Let's check out the best and worst dressed stars of May 2019! Tired of May gray? Why not get a dose of color with this month's crop of celebrity fashion. Wonderwall.com is breaking down the best and worst dressed stars of the month, starting with Naomi Scott! Though we wish she would have worn Princess Jasmine's signature blue shade, we can't fault the star for picking this pink statement gown for the "Aladdin" premiere in Los Angeles on May 21. The Brandon Maxwell creation featured an interesting draped neckline, a cut-out at the waist and a full skirt complete with pockets. The star opted for a high bun to balance out the full dress and scored a hit in our book. Keep reading to see more fashion highlights (and lowlights) from May 2019, including looks from this year's Met Gala and the Cannes Film Festival ! The Cannes Film Festival is one of the most glamorous events of the year, and Julianne Moore definitely got the memo! She arrived for the premiere of "The Dead Don't Die" on May 14 in this sleek emerald green Dior gown, an off-the-shoulder design with pretty sheer sleeves, a ruched bodice and a fitted skirt. To amp up the glam factor, she added some eye-catching Chopard jewels... Julianne Moore accessorized her emerald green Dior gown with this stunning necklace from Chopard's Haute Joaillerie Collection featuring a 4.01-carat oval-shaped brilliant-cut diamond plus 8.31 carats of more diamonds. Even though the necklace was beautiful, it could barely hold a candle to those show-stopping earrings that matched her dress! The Chopard jewels featured pear-shaped emeralds of 24.62 and 24.22 carats combined with over 20 carats of diamonds and another 10 carats of emeralds. Next up, another piece of jewelry you might have missed... Did you notice Julianne Moore 's stunning ring? The Chopard piece featured a 21.55-carat pear-shaped emerald surrounded by more than 7 carats of diamonds set in 18k white gold from the brand's Haute Joaillerie Collection. Ashlee Simpson decided to step out during Cannes on May 17 in one of the strangest looks of the month (including the camp-themed Met Gala !) -- jeans under a massively oversized black-and-white gingham dress complete with exaggerated, ruffled sleeves. It was a white-hot Versace night for Elizabeth Hurley at the "Rocketman" premiere in London on May 20! The star donned this fitted pantsuit -- sans shirt! -- on the blue carpet and accessorized with silver sandals and a pink clutch. Another pantsuit we loved this month? Jessica Chastain 's fiery orange getup at the "X-Men Dark Phoenix" press conference in Mexico City on May 15. She also rocked the suit without a shirt underneath and made things cooler and more casual by rolling up the sleeves. One more killer pantsuit of the month? This monochromatic look Eva Longoria sported during Cannes on May 16. This all-tan look was easy and breezy yet impossibly stylish from the rolled-up sleeves to the casual matching T-shirt to the strappy sandals. Oh, Marion Cotillard, why? The star's fashion has been getting increasingly questionable, but this year's Cannes look at the "Matthias and Maxime" premiere on May 22 might take the cake. She arrived in a bizarre getup comprised of a high-necked crop top, shorts and a Balmain denim cape-coat. Making matters ever worse? The peep-toe booties. Hard pass. Elle Fanning reigned supreme in the fashion department at this year's Cannes Film Festival , but of all her stellar sartorial collections, this was our top pick. For the May 15 "Les Miserables" premiere, she wore this unforgettable Valentino ballgown with billowing short sleeves, a plunging neckline and a glamorously full skirt all fashioned out of a stunning floral fabric. To get the full effect, you need a closer look... We loved every iota of Elle Fanning 's Valentino dress -- from the delicate ruffle detail at the waist to that gorgeous pink, yellow and white lace floral pattern. And because her style was unparalleled this month, you've got to see the extra-special detail she added to her look... To complement the gorgeous floral print on her Valentino gown, Elle Fanning adorned her braids with tiny yellow, pink and white flowers. Another weird two-piece moment on the Cannes red carpet? Model Taylor Hill's Ines Di Santo ensemble. The Victoria's Secret Angel rocked this casual look underneath a dramatic cape at the premiere of "Too Old To Die Young" on May 17. The sapphire blue-and-white look featured a crop top and high-waisted miniskirt underneath a mismatched floral-print cape -- complete with an insane over-the-top cathedral train. It might have been an attempt to dress up the outfit, but the cape and even those glitzy heels couldn't help out in that department. Allison Williams looked superb in Celine at the premiere of "The Perfection" in New York City on May 21. The star donned this sweet black-and-white minidress, which featured a black high-neck detail and black around the short sleeves and at the waist for a contrasting, cool look. Those pointy-toe heels helped cement it all as a hit. Missing something, Alyssa Milano ? The star attended the Lifetime Summer Luau on May 20 in a shirt we're not sure was quite finished being made. The odd top -- which was half long-sleeved and half strapless (and a little shorter) -- was paired with black pants and some equally unfortunate low-heeled, strappy pointed-toe pumps. A dismal ensemble. Camila Morrone opted for this frothy Miu Miu look at the premiere of boyfriend Leonardo DiCaprio's "Once Upon a Time In... Hollywood" during the Cannes Film Festival on May 21. The strapless number featuring a banded waist and a full, subtly pleated skirt that culminated in mounds of pretty, delicate feathers resulted in an elegant red carpet look. Her diamonds certainly didn't hurt things either! Baggy pants are trending and Gabrielle Union was the latest star rocking them on the streets of New York City on May 14. The only problem? She styled her oversized khaki pants with an equally oversized pink blazer and a plaid yellow shirt, resulting in a bizarre costume-like ensemble. Halle Berry rocked the red carpet at the "John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum" premiere in Los Angeles on May 15 in this unique little number. We liked the long-sleeved Teresa Helbig black leather romper, which featured detailing down the bodice, a plunging (unbuttoned!) neckline and a bow detail at the waist. She finished things off with thick-strapped black sandals for an overall killer combo. Want an easily replicated, super-chic look for spring? Look no further than what Jessica Alba wore in New York City on May 16. The star topped her simple white T-shirt and jeans combo with a white blazer and white pumps for an impossibly easy and cool ensemble. Yikes! Bebe Rexha donned this disastrous jumpsuit -- part suit jacket up top, completely sheer lace pants with floral appliqués down below -- for the 67th Annual BMI Pop Awards in Los Angeles on May 14. Polka dots and more polka dots! Kaley Cuoco rocked this sweet spotted look in New York City on May 16, pairing a black-and-white blouse with tiny polka dots with a midi-length skirt covered in larger polka dots with black oxfords. Aja Naomi King looked like a Cannes princess in Zac Posen at the premiere of "A Hidden Life" on May 19. We adored the coral hue of this ballgown and those gorgeous sleeves balanced out by an equally full skirt. We've missed seeing Selena Gomez on red carpets! Unfortunately, the star turned up in Cannes in this disappointing Louis Vuitton minidress on May 14. . The off-the-shoulder frock seemed too casual for the opening ceremony afterparty, but she improved upon the look with her metallic pumps and that pretty necklace! Octavia Spencer donned this cool black Christian Siriano number for the "Ma" premiere in Los Angeles on May 16. We loved the sleek off-the-shoulder top with sheer sleeves and that pretty netted detail paired with skinny black pants, and the way she added those strappy sandals to the mix. Maybe there was a business-casual dress code memo we missed? Drew Barrymore donned this strange combo for an event in New York City on May 15. The top was cute (a cheery plaid shirt) but the bottom was all businessman (baggy trousers and a bulky brown belt). Next! We loved Ariel Winter 's look at the Entertainment Weekly and People Magazine Upfront party in New York City on May 13. The "Modern Family" star rocked a little black dress that was anything but dull thanks to some silver-dot detailing. She completed her edgy look with a pair of silver sandals and newly dyed red locks. Allison Williams arrived at the "Jimmy Kimmel Live" studios in Hollywood on May 15 in this puzzling Gabriela Hearst getup. The white jumpsuit itself would have been fine if not for that bizarre tassel-turned-train addition that draped down the bust. Red, white and blue! Ahead of Memorial Day weekend, Nikki Bella showed off some American spirit in Los Angeles on May 20. The star donned a white tank top tucked into high-waisted wide-legged cherry red pants and topped things off with a denim shirt. Sealing the deal on this summer-ready look? Those nude sandals (and that water bottle -- gotta stay hydrated!). Elizabeth Hurley served up a fabulous fuchsia moment at the BCRF Hot Pink Party in New York City on May 15. We loved her one-shouldered frock, which she accessorized with a gold belt and strappy gold sandals. Hannah Brown embraced the sweet combo of pink and white on the streets of New York City on May 16. The star of "The Bachelorette" donned this tiered white minidress with a pair of bubblegum pink sandals -- a very summer-ready look. That's a whole lotta print, Katy Perry ! The music superstar hit the streets of London on May 1 in this yellow-and-orange all-over floral-print romper complete with a collar and black buttons. And if that wasn't enough flower print for you, this look seems to also include a matching jacket. Though we weren't crazy about this busy ensemble, we do have to say we loved the addition of those cute white heeled mules and coral bag. With all the great style on the May 6 Met Gala pink carpet that adhered to the "Camp: Notes on Fashion" theme, it was hard to pick favorites . But one look that was undeniable fun and playful? Kacey Musgraves's ensemble! The country music star transformed into a perfect icon for the night -- Barbie -- complete with a bright pink leather bomber jacket-turned-dress by Moschino. She traded her signature dark locks for Barbie blonde and even brought her A-game when it came to accessories -- matching sunglasses and a hair dryer-shaped purse. This insane look certainly adhered to the Met Gala theme! Cara Delevingne donned a bold Dior design -- a rainbow dress with matching tights -- that would bomb on any other red carpet, but at the Met, it fit right in with the other odd ensembles. Now about that headpiece... Eyeballs and teeth and fingers and... bananas? Cara Delevingne truly answered the call for camp with this bizarre headpiece complete with figures of all sorts of random body parts and food. The orange line around her face complemented the rainbow stripes of her dress while her rainbow necklace also added another round of color that could only belong on this particular red carpet. While some took the theme to perfect extremes, others' attempts fell totally flat. The most tragic case? Harry Styles in his Gucci getup. The former boybander is known for his over-the-top fashion, which typically includes eye-catching suits and plenty of fun, feminine flare, but he opted for this seriously underwhelming Gucci jumpsuit at the 2019 Met Gala . The black look served up some unexpected ruffles, a pussycat bow and sheer fabric, but overall, this might have been the biggest disappointment of the night. Not even that pearl earring could salvage things! Priyanka Chopra pulled off one of the very rare fashion hits of the Billboard Music Awards on May 1 (no, seriously, go see how many misses the stars racked up!). The actress dazzled in a stunning belted Zuhair Murad number with a plunging neckline and an asymmetrical hemline, which she paired with nude heels and layered Tiffany & Co. diamond necklaces. What exactly is happening here, Ciara ? The music star wore this Stephane Rolland disaster at VH1's "Dear Mama: A Love Letter to Mom" event in Los Angeles on May 2. From the looks of things, it's a romper gone wrong -- a white ruffled top half that gave way to a ridiculous part-skirt, part-train and a shiny bronze bottom half. But despite the ensemble being a loss, we did like those studded heels. While many stars swayed too far in one direction at the Met Gala on May 6, model Bella Hadid -- who paired her look with a vampy short hairstyle -- excelled at the "Camp: Notes on Fashion" theme in this black Moschino gown. The frock was the epitome of extra, from the racy cut-out at the hip to the bedazzled, multicolored embellishment. The addition of over-the-elbow gloves kept the jewels coming. We haven't seen Debra Messing on a miss list in a while, but she made her triumphant return at the Gloria Awards in New York City on May 8! The TV star donned this hideous Zara jumpsuit comprised of a floral-slash-leaf motif that we wish she would have left on the rack at the mall. Taking a page out of her character's fashion book, Naomi Scott donned this killer blue suit at the "Aladdin" photocall in London on May 10. Her Paul & Joe suit featured an oversized jacket and wide-legged pants in a bold blue hue, which paired perfectly with a paler blue silky dress shirt underneath. Taking this look to the next level? Her unexpected shoe choice... see it next! Check out those sparklers! We loved Naomi Scott's silver sky-high heels, and the way they brought a little bit of princess-like shimmer to her menswear moment. The structure! The hues! We're obsessed with Lily Collins' look at the "Tolkien" premiere in Los Angeles on May 8. Her Roland Van Der Kemp halter gown featured a pale gray bodice with structured detailing along the neckline and a gold belt uniting it with a gorgeous jewel-toned patchwork skirt. We loved the eclectic mix of shades, and the way she paired this elegant look with a gorgeous high bun. Halsey's look at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards served up '80s prom dress nightmares. The strapless indigo blue number featured a sweetheart neckline and alternated between sheer black fabric and a pleather-like blue down the bodice and full skirt, which came complete with a nearly waist-high slit for a look that would only be matched by an equally disastrous beauty choice... Though we hated the way Halsey matched her lips to that blue-hued dress, we do have to give her props for finding a nearly identical shade. But her slicked-back hair and mismatched earrings really sealed the deal on this abysmal ballgown ensemble. Saoirse Ronan's Met Gala gown on May 6 was flanked by dragons! Not only did it answer the call for "Camp: Notes on Fashion," but it also stood apart as one of the most dazzling looks on the pink carpet. It featured golden creatures atop both of her shoulders, which complemented the gorgeous classic Gucci red and green shades down the dress, serving up a look that would make Khaleesi green with envy. One of the most radical Met Gala misses on May 6? Lili Reinhart's bright blue romper. The off-the-shoulder design featured massive sleeves and an excessive train. And she topped things off with a ridiculously oversized flower in her hair that yes, was definitely camp, but not as artfully done as others. Somehow Emma Bunton masterfully updated her Baby Spice wardrobe for 2019 with this look on the "Lorraine" show in London on May 1. From the pink hair to that baby blue turtleneck paired with a cute rainbow plaid skirt by Marques Almeida to the knee-high white Mango boots, we're loving this spicey ensemble. We no longer can say Kris Jenner never taught us anything! Nope, we learned an important lesson from the momager this month -- there is such a thing as too much leopard print. The reality star rocked an excessive amount of the animal pattern in the form of vintage Azzedine Alaia (to which she added matching leopard-print shoes!) at a perfume launch party in New York City on May 4. Yikes. Red-hot! We loved the Adeam number that Mindy Kaling wore to the Hulu Upfront presentation in New York City on May 1. The long-sleeved fiery red frock featured a black belt and sweet lace detail along the trim, even bordering that thigh-high slit. She paired it perfectly with simple black Christian Louboutins for a killer combo. Our next miss? This Dior look on Bella Hadid that was certainly a strange pick. The model wore a long-sleeved top with a sheer bottom layer tucked into a pair of baggy pants with almost a tie-dye motif in a denim hue. She paired the odd getup with simple black pointy-toe heels and a half-up, half-down hairstyle. Olivia Wilde looked like a princess in this gorgeous coral Giambattista Valli frock. We loved the lace-trimmed bodice and the way it ended in delicate ruffles at the hemline. Her metallic heels were the perfect addition, finishing off this feminine look perfectly. Sometimes you wear the dress, and sometimes the dress wears you. The latter happened to Jennifer Connelly, who chose this pink, blue, black and gray Louis Vuitton number for the designer's show in New York City on May 8. From the ruffles to the oversized sleeves to the way it paired with stark black tights, this outfit felt more costume than couture. Rebel Wilson had a gorgeous moment in black Christopher Kane at the premiere of her film "The Hustle" in Los Angeles on May 8. The star donned this gorgeous short-sleeved frock with an interesting cut-out and a jeweled neckline -- one of her best style moments of all time. We feel like we've seen a monochromatic pantsuit on Bebe Rexha a thousand times before, so this look at the Music Biz 2019 Awards in Nashville on May 7 felt anything but fresh. She topped off her white jumpsuit with a wide-brimmed hat and showed off a dash of pink in her hair, but it wasn't enough to turn this miss into a hit. Polka dots, pink and leopard print! These three things don't seem like they'd go together well, but Peyton List pulled them all off flawlessly at the Marc Jacobs Daisy Love Eau So Sweet Fragrance Pop-Up Event in Los Angeles on May 9. We weren't crazy about Anne Hathaway 's Elie Saab look at the premiere of her film "The Hustle" in Los Angeles on May 8. Her black jumpsuit just had a little too much happening -- from the embroidery down the bodice to the bell sleeves to that unnecessary train. We couldn't get behind Zoe Kravitz's look at the Hulu Upfront presentation in New York City on May 1. She donned a bizarre short-sleeved striped Supreme shirt left open over a white crop top with neon green pants -- a truly strange getup made only more puzzling with the addition of those black kitten heels. Kiernan Shipka has been a fashion maven since she was a young child star, but this 2019 Billboard Music Awards look on May 1 didn't do the trick. The odd Dior design featured a semi-sheer top half with horizontal black stripes and a red skirt with a black chevron stripe for a similarly sheer effect, all of which amounted to a big fashion miss. Kat Dennings wowed in a black Christian Siriano dress, which featured thin straps, a belt detail and a sweet mermaid-style flared skirt, at the Hulu Upfront presentation in New York City on May 1. She kept things classic with pointy-toe black pumps and a nude lip to complete her look. Lily Collins typically delivers a surefire hit or a flagrant miss, rarely anything in between. Unfortunately, her "Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile" premiere look in New York City on May 2 was a bust. The Saint Laurent minidress featured a shiny asymmetrical neckline dotted with red stars that was distracting enough, but when coupled with her polka-dot tights, we were truly lost.


