West
San Francisco Zoo to welcome pair of pandas from China, mayor says
Panda loan agreement ending with most U.S. zoos
FOX News correspondent Gillian Turner reports on how the U.S.’s panda loan agreement is ending in December for most zoos with Pandas only remaining at Atlanta Zoo after the deadline on ‘Special Report.’
- San Francisco is set to receive a pair of pandas from China, continuing the tradition of “panda diplomacy.”
- Mayor London Breed announced the panda loan during her visit to Beijing alongside officials from the China Wildlife Conservation Association.
- This will be San Francisco’s first long-term hosting of pandas, following a yearlong advocacy campaign.
San Francisco is the latest U.S. city preparing to receive a pair of pandas from China, in a continuation of Beijing’s famed “panda diplomacy.”
San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced the panda loan in Beijing on Friday, alongside officials from China Wildlife Conservation Association, or CWCA. It will be San Francisco’s first time hosting the beloved animals long-term — the result of a yearlong advocacy campaign, Breed said.
San Diego previously announced it was receiving two pandas back in February.
OUTSIDE OF CHINA, PANDAS ARE ONLY FOUND IN THESE 5 ZOOS AROUND THE WORLD
China is home to the only natural habitat for pandas and owns most of the black-and-white bears in the world. Beijing loans the animals to other countries as a tool for diplomacy and wildlife conservation.
San Francisco is the latest U.S. city preparing to receive a pair of pandas from China, in a continuation of Beijing’s famed “panda diplomacy.” (Maja Hitij/Getty Images)
“San Francisco is absolutely thrilled to be welcoming giant pandas to the San Francisco Zoo,” Breed said after signing a letter of intent for international cooperation on giant panda conservation.
Breed said the city had been working with its Chinese and Asian communities to advocate for the pandas for almost a year leading up to an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ meeting in San Francisco last November, during which the U.S. and Chinese presidents met.
CWCA Secretary General Wu Minglu said the association will work with San Francisco officials to prepare for the pandas’ arrival and to ensure the technical standards for their conservation.
“We look forward to a pair of giant pandas being in San Francisco in 2025,” he said.
When San Diego broke the news in February that it would receive a pair of pandas, it was the first time in more than two decades that China had agreed to send pandas to the United States.
Only four giant pandas are currently in the U.S., all at the zoo in Atlanta. China in recent years has not renewed loan agreements at zoos in Washington, D.C., and Memphis, Tennessee, sparking fears it was ending its historic panda diplomacy with Western nations due to geopolitical tensions.
The black-and-white bears have been a symbol of U.S.-China friendship ever since Beijing gifted a pair of pandas to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., in 1972, ahead of the normalization of bilateral relations. China later loaned pandas to zoos to help breed cubs and boost the population.
Friday’s announcement comes ahead of a planned visit to China next week by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Washington and Beijing have boosted their diplomatic exchanges in recent months, in an effort to ease escalating tensions. But frictions remain on trade, national security and the countries’ diverging stances on conflicts such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war.
Read the full article from Here
New Mexico
Understanding New Mexico’s data center boom | Opinion
After years of failure to land a “big fish” business for New Mexico’s economy (or effectively use the oil and gas revenues to grow the economy) Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham with the help of her Economic Development Secretary Rob Black have lured no fewer than three large data centers to New Mexico. These data centers are being built to serve the booming world of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and they will have profound impacts on New Mexico.
It is our view that having these data centers locate in New Mexico is better than having them locate elsewhere. While we have many differences of opinion with this governor, we are pleased to see her get serious about growing and diversifying New Mexico’s oil-dependent economy albeit quite late in her second term.
Sadly, the governor and legislature have chosen not to use broad based economic reforms like deregulation or tax cuts to improve New Mexico’s competitiveness. But, with the failure of her “preferred” economic development “wins” like Maxeon and Ebon solar both of which the governor announced a few years ago, but haven’t panned out, the focus on a more realistic strategy is welcome and long overdue.
Currently, three new data centers are slated to be built in New Mexico:
- Oracle’s Project Jupiter in Santa Teresa with an investment of $165 billion.
- Project Zenith slated to be built in Roswell amounts to a $11.7 billion investment.
- New Era Energy & Digital, Inc. While the overall investment is unclear, the energy requirement is the largest of the three at 7 gigawatts (that’s seven times the power used by the City of San Francisco).
What is a data center? Basically, they are the real-world computing infrastructure that makes up the Internet. The rise of AI requires vast new computing power. It is critical that these facilities have uninterrupted electricity.
That electricity is going to be largely generated by traditional sources like natural gas and possibly nuclear. That contravenes New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act of 2019 which was adopted by this Gov. and many of the legislators still in office. Under the Act electrical power emissions are supposed to be eliminated in a few years.
With the amount of money being invested in these facilities and the simple fact that wind and solar and other “renewable” energy sources aren’t going to get the job done. In 2025 the Legislature passed and MLG signed HB 93 which allows for the creation of “microgrids” that won’t tax the grid and make our electricity more expensive, but the ETA will have to be amended or ignored to provide enough electricity for these data centers. There’s no other option.
New Mexicans have every right to wonder why powerful friends of the governor can set up their own natural gas microgrids while the rest of us face rising costs and decreased reliability from so-called “renewables.” Don’t get me wrong, having these data centers come to New Mexico is an economic boon.
