West
'Biggest Loser' trainer Dolvett Quince talks California's resiliency amid devastating wildfires
Dolvett Quince, a personal trainer best known for appearing on “Biggest Loser” seasons 12 to 17, has been taking to social media as one of many Californians displaced from their homes as wildfires spread across Los Angeles County.
Quince told Fox News Digital that he first heard about the fires on social media and that he could see the smoke from his home only two miles from the Pacific Palisades.
“I stayed that night. It was very difficult to breathe in my home because you could smell the ashes and there was just the smoke in the air. It was getting in my throat, through my nose, through my eyes, to my dogs the same thing, and we all decided to just have a bag packed just in case. And then we got an evacuation notice the next day. There was a warning,” he said.
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Celebrity trainer Dolvett Quince talks about the moments leading up to his evacuation during the wildfires sweeping California. (Fox News Digital)
Quince says when he first saw the smoke as the fires began, he thought what a shame. At the time, he didn’t realize the severity of what was happening, but when he came back to his home today, it was bad.
“Lot of tree shrubs, a lot of things the wind blew over. The roads have a lot of debris still in them from the damage of the trees. I think we have a long way to get things cleaned up…it looks pretty bad,” he said.
He remains, as always, optimistic – recalling that there have been so many other disasters throughout the years.
“Katrina survived; Puerto Rico survived. Right? They were able to bounce back. I think because California has so many resources, people who live here wanna see that their city is better handled, better governed. I think people will take action to ensure that we come back stronger. I’m hopeful for that,” said Quince.
PALISADES RESIDENT DESCRIBES LOSING HOME IN FIRES | FOX NEWS VIDEO
Firefighters work from a deck as the Palisades Fire burns a beachfront property Jan. 8, 2025, in Malibu, Calif. (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent)
The community surrounding him is already showing signs of bouncing back.
“I saw people helping others with bottled waters, and exactly what I’m gonna do when I get off here with you and go out into the community and help people,” he said. “I think energetically the shift has occurred here in Los Angeles where people are actually taking care of each other and helping others.”
He also expressed some disappointment, as most wildfire victims have, at the lack of preparedness of the government in an area well known for frequent fires and earthquakes.
“I feel as if we know the problem, but we weren’t prepared for the problem despite knowing,” he expressed. “We pay too many taxes to get this limited care.”
Beginning Jan. 7, a series of wildfires propelled by strong Santa Ana winds broke out across Los Angeles County, leaving mass destruction and taking at least 24 lives. (FOX Weather)
He did, however, praise firefighters throughout the area and neighboring counties for their quick response and assistance, saying that they deserve more for all their hard work.
“The response time with the firemen and the first responders, the firemen and the firewomen who came was amazing, absolutely amazing,” Quince said enthusiastically. “Firefighters should be paid more, firefighters should be appreciated more, and I think as a state, especially in states that are susceptible to fires, I think there should be a bump there. There should absolutely be. We care enough for your hard work and what you have to go through to sacrifice your life and your family’s lives to do the work that you’re doing. We should take better care of them.”
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Each week before Cal plays a football game, we ask someone who covers Cal’s next opponent five questions about that opponent.
To answer questions about Cal’s Hawaii Bowl opponent Hawaii this week we enlisted the services of Stephen Tsai, who covers Hawaii football for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and has been named Hawaii sports writer of the year seven times.
We were particularly intrigued by his answer to Question No. 5, where Tsai noted that there would portably be no Hawaii Bowl without Rolovich, a former Hawaii head coach and Cal’s interim head coach for the Hawaii Bowl.
—1. Every team has a home-field advantage, but it seems Hawaii has been even better than most teams at home. Is that true, and if so, why?
There are several obstacles for visiting teams. There’s the time difference. Hawaii games usually kick off at 6 p.m., which is midnight on the East Coast during daylight savings time, 11 p.m. for standard time. Because the Ching Complex is a temporary home venue, there are open areas in the corners, allowing for cross winds that affect field-goal attempts. The so-called “Manoa Mist” also impacts the ball-handling positions.
The visiting team is assigned a makeshift locker room combining the neighboring baseball stadium’s locker room and part of the concourse. Before the walls were built, the concourse area was cordoned off with curtains. Nothing like being near concession stands while preparing for a football game. Because of the time difference, a team can depart the West Coast in the morning and practice in Hawaii that afternoon. In contrast, teams lose preparation time for the next game when traveling back to the mainland.
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—2. How much will the absence of all-conference wide receiver Jackson Harris affect Hawaii’s offense?
Aside from the deep threat — he had four TDs of 70-plus yards — Harris was sure-handed (three drops in 74 targets), clutch on scramble plays (37 of his 49 receptions resulted in first downs), and used his height and reach to attack 50-50 balls. As the left wideout, Harris benefited from left-handed QB Micah Alejado’s rollouts and left slotback Pofele Ashlock’s decoy routes.
Hawaii has experienced wideouts in Karsyn Pupunu and Brandon White, but the Warriors will have to be creative to make up for Harris’ deep-pass threat.
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—3. Assess the abilities of Hawaii quarterback Micah Alejado.
Alejado is accurate and has a coach’s knowledge of the Warriors’ read-and-attack, four-wide offense. He’s quick to decipher schemes with pre-snap reads. At 5-10, Alejado is like the detective behind a one-way mirror. He can find receivers yet it is a challenge for defenders to see him behind a taller offensive line.
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—4. Who are the top two or three players on Hawaii’s offense and defense?
