USA Today - 24 April 2024

USA TODAY “I usually judge people if they don’t vote. But this is the first election where I understand if you don’t want to vote. I’m just stuck.” Kathika Senevirante 25, of Knoxville, Tenn. CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – President Joe Biden should have a lock on Viviana Ramos’ vote. She’s a liberal young woman from an immigrant family working a service industry job that keeps her living paycheck to paycheck, worried about climate change, health care, the cost of college and buying a house. But Biden may not get her vote in November. Ramos, 24, voted for him in 2020 but is now unsure whether she can bring herself to support him again, even if it means a second presidency for Donald Trump, whom she dislikes even more. “That fuels the rage. It’s really disheartening. I have a moral battle with myself: Do I even vote this time around? I don’t want to have to choose between them. One is slightly worse than the other. It’s horrible,” said Ramos, who works at a coffee shop inside downtown Chattanooga’s historic train station. Ramos is one of many young voters stewing with grievances over the country’s future, from the existential crisis of climate change to the frustration over inflation, reproductive rights, high ELECTIONS 2024 Viviana Ramos, 24, is torn over her options this election year. “It’s really disheartening. I have a moral battle with myself: Do I even vote this time around?” PROVIDED BY VIVIANA RAMOS Young voters feel a new antipathy Many say they grasp the moment but are dismayed by the choice Trevor Hughes USA TODAY See YOUNG VOTERS, Page 6A THE NATION'S NEWS | $3 | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024 E2 QIJFAF-03005x(b)m ©COPYRIGHT 2024 USA TODAY, A division of Gannett Co., Inc. HOME DELIVERY 1-800-872-0001, USATODAYSERVICE.COM Want early room check-in? How hotels make it happen Go behind the scenes to see just how much work housekeepers put in for guests. In Money Survivors in Nassar case to get nearly $139 million Department of Justice settlement stems from mishandling of sexual abuse claims. In Sports McAdams’ remarkable debut on Broadway Review: Playing the optimistic mom of a sick child, she delivers career-best performance in heartbreaking “Mary Jane.” In Life JOHN NACION/GETTY IMAGES On the eve of an international meeting to debate a global treaty on plastic pollution, Earth Day 2024 on Monday highlighted the planet’s growing problem with plastics in events ranging from beach cleanups and seminars to an environmental demonstration in Seoul, South Korea. Since the first Earth Day in 1970, plastic has become more ubiquitous in our environment. It’s now considered “a crisis of global proportion,” according to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Committee to Develop an International Legally Binding Instrument on Plastic Pollution, including in the Marine Environment. “This is right there with climate change as a primordial threat to the World leaders debate treaty on plastics See EARTH DAY, Page 4A Activists hold up placards reading “Let’s end plastic pollution!” during an Earth Day event in Seoul, South Korea, on Monday. JUNG YEON-JE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES Dinah Voyles Pulver USA TODAY 459.75 million tons of plastic, including polymer resins and fibers, were produced in 2019. That number is up from 2 million in 1950. Less than 10% of plastic waste in the U.S. is estimated to be recycled. A majority heads to landfills. 33 billion pounds of plastic wash are estimated to wash into the ocean every year – about two garbage trucks worth of plastic every minute. Americans disagree vehemently about the Israel-Hamas war. The conflict has divided friends and strained families, become a third rail in the workplace, and poses a serious political problem for President Joe Biden. Over the past week, all that roiling discord seems to have focused with laser-like precision on one place: Columbia University in New York City. The Ivy League school’s lush campus on the Upper West Side of Manhattan is known for many things. It’s where the popular TV show “Gossip Girl” was often filmed. It’s where Barack Obama finished his bachelor’s degree and Hillary Clinton is now a professor. It even has a Donald Trump connection (Trump once called the university’s former president a “moron” for refusing to buy land from him for a new campus). And when law enforcement arrested more than 100 protesters on campus last week, a day after the university’s president testified in Washington about her handling of a spike in antisemitism, it recalled an era of foment in the late ’60s that put the school on the national map. The tumult on the New York City campus is more than just a political spectacle, though. It has become a microcosm of the intractable challenges facing higher education in the 21st century – from managing political interference to balancing freedom of speech with a need to keep students Columbia a natural nexus of activism University has history of upheaval on campus Zachary Schermele USA TODAY See COLUMBIA, Page 4A WASHINGTON − At landmark arguments Thursday in Donald Trump’s longshot Supreme Court bid for presidential immunity, his test case is Richard Nixon. After Nixon avoided criminal charges from Watergate through a presidential pardon, he set the standard for whether presidents can face lawsuits. An Air Force weapons analyst had sued Nixon, claiming he’d been fired in retaliation for telling Congress about massive cost overruns in the Defense Department. A closely divided Supreme Court said in 1982 Nixon couldn’t be held liable for official actions because civil suits would be too distracting for a president and make him unnecessarily cautious when carrying out his responsibilities. In landmark high court case, Trump’s test case is Nixon Maureen Groppe USA TODAY Latest update on Trump’s hush money criminal trial Former media executive testifies how National Enquirer assisted Trump. 3A See IMMUNITY, Page 3A Nixon

2A ❚ WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2024 ❚ USA TODAY NEWS Volume 42, No. 156 Customer service To view important information related to your subscription, visit aboutyoursubscription.usatoday.com. You can also manage your subscription at account.usatoday.com. Contact USA TODAY for questions or to report issues call 1-800-872-0001. Operating hours are: Monday-Friday: 8:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. EST Available subscriptions Subscribe and save today by visiting subscribe. usatoday.com. The subscription below is billed monthly and includes 24/7 access to usatoday .com, breaking news on our tablet and smartphone apps, subscriber benefits at usatoday.com/ subscriberguide and the eNewspaper, a digital replica of the print edition. h Delivery of the Monday through Friday print editions: $34.00 *Plus applicable taxes Contact us Customer Service ............................. 1-800-872-0001 Newsroom ..................................703-854-3400, ext. 5 Classified advertising ..................... 1-800-397-0070 National, regional advertising ......... 703-854-3400 Corrections and clarifications Our goal is to promptly correct errors. Contact Standards Editor Michael McCarter at accuracy@ usatoday.com to report a mistake. Describe the error, where you saw it, the date, page number or the URL. Postal information USA TODAY, ISSN 0734-7456, is published daily except for Saturday, Sunday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving (Observed), Christmas (Observed) and New Years Day (Observed), by Gannett Media Corp, 1575 Eye Street, NW, Suite 350, Washington, DC, 20005. Periodicals Postage at Washington, DC and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send all UAA to CFS. (See DMM 507.1.5.2); NON-POSTAL ONE AND MILITARY FACILITIES: Please send address corrections to USA Today, Customer Service, PO Box 1387, Fort Smith, AR 72902. A near-miss earlier this year between NASA’s TIMED spacecraft and the Russian Cosmos 2221 satellite was even closer than originally thought: The two objects whizzed by each other less than 10 meters apart, or less than 33 feet. The Department of Defense closely monitored NASA’s Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics Mission, or TIMED, craft to see if it collided with the Russian satellite on Feb. 28, USA TODAY reported. The space agency said the two “nonmaneuverable satellites” passed each other safely at 1:34 a.m. EST, but it wasn’t until more than a month after the incident that NASA announced just how close the two crafts came to colliding. An initial report from LeoLabs, a satellite monitoring company, said the satellite passed by the spacecraft with only an uncomfortable 65 feet of space between them. But NASA confirmed that space was much tighter. At the 39th Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on April 9, NASA Deputy Administrator Col. Pam Melroy said the satellite was much closer than it had appeared. The space between the two crafts was half of what NASA originally thought. “We recently learned through analysis that the pass ended up being less than 10 meters (33 feet) apart − within the hard-body parameters of both satellites,” Melroy said in the presentation, which was posted to YouTube by NASA. “It was very shocking personally, and also for all of us at NASA.” The satellites will near each other again, but their encounter in February was the closest pass in “current predicted orbit determinations,” a NASA news release said. Dangers of the collisions At the symposium, Melroy said that if the two objects had collided, there would have been significant debris. Tiny shards from the two spacecraft would have traveled at “tens of thousands of miles an hour, waiting to puncture a hole in another spacecraft, potentially putting human lives at risk,” Melroy said. “It’s kind of sobering to think that something the size of an eraser on your pencil could wreak such havoc on our beautiful and amazing space ecosystem that we’re building together.” What is the TIMED spacecraft? The TIMED spacecraft is part of a science mission that studies the influence of the sun and human activity on Earth’s lesser-known mesosphere and lower thermosphere/ionosphere, according to NASA. It was launched in December 2001 and continues to orbit Earth as an active mission. What is the Cosmos 2221 satellite? The Russian satellite is a now-defunct spy satellite that weighs 2.2 tons, according to NASA. It is just one part of the more than 9,000 tons of orbital debris, or space junk, that NASA said orbits Earth. NASA’s website said it launched in 1992 from Plesetsk, Russia. NASA near-miss of Russian satellite closer than thought Julia Gomez and Emily DeLetter USA TODAY The space between the two crafts in a February encounter was half of what NASA originally believed. STAN HONDA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Contact restored. That was the message relieved NASA officials shared after the agency regained full contact with the Voyager 1 space probe, the most distant human-made object in the universe, scientists have announced. For the first time since November, the spacecraft is returning usable data about the health and status of its onboard engineering systems, NASA said in a news release Monday. The 46-year-old pioneering probe, now 15.1 billion miles from Earth, has continually defied expectations for its life span as it ventures farther into the uncharted territory of the cosmos. It wasn’t as easy as hitting ControlAlt-Delete, but top experts at NASA and CalTech were able to fix the balky, ancient computer on board the probe that was causing the communication breakdown – at least for now. A computer problem aboard Voyager 1 on Nov. 14 corrupted the stream of science and engineering data the craft sent to Earth, making it unreadable. Although the radio signal from the spacecraft had never ceased its connection to ground control operators on Earth, that signal had not carried any usable data since November, NASA said. After some serious sleuthing to fix the onboard computer, that changed on April 20, when NASA finally received usable data. The probe and its twin, Voyager 2, are the only spacecraft to fly in interstellar space (the space between the stars). Voyager 2 continues to operate normally, NASA reports. Launched more than 46 years ago, the twin spacecraft are standouts on two fronts: they’ve operated the longest and traveled the farthest of any spacecraft. Before the start of their interstellar exploration, both probes flew by Saturn and Jupiter, and Voyager 2 flew by Uranus and Neptune. They were designed to last five years but have become the longest-operating spacecraft in history. Both carry goldplated copper discs containing sounds and images from Earth, content that was chosen by a team headed by celebrity astronomer Carl Sagan. For perspective, it was the summer of 1977 when the Voyager probes left Earth. “Star Wars” was No. 1 at the box office, Jimmy Carter was in the first year of his presidency, and Elvis Presley had just died. Contributing: Eric Lagatta and George Petras NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft is depicted in this artist’s conception traveling through interstellar space, which it entered in 2012. PROVIDED BY NASA/JPL-CALTECH NASA officials say communication restored with Voyager 1 spacecraft Doyle Rice USA TODAY Two hunters who ate meat from deer known to have chronic wasting disease − or “zombie deer disease” − developed similar neurological conditions and died, raising concerns that it can pass from animals to humans. Found in deer in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming in the 1990s, chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been recorded in free-ranging deer, elk and moose in at least 32 states across all parts of the continental U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Deer infected with CWD may be called “zombie deer” because the disease leads to weight loss, lack of coordination, stumbling, listlessness, weight loss, drooling and lack of fear of people. Scientists and health officials have been concerned that CWD could jump to humans as mad cow disease did in the United Kingdom in the 1990s. In 2022, scientists in Canada published a study, based on mice research, suggesting a risk of CWD transmission to humans. Here’s what you need to know about chronic wasting disease and whether you need to worry about it. Researchers identify troubling case involving 2 deaths Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio have reported how two hunters who ate venison from a deer population known to have CWD died in 2022 after developing sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), which is a neurological disease like CWD. The second man to die, who was 77, suffered “rapid-onset confusion and aggression,” the researchers said, and died within a month despite treatment. “The patient’s history, including a similar case in his social group, suggests a possible novel animal-to-human transmission of CWD,” they wrote in the case report, which was presented earlier this month at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology and published in the peer-reviewed journal Neurology. The researchers did not say where the men lived or hunted. But the highest concentration of CWD-infected deer can be found in Kansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Wyoming, according to CDC and U.S. Geological Survey reports. Because of the difficulty in distinguishing between the diseases, the researchers said the case does not represent a proven case of transmission. However, “this cluster emphasizes the need for further investigation into the potential risks of consuming CWD-infected deer and its implications for public health,” they wrote. What is ‘zombie deer disease’? What are prion diseases? Also known as chronic wasting disease, “zombie deer disease” is a prion disease, a rare, progressive and fatal neurodegenerative disorder that affects deer, elk, moose and other animals, the CDC says. In prion diseases, the abnormal folding of certain “prion proteins” leads to brain damage and other symptoms, according to the CDC. Prion diseases, which usually progress rapidly and are always fatal, can affect humans and animals. Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD) and variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (vCJD), which is a form of mad cow disease, are prion diseases found in people. Mad cow disease is an example of a prion disease that can spread from cattle to humans, and some researchers have likened “zombie deer disease” to it. For instance, with mad cow disease, it usually took four to six years from infection for cattle to show symptoms, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Deer may have an incubation period of up to two years before the onset of symptoms. So, the animals could have the disease but look normal until the onset of symptoms, such as weight loss, notes the U.S. Geological Survey. The development of vCJD in humans in the wake of mad cow disease – its official name is bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE – through eating meat from contaminated cattle has concerned scientists about the possible transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) to humans. Can ‘zombie deer disease’ be transmitted to humans? Even though there has been no known confirmed case of deer-to-human transmission of “zombie deer disease,” concerns have risen since officials found CWD in a dead deer in Yellowstone National Park in November. “As of yet, there has been no transmission from deer or elk to humans,” Jennifer Mullinax, associate professor of wildlife ecology and management at the University of Maryland, told BBC. “However, given the nature of prions, CDC and other agencies have supported all efforts to keep any prion disease out of the food chain.” Should CWD transmit to humans, it could create a “potential crisis” similar to what mad cow disease caused, Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, told BBC. “However, it’s important to note that BSE and CWD prions differ structurally, and we do not yet know whether the pathology and clinical presentation would be comparable if CWD transmission to humans were to occur,” he said. Meanwhile, chronic wasting disease continues to spread to more states; the most recent is Indiana. The disease was detected this month in a male whitetailed deer in the northeastern part of the state, which borders part of Michigan, where CWD had been detected earlier, according to the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. The U.S. Geological Survey updated its tracking of chronic wasting disease on Friday to include 33 states (adding Indiana), as well as four Canadian provinces and four other countries (Finland, Norway, Sweden and South Korea). Contributing: Sara Chernikoff and Julia Gomez 2 hunters died after eating tainted venison Fears rise that disease can spread to humans Mike Snider USA TODAY Chronic wasting disease was discovered in Pennsylvania’s free-ranging white-tailed deer in 2012, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. BRIAN WHIPKEY TAIL CAMERA/ USA TODAY NETWORK

NEWS USA TODAY ❚ WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2024 ❚ 3A NEW YORK – The sixth day of Donald Trump’s New York hush money trial started with arguments over whether the former president should be held in contempt for allegedly violating a gag order – and then tumbled into the tawdry world of tabloids. Prosecutors say Trump has violated that order at least 10 times and the judge should not only fine the presumptive Republican presidential nominee $1,000 per violation but warn him he could get jail time if things don’t change. In the first criminal trial of a former or current president, Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors say he tried to cover up unlawfully interfering in the 2016 presidential election through a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. The gag order forbids Trump from commenting on jurors, potential witnesses, court staff and the family members of presiding Judge Juan Merchan and District Attorney Alvin Bragg. He may respond to political attacks. At the Tuesday hearing, prosecutor Christopher Conroy detailed each alleged violation. Many involved Trump going after Michael Cohen, a potential witness. Moreover, Conroy said, Trump again attacked Cohen Monday by telling reporters outside the courtroom that his former personal lawyer “got caught lying, pure lying” in a previous trial. “This is while we’re on trial. The trial has now begun,” Conroy emphasized. Trump defense lawyer Todd Blanche defended his client’s statements, saying, “He’s allowed to respond to political attacks, your honor.” The judge appeared to grow frustrated after Blanche did not provide specific examples of the attacks to which Trump was said to be responding. The judge said Blanche had neither case law nor evidence to back up his argument. “You’ve presented nothing,” Merchan said. “I’ve asked you eight or nine times, show me the exact post he was responding to. You’ve not even been able to do that once.” He added, “You’re losing all credibility with the court.” The judge did not immediately rule on the gag order question. During a break, Trump did not respond to reporters’ questions on whether he will keep posting on Truth Social or if his lawyer has credibility. Instead, he posted, “This is a kangaroo court, and the judge should recuse himself!” Catching and killing Then media executive David Pecker retook the witness stand, unfolding a tawdry tale. Pecker was the president and CEO of National Enquirer’s parent company American Media Inc. in August 2015, when he met with Trump and Cohen. The two men met at Mar-a-Lago in the late ’80s, Pecker said, and “had a great relationship.” Trump was very helpful in introducing Pecker to other media people. He was knowledgeable and “very detail-oriented,” almost a “micromanager,” Pecker said. According to a Federal Election Commission agreement with the company, Pecker helped “deal with negative stories about Trump” by purchasing them and not publishing them, a practice known as “catch and kill.” Pecker confirmed that, with details. He described a meeting about what his magazines could do to help the Trump presidential campaign. Pecker promised to notify Cohen of any women selling stories on Trump: “I would run or publish positive stories about Mr. Trump and I would publish negative stories about his opponents.” Knowing that the Trump Organization had a “very small staff,” Pecker promised to be its “eyes and ears.” If he heard anything negative about Trump or anything about women selling stories, he would notify Cohen – and did. Cohen would then have the stories killed, Pecker testified. The agreement, Pecker told Cohen, had to be “highly confidential.” When Trump announced his bid, Pecker expected that a number of women would try to sell stories because Trump was “well known as the most eligible bachelor and dated the most beautiful women,” he said. It was common for women to call up a place like the National Enquirer to try to sell their stories during someone’s political run, he said. The plan also included Cohen planting negative stories about Trump’s opponents. The lawyer would call up Pecker – on Trump’s behalf, it seemed – and say, “we would like” for you to run a negative article on a certain political opponent. Then Cohen would send information about, say, Ted Cruz, or Ben Carson or Marco Rubio. “We would embellish it from there,” Pecker said. One example: a story from March 2016 entitled “TED CRUZ SEX SCANDAL – 5 SECRET MISTRESSES.” As Roll Call reported at the time, Cruz vehemently denied the allegation, and no one except for Trump associate Roger Stone presented any evidence that the Texas senator had misbehaved. What was in it for Pecker? “The Apprentice” was helpful to Pecker’s magazines because the audience for the National Enquirer and other celebrity magazines followed Trump “religiously,” Pecker said. While considering a presidential bid, Trump noted a National Enquirer poll that showed 80% of its readers wanted him to run. Contributing: Reuters National Enquirer exec Pecker testifies about ‘catch and kill’ Judge doesn’t yet rule on gag order for Trump Aysha Bagchi, Kinsey Crowley and Bart Jansen USA TODAY Former President Donald Trump attends his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments, at Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday. TIMOTHY A. CLARY/POOL VIA REUTERS Now the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Thursday on whether that same logic should apply to Trump’s attempt to throw out the federal criminal charges he he attempted to steal the 2020 election. Many experts think the justices are likely to reject Trump’s claim of absolute immunity. But even if they do, how long it takes them to issue an opinion and whether a majority finds that presidents have some immunity will determine if Trump can be tried before the November election. “The first and most important pivotal question is whether the court will rule in a way that allows the case to then continue immediately,” said Harry Litman, a former U.S. attorney and deputy assistant attorney general. Trump trial already delayed The Supreme Court’s decision to hear the appeal of the presumptive GOP nominee has already diminished the chances that a trial that was supposed to start in March can be completed before the election. The delay has critics charging that the court may have already granted Trump immunity if there’s no trial and Trump wins the election, putting him in a position to get rid of the Justice Department’s case against him. “I think there have been some absolutely indefensible choices on the part of the United States Supreme Court that have effectively immunized Donald Trump,” New York University law professor Melissa Murray said at a recent event sponsored by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. But Stanley Brand, a former House general counsel who has represented Trump aides in legal fights, said there’s no expectation in criminal law that cases involving candidates need to fit within an election schedule. “The notion that the criminal justice system is designed to give the electorate a reason to vote or not to vote is a complete abomination and distortion of what the criminal justice system is about,” Brand said. “The criminal justice system is never about what the public thinks. It’s about the defendant’s rights and whether the government has met its burden.” New territory for Supreme Court The Supreme Court is deciding a novel question because Trump is the first president – former or current – to be criminally charged. In the case before the high court, Trump is accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election by spreading lies about election fraud and attempting to persuade state officials, his vice president and Congress to prevent the certification of the legitimate results. (The case is separate from criminal charges he faces in state courts in New York and Georgia and in federal court in Florida.) Trump hopes the 1982 Supreme Court decision, Nixon v. Fitzgerald, will save him. In that ruling, the court said presidents are immune both while in office and after from civil damages for official acts, including those on the “outer perimeter of a president’s official responsibilities.” ‘President Trump has become citizen Trump’ Trump wants that same protection extended to criminal cases. Otherwise, his lawyers argue, the threat of future prosecution and imprisonment “would become a political cudgel to influence the most sensitive and controversial presidential decisions, taking away the strength, authority, and decisiveness of the presidency.” “A denial of criminal immunity would incapacitate every future president with de facto blackmail and extortion while in office, and condemn him to years of post-office trauma at the hands of political opponents,” his lawyers told the court in their main brief previewing their oral argument. The federal district judge overseeing Trump’s trial and the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t buy it. “For the purpose of this criminal case, former President Trump has become citizen Trump, with all of the defenses of any other criminal defendant,” the unanimous three-judge panel of the appeals court wrote in a resounding rejection of Trump’s claim. Even if Trump’s actions were done in his official capacity, rather than in his personal one as a candidate,the public’s interest in the enforcement of criminal laws is significant, the court said. And that’s particularly true in a case involving a presidential election, they wrote. Special prosecutor Jack Smith argues that the fact that President Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon shows that presidents have never expected to be immune from criminal prosecution. ‘A hard case to game out’ Alex Reinert, a criminal law expert at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City, said the Supreme Court likely agreed to hear Trump’s appeal because of how important the issue of presidential immunity is. Reinert, who clerked for former Justice Stephen Breyer, said the justices will try to probe what level of immunity would balance the rule of law against the need for presidential protection against baseless and harassing prosecutions. “I think it’s a hard case to game out,” he said. “But I do think it comes down to the outer boundaries of the rules that the court thinks is going to be manageable ... and supportable. It’s got to be a principled line that’s judicially manageable, that the court thinks won’t have too many negative downstream consequences. But I do think there’s a lot of leeway there for the court to figure out what the best rule is.” Others hope the court will issue a narrow ruling specific to Trump’s case and not take the time to explore other scenarios. “Donald Trump has articulated an outrageous, unprecedented, and ahistorical assertion of absolute immunity,” said former Obama White House ethics czar Norm Eisen. “The Supreme Court need not stray into other questions just because Trump has made it easy for them. They should decide this case.” Tough to get trial before election If the Supreme Court rules that presidents enjoy criminal immunity only in specific circumstances, Trump wants the protection to spread as broadly as possible and wants the court to direct that any “fact-based” test be applied through additional proceedings before his trial can start. Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith has told the court any qualifications it puts on immunity should not delay the trial. If the justices agree with Smith, a trial could start before the election though may not finish, Reinert estimates. “I think it would take a lot to get to a trial before November,” he said. “But I do think it’s possible.” Not a fast process John Yoo, a former Justice Department official under George W. Bush, expects Trump’s broad immunity argument to fail but thinks Trump can still fight some of the charges. “I think the court will deny immunity but then let him proceed to make his substantive attacks on the indictment,” Yoo said during a Federalist Society preview of the case. Brand said even run-of-the-mill, white collar cases he’s been involved in can take years to go to trial. “The expectation has been created that this is a fast process,” he said. “Generally, it’s not.” Immunity Continued from Page 1A “The criminal justice system is never about what the public thinks. It’s about the defendant’s rights and whether the government has met its burden.” Stanley Brand Former House general counsel New York courts will publish daily transcripts of former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial, officials have announced. New York typically does not allow audio or visual coverage in court rooms, meaning the public is unable to watch the first criminal trial of a former president in U.S. history live. But certified transcripts of each day’s proceedings will be posted to the New York State Unified Court System’s media website at https://ww2.nycourts.gov/press/index.shtml by the end of the following business day, according to a news release Monday. Transcripts can be expensive and sometimes unavailable, depending on the location or particular court system. “This historic case, which has generated unparalleled public interest, calls for this historic step by the court system,” First Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Norman St. George said in the news release. “This will serve to enhance public understanding of the trial with minimum disruption to the courtroom proceedings.” Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges that he falsified business records to cover up a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels that was designed to unlawfully interfere in the 2016 presidential election. Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen issued the payment and violated federal campaign finance laws, according to prosecutors. But they also argue Trump authorized the payment to help his presidential campaign and falsified records to cover up the checks he sent to reimburse Cohen for the hush money. The trial kicked off April 15 with jury selection, which concluded Friday. Both legal teams gave their opening arguments Monday, and the prosecution called its first witness: David Pecker, former head of the tabloid the National Enquirer’s parent company. Transcripts of Trump trial will be available Court takes ‘historic step’ for a historic case Kinsey Crowley and Aysha Bagchi USA TODAY

