Since Dawn of the Dead hit film screens, zombies have captivated and terrified us in equal measure and made us wonder, should the worst happen, could our homes really stand up to a ghoulish invasion? Ultra-safe hideouts to survive the apocalypse Since Dawn of the Dead hit film screens, zombies have captivated and terrified us in equal measure and made us wonder, should the worst happen, could our homes really stand up to a ghoulish invasion? If you don't have a strategy in place for an impending apocalypse, fear not, these super-secure homes may just give you the inspiration you need. From bomb-proof bunkers to concealed private islands, click ahead for a tour around the most secure zombie-free boltholes. Survival Condo, Kansas Once an Atlas nuclear missile silo built by the Army Corps of Engineers, the Survival Condo is located in rural Kansas and offers an impressive 20,000 square feet of secure underground space. Could you imagine a more perfect base for avoiding the gnashers of a flesh-eating fiend? Serious about security? Step inside these billionaire bunkers to survive the apocalypse . Survival Condo, Kansas Extremely resilient, the silo is protected by two armored doors, and its epoxy-hardened concrete walls are nine feet thick and can withstand a direct nuclear hit, as well as severe flooding, tornado winds and of course a tribe of zombies. Should nuclear, biological, or chemical gases be leaked inside, an air filtration system will protect residents. Survival Condo, Kansas Inside, the condo is a luxury subterranean world, with communal zones offering everything from rock climbing walls to snooker tables. The underground complex has all the necessary facilities needed to sustain 75 people for more than five years! There's even a hydroponic farm that produces fresh fruit and vegetables, while 75,000-gallon reserve tanks provide fresh drinking water. Survival Condo, Kansas Condo prices start from $1.5 million for 920 square feet of space. If money is no object, opt for the $4.5 million penthouse, offering 3,600 luxurious square feet. Each condo offers biometric keyless access, five years' worth of food, a 50-inch LED TV and a high-end kitchen with stainless steel appliances. Survival Condo, Kansas To provide residents with the illusion of the outdoors, virtual LED windows simulate attractive countryside scenes. Leaving no stone unturned, the creators of this ultra-safe underground world have also installed a large swimming pool and a library stocked with thousands of books, plus a movie theater and even a dog park for any four-legged friends. America's safest home, Los Angeles If we happen to find ourselves in Los Angeles during a zombie invasion, this next property will be our first port of call. It may look like any other swish Hollywood Hills mansion, but it's hiding some pretty covert features. Known as the SAFE House, this luxury family abode was once named America's safest home. Its former owners, Al and Lana Corbi, own Strategically Armored and Fortified Environments (SAFE), a company dedicated to making buildings truly impenetrable. America's safest home, Los Angeles Using their own home to showcase their business offerings, the Corbis turned their property into a fortress that can withstand everything from invasions to a nuclear holocaust. With the latest high-end technologies, the couple have made the building truly zombie-proof. From its wine cellar that doubles as an underground bunker to the vault-like doors that secure the pad, every scenario has been accounted for. America's safest home, Los Angeles The house has bullet-proof windows and a clever fog system which can be used to disorientate trespassers. To have ultimate control over their security, the couple installed monitoring screens covering all the access points in the property. The house also has a cinema and a gym   going into hiding never looked so tempting. America's safest home, Los Angeles With nearly 8,000 square feet of interior space, elevators provide easy and secure access to all floors of the property. There are also two panic rooms and two ballistics-proof bedrooms to defend against every eventuality. The fortress sits on one of the highest positions in Sunset Plaza, offering 360° views for miles around. Plus, with a rooftop helipad, you can make a quick getaway should the worst happen! Concealed hideaway, Berry, New South Wales, Australia Zombies would have a hard time getting inside this fortified home in Berry, Australia. The unassuming brick structure conceals a comfy and secure home. Visitors have to pass through a secret pivoting door in the brick wall and follow a timber-lined inner walkway to gain access to the hidden property. Concealed hideaway, Berry, New South Wales, Australia Inside, the home features impressive double height ceilings and warm wood flooring and walls. Built by Modscape, the incredible modular home was designed to be a secret haven from the outside world. You'll even be safe after the energy supplies run out because the house runs on solar power and uses hydronic heating. Concealed hideaway, Berry, New South Wales, Australia Hidden within the brick walls, the house offers a large open-plan living area and a music room. It's even got a heated swimming pool so there'll be no excuse to get out of shape when the walking dead are roaming about. Haile Sand Fort, Cleethorpes, UK Recently sold for $153,000, this World War I sea fort would make the most unique of zombie hideouts. Positioned in the Humber Estuary off the coast of Lincolnshire in the UK, the historic property lies undetected from the shoreline, meaning no flesh-eater would discover your whereabouts. Haile Sand Fort, Cleethorpes, UK Known as Haile Sand Fort, the unique piece of naval history was built in 1919 to protect Britain's east coast from a German invasion. The secure sea view property is made from 40,000 tons of concrete and steel, making it completely impenetrable. Haile Sand Fort, Cleethorpes, UK A utilitarian structure, the building features a circular tower offering the perfect look-out point. A balcony sits at sea level, offering means of escape via boat. While obtaining water and provisions may be tricky, the outside space offers a great spot for fishing and you could even set up a hydroponic garden to meet all your food needs. Check out: Affordable bunkers to survive the end of the world Converted military base, Los Angeles Another seemingly normal-looking property in Hollywood, this unique building was once a top-secret military base, used as a research facility for the atom bomb. Positioned on a hillside overlooking the Sunset Strip, the LA pad was constructed in 1941 as a Second World War air defense center. Converted military base, Los Angeles In 2015, Hollywood mega-star Jared Leto purchased the converted property for a cool $5 million. Offering 53,000 square feet of interior space, the former military base has 10 bedrooms and 13 bathrooms, so you and all your friends can carry on living comfortably come the apocalypse. Converted military base, Los Angeles The military compound would make the perfect hideout during a zombie invasion, thanks to its disguised position inside a narrow canyon. Imposing gates and tall hedges enclose the home, so no zombie would come looking. The grounds also feature a bomb shelter, 17 climate-controlled vaults, a helicopter landing pad and an underground parking garage. Converted military base, Los Angeles The former defense site, also known as the Lookout Mountain Laboratory, offers an industrial, warehouse finish inside. There's a lagoon-style swimming pool, an art gallery and movie theater, sound stage and a waterfall, making it the perfect luxury retreat for any type of disaster. Underground fortress, Arkansas Located in Pottsville, Arkansas this unusual property is sheltered by earth and lies completely underground. The clandestine house was hand-built by its owners, Lyle and Jeanette Ratzlaff, over the course of 18 years. Underground fortress, Arkansas Lyle constructed the home in his spare time, designing, engineering and building the entire structure himself   with help from his wife and children. In order to build the house underground, Lyle excavated a hillside using a hydraulic hammer, which took him just three days. Love living subterranean? Step inside these underground homes hiding unbelievable surprises. Underground fortress, Arkansas After the hole was ready, Lyle spent the next few years designing a suitable structure, deciding on steel-reinforced concrete panels. Sitting at 16 feet tall, each panel has an impenetrable thickness of 16 inches, with electrical and plumbing components built in. Underground fortress, Arkansas The house also boasts a secret passageway, offering the ultimate escape route from a possible zombie attack. A clandestine door leads to a mechanical cave, that could also double up as a panic room. The property's robust front door measures four feet wide, 10 feet tall and 11 inches thick and weighs almost 3,000 pounds. The door is secured with a keyless locking system, while a pinhole video camera monitors the exterior. Vivos Europa One, Rothenstein, Germany Dubbed 'the world's ultimate doomsday escape', Vivos Europa One will be one of the largest private shelters on earth when it's completed. Located in Rothenstein, Germany, the survival bunker was the brainchild of Vivos CEO Robert Vicino. Vivos Europa One, Rothenstein, Germany Valued at $1.1 billion (£840m), the Vivos Europa One will lie inside a converted Cold War bunker that was carved out of solid bedrock. Positioned deep inside a limestone mountain, the shelter will be able to survive a close range nuclear explosion, direct airline crash, severe flooding, earthquakes, and both biological and chemical attacks. Vivos Europa One, Rothenstein, Germany The elite Noah's Ark-like space will cover 227,904 square feet and is invitation-only. Each invitee is allocated up to 5,000 square feet of living space, but must fork out $5 million for the privilege. Vivos Europa One, Rothenstein, Germany If you're considering it, your cash will give you access to a fully customizable living space modeled on the inside of a luxury yacht. The interior will feature plenty of marble, leather and polished wood, as well as a private movie theater and a gym. Communal spaces will include a sizable swimming pool and an underground garden, lit by simulated sunshine. If you're going to spend a zombie attack hiding, why not do it in style? Want to bring the outdoors in? Check out these gorgeous homes with secret gardens hiding inside. Secluded private island, Frozen Cay, The Bahamas We can't think of a better way to spend a zombie invasion than on our own private, secluded island in the middle of the ocean   not least because no flesh-eater could make their way to this strip of land. Secluded private island, Frozen Cay, The Bahamas Frozen Cay in The Berry Islands is 35 miles from its closest neighbor, Nassau, making it the ideal location to escape to. But don't worry about running out of supplies   the island is completely self-sufficient and with two diesel generators, fuel tanks and freshwater production facilities, there's no need to return to the mainland. Secluded private island, Frozen Cay, The Bahamas Who s to say you can t have a little luxury during the zombie apocalypse? Frozen Cay has a heated swimming pool and over 40 acres to explore. The isolated island also has several hidden coves where you could disguise your getaway boat. If this sounds like the perfect spot for you, it s currently for sale with Christie s International Real Estate for $17 million. Clandestine cave home, Arkansas It turns out that Arkansas is home to numerous zombie-proof properties. That's right, this craggy looking cliff face is actually the façade of a clandestine cave home, built right into the rockface. Clandestine cave home, Arkansas The one-of-a-kind property sits inside a 260-acre cavern, high up on a ledge overlooking the valley of Beckham Creek in the Ozark Mountains. The perfect luxury hideaway for an apocalypse or invasion, the pad is entirely hidden from the outside and sits so high up that no zombie would know you were there. Clandestine cave home, Arkansas Inside, the home boasts a unique natural aesthetic, with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The cave can sleep up to 16 people at any one time, offering the ideal space for you and your family to hide out. With almost 6,000 square feet of interior space, you'll never feel overcrowded in this luxury abode. Want to escape the rat race? These escapist homes are as far away from the real world as you can get. Clandestine cave home, Arkansas As well as an indoor waterfall which is fed by an underground spring, the cave features a geothermal heating system, so you'll always have a supply of hot water! There is also a helicopter landing pad outside, so you and your friends can made a quick getaway should the zombies find you! In 2017 the property sold for $2.75 million and is now a luxury self-catering property . Safe House, Warsaw, Poland Described as the world's first zombie-proof home, this slate-colored fortress lies in Warsaw, Poland. Upon first impression, the property looks more like a giant art installation than a homely abode. The homeowners of this concrete cube wanted it to be as secure as possible   a brief that helped the architects define its unusual aesthetic. Safe House, Warsaw, Poland Designed by KWK Promes , the exterior walls of the Safe House can cover every aperture to create a seamless box, closing the entire property off from the outside world should the need arise. Concrete doors sit on hinges and can be opened to let the daylight in when the coast is clear. Surrounded by impenetrable concrete walls and a gate, any intruders that manage to get into the grounds will enter a restricted safety zone   the perfect spot to unleash a surprise attack. Safe House, Warsaw, Poland The safety zone is policed by a clever retractable drawbridge that can be lowered to allow entry. When raised, the bridge forms part of the property's tough outer shell. The nifty device also offers direct access to the roof, providing the ideal means of escape. Safe House, Warsaw, Poland Other moveable elements include large shutters that range up to 11.4 feet in length, giving an extra layer of protection to the home. These security features are operated by built-in electronic engines which can be controlled from inside the safety of the house. Safe House, Warsaw, Poland When the doors of the house are closed, the property appears restrictive and dark, yet as soon as the shutters are opened, it's transformed into a contemporary architectural gem, with extensive glazing and a sleek, open-plan interior. The 27,000-square-foot estate also harbors a rather enviable swimming pool located in its very own pool house, as well as a rooftop terrace for a post-apocalypse party. Safe House, Warsaw, Poland The home's exterior façade can even be removed to create a sealed courtyard or a fortified wall to surround the entire property and its grounds. If a zombie attack is impending, we know exactly where we want to be! Loved this? Step inside these intriguing homes hiding secret tunnels .


