PRCA judge Clayton Macom died on Tuesday. He was 60 years old.
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PRCA judge Clayton Macom passes away
Report finds New Mexico road conditions cost drivers a combined $3.3 billion annually
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – New Mexico roads and bridges that are deteriorated, congested, or lack some desirable safety features cost the state’s motorists a total of $3.3 billion annually, according to a new report released by TRIP, a Washington, DC-based national transportation research nonprofit. The report, “New Mexico Transportation by the Numbers: Meeting the state’s need for safe, smooth and […]
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Uganda’s presidential election experiences hours of delays at some polling stations
KAMPALA, Uganda — Uganda’s presidential election was plagued by widespread delays Thursday in addition to a days-long internet shutdown that has been criticized as an anti-democratic tactic in a country where the president has held office since 1986.
Some polling stations remained closed for up to four hours after the scheduled 7 a.m. start time due to “technical challenges,” according to the nation’s electoral commission, which asked polling officers to use paper registration records to ensure the difficulties did not “disenfranchise any voter.”
President Yoweri Museveni, 81, faces seven other candidates, including Robert Kyagulanyi, a musician-turned-politician best known as Bobi Wine, who is calling for political change.
The East African country of roughly 45 million people has 21.6 million registered voters. Polls were expected to close at 4 p.m., but voting was extended one hour until 5 p.m. local time. Results are constitutionally required to be announced in 48 hours.
In the morning, impatient crowds gathered outside polling stations expressing concerns over the delays. Umaru Mutyaba, a polling agent for a parliamentary candidate, said it was “frustrating” to be waiting outside a station in the capital Kampala.
“We can’t be standing here waiting to vote as if we have nothing else to do,” he said.
Wine, the candidate, alleged electoral fraud, noting that biometric voter identification machines were not working at polling places and claiming that there was “ballot stuffing.”
Wine wrote in a post on X that his party’s leaders had been arrested. “Many of our polling agents and supervisors abducted, and others chased off polling stations,” the post said.
Museveni told journalists he was notified that biometric machines weren’t working at some stations and that he supported the electoral body’s decision to revert to paper registration records. He did not comment on allegations of fraud.
Ssemujju Nganda, a prominent opposition figure and lawmaker seeking reelection in Kira municipality, told The Associated Press he had been waiting in line to vote for three hours.
Nganda said the delays likely would lead to apathy and low turnout in urban areas where the opposition has substantial support. “It’s going to be chaos,” he said.
Nicholas Sengoba, an independent analyst and newspaper columnist, said delays to the start of voting in urban, opposition areas favored the ruling party.
Emmanuel Tusiime, a young man who was among dozens prevented from entering a polling station in Kampala past closing time said the officials had prevented him from participating.
“My vote has not been counted, and, as you can see, I am not alone,” he said he was left feeling “very disappointed.”
Uganda has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from British colonial rule six decades ago.
Museveni has served the third-longest term of any African leader and is seeking to extend his rule into a fifth decade. The aging president’s authority has become increasingly dependent on the military led by his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
Museveni and Wine are reprising their rivalry from the previous election in 2021, when Wine appealed to mostly young people in urban areas. With voter turnout of 59%, Wine secured 35% of the ballots against Museveni’s 58%, the president’s smallest vote share since his first electoral campaign three decades ago.
The lead-up to Thursday’s election produced concerns about transparency, the possibility of hereditary rule, military interference and possible vote tampering.
Uganda’s internet was shut down Tuesday by the government communications agency, which cited misinformation, electoral fraud and incitement of violence. The shutdown has affected the public and disrupted critical sectors such as banking.
There has been heavy security leading up to voting, including military units deployed on the streets this week.
Amnesty International said security forces are engaging in a “brutal campaign of repression,” citing a Nov. 28 opposition rally in eastern Uganda where the military blocked exits and opened fire on supporters, killing one person.
Museveni urged voters to come out in large numbers during his final rally Tuesday.
“You go and vote, anybody who tries to interfere with your freedom will be crushed. I am telling you this. We are ready to put an end to this indiscipline,” he said.
The national electoral commission chairperson, Simon Byabakama, urged tolerance among Ugandans as they vote.
“Let us keep the peace that we have,” Byabakama said late Wednesday. “Let us be civil. Let us be courteous. Let’s be tolerant. Even if you know that this person does not support (your) candidate, please give him or her room or opportunity to go and exercise his or her constitutional right.”
