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Russia convicts US journalist of spying in a trial widely seen as politically motivated

YEKATERINBURG, Russia (AP) — Wall Avenue Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was convicted Friday of espionage and sentenced to 16 years in a maximum-security jail on costs that his employer and the U.S. authorities have rejected as fabricated.

The swift conclusion of the secretive trial in Russia’s extremely politicized authorized system might probably clear the way in which for a prisoner swap between Moscow and Washington.

Gershkovich, his head shaved and looking out skinny in a darkish T-shirt, was calm as he stood in a glass defendants’ cage within the Sverdlovsk Regional Courtroom. He listened impassively to the decision however gave an occasional smile. When Choose Andrei Mineyev requested him if he had any questions in regards to the verdict, he replied “No, your honor.”

After Mineyev learn the decision, somebody within the courtroom shouted, “Evan, we love you!”

AP correspondent Charles de Ledesma studies a Russian courtroom has convicted a U.S. reporter of espionage, after a trial broadly seen as politically motivated.

Closing arguments came about behind closed doorways the place Gershkovich didn’t admit any guilt, in keeping with the courtroom’s press service. Prosecutors requested an 18-year sentence, however the decide opted for a shorter time period.

U.S. President Joe Biden mentioned after the conviction that Gershkovich “was focused by the Russian authorities as a result of he’s a journalist and an American.”

“We’re pushing exhausting for Evan’s launch and can proceed to take action,” he mentioned in a press release. “As I’ve lengthy mentioned and because the U.N. additionally concluded, there isn’t any query that Russia is wrongfully detaining Evan. Journalism will not be a criminal offense.”

Almar Latour, CEO of Dow Jones and writer of The Wall Avenue Journal, and Editor in Chief Emma Tucker known as it a “disgraceful, sham conviction.”

“Evan has spent 478 days in jail, wrongfully detained, away from his household and buddies, prevented from reporting, all for doing his job as a journalist,” they mentioned in a press release. “We are going to proceed to do every part potential to press for Evan’s launch and to assist his household. Journalism will not be a criminal offense, and we won’t relaxation till he’s launched. This should finish now.”

Latour later advised The Related Press in an interview it was “deeply disconcerting” to see Gershkovich in a defendants’ cage with a shaved head “and the extra emaciated look,” however he added: “We do consider that he’s in any other case wholesome.”

Commenting on the unusually swift trial, he mentioned, “It simply goes to indicate that in an autocracy and a regime like this, trials can transfer at any pace, with an invisible hand deciding that.” It additional underscores “the pretend nature of those costs,” he added.

Gershkovich, 32, was arrested March 29, 2023, whereas on a reporting journey to the Ural Mountains metropolis of Yekaterinburg. Authorities claimed, with out providing any proof, that he was gathering secret data for the U.S.

He has been behind bars since his arrest, time that might be counted as a part of his sentence. Most of that was in Moscow’s infamous Lefortovo Jail — a czarist-era lockup used throughout Josef Stalin’s purges, when executions had been carried out in its basement. He was transferred to Yekaterinburg for the trial.

Gershkovich was the primary U.S. journalist arrested on espionage costs since Nicholas Daniloff in 1986, on the top of the Chilly Struggle. Overseas journalists in Russia had been shocked by Gershkovich’s arrest, although the nation has enacted more and more repressive legal guidelines on freedom of speech after sending troops into Ukraine.

In contrast to the trial’s opening June 26 in Yekaterinburg and former hearings in Moscow the place reporters might see Gershkovich briefly earlier than proceedings started, there was no entry to the courtroom Thursday when the trial resumed. Media had been allowed in Friday for the decision. Espionage and treason circumstances are usually shrouded in secrecy.

Russian courts convict greater than 99% of defendants, and prosecutors can enchantment sentences that they regard as too lenient.

The U.S. State Division has declared Gershkovich “wrongfully detained,” committing it to assertively search his launch.

Requested Friday a couple of potential prisoner swap involving Gershkovich, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to remark.

Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov mentioned Wednesday that Moscow and Washington’s “particular companies” are discussing an trade. Russia has beforehand signaled a potential swap, however mentioned a verdict should come first. Even after a verdict, a deal might take months or years.

U.S. officers provided to swap Gershkovich final 12 months however it was rejected by Russia, and so they haven’t made public any potential offers since then.

