Daines has stayed in touch with Trump, as he’s sought to recruit candidates in primaries across the country. He tweeted Friday, “The two standards of justice under Biden’s DOJ is appalling. When will Hunter Biden be charged?”

Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, was asked multiple times during an interview on Fox News on Thursday night about the lack of response from Senate leadership. Hawley’s only response was he did not know why leadership had not weighed in yet, and, “I can’t speak for anyone else.”

Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, also a member of the GOP Senate leadership team, tweeted Friday that the presumption of innocence in America should also apply to Trump and attacked Democrats who cheered the news.

“It is sad to see some Democratic politicians cheering this indictment and presuming guilt for sheer political gain, despite the fact that President Biden himself is under federal investigation for mishandling classified documents,” Tillis said in his statement.

Several Republican senators, many of whom have already endorsed Trump in the upcoming presidential election, were quick to jump to Trump’s defense and attacked the Department of Justice.

But in stark contrast to the silence from Senate Republican leadership and staunch support from House GOP members, Republican Sens. Mitt Romney and Lisa Murkowski stressed the severity of the charges Friday.

Romney of Utah, who twice voted to convict Trump on impeachment charges, said, “By all appearances, the Justice Department and special counsel have exercised due care, affording Mr. Trump the time and opportunity to avoid charges that would not generally have been afforded to others.”

In a statement, Romney added, “These allegations are serious and if proven, would be consistent with his other actions offensive to the national interest, such as withholding defensive weapons from Ukraine for political reasons and failing to defend the Capitol from violent attack and insurrection.”

Murkowski, who also voted to convict Trump in an impeachment trial after the insurrection, said Friday evening that the charges against the former president are “quite serious.”

“Mishandling classified documents is a federal crime because it can expose national secrets, as well as the sources and methods they were obtained through. The unlawful retention and obstruction of justice related to classified documents are also criminal matters,” she said on Twitter.

“Anyone found guilty – whether an analyst, a former president, or another elected or appointed official – should face the same set of consequences,” she added.

GOP Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, meanwhile, called the obstruction allegations against Trump “inexcusable.”

“As a retired brigadier general who worked with classified materials my entire career, I am shocked at the callousness of how these documents were handled,” Bacon told CNN on Friday. The congressman has long been critical of Trump and represents a swing state in Nebraska.

“The alleged obstruction to the requests of the National Archives and FBI, if true, is inexcusable,” he said in the statement, adding: “No one is above the law, and we demand due process and expect equality under the law.”

Meanwhile, top House Republicans took swift aim at the Department of Justice, special counsel Jack Smith, the FBI and Attorney General Merrick Garland in the wake of the indictment.

“We ought to defund and dismantle the DOJ,” ultra-conservative Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona tweeted shortly after Trump announced the news on Truth Social.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise immediately rushed to Trump’s defense, attacking the Justice Department over his indictment and vowing to hold the administration accountable.

“Let’s be clear about what’s happening: Joe Biden is weaponizing his Department of Justice against his own political rival. This sham indictment is the continuation of the endless political persecution of Donald Trump,” Scalise tweeted.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer echoed that sentiment Friday morning, tweeting, “This is the ultimate abuse of power, and they will be held accountable.”

Some House Republicans, going much further than the speaker, called for the impeachment of Biden, Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray before seeing the details of the indictment.

“It is time for Congress to rein in the FBI and DOJ, and impeach President Biden, Attorney General Garland, and Director Wray,” Georgia Republican Rep. Mike Collins said in a statement.

This story has been updated with additional information.

By Stefano Pozzebon and Caitlan Hu | CNN

Four young children have been found alive after more than a month wandering the Colombian Amazon, according to Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro.

“A joy for the whole country! The four children who were lost 40 days ago in the Colombian jungle were found alive,” Petro tweeted on Friday.

Petro also shared a photo that appears to show search crews with the four children, whose condition is unknown.

The children are the only survivors of a May 1 plane crash that killed pilot Hernando Murcia Morales, Yarupari indigenous leader Herman Mendoza Hernández, and their mother Magdalena Mucutuy Valencia.

Their subsequent disappearance into the deep forest had galvanized a massive military-led search operation involving over a hundred Colombian special forces troops and over 70 indigenous scouts combing the area.

