Looking to try the best bars in town? Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the best affordable bars in Pittsburgh, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of the best spots to meet your needs. 1. Smokin' Joe's Topping the list is Smokin' Joe's . Located at 2001 E. Carson St. in Southside Flats, the bar and traditional American spot is the highest-rated cheap bar in Pittsburgh, boasting four stars out of 92 reviews on Yelp. The Pittsburgh City Paper named this spot one of the best places to drink the city. On the drink list , expect to find more than 60 beers on tap. Burgers, sandwiches, wings and salads complete the menu. 2. Krista's Cantina Next up is Marshall - Shadeland's Krista's Cantina , situated at 2650 California Ave. With 4.5 stars out of 20 reviews on Yelp, the bar and pool hall, which offers pizza bites and more, has proven to be a local favorite for those looking for a low-priced option. This Pittsburgh dive bar was highlighted for having one of the best chicken wings in the city. Other bites on the menu include bacon-stuffed potato skins and loaded fries. 3. Grant Street Tavern Last but not least, there's Grant Street Tavern , a Central Business District favorite with four stars out of 10 reviews. Stop by 310 Grant St., Suite 100 to hit up the bar and traditional American spot, which offers sandwiches and more, next time you're looking to satisfy your cravings on a budget. This pub offers fare like corned beef sandwiches, black bean burgers and salads. This story was created automatically using local business data, then reviewed and augmented by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


Federal and state officials said Tuesday they want to close loopholes that allow families to get need-based financial aid they would not otherwise receive by giving up guardianship of their college-bound children. The move, they said, could end "potential student aid fraud" when parents turn over guardianship of their children in hopes of obtaining a tuition break. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General said the office has recommended modifying the language on federal financial aid forms following disclosure of the tactic, first reported by ProPublica Illinois on Monday . The Wall Street Journal also published a story late Monday about the issue. ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom based in New York. Sign up for ProPublica's Big Story newsletter to receive articles and investigations like this one as soon as they're published. "What we can tell you is that we are aware of this issue and suggested to the Federal Student Aid office (FSA) that it add clarifying language to the FSA Handbook that would help close possible avenues for this type of potential student aid fraud," the inspector general's spokeswoman said in a statement. The new language would aim to ensure students involved in this kind of guardianship no longer qualify for aid if they continue to receive medical and financial support from their parents. The Inspector General's Office was not aware of any prosecutions to date involving "this specific type of student aid fraud scheme," the spokeswoman added. Officials with the Illinois attorney general's office said Tuesday they also "have concerns" about the practice and will contact the state agency that administers a need-based grant "as we look into the matter further." State lawmakers also called for reforms. ProPublica Illinois reported this week that dozens of suburban Chicago families, and perhaps many more, have given up legal guardianship of their teenage children to qualify for federal, state and university aid. The parents   including lawyers, educators and a doctor   turn guardianship of their children over to relatives or friends sometimes months before they turn 18. By doing so, the children can then declare themselves financially independent and qualify for aid they would not otherwise receive. Andy Borst, director of undergraduate admissions at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said he is glad the practice has been exposed. The university first alerted the Department of Education to these cases in July 2018. "I'm pleased that this issue has been brought to light and is being discussed widely," Borst said. "I am hopeful that additional action can be taken to close this loophole." While ProPublica Illinois identified close to four dozen families in the northern suburbs of Lake County alone that filed similar petitions for guardianship, the practice appears to be more widespread. An attorney who has filed petitions in Lake County said she has also filed similar cases in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Will and McHenry counties. ProPublica Illinois is continuing to investigate. Illinois lawmakers on Tuesday also called for an examination of any state laws or rules that allow wealthy families to take advantage of the Illinois Monetary Award Program, or MAP, grant. Some 82,000 students were eligible for the grant last year but did not receive it because there wasn't enough money. The grant, up to about $5,000, is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. "It looks like theft from taxpayers and theft from students and families who legitimately deserve need-based financial aid," said state Sen. Pat McGuire, a Will County Democrat who chairs the Senate higher education committee. McGuire said he plans to contact Gov. J.B. Pritzker's office, the Illinois attorney general's office and the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, which administers the MAP grant, to look for ways to close any loopholes. If that doesn't work, he said, he will consider filing new legislation. "It's especially galling because the legitimate need for MAP is proven by the fact that not everyone who applies for it gets it," McGuire said. "And even those who get it, in many cases, still are required to take out loans and work more hours per week than is advised to afford college." State Sen. Cristina Castro, a Democrat from Elgin, said she shared McGuire's concerns. "It is particularly troubling," she said. "You think of how we've increased MAP funds, but we always run out." Castro said she was disappointed to read that one of the parents identified by ProPublica Illinois who had given up guardianship of her teenager was an assistant schools superintendent. "That was mind-boggling," she said. "Those are people who should and are able most of the time to pay for that education. And that's troubling that they would go to great lengths not to." The students involved in these cases have gone on to be accepted at public universities and private colleges across the Midwest and as far away as California, according to their social media accounts and student newspapers. A spokesman for the University of Missouri on Tuesday said officials have decided to pull university-based financial aid if they are able to confirm the student "misrepresented their financial situation for the sole reason to get need-based aid when they otherwise would not be eligible." The university's financial aid office continues to investigate. So far, the spokesman said, it has found "an extremely small number" of cases.


The stability of these varied staples producers is prized by income investors. A stable source of income for investors. There are few things that are certain on Wall Street, but one part of the market many investors have learned to rely on are consumer staples stocks. These companies make personal care products, foods or household goods that remain in strong demand in any environment. The stability of staples stocks offer a great way to reduce the risk profile of your portfolio. However, the consistent revenue also can fuel steady dividends for income-oriented investors who are looking for a reliable stream of cash from their holdings. Click through the slideshow to see nine picks for investors interested in low-risk staples stocks with nice dividends. Coty (ticker: COTY) Though share prices are down from their 2015 peak, beauty giant Coty remains one of the safest bets on Wall Street thanks to its broad portfolio of makeup, skin care and hair products across several labels including well-known names like Cover Girl, Clairol, OPI and Philosophy. Growth has been difficult for the company amid fierce competition lately, but sales remain consistently solid as loyal consumers keep these products in strong demand. And despite top-line challenges, COTY stock remains incredibly profitable and its dividend is very sustainable at around 70% of next year's projected earnings. Current yield: 4.5% General Mills (GIS) One of the most iconic staples brands on the planet, General Mills is behind go-to grocery favorites including Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereals, and Yoplait yogurt. These aren't glamorous brands with massive margins or big growth ahead of them, but they remain very popular with consumers and thus deliver the reliable revenue that low-risk income investors crave. Furthermore, these steady sales in good times and bad support a consistent and generous dividend. GIS just offered up its 15th consecutive dividend increase in April, and has paid some form of dividend for a staggering 120 straight years. That's income you can rely on in any economic environment. Current yield: 3.7% Ambev (ABEV) While many U.S. investors haven't heard of Brazil-based Ambev, they have assuredly heard of the beers and soft drinks it's licensed to sell all across Latin America   Bud Light, Corona, Gatorade and Pepsi. It also produces local beverages such as coconut water and juices. The margins aren't great since ABEV has to pay a cut to the big companies behind these brands like PepsiCo ( PEP). However, changing consumer tastes in Latin America and a growing middle class mean this stock is a targeted play on growth that doesn't show up in massive multinationals like Pepsi. Revenue is slowly rising, along with profits, and the dividend is more generous than Pepsi to boot. Current yield: 4.6% Flowers Foods (FLO) While you may not know the baked goods brand of Flowers, you've assuredly seen the items that make up its portfolio. These include Nature's Own multigrain breads, Tastykake snacks and the iconic Wonder white bread. It also produces frozen and prepared breads for foodservice customers nationwide. Flowers may never set the world on fire with product innovation since its business is literally as old as sliced bread. However, even in the age of low carbohydrate diets, there is consistent demand for the products in its portfolio. Although FLO increased its dividend again this year, its payouts remain comfortably sustainable at around 70% of earnings. Current yield: 3.2% Hanesbrands (HBI) Moving away from foods, Hanesbrands is a staple company that is best known for its Hanes undershirts, Playtex and Maidenform bras and Champion athletic wear. This is not a premium fashion company, nor is it a performance athletics brand like Nike ( NKE). Instead, it's a reliable source of clothing that appears in wardrobes regardless of body type, age or income level. The business is as comfortably profitable as an old pair of sweatpants. Hanes pays out roughly a third of its profits via dividends and at a generous rate that is nearly double that of the typical dividend payer in the S&P 500. Current yield: 3.7% Philip Morris International (PM) While the risks of smoking are well known, that doesn't mean that smoking is a thing of the past, and PM brands including Marlboro, Chesterfield and Parliament are among the most popular cigarettes on the planet. Furthermore, the company is researching smokeless alternatives that include electronic cigarettes and related accessories to cash in on the growing "vaping" trend as the desire for nicotine stays strong around the world. With lawsuits against big tobacco companies well in the past and the fundamentals of PM quite strong, shareholders have enjoyed steady revenue and slowly improving profits thanks to efficiencies and a generous stock buyback program to support its share price and earnings metrics. Current yield: 5.3% Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) Soup is hardly the most interesting consumer item, but it's a common item on shopping lists. Whether you're looking for quick meal or using broth in a fancy recipe, chances are that one of Campbell's items will find a way into your cart at the grocery store. But dividend aristocrat CPB is more than that, with brands that include Cape Cod chips, Pepperidge Farm, Goldfish and Prego pasta sauce. Collectively, these foodstuffs make up quite a portfolio that makes revenue to the parent company incredibly consistent. That helps make the dividends   and dividend growth   consistent too, with 57 straight years where the payout by CPB has increased. Current yield: 3.4% J.M. Smucker Co. (SJM) Once again, here s a big food conglomerate that is more than just its headline brand of Smucker jams and jellies. There's Jif peanut butter, Folgers coffee and Pillsbury baked goods that fall under the broad SJM umbrella. That gives this family of foodstuffs a common place in cupboards around the U.S., as well as around the world. Smucker stock also enjoys a comfortable profit margin, which allows it to pay out a generous dividend while still only forking over about 40% of its total earnings. That means the payouts are sustainable and could be ripe for future growth, too. Current yield: 3.1% Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB) Paper products giant Kimberly-Clark is the company behind Huggies diapers, Kleenex tissues, Cottonelle toilet paper and a host of other household and hygiene products. No matter what happens to the global economy, investors can be confident that households will not be cutting back on the purchase of these products. The stability of revenue at this consumer staples stock naturally lends itself to stability in dividends, too. At the end of 2018, KMB raised its dividend payments for the 46th consecutive year   and chances are very good that later this year, shareholders will see another bump in the company's quarterly payout. Current yield: 3%