The Arizona Cardinals have not yet released their training camp schedule, something they normally have done by this time of year. However, with the Buffalo Bills announcing their training camp schedule and seeing a reduction in the number of practices open to the public, one can question if the Cardinals will do the same. According to Vic Carucci of Buffalonews.com , Buffalo will hold only eight open practices, the fewest since the year 2000. New head coach Kliff Kingsbury has been very tight-lipped about what the offense will look like and training camp practices would allow people to see some of what they will do. Will he seek for a reduction of open practices? Under Ken Whisenhunt and Bruce Arians, the Cardinals regularly had 15 or more practices where fans could attend. With training camp held at State Farm Stadium, Arians had anywhere between 17 and 19 practices open to the public. However, last year under Steve Wilks, the number of open practices dropped to only nine. Could that number drop even more? The Cardinals have a long tradition of holding open practices in training camp. It would be a shame to see that tradition diminished for the sake of keeping things secret that will eventually be seen by everyone. Listen to the latest from Cards Wire's Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio . View embedded content MORE: Kawhi Leonard joked about his looming free agency decision with Kyle Lowry This is how the Golden State Warriors head into the offseason Rapoport: Broncos have picked successor to become next owner Lonzo Ball posts cryptic message on Instagram amid trade rumors What Tim Duncan told LeBron James after Spurs beat Cavs in 2007 NBA Finals


Sources: Free agent LT Donald Penn is heading to Richmond to meet with the #Redskins about a possible signing. They have a big need with Trent Williams' holdout and up-in-the-air status, and the former Raiders starter may fill it. - Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 26, 2019 The Washington Redskins might bring on some outside help to address the problem at offensive tackle. According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Redskins are bringing on veteran free agent Donald Penn for a visit. Penn, 36, spent the last five seasons in Oakland before receiving minimal interest after his March release, which was for cap purposes. He's strictly depth at this point after struggling before an injury in 2018. The Redskins need the camp bodies though with Trent Williams holding out and sophomore Geron Christian still coming along slowly after tearing ligaments in his knee. If the Redskins make the signing official, Penn will likely rotate in with Ereck Flowers on the left edge during camp practices. MORE: UFC's Thiago Santos shares brutal update on injuries suffered in loss to Jon Jones Instant observations from Day 1 of Patriots training camp Ranking the NBA's Top 10 Big Threes Giants' Eli Manning fires back at Odell Beckham in the most Eli way ever Pair of Chargers rookies impress on first day of training camp


State Attorney Phil Archer has concluded the use of force against Markeith Loyd during his arrest was lawful and justified. The State Attorney's Office concluded the review and released the result on Wednesday. Loyd is accused of killing his pregnant ex-girlfriend Sade Dixon and Orlando police officer Lt. Debra Clayton. During his arrest, Loyd sustained injuries to his head and face, including the loss of his left eye. "After carefully examining the report and evidence, I have determined that the use of force used during the arrest of Markeith Loyd was lawful and justified under the provisions of Florida Statutes, and no further action will be taken by this office," Archer said. Loyd's first trial, which is in connection with the death of Sade Dixon, is set for Sept. 30. READ MORE: State attorney: Force used against Markeith Loyd during arrest justified CHECK OUT WESH: Stay in the know with the latest Orlando news, weather and sports. Get the top stories and all the scores from the team at WESH.


The Trump administration went to court this week to argue that migrant children detained at the United States-Mexico border do not require basic hygiene products like soap and toothbrushes in order to be in held in "safe and sanitary" conditions. Trump's team also argued that requiring minors to sleep on cold concrete floors in crowded cells with low temperatures similarly fulfilled that requirement. Arguing in a 9th district San Francisco court about the conditions that they must hold migrant children in, the administration said that they did not violate a precedent set by a landmark 1985 class action lawsuit which established guidelines for the way minors held in federal immigration detention must be treated. The case, Jenny Lisette Flores v. Edwin Meese , created rules around the timely release of migrant minors to their parents, and said that those not released must be kept in facilities that are "safe and sanitary." But on Tuesday, the Justice Department's Sarah Fabian claimed that the ruling did not list specific requirements like "toothbrushes" or "towels," to establish a sanitary condition. "One has to assume it was left that way and not enumerated by the parties because either the parties couldn't reach agreement on how to enumerate that or it was left to the agencies to determine," Fabian said to the three Clinton-appointed federal judges on the court. "You're really going to stand up and tell us that being able to sleep isn't a question of safe and sanitary conditions?" U.S. Circuit Judge Marsha Berzon asked Fabian. Other judges also expressed outrage. "Are you arguing seriously that you do not read the agreement as requiring you to do anything other than what I just described: cold all night long, lights on all night long, sleeping on concrete and you've got an aluminum foil blanket?" U.S. Circuit Judge William Fletcher asked Fabian. "I find that inconceivable that the government would say that that is safe and sanitary." Still, Fabian said that the Trump administration plans to apply for a motion of reconsideration and continue to appeal the ruling. "Have you considered whether you might go back and consider whether you really want to continue this appeal?" replied Berzon. "There doesn't seem to be a whole lot left of it, considering that life has moved on now. I just feel like we're litigating ancient history at this point." At least seven migrant children have died in U.S. custody since late 2018 when the president began his policy of detaining them separately from their families. John Sanders, the acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection warned today that his agency would need at least another $4.6 billion in emergency funding to prevent more deaths. In an interview with the Associated Press, Sanders said that "The death of a child is always a terrible thing, but here is a situation where, because there is not enough funding … they can't move the people out of our custody." The exact number of children who had died under the care of the federal government is unknown because of a law that does not require various agencies to report deaths. This week, the ACLU found a migrant teenager in the care of Texas border control nursing her prematurely-born baby without any proper medical care. Related Articles As a Rabbi, I Agree with AOC: Trump is Running Concentration Camps on our Southern Border | Opinion Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Defends Concentration Camp Comments: 'History Will Be Kind to Those Who Stood up to This Injustice' Chuck Todd Trends on Twitter After Saying Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Concentration Camps Comparison Distracts From Migrants' Plight Sign up to our newsletter and get Newsweek stories delivered to your e-mail


Ali Bhanpuri over at NFL.com recently ranked each team's 'triplets.' What is a triplet, you ask? It's a team's quarterback, running back and wide receiver combination. For the Vikings, Bhanpuri used Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook and Stefon Diggs (not Adam Thielen) for this exercise. He ranked the Vikings No. 16 on the list. If we wanted to rank quadruplets, it feels like the Vikings would be in the top-10 on this list considering Thielen's talent as well. The potential for this group is very high. With Diggs and Thielen, you have two of the best receivers in the game. If Dalvin Cook can stay healthy (and that's a big if) he's one of the better running backs in the league. Cousins, well, he's a slightly above-average quarterback - most of the time. To round out the NFC North, the Bears rank 23, the Lions rank 19 and the Packers rank fourth. MORE: Poker player wins 723K chips in 'bloodbath' hand at WSOP Main Event Former Steeler DeAngelo Williams throws shade at WR Ryan Switzer Three Potential Trade Destinations for Russell Westbrook No selections made by the Lions in the 2019 Supplemental Draft Bleacher Report names Raiders LB Te'Von Coney a potential UDFA star