State Division deputy spokesman Vedant Patel on Thursday declined to debate negotiations about an trade.

President Vladimir Putin hinted earlier this 12 months he could be open to swapping Gershkovich for Vadim Krasikov, a Russian serving a life sentence in Germany for the 2019 killing of a Georgian citizen of Chechen descent.

Talking to reporters after the decision, prosecutor Mikael Ozdoyev mentioned Gershkovich was accused of gathering secret details about manufacturing and restore of army gear at Uralvagonzavod, an industrial plant about 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Yekaterinburg that manufactures tanks. Ozdoyev repeated the declare that Gershkovich was appearing on directions from the CIA.

U.S. officers have dismissed this as bogus. “Evan has by no means been employed by america authorities. Evan will not be a spy,” White Home nationwide safety spokesperson John Kirby mentioned final month.

Russia’s interpretation of what constitutes excessive crimes like espionage and treason is broad, with authorities usually going after individuals who share publicly obtainable data with foreigners and accusing them of divulging state secrets and techniques.

U.N. human rights consultants mentioned this month that Russia violated worldwide regulation by jailing Gershkovich and will launch him instantly.

Arrests of Individuals are more and more widespread in Russia, with 9 U.S. residents identified to be detained there as tensions between the 2 international locations have escalated over preventing in Ukraine.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield accused Moscow of treating “human beings as bargaining chips.” She singled out Gershkovich and ex-Marine Paul Whelan, 53, a company safety director from Michigan, who’s serving a 16-year sentence after being convicted on spying costs that he and the U.S. denied.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken mentioned Friday that on the subject of Gershkovich, Whelan and different Individuals wrongfully detained in Russia and elsewhere, we’re working “fairly actually every single day.”

“We’re working it as we communicate, and we’re not going to cease till we get Evan house, Paul house, until we get others house,” Blinken mentioned on the Aspen Safety Discussion board in Colorado.

Since sending troops to Ukraine, Russian authorities have detained a number of U.S. nationals and different Westerners.

In his assertion, Biden mentioned that “for the reason that very first day of my administration, I’ve had no greater precedence than looking for the discharge and protected return of Evan, Paul Whelan and all Individuals wrongfully detained and held hostage overseas.”

The son of Soviet emigres who settled in New Jersey, Gershkovich was fluent in Russian and moved to the nation in 2017 to work for The Moscow Occasions newspaper earlier than being employed by the Journal in 2022.

Gershkovich had over a dozen closed hearings on extending his pretrial detention or appeals for his launch. He was dropped at the courthouse in handcuffs and appeared smiling for the various cameras earlier than the hearings started.

These gave his household, buddies and U.S. officers a glimpse of him, and it was a break from his in any other case monotonous jail routine. However his mom, Ella Milman, mentioned in addition they had been a painful reminder that “he’s not with us.”

Mates say that whereas he was in Lefortovo, Gershkovich was not allowed telephone calls and was allowed out of his cell for under an hour a day to train. He normally spent the remainder of his time studying books in English and Russian and writing letters to family and friends.

He relied on his humorousness to get by means of the times, in keeping with these near him.

As he marked his second 12 months in captivity in March, Milman mentioned he was “telling individuals to not freak out,” however she admitted the pressure for family and friends was “taking a toll.”

WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich convicted of espionage by Russian court in case denounced by US as a sham



CNN
 — 

Evan Gershkovich, the primary American journalist to be arrested on espionage fees in Russia because the Chilly Conflict, has been discovered responsible of spying and sentenced to 16 years in jail by a Russian court docket, in a case that the US authorities, his newspaper and supporters have denounced as a sham.

The court docket in Yekaterinburg introduced the responsible verdict and sentencing on Friday shortly after 3 p.m. native time (8 a.m. ET).

The court docket heard closing arguments and 32-year-old Gershkovich, a Wall Avenue Journal reporter, delivered his closing remarks behind closed doorways on Friday morning.

The case’s speedy conclusion comes simply weeks after Gershkovich first appeared in a glass cage together with his head just lately shaved at the beginning of his trial on June 26. On that day, Gershkovich stood cross-armed, sometimes smiling and waving to the gang of reporters.

