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Hotline mailbag: The Fox factor, NCAA units, Friday night lights (on Amazon), Pac-12 survival odds, the presidents talk and more

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:59 GMT

The Hotline mailbag is published every Friday. Send questions to [email protected] and include ‘mailbag’ in the subject line — or hit me on Twitter: @WilnerHotline.Please note: Several topics related to Pac-12 media rights and expansion will be answered separately, in forthcoming articles.Some questions have been edited for clarity and brevity.What’s the deal with Fox? — @BuffaloakkGood question: What is the deal with Fox?This week alone, there have been varying reports about Fox’s involvement in the Pac-12 media negotiations — none of them mutually exclusive: Fox can be interested in a package of Pac-12 games but not actively involved at this point.The situation reflects just how nuanced media negotiations can be and just how secretive the Pac-12’s process has been.Our view hasn’t changed: Fox has a lot of Saturday night broadcast windows on FS1 that are currently devoted to Pac-12 content and must be filled in the next contract c...

‘Truly diabolical criminal’ gets more time for breaking out of California jail

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:59 GMT

A convicted torturer and former international fugitive accused of masterminding an audacious 2016 escape from an Orange County jail was sentenced Friday, March 24, to two years and eight months behind bars for his role in the headline-grabbing jailbreak.A week after an Orange County Superior Court jury convicted Hossein Nayeri of taking part in the brazen break-out from the Men’s Central jail in Santa Ana and also found him guilty of stealing a van while on the lam, Nayeri’s lengthy legal journey appears to have come to an end.This case won’t likely affect Nayeri much — he was already sentenced to a life in prison.Over the past decade Nayeri, now 44, has become one of Orange County’s most notorious inmates, a man District Attorney Todd Spitzer recently described as “one of America’s most dangerous criminals,” who past prosecutors have called a “psychopath,” a “truly diabolical criminal” and compared to the fictional Hannibal Lecter.Orange County Superior Court Judge Larry Yellin, ju...

How much could women’s March Madness be worth to Pac-12 schools and the conference?

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:59 GMT

It’s been two years since, arguably, the greatest March Madness in Pac-12 history.On the men’s side, all five schools (Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA and USC) that made the Big Dance in the Indianapolis bubble won at least one game. The conference had four schools in the Sweet 16, three in the Elite Eight and one, UCLA, in the Final Four.Down in San Antonio for the women’s tournament, things were even better. Six schools (Arizona, Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA and Washington State) went dancing, with five winning a game, three making the Sweet 16 and two, Stanford and Arizona, going all the way to an all-Pac-12 national championship game.Between the two tournaments, Pac-12 schools picked up 28 wins in 2021.But the financial impact of those wins on the conference, in a financial sense, couldn’t be any different.On the men’s side, the Pac-12 brought home nearly $40 million from the 2021 tournament.On the women’s side? $0.The reason is the unit system, which sends about 19...

4 of 5 Bay Area storm victims identified

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:59 GMT

(KRON) -- Storm conditions from the latest atmospheric river to rip through the Bay Area claimed the lives of five people. Falling trees and limbs were the main culprits, taken down by the storm's severe winds and rain.Two people were killed in San Francisco Tuesday just 20 minutes apart in two separate storm-related incidents and both by fallen trees, according to San Francisco police. They have been identified as Ryan Taylor, 36, of Clark County, Nev., and Qiaoying Han, 55, of San Francisco County, according to the San Francisco Medical Examiner's Office.City officials said they recorded more than 700 reports of fallen trees and limbs in San Francisco during Tuesday's storm. MORE: Storm kills 5 in San Francisco Bay Area Elsewhere in the Bay Area, a van driver was killed near Portola Valley while driving on Alpine Road near I-280 when a eucalyptus tree fell on his van. He has been identified as Jesus Cruz Diaz, 29, of San Jose. Colleagues of his remembered Cruz as a skilled plumb...

Texas Republicans Just Proposed a Bounty on Drag Shows

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:59 GMT

Members of the drag show community listen in during a meeting at the Texas Capitol on March 23, 2023, in Austin, Texas.Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty ImagesGiven Republicans’ relentless legislative attempts to erase trans and gender nonconforming people, a new bill in Texas that LGBTQ+ advocates are describing as the “drag bounty hunter bill” may seem like a drop in the ocean. This fact alone is intolerable. There is, however, something particularly barbaric in the bill’s explicit encouragement of citizen harassment to drive gender variance out of public life.The proposed legislation defines “drag” as any “performance in which a performer exhibits a gender that is different than the performer’s gender recorded at birth using clothing, makeup, or other physical markers and sings, lip syncs, dances, or otherwise performs in a lascivious manner before an audience.”The inclusion of “lascivious” might suggest that the bill is only aimed at performances in venues that already exclude minors, l...