When agriculture arrived in Europe some 8,500 years ago, humans didn't simply adapt their lifestyles and eating habits, but also their genes. Researchers, led by geneticist David Reich at Harvard Medical School, analyzed the DNA of 230 ancient humans who lived between 3,000 and 8,500 years ago and found 12 positions on the human genome where natural selection seems to have occurred with the advent of farming. The scientists were also able to trace which genes were passed down from various prehistoric ancestors. In a paper published in Nature , the researchers show that northern Europeans seem to have a stronger genetic link to a particularly tall nomadic population from the Eurasian steppe who came to Europe around 4,500 years ago. Because of these genes, northern Europeans are still tall compared to others on the continent. Southern Europeans became shorter as they turned to farming, as genes connected to reduced height were passed down through the generations. These shorter genes were inherited from Neolithic and Chalcolithic populations on from the Iberian peninsula, though it's not clear why this happened in the south but not the north. After they began farming, ancient Europeans also evolved to have lighter skin pigmentation, which is better able to capture vitamin D from the sun. Reich hypothesizes that earlier prehistoric hunter-gatherers didn't need lighter skin, as the meat they caught provided enough Vitamin D, according to the New York Times (paywall). The researchers also found genetic variants that allowed humans to digest lactose as adults, as well as genes for metabolizing fats and circulating vitamin D. The analysis of ancient DNA, from humans who once lived across what is now Europe, Siberia and Turkey, includes studies of 83 samples that had not been examined before. The researchers were also able to look at 26 DNA samples from the Mediterranean, where the warmer climate means DNA is more likely to break down. The team was able to gather such a data set thanks to recent extraction techniques that allowed them to analyze DNA from the petrous bone. Co-senior author Ron Pinhasi, associate professor of archaeology at University College Dublin, said in a statement that the findings are "quite amazing." As well as evidence of genetic solution, the DNA analysis shows how farming travelled to Europe. He added: The Neolithic revolution is perhaps the most important transition in human prehistory. We now have proof that people did actually go from Anatolia into Europe and brought farming with them. For more than 40 years, people thought it was impossible to answer that question.