4A ❚ WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2024 ❚ USA TODAY NEWS and staff safe. It’s not a shock that Columbia has become a focal point for campus strife. The school is based in the largest city in America, with the second-biggest Jewish population in the world after Tel Aviv. About a fifth of the country’s Muslim population is in New York City, too. The campus is easily accessible and open, a vestige of the political upheaval caused by students during the Vietnam War. Columbia has taken flak for years from progressives who view its growth into West Harlem as an example of gentrification, and conservatives who see it as a bastion of liberalism. All those factors have influenced the level of outrage on and around campus in recent weeks. As similar protests crop up at other universities, the demonstrations at Columbia – and the choices its leaders are making – are having a butterfly effect on schools nationwide. “I am deeply saddened by what is happening on our campus,” Minouche Shafik, the university’s president, wrote in a message to students and staff Monday morning. “Our bonds as a community have been severely tested in ways that will take a great deal of time and effort to reaffirm.” What happened? Last Wednesday, Shafik traveled to Washington to address Republicans who had called her to a hearing about antisemitism on Columbia’s campus. Flanked by other administrators, she fended off a salvo of tough questions from Republicans and Democrats alike, many of whom expressed dismay about reports that Jewish students have felt unsafe since Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel Oct. 7. Grilling from those same lawmakers tripped up the presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania at a similar proceeding in December, ultimately pushing them out of their posts. Shafik managed to dodge the mistakes of her peers but drew the ire of many Columbia faculty with her responses to questions from some politicians about individual professors whom lawmakers singled out. “People feel extraordinarily betrayed by her lack of following university protocol,” said Patricia Dailey, an associate English professor and vice president of Columbia’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors. “She’s caved already to the ways in which this discourse is framed.” Things only got more hectic from there. While the cameras were trained on Shafik in Washington, students set up camps on lawns at the center of campus, demanding the university sever all its ties to Israel. Other campuses follow suit The next morning, Shafik called in the New York City Police Department to clear out the demonstrators. Officers arrested more than 100 people. Law enforcement officials later said no injuries or violence were associated with that specific protest, according to the campus newspaper, the Columbia Daily Spectator. Tempers flared on the edges of the partially closed campus as rallies continued over the weekend. By Monday the White House had jumped into the fray, condemning reports of antisemitic rhetoric around the campus. A university rabbi warned Jewish students to stay home for their safety, though the campus Hillel chapter disagreed with that recommendation. All classes were held online Monday. By then, students at a growing number of universities across the country, including Harvard, Yale and the University of California, Berkeley, were taking their cues from Columbia, launching similar protests in solidarity. Anger, violence in 1968 Colleges and universities have long been hotbeds for activism, playing an important role in shaping public sentiment on controversial issues. At Columbia, campus activism has a particularly contentious history. In 1968, massive student demonstrations threw the campus into violence and chaos. Anger over the university’s ties to the Vietnam War, and its plans to build what would effectively have been a segregated school gym on public land, led to hundreds of arrests. In the end, administrators ended the school’s relationship with a war-connected think tank. Construction on the gym was halted. The 1968 protests altered administrators’ attitudes about Columbia’s relationship with the city, creating an impulse that persists today to make the campus feel open to the broader community. It took Columbia decades to recover its reputation and its endowment. The fallout from the upheaval sent the university into a financial tailspin, souring relationships with rich donors. Some New Yorkers still haven’t forgotten the episode. Outside the school’s gates Monday, a 70-year-old Columbia alum who identified herself by her first name, Daphne, held a sign that read, “50 years ago I was here to end the Vietnam War … Today I am here to say FREE PALESTINE!” She declined to give her full name because she said she feared being doxxed. The leadership challenge Like the now-former presidents of Harvard and Penn, Shafik is new to her job. She took over the presidency last year. Her lack of familiarity with the campus’ history and dynamics likely hasn’t been the best thing for all the controversy, said Robert McCaughey, an emeritus history professor at Barnard College and author of “Stand, Columbia: A History of Columbia University.” And like her ousted Ivy League peers, she faces calls to resign. Republicans in the New York congressional delegation urged Shafik over the weekend to step down. The fact that she called in police somewhat placated Rep. Virginia Foxx, a congresswoman from North Carolina and the powerful Republican chair of the House education committee. She has not called for the president’s ouster. McCaughey, who has studied every leader of the university, said he believes Shafik’s presidency will survive. “She’s got some time.” Contributing: Clare Mulroy Columbia Continued from Page 1A Hundreds of Columbia University students protesting Israel’s military offensive in Gaza remained in a tent encampment Monday on the university campus in Manhattan days after police cleared the site. SETH HARRISON/USA TODAY NETWORK planet,” pediatrician Leonardo Trasande, a researcher and professor at New York University, told journalists at the Society of Environmental Journalists meeting in Philadelphia earlier in April. Billions of bits of plastic infiltrate waterways and oceans, are consumed in beverages and food and are found in the internal organs of people and wildlife. A 2023 paper published by the National Library of Medicine, and others, shows microplastics can wreak havoc on hormones and contribute to a range of health problems. In the lead-up to Earth Day 2024, EarthDay.org organizers promoted the theme “Planet vs. Plastics,” calling for a massive reduction in plastic production and the waste stream and urging people to sign a petition backing the treaty. Additional Earth Day events are planned throughout the country. On Tuesday in Ottawa, Canada, the U.N. committee begins a weeklong session to try to agree to a draft agreement on plastics in the environment. It’s the fourth meeting since 2022 when the U.N. agreed to develop a treaty to try to curb the flow of plastics into the environment. Here’s a breakdown of some of the key terms and major issues expected to be discussed: What is microplastic? Plastic has been found in every corner of the world and has turned up in drinking water, beer, salt and honey, according to Oceana, an ocean conservation group. While some may think of plastic pollution as plastic shopping bags or soda bottles, it’s the tiniest particles – microplastics and nanoplastics – raising big concerns. Microplastics for example are tiny particles of polymers less than five millimeters long, no bigger than a grain of rice. They come from plastic bottles, synthetic clothing fibers, car tires and other products as plastics break down slowly. Anika Dzierlenga, a program lead at the National Institutes of Health, said: “We know very little about what these microplastics or even smaller pieces of plastics, known as nanoplastics, can do to human health in the short or longterm, or even what they can do to the health of the sea turtles and other animals that live in the ocean.” What are nanoplastics? Nanoplastics are even smaller, only one-billionth of a meter, according to the National Nanotechnology Initiative. By comparison, a strand of human DNA is 2.5 nanometers in diameter and a human hair is approximately 80,000 - 100,000 nanometers wide, the Initiative states. How has the use of plastics increased around the world? The annual production of plastic, including polymer resins and fibers, increased from 2 million tons in 1950 to 459.75 million tons in 2019, according to Our World in Data, based on a 2023 paper about plastic production published in the journal Science Advances. Estimates suggest that less than 10% of plastic waste in the U.S. is recycled, while a majority heads to landfills. How can plastics be harmful? Plastic and the particles it produces can be found from the Arctic tundra to the deepest oceans, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.N. It includes everything from large items such as bottles, jugs and plastic bags floating in the ocean and washing up on beaches to the particles that a recent study found may be linked to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and death. One study found bottled water can contain 10 to 100 times more plastic bits than previously thought, while other studies have found microplastics in clouds, rain and in the placentas of pregnant people. For some, the bigger concerns beyond the tide of plastic bits are the chemicals and contaminants they carry that have been linked to endocrine disruption and other abnormalities in the human body and the harmful fossil fuel emissions from the production of plastic. Studies show that microplastics accumulate chemicals and pathogens on their surfaces. “Microplastics are likely the drug delivery system,” Trasande said. “It’s the chemicals riding them that are causing the damage.” What will the plastic treaty discussions include? The U.N. committee is scheduled to discuss polymers, waste management, trade, pollution, financing and technology as it tries to reach an agreement among the world’s governments, in an effort similar to the talks in Paris in 2015 that produced the global treaty on climate change. Reuters has reported that many plastic and petrochemical-producing countries, including China, Saudia Arabia and Iran do not support language in favor of production limits. Last week in advance of the treaty talks, the American Chemistry Council, a trade industry for chemical manufacturers in the U.S., released a study by Oxford Economics which concluded a production cap on virgin plastics would carry “major economic costs.” The study, commissioned by the International Council of Chemical Associations, concluded the implementation of a “proposed plastics production cap would have unintended global implications going beyond the plastics industry.” In a webpage on plastics and the treaty, the State Department said the U.S. supports the development of “an ambitious global agreement on plastic pollution that has universal obligations throughout the lifetime of plastics.” What about plastics that end up in the ocean? A major focus of the proposed international treaty is plastic in the marine environment. Millions of tons of microplastics – ranging from the size of a width of a pencil to smaller than a sesame seed – find their way into oceans, according to the National Institutes. The particles move through the food chain to people and they also attract pollutants and carry them into new environments. An estimated 33 billion pounds of plastic wash into the ocean every year – about two garbage trucks worth of plastic every minute, according to Oceana. The group has cited a nationwide poll conducted by Ipsos in December 2022 that showed 83% of American voters are concerned about single-use plastic products and 73% support a pause in building new plastic production facilities. April Burt, a conservation scientist with the University of Oxford, said her work in the Seychelles, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean off Africa, highlights “the vast accumulation of marine plastic pollution bombarding the islands from both at-sea and international sources.” But it’s not too late to stem the flow, she said. “The global plastics treaty gives us the opportunity to turn the tide on plastic pollution, from policy on the manufacture of plastics to retailer responsibilities and dealing with legacy plastics.” Contributing: Elizabeth Weise and Doyle Rice Earth Day Continued from Page 1A

Most U.S. nursing homes will need to add staffing under a federal rule announced Monday that for the first time sets minimum staffing ratios nationwide for homes that care for elderly and disabled people. The rule, announced Monday by Vice President Kamala Harris, mandates that nursing homes meet minimum staffing requirements for registered nurses and nurse aides. The rule is intended to limit cases of resident neglect or delays in care, a lingering issue that was exposed when more than 200,000 nursing home residents and staff died from COVID-19 in the first two years of the pandemic. Experts call the rule a significant step toward bolstering nursing home quality and safety. “This is the most important nursing home reform in decades,” said David Grabowski, a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School. “We need more staff in nursing homes. This is a big development in terms of setting a floor such that nursing homes can’t grossly understaff facilities.” Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of the nursing home industry group American Health Care Association, blasted the rule as “unconscionable” given the nation’s nursing shortage. “Issuing a final rule that demands hundreds of thousands of additional caregivers when there’s a nationwide shortfall of nurses just creates an impossible task for providers,” Parkinson said in a statement. “This unfunded mandate doesn’t magically solve the nursing crisis.” The White House said in a fact sheet the new rule requires all nursing homes receiving federal funding through Medicare and Medicaid to provide staffing that is the equivalent of nearly 3.5 hours of daily care for each resident. The rule also requires that nursing homes have registered nurses on duty 24 hours, seven days a week to “provide skilled nursing, which will further improve nursing home safety.” On average, a nursing home with 100 residents would have two to three registered nurses and at least 10 nurse assistants on duty for each shift around the clock. Officials said this level of staffing is necessary to provide safe care with good outcomes for vulnerable residents. Xavier Becerra, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, told USA TODAY on Monday these staffing requirements represent the minimum level of care for more than 1.2 million Americans in federally certified nursing homes. “If you’re going to represent yourself to be a nursing home, you should have a nurse available to care for my loved one that I’m about to put in your facility,” Becerra said. “We insist that the care that you’re going to provide must be quality.” It’s a level of care any family member would expect, he said. The Biden administration said the rule will be implemented in phases to give nursing homes, especially those in rural communities, time to hire the additional workers. Nursing homes must complete an assessment gauging the day-to-day needs of residents within 90 days of the rule being finalized. The minimum staffing levels will be phased in over two to three years. Nursing homes in communities facing a workforce shortage will get “limited, temporary exemptions” to meet the registered nurse requirement and overall staffing ratios, the White House said. Federal and academic researchers have long established staffing levels as the best predictor of quality nursing home care. However, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which regulates nursing homes that take Medicare and Medicaid funding, has never required a specific number of nurses and aides. The agency has only made recommendations which few facilities followed. In a related rule also announced Monday, the Biden administration seeks to bolster home care for seniors and disabled residents on Medicaid, the federal health program for low-income populations. The rule requires companies that provide home care services spend a minimum of 80% of Medicaid payments on workers’ wages. The Biden administration said higher wages for home health care workers would reduce turnover and lead to higher quality home care for the elderly and disabled. Home health care workers “can sometimes find a better paying job going to flip burgers than to offer your loved one the care that he or she needs,” Becerra said. “We need to do more.” The home care rule, which is similar to the rule on nursing home staffing ratios, would allow states to account for “unique experiences that small home care providers and providers in rural areas face” in meeting such requirements, the White House said. A USA TODAY investigation found that although nursing homes have submitted daily staffing data to federal officials for years, they have rarely been punished for violating the existing guidelines and rules. Such penalties have been unusual even at facilities where inspectors noted low staffing in the course of investigating avoidable deaths, and people who’d suffered broken bones, spent days without help getting out of bed or hours sitting in feces, among other violations. Fines for such violations have been even rarer. Contributing: Jayme Fraser Biden unveils nursing home staffing rule Minimum staff ratios implemented in phases Ken Alltucker USA TODAY Residents and staff gather and dance during an Easter concert for vaccinated residents at the Ararat Nursing Facility in the Mission Hills neighborhood in 2021 in Los Angeles. MARIO TAMA/GETTY IMAGES “We need more staff in nursing homes. This is a big development in terms of setting a floor such that nursing homes can’t grossly understaff facilities.” David Grabowski Professor of health care policy Harvard Medical School NEWS USA TODAY ❚ WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2024 ❚ 5A LOCK IN TODAY’S GUARANTEED INTEREST RATES! 5.25% Fixed annuities offer tax deferred growth, tax favored payouts, and avoid probate. Call today to lock in guaranteed rates on periods as short as three years, according to John Douglass, annuity analyst. 1-800-700-4709 [email protected] Brokers Inquiries Invited Since 1977 GUARANTEED 3 YEARS 5.35% GUARANTEED 5 YEARS 5.60%GUARANTEED 10 YEARS PAID ADVERTISEMENT Call for state approval. Product has limitations. Guarantee based on issuer. Financial info provided. Interest rates subject to initial premium. A Minnesota state senator has been arrested on suspicion of first-degree burglary, police say. Democratic Sen. Nicole Mitchell was arrested after being found inside a home in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, nearly four hours northwest of Woodbury, which she represents, Detroit Lakes Police Chief Steve Todd told media outlets including CBS News and KMSP-TV. Mitchell, 49, was booked at Becker County Jail on Monday and was being held on the burglary charge, though she has not yet been formally charged, police said. At about 4:45 a.m. Monday, police responded to a homeowner reporting a burglary, Todd told the news outlets. Officers found a woman inside the home who police later identified as Mitchell. The Becker County Attorney’s Office will decide whether to pursue the charges. County property tax records show that in 2022 Mitchell’s stepmother and her late father lived on the block where the suspected burglary occurred, the Star Tribune reported. Mitchell was elected in 2022 and is still serving her first term. Before that, she was a TV meteorologist and an Air National Guard commander. The Minnesota Democratic-FarmerLabor Party Caucus declined to comment but said it was “aware of the situation,” CBS News reported. “The public expects legislators to meet a high standard of conduct,” Republican Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson said in a statement to CBS News. “As information comes out, we expect the consequences to meet the actions, both in the court of law, and in her role at the Legislature.” Minn. state senator is arrested on suspicion of burglary Anthony Robledo USA TODAY Democratic Sen. Nicole Mitchell was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2022. HANNAH GABER/USA TODAY NETWORK

6A ❚ WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2024 ❚ USA TODAY NEWS interest rates, Israel’s war in Gaza, immigration reform and the power corporations have over their work lives. Experts say young voters nationally may ultimately decide this presidential race. In 2016, young voters helped Trump claim victory by either staying home or choosing a third-party candidate. And in 2020 they helped Biden win by turning out near-record numbers and skipping third-party options. “I usually judge people if they don’t vote. But this is the first election where I understand if you don’t want to vote,” said Kathika Senevirante, 25, of Knoxville. “I’m just stuck.” Turned off by both parties In 2016, nearly 40% of young voters cast ballots, rising to 50% in 2020, according to the nonpartisan Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University in Massachusetts. Although young voters are typically less likely to identify as Republican or Democrat, they are also more likely to vote for Democratic candidates. Today, polls show Biden has weak support among young voters, and while 26% of Americans overall have a negative view of both Trump and Biden, a significantly larger 41% of young voters dislike both, according to a poll by Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Many young liberal voters say they understand that Biden’s reelection depends heavily on their support, and they hope his campaign and administration begins addressing their concerns more forcefully. They’re well aware that if they don’t give Biden their vote, Trump will more easily win. Kristian Mansel, 23 said she’s willing to see a Trump victory if it means Biden and the Democratic Party learn a lesson. She’s mad Biden and Democrats have failed to protect reproductive rights or wipe out student loans. “It’s just there’s too many strikes against him and the Democratic Party at this point in general,” said Mansel, a University of Memphis student who considers herself liberal. In 2020, Trump beat Biden in Tennessee by about 700,000 votes, but more than 1 million eligible voters – most of them young people – didn’t participate. Overall, 66% of Americans voted in the 2020 election, and turnout was highest – about 76% – among people ages 64 to 74. Experts say high turnout gives elections more credibility because the results more closely mirror what the majority of people want. “It feels like the older generation is still in charge, and there are such huge differences in our experiences,” said Jeremy Gold, 30, of Nashville. “We feel like we’ve been ripped off by the ‘American dream’ idea – we’ve seen the financial repercussions of our parents’ and grandparents’ generations multiple times over, seen a lot more violence and war than we were originally told would happen,” he said. “The lack of voting is probably a little bit of a middle finger to those who passed that to us.” Combating low turnout In 2020, Tennessee’s youth turnout was among the lowest in the nation at 43%, well below the national youth-voting average of 50%. And in the 2022 midterm elections, Tennessee had the country’s worst youth-voter turnout at just 12.7%. Some voting rights groups say young voters often feel disillusioned because lawmakers suppress their participation. In Tennessee, for instance, the state won’t accept a college ID as proper identification at the polls but will accept a firearms registration card. Other examples: limiting polling places on college campuses, blocking same-day voter registration and requiring that voting registration be done via “wet” signature – a handwritten signature signed in pen and mailed in or hand-delivered to registration officials. All of this seems very last-century to people who have grown up in the digital age. “We all know young people like to do everything on their phones,” said Andrea Hailey, of the nonpartisan voter participation group Vote.org. “All of that is meant to wash young people out of the system.” Like many voting advocacy groups, Vote.org tries to help young voters understand that their voices matter. And there’s indications it’s working. With help from influencers like pop superstar Taylor Swift, who lives in Tennessee, Vote.org this election cycle has already seen twice as many 18-yearolds register to vote nationally than it did by this time in 2020. Hailey said she doesn’t buy the idea that young voters are disillusioned. “If what we’re seeing holds true, that means the youngest cohort is planning to show up,” Hailey said. “They have a vision for the world they want to see.” After an Instagram post by Swift last September, more than 30,000 people, a record, signed up through Vote.org during National Voter Registration Day, many of them teenagers who will be eligible to vote this fall. Hailey said about 80% of the people who sign up through Vote.org ultimately cast a ballot. Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett has also been working to improve youth turnout. A Republican, Hargett said his job is to make sure anyone who is legally allowed to vote gets that chance. But he dismissed concerns about whether seemingly small obstacles dissuade young voters from participating. Hargett said low participation reflects a choice of priorities by those young people. He joked those same young people would be the first to tear their county apart piece by piece if it meant free Taylor Swift concert tickets. Hargett said he tries to explain to young voters that whoever shows up at the polling place really does determine policy, even if it doesn’t happen fast enough for some. He remains mystified, he said, by young people who withhold their votes in protest. “When you don’t go vote, what you do is turn over the keys to government to those who do,” he said. “If you don’t do politics, politics will be done to you.” More annoyed than apathetic Though Trump has focused primarily on the health of the overall economy and closing the southern border, Biden in the past several months has announced initiatives aimed squarely at the concerns of young people, from tax credits to help people buy houses to capping credit card fees, reducing racial disparities in health care and income, and lowering college costs and student loan debt, including at historically black colleges and universities in Tennessee. Ramos sees efforts like those as little more than tinkering around the edges. She’s furious that past generations could more easily buy homes, afford college, save for retirement and access high-quality health care. She said she sees Biden as only marginally better than Trump, whom she considers a “dictator.” She said older voters refuse to change society because it works for them, even if it means dooming young people to a subsistence existence without homeownership, savings or affordable cars, groceries and gas. “The people we elect don’t speak for me,” she said. “I try to be a mature person. But it’s hard not to be angry when you were left with multiple situations where the older generations have literally messed up so much for us.” Ben Schulz, a high school government teacher in Chattanooga, said many of his students share the same concerns. Earlier this year Schulz helped his school, Chattanooga School for the Arts & Sciences, win a statewide award for registering every student who will be eligible to vote this fall. Schulz said college costs are among his students’ biggest concerns, along with climate change and the war in Gaza. He said it’s a mistake to think young people aren’t interested in politics. The problem, he said, is that many feel their votes won’t make a difference because of uncontested seats or gerrymandered districts. “It may be hard to get anything out of them, but they are paying attention,” he said. “They may not express it to older people, but they sure are talking about it among themselves.” Clarissa Unger of the nonpartisan Students Learn Students Vote coalition said she believes young people are powerfully interested in the outcome of this year’s election, even if polls don’t reflect it. In the 2020 presidential election, two-thirds of eligible college students ages 18 to 21 voted, virtually identical to the national average. “Young people and college students are not apathetic at all – they want to have their voices heard,” Unger said. “Disillusionment is something they’re worried about this year, and a way to combat that is through voter education.” ‘They aren’t listening to me’ Unger said one long-standing concern young voters have is that they often feel as if they lack enough information to make a decision. Unlike older voters who consistently cast a ballot for their party’s candidate regardless of who it is, younger voters focus on specific issues. Chattanooga high school student Emersyn Ware, 18, said some of her classmates are talking about not voting because they don’t think they know enough, while at the same time understanding that failing to vote means their voices will get ignored. “It’s kind of crazy. It’s making it feel like whoever I vote for is making or breaking America,” Ware said. “It’s kind of stressful to think about, how this will help determine America’s future.” Ware, who said she’s likely to vote for Trump this fall, said the cost of groceries and gas are among her biggest worries, along with overspending by the federal government, including aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia. And she worries that both Trump and Biden are too old to effectively connect with millions of young people like her. She said she feels Biden in particular makes the country look weak because he’s so old. “Age makes them seem less capable,” she said. “We are the future of America, and if you can’t connect with our generation, what’s the point? And I suppose that’s a deterrent. They aren’t listening to me.” Grace Russell, a 20-year-old student at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, skipped the state’s Democratic primary this year, even though she considers herself liberal. “I’m just really not super-into Joe Biden, you know,” she said. “It’s one of those things where … I don’t think the alternative is better, but at the same time, he’s being silent on these major issues, like Palestine and a hundred other things.” The choice between Biden and Trump is a matter of “bad vs. worse” due to Trump’s stances on many of the issues impacting her, she said. “I’m a queer person, I’m a woman and I have no interest in making that worse,” she said. “But at the same time, I don’t think Biden is great, either.” University of Memphis student Luis Lopez Gamez, 21, said he’s also disillusioned with Biden and probably will not vote over frustrations about the lack of border reform and Biden’s inability to stop Israel’s attacks on Gaza. Gamez is Latino and queer and said that while Trump has been outwardly hostile to people like him, Biden doesn’t seem much better. “I just I don’t feel that there’s any need for me to express a vote when I have two candidates I’m completely dissatisfied with,” Gamez said. “Why am I having to choose the lesser of two evils again? At the end of the day, the lesser of two evils is still making me choose an evil.” And Wallace Welch, 21, a college student and barber in Chattanooga, said he’s inclined to support Trump because he feels like the economy overall was better three years ago. While Biden might have more specific programs aimed at young Black men like him, Welch said, he felt safer and expects car prices and inflation would be lower under Trump. “He might not say the best things all the time, but he’s an actual businessman. And Biden is just old,” Welch said. “I don’t really want a world run by old people. Well, there’s nothing wrong with an older person – just an incoherent older person.” There’s hope, not optimism Ramos, the coffee shop barista, said she hopes Biden and Trump start focusing more on young voters, who hold the future of the country in their hands. But she’s not optimistic. She said her immigrant family sometimes surprises her with their support for Trump and noted financial security goes a long way to resolving other problems facing Americans. Her concern, she said, is that neither mainstream candidate will actually follow through on their campaign promises. “At first they say they will give you the world, and at the end of the day, it doesn’t seem like they’re doing a lot,” Ramos said. “I’m not going to vote for Trump, and now I guess I’m trying to build up the courage to vote for Biden, unfortunately. “I’m glad I have a few more months to think about it.” Contributing from the USA TODAY Network: Angele Latham of The Tennessean in Nashville, Brooke Muckerman of The Commercial Appeal in Memphis and Allie Feinberg of the Knoxville News Sentinel. Young voters Continued from Page 1A University of Memphis student Luis Lopez Gamez, 21, says he’s disillusioned with Joe Biden and doesn’t like Donald Trump. “Why am I having to choose the lesser of two evils again?” he asks. STU BOYD II/USA TODAY NETWORK Wallace Welch, 21, a college student and a barber in Chattanooga, Tenn., worries about the economy overall and says he leans toward Trump, even though “he might not say the best things all the time.” TREVOR HUGHES/USA TODAY Andrea Hailey, CEO of the nonpartisan voter participation group Vote.org, doesn’t accept that young voters are turned off. “They have a vision for the world they want to see,” she says. CRAIG BARRITT/GETTY IMAGES FOR THE METEOR Ware