Authorities also suspended the activities of several civic groups during the campaign season. That Group, a prominent media watchdog, closed its office Wednesday after the interior ministry alleged in a letter that the group was involved in activities “prejudicial to the security and laws of Uganda.”
Veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, remains in prison after he was charged with treason in February 2025.
Spotify Just Got More Expensive Again, In Case You Didn’t Dislike Them Already
Spotify has raised prices across all paid subscription tiers in the United States, making it the most expensive major music streaming service on the market. The increases take effect immediately for new subscribers and will roll out to existing Premium users in the U.S., Estonia, and Latvia over the next month.
Under the new pricing structure, Spotify Premium Individual now costs $12.99 per month, up from $11.99. Duo plans have increased to $18.99 (previously $16.99), while Family plans now cost $21.99 per month, up from $19.99. Student subscriptions also rose by $1, landing at $6.99 per month.
In a statement announcing the changes, Spotify said: “Occasional updates to pricing across our markets reflect the value that Spotify delivers, enabling us to continue offering the best possible experience and benefit artists.” Which is odd, because if Spotify’s pricing reflected their value then they’d be paying me to use it. So that’s not true.
With the hike, Spotify now sits above its main competitors on price. Apple Music, TIDAL, and YouTube Music all currently charge $10.99 per month for individual plans, while also offering lower-cost options for students and families — undercutting Spotify’s new rates.
The announcement arrives amid a busy period for the streaming giant. In recent months, Spotify has partnered with ChatGPT to introduce more personalized music and podcast recommendations, and it has rolled out expanded parental controls for shared family accounts.
However, the platform has also faced mounting criticism. Spotify has drawn backlash for its handling of AI-generated music and voice clones, as well as for running advertisements connected to ICE. Additionally, several high-profile artists – such as King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard alongside post-rock icons Godspeed You! Black Emperor –have removed their catalogs from the service following reports about CEO Daniel Ek’s investments in AI-driven military defense technology.
As subscription costs rise and controversies continue to stack up, Spotify’s latest price increase may further fuel conversations among listeners and artists alike about whether the platform still offers the best value — or whether it’s time to look elsewhere.
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RFK Jr.’s Health Department Is Studying Health Effects of Cellphones
Government webpages saying cellphones aren’t dangerous have been quietly removed.
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MLB rumors: Kyle Tucker free-agency decision expected soon, where Red Sox go next
The MLB offseason may be moving slowly, but all signs are that it’s picking up. In the past few days, we’ve seen the Cubs land Alex Bregman on a five-year, $175 million deal and the Red Sox sign Ranger Suárez to a five-year, $130 million deal. Heading into the offseason, CBS Sports ranked Bregman as the second-best free agent available while Suárez ranked No. 10. Hey, that’s progress. Only four of the top 12 free agents still need homes, though it’s six of the top 14 and that still feels like too many for Jan. 15.
Movement is good and it sounds like we’re about to see more.
Tucker decision expected very soon
There is much reporting around free-agent outfielder Kyle Tucker that suggests his decision on where to sign will happen Thursday. Tucker was our No. 1 free agent heading into the offseason. The teams known to be heavily involved in the bidding:
- The Mets are said to have a “four-year offer on the table,” according to the New York Post. This deal would end up being a monster average annual value contract with something like $50 million per season and there’s plenty of upside for Tucker in taking such a deal, only to hit the market again at age 32.
- The Blue Jays might be the home for Tucker if he prefers a much longer deal. “The Toronto Blue Jays have really been the only team that has shown the willingness to go as deep as 10 years, potentially,” ESPN’s Jeff Passan said on Sportsnet. The Jays are coming off a trip to the World Series and already have a strong pitching staff and offense.
- The Dodgers have also been connected to Tucker (via the New York Post, for one). Many people tend to believe the Dodgers don’t need anything else, but their current outfield has Tommy Edman in center and Andy Pages in left with Alex Call as a backup option. There’s certainly room to add Tucker.
At this point, any other team strongly in the Tucker bidding would be a surprise.
Red Sox focused on bats now
As noted above, the Red Sox have added Suárez to a great rotation headed up by Garrett Crochet, Suárez, Sonny Gray and Brayan Bello. As for the offense, it could probably use a little more thunder, particularly after losing Alex Bregman to free agency, and, sure enough, The Athletic reports that the Red Sox’s focus is now adding a bat. The exploration for offense includes both free agency and trade.
On the trade front, the Red Sox have a bunch of starting pitching depth right now and Bello was “quietly shopped” earlier this offseason. Maybe they go that direction again, only less quiet this time? Further, there is an extra outfielder on the team (Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela are all starting caliber and Masataka Yoshida is still around), so perhaps there would be a fit for Duran somewhere else.
