Hassani Dotson is trying to compartmentalize.

After his agent made public a trade request on his behalf in January, the Loons midfielder has tried not to let his uncertain future affect his performance on the field this season.

“I’m just trying to take it each day at a time, just trying to control what I control on the football aspect,” Dotson said Tuesday. “I love playing soccer, so I don’t want to let any day go in taking that for granted.”

The free agent to be has been considered a consummate professional, according to head coach Eric Ramsay and fellow veteran midfielder Wil Trapp.

Dotson has started all three games and played 258 out of a possible 270 minutes as the Loons (2-1-0) have earned six points.

“There has not been a hint of him not being there, not being at it, not being with it,” Ramsay said before the 1-0 win over San Jose on Saturday. “If you are to look at it from every angle, physical data, willingness, aggression, tactical, execution, contribution. It’s almost every moment. It’s been a really good start for him. All I care about is that continues.”

Ramsay acknowledged it might be difficult to have the situation linger. In January, Dotson’s agent said: “After over 1 year and 2 months of back and forth with broken promises made by the club on multiple occasions, Hassani Dotson has formally requested a trade.”

Dotson, 27, has been a key piece of the Loons for years and his camp wants him to receive a significant raise over the $557,500 he received in guaranteed compensation in 2024.

Loons Chief Soccer Officer Khaled El-Ahmad said in early February “I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s Hassani who says he doesn’t want to be here. What goes out in media from whatever the party is, is for them to stand by. I think internally, (it’s been) all calm, good conversations.”

The MLS primary transfer window closes April 23 and the secondary window is July 24-Aug. 21.

Dotson’s three-minute chat with reporters Tuesday was for the first time he has publicly spoken about the trade request.

Here are some key points in the Q&A:

Is a trade still something you’re seeking?

“That is between upper management and our representation. But I’ve let my teammates and coaching staff know that I’m excited to be here. I’m excited to work for the team and put the team first and what comes of it will come of it.

What have you tried to do to still be a professional and still be accountable to your teammates?

I know one of my greatest strengths is my work ethic. So I want to make sure that it’s something that everyone can control. You shouldn’t be doing anything if you don’t work hard. So it’s a big belief of mine. That’s what I’m gonna continue to do.

Is it hard to sort of separate the frustration with the off-the-field stuff with the on-the-field stuff?

Yeah, (it’s the) first (time) that’s probably happened in my career, so you could take a look at last year and see a couple dips in form. The first time trying to manage that. But I think this year has been a lot easier for me. … Just being that in the public is pretty — it’s something that I’ve grown to handle with.

Hoping for the best but we’ll see.

Is that bridge burned now?

I’m not sure. From my perspective, I don’t think anything is burned. We’re all people. We all can grow. … It’s a business, you know. So if it’s business on their end, I’m just, I’m just here to play soccer.

We saw you turn it on at the end of last year. Was any of the off-the-field stuff part of the motivation to perform on the field, like you did?

I think that’s just when I kind of put everything in the rearview mirror and just try to focus as much as I can on soccer. The people that come to the game, the fans they deserve everyone’s best. At least I’m giving 100% obviously. The decision making is what’s hard about our game. Just trying to think about them and my family and try to make them proud.”

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By Alan Halaly, Las Vegas Review-Journal

LAS VEGAS — The hourglass is running out of sand when it comes to solving the crisis on the Colorado River, but a group of states sees an opportunity: a new administration.

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In a letter sent to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum last month and obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the three negotiators who represent Nevada, California and Arizona expressed their dismay with how proceedings were left under the Biden administration. The federal government is tasked with moving the states toward consensus before the end of 2026, when the current operating guidelines for the Colorado River are set to expire.

Because of what they see as a violation of bedrock environmental laws, the three officials call for Donald Trump’s Interior Department to direct the Bureau of Reclamation to retract the so-called “alternatives report” issued early this year.

It left off both the Upper and Lower Basin’s separate proposals for how to operate the river, instead favoring a “basin hybrid” alternative — a move thought to be largely symbolic in an effort to shock the deadlocked states closer toward consensus.