Orlando will see a return of last week's light rainfall in the coming days, according to drone-powered weather forecasting service Saildrone . Today's forecast shows the greatest likelihood of rain at 97 percent, while the most rainfall is predicted on Saturday at 0.48 inches. The next few days will also bring warm temperatures, expected to persist through Friday. Temperatures will rise even more on Saturday, with a high of 90 degrees. Winds will stay fairly calm over the course of the week, with the highest speeds today at just 11 mph. This story was created automatically using Saildrone's local weather forecast data, then reviewed by an editor. We also incorporate historic weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


OAKLAND, Calif.   They kept stealing glances. How could you blame them? They'd been trained to believe anything was possible. So why not the most improbable? All across the fourth quarter of one of the wildest NBA Finals games of all time, as Golden State kept giving hope that it could force the NBA Finals to Game 7, force it back to Canada, Warrior fans kept shooting looks at the tunnel behind the team bench. They kept looking for Klay Thompson to come back and save them after his 30-point night ended with a violent knee hyperextension. He did it once, coming out to sink two free throws, but then he was sent back in. Word had spread via social media that Thompson was done for the night   later reportedly being diagnosed with a torn ACL . He had even hobbled out of the Finals on crutches much the way Kevin Durant had hobbled out of the NBA Finals on crutches three days ago, bookends of misery for the franchise. So they knew. Yet, they still looked. These fans, this building, had seen it all through the years. Epically bad teams and epically good ones. So much of it had taken place in this unlikely concrete basketball barn by the freeway. On the last night for Oracle and perhaps the last night for this incarnation of Warriors, anything seemed possible. It wasn't. In the end Klay Thompson never emerged, Steph Curry couldn't hit a desperation three on the penultimate possession and no one could stop Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors , 114-110 on the night, 4-2 on the series . In the end, there was just the end, just yellow-clad Warrior fans shuffling out of their tired old place here in Oakland with no idea what faces them when they open the gleaming new place across the bay in San Francisco next season. Arena workers hugged. Regulars shook ushers' hands. A few stayed and took some final photos. Video by USA Today Sports Many wondered if this was all too symbolic and really the end of a dynasty, prematurely done in by ugly injuries at all the wrong moments. "I think everybody thinks it's kind of the end of us," Green said. "But that's just not smart. We're not done yet. We lost this year. Clearly just wasn't our year, but that's how the cookie crumbles sometimes. But, yeah, I hear a lot of that noise, it's the end of a run and all that jazz. I don't see it happening though. We'll be back." It won't be easy. It was never going to be easy, but over the course of the last week, everything was upended. Durant ruptured an Achilles on Monday and could be out six months to a year. Thompson has a torn ACL and could be out, well, who knows for sure how long. In general, that can take up to a year as well. Even when each player returns, are they the same? Both players are free agents. Thompson probably isn't going anywhere. Durant may not either, at least for a year, but what if the team is on the hook for his $30 million-plus player option when he can't even contribute? There isn't enough scoring. There isn't enough depth. There isn't enough salary-cap flexibility. Did the Warriors medical staff clearing Durant to return from a calf injury too soon ruin his trust in the franchise? He had his Achilles surgery in New York, not out here. Is there anything to that? Or does this, in an odd way, anchor him to the Warriors, at least for the short term? No one knows. Maybe not even Durant. A half-decade ruling the league isn't easy. The miles add up. The dings become dents. Age happens. And while the Raptors benefited from a hobbled opponent in the Finals, it's clear they represent are all these deeper, younger contenders that are coming for them. "True champions that we are we should be able to adapt and keep the same DNA no matter what our roster looks like next year and have high hopes of being back here," Curry said. It's an optimistic outlook. He noted, however, "There is going to be some change." For two years, ever since Durant joined a 73-win team, it had been relatively smooth sailing for the Warriors. Two seasons, two titles, the team becoming the bane of some NBA fans' existence because they had too much talent and too little adversity. That changed in a hurry. "I think a lot has been proven about who we are as a team," Curry said, "The fight that we had." Fight is good. The Warriors certainly had it, making this series last far beyond what made sense. Even better is youth and health and Golden State suddenly has little of it. Next season Curry turns 32. Durant will be 31. Klay and Draymond will be 30. Andre Iguodala will be 36. Shawn Livingston will be 34. "Next season will be next season, we will be back with the right mentality," Curry said, almost trying to talk himself into it. "I definitely don't think it is over," he noted. "Our story is not over yet," he added. Perhaps. This is still the most talented team and if it weren't for the injuries, the champagne likely would have been sprayed on the opposite end of Oracle. Injuries are part of the game too though. Especially for an aging team that's logged a lot of minutes. On Thursday, the last night over here in Oakland, the Oracle crowd tried to roar and will their depleted and reeling club across the finish line. They were as rowdy as ever, pushing and believing and like their team, never quitting. The miracle they kept glancing to the tunnel for never came. Reality did; a younger, deeper, healthier team celebrating the title. That was it for these Finals. That was it for Oracle. Was that it for Golden State? Related Slideshow: Best of the 2019 NBA Finals (provided by imagn) More from Yahoo Sports: Raptors secure first NBA title with Game 6 win over Dubs Teammates take issue with Mayfield's comments about RB Johnson Ortiz's wife thanks 'guardian angel' medical team in DR after shooting Kyrie 'prepared to sign' with Brooklyn: report


NEW YORK (CBSNewYork)   A helium canister exploded in the back of a sanitation truck Friday morning in Brooklyn. It happened around 6:40 a.m. near 12 th Street and Seventh Avenue in Park Slope. The force of the blast knocked over worker David Yen. The 13-year veteran was taken to the hospital with shrapnel wounds to his eye, neck, chest and shoulder. "New Yorkers should consider the safety of the dedicated men and women of the Department of Sanitation, who are serving the public on our streets every day," Harry Nespoli, Uniformed Sanitationmen's Association president, said in a statement. "Please don't place dangerous chemicals or other items in household trash."


Mike Maccagnan may not be all the way out of the Jets parking lot, and the rush to line up a replacement for the just-fired General Manager didn't take long. According to Eliot Shorr-Parks of WIP, the Jets are interested in Eagles vice president of player personnel Joe Douglas. Douglas has been with the Eagles since 2016, and previously worked with the Ravens. He's also reportedly close with new Jets coach Adam Gase, which is a good thing to be since Gase is acting G.M. while the team looks for a new one. The Jets fired Maccagnan this morning, after letting him draft their franchise quarterback last year, use a top-five pick this year and spend big in free agency to land Le'Veon Bell and C.J. Mosley .


Castro Brody Salon (4327 18th St., between Diamond and Eureka streets) has shut down after nearly 14 years in the Castro. In a statement posted to the salon's website, owner and hairstylist Ryan Brody said that May 9 was his last day in business. The salon got its start in the Castro at 2338 Market St., above the now-closed Copy Central. After 10 years there, it moved to its current location, where it's resided since 2015. "I left because, unfortunately, I couldn't afford it," Brody told Hoodline. "It became increasingly hard to find stylists, and I'm sure the homeless problem in our neighborhood didn't help." "My landlord was awesome," he added. "It had nothing to do with him or greed." Fans of Brody's work will be pleased to learn that he isn't leaving the neighborhood entirely. He'll continue to work with clients out of Michael Roberts Haircutters (4111 19th St., at Castro St.) But when it came to owning his own small business, "I just couldn't do it anymore," he said. The now-vacant salon is currently listed for lease . The asking price is $3,500 a month. "It's unfortunate that there are so many vacancies in the Castro," said Brody of the current state of Castro retail . He expressed gratitude for his customers' support, and says he hopes they'll come to see him at his new location.


KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) Ned Yost saw that Alex Gordon was dragging a little bit early in the week. So the Kansas City manager gave the outfielder a day off Wednesday. With the team not playing Thursday, Gordon had two full days to rest. The move paid off in a big way as he homered twice to drive in three runs, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 Friday night. ''I definitely felt it. I felt fresh and felt good,'' Gordon said. Gordon hit a two-run home run over the bullpen in right field in the bottom of the first inning and added a solo shot in the bottom of the fifth. Gordon's second home run was the 1,500th hit of his career and gave him the fifth multihomer game of his career and first since August 20, 2016. ''It's cool. I'm lucky to play this game as long as I have and very humbled by 1,500 hits and I'm just happy that I'm still able to do it,'' Gordon said. Homer Bailey (4-3) gave up one run and four hits in five-plus innings, and Scott Barlow struck out a career-high six in two innings of relief for the Royals. Jorge Soler added his team-leading 10th home run of the season. ''I thought Homer was good,'' Yost said. ''I didn't think he was great, but he was good. I thought he continued to make pitches all night long. He just executed pitches all night long.'' Bailey left after giving up back-to-back singles to lead off the sixth. Barlow came in and pitched around a one-out walk to strike out the side and leave the bases loaded, then struck out all three batters he faced in the seventh inning. ''I thought it was an opportunity for us to do some damage. That's for sure,'' Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said. ''Obviously you want to drive the ball in that situation, but it's round ball, round bat, and sometimes you do everything in your power and the other guy just beats you. I think that's what happened in that situation. Barlow pitched a good inning there.'' After giving up 10 runs in 10 innings over his first two starts, Bailey has allowed just 12 runs in his last six outings with a 3.48 ERA over 31 innings. Jake Diekman worked his eighth consecutive scoreless outing, striking out two batters in the eighth inning and Ian Kennedy pitched a perfect ninth. The Royals' bullpen threw four hitless innings and struck out eight. ''I don't think you could say enough good words about the job the bullpen did tonight,'' Bailey said. Phillies starter Jake Arrieta (4-3) also went five-plus innings, giving up four runs and seven hits. He allowed three home runs in a start for the first time since May 29, 2015, against the Royals. Gordon also went deep in that game. ''Just too many mistakes up in the zone,'' Arrieta said. ''The sinker has to be down; it has to be more down, to force him to put the ball on the ground. The one that he hit out in the fourth or fifth inning was too much elevated in a 2-0 count. And the first pitch of the at-bat to Soler was just up. Those need to be down. Three mistakes got hit over the fence. Just need to be better.'' Bryce Harper walked three times and scored Philadelphia's only run of the game, coming home on Odubel Herrera's RBI grounder in the fourth. BATTLE OF THE BEST J.T. Realmuto has thrown out 11 baserunners and has a 50% caught stealing rate, both tops in the MLB. Kansas City leads the majors with 37 stolen bases this season with a 72.5% success rate. On Friday, Realmuto caught two of four runners stealing, keeping his 50% mark on the season. Adalberto Mondesi swiped two bags, his 11th and 12th of the season, and is now tied with the Chicago White Sox's Tim Anderson for the major league lead. UNFAMILIAR FOES Philadelphia had its first regular-season game in Kansas City since June 10, 2007, and just the 13th meeting overall between the two teams. For Philadelphia, it's tied for the fewest games played against any single opponent. It's the second-fewest games played against an opponent for Kansas City, with Friday's game breaking a tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers. TRAINER'S ROOM Phillies: Kapler said infielder Scott Kingery (right hamstring strain) could begin a minor-league rehab assignment on Monday. ... RHP David Robertson (right elbow soreness) and RHP Tommy Hunter (right forearm strain) played catch for first time Friday, but neither is close to a return to game action. UP NEXT Royals: RHP Brad Keller (2-3, 3.99 ERA) will make his first career start against the Phillies on Saturday. Keller pitched 5 1/3 innings Sunday, allowing two runs on six hits and taking a no-decision in a 5-2 loss to Detroit. Phillies: RHP Zach Eflin (4-3, 3.00 ERA) will face the Royals for the first time. --- More AP baseball coverage: www.apnews.com/MLB and www.twitter.com/AP-Sports


(Reuters) - Former world number one Maria Sharapova is set to return to the tour after accepting a wildcard entry at the Mallorca Open, four months after undergoing surgery on her right shoulder. The Russian has not competed since she withdrew from a second-round match at the WTA St Petersburg Ladies Trophy in January and she skipped the entire claycourt season, including the French Open. "I'm very happy... to announce that I'm going to accept the wild card to play the Mallorca Open," the 32-year-old said in a statement. "I want to thank the tournament for the opportunity it gives me and all my incredible fans who have been supporting me in recent months." The Mallorca Open, a warm-up grasscourt tournament for players before Wimbledon, begins on June 17 and the draw will also feature other former world number ones such as defending Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber and Victoria Azarenka. (Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)


The Canucks are parting ways with Ryan Spooner . Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reports that Vancouver has placed the forward on unconditional waivers for the purposes of buying out the final year of his contract. 2018-19 represented a remarkable fall from grace for the 27-year-old. One season earlier, he had an impressive 41 points in 59 games between the Bruins and the Rangers, and he looked as if he could be a useful secondary scorer in New York. The team certainly felt the same way, handing him a two-year, $8M contract last summer. However, things did not go anywhere near as well for Spooner this past season. He struggled in the early going with the Rangers and was flipped with $900K of salary retention to Edmonton for Ryan Strome . The move worked out a lot better for the Rangers than it did for the Oilers. Spooner picked up just two goals and an assist in 25 games with Edmonton before he was ultimately waived and sent to the minors. Shortly after that, he was flipped in a swap of bad contracts to the Canucks with Sam Gagner going back to the Oilers. Unfortunately for Vancouver, the struggles continued, as he had just four assists in 11 games. Overall, he wound up with only three goals and six helpers over 52 NHL games between the three teams, hardly the type of production befitting that type of contract. As a result of the Rangers holding on to part of Spooner's contract, they're also affected by this move. The buyout cost per team is as follows: Vancouver 2019-20: $1.033M 2020-21: $1.033M New York 2019-20: $300K 2020-21: $300K With the buyout, Vancouver will save a little under $2M for next season, which will help offset the salary recapture penalty that hit their books following the retirement of Roberto Luongo but will take on the extra charge for 2020-21. Meanwhile, the Rangers will save $600K for the upcoming season with the extra $300K on the books for the following season. Meanwhile, Spooner will enter a UFA market where he will now find himself battling for a depth spot in a lineup. While his 2018-19 performance wasn't strong, there should still be a few teams thinking that there could still be a bit of upside and that in the right spot, he could be a decent producer from the bottom six. At any rate, his next contract will be a fraction of the one he is being bought out of.


It gets harder and harder each year to earn awards from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Yet, even in the first year of its latest generation, BMW's venerable 3 Series has again proven mighty safe. The IIHS announced last week that the 2019 BMW 3 Series has earned its highest safety rating, Top Safety Pick Plus. In order to achieve this, a car must withstand a series of difficult crash tests that go above and beyond the federal five-star tests. In addition, a vehicle needs to succeed in a variety of technical evaluations that look at safety systems and headlights. Research the BMW 3 Series on MSN Autos | Find a BMW 3 Series near you On the crash-test front, the 3 Series was flawless. It earned the top Good rating in every single crash test, including the IIHS' brand new small-overlap front passenger test. Even when breaking down each test into more specific subcategories, the 3 Series passed with flying colors. The results of the technical evaluations were almost as rosy. With its standard complement of safety systems, the Bimmer achieved the IIHS' top rating of Superior, avoiding crashes at both 12 miles per hour and 25 mph. The headlight situation is a little less exciting. While the 3 Series did receive a Good rating for its headlights, that only applies to the optional LED headlights with automatic high beams. The mid-tier headlights were only rated Marginal, while the base LED headlights were rated Poor for inadequate side and curve illumination. The 2019 BMW 3 Series finds itself in good company. Dozens of vehicles have picked up IIHS awards for 2019 thus far, including four other BMW vehicles: 2019 5 Series , 2019 X2, 2019 X3 and 2019 X5 . Of those cars, only the X2 failed to meet the criteria for Top Safety Pick Plus, earning the second-best Top Safety Pick instead. 2019 BMW 330i Sedan: A return to form This was originally published on Roadshow.


The 2019 NBA draft is in the books and the official start of free agency is just over a week away. Thursday's draft featured a flurry of activity, including a Pelicans-Hawks trade that sent the No. 4 pick to Atlanta, which the team used to draft Virginia's De'Andre Hunter. Zion Williamson is headed to New Orleans after the Pelicans selected the former Duke star with the first-overall pick, while Ja Morant and R.J. Barrett are on their way to Memphis and New York, respectively. While teams now have a number of new faces in the mix, there are still several veteran free agents on the market. Anthony Davis is already on his way to the Lakers, but injured superstars Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson as well as NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard and guard Kyrie Irving all still need to determine their paths forward. This year's free agency frenzy starts on June 30 at 6 p.m. ET. Here are the latest rumors heading into free agency. • The Warriors, Nets, Knicks and Clippers are "serious considerations" for Kevin Durant in free agency. Durant is expected to make is decision independently of anyone else, including Kyrie Irving. (Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPN ) • Nikola Vucevic will be one of the Celtics' "top priorities" this summer if he does not re-sign with Orlando. The Lakers are also a potential landing spot for the All-Star. (Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPN ) • The Nets have no problem taking Kyrie Irving in free agency whether or not they get another star, though recent moves indicate they are clearing space for two if they can land them. (Brian Lewis, New York Post ) • The Bulls reportedly believe that Chicago native Patrick Beverley would be a good fit for the team, though he may end up being too pricey. Other names on Chicago's radar include Ricky Rubio, Darren Collison, Cory Joseph and Ish Smith. (Joe Cowley, Chicago Sun-Times ) • The Cavaliers could release JR Smith and just pay him the $3.7 to $3.9 million he is guaranteed. (Rick Noland, The Chronicle ) Related slideshow: Top picks of the NBA Draft (Provided by imagn)


Manchester City have confirmed that Leroy Sane must undergo surgery in order to correct an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in the Community Shield win over Liverpool. The 23-year-old has been linked all summer long with a move to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, having fallen out-of-favour under Pep Guardiola during the second half of City's historic treble winning campaign. Sane started the Community Shield clash against Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool despite the speculation, but was forced to hobble off after sustaining the injury - and City have now confirmed his worst fears, with an anterior cruciate ligament problem now needing to be corrected by an operation. A statement on the club's website said: "Manchester City FC can confirm that Leroy Sane has damaged the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. "The flying winger picked up an injury in the opening stages of City's Community Shield triumph over Liverpool at Wembley Stadium. "He has undergone testing throughout the week, with a specialist doctor travelling to Manchester for further examinations to understand the extent of the injury.  Injury update on Leroy Sane... ➡ https://t.co/0mQ3t17OTL  #mancity pic.twitter.com/S3Qnlsnsu7   Manchester City (@ManCity) August 8, 2019 "Leroy will have surgery in the coming week. Manchester City will provide Leroy with all the support and guidance he needs, and everyone connected with the Club wishes him a quick and full recovery." Sane has scored 10 goals in each of City's last two Premier League campaigns, helping the Citizens retain their Premier League title by the narrowest of margins last year. Despite his impressive goals ratio, he often found himself on the bench after Christmas last season - with Guardiola instead preferring Bernardo Silva and Raheem Sterling on the flanks, either side of main striker Sergio Aguero . He is expected to be out for the majority of the season, with most ACL injuries requiring at least 6-9 months of rehabilitation.