Ezekiel Elliott is still holding out for a new contract with the Dallas Cowboys, and has yet to show up to training camp in Oxnard, California. He isn't waiting around in Dallas for his team to strike a new deal with the organization, either. [Join or create a 2019 Yahoo Fantasy Football league for free today] Instead, Elliott left for Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on Monday to go train at his agent's property, according to the NFL Network's Jane Slater. I can confirm today's reports that Zeke is headed to Cabo to train while the #Cowboys and his team continue to work on his contract. Per a source close to the situation, I'm told his agent, Rocky Arceneaux, owns a place there and he did the same during his suspension.   Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) July 29, 2019 Elliott has made the training trek to Baja California Sur before, most notably during his six-game suspension in 2017. That time, however, Elliott was unable to use the Cowboys' facilities. The team apparently didn't take the news of the trip well, either. Members of the front office reportedly thought the trip was "not a good look," according to Slater, and are still committed to getting the running back to training camp in Southern California as soon as possible. Dallas tendered a "solid offer" to Elliott on Monday, too, according to USA Today's Jori Epstein , though has yet to hear back. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, however, made it clear that he isn't willing to overpay for the running back to remain in Dallas . "The point there is, you don't have to have a rushing champion to win a Super Bowl," Jones said Monday . "Emmitt (Smith) was the first one to do it. That's one of the dilemmas at running back is that the league knows you can win Super Bowls and not have the Emmitt Smith back there or not have Zeke back there." With Elliott now south of the border, it's looks like he's in no immediate rush to join his team at training camp. He's prepared to wait for the deal he wants. More from Yahoo Sports: Saints preview: Can N.O. put heartbreak in the past? Gurley plans to sit out preseason games, some practices Mets come off as delusional after Stroman trade A 16-year-old wins $3M for playing 'Fortnite'


Phoenix will see a return of last week's hot temperatures over the next few days, according to drone-powered weather forecasting service Saildrone . Temperatures will reach a high of 93 degrees on Saturday, then decline a bit from Monday to Thursday. The immediate forecast also has cloudy skies in store for today. Skies will become partly cloudy starting on Saturday. Winds will stay light throughout the week, with the highest speeds on Monday at only 9 miles per hour. 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.


Carson Wentz admitted back in April that his back still was not completely healed from stress fractures that cut his 2019 season short, but it seems as though he has come a long way over the past two months. Wentz has been a full participant in OTAs and minicamp, and Eagles coach Doug Pederson was asked on Thursday if the quarterback's back is fully healed. He reiterated that Wentz has had no limitations and said the back has not been an issue "as far as I know." Doug Pederson asked if Carson Wentz's back is fully healed. Doug: "Yeah, as far as I know. He's had no limitations." #Eagles   Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) June 13, 2019 A stress fracture is the type of injury that can linger, so the Eagles will probably play it safe with Wentz throughout training camp. Either way, the massive new contract they gave him indicates they are not concerned about his long-term health. With Nick Foles now out of the picture, the Eagles will do everything they can to make sure Wentz stays on the field for all of 2019.


May 20--Wolves President of Basketball Operations Gerson Rosas has made one of his most pressing decisions in his new job   and he is keeping Ryan Saunders as head coach. A source confirmed to the Star Tribune that Rosas and Saunders are finalizing a deal for Saunders to become the Wolves' coach going forward. Saunders became the interim head coach after owner Glen Taylor fired former coach and President Tom Thibodeau on Jan. 6. Under Saunders, the Wolves went 17-25 and missed the playoffs, but Saunders has strong relationships with players like Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins along with Taylor, who also owns the Star Tribune. It was expected Saunders, 33, would become the head coach on a permanent basis, but that decision was up to Rosas. He interviewed several outside candidates for the job. Upon taking the job there was no mandate for Rosas to keep either Saunders or general manager Scott Layden, whose future with the team is still unknown. Come back to startribune.com later for more on this story. Chris Hine • 612-673-4000 ___ (c)2019 the Star Tribune (Minneapolis) Visit the Star Tribune (Minneapolis) at www.startribune.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.


OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) The Oakland Athletics are on a roll again, much like a year ago when they took off in mid-June and used a sensational second half to return to the playoffs for the first time in four years. Mike Fiers won in his first start at the Coliseum since pitching a no-hitter earlier this month and the A's beat Seattle 6-5 on Saturday for their eighth straight win, a streak that has suspended game in the middle. Matt Chapman homered and Ramon Laureano doubled in his fifth straight game, matching Miguel Tejada for the Oakland record not accomplished since 2003. The A's keep winning and doing just enough even with reigning majors home run leader Khris Davis sidelined by a bruised left hip and side. ''We have a lot of good depth and we know we have really good players, some guys on the bench who would have been starting on any other team,'' Laureano said. ''We feel pretty confident. Everything is clicking right now and it's fun. We've got to keep it rolling.'' Domingo Santana hit two home runs and Mitch Haniger also connected for Seattle, which has lost five in a row. Mariners third baseman Kyle Seager doubled and singled in his season debut after recovering from surgery to repair a tendon in his left hand that he hurt diving for a ball during spring training. ''It feels good to be out there. It was a lot of fun being around the guys and competing,'' Seager said. With his 1,156th appearance for Seattle, he moved past Harold Reynolds into seventh place in club history for games played. Fiers (4-3) received a warm welcome when introduced before the game, his first at home since throwing a no-hitter against Cincinnati on May 7. He went six innings against Seattle, allowing three runs and five hits. Blake Treinen gave up Santana's home run in the ninth before finishing for his 10th save in 12 tries. On June 15 last year, the A's trailed Seattle by 11 games then wound up with 97 wins and a wild card. They certainly hope this current run might lead to another surge. Yusei Kikuchi (3-2) faced Oakland for the third time in as many different ballparks this season. The Japanese lefty previously pitched against the A's in Tokyo and Seattle, taking a no-decision each time. He was done after 3 1/3 innings, giving up five runs and 10 hits - matching his most surrendered this year. Marcus Semien hit an RBI single that broke a 3-all tie in the fourth and Chad Pinder followed with a two-run double. Laureano, who has an eight-game hitting streak and also stole a base, provided an insurance run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth. ''He's swinging the bat great. He's feeling pretty confident, too,'' A's manager Bob Melvin said. ''I think we're about ready to see him start to heat up.'' ROSTER MOVES The A's designated veteran right-hander Fernando Rodney - with 582 career appearances over 17 big league seasons - for assignment with his 0-2 record and 9.42 ERA in 17 outings. Melvin said he expects him to land with another club. Oakland selected the contract of Taiwanese left-hander Wei-Chung Wang from Triple-A Las Vegas. He was a non-roster invitee to spring training. The Mariners optioned infielder Dylan Moore to Triple-A Tacoma after Friday night's game and transferred right-hander Sam Tuivailala to the 60-day injured list. TRAINER'S ROOM Mariners: 2B Dee Gordon saw a specialist in Orlando, Florida, on Friday for his bruised right wrist. The Mariners medical staff planned to discuss the injury later Saturday. ... On Friday in Seattle, RHP Felix Hernandez (stiffness in his pitching shoulder) played catch for the first time, throwing from up to 60 feet. ''He feels good,'' manager Scott Servais said. Athletics: Right fielder Stephen Piscotty was scratched with a stomach bug. UP NEXT Mariners: RHP Mike Leake (3-5, 4.73 ERA) beat the A's for his last win May 14. He is 0-2 lifetime with a 3.48 ERA in five starts at the Coliseum. Athletics: LHP Brett Anderson (5-3, 4.14) is 8-5 with a 2.38 ERA in 20 matchups with 19 starts for his career vs. Seattle - his most victories against any opponent. --- More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports


BEIJING  One is a star of one of President Trump's favorite television networks, Fox Business; the other is a polished debater on Chinese state media known for her confidence in China's rise and scorn for "biased" Western media. After weeks of back-and-forth sniping on television and Twitter, Trish Regan from the Fox Business Network and Liu Xin from China Global Television Network are facing off Wednesday night on Regan's show to argue on behalf of their respective governments about tariffs and technology. The debate might be just another weeknight segment for Fox Business, but it's eagerly anticipated in China, where nationalism and distaste for the United States are running high as the White House tightens the screws on Beijing in their ongoing trade dispute. Subscribe to the Post Most newsletter: Today's most popular stories on The Washington Post "With anchorwomen like her, and companies like Huawei, why would China need to worry about its rise?" read a typical patriotic comment on Chinese social media praising Liu, who is one of China's best known faces despite her regular show appearing on an English-language channel. Hashtags about the upcoming debate have been viewed upward of 150 million times, with some Weibo posts retweeted tens of thousands of times. Nearly all of China's tightly controlled state media outlets have covered the Liu vs. Regan showdown, often framing the anchor as a symbol of Chinese toughness and rationality. Liu's employer CGTN   the international division of China's all-powerful China Central Television network, or CCTV   has hailed the clash between the two anchors as nothing less than a "historic first." From the Chinese government perspective, the debate may be a small victory before Liu even utters a word on Fox Business. Over the past decade, the ruling Communist Party has invested heavily to push its state media into the global conversation and shape international discourse. "Just think how many Americans see the Chinese narrative on CGTN versus how many will be viewing the debate on Fox," said Yuan Zeng, a lecturer at the University of Leeds School of Media and Communication. "At least in terms of exposure, it's good for China." While many Western outlets have shrunk, Chinese organizations like CCTV and the Xinhua News Agency, once the key cogs of the domestic propaganda machinery, have turned their attention outward and expanded aggressively. The state organizations have spent millions on state-of-the-art hubs in New York, London, Cairo and Nairobi, where hundreds of its journalists work. Newspapers like the party-run People's Daily these days curate English-language feeds on Facebook and Twitter   services banned inside China   that share everything from Foreign Ministry statements to panda videos. Chinese leader Xi Jinping, meanwhile, has demanded state media pledge "absolute loyalty" to the Communist Party and, above all else, "tell China's story well" to the outside world. Now with Chinese state media getting bigger and bolder   so are its reporters. Chen Weihua, the former chief Washington correspondent for party-owned China Daily, an influential English-language newspaper, said it was "healthy" that someone like Liu was going toe-to-toe with Regan. Unlike in previous generations, Chen said, some Chinese state media reporters are increasingly happy to tangle with Western reporters, for instance on Twitter. "The influence of Western media is disproportionate, and you can't avoid their overwhelming disinformation about China," said Chen, now China Daily's Brussels bureau chief. "That's why China wants its news organizations well-represented so China's story is told by Chinese journalists, not by Western journalists." Liu and Regan first squared off two weeks ago, when Regan argued on her show that U.S. tariffs were a necessary response to China stealing $600 billion worth of technology. Liu then took direct aim at Regan on her talk show, "The Point With Liu Xin," and criticized the Fox Business anchor's argument as "all emotion" and "little substance." The two exchanged more salvos on-air. They traded tweets. Regan invited Liu to debate. A date was set: May 29. Regan, who isn't exactly known for her adversarial stance toward the Trump administration, will face off Wednesday with a woman who is unapologetic about championing China. An English major from eastern China who speaks flawless English, some French, German and Turkish, Liu became the first Chinese student to win an international public speaking competition in London in 1996. She joined CCTV after graduating and became one of its highest-profile correspondents, covering events like President Barack Obama's state visit to Beijing, the Iran nuclear talks and the conflict in Syria. Liu, who is married to a German man of Turkish descent, said she spent 10 years telling "the China story" to her husband and children and found them swayed by negative Western media portrayals of her country. "They respond by saying, 'Oh, Mom is praising China again,' " she told Thepaper.com in 2017. "The same is true for my job: I need to lay out the facts and speak with reason. I want to win over the foreign audience." When she speaks to Chinese peers, Liu urges them to be more assertive and self-confident. In January 2018, Liu told Chinese reporters in Beijing that "China has always been the subject of Western media criticism, often downright bashing based on falsehoods." The country's economic rise reflected "the validity and rationality of its development path, showing its confidence in its path, theories, institutions and culture," she said. "It reinforces reporters' confidence in telling fantastic Chinese stories based on China's successful practices." Liu's profile is soaring at a time when her employer is increasingly scrutinized by the U.S. government   precisely for its advocacy. Last year, the Justice Department ordered CCTV's U.S. division to register as an agent of foreign influence. Zeng, from the University of Leeds, said events like Liu's debate could offer more proof to the network's critics. "Everything about it is in line with serving the national interest and the party line," she said. Particularly as China's stature rose in the last decade, some CCTV correspondents have embraced overt displays of nationalism. In 2011, Rui Chenggang, a young CCTV star, famously asked the U.S. ambassador to Beijing, Gary Locke, if he flew economy because it was a reminder that the United States owed China money. This year, a CCTV London correspondent, Kong Linlin, was charged with assault by British police after she slapped a man twice at a political conference in a heated argument about China's role in Hong Kong. If CCTV reporters are increasingly engaging their peers outside China, they've also taken occasional aim at Western correspondents at home. In 2012, the anchor Yang Rui celebrated China expelling a female American correspondent for Al Jazeera with a derogatory comment, saying those who demonize China should get lost. (Yang later apologized.) In 2017, a CCTV reporter went on a lengthy on-air jeremiad criticizing the BBC's coverage of China's Communist Party Congress as inappropriate and unfair. Shortly after that, China's Foreign Ministry punished the British broadcaster by temporarily holding up visa renewals. That reporter's name? Liu Xin. gerry.shih@washpost.com


The Houston Texans have the absolute average offense in the NFL. According to Bill Barnwell of ESPN, in his best and worst offensive arsenal rankings , the AFC South champions from a season ago rank smack dab in the middle at 16th overall. Here's another situation where health affects the ranking. DeAndre Hopkins is my pick as the best wide receiver in football; at worst, he's somewhere in the top five. Will Fuller has produced a 45-782-11 line in 11 starts with Deshaun Watson at quarterback, but he has now undergone two knee surgeries in two years and has missed 17 games in three years. Barnwell perfectly encapsulates what the Texans offense has been like since Watson took over midway through Week 1 of 2017. Hopkins produced two first-team All-Pro selections, one despite Watson blowing out his ACL on Nov. 2, 2017, and his second in Watson's comeback season where he played all 16 games. In other words, Hopkins will dominate no matter who is under center. Contrast that with Fuller. How has the former 2016 first-round pick fared without Watson throwing him the ball since the Clemson Tiger came to Houston? Try 15 catches for 144 yards in six games. If anything happens to Watson, expect Fuller's production to drop. Also, if anything happens to Fuller, expect the offense's production to drop. The one wild-card is receiver Keke Coutee. Coutee was only healthy enough to play seven games last season, but he averaged nearly 57 receiving yards per game amid hamstring issues. The Texans only had their trio on the field for 85 dropbacks last season; if Hopkins, Fuller and Coutee are on the field regularly, they could very well make up for uninspiring options at running back and tight end. In 2017, Barnwell gave the Texans an 18th overall ranking. However, last season, Houston had the No. 12-best offensive arsenal. This was while the jury was still out on Watson's ACL recovery and the effectiveness of a rookie Coutee. MORE: Big Baller Brand's demise looks imminent with sad clearance sale at a local gym News: Cowboys' $100 million men underpaid, and more dangerous in 2019 Roundup: Hustlers Trailer, El Chapo Getting Supermax Prison, Dan Patrick on Ben Simmons Baker Mayfield believed the Patriots would trade up to draft him The top 100 players in the NFL today