NEWS USA TODAY ❚ WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2024 ❚ 7A OPINION WANT TO COMMENT? We’re on Facebook (USA TODAY Opinion) and Instagram and X, formerly Twitter (@usatodayopinion). You can also comment directly on columns. Editor in Chief, USA TODAY Terence Samuel Vice President/Group Editor, Gannett Opinion Michael McCarter Vice President/Executive Editor, Sports Roxanna Scott Chairman and CEO Gannett Co. Michael Reed Chief Financial Officer: Doug Horne Chief Content Officer: Kristin Roberts “USA TODAY hopes to serve as a forum for better understanding and unity to help make the USA truly one nation.” – Allen H. Neuharth, Founder, Sept. 15, 1982 self but in parking lots, athletic fields or school buses, where lockdown drills and metal detectors are not relevant. Of course, frightened parents think about the threat of a Columbine-type massacre when confronted with these statistics. However, the overwhelming majority of incidents have little to do with the safety of their children while in school. The fears of students and their parents are focused more on active shooters, whether they are students or outsiders, roaming the hallways armed with a powerful instrument of death. Based on my review of FBI documents, since Columbine there have been 50 of that specific type of attack, resulting in victim injuries or fatalities, for an average of two per year. Of course, that is out of nearly 130,000 schools in America. Although understandable, our response to school shootings − requiring students to participate in active shooter drills, arming teachers, installing security equipment − is out of proportion with the actual risk. These actions intensify fears rather than alleviate them, by suggesting to students that a bullseye is on their backs. Threat of school shootings needs context While there might be a handful of students who idolize the Columbine shooters and decide to follow their lead, history suggests that we might reduce fears as well as the risk by downplaying the threat of school shootings. From 1996 through 2001, there were eight multiple fatality school shootings in the United States, prompting newsman Dan Rather in March 2001 to declare that school shootings were a national epidemic. But then there were none for the next four years. Once the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks took place, Americans shifted their attention and concerns away from school shootings and squarely on a different threat to their safety. I’m certainly not suggesting that we invite a tragedy to deflect attention from school shootings, only that we keep the risk in its proper perspective. Schools are indeed safe. Offered structure and supervision, children are safer in school than out. James Alan Fox is the Lipman professor of Criminology, Law and Public Policy at Northeastern University and author of “Violence and Security on Campus: From Preschool through College.” A memorial service Saturday in Littleton, Colo., marks 25 years since a mass shooting killed a dozen students and a teacher at Columbine High School. MARC PISCOTTY/GETTY IMAGES Shock of Columbine misled us to believe schools aren’t safe James Alan Fox Opinion contributor Although understandable, our response to school shootings ... is out of proportion with the actual risk. When it comes to mass killing, April 20 is a day of infamy. On that date 25 years ago, two teenagers became arguably the most notorious school shooters in U.S. history by gunning down a dozen classmates and one teacher at Columbine High in Littleton, Colorado. The 1999 Columbine massacre was neither the first nor the deadliest school shooting in our nation’s past, but by all measures it’s the most significant in its impact on school policies, public attitudes and popular culture. For the first time, the horrific drama was broadcast live. Recordings of the two assailants planning and practicing for the assault were released publicly. Regrettably, a Columbine video game, T-shirts and other cultural artifacts gave the two shooters the celebrity status they sought. Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris fully expected to achieve fame and notoriety. As one of the assailants predicted in the so-called Columbine Basement Tapes, “I know we’re gonna have followers because we’re so (expletive) God-like.” And their influence has persisted ever since with more than 100 copycats committing or attempting to commit similar attacks at schools across America. The Columbine effect is much wider than the occasional acts of copycats. It includes ways in which schools have been transformed in terms of security and the widespread perception of students and their parents that schools are unsafe. Columbine gave rise to school lockdown drills In the aftermath of Columbine, parents began to purchase bullet-resistant backpacks for their children. And schools began to stage lockdown drills that have questionable value but unnerve many impressionable children with attempts at realism. Columbine might have been the catalyst for widespread panic, but various data reports have served to reinforce and increase the sense of danger. For example, the Center for Homeland Defense and Security’s K-12 School Shooting Database suggests that the number of incidents has grown exponentially − with nearly 1,000 cases since 2021. Importantly, the definition of a school shooting used in this database is quite broad: “a gun is fired, brandished, or bullet hits school property, regardless of the number of victims (including zero), time, day, or reason.” My analysis, as a professor of criminology, of the K-12 school school shooting data for the past three years indicates that nearly 90% of the shootings did not take place inside the school itceive what they need. The program operates on donations from organizations such as the United Way, Greater Milwaukee Foundation, Bader Philanthropies, Milwaukee Bucks Foundation, Roots & Wings and others. More than 70% of the clients served are African American or Hispanic. Anthony Dodd, assistant superintendent at the Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center, called My Way Out a valuable safety net. Addressing stable housing and employment are critical to the success of men and women, and Gaona has helped hundreds in this area. Dodd said that after a person has served their time, there needs to be a higher level of forgiveness and second chances. Approximately 95% of state prisoners will be released at some point, with 80% of them placed under parole supervision. Many people don’t consider public safety in terms of ensuring that formerly incarcerated individuals have access to stable housing, good jobs and transportation. However, Dodd said, these factors are crucial in reducing recidivism rates. My Way Out stands out from other reentry organizations because all its employees have been incarcerated. Frank Harris Sr., 63, felt out of touch with technology after serving 26 years in prison for homicide. My Way Out employees helped him overcome his fears. ‘I can’t’ is just an excuse ‘to avoid reaching our full potential’ When Harris was incarcerated, his son was only 14 years old. One thing he always wanted to do was take him to a Brewers’ baseball game. My Way Out gave him that opportunity once he was released by providing him with two tickets to see the Brewers play at American Family Field. Frank Harris Jr., 44, said it was an experience he would never forget. “I’ve been to a baseball game before. I’ve just never been with my dad. It was a perfect day. I don’t even remember who won the game. I know that I enjoyed that time with my dad,” Harris Jr. said. At an event held at Bader Philanthropies in January, Harris Sr. and other individuals shared their positive experiences with the organization. One man spoke about how the organization provided him and his son with safe housing, while another thanked Gaona for always being available to provide assistance, regardless of the time of day. Another shared how the staff helped him find employment, which ultimately led to him landing a better job as a barber. During his speech, Gaona shared a quote he had written down five years into his sentence that changed his life. He now lives by theses words, “ ‘I can’t’ does not exist, as it is merely an excuse we tell ourselves to avoid reaching our full potential.” Gaona’s story mirrors that of many clients he serves today, but he wants them to know that they have the power to create a new reflection. James E. Causey is an Ideas Lab reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where this column originally appeared. Email him at [email protected] or follow him on X: @jecausey. For more on the program, see Causey’s interview with Ruben Gaona on Black Nouveau. He was locked up, and now he keeps people out of prison Ruben Gaona with his mother, Maria Reyes. PROVIDED BY RUBEN GAONA James E. Causey Milwaukee Journal Sentinel USA TODAY NETWORK Ten years. That’s how long in prison Ruben Gaona received for his role in a drug ring that transported cocaine and marijuana from Texas to Milwaukee in March 2010. Gaona grew up in El Paso with a single mom and five siblings. His father was mentally and physically abusive to his mother. One time, his father broke into his bedroom window with a gun and threatened to kill the family. “We called 911 on him. After that, my mom knew she had to leave him,” Gaona said. His mother, Maria Reyes, relocated the family to Milwaukee’s south side in June 1996, making the trek on a Greyhound bus. Gaona was 15. During his senior year at Pulaski High School 1999, Gaona received lifechanging news: He would be a father. Faced with limited job options, Gaona decided to join the U.S. Navy for the direction he needed. At first, everything seemed to be going well. The Navy provided a meaningful alternative to what he had seen growing up. He quickly developed a passion for it, but 45 days before he was set to reenlist, he was told he couldn’t because of a back injury. The Navy determined Gaona was unfit for sea. He received an honorable discharge and was back on Milwaukee’s south side. That’s when he made the dumbest decision of his life. On March 17, 2010, Gaona was one of 17 defendants charged in a drug conspiracy and money laundering case. Several of his siblings also were involved. A promise to his mother turned into the nonprofit My Way Out Despite receiving monthly visits from his family and communicating with them through letters and phone calls, the absence of their physical presence was deeply felt. Nonetheless, his mother remained a stalwart source of support. Twice a month, Reyes drove Gaona’s wife and kids nearly six hours to visit him in prison. Their unwavering support was crucial for Gaona, as it helped him get through tough times. However, not all prisoners are fortunate enough to have someone to support them, leading many to re-offend once they are released. Gaona made a promise to his mother that he would never let her down again. Nearly 13 years later, he has dedicated himself to helping people who were once in prison. His nonprofit organization, My Way Out, has been successful in keeping more than 600 people out of prison by providing essential services such as housing, employment and transportation. The program has a 90% success rate. The effort began as thousands of prisoners were being released early from state and federal prisons to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Many were released with just the clothing they came with and without a solid reintegration plan to avoid going back to prison. My Way Out offers support for things that might not be apparent to most of us. For instance, when a client needed a winter coat, Gaona’s team purchased a new one for the man. When another landed a job but needed reliable transportation, the team bought the man a 10-speed bike. Gaona, 42, said since his team doesn’t have office space, they can meet the client where they are. “If someone calls me right now, I ask them where they are and go to them to make it easier. We do a lot of meetings in coffee shops and the library,” he said. “It’s hard enough for them; we don’t want to make it more difficult.” If they cannot provide needed services, they collaborate with other reentry programs to ensure clients re-

8A ❚ WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2024 ❚ USA TODAY NEWS AUSTIN, Texas – A coalition of advocates has joined one of Texas’ most famous inmates to sue the state over extreme temperatures in prison cells, arguing in federal court that inmates are “being cooked to death” and staff members are suffering heat-related injuries without air conditioning. Bernhardt Tiede II – a former funeral director whose murder of a wealthy 81- year-old widow is chronicled in Richard Linklater’s film “Bernie” – first filed the lawsuit against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) in August 2023 after suffering an acute medical crisis in a cell that staff members had recorded reaching 112 degrees just days earlier. Tiede, 65, was transferred to an air-conditioned cell after a judge for the Western District of Texas granted two temporary restraining orders and one extension last year but has no guarantee that he will be housed in a cell with climate control again. Monday’s amended complaint, which expands the lawsuit to apply to inmates beyond Tiede, asks the U.S. District Court to declare the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s prison policy unconstitutional and order that Texas state prisons maintain temperatures between 65 and 85 degrees. Texas jails have been required to house prisoners at those temperatures since 1994, and federal prisons also strictly regulate temperatures. “Let’s ensure that no one else – inmates or corrections officers – suffers these inhumane conditions,” Linklater said Monday at a news conference in support of the lawsuit. According to the filing, almost 70% of TDCJ prisons lack air conditioning and units routinely reach 100 degrees or higher. A 2022 study by the JAMA Network found that “approximately 13% of deaths in Texas prisons during warm months between 2001 and 2019 may be attributable to extreme heat days.” ‘We must appropriate the resources’ The complaint described inmates resorting to extreme measures to stay cool in sweltering conditions, including flooding their cells with toilet water and lying in it. The Texas Legislature in 2023 allocated $85 million for TDCJ to install more air conditioning, but that money will not cover climate control in all prisons. Several bills aiming to mandate that TDCJ maintain its cells at a safe temperature in recent years have failed. Texas state Rep. Carl Sherman attributed the lack of legislation regulating prison temperatures to a lack of compassion. “We had the resources with $32.7 billion in budget surplus,” he said. “We just didn’t have the will. ... If we’re going to be true to our fidelity to the gospel, we must appropriate the resources.” Michele Deitch, a professor who runs the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab at the University of Texas, added that the problem extends to staff members and suggested the lack of air conditioning contributes to Texas’ struggle to fill vacancies at state prisons. “It’s not just incarcerated people who are suffering,” she said. “Day after day, (staffers) have to work under unbearable conditions. ... Is it no wonder they don’t want to work in those conditions?” Advocacy groups that joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs Monday are Texas Prisons Community Advocates, Justice Impacted Women’s Alliance, Texas Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants, and the Coalition for Texans with Disabilities. TDCJ did not respond to the Austin American-Statesman, part of the USA TODAY Network, on Monday about the lawsuit and its efforts to improve heat conditions. Civil rights attorney Jeff Edwards noted that he and other firms have been fighting TDCJ since 2011, after 10 inmates died of heat strokes over one summer, something that “takes an incredible amount of incompetence and indifference” to let happen, he said. “This lawsuit is about fixing what should have been fixed years ago, truly decades ago,” he said. Air conditioning in US prisons With scientists and studies chronicling the impact climate change is having in fueling hotter temperatures across the country, advocates for incarcerated people are sounding the alarm about sweltering conditions in prisons, where infrastructure is ill-equipped for a problem on track to worsen. Advocates say the hot conditions in prisons may constitute “cruel and unusual punishment” prohibited by the Eighth Amendment. In 2022, USA TODAY reviewed media reports and public information from all 50 states and contacted corrections departments where information was unavailable. At that time, the results showed that at least 44 states don’t universally air condition their prisons. Only one state – Tennessee – said its prisons were fully air-conditioned. A handful of other states had nearly universal air conditioning or used other cooling methods to control the temperature in all areas of their facilities. The same year, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice told USA TODAY that its policies to help mitigate heat in prisons include increased access to water and ice, fans, and cool “respite” areas prisoners can go to. The department said many of the state’s facilities were built before air conditioning was commonly installed, and prisons built in the ’80s and ’90s didn’t have AC because of the cost to install and maintain it. The state has estimated it would cost $1 billion to convert facilities to include air conditioning, and another $140 million yearly for maintenance, though some advocates say those figures are overestimated. Amanda Hernandez, a department spokesperson, said current measures within prisons are working, citing that there have been no deaths from heat this summer in its facilities. But 12 inmates “required medical care beyond first aid” due to a heat injury this summer as of late August, she added. “Each summer, we continue to refine and improve our practices,” Hernandez said. “What has not changed is our commitment to do all that we can to keep staff and inmates safe.” Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY Coalition sues Texas over heat in prisons Lawsuit claims inmates ‘being cooked to death’ Bayliss Wagner Austin American-Statesman USA TODAY NETWORK Monday’s complaint asks the U.S. District Court to declare the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s policy unconstitutional. Above, the Allan B. Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Texas. FRANCOIS PICARD/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES America’s top anti-aging specialist, Dr. Al Sears, recently discovered a game-changing nutrient that’s giving men and women a next-level boost in confi - dence thanks to the groundbreaking power of plant stem cells. For decades Dr. Sears has stayed at the forefront of anti-aging technology. And he uncovered this exciting solution to thin, dull, lifeless hair while researching a unique nutrient called malus domestica. Extracted from one type of rare apple, found only in Switzerland, it produces a powerful form of plant stem cells shown to help give a once sad-looking scalp a total transformation. Introducing Re-Nourish, an exciting new solution that harnesses the power of plant stem cells to help men and women go… “From Grandparent to Gorgeous” in a Matter of Weeks “When you look at a crisp, shiny, red apple or a lush, vibrant rose in bloom, there’s absolutely no way to tell if the plant that produced them is fi ve years old or 105 years old,” says Dr. Sears, “And that’s because plants produce these powerful stem cells that ensure that year after year their fruit and fl owers look just as ageless as they ever did.” Dr. Sears told us he’s able to tap into the power of those plant cells so Re-Nourish could offer that same lush, vibrant, ageless appearance for millions of men and women who are tired of their dull, withered-looking hair. The Dawn of a New Era in Naturally Luxurious Hair Dr. Sears couldn’t be more excited about the many benefi ts of natural plant stem cells and the hope they offer for our future. And this naturally inspired plant-based approach makes Re-Nourish a unique and powerful breakthrough that’s not only creating remarkable results... But the men and women who’ve had a chance to try it are spellbound. Like April W. who had been grappling with a sad, scraggly, confi dence-crushing head of hair, “Conditioning treatments, vitamins, fancy blow dryers, special wet brushes and other expensive solutions never helped,” But then she tried Re-Nourish, “I’m seeing noticeable results with my hair thickness and length!” John S. said he’s had better-than-expected results. So, when he sat in the barber’s chair, he was pleasantly surprised “My barber that I have been going to for years noticed, and I didn’t tell him I was using the product Re-Nourish!!” he continued “My hair feels and looks much fuller. That’s all the evidence I need to know that this product is legitimate and useful — Great product.” And Elizabeth B. from West Palm Beach told us, “I was worried that it would leave my fi ne, light hair feeling heavy or looking greasy, but it hasn’t done either. It also has a lovely natural botanical smell!” For men and women with dull, thinning, or receding hairlines, Re-Nourish offers a new, exciting, and extremely easy way to achieve the appearance of a full, healthylooking head of hair without expensive treatments and from the comfort and privacy of your own home. The Secret Sauce Behind Re-Nourish What sets Re-Nourish apart? Well, in addition to malus domestica, Re-Nourish harnesses the power of targeted botanicals like the legendary Burdock Root. Rich in antioxidants and used for centuries for radiant skin and luxurious-looking hair, Burdock was a must-have for a product like ReNourish. Another secret to Re-Nourish’s incredible success is Rosemary. Extracts of this aromatic, evergreen shrub are well-researched for their anti-aging properties. Making it an exciting addition to Re-Nourish’s unique, naturally inspired formula. While Black Cumin, known for its beautiful white and purple fl owers, has been used for thousands of years to support the appearance of thick healthy hair, it was also added to the formula for its natural moisturizing properties. These thoughtfully selected ingredients are combined with a targeted array of antioxidant vitamins and vital minerals for a revolutionary experience that’s safe, easy to use, and naturally inspired. With a pleasant scent that doesn’t linger and won’t leave your scalp itchy, fl aky, greasy, or uncomfortable. Now It’s Your Turn for Gorgeous Looking Hair You could be just weeks away from having the appearance of such thick, luscious hair – the kind of hair you just can’t help but run your fi ngers through. Feeling confi dent, vibrant, self-assured, and youthful. So, get ready for the admiring glances and compliments. Because that’s the power of Re-Nourish. It doesn’t just mean soft, lush, luxuriant hair. It can transform your life, boost your self-esteem, supercharge your confi dence – and it comes as no surprise that surveys show men and women alike prefer the look of a dense, silky, head of hair. It’s really no wonder that Re-Nourish is quickly gaining popularity. It’s making waves in the industry and creating a buzz among those who are fed up with a sparse, limp, wispy head of hair. And because Re-Nourish is only available through Dr. Sears’ partners at Pure Radiance, demand is so high the company is having a tough time keeping up. Stocks are running out faster than they can be replenished. And that’s probably because Dr. Sears is currently offering readers a risk-free trial of Re-Nourish. How to Get ReNourish “It’s not available in retail stores yet,” says Dr. Sears. The reason? Dr. Sears doesn’t want profi t-driven third-party retailers raising the price on a unique, revolutionary product that has the power to truly transform people’s lives. “Plant stem cells offer so many exciting benefi ts for our future. But right now, there’s nothing like this available anywhere else. And that’s why we want to keep ReNourish affordable for anyone who wants to try it. And this way not only can we ship directly to the customer, but we’re also able to get their orders in the mail within 24 hours.” And for the outliers who still feel skeptical, Dr. Sears is backing every order with a risk-free, 100% money-back guarantee. To take advantage of this special offer, simply call the Sears Toll-Free Health Hotline at 1-800-922-0857 now. Use Promo Code USAREN27 when you call. [EDITOR’S NOTE]: Due to recent media exposure for Re-Nourish, Pure Radiance is experiencing unprecedented demand. If the phone line is busy when you call, please try again to avoid missing this exclusive onetime-only offer. THESE STATEMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN EVALUATED BY THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION. THIS PRODUCT IS NOT INTENDED TO DIAGNOSE, TREAT, CURE OR PREVENT ANY DISEASE. RESULTS MAY VARY. 8 PAID ADVERTISEMENT Thick, Full, Youthful Looking Hair Means #FUUFS-PPLT .PSF$POmEFODF .PSF'VO Clinical study shows this new hair loss breakthrough can help both men and women enjoy a thick, full head of hair SENSATIONAL HAIR BREAKTHROUGH: A thick, full-looking head of real hair is fi nally within reach

BOBBY FLAY PARTNERS WITH PEPSI FOR SUMMER FUN Pepsi is partnering with celebrity chef Bobby Flay and releasing two limitededition sodas to celebrate the coming of summer. Flay will be featured in a Pepsi TV campaign, in-store displays, digital content shorts, stunts, a social series of grill tips, tricks and tutorials and more throughout the summer. Exclusive recipes from Flay can be found on BetterWithPepsi.com. In addition, Pepsi is introducing Pepsi Lime and Pepsi Peach, which will be available soon nationwide. STARBUCKS AIMS TO BOOST ACCESSIBILITY, CUT NOISE A bustling Starbucks may not always make for the most tranquil coffee shop experience. However, the coffee giant is working to reduce noise inside its stores through technological renovations as part of several efforts to advance accessibility. The chain plans to add acoustic dampening baffles or foams in the ceilings for all new U.S. locations and about 1,000 renovated ones, a Starbucks spokesperson told USA TODAY on Tuesday. The use of acoustic dampening baffles will minimize noise and reverberations to better serve guests with assisted listening devices, the chain said. The company also plans to add adjustable lighting and power screens on exterior windows. KIDS’ YOTO SPEAKERS RECALLED OVER FIRE RISK More than 250,000 speakers marketed for children have been recalled because of a fire risk. The Yoto Mini Speaker is being voluntarily recalled because its lithium-ion battery could overheat and catch fire, posing burn and fire hazards to consumers, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The agency said Yoto has received six reports from U.S. consumers and one from a U.K. consumer of the speaker overheating or melting. No injuries have been reported. The model name Yoto Mini, SKU PRPLXX00860, and serial number are on the base of the product. Affected units were sold nationwide from November 2021 through April 2024. STAR PRINCESS DELIVERY DELAYED BY TWO MONTHS Travelers will have to wait longer than planned to sail on Princess Cruises’ upcoming ship. The delivery of Star Princess, which was set to debut next summer, will be pushed back by about two months. The cruise line said the delay was a “mutual” decision with shipbuilder Fincantieri. “Both parties have elected to adjust the ship’s delivery date from July 29, 2025 to September 26, 2025, which will result in the cancellation of the nine inaugural sailings,” Princess said. Guests whose cruises are affected will be able to rebook on any Princess ship and, depending on which sailing they pick, receive future cruise and onboard credits or a full refund. SUSAN BROMLEY/USA TODAY NETWORK PROVIDED BY PEPSI We survey and compile the top news stories from all 50 states plus Washington, D.C. Page 4B You can check the headlines from your home state or city USA TODAY | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024 | SECTION B Flyers on some airlines have the option of adding a vacation to their vacation. Page 3B Stopover programs help pack MONEY more sightseeing on a trip MONEYLINE With inflation picking up again and highly anticipated Federal Reserve interest rate cuts delayed, it may be a good time for Americans to tweak their investment and retirement portfolios, financial advisers say. While U.S. rate cuts are on hold, the European Central Bank suggested last week that its first rate cut could come in June. Though Europe’s economy is anemic compared to the U.S., those rate cuts could ignite more stock market growth that would benefit investors, advisers say. On the flip side, high U.S. rates could make U.S. fixed income a better investment. “It’s an excellent time to buy U.S. bonds with yields near the highest levels since October 2023,” said James Sahagian, managing director of Ramapo Wealth Advisors at Steward Partners. “I also think it’s worthwhile to diversify outside of the U.S.” Europe’s stock market is already on the rise The Eurostoxx 50, comprised of European blue-chip stocks, is outperforming its U.S. counterpart, the Dow Jones Industrial Average. As of Tuesday, Eurostoxx 50’s one-year return is 15.77% and its year-to-date gain is 8.75%, according to Bloomberg. That compares to the Dow’s 13.91% and 0.29%, respectively. “In Europe, their economy’s starting to expand a little and (the ECB) can aid that by reducing rates a little,” said Derek Miser, investment adviser and chief executive at Miser Wealth Partners. Europe has room to lower rates because “unlike in the United States, there is little evidence of overheating” to resurrect inflation, wrote Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, economic counsellor and director of research at the International Monetary Fund in a blog post about the IMF’s World Economic Outlook report released Tuesday. The IMF also predicts Europe’s economy will expand, registering 1.5% growth by 2025, but U.S. growth will gradually slow to 1.9%. How do lower rates help the economy? Central banks often lower interest rates to jump-start lackluster economies, as long as inflation is contained. Lower rates mean lower borrowing As inflation simmers, consider 401(k) tweaks Bonds, European stocks may provide attractive options for US investors Medora Lee USA TODAY See 401(K) , Page 2B J oy Felicitas’ bed-making skills are an art form. h Moving swiftly, Felicitas pinched the pillows in half with her forearm so they slid smoothly into the pillowcase. She flung the double-sized mattress up as if it didn’t weigh over 50 pounds and tucked the sheet under. She folded the topsheet at the foot of the bed, allowing extra room for taller people. She slipped the comforter into the duvet cover without a hitch. The final touch was a few hot water spritzes to smooth out wrinkles. It was over in the blink of an eye. Then again, Felicitas has made hundreds of beds in her lifetime. As one of more than 100 housekeepers at the Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina in Hawaii, Felicitas is part of what is often a hotel’s biggest – and arguably, most important – department. Most people know housekeepers to spruce up our room daily, sometimes even at night for a turndown service. But behind the scenes, housekeepers do much more to ensure guests have the seamlessly luxurious experience expected on vacation through grueling labor. Housekeepers not only accommodate specific guest requests, such as using eco-friendly cleaning products, as they clean, but they also anticipate Joy Felicitas can strip and remake a bed in the blink of an eye. PHOTOS PROVIDED BY THE FOUR SEASONS RESORT OAHU AT KO OLINA Housekeepers are hotels’ ‘silent team’ Staffs come clean about challenges they face “We’re able to communicate with the guests through our work, our actions.” Terry Marks Senior director of housekeeping at the Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina Kathleen Wong USA TODAY The housekeeping department of the Four Seasons is where staff uniforms are neatly cleaned and organized. See HOUSEKEEPING, Page 2B

