Griner's return, Las Vegas and New York super teams among key WNBA storylines
CBC
23-05-18 20:26
The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) will begin its 27th season this weekend, with speculation rife as to which team will come out on top. Super teams such as New York and Las Vegas have been busy signing free agents like former MVP Candace Parker, with Las Vegas a slight favourite to repeat its 2020 championship win. The Phoenix Mercury’s Brittney Griner will also return to the court after missing last season while detained in Russia for drug-related charges. Her team mate, Diana Taurasi, will return for her 19th season as the league’s all-time leading scorer.
The WNBA enters its 27th season this weekend with high expectations thanks to super teams in Las Vegas and New York, and the return of Brittney Griner to the Phoenix Mercury. Free agency has been used heavily by teams to build rosters, with Las Vegas and New York using the tool to step into the spotlight. Griner returns from last season where she was detained in a Russian jail on drug-related charges before ultimately being released in a prisoner swap in December. Despite playing only 22 games in 2021, Griner finished second in the MVP race for that year.
Civil rights organizations that truly care about black lives should focus on promoting stronger families instead of pushing abortion on demand, according to a report in The Federalist. The piece argues that, despite the high levels of abortion among black women, reproductive rights activists and progressive figures do not discuss the issue because such groups believe systemic factors cause inequality, rather than individual decisions.
The connection between police defunding and anti-capitalist environmentalism has become apparent in the US after the deadly beating of a black man by five black police officers and the shooting death of an environmental activist in Atlanta. Numerous protests have been sparked across several cities with the overarching theme of systemic disruption in policing and environmentalism. Political ideology campaigns in these instances illustrate the desire for the elimination of the current systems that govern American society and the global economy. For instance, Defend the Atlanta Forest, a group that set up the “autonomous zone,” tweeted, “Police work for capitalism, to protect profit and bottom lines, not for us. It’s no coincidence that the funders of #CopCity (a new police training centre) are the major corporations & wealthy families of Atlanta.”
The connection between environmentalists and the free market is of a long pedigree, yet often overlooked. Capitalism’s notion of constant need for growth coupled with socialism’s poor track record for environmental management creates a stable ground for both ideologies to coexist. Indeed, common antagonism towards capitalism runs through both defunding the police and environmental movements.
It is key for the US to recognise that it is currently under attack at a systemic level. Until a peaceful and unified resolution can be reached, the American society will continue to face social and economic challenges stemming from standoffs between different political ideologies.
Atlanta United FC will face off against the Chicago Fire in an MLS Eastern Conference matchup. Atlanta United head into the game top of the conference with 25 goals scored this season and a record of 6-4-3. The Chicago Fire, meanwhile, are languishing in 12th with a record of 3-4-5 and 15 goals scored. United won the last meeting between the two teams 2-1 and is expected to put up a strong challenge again. However, both teams have several players out due to injury.
Police in the US have yet to identify any suspects or find the weapon used in the killing of the UK astrophysicist Matthew Willson, who was shot dead in January 2022 in Brookhaven, Georgia while sleeping beside his girlfriend Katherine Shepard. The single bullet that killed him travelled 200 metres from a park next to her apartment, through a 10-centimetre gap in the handrail of a stairwell walkway, piercing her bedroom wall and headboard before striking Willson in the head as he lay in bed beside her. Sixteen months after Willson’s death, no one has been held accountable for his murder despite contributions from his family and Atlanta Crime Stoppers, which is offering rewards to anyone who can provide information about his killers. The 28-year-old astrophysicist, who was described in an academic memorial as “a pioneer and explorer in the realm of imaging young planets”, had been preparing to publish his research on the development of software tools for the European Extremely Large Telescope when he died.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has given her clearest indication yet that any indictments related to the election-tampering case against former US President Donald Trump and others are expected to come in August. Willis has requested that local judges not schedule trials and in-person hearings for much of this time. Willis and her team have been investigating the 45th president’s alleged actions to overturn his defeat to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Donovan Bailey, an Olympic sprinter from Canada, has joined a bid for the NHL's Ottawa Senators team, which is being led by US producer Neko Sparks. Bailey, who won two gold medals at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, joins rapper Snoop Dogg on the team's list of high-profile supporters. Sparks' bid aims to create the first Black-led team ownership in the NHL. Earlier this week, the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg community confirmed that it was in support of the bid. According to ESPN, four bids were submitted for the Senators ahead of this week's deadline.