The pace of the trial has raised questions over whether or not the Kremlin is intending to make use of him as a part of a prisoner swap take care of america, strategies which spokesman Dmitry Peskov left with out remark when requested about them on a Friday convention name forward of the decision announcement.

In June, Moscow confirmed once more that contacts are ongoing relating to a possible prisoner change deal for Gershkovich, however Peskov repeatedly insisted that these conversations had been to be carried out in “absolute silence” to forestall problems.

Gershkovich was arrested whereas reporting for the WSJ, throughout a visit to Yekaterinburg in March 2023, and later accused of spying for the CIA. Russian authorities have by no means supplied any public proof to help their claims.

Inside two weeks of his arrest in March 2023, the US State Division designated him as wrongfully detained and referred to as for his rapid launch.

In a press release following Friday’s sentencing, Gershkovich’s employer stated: “This disgraceful, sham conviction comes after Evan has spent 478 days in jail, wrongfully detained, away from his household and buddies, prevented from reporting, all for doing his job as a journalist.

“We’ll proceed to do all the things attainable to press for Evan’s launch and to help his household,” the assertion from Dow Jones CEO and Wall Avenue Journal Writer Almar Latour and Wall Avenue Journal Editor in Chief Emma Tucker continued.

“Journalism is just not a criminal offense, and we is not going to relaxation till he’s launched. This should finish now,” it added.

On the United Nations Safety Council on Friday, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield Ambassador additionally raised Gershkovich’s case. “Let me start with the information popping out of Russia this morning. Evan Gershkovich was sentenced to 16 years. He has dedicated no crime. He’s being punished as a result of he’s a journalist, and he’s an American. Easy as that,” she stated.

Journalist advocacy group, the Committee to Defend Journalists (CPJ), joined the refrain of criticism, declaring Russia’s present report because the world’s fourth-worst jailer of journalists, with at the very least 22 presently behind bars.

“Journalists should not pawns in geopolitical video games. It’s time to cease hostage diplomacy and free him instantly,” CPJ Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna stated in a press release.

The decision has but to enter into drive, and the protection can attraction the conviction inside 15 days, decide Andrey Mineyev stated whereas delivering his verdict. The court docket additionally ordered Gershkovich to pay procedural prices of 6,708 rubles ($77), and for a few of his private gadgets, together with an iPhone and a notepad, to be destroyed.

In keeping with the decide, the time Gershkovich has already spent in detention since final March will depend in direction of his sentence.

Following his arrest, Gershkovich was held in Moscow’s infamous Lefortovo jail, spending nearly each hour of the day in a small cell, earlier than being transferred to town of Yekaterinburg within the Urals greater than 1,100 miles east of the capital. He handed the time by writing letters to his family and friends, his mother and father stated in an interview with the WSJ, including that he was allowed only one hour of strolling per day.

Gershkovich, the US authorities, and the WSJ have vehemently denied the fees in opposition to him.

US and Western officers have accused Russia of utilizing Gershkovich and different jailed foreigners as bargaining chips for attainable prisoner exchanges.

A high-profile swap in 2022 noticed US basketball star Brittney Griner exchanged for arms supplier Viktor Bout. However Russia refused to launch one other jailed US citizen, Paul Whelan, because it was searching for a former colonel from Russia’s home spy group in return.

Whelan informed CNN on Friday that he feels “sympathy and empathy” for Gershkovich, however expressed hope that the most recent developments might open the door for a deal to safe each of their launch.

Whelan, who referred to as CNN from his distant jail camp in Mordovia Friday, stated he was capable of watch a information broadcast in regards to the sentencing.

“The one factor I might take into consideration was, after I was standing in court docket, listening to the decide learn the false story of my conviction and listening to that I must serve 16 years in jail. And there’s surreal expertise of understanding that you just had been 100% harmless, and that this, this, stage present, this drama was occurring round you,” Whelan stated.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has beforehand steered “an settlement may be reached” with america to launch Gershkovich and alluded to the case of a Russian nationwide convicted of finishing up an assassination in Berlin in 2019, in an interview with right-wing US media character Tucker Carlson in February.

The trial of Gershkovich, the American-born son of Soviet-era emigres to the US, has highlighted the extent to which Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has harmed relations between Moscow and Washington.

Of their indictment, Russian prosecutors stated that “beneath directions from the CIA” and “utilizing painstaking conspiratorial strategies,” Gershkovich “was gathering secret info” a few Russian tank manufacturing unit.

