Washington
Arkansas completes Opening Weekend sweep with run-rule win
FAYETTEVILLE — The No. 5 Arkansas Razorbacks (4-0, 0-0 SEC) swept their Opening Weekend series Monday with a seven-inning 12-2 run-rule win over the Washington State Cougars (0-4, 0-0 MWC) at Baum-Walker Stadium.
Starting pitcher Landon Beidelschies gave the Razorbacks five innings of one-run baseball. The junior left-hander gave up one earned run on four hits with one walk and seven strikeouts across 71 total pitches.
The Razorbacks’ biggest blows came in the middle innings, as the offense rattled off 11 total runs combined between the fourth and fifth frames. Hog designated hitter Kuhio Aloy hit his second homer of the season while catcher Ryder Helfrick and right fielder Carson Boles recorded doubles.
Arkansas totaled 10 hits as a team and the Hogs finished 9-for-22 (.409) at the plate with runners on base. Washington State logged six hits in the game, just two of which came with runners on base.
Two relievers — junior righty Ben Bybee and freshman lefty Cole Gibler — combined for two innings after Beidelschies, and that duo allowed one runs on two hits with one walks and one strikeout combined.
In true small-ball fashion, leadoff Max Hartman recorded the Cougars’ first hit against Beidelschies with a first-pitch bunt attempt that was just safe after review. Washington State laid down another good bunt in the next at-bat, but an interference call on Hartman on his way to second base resulted in an out. Beidelschies cleaned things up with his first two strikeouts of the day.
Arkansas got things going quickly in its first time up to bat, as Charles Davalan worked a full-count walk and Wehiwa Aloy earned first base via a swinging bunt. That forced Washington State coach Nathan Choate into making a hasty pitching change to righty sidewinder Rylan Haider, who drew back-to-back lineouts from Rocco Peppi and Brent Iredale before walking Kuhio Aloy to load the bases. Haider escaped the jam by striking out Ryder Helfrick.
After Beidelschies picked up his third strikeout in a 1-2-3 top of the second, Haider faced the minimum himself after Carson Boles grounded out, Cam Kozeal struck out, Justin Thomas Jr. walked and subsequently got caught stealing.
Washington State recorded its second bunt-for-a-hit of the day in the top of the third following a groundout, but the runner was caught stealing on a rocket throw by Helfrick for the second out. Beidelschies set the Cougars down on only seven pitches after another groundball out.
A hit-by-pitch on Peppi in the bottom of the third broke up Haider’s first potential true 1-2-3 inning, but a hard-hit lineout to right field by Iredale ended the Hogs’ two-out rally before it really began.
Beidelschies grew his strikeout total to five in the top of the fourth with near picture-perfect control of his pitches, and the Cougars turned to righty reliever Bryce Chambers out of the bullpen to face Arkansas in the latter half of the inning.
Like clockwork, the scoreless game finally ended when Kuhio Aloy snuck a 340-foot leadoff solo shot over the left field wall to give Arkansas a 1-0 lead. A Helfrick full-count walk and Boles right-field single put pressure on Washington State’s defense, which crumbled when a Kozeal bunt forced an errant throw that allowed Helfrick to score.
Nine-hole Thomas walked again to load the bases with zero outs for Davalan, who reeled in Boles from third base on an RBI groundout. Wehiwa Aloy opened the floodgates on an oppo single to right field, which drove in Kozeal and Thomas to increase Arkansas’ advantage to 5-0. Chambers finally shut things down with a flyout by Peppi and fielder’s choice groundout by Iredale.
The Razorbacks ran into trouble in the top of the fifth, as Cougar Ryan Skjonsby led off with a double against Beidelschies before the former Ohio State ace struck out Ollie Obenour. A first-pitch single by Will Cresswell gave Washington State runners on the corners with one out, and Skjonsby scored following an RBI groundout on a bunt.
Arkansas pitching coach Matt Hobbs made a mound visit after Beidelschies walked Cole Watterson to give the Cougars two men on and it paid off, as Beidelschies racked up strikeout No. 7 on Hartman after an 11-pitch at-bat to end the inning.