On average, it happens every five days: An Arizona police officer aims a weapon and shoots at someone. The average age of a person shot at by police: 35. Most often, that person is an armed man, either white or Hispanic, the data shows. Often, he carries a gun or knife. Sometimes, it begins with a 911 caller reporting a crime in progress, or a police task force attempting to arrest a fugitive. Many times, someone close to that person is asking for help, reporting domestic violence or threats of suicide. These police shootings are reported one by one and remembered for their unique characteristics. Some make headlines or inspire protests   14-year-old Antonio Arce in Tempe, 50-year-old Michelle Cusseaux in Phoenix, 26-year-old Daniel Shaver in Mesa, 27-year-old Loreal Tsingine in Winslow. Many more occur with little public notice. But one shooting after another, every five days, adds up   taking fathers, sons and brothers; mothers, daughters and sisters. "People will read stories in their local news and they will think these are one-offs," said Philip Stinson, an associate professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. "But it's only when you start to aggregate the data statewide and nationally that people start to realize how big of a problem it is." In 2018, police shootings hit record levels in Phoenix, the fifth most populous city in the country. Phoenix had more police shootings than New York, Los Angeles, Chicago or Houston. The number of police shootings in Phoenix more than doubled from 2017; over the same span, police shootings in similarly-sized cities fell. The Arizona Republic investigation dug into the numbers and determined this deadly trend extends statewide and stretches far longer than a single year. The whys behind the shootings defy easy answers. But our analysis identified some key factors: guns, aggressive behavior, mental illness, training, police culture. "Every year there are all these individuals who have their lives destroyed, but the city has not cared for them. It's easy for police and the community to say these people are criminals and that they deserved it," said Viri Hernandez, the executive director for Poder in Action, a Maryvale-based advocacy group that has pushed for changes in police training. As the smoke clears from a bloody 2018, the sheer number of police shootings remains a raw question for the community and the police agencies that serve it. "We want our police officers to come home safely and we want our residents to come home," Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said. A FRANTIC CALL, A FINAL STANDOFF: 'Please don't hurt him. He just needs help' Chiefs are talking about more training and, in some cities, a culture change for police. At least one mayor is pushing for more assistance for people with mental-health issues and those battling addiction or depression. Community groups are stepping up their advocacy for less aggressive police behavior and more transparency. 627 people fired at by police in the 8-year span Police are shooting people in all walks of life and all Arizona communities. The Republic compiled a database that details each law enforcement shooting reviewed by a county attorney in Arizona from 2011 to 2018. From 2011 to 2018, there were 600 police shooting cases reported statewide. Officers fired at 627 people, killing just over half of them. In 2018, 117 police shootings took place statewide   a 75% increase from the previous year, and perhaps the most in Arizona's history. In some shootings, officers' decisions to fire at someone who points a gun at them seem clear-cut. It's easy for the police, the public and the prosecutors who review these shootings to say officers had no choice. For more stories that matter, subscribe to azcentral.com . Mario Edward Garnett , 40, killed a Mississippi police officer before a Phoenix officer fatally shot him on Dec. 28, 2013. Garnett, a U.S. Army veteran, had robbed a Phoenix bank and got into a shootout with police. Officer Fabian Gonzalez killed Garnett. "Fortunately, we have pretty well-trained and professional police officers that don't make a lot of mistakes or questionable decisions," said Joe Clure, the executive director of the Arizona Police Association, an organization that advocates for police officers' interests. "At times, that has happened and they've been held accountable." Support for officers' actions also comes from an undeniable truth: Theirs can be a dangerous job. In the past eight years, 13 Arizona officers died by gunfire in the line of duty, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, a nonprofit organization that tracks police officers who have died nationwide. Among the officers who were fatally shot in Arizona: Phoenix Detective John Hobbs in 2014 , Phoenix Officer David Glasser in 2016 , and Nogales Officer Jesus "Chuy" Cordova , DPS Trooper Tyler Edenhofer and Deputy U.S. Marshal Chase White in 2018. Quantifying the number of police shootings and analyzing the data is difficult, partly because law-enforcement agencies don't make comprehensive information readily available to the public. Even internally, many departments don't track certain elements of shootings, such as the mental health of the person shot or the number of shootings involving an individual officer. Comparing Arizona's police shootings with those in other states is even more complex. No state government agencies collect statewide data on police shootings. And the FBI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which tracks causes of death, appear to undercount police shootings because police agencies don't report the full scope of the issue. The Washington Post began tracking fatal police shootings nationwide in 2015. Seth Stoughton, an assistant law professor at the University of South Carolina and former police officer, analyzed the Post's data from 2015 to 2018. His analysis shows Arizona had the fourth-highest number of fatal police shootings per capita in the nation, after Oklahoma, Alaska and New Mexico. Many of these shootings involve calls for help on behalf of someone in the midst of a crisis   drugs, suicide, post-traumatic stress disorder or simple stresses of life. In Cottonwood, on April 2, 2011, four police officers responded to a report of a suicidal woman at an RV park. Betty Shanafelt, 62, told police she had tried to kill herself but couldn't do it. "It's going to be 'suicide by cop,'" she told them, according to the Camp Verde Journal. Shanafelt had lost her job, been evicted from her home and couldn't afford the payments at the RV park. Few other details of her life were available. The officers twice tried a stun gun on her, with no success. Shanafelt, balancing on a walking cane, then began to pull a gun out of her holster, according to the article. Officer Steve Phoenix fired three shots, killing Shanafelt. Police later found she had a second firearm in her fanny pack. Story continues below Arizona police shootings database These people were shot in encounters with Arizona law enforcement officers. Click here for database Some key findings in The Arizona Republic database: In the eight-year period, Arizona averaged about 75 police shootings a year. Police fired at 627 people in 600 different encounters; 353 people died. The outcomes of four cases were unable to be determined. The three police agencies with the most shootings were the Phoenix Police Department with 201, the Tucson Police Department with 55 and the Mesa Police Department with 50. Eighty-nine percent of those shot were armed, most of them with a gun. Almost all those shot were men. The Republic was able to identify the race of the person shot for 67% of the individuals. Of those, 43% were white; 39% were Hispanic; 13% were black; 4% were Native American; less than 1% were Asian. A mental-health history was a confirmed factor in at least 15% of the 600 cases. The state has 15 counties, and 14 county attorney's offices have reviewed a police shooting. The Santa Cruz County Attorney's Office, in southeastern Arizona, is the exception. Of the hundreds of cases reviewed, one officer was charged with murder in connection with an on-duty shooting. Individual shootings in the database spur other questions about why officers decided to fire. Why so many police shootings? Law enforcement officers, professors, lawyers and community organizers interviewed by The Republic had mixed reactions to the findings. Some said the analysis confirmed what they have always believed: Police in Arizona use deadly force too often. Some said the number of shootings reflects the dangers of the job and the current environment. They said the attitude of people who come in contact with officers has grown more defiant, sparking more police shootings. Others said there's no single answer to the question of why Arizona saw the number of shootings it did. "There's really no normal. You have these ebbs and flows within cities and states that just tend to have this natural up and down that's almost unexplainable," said William Terrill, a criminology professor at Arizona State University whose research focuses on police use of force. "It's almost a function of something causing it, but no one can explain it." Kathy Brody, the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, said she believes the number of police shootings in the state reflects the military mindset police officers have. "Maybe a larger view of where policing is in our country today is that police are kind of viewing the people in the community as the enemy, or the people on the other side, versus the people that they're trying to protect," she said. "So, it's like ... the warrior mindset versus the guardian mindset. It seems like these numbers reflect that." Every officer, but 1, cleared by prosecutors Every police shooting is reviewed internally by a law enforcement agency and externally by the county attorney. In the hundreds of shooting reviews that have been completed in the past eight years, every officer but one was cleared of criminal wrongdoing. HOW WE DID IT: Arizona database of police shootings from 2011-2018 That one was prosecuted but acquitted by a Maricopa County Superior Court jury. In November 2017, the jury viewed on-body camera footage of former Mesa Officer Philip "Mitch" Brailsford fatally shooting 26-year-old Daniel Shaver in a hotel hallway. The video shows an intoxicated Shaver crawling toward officers while a sergeant yells commands. At one point, Shaver starts to cry, begging for his life, before Brailsford shoots him. Brailsford testified that he thought Shaver was reaching toward his waist, possibly to pull out a weapon. No weapon was found. The jury acquitted Brailsford of second-degree murder and a lesser charge of reckless manslaughter. The case underscored how difficult it is for prosecutors nationwide to convince juries to convict a police officer. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that officers can use deadly force when a "reasonable officer" would do the same in a similar situation. This broad criterion has made it difficult to challenge an officer's decision to shoot, especially if officers fear they could be killed, said Kami Chavis, a law professor at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Still, 600 police shootings and one prosecution seems like a disparity, Chavis said. "What that suggests is that you basically have a policy of not charging police officers, when you have that many over that number of years," she said. "Criminal prosecution serves several different functions, and one function is, of course, you want to have some justice for the victim, but it also serves the purpose of deterrence." Stinson said it is rare for officers to be charged in connection to an on-duty shooting and even rarer for officers to be convicted. As of May 7, since 2005, 102 non-federal police officers have been charged with murder or manslaughter in on-duty shootings nationwide, according to Stinson's research. Four of them were convicted of murder charges and 32 were convicted for lesser offenses. Twenty-three cases are pending. Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, who was elected in 2010, said that just because his office clears an officer in a case, that doesn't always mean prosecutors believe a shooting is justified or that it was tactically a good decision. In some cases, he said, the clearance just means there is not enough evidence to convince a jury of a guilty verdict. Officers standing trial: Three officers charged since 2002 in on-duty incidents He said his job isn't to determine whether a police officer used the right tactical approach when the officer fired. His job, he said, is to determine whether the officer broke the law. "That's not how I would have responded tactically. But that's not my role as the prosecutor," he said. Activists said part of the reason why prosecutors rarely charge an officer is because the two agencies work so closely together in criminal cases. Charging officers could tarnish the professional relationship prosecutors have with police departments, said Brody, the legal director for ACLU in Arizona. "The connection between the prosecutor's office and the police department   they work with them all the time, it's part of the job," she said. "So, the idea that the county attorney's office and people in the county attorney's office can be objective when evaluating whether (officers) should be prosecuted, it's questionable at best. There could be other review methods or there could be special prosecutors." On May 15, 2011, Pima County SWAT officers were serving a search warrant in connection to a marijuana trafficking investigation when they shot and killed 26-year-old Jose Guereña, a U.S. Marine who had served in the Iraq War. Guereña's wife had awakened her husband, telling him that intruders were trying to break into the house. Guereña armed himself while his wife and 4-year-old son hid in a closet. Officers said they shot because Guereña fired an AR-15 at them when they entered his house. Detectives later determined that Guereña didn't fire his weapon and it had the safety on. Detectives didn't find any illegal drugs in Guereña's home. He was hit by 22 of 71 rounds. Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall declined to charge the officers with murder, saying they were justified under the law because they "needed to take immediate action to stop the deadly threat against them." Guereña's family sued Pima County and the case was eventually settled for $3.4 million. Steve Serbalik, a lawyer who represents police officers accused of misconduct, said officers aren't always perfect in their decisions. But, he added, people should understand that officers' decisions to use force are made in stressful, potentially dangerous situations. "The question is, 'What was the situation that the person who was involved in the shooting faced with? What was the thought process that was going through their head?" he said. "And whether they were perfect, whether they were right in terms of objective facts as to what they saw, or whether they were wrong but their perception was reasonable at the time is actually the question." Mental health: A volatile factor Mental illness was cited as a factor in 15% of the police shootings, but many criminal-justice experts believe that number is low. Mental illness was not mentioned in 227 of the 600 cases in the database. The Republic analysis counted only cases where there was a clear indication that mental illness may have been a factor in a shooting; for example, if the one contacting police said that the person had been diagnosed. "Diagnosing mental-health conditions on the spot for police officers is extremely difficult. Oftentimes, police officers are put in a difficult position trying to make that determination of what is a threat versus what is not a threat," said Rashawn Ray, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Maryland. On Aug. 14, 2014, Phoenix police arrived at the apartment of 50-year-old Michelle Cusseaux, who suffered from bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and depression, to take her to a mental-health facility. Cusseaux answered the door with a hammer above her head, police said. Sgt. Percy Dupra, who at the time was a 20-year veteran, fired one round into her chest, killing her. The shooting happened five days after Officer Darren Wilson fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was unarmed, in Ferguson, Missouri. While the Brown case captured most of the country's attention, Cusseaux's shooting became a local rallying cry for those seeking changes in how police treat people with mental illness. Days after the shooting, Cusseaux's family and supporters marched with the woman's empty casket from Phoenix City Hall to the U.S. Attorney's Office in downtown Phoenix. "I'm asking for help for my daughter, who has a mental issue, and ... the help ended her life," Cusseaux's mother, Frances Garrett, said. "That's hard to believe." Dupra was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing. But in 2015, an internal panel at the Phoenix Police Department said the shooting violated policy. Dupra retired in 2017. In Tucson, there was 30-year-old Abraham Smith. Ryder Schrage, an officer with the Tucson Police Department's Mental Health Support Team, shot and killed him on July 8, 2016. Schrage was cleared of criminal wrongdoing, but a Tucson police panel recommended that changes be implemented at the department in how officers serve mental-health orders. In this case, Smith's sister had called police to help her take her brother to a mental-health institution. Three officers arrived at Smith's trailer, where he lived alone. The sister had warned police her brother "was distrusting of police, and that police presence would frighten him," according to a letter by the Pima County Attorney's Office. Police repeatedly knocked and asked Smith to come out before they entered the trailer. Smith, holding a knife and shard of glass, walked toward the officers. The officers walked out of the trailer and Smith continued to walk toward them. Schrage fired two rounds, killing Smith. Armed: With guns, knives, barbecue tongs Some situations are inherently dangerous, while others can escalate quickly in unexpected ways. On October 28, 2011, Ryan Heisler killed Glendale Officer Bradley Jones, 27. Jones had accompanied a probation officer to a meeting at an apartment complex with Heisler. The meeting turned violent when Heisler fired his gun, striking Jones several times. Jones was able to call for help and was taken to a hospital, where he died early the next morning. Heisler fled in Jones' police car and led officers on a police chase before he crashed. Heisler attempted to flee again but was shot and injured by the officers. In hundreds of cases, the people shot were armed with a gun or a knife. Others were armed with nontraditional weapons such as a sword, hockey stick or machete, The Republic found. Benjamin Taylor, a Phoenix lawyer who has represented people who have claimed police brutality, pointed out that Arizona is an open-carry state, which allows people to carry a gun in plain sight and without a permit. He said just because a person has a gun doesn't automatically give officers leeway to use deadly force. But, he said, he understands the lethal threat of a gun. What he doesn't understand are cases in which police have claimed being threatened by less dangerous objects. On June 12, 2018, Phoenix police responded to a call of a man trespassing at an extended-stay hotel on Osborn Road near Second Avenue. An officer tried to handcuff Alexandre Andrich, 34, but he only got them around one wrist. Andrich got away from police, and Officer Gus Kostas fatally shot him. Kostas said he feared for his safety. The weapon: the partially-applied handcuffs. On October 17, 2013, Margarito Torrez-Vega, 22, assaulted his girlfriend in front of officers, walked into the house and started a fire inside the kitchen, according to court records. Torrez-Vega then walked out of the house and toward the officers "in a deliberate manner with a sharp instrument," court records said. Officer Mark Jordan shot and killed him. The "sharp instrument" was later determined to be BBQ tongs and a ladle. Taylor said, "Officers are getting away with shooting people that really don't have deadly weapons in their hands. Because they're making the excuse of they're feeling threatened. And unless officers truly believe that force is being used against them with a gun, why can't they use other means to subdue citizens without killing them?" Race and ethnicity: 'A deeply disturbing pattern of similar tragedies' Race and ethnicity is a key component in the conversation about police shootings in many parts of the country. Michael Brown's shooting in Missouri and the fatal shooting in 2016 of Philando Castile, a 32-year-old black man in Minnesota, drew national outcry and public demonstrations. But shootings of Native American, Hispanic or black people in Arizona have gone next to unnoticed nationally. The March 2016 fatal shooting of Loreal Tsingine, a citizen of the Navajo Nation, by Winslow Officer Austin Shipley strained relations between the city and the tribe. It raised concerns among Native Americans and also spurred protests locally. Asked by Navajo County to review the shooting, Montgomery's office declined to file criminal charges against Shipley, who had resigned from the department. Shipley had responded to a shoplifting report at a Circle K. He found Tsingine, who fit the description given by a store clerk, a few blocks away. Shipley tried to arrest Tsingine. She brandished a pair of scissors. Shipley fired his gun five times, killing her. The U.S. Department of Justice also investigated the case but declined to file charges. The Navajo Nation sued the federal agency and Winslow, claiming Tsingine's civil rights were violated. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit. The shooting, which was recorded on the officer's on-body camera, received a lot of local attention but almost none of the national coverage that other fatal police shootings of people of color have received. That has been a common occurrence with police shootings in Arizona. Community leaders said that's not because questionable shootings haven't happened, but because Arizona's advocacy community has been focused in the past decade more on immigration issues. That is beginning to change. As an example, some pointed to Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro's comments after a Tempe police officer killed 14-year-old Antonio Arce. On Jan. 15, Officer Joseph Jaen fatally shot Arce, who was running away from police while holding an airsoft gun. Protesters demanded changes in police training and that the officer be fired. Jaen later resigned. Castro, a former secretary of U.S. Housing and Urban Development under the Obama administration, posted a message Jan. 31 on his campaign website. "Because, sadly, Antonio's story isn't an isolated incident. It joins a deeply disturbing pattern of similar tragedies in this country of black and Latino youth who have been fatally shot by police officers despite posing no imminent risk to those officers,'' Castro wrote. Hernandez, the executive director of Poder, said she began looking at the people shot by police and noticed that many of the same families immigrant rights groups had helped also experienced police violence. "It wasn't just about people being arrested, it wasn't just about people being deported," she said. "It was also about police shooting people." On Aug. 5, 2018, Phoenix police officer Kenneth Silvia shot 35-year-old Edward Brown, who is black, paralyzing him. Silvia was responding to a call about possible drug activity in an alley near 19th Avenue and Indian School Road when he confronted Brown and another man, who fled. The police report stated Brown tried to take Silvia's gun, but his lawyer, Tom Horne, disputes this. They have filed an excessive-force lawsuit against the police department in federal court. "The way he was treated constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution," Horne said at a news conference in September. Few entities in the state appear to track the ethnicity of people shot by police. The Republic studied court records, prison records, obituaries and police reports in an attempt to compile the information. In Phoenix, data shows, Native Americans and black people were disproportionately shot when compared with their population numbers in the city. 6% of the people shot were identified as Native American. Native American people make up 2% of Phoenix's population. 14% of the people shot in Phoenix were identified as black. Black people make up 7% of Phoenix's population. 42% of the people shot were identified as Hispanic. Hispanic people make up 43% of Phoenix's population. 38% of the people shot were identified as white. White people make up 42% of Phoenix's population. Ray, the sociology professor at the University of Maryland, said efforts to collect data on race and ethnicity for people who come into contact with police is more challenging in areas where there is a high Hispanic population. Police officers tend to use skin color in determining a person's race or ethnicity. Because Hispanic people's skin color can vary, he said, officers may identify a person as white even though that person may not be white. "It could be a much higher percentage of, say, Latinos in Arizona or people who are multiracial in Arizona who experience police use of force," he said. "But since race oftentimes becomes unclassified, people can't necessarily capture those patterns." Multiple shootings by same officers According to the database, former Mesa police officers Michael Pezzelle and James Edward Pollard had five shootings each between 2011 and 2018. Before they retired in 2018, both men were part of a task force overseen by the U.S. Marshals Service, which serves warrants on people wanted for crimes. Both were involved in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Sariah M. Lane, who was unarmed, on April 20, 2017. The case is now the subject of a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of Lane's mother. The task force was attempting to arrest fugitive Brandon Pequeno for kidnapping, domestic violence, aggravated assault and felony warrants. He was considered armed and dangerous. The task force followed him to an apartment complex parking lot near 51st and Northern avenues in Glendale. As Pequeno began to drive out of the parking lot, four SUVs trapped him, the lawsuit says. Pequeno was in the driver's seat, Damien Sandoval-Rosa was in the front passenger seat and Lane was in the back. "Without warning or provocation, Task Force members began to shoot into Brandon's car," the lawsuit says. One officer used a shotgun to fire a bean-bag round into the front driver's windows. Pezzelle, Pollard and Mesa Officer Hoapili Baker were standing behind Pequeno's Toyota Corolla and shot into the car, the lawsuit says. They were the only task-force members to use deadly force. Pezzelle shot seven rounds from his .45 caliber Sig Sauer 1911. Pollard fired at least three times and Baker fired at least once, the lawsuit says. Lane was shot in the head and died the next day. A Mesa police spokesman said the department was aware of the number of shootings each officer had. He explained that each of the officer's five shootings had occurred on task force assignments. The department declined to comment further because of pending litigation. Joel Robbins, the attorney who filed the lawsuit, didn't respond to a request from The Republic seeking comment. The unit officers work in can affect their chances of being involved in a shooting. Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams mentioned the fugitive-apprehension detail or the special-assignments unit as areas in which officers are more likely to be involved in a shooting. Though she expressed no specific concerns about officers who have shot multiple people, she said her department can do better. "We're always concerned about officer-involved shootings," she said. "One police shooting is one police shooting too many." 2019 may not be as deadly as 2018 Through May 26, at least 29 police shootings had occurred statewide in 2019, eight of them involving Phoenix police. At the same time last year, there had been 57 police shootings in Arizona. The ripple effects of prior years' shootings linger. The Department of Justice is still investigating whether Brailsford, the police officer who was acquitted for murder, violated Shaver's civil rights when he killed him. Shaver's family has a pending multimillion-dollar lawsuit in federal court against Mesa. The Phoenix Police Department is still trying to regain the community's trust after its high number of police shootings. On average, Phoenix police shot someone every eight days in 2018, a significant increase from 2015, when there was a Phoenix police shooting every 21 days. Both Mesa Police Chief Ramon Batista, and Phoenix Chief Williams are grappling with the issue. Batista has made changes in his department's use-of-force policy after a series of videos showing his officers punching, kicking or kneeing people were publicly released. Williams has committed her department to adopt National Police Foundation recommendations, such as more training for officers in how to respond to people with a mental health illness. The Phoenix Police Department also recently purchased about 2,000 Axon body cameras for most of its officers. This move could create more transparency, Williams has said, because it would allow the public to view interactions between police and residents. After a controversial police stop of a Phoenix couple with two young children in the car, Gallego vowed that most officers would have body cameras by August. Witness video shows police pointing guns and yelling threats at Dravon Ames, 22, his pregnant fiancee, Iesha Harper, 24, and their two young daughters. The family said their daughter took a doll from a Family Dollar store on May 27. Phoenix is the largest city in the nation without body cameras for most of its officers. At a May 22 Phoenix City Council meeting, the council voted to increase the police department's budget by $300,000 to help the department implement some of the Police Foundation's recommendations. Protesters showed up wearing black shirts, holding signs with the names of people shot and killed by Phoenix police. They are dubious more funding can help. "This wasn't the first time that they've made some of these recommendations," said Parris Wallace, an organizer with Poder in Action. "If you look back over the years, for the last 30 years to be exact, it's like implicit bias training, better de-escalation, all of those things. "But seeing if it actually gets implemented is what we're looking for. And also, holding the police officers accountable, to a real level of accountability." Arizona Republic reporter Raquel Baier contributed to this article. THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC TEAM Research and reporting: Uriel J. Garcia, Bree Burkitt Data: Uriel J. Garcia Data visualization: Will Flannigan Digital production and copy editing: Joshua Ling Videography: Thomas Hawthorne, Patrick Breen Editing: Alia Beard Rau Social media: Danielle Woodward Additional contributors: Jessica Boehm, Pamela Ren Larson, Jack Lechich, Grace Oldham, Agnel Philip, Jason Pohl, Justin Price, Perry Vandell This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Every 5 days, an Arizona officer shoots someone, a Republic analysis finds