For weeks, the search turned up only tantalizing clues, including footprints, a dirty diaper and a bottle. Family members said the oldest child had some experience in the forest, but hopes waned the longer that the children remained missing.

Early hopes arose in mid-May when Petro mistakenly tweeted that the children had been found. He was later forced to backtrack.

News of their survival in the wild now is all the more extraordinary at such a young age; the eldest is just 13 years old and the youngest still an infant.

SAN FRANCISCO — Ross Stripling is inching closer to a return from his lower back strain. And he expects to return to the mound not only with a healthy back, but a few much-needed mechanical tweaks.

Stripling threw a bullpen on Thursday in San Francisco and expects to throw at least two more, including one on Sunday, before potentially going on a rehab assignment, he said. The 33-year-old left-handed pitcher went on the IL with a lower back strain after departing his May 17 start early against the Phillies in pain.

“It definitely has been a little longer than what we originally anticipated,” Stripling said. “When I first did it, it almost felt like I could have pitched a couple days later. But needed to go on the IL because you can’t crunch the roster.”

Stripling received a Cortisone shot last week when his lower back pain kept lingering. The pain has subsided significantly since, he said, and has allowed him to focus on some adjustments he can make for his return to the mound.

“Physically I feel good. Now it’s just about honing things because I wasn’t killing it results wise,” he said. “Had this time to make sure mechanics are good and things are synced up better than they were before. Use this time to make sure I’m in a good place physically but also pitch usage wise as well. Go face hitters a couple times and try to polish everything up and try to get a few things and get ready to get outs.”

Stripling, who signed with the Giants this offseason on a two year, $25 million contract, has struggled to keep the ball in the park. His 7.24 ERA is bogged by a 2.8 HR9 rate — meaning he gives up an average 2.8 home runs per nine innings. The stingy 3.7% walk rate he held last year ballooned to a 6.8% walk rate this year.

Along with his pitching coaches, Stripling went deep into the data collected by tracking and imaging tools such as Hawk-Eye and Kintracks to find some simple solutions to keeping his mistake pitches away from the middle of the plate. They found a fix could be something as simple as standing up taller before his delivery; he found he was hunching over.

“My heat maps are very similar to last year but the stuff I’m missing over the middle is just getting punished,” he said. “Don’t have room for error. Obviously, get those misses more to one side than the other and assume that not every miss will get hit over the fence. Which is kind of how it’s been this year. So it’ll come back to normal a little bit.”

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Joey Bart was in the Giants clubhouse on Friday and was expected to go through a workout at Oracle Park and “be prepared for anything the team needs,” manager Gabe Kapler said. Bart was eligible to come off the injured list with a left groin strain on May 28, but no move was made to activate him on Friday.

Saturday and Sunday’s starters against the Chicago Cubs are still listed as to be announced and Kapler said there was no update the Giants’ plans. With Alex Wood and Stripling sidelined, the Giants could opt for a bullpen game or call up top prospect Kyle Harrison, who is dominating in Triple-A Sacramento.

Kapler all but shut down that idea during the Giants’ trip to Colorado, telling reporters: “I think we would all like to see Kyle get a little more experience in Sacramento and continue to demonstrate that his slider is developing the way he wants it to, continuing to focus on overall strike throwing.”

The 16-year-old fatally shot a man, 20, after tracking his girlfriend’s phone because he thought she was “spending time with someone else,” court records say.

During the annual Ivy Cutting ceremony at Seattle Pacific University on Friday, hundreds of undergraduates were given their own sprig of ivy that symbolizes their connection and release from the college. The rite has been part of graduation festivities since 1922.

Three black bears wandered into civilization in three American cities in the last month and as far as we know, not one of them was high on cocaine.

Blaze, the first black bear to climb his way to viral stardom and into the internet’s warm embrace, was first spotted last weekend hiding in trees at Lake Eola Park in Orlando.

He eluded authorities until Tuesday evening, when he surrendered to his fate by walking into a trap set by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission workers outside a World of Beer restaurant.

The bear vacillated for a moment between entering and exiting the trap with a quiet audience surrounding him and watching, but eventually he accepted his circumstances and the workers drove him north to Ocala National Forest and released him.

