If Al Horford opts out of his contract this month, he's probably unlikely to top his $30M+ player-option salary on the open market, but he should be able to top that total figure on a multiyear deal. That's a scenario that intrigues the Celtics. Speaking today to reporters, including Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald , C's president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said that restructuring Horford's contract into a longer, more cap-friendly deal is a "priority" for the club this summer. NBA rules don't technically allow teams to restructure contracts to reduce cap hits in the same way that NFL franchises can. If Horford turns down his player option, he and the Celtics could essentially start from scratch on a new deal   it wouldn't be a restructuring so much as a brand new contract. If the C's are able to negotiate a starting salary in the range of, say, $20-25M, it would create some added cap flexibility for the coming offseason. Here's more on the Celtics: Despite suffering a mild heart attack last month, Ainge said he's feeling good and will continue to lead the Celtics going forward, writes Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe . "My role is not going to change," Ainge said. We passed along some of Ainge's comments on Kyrie Irving in an earlier story , but Boston's president of basketball operations offered a few more observations on the All-Star point guard. As Himmelsbach relays, Ainge said he had no regrets about the risk the Celtics took when they acquired Irving in 2017 and dismissed the idea that Kyrie was largely to blame for the club's struggles in 2018/19. "We had a lot of reasons the team did not succeed this year," Ainge said. "Kyrie deserves his share of the blame, but not any more than anybody else. There's a lot of guys that didn't handle things the right way and didn't make the sacrifices that needed to be done for the benefit of the team. So I think that they're all going to learn from it, including Kyrie." Ainge praised restricted-free-agent-to-be Terry Rozier , despite the fact that Rozier has publicly griped about the role he had with the Celtics this season. "I think that if Terry was in the right circumstance and the right role, I think he would love playing in Boston," Ainge said, per Himmelsbach. Ainge also acknowledged that the Celtics will consider draft-pick trades and told reporters that Brad Stevens continues to meet with candidates to replace assistant coach Micah Shrewsberry, according to Murphy and Himmelsbach . Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston tweets that the Celtics worked out Kevin Porter Jr . (USC), Luguentz Dort (Arizona State), Tyler Herro (Kentucky), Talen Horton-Tucker (Iowa State), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (VA Tech), and Skyler Flatten (South Dakota State) on Tuesday. Herro made a strong impression, per Aaron Torres of FOX Sports ( Twitter link ).


Matthijs de Ligt is set to carry out a medical with Juventus on Monday after I Bianconeri finally came to a financial agreement with Ajax for the defender's signature. The Dutch international's future has been one of the most-widely reported transfer sagas of the summer, with a host of sides all previously being linked with an approach, including Manchester United, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain. However, Juventus have looked to be in the driving seat over the past few weeks and, according to Gazzetta dello Sport , the deal is set to be complete within the next few days. It was recently noted that Juventus were working their way up to Ajax's initial valuation of the 19-year-old and the report from Gazzetta dello Sport confirms that I Bianconeri have agreed to fork out €70m to bring him over to Turin - plus any further bonuses. The two clubs - with the assistance of De Ligt's agent Mino Raiola - have been working tirelessly to come to an agreement, confirming the terms after a lengthy negotiation process. De Ligt is set to sign a five-year deal with the Italian champions and his contract is also expected to include a release clause of €150m in a bid to ward off any future interest. Do you think there's a chance Juve might win Serie A if they sign De Ligt? 樂 pic.twitter.com/Qxg5vlkit8   90min (@90min_Football) June 29, 2019 The youngster's arrival at Juventus is now imminent and he's in line to complete a medical on Monday before the deal is officially announced. De Ligt would be the second player to leave Ajax on a big-money deal this year after Barcelona previously agreed to sign Frenkie de Jong for £65m back in January.


Traveling the world is what daydreams are made of, and now, you can make it a reality thanks to Airbnb's Around the World in 80 Days . Part of Airbnb Adventures , an expansion of their Experiences , anyone with a case of wanderlust can block off 12 weeks to explore 18 different countries on six continents! And the best part? It only costs $4,994 per person. Inspired by Jules Verne' classic French adventure novel , travelers will set off on an incredible trip on September 1 and make their way back around the globe on November 19. The trip's cost covers overnight stays (homes, hotels, boats!), transportation (flights, cars, helicopters!), and drinks. The almost all-inclusive trip does include select meals, but individuals will need to come with pocket money for when food isn't covered. The same goes for the round-trip flight to London where the adventure begins. If this isn't enough to convince you to update your passport and start packing your bags right now, taking a look at the full itinerary might just do the trick. Countries on the world tour include Romania, Egypt, Nepal, Iceland, among other breathtaking stops. Excursions will also be sprinkled in like a walk on the Silk Road, an African evening safari, and glacier walking in Chile. There's no doubt, there'll be an abundance of beautiful sights to capture and share on Instagram. But if the price of the trip still seems a little hefty, rest assured that all the money will go towards the Malala Fund , a non-profit founded by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Malala Yousafzai working towards giving girls around the world a free, safe, and quality education. Set your reminder for the first batch of tickets which will become available on June 20 at 2 p.m. ET . The second batch will be drop on June 26 at 8:30 a.m. China Standard Time (aka June 25 at 8:30 p.m. ET) and the final batch will go live on July 1 at 7 p.m. Central European Summer Time (July 1 at 1 p.m. ET) . As of right now, there will only be two tickets available for each drop-a total of six tickets, so don't miss out! Follow House Beautiful on Instagram .


The Twins announced today that they have outrighted infielder Ronald Torreyes off of the team's 40-man roster. His spot was needed for hurler Adalberto Mejia , who was activated from the 60-day injured list. Mejia is heading back onto the active roster. He'll take the place of Lewis Thorpe , who was optioned back to Triple-A after showing well in his MLB debut. Torreyes, 26, hasn't appeared in the bigs since wrapping up a three-year stint with the Yankees. He has been a high-average, low-power hitter in the bigs but has scuffled this year at Triple-A. The versatile infielder owns only a .179/.219/.358 slash. He has shown a bit of a relative power burst, with five home runs in 114 plate appearances, though that's a common story in an explosive International League offensive environment. As for Mejia, he'll look to get back on track after an ugly opening to the season. He was sidelined for a lengthy stretch with a calf strain. Through 134 innings in parts of four seasons in the majors, he owns a 4.50 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 4.2 BB/9.


Boxing columnist Kevin Iole calls Jim Rome to discuss the tragic death of welterweight boxer Maxim Dadashev.


Drinking enough water is one of those annoying health goals that all of us seem to have. Maybe it's because we know it's healthy to stay super hydrated, but whenever we increase our water intake we just end up peeing every five seconds. So what gives? How much water should you drink a day? And how can you tell if your daily water intake is enough? Let's get into it. This is how much water you should drink a day, according to experts. You've probably heard you're supposed to drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water daily. That's almost enough to fill a 2 liter bottle which even the most diligent water-drinkers may find daunting. But that classic advice can be a little misleading. "Fluid requirements vary among individuals based on age, sex, activity level, and even where you live," Jessica Fishman Levinson, M.S., R.D., C.D.N., founder of nutrition counseling company Nutritioulicious tells SELF. So, how much water you should drink a day may actually vary each day, depending on the other things you're doing, eating, and drinking. The Institute of Medicine actually recommends that women get 2.7 liters that's 11 cups of water per day. But here's the thing: They don't say you need to drink 11 cups of water a day. What counts towards your daily water intake? All fluids count toward your daily intake, not just plain old H20. That includes all sources of water from a basic glass of tap, to a cup of coffee , to the water content of the foods you eat (which, the IOM estimates , makes up about one-fifth of your daily fluid intake). If you listen to your body drink when you're thirsty, eat when you're hungry chances are you're going to get what you need, or pretty close to it. So stop sweating the eight glasses a day hubbub and think about it this way instead. According to the Mayo Clinic , the benchmark should really say "eight 8-ounce glasses of fluid ," not water, because drinking things like milk, tea, and juice contribute to your total. "Good options for hydration without added calories are waters infused with fruit and herbs, unsweetened tea, and sparkling water," Levinson says. Your diet can affect your daily water intake, too. "Your body absorbs water in foods just like it would liquids," Levinson says. Many fruits and vegetables have high water content. Some good options: watermelon (duh), cucumbers, lettuce, celery, tomatoes,strawberries, oranges, and grapefruit . Even soup, Jell-O, and ice pops count as fluid. But some foods and drinks can increase how much water you need. "Foods with a diuretic effect, such as alcohol and asparagus, may cause you to excrete more water so you may need more," Levinson says. If you eat high-sodium foods, your body likely will retain more water , leaving you thirstier. Drinking more fluids will help dilute your system and get fluids moving regularly again. So, how can you tell if your water consumption is good enough? Since you're not always keeping track of these sneaky sources of fluids, the best way to gauge your daily water intake is by how your body feels. If you're thirsty, your body's telling you that you need more water. "You might already be dehydrated ," Levinson says. Another good way to determine your fluid status is by taking a peek inside the toilet after you pee. "If your urine is light yellow , you're probably getting enough fluids. If it's dark or smells strongly , you probably need more water." It's also important to make a conscious effort to drink more whenever you're getting sweaty. Along with food, water is the fuel that powers your workouts. As you sweat, you're literally losing water, and you have to replenish it as you go. Aim to drink one or two cups of water before you exercise , and sip about a half to one cup of water every 15 minutes while you're working out. If you're sweating really hard, or if you're out in the heat, you might need more listen to your body. You don't need to obsess about hitting a particular number of cups/liters/gallons/bottles of water each day, but it can be helpful to get in the habit of drinking more regularly throughout the day. To make sure you're hydrated, keep a refillable water bottle with you all day so you can constantly sip whenever you want. For more tips, check out these 12 easy ways to drink more water every day . Here are some subtle signs of dehydration that may mean you need to increase your daily water intake: Some of the signs of dehydration are fairly obvious but others aren't. If you're thirsty, you should drink. That's a no-brainer. But there are a few other signs of dehydration that aren't as obvious. You're feeling hungrier than usual. Thirst and hunger cues come from the same part of the brain, so it's easy to confuse the two. If you feel hungry even when you know you've eaten enough , there's a good chance your body's actually telling you it needs water, not food. You're feeling super dry. When your body is begging for hydration, the need can manifest in various signs of dryness, including dry mouth, chapped lips, dry skin, and a lack of tears. You have a headache. Doctors aren't quite sure why, but they think it might be because when hydration levels drop, so does blood volume, which can reduce oxygen supply to the brain. Your muscles feel weak or crampy. Cramping, muscle spasms, and generally feeling weak or fatigued can all be indications of dehydration. Your breath is randomly stinky. Having bad breath can be a tip-off that you need to sip some water. That goes with the dry mouth thing: Saliva has bacteria-fighting properties; when your saliva levels go down so does your mouth's ability to fight odor-causing germs. In addition to all that, rapid heartbeat or breathing, sunken eyes, fever, confusion, or delirium can all be signs of severe dehydration . If you have these symptoms, seek medical attention. We know you're wondering: Can drinking more water help you lose weight? While drinking more water won't actually cause you to lose weight, there is usually a relationship between how much water you drink a day and how much you're eating each day. That's because hunger can actually be a sign of thirst. As we mentioned, thirst and hunger cues are easy to confuse, so if you're feeling famished even though you know you aren't, it might be that your body really needs some water. So, in this case, if you're not drinking enough water, you may be more likely to mindlessly snack throughout the day. While drinking more water shouldn't be seen as the secret to weight loss, it certainly can't hurt to increase your daily water intake. By the way, it is possible to overhydrate, especially during endurance activities, like running a marathon. Marc Leavey, M.D., an internist at Baltimore's Mercy Medical Center, previously told SELF : "There are a scattering of cases [of overhydration] seen among athletes, runners, and those exercising and trying to consume extra water." Overhydration can cause a condition known as hyponatremia, which happens when the sodium levels in your bloodstream become unusually low, leading to your cells becoming waterlogged. Signs include feeling nauseated, confused, run-down, and irritable. Overhydration can also cause seizures and put you into a coma if it's not caught in time. (VIDEO) 9 small but impactful health habits to lock down in your 20s (Courtesy: Self)