This story has been up to date.

First Baptist Dallas historic sanctuary partially destroyed

The historic First Baptist Church sanctuary constructed within the 1800’s went up in flames Friday night.

The hearth reached 4 alarms after the roof partially collapsed, however it has now been contained.

Senior Pastor Robert Jeffress says he’s grateful no congregants had been harmed.               

Crews had been first known as to the church on the nook of San Jacinto and North Ervay Avenue simply after 6 p.m.

Courtesy: Darryl Dc Clark 

First responders had been met with heavy smoke once they first arrived. It originated as a two-alarm hearth however shortly grew to 4 alarms.

Issues appeared to be principally beneath management till the flames rekindled round 7:35 p.m. when the roof partially collapsed.

Dallas Fireplace-Rescue known as for a fourth alarm at 8:14 p.m. Dozens of firefighters have been on scene all afternoon attempting to manage the flames and pushing folks again to security.

Jeffress stated nobody has been harm.

“I used to be baptized there after I was 6, I used to be ordained in ministry after I was 21. It holds loads of recollections. We thank God that no one has been harm. We had simply concluded trip bible college with over 2,000 children. They had been all gone, so God has protected us via all this,” Jeffress instructed FOX 4. “I am grateful that the church is just not bricks or mortar or wooden; it is folks.”

First Baptist is anticipated to carry a service at 11 a.m. on the Dallas Conference Middle on Sunday.

Investigators consider the hearth might have began within the church’s basement. 

Most firefighting operations started to close down round 2 within the morning.

On Saturday morning, crews had been nonetheless within the space of the church, spraying water to extinguish sizzling spots.

The constructing is at the moment inaccessible as a result of hearth officers are involved about its structural integrity.

Dallas Fireplace-Rescue says the church shall be required to place boundaries across the constructing, present 24 hour safety and structural engineer’s report inside 24 hours.

If the sanctuary is set to be unstable, then it will likely be demolished.

Dallas Fireplace-Rescue will proceed to have crews on scene till the constructing is said safe or it’s demolished.

The reason for the hearth is being categorised as undetermined, however that might change if new info involves mild, DFR says.

Drone Video Exhibits Injury at Church

FOX 4 viewer Elias Canales shared drone video of the injury at First Baptist Dallas.

The video from above the historic sanctuary reveals a lot of the constructing was broken within the hearth.

Whereas the outside partitions to many of the constructing are nonetheless standing, the video reveals vital injury to the inside.

First Baptist Dallas

First Baptist Dallas was began in 1868, however the crimson brick constructing, referred to as the historic sanctuary was not constructed till 1890, in line with the Texas Historic Fee.

The church obtained a historic marker in 1968.

This can be a creating story. Test again with FOX 4 for more information.

Downtown Dallas church fire: The latest updates

Providers on Sunday shall be held within the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Conference Heart at 11 a.m.

DALLAS — Plumes of black smoke had been seen rising via the Downtown Dallas skyline Friday night.

Dallas Hearth Rescue (DFR) responded to a fourth-alarm hearth simply after 6 p.m. on the First Baptist Dallas Church at 1707 San Jacinto St. When firefighters arrived, they had been met with heavy smoke and instantly began attacking the blaze. Officers mentioned not less than 100 firefighters had been on scene for greater than three hours.

DFR confirmed to WFAA that the “construction concerned is the secondary chapel.” Chopper 8 captured the second when the spire toppled over as crews battled the flames.

Trip Bible College concluded within the historic sanctuary on Friday. It’s used for funerals, weddings, and auxiliary occasions that don’t require the principle sanctuary. 

Most firefighting operations started considerably shutting down between 2 a.m. and three a.m. Saturday morning, based on DFR. Overhaul corporations had been on scene all through Friday night time into Saturday morning to make sure security and to proceed extinguishing scorching spots, based on hearth officers.

DFR mentioned Friday night they believed the blaze began within the basement. Deacons instructed WFAA they worry the church’s library, beneath the historic sanctuary, has been misplaced. It held a majority of the church’s information, they mentioned.

Officers mentioned nobody was injured within the hearth.