June 5, 2023: Blaze the black bear traverses the branches of a tree at Lake Eola Park in Orlando, Florida.(Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel) 

Then on Friday morning, Franklin, the second black bear to reach online celebrity status this week, meandered through a Washington D.C. neighborhood less than five miles from the U.S. Capitol and White House.

Unlike Blaze, who spent days hiding in trees, Franklin ignored sirens police blared to keep him in a tree while trappers readied themselves for his capture.

He roamed the nabe until Humane Rescue Alliance staffers were able to tranquilize the approximately 200-pound animal and load it into a huge metal crate, AP reported.

Chris Schindler, vice president of field services for the Humane Rescue Alliance, told AP the young male will now receive a medical check and be released back into the wild, “somewhere in Maryland.”

June 9, 2023: Officers move in to attempt to catch a black bear in the residential Brookland neighborhood in Northeast Washington in Washington D.C. on Friday. (Andrew Harnik/AP)  June 9, 2023: Residents stand at police tape to try to get a view of a black bear in the residential Brookland neighborhood in Northeast Washington in Washington D.C. on Friday. (Andrew Harnik/AP)  June 9, 2023: A sleeping black bear is carried to a cage after being captured in the residential Brookland neighborhood in Northeast Washington in Washington D.C. on Friday. (Andrew Harnik/AP)  June 9, 2023: A sleeping black bear is put into a cage after being captured in the residential Brookland neighborhood in Northeast Washington in Washington D.C. on Friday. (Andrew Harnik/AP) 

And finally, BB-12, California’s own headline-making black bear, drew attention to himself when he apparently strolled Malibu beaches in late May, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

He was previously captured and collared in the western Santa Monica Mountains in April and is believed to have sauntered through sands at Leo Carillo State Beach in late May.

April 23, 2023: BB-12 was captured and collared in the western Santa Monica Mountains in Southern California. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. National Park Service) 

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Bear sightings typically increase in early summer when young bears amble out on their own for the first time, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Sightings usually increase in early summer when young bears strike out on their own for the first time. If you see a bear, apply the following National Park Service tips:

• Don’t fight. Do not give a bear food or approach its cubs.
• Keep your distance if you happen upon a bear. Do not approach. Stay at least 100 yards away if possible as you give it room to walk away from you.
• Talk calmly to yourself in low tones to identify yourself as human.
• Walk with a group — because we’re smellier and noisier in packs — and stay on designated trails.
• Pick up any small child or pet if one is with you during the encounter.
• Do not place yourself between cubs and their mother.
• Avoid direct eye contact and move away slowly and sideways if possible.

 

New Mexico has settled with Walgreens for $500 million over the pharmacy chain's role in distributing highly addictive prescription painkillers.

OAKLAND — A Bay Area man has been arrested and charged as the shooter in a homicide case where the victim was killed after his friend confronted two car burglars, court records show.

Patrick Rushing, 32, was charged Friday with killing 44-year-old Phoutsamay “Phil” Norawong in a Feb. 26 shooting in Oakland’s Chinatown. Rushing now joins co-defendants 32-year-old Terrance Rose, who faces a murder charge, and Rose’s wife, Joan Ramirez-Rose, 48, who is charged with accessory after the fact for allegedly falsely reporting their car stolen after the homicide.

According to police, on the early morning of Feb. 26, Rushing and Rose traveled from San Francisco to Oakland looking for cars to burglarize. They allegedly broke into several cars before arriving on 8th Street in Chinatown, where they were confronted by one of Norawong’s friends, who had just left a nearby establishment. Police describe Norawong as a peacemaker, alleging that he pulled his friends away from the altercation in an attempt to smooth things over.

But Rushing and Rose allegedly returned to their vehicle and pursued the group of friends, with Rose behind the wheel and Rushing in a passenger seat. The court records allege that Rose drove toward the victims while Rushing opened fire, fatally striking Norawong.

Rushing was arrested by San Francisco police on May 17. Investigators showed him pictures of Rose’s car, which he reportedly denied recognizing. He then requested an attorney, police said.

Investigators say they found clothing in a search of Rushing’s home that matched surveillance footage showing what Norawong’s killer was wearing. They also said Rushing was linked to the crime through “ballistics” evidence, as well as phone records.