Alejado, running back Landon Sims and left guard and Zhen Sotelo are the impact players on offense. Jalen Smith, who can play both linebacker spots, and De’Jon Benton, who lines up as 3-tech tackle or end, provide defensive versatility. An opposing coach mused that UH could run a 1-10 formation with Benton.
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—5. Do Hawaii fans still remember Nick Rolovich, who is Cal’s interim head coach for the Hawaii Bowl?
Without Rolo, there probably would not be a Hawaii Bowl. He threw eight touchdown passes to help the Warriors stomp then-unbeaten BYU in the 2001 regular-season finale. But with no postseason bowl invitation for the 9-3 Warriors, the leaders of UH, WAC and ESPN created the Hawaii Bowl the next year.
Rolo was innovative as a UH offensive coordinator and play-calling head coach. He ran his variation of June Jones’ run-and-shoot offense. He also provided entertainment, bringing an Elvis impersonator to media day; awarding a scholarship at a wrestling match and another in a koala cage at an Australian zoo; and designing a rivalry trophy for the matchup against UNLV.
On the road, he once conducted a quarterbacks’ meeting in the hotel jacuzzi. He also coined the popular phrase: Live aloha, play Warrior.
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POCATELLO — Sophomore guard Dylan Darling was Idaho State men’s basketball’s top performer last season, earning the Big Sky Conference Most Valuable Player award while leading the Bengals to a fourth-place finish in the conference.
After averaging 19.8 points per game for the year, Darling departed Pocatello for greener pastures. He accepted a $1 million payday to transfer to St. John’s University and join the Red Storm.
The ISU Athletics Department has announced the creation of the Student-Athlete Success Fund, with the intent to “attract, recruit, retain and develop outstanding student-athletes across all sports while responding to the rapidly evolving landscape of collegiate athletics.”
While the fund’s $10,000 goal will not compete with schools like Oregon, Texas or Ohio State — or even St. John’s — it could allow ISU to keep pace with its direct competitors.
The University of Montana launched “The Griz NIL Exchange” in 2023, while Montana State University has the “Bobcat Collective.” Even University of Idaho has “The Idaho NIL Store” which allows Vandal fans to buy merchandise and gear with money going to the athletes.
As the Bengals emerge as challengers for conference superiority across several sports, it was an important time for the university to take this step forward.
on the football field, three ISU offensive linemen were named FCS All-Americans this season, including First-Teamer Stryker Rashid. Running back Dason Brooks, safety Rylan Leathers, punter Gabe Russo and kicker Trajan Sinatra join Rishid as Bengal All-Conference First- or Second-Teamers with at least one year of eligibility remaining.
Leathers and Sinatra have already made public their intentions to enter the transfer portal — and they will both receive an offer with NIL money attached, joining Darling in those greener pastures.
To retain players like Rashid, Brooks, and the softball, volleyball, basketball, etc., athletes who have ushered in ISU’s recent run of success, the NIL — name, image and likeness — fund was necessary.
I, for one, applaud ISU and its leadership for making this move, though some remain steadfast against the idea of college athletes receiving money. We live in an era where college athletes are rightfully entitled to some of the monetary gain they bring to these million- and billion-dollar businesses. And while payments will be minimal in comparison with other programs, Bengals deserve a piece of the pie as well.
Donations can be made to the ISU Student-Athlete Success Fund — here.
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Montana
Miley Cyrus on Marking 20th ‘Hannah Montana’ Anniversary: ‘I Want the Fans to Really Feel Seen’
Miley Cyrus has detailed how she came to write “Dream as One,” her Golden Globe-nominated ballad that appears during the end credits of her Disney “legend-in-law” James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash, which opened this weekend. She also hinted at how she plans to mark the upcoming 20th anniversary of her own Disney show’s Hannah Montana.
In a new interview with Variety conducted following the world premiere of Avatar: Fire and Ash in Los Angeles, Cyrus shared the story of how her song “Dream as One” ended up in Cameron’s film. She said that while she was backstage last summer at the D23 Expo in Anaheim, the director was ahead of her in line, along with Jamie Lee Curtis and Harrison Ford.
First, Curtis tapped Cyrus for the end credits to The Last Showgirl, which led to the Golden Globe-nominated “Beautiful That Way.” Then, Cyrus — a fan of the Avatar franchise — took a chance for a bucket-list opportunity and asked Cameron about how things were going on Fire and Ice. Turned out, Cameron had already discussed Cyrus with Avatar composer Simon Franglen and the idea of them working together.
Cameron came up with the song’s name, reflecting the film’s finale. Cyrus and collaborators Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt took it from there. “Coming in at the end was actually really helpful, because, when you’ve worked on something for like 20 years, you get so close to it that it’s hard to see it from that outside perspective,” Cyrus said. “I’m just writing it like someone who loves Avatar.”
As for what her plans are for marking the 20th anniversary of Hannah Montana in spring 2026, she told the outlet she hopes to bring an element from Avatar into her approach to the occasion as she considers how she might commemorate it.
“Something that they always say in Avatar is ‘I see you’ — and that’s something really important that I want the fans to feel during the ‘Hannah-versary,’” Cyrus said. “Someone called it the ‘Hannah’ anniversary the other day, and I was like ‘No, no, no, it’s the ‘Hannah-versary,’” she said, adding, “I want the fans to really feel seen. They know that I appreciate them, but I also see like their growth. Because I have these moments all the time where people celebrate my evolution, but I see theirs as much as they see mine.”
When asked whether a celebration might involve in-person events or a concert tour, she teased, “TBD. That’s still in the works.” She added, “Everything takes time. I want to make something that’s meaningful, thoughtful, and really satisfying for the fans.”
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