2B ❚ WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2024 ❚ USA TODAY MONEY costs, encouraging people to spend and companies to invest. That, in turn, boosts corporate profits, production, output and the overall economy. The opposite is true if central banks raise rates. Higher rates increase borrowing costs, discouraging spending and investing to slow down a hot economy and inflation. They also encourage saving because people can earn a higher return on their money. Valuations After a string of record highs for U.S. stocks, some financial advisers see the market as overextended compared with European stocks. “European companies are considerably more attractive based on valuations,” Sahagian said. “That merits more consideration.” At the end of March, Europe’s STOXX 600 index traded at about 15 times its one-year forward price-to-earnings ratio, while its U.S. counterpart the S&P 500 index traded at 26 times, according to LSEG data. A lower price-to-earnings multiple indicates a more attractive investment opportunity. Bank of America’s global fund manager survey last month showed the largest allocation increase to European Union stocks since June 2020. Stick with US Treasuries If U.S. rates are going to stay higher for longer now, investors should keep their Treasuries, which are yielding around 5%, advisers said. It will also add some stability to your portfolio because it’s steady income, Miser said. What should my 401(k) look like if I take these steps? Your allocation of stocks and bonds should always depend on your risk tolerance and how close you are to retirement, advisers say. The higher your risk tolerance or further away from retirement, the heavier the equity weighting, they say. After you’ve decided your stock and bond allocation, you might consider taking 20% of whatever your equity position is and allocate it to a global investment fund, Miser said. In the fixed-income portion of your portfolio, Sahagian likes the “barbell,” which means investing in short-term and long-term bonds. You gain from the high short-term interest rates while also locking in some decent long-term returns in case rates begin to fall. Miser likes 40% in two- to five-year notes, 30% in 5- to 10-years and then the rest in 30-year bonds. The varying maturities give you the flexibility to reinvest money at various times and in various ways, including buying new Treasuries. But with all retirement investments, consumers should consider what stage they are in life and what their goals and risk tolerance are before making moves, advisers said. Are Costco gold bars a good pick? Gold prices are near an all-time high around $2,400 per ounce, reflecting a “crisis of confidence,” Sahagian said. “People are looking at other assets that will hold up in the wake of uncertainties and upheaval.” They’re dissatisfied with government and monetary policy after the highest inflation in four decades and concurrent wars in Ukraine and Palestine, advisers said. “Costco’s a trusted source (for buying things, including gold bars), and people are searching for alternative ways to invest,” Sahagian said. “ ... So is it a good idea and liquid? Yes, you can monetize it at some point.” Miser’s not so sure. “Gold may have been a good idea 31 ⁄2 to 4 years ago when you could buy low and sell high,” he said. “That’s the opposite of buying gold now. Today, you’re buying at the highest it’s been in a long time, which typically means prices are reaching near their end.” Costco gold bars may be better left as a novelty purchase, he said. 401(k) Continued from Page 1B unexpressed needs, such as providing extra towels if there’s a family with young children, according to Felicitas. They are also responsible for cleaning any trace of a previous guest before the next one arrives. Their work touches every single department in a hotel, from washing coats for the chefs to keeping public areas immaculate. And they do this all without guests noticing. “We’re the silent team people never see,” said Terry Marks, senior director of housekeeping at the Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina. “We’re able to communicate with the guests through our work, our actions.” How intensive is housekeeping? Felicitas makes bed-making look easy, but housekeeping is back-breaking – and often unappreciated – work. To get rooms to pristine condition, not only are housekeepers cleaning everything – from the shower curtain to each window shutter – they’re also making sure the pillows stand up nicely and phone-charging cords are neatly coiled. Then there’s pushing the supplies cart that can easily weigh over 60 pounds from room to room. (The Four Seasons replaced the heavy carts in 2016 with smaller wagons that are lighter and easier to maneuver and don’t damage the carpets.) “Hello, the amount of steps they get each day, having to lift the beds and the mattresses, going back and forth to the bathroom, you have to get down on your hands and knees to scrub the floor, the showers and they do it right. … You give them the time to take care of these, but yeah, it’s a very tough job,” Marks said. What many people don’t know is housekeepers are also strategizers. “Housekeeping, we would clean rooms, and so they weren’t considered a skilled worker,” Marks said. “COVID is really one of the areas that brought to light how important housekeeping is, and they need to be intelligent.” Typically, housekeepers are assigned a specific time frame to clean each check-out room to prepare for a new guest, based on data gathered by each resort. At the Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina, a guest room featuring double beds is granted 73 minutes for turnover. Since housekeepers manage the same sets of rooms, they take ownership. If check-out is the following day, they can prep the room as best they can the day before, so turning over the room is a little faster, Marks said. They also make sure their carts are properly supplied so they can avoid going back and forth to the linen closet, filled with fresh linens and amenities, on each floor to avoid running back to the housekeeping department. However, things don’t always run smoothly. If there’s a family with kids versus a couple or an early check-in, it can be a time crunch to get the room cleaned to standard. “Expect the unexpected,” said Sonia Hara, a housekeeper of 18 years at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Oahu’s largest resort with 700 workers in the housekeeping department and part of the Local 5 union, which advocates for better working conditions and equitable pay. At the start of each day, Hara does mental math to see how many linens and new shower curtains she has to add to her cart to be efficient, although that can result in a heavy cart. To finish her 12 rooms in time, Hara often ends up skipping lunch. “Sometimes it’s a really hard job,” she said. The demanding labor can also take its toll. Hara has gotten injured while working, like when a guest turned off the bathroom lights and she slipped on spray-on sunscreen that was all over the floor. She also went to physical therapy for six months after pushing the heavy cart caused her back to “become crooked.” Despite the physically taxing work, Hara is proud. “I take pride in my work and I love what I’m doing.” Do housekeepers pay attention to guests’ behavior? Housekeepers also read their guests. They take mental notes of a guest’s behavior, like if someone typically sleeps in, they’ll start coming to clean their room later. They also look at “visual signals,” as Marks puts it. “So this gentleman, every time you know, I put the hairdryer back, they move it back over to the right, so I’m going to start leaving it on the right, and increase his consistency.” At the Four Seasons, housekeepers cater to guests’ needs before they even realize it. It can be as small as leaving distilled water in a room if someone uses a CPAP to sleep or slipping a bookmark into an open book. “We go into the rooms a lot of the times without seeing the actual guests, we’re being invited into their home away from home,” Marks said. How is the hotel kept clean without guests noticing too much? To keep an entire resort with 370 guest rooms, for example, and multiple public areas looking unblemished, the behind-the-scenes at a resort like the Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina is a massive operation. More than 100 housekeepers are managed by a team of three supervisors, who worked their way up from housekeeper. Public attendants take care of common areas, like lobby restrooms. House attendants help run items for housekeepers or to guest rooms, such as an extra toothbrush. Down the service elevator, the basement of the Four Seasons is where the office for the housekeeping coordinators is found. The team of three coordinators is on until 11 p.m. They’re the ones who answer when you call for an extra pillow and manage the cleaning schedule for all the housekeepers, including figuring out late check-out and early check-in. Housekeepers are in constant communication with the coordinators. At the Four Seasons, the coordinators use iPod-like devices to stay in touch and heat sensors to tell if a guest is in the room or not. “In my humble opinion, (housekeeping) is the most important department,” Marks said. “You can’t check guests into rooms if they’re not clean.” Turning the corner of the Four Seasons’ downstairs housekeeping department are towering stacks of boxes containing hundreds of linens. The tremendous amount of linens the resort goes through are outsourced to a third-party washer and returned the next morning. There also are shelves of linens washed in hypo-allergenic detergent. Then there’s a giant chute that the dirty towels and bedsheets changed out by housekeepers from each floor empties into. One worker sorts through the hulking pile all day, wearing heavy-duty gloves in case something sharp is caught in the sheets. How can we be better guests? Besides trying to keep their room somewhat orderly, there are a few ways hotel guests can help make their housekeeper’s role easier. Hara prefers her guests opt into daily housekeeping to make her check-out days faster, and that the “Do not disturb” sign can sometimes throw her schedule off. Communication also is key. Letting the hotel know a preferred time for daily housekeeping and turndown service can help housekeepers stick to their schedules. It can also give guests the best chance for early check-in and late check-out. Hotels try to accommodate late check-out and early check-in, even turning over a room in 60 minutes or less at the Four Seasons (which may include a supervisor or second housekeeper being called in to help). The more information guests can give the hotel before arrival, the better, Marks said, to allow the coordinators to go through arrival times and prioritize cleaning schedules. Sometimes, if there are too many check-ins, it just isn’t possible. Taking the time to get to know the housekeeper also goes a long way, not only in making their job easier but also because of the pride they take in their work. Hara loves it when her guests interact with her or leave thank-you notes. Some guests even request certain housekeepers or rooms because of the housekeepers. (On that note, consider sending a quick email to the hotel to give kudos to the housekeeper, which Hara said is “very uplifting.”) “That’s really the thing; the people who are here really care about the guests,” said Marks. “And it amazes me just how much they do interact, and the comments that I get from the guests that’s ‘I felt like family... Joy, or whoever it was, you know, really took care of us.’” Housekeeping Continued from Page 1B The Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina also has a hydrocarbon machine and stain removal station for guest laundry. PHOTOS PROVIDED THE FOUR SEASONS RESORT OAHU AT KO OLINA A pet-friendly resort, the Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina’s housekeeping department even caters to guests’ furry friends.

MONEY USA TODAY ❚ WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2024 ❚ 3B We Americans love to supersize. And not just with fast food. Our automobiles are bigger. Our homes are larger than almost anywhere else. Even our TVs are bigger. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of Americans discovered they could work bigger by attaching large monitors to their laptops and spread their work-from-home space across both screens. With the added real estate, folks found, they were more productive because they could, for example, simultaneously view the email they were writing and the reports they were writing about. As a result, the historically moribund PC monitor market blossomed with double-digit growth in 2020 and 2021. It’s great to be venturing out again. But untethering from the big screen and working with just a laptop in a coffee shop or on a plane can be a strain for our bigger-is-better psyche. The need for screen PC makers feel your pain. And a few of them have come up with innovative new ways to gain back some digital elbow room on the road. Laptops like HP’s Spectre Foldable 17 ($4,999.99) and the Lenovo X1 Fold ($2,299.08) have made a splash because their glass displays fold. Dual-display systems – the new Asus Zenbook Duo ($1,499.99) and Lenovo Yoga Book 9i ($1,999.99), which became available last summer – represent a more economical and expansive, if bulkier, option. Samsung, a pioneer in foldable smartphones, doesn’t currently offer either a foldable or dual-screen laptop. But the company’s newer PCs feature a novel – and potentially more economical – approach to this nascent segment: its newer notebook PCs can put some Samsung tablets to work as second screens. I’ve been evaluating one of the dualscreen options, the Asus Zenbook Duo, as well as one of the foldables, the Lenovo X1 Fold. I’ve also been pairing Samsung’s new flagship PC, the Galaxy Book4 Ultra ($1,999.99), with my circa-2021 Galaxy Tab S7+ tablet. They’re all cool. But there are tradeoffs that may or may not matter to you, depending on where you go and what you do when you leave the big display behind. And, of course, on how much you’re willing to spend. Foldable screens I was bug-eyed the first time I unfurled the Lenovo X1 Fold into an expansive 16-inch workspace because it was so cool to have a screen that expanded. Then I fumbled a bit with the stand, which itself unfolds. The stand does take time to get familiar with. But I’m used to it now. I’m also used to wrapping the stand around the magnetized keyboard as a travel cover. I thought it would bother me to carry a two-piece laptop – that is, the folded display along with the keyboard-infused stand – but it didn’t. It helps that the X1 Fold and its accompanying components − the keyboard and case − together weigh just 2.86 pounds, the lightest rig here. Using the X1 Fold on your lap like a traditional clamshell device – placing the keyboard on the bottom half of the display and folding the top half upward – works well. But it has the smallest laptop-mode display of the bunch. It’s even a little smaller than the Tab S7+ tablet’s 12.4-inch display. That’s not a problem if you’re primarily using it to respond to email or read messages. But it can be cramped for multi-window tasks like taking notes in a Zoom meeting. One more thing: If your device is part workspace, part status symbol, then the foldables are without a doubt the way to go. I’ve never had so many people ask me about a laptop before! Dual display The soon-to-be-available Asus Zenbook Duo feels just like a traditional laptop. But when you spread out the dual 14- inch displays, it can be a bit overwhelming. There’s a lot of workspace. The Zenbook Duo’s keyboard is well designed and fits neatly across one screen, mimicking a typical laptop. The Duo’s keyboard also sandwiches between the displays for storage. So, it’s a bit thick. But it’s convenient. The big hinge between the displays is slightly jarring because you can’t cleanly lay windows across the middle like you can with the X1 Fold. But if you have a lot of dashboard-style windows, the Duo works well with windows arranged side by side in geometric layouts. Part-time second screen Samsung tackles the travel-display question with a different approach. Its Galaxy Book series laptops can give some Samsung tablets a side hustle as a second screen. I’ve been evaluating the Second Screen feature with the new Galaxy Book4 Ultra and my 21 ⁄2-year-old Galaxy Tab S7+. I’ve been frustrated in the past broadcasting from laptops to TV screens, so I had low expectations for the Second Screen app. But it works flawlessly. And it’s compact. So, I’m more willing to use it in tighter spaces than I am either the X1 Fold or the ZenBook Duo. The Ultra itself has surprisingly long battery life. It also sports a 16.3-inch display – with almost as much real estate as the taller X1 Fold – so you arguably wouldn’t be pining for an extender too often. But there are smaller, lower-cost laptops in the Galaxy Book4 line that also can make use of Tab S-series displays, starting at $699.99. If you already travel with a tablet – especially if it’s a Samsung Tab S-series tablet – then the Second Screen feature can be an effective, economical option. USA TODAY columnist Mike Feibus is president and principal analyst of FeibusTech, a Scottsdale, Arizona, market research and consulting firm. Reach him at [email protected]. Foldable and dual screens boost computer view Mike Feibus Special to USA TODAY The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold, which opens up to a 16.3-inch display, is one of several new innovative laptops that can help travelers work big on the road. PROVIDED BY MIKE FEIBUS On a recent Turkish Airlines flight from San Francisco to Istanbul, I noticed that a surprising number of people at the boarding gate and on the flight were looking at guidebooks for destinations far beyond Turkey. Their endpoints were varied: Greece, Rome, Dubai and beyond. But as they chatted with other travelers, it seemed that what united all those people was an excitement to add a vacation to their vacation; a stop in Istanbul on the way as part of the airline’s stopover program. Turkish isn’t alone in offering a stopover program – a long layover that provides the chance to add a stop in an airline’s hub city at no added flight charge. Icelandair, Iberia and Emirates, among others, also have a stopover program. Why is a stopover program worth considering? Stopovers tend to be offered on longhaul flights, which means there are actually two benefits to taking advantage of them. On the most practical level, booking a stopover is a chance to break up a long travel day on the way to your final destination, a pause to stretch your legs and sleep in a bed overnight. They’re also a way of adding a whole extra destination to your itinerary, an opportunity to see a place without planning an entire vacation there. What costs are associated with adding a free stopover? There’s no additional cost for pausing (usually for one to four days) in the chosen city of an airline’s stopover program. Except in a few noteworthy cases, hotel costs (along with transportation, meals and activities) are still your responsibility during the stopover. Some programs give you the chance to see the sites These are the airlines that offer free stopover programs. I’ve also dug into airlines that offer mini-stopover programs that give you the chance to sightsee (or rest) on a long layover, airlines that offer stopovers on award tickets, and airlines that give you all the tools you need to DIY your own stopover. h Stopovers with Turkish Airlines: After putting its standout stopover program on hiatus during the pandemic, Turkish Airlines has relaunched it, and is sweetening the deal with longer free hotel stays in Istanbul. Passengers who are connecting through Istanbul and have a connection period of at least 20 hours can take advantage of the Stopover in Istanbul program. Through the program, economy-class passengers coming from the U.S. can stay up to two nights free in a four-star hotel (after booking, the airline provides a hotel voucher that can be redeemed on the airline’s website after the ticket purchase). Business-class passengers coming from the U.S. can stay three nights free in a five-star hotel. h Stopovers with Icelandair: Icelandair’s Stopover in Iceland program offers transatlantic passengers the option to add a one- to seven-day stopover in Reykjavik (and the rest of the country) for no additional cost. To inspire layovers and simplify planning, the airline has ready-made stopover itineraries arranged by number of days you stay. h Stopovers with Emirates: Emirates’ Dubai Stopover programs add appeal to a Dubai layover. With its Dubai Connect program, passengers with a Dubai layover of between six (for first or business class tickets) or eight (for economy and premium economy) and 26 hours receive complimentary hotel stays and meals. For longer stopovers (there’s no maximum stay with the stopover program), the airline can arrange a 48-hour visa and travel planning help in Dubai, Ras Al-Khaimah, Sharjah or Abu Dhabi. For short layovers that don’t offer enough time to leave the airport, the airline’s Dubai Stopover Airport Services offers lounge access and six- or 12- hour hotel room packages at Dubai International Hotel directly inside Terminal 3. To book a stopover package, reach out to the airline or a travel agent after booking a flight and select the package and hotel you want. h Stopovers with Etihad Airways: Etihad has two (previously three) stopover options for flights connecting through Abu Dhabi. Its Amazing Stopover program offers discounted stays at three-star hotels for one or two nights plus complimentary WiFi (and 24-hour check-in). The Premium Stopover discounts stays at four- and five-star hotels for stopovers of two to four nights and offers daily breakfast and free WiFi. h Stopovers with TAP Air Portugal: TAP’s Portugal Stopover program allows passengers to add a one- to 10-day stopover in either Lisbon or Porto at no additional charge. As an extension of this offer, passengers who want to visit other destinations in Portugal (and its islands) can book domestic airfare at a 25% discount. There are also other discounts on hotels, restaurants and things like sightseeing passes. h Stopovers with Iberia: Iberia’s Stopover Hola Madrid program allows Iberia passengers to book a layover in Madrid without additional charges. Stays can range from 24 hours up to six nights, and while Iberia doesn’t cover the cost of hotel stays, it does offer discounts on hotel stays, transportation, activities and restaurants in Madrid. h Stopovers with Air Canada: Air Canada has a Toronto stopover program that gives passengers the option to pause in Toronto for up to 48 hours as a layover between two destinations. h Stopovers with Qatar Airways: Qatar Airways’ Qatar Stopover program allows passengers flying through Doha to add a one- to four-night stopover on either the outbound or return flight. The package includes extremely discounted hotel stays (one night at a standard hotel starts at $14 per person or $81 per person at a luxury hotel). h Stopovers with Copa Airlines: Copa’s stopover program gives passengers in transit the option to extend a layover in Panama City for up to seven days. And of note, while most of these stopover programs allow passengers to take advantage of the stopover program only going one way, Copa gives travelers the options to do a stopover on both the outbound and return trip for a fee of $250 for the second stopover. h Stopovers with Qantas: Qantas takes a more-the-merrier approach to its stopover program, allowing one or more stopovers at no extra cost on eligible Qantas flights and oneworld partner airline flights. To book, passengers use the multicity booking tool on the airline’s website – a similar approach to the airlines listed in the DIY stopover below. What sets this program apart is the assurance the stopovers are allowed at no extra charge on eligible flights. Which airlines have free mini-stopover programs? Airlines that have mini-stopover programs include Finnair (which has shortvisit ideas for layovers of six to 24 hours), Air China (which offers free hotel stays for passengers with long layovers in Beijing, Chengdu, Dalian, Hangzhou and Shanghai), and Ethiopian Airlines (the airline offers connecting passengers with layovers between eight and 24 hours hotel stays). Royal Jordanian has a Zuwar Stopover Program, which offers a huge selection of guided tours for passengers with layovers of six hours or longer (there are also traditional food experiences for shorter layovers). h Award travel stopover programs There’s one more approach to finding no-cost multiday layovers in airlines’ hub cities. Certain frequent flyer programs offer free stopovers on award travel. Programs that offer reward tickets with stopovers include Air France and KLM’s Flying Blue program, Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer program, Alaska Airlines’ Mileage Plan, and Air Canada’s Aeroplan. h Using airlines’ multi-city booking tool to DIY a stopover Even if an airline doesn’t have a formal stopover program, it may have a multicity booking option that will allow you to create a gap between your flights in your layover city. While this option doesn’t score you the perks of a true stopover program – like free hotel stays, discounts on activities and no additional airfare costs – it does offer the chance to add a few days in a destination. Airlines that have multi-city booking tools include British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Hawaiian Airlines and Japan Airlines. Add a vacation to your vacation: These 10 airlines have the best free stopover programs originally appeared on FamilyVacationist.com. The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY. FamilyVacationist.com and TourScoop. com are owned and operated by Vacationist Media LLC. Using the FamilyVacationist travel recommendation methodology, we review and select family vacation ideas, family vacation spots, allinclusive family resorts, and classic family vacations for all ages. TourScoop covers guided group tours and tour operators, tour operator reviews, tour itinerary reviews and travel gear recommendations. Airlines with top (free) stopover programs Flyers have option to add vacation to their vacation Christine Sarkis FamilyVacationist.com Air Canada has a Toronto stopover program that offers a pause in Toronto for up to 48 hours as a layover between two destinations. COLE BURSTON/GETTY IMAGES