“This report sought to set the direction for future Colorado River operations while failing to consider the Lower Basin’s proposed alternative,” officials wrote. “Despite our well-documented objections during the last administration, these serious flaws were incorporated into the ‘Alternatives Report,’ undermining the negotiation process among the seven Basin States.”

When asked to comment on the letter, the Bureau of Reclamation said in a statement that it is committed to “engaging in dialogue with the Colorado River Basin partners as we work towards long-term operational agreements.”

An ill-fated dam

The palpable tension between the Lower and Upper Basin negotiators was on full display at December’s Colorado River Water Users Association conference in Las Vegas, where state officials traded expletives and the two groups of states failed to meet as they had for years.

What the breakdown between the proposals boils down to is whether the Upper Basin states — Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico — should be required to take cuts in times of extreme shortage, or if those should be left to the Lower Basin only.

In addition to the ongoing standstill, the Lower Basin’s letter stressed infrastructure problems with the Glen Canyon Dam above Lake Powell. A Bureau of Reclamation memo obtained in April revealed that because of faulty infrastructure, releases from Lake Powell aren’t a given if water levels fall below a certain point.

That’s a problem, especially for water users downstream in Southern Nevada who depend on Lake Mead and the Colorado River for 90% of their drinking water supply.

Lower Basin officials hope a new administration will prioritize repairs and ensuring that water is released, even if it means temporary water use reductions in the Upper Basin.

“The prior administration’s approach to protecting the Lake Powell outlet works by reducing releases from Lake Powell — rather than making infrastructure repairs and improvements — is shortsighted and harms the Lower Basin States by slashing the water available to our farmers, communities, and economies,” they wrote.

Snowpack woes persist, too

The whole Colorado River system faces an uncertain future, with the letter acknowledging that “imbalance between water supply and demand will be exacerbated by increasingly likely low-runoff conditions.”

Climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels plays a role, as the Colorado River Basin as a whole trends hotter and drier. Rising temperatures stole upward of 10 trillion gallons from the system in the last two decades, a 2023 study found.

Such conditions have been apparent this year, as well, with snowpack at 91% of normal as of Monday. Forecasters predict runoff into Lake Powell will only reach 67% of normal, however.

In a brief statement Monday, Upper Colorado River Commissioner Becky Mitchell, of Colorado, re-emphasized her commitment to consensus.

“The Upper Division States are committed to working towards supply-driven operations of Lake Powell and Lake Mead — this year’s hydrology is a stark reminder of why this is necessary,” she said. “A sustainable approach will require all to live within the means of what the River provides.”

Kyle Roerink, of the Great Basin Water Network that advocates for water security in Nevada and Utah, said it’s far past time to address the Glen Canyon Dam’s infrastructure problems.

The letter reaffirms that Lower Basin officials are committed to the reality of less available water, while Upper Basin leaders try to build more reservoirs and diversions along the river, Roerink added.

“While some may view the Trump administration as a lost cause on these matters, the Lower Basin leaders rightfully see opportunity,” Roerink said. “It is paramount that new administration officials understand the consequences of inaction for the water supply of Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix and our agricultural hubs in the Southwest.”

©2025 Las Vegas Review-Journal. Visit reviewjournal.com.. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stock markets are plunging, consumers and businesses have started to sour on the economy, and economists are marking down their estimates for growth this year, with some even seeing rising odds of a recession.

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It’s a sharp shift from just a month ago, when stock indices were at record highs and consumer sentiment was rapidly improving. Many business executives were optimistic that President Donald Trump would cut taxes and pursue deregulation, which they expected would bolster growth.

Instead, Trump has aggressively implemented tariffs — and tariff threats — against the United States’ largest trading partners. On Tuesday, Trump boosted import taxes on steel and aluminum from Canada to 50%, from 25%, in response to Ontario’s imposition of duties on electricity it sends to the United States.

