Latest news with #Bankston
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Yahoo
Rick Ross Car Show causes traffic troubles at another event miles away
People who attended the sold-out Southern Soul Festival say it was a nightmare getting to the venue. They told Channel 2's Tom Jones that traffic was so bad, one man got out and started directing it himself. People complained the city allocated too many officers to the Rick Ross Car Show. They said it took them more than two hours to get to Wolf Creek Amphitheater. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Some people gave up and turned around. 'I didn't see any police officers,' Angelia Gay Bankston said. Bankston says she couldn't believe the bottlenecked traffic trying to get into the amphitheater Saturday. Fans said the nightmare traffic led to long lines to get in and led to people overheating and requiring medical attention. 'So many people fell out,' she said. 'The ambulance service had a lot to do.' Sources with the city told me police allocated too many officers to the car show that day. Police say they assigned 150 officers to manage public safety and traffic, including 34 who volunteered for paid extra shifts. Mayor Pro Tem Linda Pritchett said there were officers at the amphitheater, but it was not enough. She said Ross' event in Fayette needed all those officers because of the impact of the event on the South Fulton side. 'It was to make sure that those communities did not have people parking in places they shouldn't,' Pritchett said. Police said they secured eight deputies to ensure coverage at Wolf Creek. A South Fulton lieutenant was also assigned. 'Oh, I won't be back to the amphitheater,' Bankston said. 'And it's in my neighborhood.' Police Chief Keith Meadows says Ross' event had 6,000 people, and it was the largest one-day police deployment in city history. He said the Wolf Creek event was a smaller scale event, so resources were allocated accordingly. The mayor pro tem said the city will do a better job of planning for these types of events. TRENDING STORIES: Metro Atlanta parents 'made a dumb decision' by giving 1-year-old beer, report says Man's death deemed 'justifiable homicide' after confronting wife at Buckhead apartment, police say Former 'RHOA' star Kim Zolciak, ex-Atlanta Falcon Kroy Biermann removed from mansion, court docs say [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Yahoo
17-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Google released safety risks report of Gemini 2.5 Pro weeks after its release — but an AI governance expert said it was a ‘meager' and ‘worrisome' report
Google has released a key document detailing some information about how its latest AI model, Gemini 2.5 Pro, was built and tested, three weeks after it first made that model publicly available as a 'preview' version. AI governance experts had criticized the company for releasing the model without publishing documentation detailing safety evaluations it had carried out and any risks the model might present, in apparent violation of promises it had made to the U.S. government and at multiple international AI safety gatherings. A Google spokesperson said in an emailed statement that any suggestion that the company had reneged on its commitments was 'inaccurate.' The company also said that a more detailed 'technical report' will come later when it makes a final version of the Gemini 2.5 Pro 'model family' fully available to the public. But the newly published six-page model card has also been faulted by at least one AI governance expert for providing 'meager' information about the safety evaluations of the model. Kevin Bankston, a senior advisor on AI Governance at the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, said in a lengthy thread on social media platform X that the late release of the model card and its lack of detail was worrisome. 'This meager documentation for Google's top AI model tells a troubling story of a race to the bottom on AI safety and transparency as companies rush their models to market,' he said. He said the late release of the model card and its lack key safety evaluation results—for instance, details of "red-teaming" tests to trick the AI model into serving up dangerous outputs like bioweapon instructions—suggested that Google 'hadn't finished its safety testing before releasing its most powerful model' and that 'it still hasn't completed that testing even now.' Bankston said another possibility is that Google had finished its safety testing but has a new policy that it will not release its evaluation results until the model is released to all Google users. Currently, Google is calling Gemini 2.5 Pro a 'preview,' which can be accessed through its Google AI Studio and Google Labs products, with some limitations on what