* WHAT…Heavy snow possible. Total snow accumulations of 1 to 4
inches for 3500 to 4500 feet elevation including the Grapevine of
the Interstate-5 Corridor possible. Total snow accumulations of 6
to 12 inches above 4500 feet elevation possible. Wind gusts of up
to 60 to 70 mph possible this afternoon through late tonight, and
again late Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

* WHERE…Interstate 5 Corridor, Santa Barbara County Interior
Mountains, and Southern Ventura County Mountains.

* WHEN…From 9 PM this evening to 9 AM PST Thursday.

* IMPACTS…Roads, and especially bridges and overpasses, will
likely become slick and hazardous. Travel could become
treacherous. Visibilities may drop below one-quarter mile due to
falling and blowing snow.
If travel is absolutely necessary, drive with extreme caution and be
prepared for sudden changes in visibility. Leave plenty of room
between you and the motorist ahead of you, and allow extra time to
reach your destination. Avoid sudden braking or acceleration, and be
especially cautious on hills or when making turns. Make sure your
car is winterized and in good working order.

Monitor the latest forecasts for updates on this situation.

The post Winter Storm Warning issued February 17 at 12:56AM PST until February 19 at 9:00AM PST by NWS Los Angeles/Oxnard CA appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

At 1220 AM PST, Doppler radar was tracking strong showers and
isolated thunderstorms near Lompoc, moving east at 20 mph.

HAZARD…Wind gusts up to 50 mph and pea size hail. Funnel cloud or
brief weak tornado possible.

SOURCE…Radar indicated.

IMPACT…Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor hail damage to vegetation is
possible.

Locations impacted include…
Lompoc…
Vandenberg Space Force Base…
Orcutt…
Vandenberg Village…
and Mission Hills.
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.

Torrential rainfall is also occurring with this storm and may lead to
localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded
roadways.

This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio
stations and available television stations for additional information
and possible warnings from the National Weather Service.

To report severe weather, contact your nearest law enforcement
agency. They will relay your report to the National Weather Service
office in OXNARD.

The post Special Weather Statement issued February 17 at 12:21AM PST by NWS Los Angeles/Oxnard CA appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

By Hadas Gold, CNN

(CNN) — Dr. Alice Chiao used to teach emergency medicine to students at Stanford University’s medical school. Now, she’s teaching artificial intelligence-powered chatbots to think, diagnose and prescribe like her.

Chiao is part of a booming new economy of professional experts in their fields who are training AI through a process called reinforcement learning, essentially grading AI’s responses and teaching models to improve through trial and error. It’s a rapidly growing service industry for AI frontier labs, estimated to be worth at least $17 billion, according to Pitchbook Senior AI Analyst, Dimitri Zabelin.

Chiao is one of tens of thousands of experts working with Mercor, one of the companies that help manage reinforcement learning for major AI companies. Mercor has contracts with experts in subjects ranging from medicine, law and finance to comedy, sports and even wine. Experts can earn up to hundreds of dollars per hour teaching AI to do their own jobs.

“AI is going to be the new Doctor Google, the new WebMD that people will go to, to seek out medical information. I knew that I needed to be a part of that to make sure that the information is accurate, that it’s safe, and that it makes sense to the person using it,” Chiao told CNN.

AI models are trained on massive amounts of data. But that training doesn’t do much good without what’s known as “reinforcement learning,” a process that involves human experts teaching models the differences between good and bad responses. Companies like OpenAI, Google and Anthropic use what Mercor’s CEO Brendan Foody described as “large armies of people” to do just that.

Uncertainty over how AI will reshape various industries hit a fever pitch over the last two weeks. Software stocks plunged in early February following the release of a new tool from Anthropic that tailors its model for work in specific industries like legal and finance. Then, a viral essay from a tech CEO swept the internet with stark declarations about how AI could disrupt jobs. And some say Mercor is causing job displacement, replacing stable full-time careers with gig work that will contribute to AI taking human jobs.

But Chiao doesn’t see her work through Mercor as teaching AI how to do her job. Instead, she views it as ensuring AI models are safe and capable enough to help doctors spend more time with patients and less time filling out forms. She sees AI as eventually being able to assist doctors with reading scans, filling out charts and taking notes.

“Physicians were selected because we really want to help people. We want to heal. We want to spend time talking to people — listening, engaging,” Chiao said. “I don’t want to see it as AI taking over our jobs. I want to see it as AI taking over the aspects of our jobs that prevent us from being good doctors, good healers and good listeners.”