4B ❚ WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2024 ❚ USA TODAY MONEY News from across the USA ALABAMA Birmingham: The families of five men who died in Alabama Department of Corrections custody are suing UAB Medical Center for removing the men’s organs. ALASKA Anchorage: Authorities said investigations are underway after three people were killed in two separate incidents last week, Alaska Public Media reported. ARIZONA Phoenix: A progressive political group is launching a campaign to unseat two Arizona Supreme Court justices who recently upheld a near-total abortion ban from 1864. ARKANSAS Little Rock: In a letter to the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan requested all documents related to the planning and execution of a March search warrant raid that led to the death of Bryan Malinowski, the director of Little Rock’s airport. CALIFORNIA Sacramento: A coalition backed by major retailers says it has collected more than 900,000 signatures in support of a November ballot measure that would toughen penalties for retail theft and drug possession. COLORADO Fort Collins: Northern Colorado’s airport needs to widen its main north-south runway to accommodate jets as large as the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320, per requirements from the Federal Aviation Administration. To do that, it has to close the main 8,500-foot-long, 100- foot-wide runway for up to 224 days. CONNECTICUT New Haven: Jack Ford teaches a course at Yale University, “Trials of the 20th Century,” that covers a dozen sensational court cases – including the O.J. Simpson murder trial in 1995. On that one, Ford remains a foremost expert. He served as NBC’s chief legal correspondent during the spectacle. DELAWARE Dover: Dover police have identified the 18-year-old woman killed in a shooting on Delaware State University’s campus Sunday. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington: Federal prosecutors are seeking a longer prison sentence for a group of anti-abortion activists indicted in the 2020 invasion of a clinic in D.C., WUSA reported. FLORIDA South Tampa: An alligator parked itself on the tarmac of MacDill Air Force Base in the Sunshine State this week and blocked traffic until Florida wildlife law enforcement arrived, wrangled and removed it. GEORGIA Tybee Island: What locals and promoters call Orange Crush was a little different this year – all the people, the booming music, the traffic and litter were there, but so were more than 100 additional law enforcement officers and traffic restrictions. None of the additional measures stopped the party as the crowd size on the beach slowly grew over the course of the day, most likely reaching the same size or more than last year, according to Mayor Brian West. But he won’t have an official count for a number of days, he said. HAWAII Honolulu: U.S. and South Korean officials are meeting in Hawaii this week for talks on sharing the cost of keeping American troops in South Korea, with the U.S. seeking “a fair and equitable outcome” that will strengthen the alliance, the U.S. State Department said. IDAHO Boise: Idaho is one of only five states that prohibits the use of marijuana of any kind, representing some of the strictest laws on the books. The political action committee Kind Idaho has been working to change that for years. The group is currently collecting signatures for their Idaho Medical Marijuana Initiative, which would focus on providing medical marijuana to people with chronic health conditions or those who are terminally ill. ILLINOIS Springfield: A bill banning four food additives commonly found in candies and baked goods is one step closer to becoming law following a bipartisan vote in the Illinois Senate. Senate Bill 2637 passed in the Senate and now heads to the House for further consideration. INDIANA South Bend: University of Notre Dame officials broke ceremonial ground Saturday on the Jack and Kathy Shields Family Hall, which will replace the Guglielmino Athletics Complex as the football program’s operations hub. IOWA Des Moines: The announcement that Daisy will be building a $627 million dairy processing plant in Iowa will translate to more than just added jobs and increased financial investment. It will mean more cows. Daisy will need the output of an estimated 43,000 dairy cows to meet its daily production requirements, the president of the Ames Chamber of Commerce said. KANSAS Topeka: Education officials estimate that every day in Kansas, about 1,000 drivers illegally pass a stopped school bus as it picks up or drops off children. But with the Legislature not acting on a proposal to help law enforcement crack down on violators of the state stop arm law, the Kansas State Board of Education is pursuing a regulatory change in an attempt to make it safer when loading and unloading a bus. KENTUCKY Louisville: Daniel Cameron is making an appearance again in state politics. The former Kentucky attorney general has formed a political action committee called the “All 120 PAC” to help candidates with similar beliefs in Kentucky. LOUISIANA Baton Rouge: The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has received $65.2 million to aid the fishing industry damaged by storms and flooding. MAINE Wells: A proposed moratorium on large-scale housing projects in the community is now in the voters’ hands. The Wells Select Board agreed to forward the proposal to a special town meeting. MARYLAND Salisbury: The Wicomico County Sheriff’s Office has launched an investigation that has led to a total of 228 child sex charges being filed against a Wicomico County man. MASSACHUSETTS Boston: A Massachusetts woman discovered a historic artifact that dates back to World War II and was hidden inside a piece of furniture. She found a notebook that documented events from the USS Amesbury, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. MINNESOTA Bloomington: First Lady Jill Biden made stops in Bloomington on Friday to mobilize women voters and educators for President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign. MISSISSIPPI Yazoo City: To some people it may have been just a small bone; a darkened and fossilized relic laying in a creek bed since the end of the last ice age. But thousands of years ago it was a part of one of the most formidable, iconic predators that roamed the landscape of what is now Mississippi. The toe bone recently discovered in a Yazoo County creek came from one that is well known – the saber-toothed cat. MISSOURI Jefferson City: The Better Party, founded by U.S. Senate candidate Jared Young, submitted more than 25,000 signatures to the Missouri Secretary of State’s office. The party needed at least 10,000 verified signatures to gain ballot access for its candidates this year. MONTANA Missoula: Aging services in Cascade and Missoula counties are urging vigilance for Medicare enrollees around a scam offering free services or equipment in exchange for Medicare numbers, The Daily Montanan reported. NEBRASKA Lincoln: Cannabis in Nebraska is illegal, both for medicinal and recreational purposes. Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana is a ballot committee working to qualify two medical cannabis initiatives for the November general election ballot. As of March, the group reportedly had at least 40,000 of the required 87,000 signatures for each ballot initiative, with the deadline to submit the petitions on July 3. NEVADA Carson City: A new report says American families that pay for child care spend nearly one-fifth of their income on the service, and costs are rising. In Nevada, the costliest child care state, families spend 32.3% of their income, an average of $493 a week, for others to watch their children, the report says. NEW HAMPSHIRE Concord: Local towns are putting up a fight against a bill that they say will kill the New Hampshire Public Deposit Investment Pool, known as “the Pool.” State Sen. Cindy Rosenwald said the $600 million in the Pool isn’t being used to help the state; instead it is being invested in financial institutions in other states and countries. NEW JERSEY Somerville: A New Jersey man was charged with a federal hate crime for breaking into the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University during the Eid-alFitr holiday and causing about $40,000 in damages, the Department of Justice announced. NEW MEXICO Carlsbad: Nuclear waste managers could not financially justify proposed changes in how the materials are handled for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Repository. NEW YORK New York: A year after New York City anointed a czar for its war on rats, health officials are seeing a jump in cases of a rare disease linked to rat urine. Sanitation employees, who collect the city’s trash and are frequently exposed to rats, say workers are disparately represented in cases of leptospirosis. NORTH CAROLINA Wilmington: Plans for a Michael Jordan museum announced last year appear to have rimmed out. According to a news release from New Hanover County government, “The (Jordan) family has decided not to pursue a Michael Jordan Family Museum at this time.” NORTH DAKOTA Fargo: After three years, Navy week will be returning to the city in July, KVRR reported. OHIO Columbus: In 2015, Ohio State University adopted a new slate of sustainability goals aimed at, among other things, being a better steward of its resources. Nearly a decade later, those goals are not close to being accomplished. OKLAHOMA Oklahoma City: Police say they’ve begun investigating after five people, including children, were found dead inside a home. OREGON Salem: The company behind new parking fees for a notoriously busy lot across from Multnomah Falls said their plan will make the Columbia River Gorge safer, even as visitors complain and federal officials are reviewing its legality. The new fees brought immediate anger from hikers and visitors. It also brought questions from the U.S. Forest Service and Multnomah County, which said the payment machines had not been permitted and placed the move “under review.” PENNSYLVANIA Harrisburg: The administration of Gov. Josh Shapiro says it is committed to enhancing and expanding the state’s long-range transportation infrastructure, recognizing its pivotal role in Pennsylvanians’ daily lives. A beacon of hope in this endeavor is the “2045 long-range transportation plan,” a visionary roadmap that promises to transform mass transit across the state. RHODE ISLAND South Kingstown: How many types of bees do you think there are in Rhode Island? The actual number is around 280 and counting. Members of the Bee Lab at the University of Rhode Island are still documenting all the species found in Rhode Island. Over the last two summers, researchers have collected thousands of specimens from places all around the state. Many of them are still awaiting classification. SOUTH CAROLINA Columbia: Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s husband, Maj. Michael Haley, has returned to the U.S. after completing his yearlong deployment with the South Carolina National Guard. SOUTH DAKOTA Sioux Falls: South Dakota State University is expanding its footprint in Sioux Falls by a couple thousand more square feet, the university announced. TENNESSEE Nashville: Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s signature proposal for a statewide school voucher program is dead for the year, with Lee acknowledging there is no way forward for the legislation despite last-ditch negotiations through the weekend to revive the stalled bill. TEXAS Austin: A coalition of advocates has joined one of Texas’ most famous inmates to sue the state over extreme temperatures in prison cells, arguing in federal court that inmates are “being cooked to death” and staff members are suffering heat-related injuries without air conditioning. UTAH Payson: A protest at a Utah middle school prompted district officials to address rumors of alleged “biting” and “licking” initiated by furries, according to reports from multiple outlets. VERMONT Montpelier: Another ski season is winding down in Vermont, and by all accounts, it was a good one. The solar eclipse helped, bringing thousands of visitors, some of whom took the opportunity to ski while they were visiting. Big snow dumps in March helped too. VIRGINIA Hopewell: Hopewell’s outgoing city attorney has recommended that the Virginia attorney general’s office look into claims by an alleged department employee that the city’s treasurer improperly removed herself from a state agency’s list of delinquent taxpayers without attempting to settle her own tax debts. WASHINGTON West Richland: Authorities have issued an Amber Alert for a 1-year-old boy after police said a former officer reportedly killed two women − his wife and ex-girlfriend − and allegedly kidnapped the baby. WEST VIRGINIA Morgantown: Health officials said the state’s first case of measles since 2009 was reported over the weekend in Monongalia County, WV News reported. WISCONSIN Madison: The state’s financial condition is the strongest on record, according to a new report. The analysis, which comes four years after the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, noted substantial reserves and relatively low debt. WYOMING Cheyenne: Over 300 registered Republican voters gathered in the state’s capital on a cold and slushy Saturday for Wyoming’s state GOP convention to crown former President Donald Trump as their choice for the next president of the United States and award him all 29 of their presidential delegates. From USA TODAY Network and wire reports HIGHLIGHT: MICHIGAN Operated remotely, the BeBot traverses sandy areas, raking for debris. It is equipped to collect all waste from the sand. CAITLIN LOOBY/USA TODAY NETWORK FILE Charlevoix: Around 22 million pounds of plastic debris ends up in the Great Lakes every year, according to Jennifer McKay, chief policy and government affairs director at the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council. In addition to the unsightly litter, the trash poses a danger to animals and plants that make their homes along the Great Lakes. To combat this environmental crisis, the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council has collaborated with the Great Lakes Plastic Clean-up Project to procure a robotic beach cleaning device, known as the BeBot, aimed at removing plastic waste from Lake Michigan beaches and inland lake beaches.

Mike Freeman column: WNBA’s A’ja Wilson long overdue to be feted with signature shoe, 4C NFL draft: Harrison, Rattler, waits and boom/bust. 3, 7-8C See who is gaining momentum or making up ground in the NBA and NHL playoffs Latest news, results, opinions 24/7 at sports.usatoday.com SPORTS USA TODAY | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024 | SECTION C BALTIMORE – To virtually no one’s surprise, a front-runner for American League Rookie of the Year is again emerging from Camden Yards. h Yet in a testament to the Baltimore Orioles’ startling player-development assembly line, it is not Jackson Holliday. h No, the consensus No. 1 prospect in Major League Baseball is struggling in his first trip around the big leagues, with just one hit in his first 30 at-bats going into Tuesday. Instead, it is Colton Cowser who is following in the footsteps of reigning AL rookie winner Gunnar Henderson in more than one way. h Cowser, the fifth overall pick in the 2021 draft, has banged his way into an everyday role, with an early line – .364, a .400 on-base percentage, a 1.200 OPS – that has all the caveats of late April attached, yet comes with underlying statistics that portend another superstar budding in Baltimore. “What does he profile as?” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde wondered last Wednesday. “Someone who can do a little bit of everything – give you a good at-bat every time, have a chance to go deep, to take a walk, to run the bases well and play three spots in the outfield.” In short? “That’s a really good major league player.” He lacks the fanfare that preceded Henderson, Holliday and All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman’s arrival in the big leagues. Yet it’s best you know about Cowser now, lest those early numbers normalize and another star emerges as the Orioles aim to defend their AL East title. Try, try again Prospect lists are fun, and often instructive, and it’s an honor to be included in any credible outfit’s top 100 The Orioles’ Colton Cowser is off and running early in 2024 with a .364 average in 21 games. TOMMY GILLIGAN/USA TODAY SPORTS AL East champions’ latest ‘great dude’ Colton Cowser batting .364 with 6 HRs in 55 at-bats Gabe Lacques USA TODAY Colton Cowser and Gunnar Henderson are two of the See COWSER, Page 2C Orioles’ young ‘dudes.’ GREG FIUME/GETTY IMAGES ATLANTA – It was a whirlwind tour that illustrated how close Qwan’tez Stiggers is to realizing his NFL dream. He visited 13 teams in a little over a month. Talk about being on the NFL map. Qwan’tez who? Never mind that Stiggers, 23, never played a down of college football and wasn’t among the 321 prospects invited to the scouting combine a few weeks ago. He’s not listed on anybody’s mock draft as a first-round pick. Nor did he figure he was always destined for this. Yet if you’re looking for an improbable storybook journey reflecting the hope, dreams and perseverance that can come with a selection in the NFL draft, Stiggers is your guy. At one point during his travels, he essentially pinched himself. “I looked in the mirror and asked myself: ‘Is this actually going on? Is this real?’ ” Stiggers told USA TODAY Sports over the weekend, back home from the tour. Yes, it’s real. Nearly half the teams in the league brought in the chiseled, 204- pound cornerback for a closer look as one of their “top 30” visits, part of the due diligence that comes with the draft process. One day it was Baltimore, another day Denver. One night he was in Indianapolis, the next night Buffalo. And One improbable storybook journey to the NFL Qwan’tez Stiggers played for the Toronto Argonauts in the CFL last year. JOHN E. SOKOLOWSKI/GETTY IMAGES See BELL, Page 2C Qwan’tez Stiggers never played college ball Jarrett Bell Columnist USA TODAY The Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it will pay nearly $139 million to survivors of Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse as part of a settlement stemming from the FBI’s mishandling of the initial allegations. USA TODAY Sports and The Wall Street Journal first reported last week that a settlement had been agreed upon and would stretch into nine figures. The Department of Justice specified in a news release that an amount of $138.7 million will be distributed to a group of 139 victims – working out to roughly $1 million per claimant, on average. “These allegations should have been taken seriously from the outset,” acting associate attorney general Benjamin Mizer said in a statement. “While these settlements won’t undo the harm Nassar inflicted, our hope is that they will help give the victims of his crimes some of the critical support they need to continue healing.” Olympic champions Simone Biles, McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman were among the more than 100 victims who filed claims with the Department of Justice in 2022, roughly a year after the release of a report by the department’s inspector general. The report found that FBI officials in Indianapolis failed to respond to allegations of abuse they received involving Nassar “with the utmost seriousness and urgency” in 2015, a delay that allowed the abuse to continue. Nassar, the former U.S. women’s national gymnastics team doctor and Michigan State employee, was found to have sexually assaulted more than 500 women and girls under the guise of providing medical treatment. He is now serving what will amount to a lifetime prison sentence on sexual assault and child pornography charges. The victims who filed administrative claims with the Justice Department are represented by a large, disparate group of attorneys. But four of those attorneys, who represent 77 of the 139 claimants, described the settlement in a statement Tuesday as “monumental.” “We are proud to have achieved a monumental settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, that not only secures the recovery the survivors deserve but also holds the DOJ and FBI accountable for their failures,” Thomas Behm, Megan Bonanni, Mick Grewal and Michael Pitt said in a joint statement. “We hope this serves as a lesson for federal law enforcement and they make the changes necessary to prevent anything like this from happening again.” Tuesday’s settlement brings the combined liability payouts in legal cases brought by victims of Nassar’s abuse to more than $1 billion. Michigan State agreed to distribute $500 million to survivors, while USA Gymnastics reached a separate settlement with them worth $380 million. Justice to pay nearly $139M Deal set for survivors of Nassar’s sexual abuse Tom Schad USA TODAY

2C ❚ WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2024 ❚ USA TODAY SPORTS list. Yet such platitudes are no help when you’re standing in the box, facing major league pitching for the first time. Cowser has no shortage of examples to follow in his home clubhouse. It begins with Henderson, who debuted at 21 in August 2022, homered in his first game and after a nifty 34-game debut was handed a starting job for 2023. And he promptly batted .189 with 29 strikeouts in the season’s first month. “It’s definitely tough in the beginning, especially when you’re not doing so well because you want to help the team win,” says Henderson. “You’re going through it every day and trying to embrace the ups and downs. But it feels like you’re in that down for a while, especially in the beginning. “But having that support group around you and being able to be aware of what you need rather than continuing to get down on yourself is the biggest thing.” For Henderson, that support group was helmed by Rutschman, and he finished with 28 homers and a .814 OPS. Now, it is Henderson who reminds youngsters like Cowser and infielder Jordan Westburg that this big-league thing isn’t always easy. Cowser learned that last season, when he was one of a handful of bluechip prospects to graduate from their Class AAA club in Norfolk (Virginia) to Baltimore. A division title was in sight and playoff roster spots in the offing when Cowser made his major league debut on July 5, notching his first major league hit in Yankee Stadium. And then, nothing. In 77 big-league plate appearances, Cowser did not hit a home run and contributed just two doubles, startling numbers for a guy who produced 55 and 57 extra-base hits at the minor league level the past two seasons. He batted .115 with 27 strikeouts – a 28.5% K percentage – before he was optioned back to Class AAA for good on Aug. 11. The elite plate discipline that produced a .460 OBP at Sam Houston State and .420 in the minors was almost a drawback at the highest level. Major league pitchers bury you when you let them dig a two-strike hole, a lesson best learned on sheepish walks back to the dugout. “You have to understand that, accept that,” says Cowser. “I feel every level I started at, I got off to a slow start. Continue to trust that and put in the work and trust the process.” So he consulted nearly constantly with Orioles hitting coaches in the offseason, and a simple plan emerged: attack. “He’s definitely more aggressive this year than last year. He realized he was 0-2 every count when he first got here last year, and then he started being overly aggressive and then had a tough time kind of finding that balance. “I think he did a really good job this offseason talking with our hitting guys, simplifying his approach, and understanding what he can and can’t handle, when to be aggressive.” While the sample is small, the results are enticing. In his first 20 at-bats after a 0-1 count this year, Cowser hit .450 (9-for-20) with three doubles; he was 3-for-32 (.094) with one double and two walks in 35 plate appearances last season. Cowser’s Statcast metrics are earlyseason absurd, as he ranked in at least the 90th percentile in five categories, most notably hard-hit and barrel percentages (90% and 97%, respectively). Attack, indeed. “I definitely think there’s a balance,” says Cowser. “I think sometimes, still, depending on the game, I’ll think I can hit every pitch. I’ll see it early, and be like, ‘Oh, I think I can go with that,’ and it turns out I won’t hit it. “Just continue to be aggressive in the zone. It’s OK if I’m slugging the ball, OK to be aggressive. These things kind of go hand in hand.” Second wave of Dudes To the uninitiated, the Orioles clubhouse can be a confusing haze of youth, with all these Gunnars and Jacksons and Coltons coalescing, with draft years and birth certificates only complicating the matter. To wit: Rutschman, the 2022 AL Rookie of the Year runner-up, and Henderson represent the 2019 draft wave, selected two entire years ahead of Cowser. Yet it’s now Cowser who’s the rookie, at 24, while Henderson’s still just a 22-year-old chap, his Rookie of the Year trophy already collecting dust. Westburg and slugger Heston Kjerstad – currently destroying Class AAA pitching (10 homers, 1.175 OPS) at Norfolk are 25-year-old 2020 draftees. The third wave will led by power-hitting infielders Coby Mayo (22, 2020 high school draftee) and Connor Norby (23, 2021 draftee), both also in AAA. “It’s a testament to the guys the Orioles brought in – great dudes outside of great baseball players,” says Henderson. “It’s been really fun to spend time with each and every one of them, because they’re just great dudes and you enjoy being around them and that’s what makes our clubhouse great. “A clubhouse full of great dudes and you can have genuine conversations with them and being able to do that every day allows you to have fun at the ballpark.” Oh, it’s plenty fun. The Orioles lead the major leagues with 35 home runs and, in a nod to their youthful mien, have upgraded their “homer hose” to a “hydration station.” The two concepts merged seamlessly when veteran outfielder Cedric Mullins hit a two-run, walk-off home run to beat Minnesota last Wednesday, and then chugged from the hydration station as he stepped on home plate. Yet no one’s produced more waterworks than Cowser, who has 12 extrabase hits. His recent AL Player of the Week honor commemorated a stretch in which he homered in four consecutive games and ripped four doubles in a 10-for-23 rampage. The carnage included a 10-RBI series at Fenway Park and a couple of stolen bases, for kicks. “He’s still a really young hitter and he’s going to have his ups and downs,” says Hyde, “but these last eight or nine days have been unbelievable.” The comfort level hasn’t hurt, says Cowser, who has only competed alongside many of his fellow baby birds in instructional league or a smattering of spring games. “I didn’t necessarily play with those guys in the minor leagues,” says Cowser, “but I’m really close with them, and it’s awesome,” he says. “It causes a really nice comfortable aspect in the clubhouse and I’m looking forward to the rest of the year.” Bovine basher It’s tough to miss Cowser’s plate appearances at Camden Yards. The assembled throngs will begin mooing as he leaves the on-deck circle, a cheap yet nifty pun on his last name. The goofiness is appropriate: Cowser gets a little looser than many of his more straitlaced peers, though he only acknowledges that he’s just trying to keep things light, ever the rookie waiting for his feet to plant firmly on the ground for good. That day seems to be getting closer, with every hard-hit ball and every bovine serenade from the crowd. “He’s a big personality,” says Henderson. “And he’ll let you know every day.” Cowser Continued from Page 1C Orioles left fielder Colton Cowser hit his sixth home run of the season Monday against the Angels. KIRBY LEE/USA TODAY SPORTS Encouraged by his mother and his now-fiancee, Cheyenne McClain, he wound up on the right side of history with that decision. “I felt like I left football too early and I needed to get back to it,” Stiggers said. Fast-forward to mid-March. Weeks after Stiggers turned heads at the EastWest Shrine Game, 29 NFL teams were represented at his pro day at B.E.S.T. Academy. “I wanted to see if he could run,” Reggie McKenzie, senior personnel executive for the Miami Dolphins, told USA TODAY Sports after watching the workout. “And he can run.” Stiggers put on a show, clocking at 4.45 seconds in the 40-yard dash, which would have tied for 12th among cornerback times posted at the combine. He posted a 1.52-second 10-yard split (which indicated explosiveness), a 36 1 ⁄2-inch vertical jump and a 10-foot-8 broad jump. He looked fluid, too, as he turned and tracked the football on deep throws to the sideline. A few months ago, Stiggers wasn’t on the NFL’s radar. But he’s nobody’s sleeper now. “The fact that he played in the CFL was good for him,” McKenzie said. “It gave him the experience of playing a lot, getting on film. And the East-West was huge.” For that, Stiggers can thank his agent, Frederick Lyles of NZone Sports, who so on. Airports. Tours of team headquarters. Interviews with coaches and decision-makers. “It was almost surreal, visiting the cities, the coaches, seeing how some of these teams are the standard of the NFL,” Stiggers said. Learn anything? “I learned that if you’re a good person and can play good football, the NFL, they’ll find you,” he shot back. This trek to the doorstep of the NFL draft included a definitive statement in 2023 in his one and only season in the Canadian Football League. He balled out for the Toronto Argonauts to the point that he became the first defensive back in 25 years to win CFL Most Outstanding Rookie honors. Before that, it was a one-season stint in Fan Controlled Football that reignited his gridiron dream after, well, his mother, Kwanna Stiggers, came across the 7-on-7 semipro indoor league while scrolling on Facebook and signed him up for a tryout. His resume is stamped with such resourcefulness. And not just from a football perspective. He got his first paycheck from Walmart, where he collected the shopping carts in the parking lot at the store on Cascade Road in Southwest Atlanta. He washed cars at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. He was a car salesman for Superior Chevrolet. He worked temp jobs and made deliveries for DoorDash. Hey, this dude hustles. “I even had my own mobile oil change and brake service business,” he added. “I’ve had a lot of jobs.” Now, Stiggers is poised to line up his next job with a dash of history. According to ESPN, Stiggers, projected as a middle- to late-round pick, could become just the third player selected in the common NFL draft who didn’t play in college. The first was Eric Swann, a Pro Bowl defensive tackle drafted sixth overall by the then-Phoenix Cardinals in 1991. The last was Moritz Boehringer, a German tight end taken in the sixth round by the Minnesota Vikings in 2016, who never elevated beyond the practice squad. Why Stiggers didn’t play in college was not for a lack of trying. After graduating from B.E.S.T. Academy, a small charter school in Atlanta, he planned to play at Lane College, an HBCU school in Jackson, Tennessee. Then the pandemic hit and Lane’s season was canceled by COVID-19. That was only part of the reason Stiggers separated from football. In September 2020, he lost his father, Rayves Harrison, who had been in a coma since being injured in a one-car crash on Valentine’s Day of 2020. The ordeal with his father devastated Stiggers. “I kind of went into a depression state, and I put my dream on hold,” Stiggers said. “I just wanted to be there for my mom and my brothers. “Getting that opportunity to play in the Fan Controlled league, it kind of opened my eyes, helped me mature a bit.” It helped that his coach in the indoor league, John Jenkins, was a former Argonauts assistant coach, which led to Stiggers’ word-of-mouth shot to play in Canada. He made a quick impression in the CFL, producing a pick-six in his first game and finishing the season with five interceptions. Reflecting on the turning point that got him back into football, he calls his mother’s role “a blessing” that he almost dismissed. He had never heard of the indoor league when Kwanna saw it as a possibility. “At first, I kind of brushed it off,” he said. “It was kind of like a debate.” lobbied the NFL and bowl game organizers to get an exemption that allowed his client to compete in the all-star game. Typically, players with pro experience such as the CFL are prohibited from college all-star contests. “I just had to go there and prove a point, that I can play American ball,” Stiggers said. “What I did in Canada was just the beginning of it. Imagine what I can do once I get into the NFL and get around the right coaches.” Lyles was the agent for two other unheralded cornerbacks who blossomed into NFL stars – Chris Harris and AJ Bouye. Naturally, Lyles promotes the notion that he has another gem in the works. “This kid, at the same stage, is at least at the same point as they were,” Lyles told USA TODAY Sports. “He’s got some amazing talent. I see it.” How much NFL teams agree will be proved in the coming days. McKenzie said that in addition to the physical skills, he is struck by the mental toughness gained on Stiggers’ unique journey. “His path, it wasn’t by choice,” McKenzie said. “He had some issues with his family, his father. And then he didn’t get a chance to play at Lane. He’s had a lot of obstacles to overcome. But there are no issues off the field. It’s just that things didn’t work out football-wise after he left high school.” But look at him now. Stiggers will gather with his family, which includes his and Cheyenne’s 2-year-old son, Legend, during the draft and wait for the big call. He won’t even try to guess when and where that call will come from. During the tour, he picked up no clues – which is just like NFL teams to keep intentions close to the vest. “No, I’m not nervous,” he said, answering the question. “I’ve been through adversity before and I handled it. There’s no such thing as being nervous in my system.” For a man planning to make a living trying to keep up with big-play receivers, that’s a good thing. He senses what his father would tell him as he prepares for the next level. “Save every dime I can and not everybody is your friend,” he said. In other words, be cautious. Stay grounded. “One day you could wake up and your whole life can be changed,” he said. He’s living proof of that. Which is the stuff NFL dreams are made of. Bell Continued from Page 1C Qwan’tez Stiggers reaches up for one of his five CFL interceptions last year, snagging a pass intended for Hamilton’s Tim White. DAN HAMILTON/USA TODAY SPORTS