On top of murder, Rushing and Rose face two counts of assault with a semi-automatic pistol, for allegedly shooting at Norawong’s two friends.

Ramirez-Rose is charged with accessory for allegedly falsely reporting Rose’s car as stolen. Rose subsequently told police that the vehicle had been stolen, but that he was miraculously able to find it simply by taking the bus to San Francisco and looking around.

Norawong was killed just nine days after Rose was released from federal prison after serving a four-year sentence for selling fentanyl and possessing a pistol as a felon in San Francisco. In that case, Ramirez-Rose wrote a support letter to the judge predicting that her husband would become an “outstanding citizen” upon his release.

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Pleasant Hill must keep
neighborhoods together

I’m worried about Pleasant Hill. Councilmembers are drafting an ordinance that would allow for the adoption of a map that divides neighborhoods.

In addition, a 4-district map on the ballot would cost approximately $100,000. Mayor Tim Flaherty wants a four-district map that divides College Park, Gregory Gardens and Poet’s Corner. Residents want a five-district map that keeps neighborhoods together. It is in the best interest of the mayor to have an ordinance for a four-district map to remain on the City Council.

Councilmembers should work for the best interest of our city. Dividing neighborhoods is not in our best interest.

I hope Pleasant Hill residents voice their opposition by emailing the City Council and attending the next City Council meeting on June 26. Please tell the city not to adopt an ordinance that includes language that can divide our neighborhoods and move forward with the community five-district map.

Michelle Simone
Pleasant Hill

BART must better use
the money they have

Re: “Public bailout of BART is sensible” (Page A6, June 8).

BART has enjoyed the support of riders and taxpayers for decades. But despite lower ridership and reduced revenue, BART management wants to spend more.

Instead of devising a way to stop toll-jumpers, so the millions lost are regained, or adding law enforcement, so riders like me aren’t subjected to trashy trains and panhandlers who sleep across two seats night and day, BART is asking for more money.

The issue isn’t cutting costs, but managing their millions more efficiently. We need to fix BART. Making paying riders feel safe and appreciated would be a good start.

Sampson Van Zandt
Walnut Creek

It is we who make
AI frightening

Allowing machines to learn — this thing we call AI — is a new, scary specter. But why? What is scary about it?

It is the integration of this exponentially improving digital intelligence, combined with our self-centered quest for control that is a horrible manifestation.

Allowing greedy psychopaths among us to harness this new amalgam is the real danger of AI. The existential threat is us. We are the Moloch in the machine.

We see the fires in Canada now. We see wars with pipelines, dams and cities destroyed. We see surveillance and censorship in our “social” media.

Our technology now allows for a global society, with global problems and with the reality of world-ending outcomes. The global village has arrived.

The part of the new digital Frankenstein that makes it so scary is that it is made of us.

Jeff Taylor
Oakland

One cannot ‘harness’
threats and misuse

Re: “Generative AI shouldn’t have liability shield” (Page A6, June 6).

I would like to point out a word usage issue contained in this editorial about AI chatbots.

The sentence in question reads: “The challenge now is how to reap the benefits of AI while harnessing its threats and misuse”.

The problem I see is with the word “harnessing.” I don’t believe there is any way to “harness” threats or misuse. To “harness,” of course, means to utilize, leverage for a positive purpose. Harness misuse? Doesn’t make sense.

I think the most appropriate word for this context would be “mitigate.” Thank you for providing me with an opportunity to express my opinion on the wording of your otherwise commendable editorial.

Bruce Mendenhall
Newark

GOP should move on
from indicted Trump

Whether Republicans like Donald Trump or not, it’s time to move on from a dangerous character.

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I am among the many that say we believed in his ideologies and many of his first-term accomplishments.

But he is a different man today, vindictive and paranoid, so focused on destroying his enemies rather than putting any vision forward.

He may win primaries and even the GOP ticket, but there is zero chance he could win the national election. The progressives know this and that’s why they are staying with Joe Biden.

Wake up GOP, don’t allow the obvious to happen. The survival of the Republican Party is at stake.

Neil Bonke
Los Altos

As bubbles agitated the surface of the pool for young divers at the Mission Viejo Swim Club, Olympian Greg Louganis laid out three of the medals he won diving for the United States – and his plans to auction them off to support HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ+ organizations.