The Memphis Grizzlies moving Michael Conley Jr.'s huge contract to the Utah Jazz on Wednesday proved there's currently a market for players who are under contract for big money. One of the players that falls under the same category as Conley is Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams. The old school styled big man is a tough piece to move with the $25.8 million he's owed in 2019-20. According to Jake Fischer of Sports Illustrated, the Thunder are making Adams "very available," along with Andre Roberson and Dennis Schroder. Furthermore, in the course of their push to "shed salary," Fischer is reporting the Thunder are trying to deal their first-round pick at No. 21. Oklahoma City has increased its efforts this afternoon to shed salary along with the No. 21 pick en route to dodging luxury tax, league sources say. Steven Adams, Andre Roberson, Dennis Schroeder all very available at the moment. - Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) June 19, 2019 Looking at Adams specifically, the Kings, Hawks, Bulls, and Knicks could be a fit, monetarily. Also, the Grizzlies now have a $25M trade player exception. That could work in Memphis' favor if Oklahoma City were to package the big man with the No. 21 overall pick. Memphis should consider getting Adams+21. Quick rebuild with more picks and have a really solid center(especially rebounding) next to JJJ and Ja, Obvious goal is for JJJ to close at Center, but don't think that's a worry over the next 2 years. - Ross Homan (@Ross_homan1) June 19, 2019 MORE: Four potential Kawhi Leonard landing spots in free agency Suspended NASCAR driver still found a way to race this weekend Rob Pelinka May Not Have Known the Cap Rules for Anthony Davis Trade Raiders DE Clelin Ferrell signs contract, offers message to fans Position flexibility giving Packers DB Natrell Jamerson a chance to stick


O n Friday, Rome 's first populist mayor, Virginia Raggi, presented a law banning bad behavior including eating or drinking or climbing on monuments, walking around partially unclothed, and wading through fountains the latter temptation made famous by Anita Ekberg, who danced in the city's magnificent baroque Trevi Fountain in Federico Fellini's classic film immortalizing Rome's carefree spirit. While many of the measures already existed in temporary form or were rarely enforced, a unanimous city council vote on Thursday night made them permanent. And there's a new twist: Disobeying these rules means local authorities can exile the badly behaved from the city's historic center for 48 hours. "The Rome city center is an area protected by UNESCO, so clearly our center is our business ticket," Raggi told The AP in an interview in which she promised "zero tolerance for those marring our city." Rome's law joins a raft of efforts by tourist-clogged cities around the world to regulate their behavior or limit their numbers. Florence last year issued an ordinance calling for fines as high as €500 (US$575) for visitors who eat on sidewalks or in doorways at meal times near its landmark Uffizi Galleries. Venice in the past has banned tourists from eating in St. Mark's Square unless they are eating or drinking at the square's pricey cafés. In France, the Louvre Museum in Paris closed for a day after workers said the crowds were too big to handle. In Amsterdam, the city plans to ban guided tours of the red-light district. Raggi, the highest profile mayor for the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, boasted that for the first time since 1946, Rome had an "all-encompassing law," ending decades of "temporary rules." "We don't want people to take a bath, or ruin or dirty monuments anymore," Raggi said from a terrace above her Capitoline Hill office overlooking the ancient Roman Forum and Colosseum and their steady streams of tourists. Raggi wouldn't talk politics. But this spring, Matteo Salvini, the fast-rising leader of the rival populist League Party, which is widely expected to go for the Italian capital's City Hall in the next local election, trashed her management, saying Rome had never been dirtier. Earlier in the day, Raggi told reporters she has started writing foreign ambassadors whose citizens had been caught behaving badly. An aide didn't immediately respond to an AP query asking which countries' ambassadors she had contacted. Still, Raggi insisted that Rome welcomes tourists but plans to approve higher fines for transgressors. On Friday, the local police could be seen telling tourists near the Spanish Steps to put their shoes back on and stop drinking beer. But the city faces an uphill battle. On the grand staircase that leads to the Michelangelo-designed square outside City Hall, tourists nibbled on snacks, chugged down beer, and fed seagulls chunks of bread as a traffic officer strolled by at the bottom of the stairs. Enjoying a sandwich with prosciutto and cheese, Irena Stojimanovski, from Serbia, said she hadn't heard about the new law. Watching Rome's chaotic traffic whiz through central Piazza Venezia, the tourist praised the "beautiful monuments, nice and friendly people" and pronounced the food to be fine. Tourists are not the law's only target. Ever inventive, some locals have taken to dressing up as centurions and aggressively demanding money from tourists who pose for selfies with them. Despite repeated ordinances banning the fake centurions from the Colosseum and other ancient monuments, the wily Romans have taken to whipping off their helmets and changing into street clothes kept handily nearby to avoid trouble with police. RELATED VIDEO: Rome Doesn't Want Gladiators or Drunk Tourists Anymore (via Buzz60)


WASHINGTON -- DC Fire and EMS and DC Police responded to one apartment complex for two separate incidents just hours apart. DC Police reported a shooting just after 1:30 Sunday morning in the 3200 block of Hiatt Place Northwest. Police said an adult male suffered non life-threatening injuries and was taken to the hospital. He is listed in critical condition. Officials are searching for two black males between five-foot-ten and five-foot-eleven. Police said the males are tall, slim build and wearing gray sweatshirts. Several hours later DC Fire and EMS were dispatched to the same location at 8:11 a.m. for a fire. Fire PIO Vito Maggiolo said several residents were evaluated but no one was taken to the hospital. The cause of the fire is under investigation.


Former players who are trying to get payment under the terms of the concussion settlement now have another hurdle to overcome: The presiding judge applied a geographic limit to the search for a doctor. Via the Associated Press , Judge Anita Brody has imposed a 150-mile restriction on the location of a doctor from the player's home and a 200-mile cap on the effort to find a neurologist. The goal is to keep former players from relying on doctors who may be more inclined to approve a diagnosis that qualifies the former player for benefits. The opposition to the restriction comes from the basic reality that the program includes provisions aimed at protecting the settlement fund against fraudulent claims. So it shouldn't matter where a guy's doctor is located; the player should be able to choose both where to live and where his doctor practices. The overriding problem with the concussion settlement continues to be, in our view, that the fund has no cap. This creates an obvious incentive for the NFL to fight as many claims as possible. If the NFL had simply paid a lump sum, the NFL wouldn't care about any of the individual claims. With no cap, the NFL can turn reduced payments into increased profits by fighting back as many claims as possible.


UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin has revealed talks are ongoing between the UEFA Executive Committee and representatives of the European Leagues in regards to potential changes to the Champions League format. The most recent alterations were made in 2016, however, discussion are taken place in the H ouse of European Football in Nyon regarding further expansions in five years time. Primarily, what is being discussed is the potential to include a relegation and promotion system in a revamp of the competition, a move that would see more clubs involved from the start of the tournament. Čeferin claimed while talks are ongoing to ahead of potential adjustments to the format, nothing has been decided as of yet. "What is important to remember, is that, despite a lot of talk in the media, no decisions have been made," he said. "At the moment we have only ideas and opinions. It is also important to recognise that UEFA is the only body that has responsibility to the game across Europe." 🏆 The 2019 #UCLfinal is set! 🏆 Tottenham 🆚 Liverpool #UCL   UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) May 8, 2019 The system being discussed would see four groups of eight teams, significantly increasing the number of European matches and subsequently favouring and bigger clubs. All top five teams in each group would be automatically qualified for the next edition, something that could seriously hamper the chances of clubs from smaller countries of take part in. Should these modifications comes into effect then they would not do so until 2024, while discussions are also taking involving the European Club Association (ECA). President of the ECA, Andrea Agnelli, put forward a proposal to introduce a "pan- European league system" that would reduce the number of teams qualifying from domestic competitions (currently four in the Premier League ) - and increasing the number of group matches in the Champions League . Current UEFA drafts appear to be moving towards such a move, although should this decision make further ground would see the amount of clubs in the Champions League stay at 32.


Lamar Jackson 's ascension to the starting quarterback job led the Ravens to remake their offense this offseason, but Jackson isn't the only player who has been learning how to run it. Robert Griffin III re-signed with the Ravens to serve as Jackson's backup and the process of familiarizing himself with the offense began shortly after he agreed to a deal. Griffin sat for a meeting with offensive coordinator Greg Roman and quarterbacks coach James Urban to begin a process that has continued over the last few months. Griffin said the "game is about mismatches" and that the Ravens are hoping to create those with a unit that can make plays on the ground or through the air. "I've got to make sure I understand the offense , forward and backward," Griffin said, via the team's website. "The offense will look different. I think we'll shock some people with what we're going to do. If we need to run it 60 times, we can do it. But if we need to throw it 30 to 40 times, we can also do it. I think that's what we're working on, to make sure we have those capabilities." If called upon, Griffin said he's "a better quarterback than I've ever been" although the Ravens won't be putting that to the test unless something goes very wrong for Jackson.