A US Delta passenger has accused the airline of failing to make an emergency landing after she was forced to use two Epipens in an allergic reaction on a flight from Florida to Portland, Oregon. Sara Metzger, who told cabin crew she had a nut allergy when she boarded, injected herself in a bathroom after noticing fellow passenger were eating almonds. An unnamed cardiologist advised her to wait, but the pilot continued with the flight. Ms Metzger said she would not fly Delta again.
The district attorney investigating former US President Donald Trump and his allies for alleged election interference in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election reduced her team by up to 70% for most grand jury meetings in the weeks between 31 July and 18 August, according to a letter she sent to local officials. Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis wrote in the letter that most judges were at a conference in the first week of August and that “my leadership team, all armed investigators, my Case Intake Division, and personnel at the Juvenile Court building will be working every day”. The potential for criminal charges had been set between 11 July and 1 September.
Sprinting icon Donovan Bailey joins bid to buy Ottawa Senators
CBC
23-05-19 16:38
Canadian sprinter Donovan Bailey, who won the 100-metre dash at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and set a world record of 9.84 seconds, has confirmed he has joined Los Angeles-based producer Neko Sparks and rapper Snoop Dogg in a bid to purchase the Ottawa Senators NHL ice hockey team. The team has been up for sale since the death of owner Eugene Melnyk last March.
The Governor of Connecticut, Ned Lamont, has said that he plans to meet with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to discuss the possibility of moving the Arizona Coyotes to Hartford. The state has not had an NHL team since the Hartford Whalers left for North Carolina in 1997. The chance of the Coyotes moving to Connecticut seems unlikely with Hartford’s 48-year-old XL Center in need of a major renovation costing at least $107m, although Lamont said that the state ensures a strong market and a governmental partner for the NHL. Other possible relocation sites include Hamilton, Ontario and Kansas City.
Arizona voters rejected a referendum to build a $2.3bn mixed-use development that included a new arena for National Hockey League (NHL) franchise, the Arizona Coyotes, nixing the chance to recapture the team that spent last season playing at the 5,000-seat Gila River Arena far to the west. However, the vote marked an exception: the Athletics are demanding a similar ransom from Las Vegas and/or the adjacent state of Nevada. This included two sites for a $1.5bn stadium on the Strip and a demand for $500m from the public, although the proposed price has now fallen to $395m. Unfortunately for voters, stadium-seekers have been transitioning to mixed-use development, as exemplified by the Atlanta Braves' battery of restaurants, shops, hotels, flats and offices next to the team's new suburban stadium largely funded with public money.
Woman charged in death of boy found in Indiana suitcase seeks change of Indiana venue
The Toronto Star
23-05-19 20:04
Dawn Coleman, who was arrested in connection with the death of a young boy whose body was found last year inside a suitcase in rural southern Indiana, is seeking a change of venue, arguing that public outrage over the child’s death would prevent her from getting a fair trial. Coleman’s attorney has filed for a venue change request, contending that the Louisiana woman would not receive a fair trial in southern Indiana's Washington County due to public hostility against her, media coverage and hostility over the victims' death. A hearing is set for June 1 on the change of venue request.