For now, the economy appears to be stable. Stock prices often fluctuate and sharp, temporary drops typically don’t harm the economy. Most analysts still think the chances of a recession are fairly small. Goldman Sachs expects slower growth this year than last but still puts the odds of a recession at just 20%.

Still, fears of a downturn are rising as investors, economists, and business executives are realizing that Trump’s import taxes are much more at the forefront of his economic policy this time than his last term in the White House. Tax cuts and deregulation appear for now to be on the back-burner. During Trump’s first term, tax cuts came before the import duties.

Tariffs can slow the economy in a variety of ways: By rising prices for consumers, they can slow spending. Businesses may pull back on investing in new projects if they face higher costs from tariffs. And the uncertainty from Trump’s on-again, off-again approach can also cause firms to delay hiring and investment.

“The longer the tariffs stay on, the more the risk of recession grows,” says Luke Tilley, chief economist at M&T Bank/Wilmington Trust.

Here are some questions and answers about recessions:

Are there any signs a recession is imminent?

Not really. But one development that has sparked widespread fears is a real-time economy tracker maintained by the Federal Reserve’s Atlanta branch. Last week it showed a sharp downshift and is now projecting that the U.S. economy will shrink at an annual rate of 2.4% in the first three months of this year.

The Atlanta Fed’s tracker is not technically a forecast but instead a running tally that is updated as economic data is released. It turned negative after trade data showed a surge in imports in January, which likely reflected an effort by businesses to get ahead of tariffs. Most economists still expect the U.S. economy to expand in the first quarter, though at a slower pace. JPMorgan sees growth slowing to just 1% at an annual rate in the first quarter, down from 2.3% in last year’s fourth quarter.

What else has caused the stock markets to drop?

Trump helped spark the sharp market selloff Monday by refusing to rule out a recession during a Sunday interview on Fox Business News.

When asked whether he expected a recession this year, Trump said, “I hate to predict things like that. There is a period of transition because what we’re doing is very big. … It takes a little time.”

Some of Trump’s advisers, however, have dismissed recession concerns and have said the economy should continue to grow.

Why didn’t Trump’s tariffs spark recession fears last time?

The import taxes Trump is threatening to impose this time are far more sweeping than the duties he put in place in 2018-2019, which were mostly focused on China and a few targeted items, such as steel, aluminum, and washing machines.

Now, Trump has placed 20% duties on all imports from China, has threatened to impose 25% tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico — the United States’ two largest trading partners — and also says the U.S. will place reciprocal tariffs on all countries that have tariffs on U.S. exports, including Europe, India, and Japan.

All told, Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs, estimates that the average U.S. tariff on imported items could rise 10 percentage points as a result, five times the increase he imposed in his first term.

And most economists say that Trump’s 2018-2019 duties did cause a downturn in the manufacturing sector. The Federal Reserve ended up cutting its benchmark interest rate three times in 2019 to shore up the economy.

What signals would suggest that a recession has begun?

The clearest signal would be a steady rise in job losses and a surge in unemployment. Companies generally stop hiring, and sometimes lay off workers, if they see their business shrinking.

The unemployment rate did tick up last month, to 4.1% from 4%, though that is still quite low. But employers added 151,000 jobs, a sign that businesses are still seeking to add workers.

Many economists monitor the number of people who seek unemployment benefits each week, a gauge that indicates whether layoffs are worsening. Weekly applications for jobless aid remain quite low by historical standards.

Who decides when a recession has started?

Recessions are officially declared by the obscure-sounding National Bureau of Economic Research, a group of economists whose Business Cycle Dating Committee defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months.”

The committee considers trends in hiring. It also assesses many other data points, including gauges of income, employment, inflation-adjusted spending, retail sales and factory output. It assigns heavy weight to a measure of inflation-adjusted income that excludes government support payments like Social Security.

Yet the organization typically doesn’t declare a recession until well after one has begun, sometimes as long as a year afterward.

By REBECCA SANTANA

WASHINGTON (AP) — The arrest of a Palestinian activist who helped organize campus protests of the war in Gaza has sparked questions about whether foreign students and green card holders are protected against being deported from the U.S.