In an replace Saturday, DFR mentioned that the constructing was inaccessible because of the lack of structural integrity. Extra drone footage was captured and a discover was issued to church representatives, DFR mentioned. The church shall be required to put in obstacles across the historic sanctuary, present 24-hour safety, and supply a structural engineers report inside 24 hours. If the construction is dominated unstable, then it will likely be demolished, hearth officers mentioned Saturday afternoon. DFR mentioned it should preserve a presence on scene till the structural integrity is set or the construction is demolished. 

DFR mentioned Saturday the fireplace was being categorized as undetermined, nonetheless, “we reserve the best to vary or complement this discovering primarily based on new or further data which can subsequently be decided.”

Pastor Robert Jeffress, who was elected pastor of First Baptist Dallas in August of 2007, spoke to reporters as firefighters continued to struggle the fireplace, and mentioned he had been baptized and ordained as a minister in that very church.

“I had simply left the church just a little bit after 6 p.m. after we bought phrase that the church was on hearth, our historic sanctuary,” Jeffress mentioned, emotional.

Jeffress grew up at First Baptist Dallas. He was baptized within the Historic Sanctuary at age 9, ordained there when he was 21, and holds many reminiscences of the church.

The constructing has been round since 1890, Jeffress mentioned and was the house of the church earlier than they moved into a brand new heart about 12 years in the past. 

“We had simply concluded trip bible faculty with over 2,000 children,” Jeffress mentioned. “They had been all gone. God has protected us via all of this.”

Jeffress mentioned they do not know the reason for the fireplace right now.

“I am grateful that the church isn’t bricks and mortar or wooden, it is folks,” he mentioned. “And the folks of God will endure. First Baptist Dallas will endure.”

He mentioned he is holding onto religion that they will salvage one thing. “We’re not going to let these flames have the ultimate say,” he mentioned. “Friday night time this place was engulfed in flames. Friday has handed. And on Sunday we will proclaim the ability of God.” 

Others gathered exterior of the fence arrange by DFR to see what was left of the church. 

Michael Burks grew up within the church. That is the place he additionally met and married his spouse. ” it now, I am undecided the way you’re in a position to restore it,” he mentioned. 

Moments earlier than talking with Jeffress, WFAA’s cameras captured the response to elements of the constructing collapsing:

Providers on Sunday shall be held on the Dallas Conference Heart. Reasonably than the standard three companies held onsite at First Baptist Dallas – together with a band-led worship service that was nonetheless being carried out within the historic sanctuary – there shall be one joint service at 11 a.m. CT, church officers mentioned in a message despatched to their congregation. The service shall be livestreamed at icampus.firstdallas.org.

“A technique or one other, we intend to satisfy for church this Sunday,” a church spokesperson instructed WFAA.

Residents from so far as Irving have reported with the ability to see the fireplace on the Dallas skyline.

Stream ‘Breaking The News’ on Apple TV, Prime, XFinity

Our nonprofit newsroom depends on donations from readers, such as you, to maintain the work that we do. Change into a nineteenth member immediately.

“Breaking the Information” — the movie following the inception, launch, and fledgling triumphs and challenges of The nineteenth’s newsroom — is now accessible to stream.

The film is a time capsule that features the newsroom’s deliberations round and response to main information occasions essential to The nineteenth’s evolution: the coronavirus pandemic, the killing of Breonna Taylor, the overturning of Roe v. Wade. It additionally paperwork The nineteenth’s inner struggles to overtake age-old business precedents.

“This movie is such an sincere and heartfelt reflection of the early days of The nineteenth, and we’re grateful it’s going to be accessible for even wider viewing,” mentioned nineteenth CEO Emily Ramshaw.  

The place and the way to watch

The movie will probably be streamed on the PBS Documentaries channel on Amazon Prime Video. It should even be accessible for a price on Apple TV/iTunes in addition to Comcast Xfinity. 

“Breaking the Information” premiered on the TriBeCa Movie Pageant in June 2023, gained the 2023 David Carr Award for Fact in Filmmaking on the Montclair Movie Pageant, and was an official choice eventually yr’s El Paso Movie Pageant, DC/DOX Movie Pageant and Middlebury New Filmmakers Pageant, amongst others. Its broadcast premiere was in February 2024 on PBS. The movie was directed and produced by Heather Courtney, Princess A. Hairston and Chelsea Hernandez, and produced by Diane Quon.