If the Red Sox do go the route of free agency, Bo Bichette is still available and they could also make a run at Eugenio Suárez. Making a trade is always trickier, but Brendan Donovan of the Cardinals is known to be available and there have been rumors all offseason about the fit (plus, the Red Sox have already made two trades with the Cardinals this offseason in landing both Gray and Willson Contreras).
Rockies agree to terms with utility man
The Rockies and Willi Castro have agreed to a two-year deal worth $12.8 million, according to ESPN. He has experience in the majors at every single position except catcher and first base (yes, even 4 ⅔ innings on the mound). Most of his defensive work has come at shortstop, second base and left field, but he’s handled a lot of third base, center field and right field. In 120 games last season for the Twins and Cubs, he hit .226/.313/.366 (89 OPS+) with 17 doubles, three triples, 11 home runs, 33 RBI, 58 runs and 10 steals. He was an All-Star in 2024.
Wikipedia inks AI deals with Microsoft, Meta and Perplexity as it marks 25th birthday
Wikipedia unveiled new business deals with a slew of artificial intelligence companies on Thursday as it marked its 25th anniversary.The online crowdsourced encyclopedia revealed that it has signed up AI companies including Amazon, Meta Platforms, Perplexity, Microsoft and France’s Mistral AI.Wikipedia is one of the last bastions of the early internet, but that original vision of a free online space has been clouded by the dominance of Big Tech platforms and the rise of generative AI chatbots trained on content scraped from the web.Aggressive data collection methods by AI developers, including from Wikipedia’s vast repository of free knowledge, has raised questions about who ultimately pays for the artificial intelligence boom.The Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that runs the site, signed Google as one of its first customers in 2022 and announced other agreements last year with smaller AI players like search engine Ecosia.The new deals will help one of the world’s most popular websites monetize heavy traffic from AI companies. They’re paying to access Wikipedia content “at a volume and speed designed specifically for their needs,” the foundation said. It did not provide financial or other details.While AI training has sparked legal battles elsewhere over copyright and other issues, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said he welcomes it.”I’m very happy personally that AI models are training on Wikipedia data because it’s human curated,” Wales told The Associated Press in an interview. “I wouldn’t really want to use an AI that’s trained only on X, you know, like a very angry AI,” Wales said, referring to billionaire Elon Musk’s social media platform.Wales said the site wants to work with AI companies, not block them. But “you should probably chip in and pay for your fair share of the cost that you’re putting on us.”The Wikimedia Foundation last year urged AI developers to pay for access through its enterprise platform and said human traffic had fallen 8%. Meanwhile, visits from bots, sometimes disguised to evade detection, were heavily taxing its servers as they scrape masses of content to feed AI large language models.The findings highlighted shifting online trends as search engine AI overviews and chatbots summarize information instead of sending users to sites by showing them links.Wikipedia is the ninth most visited site on the internet. It has more than 65 million articles in 300 languages that are edited by some 250,000 volunteers.The site has become so popular in part because its free for anyone to use.”But our infrastructure is not free, right?” Wikimedia Foundation CEO Maryana Iskander said in a separate interview in Johannesburg, South Africa.It costs money to maintain servers and other infrastructure that allows both individuals and tech companies to “draw data from Wikipedia,” said Iskander, who’s stepping down on Jan. 20, and will be replaced by Bernadette Meehan.The bulk of Wikipedia’s funding comes from 8 million donors, most of them individuals.”They’re not donating in order to subsidize these huge AI companies,” Wales said. They’re saying, “You know what, actually you can’t just smash our website. You have to sort of come in the right way.”Editors and users could benefit from AI in other ways. The Wikimedia Foundation has outlined an AI strategy that Wales said could result in tools that reduce tedious work for editors.While AI isn’t good enough to write Wikipedia entries from scratch, it could, for example, be used to update dead links by scanning the surrounding text and then searching online to find other sources.”We don’t have that yet but that’s the kind of thing that I think we will see in the future.”Artificial intelligence could also improve the Wikipedia search experience, by evolving from the traditional keyword method to more of a chatbot style, Wales said.”You can imagine a world where you can ask the Wikipedia search box a question and it will quote to you from Wikipedia,” he said. It could respond by saying “here’s the answer to your question from this article and here’s the actual paragraph. That sounds really useful to me and so I think we’ll move in that direction as well. “Reflecting on the early days, Wales said it was a thrilling time because many people were motivated to help build Wikipedia after he and co-founder Larry Sanger, who