Take a look at the starting lineup for Sunday's Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. William Byron will start on the pole in the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Crew chief: Chad Knaus Spotter: Tab Boyd Aric Almirola will start second in the No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Crew chief: John Klausmeier Spotter: Joel Edmonds Kyle Busch will start third in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Crew chief: Adam Stevens Spotter: Tony Hirschman Austin Dillon will start fourth in the No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Crew chief: Danny Stockman Jr. Spotter: Andy Houston Kevin Harvick will start fifth in the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Crew chief: Rodney Childers Spotter: Tim Fedewa Daniel Suarez will start sixth in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Crew chief: Billy Scott Spotter: Tony Raines Joey Logano will start seventh in the No. 22 Team Penske Ford Crew chief: Todd Gordon Spotter: T.J. Majors Clint Bowyer will start eighth in the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Crew chief: Mike Bugarewicz Spotter: Brett Griffin Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will start ninth in the No. 17 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Crew chief: Brian Pattie Spotter: Mike Herman Jr. Daniel Hemric will start 10th in the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Crew chief: Luke Lambert Spotter: Branden Lines Kurt Busch will start 11th in the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Crew chief: Matt McCall Spotter: Tyler Green Chase Elliott will start 12th in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Crew chief: Alan Gustafson Spotter: Eddy D'Hondt Alex Bowman will start 13th in the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Crew chief: Greg Ives Spotter: Kevin Hamlin Martin Truex Jr. will start 14th in the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Crew chief: Cole Pearn Spotter: Clayton Hughes Jimmie Johnson will start 15th in the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Crew chief: Kevin Meendering Spotter: Earl Barban Erik Jones will start 16th in the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Crew chief: Chris Gayle Spotter: Rick Carelli Paul Menard will start 17th in the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford Crew chief: Greg Erwin Spotter: Joey Meier Ryan Newman will start 18th in the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Crew chief: Scott Graves Spotter: Jason Jarrett Ryan Blaney will start 19th in the No. 12 Team Penske Ford Crew chief: Jeremy Bullins Spotter: Josh Williams Denny Hamlin will start 20th in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Crew chief: Chris Gabehart Spotter: Chris Lambert Brad Keselowski will start 21st in the No. 2 Team Penske Ford Crew chief: Paul Wolfe Spotter: Coleman Pressley Chris Buescher will start 22nd in the No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet Crew chief: Trent Owens Spotter: Brandon Benesch Michael McDowell will start 23rd in the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Crew chief: Drew Blickensderfer Spotter: Frank Deiny Jr. Ryan Preece will start 24th in the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet Crew chief: Tristan Smith Spotter: Stevie Reeves Kyle Larson will start 25th in the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Crew chief: Chad Johnston Spotter: Derek Kneeland Matt Tifft will start 26th in the No. 36 Front Row Motorsports Ford Crew chief: Michael Kelley Spotter: Chris Monez Matt DiBenedetto will start 27th in the No. 95 Leavine Family Racing Toyota Crew chief: Michael Wheeler Spotter: Doug Campbell Ty Dillon will start 28th in the No. 13 Germain Racing Chevrolet Crew chief: Matt Borland Spotter: Billy O'Dea Bubba Wallace will start 29th in the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet Crew chief: Derek Stamets Spotter: Freddie Kraft Corey LaJoie will start 30th in the No. 32 GO FAS Racing Ford Crew chief: Randy Cox Spotter: David Pepper David Ragan will start 31st in the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford Crew chief: Seth Barbour Spotter: Rocky Ryan Landon Cassill will start 32nd in the No. 00 StarCom Racing Chevrolet. Crew chief: Joe Williams Spotter: Tom Legeman Bayley Currey will start 33rd in the No. 52 Rick Ware Racing Ford Crew chief: George Church Spotter: Tony Micale Parker Kligerman will start 34th in the No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota Crew chief: Mark Hillman Spotter: James Coleman Ross Chastain will start 35th in the No. 15 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet Crew chief: Pat Tryson Spotter: Randy Bradshaw BJ McLeod will start 36th in the No. 53 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet Crew chief: Lee Leslie Spotter: Steve Barkdoll Reed Sorenson will start 37th in the No. 27 Premium Motorsports Chevrolet Crew chief: Tommy Baldwin Spotter: Joe Campbell Cody Ware will start 38th in the No. 51 Petty Ware Racing Ford Crew chief: Michael Hillman Spotter: Tyler Monn Quin Houff will start 39th in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Crew chief: Peter Sospenzo Spotter: Carl Miller Joey Gase will start 40th in the No. 66 Motorsports Business Management Toyota Crew chief: Brian Keselowski Spotter: Carl Long


The United States and Mexico reached an agreement on immigration enforcement Friday and President Donald Trump said tariffs that were scheduled to hit Mexico on Monday had been "indefinitely suspended " as a result. Under the agreement, Mexico has agreed to deploy its national guard throughout the country with priority given to its southern border to stem migration from Central America. Asylum seekers crossing the U.S. southern border will be sent back to Mexico where they will await the adjudication of their asylum claims, according to the joint declaration. U.S.-Mexico Joint Declaration The United States and Mexico met this week to address the shared challenges of irregular migration, to include the entry of migrants into the United States in violation of U.S. law. Given the dramatic increase in migrants moving from Central America through Mexico to the United States, both countries recognize the vital importance of rapidly resolving the humanitarian emergency and security situation. The Governments of the United States and Mexico will work together to immediately implement a durable solution. As a result of these discussions, the United States and Mexico commit to: Mexican Enforcement Surge Mexico will take unprecedented steps to increase enforcement to curb irregular migration, to include the deployment of its National Guard throughout Mexico, giving priority to its southern border. Mexico is also taking decisive action to dismantle human smuggling and trafficking organizations as well as their illicit financial and transportation networks. Additionally, the United States and Mexico commit to strengthen bilateral cooperation, including information sharing and coordinated actions to better protect and secure our common border. Migrant Protection Protocols The United States will immediately expand the implementation of the existing Migrant Protection Protocols across its entire Southern Border. This means that those crossing the U.S. Southern Border to seek asylum will be rapidly returned to Mexico where they may await the adjudication of their asylum claims. In response, Mexico will authorize the entrance of all of those individuals for humanitarian reasons, in compliance with its international obligations, while they await the adjudication of their asylum claims. Mexico will also offer jobs, healthcare and education according to its principles. The United States commits to work to accelerate the adjudication of asylum claims and to conclude removal proceedings as expeditiously as possible. Further Actions Both parties also agree that, in the event the measures adopted do not have the expected results, they will take further actions. Therefore, the United States and Mexico will continue their discussions on the terms of additional understandings to address irregular migrant flows and asylum issues, to be completed and announced within 90 days, if necessary. O ngoing Regional Strategy The United States and Mexico reiterate their previous statement of December 18, 2018, that both countries recognize the strong links between promoting development and economic growth in southern Mexico and the success of promoting prosperity, good governance and security in Central America. The United States and Mexico welcome the Comprehensive Development Plan launched by the Government of Mexico in concert with the Governments of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to promote these goals. The United States and Mexico will lead in working with regional and international partners to build a more prosperous and secure Central America to address the underlying causes of migration, so that citizens of the region can build better lives for themselves and their families at home.


Anybody following the Stanley Cup playoffs has seen Nathan MacKinnon dominating games with his blink-and-he's-gone speed and high-skill plays. MacKinnon provided a rarely seen weapon in his arsenal while leading the Colorado Avalanche to their 3-0 Game 4 victory that evened the series with the San Jose Sharks at 2-2 -- a gritty goal. MacKinnon's winning tally was a result of being parked at the doorstep and batting home a rebound. "That's a Sid thing," MacKinnon said in reference to his good friend, Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby. "That's not me. One of the first times I've ever done that. It felt good." As the Avalanche and Sharks ready for Saturday's crucial Game 5 in San Jose, one of the big storylines is whether the Sharks can contain MacKinnon, who has the ability to take over games along with fellow forward standouts Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog. "Thank God he's on our team, because he'd made a lot of us look silly, that's for sure," Colorado defenseman Erik Johnson said. "But what a player. He's clearly on a different level right now and just feeling it. He's going to take us as far as he wants to." MacKinnon and Rantanen lead all playoff performers with 13 goals. MacKinnon is also riding an eight-game point scoring streak, in which he's scored three game-winning goals, numbers that are putting him alongside former Avalanche players such as Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg, who were key players in their Stanley Cup-winning seasons. "That's the goal," MacKinnon said. "If we don't ever win one (Cup), no one will really care about my eight-game point streak. If I get a 20-game point streak, we'll probably be in the Final. That's the way I look at it." Stanley Cup talk is a little early right now. After all, the veteran-laden Sharks still have home-ice advantage in what's been a back-and-forth series in which teams are trading victories, with the Sharks winning the first and third games and Avs taking the second and fourth. "It was a good opportunity for us, but it's supposed to be tough," Sharks goalie Martin Jones said. "We're 2-2 here, we've got home ice the rest of the way, so just got to take care of business next game." Added defenseman Erik Karlsson: "We're still right in it. We just couldn't find a way to score a goal to get some momentum going. That's the way it is sometimes. We just have to learn from it and go back to San Jose and put up a better effort next game." In what's been such an even series so far, one area for the Sharks to improve and make the difference is their power play. San Jose -- which scored four man-advantage markers in that thrilling Game 7 win over Vegas to close out the first round -- has just one such goal in four games against the Avs. A big factor in those struggles is being without injured captain Joe Pavelski, but the Sharks have plenty of talent to overcome that loss. "It's nice to have him on the power play because he can tip every puck and he knows where to be to score goals," Tomas Hertl told the San Jose Mercury News. "We had a couple of opportunities. We just have to handle it a little bit better." --Field Level Media Related slideshow: Scenes from the Stanley Cup playoffs (Provided by imagn)