Mission Viejo is where Louganis first started diving and while visiting Thursday, June 8, he said that he will always have that connection with the city. Building on his early success here, Louganis went on to win five Olympic medals and is considered by many to be the greatest diver in history. Now, as an LGBTQ+ rights activist and an openly gay man who lives with an HIV diagnosis, he is selling his medals to support organizations dedicated to those causes.

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  Greg Louganis is considered to be one of the best divers to ever grace the sport. Photographed on Thursday June 8th 2023 in Mission Viejo, California. (Photo by Michael Kitada, Contributing Photographer)

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  The Gold medal won by Louganis in Seoul, Korea in 1988. Photographed on Thursday June 8th 2023 in Mission Viejo, California. (Photo by Michael Kitada, Contributing Photographer)

• 

  The Silver medal that Louganis won in Montreal, Canada in 1976. Photographed on Thursday June 8th 2023 in Mission Viejo, California. (Photo by Michael Kitada, Contributing Photographer)

• 

  The Gold medal won by Louganis in Los Angeles, in 1984. Photographed on Thursday June 8th 2023 in Mission Viejo, California. (Photo by Michael Kitada, Contributing Photographer)

• 

  The backside of the Olympic medals from left to right, from 1976, 1984 and 1988. Photographed on Thursday June 8th 2023 in Mission Viejo, California. (Photo by Michael Kitada, Contributing Photographer)

• 

  Greg Louganis, the Olympic diver and LGBTQ+ activist, is planning to auction off his three Olympic medals. Two golds and one silver from the 1976, 1984 and 1988 games to raise money for HIV/AIDS. The auction will occur on September 14 of this year after a world tour that includes, Los Angeles, New York and London to raise awareness for the auction. Photographed on Thursday June 8th 2023 in Mission Viejo, California. (Photo by Michael Kitada, Contributing Photographer)

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Catherine Williamson, the director of fine books and manuscripts at Bonhams, said the medals resonate deeply with people because of Louganis’ importance to Olympic and LBGTQ+ history, and his current tour of the country promoting the auction is strategic.

“Part of the reasons we want to hit them at this time is because Pride is happening, and we know that these medals resonate deeply with collectors in the Pride community,” Williamson said.

The three medals up for auction are his 1976 silver medal for the platform dive, his 1984 gold medal for the springboard event and his 1988 gold medal for his last dive from the platform event.

After taking silver in his first Olympic appearance, Louganis said his goal for the 1984 Games was to win two gold medals.

“That first gold medal, I was like, ‘OK, I’ve got that one down,’ and I’m thinking, ‘I still got 10-meter platform,’” he recalled. Reserved during his first medal ceremony, with competition still ahead of him, Louganis openly celebrated his final score for the platform dive.

In 1988, Louganis, then 28 years old, faced China’s Xiong Ni, who was half his age. Xiong led through the rounds of competition, Louganis recalled of going into the last dive, “and just pulling it out on that last dive, winning by less than two points.”

The auction is not the first time Louganis has parted with one of his medals. He gave the medal he won for the 1988 springboard dive to Jeanne White-Ginder, Ryan White’s mother, and it is currently displayed in the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.

Louganis sustained a head injury in the 1988 springboard preliminaries, which left him with a concussion and stitches. At the time, it was not public that Louganis had contracted HIV.

“The 1988 Olympic gold medal for men’s springboard, I gave to Jeanne White, because Ryan White, her son, was my inspiration to get through that,” Louganis said. White was diagnosed with AIDS at age 13 after a blood transfusion and gained national attention in his struggle against discrimination and for better education of the disease.

Louganis also gave the gold medal from his 1984 platform dive to his coach, Ron O’Brien.

Louganis has pledged a portion of the earnings from the auction to the Damien Center, the oldest and largest HIV/AIDS care facility in Indianapolis. The not-for-profit organization is expanding into a new 56,000-square-foot facility to serve more people.

The Olympian said he wants to raise enough money to name its welcome center in honor of White, who died 1990, and the facility’s lounge after his late mother, Frances Louganis.

In addition to the money, Louganis will be donating a sculpture created by artist Bill Mack of White to the welcome center.