SPORTS USA TODAY ❚ WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2024 ❚ 3C hands. Rome does a good job making contested catches, high-pointing the football. So those are two things I really like in both their games.” All that being said, how much pride would you feel being the first WR taken in the draft? “I mean, it’d be nice. I honestly don’t care about it too much. Really just more focused on going to the right situation for me, that’s going to help me be the best player I can be these first four years in the NFL. Whether that’s first receiver off the board, third, fifth, whatever that may be, I’ll just be happy that I’m getting drafted. And then like I said, just to do my best.” What was your way of letting teams know who the real Marvin Harrison Jr. is during meetings? “Just being yourself, just being who you are. That’s the best way. So that’s what I did.” When did you know that the combine was not going to be a part of your predraft plans? “Once the season had ended, I kind of knew what I would be doing moving forward. Talked to my team, felt that was best for us, and we’ve been sticking by it since.” What led you to signing with New Balance and joining that brand? “I think the values that I share and that New Balance share definitely align. New Balance is kind of giving me a platform where I can help impact different communities and also impact the younger generation and hope to inspire them to reach their goals and reach their dreams, kind of like how I’m doing right now. I would say all those factors led me to New Balance.” This is New Balance’s first foray into the American football footwear space. Were there talks of a signature shoe down the line? How would you feel about that? “I mean, down the line, if that happens, that’d be great. Kind of just take it one day at a time though and just do my best to help promote the brand that I can right now. If a signature shoe or cleat comes in the future, that’d be great, that’d really be an honor for me. I’m just going to do what I can at the moment.” Is there a current New Balance athlete you’d love to collab with or even just meet? “Not really, maybe (Philadelphia 76ers guard) Tyrese Maxey.” For NFL fans who aren’t familiar with your game, what are you most excited to show them on the pro stage? “Just produce. Produce at a high level. Do my best to help the team win and reach their goals. Every team wants to win the Super Bowl. I’m going to do my best to do that. Just be as entertaining to watch as I can for the fans.” Do you have a favorite play from your college career? “Probably my third touchdown of the Rose Bowl freshman year.” Marvin Harrison Jr. does not enjoy the uncertainty that has followed him for the past several months, from his decision to opt out of the Ohio State Buckeyes’ Cotton Bowl game to his private predraft process that involved skipping the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis. The waiting will finally end Thursday when the two-time All-American wide receiver hears his name early – fourth to the Arizona Cardinals? fifth to the Los Angeles Chargers? – in the 2024 NFL draft in Detroit. He’ll also have to see if he is indeed the first receiver off the board, as draft experts have predicted for many months, or if that distinction will go to Washington’s Rome Odunze or LSU’s Malik Nabers. Before that, though, Harrison revealed Tuesday that he signed with New Balance and will help introduce the brand’s first American football cleats exclusively at the draft. “New Balance has done a great job of making me feel included in the family,” Harrison told USA TODAY Sports. “So, I couldn’t be happier to be signing with them.” USA TODAY Sports spoke with Harrison, the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame wideout Marvin Harrison, about the New Balance partnership, what he likes about the other top wide receivers in the draft, and his decision to skip the combine. Questions and answers have been lightly edited for clarity. Draft week’s finally here. What are the vibes? How are you feeling? Marvin Harrison Jr.: “I’m feeling good. Definitely super excited to figure out where I’m going. That’s definitely the biggest thing – you don’t know where you’re going to go. So just excited to get that process over with (and) get ready to work when I get there.” Are you a guy who welcomes uncertainty in that sense, or are you really looking forward to Thursday a lot? “I just need to know what’s going to happen so I can start to plan and move accordingly. I don’t really like the uncertainty.” There’s been much debate about the elite talent in the class and which one should be taken first. But have you gotten to know either Malik (Nabers) or Rome (Odunze) during the process? “Yeah, we kind of knew each other way before this year, really, just always talking through social media, communicating that way. I think we all support each other. There’s not really any animosity between us. I think we all see that we’re talented players and, like I said, we support each other and root each other on.” What do you like about each of their games? “They’re great players. Malik does a great job after the catch, ball in his Q&A MARVIN HARRISON JR. Marvin Harrison Jr. signed with New Balance this week. The son of Hall of Fame wideout Marvin Harrison is expected to be a top-5 pick. COURTESY OF NEW BALANCE Wide receiver eager to learn new NFL destination Chris Bumbaca USA TODAY Not everything went the way Spencer Rattler wanted coming out of high school in 2019 as the nation’s top-rated quarterback with lots of flash and pizazz, featured in the Netflix documentary “QB1” his senior year at Phoenix Pinnacle. After making a great impression at Oklahoma in 2020 with more than 3,000 passing yards and 28 passing TDs, he lost his job in favor of Caleb Williams the following season. All of the Heisman Trophy talk faded. He transferred to South Carolina and had to kind of resurrect his career the past two seasons. He threw for more than 3,000 yards each of those years, just to get to now, hoping to find an NFL team that will take him in the upcoming draft. That isn’t the issue, getting drafted. But where and when? This is considered a great NFL draft for quarterbacks. Rattler is rated seventh among QBs by Fox Sports, which, in its bottomline evaluation, says, “Rattler’s college career didn’t go as planned but he remains a very gifted passer who could prove a steal if he is available in the middle rounds.” Mike Giovando, Rattler’s personal QB coach since he was in the sixth grade, has worked with him during this draft process. After Rattler left South Carolina and declared for the draft, he came back to the Valley to train. Giovando has seen the way Rattler has conducted himself, performing at the Senior Bowl, where he was named the MVP, going through the NFL combine and his pro days and hearing good things about the way Rattler has conducted himself in interviews with NFL teams. “We talk a lot,” Giovando said. “I’ve asked him, ‘If it had come easy, would it have meant as much? The Sports Illustrated cover. The Heisman hype. Would you have worked as much?’ He thinks this is how it had to go, the best scenario to learn from, because when you get to the next level, a lot of stuff won’t go your way. He had a chance to go through some tough times and that’s going to help him.” Coming out strong with his back against the wall has always been a part of why Rattler still is considered somewhat a sleeper in this year’s draft. Even though he measures 6-foot-1, 219 pounds, Rattler has never had to prove he’s got a great arm. The main criticism has been trying to make the big splash throws when he could find a more open target and not try to squeeze the ball into tight windows. But he’s done that, too, leaving people awed by how he threaded it. He had 37 TD passes and 20 interceptions in his past two seasons at South Carolina. FoxX Sports projects Rattler as the seventh-best QB in the draft behind Williams, North Carolina’s Drake Maye, LSU’s Jayden Williams, Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and Oregon’s Bo Nix. “I think he’s in that top five, six quarterback group, for sure,” Giovando said. “He’s right there. You just never know with the draft. I’m speaking for him, he’s happy to have the opportunity to go wherever he goes, and whenever he goes. “But me personally, I see no reason why he’s not a high second-round pick at the least,” Giovando said. “That’s just me. I think a lot of other people feel that way, too. He could slip into the first round. You never know. “I think anybody who had any concerns or anything, whatever they were, I think all of those questions have been answered. Everybody that has met him and been around him love the guy. That’s great stuff to hear. I feel like he’s going to be a great guy to have in the locker room.” Caleb Williams (13) and Spencer Rattler (7) both played together at Oklahoma before transferring. BRYAN TERRY/USA TODAY NETWORK After HS, things didn’t go perfectly for heralded QB Rattler Richard Obert The Arizona Republic USA TODAY NETWORK Before Caleb Williams emerged as the likely No. 1 overall pick out of Southern Cal in the NFL draft, he was Oklahoma football’s backup quarterback to Spencer Rattler. Most Sooners fans know the story of how Williams supplanted Rattler in the 2021 Oklahoma-Texas rivalry game, led the Sooners to a 21-point comeback win at the Cotton Bowl and kept the job for the rest of the season before following former coach Lincoln Riley by transferring to the University of Southern California. Fast-forward to 2024, where both Williams and Rattler – who spent his final two college seasons at South Carolina – are expected to be selected in the upcoming NFL draft. Prior to likely becoming the Chicago Bears’ hopeful franchise quarterback, Williams looked back on his time as a backup at Oklahoma on a recent podcast appearance. “That one was real tough for me,” Williams said recently on the “Pivot Podcast.” He was then asked why it hurt when he wasn’t named the starter before the season. “Because I was the best in the country,” he replied. “I told many people before I went there, and there’s a backstory to it all of why I was so fired up,” Williams continued. “I told people before I went there that I was going to start and play and beat (Rattler) out. I thought I beat (Rattler) out in spring, and he was projected No. 1 and all that, so he started for six games. And so, I prepared. “Lincoln told me, ‘Keep going.’ And that’s something I didn’t understand. Those two words I did not understand when he told me because I wasn’t asking him, I wasn’t going to him to beg for playing time. But I came to him and asked, ‘How do I do it? How do I beat this dude out.’ Because he never let me get reps with the first team. Never let me get reps with the older guys. “I took advantage of my reps, I got after it, put my head down and at a certain point I felt like I beat him out. ... At the time I was so angry, so frustrated because I didn’t feel like that was what I wanted to hear because I felt like I was the best, I felt like I could’ve helped us win all the games, gotten more reps during the season and I’m ready for those moments later in the season. “I kept preparing the best I could so that when I had my moment, there was no way that he was ever getting it back.” Williams was ‘so angry’ backing up Rattler at OU Austin Curtright The Oklahoman USA TODAY NETWORK

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Plan on spending the day visiting the western legends of outlaw at the Territorial Prison with a stop at the Antique Car Museum down the road from the Grant-Kohrs Ranch, a historical farming legend of the West in Deer Lodge, Montana. In nearby Phillipsburg, Montana, you can pan for gems and sapphires like those in the Wild West did 150 years ago at Montana gems located on Main Street. Be sure to visit the Sweet Palace, an incredible candy store featuring salt water taffy made on site, sure to be a family favorite. Boulder Creek Lodge Montana Call 406-859-3190 www.bouldercreeklodgemontana.com 4 Boulder Creek Road, Hall, Montana CAREERS EMPLOYMENT MODERN FAMILY DENTAL OFFICE with an amazing team is seeking a full-time general dentist. Our well-established practice is located on the southern Outer Banks of North Carolina in the highly sought-after Crystal Coast area. Email CV and references to Kirsten@crystalcoastdentistry. com. NC state license is required. 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STATE-OF-THE-ART FACILITY in San Francisco CA is seeking a PT Associate Dentist to start out 1 day per week. Pay rate between $655.00 - $1,500.00 per day. Ideal candidate will possess 3+ yrs working dental experience. Associate must be able to provide all aspects of General Dentistry and be a licensed DDS or DMD in CA. Email resume to [email protected]. SMILE STARTERS DENTAL is hiring for Associate Dentists. Well established practice in seeking full time Associates in multiple NC locations. We are a general practice providing comprehensive care to children and young adults through age 20 in a modern, newly updated facility. www.smilestartersdental.com. Please contact HR at tmalmut@ smilestartersdental.com. EMPLOYMENT In October of 2023, after Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon was asked a question: Does star player A’ja Wilson deserve her own signature shoe? Hammon’s response was one of incredulity. “You think?” she said. “You don’t need my thoughts. You already know my thoughts.” Then she gave her thoughts. “She needs her own shoe. She is the two-time MVP. I’ll toot her horn because she won’t. Olympic gold medalist, best defensive player two years running, her team’s (success). Stop. Stop.” Wilson’s pedigree goes even beyond what Hammon described. She’s been in the league since 2018. She is a two-time champion, won the MVP twice, and is a five-time All-Star. She’s an Olympian. FIBA World Cup MVP. Wilson won a championship at South Carolina and was player of the year there. She’s so revered in her home state there’s a statue of her outside the arena. Wilson also just made Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World list. Oh, and she’s a New York Times bestselling author. Wilson is one of the greatest stars of our time. Any athlete of her caliber should already have a signature shoe. It is the order of things. In fact, it should have happened years ago. It would be like if you made signature shoes for Vulcans and you didn’t give one to Spock. “In due time, in due time,” Wilson said of the shoe, at that 2023 press conference. “We’ll see what goes on, but in due time I believe we’re going to get something moving and shaking. But I’m blessed just to have my name in that conversation. A lot of players don’t get signature shoes, so for people to say I should or demanding that I get one, I’m blessed to be in that situation.” That was last year. It hasn’t happened yet. It likely will but the fact it hasn’t yet is absolutely disgraceful. But there’s something even worse occurring. Wilson’s lack of a signature shoe is getting a fresh look because Caitlin Clark is expected to get a signature shoe in the near future. If she does, Clark would join three other current WNBA players with signature shoes: Breanna Stewart, Elena Delle Donne and Sabrina Ionescu. You may notice a pattern there. In a majority-Black league there are no Black players with signature shoes. There have only been 12 players in the history of the WNBA with their own signature shoe. Almost every signature shoe from 1995 to 2011 belonged to a Black woman. The fact that only white women hold the power of the signature shoe now, as the WNBA enters its most high profile and prosperous phase, shows how Black women are being ignored in a league that they dominate. Stardom propels shoe deals, but also, shoe contracts, like a signature shoe, drive stardom. If you believe the only reason three (and likely soon four) white women are getting the shoes because they just happen to be more marketable, well, you’re a fool. Wilson didn’t make Time’s list because she isn’t marketable and doesn’t have viability. She made it because she has copious amounts of both. “A’ja Wilson is not just an incredible athlete, she is also an inspiration to all who witness her talent and drive. Her journey is a testament to the power of passion and fearlessness in achieving greatness,” Tom Brady wrote in an essay for the magazine praising Wilson. “A’ja Wilson is not just a champion; she is a symbol of resilience, compassion, and unwavering dedication. Her story is a reminder that with passion and fearlessness, anyone can achieve greatness.” And before a bunch of you fire up your AOL email and “sent from my iPad” accounts, to be clear, crystal clear, really really clear, this is nothing against Clark. Clark deserves every endorsement she’s getting. However, Wilson deserves it more, and has for some time. She is, after all, the best overall player in the world. What so much of this comes down to is a lack of respect for the Black women of the WNBA. A lack of respect for Black Americans overall isn’t something new to the marketing world. This is old hat. That doesn’t change the ugliness of it. Everyone knows this including the white stars in the sport like Paige Bueckers from UConn. She addressed the problem three years ago during her acceptance speech at the ESPYS after she was named best women’s athlete. “With the light that I have now as a white woman who leads a Black-led sport and celebrated here, I want to shed a light on Black women,” said Bueckers. “They don’t get the media coverage that they deserve. They’ve given so much to the sport, the community and society as a whole and their value is undeniable. “I think it’s time for change. Sports media holds the key to storylines. Sports media and sponsors tell us who is valuable, and you have told the world that I mattered today, and everyone who voted, thank you. But I think we should use this power together to also celebrate Black women.” “Even though our league is predominantly Black, I think it’s hard for our league to push us, in a sense, because they still have to market, in their mind, what is marketable,” Wilson told ESPN in 2022. “Sometimes a Black woman doesn’t check off those boxes.” Yes, it’s likely Wilson will get her signature shoe, and maybe soon. It won’t change the fact she had to wait this long. And it doesn’t diminish that she could still be the only Black player to have one. Wilson overdue to be feted with shoe In 2022 Aces forward A’ja Wilson told ESPN.com that the WNBA promotes only the players it thinks are marketable and “sometimes a Black woman doesn’t check off those boxes.” CANDICE WARD/USA TODAY SPORTS Mike Freeman Columnist USA TODAY The Brooklyn Nets have a new coach – their sixth coach, interim included – since the 2019-20 season. The Nets are hoping Jordi Fernandez lasts more than a couple of seasons. In his first NBA head coaching job, Fernandez is hoping that, too. Brooklyn made the decision official in a new release Monday, three days after the season ended for the Sacramento Kings, where Fernandez was the associate head coach under head coach Mike Brown. Fernandez takes over a team that finished 32-50 and missed the NBA playoffs. The Nets are amid a retooling with guard-forward Mikal Bridges their featured player. Fernandez’s coaching experience Fernandez, 41, was born in Spain and showed interest in coaching as a teen, helping out with youth squads. He joined Impact Performance Basketball in Nevada in 2006 as a player development coach and joined the Cleveland Cavaliers as a player development coach. He was also an assistant coach and head coach of the G League Canton Charge. The Denver Nuggets hired him 2016, and he stayed there until Kings head coach Brown hired him in 2022. Fernandez is the head coach of Canada’s men’s national basketball team that will try to medal at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. He led Canada to a bronze medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. He has also served as an assistant for Spain and Nigeria’s national teams. What Fernandez is saying about the Nets’ job “My family and I are thrilled to join such an incredible organization and become part of the vibrant Brooklyn community,” Fernandez said in a statement. “I am eager to get to work with this talented group of players and collectively drive our team forward. “Together, we will be fully committed to building something special for Nets fans and the borough to be proud of for years to come.” What the Nets are saying about Fernandez? In a statement announcing the hiring, Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks said: “We’re thrilled to announce Jordi Fernández as Brooklyn’s new head coach. “As we progressed through an extensive search over the past six weeks, it became increasingly clear that Jordi is the best coach to lead our team forward. “Jordi brings a diverse set of experiences and basketball knowledge gained over the course of a coaching career that has taken him around the world. “Each step of the way, Jordi has consistently demonstrated the ability to implement strong processes and creative systems designed to optimize each team’s specific roster. “He’s proven the ability to build genuine relationships and garner the respect of players of all levels, and we’re confident that our players will benefit greatly from his expertise. “We look forward to Jordi, Kelsey and their children joining the Nets family and calling Brooklyn home.” Fernandez co-authored academic paper In 2009, Fernandez and co-authors published a paper titled “Identifying and analyzing the construction and effectiveness of offensive plays in basketball by using systematic observation” in the Behavior Research Methods scientific journal. The paper “proposes a new model of analysis for studying the effectiveness and construction of offensive basketball plays in order to identify their outcomes, thus providing coaches with an important device for improving or consolidating them.” Jordi Fernandez joins Nets as head coach Jeff Zillgitt USA TODAY Jordi Fernandez served this past season as the associate head coach for the Kings. KYLE TERADA/USA TODAY SPORTS