Massimiliano Allegri rounded off his five-year stay at Juventus with a disappointing 2-0 defeat to Sampdoria on Sunday evening. The match itself took quite some time to kick into life, with the first half passing by with very little to shout about for either side. Paulo Dybala had the best opening, but his close range effort was snuffed out quickly by the Sampdoria defence. The second half was equally uneventful, right up until the final ten minutes. Moise Kean looked to have won the game for Juventus, only for his effort to be chalked off for offside. Moments later, Sampdoria were able to put the ball in the back of the net themselves, but this time the goal was allowed to stand. Gregoire Defrel's effort from close range initially looked to be harmlessly dribbling towards Carlo Pinsoglio, but it took a wicked deflection and wrong-footed the Juventus keeper. With seconds left on the clock, Sampdoria then doubled their lead to seal the win through a sensational free-kick from Gianluca Caprari. SAMPDORIA Player Ratings Starting XI: Rafael (6); Bereszynski (6), Ferrari (6), Colley (7), Sala (6); Barreto (6), Praet (7), Linetty (6); Ramirez (5), Defrel (7), Quagliarella (6). Substitutes: Caprari (7), Vieira (5), Gabbiadini (N/A). JUVENTUS Key Talking Point Change is on the horizon at Juventus , and this match spelled the end of Allegri's successful five-year reign over I Bianconeri, where he managed to deliver 11 major domestic honours. There was nothing to play for in this one, but the players on show would have been looking to impress ahead of what could end up being a very busy summer for the club. Unfortunately, the game was by no means a classic. In truth, it was the opposite, as both sides struggled to piece together any fluid passages of play. Allegri made a handful of changes, with starts being handed to various fringe players and it proved to be a disjointed performance as a result. It's a disappointing way to finish the season, but it acts as the perfect metaphor for the inconsistent end to Allgeri's time at Juventus. Player Ratings Starting XI : Pinsoglio (5); Caceres (6), Rugani (5), Chiellini (6), De Sciglio (6); Cuadrado (4), Bentancur (5), Can (5); Dybala (3), Pereira (5), Kean (6*). Substitutes : Portanova (6), Bonucci (5), Caviglia (N/A). Star Man - Moise Kean There wasn't an awful lot to choose from given how poor Juventus were, but Kean deserves some credit for a spirited performance at the top end of the pitch. He worked harder than most and was constantly trying to make things happen even if, more often than not, it failed to come together for him. He's demonstrated that he has all the attributes to become a world class striker this season and, if Juventus put enough faith in him, then he could easily lead the line for I Bianconeri for years to come. 80' Kean has the ball in the back of the net but it's flagged offside. #SampJuve [0-0] #ForzaJuve   JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) May 26, 2019  Moise Kean scores!!! Aaaaand the flag goes up for offside to ruin the fun  #SampJuve   Graeme (@Graeme1897) May 26, 2019 Moise Kean is someone I'd put on my mufc radar, he's a lowkey beast of a finisher   FBK (@FlavionsKimani) May 26, 2019


Adam Gase has kept himself busy as the Jets' interim GM. On Tuesday, Gase signed one of his former wideouts in veteran WR Deonte Thompson, formerly of the Buffalo Bills, to help bolster the Jets' wide receiver room. Thompson brings a winning pedigree with an outside shot at making the Jets roster. With that being said, let's get to know the new receiver. Super Bowl and BCS Champion (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus) Deonte Thompson accepted a scholarship to play for Urban Meyer's Florida Gators. After redshirting his freshman season, Thompson played every single game in 2008, helping lead the University of Florida to a 2008 BCS National Championship. Thompson signed as an undrafted free agent with the Baltimore Ravens following the 2012 NFL draft. He made the team and caught five passes in the regular season and handled kick return duties for the first five games. Thompson received a ring after the Ravens defeated the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII. Been Around the Block (Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports) As a veteran receiver in the NFL for the past seven seasons, Deonte Thompson has not made one place home for too long. Thompson has been on five teams, including Gang Green, but has had three different stints with the Buffalo Bills. He has made other stops in Baltimore, Chicago and Dallas as well. High School Standout (Mike DiNovo-USA TODAY Sports) As a high school senior in 2006, Thompson helped lead his team to a Class 3A state football championship. Thompson also ran in the 100-meter and 200-meter events for the Glades Central high school track and field team. He earned first place in the 100-meter and 200-meter events at the Florida high school state championships. Adam Gase Connection (Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports) Deonte Thompson is the latest Jets addition that has an Adam Gase connection. Thompson joins Josh Bellamy as receivers who played under Gase when he was the Chicago Bears offensive coordinator back in 2015. Thompson was a practice squad addition that had two catches for 81 yards in 14 games. He didn't fully come into his own until Gase left for Miami, but having familiarity with the offense will surely help him. MORE: This photo of the other contestants in James Holzhauer's latest 'Jeopardy' win sums up his run Aaron Rodgers excited about new Packers RG Billy Turner Roundup: Stranger Things Returning July 4th; Blues Make Stanley Cup Final; U.S. Intercepts Russian Bombers Off Coast of Alaska Surprise rookie makes a name for himself in Redskins' OTAs Devin Bush takes 1st-team reps Steelers OTAs


The houses on 39th street in Manhattan Beach were once painted a neutral color palette of tans, whites and grays, complemented by an adventurous splash of light yellow or blue. But not now: One of the homes is sporting a bright paint job decorated with two giant emojis. Neighbors say it's retribution in a property dispute that has turned into a battle with the city. A neighbor reported the home's owner, Kathryn Kidd, to the city for using the property for short-term rentals, such as Airbnb, which is illegal in Manhattan Beach. Now the property is painted bright pink with yellow emojis. Frustrated homeowners and renters in the El Porto neighborhood plan to raise their concerns again at a City Council meeting Tuesday night, marking the latest chapter of a saga that began in May. It was first reported by Easy Reader News. The mocking nature of the paint job, neighbors say, is in the emojis. An emoji on the duplex's top floor shows one smiling face with its tongue sticking out and eyes looking in different directions crowned by long, bold eyelashes. Another on the lower level shares the same eyes and lashes but has a zipper across the mouth, representing the "shut up" emoji. Susan Wieland, the neighbor who reported Kidd, told Easy Reader News that she was wearing eyelash extensions when she once met Kidd. The artist who spray-painted the design onto the home, known as Z the Art, posted a photo of the painted home to his Instagram account in May with the hashtags #TheEmojiHouse and #eyelashextensions. The paint job appeared shortly after Kidd was found in violation of the city's rental laws and was fined $4,000. Kidd told Easy Reader News that the emojis were not intended to mock Wieland and that while people are entitled to their opinions, she is not in violation of any laws. "I'm trying not to offend anybody," Kidd said. "I did it for the purpose of being happy, being positive, and I think it's cute and quirky and kind of funny, and certainly was a time for the emoji." Kidd doesn't live in the home but resides elsewhere in Manhattan Beach. The home on 39th Street appears occupied, although no one came to the door when a Times reporter knocked on Monday. Wieland said that while the situation may seem like a joke to Kidd, it's not funny to residents who feel the city is doing nothing to protect them. She said neighbors have sent letters and numerous emails to city officials in hopes some action will be taken over the paint job. Wieland said she and her husband have invited City Council members to their home to see the mural, but no one has taken them up on the offer. "It's almost like they're afraid of her. And we really feel it is our city's responsibility to have these regulations in place because people can do anything," Wieland said. "That's the most frightening thing. I feel like we're not being protected against bullying." A representative for the city did not respond to a request for comment. Dina Doll, a homeowner who has lived in the tight-knit neighborhood for 18 years, said she was the first resident who notified the city about the emoji situation. She said she was told by a staff member that the paint job was an exercise of Kidd's First Amendment rights and that the city could do nothing about it. Doll then contacted the City Council in early June and was told councilmembers would consult the city attorney. "And then there was a lot of nothing," Doll said, adding that a group of neighbors then went to a city planning commission meeting in July seeking help. In a video of the July 10 meeting, City Atty. Mike Estrada explained to commission members that the city has "very little, if any" jurisdiction over murals painted on private property with no public funding or public involvement. "We plan on speaking about it [on Tuesday] because the sense I've gotten from speaking with council people since then is that they're a little bit reluctant to take action," Doll said. "I think the city is afraid of [Kidd] coming after them." Doll said one City Council member even recommended that the neighbors consider suing Kidd themselves, which made her feel that the city was relinquishing its duty to enforce its own codes and shifting that burden to residents. "To me, there are just so many ways the city could step in if they want to," Doll said. "At this point, there is no neutral for the city. Not taking action is condoning this. And do we really as a community want to condone this?" The group of neighbors has explored the ways it could fight to get the paint job removed, including how it could be seen as graffiti under city code, how it could violate signage laws and how it fails to fit in with the character of the neighborhood. Doll also argues that it is a public safety issue and an obvious public nuisance because of the waves of news vans and curious onlookers that have visited the narrow road to catch a glimpse of the house. Chris Strickfaden, who also lives in the area, agreed that the emoji house has disrupted the neighborhood. "Besides the obvious ugliness   and no one believes this is just artistic expression   it has now become a traffic nuisance issue with people stopping by to take selfies in front of the emoji house. It's nuts," he wrote in an email. "I believe generally people should be able to do what they want with their property within the guidelines of the city, without governmental interference, including painting their exterior," Strickfaden added. "However, this situation is not about the right of the homeowner. It's about one homeowner saying F-U to the person she blames for her plight and F-U to the rest of the street." Carol Madonna, who has lived on the street since 1998 and plans to attend Tuesday's council meeting, said the situation could quickly become a slippery slope if the city continues to "cower behind freedom of speech." If the city allows these emojis, she wonders if they would allow some of the more extreme ones, such as the poop emoji, and questions where officials would draw the line. "If we don't do something, nothing is going to change and [Kidd] will have won her retaliation for us just following the rules. She was doing something illegal. We told the city about it and now we're paying for it," Madonna said.