users can do with it. Google has also said it is making the model widely available to U.S. college students. The Google spokesperson said the company would release a more complete AI safety report 'once per model family.' Bankson said on X that this might mean Google would no longer release separate evaluation results for fine-tuned versions of its models that it releases, such as those that have been tailored for coding or cybersecurity. This could be dangerous, he noted, because fine-tuned versions of AI models can exhibit behaviors that are markedly different from the 'base model' from which they've been adapted. Google is not the only AI company seemingly retreating on AI safety. Meta's model card for its newly released Llama 4 AI model is of similar length and detail to the one Google just published for Gemini 2.5 Pro and was also criticized by AI safety experts. OpenAI said it was not releasing a technical safety report for its newly-released GPT-4.1 model because it said that the model was 'not a frontier model,' since the company's 'chain of thought' reasoning models, such as o3 and o4-mini, beat it on many benchmarks. At the same time, OpenAI touted that GPT-4.1 was more capable than its GPT-4o model, whose safety evaluation had shown that model could pose certain risks, although it had said these were below the threshold at which the model would be considered unsafe to release. Whether GPT-4.1 might now exceed those thresholds is unknown, since OpenAI said it does not plan to publish a technical report. OpenAI did publish a technical safety report for its new o3 and o4-mini models, which were released on Wednesday. But at the same time, earlier this week it updated its 'Preparedness Framework' which describes how the company will evaluate its AI models for critical dangers—everything from helping someone build a biological weapon to the possibility that a model will begin to self-improve and escape human control—and seek to mitigate those risks. The update eliminated 'Persuasion'—a model's ability to manipulate a person into taking a harmful action or convince them to believe in misinformation—as a risk category that the company would assess during it pre-release evaluations. It also changed how the company would make decisions around releasing higher risk models, including saying the company would consider shipping an AI model that posed a 'critical risk' if a competitor had already debuted a similar model. Those changes divided opinion among AI governance experts, with some praising OpenAI for being transparent about its process and also providing better clarity around its release policies, while others were alarmed at the changes. This story was originally featured on
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
What do you do when 14-foot white shark is 'checking' you out in Florida? Shoot video, photos
There's nothing like an encounter with a 14-foot-long white shark to get the heart pumping. Not to mention the stories you'll bring home from your Florida vacation. That's what happened when a Kentucky family headed out for a fishing trip from Florida's Panhandle. Capt. Taylor Bankston took a group of anglers from Kentucky — a mother, dad and two daughters — out on his 26-foot boat, Get the Gaff, on April 10. ➤ 'Giant teeth and a giant eyeball.' Photos show Florida boater's great white shark encounter While fishing about nine miles from Destin in the Gulf of America, formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico, "I looked up ... what I thought I saw in the water was a submarine, and I was waiting next for the periscope to pop out of the water,' Bankston said. 'But it never did ... and then the submarine turned into something that had giant teeth and a giant eyeball,' he said. 'I immediately knew I had never seen a fish in the water that big. It had to be a great white,' Bankston said. 'It was just circling us and checking us out. It was as if we were viewing a dinosaur,' he said. Bankston said the shark circled his boat about 20 minutes, mouthing the back of the boat at one time "to see what we were ... and realized that we weren't anything eatable." After the shark circled for about 20 minutes, it just disappeared. ➤ More photos, videos posted by Taylor Bankston on Facebook 'Then five minutes later we saw a dorsal fin about 100 yards away from us going across the surface slow as all get out ... like the movie 'Jaws.' That was her when she swam away,' Bankston said. Bankston estimated the shark was about 14 feet long, with a dorsal fin about 2 ½ feet tall. He estimated it to be between 1,100 and 1,400 pounds. 'The dorsal fin looked like the fin on 'Jaws,' " he said. "Jaws 2" was filmed in the Destin area. 