The stepdaughter of Pamela Turner, the woman killed in a confrontation with a Baytown Police officer , said the officer knew her mother was schizophrenic and should have used less than deadly force. "He knew," Aushanta Rubin said. "He knew." Rubin found out about Turner's death on Facebook. She saw someone's live feed share video of Turner being shot to death. "It's wrong," Rubin said. "(The shooting) could have went a different way. It could have went a better way to handle the situation. It didn't have to go down like that." Rubin told KHOU 11 Turner was a hospital nurse for years until her schizophrenia took over. "She was mentally unstable, and the officer knew that because they had arrested her many times," said Latrice Jnofinn, a neighbor. "Last time she got arrested here, they tasered her." Neighbors often saw Turner walking in their apartment complex parking lot picking up trash and talking to herself. They also said she was no stranger to police. A Baytown Police officer patrolling Monday night had several prior encounters with Turner, investigators said. While the 11-year veteran tried arresting Turner for warrants, cameras caught them in a struggle. Witnesses saw the officer use his Taser on Turner. She then kicked it out his hands, grabbed the weapon and used it on the officer, witnesses said. "(Then) he shot over her just like this five times: Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam. Bam," a witness told KHOU 11. Right away, Rubin knew it was her stepmom, "(be)cause somebody described her. (They said) she don't bother (anybody). All she does is take her trash out and watch her dog and I just knew." Neighbors prayed for Turner's three children. All of them expressed shock, anger and want answers. Baytown Police opened an internal investigation. The Harris County District Attorney's Office is also collecting evidence that will be presented to a grand jury to decide if the officer needed to use deadly force. ALSO POPULAR ON KHOU.COM Witness video shows Baytown officer fatally shooting woman during attempted arrest Maleah Davis update: Texas EquuSearch looking near haunted house in Rosharon Fire officials: Man trapped after trench collapse in NW Harris County