Leading off for the second inning in a row was Kuhio Aloy, who followed his fourth-inning homer with a fifth-inning walk. As a result, Washington State turned to right-hander Ingmar Hutzezon in relief. On the second pitch of his at-bat, Helfrick smashed a double down the left field line to put two runners in scoring position for Boles, who drove in both with a double to center field.
Kozeal slapped a grounder right to Cougar third baseman Kyler Northrop, who made a throwing error which allowed Kozeal and Boles to advance into scoring position. A Thomas single punched in Boles, and another error by Northrop on the same play scored Kozeal. Davalan made it a 10-1 lead for Arkansas after hitting a seeing-eye-single to right field to score Thomas.
The fifth-inning circus didn’t stop there, as Davalan stole second and made his way to third thanks to a wild pitch. A Wehiwa Aloy full-count walk brought up Peppi, who was pinch hit for by Reese Robinett. Before Robinett could bat, Washington State brought in sophomore righty Trevor Stowe from the pen. After a Robinett strikeout, Iredale recorded a screaming single to score Davalan.
Kuhio Aloy battled back from an 0-2 count, but a nice offspeed pitch got him swinging for the second out of the inning. Helfrick worked a full-count walk to load the bases again, but Boles struck out swinging to end the damage with Arkansas up 11-1.
Razorback right-hander Ben Bybee came on in the top of the sixth to relieve Beidelschies, and promptly gave up a leadoff single to center field. Robinett moved over to first base for Peppi and freshman Zane Becker came in for Helfrick at catcher. A groundball out moved the runner over to second, and the Cougars scored their second run of the day following a double. Arkansas held its 11-2 lead following another groundout and a flyout.
If you can believe it, the bottom of the sixth wasn’t the smoothest for Cougar pitcher Stowe, who walked three batters around two fly outs to load the bases with two outs. With Iredale up in a massive RBI opportunity, Stowe hit him with a 2-2 pitch to drive in a run. Kuhio Aloy struck out on three pitches to limit the damage. Arkansas, now up 12-2, was back in run-rule territory entering the seventh.
Coach Dave Van Horn called upon freshman lefty Cole Gibler to shut the Cougars down in the top of the seventh, and he started his day with a strikeout looking on a pretty offspeed pitch. A four-pitch walk gave the Cougars a man on first, but Gibler drew a ground ball that ended the game after a double play.
Up next, the Razorbacks will travel to Arlington, Texas, for the College Baseball Series. First pitch for Game 1 against Kansas State on Friday is set for 7 p.m. CT and it will stream on FloSports.
Washington
North Dakota National Guard heading to Washington duty
BISMARCK — About 60 North Dakota Army National Guard Soldiers will be sent to help the District of Columbia National Guard under a joint task force starting in April.
Most soldiers are from the 131st Military Police Battalion, which is headquartered in Bismarck, according to a release.
The support will be given as part of the effort that began on Aug. 11, when several states activated members of their National Guard to support local and federal law enforcement in Washington under the President Donald Trump’s
executive order 14333,
which declared a crime emergency in the nation’s capital.
The support is a federal mission under the command of the D.C. National Guard, which supports civilian agencies and local law enforcement to reduce crime and minimize property damage.
“Safeguarding the citizens, federal workers and elected leaders in our nation’s capital is a matter of national security, and we appreciate these Soldiers volunteering for this important mission,” said North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong in a release. “We know they will represent our state with the skill and professionalism that military leaders everywhere have come to expect from the North Dakota National Guard.”
The battalion is expected to be in Washington for about three months.
Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.
Washington
Brothers shot Park Police officer who arrested one of them the day before, documents say
Charging documents reveal the U.S. Park Police officer who was shot Monday in Southeast D.C. had arrested one of the suspects the day before and was following that suspect at the time.
The suspects are brothers, 22-year-old Asheile Foster and 21-year-old Darren Foster, of Southeast. They appeared in federal court Wednesday afternoon.