SPORTS USA TODAY ❚ WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2024 ❚ 5C Place your advertisement in USA TODAY Marketplace! To advertise, call: 800-397-0070 NOTICES LEGAL NOTICE IN THE UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE In re: GAMIDA CELL INC. Debtor. Chapter 11 IMPORTANT: No chapter 11 case has been commenced as of the date of distribution of this Notice. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN TO ALL HOLDERS OF CLAIMS, HOLDERS OF INTERESTS, AND PARTIES IN INTEREST IN THE POTENTIAL CHAPTER 11 CASE OF GAMIDA CELL INC. AS FOLLOWS: On March 26, 2024, after engaging in extensive, arm’s-length, good-faith negotiations, Gamida Cell Inc.(“Gamida” or “Debtor”) entered into a restructuring support agreement with certain of Gamida’s key economic stakeholders (the “Restructuring Support Agreement,” and the transactions contemplated thereby,the “Restructuring Transactions”). Pursuant to the Restructuring Support Agreement,the Restructuring Transactions are supported by Holders of the Senior Secured Loan Claims andtheUnsecuredNote Claims. In accordance with the Restructuring Support Agreement, Gamida intends to implement the Restructuring Transactions by commencing a voluntary case (the “Chapter 11 Case”) under chapter 11 of title 11 of the United States Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”) and seeking confirmation of the Prepackaged Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization of Gamida Cell, Inc. (as may be amended, modified, or supplemented from time to time, and including all exhibits and supplements thereto,the“Plan”),1 a copy of which is as Exhibit A to the Disclosure Statement for the Prepackaged Chapter 11 Plan of Reorganization of Gamida Cell Inc. (as may be amended,modified,or supplemented from time to time,and including all exhibits andsupplementsthereto,the “Disclosure Statement”).2 On April 17, 2024, Gamida commenced a solicitation whereby it is soliciting acceptances from Holders of Claims against the Gamida derived from,based upon, or arising under (i) an Indenture, dated as of February 16, 2021, and (ii) a Loan and Security Agreement, dated as of December 12, 2022. In connection with the solicitation process,Gamida distributed the Disclosure Statement to Holders of the Senior Secured Loan Claims andthe UnsecuredNote Claims as of April 12,2024(the “Voting Record Date”). The Restructuring Support Agreement is attached to the Disclosure Statement as ExhibitBthereto. In connection with the potential Chapter 11 Case, Gamida intends to deliver a Plan Supplement to Holders of Claims in Class 3 and 4 at least seven days prior to theVotingDeadline. This noticesets forth information regarding the Restructuring Transactions and thetreatment of Claims and Interests in connectiontherewith. This notice alsosets forth certain key dates and deadlines regarding the Restructuring Transactions, the Plan, and the Disclosure Statement, as well as certain other relevant informa- tion. Any informationset forth herein is qualified in its entirety by the terms of the Plan orthe Disclosure Statement,as applicable. Inthe event of any inconsistency or conflict between this notice and the terms of the Plan,the terms of the Plan shall control andgovern. Key Terms of the Restructuring Transactions. The Restructuring Transactionsprovide,amongotherthings,thatuponthePlan’s EffectiveDate: • All Other Secured Claims shall receive, in full and final satisfaction of such Allowed Other Secured Claim,atthe option ofthe Debtor:(i) payment in full in Cash of its Allowed Other Secured Claim; (ii) the collateral securing its Allowed Other Secured Claim;(iii) Reinstatement of its Allowed Other Secured Claim; or (iv) such other treatment rendering its Allowed Other Secured Claim Unimpaired in accor- dancewithsection1124oftheBankruptcy Code. • All Other Priority Claim shall receive, in full and final satisfaction of such Allowed Other Priority Claim, treatment in a manner consistent with section 1129(a)(9) of the Bankruptcy Code, which renders such Allowed Other Priority ClaimUnimpaired in accordancewithsection1124oftheBankruptcy Code. • All Senior Secured Loan Claimsshall receive,in full and finalsatisfaction ofsuch Allowed Senior Secured Loan Claim,theirproratashare of proceedsfrom loansmade underthe Exit Facility,on adollar-for-dollarbasis. • All Unsecured Notes Claims shall receive, in full and final satisfaction of such AllowedUnsecuredNotes Claims,itsProRatashareoftheNew Common Equity. • All General Unsecured Claims are Unimpaired by the Plan.At the option of the Debtor or the Reorganized Debtor, as applicable, (i) the Plan may leave unaltered the legal, equitable, and contractual rights of a Holder of a General Unsecured Claim,(ii)the Debtor orthe Reorganized Debtor,as applicable,may paysuch General Unsecured Claim infull in Cash onthe EffectiveDate or assoonthereafter as is practi- cable,(iii)theDebtor orthe ReorganizedDebtor,as applicable,may paysuch General Unsecured Claim in a manner agreed to by the Holder ofsuch Claim,or (iv) the Plan mayreinstatethe legal,equitable,and contractualrights ofthe Holder of an General Unsecured Claim in accordancewithsection1124(2)oftheBankruptcy Code. • EachIntercompany Claimshallbe,atthe option oftheDebtor,eitherReinstated, converted to equity,otherwiseset off,settled,distributed, contributed, canceled,or released,in each case. • All ExistingInterestsshallbe canceled,released,and extinguished andwillbe of nofurtherforceor effect,without anydistributiontoHoldersof ExistingInterests. Key Dates and Information Regarding the Chapter 11 Case and the Plan. Gamida is soliciting votes on the Plan from Holders of the Senior Secured Loan Claims and the Unsecured Note Claims as of the Voting Record Date. Gamida intends to implement the Restructuring Transactions by commencing the Chapter 11 Case and seek confirmation of the Plan. Gamida anticipates filing the Chapter 11 Case in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (the “Bankruptcy Court”) on or about May 14, 2024 (the “Petition Date”). Gamida anticipatesthat a hearingto consider certain“first day”reliefwill be held beforethe Bankruptcy Courtonor aboutMay15,2024(the“FirstDayHearing”). In the eventGamidafiles the Chapter 11 Case on or aboutMay 14,2024, Gamida will ask the Bankruptcy Court to convene a hearing to approve the adequacy of the Disclosure Statement and confirm the Plan (the “Combined Hearing”) on or about May 21, 2024, or as soon thereafter as allowed by the Bankruptcy Court’s schedule. The Combined Hearing, if held, will be held virtually by video conference as well as (at the presiding judge’s discretion) in person at the Bankruptcy Court, located at 824 North Market Street, Wilmington,Delaware 19801. The Combined Hearing may be continued from time to time, and the Plan may be further modified, if necessary,subject to section 1127 ofthe Bankruptcy Code andtheterms ofthe Plan,priorto,during,or as aresult ofthe CombinedHearing,withoutfurthernoticetotheparties in interest. Any objectionstothe adequacy ofthe Disclosure Statement or confirmation of thePlan(each,a“Plan/DSObjection”)must: 1. be inwriting; 2. comply with the Bankruptcy Rules and other case management rules and ordersoftheBankruptcy Court; 3. statethe name and address ofthe objector andthe amount and nature ofthe ClaimorInterestbeneficiallyownedbytheobjector; 4. statewithparticularitythe legal andfactualbasisforsuchobjections; and 5. be served on the parties listed below and, if the Chapter 11 Case has commenced,filed ontheBankruptcy Court’sdocket,3 nolater thanMay15,2024, at10:00a.m.,prevailingEasternTime(the“ObjectionDeadline”). Plan/DSObjectionsmaybeservedontheparties listedbelow viamailor emailto thefollowingstreet addresses and email addresses: • Proposed Co-Counsel to Gamida, BLANK ROME LLP, 1201 N. Market Street, Suite 800,Wilmington, Delaware 19801, Attn: Stanley B.Tarr, Stanley.Tarr@ BlankRome.com and COOLEY LLP,55 HudsonYards,NewYork,NY 10001-2157,Attn: Evan Lazerowitz,[email protected]. • Counsel to Highbridge, KING & SPALDING LLP, 110 N Wacker Drive, Suite 3800, Chicago, IL 60606,Attn:Matthew Warren,[email protected] and YOUNG CONAWAY STARGATT & TAYLOR, LLP, Rodney Square, 1000 North King Street, Wilmington,DE19801,Attn:KaraHammond Coyle, [email protected]. • United States Trustee,Office of The United States Trustee, 844 King Street, Suite 220,Wilmington, DE 19801, Attn: Jonathan Lipshie and Malcolm Bates, jon. [email protected], [email protected]. UNLESS A PLAN/DS OBJECTION IS TIMELY ASSERTED IN ACCORDANCEWITH THISNOTICE, ITMAYNOTBECONSIDEREDBYTHEBANKRUPTCYCOURT. How May Interested Parties Obtain Copies of the Plan, Disclosure Statement, and Related Documents? Copies of the Plan, the Disclosure Statement, the Restructuring Support Agreement, and related documents may be obtained free of charge by contacting Kroll, the Solicitation Agent, by phone at (833) 307-3531(toll free) or +1 (646) 777-2544 (international), or by email at [email protected]. Following the commencement of the Chapter 11 Case (if applicable),these documents may also be obtained (1) for a fee at the Bankruptcy Court’s website at https://ecf.deb.uscourts.gov and (2) on Gamida’s restructuringwebsite athttps://cases.ra.kroll.com/Gamida11. Please note that Gamida’s proposed co-counsel and the Solicitation Agent CANNOTgive youlegaladvice,and you should consultwithalawyer todetermineyourrights. Meeting of Creditors Pursuant to Section 341 of the Bankruptcy Code. If Gamida commences the Chapter 11 Case, Gamida will request that the United State Trustee notbe required to convene a meeting of creditors pursuant to sec- tion 341 of the Bankruptcy Code. Accordingly, if Gamida commences the Chapter 11 Case, Gamida expects that such meeting will not be convened if the Plan is confirmed withinsixty days after the Petition Date orsuch other time asset by the Bankruptcy Court. Notice to Counterparties to Executory Contractsand Unexpired Leases. You or one of your affiliatesmay be a counterpartyto one ormore contracts or leases that may be an executory contract or unexpired lease with the Debtor. Except as otherwise provided in the Plan, or in any contract, instrument, release, or other agreement or document entered into in connection with the Plan, or unless such Executory Contract or Unexpired Lease (1) expired or terminated pursuant to its own terms before the Effective Date or (2) is the subject of a motion to reject filed on or before the Effective Date,as of the Effective Date,the Debtorshall be deemed to have assumed each Executory Contract and Unexpired Lease in accordance with theprovisions andrequirementsofsections365 and1123oftheBankruptcy Code. As set forth in the Plan, without amending or altering any prior order of the Bankruptcy Court,entry ofthe ConfirmationOrder bythe Bankruptcy Courtwill constitute approval of such assumptions pursuant to sections 365(a) and 1123 of the Bankruptcy Code as of the Effective Date. All Assumed Agreements shall remain in full force and effect for the benefit of the Reorganized Debtor and be enforceable by the Reorganized Debtor in accordance with their terms notwithstanding any provision insuchAssumedAgreementthatprohibits,restricts or conditions assump- tion,assignment ortransfer. Any provision of any Assumed Agreementthat permits a person to terminate or modify such agreement or to otherwise modify the rights of the Debtor or the Reorganized Debtor, as applicable, based on the filing of the Chapter 11 Case or the financial condition of the Debtor or the Reorganized Debtor, as applicable,shall be unenforceable. To the extent any provision in any Executory Contract or Unexpired Lease assumed pursuant to the Plan (including any “change of control” provision) restricts or prevents, or purports to restrict or prevent, or is breached or deemed breached by, the Debtor’s assumption of such Executory Contract or Unexpired Lease,thensuch provision will be deemedmodifiedsuchthat the transactions contemplated by the Plan will not entitle the non-Debtor party or parties thereto to terminatesuch Executory Contract or Unexpired Lease or to exercise any otherdefault-relatedrightswithrespectthereto. EachAssumedAgreement will revest in and be fully enforceable by the Reorganized Debtor in accordance with its terms, except as modified by the provisions of the Plan, any order of the Bankruptcy Court authorizing andprovidingfor its assumption,or applicable law. Any monetary defaults under each Executory Contract or Unexpired Lease to be assumed pursuanttothe Plan will besatisfied,pursuanttosection 365(b)(1) ofthe Bankruptcy Code,by payment ofthe applicable Cure amount in Cash,onthe later of (1) the Effective Date and (2) the date such payment is due pursuant to the terms of the Assumed Agreement, in the amount set forth on the Schedule of Proposed Cure Amounts, or on such other terms as the parties to such Executory Contract or Unexpired Lease may otherwise agree. If an Executory Contract or Unexpired Lease is not listed on the Schedule of Proposed Cure Amounts,the proposed Cure amount for such Executory Contract or Unexpired Lease shall be zero dollars. The Debtor is not aware of any Cure amount owed in connection with any Executory Contract or Unexpired Lease. Any objection by a counterparty to the Cure amount associated with any Executory Contract or Unexpired Lease to be assumed pursuant to the Plan must be filed,served and actually received by the Debtor by no later than seven (7) days prior to the date of the Confirmation Hearing. Any counterparty to an Executory Contract andUnexpired Leasethatfailstoobjecttimelytotheproposed assumption or Cure amount will be deemed to have assented thereto and will be deemed to haveforeverreleased andwaived any objectiontothe proposed assumption or Cure amount. In the event of a dispute regarding (1) the Cure amount,(2) the ability of the Reorganized Debtor to provide “adequate assurance of future performance” (within the meaning of section 365 of the Bankruptcy Code) under the Executory Contract or Unexpired Lease to be assumed or (3) any other matter pertaining to assumption, the applicable Cure payments required by section 365(b)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code will be made following the entry of a Final Order or orders resolving the dispute and approving the assumption. Any Proof of Claim filed withrespect to an Executory Contract or Unexpired Lease that is assumed shall be deemed disallowed and expunged, without further notice to or action,orderorapprovalof theBankruptcyCourt. UNLESS AN ASSUMPTION OBJECTION IS TIMELY ASSERTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS NOTICE, IT MAY NOT BE CONSIDERED BY THE BANKRUPTCYCOURT. RELEASE,EXCULPATIONANDINJUNCTIONPROVISIONSINPLAN PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT ALL PARTIES IN INTEREST RECEIVED NOTICE OF THE RELEASE, EXCULPATION, AND INJUNCTION PROVISIONS SET FORTH IN ARTICLE VII OF THE PLAN. ALL PARTIES ARE ADVISED AND ENCOURAGED TO CAREFULLY REVIEW AND CONSIDER THE PLAN,INCLUDING THE RELEASE, EXCULPATION AND INJUNCTION PROVISIONS SET FORTH IN ARTICLE VII OF THEPLAN,ASYOURRIGHTSMIGHTBEAFFECTED. BINDING NATURE OF THE PLAN: IF CONFIRMED,ON THE EFFECTIVE DATE, AND EFFECTIVE AS OF THE EFFECTIVE DATE, THE PLAN WILL BIND, AND WILL BE DEEMED BINDING UPON, ALL HOLDERS OF CLAIMS AGAINST AND INTERESTS IN THE DEBTOR, AND EACH HOLDER’S RESPECTIVE SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, NOTWITHSTANDINGWHETHER OR NOT ANY SUCH HOLDER (1)WILL RECEIVE OR RETAIN ANY PROPERTY OR INTEREST IN PROPERTY UNDER THE PLAN OR (2)VOTEDTOACCEPTORREJECTTHEPLAN. 1 Capitalized terms used but not otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings ascribedtothem inthePlan. 2 Additional information regarding the First Day Hearing (as herein defined), including the time and location of such hearing,may be obtained on the Petition Date by contacting the undersigned proposed counsel to the Debtor or by visiting the CaseWebsite(definedbelow). 3 Plan/DS Objectionsmay also be asserted priortothe Petition Date by delivering such objections to proposed counsel to the Debtor,with a copy to the other Notice Parties. Immediately upon the commencement of the Chapter 11 Case,the Debtor will file any Plan/DS Objections received by the Debtor prior to the Petition Date on theBankruptcy Court’sdocketonbehalfoftheobjectingparty. Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone scored a goal and the boo birds and conspiracy theorists had a field day as the defending champions beat the Dallas Stars in Game 1 on Monday night. The boos in Dallas were for the situation, not the player. For the second year in a row, Stone had a serious injury (back last year, lacerated spleen this year) and went on long-term injured reserve yet returned for the playoffs. The Golden Knights were able to use that money to exceed the salary cap and make major additions at the trade deadline. It’s permissible under the collective bargaining agreement in the case of a long-term injury. General manager Kelly McCrimmon even anticipated the “insinuation” that would arise and pointed out last week how closely the NHL’s medical staff monitors a player on LTIR. Stone played more than 17 minutes in his return after 26 games out, scored on a firstperiod deflection and was booed so loudly during an inarena ESPN interview that he couldn’t hear a question. His return is critical to the Golden Knights’ bid to repeat. Trade-deadline acquisitions Tomas Hertl (goal) and Noah Hanifin (two assists) also had big games in the 4-3 win. Winners and losers so far in the Stanley Cup playoffs: WINNERS Carolina Hurricanes’ resilience: They’re up 2-0 in their series against the New York Islanders after a major comeback from a 3-0 deficit for a 5-3 win. The last time they had overcome that big a deficit in the playoffs was when they won the Stanley Cup in 2006. The rally included scoring the tying and winning goals nine seconds apart late in the third period to shatter the team record for fastest two playoff goals. New York Rangers’ Matt Rempe: The 6-foot-8 rookie made a name for himself this season with his fights, his physicality and his suspension. But how would a player who averaged 5 minutes, 38 seconds of ice time fare in the playoffs, when fighting comes close to vanishing? The answer: pretty good. He was penalized on his first shift, but he scored the Rangers’ first goal, was on the ice for their third goal and delivered four hits. He played more than eight minutes. Edmonton Oilers offense: The Oilers need big games from their stars if they’re going to advance far. They got that in a 7-4 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday. Zach Hyman had a hat trick and an assist. Connor McDavid had five assists and Evan Bouchard had four assists. Edmonton went 3- for-4 on the power play. The Kings will have their hands full. Toronto Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews: He fell just short of 70 goals in the regular season but got a huge goal Monday. His breakaway goal was the winner in a 3-2 seriestying victory against the Bruins and he added two assists. LOSERS Islanders’ collapse: They had been 81-0 when leading by three goals in the playoffs, according to ESPN. The Islanders weren’t able to handle the pressure when the Hurricanes dialed it up Monday. They were outshot 17-1 in the third period. Nashville Predators also give up two quick goals: The Vancouver Canucks scored third-period goals 12 seconds apart to turn a 2-1 deficit into an eventual 4-2 victory. “Uncharacteristic for us from the last 40 games or so,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said of Sunday’s third period. “Shift after a goal is so important.” Colorado Avalanche goalie Alexandar Georgiev: Georgiev struggled down the stretch, allowing four or more goals in six of his final eight games. He was pulled in a 7-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets that cost Colorado a chance at home-ice advantage in this series. The Avalanche couldn’t use backup Justus Annunen against the Jets on Sunday because he was sick. Georgiev gave up seven goals on 23 shots in a 7-6 loss. Annunen was still sick on Monday. Los Angeles Kings general manager Rob Blake: He wasn’t able to pull off a trade at the deadline, especially for a goaltender. Cam Talbot gave up six goals against the Kings and the former Oilers goalie was jeered by Edmonton fans. Offseason acquisition Pierre-Luc Dubois has disappointed this season. He did score against the Oilers but it was a fluke that deflected in off Darnell Nurse’s skate. Unless the Kings can turn it around, they’re looking at a third consecutive first-round loss to the Oilers. NHL Mark Stone scores in Vegas return Mike Brehm USA TODAY Golden Knights right wing Mark Stone returned Monday after missing 26 games. JEROME MIRON/USA TODAY SPORTS The Buffalo Sabres will try to end the NHL’s longest playoff drought with the coach who last got them to the postseason. Lindy Ruff, 64, was hired Monday to replace Don Granato, who was fired last week after the Sabres’ playoff drought hit 13 seasons. Ruff, himself, had been fired by the New Jersey Devils when the team took a big step back after making the playoffs following a 112-point season in 2022-23. Ruff previously coached the Sabres from 1997-98 to 2012-13. “As I went through the hiring process, it quickly became clear Lindy was the person for the job,” general manager Kevyn Adams said in a statement. “He has experience, a proven track record, familiarity with young players, and so much more. I want to be clear though that this hire was not made with nostalgia in mind. Lindy is the right person for the job now and any history with our organization and community is simply an added bonus.” Here’s what to know about the Sabres’ new/old coach: Winningest Sabres coach Ruff set franchise records in regular-season games coached (1,165), regular-season wins (571), playoff games coached (101) and playoff wins (57) during his first time with the team. He went to the playoffs eight times, including three trips to the Eastern Conference final and one to the Stanley Cup Final in 1999. He coached the Sabres when they last made the playoffs in 2010-11 and was their coach when the drought started the following season. He won the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year in 2005-06. Famous quote in Buffalo sports history The Sabres lost to the Dallas Stars in the 1999 Stanley Cup Final in the third overtime of Game 6. After the game, video replay showed that Brett Hull had his foot in the crease on his winning goal, which was against the rules at the time. In a Sabres postseason rally, Ruff wrapped up his appearance by saying, “No goal.” Ruff would join the Stars the season after the Sabres fired him 17 games into the 2012-13 season. Fifth-winningest coach in NHL history Ruff’s 864 career regularseason wins with the Sabres, Stars and Devils rank fifth in NHL history and is second among active coaches behind the Florida Panthers’ Paul Maurice (869). His 935 combined wins in the regular season and playoffs are tied for fourth in league history. He took the Stars to the playoffs twice and the Devils once (after a 40-point improvement). He was a finalist for coach of the year for the fourth time in his career last season. Ruff’s record is 864-679-78 in the regular season and 71-61 in the playoffs. The Sabres have tried many coaches during the playoff drought Since Ruff was first fired, the Sabres have been coached by Brian Rolston, Ted Nolan, Dan Bylsma, Phil Housley, Ralph Krueger and Granato. Ruff also played for Sabres Ruff began his NHL career as a Sabres defenseman in 1979-80 but switched to forward. He played nine-plus seasons in Buffalo before being traded to the New York Rangers in 1988- 89. He was Sabres captain from 1986-87 until his trade. He finished his playing career with 300 points in 691 regular-season games and made the playoffs nine times. Including his playing and coaching time, he has spent parts of 25 seasons with the Sabres. “This is a team ready to take the next step,” he said in a statement. “I am both humbled and honored to be trusted to help this team win now. It is not a job that I take lightly. It is my goal to ensure that players believe in each other, play for each other and love being a Buffalo Sabre.” Sabres bring back Ruff after playoff drought extends Mike Brehm USA TODAY Lindy Ruff to lead the Sabres after being hired Monday. JAMES GUILLORY/USA TODAY SPORTS