departed long ago, set it up as an experiment.However, while some might look back wistfully on what seems now to be a more innocent time, Wales said those early days of the internet also had a dark side.”People were pretty toxic back then as well. We didn’t need algorithms to be mean to each other,” he said. “But, you know, it was a time of great excitement and a real spirit of possibility.”Wikipedia has lately found itself under fire from figures on the political right, who have dubbed the site “Wokepedia” and accused it of being biased in favor of the left.Republican lawmakers in the U.S. Congress are investigating alleged “manipulation efforts” in Wikipedia’s editing process that they said could inject bias and undermine neutral points of view on its platform and the AI systems that rely on it.A notable source of criticism is Musk, who last year launched his own AI-powered rival, Grokipedia. He has criticized Wikipedia for being filled with “propaganda” and urged people to stop donating to the site.Wales said he doesn’t consider Grokipedia a “real threat” to Wikipedia because it’s based on large language models, which are the troves of online text that AI systems are trained on.”Large language models aren’t good enough to write really quality reference material. So a lot of it is just regurgitated Wikipedia,” he said. “It often is quite rambling and sort of talks nonsense. And I think the more obscure topic you look into, the worse it is.”He stressed that he wasn’t singling out criticism of Grokipedia.”It’s just the way large language models work.”Wales say he’s known Musk for years but they haven’t been in touch since Grokipedia launched.”I should probably ping him,” Wales said.What would he say?”‘How’s your family?’ I’m a nice person, I don’t really want to pick a fight with anybody.”
Wikipedia unveiled new business deals with a slew of artificial intelligence companies on Thursday as it marked its 25th anniversary.
The online crowdsourced encyclopedia revealed that it has signed up AI companies including Amazon, Meta Platforms, Perplexity, Microsoft and France’s Mistral AI.
Wikipedia is one of the last bastions of the early internet, but that original vision of a free online space has been clouded by the dominance of Big Tech platforms and the rise of generative AI chatbots trained on content scraped from the web.
Aggressive data collection methods by AI developers, including from Wikipedia’s vast repository of free knowledge, has raised questions about who ultimately pays for the artificial intelligence boom.
The Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that runs the site, signed Google as one of its first customers in 2022 and announced other agreements last year with smaller AI players like search engine Ecosia.
The new deals will help one of the world’s most popular websites monetize heavy traffic from AI companies. They’re paying to access Wikipedia content “at a volume and speed designed specifically for their needs,” the foundation said. It did not provide financial or other details.
While AI training has sparked legal battles elsewhere over copyright and other issues, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said he welcomes it.
“I’m very happy personally that AI models are training on Wikipedia data because it’s human curated,” Wales told The Associated Press in an interview. “I wouldn’t really want to use an AI that’s trained only on X, you know, like a very angry AI,” Wales said, referring to billionaire Elon Musk’s social media platform.
Wales said the site wants to work with AI companies, not block them. But “you should probably chip in and pay for your fair share of the cost that you’re putting on us.”
The Wikimedia Foundation last year urged AI developers to pay for access through its enterprise platform and said human traffic had fallen 8%. Meanwhile, visits from bots, sometimes disguised to evade detection, were heavily taxing its servers as they scrape masses of content to feed AI large language models.
The findings highlighted shifting online trends as search engine AI overviews and chatbots summarize information instead of sending users to sites by showing them links.
Wikipedia is the ninth most visited site on the internet. It has more than 65 million articles in 300 languages that are edited by some 250,000 volunteers.
The site has become so popular in part because its free for anyone to use.
“But our infrastructure is not free, right?” Wikimedia Foundation CEO Maryana Iskander said in a separate interview in Johannesburg, South Africa.
It costs money to maintain servers and other infrastructure that allows both individuals and tech companies to “draw data from Wikipedia,” said Iskander, who’s stepping down on Jan. 20, and will be replaced by Bernadette Meehan.
The bulk of Wikipedia’s funding comes from 8 million donors, most of them individuals.
“They’re not donating in order to subsidize these huge AI companies,” Wales said. They’re saying, “You know what, actually you can’t just smash our website. You have to sort of come in the right way.”
Editors and users could benefit from AI in other ways. The Wikimedia Foundation has outlined an AI strategy that Wales said could result in tools that reduce tedious work for editors.
While AI isn’t good enough to write Wikipedia entries from scratch, it could, for example, be used to update dead links by scanning the surrounding text and then searching online to find other sources.