Williamson said Louganis will continue to tour with the medals to raise awareness of the auction, heading to New York and London before returning to Los Angeles. She said by mid-August, a full catalog of the medals and additional memorabilia will be available online and people will be able to start placing bids. The auction for the medals will be completed on Sept.14.

Louganis’ last gold medal is expected to raise between $800,000 and $1.2 million, while his first gold medal is expected to be bid up to between $600,000 to $900,000 and the silver medal between $200,000 and $300,000.

Louganis, who is known for breaking barriers as an LGBTQ+ icon and for challenging the stigma around HIV, said he hopes his experiences convey how far the LGBTQ+ community has come and, yet, there is still so much to learn.

“I was telling a friend of mine that, sometimes, it sucks to be a pioneer. You’re paving the way so it’s easier for young people coming behind you,” Louganis said. “I’m grateful that a lot of athletes now can reap the benefits.”

His message to the LGBTQ+ community in Orange County was to be patient and true to themselves and to surround themselves with people who are trustworthy and supportive.

Diageo, the world's biggest spirits company, is worried climate change is going to make scarce the one ingredient that's essential for making all its drinks.

By Daniel Dale | CNN

In the weeks before Donald Trump was indicted over his alleged mishandling of classified defense documents and alleged attempt to cover it up, the former president kept arguing that it would be unfair to prosecute him given that President Joe Biden took “1,850 boxes” of documents to the University of Delaware.

Trump used the words “1,850 boxes” three times at a CNN town hall in May, adding two references to “1,800” boxes for good measure. Trump made similar comments on Thursday after learning he was being indicted by a federal grand jury, posting on social media that “Joe Biden has 1850 Boxes at the University of Delaware.”

But Trump’s vague insinuations that there is something improper about the existence of the Biden collection at the University of Delaware are baseless. The collection of donated documents is from Biden’s 36-year tenure as a US senator for Delaware. Unlike presidents, who are subject to the Presidential Records Act, senators own their offices’ documents and can do whatever they want with them – donate them to colleges, keep them at their homes, give them to journalists, even throw them in the trash.

“No statute governs their retention or disposition and there is no public right of access to congressional records, under FOIA or any other statute,” Margaret Kwoka, a law professor at The Ohio State University and an expert on information law, said in a Friday email.

Trump has also made false specific claims about the boxes of Biden’s Senate documents. It is not true that “nobody even knows where they are.” It is public knowledge that these documents are stored at his alma mater. It is also not true that Biden “has been totally uncooperative” and “won’t show the documents under any circumstances.” Biden consented to two FBI searches at the university – searches that did not initially appear to turn up any documents with classified markings, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN’s Paula Reid in February, though they were still being analyzed at the time.

Here’s a more detailed look at the facts about the documents at the University of Delaware.

The presence of lots of Biden boxes at a university is normal and legal

The approximately 1,850 boxes of Biden documents at the University of Delaware are papers from the president’s Senate career, which ran from 1973 to 2009 (when Biden was sworn in as vice president). While the Presidential Records Act says that presidential records belong to the public and that the National Archives and Records Administration gets custody of them the moment the president leaves office, records that are created and maintained within a senator’s office “are the property of the senator,” the Senate website explains.

And it is standard, the Senate website notes, for senators to donate these records to research institutions. The National Archives and Records Administration even maintains a list of where the documents of former members of Congress are housed. The list is filled with universities.

Kwoka said Friday that “any comparison between congressional records and presidential records is an apples-to-oranges comparison. The legal requirements are entirely different between the two.”

There is nothing secret about the location of Biden’s Senate collection

It has been public knowledge for more than a decade that Biden donated his Senate documents to the University of Delaware, from which he graduated in 1965. Biden announced the donation in a public appearance at the school in 2011, generating media coverage.

The school website published an article in June 2012 to announce that 1,875 boxes of documents had been delivered. Today, the website’s section on its special collections has a page for the “Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Senatorial Papers.”

Biden did impose conditions on public access to the collection. According to the university website, the papers will only be made widely accessible two years after Biden retires from public life. Until then, they can only be accessed with Biden’s express consent.

That restriction has frustrated Biden critics who want the documents to be made available publicly much sooner, but there is nothing illegal or even remarkable about it. It is common for senators to place timing conditions on the documents they have donated to universities.