Bonus content material

If you happen to’re in search of extra in regards to the documentary, a panel dialogue with “Breaking the Information’” filmmakers and nineteenth workers — hosted by Libby Casey, senior information anchor at The Washington Publish — is obtainable now on our YouTube channel. You too can learn a Reddit AMA with two of the filmmakers, who answered questions on what makes a superb documentary and the work nonetheless left to be achieved.


When is July’s full moon? Here’s when, why it’s the Buck Moon

It is virtually time to forged your eyes to the sky for July’s wild full moon: The Buck Moon.

When is the total moon in July 2024?

The Buck Moon will hit peak illumination at 3:17 a.m. Pacific on Sunday, July 21, 2024. The moon will nonetheless seem full the night time earlier than and after its peak to the informal stargazer, in keeping with area.com.

Why is July’s full moon known as the Buck Moon?

Male deer antlers start to develop in late spring, rising as quick as a quarter-inch per day, in keeping with the Farmers’ Almanac. The lengthy days set off the hormones that begin the expansion every spring. By July, the antlers are in full velvet for the male deer, therefore the Buck Moon.

Greatest option to view the total moon: Joshua Tree Nationwide Park

On the lookout for a very good place to view the total moon in Southern California? Contemplate Joshua Tree Nationwide Park, the place the darkish night time skies make for wonderful viewing. By the way, we’re in “Milky Manner” season for JTNP … that means the Milky Manner is most seen at that vantage level throughout this time of 12 months.

There’s one catch although. You may want to decide on between full moon viewing or Milky Manner viewing, as a brilliant moon will obscure your view of the galaxy.

What’s the August full moon?

The Sturgeon Moon will hit peak illumination at 11:26 a.m. Pacific on Monday, Aug. 19.  It is a supermoon, and can seem larger and brighter than the opposite full moons we have seen thus far this 12 months.

Full moon schedule 2024

Every full moon has its personal title. Right here in North America we take the names for the total moons from Native Individuals from completely different areas of North America.

Within the Thirties the Maine Farmers’ Almanac started publishing Native American names for full moons, in keeping with NASA. This is a have a look at when different full moons are anticipated to occur in 2024, in keeping with NASA:

  • Aug. 19, Sturgeon Moon
  • Sept. 17, Harvest Moon
  • Oct. 17, Hunter’s Moon
  • Nov. 15, Beaver Moon
  • Dec. 15, Chilly Moon

Ceylon summer auction today | News, Sports, Jobs

CEYLON — As we speak, July 20, is the date for the Ceylon summer time public sale. There are two or three rings all day starting at 8:30 a.m. No home goods will likely be offered at this public sale.

The Welcome Summer season Competition is in its second day immediately, July 20. The parade is at 4:30 p.m. Many actions for these of all ages are deliberate all day. Plan to attend.

Our Savior’s Lutheran Church can have providers at 5:30 p.m. tonight, July 20, with communion. Space residents are welcome.

St. Pauls’s Lutheran Church in Wilbert can have their 10 a.m. Sunday service with communion, adopted by their voter’s assembly. All members are voting members and are urged to attend since an necessary constitutional vote will likely be taken on the assembly.

Condolences to the households of Lyman Craig, Rodney Johnson and Merry Jane (Lubenow) Osman, who all handed away lately. They are going to be missed by family and friends.

There will likely be an American Crimson Cross blood drive from 10 a.m. to five p.m. Monday, July 22, at St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Fairmont. To make an appointment or try the places and occasions for blood drives in your space, name 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767), log on to www.redcrossblood.org or textual content BLOODAPP to 90999.

Tuesday espresso hours for July proceed from 8:30-10 a.m. July 23, on the Regional Worship Heart in Sherburn simply south of I-90. Additionally, the Ceylon Espresso Lovers meet 8:30-10 a.m. every Thursday within the again room of the Lake Belt Bar and Grill in Ceylon. Space women and men are welcome to affix these espresso occasions.

The Sherburn Theatre will characteristic the blockbuster film ‘Twisters’ this weekend, July 19-21, and subsequent weekend, July 26-28. Present occasions are 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 4 p.m. on Sundays. Tickets are $5 and so they have good popcorn too.

In different upcoming information:

The Lake Belt Bar and Grill can have a Puzzle Race at 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on July 27.