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Mahmoud Khalil was arrested Saturday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Homeland Security officials and President Donald Trump have indicated that the arrest was directly tied to his role in the protests last spring at Columbia University in New York City.

Khalil is being held at an immigration detention center in Jena, Louisiana, while he awaits immigration court proceedings that could eventually lead to him being deported. His arrest has drawn criticism that he’s being unfairly and unlawfully targeted for his activism while the federal government has essentially described him as a terrorist sympathizer.

A look at what kind of protections foreign students and green card holders have and what might be next for Khalil:

Can someone with a green card be deported?

A green card holder is someone who has lawful permanent residence status in the United States.

Jaclyn Kelley-Widmer is a law professor at Cornell Law School who teaches immigration law. She said lawful permanent residents generally have many protections and “should be the most protected short of a US citizen.”

But that protection isn’t absolute. Green card holders can still be deported for committing certain crimes, failing to notify immigration officials of a change in address or engaging in marriage fraud, for example.

The Department of Homeland Security said Khalil was taken into custody as a result of Trump’s executive orders prohibiting antisemitism.

Trump has argued that protesters forfeited their rights to remain in the country by supporting the Palestinian group Hamas, which controls Gaza and has been designated as a terrorist organization.

Khalil and other student leaders of Columbia University Apartheid Divest have rejected claims of antisemitism, saying they are part of a broader anti-war movement that also includes Jewish students and groups. But the protest coalition, at times, has also voiced support for leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, another Islamist organization designated by the U.S. as a terrorist group.

Experts say that officials seem to indicate with their rhetoric that they are trying to deport Khalil on the grounds that he’s engaging in some sort of terrorist activity or somehow poses a threat.

Khalil has not been convicted of any terrorist-related activity. In fact, he has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

But experts say the federal government has fairly broad authority to arrest and try to deport a green card holder on terrorism grounds.

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, green card holders do not need to be convicted of something to be “removable,” Kelley-Widmer said. They could be deported if the secretary of homeland security or the attorney general have reasonable grounds to believe they engaged in, or are likely to engage in, terrorist activities, she said.

But Kelley-Widmer said she’s never seen a case where the alleged terrorist activity happened in the U.S., and she questioned whether taking part in protests as Khalil did qualifies.

What did ICE say about why they were arresting him?

One of the key issues in Khalil’s case is what ICE agents said to his lawyer at the time he was arrested.

His lawyer, Amy Greer, said the agents who took him into custody at his university-owned home near Columbia initially claimed to be acting on a State Department order to revoke his student visa.

But when Greer informed them that Khalil was a permanent resident with a green card, they said they would revoke that documentation instead.

Kelley-Widmer said that exchange raises questions about how familiar the agents who arrested him were with the law or whether there was a “real disregard for the rule of law.”

“I think we should be really concerned that this is happening,” she said.

What are the next steps in his case?

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a message posted Sunday on X that the administration will be “revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.”

If someone is in the country on a student visa, the State Department does have authority to revoke it if the person violates certain conditions. For example, said Florida immigration attorney John Gihon, it’s quite common for the State Department to cancel visas of foreign students who get arrested for drunk driving.

But when it comes to someone who’s a lawful permanent resident, that generally requires an immigration judge to determine whether they can be deported.

Gihon said the next step is that Khalil would receive charging documents explaining why he’s being detained and why the government wants to remove him, as well as a notice to appear in immigration court.

Generally, he should receive those within 72 hours of being arrested, and then he would make an initial appearance before an immigration judge. That could take from 10 days to a month, Gihon said.

But he cautioned that right now he’s seeing extensive delays across the immigration court system, with clients often moved around the country to different facilities.

“We are having people who are detained and then they’re bounced around to multiple different detention facilities. And then sometimes they’re transferred across the country,” he said.

Khalil’s lawyers have also filed a lawsuit challenging his detention. A federal judge in New York City ordered that Khalil not be deported while the court considered his case. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.