LONDON   Katie Jones sure seemed plugged into the Washington's political scene. The 30-something redhead boasted a job at a top think tank and a who's-who network of pundits and experts, from the centrist Brookings Institution to the right-wing Heritage Foundation. She was connected to a deputy assistant secretary of state, a senior aide to a senator and the economist Paul Winfree, who is being considered for a seat on the Federal Reserve. But Katie Jones doesn't exist, The Associated Press has determined. Instead, the persona was part of a vast army of phantom profiles lurking on the professional networking site LinkedIn. Experts who reviewed the Jones profile's LinkedIn activity say it's typical of espionage efforts on the professional networking site, whose role as a global Rolodex has made it a powerful magnet for spies. "It smells a lot like some sort of state-run operation," said Jonas Parello-Plesner, who serves as program director at the Denmark-based think tank Alliance of Democracies Foundation and was the target several years ago of an espionage operation that began over LinkedIn . William Evanina, director of the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center, said foreign spies routinely use fake social media profiles to home in on American targets   and accused China in particular of waging "mass scale" spying on LinkedIn. "Instead of dispatching spies to some parking garage in the U.S to recruit a target, it's more efficient to sit behind a computer in Shanghai and send out friend requests to 30,000 targets," he said in a written statement. Last month, retired CIA officer Kevin Mallory was sentenced to 20 years in prison for passing details of top secret operations to Beijing, a relationship that began when a Chinese agent posing as a recruiter contacted him on LinkedIn. Unlike Facebook's friends-and-family focus, LinkedIn is oriented toward job seekers and headhunters, people who routinely fire out resumes, build vast webs of contacts and pitch projects to strangers. That connect-them-all approach helps fill the millions of job openings advertised on the site, but it also provides a rich hunting ground for spies. And that has Western intelligence agencies worried. British , French and German officials have all issued warnings over the past few years detailing how thousands of people had been contacted by foreign spies over LinkedIn. In a statement, LinkedIn said it routinely took action against fake accounts, yanking thousands of them in the first three months of 2019. It also said "we recommend you connect with people you know and trust, not just anyone." The Katie Jones profile was modest in scale, with 52 connections. But those connections had enough influence that they imbued the profile with credibility to some who accepted Jones' invites. The AP spoke to about 40 other people who connected with Jones between early March and early April of this year, many of whom said they routinely accept invitations from people they don't recognize. "I'm probably the worst LinkedIn user in the history of LinkedIn," said Winfree, the former deputy director of President Donald Trump's domestic policy council, who confirmed connection with Jones on March 28. Winfree, whose name came up last month in relation to one of the vacancies on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, said he rarely logs on to LinkedIn and tends to just approve all the piled-up invites when he does. "I literally accept every friend request that I get," he said. Lionel Fatton, who teaches East Asian affairs at Webster University in Geneva, said the fact that he didn't know Jones did prompt a brief pause when he connected with her back in March. "I remember hesitating," he said. "And then I thought, 'What's the harm?'" Parello-Plesner noted that the potential harm can be subtle: Connecting to a profile like Jones' invites whoever is behind it to strike up a one-on-one conversation, and other users on the site can view the connection as a kind of endorsement. "You lower your guard and you get others to lower their guard," he said. The Jones profile was first flagged by Keir Giles, a Russia specialist with London's Chatham House think tank. Giles was recently caught up in an entirely separate espionage operation targeting critics of the Russian antivirus firm Kasperky Lab. So when he received an invitation from Katie Jones on LinkedIn he was suspicious. She claimed to have been working for years as a "Russia and Eurasia fellow" at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, but Giles said that, if that were true, "I ought to have heard of her." CSIS spokesman Andrew Schwartz told the AP that "no one named Katie Jones works for us." Jones also claimed to have earned degrees in Russian studies from the University of Michigan, but the school said it was "unable to find anyone by this name earning these degrees from the university." The Jones account vanished from LinkedIn shortly after the AP contacted the network seeking comment. Messages sent to Jones herself, via LinkedIn and an associated AOL email account, went unreturned. Several experts contacted by the AP said Jones' profile picture appeared to have been created by a computer program. "I'm convinced that it's a fake face," said Mario Klingemann, a German artist who has been experimenting for years with artificially generated portraits and says he has reviewed tens of thousands of such images. "It has all the hallmarks." Klingemann and other experts said the photo   a closely cropped portrait of a woman with blue-green eyes, copper-colored hair and an enigmatic smile   appeared to have been created using a family of dueling computer programs called generative adversarial networks, or GANs, that can create realistic-looking faces of entirely imaginary people. GANs, sometimes described as a form of artificial intelligence, have been the cause of increasing concern for policymakers already struggling to get a handle on digital disinformation. On Thursday, U.S. lawmakers are due to hold their first hearing devoted primarily to the threat of artificially generated imagery . Hao Li, who directs the Vision of Graphics Lab at the University of Southern California's Institute for Creative Technologies, reeled off a list of digital tells that he believes show the Jones photo was created by a computer program, including inconsistencies around Jones' eyes, the ethereal glow around her hair and smudge marks on her left cheek. "This is a typical GAN," he said. "I'll bet money on it." __ Online: Test your ability to tell a real face from a fake one at: http://www.whichfaceisreal.com/ Generate your own deepfake faces at: https://thispersondoesnotexist.com ___ Raphael Satter can be reached at: https://raphaelsatter.com


Sacramento is due to turn hot over the next few days, according to drone-powered weather forecasting service Saildrone . Today's high will be 92 degrees, while Friday's will be 97 and Saturday's will be 98. There is no chance of rain for the next seven days. Skies will be clear for the next few days, and partly cloudy on Wednesday. Winds will remain somewhat calm over the course of the week, with the highest speeds on Monday at only 10 mph. This story was created automatically using Saildrone's local weather forecast data, then reviewed by an editor. We also incorporate historic weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


SoMa , West Portal In this edition: SoMa gets a new tea spot, a West Portal bar loses its lease, and bars across town support local bee farms with special cocktail creations this month. Opening SoMa SimplexiTea (12 10th St.) SimplexiTea is the newest addition to the corner of 10th and Market streets, in one of the long-vacant retail spaces on the ground floor of NEMA. Now open, customers can expect a cheese foam fruit blend, milk drinks or brew tea variations. The cafe serves all organic teas, dairy products from local suppliers, and offers a variety of dairy-free milks. Flavors include mango, strawberry, pineapple, orange or black grape. There's also a matcha dirty milk boba on the menu. Customers can add boba, lychee jelly, aloe vera and chia toppings to any drink. No hot drinks are offered during the current soft opening period. Closing West Portal Portals Tavern (179 W Portal Ave.) Portals Tavern, located a block away from West Portal station, is set to open for the last time at the end of the month, on August 31. After 82 years in the neighborhood, a new landlord has not extended the lease, the Chronicle reports . Current owners Don Gorwky and Mary King-Gorwky have operated the bar since 1989, and they will spend the next month welcoming customers for the last time and cleaning out the space. Special Event National Honey Bee Day Aberfeldy Scotch whisky has partnered with six bars in the city for National Honey Bee Day on August 17 to bring attention to a disappearing bee population and support local beekeepers. Bar Laszlo , The Miranda , Coin Op , Drexl , Foreign Cinema , and The Beehive will serve their own signature cocktail creations featuring honey from a local bee farm throughout the month. For every drink purchased, Aberfeldy Scotch will donate 12 bees in the customer's name to hives at local bee conservancies, including San Francisco-based City Bees , the whisky maker announced. As for the cocktails: Bar Laszlo serves "The Song Remains the Same" from August 5 31, Coin Op prepares the "Honey Highball" from August 12 18, Drexl offers a "Choose your own honey Highball" from August 1-31, Foreign Cinema serves a "Honey Highball" from August 12-18, The Beehive has a "Golden Dram" on its menu from August 16-18 and The Miranda serves the "Aberfeldy Gold Rush" from August 15-31.