The first time I met Jeffrey Choate, he looked close to death. He was passed out on a Larkin Street sidewalk, needles and other drug paraphernalia scattered around him. His dirt-smeared arms and hands puffed up like balloons, a sign of heroin addiction. It was last September. A San Francisco police officer, a Chronicle photographer and I walked the Tenderloin for a column on the city's all but officially sanctioned open-air drug market . Need a fix? This is the place to come. The officer rousted him to make sure he was alive. He came to and told us his name. That he was 33. That he was from the East Bay, but was homeless and sleeping on San Francisco sidewalks. That he'd used heroin and crystal meth every day for years. "I hate it, doing this," he said. "As bad as it is, it's kind of addicting out here." Underneath the grime, he appeared tall, young and handsome. Well-spoken. The encounter prompted so many questions: How did Jeffrey come to normalize shooting up on a Monday afternoon on a filthy sidewalk? Where was his family? We all ask these questions every day and rarely get answers. This time I got one   one that indicts both the overly accepting progressive policies of San Francisco and the harsh law-and-order stance of bordering San Mateo County. Two counties that fail in their own ways to deal with the overwhelming drug problems on our streets and two counties that won't admit those failures. San Francisco, in the false name of compassion, let Jeffrey sink into misery on its streets. San Mateo, in the false name of justice, sent him to prison. We met again five months later. Jeffrey's grubby clothes had been replaced by a clean orange jumpsuit. His puffy arms were back to the brawniness of his high school baseball days, his straggly hair clean and short. We talked in a Redwood City jail visiting room. He'd been arrested and was being held there awaiting transfer to his next stop: state prison. He's been in jail for eight months now, convicted of shoplifting clothes from Marshall's in Colma and giving a false name to police. He was high on heroin and meth when he stole the clothes. He gave the name and birth date of a friend of his, an identity he'd used in previous run-ins with the police to avoid being picked up on parole violations. He said he felt badly about getting his friend in trouble, and confessed his real name within an hour. Prosecutors held out for a tough sentence, and a county judge agreed: State prison for five years. "Should I be punished? Yeah," Jeffrey said. "But find a happy medium. A happy medium means understanding why people use drugs." And there are a lot of those people. The National Institute on Drug Abuse says 1.7 million people in the United States suffer from substance abuse, and 652,000 are addicted to heroin. In 2017, 47,000 Americans died of an opioid overdose. The crisis is rampant on the streets of San Francisco. In the city's 2017 homeless count, the most recent for which detailed information is available, 41% of homeless people said they have a substance abuse problem. That's more than 3,000 homeless people grappling every day with the devastating pull of drugs or alcohol. Like Jeffrey, many of them battle their demons on our sidewalks for all to see. "There are bad people," Jeffrey said. "But we're not all bad." Many of them have families that care about them. I was talking to Jeffrey again because of his mother. It's not unusual for families to write when they see their homeless relative in a news story. Sometimes they're mad about the publicity; other times, they want help finding them. The email from Susan Choate-Brye was different: The young man, Jeffrey, that you interviewed for this article 10/6/18 is my son Jeffrey Choate. He told me that he was in the newspaper, and my heart broke when I saw the pictures of him on the streets. I have not seen him for over six months   had no idea if he was alive or dead. She wanted to tell me her only child's story because she knows there are many families like hers. Speaking up, she thought, might help someone else. "I'm going to be as honest as the day is long with you, because that's what this is all about," she said when we talked at her sprawling home in Clayton, where she raised Jeffrey and still lives with his stepfather. Susan, 67, wears a cross around her neck, serves visitors ice water with lemon slices and loves "Dr. Phil." She has a welcome mat and rose bushes out front and a swimming pool out back. She worked at a flooring company until her back gave out and now is retired. She spends a lot of time in her home office, contacting doctors, lawyers, politicians   anybody she thinks might be able to help Jeffrey and people like him. The people she asks for help almost never write back. Steve Brye, 70, a former Major League Baseball player who works in operations at the Port of Oakland, remembers the first time he met the 4-year-old who would become his stepson. He'd answered a dating ad and showed up at Susan's house. Her little boy answered the front door, demanding to know who he was. "He was a cute little kid," Brye said, chuckling at the memory. Susan has albums filled with photos showing a happy childhood. Jeffrey wearing big, goofy sunglasses. Jeffrey in the bath, next to a Christmas tree, blowing out candles on his birthday cake. "He loved sports. He loved going to school," Susan recalled. "He was easy in the early years." Jeffrey liked playing Nintendo and watching World Wrestling Federation matches on TV   Randy "Macho Man" Savage was his favorite. He liked having friends over and making forts out of couch cushions. By middle school he was popular with girls, taking four of them to his seventh-grade dance. At Clayton Valley High, he got decent grades and was a pitcher with a mean curveball. But sometime in his late teens, the happy and easy Jeffrey disappeared. Susan thinks wisdom tooth surgery when he was 17 was the turning point. Doctors prescribed OxyContin. "When he turned 18, all heck broke loose," Susan said. "He really changed as a person, became very angry. He stole from us. Nobody wanted to be around him." He enrolled at Diablo Valley College but dropped out. He lived with roommates, and Susan couldn't keep a close eye on him. But in 2007, when he was 22, Jeffrey asked for help. He was in trouble, he told Susan, addicted to pills. He signed paperwork allowing her to view his Kaiser medical records. Susan and Steve had been paying for Jeffrey's health insurance and were horrified to see what they had unwittingly funded. Between 2003 and 2007, Kaiser doctors had prescribed Jeffrey more than 1,700 pills, including OxyContin and Hydrocodone. Multiple doctors. Multiple prescriptions. The list goes on for pages. Seventeen hundred opioid pills for a young man just out of high school. Jeffrey had complained to doctors about neck, back and foot pain. Doctors noted in his file he had a substance abuse problem, but kept prescribing him opioids. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that up to 29% of patients prescribed opioids misuse them, and as many as 12% will become addicted. About 6% of those who misuse opioids transition to heroin, while 80% of heroin users had misused prescription opioids. Americans consume 80% of the world's opioid supply. Kaiser officials declined to comment on Jeffrey's health history, citing privacy laws. In an email, Dr. Sameer Awsare, associate executive director of the Permanente Medical Group, said the company's "heart goes out to Mr. Choate and his family." Awsare went on to say Kaiser cut its opioid prescriptions by 40% between 2011 and 2017, and now prescribes lower doses and shorter courses when opioids are medically necessary. That policy change came too late for Jeffrey. His story gets murky after that 2007 talk with his mom. After years of daily drug use, he is unable to tell exactly what happened next. Instead, he bounces among anecdotes, injecting political beliefs and monologues about the science of opioid addiction. But seven attempts at rehab failed. He grew estranged from his parents. By 2013, Jeffrey was so desperate to feed his pill addiction that he robbed three Bay Area banks. The unarmed robberies netted $4,770   and 19 months in state prison. When he got out, he started using cheaper, easier-to-score heroin and meth, buying it in the Tenderloin, where it's about as easy to purchase as a pack of gum. Five parole violations kept him cycling in and out of jail. Susan heard from Jeffrey only when he was locked up. Those were the nights she could sleep. At least she knew where he was, that he had a bed and food. She sometimes thought about driving around to look for Jeffrey when he was out of jail. "Had I seen him," she says now, "I would have sat down on the street next to him and never left him. That's what a mother does." Jeffrey admits to shoplifting food and other items to sell for drug money. Friends living in single room occupancy hotels let him shower and use the bathroom, but he would sleep wherever he passed out, often near the corner of Ellis and Hyde streets. He said he got free needles from the city's needle exchange, usually 50 at a time. San Francisco handed out 5.8 million needles last year with no requirement to return the dirty ones. Over the years, he said, he's been threatened with knives, hit on the head with a pistol and had his belongings stolen. One night he found his best street friend, Bob, dead of pneumonia in a Tenderloin alley. Jeffrey was arrested Sept. 25, just a few weeks after our Tenderloin encounter, for the theft from Marshall's and using a false name. He had meth and heroin on him, and was charged with two felonies and three misdemeanors. He's been behind bars ever since. Francoise Espinoza, a private defense attorney, took his case. San Mateo County has no public defender's office and pays private attorneys to represent indigent defendants. Espinoza said she has about 70 clients at any time, most of them addicted to drugs. Treatment, she said, is clearly the right answer for Jeffrey. "I think he needs to do a lengthy drug treatment program," she said. "I don't think sending him to prison is going to make anything better. There's always someone willing to supply and feed that need in prison." San Mateo County prosecutors offered Jeffrey a plea deal   32 months in prison   but he opted to go to trial instead. In December, a jury found him guilty. Susan provided emails showing Jeffrey's parole officer had discussed a stay at Delancey Street, the famed San Francisco treatment center where former prisoners learn life skills and regularly turn their lives around. But Susan was concerned the facility doesn't take people with dual diagnoses, such as drug addiction and mental illness, or who require psychiatric medication. Jeffrey has struggled with depression. Instead, Susan secured him a bed at Henry Ohlhoff House, a San Francisco facility that accepts rehab patients who have a variety of other issues. Ohlhoff House Executive Director Arlene Stanich-Prince said clients who are mandated by judges to participate in the program often do the best because they know if they don't succeed, it's back to jail. In court, Susan pleaded with San Mateo Superior Court Judge Gerald Buchwald to send Jeffrey there instead of state prison. To give him one more chance. Instead, Buchwald sentenced Jeffrey to five years in state prison. Weeks later, he was transferred to San Quentin. It's hard to imagine Jeffrey would have gone to prison if he'd been caught shoplifting in San Francisco. In the city, people stick needles in their necks or between their toes in the middle of the day on busy sidewalks with little fear of police. Even drug dealers face few repercussions. In fiscal year 2017-18, police arrested or cited 883 people for selling drugs citywide, 56% of them in the Tenderloin . Police presented 747 drug sale arrests to the district attorney's office, which charged 80% of them. Nearly half of those are still pending. So far, 173 people have been convicted, with 32 sentenced to some jail time. Others received probation. The problem: Those out on probation and those awaiting action in their cases often return to the Tenderloin to deal. San Francisco's approach to the opioid crisis focuses on "harm reduction," making the use of illicit drugs a little safer, such as nudging a heroin user to shoot up four times a day rather than five. The city has trained many of its employees to administer Narcan to reverse drug overdoses. Last year, they helped reverse 1,266 overdoses . Jeffrey says San Francisco paramedics saved him from overdosing "like 12 times," including once in a park bathroom. The city runs a street medicine team, but Jeffrey doesn't remember ever being offered help. Perhaps that's because there's so little help to offer. For those who need residential drug treatment, the city has just 267 spaces available, with another 68 for those who also struggle with mental illness. That's in a city with 24,500 injection drug users, more than double the number from 2005. Some addiction experts say the city's leniency   unlimited free needles, easy access to cheap drugs and tacit permission to use them in public   draws users here. That leniency, though, stops at Geneva Avenue, the boundary between San Francisco and San Mateo County. The street is a dividing line in criminals' minds, too. If you break the law, you definitely want to get picked up on the north side of Geneva. San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe is proud of that. "If there's an act, there's a consequence," he said. "That's the way we work down here in quiet little San Mateo County." Wagstaffe said defendants don't get to choose a treatment center. He said Jeffrey's insistence on what Wagstaffe deemed an "easier" option at Ohlhoff House indicated he wasn't committed to getting off drugs. San Mateo County's approach helps keep its sidewalks safe for everybody, he said. "I'm just grateful you can come here to our civic center, and there aren't a bunch of people with needles in their arms laying around," Wagstaffe said. "I think my community, at least, prefers that." When I last talked with Jeffrey at the Redwood City jail, he looked markedly healthier. But his first several days in jail were grim. Forced to go cold turkey, he'd suffered fevers, sleeplessness, diarrhea and mood swings. "You're not going to die from opiate withdrawal, but it feels like you want to," he said. He said taking opiates numbed him, made him less angry. When he'd fight with his mother or a girlfriend, opiates would make him feel better. He said his mom described him as "like a robot." He thinks drugs should be decriminalized, and that treatment should be available to whoever wants it. He thinks cities should open safe injection site s so users can consume drugs out of sight of children and cops. "When you're willing to rob banks because you're that sick off of opiates, then come talk to me," he said. "When you basically have a death wish because it's that bad, then I'll listen. ... Nobody tries to understand anything." It seems clear that Jeffrey would have been better off applying to Delancey Street than where he's headed now. Five years in state prison seems like a waste   for Jeffrey and the taxpayers who will foot the bill. It could also be hard to stay clean, considering there were nearly 1,000 overdoses in California's prisons last year, a spike of 113% in three years that officials say is part of a shocking rise in opioid use among prisoners. It's also clear that neither San Francisco nor San Mateo County has the right answer for dealing with the Jeffreys on their streets. Declaring success if addicts don't overdose or contract HIV, but offering far too few treatment beds, seems like too low a bar, especially for a city with a health department budget of $2.3 billion. Allowing the Tenderloin to remain a public injection site where drug dealers have easy access to users is immoral. But declaring success by shipping addicts who need help to state prison, where drugs are readily available, also seems cruel and shortsighted. There are other answers out there. In Portugal, for instance , possession of any type of drug that would last one person 10 days is decriminalized. If someone is caught with that small an amount, he or she must report to a special commission within three days, and they'll be connected to drug treatment. Unlike in San Francisco, treatment slots are always available. If the person refuses treatment, police may get involved. Drug dealers, meanwhile, face years in prison. As a result of the policy changes in the late 1990s, the use of heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine in Portugal have dropped, and dirty needles on sidewalks and open-air drug use are rare. If there's any upside to prison, it's that Jeffrey and his mother have reconnected. She's visited him regularly in Redwood City and San Quentin. In the mail, there are often long letters from Jeffrey. One was a letter of apology. When the phone rings, it's often him calling. "He does care about himself now," Susan said. These days, her overwhelming feeling is sadness, for all the years lost to addiction and estrangement. "It's missing him   vacations we never took, movies we never saw together, holidays we never spent together," she said. On one of their last visits to the Redwood City jail, Susan and Steve spoke to Jeffrey through thick glass smeared with the fingerprints of relatives and inmates unable to touch each other. Mostly they joked and told stories, but then the conversation turned serious. "I look at you and I just, I get angry. This is your life. Sixteen years of your life," Susan told Jeffrey. "I just want you where you're going to be safe and get help." On May 13, Jeffrey was back in a Redwood City courtroom. His attorney made a last-gasp plea to Judge Buchwald to suspend the five-year sentence and send Jeffrey to treatment instead. Susan and Steve were sitting in the front row. They drove their "good car"   the one, Susan joked, that doesn't have 200,000 miles on it   and brought Jeffrey a change of clothes. Just in case, by some miracle, the judge released him. Buchwald, who declined to comment for this column, said in the hearing that he could have given him even more time in prison and refused to alter his sentence. So it was back to San Quentin, the first stop for those on their way to prisons around the state. Jeffrey will serve out his sentence at a prison in Susanville (Lassen County), a nearly 10-hour round-trip drive for Susan and Steve. Susan said she was disgusted. She and Steve drove back to Clayton. A bedroom will be waiting there for Jeffrey, she said, whenever he comes home. San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Knight appears Sundays and Tuesdays. Email: hknight@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @hknightsf