Ryan Mountcastle hit a three-run homer to lead the Baltimore Orioles to a 6-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Orioles, with Kyle Gibson allowing just one run in seven innings. Toronto has now lost four of their last five games, with Yusei Kikuchi taking his first loss in nine starts this season. Anthony Santander and Adam Frazier also hit home runs for the Orioles. Toronto's Bo Bichette and Danny Jansen both drove in runs, with Félix Bautista striking out Kevin Kiermaier to end the game.
The Atlanta Braves beat the Seattle Mariners 6-2 as Orlando Arcia’s single off the right-field drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh inning. Bryce Elder allowed two runs in six innings in the first match up of starting pitchers named Bryce, while Marcell Ozuna had three RBIs for Atlanta as they overcame another strong start by Seattle rookie Bryce Miller, who led by 2-1 until fading and leaving the game in the seventh.
A federal appeals court has confirmed that a man with an IQ in the 70s cannot be executed in Alabama. The Atlanta-based 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal judge’s decision that vacated Joseph Clifton Smith's death sentence; the 52-year-old had been convicted in 1997 of the beating death of Durk Van Dam. In a victory for Smith’s attorneys, the appeals court found that he was intellectually disabled and therefore his death sentence violated the Eighth Amendment.
This little-known rule shapes parking in America. Cities are reversing it
CNN
23-05-20 09:02
The policy of mandatory minimum parking requirements, which requires parking spaces for a large number of buildings, is starting to be scrutinized by cities and towns across the United States. Critics say that parking minimums reduce the supply of housing, making it more expensive for people who are looking for affordable housing. According to WGI, a construction engineering company, it costs around $28,000 to build a parking spot in the US, with construction costs highest in New York City, where a new parking spot costs up to $36,000. Mandatory parking requirements also have environmental consequences, such as increasing traffic congestion and carbon emissions because fewer people walk or cycle. A number of cities, both Republican-led and Democrat-led, are reforming parking rules, with California being the first state to pass legislation that ends parking minimums for new developments nearby to public transit. US Representative Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California, recently introduced a bill that would eliminate parking minimums for new affordable residential, retail, industrial, and commercial construction.
Caroline Polachek has been making music in public for almost 20 years. From fronting experimental Brooklyn band Chairlift, to writing beats for Beyoncé, and collaborating with such colourful left-field pop stars as Christine and the Queens, Grimes, and Charli XCX. Since going solo in 2017 Polachek has accomplished a daring shift towards the mainstream through a combination of vividly original songwriting and extraordinary vocal ability with the glossy values and slick visuals associated with commercial chart pop. Her aim, she tells me, is to create music that is “a bit unhinged and chaotic,” adding, “like life”.
Her most recent album, Desire, I Want to Turn into You, met universal acclaim, hailed by Rolling Stone as “what happens when pop sets out to transcend its own limits”. Caroline attributes this late-blooming success to a change less in her approach to music than in the wider perception of it. “Coming up in a band on the Brooklyn scene, everything I did was seen through the lens of DIY ‘indie rock’,” she says. “No matter how pop or polished our music became, the industry refused to view it any other way. I felt a lot of freedom going solo, to finally be seen without that kind of thick, distorting lens.”
As a live act, she is something else: unafraid to use provocative costumes or her physicality to put across her music. Caroline believes we can all benefit from “living vicariously through experiencing another human being doing something well, which is why it’s so thrilling to watch figure skating or listen to opera. By witnessing, we have an extraordinary sensory level of empathy. I think about the way I present my body to express tension, or sensuality, or things that feel alien.”
The Connecticut Sun are looking to win their first WNBA championship but will have to achieve this without franchise player Jonquel Jones, who has left for the New York Liberty. They also lost former Coach and General Manager Curt Miller and guard Jasmine Thomas to Los Angeles, and fan-favourite Courtney Williams to Chicago. However, the remaining Sun players are looking on the bright side, including team leader Alyssa Thomas who stated “We still have a lot of talented players, a lot of all-stars.” New coach Stephanie White and acquisitions of veterans Rebecca Allen and Tyasha Harris add further strength to the Sun's roster.