The Golden State Warriors apparently only expect Klay Thompson's absence from the NBA Finals to last one game. Thompson suffered a right hamstring strain in Game 2 of the Finals on Sunday and missed the end of the game with the injury . He was termed a game-time decision for Game 3 of the series on Wednesday, and the Warriors only announced he would miss the game around a half hour prior to game time. During her report before the start of Game 3, ESPN reporter Doris Burke shared that Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told them Thompson is "likely to play in Game 4." The Warriors were thinking long term with their handling of Thompson. They did not want to rush him back to action and see him hurt his hamstring even more, potentially rendering him unavailable for the remainder of the series. Instead, they figured they would go in Game 3 without him so that he would be closer to full strength for Game 4 and the remaining games of the series. Golden State won Game 2 on Sunday to even the series at 1-1. Related slideshow: 2019 NBA Finals (Provided by imagn)


The Pittsburgh Steelers have had some of the best players in NFL history. What if you could take any of those players and assemble your ultimate roster? This was what we did. It was amazing to go back through the archives and see just how strong the Steelers have been at some positions like defensive back, wide receiver and linebacker. Some current stars made the team and some guys who have recently left. Check out our all-time 53-man roster and tell us what changes you would make. MORE: Jimmy Butler's decision to sign with the Miami Heat just got super awkward Kawhi Leonard wants LeBron-level influence in hiring personnel with Lakers What the Heck is Going On With the Jimmy Butler Sign-and-Trade? It looks like the Patriots won't be doing a Super Bowl champion visit to the White House NBA Free Agency 2019: The top players


The Los Angeles Lakers started their offseason with a bang after landing the No. 4 pick at the NBA Draft Lottery on Tuesday. Going into the lottery, they were expected to pick 11th overall. Following the lottery, Pelinka held an over-the-phone press conference with reporters, where he talked about the team's plans for the pick. While he didn't say anything specific, he said that the Lakers will explore every avenue with their new asset, including the possibility of trading it ( h/t Mike Trudell of Lakers.com ): We had scouting meetings with (Director of Scouting and Assistant GM) Jesse Buss and our scouts, and of course our focus was more around 11, because that's where the huge probability was resting. But now it shifts, what we can get at four. I will tell you there are some incredibly talented, impact players there that we're going to study deeply. And then of course we'll canvas the league and see what value that pick has. But either of those options is an extraordinary win for the franchise … I already talked to Jeanie Buss and she is just thrilled. I think it should really be exciting for our fans. It's an unexpected event for the Lakers and we're certainly really blessed. Of course, the expectation is that the Lakers will re-engage in trade talks for New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis this summer with the No. 4 pick as the centerpiece for any trade package. However, it wouldn't be surprising to see them make and keep the selection they make on draft night. Ultimately, it depends on what happens in free agency. If the Lakers strike out in free agency, it might be in their best interest to see what they have in their young core. However, if they are able to lure one of the league's marquee free agents, they could shift their attention to building a big three with James, Davis and an All-Star free agent. Suffice to say, things are about to get interesting in Tinsel Town. MORE: Steph Curry wasn't about to let his younger brother beat him in a thrilling Game 2 Five potential Jimmy Butler landing spots in free agency What Will the Lakers Do With Their First Round Pick if They Can't Land Anthony Davis? Report: Browns rookie RB LJ Scott decides to quit NFL after just 2 days A look at the Seahawks projected starters in 2019 Related Slideshow: Best of the 2019 NBA Playoffs (provided by imagn)


The author of a bestselling Christian book about relationships has announced he no longer identifies as religious and has rescinded past comments he made about the LGBTQ community. Joshua Harris, whose guide "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" sold almost 1 million copies globally after its 1997 publication, apologized to the LGBTQ community for the ways his "writing and speaking contributed to a culture of exclusion and bigotry" in an Instagram post Saturday. His change of heart comes just days after he announced that he and his wife would be getting a divorce. View this post on Instagram My heart is full of gratitude. I wish you could see all the messages people sent me after the announcement of my divorce. They are expressions of love though they are saddened or even strongly disapprove of the decision.  I am learning that no group has the market cornered on grace. This week I've received grace from Christians, atheists, evangelicals, exvangelicals, straight people, LGBTQ people, and everyone in-between. Of course there have also been strong words of rebuke from religious people. While not always pleasant, I know they are seeking to love me. (There have also been spiteful, hateful comments that angered and hurt me.)  The information that was left out of our announcement is that I have undergone a massive shift in regard to my faith in Jesus. The popular phrase for this is "deconstruction," the biblical phrase is "falling away." By all the measurements that I have for defining a Christian, I am not a Christian. Many people tell me that there is a different way to practice faith and I want to remain open to this, but I'm not there now.  Martin Luther said that the entire life of believers should be repentance. There's beauty in that sentiment regardless of your view of God. I have lived in repentance for the past several years repenting of my self-righteousness, my fear-based approach to life, the teaching of my books, my views of women in the church, and my approach to parenting to name a few. But I specifically want to add to this list now: to the LGBTQ+ community, I want to say that I am sorry for the views that I taught in my books and as a pastor regarding sexuality. I regret standing against marriage equality, for not affirming you and your place in the church, and for any ways that my writing and speaking contributed to a culture of exclusion and bigotry. I hope you can forgive me.  To my Christians friends, I am grateful for your prayers. Don't take it personally if I don't immediately return calls. I can't join in your mourning. I don't view this moment negatively. I feel very much alive, and awake, and surprisingly hopeful. I believe with my sister Julian that, "All shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well." A post shared by Joshua Harris (@harrisjosh) on Jul 26, 2019 at 12:04pm PDT In "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" and its sequel, "Boy Meets Girl: Say Hello to Courtship," Harris instructed young Christians to avoid conventional dating. Instead, he proposed getting to know potential partners through group dates and by remaining sexually abstinent. His definition of abstinence included refraining from kissing, holding hands or spending time alone together. "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" gained prominence in evangelical Christian youth groups and has been touted by reality TV family, the Duggars . However, in recent years it has since been criticized for its heteronormative view of relationships , "rape supportive messaging," "sexism" and "sexual purity teachings" that "reduce the agency of young women." The book also featured a passage in which Harris said he felt "anger and disgust" after being "checked out" by three gay men. "It was so wrong, so filthy," Harris wrote. Harris acknowledged that he began "repenting" for his past views of women and the teaching of his books several years prior to his public Instagram post. Last year, he issued a statement in which he said "I no longer agree with its central idea that dating should be avoided" and that "dating can be a healthy part of a person learning the qualities that matter most in a partner." He went so far as to ask his publisher, Multnomah, to discontinue printing the book. They came to the agreement that after the copies in inventory were sold, "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" would not be reprinted. Yet Harris, a former pastor at the evangelical megachurch Covenant Life Church, said this was the first time he was repenting for his words and actions against the LGBTQ community in particular. "I specifically want to add to this list now: to the LGBTQ+ community. I want to say that I am sorry for the views that I taught in my books and as a pastor regarding sexuality," Harris wrote. "I regret standing against marriage equality, for not affirming you and your place in the church." Harris, the son of Christian homeschooling pioneers Gregg and Sono Harris, wrote "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" when he was 21 years old. "While I stand by my book's call to sincerely love others, my thinking has changed significantly in the past 20 years," he wrote. Religious identity and LGBTQ acceptance are often positioned as antithetical. However, "solid majorities of all major religious groups" in the United States support laws protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination in housing, public accommodations and the workplace, and support for same-sex relationships is growing among those groups, according to the nonpartisan, nonprofit Public Religion Research Institute's 2017 and 2018 "American Values Atlas " reports. Harris' announcements have been met with mixed reactions from the Christian community. In an op-ed for The Christian Post , evangelical activist Mike Farris criticized Harris for separating himself from Christianity. "I do commend you for the intellectual integrity for recognizing that your secondary views (embracing the LGBT agenda, etc.) are utterly inconsistent with Christianity   as is your view that it is ok to walk away from your marriage for the reasons you have stated," Farris wrote. "Both of these proved that you had renounced Christianity before you said so publicly." Despite disapproval from some religious leaders, Harris said he's overcome with the "expressions of love" he's received. "I am learning that no group has the market cornered on grace," he wrote. "This week I've received grace from Christians, atheists, evangelicals, straight people, LGBTQ people, and everyone in between."


Google is looking to make it easier for people to shop while using its website, launching a trial run of a feature allowing smartphone users to make online purchases from their search results. The introduction of 'Purchases on Google' comes as Facebook, and Pinterest also try to make it easier for people to shop while using their sites, putting themselves in position to profit from transactions or related advertising. "Although we're still in early experiments with a limited number of retailers, we see 'Purchases on Google' as a big step towards helping retailers drive more mobile conversions and win more customers," Google shopping product management vice president Jonathan Alferness said in a blog post. Mobile devices, typically smartphones, are increasingly consulted before or during shopping trips in the United States, influencing nearly a trillion dollars in in-store sales last year, according to Alferness. When people make shopping-related searches using Google, results may include ads featuring 'Buy on Google' buttons that can be clicked to jump to pages where they can check-out using payment credentials stored in Google accounts. "Purchases on Google will simplify our customers' ability to search for items on Google and then buy with Staples," Staples executive vice president of global e-commerce Faisal Masud said in the blog post. - Pinterest purchase pins - Google also rolled out enhancements to shopping ads on mobile devices, including expanded information regarding topics such as product ratings and whether items are available at nearby stores. "As the consumer continues to rapidly adopt mobile as their primary device, we have to more at a similar pace in how we reduce purchase friction and enhance the user experience with our brand," Under Armour chief revenue officer of digital Jason LaRose said in the blog post. "Google's technology solutions help us innovate." Pinterest last month dove into e-commerce with "pins" that let iPhone or iPad users in the United States buy items they like at the popular online bulletin board. "Pinterest is already designed to work like a catalogue, so we wanted to find a way to weave buyable pins into the pages people already know," co-founder and chief executive Ben Silbermann said during a launch event at the company's headquarters in San Francisco. "Buyable pins are a simple and secure way to buy the products you love right from inside Pinterest," he said. Pinterest has become one of the Internet's hottest new websites, particularly among women, by giving people virtual bulletin boards that they can decorate with pictures showcasing interests in anything from food to sports, to fashion or travel. Last month, Facebook expanded tests of a "buy button" designed to let shoppers easily purchases items advertised at the social network.