West Ham have agreed a deal with Eintracht Frankfurt for striker Sebastien Haller, with the Frenchman flying to London for a medical. The 25-year-old has risen to prominence over the past couple of seasons, forming a lethal partnership with Luka Jovic in the Bundesliga - also impressing in the Europa League last season as Frankfurt reached the semi-finals. Die Eintracht und @WestHamUtd haben sich über Transfermodalitäten bzgl. @HallerSeb geeinigt. Infolgedessen hat Haller die Freigabe, um die medizinische Untersuchung in London zu absolvieren. Sollte diese einen positiven Verlauf nehmen, wird sich Haller den „Hammers" anschließen. pic.twitter.com/RzpMDW5mFI   Eintracht Frankfurt (@Eintracht) July 16, 2019 The Hammers have been in the market for a new striker all summer long after allowing Marko Arnautovic, Andy Carroll and Lucas Perez to depart the London Stadium. A number of targets have been earmarked, but after missing out on deals for Maxi Gomez and Callum Wilson, the Hammers have now struck gold - with a deal for Haller agreed subject to the completion of a medical. West Ham are expected to pay around £45m for Haller, though some reports claim that the deal could be worth as much as £50m. Although a lot of money, he did score 19 goals in all competitions last season - and has 72 club goals to his name over the past four seasons. Frankfurt's announcement that an agreement has been reached will come as welcome relief to Hammers manager Manuel Pellegrini as he looks to strengthen his side ahead of next season. Pablo Fornals has already arrived from Villarreal for £24m, but a number of reinforcements are still required if the club are to realise their aspirations of qualifying for the Europa League. Porto striker Moussa Marega has been touted as another potential arrival, though he would cost the club around €30m. However, with Javier Hernandez and Jordan Hugill currently the club's only recognised strikers, it's likely West Ham will be keen for Haller to be joined by another new signing.