In a few days, the streets of Baltimore will be filled with music, festivalgoers and fun, all there to celebrate the city's rich and diverse art community at Artscape. Artist Jen McBrien comes back every year and says she loves it. McBrien creates inside her studio, but the inspiration for her art comes from outside her window. "I have lived in Baltimore City all my life, and I have a fascination with birds because that's a little part of nature and they are everywhere, and I feel like they sort of have this urban attitude," McBrien said. She celebrates that on aprons, pillows, bags and pictures. McBrien has always been an artist, a painter and a teacher. She is now the owner of Jenny Jen 42 . She started fabric-based art in 2007 while looking for a way to heal from the loss of her grandmother, a woman who loved to work with her hands. "I had such a great love for her. She ended up getting Alzheimer's late in life and you just watched her sink away," McBrien said. It turns out, sewing can mend the soul. "I think she'd be really proud of me," McBrien said. She's proud of herself at what she's done, too, and will be sharing it at Artscape this weekend. She loves being part of the festival in her hometown. "There's something great about Artscape because there are so many different types people come together and they have such a great time," she said. She looks forward to having festivalgoers stop by the artist market. "I want them to be happy. I want people to look at my work and put a smile on your face," McBrien said.  READ MORE: Baltimore artist's love of city birds highlighted at Artscape CHECK OUT WBAL: Get all the latest Baltimore news, weather and sports. WBAL-TV brings you the best in Maryland news online, anytime.


If you're an avid cruiser, you already know the truth: for a spot on the best cruises, with the wildest itineraries, you'll need to plan ahead before all of the good rooms (or all of the rooms, period) are snatched up. So while most landlubbers are planning their fall vacations for 2019, we're looking ahead to the cruises of 2020. From a three-day Bahamian getaway to an polar bear-focused Arctic exploration, there's something for everyone. So find a few friends or go solo , since cruise lines are making it easier and more affordable than ever to go your own way and book your next adventure. Ponant's "Madagascar, Réunion, and Mauritius" Cruise An itinerary we don't see often, Ponant's 14-day Indian Ocean cruise hits up La Digue in the Seychelles, lemur colonies on Madagascar, and the beachy Réunion island. Start planning now for this cruise by getting PADI-certified in scuba diving  then, you'll be able to swim with manta rays, gray reef sharks, and more at almost every port. It would make a great honeymoon adventure too, thanks to Le Lyrial's small size (just 122 suites) (If you're dying to do the route on your own, wait until 2021 when the single supplement is waived on this itinerary.) April 9 to 2, from $9,010 per person, us.ponant.com Viking's "Southeast Asia & Hong Kong" Cruise The cruise line's Orion ship is one of our favorites ( our readers ranked it among the very best , too). Its Scandinavian touches reach from the furniture and design think blond woods and Eames chairs to the food, which of course includes lots of salmon and smørrebrød. We'd sail a lot of routes on this ship, but the itinerary that goes between Bangkok and Hong Kong is of particular interest. With overnight stays in five ports, you'll actually get a chance to get a sense of place. Plus, you'll visit the area's mainstays over the 15-day trip, from Ho Chi Minh to Ha Long Bay. April 17 to May 1 and Sept. 30 to Oct. 14, from $5,999 per person, vikingcruises.com Avalon Waterway's "A Taste of the Danube" Cruise With the largest suites of any river cruise line and floor-to-ceiling windows for the great cruising views, Avalon Waterways gives us a lot to love. But it's the fact that they're waiving the single supplement fee on some of their four-day Danube itineraries next year that has the solo travelers among us really excited. The itinerary picks up in Budapest and ends in Vienna makes stops in Bratislava, Melk, and Dürnstein for a brief tour of the Austria's Wachau Valley. It's a easy book for a long weekend or kick-off to a larger European adventure and it's on Avalon's newest ship, added to the fleet in 2019. Various dates in May, July, September, October, and November, from $749 per person, avalonwaterways.com Abercrombie & Kent's "In Search of the Polar Bear" Cruise Even though this 15-day, all-inclusive cruise takes place mid-summer, you'll want to pack some serious layers: you're heading to the Arctic. (Pack a sleep mask too: the timing lends itself to midnight sun throughout the voyage.) But the extra baggage will be worth it, as you'll be joined on this voyage on Le Boreal by a historian, geologist, ornithologist, botanist, and marine biologist to help you learn the most from your stops in Norway's Svalbard islands, Iceland , and Greenland . If you're worried your photos of polar bears won't live up to the real thing, this cruise also comes with a photo coach, there to help you snag the best shot of the vulnerable giants. July 31 to August 14, from $15,995 per person, abercrombiekent.com Regent Seven Seas' "Grecian Wonders" Cruise One of the best small ship cruise lines , according to our Readers' Choice Awards, Regent Seven Seas is offering the island-hopping itinerary of our dreams through the Mediterranean. Plus, it's on the Seven Seas Splendor, the line's newest all-balcony ship debuting in 2020. Stopping at seven Greek isles after embarking from Athens , the ship ends its 10-day route in Istanbul . The best part? The cruise is all-inclusive, which means you'll get unlimited shore excursions to explore Rhodes, Crete, and more; unlimited food and drinks (and yes, that includes wine); and free transfers to the airport. October 4 to 14, from $10,599 per person, rssc.com Royal Caribbean's "3 Night Bahamas & Perfect Day" Cruise We've mentioned it before : when you want to just get away and don't have the mental energy to plan your own trip, a three-day cruise to the Bahamas, with a stop on a private island, is everything you could ask for. Royal Caribbean runs quickie trips on Enchantment of the Seas, which embark Fridays at 4 p.m. from Miami and return back to port by 7 a.m. Monday morning. The ship spends a full day at the line's private isle, Coco Cay, and another in Nassau , so you'll have time to explore. (Or, you could settle into the ship, checking out the rock-climbing walls and a trio of pools on board.) Weekly from $387 per person for a balcony stateroom, royalcaribbean.com


Chances are, your favorite celebrity has experimented with a pixie cut at some point during their life. 45 Celebrity Pixie Haircuts That Will Make You Want to Chop Your Hair Short Chances are, your favorite celebrity has experimented with a pixie cut at some point during their life. Many stars, including Rihanna and Rowan Blanchard , have chopped their hair into the face-framing hairstyle, styling it in countless different ways. On this list you'll find inspiration for long, short, layered, and textured pixies. Regardless of how the A-lister has styled her pixie cut, you'll want to call up your hairstylist. Check out some of Hollywood's most memorable pixie hair looks, ahead. Winona Ryder With a Pixie Cut The Stranger Things star had the short haircut in 2009. Kristin Chenoweth With a Pixie Cut Chenoweth cut her hair into a short, sweet pixie cut. Jennifer Lawrence With a Pixie Cut Our jaws hit the floor when we first spotted Lawrence's new choppy cut. Jennifer Hudson With a Pixie Cut We love Hudson's edgy take on her new pixie cut. Meagan Good With a Pixie Cut Good recently swapped her lengthy locks for a sexy pixie, and we love the playful way she chose to style it. Shailene Woodley With a Pixie Cut How incredible does Woodley's '60s-inspired pixie cut look? Her sleek style makes her look like a modern-day Twiggy. Audrey Tautou With a Pixie Cut Queen of the gamine style, Tautou's choppy pixie has been her mainstay for quite a while now. Cynthia Nixon With a Pixie Cut Nixon's wispy blond pixie shows off her pretty blue eyes gorgeously. Ashlee Simpson With a Pixie Cut Simpson was one of the more notable celebrities to chop her platinum hair into a pixie, which flattered her heart-shaped face beautifully. Agyness Deyn With a Pixie Cut For a more boyish take on the chop, opt for a cut like Deyn, whose pixie was more bowl cut than business cut. Carey Mulligan With a Pixie Cut Gamine goddesses, take note. Mulligan's take on the pixie is as ethereal as you can get. Lena Dunham With a Pixie Cut Dunham shocked Girls fans when she opted for this pixie cut between seasons in 2013. Miley Cyrus With a Pixie Cut Cyrus wasn't shy about sharing her pixie crop on Twitter, and she's changed the color up a lot to boot. Emma Watson With a Pixie Cut Remember Watson with a pixie cut? The actress liked to style her cut close to her head when she had it in 2011. Charlize Theron With a Pixie Cut Theron loves to wear her hair with heavy volume at the top, accentuating the shorter sides. Ginnifer Goodwin With a Pixie Cut When you think of pixie cuts, you think of Goodwin, and the actress is adept at pairing her makeup with the look. Rihanna With a Pixie Cut Rihanna sported a cool, tight pixie in 2012. Anne Hathaway With a Pixie Cut Hathaway notoriously cut her hair on camera for her role as Fantine in 2012's Les Misérables and then shocked everyone when she dyed her crop platinum for the Met Gala, only to color it back to brunette just weeks later. Michelle Williams With a Pixie Cut Williams's pixie cut, which she often wears in an asymmetrical fashion, is another iconic option. Tyra Banks With a Pixie Cut 2016 We can't stop staring at Banks's blunt cut pixie that had blond highlights. Angela Bassett With a Pixie Cut Bassett had a spiked-up pixie cut for a New York City movie premiere in 2016. Pixie Geldof With a Pixie Cut If your name is Pixie Geldof, there's only one viable haircut for you. Maggie Gyllenhaal With a Pixie Cut Actress Gyllenhaal had a pixie cut at the 2013 Met Gala . Chloë Sevigny With a Pixie Cut Sevigny shows paired a pop of color on her lips with her short haircut. Vanessa Hudgens With a Pixie Cut We nearly forgot that Hudgens had opted for this shorter cut back in 2011. Elisabeth Moss With a Pixie Cut Moss's platinum pixie is a modern spin on a vintage classic. Julianne Hough With a Pixie Cut Hough's blond pixie was swept to the side for a 2014 event. Lily Collins With a Pixie Haircut Collins's coiffed pixie looked elegant on the Vanity Fair Oscar Party carpet in 2015. Sarah Paulson With a Pixie Haircut Paulson had the hair look while posing with her Emmy back in 2016. Millie Bobby Brown's Pixie Haircut Brown wore her pixie slicked back for a Beverly Hills event. Zendaya With a Pixie Haircut We'll never forget Zendaya's vibrant, platinum pixie. Ruby Rose With a Pixie Haircut The pixie is part of Rose's signature beauty look. Jada Pinkett Smith With a Pixie Cut Pinkett Smith always looks great with her pixie haircut. Emilia Clarke With a Pixie Cut Clarke's glow after receiving the British artist of the year in 2018 was framed by her bright blond pixie. Zoë Kravitz With a Pixie Cut We can see all of Zoë Kravitz's incredible angles thanks to her pixie haircut. Janelle Monáe With a Pixie Cut Monáe wore her hair in a sleek pixie for a 2018 event. Kris Jenner With a Pixie Cut This list would not be complete without Jenner's signature haircut. Katy Perry With a Pixie Cut Perry chopped her hair into a blond pixie back in 2017. She rocked it for years before going back to long hair . Kerry Washington With a Pixie Cut Washington arrived at the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party with the short hair look. Cara Delevingne With a Pixie Cut Cara Delevingne had a blond pixie haircut at a store opening in 2018. Halsey With a Pixie Cut Halsey's dark pixie hair look is one of her most memorable hair changes. Rowan Blanchard With a Pixie Cut Longtime fans of Rowan Blanchard were stunned when the actress revealed her elegant pixie haircut at the 2019 Golden Globes. Joey King With a Pixie Cut Joey King chopped her hair short for the third time in 2013 for her role in The Act. Kristen Stewart With a Pixie Haircut Stewart's pixie haircut never fails to look edgy and cool. Teyana Taylor With a Pixie Cut Teyana Taylor attended the Love Ball in 2019 with a pixie haircut.


