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‘A day of joy:’ Brittney Griner set to open 1st WNBA season since detainment in Russia

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:44:55 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — For the first time since last season, Phoenix coach Vanessa Nygaard opened her pregame comments without announcing how many days Brittney Griner had been jailed in Russia.Griner has been free s6-ince December when she was part of a high-profile prisoner swap. She hit the court for warmups about 90 minutes before the Mercury’s WNBA season opener against the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday night.“Until the day we got the news in the morning that she was on her way home, no one thought that it was going to happen,” Nygaard said. “We did our jobs probably with less joy than professional athletes do. It was heavy every day.”Not anymore.“Today is a day of joy,” Nygaard said. “An amazing, amazing thing has happened.”Griner scored 10 points in 17 minutes in an exhibition loss to the Sparks last week. It was the 32-year-old center’s first game action since she was arrested at a Moscow airport in February 2022 after Russian authorities said a search of her luggage ...

Former 49ers lobbyist testifies he received illegally leaked report on team’s political influence

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:44:55 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The former chief lobbyist for the San Francisco 49ers has testified that a Silicon Valley city councilman illegally leaked a confidential report criticizing the team’s political influence, it was reported Friday.Rahul Chandhok told a criminal grand jury March 21 that Santa Clara City Councilmember Anthony Becker digitally sent him the report — which was made by a civil grand jury — last October, the San Francisco Chronicle reported after reviewing a transcript of his testimony. Prosecutors accuse Becker of providing the secret report to Chandhok and a local news outlet ahead of its official release and then lying to the grand jury about it. He has pleaded not guilty to one felony count of perjury under oath and a misdemeanor count of willful failure to perform duty. He could face up to four years in state prison if convicted.The 49ers play in Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of San Francisco. Santa Clara owns the stadium ...

Texas woman claims to be girl who went missing at 3 from Chicago home

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:44:55 GMT

CHICAGO — A Texas woman claims she is Diamond Bradley, who disappeared from her family's Chicago home when she was 3 years old.But it's not the first time someone has claimed to be one of the missing girls. 20 years later, missing Bradley sisters case still unsolved Diamond and her 10-year-old sister vanished from their South Side home in 2001.On Friday, the family is cautiously optimistic. Even after a massive search and nearly 22 years missing, their aunt Shelia Bradley Smith said the family will never give up looking. So when video started circulating on social media of someone claiming to be Diamond Bradley, the family had a mixture of feelings. Heartbreaking hoax: Woman claiming to be missing Bradley sister lied to family "There's a lot of doubt, there's a lot of hope," Shelisa said. Investigators said the girls' mother left the two at their apartment when she left for work around 6 a.m.When she got home around 11 a.m., her daughters were gone. She found a note written by 1...

Gene Honda: One of the only Asian American PA announcers in professional sports

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:44:55 GMT

CHICAGO — He’s known by many as the voice of Chicago sports.He’s been doing it for almost four decades.Gene Honda is one of the only Asian American PA announcers in all of professional sports. He's broken several barriers in the industry with his long resume.His booming voice has been synonymous with the White Sox for more than 30 years.Honda takes his job very seriously as the Public Address Announcer for the Chicago White Sox. But off the mic, he’s anything but serious. Almost everyone at Guaranteed Rate Field will tell you he's full of wisecracks and laughter.Honda is also the announcer for the Blackhawks, DePaul Men’s Basketball, the Maui Invitational and the NCAA Men’s Final Four —to name a few.He was born and raised on the North side of Chicago to Japanese American parents. Honda attended Senn High School and later his beloved University of Illinois. AAPI History: Second City’s first all-Asian cast brings progress – and punchlines – to the stage This career path, however, wa...

Paul Lisnek on Chicago's new mayor, latest from Springfield and more

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:44:55 GMT

CHICAGO — WGN Political Analyst Paul Lisnek joined WGN Evening News to discuss the latest political news.Read more: Latest Chicago news headlinesHe discussed Chicago's new mayor, the latest news from Springfield and the latest on the 2024 presidential election.Watch the full report in the player above.