In his days of living large, Marty Tirrell made no effort to conceal what money could buy an audacious New England transplant in an unassuming place like Des Moines. Tirrell, who was drawing a six-figure sponsorship from Toyota of Des Moines for his weekday sports talk radio show, traveled in high style from 2009-12. He would stay only in hotel suites as he hopped from one major sporting event to another. He outfitted himself exclusively with clothing purchased from a tiny Iowa department store. His cars were always new. His gambling was extravagant. "Everything he did was in excess," said John McDermott, Tirrell's friend and radio partner for those four years. "You'd look in his car and there'd be four shirts from Von Maur, with the price tags still on. Two pairs of shoes. He'd have $4,000 worth of stuff in his car that he'd never worn yet." The money bankrolling that lavish lifestyle? It didn't always belong to Tirrell, according to numerous court judgments against him. Ultimately, similar accusations landed him in a substance abuse treatment facility awaiting trial on six charges that he defrauded eight people out of $1.5 million . By the time the law caught up with Tirrell this winter , he was living in his car. TIMELINE : Marty Tirrell's time in Des Moines   and the court system The Register contacted 36 people involved in Tirrell's court cases dating to 1998, and spoke to 16 of them for this story. In central Iowa alone, civil judgments against Tirrell total about $2 million, most of which has not been recovered. That doesn't count his bankruptcy attempts or matters settled out of court. Now, for the first time, the self-proclaimed "Mouth of the Midwest" is facing criminal charges. Tirrell's trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 9 after his court-appointed lawyer, B. John Burns III, got a five-month delay to prepare. Tirrell, 59, faces up to 30 years in prison. The Register's attempts to contact Tirrell for this story were unsuccessful. His last known phone number rings to a recorded message noting he is "not available." Nor did he respond to messages left on social media. The public defender's office, which is representing Tirrell in his upcoming trial, declined to comment on the pending case and refused to make him available for an interview. Tirrell arrives in Des Moines market: 'There was a niche audience that just ate it up' Tirrell grew up in Greenfield, Massachusetts, and told friends like McDermott that he knew he wanted to talk about sports on the radio from the time he was a toddler. It showed. Tirrell brought his shrill style to Des Moines in October 1995 as the station manager at a low-watt country music station in Indianola. Tirrell rebranded 1490 AM "The Jock" and labeled himself "The Mouth of the Midwest," even though he had just arrived in the region. There was no arguing "The Mouth" part, though. On June 24, 1996, Tirrell teamed with Ken Miller to launch central Iowa's first sports talk radio show. Tirrell, never drawing on a script, would opine on any sports matter that came up, showing a deep knowledge of the most arcane facts while also acting as a contrarian at all times. "When the mic was on, he could flip a switch and he could do his whole act," said veteran broadcaster Geoff Conn, who once worked with Tirrell. "There was a niche audience that just ate it up and loved it. He was good on the air." McDermott came to think of Tirrell's on-air persona as a staged attempt to appear more exuberant and charismatic than he actually was. Off the air, McDermott encountered a different Tirrell. "He could be so charming, but it was weird because if you listened to him in a weak moment, he was always filled with anxiety, depression," McDermott said. Tirrell's radio programs, and there were many over the years, required him to find advertisers. This was another talent of his. He would go door-to-door to local businesses asking for money in exchange for touting their services on the air. But Tirrell also quickly showed he was not always going to stop with advertising. He would occasionally become a customer of a business, and then fail to pay his bill, court documents reveal. In 1998, for example, he bought a plane ticket from Odyssey Travel and Convention Services in Altoona, which had been advertising on his show. The check he paid with bounced. The company had to take Tirrell to court to recover the $1,119. That ended the relationship. "I was just scared I was going to lose all my money," Odyssey Travel owner Norma Bettis said, easily recalling the details of her run-in with Tirrell 20 years later. It was one of many lawsuits Tirrell became involved in   and the dollar amount wasn't always so small. CIT Charters Inc. in Ames won a $4,559 judgment against Tirrell in 2014. He walked into the doors of that company looking for a bus to take listeners of his show to two Green Bay Packers games. "We totally, as an organization, got starstruck," CIT Charters owner John Grzywacz said. "Because he's throwing out his connection to ESPN and, of course, he said he'd mention our name on the radio every once in a while." Tirrell never paid for the buses. Grzywacz sued, knowing he'd be unlikely to recover the money. "When this stuff happens, you've got to get it out there so the next guy that's like me doesn't get hurt," Grzywacz said. Grzywacz feels sorriest for one of his bus drivers. On one of the trips, Tirrell took the group into the gift shop at Lambeau Field and suggested that he would buy everyone souvenirs. When it came time to pay, Grzywacz said, Tirrell pulled the ultimate cheapskate move: He claimed he had left his wallet on the bus. He talked the driver into paying, and never reimbursed him. "I get it. You scam a business, we should have been smarter. We had protocol procedures in place that we didn't follow," Grzywacz said. "But to scam a guy that's trying to serve you and your group and create a memorable experience? That's low." 22 years after nonexistent tickets: 'I hope and I pray that he finds some peace' Melvin Shipley may have been Tirrell's first victim in Des Moines. He owned a store called Computer Liquidators. His son, Chris, helped him out. Chris Shipley, then a 24 year-old sports fan, was drawn to Tirrell and Miller's new show in 1996. He convinced his father that they should advertise on it. Tirrell came to the store two days later. "He was very engaging, very bombastic," recalled Chris Shipley, who used to love listening to Tirrell's stories about sporting events he had attended and athletes he had interviewed. The Shipleys advertised. Tirrell became a weekly visitor to the store, always leaving each encounter with a suggestion for further business ties. It was common for Tirrell to sell his new customers tickets to major sporting events. That's why the Shipleys flew to Las Vegas in June 1997 for the heavyweight boxing title fight between Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield. Tirrell charged the Shipleys, plus two other relatives, in excess of $4,000 for plane tickets, rooms in an off-the-beaten-path Vegas hotel, and, he said, tickets to the fight. The Shipleys were also supposed to advertise their business while there in some live remotes Tirrell said he would broadcast from the MGM Grand. When fight day arrived, the Shipleys suddenly couldn't reach Tirrell. They scoured the lobby for two hours before a frustrated Melvin went back to his hotel. Chris stayed another two hours, estimating he called Tirrell's cellphone 50 times to no avail. There was no live remote. There were no tickets. The group watched the fight on TV and returned to Des Moines the next morning. "I liked Marty, and I didn't want to think that (the relationship) was not working. And I think he preys on that kind of stuff," Chris Shipley said. "Dad just kept saying: 'When we see him at the airport tomorrow morning, I'm going to wring his neck.'" Melvin Shipley never again spoke to Tirrell. He took an earlier flight instead, already stewing over a $15,000 check he had written to Tirrell six weeks earlier for some Super Bowl travel packages they planned to sell at a profit. Those, too, didn't exist. Melvin Shipley absorbed a $20,000 loss all told, a difficult blow for a small business. He hired a lawyer to sue Tirrell. He laid off his three employees at the business, and he and Chris ran it without drawing a paycheck at times to try to get back on his feet. Eighteen months later, Shipley settled out of court with Tirrell for $10,000, $3,500 of which went to the lawyer. His father never recovered financially, Chris Shipley said. The business closed in 2003. Melvin Shipley had run a business and raised four children despite having only an eighth grade education, Chris said. But his father had to sell his five-bedroom home on the south side of Des Moines for a $50,000 profit and move into a mobile home, where he died of a stroke in 2011 at age 70. "That really kind of put a hurt on dad as far as his psyche. He was a pretty proud guy, but he knew he'd gotten taken, and he didn't like that," Chris Shipley said. "After he closed the store, he never worked again. He was just too depressed." By the end, his father, once articulate and passionate, could only ruminate about his own failings. "I would just get so mad and say: 'Dad, why do we have to talk about this all the time?'" Chris Shipley said. "But in his mind, he had failed my mom. He had failed me. He had failed the grandkids. He was a failure." Chris Shipley read the news about Tirrell's arrest with no sense of satisfaction. "I forgave Marty a long time ago. Because when you don't forgive somebody, you just live in a prison," he said. But he also thinks Tirrell should pay for his crimes. "And I hope and I pray that he finds some peace." Gig collapses with infamous foul-mouthed episode In 2006, Tirrell and Miller brought their show to 1460 KXnO in Des Moines. Geoff Conn was a producer there and had heard Tirrell "had kind of a shady reputation." The two didn't work together directly, but Conn did observe his new colleague on occasion. "It was pretty amazing the way he could get money out of people," Conn said. "He just had a charm. He could talk his way around a dollar." Conn worked on Larry Cotlar's morning show in those years. Tirrell was on in the afternoons. But in spring 2009, those three became embroiled in one of the most infamous moments in Iowa broadcast history. KXnO was running live shows all day as part of its coverage of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Tirrell walked in to tape a promotional spot and set something on the microphone switch that activated it during a commercial break, Conn recalled. Then Tirrell lit into Cotlar over an issue with credentials to the Iowa boys' basketball tournament. The profane exchange that followed was heard by anyone tuned in. Conn, dumbfounded, was unaware that this was no private conversation. All three were fired. "He apologized profusely," Conn said of Tirrell. "I accepted his apology." Conn now works for a radio station in Missouri with no hard feelings toward Tirrell. Tirrell, far from being ruined by the episode, was about to land the most lucrative gig of his career. Tirrell's glory years at Toyota of Des Moines end ( naturally ) in a lawsuit Steve Luebke was a sports fan and a natural salesman who had befriended Tirrell in 2006. More important, he was the general manager of Toyota of Des Moines and had a bold plan: Set up a radio studio in the auto dealer's showroom, where Tirrell would broadcast three hours each weekday. Tirrell received $32,000 a month. He spent $20,000 of it to secure his air time. The rest, plus whatever he could make from advertisers, was profit. McDermott became his partner on that show, estimating Tirrell was clearing $200,000 to $300,000 annually. But first, Tirrell had to get out of the noncompete clause in his old contract. He hired attorney Anthony Epping to help with that, plus a couple of other minor matters, including one in which he lost a $100 judgment in small-claims court. "He seemed the kind of guy who maybe wanted to run in bigger circles than me," Epping said. "... I never made an intentional decision that I wasn't going to do any more work for Marty. "But now that I see what has happened, I'm glad he never asked." Epping said Tirrell paid him all he was owed. But Tirrell's legal dealings were about to get much more complicated. The beginning of the end came in 2011, when Tirrell promised Toyota that he could get NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman to come to Des Moines to speak at a banquet and provide other promotional services. The company dutifully wrote him a check for about $72,000. Tirrell later charged his employer for four first-class plane tickets and hotel rooms for Aikman's entourage. Aikman never appeared. His agent later testified that there was no agreement with Tirrell and that Aikman owns a plane that he uses when he travels to speaking engagements. The litigation wasn't resolved until April 2015. Toyota won. But attorney Steven Shindler discovered it was no easy matter getting Tirrell to pay up. "We've chased him all over the world and got garnishments and collections," Shindler said. "Gene Gabus (the owner of Toyota of Des Moines), before he passed away (in 2016), he said: 'You make sure you try to get that money. I don't care how much it costs.'" Shindler estimated that Toyota of Des Moines has recovered about a third of what Tirrell owes. Tirrell was adept at moving money quickly between his many bank accounts, Shindler said. He set up companies like Mouth of the Midwest LLC or MT Consulting, each with its own bank account. "He would get a lot of money in his bank account, so it was just a matter of if you could garnish his bank account at the right time," Shindler said. "You not only had to do it on the right day, but at the right hour." Shindler has been in court with Tirrell on many occasions. He also was an admirer early on of Tirrell's broadcast style. And he said it's no secret how he was able to get people to hand him large sums of money, even after all the lawsuits and unpaid debts. "He finds these very intelligent and very successful people, and finds their weak spots. He finds out what kind of sporting events they like and promises them tickets," Shindler said. "He gets them to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars for buying blue sky. "Had he decided to go a different route, he could have been very successful. He's an engaging, charming individual when he wants to be. He was very endearing to people who shared his love of sports. He made you feel important if you wanted to. But the consistency in his depositions is that it was always somebody else's fault that he didn't have the money. It was this atrocity, or that horror story." Tirrell's marriage falls apart; the lawsuits pile up When Tirrell lost his benefactors at Toyota of Des Moines, he had to scramble again. He did shows that aired on the Internet or on Mediacom's Channel 22. He briefly reunited with Miller, who declined to be interviewed for this story, calling his final show with Tirrell "a horrible mistake." Tirrell had a contract with Mediacom that was to run through 2018. Miller left the show in July 2017 and is back on the air on KXnO . Tirrell occasionally stopped showing up for his live tapings, leaving Mediacom to fill the 3 to 6 p.m. slot with reruns of high school sporting events. Last May, Tirrell quit the show outright. It was his final appearance on-air. Tirrell's second marriage, to Stephanie Gifford, fell apart in 2015. She declined to speak to a reporter, but said in a text message: "I'm thankful the FBI finally stopped him. ... I spent a couple years being angry & still get angry sometimes, but my focus is moving onward & upward   not Marty Tirrell." The divorce papers detail $388,416 in debt. Originally, custody of their now-7-year-old daughter was to be shared. Tirrell didn't show up for the divorce proceedings or a subsequent custody hearing. Gifford now has sole custody of the girl. Tirrell's first marriage, with Margaret Doneilo in Massachusetts, lasted from 1993 to 2008. She, too, was reluctant to speak for this story, She hasn't seen Tirrell since 2008, Doneilo said in a Facebook message, adding: "Because of family and good people in my life, I was able to move ahead and be thankful the tumultuous times were gone … for me anyway." Both women claim they were scammed out of money by Tirrell. Doneilo told Cityview newspaper in Des Moines in 2016 that he took out a mortgage on property she owned and defaulted, resulting in foreclosure. "He destroyed my life, and (the lives of) my kids and my mother," Doneilo told the publication then. Gifford told the newspaper that she cashed out her retirement account and bank savings to try to help Tirrell pay his debts. "He ran up credit cards in my name without my knowledge," she told Cityview. McDermott, who dropped his professional association with Tirrell two years ago, said he witnessed increasingly bizarre behavior from his friend in recent years. Tirrell is an alcoholic who told the Register in a 2014 interview that he hadn't had a drink since February 2008. Gifford, in a court filing, said that on Sept. 21, 2017, her ex-husband was drunk, had a gun and threatened to end his life. She said police went to his home but he refused treatment. The next day, she said, he sent her text messages filled with lies about the incident. In 2018, Tirrell lost three court cases involving tickets to sporting events that he accepted money for but never provided. Joseph Ferin and Justin Loutsch were awarded $45,694 for money they lost on Super Bowl ticket packages. Douglas DeYarman is owed $43,006 for Super Bowl tickets as well. Jason Whitinger's relationship with Tirrell may have been the costliest of them all. He is out $1,071,327 after a business relationship with Tirrell that dates back several years. The arrangement was for Tirrell to buy and sell tickets to multiple sporting events for a profit. Tirrell kept Whitinger on the hook by repeatedly promising the money was coming. "At various times Tirrell represented to Whitinger that if plaintiffs would advance smaller sums, they would be paid the full balance owed to them the following day. Plaintiffs paid the requested sums to defendants, but were never repaid," the court ruling reveals. Tirrell bounced more than $700,000 worth of checks to Whitinger. Tirrell tried defending himself in the lawsuit, showing up late for the April 4, 2018, hearing and not acquitting himself well. He admitted to owing $900,000 of the money, but disputed the remaining $100,000. "Tirrell was not a credible witness based on demeanor and inconsistencies within his own testimony," District Court Judge Eliza Ovrom wrote. Whitinger did not want to speak about the case. His attorney, John Hardy, said Tirrell was "a disaster" in the courtroom. "I don't know how realistic it is that he's ever gonna have enough money to pay people back," said Hardy, whose client is one of those mentioned in the FBI case. "He's in the hands of the feds, and they will do their thing and maybe someday he'll put something back together and be gainfully employed." The $1.5 million that Tirrell is said to owe in the federal indictment is probably only a percentage of the total he has taken from Iowans, those who know him believe. Others who fell victim to his schemes are either too embarrassed to take him to court, or realize that it's a wasted effort. One of the latter is Richard Hurd, who told Cityview in 2016 that he was out more than $600,000 after lending Tirrell the money to buy out his three partners in the radio show broadcast from Toyota of Des Moines. "I have not pursued collection on the debt due to the fact that obtaining a judgment would be easy to accomplish (but) receiving payment would be nearly impossible," Hurd told the newspaper. No one knew where he was living, but the FBI finds him Tirrell was granted a Toyota Camry he was leasing in his 2015 divorce decree. In time, it became his home. By last fall, no one knew where Tirrell was living. McDermott heard he was sleeping in the basements of churches. Tirrell's most recent girlfriend got an order of protection against him on Oct. 17, 2018, claiming that he had lied to her employer that she was dispensing unauthorized medications, that he had hit her on occasion and racked up burdensome credit card debts. She didn't know his address. The sheriff had to serve Tirrell with the initial restraining order in the parking lot of Barnes & Noble. Two attempts to give Tirrell his final notice on the matter failed because he refused to show up. He was assessed $324 in court costs. He failed to pay those. Four months later, the FBI caught up with him. McDermott said he never knew what Tirrell was up to before and after they broadcast their radio show from Toyota of Des Moines. It was a side job for him, netting him $1,500 a month. He always got paid, although sometimes he had to wrangle the checks out of Tirrell. "He was a likable guy. He just makes awful decisions. I don't think he ever really intended to defraud people out of so much. I think it was a compulsion," McDermott said. He said he still considers Tirrell a friend, and has no regrets about their association. "You put your head in the sand a little bit. You do the work. You get the money and you go home," McDermott said. "And if people are dumb enough to give Marty six figures or something, that's on them, not me." McDermott last saw Tirrell in summer 2017. They met at the Panera on 86th Street so Tirrell could hand over the $500 check that was McDermott's last payment for some high school sports broadcasting he'd done. Tirrell entered the restaurant sobbing, with a tragic tale to relay. He had Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and was on his way to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, McDermott recalled Tirrell saying. Other patrons in the restaurant turned to stare, McDermott remembered. He was convinced what he was hearing was the truth. He found out later it was just a plea for sympathy. "Who makes that up?" McDermott wondered. "That's how desperate he was to get out of where he was. He was running out of cons and lies and everything. "I probably felt worse for him after I found out he didn't have cancer than I felt when I thought he did." This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa sports radio pioneer Marty Tirrell emerges as alleged scam artist with multiple victims