PARIS (AP) On the Champs-Elysees fittingly bathed in the yellow of a golden dusk, a Tour de France for the ages crowned a champion of an unusually young age on Sunday: 22-year-old Egan Bernal, South America's first winner of cycling's greatest race. ''I cannot believe it. It's just incredible. I am sorry. I have no words,'' Bernal said through a translator. ''I still can't understand what is happening to me.'' The youngest champion of the post-World War II era, the slightly built Colombian with a killer instinct on the road, proved to be the strongest of the 176 strong men who roared off from the start in Brussels, Belgium, on July 6 on their 3,366-kilometer (2,092-mile) odyssey that delivered the most absorbing, drama-packed Tour in decades and a new cycling superstar in the making: Bernal. Riding a yellow bike, and cheered by Colombian fans who were partying even before he sped up the famous avenue, Bernal crossed the line with his teammate Geraint Thomas, the 2018 champion who this year finished second. Steven Kruijswijk completed what Tour organizers said was the tightest podium in the 116-year history of the race, with just 1 minute, 31 seconds separating the first and third places after three weeks of racing. The 21st and final stage was won in a sprint finish on the Champs-Elysees by Australian Caleb Ewan, the dominant sprinter of this Tour with three stage wins. Keeping with race tradition on its final day, the 155 riders who survived the Tour rode at a pedestrian pace and in a joyful atmosphere before hitting the Champs-Elysees. Bernal chatted with French rival Julian Alaphilippe and raised a glass of champagne as he rode. The setting sun turned the avenue golden as Bernal and the pack sped on its cobblestones to the finish, where Bernal fell into the arms of his family. Speaking in French before the start, Bernal thanked ''France for organizing the most beautiful race in the world, and the most beautiful victory of my life.'' While Colombia celebrated its new national hero, the millions of French fans who had lined the roads through east, central and southern France, and up into the thinning air of the Pyrenees and Alps, were ruing a bitter-sweet Tour. First, their hearts soared with fabulous racing from French riders Alaphilippe, who held the iconic yellow jersey for 14 days, and Thibaut Pinot, who won on the first of seven 2,000-meter-plus (6,500-feet) peaks scaled by the highest Tour in history. But joy turned to sorrow when Alaphilippe and Pinot's prospects of becoming France's first winner since 1985 were cruelly dashed just two days before the grand finale in Paris, on an epic Stage 19 where Mother Nature became a party-pooping guest. An almighty dump of torrential rain and hail severed the Tour route just as Bernal was succeeding in ripping the race lead off Alaphilippe, who'd clung to it like a kid with a favorite toy. ''Julian Alaphilippe made us dream,'' said Celestin Simon, a Parisian who cheered his hero on the Champs-Elysees in a pointy hat of French red, white and blue. ''Unfortunately, there's no victory at the end.'' Alaphilippe, more than anyone, first ignited and then stoked what will long be remembered as a Tour of fireworks. With his goatee beard and can't-catch-me attacks that rivals couldn't match, Alaphilippe embodied ''panache,'' the old-school class so cherished by fans of the 116-year-old Tour. Alaphilippe's enterprise first put him in yellow in Champagne country on Stage 3 and then, after he lost the lead on Stage 6, got him the jersey back on Stage 8, which he held through the Pyrenees and into the Alps. And it was there that Bernal, raised at altitude in Colombia and at home in thinner air, struck and set Colombia into rapture. ''When I saw that he won, I said, `I need to go with my music to support him,''' said clarinet-playing Colombian fan Sebastian Cortes, who traveled from Strasbourg in eastern France to party Sunday on the Champs-Elysees. Bernal flew up the Tour's highest climb, the dizzying Iseran pass at 2,770 meters (9,088-feet) above sea level, demolishing what remained of Alaphilippe's lead on Stage 19 and building a sizeable one of his own. The watch was then stopped, with Bernal way ahead, when the hailstorm suddenly coated the route with ice, amid fears that riders on tires barely wider than their thumbs could skid off into the rock- and ravine-scarred Alpine decor. Compounding the misery for France, Pinot abandoned the race in tears, hobbled by a left-thigh muscle tear. And that was that. The Tour that had been careening to a rock `n' roll finish instead had the plug pulled on it. Landslides also truncated the last Alpine Stage 20, which still proved too long for the by-now exhausted Alaphilippe, who slipped off the podium entirely, despite getting words of encouragement in a call the previous night from French President Emmanuel Macron. Thomas used the last Alpine climb to secure himself the runner-up spot in Paris, giving the Ineos team a podium 1-2 with Bernal. Third-placed Steven Kruijswijk, a Dutch Mr. Steady, pulled off the feat of being wholly unremarkable during the three weeks, while Alaphilippe, Pinot and Bernal and others rocked. Quite remarkably, none of the top four riders won a stage. Alaphilippe, in fifth, won two. ''I left my skin on the road these past weeks,'' Alaphilippe told French sports newspaper L'Equipe. But instead of a red-white-and-blue celebration, Paris was instead being painted in Colombian red, blue and yellow. Especially yellow. --- More Tour de France coverage: https://apnews.com/TourdeFrance