Training Dr. AI

When Chiao is training AI models, she uses real scenarios she’s encountered in her decades as a doctor in both primary and emergency medicine. That includes asking questions from both the patient’s and doctor’s perspective. A patient, for example, might ask whether their child should see a doctor when experiencing a cough or fever. But the system also needs to know how to respond when presented with medical jargon — like what a physician might see on an intake form.

The AI model sometimes provides answers Chiao wouldn’t have thought of herself, she said. But other times, she sees a need for professionals like herself to step in.

“Sometimes there will be things that don’t quite make sense, and I think, ‘Oh, this could be misleading,’ or ‘This could be alarmist,’ or ‘This is not quite safe to put in a response,’” Chiao said. “And t

Por Lex Harvey, CNN

Palmerston, el felino blanco y negro que surgió de las calles de Londres hasta los sagrados pasillos del Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores de Gran Bretaña, murió en Bermudas, anunció el lunes el Ministerio.

El ex “Jefe Ratonero” del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores se retiró de Whitehall en 2020, pero regresó a la atención en 2025 cuando se unió al nuevo gobernador de Bermudas, Andrew Murdoch, en el territorio de ultramar, según una publicación de Instagram.

La cuenta X del gato decía que el “diplocat extraordinaire” falleció pacíficamente el 12 de febrero.

Conocido cariñosamente como “Palmy”, el felino era un “miembro especial del equipo de la Casa de Gobierno en Bermudas y un miembro muy querido de la familia”, decía la publicación.

“Era un compañero maravilloso, de carácter gentil, y lo extrañaremos mucho”, apunta el texto.

Palmerston fue rescatado del Hogar de Perros y Gatos de Battersea y se unió al Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores en 2016 durante un período turbulento en la política británica, apenas unos meses antes de que el Reino Unido votara a favor de retirarse de la Unión Europea.

El gato, que lleva el nombre del ministro de Asuntos Exteriores y primer ministro del siglo XIX, vizconde Palmerston, rápidamente consiguió una gran base de seguidores en línea, contando hasta el martes con casi 100.000 fanáticos que siguieron de cerca sus aventuras por Westminster.

Palmerston disfrutaba de una rivalidad amistosa con el gato más famoso de Gran Bretaña, Larry, del número 10 de Downing Street, que acaba de celebrar 15 años en su puesto.

“Adiós viejo amigo”, expresó Larry en X.

Entre las muchas contribuciones de Palmerston al servicio público del Reino Unido se encuentra el control de plagas.

Apenas unas semanas después de asumir el cargo, Palmerston atrapó su primer ratón, según una publicación de felicitación del exsubsecretario permanente de Asuntos Exteriores y de la Commonwealth, Simon McDonald.

También fue filántropo y recaudó más de US$ 4.082 para Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.

Palmerston se retiró en 2020 durante la pandemia de covid-19 para “pasar más tiempo relajándose lejos del centro de atención”, según una carta manoseada por el gato y dirigida a McDonald.

“Extrañaré escuchar los pasos de un embajador y correr a mi escondite para ver quién es”, escribió Palmerston, y agregó que su partida sería una “gran pérdida para nuestra recopilación de inteligencia”, pero era hora de “disfrutar de un tiempo para mí”.

En 2025, “un papel perfecto” sacó a Palmerston de su retiro, manifestó el querido gato en X.

Palmerston abandonó los cielos grises y la lluvia de Londres por las playas de arena blanca y las aguas cristalinas de Bermudas, donde en sus últimos días se le pudo ver jugando con aguacates gigantes, dando la bienvenida a dignatarios extranjeros y repartiendo amapolas antes del Día del Recuerdo, según su propio relato en X.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

The post Palmerston, uno de los principales “diplocats” del Reino Unido, muere en Bermudas appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

At 1102 PM PST, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm over
Pismo Beach, moving east at 30 mph.

HAZARD…Wind gusts up to 50 mph and pea size hail. Brief weak
tornado possible.

SOURCE…Radar indicated.

IMPACT…Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor hail damage to vegetation is
possible.

Locations impacted include…
San Luis Obispo…
Pismo Beach…
Arroyo Grande…
Nipomo…
Grover Beach…
Oceano…
Avila Beach…
Shell Beach…
and Lake Lopez.
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.

Torrential rainfall is also occurring with this storm and may lead to
localized flooding. Do not drive your vehicle through flooded
roadways.

This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio
stations and available television stations for additional information
and possible warnings from the National Weather Service.

To report severe weather, contact your nearest law enforcement
agency. They will relay your report to the National Weather Service
office in OXNARD.

The post Special Weather Statement issued February 16 at 11:03PM PST by NWS Los Angeles/Oxnard CA appeared first on News Channel 3-12.