The post California Attorney General Sues Feds over Sable Offshore Yet Again appeared first on The Santa Barbara Independent.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Forget the sheet music. At Santa Barbara City College, jazz students are learning to trust their ears, find their rhythm and make music together.

It’s part of Santa Barbara City College's Summer Jazz Seminar that’s open to all ages and experience levels. 

"Put the music book away. Put the sheet music away," said Rob Moreno, an SBCC jazz instructor. "Just put your horn together and start playing some melodies that you hear,” said instructor Rob Moreno. 

For seventh grader Zoe Tamayo, that freedom is part of what makes jazz so much fun.

"I like how you get to really make the music your own, and it's not like really strict about like, oh, you have to play this composition this way," Tamayo said.

The seminar brings together musicians across generations, creating an environment where students can learn from one another.

David Parker, who lives in Santa Barbara, said he enjoys seeing younger musicians share his enthusiasm for jazz.

"I like the fact that we've got the younger people in here, and it's really nice to see people that are enthused," Parker said.

For 10th grader Dean Plowman, playing as a group is the highlight of the class.

"The best part of this class to me is like playing as a group, because it's a big difference between practicing on your own or with a recording and then playing with other people," Plowman said.

Plowman said the experience is also helping him work toward a bigger dream of writing his own music.

"I've always kind of wanted to write my own songs," he said. "I feel like this class and like jazz and being in a band really helps."

The class also pushes students to learn by doing.

"It throws you in the water and it goes, okay, it's now swim. And you either learn to swim or you drown," said jazz student Paul Schiess.

Just two weeks into the class, Schiess said he has already learned about theory and improvisation.

Moreno said students don't necessarily need to understand all the theory before they begin playing.

"You don't need theory. If you can hear all this stuff," Moreno said. "So you can just sidestep that whole thing and deal with it later if you want."

At the heart of the seminar is the idea that musicians learn by playing together — listening, responding and finding the music as a group.

The post Jazz seminar brings musicians of all ages together at Santa Barbara City College appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

By Sarah Ferris, Allison Gordon, CNN

(CNN) — In the insular world of Maine politics, it’s known as the “water bottle incident.”

The moment happened some five years ago when then-state Senate president Troy Jackson clashed with fellow Democrats during a private meeting inside the state capitol. Jackson, a gruff former logger who has now catapulted into position as the state’s likely Democratic nominee for US Senate, grew so angry with one female lawmaker that he hurled a plastic water bottle.

That’s where the stories diverge.

The female legislator told colleagues that the incident deeply frightened her because she felt Jackson was aiming to hit her with the bottle, according to five sources who learned of the incident shortly after it occurred. That legislator was distraught as she left the meeting that day; months later she decided not to run for reelection in part, she told colleagues, because of Jackson’s conduct, three sources said.

Jackson’s campaign acknowledged to CNN on Monday that he had thrown the water bottle during the meeting but disputed he had lobbed it in anyone’s direction.

“Troy Jackson is passionate and deeply invested in the people and policies he advocates for,” the campaign said in a statement. “Over 22 years in public office, there have been moments when he let his frustration get the better of him. When that happened, he took responsibility and apologized directly at the time. “

The statement said that an eyewitness recalled “the bottle was thrown away from everyone and struck no one.” The campaign said it was referring to Mark Lawrence, a state senator in the room for the confrontation, who told CNN that he saw the bottle being thrown away from others in the room.

Either way, the incident has raised vigorous debates within Maine’s Democratic establishment still reeling from its previous nominee for Senate, Graham Platner, dropping out after a former girlfriend accused him of rape and other former partners accused him of physical intimidation and other alarming behavior, allegations he has denied.

Jackson has not been accused of any physical abuse or criminal wrongdoing, and even his critics are quick to separate his conduct in the Maine statehouse from the allegations against Platner. All five people who described the thrown water bottle were Democrats involved in local politics who requested anonymity for fear of retribution.

In a later Democratic caucus meeting, Jackson did address the water bottle incident and apologized, though it was not enough for some of the female lawmaker’s allies, according to two people in the room.

The water bottle clash, which was first reported by the Washington Post, was not a one-off for a lawmaker also known for pounding on desks, storming out of rooms, getting into shouting matches with members of his own party and swearing at colleagues, sources told CNN – with one ex-colleague resorting to recording meetings out of concerns over his behavior. Critics say his brash conduct, particularly with female colleagues, raises alarm bells about his temperament as the nominee for a key Senate race.

“It felt like he was using his body and his voice to make people fearful,” said the former colleague who described recording meetings with him. “I was in a room multiple times where he escalated the situation with both the intent and natural ability to really intimidate using his physical presence.” (She said she did not ultimately keep the recordings because Jackson did not exhibit any concerning behavior in those meetings.)

Jackson’s team

Por Rocío Muñoz-Ledo, CNN en Español

México y Estados Unidos vuelven esta semana a la mesa de negociación para una nueva ronda de conversaciones sobre el Tratado entre México, Estados Unidos y Canadá (T-MEC), en un momento decisivo para definir el futuro de uno de los acuerdos comerciales más importantes del continente.

La tercera ronda, que inicia este martes en la Ciudad de México, ocurre después de que Estados Unidos decidiera no confirmar la extensión del tratado por otros 16 años durante la revisión formal iniciada el pasado 1 de julio. Sin embargo, el acuerdo continúa vigente hasta 2036 mientras avanza el proceso de revisión.