At least four adults have been transported to the hospital following an explosion at a gas station in Buena Vista, Virginia, according to Virginia State Police. The explosion happened around 9:50 a.m. Friday morning, ABC affiliate WSET reported. Several agencies responded to the scene and the fire has been extinguished. "At the request of the Rockbridge County Sheriff's Office, the Virginia State police Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Salem, is conducting an investigation into the cause of the explosion, and at this time it does not appear suspicious in nature," Sgt. Rick Garletts of the Virginia State Police said in a statement. Buena Vista is small town of about 6,600 people bordering a national forest and nestled in the state's Blue Ridge Mountains, about 60 miles northwest of Roanoke. Garletts added that "police and fire crews are working to account for all the individuals that may have been located in the building at the time of the explosion." (MORE: 1 dead, 17 injured from fiery explosion in Durham, North Carolina: Officials) The building has been difficult for responders to access due to safety concerns, per WSET. Family members of those who are not accounted for are waiting at Mountain View Elementary School along with counselors and the Red Cross, WSET reported. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.


Italian police have arrested 18 people including a mayor, doctors and social workers for allegedly brainwashing vulnerable children into thinking their parents had abused them so they could then be sold to foster parents. Police in the northern city of Reggio Emilia made the arrests after an investigation started in 2018 revealed an alleged network of carers who used methods including electroshock to make the children believe they had been sexually abused. The network then allegedly gave the children to foster families in exchange for cash, while keeping gifts and letters sent to the children by their real parents hidden in a warehouse that was discovered by police. The alleged abuse was reported by Italian media and confirmed to AFP by police in Bibbiano, near Reggio Emilia, on Thursday. "These accusations, if confirmed, are frightening and shocking," Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said at the G20 meeting in Japan. The accused include psychotherapists working for a social work association in Moncalieri, near Turin, and the mayor of Bibbiano. To brainwash the children, those arrested allegedly forged child-like drawings with sexual connotations and used electroshock therapy as a "little memory machine" to create fake abuse memories, while the therapists are accused of dressing up as "wicked" children's story characters. The probe codenamed "Angels and Demons" revealed a scheme to "pass off as a model welfare system for abused minors what was in reality an illegal business to the children's detriment," La Repubblica newspaper reported. "According to investigators, the aim of the arrested group was to take children away from families in difficult social situations and to give them, for money, to other parents," said the Corriere della Sera newspaper. Some of the foster parents have been accused of sexually abusing the children they paid money for, La Repubblica reported. Police declined to say how many children were involved, or of what age. Hundreds of thousands of euros were involved, Italian media reported.


(Bloomberg) -- For decades, U.S. presidents visiting the Demilitarized Zone dividing the Korean Peninsula have followed roughly the same playbook: Peer through binoculars at North Korean border guards. Look stern. Warn Pyongyang that provocations won't be rewarded. President Donald Trump smashed that precedent on Sunday, meeting Kim Jong Un for the third time after a last-minute Twitter invitation that even surprised the North Korean leader. Trump then became the first sitting U.S. president to enter the isolated country, walking a couple dozen feet across the demarcation line in the DMZ. "Stepping across that line was a great honor," Trump said. He showered praise on Kim and invited him to visit the White House during an encounter that lasted a little more than an hour. Yet throughout the history-making moment, Trump had something on his mind -- critics who say his overtures to Kim haven't led to any meaningful moves toward ending North Korea's nuclear program. Nearly every time Trump appeared before cameras, including at the DMZ lookout point, he complained that he hadn't received sufficient credit for defusing tensions on the Korean Peninsula. "There was great conflict here prior to our meeting in Singapore," Trump said of his first meeting with Kim last year. He repeatedly lashed out at Barack Obama, at one point saying that the former president had sought meetings with Kim but was rejected -- a claim refuted by Obama's deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes. The biggest takeaway from the impromptu DMZ meeting was simply an agreement to restart talks that have gone nowhere since Trump walked out of a February summit with Kim in Hanoi. That meeting collapsed after Trump refused Kim's demand for sanctions relief in exchange for only dismantling North Korea's main nuclear complex at Yongbyon. While restarting talks is an accomplishment, one senior administration official said North Korea still hasn't even articulated what it believes "denuclearization" would mean. The official said the country's negotiators didn't seem to be authorized to discuss nuclear weapons in meetings. Trump-Kim Summit Breakdown Renews Doubts North Korea Will Disarm The next round of talks "will go nowhere if North Korea comes back with the same position," said Chun Yung-Woo, South Korea's former chief nuclear negotiator with North Korea. North Korea has continued to "relentlessly" build its nuclear arsenal, he said. "As a whole, it was more of showbiz and optics rather than serious diplomacy," Chun said of the surprise DMZ summit. "I will judge the outcome on the basis of how the meeting translates into North Korea's freeze of fissile material production and reduction in nuclear capabilities." Sanctions Fight Trump said that sanctions would remain on North Korea, though he indicated he may ease them at some point in negotiations. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who joined part of the talks, sought to propose a way forward in suggesting that Kim could get sanctions relief after he "sincerely, completely" dismantles Yongbyon. So far, Kim has held out for better terms. He's offered no indication he'll relinquish North Korea's nuclear weapons, which the regime views as essential to its survival, and has given the U.S. a year-end deadline to come up with a better offer. Absent progress toward a deal, Trump's repeated meetings with Kim meanwhile serve to burnish the dictator's reputation. Analysts say the president risks creating the impression that the U.S. has accepted North Korea's de facto status as a nuclear-weapons state. Trump's embrace of Kim has prompted other world leaders to follow suit: Xi Jinping earlier in June promised a " new chapter " in relations while becoming the first Chinese leader in 14 years to visit North Korea. As the regime's largest trading partner, China is crucial for enforcing the U.S.-backed sanctions. Kim faces some political pressure of his own. He has come away empty-handed after meeting Trump twice in the hope of winning relief from punishing international sanctions. "At some point, handshakes will have to lead to actual beneficial outcomes to help justify staying on this path and not reverting back to a more militant policy," said Jenny Town, managing editor of 38 North, a website that provides policy and technical analysis on North Korea. 'Surreal' Trump also had domestic politics on his mind on Sunday, and the day's events featured the showman-in-chief at his best. The unprecedented meeting shifted the spotlight back to Trump from the Democrats vying to replace him, who had drawn two nights of prime-time television coverage for their first round of debates during the president's trip to Asia. South Korea's Moon called the encounter "a flower of hope for the Korean Peninsula." Ivanka Trump, who accompanied her father to the DMZ with her husband and fellow presidential adviser Jared Kushner, called the experience "surreal." "Theatrics won't magically solve the serious security issues they are faced with," said Duyeon Kim, an adjunct senior fellow in Seoul at the Center for a New American Security. Mintaro Oba, a former U.S. diplomat who worked on Korean Peninsula issues, said that Trump was engaging in "defibrillator diplomacy" that keeps the process alive without ``treating the underlying disease." "It's clear the two sides have not yet budged on any of the key substantive problems, like differences over sanctions relief," Oba said. "If the working-level negotiators don't have a mandate to address those problems, it's hard to see today's positive atmosphere between leaders translating into any real results." --With assistance from Nick Wadhams, Jennifer Jacobs and Jihye Lee. To contact the reporters on this story: Margaret Talev in Washington at mtalev@bloomberg.net ;Jon Herskovitz in Tokyo at jherskovitz@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alex Wayne at awayne3@bloomberg.net, Daniel Ten Kate ©2019 Bloomberg L.P.


SAN FRANCISCO (AP)   Pacific Gas & Electric, which is blamed for some of California's deadliest recent fires, knew for years that dozens of its aging power lines posed a wildfire threat but avoided replacing or repairing them, it was reported Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal, using company documents obtained under the federal Freedom of Information Act, reported that the utility told the U.S. Forest Service in 2017 and 2018 that 49 aging steel towers on one transmission line needed replacement and another 57 needed replacement of their hardware and aluminum lines. The Journal previously reported that PG&E delayed safety work on the line, known as the Caribou-Palermo line, for five years. State investigators said an equipment failure on that line sparked a November wildfire that essentially wiped out the Northern California town of Paradise and killed 85 people. It was the deadliest and most destructive in state history. On Wednesday, the Butte County Sheriff's Office identified a previously unnamed victim as 67-year-old Shirley Haley of Paradise. Four other people have been tentatively identified while two bodies remain unidentified. After the fire, PG&E decided to stop using the line, which was built in 1921. PG&E also estimated back in 2017 that its towers had an average age of 68 years and some were more than a century old, the Journal said, reporting that the company also said it needed a plan to replace towers and better manage lines to prevent electrical conductors from falling on the ground and causing fires. Gusty winds that can topple trees and down power lines are concerns for California utilities. Last month, PG&E briefly cut power to thousands of people in selected portions of Northern California to guard against wildfires as the weather turned very windy, dry and hot. Also in June, PG&E said its workers discovered more than 1,000 high-priority safety risks on its transmission lines and distribution poles over several months of inspections and almost all of them had been fixed. A federal judge in San Francisco on Wednesday ordered PG&E to provide a "paragraph-by-paragraph" response to the Wall Street Journal story. PG&E must provide "a fresh, forthright statement owning up to the true extent" of the Wall Street Journal report by July 31, ordered U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who is overseeing PG&E's probation for a natural gas pipeline explosion in 2010 that killed eight people in San Bruno. Alsup also asked the company to explain its payment of $5 billion in dividends in recent years "at a time when PG&E was aware of the problems" named in the Journal report. PG&E said it disagreed with the conclusions of the Journal report but "we have acknowledged that the devastation of the 2017 and 2018 wildfires made clear that we must do more to combat the threat of wildfires and extreme weather while hardening our systems." "As we have disclosed publicly, we are taking significant actions to inspect, identify, and fix these issues with our electric system," the utility said in a statement, adding that "while the number of safety issues we have identified on our electric system is small by percentage, it's unacceptable." PG&E filed for bankruptcy in January in the face of some $30 billion in potential liability from 2017 and 2018 wildfire damage.