A whole day celebrating the finger food that bites back   saucy, spicy, succulent chicken wings? Mark your calendar for July 29   we certainly have. Hoodline tracked down the top chicken wing spots in Sacramento, using Yelp data tossed with our own special sauce. So grab your bib and get your wet wipes ready. 1. Kiki's Chicken Place First up is Natomas's Kiki's Chicken Place , situated at 2377 Northgate Blvd. With four stars out of 253 reviews on Yelp, the spot to score chicken wings and waffles has proven to be a local favorite. 2. Pizza Depot Colonial Village's Pizza Depot , located at 6810 Fruitridge Road, is another top choice, with Yelpers giving the pizza spot, which offers chicken wings and more, four stars out of 36 reviews. 3. Fire Wings Fire Wings , a New American spot that offers chicken wings, salads and more in Valley High-North Laguna, is another go-to, with four stars out of 743 Yelp reviews. Head over to 8785 Center Parkway, Suite B180 to see for yourself. 4. Broderick Midtown Over in Midtown, check out Broderick Midtown , which has earned four stars out of 696 reviews on Yelp. You can find the sports bar and traditional American spot, which offers chicken wings and more, at 1820 L St. This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


Russia Energy Minister Alexander Novak said non- OPEC producers had agreed to a nine-month rollover of supply cuts, Reuters reported on Tuesday, ratifying a policy designed to prop up oil prices amid a weakening global economy. The decision from non-OPEC partners comes less than 24 hours after energy ministers from the world's most powerful oil-producing nations thrashed out a deal to restrict the amount of crude flowing into the global market. OPEC reached a deal to extend production cuts until March 2020 on Monday. The Middle East-dominated producer group was able to overcome their differences after five hours of negotiating in Vienna. The energy alliance between OPEC and non-OPEC partners, sometimes referred to as OPEC+, has been reducing oil output since 2017. The policy is designed to prevent prices from sliding amid soaring production from the U.S.   which has become the world's top producer ahead of Russia and Saudi Arabia. The cuts are running at a volume of about 1.2 million barrels per day. The U.S. is not a member of OPEC, nor is it participating in the supply pact. Washington has demanded Riyadh pump more oil to compensate for lower exports from Iran after slapping fresh sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program. However, the U.S. has also ratcheted up its oil production in recent years. Earlier in the day, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih had said he was 100% confident of an OPEC+ deal.


Brooks Koepka wrapped up the regular-season FedEx Cup Points title Sunday with his 3-shot victory in the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational at TPC Southwind. The WGC-FedEx St. Jude victory was worth $1.745 million. The Wyndham Rewards season-championship bonus carries an added $2 million prize. Koepka will pocket another cool $1 million for the season-long Aon Risk Reward Challenge , unless Alex Noren makes two albatrosses at Sedgefield Country Club on the par-5 15th hole during next week's Wyndham Championship. Koepka's third victory of the 2018-19 PGA Tour season came on a day when he didn't show up at the course in Memphis until less than one hour before his tee time. In just the past 26 months, the 29-year-old Koepka has won four majors, The C.J. Cup at Nine Bridges, a WGC event and finished second at the 2019 Masters and U.S. Open. Here is some of what he had to say after his victory Sunday. On being sick after the British Open "It doesn't affect your play. It doesn't affect me hitting a golf ball. I mean, I don't feel good. I haven't felt good all week, but I don't want to make an excuse, I'm not trying to complain. Just get on with it. People go to work sick all the time." On his later-than-normal arrival "I always take less time on Sunday. I'm already loose when I get to the golf course. I don't even need to hit balls. I've already stretched, I've already done everything. I don't know why everybody else is in a panic, I'm not. I'm sure you didn't see one ounce of stress on my face." On his place in FedEx Cup points standings "It's incredible. To look at what I've done this year, just show consistency, try to take my game to a new level and I've done that. To be up there in the FedExCup with a chance in Atlanta, that's incredible . . . But to win the Wyndham Rewards is incredible. That's what you shoot for. You want to be No. 1, when the season's done and going into the Playoffs, and then to add Aon Risk Reward, it just comes from the consistency. It's incredible to look at how much you could have won today, and to do it, it's been incredible." On his current run of success "This run I'm on the last couple years has been so special. I've given myself some good chances but I've just never played well in the Playoffs. I don't know what it is, whether it's just a little burnt out or what, but I haven't gotten it done. So this year, in a little better shape. Hopefully a week off will just kind of relax and take it easy and then get back in the swing of things." On the lack of drama in his final-round pairing with Rory McIlroy "That would have been incredible for the fans, for everybody that showed up and I'm sure that's what everybody wanted . . . Rory didn't play the way he wanted to today, but still it's so much fun to watch him play . . . You kind of get glued watching him hit balls. I mean, it's mesmerizing watching him hit. You know it's always nice to squeak out a victory over probably the best player right now." On winning the FedEx Cup "The year's not done, I've still got a few things to finish off and hopefully it will go my way. I haven't thought that far ahead, but if I did (win it), that would be incredible." https://compass.pressekompass.net/compasses/golfweek/the-pga-tour-season-ends-aug-25%2033 MORE: Freddie Kitchens stopped practice to punish the Browns for a training camp fight Chiefs training camp, 7/28/19: Recap, reactions Tom Brady disobeys Bill Belichick at practice, and suffers the consequences Packers impressed with Rashan Gary's effort early at training camp VIDEO: Trevor Bauer Throws Ball Over Centerfield Fence in Fit of Rage


High school football player Bo Melton showed off his strength and dragged a defender ten yards before he reached the end zone.


More Free Bikes Than Ever Ready for `Bike Back to School` Event.


Chris Brown will not be charged for allegedly attacking a man in Las Vegas. The 'Loyal' hitmaker was accused of punching a man during a basketball game at the Palms Casino Resort in the early hours of Monday morning (05.04.15), but law enforcement have dropped the battery case after the man withdrew his complaint against the singer. In a statement on Tuesday, 5 May, police said: "The victim alleging that he was battered by recording artist Chris Brown has told LVMPD detectives that he no longer wants to go forward with criminal charges." The alleged victim, who reportedly sought treatment at a nearby hospital after the incident, previously claimed Chris, who coincidentally also celebrated his 26th birthday on Tuesday, and another man punched him after they got into a verbal argument on the court. Police were subsequently called to the scene, but they could not locate Chris. A spokesperson for the R&B star previously insisted he was innocent, but admitted another man "was removed" from the basketball court. In a statement, his publicist Nicole Perna said: "Chris is currently in Las Vegas as he is performing at Drai's on May 5th and receiving a Key to the Strip that day as well. He has a suite at the hotel that has a basketball court and invited friends to come play. An unruly individual showed up uninvited and was removed from the premises. Chris was not in an altercation with this person."


Now that Kevin Harvick got to the front this season, he isn't ready to leave just yet. Less than a week after earning his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win of the season, Harvick is going to remain out front after winning the pole for Sunday's Gander RV 400 at Pocono Raceway. Harvick was among the final three drivers to make a qualifying attempt on Saturday and his average lap speed of 174.058 mph topped Joey Logano (173.377 mph) for the top spot. Harvick's teammate at Stewart-Haas Racing, Aric Almirola, was third (173.161 mph). Erik Jones was fourth and Austin Dillon qualified fifth. of his career and first at Pocono, where he is still looking for his first career victory. Prior to the June Pocono race   where Harvick suffered a broken steering box   has had finished fourth or better for five consecutive races at the triangular-shaped track. Rounding out the top 10 were Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch (who has won three of the last four Pocono races), William Byron, Kurt Busch and Daniel Suarez. Sunday's starting positions are tentative. Cars will go through technical inspection Sunday morning and if they will lose their starting position in the race should they fail at least once. Cla#Driver ManufacturerTimeGapMph 1 4 Kevin Harvick Ford 51.707 174.058 2 22 Joey Logano Ford 51.910 0.203 173.377 3 10 Aric Almirola Ford 51.974 0.267 173.164 4 20 Erik Jones Toyota 51.990 0.283 173.110 5 3 Austin Dillon Chevrolet 52.126 0.419 172.659 6 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 52.148 0.441 172.586 7 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 52.196 0.489 172.427 8 24 William Byron Chevrolet 52.213 0.506 172.371 9 1 Kurt Busch Chevrolet 52.321 0.614 172.015 10 41 Daniel Suarez Ford 52.346 0.639 171.933 11 19 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 52.365 0.658 171.871 12 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 52.388 0.681 171.795 13 95 Matt DiBenedetto Toyota 52.436 0.729 171.638 14 2 Brad Keselowski Ford 52.482 0.775 171.487 15 88 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 52.499 0.792 171.432 16 14 Clint Bowyer Ford 52.545 0.838 171.282 17 34 Michael McDowell Ford 52.597 0.890 171.112 18 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 52.618 0.911 171.044 19 38 David Ragan Ford 52.623 0.916 171.028 20 12 Ryan Blaney Ford 52.638 0.931 170.979 21 21 Paul Menard Ford 52.747 1.040 170.626 22 8 Daniel Hemric Chevrolet 52.800 1.093 170.455 23 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 52.848 1.141 170.300 24 6 Ryan Newman Ford 53.002 1.295 169.805 25 47 Ryan Preece Chevrolet 53.048 1.341 169.658 26 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. Chevrolet 53.221 1.514 169.106 27 36 Matt Tifft Ford 53.255 1.548 168.998 28 37 Chris Buescher Chevrolet 53.301 1.594 168.852 29 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 53.370 1.663 168.634 30 32 Corey Lajoie Ford 53.417 1.710 168.486 31 00 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 53.861 2.154 167.097 32 13 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 53.979 2.272 166.732 33 53 Josh Bilicki Chevrolet 54.800 3.093 164.234 34 51 B.J. McLeod Ford 54.809 3.102 164.207 35 15 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 54.890 3.183 163.964 36 27 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 55.423 3.716 162.387 37 77 Quin Houff Chevrolet 55.539 3.832 162.048 38 52 Austin Theriault Ford 56.011 4.304 160.683