Editor's note: The opinions in this article are the author's, as published by our content partner, and do not necessarily represent the views of MSN or Microsoft. A bigger threat to American democracy than Donald Trump. The Supreme Court's Thursday morning ruling in Rucho v. Common Cause amounts to a blank check for partisan gerrymandering. Chief Justice John Roberts's opinion holds that federal courts should not have the power to declare particular maps unconstitutional, as doing so would be "unprecedented expansion of judicial power ... into one of the most intensely partisan aspects of American political life." What this means, in practice, is that local authorities get to decide on the shape of House and state legislative districts. Parties that control statehouses will be freer to not only to cement their own hold on power, but ensure that their party will be sending more representatives to Washington as well. While Republicans and Democrats both gerrymander, there is no doubt that Republicans do it more and more shamelessly. North Carolina Rep. David Lewis, who helped draw one of the maps at issue in Rucho , was admirably honest about his motives in a 2016 statehouse speech. "I think electing Republicans is better than electing Democrats," he explained . "So I drew this map in a way to help foster what I think is better for the country." This principle   that Republicans believe their rule is better, and are willing to do whatever it takes to ensure they take and hold power   does not merely lead to gerrymandering. It has produced a whole host of different undemocratic actions, at both state and federal levels, that amount to a systematic threat to American democracy. Indeed, some of the best scholarship we have on American democracy suggests that this is even more alarming than it sounds; that it fits historical patterns of democratic backsliding both in the United States and abroad. In her dissent to Roberts's ruling, Justice Elena Kagan wrote that "gerrymanders like the ones here may irreparably damage our system of government." I'd take it a step further. The Court's ruling in Rucho reveals that there's a threat to American democracy more subtle and yet greater than the Trump presidency: The Republican Party's drift toward being institutionally hostile to democracy. The Court's ruling permits a systematic attack on democracy Partisan gerrymandering is, on its face, an obviously anti-democratic practice. State legislators pack large numbers of voters from the opposing party into a handful of legislative districts, thus ensuring their voters dominate the bulk of districts and hand them a majority. It gives their supporters' votes more weight, a direct violation of the core democratic principles relating to equal citizenship and representation. Historically, both parties have engaged in partisan gerrymandering: Rucho itself concerned both the Republican map in North Carolina and a Democratic map in Maryland. But the GOP has embraced the fashion in a far more systematic and troubling fashion. In 2010, Republican strategist Karl Rove wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal advocating a significant Republican push to gerrymander legislative districts after that year's midterm elections. Rove's idea manifested as Project REDMAP, a dark-money campaign to support Republican candidates for state legislature and then help them redraw House districts after the 2010 census . We first saw the results of this process in 2012, when Republicans held the House despite more Americans voting for Democratic House candidates than Republican ones. The consequences persist, making it significantly harder for Democrats to win office in places around the country. In the 2018 election, Republicans won about 50 percent of the US House vote in North Carolina. That translated into 70 percent of House seats due to heavily gerrymandered districts . Wisconsin Democrats won every statewide election in 2018 but did not win majorities in either chamber of the state legislature. Once again, gerrymanders are to blame . The Rucho ruling allows Republicans to continue this campaign and even escalate it, as they don't have to worry about outrageous maps getting rolled back by federal courts. "John Roberts....gave the Republicans a green light to gerrymander to their hearts content," UC-Irvine election law expert Rick Hasen writes in Slate . The national Republican campaign to cement their control over state legislatures and congressional delegations is not only harder to fight back, but could very well get worse. The Republican drift against democracy   and the Court's role in it But gerrymandering is just one piece of a much broader GOP offensive to rig the system in their favor. This isn't some kind of master plan to destroy democracy so much as a series of discrete tactics, each a power grab in their own right, that add up to imperil American democracy itself. Voter ID laws pushed in Republican states have created not-insignificant barriers to voting for many black and Hispanic voters . Republican state governments have conducted voter purges that disproportionately clear minority voters from the rolls. After two elections where Republicans lost control of the governorship, North Carolina in 2016 and Wisconsin in 2018 , the state legislatures stripped power from new Democratic governors before they could take office. Florida's Republican-controlled legislature just defanged a ballot initiative passed in 2018 that would allow ex-felons to vote, literally denying the franchise to a heavily black (and thus heavily Democratic) constituency. While these examples come from the state level, as that's where electoral law is primarily set in the US system, they've been either directly supported by the national party or tacitly approved. Meanwhile, the federal GOP has engaged in its own forms of anti-democratic politics, the most infamous example being Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's blockade of Merrick Garland's Supreme Court nomination. Republicans in Congress have refused to consider statehood proposals for DC and Puerto Rico, essentially denying Senate and House representation for millions of US citizens. The party depends on undemocratic institutions like the Electoral College and Senate   ones that give disproportionate weight to voters in Republican-dominated states   to maintain power, and thus needs to prevent reforms that would move the country towards a truer form of one person, one vote. The GOP dominance of the Supreme Court has played an important role in this overall democracy-threatening drift. Under Chief Justice John Roberts, the court has struck down Voting Rights Act provisions that attempted to curtail gerrymanders along racial lines in the Shelby County case and removed restrictions on dark money contributions in the infamous Citizens United ruling. Under Roberts, the Court is systematically removing judicial constraints on the nationwide GOP's corrosions of democratic institutions. "All of this talk about Roberts being the swing vote, or worried about appearances of being political: not on the issues he cares about the most, which are politics, race and power," Hasen writes . "See Shelby County, Citizens United, and now ... Rucho." Attendees hold signs and cheer during a rally calling for an end to corporate money in politics and to mark the fifth anniversary of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, January 21, 2015. This GOP turn didn't arise because the party is ideologically opposed to democracy in the way that, say, fascists and Islamists are. It's that they care more about power than they do about basic democratic principles and are willing to run roughshod over the latter if it helps them win the former. This Republican attitude is more democracy-indifferent than anti-democratic, reflecting a party so caught up in partisan combat that it can't recognize the authoritarian road it's traveling down. This is part and parcel of extreme political polarization. In their book How Democracies Die , Harvard's Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky argue that extreme polarization produces a sense among elected officials that the other party is a fundamental threat to the country's survival, and that the consequences of allowing them to wield power will be catastrophic. This allows the party leaders to justify taking steps to undermine democracy in the name of saving the nation which, they argue, is what the current Republican Party is doing through legislatures and the courts. Indeed, that's essentially what Lewis, the North Carolina state representative, openly admitted. This is much more fundamentally threatening to American democracy than the Trump presidency. Trump could do serious damage to the system, maybe even induce a constitutional crisis, but he is, on his own, neither competent enough nor institutionally powerful enough to outright destroy American democracy. But the Republican Party's democracy-indifferent attitude preceded the Trump presidency, and will likely survive beyond it. With Trump in power, the backing of a partisan court majority, and an electoral system that intrinsically advantages the GOP, it's possible to imagine the party subtly rewriting the rules over time to make American democracy less-and-less competitive. This may even seem like a natural response, in the Republican mind, to the rise of a younger, more diverse, more progressive electorate. A kind of quietly undemocratic America is not all that hard to imagine. In Paths out of Dixie , Michigan political scientist Robert Mickey argues that a large swath of the United States   the entire South   was an authoritarian nation within a national democracy from the end of Reconstruction right up until the 1970s. Jim Crow wasn't just racially discriminatory; it was anti-democratic, rigging the system so racist whites couldn't lose their grip on power. The transition to southern democracy, Mickey argues, wasn't easy and it wasn't clean   the attitudes underpinning Southern authoritarianism have not gone away. America is not yet on the brink. Democrats hold the House, and have a decent shot at both the White House and the Senate in 2020. This is not an authoritarian system or anything close to it   yet. But the long-term threat of democratic backsliding, of a major party undermining the small-d democratic system from within over the course of time, is very real. And it explains why so many knowledgable people are so worried about the Court's ruling in Rucho . "The Court's gerrymandering decision seems to lock-in an essentially non-democratic feature of American politics. Elected representatives can rig the system to remain in power indefinitely and this cannot be challenged," writes Harvard political scientist Ryan Enos. "Combine this with the other increasingly consequential non-democratic features of the American system...and the longterm stability of the system seems worryingly compromised."