'First thing I thought was 'captain we're going to need a bigger boat,'' Bankston said. To put it in perspective, Bankston's boat was 26 feet long, making the shark just over half the length of the boat. 'If I would have been hooked up to a heart monitor, there would have been some peaking and beeping," Bankston said. Bankston said the anglers onboard were ecstatic. 'Oh my gosh, it made their vacation. It was a great day." Destin is located about 40 miles east of Pensacola or 50 miles west of Panama City. It's about 130 miles west of Tallahassee. White sharks love to visit Florida during the winter months. OCEARCH, which describes itself as a "data-centric organization built to help scientists collect previously unattainable data in the ocean while open sourcing our research and explorations," regularly tags and tracks sharks, both white and tiger sharks. In January 2025, scientists tagged a 13-foot 9-inch shark, nicknamed "Contender," near the Florida-Georgia border. The male shark was estimated to weigh more than 1,300 pounds. ➤ 2 great white sharks, one massive at 1,653 pounds, ping off Florida east coast. Here's where After being tagged, Contender headed farther south, exploring the waters as far south as Indian River County before turning to head north. His last "ping," when a transponder attached to his dorsal fin sent a signal to a satellite, was Tuesday, April 15, off the coast of North Carolina. Three other sharks — two white and one tiger — tagged by Ocearch have pinged off Florida this week, including one this morning: Dold: Male white shark, 761 pounds, 11 feet 2 inches long. Pinged 10:45 a.m. April 16 in the Gulf west of Sarasota. Morada: Female tiger shark, 761 pounds, 11 feet 2 inches long. Pinged 7:34 a.m. April 15 in the Atlantic southeast of Miami. Breton: Male white shark, 1,437 pounds, 13 feet 3 inches long. Pinged 8:54 p.m. April 12 in the Atlantic east of Jacksonville. Florida is known as the shark bite capital of the world. And Volusia County leads the state in the number of unprovoked attacks, according to the International Shark Attack File. Information provided by Dr. Gavin Naylor, director of Florida Program for Shark Research and curator of Florida Museum of Natural History. ➤ Curious about Florida sharks? We asked an expert about things you should know Some large sharks can swim in waters that are 1 or 2 feet deep. There were 351 unprovoked shark attacks in Volusia County from 1882 to 2023. Bull sharks are tolerant of fresh water and can be found in estuaries and rivers. Dawn and dusk are the worst times to be in the water but bites are possible any time of day. Sharks follow baitfish so watch out for them close to shore especially in the summer. Black-tips and Atlantic sharp-nose are the most common encountered by Florida swimmers. The most aggressive shark in Florida waters is considered to be bull sharks. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Great white shark circles, bites boat fishing off Destin, Florida
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Yahoo
'Thought I saw a submarine': Florida charter boat has close encounter with great white shark
What was already a good fishing day with anglers catching vermillion snapper and triggerfish soon turned into a great day – a great white shark day. Destin's Capt. Taylor Bankston and his group of anglers from Kentucky were out on a fishing trip aboard his 26-foot center console charter boat, Get the Gaff, on April 10 when they got a huge surprise. 'We were on a regular fishing trip, and I looked up ... what I thought I saw in the water was a submarine, and I was waiting next for the periscope to pop out of the water,' Bankston said. 'But it never did ... and then the submarine turned into something that had giant teeth and a giant eyeball,' he said. More great white sharks in Florida: Shark cam captures Florida close encounters in nurse shark-great white shark 'photobomb' Bankston said it swam past the boat. 'I immediately knew I had never seen a fish in the water that big. It had to be a great white,' Bankston said. Bankston, who operates his boat out of AJ's on Destin harbor, had four customers aboard the boat from Kentucky, a mom and dad and two daughters. He said the anglers were ecstatic. 'Oh my gosh, it made their vacation,' Bankston said. Bankston explained that he had the motors off and was using an i-Pilot trolling motor to hold them over a spot. They were fishing about nine miles out of Destin, Florida. 'We were just sitting there over the reef catching fish, and she popped up and circled us for 20 minutes,' he said. At one point, the shark came up and 'mouthed the back of the boat, bit it, to see what we were ... and realized that we weren't anything eatable, and then kept going,' Bankston said. The shark continued to circle the boat for about another 10 minutes. 