“President Biden had every right to donate his records from his time as a Senator to a university or other institution, and to impose restrictions on future access,” Jason R. Baron, former director of litigation at the National Archives and Records Administration, said in a Friday email.

Biden consented to FBI searches at the university

Trump’s claim in late April that Biden has “has been totally uncooperative – won’t show the documents under any circumstances” is not true. Reid reported in February that the FBI had conducted two searches at the university, with the consent and cooperation of Biden’s legal team, in connection with the federal investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents.

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It is not clear if Biden permitted the FBI to look at each and every one of the boxes stored at the university, or even if the FBI wanted to search all of the boxes. (A spokesperson for the university declined to provide more information to CNN, while a spokesperson for Biden’s personal lawyer did not respond to a CNN email.) But even with few details publicly known at present, Trump’s assertions that Biden has refused to cooperative with investigators and won’t show the documents to anyone are clearly false.

Ships are sitting idle and causing a backlog of incoming vessels, says port operator, say PMA, which negotiates labor contracts on behalf of port operators,

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Urban canopies can
help mitigate warming

It’s time for Bay Area cities to recognize that “Cutting emissions isn’t enough in climate fight.” (Page A6, June 6)

We are facing a future with extreme heat, endangering public health.  It is time to address urban climatology with urban design, planning and policy approaches to protect people from extreme heat and adopt an equitable climate policy that promotes healthier and more engaged communities.

Disadvantaged communities are deeply affected by climate change, rising temperatures and poor air quality.

San Jose’s Smart Climate Plan focuses on cutting greenhouse gases, which is only part of the solution. Reducing carbon emissions ignores the need to plan for a sustainable future locally.  A robust climate change plan protects against rising temperatures.

A baseline monitors seasonal ambient air temperature in neighborhoods and correlates with local urban canopies. The linkage between tree canopy and climate change mitigation should be made abundantly clear and urgent.

Rita Norton
Los Gatos

Taxing STRs won’t
add affordable housing

I oppose state Senate Bill 584 because it seeks to penalize short-term rental (STR) owners under the misguided idea that STRs deprive areas of “affordable” housing.

I manage an STR property in Carmel Valley. If the home were rented on a long-term basis it would go for around $6,000 a month rent. That’s hardly the definition of “affordable.” The vast majority of STRs are upper-end homes that rent for high-dollar amounts. The only people supposedly deprived of housing by STRs are those who can well afford to rent at market rates.

STRs do not deprive low- and lower-middle-income renters of housing.

Mark Carbonaro
Monterey

Diversifying Congress
better than halting pay

Re: “Halt payments to leaders to solve debt dispute” (Page A6, June 7).

Joseph Gumina is convinced that debt ceiling standoffs would be resolved “in a matter of hours” if legislators were first in line to lose their salaries. This assumes our legislators need their salaries. If only!

It’s nearly impossible for working-class Americans to get elected to the U.S. House or Senate. A recent survey of financial disclosures demonstrated that the median wealth of U.S. legislators is more than 12 times higher than that of the median U.S. household. Most U.S. legislators would manage fine without their paychecks.

Should we really punish the few working-class folks who get elected and give their wealthier colleagues leverage over them in negotiations? Better we should work to reduce the influence of money on our politics and increase our chances of electing people who resemble, socio-economically, the people they represent.

Todd Gutmann
Sunnyvale

Question for candidates
is viability, not age

Re: “Biden, Feinstein, Trump … how old is too old?” (Page A7, June 7).

I think that the author misses the essential question about candidates’ ages, and that is “What does the candidate bring to the office, and how does that measure up against the other candidates?” Please consider the following:

Former President Donald Trump — little knowledge or respect for our institutions, laws and way of life; an abundance of hostility toward others; few concrete ideas about how he will make this country better and stronger: not a viable candidate.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein — appears to be suffering from dementia and unable to perform independently in the manner that made her great: not a viable official — despite the Democratic need to keep her Senate seat.

President Biden — still comments more cogently than Donald Trump about issues critical to our nation and proposes concrete actions to move our nation forward — whether you agree with him or not: a viable official and candidate.