Next up in our positional previews for the Arizona Cardinals as they begin training camp are the outside linebackers. This group is a mostly veteran group with some young talent at the back end of the position. Let us review the players, the expectations, the questions and the outlook for the position. The players There are six outside linebackers on the roster: Chandler Jones: He enters his eighth NFL season and fourth with the Cardinals. Terrell Suggs: This will be Year 17 for the future Hall of Famer and his first with the Cardinals. Brooks Reed: This is Reed's ninth season in the league and first with the team. Vontarrius Dora: He is technically a first-year player, although he has been in the league since 2016. This will be the third season with the Cardinals. Cameron Malveaux: He has only one credited year in the league but this is his third year and second with the Cardinals. Pita Taumoepenu: Also with only one credited season in the league, he spent the last two years with the 49ers and now is in his first year with the Cardinals View embedded content The expectations Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports This is supposed to be a position of strength. The Cardinals should get a lot of production. Jones is one of the best pass rushers in the league. Suggs has been one of the best his entire career. Reed offers energy and run-stopping ability. Jones should have around 15 sacks and Suggs could threaten to reach double digits. View embedded content The questions There are two main questions. One is whether or not Suggs still has anything left in the tank. The other is whether Reed will be healthy enough and whether he can produce. Jones is a given. He will be good and should be better with a threat on the other side of the line. View embedded content The roster outlook Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports Jones, Suggs and Reed are locks for the roster, assuming Reed is healthy. That leaves probably one roster spot for Dora, Malveaux and Taumoepenu to fight for. Taumoepenu has been a special teams player. Dora looked very good in the preseason last year and Malveaux has some talent and got playing time for the Cardinals late last season. Listen to the latest from Cards Wire's Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio . View embedded content MORE: Mike Trout's perfect 98.6 MPH throw to home plate had everyone in awe What might Kostas Antetokounmpo bring to the Lakers on offense? The 21 dumbest ideas in NFL history New York Mets' New 'Foul Poles' Are an Abomination Jaguars set to start training camp $8.78 million under salary cap


Dubbed the "Granddaddy Of Them All," the 59th Knoxville Nationals will host more than 100 sprint cars at Knoxville Raceway on Aug. 7-10. The Knoxville Raceway half-mile clay oval in Knoxville, Iowa, is the home of the most prestigious race of the year for the sprint car world. The four-day showdown includes a pair of qualifying nights held on Wednesday and Thursday, along with last-chance qualifiers on Friday and Saturday prior to the 50-lap feature event that caps off the festivities. Saturday night's 24-car A-Main event will have a total purse of nearly $1 million, with the winner taking home a $150,000 grand prize. Among the long list of entries is Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. The 27-year-old from Elk Grove, California, will chase his first Knoxville Nationals crown in the No. 57 Kyle Larson Racing car. RELATED: NASCAR, NBC Sports team up for 'Grassroots Racing Tour' Larson has a busy travel schedule for the upcoming weekend, jetting from Michigan International Speedway after Monster Energy Series practice and qualifying on Friday and Saturday to Iowa and arriving at Knoxville for sprint car racing. His hectic weekend concludes with Sunday's Monster Energy Series race (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN/NBC Sports App, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). While Larson serves as the lone Cup Series regular taking part in the four-day classic, his ownership role also extends to the No. 2 full-time World of Outlaws entry driven by Carson Macedo. Roush Fenway Racing driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. also has a shot at winning as a team owner as World of Outlaws full-time driver Sheldon Haudenschild will pilot the No. 17 Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing entry. Ten-time and defending World of Outlaws champion Donny Schatz will be vying for his 11th career Knoxville Nationals title in the No. 15 car owned by three-time Monster Energy Series champion and 2020 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Tony Stewart. Additionally, former Monster Energy Series driver Kasey Kahne will field a pair of sprint cars, including the defending Knoxville Nationals champion Brad Sweet in the No. 49 entry and the No. 9 car driven by James McFadden. Diving into primary sponsorship for the first time in the Knoxville Nationals per the direction of four-time Monster Energy Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Jeff Gordon, Axalta Racing will team up with Jason Johnson Racing and the No. 41 ride driven by David Gravel. Axalta Racing will sponsor Jason Johnson Racing's No. 41 car driven by David Gravel in next month's Knoxville Nationals. pic.twitter.com/IGkLbAQOSv   Jason Johnson Racing (@JJR41Updates) July 22, 2019 Click here for more information about this year's Knoxville Nationals, including full entry lists, detailed race format and complete purse breakdown. ]]>


Arizona Cardinals David Johnson has become a bit of a forgotten player. He was perhaps the league's best running back in the league in 2016 but saw 2017 disappear with a wrist injury one game in and then had a very forgettable 2018. He was remarkably ordinary last year playing in a scheme that did not feature his unique talents. And if you have noticed his social media accounts, he is out to prove to everyone he is still one of the best or even the best. He wants to proves doubters and haters wrong. He sounds like a player with a lot to prove, especially after he signed a huge contract extension a year ago. However, in a list of nine running backs with something to prove in 2019 by sister site Touchdown Wire writer Michael Colangelo, Johnson doesn't even make that list. Johnson has a lot to prove. The Cardinals paid him to be a feature back who not only is huge as a runner but also as a passer. He is supposed to be the focal point of the offense. He need to prove he was not another one-year wonder at the position and that he can be great again. He deserves to be on that list with Todd Gurley, Le'Veon Bell, Leonard Fournette and others. Listen to the latest from Cards Wire's Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio . View embedded content MORE: NBA fans can't forget about the time Kevin Durant called Kawhi Leonard a 'system' player Bears believe Ha Ha Clinton-Dix is a better player than Adrian Amos 4 Realistic Anthony Davis Trade Scenarios Former Steeler calls Mike Tomlin the best leader he ever had Brian Gaine's failure in Houston has a lesson for the Lions and Bob Quinn


When Reginald Moore, executive director of Baltimore City Recreation and Parks, thinks ahead to the upcoming Charm City Games, chills go down his spine. "To be able to stand there and put a medal around these kids' necks," Moore said. "To know that it's something of honor to them … to see the look on the kids' faces when they receive that medal for competing." Moore dreamed up the games, an Olympic-style competition for kids ages 12-14 from July 15-20, as a way to bring the communities of Baltimore together. When Moore came to Baltimore in 2017, it was evident to him that Baltimore is a city of neighborhoods, and he thought, what better way to bring them together than "if we can connect them by competition?" First Charm City Games, Olympic-style youth-sports competitions, coming to Baltimore in July Moore was inspired by an experience he had as director of Parks and Recreation in Macon-Bibb County, Ga., when he attended the International Children's Games, an annual International Olympic Committee-sanctioned event, in Cleveland. At a City Council luncheon, Moore proposed to invite kids to compete in basketball, tennis, soccer, and track and field on teams representing the districts in which they live. Each area's council member would head the district teams. "What was funny to me was just the competitiveness of the different council members once I made my announcement," Moore said. "[Councilman Brandon] Scott clearly told everyone they were playing for second, that [District 2] was going to win it." Councilmen Robert Stokes Sr. (District 12), Eric Costello (District 11) and Leon Pinkett III (District 7) have engaged in some competitive banter, as well. "Some of the council people talk junk," Stokes said. "Then we talk about who really can't play basketball or something like that." Registration for the event opened May 29, and the mayor's office, City Council and Recreation and Parks officially announced the games June 5 . The response from the community was extremely positive, Moore said. "It's something new," Pinkett said. "I don't think we have many opportunities for young people to participate in what would be a city-wide effort." It came as welcome news to Brad Chranko, who has been involved with soccer in Baltimore for 12 years. As an organizer and former coach for the Charles Village Rec League, Chranko is among those who support a city-wide soccer league. When Chranko heard about the games, they seemed like a step in the right direction. "It keeps it in the city, and it's something that we would like to have kind of year-round," Chranko said. "That would hopefully maybe be a catalyst to a full-time league." Clashes with teens have become a polarizing issue in Baltimore. As adults argue, some youth feel ignored. Moore's team has already received comments about getting other sports involved, which Moore hopes to do in the future. Moore said expansion will require more than the current $100,000 needed from the Youth and Adult Sports Program budget, the general fund and business sponsors. Moore hopes success will encourage more local businesses to get involved. Moore and his team chose locations strategically, placing them around the city. Track will compete at Frederick Douglass High School. Basketball games are at Councilwoman Rita R. Church Community Center and C.C. Jackson Recreation Center. Tennis and soccer matches are at Druid Hill Park. After hearing about the games, Stokes reached out to homegrown star Keith Booth, the new Dunbar boys basketball coach who played at Dunbar, Maryland and for the Chicago Bulls. Booth was interested, although he's busy during this year's games. Next year, however, District 12 might have a former NBA player on its coaching staff. Moore said local college soccer players have also expressed interest in coaching. "I think that it's always a great opportunity when you can get college students to serve as role models, when you can get professional athletes to come and cheer on a kid, somebody they might see or might recognize on TV," Moore said. "You never can go wrong with getting these older adults who can be mentors to these kids as well." Moore is emphasizing that people should stick to their district's team, which has given Stokes confidence in District 12's ability to compete in basketball. "You've got to remember, District 12 has a pipeline of great basketball players," Stokes said. The person who's talked the most smack to him, Scott, is out of the running now because he was elected as Council President on May 6 and no longer has a team of his own. Instead, it's turned into a bit of an East versus West competition, and Pinkett has emerged as his biggest rival. "I think, historically, the residents of Baltimore know that the best athletes are born and groomed in West Baltimore," Pinkett said. "We'll try our best to take it easy on them." By having council members head each district, the games also bring the kids closer to their local government. As a community member, Chranko said he thinks the setup will give local government a more friendly face. The games are also meant to help kids make friends outside their neighborhoods and connect the communities, including the parents. "Athletics is something that has always brought communities together," Moore said. "It's a sense of pride, and it's a sense of spirit." Chranko said that, at least within the soccer community, the games have the potential to connect the various soccer organizations and "re-energize" them as they push for a city-wide league. Moore has been urging communities to support their athletes at all the events. "Give them an opportunity to be honored as they're your ambassadors of each district, and they're competing to represent their district," Moore said. The games also were announced during a city-wide debate over where and how city youth spend their free time. The City Council allocated $2.6 million last month toward keeping recreational centers open on Saturdays. "[The Charm City Games are] going to play a great role in terms of having opportunities for young people, especially during the summer," Stokes said.