Court documents state the Park Police officer who was shot had arrested Asheile Foster on Sunday on suspicion of dealing drugs. The officer said he followed Foster after he was released from jail on Monday and came to Park Police headquarters to get his personal belongings.
According to prosecutors, Foster told police he knew he was being followed by a white Tesla, and he confronted the officer on Queens Stroll Place SE, jumping out in front of the Tesla before the officer swerved around him.
Then, dozens of gunshots went off, the officer told police. He said in charging documents he was shot in the shoulder as he kept driving several blocks to the intersection of Benning Road and Southern Avenue SE, where police found him. A helicopter then took him to a hospital. According to charging documents, the officer was treated and released the same night as the shooting.
A U.S. Park Police officer who was shot in Southeast D.C. on Monday is recovering from what authorities say was likely a targeted attack. Multiple law enforcement sources tell News4’s Mark Segraves that when the officer was shot, he was investigating a shooting that occurred in Anacostia Park on Friday.
Photos in the charging documents show the brothers firing at the officer’s Tesla, according to prosecutors.
The shooting drew a massive police presence to the Southeast neighborhood near the D.C-Maryland border Monday night.
Shell casings littered the middle of the street. Police said they recovered two weapons: a Glock 9 with an extended magazine and an AR-15.
Prosecutors said that when the officer was shot, he was investigating a shooting that occurred in Anacostia Park on Friday. No one was injured in that shooting.
Darren Foster was located and stopped shortly after the shooting, D.C. police said. Asheile Foster was found on Tuesday.
The brothers were charged with assault on a federal officer, assault with intent to kill and weapons charges. They could face up to 60 years in prison if they’re convicted.
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Washington
Washington passes new AI laws to crack down on misinformation, protect minors
Washington just became the latest state to regulate artificial intelligence.
Under a pair of bills signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson Tuesday, companies like OpenAI and Anthropic will have to include new disclosures in their popular chatbots for Washington users.
Ferguson asked legislators to craft House Bill 1170 to crack down on AI-generated misinformation. When content is substantially modified using generative AI, that information will now have to be traceable using watermarks or metadata. The new law applies to large AI companies more than 1 million monthly subscribers.
“ I’m confident I’m not the only Washingtonian who often sees something on my phone and wondering to myself, ‘Is that AI or is it real?’ And I feel like I’m a reasonably discerning person,” Ferguson said during the bill signing. “It is virtually impossible these days.”
RELATED: WA Gov. Bob Ferguson calls for regulations on AI chatbot companions
House Bill 2225 establishes new guard rails for AI chatbots that act like friends or companions. It applies to services like ChatGPT and Claude, but excludes more narrowly tailored chatbots, like the customer service windows that pop up when visiting a corporate website.
Chatbots that fit the bill will have to disclose to users that they are not human at the start of every conversation, and every three hours in an ongoing chat. The tools will also be barred from pretending to be human in conversation with users.
The rules go further if the user is a minor. Companies that operate chatbots will have to disclose that the tools are not human every hour, rather than every three hours, if the user is under 18. The bill forbids AI companions from having sexually explicit conversations with underage users. It also bans “manipulative engagement techniques.” For example, a chatbot is not allowed to guilt or pressure a minor into staying in a conversation or keeping information from parents.
“AI has incredible potential to transform society,” Ferguson said. “At the same time, of course, there are risks that we must mitigate as a state, especially to young people. So I speak partly as a governor, but also as the father of teenage twins who grapple with this as a lot of parents do every single day.”
Under the law, AI chatbots will not be allowed to encourage or provide information on suicide or self-harm, including eating disorders. The companies behind these tools will be required to come up with a protocol for flagging conversations that reference self-harm and connecting users with mental health services.
The regulations come in the wake of several high-profile instances of teenage suicide following prolonged interactions with AI companions that showed warning signs. Many more AI users of all ages have reported mental health issues and psychosis after heavy use of the technology.
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