Daniel Lee
San Jose

More foster kids should
be admitted to college

David Brooks makes a very persuasive argument for improvement in the college admissions Related Articles

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process in a post-affirmative action world, “U.S. should smash destructive college admissions process” (Page A9, June 4).

I have always argued that foster children should be recognized as deserving of special admissions treatment. To date, they have not. Admitting more foster children to collegiate education from the local community college to the Ivy elite is not only fair to them, but it also benefits all who interact with them who will receive an improved education leading to less abuse of children and more successful intervention in their cases as well.

Minorities are sizeable in the foster care population. All are entitled to dignity and a chance at success.

Eugene Hyman
Santa Clara County Superior Court judge, retired
San Jose

Provincial firefighting agencies are stretched thin, there is no national agency and it’s hard to get approval for controlled burns — factors that have exacerbated recent outbreaks.

As the author of one of the more notable moments in Yankees-Red Sox history, Aaron Boone has some authority when speaking about the rivalry’s ferocity over the years. And if you ask the Yankees’ manager, games between the American League East enemies are still a “heavyweight match.”

“Any time Red Sox, Yankees get together, whether it’s [in the Bronx], whether it’s at Fenway, there’s something special about that,” Boone said Friday before his team’s series-opener against Boston at Yankee Stadium. “I’ve gotten to experience it quite a bit now as a player and manager. You feel fortunate to be a part of such a historic sports rivalry, and I have a lot of respect for them. We’ve been through our battles over the years.”

Boone, of course, famously won one of those battles for the pinstripers as a player in 2003 when he hit a walk-off home run off Boston’s Tim Wakefield in Game 7 of the 2003 American League Championship Series. The blast earned Boone a profane middle nickname in the state of Massachusetts — and a spot in Yankees history long before he became the team’s manager.

More recently, however, Alex Cora and the Sox bounced Boone’s Yankees from the 2021 playoffs. That Wild Card loss still stings Boone, even if the Yankees have fostered strong rivalries with other division foes, such as the Rays and Blue Jays, in recent years.

“I say the AL East is always good, which it is,” Boone said. “It’s really good now. We’re playing in the SEC right now. It’s pack a lunch. So I think we’ve developed really strong rivalries with every team, but the Red Sox are right in that mix. They knocked us out of the playoffs in ‘21, and I think you always get juice from that.”

Friday’s game marked the first matchup between the third-place Yankees and last-place Red Sox this season. Per the YES Network’s James Smyth, this is just the sixth time in 121 seasons that the Yankees didn’t play Boston in their first 64 games of the season.

“I guess so,” Boone said when asked if it’s weird that the adversaries haven’t played yet. “But we get that question every year with whoever team we play later in the season.

“You play the schedule. You kind of know what it is. I think the weirdness this year is that you’re playing everyone. That’s what’s weird. So I feel like I’ve been asked that question in previous years. ‘Isn’t it weird you’re not playing so and so until now?’ Isn’t it weird that we’re done playing the Blue Jays until the end of September?

“The schedule is always going to create some weirdness to it. But I think this year, the biggest thing is that you play everyone.”

The Yankees and Red Sox are making up for the delay, though, as they’ll play three games at Fenway Park next weekend after three games in New York this weekend.

And while the new schedule — which pits every team against one another — has led to some quirks, Boone said that he likes the format.

His biggest concern going into the season was over weather postponements causing issues with teams the Yankees only faced or visited for one series. But that hasn’t been a problem so far.

“What’s remarkable is we’ve gone to Cleveland, we’ve gone to Minnesota in the month of April. Obviously, we’ve played games here,” Boone noted. “We’ve had one — forget rain out. We’ve had one rain delay, and that was here a couple of weeks ago, which is remarkable.

“As long as you don’t get into a bad situation where you’ve got four teams you’re making up games with, that’s when it can get a little tricky and difficult.”

WHAT’S NEXT FOR BADER?

Boone said “I don’t know” when asked if Harrison Bader could return next week, or if he will need a rehab assignment.

Bader, who injured his hamstring on the Seattle portion of the Yankees’ recent west coast road trip, took batting practice on the field and did outfield work Friday.

ALLEN’S OUT A WHILE

Greg Allen is out for 6-8 weeks, according to Boone. The outfielder suffered a hip flexor injury in Los Angeles.

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