“We don’t have that yet but that’s the kind of thing that I think we will see in the future.”
Artificial intelligence could also improve the Wikipedia search experience, by evolving from the traditional keyword method to more of a chatbot style, Wales said.
“You can imagine a world where you can ask the Wikipedia search box a question and it will quote to you from Wikipedia,” he said. It could respond by saying “here’s the answer to your question from this article and here’s the actual paragraph. That sounds really useful to me and so I think we’ll move in that direction as well. “
Reflecting on the early days, Wales said it was a thrilling time because many people were motivated to help build Wikipedia after he and co-founder Larry Sanger, who departed long ago, set it up as an experiment.
However, while some might look back wistfully on what seems now to be a more innocent time, Wales said those early days of the internet also had a dark side.
“People were pretty toxic back then as well. We didn’t need algorithms to be mean to each other,” he said. “But, you know, it was a time of great excitement and a real spirit of possibility.”
Wikipedia has lately found itself under fire from figures on the political right, who have dubbed the site “Wokepedia” and accused it of being biased in favor of the left.
Republican lawmakers in the U.S. Congress are investigating alleged “manipulation efforts” in Wikipedia’s editing process that they said could inject bias and undermine neutral points of view on its platform and the AI systems that rely on it.
A notable source of criticism is Musk, who last year launched his own AI-powered rival, Grokipedia. He has criticized Wikipedia for being filled with “propaganda” and urged people to stop donating to the site.
Wales said he doesn’t consider Grokipedia a “real threat” to Wikipedia because it’s based on large language models, which are the troves of online text that AI systems are trained on.
“Large language models aren’t good enough to write really quality reference material. So a lot of it is just regurgitated Wikipedia,” he said. “It often is quite rambling and sort of talks nonsense. And I think the more obscure topic you look into, the worse it is.”
He stressed that he wasn’t singling out criticism of Grokipedia.
“It’s just the way large language models work.”
Wales say he’s known Musk for years but they haven’t been in touch since Grokipedia launched.
“I should probably ping him,” Wales said.
What would he say?
“‘How’s your family?’ I’m a nice person, I don’t really want to pick a fight with anybody.”
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Remember When Waylon Jennings Gave His Final Performance?
Waylon Jennings was toward the end of his life and in waning health when he assembled his dream band onstage at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville for what would prove to be the final major concert appearance of his career.
Jennings was still vital and strong when he and his band recorded a concert film titled Never Say Die: The Final Concert over the course of two nights in January of 2000, just two years prior to his death on Feb. 13, 2002.
The icon had established himself as an anti-establishment superstar of the outlaw country movement that also gave rise to Willie Nelson and more, peaking with a spectacular run of success in the ’70s and ’80s that placed him among the most successful artists in country music.
That success had long since started to fade by 2000 along with his health, which he had abused over the decades with drinking, drugs and a serious smoking habit.
Jennings quit his legendary cocaine habit in 1984, and he stopped smoking in 1988, but he’d already done longterm damage to his health. The country icon underwent a heart bypass in 1988, and by 2000 his diabetes had worsened to the point where he was looking at ending his touring career.
Jennings decided to go out with a bang, putting together a new band for his final tours called the Waymore Blues Band, which consisted of hand-picked all-star players. For his farewell Ryman show he also invited his wife Jessi Colter, as well as John Anderson, Travis Tritt and Montgomery Gentry.
The resulting concert film shows Jennings diminished, but still powerful in concert as he performs a long set of classics including “Good Hearted Woman,” “I’m a Rambling Man,” “I’ve Always Been Crazy” and more.
He also gave energetic renditions of “Never Say Die” and “Goin’ Down Rockin'” to end his career on the same kind of defiant note that had always defined his relationship with the country music establishment. Click on the video at the top of the story to watch Jennings perform “Never Say Die” from that final performance.
The country icon would rarely perform in public again as his health worsened and he chose to spend the rest of his days at home with his family. He underwent surgery to improve the circulation in his legs in 2000, and his left foot was amputated in 2001 due to diabetes. Jennings died of complications of diabetes on Feb. 13, 2002, in Chandler, Ariz., and was laid to rest in Mesa, Ariz., on Feb. 15.
Traditional Country Fans Will Love Riley Green
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Ford, China’s BYD in Talks for Hybrid-Vehicle Batteries After EV Market Flames Out
A deal, if completed, would likely involve Ford buying the Chinese carmaker’s batteries for its factories outside the U.S., according to people familiar with the matter.
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