But it comes tempered with massive subsidies including a 30-year property tax exemption and up to $165 billion in industrial revenue bonds. New Mexico is ideally suited as a destination for these data centers with its favorable climate and lack of natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. We shouldn’t be giving away such massive subsidies.
Welcoming the data center boom to New Mexico better than rejecting them and pushing them to locate in other states. There is no way to avoid CO2 emissions whether they happen here or somewhere else. But, there are questions about both the electricity demand and subsidies that must be addressed as New Mexico’s data center boom begins.
What will the Legislature, radical environmental groups, and future governors of our state do to hinder (or help) bring these data centers to our State? That is an open question that depends heavily on upcoming statewide elections. It is important that New Mexicans understand and appreciate these complicated issues.
Paul Gessing is president of New Mexico’s Rio Grande Foundation. The Rio Grande Foundation is an independent, nonpartisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility
Oregon
Oregon turns to Peyton Woodyard, Zach Grisham to fill secondary gaps for Peach Bowl
ATLANTA — Oregon’s options for who to rotate in at safety and nickel in the Peach Bowl are finite, but not inexperienced.
Peyton Woodyard has 22 tackles and an interception as a backup this season. The sophomore is the next player behind starting deep safeties Dillon Thieneman and Aaron Flowers and could also play nickel behind Jadon Canady in the Peach Bowl against No. 1 Indiana.
Woodyard was UO’s only freshman defensive player not to redshirt last season. Though he fell behind Flowers and Lopa prior to the season, he’s still prepared to play a significant role, which could come in Friday’s College Football Playoff semifinal.
“You’d have more concern if you had a guy that wasn’t preparing like he wasn’t a starter,” defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi said. “But that’s the way he prepares. I’ve got the faith that we’re not going to put somebody out there that we don’t trust. … I don’t think if he’s out there competing for us, I wouldn’t hesitate one bit to put (him) out there.”
No. 5 Oregon lost Kingston Lopa and Daylen Austin to the transfer portal since the start of the playoff.
Walk-on Zach Grisham (44) and Woodyard (30) have the most snaps at nickel behind Canady and Austin. Woodyard has played 171 snaps this season, but just one in the Orange Bowl when Canady came out for a play. He played three snaps at deep safety during the October 11 game against Indiana.
Grisham has nine tackles in 11 games, splitting time between defense and special teams. He came in for the last defensive play in the Orange Bowl.
Lupoi called Grisham “an absolute baller” for the effort he brings to the field.
The Ducks may need to rely on one or both for a few snaps in the biggest game of the season.
“(Woodyard) brings a lot of range and he’s really smart,” Flowers said. “A really vocal leader. Great tackler. I feel super comfortable playing out there with him. Zach, he’s a man of the game. He knows every position; he knows star, safety. He’s really quick, really good man coverage.”
No. 1 Indiana (14-0) vs. No. 5 Oregon (13-1)
- When: Friday, January 9
- Time: 4:30 p.m. PT
- Where: Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta
- TV: ESPN
- Stream: You can watch this game on DIRECTV (free trial) or with Sling (a Sling day pass to watch this game and more is just $4.99). Streaming broadcasts for this game will be available on these streaming services locally in Oregon and Washington, but may not be available outside of the Pacific Northwest, depending on your location.
Utah
Two killed, six wounded in shooting outside Mormon church in Utah
Two people were killed, and at least six were wounded when gunfire erupted outside a funeral at a Mormon church in Utah on Wednesday night, according to authorities and reports.
Eight people were hit by gunfire when shots rang out outside The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Redwood Road in Salt Lake City around 7:30 p.m., Salt Lake City Police Department spokesperson Glen Mills told the Salt Lake City Tribune.
Two people were killed, and six people were injured in the shooting that occurred outside in the church’s parking lot as dozens were attending a funeral service inside.
Of the six wounded, three individuals are in critical condition, the Salt Lake City Police Department posted on X. All of the victims were adults.
There were no suspects in custody as of late Wednesday night, and it is not immediately clear if there were multiple gunmen involved. A motive was also unknown.
However, police said they have obtained solid leads in the investigation and are working to locate individuals involved in the shooting.
“We believe this was not a random incident,” Salt Lake City Police Chief Brian Redd told reporters.
The shooting was not believed to be targeting a religion, Redd clarified.
Roughly 100 law enforcement vehicles swarmed the area in the aftermath of the gunfire as helicopters flew overhead.
The area around the Mormon church remained closed into the evening as authorities urged the public to stay clear of the still active scene.
“This should never have happened outside a place of worship. This should never have happened outside a celebration of life,” said Mayor Erin Mendenhall.
The Salt Lake City Police Department did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The incident remains under investigation.
With Post wires.
-
News1 week agoFor those who help the poor, 2025 goes down as a year of chaos
-
Detroit, MI4 days ago2 hospitalized after shooting on Lodge Freeway in Detroit
-
Georgia1 week ago
Best in Georgia: 2025 AJC Varsity high school football all-state teams
-
Dallas, TX3 days agoDefensive coordinator candidates who could improve Cowboys’ brutal secondary in 2026
-
Detroit, MI1 week agoWith 46k outages around Michigan, Metro Detroit prepares for power loss
-
Southeast1 week agoMurder in small-town America: The crimes that tore quiet communities apart in 2025
-
Miami, FL1 week agoMiami-Dade sheriff’s deputy opens fire on vehicle after altercation during traffic stop, officials say
-
Midwest1 week agoMcDonald’s locks doors to keep out individuals who present ‘a risk’ in crime-ridden Minneapolis area