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Protesters expected to be moved away from park near GOP convention

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Protesters expected to be moved away from park near GOP convention


Protesters are no longer expected to be allowed in a large Milwaukee park near the arena where the GOP will host its July convention after a months-long pressure campaign by the party, according to a law enforcement official and another person familiar with the matter.

The Secret Service is expected to expand its security perimeter around Fiserv Forum after the Republican National Committee said it would use another facility located near the park for some convention activities, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. That means Pere Marquette Park, which had been eyed as a place for thousands of protesters to gather, would not be the site of protests.

It is the closest large city park to the arena.

Both people familiar with the decision said it was likely to be announced in coming days.

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“We applaud Secret Service leadership for including Pere Marquette Park in the security perimeter and we implore local officials to expedite the permit application for this park and choose a different location for the First Amendment zone,” Trump senior adviser Danielle Alvarez said in a statement.

“As of right now, the security plan for the 2024 Republican National Convention, which includes the security perimeter, is still in development,” said Secret Service spokeswoman Alexi Worley. “The U.S. Secret Service does not determine demonstration zones for National Special Security Events — those decisions are made by the host city. The U.S. Secret Service is continuing to work closely with our public safety partners, the City of Milwaukee, and the Republican National Committee to ensure the highest level of safety and security during the 2024 Republican National Convention.”

Jeff Fleming, a spokesman for the city, said no final decision had been made on where to allow protesters.

The fight over the location of the “First Amendment zone” has stretched for several months among top Republican Party officials, Secret Service officials and local officials in Wisconsin. City leaders say they are required to have a designated area within “sight and sound” of the convention area, and they wanted to use Pere Marquette Park, a large space a few blocks away. They also say they were going to use the same park for the Democratic National Convention in 2020, which was scuttled because of the pandemic.

Both Republican and Democratic Party officials are expecting large protests for their conventions this summer.

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Several prominent Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), have raised concerns about the park, which party officials say is near an area where many convention attendees will walk to the arena. They say they fear that demonstrators and convention attendees could clash if they are in proximity.

In a tense 45-minute meeting last month, Secret Service officials said they were aware of no “unrest” related to the protests in the park. And many local activists say they fear the Republicans just want to move protesters farther away from Trump and believe they should be closer than Pere Marquette Park, not farther away.

Republicans have proposed at least one park on the other side of the Milwaukee River from the arena, but the city is considering several possible locations.



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Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury announces she’s pregnant

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Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury announces she’s pregnant


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Washington Spirit goalkeeper Aubrey Kingsbury has announced that she and her husband Matt are expecting a baby in July.

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The couple made the announcement in a video on the Spirit’s social media channels, holding a baby goalkeeper jersey on the pitch at Audi Field.

Kingsbury becomes the most recent Spirit star to go on maternity leave, following defender Casey Krueger, midfielder Andi Sullivan and forward Ashley Hatch.

Sullivan gave birth to daughter Millie in July, while Hatch welcomed her son Leo in January.

Krueger announced she was pregnant with her second child in October.

Kingsbury has served as the Spirit’s starting goalkeeper since 2018, and has been named the NWSL Goalkeeper of the Year twice (2019 and 2021).

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The 34-year-old has two caps with the U.S. women’s national team, and was named to the 2023 World Cup roster.

The club captain will leave a major void for the Spirit, who have finished as NWSL runner-up in back-to-back seasons.

Sandy MacIver and Kaylie Collins are expected to compete for the starting role while Kingsbury is on maternity leave.

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The Spirit kick off their 2026 campaign on March 13 against the Portland Thorns.





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Washington state board awards Yakima $985,600 loan for Sixth Avenue project design

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Washington state board awards Yakima 5,600 loan for Sixth Avenue project design


Yakima could soon take a major step toward redesigning Sixth Avenue after the Washington State Public Works Board awarded the city a $985,600 loan.

The loan was approved for the design engineering phase of the Sixth Avenue project. The funding can also be used along Sixth Avenue for utility replacement and updated ADA use.

The Yakima City Council must decide whether to accept the award. If the council accepts it, the city’s engineering work will move forward with the design of Sixth Avenue.

The cost of installing trolley lines is excluded from the plan. The historic trolleys would need to raise the funds required to add trolley lines.

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The award is scheduled to be discussed during next week’s City Council meeting.



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Microsoft promises more AI investments at University of Washington

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Microsoft promises more AI investments at University of Washington


Microsoft will ramp up its investment in the University of Washington.

Brad Smith, the company’s president, made the announcement at a press conference with University of Washington President Robert Jones on Tuesday.

That means hiring more UW graduates as interns at Microsoft, he said.

And he said all students, faculty, and researchers should have access to free, or at least deeply-discounted, AI.

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“ Some of it is compute that Microsoft is donating, and some of it is pursuant to an agreement where, believe me, we give the University of Washington probably the best pricing that anybody’s gonna find anywhere,” Smith said. He assured the small group of reporters present that it would be “many millions of dollars of additional computational resources.”

The announcement today didn’t include any specific numbers.

But Smith said Microsoft has already invested $165 million in the UW over several decades.

He pointed to Jones’ vision to spur “radical collaborations with businesses and communities to advance positive change,” and eliminate “any artificial barriers between the university and the communities it serves.”

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Microsoft’s goal is for AI to help UW researchers solve some of the world’s biggest problems without introducing new ones.

At Tuesday’s announcement, several research students were present to demonstrate how AI supports their work.

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Amelia Keyser-Gibson is an environmental scientist at the UW. She’s using AI to analyze photographs of vines, to find which adapt best to climate change.

It’s a paradox: AI produces carbon emissions. At the same time, it’s also a new tool to help reduce them.

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So how do those things square for Keyser-Gibson?

“ That’s a great question, and honestly, I don’t know the answer to that,” she said. “I’m highly aware that there’s a lot of environmental impact of using AI, but what I can say is that this has allowed us to make research innovations that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.”

“If we had had to manually annotate every single image that would’ve been an undergrad doing that for hours,” Keyser-Gibson continued. “And we didn’t have the budget. We didn’t have the manpower to do that.”

“AI exists. If we don’t use it as researchers, we’re gonna fall behind.”

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Microsoft reports on its own carbon emissions. But like most AI companies, it doesn’t reveal everything.

That’s one reason another UW student named Zhihan Zhang is using AI to estimate how much energy AI is using.



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