Penguin-blanketed islands, desert wastelands, and more. There are certain bragging rights that come with being the first of your friends to visit a remote destination, but it can be hard to find truly off-the-radar spots these days. That's where we come in. We've rounded up some of the most isolated and most uncrowded places around the world for the most adventurous travelers , from Australia to the Arctic . Want to feel more like an explorer than a tourist? Consider planning a trip to one of these remote destinations whether it's a secret island or an underrated U.S. national park . Nunavut, Canada In the far northern reaches of Canada, Nunavut is as sparse as it is surreal. Roughly the size of the size of California, Texas, Montana, Colorado, and Nebraska combined, the wild territory has a population of just 38,396 (and zero traffic lights). One of its greatest sites is Baffin Island , filled with stark fjords, crystalline lakes, polar bears, and narwhals. How to visit: Travel specialist Marc Télio at Entrée Destinations arranges bespoke trips through the Canadian Arctic, and can organize stays at the Arctic Watch Lodge in Nunavut. (From $10,000.) Socotra Island, Yemen Much of the island of Socotra part of the Republic of Yemen, though 220 miles away in the Arabian Sea feels untouched by modern civilization. Perhaps nothing better conveys the island's sense of otherness than its population of dragon's blood trees, with their UFO-like tops and eerie, bright red sap (hence the name). The island has a population of about 60,000, with at most 3,000 people visiting per year. How to visit: Socotra's airport is technically operational, but it's hard to find flights due to the war in mainland Yemen. Your best chance of visiting is by obtaining a permit from the UAE or waiting for eco-tourism companies to start offering tours to the island, according to National Geographic. Macquarie Island, Australia Macquarie Island is no more than a speck of land in the Southern Ocean, taking up about 50 square miles (roughly the size of Nantucket ) between New Zealand and Antarctica. Despite its size, Macquarie home to a million royal penguins and is the only place in the world where rocks from the earth's mantle are exposed above sea level. (The latter earned the island a spot on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1997.) But seriously... a million penguins. How to visit: Macquarie is administered by the state of Tasmania , and it's a frequent stop on Antarctic cruises originating from Australia and Asia. Marble Caves, Patagonia, Chile Caves don't always have to be dark and dingy. Case in point: The marble caves bordering General Carrera Lake , a remote glacial lake on the Chile-Argentina border. The swirling marble walls, formed by 6,000 years of crashing waves eroding the stone, are as vibrant and lovely as the surrounding azure water. How to visit: Travel specialist Brian Pearson at Upscape can help arrange trips to Patagonia's Aysén Region , where you can kayak around the caves and sleep near the edge of the lake. Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland Located on the eastern coast of Greenland , the small town of Ittoqqortoormiit might be one of the most remote inhabited areas of Greenland as if the island isn't remote enough in and of itself. When the weather isn't too unbearably cold, the town's population of 450 is known to embark on dog sledding treks, as well as offer camping trips for tourists motivated enough to visit. If you do happen to reach Ittoqqortoormiit, you may also be rewarded with views of the Northern Lights during the winter months. How to visit: Several cruises stop in Ittoqqortoormiit, including Readers' Choice Award-winning Seabourn's "Legend Of The Icelandic Sagas" voyage (from $14,999), Silversea's route from Tromsø to Reykjavik (from (from $13,410), and Quark Expeditions' Northern Lights sailing (from $6,695). Anegada, British Virgin Islands This "drowned island" (it's barely above sea level) is rimmed with empty, beautiful beaches in fact, you'd have to work harder to find a stretch of sand with another tourist than without one. Anegada claims a population of roughly 285, and extensive coastal reefs have made it harder to reach than the other British Virgin Islands, giving the island an irresistible castaway allure. If you do make it there, the coral reefs are excellent for snorkeling, particularly off the beach at Loblolly Bay on the northeast coast. (In case you were wondering, the isle was miraculously spared from the 2018 hurricanes .) How to visit: Launched in 2018, the Anegada Express Ferry offers rides from both Tortola and Virgin Gorda four days a week. The ride takes about an hour each way and costs $50 round-trip. Coober Pedy, Australia The southern Australian town of Coober Pedy has about 1,800 residents 80 percent of which live in underground dwellings . It's a tough place to visit, let alone live, thanks to its lack of trees and summer temperatures that rise well into the 120s. Its eerie, unearthly vibe was immortalized in 1985 by director George Miller, who shot part of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome there. Let's just say it didn't take much redressing to turn the town into a post-apocalyptic wasteland. How to visit: Coober Pedy is located on the Stuart Highway, which you can reach via a full day's drive from Adelaide (about 518 miles), the Ghan Rail service, or the Greyhound-Pioneer bus service. (Yes, there are underground hotels once you arrive.) Deception Island, Antarctica Deception Island is a remote tourist destination in Antarctica's freezing South Shetland Islands, famous for its deserted whaling and research station . The whaling station was abandoned many times between 1931 and 1969 due to volcanic eruptions, leaving behind the beached boats and rusting boilers you see today. You'll have to take an Antarctic cruise to see the eerily beautiful site for yourself if you're lucky, you might even spot some chinstrap penguins and get to soak in a natural hot tub . How to visit: Book a cruise with Readers' Choice Award -winning Lindblad Expeditions to explore the deserted site for yourself. Svalbard, Norway Located between mainland Norway and the North Pole, Svalbard is one of the world's most northernmost inhabited areas. Travel to the archipelago in the winter to see the Northern Lights, or during the summer for the elusive "midnight sun" (the sun doesn't set at all between April 20 and August 22). Regardless of the season, a visit here lets you exist in the same habitat of some of nature's most exciting animals, like polar bears, walruses, and narwhals. How to visit: Norwegian offers three weekly direct flights from Oslo to Longyearbyen (the largest settlement on the island), while SAS offers daily flights from Tromsø. Gates of the Arctic National Park, Alaska Gates of the Arctic is the second-largest and northernmost national park in the U.S., located completely above the Arctic Circle. It only received 9,591 visitors in 2018 (compare that to the Grand Canyon's 6.3 million), but those self-sufficient travelers were lucky enough to enjoy some of the country's most pristine mountain views, scenic rivers, and diverse wildlife, like wolverines, polar bears, and caribou. If you'd like to contribute to those visitor numbers, stick to traveling in spring and summer months, as temperatures linger around -20ºF to -50ºF from November to March. How to visit: There are no highways leading to the park, so some visitors take the Dalton Highway to Wiseman and then hike the remaining five miles to the entrance. Another option is to take a chartered flight from Fairbanks to Anaktuvuk Pass, Bettles, or Coldfoot. Door to Hell, Turkmenistan The aptly named Door to Hell is a 230-foot-wide crater in the middle of the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan that simply won't stop burning. When Soviet scientists began searching for oil here back in 1971, they accidentally hit a methane reserve and the drilling platform collapsed, forming the crater and releasing dangerous gas into the air. The scientists decided to light the crater on fire to burn off the methane, creating a Dante-esque anomaly that has remained lit for the past 40-plus years. Recently, the crater has become more of a tourist attraction, but it's still primarily a destination for adventurers. How to visit: The Door to Hell has no roads, no protective boundaries, no buildings it's literally just a burning hole in the middle of the desert. You can always try to visit on your own with an off-road vehicle, but your best bet is to book a guided tour with a recognized operator like Advantour (from $420).