The fourth overall pick from 2016 is still without a contract for the 2019-20 season. Jesse Puljujarvi has made it clear he wants a fresh start somewhere other than with the Edmonton Oilers and is willing to wait for that opportunity. Today Finnish outlet MTV Uutiset reports (via Google translate) that if Puljujarvi can't find a deal in the NHL he will play for Karpat this season. According to his agent Markus Lehto, several NHL clubs have expressed interest but he would not speculate on whether a trade will actually happen. Puljujarvi has ties to Karpat going back years, as he was developed in their junior system and played two seasons for the Liiga club before joining Edmonton. Playing there likely wouldn't be as financially rewarding, but it could get the 21-year old back onto a solid development path. That has to be the biggest worry for any interested NHL clubs right now. Puljujarvi hasn't shown enough to indicate he's ready for full-time NHL action, but he also can't go to the minor leagues without first clearing waivers. There's no way anyone wants to give up something of value just to risk him to the entire league afterwards, meaning the offers for the young forward are likely underwhelming for Oilers GM Ken Holland . In fact, letting him play in Finland for a year may not actually be the worst course of action for the Oilers. While he won't be helping their club try to get back to the playoffs, he may be able to build up a little more value by having a solid season. He's already shown in the past that he can compete at the Liiga level, and he's still young enough that playing overseas wouldn't get him a year closer to unrestricted free agency. There is of course always a chance that he ends up signing with Edmonton after this game of chicken ends. If that happens, it will be extremely interesting to see if new head coach Dave Tippett can turn around his career or if the bridges have already been burned to the ground through this holdout.


Ferrari may use the FIA's 'right of review' to re-examine Sebastian Vettel's Canadian Grand Prix penalty rather than go through with a formal appeal, Motorsport.com has learned. With a deadline looming for the Italian team to confirm its appeal against Vettel's five-second penalty that cost him the win in Montreal, it is believed that the Italian outfit is considering an alternative action plan rather than pushing on with its original intention. Read Also: Why right Vettel penalty shows what's wrong with F1 Vettel: F1 now "not the sport I fell in love with" The matter revolves around Vettel being handed a sanction for what the FIA ruled was him rejoining the track in an unsafe manner and forcing rival Lewis Hamilton off the track. The chances of success going through the FIA's International Court of Appeal were always likely to be slim, because the governing body's own rules state that such in-race sanctions cannot be appealed. So even if went through with its complaint and took it to the FIA's independent court, the likelihood is that the case would be quickly rejected as inadmissible. So although the Italian outfit is expected to officially confirm later that is not going through with the appeal, it is understood that this may not be the end of the matter. The FIA's own International Sporting Code gives competitors an option for a post-event review of decisions, providing that new evidence that was not available at the time has come to light. Article 14.1.1 of the code states: "[If] a significant and relevant new element is discovered which was unavailable to the parties seeking the review at the time of the Competition concerned, whether or not the stewards have already given a ruling, these stewards or, failing this, those designated by the FIA, must meet (in person or by other means) on a date agreed amongst themselves, summoning the party or parties concerned to hear any relevant explanations and to judge in the light of the facts and elements brought before them." The code states that the period during which a petition for review can happen is 14 days after the final classification was made, which means Ferrari has until race day of the French Grand Prix to go down this route. If Ferrari goes ahead with a review case, then it will need to lodge what new evidence it has and present this to the FIA, who will then convene either the stewards from the Canadian GP or replacements to meet to discuss the matter. Ferrari has not commented on what it plans to do, with the deadline for the Canada appeal expiring later today. Asked about the situation, a Ferrari spokesperson said: "We are still working on it and we are collecting more evidence." While the Canadian GP stewards had access to video footage and certain telemetry data, Ferrari may feel that it has more detailed information or data that was not available to the stewards at the time.


In listening to Pittsburgh Steelers defensive coordinator speak during minicamp, it is clear he's happy the front office got linebacker Devin Bush. Every DC wants a player like Bush who can impact the defense in so many different ways. But something Butler said in the interview below got us thinking about the inevitable comparisons to come between Bush and Devin White. "I'm glad Kevin did what he did," Butler said. "We knew what we wanted going into the draft. They had a pretty good idea. The guys we wanted were both of the Devins." White ended up being picked five picks earlier by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It seems, judging by what Butler said, this pick set things in motion for Pittsburgh to go up and get Bush. After all, finding a player with Ryan Shazier's blend of speed, athleticism and instincts remained atop the team's wish list heading into the NFL Draft. https://t.co/GH5KeYI12j - Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) June 12, 2019 Both players are tremendous. But you can bet if White comes out of the gate faster than Bush, comparisons will come. There will be questions of whether or not the Steelers drafted the right Devin and if they were aggressive enough in their trade up. The best thing that can happen is Butler just unleashes Bush on the rest of the league and coaches with far less restraint than last season. Both of these young linebackers have the potential to be stars and considering the different schemes they are going into, any comparisons should be taken with a grain of salt. MORE: Drake FaceTimed with Steph Curry after Game 6 to deliver a classy message Roundup: Sarah Huckabee Sanders Leaving; Taylor Swift's New Song; Darren Rovell Hit Piece Top of Packers WR depth chart takes shape following minicamp Recap of Howie Roseman's dominant offseason NBA Free Agency 2019: The top players