Scholarship honors legacy of former Bastrop football star

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:44:55 GMT

BASTROP, Texas -- A family in Bastrop is honoring the legacy of a former Bastrop High School football star with a scholarship.The L.B. Evans, III Memorial Football Scholarship was awarded to Damari Monroe of Bastrop High School, and he will attend Mary Hardin-Baylor University in the Fall.Evan's wife, and former KXAN reporter Sonta Henderson, said the scholarship is a way to continue the legacy of Evans, who was a 1988 graduate and a football star on the Bastrop Bears team.Evans was known for his leadership and uplifting his teammates, Henderson said. She said his passion for the game caught the eye of Hollywood, and he was cast in the blockbuster movie, "Any Given Sunday." He worked alongside Oscar winners, like Jamie Foxx, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the great Hall of Famer Johnny Unidas, Al Pacino, Super Bowl winner Ricky Waters, NFL player Terrell Owens and more, Henderson said.Evans passed away in July 2022 after suffering from diabetes and heart disease, Henderson sa...

NCAA softball: Gophers fall to McNeese State in marathon matchup

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:44:55 GMT

A marathon game for Gophers softball team ended in a whopping 13 innings on Friday night in Seattle, Wash.Though the Gophers headed into the NCAA Tournament extremely confident in their abilities to make a run, they fell in an incredible matchup that will go down in history regardless of the winner.After battling tooth and nail in the opener of the NCAA Regional, the Gophers suffered a disheartening 5-4 loss. They will now have to beat either host Washington or Northern Colorado in order to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive.It was a back-and-forth contest for both teams with Gophers ace Autumn Pease getting the start, and junior Jackie Hambrick and freshman Sydney Schwartz also seeing time in the pitcher’s circle.With their backs against the wall in extra innings, Gopher star centerfielder Natalie DenHartog crushed a solo home run hope alive. Unfortunately for the Gophers, that was as close as they got.Related ArticlesCollege Sports | Gophers men’s hockey...

Disastrous second quarter dooms Lynx in season opener

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:44:55 GMT

Coming off a disappointing 14-22 season in 2022, the new-look Minnesota Lynx are a team in transition, and head coach Cheryl Reeve knows there will be some rough stretches for her team this season. Not in her worst dreams, however, did she expect to see her team score only three points in a quarter.But that was the ugly truth in the second quarter Friday night at Target Center as the Lynx fell 77-66 to the Chicago Sky before an announced crowd of 8,024 in the season opener for both teams.The Sky, also in rebuild mode, outscored the Lynx 22-3 in the fateful quarter to take a 44-27 lead into halftime. The Lynx shot a dismal 27% in the first half, including 14.3% from 3-point range (2 of 14).“That was pretty darn challenging to overcome,” Reeve said. of the second quarter. “Ten turnovers; 6% shooting. Very clearly we are a work in progress.”The Lynx’s starting lineup consisted of rookie Diamond Miller and Napheesa Collier at forward, Jessica Shepard at center and Kayla McBride and Rach...

Royce Lewis hits two homers as Saints earn 8-1 victory over Clippers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:44:55 GMT

Since Royce Lewis joined the St. Paul Saints for a rehab assignment just a few days ago, the Twins prospect has a whopping .500 batting average. It’s early, but it seems like that hitting spark is at least a little contagious.The Saints stung together 14 hits and Lewis finished his seven innings 3 for 4 with two home runs as they crushed the Columbus Clippers 8-1 Friday night at Huntington Park in Columbus, Ohio.Lewis hit a home run in his debut, putting his total at three in his three games in Triple-A. And he wasn’t the only one with a hot bat for the Saints (23-18) Friday night.Chris Williams, who opened the scoring with a 434-foot home run blast in the third inning, went 2 for 4 overall with three RBIs and a run scored.Meanwhile, Saints starting pitcher Aaron Sanchez retired the final seven batters he faced, giving up just one run in a five-inning start while allowing two hits and striking out six. Then the Saints’ bullpen of Kody Funderburk, Austin Schulfer an...

Boil water advisory in effect until Sunday for Colonie

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 18:44:55 GMT

COLONIE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -Thursday night left residents of Colonie hesitant to use their water. Colonie Town Supervisor, Peter Crummey, says the water superintendent put the advisory in effect as a precaution for health.Thursday, National Grid was doing planned work to high voltage lines in the area of the Mohawk View Water Treatment Plant, which Crummey says may have caused pressure surges. The pressure relief valve inside the plant was opened and failed to close, flooding the basement of the building. After pumping the water out, testing began. Pastors on Patrol walk for Village Barber and Beauty "There is absolutely no evidence that any contaminated water was put into this system. Working very hard to make sure that we're back online. They're doing a fabulous job and we should be online well before dawn," said Crummey.Dawn came Friday and the water advisory was not lifted. Crummey says water tests have come back with no contaminants, but tests have to stay in the green until...