3 astronauts delayed on space station to return in September

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:59 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Three astronauts who were supposed to leave the International Space Station this month will be brought back to Earth in late September, doubling their time aboard the orbiting laboratory to more than a year, Russia’s space agency announced Friday.The return of Russians Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitri Petelin, and NASA’s Frank Rubio was delayed after the Soyuz capsule they planned to ride in developed a coolant leak while docked to the space station. An empty Soyuz was sent to the station in late February to serve as a rescue capsule. The three-person replacement crew that was originally scheduled to be aboard that capsule is now set to head for the space station on Sept. 15, the Roscosmos space agency said.Prokopyev, Petelin and Rubio are to return on Sept. 27; they launched into space on Sept. 21, 2022.Source

Women soccer leaders target breakthroughs in World Cup year

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:59 GMT

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — In a World Cup year set to drive faster progress in women’s soccer, elections in Europe next month will have a global audience for a potential breakthrough in gender equity. Women soccer executives taking part in an annual joint FIFA-UEFA leadership course for them in Switzerland this month are keenly awaiting the result of votes on April 5 for seats on the ruling committees at both soccer bodies. The past decade has seen women receive a single protected quota place to sit at decision-making tables at each of FIFA and the six continental authorities such as UEFA. However, women have yet to win international soccer politics elections in direct contests against men. Quota seats have been treated as a closed limit rather than a door opening.That could change when the 55 member federations of UEFA meet soon in Lisbon with two options to make women the winners.Norwegian federation president Lise Klaveness is one of 11 candidates — the other 10 are men — for s...

Disabled Wisconsin voters say absentee law not followed

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:59 GMT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Disabled voters say local election leaders across Wisconsin are not following federal law during early voting in the high-stakes race for state Supreme Court, incorrectly telling them they can’t have another person return their absentee ballot for them. Absentee ballots, and who can return them, has been a political flashpoint in battleground Wisconsin, known for razor-thin margins in statewide races. The April 4 election will determine majority control of the state Supreme Court, with abortion access and the fate of Republican-drawn legislative maps on the line.Challenges to laws and practices in at least eight states that make it difficult or impossible for people with certain disabilities to vote have also arisen in the past two years. At the same time, there has been a push in many states to restrict rules affecting who can return absentee ballots.Wisconsin Republicans successfully sued last year to ban absentee ballot drop boxes, and the conservative-...

Data Doctors: Tips for buying DIY security cameras

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:59 GMT

Q: What should I consider when choosing a DIY security camera?A: The options for security cameras that are easy to install, set up and monitor via your smartphone can get overwhelming for even the most tech-savvy consumer.Several variables will help you determine the best fit for your situation, as there is no one-size-fits-all solution for this growing category.Location and InfrastructureThe area of your home or business that you want to surveil may quickly narrow your search, as the available infrastructure may limit your options.If there aren’t any electrical outlets in the area, you’ll likely want to opt for one of the many battery-operated units that can be mounted just about anywhere.Similarly, if your Wi-Fi signal is weak or nonexistent in the area where you intend to mount the camera, you’ll want to shop for cameras that can connect to a cellular network or extend your current Wi-Fi network to allow for a reliable connection.More Tech NewsMore Consumer NewsReplacing wired do...

France bans TikTok, Twitter from government staff phones

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 16:00:59 GMT

PARIS (AP) — France announced Friday it is banning the “recreational” use of TikTok, Twitter, Instagram and other apps on government employees’ phones because of concern about insufficient data security measures.The move follows similar restrictions on TikTok in democratic countries amid fears about the popular video-sharing app’s Chinese connections. But the French decision also encompassed other platforms widely used by government officials, lawmakers and President Emmanuel Macron himself.The French Minister for Transformation and Public Administration, Stanislas Guerini, said in a statement that ‘’recreational” apps aren’t secure enough to be used in state administrative services and ’’could present a risk for the protection of data.”The ban will be monitored by France’s cybersecurity agency. The statement did not specify which apps are banned but noted that the decision came after other governments took measures targeting TikTok. Guerini’s office said in ...