Canada's newly-appointed Finance Minister Dominic Leblanc and Foreign Minister Melanie Joly met with Howard Lutnick, Trump's commerce secretary nominee, who will also lead the country's tariff and trade agenda. Interior secretary nominee Doug Burgum was also at the meeting held at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Leblanc's spokesman Jean-Sebastien Comeau, who confirmed the participants, described the talks as "positive and productive." Trump has vowed to impose crippling 25-percent tariffs on all Canadian imports when he takes office next month. He has said they will remain in place until Canada addresses the flow of undocumented migrants and the drug fentanyl into the United States. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised retaliatory measures should Trump follow through on his pledge, raising fears of a trade war. Leblanc and Joly "outlined the measures in Canada's Border Plan and reiterated the shared commitment to strengthen border security as well as combat the harm caused by fentanyl to save Canadian and American lives," Comeau said in a statement. Canada's Border Plan -- estimated to cost CAN$1 billion ($694 million) -- was crafted as part of Ottawa's response to Trump's concerns. Lutnick and Burgum "agreed to relay information to President Trump," the statement said. Trudeau is facing his worst political crisis since sweeping into office in 2015. Leblanc was named finance minister earlier this month after the surprise resignation of Chrystia Freeland. In a scathing resignation letter, Freeland accused Trudeau of prioritizing handouts to voters instead of preparing Canada's finances for a possible trade war. More than 75 percent of Canadian exports go to the United States and nearly two million Canadian jobs depend on trade. bs/ahaNewest Sacramento State football head coach Brennan Marion is no stranger to the Hornets’ green and gold colorway. Marion first donned the colors as head coach of the St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School football team in 2013. In Marion’s only season as a head coach at St. Pat’s, he led the Bruins to the first round of the playoffs. The team finished 5-6 overall in 2013 and lost a first-round playoff game to Piner. Marion resigned shortly afterwards to become the head coach at Waynesboro Area Senior High School in Pennsylvania. At Waynesboro, Marion dove deeper into his innovative ‘Go-Go’ offense and took it with him to eight different college coaching stops across the nation. The ‘Go-Go’ offense is a high-tempo, downhill run game that lines up two running backs next to the quarterback. It was most notably on display in his two seasons as the offensive coordinator at UNLV from 2023-2024. This past season, the Rebels ranked 35th in the FBS in total offense (425.8 yards per game) and 14th in scoring (36.2 points per game). Marion also worked with NFL wide receivers Jordan Addison and Xavier Worthy during his time as the wide receiver coach at the University of Texas and the University of Pittsburgh. After former Sac State head coach Andy Thompson stepped down, the Hornets sprung for the offensive guru and Marion accepted his first college head coaching job on Dec. 20. Marion is already off to a hot start in the transfer portal, bringing in multiple FBS transfers to Sac State. Some of the notable names include former Oregon State wide receiver Jordan Anderson and Tulsa quarterback Cardell Williams. Marion has also found success on the recruitment trail, drawing talent from the Bay Area. In a post on X, he expressed his appreciation for the region where he took his first head coaching role. “Vallejo or the Valley Jo or the home of Mac Dre or the Home of E-40 or as I say Springs Road! Has always been good to me!!! Bay Areaaaaa!!! That’s 2 from the soil! #GoGoSacramento,” Marion said in a post on X. Marion also has experience as a player. He was a wide receiver and was signed by the Miami Dolphins as an undrafted free agent in 2009, but never played in an official game. He played college football for Foothill, De Anza, and Tulsa. At Tulsa he set the single-season NCAA FBS yards-per-catch record in a single season at 31.9 and finished as the NCAA career leader at 28.7 yards-per-catch. He had back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons.
In his first public words since a five-day search ended with his arrest at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania, Luigi Nicholas Mangione emerged from a patrol car shouting about an “insult to the intelligence of the American people” while deputies pushed him inside a courthouse. The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland real estate family is fighting attempts to extradite him to New York so that he can face a murder charge in the Manhattan killing of Brian Thompson , who led the United States’ largest medical insurance company. A law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Associated Press said that at the time of his arrest, Mangione was carrying a handwritten document expressing anger with what he called “parasitic” health insurance companies and a disdain for corporate greed and power. He wrote that the U.S. has the most expensive health care system in the world and that profits of major corporations continue to rise while “our life expectancy” does not, according to the bulletin. In social media posts, Mangione called “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski — who carried out a series of bombings while railing against modern society and technology — a “political revolutionary,” according to the police bulletin. Mangione remained jailed in Pennsylvania, where he was initially charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. Manhattan prosecutors were beginning to take steps to bring Mangione to New York, but at a brief hearing Tuesday, defense lawyer Thomas Dickey said his client will not waive extradition and instead wants a hearing on the issue. Mangione was denied bail after prosecutors said he was too dangerous to be released. He mostly stared straight ahead at the hearing, occasionally looking at papers, rocking in his chair or looking back at the gallery. At one point, he began to speak to respond to the court discussion but was quieted by his lawyer. “You can’t rush to judgment in this case or any case,” Dickey said afterward. “He’s presumed innocent. Let’s not forget that.” Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles west of New York City, after a McDonald’s customer recognized him and notified an employee, authorities said. Images of Mangione released Tuesday by Pennsylvania State Police showed him pulling down his mask in the corner of the McDonald’s while holding what appeared to be hash browns and wearing a winter jacket and beanie. In another photo from a holding cell, he stood unsmiling with rumpled hair. New York police officials have said Mangione was carrying a gun like the one used to kill Thompson and the same fake ID the shooter had used to check into a New York hostel, along with a passport and other fraudulent IDs. A law enforcement official who wasn’t authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity said a three-page, handwritten document found with Mangione included a line in which he claimed to have acted alone. “To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone,” the document said, according to the official. It also said, “I do apologize for any strife or traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.” Thompson, 50, was killed last Wednesday as he walked alone to a Manhattan hotel for an investor conference. From surveillance video, New York investigators determined the shooter quickly fled the city, likely by bus. Mangione was born into a life of country clubs and privilege. His grandfather was a self-made real estate developer and philanthropist. Valedictorian at his elite Baltimore prep school, he went on to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a spokesperson said. “Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” Mangione’s family said in a statement posted on social media late Monday by his cousin, Maryland Del. Nino Mangione. “We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved.” From January to June 2022, Luigi Mangione lived at Surfbreak, a “co-living” space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Honolulu. Like other residents of the shared penthouse catering to remote workers, Mangione underwent a background check, said Josiah Ryan, a spokesperson for owner and founder R.J. Martin. “Luigi was just widely considered to be a great guy. There were no complaints,” Ryan said. “There was no sign that might point to these alleged crimes they’re saying he committed.” At Surfbreak, Martin learned Mangione had severe back pain from childhood that interfered with many aspects of his life, from surfing to romance, Ryan said. Mangione left Surfbreak to get surgery on the mainland, Ryan said, then later returned to Honolulu and rented an apartment. Martin stopped hearing from Mangione six months to a year ago.
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