It's official: There will be a new plant in Detroit. On May 21, two votes cleared key elements for the expansion of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) plant on Detroit's east side. Detroit City Council voted 6-3 in favor of a land transfer and about a dozen other details, and the Michigan Strategic Fund approved tax incentives and funding for the land assembly. No matter whether you think this is an enormous boon to the city or that a multi-national automaker got a sweet deal, it's undoubtedly a big moment for Detroit, which hasn't had a new assembly plant built in the city for 30 years. Here's everything you need to know about the votes, incentives, criticisms, and more. The numbers FCA plans to invest $2.5 billion in expanding its Mack Avenue facilities building a new plant and refitting its Jefferson North Plant which it says will create nearly 5,000 new jobs. In order to secure the project's construction, the city had to acquire 215 acres of land in the plant footprint owned by various real estate companies and entities. It went passed the deadline imposed by FCA, but managed to secure all the necessary land on May 3. The total came to $107.6 million, which will be split between the city and state. In addition to funding for the land swap deal, City Council also approved the Community Benefits Agreement and tax abatements on two FCA facilities at 50 percent for 12 years. In the CBA, the automaker says it will invest $13.8 million in workforce training and other programs. Mayor Mike Duggan was obviously pleased with the news, calling it "the greatest day in my term as mayor." "Today was historic." 4,950 good-paying jobs are coming to Detroit, and Detroiters will get to apply early for jobs. Special hiring consideration will also be given to returning citizens & veterans. Learn more about Fiat Chrysler jobs at @DetroitAtWork : https://t.co/cwsh4ywHHM pic.twitter.com/JWNegTKnAT   Mayor Mike Duggan (@MayorMikeDuggan) May 21, 2019 FCA also requested and got $223.5 million in tax incentives from the state of Michigan the automaker is investing in three other Michigan plants. According to the Detroit News , that money comes from... $55 million for land assembly activities including land acquisition and site preparation A $10 million grant in a Michigan Business Development Program A 100 percent Good Jobs for Michigan Withholding Tax Capture for up to 10 years valued at up to $99 million A 100 percent State Essential Services Assessment Exemption for up to 15 years valued at up to $13.4 million for the Jefferson North Assembly Plant A 100 percent State Essential Services Assessment Exemption for up to 15 years valued at up to $18 million for the Mack Engine Plants According to the city, construction on the plant is expected to start this summer. Detroit residents and UAW members will have an exclusive, four-week window to apply for jobs at the new plants. Though FCA isn't hiring yet, prospective applicants will eventually be able to apply through the city's Detroit at Work program. Those who fill out a form now will receive a text alert when the application process begins. The Neighborhoods has more info about how to apply. Concerns from residents, representatives Not everyone is pleased with the outcome of the deal, objecting to the sizable city and state handouts, and other issues. There's often a great deal of urgency with developments like this. City officials are afraid to have the project fall through and will make unfavorable deals in order to ensure it happens. At a meeting of the Economic Development Corporation earlier this month, one of the members equated the deal to a "shakedown." The body controlled some of the land needed for the transfer, and ultimately voted 7-2 to approve it, but there was clearly loud dissent. A big winner of the FCA plant is the Moroun-owned Crown Enterprises, which sold an 82-acre parking lot to the city for $43.5 million. Crown bought the property for $10 million in 2016. It also got 117 acres elsewhere in the city, much of it in southwest Detroit. The Moroun owns the Ambassador Bridge international crossing, which exits in Mexicantown, and many in southwest feel they've been mistreated by the family over the years. "For decades, Matty Moroun and his businesses have been the worst neighbors in southwest Detroit, polluting our communities, stealing public land, and letting their properties crumble and turn into nuisances," U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib told the Detroit Free Press . Others who got money or swapped land include DTE Energy Co., Hantz Farms, and the Great Lakes Water Authority. Some critics cite the lack of guarantees that Detroiters will get jobs at the new plants. Councilmember Raquel Castaneda-Lopez, one of the "no" votes on City Council, said, "I cannot commit to something that does not guarantee you 100 percent or any percent of jobs. I appreciate the prioritization and opportunity for Detroiters to apply. But so often, it becomes a racialized issue or a class issue and we're told over and over again 'Well, there just aren't enough Detroiters.'" People have also noted that the negotiations for community benefits were hastily done. One of the other "no" votes, Councilmember Mary Sheffield, said that the land swap deals were made after the CBA was negotiated. Had residents known that the city would pay out millions of dollars to these companies, it might have negotiated differently. There are also concerns about environmental mitigation, as the new plant will generate more pollution in the area. projected environmental impact of new FCA plant and expansion pic.twitter.com/jDgLivUhlt   violet ikonomova (@violetikon) May 21, 2019 Fishy deals There have also been a few curious elements about the land swaps and purchases. The Metro Times reported that one billionaire developer, Anthony Soave, bought parcels essential to the FCA deal just a month before the announcement. The parcels were former dump sites for contaminated waste and cost just $60,000. Soave's purchase will pay off big time. In exchange for the two contaminated parcels (5.3 acres), which would be used as parking lots for the assembly plant, the tentative deal calls for Soave to receive 72 parcels (9.5 acres) in the area of Van Dyke Street and Lynch Road for a new development. The state of Michigan wasn't exactly transparent in its handling of the deal, either. It kept the details of its incentive package secret until Tuesday's vote. Crain's Detroit Business notes that that the vote from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to approve the $223.5 million package passed "without any substantial questions or scrutiny from the board of business executives."


Grant Thompson , the star and creator of popular YouTube channel " King of Random ," died on Monday in a paragliding accident in Utah. He was 38. According to the Washington County Sheriff's Office, Thompson's body was recovered early Tuesday morning in St. George, Utah after his family filed a missing person's report on Monday night when he didn't return from a parasailing trip. Officials were able to quickly locate his body thanks to a GPS locator in his possession. "It is with great sadness to inform everyone that Grant Thompson passed away last night," a statement read on "The King of Random's" Instagram. "Grant's legacy will live on in the channel and the global community he created." View this post on Instagram It is with great sadness to inform everyone that Grant Thompson passed away last night. Grant had great love and appreciation for his fans. We invite you to share your thoughts for Grant and the channel in the comments. Please do a random act of love or kindness today in honor of The King of Random. Grant's legacy will live on in the channel and the global community he created. A post shared by The King Of Random (@thekingofrandom) on Jul 30, 2019 at 2:04pm PDT Thompson had amassed over 11 million subscribers on his "King of Random" YouTube channel, posting experimental videos and clips about various projects. His most popular video, "How to Make LEGO Gummy Candy!" had over 26 million views. Correction : A previous version of this article stated that Thompson's age was 42. It was 38. Related slideshow: Stars we've lost in 2019 (via Photo Services)


Tom Brady has seen quite a few quarterbacks come and go through Foxboro during his nearly two-decade stint with the Patriots. From Matt Cassel to Brian Hoyer to Jimmy Garoppolo, several signal-callers longed for playing time in New England as a result of Brady's maintained success. But one QB drafted a decade ago not only has seen consistent time on the field, but he's also been a key member of multiple Super Bowl-winning teams. The Patriots effectively took a flier on Julian Edelman when they drafted him in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL Draft. The pick certainly has paid off, as the former Kent State quarterback quickly went from a bottom-of-the-depth-chart wideout to one of Brady's favorite targets. Edelman surely made the right call by switching over to WR, just ask the guy who's helped him earn the billing as one of league's clutchest pass catchers. Video by Sports Media Group To be fair, an Edelman pass helped Brady earn one of his six Super Bowl rings. The Super Bowl LIII MVP uncorked a game-tying, 51-yard touchdown toss to Danny Amendola in a 2015 divisional-round contest against the Baltimore Ravens, which erased the Patriots' second two-touchdown deficit of the game. New England went on to beat the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX thanks in part to a game-winning touchdown catch from Edelman, of course. The Patriots rarely task Edelman with showing off his arm, but it's safe to say No. 11 can let it fly when called upon.


Japanese conglomerate SoftBank is expected to invest $40 billion into its second tech-focused mega fund, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday evening. SoftBank's board is set to meet Thursday to approve the investment, people familiar with the matter told the Journal. The sequel to the massive $100 billion first Vision Fund has an unlikely array of backers including Apple, Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered, the WSJ said. Japan conglomerate SoftBank is expected to invest $40 billion into its second tech-focused mega fund, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday evening . SoftBank's board is due to meet Thursday to approve the funding, according to the Journal, citing people familiar with the matter. The sequel to the massive $100 billion first Vision Fund has unlikely backers including Apple, Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered, according to the Journal. It added that Goldman hopes to secure work for IPOs when the fund's portfolio companies eventually go public. SoftBank, Apple, Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered did not immediately respond to CNBC's requests for comment. The second fund also aims to raise $100 billion, SoftBank said in May . The first fund was backed by the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, as well as tech companies such as Apple, Qualcomm and Taiwan's Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry. The first fund delivered about 45% rate of return to partners after fees on a net equity basis. The Journal said in its report that unnamed sources said both Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi have indicated they are likely to invest again, but Riyadh's commitment will be less than the $45 billion it put into the first fund. Vision Fund I is known for investing billions of dollars into global technology and telecommunication companies around the world. Those include Uber, Slack, The We Company, formerly known as WeWork, India's One97 Communications, which owns online payment services company Paytm, and e-commerce firm Flipkart. In March, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son told CNBC's David Faber that the fund already invested about $70 billion of its money. Read the Journal's full report about SoftBank's plans for the Vision Fund sequel here.


Seattle should be fairly dry this coming week, but there is light rainfall ahead , according to drone-powered weather forecasting service Saildrone . The greatest chance of rain is expected on Saturday at 40 percent, with the possibility of light rainfall of 0.14 inches. The coming days will see mild temperatures, sticking around through Friday. Temperatures will reach a high of 60 degrees on Friday, before turning colder throughout the weekend. Skies will be mostly cloudy today and partly cloudy tomorrow. Winds will be somewhat calm during the week, with the highest speeds on Thursday at only 8 miles per hour. This story was created automatically using Saildrone's local weather forecast data, then reviewed by an editor. We also incorporate historic weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


I get it - a lot of players are upset because their rating in Madden NFL 20 isn't close to what they think it should be. Heck, even Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury is unhappy with how he looks in the game. But, there are a few instances in which the player is actually right to have a grievance, like with Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans. Evans has had five-straight seasons to start his career with over 1,000-plus receiving yards, and last year he had a career-high 1,524 yards, third most in the league. The Madden people didn't seem to care, though, giving Evans an overall rating of just 91, which prompted this response on Twitter from the Pro Bowler. And, while this stat below is aimed to pump up Indianapolis Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton, it actually further proves just how badly Evans was snubbed by the Madden folks. Take a look. Most receiving yards over the past three seasons: 1. Julio Jones - 4,530 2. Antonio Brown - 4,114 3. DeAndre Hopkins - 3,904 4. Mike Evans - 3,846 5. Michael Thomas - 3,787 6. T.Y. Hilton - 3,684 Andrew Luck was missing for 17 of those games. @TYHilton13 deserves more respect. pic.twitter.com/k6peNCB6LO - Locked On Colts Podcast (@LockedOnColts) July 29, 2019 Here are the Madden ratings for the above receivers: Julio Jones: 98 Antonio Brown: 98 DeAndre Hopkins: 99 Mike Evans: 91 Michael Thomas: 95 T.Y. Hilton: 91 Forget Hilton, Evans deserves a lot more respect than he's given. That 91 rating of his looks more ridiculous by the day. Once the season comes around, I'm sure it'll trend upwards fairly quickly. Still, a 91?! MORE: Baker Mayfield's sassy response to Jets' trash talk won over the Browns offensive line Winners and losers from first week of Raiders training camp 3 standouts from Thursday's Lions practice Roundup: Why Whitney Cummings Left Roseanne, MLB Trade Deadline Grades, Hulk Hogan Big WWE Role? Packers coach Matt LaFleur sidelines Josh Jones after practice fight