Annie Tolentino woke up one morning in 2016 with nagging abdominal pain and fatigue she couldn't shake. The 44-year-old married mother of three knew something was wrong. She tells Reader's Digest , "I remember waking up feeling tired and wanting to stay in bed longer than usual." That was unusual behavior for the energetic Bay Area-based sales manager. "I was still in my robe when I called the nurse hotline to report a very sharp pain in my left abdomen area. My call was brushed off as a non-emergency and I was given no follow-up directives. That call was the beginning for me." Tolentino's mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer a few weeks later, and this renewed Tolentino's determination to figure out her pain. According to the American Cancer Society, more than 22,000 women are diagnosed with the disease each year, and more than 14,000 die. Because the signs are subtle, they're easy to miss for women and their doctors. Five months after her mother's bad news, Tolentino went in for a physical: "I told my doctors that I may be at heightened risk for ovarian cancer due to my mom's diagnosis I knew that family history is linked to an increased risk of developing ovarian cancer. I told them I was concerned about my abdominal pain that never went away. It was always there, dull, but obvious to me." Pressing her doctors to do more, Tolentino asked for some of the screens her mother had undergone. "I asked for a CA125 testing, knowing that this was the blood test performed on my mom. With the CA125 test, they also perform a vaginal ultrasound." When the test results were abnormal, the staff told Tolentino it was because of existing polyps and sent her home. Unfortunately, symptoms of ovarian cancer can be subtle, so find out 7 signs of ovarian cancer you might be ignoring . Three months later, things got worse: She began having multiple periods a month, continual spotting, and vaginal discharge. And her abdominal pain wouldn't go away. While the signs of ovarian cancer are subtle, if women have persistent or frequent symptoms like this, they should see a doctor, stresses the American Cancer Society . Tolentino did: "My belly began growing and that's when I insisted that more tests be done, including a pelvic exam and CT scan." After her pelvic exam seemed normal, her gynecologist told her she worried too much. "It was the CT scan ordered by my general practitioner that finally revealed stage three cancer," she says. "I was diagnosed in 2017, and I was livid. In my heart, I knew I had done everything to advocate for my body. The fact that I was in an advanced stage was very upsetting. I was hurt, sad, and angry." After her own experience and losing her mother at age 61 to the illness Tolentino's goal is to encourage women to stay vigilant in the hopes of saving more lives. That said, there's plenty of misinformation out there, so make sure you these 10 common myths of ovarian cancer that you need to ignore . "I talk about ovarian cancer to friends, relatives, co-workers, to anyone who will listen. I believe there's more I can do to help spread awareness. I want to use my voice in honor of my mother, and in support of my own survivorship." Today, Tolentino actively spreads awareness by partnering with Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Alliance and is leading an Ovarian Cycle Ride in Berkeley, CA. Now that you know how being pro-active saved Tolentino's life, find out the 14 things about ovarian cancer Ob-Gyns desperately wish you knew . The post I Diagnosed My Own Ovarian Cancer And It Saved My Life appeared first on Reader's Digest . Related Video: Ovarian Cancer Screening Test (Provided by KARE-TV Minneapolis-St. Paul)


Here's what you need to know about what's happening in Boston. City councilors hope Boston's first Asian-American firefighter becomes trailblazer The hiring of May Ho   who will soon become the first female Asian-American firefighter for the city of Boston   was praised by city councilors Thursday. Read the full story on Boston Herald . City Council, activists seek changes to Boston affordable housing rules A City Council meeting on Monday will focus on toughening Boston's policies that require developers to build affordable housing. Read the full story on Boston Herald . Police say man had a lot of junk in his trunk: 4 1/2 pounds of heroin and fentanyl Boston Police report arresting a local man in the South End yesterday after, they say, drug-control officers watched another guy deposit a package that turned out to contain more than two pounds each of heroin and fentanyl in the man's car trunk. Read the full story on Universal Hub . Feds charge Grove Hall man and pal re-sold legally purchased guns at a steep markup on Boston streets Two men, one from Dorchester, one from Randolph, were indicted yesterday on a federal charge of conspiracy to deal in firearms without a license for the eight guns they allegedly bought from a Woburn gun dealer for re-sale, possibly to Boston gang members. Read the full story on Universal Hub . Some residents less than impressed with City Hall Plaza renovation plans The city of Boston was met with tough critics as it presented plans for a $70 million facelift to City Hall Plaza. Read the full story on Boston 25 News . This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle , then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


Ryan Norman produced the best race of his Indy Lights career to win on Saturday, while Rinus VeeKay was a dominant victor on Sunday, as Kyle Kirkwood swept Indy Pro 2000's double-header, and Hunter McElrea and Braden Eves shared the USF2000 spoils. Indy Lights Race 1 started off as a real thriller. Juncos Racing's Rinus VeeKay made a perfect start but Robert Megennis passed Andretti Autosport teammate Ryan Norman around the outside to grab second place. That became a battle for the lead when VeeKay ran wide at Turn 7 and then blocked Megennis as he rejoined the track, and so had to serve a drive-through penalty. On Lap 2, Aaron Telitz in the Belardi Auto Racing machine took advantage of Megennis having to hold off first Toby Sowery's BN Racing/Team Pelfrey car and then the recovering Norman to pass all three and grab the lead on his home track. However, up the pitstraight next time by, Norman got ahead of Telitz and down to Turn 5 Sowery zapped past the Belardi car too. While 1.6sec covered these three, Megennis was 1.9sec back but well clear of David Malukas (BN Racing) and the surprisingly off-the-pace Oliver Askew. By Lap 8, Sowery had dropped off Norman's tail, however, and Telitz drafted past up the front straight and was clear by the time they braked for Turn 1. However, he could make no impression on Norman who pulled his lead out to almost four seconds by Lap 14 of the 20-lap race. Instead, the significant battle became Sowery vs Megennis for third, which Megennis appeared to settle in his favor up the front straight as they started their 16 th lap. Megennis' momentum kept him charging onto the tail of Telitz and he outbraked him down the inside of Turn 5 on Lap 17. However, Norman was well out of reach, and the Ohioan, who will next week test an Andretti Autosport IndyCar at Mid-Ohio , passed the checkered flag 4.7sec clear of his teammate Megennis. Telitz was a further 2.9sec behind but 1.4 clear of Sowery. Askew eventually passed Malukas, while VeeKay fought his way up to seventh and set fastest lap. The pair were left tied at the top of the points race. Race 2 was more straightforward, VeeKay again starting from pole and this time making no mistakes on his way to a 13sec win over fellow front-row starter Norman. Telitz started third but was muscled back to fourth by Askew on the opening lap and when the Belardi driver tried to retaliate at Turn 5 he ran wide and fell to the back of the field. Askew tried to outdrag Norman down to Turn 5 on Lap 4, but Norman held firm on the inside and kept second, leaving Askew to turn his attentions to another teammate, Megennis, right behind him. This pair dueled over third which allowed Sowery to close in, but Askew clung on and closed in on Norman again, to no avail. Megennis, like Sowery slipped off the Norman/Askew pace as the race progressed, so that it was Malukas who was able to claim fourth. VeeKay's third win of the year leaves him just three points shy of Askew at the halfway point of the 18-race season. Indy Pro 2000 Kyle Kirkwood was in superlative form for RP Motorsports in both races, even though he failed to start on the front row for either. In Race 1 , polesitter Parker Thompson took the lead for Abel Motorsports as fellow front-row starter Sting Ray Robb's Juncos Racing entry fell back, but electrical failure on Danial Frost's Exclusive Autosport car brought out the safety car. On the restart, Kirkwood jumped Thompson and hit the front long before the braking zone for Turn 1. That left Thompson to deal with pressure from Ian Rodriguez, the Guatemalan in the second RP Motorsports entry, up from sixth on the grid, the pair running ahead of Moises de la Vara (DEForce Racing) who had climbed from 10 th on the grid to head Robb and his teammate Rasmus Lindh. The Swede jumped Robb on Lap 3 and then de la Vara to then close in on the Thompson vs Rodriguez fight. However, when de la Vara went off at Turn 1, the field closed up and on the restart Thompson lost out again, not only to Rodriguez but also Lindh, although Thompson reclaimed third on the final lap. In Race 2 , Lindh eased into the lead as Robb made another disappointing start and fell behind Kirkwood and Thompson, the latter of whom appeared to have nothing for the front pair. Frost ran fifth in Robb's wheeltracks while coming under pressure from Rodriguez, but it was Robb who made the first move, climbing back into a podium position on Lap 5, but on Lap 6 Kirkwood dived down the inside of Lindh under braking into Turn 5 and claimed the lead. Lindh remained close to Robb, and they exchanged fastest lap on 8 and 9, but their times were eclipsed by Thompson who was closing in on Robb. However Robb had to pit following an incident on Lap 10, allowing Thompson into third chased by Rodriguez and Lastochkin. The fierce lead battle meant Kirkwood and Lindh pulled seven seconds on Thompson by the time the checkered flag waved, with Thompson having a similar margin over Rodriguez who in turn was 6sec ahead of Lastochkin. USF2000 In Race 1 , New Zealand's Hunter McElrea of Pabst Racing scored his first USF2000 victory after passing his pole-sitting teammate Colin Kaminsky. His path to victory was made slightly easier following a Lap 1/Turn 1 coming together between Legacy Autosport's Alex Baron and Cape Motorsports' Darren Keane which left the latter off-track, and the former heading to pitlane for repairs. Kaminsky maintained his lead for the opening two laps, but McElrea drafted past up the front straight at the start of Lap 3 and inched away thereafter to finish the 12-lap race 3.5sec clear. Christian Rasmussen of Jay Howard Driver Development had emerged from the Turn 1 chaos in third, chased by Manuel Sulaiman (DEForce), Newman Wachs Racing's Cameron Shields and championship leader Braden Eves who had qualified only eighth for Cape Motorsports. However, first Sulaiman, then Shields and Eves would emote Rasmussen, before Sulaiman too, started losing ground. That allowed Shields into a third place he would never lose, despite Eves' best efforts to apply the pressure. Sulaiman held onto fifth ahead of Bruna Tomaselli in another Pabst car, while Rasmussen was eventually thumped off the track at Turn 12 by DEForce's Jak Crawford who incurred a 30sec penalty as a consequence. Eves was back in charge for Race 2 , passing McElrea on the second lap and winning by 4.5sec ahead of Keane who prevailed in a long and tough battle with McElrea who also had to fight off Rasmussen and Kaminsky, until Rasmussen spun on Lap 9. When Kaminsky ran wide at the Carousel, Keane slipped past into third and applied the pressure on McElrea, who had to give way at Turn 5 on Lap 11. The previous day's winner held on to claim third, 2sec ahead of Kaminsky who in turn was 2.7sec clear of Rasmussen. With Sulaiman and Baron getting penalties for blocking, Crawford came through to clinch sixth ahead of Edouardo Barrichello.