M aybe a family member or a co-worker got it for you as a gift. Or you found yourself shopping online or in a pharmacy recently and pulled the trigger to get one for yourself. However you got there, you are now staring at a DNA test report that sheds some light on where you are from and, increasingly, who you are related to. For a growing number of people, those results are being converted into real and meaningful journeys into their ancestral past. For John Hernandez, it was precisely such a journey that found him and his immediate family piled into a van and driving through the northern Spanish countryside last year, on their way to the town of Tarna, population 100, in search of his great grandfather's home. "That was a really cool experience," said Hernandez, whose family immigrated to Cuba from Spain, and then to the United States from Cuba, transitions that had left many gaps in his family history. "I got to see the house of my great grandfather. I got to touch the walls, the wooden door . . . we got to see the church where he was baptized." The 26-year-old Hernandez, who lives in West Palm Beach, Florida, was able to find the precise location of his great grandfather's home thanks to a genetic match that was made through Ancestry after he completed a DNA test kit. "All of a sudden I get this match. Her name is Dora. She's from Spain and . . . we started matching family trees," said Hernandez. Through Dora, Hernandez was able to locate a couple of distant cousins in Spain who helped facilitate the Tarna visit. As a growing number of people submit their DNA samples for genetic analysis to companies like Ancestry and 23andMe , there is also the growing opportunity to find potential DNA matches with long-lost relatives. One of the things Ancestry is seeing more of is "people are using their match list and when they go to places they are connecting with cousins that are still in the old country. And those cousins will go and orchestrate these huge family reunions where everyone will come together. That has been super powerful," said Ancestry's director of research, Jenn Utley. DNA test kit takers can choose whether or not they want to be on these "match lists," which means they make themselves available to be contacted by relatives with whom their DNA matches. The likelihood of matches is growing because of the surge in popularity of the DNA test kits themselves. "It's pretty phenomenal," said Utley. "We process more than 10,000 kits every week." In the seven short years since launching AncestryDNA , Ancestry's genetic analysis arm, the company's DNA database has grown to 15 million people and continues on a strong growth path, according to Utley. The fact that the kits commonly sold by Ancestry and by the other main player in the marketplace, 23andMe, now go for as little as $100 each, has also helped fuel the explosion in interest. So, what are people hoping to find out? It's usually something a bit different for everyone, said Utley: "Someone wants to know how Irish they are, and someone [else] is looking for a long-lost cousin or sister. And some just felt like they didn't know enough about their family, and this is one of the easiest ways to learn something quickly." Depending on how deep people want to dig, the options vary. For some, maybe the DNA test kit results are enough information for them. Others may want to search for DNA matches and find out more through those connections. For people with access to extended family or historical family documents, the DNA kit may simply be part of a much more in-depth investigation into family stories that go back decades, if not centuries. There is the option to choose additional roots research services through Ancestry or other websites such as MyHeritage , FindMyPast , and AfricanAncestry . There's also the U.S. Census Bureau ; the National Archives (the federal government's database of U.S. military records, naturalization records, and more); the Ellis Island Foundation ; FindAGrave.com for cemetery records; state and local records; and Social Security death records   among many other research tools. Regardless of what people find out, one thing that has become obvious is the strong connection between the findings and a desire, for many, to physically travel to locations that have become a part of their personal story through these journeys of discovery. Because of that strong connection, heritage travel is on the rise. For Ancestry, that meant forging a partnership in 2017 with Go Ahead Tours to help customers retrace their roots. Go Ahead's Ancestry Tours include an AncestryDNA kit, a family history review prior to the trip, and an Ancestry genealogist who accompanies the tour groups to help answer questions about participants' heritage. Airbnb, 23andMe partner to make ancestry travel more accessible Earlier this year, homesharing heavyweight Airbnb got in on the heritage travel trend too after noticing a huge surge in interest in this type of self-discovery trek. Since 2014, the number of travelers using Airbnb while on journeys to trace their roots increased by 500 percent, according to data Airbnb compiled based on guest reviews containing keywords related to DNA and heritage travel. Consequently, this past May, Airbnb partnered with genetic test provider 23andMe to make converting DNA test results into a tangible trip a more seamless experience. On 23andMe , once customers receive their ancestry reports, they will be able to find Airbnb homes and experiences in their native countries. Conversely, Airbnb now has dedicated pages that correspond with 23andMe's geographic groupings, such as sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, and South America (there are 10 groupings total) so that travelers coming to Airbnb's site will be able to easily plan their heritage trip. The most popular places for heritage travel, according to 23andMe, are the United Kingdom, Italy, Mexico, Germany, Ireland, Poland, mainland China, Spain, Nigeria, India, and Russia. The top 10 origin countries for heritage travel are the United States, Canada, Australia, Mainland China, the United Kingdom, France, Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan and Brazil. Travel companies that offer heritage trips Beyond the partnerships between Airbnb and 23andMe and between Ancestry and Go Ahead Tours, there are plenty of other travel companies and travel agents that have gotten into heritage travel due to its rising popularity. Their services typically range from offering more general heritage tours to getting much more involved in helping to unearth information and to make relevant connections on the ground. DNA Journeys , for instance, is a travel agency devoted entirely to converting DNA test kits (its services include the kit) into customized heritage trips. A division of Your Travel Services, an agency with offices in South Carolina and Texas, DNA Journeys provides the kit, helps with additional genealogical research, and then builds the trip. Family Tree Tours is an agency based in St. Louis that specializes in heritage tours to Ireland, Germany, and Italy. The company has partnered with local genealogical experts to help execute the tours, which can be more general, if clients don't have too much detail about their past, or more specific, if clients have information related to a particular place where they know their family lived, for instance. Some tour companies have divisions devoted to heritage travel as well, such as Classic Journeys , which provides a list of suggested group tours and also offers customized tour options for heritage trips. There is plenty of skepticism surrounding DNA test kits and DNA databases, namely regarding privacy concerns, and some of it may rightly give people pause. But for some people, like Hernandez, what ultimately resulted was a very real and very human encounter. "One of the most touching moments was [regarding] my mom; she lost both her parents in 2005 and that was really hard on her," recalled Hernandez, about his family's trip to Spain. "And her immediate family is pretty small. All of a sudden she's meeting all this family that's pretty close to her. She was crying when she first saw them." RELATED VIDEO: AncestryDNA | Heritage Travel: Kieron's Journey Home | Ancestry


The Chargers have a good chunk of their starters returning from the 2018 season. But that doesn't mean there aren't certain starting jobs and roster spots on the line. By the time training camp is over, Los Angeles must narrow it down to the NFL's 53-man roster limit, and that means the competition will be fierce for slots at several key positions. With that, here are six position battles to watch for when training camp begins on Thursday: Wide Receiver Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports The Chargers are locked in with their top two options in Keenan Allen and Mike Williams. This means that they have three spots to fill with eight guys fighting for the final slots on the roster. The frontrunner to secure the No. 3 role is Travis Benjamin, who had a down season in 2018 but the coaching staff covets him for his veteran presence and for his blazing speed and ability to beat defenders vertically. Cantrell, who was injured last season, is a tall, athletic receiver who displays excellent ball skills and elite hands at the catch point. Scott, who was having a stellar showing at camp and preseason, is a possession receiver that thrives in the slot. Davis is another tall and physically-imposing wideout that the team has loved the past couple years. An undrafted free agent like Fred Trevillion or Jason Moore could emerge as guys that are worthy of roster spots, too. Guard Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports All eyes have been on Forrest Lamp, who is arguably one of the most highly anticipated players. Lamp suffered a season-ending ACL injury days into his first training camp, and it's been an upward battle for the former second-round pick ever since. Following a successful rookie season, Dan Feeney took a step back in 2018, finishing as one of the lowest graded interior offensive lineman. He fared well as a run blocker, but struggled in pass protection immensely. Meanwhile, Michael Schofield was the superior player out of the two but he still had his woes at times. Many are expecting Lamp to get a starting job given how poor the interior part of the offensive line finished in 2018. But he will have to show he can stay injury-free and assert himself as guy that can actually thrive on an NFL offensive line after missing two consecutive years. Linebacker Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports After a slew of acquisitions this offseason, the linebacker group is the deepest it's been in quite sometime. The Chargers brought back Denzel Perryman, signed Thomas Davis and drafted Drue Tranquill and Emeke Egbule. The team will also have Kyzir White and Jatavis Brown coming back from injuries. You can likely pencil in the veterans Davis and Perryman as the team's starting linebackers. But beyond the two starting spots, the Chargers spend most of their time in nickel or dime defenses these days, which means there will be competition for playing time and roster spots. White had won the starting WILL position before having his rookie season cut short three weeks into it. He bulked up to 230-235 and has the ability to play all three linebacker positions. Brown emerged as one of the team's top tacklers in 2018 but he will have to show he can stay healthy. Tranquill, the team's fourth-round selection, was a standout in the spring and it wouldn't be surprising to quickly work his way up the depth chart. They also have Adrian Phillips, who is listed as a safety but he will serve as another dime linebacker and a bigger slot cornerback. Uchenna Nwosu is set to play a bigger role in his second season, primarily at OTTO in the team's base package. Egbule, the team's sixth-round selection, is projected to be his backup but he also has some positional versatility. Cornerback Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports The Chargers have Casey Hayward and Desmond King slotted as two of their starting cornerbacks, but the spot opposite of Hayward is up for grabs. After a stellar 2017 campaign, an ankle injury suffered in training camp sidelined Trevor Williams until the start of the season, and it hampered him all year long before he was eventually shutdown in December. Michael Davis came in to fill in for Williams last season and played in every game for the team. He finished the season with 50 tackles, eight passes defensed and two forced fumbles. Davis was a key contributor down the stretch and into the playoffs. Now healthy, Williams will look to bounce back from the injury that ended his campaign in 2018, but he won't just be handed his starting spot back. Davis is motivated since he was given a taste of what it was like to be a starter last season in his absence. Free Safety Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports Derwin James has the strong safety spot locked up but the free safety position is completely up in the air after the Chargers decided to part ways with Jahleel Addae. The team hit a home run when they were able to snag Nasir Adderley in the second-round of the 2019 NFL draft. He had been pegged as an option with their No. 28 overall selection throughout the pre-draft process. The rangy former Delaware ballhawk is an ideal fit in defensive coordinator Gus Bradley's defense. Rayshawn Jenkins returns for his third season. The former fourth-round selection ended 2018 on a great note when Los Angeles rolled with him at free safety in both postseason games. Jenkins dropped weight from 220 to under 200 pounds to play faster at the single-high role. Los Angeles re-signed Jaylen Watkins in February before he could become a free agent. Watkins was on his way to earning a starting job last summer before he suffered a season-ending ACL injury during the team's second preseason game. Undrafted free agents Adarius Pickett and spring standout Roderic Teamer Jr. will also be fighting for a spot. Defensive Tackle Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports The interior part of the defensive line went through a bit of a makeover this spring. After losing Darius Philon and Corey Liuget, the Chargers filled their voids in the draft with the selections of Jerry Tillery and Cortez Broughton. The team also brought back Brandon Mebane and Damion Square. How the playing time shakes out behind them is the question. Tillery, the team's first-round selection, is a gifted athlete with great size who wins in a variety of ways. It's unlikely he goes into Week 1 as the starter as he's been recovering from he shoulder injury, but he should quickly work his way into that role. Mebane, who is entering Year 13, is nothing more than a valuable run defender at this point. He is coveted for his strong locker room presence, which is one of the biggest reasons he was re-signed. Square is coming off his best season yet as a professional. He played anywhere from the nose tackle position to an edge rusher at times, showcasing his versatility. Jones didn't emerge until late when he got an uptick in snaps. It's uncertain whether the team views him as a nose tackle or three-technique but he must show more promise as a pass-rusher in training camp in order to earn a starting role. Broughton, the seventh-round selection, will likely be fighting for the last spot with Reggie Howard and T.Y. McGill. He has potential to be the steal of this year's draft for the Chargers given his ability to get after the quarterback. If he makes the roster, he should be a key sub-package pass-rushing specialist. MORE: Team USA basketball: See the list of NBA superstars skipping the World Cup The 21 dumbest ideas in NFL history NBA trade rumor rankings: What's up with CP3? VIDEO: Steve Austin Cut a Killer Promo at WWE Raw Reunion Ravens have another shot to land WR Allen Hurns, this time for cheap


Editor's note: The family of Sgt. Michael Chesna requested privacy as they prepare to observe the anniversary of his death. His widow, Cindy, submitted this letter for publication at the invitation of The Patriot Ledger. As we approach the one-year anniversary, we would like to thank everyone for their continued love and support that our family has received over the past year. Mike loved being a police officer but most importantly he loved being a husband and father. Police officers choose this occupation to protect you and your families. The police are not your enemies; they are here to help you in your time of need. Police officers perform heroic acts every day: They save lives, arrest dangerous criminals and some make the ultimate sacrifice like my husband, Sgt. Mike Chesna. Please remember Mike and all the other heroes that lost their lives in the line of duty. Be kind and caring toward the police and remember that love is stronger than hate. Live your life, for it is precious, and every night when you go home, remember that police officers are people that have families. They are heroes that are here to protect you from danger. I encourage you to take pictures of your loved ones for a lifetime of memories because nobody knows what tomorrow will bring. Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers. They mean so much to me. READ MORE: Widow of fallen Weymouth police officer writes letter to public CHECK OUT WCVB: Get the latest Boston news, weather and sports online, anytime. Stay in the know with Boston's news leader   WCVB.