The Lions have signed wide receiver Jermaine Kearse , according to a team announcement. It's a one-year, $1.35M deal with a max value of $2.3M, including $350K guaranteed, according to ESPN.com's Adam Schefter (on Twitter ). The deal reunites Kearse with offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. Given their five years working together in Seattle, it shouldn't take long for the 29-year-old to learn the playbook. Also, given the Lions' lack of depth at the wide receiver position, there's a clear opportunity for Kearse to make the cut and make an impact. The Lions auditioned Kearse in late May and quickly made him an offer, but he walked away in hopes of finding something more substantial. It's not clear whether the Lions upped the ante to get Kearse, but they managed to land him in June. Kearse came to the Jets from the Seahawks in the Sheldon Richardson trade of 2017. Kearse went on to enjoy the best statistical campaign of his career by managing 65 receptions for 810 yards and five touchdowns in his first season with Gang Green. Last year wasn't quite as strong, but he finished out with a 37/371/1 in the Jets' spotty offense. Kearse could easily wind up as the Lions' fourth WR behind Danny Amendola , Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones Jr. Former Saints practice standout Tommylee Lewis is also on hand. Related slideshow: What 2019 looks like for all 32 NFL teams (Provided by USA TODAY Sports)


The latest debate in the 2020 presidential race has exposed the limits of how far Democrats are willing to go on voting rights. It began with a question to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), from a volunteer with the American Civil Liberties Union at an Iowa town hall in April: Should people in prison be allowed to vote? Sanders said yes, and then doubled down on his answer. At a CNN town hall a couple weeks later, Sanders was asked if the Boston marathon bomber should be allowed to vote   and, again, said yes. In a USA Today op-ed , he defended his position, arguing that "the right to vote is an inalienable and universal principle that applies to all American citizens 18 years and older. Period." Since Sanders was first asked, other Democratic candidates have been questioned about their stances. None of them have yet to say that prisoners should be given the right to vote, instead defending the right to vote only for nonviolent offenders or people who completed their sentences. Some appear undecided. Only two states   Maine and Vermont, where Sanders is from   currently let people vote while they're in prison. Other states apply restrictions based on whether someone is in prison, on probation, on parole, or has completed a sentence. (They don't typically make a distinction on whether a person's crime was violent or not.) As of 2016, 6.1 million people were prevented from voting due to a felony conviction, and about 1.3 million were in state or federal prison, the Sentencing Project, an advocacy group, found . Since black Americans are more likely to go to prison, these laws have a disproportionate impact on black voters, in part reflecting their roots in the Jim Crow era: More than 20 percent of black voters were disenfranchised in Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia in 2016. There appears to be some support for giving people convicted of felonies their voting rights back. Last fall, Florida voted to let most people with felony records vote once they complete their sentences   giving the right to vote back to, potentially, more than 1 million people (although that's now in question as Republican lawmakers place new restrictions on who can vote ). What Sanders is calling for, though, goes much further, enfranchising literally hundreds of thousands or millions of people across the country   in a way that could especially benefit black voters. For some Democrats, who have paid more attention to voting rights in recent years, and for activists with the ACLU who are aiming to get candidates on the record on this topic , it's a logical next step. But the discussion has shown there are limits in how far even some Democrats   let alone the public   are willing to go in expanding voting rights. The polls so far show that giving people in prison the right to vote is unpopular among the majority of voters and Democrats. And in a Democratic primary where so much of the attention, even beyond policy specifics, is going to finding the candidate who can beat President Donald Trump, that unpopularity is drawing concerns about whether a politically risky issue like this one should be discussed at all. Modern felony disenfranchisement laws have some roots in Jim Crow Felony disenfranchisement laws slotted into the push after the Civil War, particularly in the South, to limit civil rights gains following the end of slavery and ratification of constitutional amendments   the 13th, 14th, and 15th   protecting minority rights. The resistance to civil rights gains also included the Jim Crow laws behind legally enforced racial segregation and other limits on black voting power. It's been a decades-long project for civil rights activists to undo all of these laws. After the civil right movement, Democrats have taken up the banner to protect minority voting rights. Passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was fairly bipartisan , but since then Republicans in particular have moved to curtail access to the polls through voter ID laws, cuts to early voting, and purges of the voter rolls. Democrats have fought back against Republicans on these issues, but the Democratic efforts haven't included much advocacy on prisoner disenfranchisement laws. Preventing people with criminal records from voting in the US goes back to the colonial era and the concept of "civil death"   the notion that some bad actions effectively left a person dead in terms of civic engagement. But there's also a uniquely American and racist twist to this story, rooted in Jim Crow. After the South lost the Civil War, state lawmakers in Florida, for example, enacted laws   the Black Codes   to constrain black rights. They created crimes, such as disobedience and "disrespect to the employer," that could be enforced in a way that would target and criminalize black people in particular, according to a 2016 report by the Brennan Center for Justice, an advocacy group. Then, when Florida was forced to write voting rights protections for men of all races into its state constitution, lawmakers added an exception that would exempt victims of the Black Codes: Article XIV, Section 2, imposed a lifetime voting ban for people with felony convictions. Section 4 of this same suffrage article directed the legislature to "enact the necessary laws to exclude from ... the right of suffrage, all persons convicted of bribery, perjury, larceny, or of infamous crime"   the same crimes the legislature had recently recognized and expanded through the Black Code. Brennan went on: "Shortly after the 1868 constitution was approved, a moderate Republican leader boasted that he had kept Florida from becoming 'n---erized.'" Since then, Florida has changed its constitution and laws, Brennan noted, and the felony disenfranchisement law was reformed again after the report, in the 2018 elections. But the roots of its post Civil War disenfranchisement laws linger. Florida was not alone. Journalists and historians have documented similar efforts in Virginia and other Southern states . And of course, the federal government had to enact the ( now-weakened ) Voting Rights Act of 1965 to shield black voters from state-level discrimination, as well as other civil rights laws to prohibit other forms of systemic racism. But the criminal justice system remains one path toward disenfranchising voters, with a criminal or felony record often costing people various legal rights and protections even after they get out of jail or prison. And this system is rife with racial disparities, as the Washington Post's Radley Balko explained in his thorough breakdown of the research . "We use our criminal justice system to label people of color 'criminals' and then engage in all the practices we supposedly left behind," Michelle Alexander argued in her influential (and at times criticized ) book The New Jim Crow . "Today it is perfectly legal to discriminate against criminals in nearly all the ways that it was once legal to discriminate against African Americans." Still, felony disenfranchisement laws have survived legal challenges. Courts, including the US Supreme Court , have generally upheld such voting restrictions under the US Constitution's 14th Amendment , which suggests that the government may abridge the right to vote due to "participation in rebellion, or other crime." Without the courts, the only real hope for these efforts is to turn influential politicians and public opinion around on the issue   which is what Sanders seems to be trying to do and what some activists are encouraging . This might have to trickle down to the state level too, because there's some scholarly debate about whether Congress even has the power to end felony disenfranchisement at the federal level. Where Democrats stand on felony disenfranchisement With the debate about voting from prison, Democrats now have a chance to expand the broader debate about voting rights. But so far, only Sanders has really committed to full voting rights for people in prison. Sanders has been very explicit in his case: He argues that voting is a right that should never be taken away from anyone in a democracy. And that means people, no matter how terrible they prove to be, should keep their right to vote. "Even if Trump's former campaign manager and personal lawyer end up in jail, they should still be able to vote   regardless of who they cast their vote for," he wrote in USA Today . He later added, "In my view, the crooks on Wall Street who caused the great recession of 2008 that hurt millions of Americans are not 'good' people. But they have the right to vote, and it should never be taken away." Some journalists, pundits, and activists have sided with Sanders. Writing in New York magazine , Zak Cheney-Rice argued that people aren't imprisoned just because of bad decisions or mistakes, but also due to systemic factors that led them on a wrong path. Denying these people the right to vote robs them of the opportunity to express how society has failed them, how society continues to fail them through torturous and unconstitutional prison environments , and how society should and can be corrected, he argued. "A society that expels from its conception of humanity so many people who are sick, or in pain, or who make mistakes based upon which their entire lives are suddenly deprived of the opportunity for redemption, is an immoral society," Cheney-Rice wrote. "But most Americans will not see that unless prisoners have a voice in that society. Giving them the vote is not the whole answer, nor is it the only one. But it is an essential beginning." He pointed out that, beyond Maine and Vermont, several countries let people vote from prison to varying degrees, including France, Israel, Japan, and Sweden . But so far, other Democratic candidates have mostly distanced themselves, to varying degrees, from Sanders's proposal. South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg spoke in stark terms, arguing , "I do believe that when you are out, when you have served your sentence, then part of being restored to society is that you are part of the political life of this nation again   and one of the things that needs to be restored is your right to vote." He added, "But part of the punishment when you're convicted of a crime and you're incarcerated is you lose certain rights, you lose your freedom. And I think during that period it does not make sense to have an exception for the right to vote." Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX), meanwhile, suggested that maybe there should be an exception for nonviolent offenders: "I would think especially for nonviolent offenders that we rethink removing the right to vote and allow everyone, or as many as possible, to participate in our democracy. For violent criminals, it's much harder for me to reach that conclusion." Other candidates suggested they're undecided. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), for example, said , "Once someone pays their debt to society, they're out there expected to pay taxes, they're expected to abide by the law, they're expected to support themselves and their families. I think that means they've got a right to vote. While they're still incarcerated, I think it's a different question. And I think that's something that we could have more conversation about." Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) similarly said , "I think we should have that conversation." It's a philosophical question: Can someone at some point do something so terrible that he loses his right to vote? For Sanders, the answer is no. For others, the answer is yes, though just how terrible the act has to be before that right is lost, and how long the right is lost for, varies from candidate to candidate. Sanders's stance is very unpopular One reason Sanders's Democratic opponents may be reluctant to support his idea: politics. The idea of letting people in prison vote is very unpopular. A recent poll from the Hill and Harris X found that 69 percent of registered voters   and 61 percent of Democrats   said people who are incarcerated for a felony shouldn't be allowed to vote. Another poll by YouGov found that 65 percent of Americans disagree with Sanders's statement that all prisoners, including "terrible people" like the Boston Marathon bomber, should be allowed to vote. There is support for letting people vote after they complete their sentences. YouGov found that 65 percent of Americans agree that people convicted of a nonviolent felony should be allowed to vote after they have completed their sentences. And in Florida, voters approved an initiative, with nearly 65 percent in favor, letting people convicted of felonies vote once they've completed their sentences, with exceptions for those convicted of murder or felony sex offenses. But with the poll numbers on prisoners' voting rights, it's not hard to guess why a bunch of Democratic candidates might be cautious about supporting the idea. This has come up with some other issues in the Democratic primaries, like reparations . While some Democrats may truly believe that reparations are good policy, they're still widely viewed as politically toxic. Sanders himself previously took this approach when asked about reparations, calling the idea "very divisive" in 2016. But in other instances, and seemingly with prisoner voting rights, Sanders has stuck his neck out in support of political causes. He is, after all, a self-described socialist willing to take on the establishment. His entire 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton was widely considered a long shot, but he launched it anyway largely to move the party to the left on issues like college and health care. To Sanders's credit, this worked. Today, Democrats are tripping over themselves in voicing their support for Medicare-for-all or at least some sort of expansion of public health insurance. It's hard to see that happening, or the broader conversation about single-payer health care in general, without Sanders putting the issue at the front of his 2016 bid for the White House. For activists, this is what they want to see. As the ACLU explained , "If we can raise the volume on key issues like criminal justice reform, immigration, voting rights and reproductive freedom with presidential candidates before the 2020 primaries, we can make sure civil rights and civil liberties are front and center." For many Democrats, though, this isn't the time for stands purely based on principle. An overwhelming focus of the 2020 Democratic primaries is to find a candidate who can beat Trump. The notion of "electability" is one of the reasons that former Vice President Joe Biden is leading in the polls . So taking up a cause that is very unpopular and could help Democrats lose the 2020 election is a nonstarter for many, even those who may in theory support giving people in prison the right to vote nationwide. There may be some political incentives for Democrats to embrace Sanders's views on prisoner voting rights, though. The research indicates that letting people convicted of felonies vote could disproportionately benefit Democrats. That's made Republicans more resistant to the idea   Trump and Vice President Mike Pence criticized Sanders's comments   but it could make Democrats more receptive, too. But, at least for now, most of the public, Democrats, and the presidential candidates are not on board.