DETROIT (AP)   When Barack Obama was on the ballot in 2008 and 2012, there was no question that Terrance Holmes would vote for the first black president. But as he helped fix cars this week at a repair shop on Detroit's west side, he recalled his ambivalence about the 2016 campaign. "I just didn't feel no reason to" vote, said Holmes, who is black and holds a second job at an auto parts factory. The 34-year-old feels differently now as another election season begins. He hasn't paid much attention to the early Democratic primary and didn't know that two high-profile black candidates are running. But he vowed to help vote President Donald Trump out of office in 2020, regardless of which Democrat emerges as his challenger. The most important thing, Holmes said, is "to get Trump out." The upcoming presidential campaign offers a critical test for Democrats of whether they can ever again rely on the multiracial coalition that helped propel Obama to the White House twice. Young black voters like Holmes are critical to that effort, especially in states like Michigan, which Democrats lost by just over 10,000 votes in 2016, ceding a state that hadn't backed a Republican since 1988. Reclaiming it, along with Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, would put Democrats on a firmer path to the presidency. Black voters are the base of the Democratic Party, and its most consistent and loyal voting bloc. Blacks voted in record numbers for Obama in 2008 and 2012, and overwhelmingly supported Clinton in 2016. But nationally, the African American turnout rate dropped 7 percentage points in 2016 from its record high during Obama's 2012 reelection, according to U.S. Census data. Other groups did not see a comparable decrease   white turnout increased slightly while Latinos held steady. Bernard Fraga, a political science professor at Indiana University, wrote a book on turnout last year. He attributes the drop in black voter turnout to several factors, including Russian interference in the election, tactical errors by Hillary Clinton's Democratic presidential campaign and less enthusiasm for voting for someone other than Obama. But he said the most important thing Democratic candidates can do is prove to black voters that they'll work for their support. "It's not one single thing, but what it points to is Democrats can't just take black turnout for granted," Fraga said. Democrats insist they'll reverse the decline in 2020. They're already spending significant time in Michigan, holding their second presidential debate next week in Detroit. Many candidates were in town on Wednesday to address the NAACP's annual convention, where they outlined their agendas for black communities. Several contenders are making explicit appeals to black voters and blasting their rivals as weak on issues related to civil rights. California Sen. Kamala Harris, one of the two leading black candidates in the contest, slammed former Vice President Joe Biden during the first debate for his opposition to busing in the 1970s. The other black candidate, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, is warning that the party needs a nominee who can turn out minorities who skipped 2016. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who won the support of many younger black Democrats during the 2016 primary, has stepped up his references to racial disparities. Other candidates speak regularly of criminal justice reform, the racial wealth gap and high mortality rates among pregnant black women. Not to be outdone, Trump has attempted appeals to black voters. Even as he ignited a firestorm this month with racist tweets targeting four congresswomen of color, he frequently touts the black unemployment rate that has declined under his administration and his support of a criminal justice overhaul bill. Activists worry that Democrats still aren't doing enough to appeal to a minority population that remains alienated and demoralized, with unemployment rates higher than that of whites and continuing cases of police killing unarmed black men. "Candidates have to understand the fault lines that exist within the black electorate," said Adrianne Shropshire of BlackPAC, which works on turning out African American voters. "The Democratic underperformance that we've seen can be explained in many ways by millennial dissatisfaction." Younger black voters   like young people overall   aren't as reliable as their older counterparts. But Michigan illustrates their importance. Based on data from state voter records, Fraga estimates a 12% drop in black voter turnout in Michigan in 2016 compared with 2012, the steepest decline in African American voting performance in the nation along with neighboring Wisconsin. Fraga said the falloff was disproportionately among younger and male voters. Democrats found some promising signs in Michigan last year. The party clinched the governor's mansion and attorney general's office and netted two House seats. Democratic groups say their internal data suggests some black voters who didn't participate in 2016 showed up to the polls in 2018. In Detroit, 28,000 more ballots were cast than in the prior midterm election of 2014. Lavora Barnes, the chairwoman of Michigan's Democratic Party, said the party started contacting black voters shortly after the 2016 election, knowing it had to invest more in turning them out. It also has had to tailor a message to younger voters whose political awareness started with Obama's 2008 campaign. "It is a very different world where you grew up with Barack Obama, and then you saw your country turn on you and elect Donald Trump," Barnes said. She tells younger black voters: "This is the moment you fight." Democrats remain nervous about that fight. Priorities USA, a major Democratic campaign group, warns that it has found African Americans remain less motivated about 2020 than other Democratic voters. Branden Snyder was the deputy field director of Democrats' 2016 Michigan campaign and now runs a group that tries to boost minority turnout in Detroit. He's also worried. "The slice that isn't being engaged by the Democrats is non-college black men. The people who are talking about this are the RNC," Snyder said, referring to the Republican National Committee. "The RNC and Trump are coming and saying, 'The reason you're locked out of the economy, the reason mortality rates are high is not anything to do with structural racism   it's these immigrants.'" That gets to the heart of the challenge facing Democrats   whether they should focus on racism and risk alienating some white voters or talk about pocketbook issues that may have a broader appeal even if it speaks less to the concerns of minorities. Shropshire of BlackPAC urged candidates to talk about everything, "including how different parts of our country experience things differently." But Ronald Lester, a Democratic pollster who has conducted dozens of focus groups with younger black men, said Democrats don't need to talk so much about racism to win over black voters. "That doesn't get you anywhere because people are pessimistic of the ability of people in Washington to change racial attitudes," Lester said. "You have to talk about wages, job opportunities." ___ Riccardi reported from Denver. Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.


TORONTO   Each player's press conference at NBA Finals media day began the same way. A player sat down. NBA communications director Jim LaBumbard immediately called on a reporter for a question. Except Kyle Lowry 's. Lowry sat down smirking at LaBumbard, who previously worked for the Raptors. "You ready?" LaBumbard asked. "Sure, go ahead," Lowry said. Lowry has been preparing a long time for this moment. He has spent most of his career just trying to prove himself as a full-time starter, getting bounced from the Grizzlies to the Rockets to the Raptors. He found a home in Toronto and developed into a star. But that just set him up to be tormented by LeBron James nearly annually in the playoffs. Now, Lowry has finally reached the pinnacle of his sport, the NBA Finals. "He's been hit upside the head from every different angle and every different angle in the world   whether it's personal, everything," Raptors president Masai Ujiri said, "and he survives it. "There's something about that guy that I just believe in. It's incredible. We have been through so much, and he's a winner. There's no other way to put it. He's a winner." Lowry is a five-time All-Star in his 13th season. Just seven players have hit that honor-longevity combination then played in their first NBA Finals: Tracy McGrady (2013 Spurs) Mitch Richmond (2002 Lakers) Kevin Garnett (2008 Celtics) Alonzo Mourning (2006 Heat) Reggie Miller (2000 Pacers) Chris Mullin (2000 Pacers) John Stockton (1997 Jazz) Only Garnett, Miller and Stockton were still stars by their Finals debuts. Mourning was a role player. McGrady, Richmond and Mullin were deep reserves. Lowry is still a star. He's an unconventional one who does so many little things to help his team . He takes charges, sets screens, tips loose balls, makes extra passes, directs teammates. Of course, he scores and assists plenty. But traditional box-score stats don't fully capture his impact on the court. They certainly don't capture his impact off it. Lowry, who spent a while moping about his close friend DeMar DeRozan getting traded, has become an ally of Kawhi Leonard . Though not facing his own contract-year speculation, Lowry understands the pressure stars face. He also relates to younger teammates just tryin to establish themselves in the league, a predicament he faced early in his career. "He's a better teammate than he is a player," Fred VanVleet said. But for everything Lowry did right, postseason success eluded him. His individual performances were up-and-down through the playoffs. He wasn't as bad as his critics made him out to be, nor did he sustain the high level of play he demonstrated in the regular season. But Toronto consistently struggled . So, when he finally won the East, Lowry   who's often brooding publicly   became uncontrollably overjoyed: Yet, as the NBA Finals approach, he's locked back in. "Getting here doesn't do anything but getting here," Lowry said. "We still want to try to win this." It's the right approach and of course the won Lowry would take. He's a true competitor. A championship would be so satisfying. But, after all he'd been through, getting here did mean something to him. You could see it all over his face.