The White House on Thursday called on House Democrats to pass the bipartisan Senate version of a bill providing billions of dollars in border funding and humanitarian aid. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders blasted House Democrats for their handling of the issue amid a push from Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for changes to the Senate bill to include stricter "guardrails" to ensure adequate treatment of migrants at holding facilities. "We have already negotiated a broadly supported bipartisan funding bill. It is time for House Democrats to pass the Senate bill and stop delaying funding to deal with this very real humanitarian crisis," Sanders said in a statement. The outgoing press secretary chastised Democrats for claiming the situation at the southern border was a "manufactured crisis," a refrain used by some party members after President Trump declared a national emergency to secure funding for his border wall. "They have refused to work with Republicans to end incentives for the human trafficking that takes advantage of women and children, or to end the surge of cartels bringing in illegal drugs," Sanders said. The Senate on Wednesday voted 84-8 to pass its $4.5 billion border bill, which includes nearly $3 billion in humanitarian aid. The vote set up a clash with House Democrats, who earlier this week passed their own version of the border bill, which puts more restraints on how the administration can spend the money. Pelosi released a statement Wednesday night signaling she would push for an amendment to the Senate version that ensures health standards for facilities holding migrants at the border and limits the number of days children can spend in influx facilities. Democrats are also demanding that any deaths of migrant children be reported within 24 hours and that lawmakers don't need advance notice to visit a facility. The issue gained renewed urgency after a photo surfaced of a migrant man and his young daughter who drowned trying to cross the Rio Grande River. Pelosi was asked at about the same time the White House statement was issued whether she would rule out bringing the Senate bill to the floor in the House. She did not directly respond, saying lawmakers would take it one step at a time. A day before, Pelosi had rejected simply taking up the Senate legislation. "They passed their bill, we respect that. We passed our bill, we hope they will respect that," she said. President Trump spoke with Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Wednesday before leaving for Japan. The president did not take a position on one chamber's bill versus the other's, but said he hoped the two sides will eventually "be able to do something very good." "A lot of people are starting to realize that I was right when I said we have a crisis at the border," the president said. "It wasn't manufactured at all."


Chris Paddack has been optioned to the minors. The Padres' National League Rookie of the Year candidate will be sent down in an effort to limit his innings, the team announced. The #Padres have optioned RHP Chris Paddack to Single-A Lake Elsinore and recalled RHP Robert Stock from Triple-A El Paso.   San Diego Padres (@Padres) June 12, 2019 Paddack is 4-4 with a 3.15 ERA this season with 72 strikeouts in 65 2/3 innings. The 23-year-old has never thrown more than 90 innings in a season. San Diego is 33-34 on the season and 11 1/2 games back of the Dodgers for first place in the NL West. But, the team is five games back of the second wild-card spot, so the playoffs are by no means out of reach. The Padres reportedly have interest in Indians starter Trevor Bauer, so they don't seem to be tanking just yet. However, according to The Athletic, there are several executives who believe the team could go into sell mode and make some deals soon. If that happens, closer Kirby Yates   who is a perfect 23 for 23 in save opportunities this season   could be on the block. As for Paddack, odds are the team wants him to throw about 120 to 130 innings this season as it has increased his innings by about 45 each year since drafting him in 2015. It should also be noted Paddack has struggled of late, allowing 16 earned runs in his last five starts in 25 innings (5.76 ERA) after surrendering a total of seven in his previous seven starts over the span of 40 2/3 innings (1.55 ERA).


NEW YORK   An appeals court says it will speedily consider President Donald Trump's challenge to congressional subpoenas seeking financial records from two banks he did business with. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan issued a brief order Friday setting a schedule for written arguments to be submitted by July 18, with oral arguments to soon follow. Lawyers on both sides in the dispute had recommended the expedited schedule after U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos ruled nine days ago that Trump, his family and his companies were unlikely to succeed in their lawsuit. Trump sued to stop the House Financial Services and Intelligence committees from getting documents from Deutsche Bank and Capital One. The Lawsuit said the requests were unlawful and unconstitutional.


Everyone is spending more time outside as weather warms up, prompting another reminder about the danger of ticks. Kentucky health officials said the tick population isn't necessarily larger this year, but the mild winter has brought them out earlier than normal. Ticks are known to carry Lyme disease, which is not common in the Louisville area, but a local doctor recently treated a suspected case of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Experts said anyone who spots a tick needs to remove it immediately. Related: How to remove ticks "It's really important to get medical treatment early to prevent serious complications," Dr. April Mattingly with Norton Children's said. The best protection is to use insect repellent with more than 20 percent deet. READ MORE: Ticks coming out earlier than normal, Kentucky health officials warn CHECK OUT WLKY: Live. Local. Late-Breaking. Get the top Louisville news, weather and sports from the team at WLKY   online, anytime.


Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsport-Honda driver James Hinchcliffe has admitted that it's shocking to consider that it took until the 12th round of the NTT IndyCar Series season to land a top-three finish. The 2018 Iowa winner started fifth and remained in the hunt all night, eventually prevailed in a skirmish with Dale Coyne Racing's super-brave rookie whose Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda was on much newer tires. "I think kind of best of the rest after Josef is probably where we were," said Hinchcliffe. "That first stint, the #5 car was a little off. We were just kind of learning, feeling out the track, seeing what the setup really was like. "Big credit to the guys. Every time we came into the pits, we made it a little bit better. Adjusting tire pressures, wing, whatever. Working with the tools in the car, every stint we took a step forward. We were picking guys off slowly. Fell back to seventh. "To get Simon on that last restart, running second … A shame Seb[astien Bourdais] was involved. He definitely stopped us from getting after Josef. Obviously Scott, with the brilliant call with tires, came up and got around us. But we were starting to come back and a couple more laps, it would have been a good little battle." Read Also: "Stellar" second place but Dixon puzzled by "bizarre" handling Newgarden: Win was redemption from qualifying and 2018 race The Canadian who currently lies ninth in the points standings admitted that the result was a relief for all involved at Arrow SPM, particularly those on his car. (Rookie teammate finished runner-up in the second Detroit race). "For the No. 5 guys, it's been a tough year," Hinchcliffe said. "A lot of rough luck on Sundays. We're happy to be back on the podium here in Iowa, where we've had success before. Hopefully we can carry this momentum into Mid-Ohio… "It's kind of shocking actually that it's the first podium of the year. It just kind of sums up our year. We've had good racecars on Sundays, had bad luck. A mistake or two of our own. "We've been there or thereabouts. Fighting for the odd win, fighting for a couple podiums, just had unlucky breaks. To kind of have a clean evening, not have anything work against us, it's nice to be back up here. I think that we've had we've had some races we probably should have been on the podium. "That's racing. We've just got to keep doing what we're doing as a team and hopefully see a few more podiums before the end of the season."


It's Sunday morning, Paul Pogba wants to leave Manchester United, and the USWNT doesn't play its World Cup match until Noon: Let's deal in theoreticals by starting with a fact. This season is going to be a major challenge for one Ole Gunnar Solskjaer . The Manchester United boss will seemingly be pulling together a significant amount of new parts into a team which is coming off a sixth place finish in the Premier League, with four of the five teams ahead of him having maintained their managers and most if not all key pieces. Oh, and he'll have to fashion this team based out of parts willing to buy into the club's mystique and ignore the lack of UEFA Champions League play (which is seemingly why Paul Pogba is ready to skip town). Big paychecks will help, but there's no way to quickly meld these pieces into one unit. That's especially true if the biggest piece of their 2018-19 puzzle, Pogba, isn't in the middle of the park (or pushed a bit forward). Juan Mata , Ander Herrera , and Antonio Valencia are out of contract, and Romelu Lukaku has been as mentioned as any striker on the market (He has three goals in four days for Belgium, albeit against Kazakhstan and Scotland). Pogba's potential departure puts a lot of weight on Ed Woodward to spend money well (One could make an argument for United needing 60-80 percent of those names). Subtracting them and adding no one, United's best XI is something like David De Gea , Diogo Dalot , Eric Bailly , Victor Lindelof , Luke Shaw , Scott McTominay , Nemanja Matic , Anthony Martial , Andreas Pereira , Jesse Lingard , and Marcus Rashford . As an aside, the expectations and pressure heaped on Rashford by the "he's better than Lukaku, play him now centrally" media crowd is going to be a burden if the 21-year-old has to bear the center forward burden alone. My goodness are there Old Trafford subplots in excess or what? Now, of course, there are seven weeks to go in the transfer window and there's no guarantee Pogba and Lukaku will leave town. In fact, you may want to place your confidence on Pogba opening the season unhappy but at Old Trafford. Either way, the center of the park is going to get a remarkable makeover, and both center back and goalkeeper will get upgrades, too. To the fixes:   United is expected to spend big on Crystal Palace right back Aaron Wan-Bissaka , who was sensational last season with the Eagles. They reportedly have sent a $51 million offer to Roy Hodgson 's squad.   They've been linked with desire for Issa Diop , though West Ham has hopes of $75 million for the center back who made JPW's Top Ten of the season .   Wilfred Ndidi is "flattered" by links to United , but is focused on Nigeria's Africa Cup of Nations line. Should the Red Devils want to buy the 22-year-old, he's likely in the same price range as the above names.   Don't forget Monaco's Youri Tielemans , who feels like a PL player from his outstanding time at Leicester City last season. He'd merit another $50 million or so . It's worth noting that all would get more European football than at their current home with a bump in wages plus an new iconic shirt. Don't sleep on that. You're probably talking a $240-250 million outlay there, should United land them. Without going further, nor mentioning Swansea's young Daniel James and Sheffield United loanee Dean Henderson , you can see a thread here: United could be showing us how a Premier League Best XI without any Top Six players would fare in the top flight. Of course, United has also been linked with big buys from outside of the Premier League and many of these are older than Ndidi, Diop, Tielemans, and AWB. But taking those four young players and assuming a focal point/back bone strengthening holding mid would likely join part-time players and full-time leaders Nemanja Matic and Chris Smalling (and maybe Juan Mata). Now of course there are rumors of experienced leaders Ivan Rakitic of Barcelona and there could be a return from Real, PSG, or Juve. And this whole post looks even worse when United swaps Pogba for Neymar straight-up. Here's another question in the myriad facing Solskjaer and Woodward: Is the Europa League a better route to the Champions League than the idea of beating out two of Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea, Man City, and Liverpool (And noting that Spurs, City, and Liverpool will be heavily expected to finish 1-2-3 in some permutation and Chelsea has a leg up on the field assuming Eden Hazard is their lone significant departure). Manchester United w/ above transfers (Age when season starts) De Gea (28) Wan-Bissaka (21)   Lindelof (25)   Diop (22)   Shaw (24) Ndidi (22)   Matic (30) Tielemans (22) Lingard (26)   Rashford (21)   Martial (23) What a time to be alive. Rashford better deliver! Follow @NicholasMendola