President Donald Trump said Monday a secret provision of the US immigration deal with Mexico will require the approval of that country's legislature and warned US tariffs will be reinstated if it is not forthcoming. Trump did not say what the provision entails, only that it would be revealed "in the not too distant future and will need a vote by Mexico's Legislative body." "We do not anticipate a problem with the vote but, if for any reason the approval is not forthcoming, Tariffs will be reinstated!" he tweeted. Trump first alluded to the secret provision in a tweet late Sunday defending the agreement with Mexico against criticism it contained little that had not already been agreed to. He lashed out at The New York Times, calling its front page story on the deal "a FRAUD and nothing more than a badly reported 'hit job' on me ... Sick Journalism!" The US president plunged relations between the two allies into crisis last week with an abrupt threat to slap tariffs on all Mexican imports over immigration. Just as suddenly, a deal was reached Friday after several days of intense negotiations. The Mexican side agreed to bolster security on its southern border and expand its policy of taking back Central American migrants as the US processes their asylum claims. Trump, for his part, withdrew a threat to impose a five percent tariff on all Mexican imports, beginning Monday and escalating to 25 percent by October. Trade experts and business leaders warned of devastating consequences for the economies of both countries if the tariffs went into effect.


COLUMBUS   New graduation requirements for the class of 2023, an income tax cut and presidential primary on St. Patrick's Day were among the changes added to Ohio's nearly $70 billion budget signed by Gov. Mike DeWine Thursday. Ohio lawmakers kept a controversial tax break for businesses as part of a GOP-brokered compromise to avoid another delay after missing the June 30 deadline to pass a balanced budget. Legislators ditched most reforms to a tax break for people who treat business income as personal income, such as limited liability companies and sole proprietorships. They did restrict lobbyists and lawyers from using the tax break   but most business owners will avoid taxes on the first $250,000 of their income and pay a lower rate of 3 percent on the remaining money. Members of the Ohio House of Representatives had wanted to limit the amount of tax-free income to $100,000 instead of the current $250,000. That scored points with House Democrats, who have long wanted to eliminate the tax break altogether. Sen. Matt Huffman, an attorney, said excluding those professions would have unintended consequences for in-house counsel and business owners seeking legal advice. And it could start a dangerous trend, he said. "Who do we really not like? Let's stick it to them," GOP lawmakers settled on a 4-percent tax cut for all Ohioans rather than the 6.6 percent passed by the House and 8 percent passed by the Senate. Anyone making $21,750 or less would pay no income taxes under the budget compromise. "We were able to provide significant tax relief to the people of Ohio," Senate President Larry Obhof, R-Medina, said. The Ohio House of Representatives approved the final version, 75-1, and the Ohio Senate approved the changes, 29-1, Wednesday. Gov. Mike DeWine signed the budget Thursday after vetoing 25 items. DeWine praised investments in Lake Erie, children services, foster care and "wraparound services," such as mentoring and mental health treatment, for students. DeWine said Thursday that he asked lawmakers to spend money on children and the environment that wouldn't lead to immediate results. "At this point in the history in the state of Ohio, this is the time for us to invest in Ohio," DeWine said. And although the governor wasn't pleased with the 17-day delay, DeWine said he had seen worse. "This procedure looked like superstars and A+ compared to Congress." What else is included in the two-year spending and policy bill? If you like Ohio-made movies , the state will continue a tax break for productions doing business here. They must be a registered Ohio business to receive the money. If you are concerned about state-imposed school takeovers , there will be a moratorium on them until Oct. 1, 2020. If you're in the class of 2023 , you would need to pass two exams to graduate: Algebra I and English language arts II. Students would also need to obtain two "state diploma seals." Those could be existing accomplishments such as showing English as a second language proficiency or job readiness skills. But the State Board of Education would create new seals, including for science, an honors diploma, technology and community service. If you want to drink some green beer after voting , Ohio lawmakers pushed back the presidential primary to March 17, also known as St. Patrick's Day. If you want to buy cigarettes , you must be 21 or older. If you are in show choir , you could waive the state's physical education requirement. If you vape , your product will cost more. Lawmakers added at a tax of 1 cent per 0.1 milliliters or gram of product containing nicotine. If you want to feel safer at church or synagogue , lawmakers are offering grants to houses of worship, private schools, nonprofit organizations and licensed preschools for hiring a resource officer or other security measures. If you need a breast cancer screening , you could receive one even if you don't have insurance   if you make $36,420 or 300 percent of the federal poverty level. Changes also eliminated a requirement that women be 65 years old or younger. If your child attends private school , lawmakers expanded a voucher program for lower-income Ohioans sending their children to private schools. It now extends to the 12th grade. If you support anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers , they will be eligible for $7.5 million over two years. If you like public libraries , they receive more money from the state under this two-year budget. If you are a grandparent caring for your grandchild , a kinship navigator program that assists relatives caring for children received more money. If you learn computer coding in school , it would count as a foreign language toward graduation goals. More: Missing deadline, Ohio lawmakers pass 17-day stopgap to pay for state government More: Ohio taxpayers helped foot the bill for these movies. Now some lawmakers want to eliminate the film tax credit. More: Crunch time for Ohio lawmakers: deals needed on taxes, graduation requirements, more This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Belated state budget includes income tax cut, retains controversial business tax break