Here's the most recent top news you may have missed in Baltimore. With 'many' cops exceeding overtime limits, commissioner pledges crackdown The issue of police overtime resurfaces with the misconduct case last week against Sgt. Ethan Newberg. Read the full story on Baltimore Sun . How can police prevent corruption? For starters, some say, get rid of plainclothes units Despite corruption that has sometimes flourished in plainclothes squads, Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison says they still have a place. Read the full story on Baltimore Sun . 36-year-old man dies in Southwest Baltimore shooting overnight Baltimore Police also ruled a 19-year-old shooting as a homicide and provided names of victim fatal shooting victims. Read the full story on Baltimore Sun . Baltimore City Courthouse East floods after restroom sink falls off wall Baltimore City Circuit Courthouse East flooded Thursday afternoon after a sink fell off the wall in a women's restroom. Read the full story on Baltimore Sun . This story was created automatically using data about news stories on social media from CrowdTangle , then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


It's been pretty common to see Cleveland Browns players sitting courtside at Cavaliers games in recent years. Even in the post-Lebron era, Browns players still made appearances at Quicken Loans Arena to support their local basketball brethren. On Wednesday, some Cavs players returned the favor. Larry Nance Jr., who grew up in Northeast Ohio and is an avowed Browns backer, was among the Cavs who were special guests at Wednesday morning's practice session in Berea. Darius Garland and Dylan Windler were also in attendance. They were VIP guests and stood for a time with owner Jimmy Haslam along the sidelines while the Browns practiced. Several reporters captured pictures of the basketball guests: @Cavs Players in attendance for #Browns Training Camp pic.twitter.com/Zad6wB4oCn - Mac Robinson (@MacRobinsonCLE) July 31, 2019 #Cavs in the house at #Browns camp today @Larrydn22 @dariusgarland22 & @Dylan_Windler23 pic.twitter.com/CUZmwj2Ied - Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) July 31, 2019 MORE: Michael Irvin begged Jerry Jones to draft Steelers WR JuJu Smith-Schuster Angler lands 946-pound marlin by himself for 'historic catch' Roundup: A$AP Rocky Pleads Not Guilty; Katy Perry Owes Damages for 'Dark Horse'; Pound Plummets as Boris Johnson Preps for Brexit Chiefs have CB Tremon Smith playing RB at training camp Jon Gruden says Raiders DE Maxx Crosby 'might lead the league in effort'


The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has suspended Maximum Security jockey Luis Saez for 15 racing days after determining he interfered with other riders in the controversial 2019 Kentucky Derby. One day after race stewards met with the jockeys involved in the inquiry that led to Maximum Security's disqualification, the commission announced that Saez will be suspended for 15 racing days. The KHRC cited "failure to controI his mount and make the proper effort to maintain a straight course thereby causing interference with several rivals that resuIted in the disqualification of his mount," in its ruling against Saez. No other jockeys in last weekend's Kentucky Derby will face punishment, according to KHRC. Preakness: Field could be largest for Triple Crown's second leg since 2011 Kentucky field: Are 20 horses too many? It depends on who you ask Unlike the disqualification of a horse, disciplinary sanctions against a jockey can be appealed to the commission and the courts. Attorneys for Saez said they intend to appeal his suspension. According to KHRC's website , a "request for stay pending appeal" must be filed with 10 days of the stewards' ruling. Karen Murphy, an attorney for Maximum Security owners Gary and Mary West, told the Courier Journal the decision is wrong and unfair to Saez. "It doesn't sound like a lot to people when you say 15 days, but (racing) is all (jockeys) do," Murphy said. "(Saez) didn't do anything wrong." The commission can fine or suspend jockeys for intentional wrongdoing or careless riding. Stewards also can require education for the jockeys. KHRC suspension ruling of Luis Saez Maximum Security crossed the finish line first in the 145th Kentucky Derby but was eventually disqualified and dropped to 17th when stewards ruled he drifted out of his running lane and impeded the progress of other horses in the race. After the race, chief steward Barbara Borden said Maximum Security was disqualified for interfering with the progress of War of Will, who in turn interfered with Long Range Toddy and Bodexpress. The Wests, owners of Maximum Security, appealed the stewards' decision earlier this week, but the KHRC swiftly denied it , citing its regulations, which state that stewards' findings as to matters that occur during a race "shall be final and not subject to appeal." The Wests have insisted Saez did nothing wrong during the Run for the Roses, instead blaming War of Will jockey Tyler Gaffalione for initiating contact on the final turn which caused Maximum Security to veer. Gary West has indicated he plans to file a lawsuit, but he has not done so yet. The announced suspension for Saez, a 26-year-old native of Panama, came after his attorneys provided a nearly 7-minute video Friday to KHRC stewards that they say exonerates him of blame in his horse's disqualification. Since suffering heartbreak at Churchill Downs, Saez has kept busy by winning several races at Belmont Park in New York. He rode Global Campaign to a first-place finish in the Grade 3 Peter Pan Stakes on Saturday. West has said Maximum Security is not running in the upcoming Preakness Stakes . Country House will also not appear in the Preakness in Baltimore this Saturday. The suspension throws uncertainty over whether Saez will be able to compete on a different horse in the Preakness. This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Maximum Security jockey Luis Saez suspended over controversial Kentucky Derby finish


Mona Lisa's famous smile 'wasn't genuine' when Leonardo da Vinci painted her more than 500 years ago, according to research. Scientists claim that her famous lop-sided grin reflects a non-genuine emotion, indicating the subject is lying, partly because her cheeks were not raised. The portrait is arguably one of the most well-known works of art and inspires much debate, partly thanks to the subject's ambiguous look. Art experts, scholars and tourists have for centuries pored over the 16th-century portrait to decipher what her expression means. A US-led team analysed the asymmetry of her enigmatic expression by applying neuroscientific principles, which studies disciplines dealing with structure. WHO IS THE 'MONA LISA'? The half-length portrait on a poplar panel is sometimes known as La Gioconda or La Joconde. It was painted using oil between 1503 and 1506 and has been described as 'the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied work of art in the world.' The model is said to be Lisa Gherardini who was married to a wealthy Florentine merchant called Francesco del Giocondo. But a recent theory is it was really 'da Vinci in drag.' Lead author Dr Luca Marsili, a neurologist at the University of Cincinnati, explained: 'Our results indicate happiness is expressed only on the left side. 'According to some influential theories of emotion neuropsychology, we here interpreted the Mona Lisa asymmetric smile as a non genuine smile - also thought to occur when the subject lies.' Dr Marsili and colleagues asked 42 volunteers to judge which of six basic emotions were expressed by two altered pictures of her smile - one mirror image of the left side, and one of the right. Thirty-nine, or 92.8 per cent, of the raters indicated the left half displayed happiness, while none felt this was shown on the right side. Instead, 35 said the expression was neutral, five disgust and two said it showed sadness. The researchers, who include Dr Lucia Ricciardi at St George's University of London, also point out the upper face muscles are not triggered in the painting. A genuine smile causes the checks to raise and muscles around the eyes to contract, and is called a Duchenne smile, after 19th century French neurologist Guillaume Duchenne. Writing in Cortex, they said the asymmetric type, also called a non-Duchenne smile, 'reflects a non-genuine emotion and is thought to occur when the subject lies.' Dr Marsili added: 'Considering it is unlikely a person who sits motionless for hours to be painted is able to constantly smile in genuine happiness, the simplest explanation is the Mona Lisa asymmetric smile is the manifestation of an 'untrue enjoyment' in spite of all the efforts Leonardo's jesters used to make in order to keep his models merry. 'An alternative intriguing possibility, however, is Leonardo already knew the true meaning of asymmetric smile more than three centuries before Duchenne's reports and deliberately illustrated a smile expressing a 'non-felt' emotion.' If da Vinci was aware of the meaning of an asymmetric smile, the researchers speculate Mona Lisa's smile might hide cryptic messages. For example, that this was in reality a self-portrait, which has been suggested before, or that it referred to a man or a dead woman. 'While the Mona Lisa smile continues to attract attention of its observers, the true message it conveys remains elusive and many unsolved mysteries remain to be elucidated, perhaps via the knowledge of emotion neuropsychology.'


There's a little something for everyone coming up on the events calendar this week. From an indie rock concert to an Independence Day hip hop concert, here's a roundup of options to help you get out and about in the days ahead. Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. As Cities Burn, All Get Out and Many Rooms From the event description: As Cities Burn with support from All Get Out and Many Rooms. When: Wednesday, July 3, 8-11:59 p.m. Where: The Walnut Room, 3131 Walnut St. Admission: $20 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Fourth of July Celebration From the event description: Come celebrate Fourth of July at Infinity LoHi and support the Boys and Girls Clubs of Denver. Grab-A-Beer Colorado, together with Mile High Young Professionals, brings a day of fun and sun with food, drinks, live music and a pool. When: Thursday, July 4, 12-5 p.m. Where: Infinity LoHi, 2298 W. 28th Ave. Admission: $10 $20 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Nappy Roots at Mile High Spirits From the event description: Hip Hop stars Nappy Roots bring their Great American Beer Run tour to the Mile High Spirits Tasting Room for a Fourth of July extravaganza. Highlighting all of their hits and underground classics, the Kentucky-based group has produced five albums to go with 10 mixtapes in the 15-plus years of touring. When: Thursday, July 4, 5 p.m.- Friday, July 5, 1 a.m. Where: Mile High Spirits, 2201 Lawrence St. Admission: $22.50 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets This story was created automatically using local event data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


The Premier League has reassured football fans that a 'high bar' will be set when video assistant refereeing (VAR) is introduced to the top tier of the English game next season. They claim that a series of improvements will be made after the new technology has come severely under-fire for regularly causing delays and controversy during the Women's World Cup in France. The first of those is to encourage referees to more strongly consider the flow of the match meaning VAR will not interfere as regularly, and will occur more swiftly when it is used. Not only will this be an attempt to maintain the fast pace of Premier League football, but also to limit the television scheduling havoc that broadcasters like the BBC have suffered during this particular Women's World Cup. There will be no pitchside review for fouls. Instead, the referee will be informed immediately that a red card needs to be shown if the challenge was missed on first instance. It will no longer be used for occasions like the awful challenge on Steph Houghton by Cameroon's Alexandra Takounda during the round of 16 tie, a decision which wasted time and created further outrage when the guilty party was only shown a yellow card. The pitchside review area will still be available, but referees will be encouraged to use it more sparingly next season. On average, VAR has caused delays of over seven minutes per game in the World Cup, while the England vs. Cameroon endured an astonishing 18 minutes being added on. The delays and behaviour from the Cameroon players prompted England manager Phil Neville to criticise the impact VAR had stating: "It was not football." "Ellen White was onside - deal with it." Phil Neville gave a passionate interview after #ENG 's eventful victory over #CMR - he did not hold back. #FIFAWWC #ChangeTheGame pic.twitter.com/CAvJCZ4ZrT   Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) June 23, 2019 FIFA have also been criticised for using this major tournament as a "guinea pig" for testing new rules on penalties. Telegraph Sport have previously reported how decisions over goalkeepers' positions during penalties will be left to the referees' discretion. This comes after a new rule now allows goalkeepers to only have one foot on the line rather than two when the ball is kicked. This has been a further source of controversy during the World Cup when vital penalties against Nigeria and Scotland were made to be retaken. Scotland lost their position in the tournament when Lee Alexander conceded a penalty from a retake after VAR adjudged her to have been standing in front of her line when she made a stunning double-save from the initial attempt. Nonetheless, chairman of FIFA's refereeing committee Pierluigi Collina defended the change after England keeper Karen Bardsley called the new rules "cruel and pedantic." Despite this defence, FIFA have encouraged referees not to book goalkeepers for not standing on their line in order to prevent this issue escalating any further.


