SRN NEWS

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — The Chicago Cubs are coming off a 92-win season, return much of a productive and athletic lineup, have a deep group of talented pitchers and signed three-time All-Star third baseman Alex Bregman during the offseason. It’s safe to say elite expectations will be back at Wrigley Field this summer. Cubs manager Craig Counsell didn’t shy away from that reality Wednesday before the team’s first official spring training workout for pitchers and catchers. Addressing reporters for the first time in Arizona, he said “everybody works really hard to create a team like this.” “You work really hard to build a roster that has expectations,” Counsell said. “You work really hard to get on a team that has expectations. That’s what we want. We’re truly excited.” It’s been nearly 10 years since the Cubs beat the Cleveland Guardians for the World Series title in 2016. The franchise has stayed competitive since — making the playoffs four times, including last season — but hasn’t been able to recreate the magic or talent that famously snapped 108 years of futility. This roster might represent its best chance. The lineup is relatively young but has experience, headlined by Pete Crow-Armstrong, Dansby Swanson, Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner, Michael Busch and Seiya Suzuki. Adding Bregman — a two-time World Series champion — on a $175 million, five-year deal should make them even more formidable. The 31-year-old Bregman hit .273 with 18 homers and 61 RBIs in 114 games last season. “We’ve added a really good baseball player who is just passionate about the game,” Counsell said. “It’s fun to be around people like that. We have a lot of people like that. So I think, from that perspective, he fits in.” The Cubs also still have Matt Shaw, who had a good rookie season at third base and now is expected to move into a super-utility role because of Bregman’s arrival. Shaw played good defense at third and hit .226 with 13 homers and 44 RBIs, overcoming a slow start at the plate and showing considerable improvement during the season’s second half. The 24-year-old has spent most of his baseball career at third or second, but he has also dabbled in the outfield. Counsell said Shaw will get more work in the outfield this spring as they try and make him as versatile as possible. “Matt’s got a fun challenge ahead of him,” Counsell said. “That’s how I see it and I think that’s how he sees it.” Chicago’s starting rotation could also be a strength with newcomer Edward Cabrera — who was acquired in a trade with the Marlins — joining Matthew Boyd, Shota Imanaga, Jameson Taillon and Cade Horton. Cabrera went 8-7 with a 3.53 ERA in a career-high 26 starts and 137 2/3 innings last year. The 24-year-old Horton is entering his second season after a fantastic rookie year. The right-hander was 11-4 with a 2.67 ERA, though he missed the postseason with a rib injury. “There’s still a lot to prove,” Horton said. “Now guys have a scouting report on me, they know my stuff. It’s all about going out there and executing pitches, giving our team a chance to win.” The Cubs’ bullpen — as it is for almost every team in the big leagues — is a work in progress. Counsell did provide a mild surprise on Wednesday by confirming that Daniel Palencia would be team’s closer if the season started today. Palencia was very good last season with a 2.91 ERA and 22 saves, and Counsell envisions a similar role in 2026, though he also said the team must remain flexible. “There’s always going to be surprises in that area of your team,” Counsell said. “That’s how it’s going to work.” But overall, the Cubs have more certainty about their potential 26-man roster than most teams. Cubs’ President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer said this was “the best kind of spring training” because there was so much optimism and hunger to improve on last season’s success. “I know the expectations are high — which is great,” Hoyer said. “The excitement in camp is palpable. The players are talking about it, the coaches are talking about it. They’re excited about our group.” ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

As the Trump administration prepares to close the Kennedy Center for a two-year renovation, the head of Washington’s performing arts center has warned its staff about impending cuts that will leave “skeletal teams.” In a Tuesday memo obtained by The Associated Press, Kennedy Center President Richard Grenell told staff that “departments will obviously function on a much smaller scale with some units totally reduced or on hold until we begin preparations to reopen in 2028,” promising “permanent or temporary adjustments for most everyone.” A Kennedy Center spokesperson declined comment Wednesday. Over the next few months, he wrote, department heads would be “evaluating the needs and making the decisions as to what these skeletal teams left in place during the facility and closure and construction phase will look like.” Grenell said leadership would “provide as much clarity and advance notice as possible.” The Kennedy Center is slated to close in early July. Few