'It was just circling us and checking us out,' Bankston said. Early on, Bankston had gone up in the tower of his boat to get a good look, photos and video. He said when everybody on the boat walked over to one side, it would lean a bit. 'I was leaning over the top of the great white ... my heart was pumping,' he said. After the shark circled for about 20 minutes, it just disappeared. 'Then five minutes later we saw a dorsal fin about 100 yards away from us going across the surface slow as all get out ... like the movie Jaws. That was her when she swam away,' Bankston said. The dorsal fin on the great white was about 2 ½ feet tall. 'Literally the dorsal fin looked like the fin on Jaws,' he said, making mention that the movie "Jaws 2" was filmed in the Destin area. 'You don't think that theme song – dun, dun, dun – was going through my head when I saw that thing,' Bankston said. 'First thing I thought was 'captain we're going to need a bigger boat,'' Bankston said. Bankston said the great white was about 14-feet long and estimated it to be between 1,100 and 1,400 pounds. 'It's the biggest fish I've ever seen,' he said. 'We were all baffled. It was as if we were viewing a dinosaur,' he said. Although it was huge, Bankston said they were never really scared. 'I knew I was in a good boat,' he said. 'And I knew we couldn't short clean the boat today. More: 'Definitely not geared up for that': Destin boat hooks 20-foot great white shark 'You respect the piece of equipment that kept you separate and safe,' Bankston said. However, he did admit, 'If I would have been hooked up to a heart monitor, there would have been some peaking and beeping. 'We weren't down in the hull crunched up, but we were highly alert and lots of adrenalin flowing,' he said. After the shark left, they went back to fishing and caught plenty of mingo. "The mingo had no idea there was a 1,400-pound shark swimming above their heads ... and they were still chewing like crazy,' Bankston said. 'It was a great day." This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Great white shark circles Florida fishing charter boat
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Columbus approves small-business grant program
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Columbus City Council approved a grant program that primarily focuses on women-owned businesses and women entrepreneurs. Columbus Councilmember Nick Bankston said small businesses are the backbone of the community, which is why it's important the city gives small business owners the resources they need to succeed. Columbus City Schools reverting to birth names catches students, teachers off guard On the last day of Women's History Month, Columbus City Council approved the Small Business Boost Grant program. 'It really focuses on making sure those individual women boost their individual credit scores to be able to provide them the opportunity to be ready for funding when it comes to their individual businesses,' Bankston said. The program will provide the funds, training and technical support to the city's local financial empowerment center to create one-on-one free financial counseling. 'We look forward to seeing women in Columbus realize their dream of entrepreneurship and become a part of a growing local economy known for opportunity and innovation,' Columbus Department of Development Assistant Director Hannah Reed said. 60-ton crane stolen from south Columbus construction site According to some council members, women-owned businesses make up approximately 22% of all small businesses in the city, representing $14.1 million in total revenue and employing more than 28,000 community members. 'Nationally, women-owned businesses generate $2.7 trillion — $2.7 trillion, that's with a 'T' — in revenue, yet less than 2% of venture capital funding is allocated towards women-owned startups,' Columbus City Councilmember Lourdes Barroso de Padilla said. 'We know that when we invest in women, we're investing in our families, we're investing in our communities, but most importantly, we continue to make sure that when women succeed, Columbus succeeds,' Bankston said. The grant is a private grant from the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund in an amount up to $90,000. Bankston said the program is a way for the city to show its commitment to women-owned businesses. Harsher penalties for those caught driving under the influence to take effect in Ohio 'Oftentimes, businesses don't close their doors because they have a bad product or because there's something wrong with the business per se, but it's because they don't have those tools and that access to capital to make sure that they're able to be sustainable,' he said. Bankston said the funding will start to roll out as soon as contracts go into effect. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