Retired (for now) tight end Rob Gronkowski has reached a milestone unrelated to anything he ever did or could do on a football field. He is now 30 years old. Plenty of players play well beyond 30, and even though Gronk is retired there continues to be a sense that he will play again, at some point this year. He has joked about being "fake retired," by he hasn't shown any real inclination to return. Still, when football season gets started and when the postseason begins to creep closer, who knows what he'll want to do? Of course, the Patriots will have to want him to return. It's easy to presume that they will, but coach Bill Belichick hasn't encountered a situation like this before. He may not want the distraction that comes from welcoming a prodigal son, and Belichick in theory could prefer standing pat with who they have. Moves made before Gronkowski would be inclined to unretire also could complicate things. For now, the Patriots aren't overflowing with tight ends. But what if they trade for Kyle Rudolph at some point? That could be when the ship sails on a Gronk return. Regardless, as of Gronk's 30th birthday, it's impossible to rule out a Gronk return to football before he turns 31. Related slideshow: 2019 NFL draft: The top picks (Provided by imagn)


Central midfielder Rodri is to join Manchester City this summer after informing current club Atletico Madrid of his desire to leave - while the Premier League champions are happy to pay his €70m release clause. The 22-year-old wants to leave Atlético after only a single season in Madrid, and Atletico are - according to Fabrizio Romano - to sign Real Madrid's Marcos Llorente as Rodri's replacement. his replacement has been signed, done deal. And more details here ➡ https://t.co/34F5m1Y2jf #transfers #mcfc #mancity #atleti   Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 18, 2019 Spanish publication El País reported on Tuesday morning that Rodri would like to leave Atlético for City due to the attractive playing style of Pep Guardiola's side, while Marca had also reported that Rodri could see himself filling his potential in Manchester. City are prepared to pay the £62m required to trigger Rodri's release clause (which becomes active from 30 June) and are set to beat Bayern Munich , PSG and Manchester United for his signature. The Premier League champions have been linked with a move for Rodri for several months and view the Spain international as a long-term replacement for 34-year-old defensive midfielder Fernandinho . The 22-year-old joined the La Liga side as a youngster but was released after six years at the club, before he had the opportunity to make his professional debut. He started his senior career at Villarreal, where he made 84 appearances before re-joining Atlético for an initial £17m fee in 2016. Rodri won many admirers during his debut season with Los Rojiblancos, impressing with his excellent passing and ability to break up play. He was a constant in the Atlético side, appearing in 34 of 38 La Liga fixtures and making 47 appearances in all competitions. At the beginning of the campaign he was part of the Atlético team which beat city rivals Real 4-2 in the UEFA Super Cup. This is Rodri's sole piece of silverware during his time at the Wanda Metropolitano.


Any sentence that contains the words "Carolina Hurricanes" and "Boston Bruins" and "playoffs" is going to end up working its way around to Scott Walker eventually. The hard-headed forward was the epicenter of that playoff series 10 years ago, from his Game 5 punch of Aaron Ward to his overtime goal in Game 7, buffeted by waves of emotion no one other than his teammates understood. Walker had just finished watching the junior team he co-owns, the Guelph Storm, play in the Ontario Hockey League championship series Monday night when he saw that the Hurricanes and Bruins would meet again, this time in the Eastern Conference finals, and it all came back to him in a rush. When he scored that overtime winner in 2009, Walker and the Hurricanes knew   but no one outside the team knew   that Walker's wife Julie had just been diagnosed with cervical cancer. She's fine now, but it was a difficult time for the Walker family and a joyous time, all at once. "It just brings up a lot of memories   good, bad, indifferent," Walker said Monday night from Guelph, Onatrio where the Storm won Game 3 of the OHL finals. "I just had Cory Stillman at my house yesterday and it's amazing how you still talk about the good times. And it shows how people can band together in the tough times." Watching the Hurricanes in these playoffs   and he has been watching, closely   brought back memories for the 45-year-old Walker even before Monday night, who coached Guelph for five years and is now the director of player development for the Vancouver Canucks. He wasn't the only one who thought Jordan Staal's game-tying goal in Game 7 against the Washington Capitals in 2019 was a dead ringer for Eric Staal's game-winner in Game 7 against the New Jersey Devils in 2009   or that Brock McGinn's overtime goal to beat the Capitals looked an awful lot like Walker's overtime goal to beat the Bruins, crashing the crease to knock the puck out of midair. "He had to outdo me and do it in double OT," Walker joked. McGinn, in turn, remembers watching Walker's game-winner at home with his parent as a 15-year-old, long before he knew Walker. "I remember after he scored, him jumping and down," McGinn said Tuesday. "When you play for him, he talks about moments when he played, situations he's been in. That's one he wouldn't really forget. I won't forget either." McGinn's success is especially gratifying for Walker, having coached McGinn in Guelph five years ago and recommended him to then-Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford. But there are also former teammates Rod Brind'Amour and Jeff Daniels behind the Carolina bench, and a whole host of friends made in his four seasons in Raleigh, N.C. Walker is not at all surprised at Brind'Amour's adaptation to coaching, having admired Brind'Amour as a player. Walker joked that he could never quite break through Brind'Amour's shell as a teammate, but the then-captain-now-coach's legendary work ethic pushed him and everyone else to work a little harder. It's a surprising admission from Walker, who never seemed like the type to take a shift or a workout session off. He was never the biggest player but played relentlessly, physically, always right on the edge, and he could score when given the opportunity. If that sounds a little like McGinn, it's probably not a coincidence given the time they spent together. Walker raves about McGinn's toughness and willingness to play the game the right way, and McGinn's parents and family, but while he sees McGinn back home in Ontario during the summer, Walker also never quite felt comfortable reaching out to McGinn after his game-winner, as much as it reminded him of his own. "They get busy," Walker said. "They've got their own lives. It's hard in the playoffs to stay connected. I don't know whether those guys love me or hate me. It's hard for those guys to stay in touch. All's I ever tried to do was teach those guys to be pros." McGinn laughed at that. "I loved him as a coach," McGinn said. Watching the Hurricanes, and Walker has watched closely, it's hard to shake the memories of 10 years ago. He remembers sitting on the visiting bench near the end of Game 7 in New Jersey, his mind wandering between shifts to the drudgery of packing up the house for the summer. Then Jussi Jokinen scored. And then Eric Staal scored. And then Walker was hopping over the boards for handshakes. In his 15-year NHL career, that was by far the longest playoff run he ever had. There's something about going that deep that builds bonds that losing in the first round doesn't, bonds that can't be broken all these years later. And watching this team go through the same kind of experience, for Walker, it all comes echoing back. "Brock McGinn's overtime game winner, just like mine, you just wonder if that's a coincidence," Walker said. "Just like me scoring that overtime winner with what my wife was going through, you wonder if there's not something else happening. I'm working with the Canucks so I can't cheer too hard for (the Hurricanes), but we're not in the playoffs right now, so I can quietly. I definitely have a soft spot for the Hurricanes." Safe to say the Hurricanes fans who remember Walker still have a soft spot for him. It's impossible to think about 2009 without thinking about Walker. So much so, it's impossible to think about the rematch a decade later without thinking about him.     ©2019 The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) Visit The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.) at www.newsobserver.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.