More than 100 pigs died when a semi overturned in downtown Louisville. Lanes were blocked at the southbound I-65 ramp to the I-64/71 split after a truck hauling pigs overturned on Wednesday. The incident happened around 7:15 a.m. The scene wasn't clear until nearly 3 p.m. Officials said someone in the semitruck was injured. When WLKY Chopper HD flew over the scene, we saw dozens of pigs lying dead on the road. A bulldozer was used to remove their bodies. Police confirmed of the 178 pigs on board, 110 died or were put down. Video also shows that many pigs survived. READ MORE: More than 100 pigs die after semi overturns on I-65 ramp in Louisville CHECK OUT WLWT: Stay in the know. Get the latest Cincinnati news, weather and sports from the team at Ohio's own WLWT.


Although coral reefs are home to bustling communities of gaudy marine life, half the fishes that live there are hardly ever seen. Aptly known as cryptobenthics literally "hidden bottom-dwellers" these species are mostly shorter than two inches and usually hidden in crevices. If you snorkel past, they'll scurry away. But Simon Brandl of Simon Fraser University has made a career of studying them. And he and his team have now shown that cryptobenthics are a crucial component of healthy reefs because they, more so than other fish, are extremely good at dying. Pretty much every predator on the reef eats cryptobenthics, and a full 70 percent of these tiny morsels are devoured every week . But since they also reproduce, hatch, and grow at equally phenomenal rates, new individuals are constantly replenishing the ones that are consumed. Entire generations can turn over in a matter of weeks. And this extreme life cycle, Brandl found, is the secret engine of the world's coral reefs, fueling the food webs that allow their inhabitants to flourish in otherwise nutrient-poor waters. Large, colorful fish such as groupers, wrasses, and parrotfish "are what people focus on because they're the ones you see when you're diving," says Julia Baum , a coral researcher at the University of Victoria. "But I love it when a study like this comes out of the blue and says that maybe these tiny fish might be the ones that are fueling everything else on the reef. That's very cool." Seventeen families of fish count as cryptobenthics, but aside from seahorses (and perhaps gobies ), most are obscure. Blennies, dottybacks, clingfishes, and dragonets they'd be household names if only they were a little bigger, Brandl thinks. "I suspect that if we were to blow them up to 20 times their size, we'd consider some of them to be the most beautiful fish on the reef," he says. The small size of these fish also limits how many eggs they can produce, "which means they have to be extremely religious about making sure those actually hatch," Brandl says. Some incubate their eggs in their mouths, forgoing meals until the larvae break out. Seahorse males lug around their eggs in breeding pouches. Sandgazers carry around a ball of eggs under their pectoral fins a behavior called "armpit breeding." These tactics mean that cryptobenthics are far better than other fish at converting eggs into larvae. When researchers count the baby fish in the waters near a reef, about 70 percent will be cryptobenthics. For most of these larvae, life will be brief even if they escape the jaws of predators. The pygmy goby , for example, crams its entire existence into just two months  the shortest life span of any backboned animal. Much of that time is spent as a larva, which quickly quintuples in size into an inch-long adult that lasts for just a few weeks. Living fast and dying young: That's the cryptobenthic way. "They've broken with the fundamental rule of being a vertebrate, which is that you spend most of your time as an adult," says Brandl. "They're almost getting into mayfly territory." Read: [ A tiny fish with terrifying fangs and opioid venom ] All of this explains why standard surveys fail to capture how important these fish are. Ecologists typically study reef animals by measuring their "standing biomass" that is, they grab all the adults in an area and weigh them. By this measure, cryptobenthics seem unimportant: Though there are plenty of them, they barely shift the scales, even together. But that metric is profoundly misleading, because it ignores just how many cryptobenthics are eaten, and how often they're eaten. By simulating the lives of these fishes, Brandl found that their generations tick by so quickly, and they're so frequently preyed upon, that every individual is replaced seven times a year. That's a huge mass of fish that we rarely ever notice, because it's eaten almost as quickly as it is generated. Weigh the survivors at any one moment, and you'll be unimpressed. But estimate the total mass of the dead, as Brandl and his team did, and you'll find that cryptobenthics account for 60 percent of the fish flesh that is eaten on a reef. Abundant, calorific, and rapidly produced, "they're the fast food of coral reefs," says Gabby Ahmadia, who has studied cryptobenthics and is now a director of marine-conservation science at the WWF. The hidden influence of cryptobenthics might explain a long-standing puzzle called Darwin's paradox. Simply put, "corals need clear, tropical waters to survive, but those waters are usually poor in nutrients," explains Luiz Rocha of the California Academy of Sciences. So how can such watery deserts support such heaving communities? One possibility: Seabirds could import nutrients by feeding in faraway waters and then dropping guano on the reefs. (A recent study supported this idea by showing that when invasive rats kill island seabirds , the surrounding reefs also suffer.) Cryptobenthics could fulfill a similar role. As larvae, they feed in richer offshore waters before moving back to the reefs once they mature. All the energy locked in their bodies "gets transferred to the reef when they die as adults or are eaten," says Rocha. They're like a massive, invisible conveyor belt, channeling nutrients into the shallows. For this conveyor belt to work, cryptobenthics have had to break yet another rule of marine life. The larvae of most reef fish spread over long distances by riding ocean currents, but those of cryptobenthics "don't really go anywhere," Brandl says. They stay within a few hundred meters of the reefs where they were born, and eventually swim home to fill the empty spots that the former generation has vacated. This lack of wanderlust has shaped their evolution. Populations can become easily isolated from one another, so existing species are quick to split into new ones. But since those species are typically confined to a narrow geographical range, they're also prone to extinction. What will happen to them in the future, as coral reefs are pummeled by heat waves, acidifying water, and increasing tropical storms? Ahmadia says that based on previous studies, they're actually pretty resilient. "Cryptobenthic fish are more likely to withstand reef degradation and may play a role in the recovery of coral-reef systems," she says. Read: [ Since 2016, half of all coral in the Great Barrier Reef has died ] Repeatedly, we see that the limits of our senses limit our understanding of nature. We neglect what we cannot see, whether cryptobenthic fish or the microbes that grow on corals . "I work on cryptic invertebrates, which have been ignored for the same reasons," says Nancy Knowlton of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. "If you go to a reef and break off a head of dead coral, it'll be full of little hiding crabs, shrimps, and snails. But unless you really make an effort to find these things, they're hard to study."


Sen. Cory Booker is reintroducing legislation Tuesday to block controversial Immigration and Customs Enforcement partnerships with local law enforcement, making the New Jersey Democrat the latest presidential candidate to stake out a position on the issue this year. By amending section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, Booker's "PROTECT Immigration Act" seeks to end ICE's practice of effectively training and deputizing local law enforcement as federal immigration agents. "With limited time and resources, local and state law enforcement should be focused on keeping their communities safe and pursuing serious threats, not acting as ICE agents," Booker said in a statement. The bill is likely dead on arrival in the GOP-led Senate, under a president that has championed the program's expansion. The White House boasts it has "more than doubled the number of jurisdictions participating in the 287(g) program." Rep. Mike Quigley, a Democrat from Illinois, is also reintroducing the measure in the House. The effort may fare better there under the chamber's Democratic majority. In the last Congress, Booker's measure garnered no Republican cosponsors in the House or the Senate . Sens. Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris, who are also running for the Democratic presidential nomination, were among the eight senators who had cosponsored the proposal. But the move's symbolism will not be lost on progressive activists who have denounced the partnerships and demanded local authorities terminate their agreements. Eighty law enforcement agencies across 21 states have signed 287(g) agreements, according to ICE . The issue could be key in immigrant-heavy Nevada, an important early caucus state, where many Democrats have been fighting to block the agreements. But few presidential candidates have campaigned on the issue. Only former HUD Secretary Julián Castro, the first to propose a comprehensive immigration plan, has explicitly called to end the program as part of his policy platform. "There are officers inside the Clark County Detention Center, our main jail, that are actually employed by our local police. But if you meet them, you will think they are ICE officers," Michael Kagan, director of the University of Nevada Las Vegas Immigration Clinic, told CBS News earlier this month . "They will function as immigration officers inside the jail, screening out people and starting the deportation process against them." Booker's measure does not end other controversial administration efforts on immigration, nor does it block ICE detainers. Detainers are requests by the agency for local authorities to not release undocumented immigrants arrested for other crimes, so that the Department of Homeland Security can assume custody for deportation. But the measure could curb a recently announced ICE program to sidestep policies curbing local authorities' cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. The agency says that authority for the "Warrant Service Officer" program, launched at a signing ceremony in Florida , is derived from 287(g). There are ten such jurisdictions already participating in the program: Pinellas, Brevard, Charlotte, Columbia, Manatee, Polk, Sarasota, Walton, Levy, and Hernando counties in Florida. ICE has defended the partnerships, the agency's acting director arguing that policies limiting cooperation with ICE "undermine public safety, prevent the agency from executing its federally mandated mission, and increase the risks for officers forced to make at-large arrests in unsecure locations." "When criminal aliens are released from local or state custody, they have the opportunity to reoffend. There are also many risks and uncertainties involved when apprehending dangerous criminal aliens at-large in the community," ICE spokesperson Matthew Bourke tells CBS News in a statement. "It is much safer for everyone   the community, law enforcement, and even the criminal alien   if ICE officers take custody of the alien in the controlled environment of another law enforcement agency as opposed to visiting a reported alien's residence, place of work, or other public area."