details about what the renovations will look like have been released since President Donald Trump announced his plan at the beginning of February. Neither Trump nor Grenell have provided evidence to support claims about the building being in disrepair, and last October, Trump had pledged it would remain open during renovations. It’s unclear exactly how many employees the center currently has, but a 2025 tax filing said nearly 2,500 people were employed during the 2023 calendar year. A request for comment sent to Kennedy Center Arts Workers United, which represents artists and arts professionals affiliated with the center — wasn’t immediately returned. Leading performers and groups have left or canceled appearances since Trump ousted the center’s leadership a year ago and added his own name to the building in December. The Washington Post, which first reported about Grenell’s memo, has also cited significant drops in ticket revenue that — along with private philanthropy — comprises the center’s operating budget. Officials have yet to say whether such long-running traditions as the Mark Twain Award for comedy or the honors ceremony for lifetime contributions to the arts will continue while the center is closed. The Kennedy Center was first conceived as a national cultural facility during the Eisenhower administration, in the 1950s. President John F. Kennedy led a fundraising initiative, and the yet-to-be-built center was named in his honor following his assassination. It opened in 1971 and has become a preeminent showcase for theater, music and dramatic performances, enjoying bipartisan backing until Trump’s return to office last year. “This renovation represents a generational investment in our future,” Grenell wrote. “When we reopen, we will do so as a stronger organization — one that honors our legacy while expanding our impact.” Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Cees Nooteboom, a Dutch novelist, travel writer and journalist who was lauded for his insights into European history and culture and often tipped as a possible winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, died Wednesday, his publisher announced. He was 92. Publishing house De Bezige Bij said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press that Nooteboom “died very peacefully on his beloved island of Menorca.” The publisher said the message was written on behalf of his wife, photographer Simone Sassen. “We will miss the friendship, erudition, passion, and idiosyncrasy of this internationally acclaimed writer,” the publishing house added. It did not give a cause of death. Equally comfortable writing fiction, poetry, songs, news reports or travel stories, Nooteboom’s extensive oeuvre started with “Philip and the Others,” a novel based in part on his experiences hitchhiking through France and Scandinavia in the early 1950s. It became a Dutch literary classic. He went on to write newspaper columns and report on society-shifting events such as Soviet troops entering Budapest in 1956, student protests in Paris in 1968 and the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Dutch National Library’s website says that the “well-considered constructions of his novels and stories, his mastery of language and the erudition that emanates from every text are recurring themes in many reviews and jury reports.” Nooteboom’s books were translated into more than 25 languages and his work is particularly highly valued by readers and critics in Germany. While he never won the Nobel literature prize, he was decorated with many other honors, including all the major Dutch language prizes and the literature prize awarded by Germany’s Konrad Adenauer Stiftung in 2010. After immersing himself in journalism and travel writing for much of the 1960s and ’70s, Nooteboom made a comeback as a novelist in the 1980s with “Rituals,” which turned him into a literary star and was made into a Dutch film. No funeral arrangements were immediately announced. Nooteboom’s publisher was not reachable by phone late Wednesday and did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

PHOENIX (AP) — Chris Nanos has had a long career in law enforcement, but he admits he isn’t used to the amount of scrutiny that has come with leading the investigation into the disappearance of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie’s mother. At news conferences since 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie’s apparent abduction from her Tucson-area home, the soft-spoken sheriff of Pima County, Arizona, has tried to walk the line between keeping the public informed while withholding investigation details that only the person who took her would know. He’s acknowledged the approach sometimes falls short. “I’m not used to everyone hanging onto my every word and then holding me accountable for what I say,” Nanos told reporters on the investigation’s third day. Now in its second week, Nanos has also acknowledged missteps, including that he probably should have waited longer to relinquish Nancy Guthrie’s home to her family after his detectives finished combing through it for evidence. Before authorities resecured the