El secretario de Economía, Marcelo Ebrard, ha insistido en que la decisión de Estados Unidos de no extender inmediatamente el acuerdo no modifica su vigencia. “El Tratado sigue vigente hasta 2036 y nos vamos a un proceso de revisión anual”, dijo Ebrard tras la reunión del 1 de julio.

Para México, la negociación no solo se trata de comercio. Lo que está en juego es mantener su lugar como uno de los principales socios de Estados Unidos, seguir atrayendo inversiones y proteger industrias clave como la automotriz, en un momento en que Washington busca cambiar algunas reglas del acuerdo.

El acuerdo establece que seis años después de su entrada en vigor debe realizarse una revisión conjunta entre los tres países. Desde los meses previos, México, Estados Unidos y Canadá realizaron consultas con sus sectores productivos para definir sus posiciones.

De acuerdo con un análisis del banco BBVA, las primeras rondas bilaterales entre México y Estados Unidos se concentraron en temas como reglas de origen, seguridad económica y sectores estratégicos como automóviles, acero y aluminio.

La Oficina del Representante Comercial de Estados Unidos (USTR) informó que esta tercera ronda abordará temas como comercio de acero y aluminio, industria automotriz, seguridad económica, trabajo, agricultura y servicios de pagos electrónicos.

En un informe enviado al Congreso, la Secretaría de Economía de México señaló que la nueva ronda busca avanzar en los temas pendientes y definir los siguientes pasos del proceso.

El documento señala que las conversaciones han permitido reducir de 54 a 14 los asuntos pendientes entre ambas partes, relacionados principalmente con reglas de origen, seguridad económica, cadenas de suministro, comercio de acero y aluminio, industria automotriz y otros temas regulatorios.

Washington quiere evitar que empresas de Asia, principalmente de China, utilicen a su vecino del sur como plataforma para entrar al mercado estadounidense sin pagar aranceles.

“Espero seguir construyendo sobre estos avances para garantizar que la relación comercial entre Estados Unidos y México beneficie a fabricantes, agricultores, trabajadores, proveedores de servicios y empresas de todos los tamaños, y cierre cualquier vacío que permita el aprovechamiento del acuerdo por países que no son parte del mismo”, dijo el representante comercial estadounidense, Jamieson Greer, de cara a la tercera ronda de negociaciones.

México, una de las mayores

By Simone McCarthy and Fred He, CNN

Fuping county, China (CNN) — Soccer players in red jerseys jump up and down, spraying their cheering teammates with champagne, as confetti and streamers cascade around them and crowds capture the jubilation on their phones.

This isn’t Spain’s World Cup victory, clinched Sunday in New Jersey, but a win celebrated a day earlier, some 6,000 miles away, in Fuping county, a mountainous and rural part of northern China’s Hebei province, at a stadium lined with Communist Party slogans.

This game is one of many taking place across the country, as teams battle for a place in the national “Village Super League” finals. The amateur tournament has become a phenomenon in China, attracting millions of spectators across the country – and making for a colorful alternative to the World Cup that hasn’t seen a Chinese men’s national team compete for more than two decades.

“Standing in the spotlight like this – it’s not something I normally get the chance to experience,” Tong Zehao, a dentist-turned-defender for Baoding Lianchi told CNN ahead of his team’s clash with hometown contender Fuping Luotuowan village. “Before the Village Super League, there really wasn’t a (local) tournament with this level of attention.”

From a single league in a rural county in one of China’s poorest provinces, the format has expanded to include some 60 leagues and hundreds of teams in rural towns and smaller cities across the country.

The idea is simple: everyday guys working normal day jobs form teams and compete in local leagues for a chance to play in a national championship – drawing fans to carnival-like events throughout the season.

Local government officials have played a key role in orchestrating the competition’s spread, eying the boost for businesses in a domestic economy beleaguered by weak consumption.

But the Village Super League has also emerged as an antidote for fans irked by years of entrenched corruption and mismanagement in professional soccer, which are widely seen as having stymied the country of 1.4 billion from producing a men’s team capable of making it on the global stage.

“Since our country didn’t qualify for the World Cup, watching our local soccer (here in Fuping county) is more interesting,” said Liu Jiaping, a 21-year-old college student, who also declared herself a fan of the World Cup star, French player Kylian Mbappé.

“Coming out here lets us experience soccer in our country – and that’s much better than sitting home on your phone,” she said from the stands, where she, her aunt and sister fanned themselves with pieces of cardboard in the dry, July heat.

‘We now lead a good life’

Thousands of spectators packed the stands of a local vocational college stadium for the Fuping county league final on Saturday night – a big deal for a county with a population of roughly 200,000 that’s better known for growing fruits and nuts than hosting sporting events.

“Probably half of Fuping county is here,” quipped one 20-year-old who was attending with her boyfriend and said they just came to “join the excitement.”

A cavalcade of horseback riders launched the game’s opening parade, followed by colorful cohorts of fan-wielding performers; local businesses repping their enterprises; tool-wielding farmers and workers, and a dance troupe showing off boxes of local apples, jujubes and chestnuts.

Hundreds of local children joined a carefully choreographed opening ceremony and halftime show, which celebrated the county’s revolutionary history that draws tourists to the region.

Outside the stadium gates, dozens of vendors