Waverly Lutheran Church north of Welcome can have their a hundred and twenty fifth anniversary on Sept. 8. Reservations for the midday meal are due Aug. 8 to the Circle of Religion’s church workplace by calling (507) 728-8259.

As we speak’s breaking information and extra in your inbox

WNBA All-Star game, Kansas City Chiefs aim to get third-time lucky : NPR

The WNBA All-Star recreation takes place Saturday. Additionally, soccer’s Kansas Metropolis Chiefs try a three-peat.



SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

And ultimately, it is time for sports activities.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SIMON: WNBA All-Star Sport. And the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs go for a three-peat. Michele Steele of ESPN joins us. Michele, thanks very a lot for being with us.

MICHELE STEELE: You wager, Scott.

SIMON: And also you’re becoming a member of us from Phoenix. And thanks a lot. I do know it is early. The WNBA All-Star Sport takes place tonight. A twist – this time, one of the best gamers from the league are taking over the U.S. Ladies’s Olympic staff. There’s some overlap, is not there?

STEELE: Positive. The most effective 12 gamers within the nation will probably be there. They’re all representing USA Basketball. We’re speaking about Diana Taurasi and A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart. They’re all present WNBA gamers, they usually’ll be going through different present WNBA gamers who didn’t make the staff…

SIMON: Yeah.

STEELE: …The WNBA All-Stars. So it makes for some intriguing storyline, Scott.

SIMON: Effectively, and maybe essentially the most outstanding, Caitlin Clark, Iowa’s personal, now of the Indiana Fever, will play for the WNBA facet. She was not chosen for the Olympic staff. Is there a sub drama occurring there? She appears to have been on hearth ever since she wasn’t chosen to indicate the coaches that they may have been incorrect not sending her to Paris.

STEELE: You are proper about that. The primary three weeks of the season, she type of struggled, after which there was a second the place it appeared that she turned the nook. You recognize, in fact, this was an enormous controversy when it was introduced. Caitlin Clark, the largest star in girls’s basketball not getting the nod. I requested Caitlin Clark about this, and he or she stated, you realize what? I am not going to be motivated by that. I’ve a lot respect for Workforce USA. And it simply offers you motivation to make the staff in 2028.

Now, I ought to point out, although, Scott, the final time we had a recreation format like this – the WNBA All-Stars versus the Olympic staff – a participant who didn’t make the staff, Arike Ogunbowale, dropped 26 factors in that recreation.

SIMON: Wow.

STEELE: Beat Workforce USA and took dwelling the All-Star MVP.

SIMON: Oof. You bought an opportunity to interview the Diana Taurasi, who’s simply been named the highest WNBA participant thus far this century by ESPN. She’s going be on the Olympic staff tonight. She’s on the crest of historical past, too, is not she?

STEELE: She is – 42 years outdated. She’s the GOAT, best girls’s participant of this century, and he or she informed me that is her final rodeo for the Olympics. Now, it has been a wild journey. If the U.S. staff wins as anticipated, this will probably be her sixth straight gold medal, which is completely exceptional, Scott. However considered one of her teammates, Breanna Stewart, informed me that Dee, as they name her, stated the very same factor in Tokyo. So if anybody can do it in 4 years at 46, it could be her.

SIMON: NFL coaching camps opened. You had been in Missouri – or Missouruh (ph) – in that a part of the state. Two-time defending champion Kansas Metropolis Chiefs’ coaching camp. So what did you be taught from being within the orbit of Patrick Mahomes?

STEELE: Yeah. It is the warmth of July, so NFL coaching camps are getting underway right here. And it sounds unusual to say for a staff with Patrick Mahomes, however the Chiefs truly do have to get higher on offense. The protection carried that staff to the playoffs final yr. They actually did. So Mahomes is in a dorm room in St. Joseph, Mo., proper now, the place they’ve coaching camp, and he is placing his receivers by way of their paces. They need to win a 3rd Tremendous Bowl.

SIMON: Yeah. That might be a unprecedented achievement, would not it?

STEELE: Historic. By no means been completed.

SIMON: All proper. ESPN’s Michele Steele. Have an incredible weekend. Boy, you are going to be on the court docket the place it occurs. Good work.

STEELE: Thanks, Scott.