After an offseason training regimen with Los Angeles Lakers icon Kobe Bryant , Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum developed a sudden affinity for midrange shots. … Well, that may not be exactly what happened but it's certainly curious that Tatum's rise in midrange attempts coincided with his workout with Kobe. Over the course of his 20-year career, the Black Mamba took 17.0 percent of his field goal attempts from 10-16 feet away from the rim, and never took fewer than 12.4 percent from that range. From his rookie to sophomore season, Tatum increased his shot attempts from 10-16 feet away of the rim significantly, taking 9.6 percent of his shots from that range as a rookie and 13.7 percent of his shots from that range in his second season. According to Tatum's trainer Drew Hanlen ( per the Boston Globe's Adam Himmelsbach ), one of the primary reasons for Tatum settling for tough, contested midrange shots was his inability to re-center for sidestep, stepback or off-the dribble three-point attempts: "I think last year the biggest thing was he settled too much. When he felt contact he would sidestep, step away, and sort of fade away, which he's capable of making but also are not high-percentage shots, and they don't cause fouls. It's just about being a little bit smarter on the way he attacks." As a result, Hanlen and Tatum have "been doing a lot where he's just not allowed to shoot midrange shots." "So it forces him to do it," Hanlen says, "and he's starting to kind of realize when he settles for the jump shot and when he should get downhill. He's seen it on film and now we're forcing him to do it by taking away the midrange, and then it's just about making the right decision." Learning what shot is the best shot comes with film study, on-court experience and it's indeed situational. As Hanlen says, "Sometimes the midrange is the best shot, sometimes the three is the best shot, and sometimes the rim." Next season will be Tatum's litmus test, with his shot-selection likely the determining factor in whether he's made it into the upper echelon of the NBA. Hanlen, who also helps train NBA stars Bradley Beal and Joel Embiid, was wise to advise Tatum to minimize his midrange attempts. *All stats gathered from Basketball Reference MORE: Jayson Tatum and others defend LeBron James for celebrating at Bronny's AAU game Lions training camp: Day 5 participation report, A'Shawn Robinson returns Packers training camp practice roundup: July 30 MLB Trade Rumors: Latest on Noah Syndergaard, Felipe Vazquez, Edwin Diaz and More Tom Brady disobeys Bill Belichick at practice, and suffers the consequences


The Indianapolis Colts have quickly turned into one of the most exciting teams in the league with some names that beginning to carry some heavy expectations. With expectations as high as they have been in recent seasons, the Colts have several players that are likely to be in consideration to earn a Pro Bowl selection during the 2019 campaign. It's unlikely all of these players will become Pro Bowlers, but simply being considered is a different story. Here are nine Colts most likely to earn Pro Bowl consideration in 2019: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports QB Andrew Luck The most obvious and most likely player on the Colts roster to earn Pro Bowl consideration is the face of the franchise. Luck is coming off of one of the best seasons of his career, and the expectation is that he will continue to improve under head coach Frank Reich. The 29-year-old finished the 2018 season with a career-high in efficiency. The Colts added some new weapons around him in the form of wide receivers Devin Funchess and Parris Campbell while reinforcing the offensive line and backfield. Luck is in the best situation of his career as the Colts have finally and correctly built the offensive roster around him. The sky is the limit for the Luck entering the 2019 season. Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports WR T.Y. Hilton Despite dealing with injuries throughout the 2018 season, Hilton had one of his best campaigns recording 76 catches for 1,276 yards and six touchdowns. He endured through the pain to be a major weapon for the Colts offense. Hilton returns with full health in 2019 as the unit looks to evolve even more in the second season under Reich's command. The chemistry is at an all-time high with Luck as his quarterback and should continue to be one of the best deep threats in the league. Hilton averaged 120.0 receiving yards per game from Week 11 on during the regular season. He did that with one ankle and should continue to garner Pro Bowl consideration entering his eighth season. AP Photo/Darron Cummings OL Quenton Nelson The No. 6 overall pick from the 2018 draft was both a Pro Bowler and a First-Team All-Pro selection. It's only fair to expect that he will continue to be regarded as one of the best offensive linemen in the league even if he's just entering his second season. Nelson was a consistent force on an improved offensive line during his rookie season. He was the only player to play every single snap on the offensive side of the ball while proving to be well worth his high draft stock. Looking to improve his consistency in technique and performance during his second season, Pro Bowl consideration is likely to follow him into every season. Matt Kryger/IndyStar LB Darius Leonard In a bizarre move, Leonard wasn't even voted into the Pro Bowl despite earning a First-Team All-Pro selection in 2018. The NFL's tackle king is still bothered by the Pro Bowl snub of his rookie season and is likely to use that a chip on his shoulder to prove he deserved it. The second-round pick has quickly entrenched himself as the cornerstone of the defense. His speed, range and tackling ability has made him somewhat of a prototype in a new line of linebackers teams will be looking for. As long as he stays healthy for his second season in the league, Leonard is likely to garner heavy Pro Bowl consideration from Week 1. AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith RB Marlon Mack If Mack was healthy for the entire 2018 season, there is a chance he would have had consideration for the Pro Bowl. His second half of the season was incredible as he wound up averaging 4.7 yards per carry on the season while recording 10 total touchdowns. Now, Mack is set to lead the backfield for a Colts offense that is expected to be one of the best in the league. He nearly clipped 1,000 rushing yards in 12 regular season games in 2018 and with a new focus on improving the rushing attack, Mack is set up for success in 2019. In his third season, Mack has proven to be a big playmaker for the Colts out of the backfield. If he can learn to truly become a three-down back in a high-powered offense, there's a chance he's on a Pro Bowl roster. AP Photo/James Kenney TE Eric Ebron There are some polarizing thoughts on how Ebron might perform for the Colts in 2019. Coming off of his career season that saw him record 66 receptions for 750 yards and 13 touchdowns, the expectations are as high as ever for the former first-round pick. However, there is case that there are plenty more mouths to feed in the offense now to go along with the argument of regression given how efficient Ebron was in 2018. Still, the Colts love to utilize Ebron's skill set as a mismatch both in-line and in the slot. If he continues to be the weapon they see him as, a consecutive Pro Bowl could be on the way for the 26-year-old. Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports OL Ryan Kelly Before he suffered an injury during the second half of the regular season, Kelly was in high consideration for a Pro Bowl in 2018. If his health stays true during his fourth professional season, that could be on the way again. Kelly was the anchor to a Colts offensive line that wound up allowing the fewest sacks in the league. They were also a much stronger run-blocking unit when he was on the field. Kelly faces an important season as the Colts need to begin looking toward the future. A Pro Bowl caliber year will show them he's the future anchoring the offensive line. AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) DE Justin Houston This one might be a bit of a stretch given that Houston hasn't earned a Pro Bowl selection since the 2015 season. However, the scheme change for the veteran could help him put up some higher numbers than he has in recent years. The Colts won't be asking Houston to hold the same responsibilities he did with Kansas City. He won't be dropping into coverage that often, and his main job will be to get upfield and impact the quarterback. This is likely to lead to an increase in production from a numbers standpoint if he's able to stay healthy. The Colts are likely to still use a rotation on the defensive line, but Houston could be one of the more productive players on the unit if he can stay on the field. Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images DT Denico Autry Don't forget that Autry led the Colts defense with 9.0 sacks during the 2018 campaign, and that was after he dealt with some injuries during the first half of the season. If Autry is able to hold off Tyquan Lewis for the starting three-technique position, he could put forth another strong campaign that warrants Pro Bowl consideration. He's a versatile piece along the line and has proven to be a perfect fit for the gap-shooting front. Autry is expected to lead the interior defensive line once the season begins, and he has a chance to improve on his totals from 2018. That in itself should lead to consideration. MORE: This flying-knee KO just 10 seconds into a PFL fight had the MMA world in awe Great News: Jimmy Butler Wants to be a Laker Spurs' DeMar DeRozan 'possibly could be on the trade block' to Lakers Packers DC Mike Pettine 'very encouraged' by OLB room Jon Gruden ready for Raiders, new WR corps to stretch the field


The Golden State Warriors (and a number of potential suitors this summer) received the worst news imaginable for Kevin Durant. The two-time NBA Finals MVP suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon during Game 5, which will sideline him for quite a while. Kawhi Leonard knows all too well about how brutal a significant long-term injury can be after he dealt with a troubling quad issue for a majority of last season. The Toronto Raptors star sent some words of encouragement Durant's way, letting him know that his play won't diminish and that he'll return stronger than ever. Based on his own experience, Kawhi shared what advice he'd give KD. pic.twitter.com/4ubHgPKInV   NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 12, 2019 That's extremely thoughtful to send well wishes to his opponent If Leonard has shown NBA fans anything, it's that a player in his prime can overcome such a brutal setback. Durant should take solace in that as he looks to return to form on his road to recovery, regardless of what team he ends up on . Related slideshow: The 2019 NBA Finals (Provided by imagn)


Whales were massaged and lathered in special balm as they rode toward the ocean in a motorcade as part of their release from a "jail" in the Russian far east, the institute overseeing the operation said Thursday. Two killer whales and six beluga whales were freed last week after months of captivity and a public backlash that eventually saw President Vladimir Putin endorse their release. The animals have been held in cramped enclosures since last summer by commercial firms that planned to deliver them to aquariums, including in China where the industry is booming. A further 87 are currently still in the facility nicknamed "whale jail". "The hardest thing in the release was that nobody has done this before," said the director of the All-Russian Fisheries and Oceanography Institute (VNIRO), Kirill Kolonchin. "From the point of view of science, this is a fantastic experience" that will provide information about how the animals behave following an extended period in captivity, he added. The whales were driven on trucks for 760 kilometres (475 miles) to the river port Khabarovsk before being loaded onto boats for the second leg of the trip. "To smooth out the road journey, we asked traffic police to help and accompany us with flashing lights to prevent stops," Kolonchin said. "We really worried about killer whales being injured, so two people rode in each tank around the clock, holding the animals to make sure they don't inhale water," he said. "Special creams were developed to prevent their skin from being damaged, water was changed, we had sea salt and ice that was added to the water," he said. Before their release into the ocean, "veterinarians and coaches massaged the killer whales, rubbing their tails and flippers for four to six hours," Vyacheslav Bizikov, deputy director of VNIRO, said. - Brother, sister bond - The two killer whales were brother and sister who had formed an attachment, and were communicating during the trip, he said. "Now they are already over 400 kilometres from the release site," he said. Their satellite trackers indicate that "they are searching" for something -- perhaps their families. Bizikov said three to four more killer whales would start their journey to freedom next week. Many scientists and activists criticised VNIRO for keeping the details of the release secret, not taking any observers on the trip and only freeing a small group of animals rather than all of them together, which would boost their survival odds. Kolonchin said the institute settled on a solution that delivered the animals to the right location while being affordable, because nobody offered any help. "We could not release all animals together -- we don't have the funds," Bizikov said. The institute took advice from foreign experts like ocean conservationist Jean-Michel Cousteau, but it had to be "adapted to our Russian reality", he added.