scene, journalists had walked up to the front door to photograph blood droplets that the sheriff said were Guthrie’s. And critics, including a fellow Democrat, called him out for going to a University of Arizona basketball game last weekend while the victim was still missing. “That does not look good,” said Dr. Matt Heinz, a Democrat who serves on the county’s government board. “I mean, dude, watch the game at home. Read the room.” The sheriff’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment on the criticism over Nanos’ appearance at the game. Nancy Guthrie was last seen at home Jan. 31 and was reported missing the next day. On Tuesday, authorities released surveillance videos of someone approaching her door wearing a gun holster, ski mask and a backpack, marking the first significant break in the case. The videos — less than a combined minute in length — gave investigators and the public their first glimpse of who was outside Guthrie’s home, but they don’t show what happened to her or help determine whether she is still alive. Soon after the images were released, authorities detained a man during a traffic stop south of Tucson. He was questioned and later released. Nanos, a native of El Paso, Texas, started with the sheriff’s office as a detention officer in 1984 and steadily rose through the ranks to become second-in-command before being appointed sheriff in 2015 when his boss retired. Before becoming sheriff, he took part in the investigation into one of Tucson’s biggest tragedies: the 2011 mass shooting outside of a grocery store that killed six people and wounded 13 others, including then-U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords. At the time, Nanos was leading the agency’s criminal investigations division and, in the days after the attack, was quoted in news accounts as authorities were piecing together a timeline of the attacker’s movements. As sheriff, Nanos has said his department won’t enforce federal immigration law amid President Donald Trump’s crackdown and that he will use his limited resources to focus on local crime and other public safety issues. Even so, days before Guthrie’s disappearance, Nanos’ office helped investigate an exchange of gunfire between federal agents near the U.S.-Mexico border and a man accused of being involved in a smuggling operation. Authorities say the man, who was shot, had fired at a federal helicopter. After his appointment as sheriff, Nanos lost the 2016 race to Republican Mark Napier but defeated Napier in 2020. He squeaked by in his 2024 reelection campaign, defeating Republican Heather Lappin by 481 votes in a race that wasn’t without controversy. Just weeks before Election Day, Lappin, who worked for the sheriff’s department, was placed on administrative leave. In a lawsuit, she alleges Nanos did this to undermine her campaign by falsely accusing her of using her position for personal gain, which Lappin denies. Heinz, the county board member, said he thinks the late-in-the-campaign administrative action against Lappin likely affected the race’s outcome, given the narrow margin of victory. As for the Guthrie investigation, Heinz said he understands how law enforcement leaders want to be transparent with the public about investigations. But he also said it’s “equally important not to get out there in front of a bunch of cameras and talk when there’s not really anything actionable or helpful or of interest.” Others haven’t been so quick to knock Nanos’ handling of the investigation. Tom Morrissey, a retired chief U.S. marshal and former chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, said he wouldn’t criticize Nanos, saying it can get complicated when trying to inform the public and still trying not to provide information that might help suspects. “The perpetrator or perpetrators are watching what law enforcement is doing up close and personal, and it does impact their ability to avoid being discovered or arrested,” Morrissey said. In an interview Friday, Nanos acknowledged his annoyance with an Associated Press reporter’s questions about the case, saying he was being asked about an element of the investigation that was the FBI’s responsibility and questioned whether the journalist was trying to pit him against his federal partners. He said he’s doing his best to solve the case and demurred when asked to assess how he has handled it. “I’m going to have people who think I’m doing a good job, and I’m going to have people think I am doing a bad job,” Nanos said. “But that’s what we have elections for.” ___ Associated Press reporter Sejal Govindarao in Tucson contributed to this report. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans are rushing ahead on Wednesday on legislation that would impose strict new proof-of-citizenship requirements ahead of the midterm elections, a longshot Trump administration priority that faces sharp blowback in the Senate. The bill, called the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE America Act, would require Americans to prove they are citizens when they register to vote, mostly through a valid U.S. passport or birth certificate. It would also require a valid photo identification before voters can cast ballots, which some states already demand. Republicans said the legislation is needed to prevent voter fraud, but Democrats warn it will disenfranchise millions of Americans by making it harder to vote. Federal law already requires that voters in national elections be U.S. citizens, but there’s no requirement to provide documentary proof. Experts said voter fraud is extremely rare, and very few noncitizens ever slip through the cracks. Fewer than one in 10 Americans have valid passports. “Some of my colleagues will call this voter suppression or Jim Crow 2.0,” said Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wis., presenting the package at a committee hearing. But he said “those allegations are false,” and he argued the bill is needed to enforce existing laws, particularly those that bar immigrants who are not citizens from voting. “The current law is not strong enough,” he said. The GOP’s sudden push to change voting rules at the start of the midterm election season is raising red flags, particularly because President Donald Trump has suggested he wants to nationalize U.S. elections, which, under the Constitution, are designed to be run by individual states. The Trump administration recently seized ballots in Georgia from the 2020 election, which the president insists he won despite his defeat to Democrat Joe Biden. The Department of Justice is demanding voter rolls from states, including Michigan, where a federal judge this week dismissed the department’s lawsuit seeking the voter files. Secretaries of state have raised concerns that voters’ personal data may be shared with Homeland Security to verify citizenship and could result in people being unlawfully purged from the rolls. “Let me be clear what this is about: It’s about Republicans trying to rig the next election,” said Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Rules Committee, during a hearing ahead of the floor vote. “Republicans are pushing the Save America Act because they want fewer Americans to vote. It’s that simple.” The legislation is actually a do-over of a similar bill the House approved last year, which also sought to clamp down on fraudulent voting, particularly among noncitizens. It won the support of four House Democrats, but stalled in the Republican-led Senate. This version toughens some of the requirements further, while creating a process for those whose names may have changed, particularly during marriage, to provide the paperwork necessary and further attest to their identity. It also imposes requirement on states to share their voter information with the Department of Homeland Security, as a way to verify the citizenship of the names on the voter rolls. That has drawn pushback from elections officials as potentially intrusive on people’s privacy. The new rules in the bill would take effect immediately, if the bill is passed by both chambers of Congress and signed into law. But with primary elections getting underway next month, critics said the sudden shift would be difficult for state election officials to implement and potentially confuse voters. Voting experts have warned that more than 20 million U.S. citizens of voting age do not have proof of their citizenship readily available. Almost half of Americans do not have a U.S. passport. “Election Day is fast approaching,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska. “Imposing new federal requirements now, when states are deep into their preparations, would negatively impact election integrity by forcing election officials to scramble to adhere to new policies likely without the necessary resources.” In the Senate, where Republicans also have majority control, there does not appear to be enough support to push the bill past the chamber’s filibuster rules, which largely require 60 votes to advance legislation. That frustration has led some Republicans, led by Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, to push for a process that would skip the 60-vote threshold in this case, and allow the bill to be debated through a so-called standing filibuster — a process that would open the door to potentially endless debate. Lee made the case to GOP senators at a closed-door lunch this week, and some said afterward they are mulling the concept. “I think most people’s minds are open,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., “My mind’s certainly open.” But Murkowski of Alaska said she is flat out against the legislation. “Not only does the U.S. Constitution clearly provide states the authority to regulate the ‘times, places, and manner’ of holding federal elections, but one-size-fits-all mandates from Washington, D.C., seldom work in places like Alaska,” she said. Karen Brinson Bell of Advance Elections, a nonpartisan consulting firm, said the bill adds numerous requirements for state and local election officials with no additional funding. “Election officials have a simple request of Congress — that you help share their burdens not add to them,” she said. __ Associated Press writer Kevin Freking contributed to this report. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com