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U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee dies


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Longtime US Rep Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, who had pancreatic cancer, has died

Longtime U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, who helped lead federal efforts to guard girls from home violence and acknowledge Juneteenth as a nationwide vacation, has died. She was 74.

Lillie Conley, her chief of employees, confirmed that Jackson Lee, who had pancreatic most cancers, died in Houston Friday night time along with her household round her.

The Democrat had represented her Houston-based district and the nation’s fourth-largest metropolis since 1995. She had beforehand had breast most cancers and introduced the pancreatic most cancers prognosis on June 2.

“The highway forward won’t be straightforward, however I stand in religion that God will strengthen me,” Jackson Lee mentioned in an announcement then.

Bishop James Dixon, a longtime pal in Houston who visited Jackson Lee earlier this week, mentioned he’ll keep in mind her as a fighter.

“She was only a uncommon, uncommon jewel of an individual who relentlessly gave the whole lot she had to ensure others had what they wanted. That was Sheila,” he mentioned.

Jackson Lee had simply been elected to the Houston district as soon as represented by Barbara Jordan, the primary Black girl elected to Congress from a Southern state since Reconstruction, when she was instantly positioned on the high-profile Home Judiciary Committee in 1995.

“They only noticed me, I suppose by means of my profile, by means of Barbara Jordan’s work,” Jackson Lee instructed the Houston Chronicle in 2022. “I believed it was an honor as a result of they assumed I used to be going to be the individual they wanted.”

Jackson Lee rapidly established herself as a fierce advocate for girls and minorities, and a pacesetter for Home Democrats on many social justice points, from policing reform to reparations for descendants of enslaved folks. She led the primary rewrite of the Violence In opposition to Girls Act in almost a decade, which included protections for Native American, transgender and immigrant girls.

Jackson Lee was additionally among the many lead lawmakers behind the trouble in 2021 to have Juneteenth acknowledged as the primary new federal vacation since Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established in 1986. The vacation marks the day in 1865 that the final enslaved African Individuals in Galveston, Texas, lastly realized of their freedom.

A local of Queens, New York, Jackson Lee graduated from Yale and earned her legislation diploma on the College of Virginia. She was a decide in Houston earlier than she was elected to Houston Metropolis Council in 1989, then ran for Congress in 1994. She was an advocate for homosexual rights and an early opponent of the Iraq Conflict in 2003.

Prime congressional Democrats reacted rapidly to the information Friday night time, praising her dedication and work ethic.

Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina known as her “a tenacious advocate for civil rights and a tireless fighter, enhancing the lives of her constituents.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland mentioned he had by no means identified a harder-working lawmaker than Jackson Lee, saying she “studied each invoice and each modification with exactitude after which instructed Texas and America precisely the place she stood.”

Former Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California cited Jackson Lee’s “relentless willpower” in getting Juneteenth declared a nationwide vacation.

“As a robust voice within the Congress for our Structure and human rights, she fought tirelessly to advance equity, fairness and justice for all,” Pelosi mentioned.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott mentioned he and his spouse Cecilia will at all times keep in mind Jackson Lee, calling her a “tireless advocate for the folks of Houston.”

“Her legacy of public service and dedication to Texas will dwell on,” he mentioned.

Jackson Lee routinely gained reelection to Congress with ease. The few occasions she confronted a challenger, she by no means carried lower than two-thirds of the vote. Jackson Lee thought of leaving Congress in 2023 in a bid to turn into Houston’s first feminine Black mayor however was defeated in a runoff. She then simply gained the Democratic nomination for the 2024 basic election.

Through the mayoral marketing campaign, Jackson Lee expressed remorse and mentioned “everybody deserves to be handled with dignity and respect” following the discharge of an unverified audio recording presupposed to be of the lawmaker berating employees members.

In 2019, Jackson Lee stepped down from two management positions on the Home Judiciary Committee and Congressional Black Caucus Basis, the fundraising of the Congressional Black Caucus, following a lawsuit from a former worker who mentioned her sexual assault criticism was mishandled.

In an announcement, Jackson Lee’s household mentioned she had been a beloved spouse, sister, mom and grandmother often known as Bebe.

“She shall be dearly missed, however her legacy will proceed to encourage all who imagine in freedom, justice, and democracy,” the assertion mentioned. “God bless you Congresswoman and God bless the USA of America.”

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Related Press author Lou Kesten contributed to this story from Washington.