Make sure you do these things before you leave your hotel room and you'll save time, money, and earn the respect of hotel staff. The post 12 Things You Should Always Do Before You Leave Your Hotel Room appeared first on Reader's Digest. Check under the bed and dresser "I always get down on my hands and knees and look under the bed and under the dresser," says Suzanne Markham-Bagnera , a former general manager at hotels and clinical assistant professor at Boston University's School of Hospitality Administration. Young kids especially like to hide things, and then forget about them. "You get the frantic phone call that a child has left their Lovey, their stuffed animal, or their toy and they realized once they get in their car and start driving, but they're not able to come right back to the hotel," she adds. Pull the bed linens back Markham-Bagnera typically removes the bedding to both help out the housekeeper and make sure she hasn't forgotten anything. "That's my way of securing: I've done the clean sweep of the bed. I'm good," she says. Guest aren't expected to strip the bed, but should you decide to, make sure to leave the comforter on a chair or in the closet, not on the floor. And don't ball the bed linens up with the blanket, keep them separate. Looking to book a trip? Find out the best value hotels in America . Leave the used towels in the tub Markham-Bagnera puts all the towels on the bathtub, especially if they're still wet. That way they're out of the way and all together in the pile. And the room attendant only has to pick up one pile of dirty linen. "It makes it a lot faster to pick up," Markham-Bagnera says. Take the food you want to keep If you've spent some time at an Extended Stay Hotel and used the refrigerator, make sure that you take out the items that you want. "The ones that you don't want, throw away," she says. Some guests leave alcohol as a tip for the housekeeper, but policies vary from hotel to hotel on whether they can accept it or not. Stack overflow takeout boxes next to a trash can Hotel trash cans are pretty small, the remnants of last night's dinner may not fit. If you've got overflow, pile the boxes next to the trash can instead of leaving them scattered all around the room. "The messier you leave the room, the harder it is for the room attendant to clean that room," Markham-Bagnera says. Check between the mattress and box spring When a room doesn't have a safe, hotel guests will sometimes hide items they don't want to leave around the room between the mattress and the box spring. Housekeepers have recovered weapons and sex toys there, Markham-Bagnera says. Don't miss these red flags you're staying at a bad hotel. Move the furniture back If hotel guests are traveling with children, they sometimes move one of the beds against the wall so there's less opportunity for a child to fall out of the bed. That's fine, but the courtesy is to move the furniture back where you found it before you leave. Take your medications and supplies with you Forgetting your medication can be dangerous for you, but leaving supplies like needles in your room could also be hazardous to your housekeeper. Also, if you gashed yourself shaving and used a towel to stop the blood flow, separate the towel out from the rest and put it in the trash. "Hotels will have protocols for how to clean it or for how they have to bag it and have a company come and dispose of it. "Because they can't just put that in the regular trash and be done with it in a hotel," Markham-Bagnera says. Make sure you have your charger! "If I had a dollar for every charger that I found, I could take my whole family on vacation," says Adam Sperling, general manager of the Hotel Commonwealth in Boston. These days, it's bad news if your phone dies, so take that last look around. "It's things that get left behind that can often cause you stress at the end of your journey," he says. Want to stay in a mind-blowing place? Check out these spots with incredible hotel amenities . Think about a tip Room attendants are typically paid hourly, so their position is different from a bellhop or a server that might make less per hour with the expectation that they will make more in gratuities, Markham-Bagnera says. That said, room attendants work incredibly hard and tipping is appreciated. Things to consider? The quality of the hotel, whether you're staying one night or multiple nights, and how messy you're leaving the room. "If you've got a lot of people staying in the room and you've got a pullout sofa or a cot, and you've used a lot more towels, it certainly is nicer to leave a little extra," Markham-Bagnera says. Call down to the front desk for transportation Mornings can be hectic at hotels, with out-of-town guests rushing to make meetings and flights in cities they don't know. You can save yourself some of the hassle by doing a little prep before you leave the hotel room. "Call down and say, 'hey, I'm leaving at 7:30 tomorrow, can my car be waiting for me?'" Sperling suggests. "That helps everybody. Your car's waiting for you and we're not scrambling to go get it at 7:25 when you need it at 7:30." Book your next stay If you really liked your room and are planning to be back in the area, before you leave your hotel is a great time to rebook, Sperling says. He recommends you ask for the front desk manager for face-to-face treatment that can trump the savings online. "You're likely to get a great rate, and you're likely to get upgraded," he says. Prefer to book online? Be sure to check out these tips for saving a ton of money on your hotel rooms .


It's not the famous movie car, but it was personally owned by the famous actor. This June 15 and 16, one lucky person will become the proud new owner of Burt Reynolds' personal 1979 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am . The car is similar to what he famously drove in Smokey and the Bandit, and should go for a good-sized fortune. That, and many other personal items owned by the late Reynolds will be auctioned off In Beverly Hills by Julien's, which is based in Culver City. For a cool $500,000 you could drive the same car Reynolds used for the Bandit Run cross country rally. The actor also posed with the car for photo shoots, adding further to its value. The 1979 Trans Am has about 70,000 miles on the odometer and reported is in great condition, thanks in part to a recent restoration. It was owned by Reynolds and his business partner, Gene Kennedy, according to Julien's. Reynolds died about a year ago at age 82, but his legendary status lives on. Not only is his beloved Trans Am being auctioned, but so are over 850 other personal items like his Cannonball Run belt buckle and the CB radio the actor used during shoots for Smokey and the Bandit 2. During the fall of 2018, a 1978 Trans Am which was also owned by Reynolds and had been modified to look like the car he drove in Smokey and the Bandit, sold at Barret-Jackson Las Vegas for a whopping $192,500. Two other replica cars were sold during the event, but they didn't fetch as much money. All this pales in comparison to the 1979 Pontiac Trans Am movie replica car being auctioned by Julien's. You don't need to attend the auction in Beverly Hills to see all the auction and even to have a shot at the Trans Am. Julien's streams everything online and allows for remote bidding on items. Follow MSN Autos on Facebook and Twitter


One person is dead following a house fire early Monday morning in northwest Baltimore, Baltimore city fire officials said. The fire started at 1:40 a.m. at a two-story home on West Cold Spring Lane near Reisterstown Road, said Baltimore City Fire spokesperson Blair Adams. Crews took two victims to a hospital, where one of the victims, a man, died, Adams said. The other victim is listed in critical but stable condition. Six people were inside the home at the time of the fire, officials said. Crews brought the fire under control at 2:22 a.m., and officials are looking for a cause. READ MORE: 1 killed, 1 hurt in northwest Baltimore fire CHECK OUT WBAL: Get all the latest Baltimore news, weather and sports. WBAL-TV brings you the best in Maryland news online, anytime.


Rep. Eric Swalwell of California had a simple message for former Vice President Joe Biden during Thursday's debate : It's time to pass the torch. Swalwell, 38, targeted Biden, 76, reminding him of a moment from nearly three decades ago when Biden called for a new generation to lead the nation. "I was 6-years-old when a presidential candidate came to the California Democratic Convention and said it's time to pass the torch to a new generation of Americans," Swalwell said. "That candidate was then-Sen. Joe Biden." "Joe Biden was right when he said it was time to pass the torch to a new generation of Americans 32-years-ago," he continued. "He's still right today." Biden, who has ran for president two other times, is currently the frontrunner in polling. Swalwell challenged Biden saying that if new solutions are going to be made in the country, then it's time for younger lawmakers to make that change. "If we're going to solve the issues of automation, pass the torch. If we're going to solve the issues of climate chaos, pass the torch," he continued. "If we're going to solve the issue of student loan debt, pass the torch. If we're going to end gun violence for families who are fearful of sending their kids to school, pass the torch." Live coverage: Democratic candidates battle in second night of high-profile debate A smiling Biden responded: "I'm still holding on to that torch." This wasn't his first swipe at Biden for the evening. Swalwell prior to the debate called out Biden for his age. "I don't think we can nominate a candidate who has been in government for longer than 20 years," Swalwell told CNN. Like what you're reading?: Download the USA TODAY app for more This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Eric Swalwell calls on Joe Biden to 'pass the torch' during Democratic debates


Saint Paul will see a return of last week's light rainfall this coming week, according to drone-powered weather forecasting service Saildrone . Thursday's forecast shows the highest chance of rain at 91%, while the most rainfall is expected on Monday at 1.22 inches. The coming days will also bring warm temperatures, forecast to stick around through Tuesday. Temperatures will dip slightly to 73 degrees on Sunday. Skies will be cloudy today and mostly cloudy Saturday through Sunday. Winds will remain light throughout the week, with the highest speeds on Sunday at just 9 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.


GARY, Ind.   The parents of a 16-year-old Gary teen who was shot and killed while trying to sell his Xbox spoke out Thursday, as the investigation continues. Kelly Arroyo and John Peluyera, the parents of Johnny Peluyera, said the whole thing is still incomprehensible. "I especially plead to all parents: Hold your babies. Tell them every day you love them and you are proud of them," Arroyo said. The teen was with his father when they met up with two men near 51st and Maryland streets to sell the teen's Xbox. They arranged the meeting using an online sales app. The boy's father said he knew something wasn't quite right. He spotted a gun and told his son to just give the game system to the men, which he did, but one of them still shot him. The teen was shot in the back as he tried to run back to his father's car. He was pronounced dead shortly after. His mother said she can't believe her son is gone. She said he was a wonderful kid who loved video games and cars. He had just gotten his license and was about to get his own Trans Am. The teen didn't have a chance to drive the new blue car his parents had just bought for him. His father said he can't get the image of his son's death out of his head. He said it's all very hard to process. "I've lost many nights of sleep since then," he said. "It's like a DVD, over and over, pause, play, over and over. It's something you won't overcome very easily. Like my wife said, it's going to be a road of recovery, but it's going to very long and very rough." Johnny was one of three children. He leaves behind a little brother and an older sister battling stage 4 cancer. "I want to say something to the person who did this to my son: I want you to know that you took away my laughter. You took away my best friend. The relationship that we had was incredible," Arroyo said. The men were described as two African American males in their late teens to early 20s. No further description was provided. Police believe the men are from the area, and are asking for the public's assistance. Anyone with information is asked to call police. Police want the public to remember to always meet at a safe place   like a police department's parking lot   when dealing with online sales. Peluyera was set to be a junior at Merrillville High School in the fall. The parents said they have received condolences from around the country, and the world, though the online Xbox community. The investigation is ongoing.     ©2019 WGN-TV, Chicago Visit WGN-TV, Chicago at www.wgntv.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.