NFL draft primer On newsstands: This week’s edition of USA TODAY Sports Weekly previews the NFL draft with a mock draft, top 150 draft board and position grades. We look at how bloodlines have stacked the field with star pedigree. And is it the year of the wide receiver? Plus, which teams need to be the most active after free agency and which ones need a quarterback most? We also compare top QB prospects Caleb Williams and J.J. McCarthy. In baseball, we take a dive into the Blue Jays’ stadium renovations, where food, sightlines and flash have reenergized Rogers Centre. We remember Carl Erskine, a Dodgers World Series-winning pitcher who fought for human rights. In fantasy baseball, slumping sluggers and ailing pitchers are combining for awful Aprils. What’s going on? We have MLB power rankings, team notes and box scores (NBA, NHL boxes too). You can order the edition at onlinestore.usatoday.com and subscribe to the magazine at mysportsweekly.com. www.usatoday.com FOR HOME DELIVERY: 1-800-872-1415, mysportsweekly.com ON SALE APRIL 24 - 30, 2024 Star lineage lights up Class of 2024 h Top 150 draft board, position grades, mock draft h Teams (like the Bills) that need especially strong classes h Who could use a QB most? We rank the clubs NFL DRAFT $3.00 QIJFAF-00007u(b)m S li li h lf FAMILY MEN FAMOUS FATHERS PRECEDED OFFENSIVE TACKLE JOE ALT (RIGHT), WIDE RECEIVER MARVIN HARRISON JR. AND MANY OTHER PROSPECTS 6C ❚ WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2024 ❚ USA TODAY E2 SPORTS WEATHER ONLINE WEATHER USATODAY.COM TODAY’S FORECAST PRECIPITATION FORECAST TODAY’S HIGH TEMPERATURES U.S. CITIES TOP TRAVEL CITIES WORLD CITIES ATLANTA CHARLOTTE DENVER HOUSTON MIAMI NEW YORK PHOENIX SAN FRANCISCO BALTIMORE CHICAGO DETROIT LAS VEGAS MPLS-ST. PAUL ORLANDO SALT LAKE CITY SEATTLE BOSTON DALLAS/FT. WORTH HONOLULU LOS ANGELES NEW ORLEANS PHILADELPHIA SAN DIEGO WASHINGTON AQI AQI AQI AQI AQI AQI AQI AQI AQI AQI AQI AQI Air quality index (AQI) c Cloudy f Fog i Ice r Rain sf Snowflurries sn Snow w Windy dr Drizzle h Haze pc Partly cloudy s Sunny sh Showers t Thunderstorms Below 10 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s 100s 110+ 10s T-storms Rain Snow Ice/mix A storm beginning to move off the coast of the Northeast today will produce showers and thunderstorms from this region to as far south as South Carolina. Steadier rain can fall in northern New England. Rain can begin to mix with snow at times, mainly in the higher elevations of New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. As this storm exits, gusty winds from the north will bring colder air to the region. Meanwhile, a developing storm will spread showers and thunderstorms from Nebraska to eastern Texas. Storms can also occur from Northern California to southern Wyoming by the afternoon hours. As a new storm travels east off the Northwest coast, showers can begin across western Washington. Much of the interior Southwest as well as the Midwest will remain dry. Washington 73 Cheyenne 68 Casper 72 Jackson Hole 63 Milwaukee 46 Madison 54 Charleston 67 Seattle 58 Olympia 58 Spokane 64 Richmond 75 Burlington 51 Montpelier 44 Salt Lake City 81 St. George 84 Dallas/Ft. Worth 82 Brownsville 85 Lubbock 79 MidlandOdessa 87 El Paso 89 Austin 83 San Antonio 85 Houston 83 Nashville 75 Memphis 77 Knoxville 71 Rapid City 74 Pierre 69 Sioux Falls 66 Charleston 81 Columbia 80 Harrisburg 69 Philadelphia 71 Pittsburgh 55 Burns 72 Bend 64 Portland Salem 65 64 Oklahoma City 63 Tulsa 70 Cincinnati 60 Cleveland 50 Columbus 53 Fargo 68 Bismarck 67 Raleigh Charlotte 74 74 Buffalo 47 Albany 57 New York 69 Albuquerque 82 Santa Fe 78 Reno 71 Elko 64 Carson City 68 Las Vegas 84 Omaha 68 North Platte 68 Billings 74 Miles City 74 Helena 74 Kansas City 68 Jefferson City 72 St. Louis 70 Jackson 81 Mpls-St. Paul 58 Duluth 49 Detroit 52 Marquette 37 Lansing 49 Grand Rapids 54 Boston 57 Annapolis 71 Bangor 48 Augusta 49 Baton Rouge 83 Shreveport 84 New Orleans 80 Louisville 68 Topeka 72Wichita 69 Dodge City 64 Des Moines 65 Indianapolis 57 Chicago 49 Springfield 62 Boise 76 Idaho Falls 72 Atlanta 74 Savannah 82 Tallahassee 83 Jacksonville 81 Tampa 83 Miami 81 Hartford 64 Denver 76 Aspen 67 San Francisco 66 Palm Springs 88 Los Angeles 68 Sacramento 71 Fresno 73 Eureka 56 San Diego 66 Little Rock 76 Phoenix 94 Flagstaff 66 Birmingham 75 Montgomery 81 Mobile 82 Honolulu 83 San Juan 87 Anchorage 49 Juneau 51 Fairbanks 61 Puerto Rico Hawaii Alaska Akron, Ohio 50/31pc 58/37s Albany, N.Y. 57/29r 57/33s Albuquerque 82/53h 76/47w Allentown, Pa. 66/30sh 60/32s Amarillo, Texas 71/55pc 84/54t Anaheim, Calif. 69/56pc 67/54pc Anchorage, Alaska 49/36pc 48/37pc Aspen, Colo. 67/36s 60/33sh Atlantic City, N.J. 64/43sh 50/37s Augusta, Ga. 81/52pc 80/55c Austin, Texas 83/69c 85/71t Bakersfield, Calif. 77/54pc 72/52pc Baton Rouge, La. 83/62s 84/62pc Billings, Mont. 74/46pc 69/47c Birmingham, Ala. 75/55pc 78/60c Bismarck, N.D. 67/43pc 76/52w Boise, Idaho 76/45pc 66/45c Buffalo, N.Y. 47/29sh 54/33pc Burlington, Vt. 51/30r 49/31s Cedar Rapids, Iowa 59/37s 63/50pc Charleston, S.C. 81/61s 77/61sh Charleston, W.Va. 67/39pc 65/43s Cheyenne, Wyo. 68/39t 71/44t Beijing 80/50s 85/61s Buenos Aires 64/58s 68/62pc Cancun, Mexico 89/74s 88/74t Dubai, UAE 89/73s 90/75s Frankfurt 48/37sh 51/34sh Hong Kong 84/77t 87/80t Istanbul 75/61pc 72/55c Jerusalem 94/71s 94/64pc Johannesburg 83/60pc 83/56pc London 51/37pc 55/43c Mexico City 85/57s 85/59s Montreal 47/27r 49/33s Moscow 56/45pc 61/57r Mumbai, India 91/80s 92/79s Paris 51/35pc 55/42pc Rio de Janeiro 84/74pc 81/75pc Rome 58/40pc 64/47s Seoul 62/50r 69/47s Singapore 91/80t 90/80t Sydney 77/60pc 70/54s Toronto 48/29c 49/34pc Tokyo 62/59r 76/61pc Cincinnati 60/38s 62/44s Cleveland 50/33c 52/39s Colorado Springs 74/41s 76/47w Columbia, S.C. 80/53pc 78/57pc Columbus, Ohio 53/33pc 59/39s Corpus Christi, Texas 85/72c 83/74pc Dayton, Ohio 53/34pc 62/41s Daytona Beach, Fla. 80/60s 83/61s Des Moines, Iowa 65/46s 70/53pc Duluth, Minn. 49/32pc 60/43pc Durham, N.C. 73/49pc 68/44pc El Paso, Texas 89/67pc 86/58w Fairbanks, Alaska 61/35s 60/35s Flagstaff, Ariz. 66/39w 50/35sh Fargo, N.D. 68/47pc 73/50w Fort Myers, Fla. 85/66s 87/66s Fort Smith, Ark. 71/61t 69/64t Fort Wayne, Ind. 51/33s 61/35s Fresno, Calif. 73/54pc 73/54pc Grand Rapids, Mich. 54/28pc 59/36s Green Bay, Wis. 49/27s 58/37pc Greensboro, N.C. 72/48pc 70/48pc Greenville, S.C. 75/48pc 74/51pc Harrisburg, Pa. 69/37sh 61/38s Hartford, Conn. 64/31sh 59/33s Indianapolis 57/37s 62/43s Islip, N.Y. 63/38sh 53/35s Jackson, Miss. 81/58sh 82/60pc Jacksonville, Fla. 81/57s 85/61pc Jefferson City, Mo. 72/48pc 67/58pc Kansas City 68/50pc 65/57t Key West, Fla. 83/73s 83/74s Knoxville, Tenn. 71/46pc 73/50pc Laredo, Texas 91/72c 94/75c Lexington, Ky. 66/41s 65/48s Lincoln, Neb. 68/51pc 71/58t Little Rock, Ark. 76/59t 70/64t Long Beach, Calif. 69/58pc 66/56pc Louisville, Ky. 68/43s 69/50s Lubbock, Texas 79/62pc 87/54t Madison, Wis. 54/31s 61/42pc Manchester, N.H. 57/30r 57/31s Memphis, Tenn. 77/58pc 71/65sh Milwaukee 46/34s 55/42s Mobile, Ala. 82/58s 83/62s Modesto, Calif. 72/49pc 69/52pc Montgomery, Ala. 81/59s 81/60c Myrtle Beach, S.C. 77/60s 72/58pc Nags Head, N.C. 70/55pc 58/48pc Nashville, Tenn. 75/47pc 76/56pc Newark, N.J. 72/38sh 58/41s New Haven, Conn. 64/37sh 55/36s Norfolk, Va. 71/54pc 56/46pc Oakland, Calif. 66/52pc 63/54w Oklahoma City 63/57t 73/65t Omaha, Neb. 68/52pc 73/56t Palm Springs, Calif. 88/56s 82/55pc Pensacola, Fla. 79/61s 81/65s Pierre, S.D. 69/46pc 67/52t Pittsburgh 55/35sh 59/38s Portland, Maine 52/26r 52/31s Portland, Ore. 65/51c 56/50r Providence, R.I. 61/31sh 55/33s Raleigh, N.C. 74/50pc 69/47pc Rapid City, S.D. 74/45s 73/48c Reno, Nev. 71/45t 63/44w Richmond, Va. 75/48pc 64/44s Rochester, N.Y. 49/31sh 52/30pc Sacramento, Calif. 71/50pc 67/52pc San Antonio 85/68c 85/71t San Jose, Calif. 71/51pc 66/54pc Santa Fe, N.M. 78/46h 72/41w Sarasota, Fla. 82/63s 84/65s Savannah, Ga. 82/57s 79/61pc Scottsdale, Ariz. 91/62s 81/61s Shreveport, La. 84/65pc 85/70t Sioux Falls, S.D. 66/51pc 69/56t South Bend, Ind. 51/30s 62/38s Spokane, Wash. 64/41c 60/43c Springfield, Mo. 72/54pc 65/59t Springfield, Ill. 62/39s 67/50pc St. Louis 70/47s 68/55pc St. Petersburg, Fla. 83/65s 84/66s Syracuse, N.Y. 49/29r 53/29s Tallahassee, Fla. 83/56s 86/59s Tampa, Fla. 83/65s 85/68s Toledo, Ohio 53/30s 58/36s Topeka, Kan. 72/52pc 67/62t Tucson, Ariz. 88/54pc 80/54s Tupelo, Miss. 78/56pc 71/61t Tulsa, Okla. 70/58t 69/65t Virginia Beach, Va. 69/53pc 55/46pc Wichita, Kan. 69/55c 68/62t Wilmington, Del. 71/38sh 61/37s Winston-Salem, N.C. 73/49pc 71/50pc Worcester, Mass. 57/29sh 54/34s TODAY THU TODAY THU TODAY THU TODAY THU TODAY THU AQI WED A sprinkle 74/56 THU Mostly cloudy 77/58 FRI Showers 76/62 Good AQI WED A P.M. shower 74/50 THU Partly sunny 75/53 FRI Low clouds 73/57 Good AQI WED Mostly sunny 76/45 THU Windy 74/48 FRI A few showers 67/41 Moderate AQI WED Partly sunny 83/68 THU Stray t-storm 82/71 FRI Stray t-storm 81/72 Moderate WED Mostly sunny 81/68 THU Mostly sunny 82/70 FRI Breezy 82/73 Moderate WED A few showers 69/39 THU Sunny 59/40 FRI Sunny 61/46 Moderate WED Very warm 94/64 THU Not as hot 82/64 FRI Breezy 82/61 Moderate WED Mostly cloudy 66/53 THU Breezy 65/55 FRI Windy 65/52 Good AQI WED Shower 73/43 THU Cooler 61/40 FRI Sunny 65/46 Moderate AQI WED Breezy 49/35 THU Warmer 60/44 FRI T-storms 62/58 Good AQI WED Clearing, cool 52/30 THU Mostly sunny 56/38 FRI Incr. clouds 64/55 Good AQI WED Mostly sunny 84/60 THU Mostly sunny 80/58 FRI Partly sunny 70/55 Moderate WED Partly sunny 58/42 THU Breezy 67/49 FRI Rain 58/54 Good WED Mostly sunny 84/61 THU Sunny, nice 87/62 FRI Breezy 87/65 Good WED Partly sunny 81/57 THU Stray t-storm 67/48 FRI Morning rain 55/42 Good WED Cooler 58/47 THU Rain at times 52/46 FRI Rain 55/47 Good AQI WED A few showers 57/34 THU Mostly sunny 51/37 FRI Sunny 54/41 Moderate AQI WED Stray t-shower 82/69 THU Stray t-storm 80/69 FRI Heavy t-storm 78/71 Good AQI WED Rain, breezy 83/71 THU A few showers 83/72 FRI A few showers 84/71 Good AQI WED Mostly cloudy 68/54 THU Mostly cloudy 67/55 FRI Partly sunny 67/54 Moderate WED Sunny, nice 80/64 THU Mostly sunny 84/65 FRI Breezy 82/72 Good WED A few showers 71/41 THU Sunny, cooler 59/39 FRI Sunny 64/43 Good WED Mostly cloudy 66/59 THU Partly sunny 66/57 FRI Mostly cloudy 65/58 Good WED Shower 73/46 THU Sunny, cooler 60/45 FRI Mostly sunny 67/48 Moderate TODAY THU TODAY THURSDAY EXTREMES Note: For contiguous 48 states through 3 p.m. ET yesterday HOTTEST: 88° Gila Bend, Ariz. COLDEST: 18° Big Piney, Wyo. Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather Inc. ©2024 New BetMGM customers can sign up today and get a First Bet Offer up to $1,500 using bonus code USAT. Just download the BetMGM app, deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game. If your first bet loses, you will receive bonus bets in the amount of your bet (up to $1,500). Just make sure you use bonus code USAT when you sign up. Bet now! ODDS SPONSORED BY BETMGM.COM Gannett may earn revenue from sports betting operators for audience referrals to betting services. Sports betting operators have no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. Terms apply, see operator site for Terms and Conditions. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER CO, DC, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MS, NJ, OH, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY. Call 877-8- HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY) Call 1-800-327-5050 (MA). 21+ to wager. Please Gamble Responsibly. 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All times ET COLLEGE SOFTBALL USA TODAY/NFCA Coaches Poll School (First Place Votes) Pts W-L LW 1 Texas (28) 791 38-6 1 2 Oklahoma (4) 772 42-4 2 3 Tennessee 720 34-8 4 4 Oklahoma State 666 39-8 6 5 Duke 652 39-6 3 6 LSU 592 35-10 7 7 Stanford 590 36-10 5 8 Washington 566 30-8 8 9 UCLA 554 27-9 12 10 Texas A&M 536 37-9 11 11 Georgia 516 36-11 9 12 Florida 466 37-10 10 13 Virginia Tech 403 35-9-1 15 14 Missouri 377 35-13 13 15 Arkansas 360 32-12 16 16 Florida State 294 36-10 18 17 Alabama 291 31-12 14 18 Mississippi State 240 30-13 17 19 Arizona 235 31-13-1 19 20 California 163 31-14 20 21 Kentucky 120 29-15 24 22 Clemson 117 31-15 21 23 Boston University 110 40-4 23 24 Oregon 100 26-16 22 25 Louisiana 74 33-15 25 Dropped out: N/A Others receiving votes: Northwestern (25), South Carolina (21), Texas State (19), Virginia (9), Miami (6), Auburn (4), Grand Canyon (3), Baylor (2), Eastern Kentucky (1). The 2024 USA TODAY/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll is voted on by 32 NCAA Division I head coaches with one representing each of the NCAA’s Division I Conferences. Records reflect games played through April 21. Poll is released on Tuesdays at 10:00 a.m. ET during the regular season. SOCCER English FA Cup FINAL Thursday’s Game Man City vs. Man United, TBD MLS EASTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts GF GA Inter Miami CF 5 2 3 18 22 15 NY Red Bulls 4 1 4 16 13 9 FC Cincinnati 4 2 3 15 10 8 Columbus Crew 3 1 5 14 12 9 Toronto FC 4 4 1 13 9 12 Philadelphia 3 0 4 13 14 9 Atlanta United 3 3 2 11 13 9 New York City FC 3 4 2 11 9 9 Charlotte FC 3 4 2 11 9 11 CF Montreal 3 3 2 11 12 16 D.C. United 2 3 4 10 12 14 Orlando City 2 3 3 9 10 15 Chicago Fire FC 2 4 3 9 11 18 Nashville SC 1 3 4 7 9 16 New England 1 6 1 4 5 14 WESTERN CONFERENCE W L T Pts GF GA LA Galaxy 5 1 3 18 21 15 Vancouver FC 5 2 1 16 17 9 Real Salt Lake 4 2 3 15 15 8 Colorado 4 2 3 15 15 13 Minnesota 4 2 2 14 13 9 Houston FC 4 3 1 13 9 8 LAFC 3 3 3 12 15 14 Austin FC 3 3 3 12 12 13 St. Louis City 2 1 6 12 15 14 Sporting KC 2 2 5 11 17 16 Portland 2 3 4 10 18 18 Seattle 1 4 3 6 9 9 FC Dallas 1 5 2 5 7 12 San Jose 1 8 0 3 13 24 Note: Three points for win, one point for tie. Saturday’s Games Austin vs. LA Galaxy, 1:45 p.m. NY Red Bulls vs. Vancouver, 7:30 p.m. Columbus vs. Montreal, 7:30 p.m. New York City vs. Charlotte, 7:30 p.m. Philadelphia vs. Real Salt Lake, 7:30 p.m. New England vs. Inter Miami, 7:30 p.m. Cincinnati vs. Colorado, 7:30 p.m. Orlando City vs. Toronto, 7:30 p.m. D.C. United vs. Seattle, 7:30 p.m. Minnesota vs. Sporting KC, 8:30 p.m. FC Dallas vs. Houston, 8:30 p.m. Nashville vs. San Jose, 8:30 p.m. Chicago vs. Atlanta United, 8:30 p.m. LAFC vs. Portland, 10:30 p.m. English Premier League GP W D L GF GA Pts Arsenal 34 24 5 5 82 26 77 Liverpool 33 22 8 3 75 32 74 Man City 32 22 7 3 76 32 73 Aston Villa 34 20 6 8 71 50 66 Tottenham 32 18 6 8 65 49 60 Newcastle 32 15 5 12 69 52 50 Man United 32 15 5 12 47 48 50 West Ham 34 13 9 12 54 63 48 Chelsea 32 13 8 11 61 57 47 Brighton 32 11 11 10 52 50 44 Wolverhampton 33 12 7 14 46 53 43 Fulham 34 12 6 16 50 54 42 Bournemouth 33 11 9 13 48 60 42 Crystal Palace 33 9 9 15 42 56 36 Brentford 34 9 8 17 52 59 35 Everton 33 10 8 15 34 48 30 Nottingham For. 34 7 9 18 42 60 26 Luton Town 34 6 7 21 47 75 25 Burnley 34 5 8 21 37 69 23 Sheffield United 33 3 7 23 31 88 16 Note: Three points for win, one point for tie. Tuesday’s Game Arsenal 5, Chelsea 0 Wednesday’s Games Wolverhampton vs. Bournemouth, 2:45 p.m. Crystal Palace vs. Newcastle, 3 p.m. Man United vs. Sheffield United, 3 p.m. Everton vs. Liverpool, 3 p.m. Thursday’s Game Brighton vs. Man City, 3 p.m. Champions League SEMIFINALS First Leg Tuesday, April 30 Bayern vs. Real Madrid, 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 1 Dortmund vs. PSG, 3 p.m. Second Leg Tuesday, May 7 PSG vs. Dortmund, 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 8 Real Madrid vs. Bayern, 3 p.m. Europa League SEMIFINALS First Leg Thursday, May 2 Marseille vs. Atalanta, 3 p.m. Roma vs. Leverkusen, 3 p.m. Second Leg Thursday, May 9 Leverkusen vs. Roma, 3 p.m. Atalanta vs. Marseille, 3 p.m. NWSL Friday’s Games Washington vs. Orlando, 7:30 p.m. Angel City vs. KC Current, 10 p.m. Saturday’s Games North Carolina vs. Seattle, 7 p.m. Utah vs. Houston, 7:30 p.m. Chicago vs. Portland, 7:30 p.m. San Diego vs. Bay FC, 10 p.m. NHL Playoffs FIRST ROUND (Best-of-7; x- if necessary) EASTERN CONFERENCE Florida Panthers 1, Tampa Bay Lightning 0 Sunday: Panthers 3, Lightning 2 Tuesday: Lightning at Panthers April 25: Panthers at Lightning, 7 p.m. April 27: Panthers at Lightning, 5 p.m. x-April 29: Lightning at Panthers, TBD x-May 1: Panthers at Lightning, TBD x-May 4: Lightning at Panthers, TBD Boston Bruins 1, Toronto Maple Leafs 1 Saturday: Bruins 5, Maple Leafs 1 Monday: Maple Leafs 3, Bruins 2 Wednesday: Bruins at Maple Leafs, 7 p.m. April 27: Bruins at Maple Leafs, 8 p.m. April 30: Maple Leafs at Bruins, TBD x-May 2: Bruins at Maple Leafs, TBD x-May 4: Maple Leafs at Bruins, TBD New York Rangers 1, Washington Capitals 0 Sunday: Rangers 4, Capitals 1 Tuesday: Capitals at Rangers April 26: Rangers at Capitals, 7 p.m. April 28: Rangers at Capitals, 8 p.m. x-May 1: Capitals at Rangers, TBD x-May 3: Rangers at Capitals, TBD x-May 5: Capitals at Rangers, TBD Carolina Hurricanes 2, New York Islanders 0 Saturday: Hurricanes 3, Islanders 1 Monday: Hurricanes 5, Islanders 3 April 25: Hurricanes at Islanders, 7:30 p.m. April 27: Hurricanes at Islanders, 2 p.m. x-April 30: Islanders at Hurricanes, TBD x-May 2: Hurricanes at Islanders, TBD x-May 4: Islanders at Hurricanes, TBD WESTERN CONFERENCE Vegas Golden Knights 1, Dallas Stars 0 Monday: Golden Knights 4, Stars 3 Wed.: Golden Knights at Stars, 9:30 p.m. April 27: Stars at Golden Knights, 10:30 p.m. April 29: Stars at Golden Knights, TBD x-May 1: Golden Knights at Stars, TBD x-May 3: Stars at Golden Knights, TBD x-May 5: Golden Knights at Stars, TBD Winnipeg Jets 1, Colorado Avalanche 0 Sunday: Jets 7, Avalanche 6 Tuesday: Avalanche at Jets April 26: Jets at Avalanche, 7 p.m. April 28: Jets at Avalanche, 2:30 p.m. x-April 30: Avalanche at Jets, TBD x-May 2: Jets at Avalanche, TBD x-May 4: Avalanche at Jets, TBD Vancouver Canucks 1, Nashville Predators 0 Sunday: Canucks 4, Predators 2 Tuesday: Predators at Canucks April 26: Canucks at Predators, 7:30 p.m. April 28: Canucks at Predators, 5 p.m. x-April 30: Predators at Canucks, TBD x-May 3: Canucks at Predators, TBD x-May 5: Predators at Canucks, TBD Edmonton Oilers 1, Los Angeles Kings 0 Monday: Oilers 7, Kings 4 Wednesday: Kings at Oilers, 10 p.m. April 26: Oilers at Kings, 10:30 p.m. April 28: Oilers at Kings, 10:30 p.m. x-May 1: Kings at Oilers, TBD x-May 3: Oilers at Kings, TBD x-May 5: Kings at Oilers, TBD NBA Playoffs FIRST ROUND (Best-of-7; x- if necessary) EASTERN CONFERENCE No. 1 Boston Celtics 1, No. 8 Miami Heat 0 Sunday: Celtics 114, Heat 94 Wednesday: Heat vs. Celtics, 7 p.m. April 27: Celtics vs. Heat, 3 p.m. April 29: Celtics vs. Heat, TBD x-May 1: Heat vs. Celtics, TBD x-May 3: Celtics vs. Heat, TBD x-May 5: Heat vs. Celtics, TBD No. 2 New York Knicks 2, No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers 0 Saturday: Knicks 111, 76ers 104 Monday: Knicks 104, 76ers 101 April 25: Knicks vs. 76ers, 7:30 p.m. April 28: Knicks vs. 76ers, 1 p.m. x-April 30: 76ers vs. Knicks, TBD x-May 2: Knicks vs. 76ers TBD x-May 4: 76ers vs. KnicksTBD No. 3 Milwaukee Bucks 1, No. 6 Indiana Pacers 0 Sunday: Bucks 109, Pacers 94 Tuesday: Pacers vs. Bucks April 26: Bucks vs. Pacers, 5:30 p.m. April 28: Bucks vs. Pacers, 7 p.m. x-April 30: Pacers vs. Bucks, TBD x-May 2: Bucks vs. Pacers, TBD x-May 4: Pacers vs. Bucks, TBD No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers 2, No. 5 Orlando Magic 0 Saturday: Cavaliers 97, Magic 83 Monday: Cavaliers 96, Magic 86 April 25: Cavaliers vs. Magic, 7 p.m. April 27: Cavaliers vs. Magic, 1 p.m. x-April 30: Magic vs. Cavaliers, TBD x-May 3: Cavaliers vs. Magic, TBD x-May 5: Magic vs. Cavaliers, TBD WESTERN CONFERENCE No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder 1, No. 8 New Orleans Pelicans 0 Sunday: Thunder 94, Pelicans 92 Wednesday: Pelicans vs. Thunder, 9:30 p.m. April 27: Thunder vs. Pelicans, 3:30 p.m. April 29: Thunder vs. Pelicans, TBD x-May 1: Pelicans vs. Thunder, TBD x-May 3: Thunder vs. Pelicans,TBD x-May 5: Pelicans vs. Thunder, TBD No. 2 Denver Nuggets 2, No. 7 LA Lakers 0 Saturday: Nuggets 114, LA Lakers 103 Monday: Nuggets 101, LA Lakers 99 April 25: Nuggets vs. LA Lakers, 10 p.m. April 27: Nuggets vs. LA Lakers, 8:30 p.m. x-April 29: LA Lakers vs. Nuggets, TBD x-May 2: Nuggets vs. LA Lakers, TBD x-May 4: LA Lakers vs. Nuggets, TBD No. 3 Minnesota Timberwolves 1, No. 6 Phoenix Suns 0 Saturday: Timberwolves 120, Suns 95 Tuesday: Suns vs. Timberwolves April 26: Timberwolves vs. Suns, 10:30 p.m. April 28: Timberwolves vs. Suns, 9:30 p.m. x-April 30: Suns vs. Timberwolves, TBD x-May 2: Timberwolves vs. Suns, TBD x-May 4: Suns vs. Timberwolves, TBD No. 4 LA Clippers 1, No. 5 Dallas Mavericks 0 Sunday: LA Clippers 109, Mavericks 97 Tuesday: Mavericks vs. LA Clippers April 26: LA Clippers vs. Mavericks, 8 p.m. April 28: LA Clippers vs. Mavericks, 3:30 p.m. x-May 1: Mavericks vs. LA Clippers, TBD x-May 3: LA Clippers vs. Mavericks, TBD x-May 5: Mavericks vs. LA Clippers, TBD MLB American League East Division W L Pct GB Baltimore 15 7 .682 — N.Y. Yankees 15 8 .652 ½ Toronto 13 10 .565 2½ Boston 13 10 .565 2½ Tampa Bay 12 12 .500 4 Central Division W L Pct GB Cleveland 16 6 .727 — Kansas City 13 10 .565 3½ Detroit 13 10 .565 3½ Minnesota 8 13 .381 7½ Chicago 3 19 .136 13 West Division W L Pct GB Texas 12 11 .522 — Seattle 11 11 .500 ½ Oakland 9 14 .391 3 L.A. Angels 9 14 .391 3 Houston 7 16 .304 5 National League East Division W L Pct GB Atlanta 15 6 .714 — Philadelphia 15 8 .652 1 N.Y. Mets 12 10 .545 3½ Washington 10 11 .476 5 Miami 6 18 .250 10½ Central Division W L Pct GB Milwaukee 14 7 .667 — Chicago 13 9 .591 1½ Cincinnati 12 10 .545 2½ Pittsburgh 12 11 .522 3 St. Louis 10 13 .435 5 West Division W L Pct GB L.A. Dodgers 13 11 .542 — San Diego 13 12 .520 ½ Arizona 11 13 .458 2 San Francisco 11 13 .458 2 Colorado 5 18 .217 7½ Sunday’s Scores Washington 6, Houston 0 N.Y. Yankees 5, Tampa Bay 4 Boston 6, Pittsburgh 1 Philadelphia 8, Chicago 2 Cincinnati 3, L.A. Angels 0 Cleveland 6, Oakland 2 Baltimore 5, Kansas City 0 Detroit 6, Minnesota 1 Milwaukee 2, St. Louis 0 Miami 6, Chicago 3 Colorado 2, Seattle 1 Arizona 5, San Francisco 3 L.A. Dodgers 10, N.Y. Mets 0 San Diego 6, Toronto 3 Texas 6, Atlanta 4 Seattle 10, Colorado 2 Monday’s Scores Oakland 2, N.Y. Yankees 0 Philadelphia 7, Cincinnati 0 Pittsburgh 4, Milwaukee 2 Detroit 7, Tampa Bay 1 Atlanta 3, Miami 0 Toronto 5, Kansas City 3 Minnesota 7, Chicago 0 St. Louis 5, Arizona 3 San Diego 3, Colorado 1 Baltimore 4, L.A. Angels 2 San Francisco 5, N.Y. Mets 2 Tuesday’s Games Boston at Cleveland Philadelphia at Cincinnati Milwaukee at Pittsburgh L.A. Dodgers at Washington Detroit at Tampa Bay Oakland at N.Y. Yankees Miami at Atlanta Houston at Chicago Toronto at Kansas City Chicago at Minnesota Arizona at St. Louis Seattle at Texas San Diego at Colorado Baltimore at L.A. Angels N.Y. Mets at San Francisco Wednesday’s Games Arizona at St. Louis, 1:15 p.m. N.Y. Mets at San Francisco, 3:45 p.m. Baltimore at L.A. Angels, 4:07 p.m. Boston at Cleveland, 6:10 p.m. Philadelphia at Cincinnati, 6:40 p.m. Milwaukee at Pittsburgh, 6:40 p.m. L.A. Dodgers at Washington, 6:45 p.m. Detroit at Tampa Bay, 6:50 p.m. Oakland at N.Y. Yankees, 7:05 p.m. Miami at Atlanta, 7:20 p.m. Houston at Chicago, 7:40 p.m. Toronto at Kansas City, 7:40 p.m. Chicago at Minnesota, 7:40 p.m. Seattle at Texas, 8:05 p.m. San Diego at Colorado, 8:40 p.m. Thursday’s Games Milwaukee at Pittsburgh, 12:35 p.m. Philadelphia at Cincinnati, 1:10 p.m. Boston at Cleveland, 1:10 p.m. Chicago at Minnesota, 1:10 p.m. Toronto at Kansas City, 2:10 p.m. Houston at Chicago, 2:20 p.m. Seattle at Texas, 2:35 p.m. San Diego at Colorado, 3:10 p.m. L.A. Dodgers at Washington, 4:05 p.m. Oakland at N.Y. Yankees, 7:05 p.m. DEALS FOOTBALL National Football League ATLANTA FALCONS — QB Logan Woodside signed/unrestricted free agent to Cincinnati Bengals One-year contract (through 2024). CINCINNATI BENGALS — QB Logan Woodside signed/unrestricted free agent One-year contract (through 2024). QB Jake Browning re-signed/exclusive rights free agent Twoyear contract (through 2025). FOR THE RECORD The weather changes. Stay up-to-date, 24/7. Download our free app

SPORTS USA TODAY ❚ WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2024 ❚ 7C The common wisdom when it comes to scouting players to fill out NFL rosters is that if you have talent, a scout somewhere will find you. For college football players who don’t play on the Bowl Subdivision level, it might take some time to find a team, and the chances of those players making an NFL roster are cut significantly when factoring in the constant movement every week. Another concern is the difference in competition between the upper-echelon FBS competition and the lower divisions. Of last year’s opening-day active rosters, 89% of those players played at an FBS program. But every year, there are diamonds in the rough who go on to play meaningful snaps and carve out decent careers, and others who become stars. Five small school prospects to know for the draft: Kiran Amegadije, OL, Yale Amegadije has prototypical size for an NFL lineman, as he is listed at 6-foot-5, 330 pounds, but he missed time at the end of the 2023 season with a quad injury. He is athletic for his size and can project at tackle at the next level, with enough pass projection skill to become a starter, or if a team wants to put him at guard they can use him to pull or take advantage of his skill for teams that primarily run off tackle. Jalyn Hunt, DE, Houston Christian Hunt had a productive senior campaign, winning the Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year while totaling 46 tackles and 6.5 sacks. Hunt, who was a safety during his first two seasons at Cornell, is best when he uses his 4.6 speed to get around linemen and to help in the run game. He may need time to develop as a pass rusher but could make a roster as a special teams player. Myles Harden, CB, South Dakota Harden has slot corner written all over him. He competes every play, especially getting runners and receivers to the ground. Until he learns the intricacies of playing NFL cover corner, shipping him inside and letting him roam the field may be the best fit. Khristian Boyd, DL, Northern Iowa Boyd is an absolute load at 6-2 and 330 pounds, with enough power to be a pass-rushing defensive tackle, and can embarrass offensive linemen with his burst off the line, even though scouts have knocked him for his arm length. His biggest asset could be the ability to play anywhere on the defensive line based on team needs. Mason McCormick, OL, South Dakota State McCormick projects as a left offensive guard, as that’s where he exclusively played during his college career. He will fill a need immediately for teams struggling to run the ball consistently and isn’t bad at pass protection, either. In 15 games played last season, the first-team Football Championship Subdivision All-American allowed zero sacks and three hurries in 376 pass snaps and only two sacks the last three seasons. South Dakota defensive back Myles Harden works out during the 2024 NFL scouting combine. KIRBY LEE/USA TODAY SPORTS Small school prospects to know Scooby Axson USA TODAY For many of college football’s most accomplished players, the NFL draft provides a signature moment as they transition to the professional ranks. Others, however, face a harsh fate – and wait – over the course of the three-day event. This Thursday, the first round will be shaped by several marquee names, including Southern Cal’s Caleb Williams, Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy. Yet there are plenty of other all-conference – and even All-American – selections who will be left to become late-round draft picks or undrafted free agents. As the 2024 NFL draft kicks off this week, keep an eye on these seven notable figures who could be in for an extended wait before they’re picked. Jordan Travis, QB, Florida State A sixth-year senior in 2023, Travis made the most of his extra time by notching an 11-0 mark with the Seminoles before being sidelined by a leg fracture in November. That injury undoubtedly complicated his pro outlook, but he likely was already facing an uphill battle to stick in the NFL for the long term. At 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds with arm strength that is passable at best, Travis doesn’t have many starting-caliber traits to develop. But he also lacks the pocket composure and anticipation skills one would seek in a trustworthy backup. That all leaves a player who will be 24 as a rookie in a tough spot for the draft. Travis has shown enough to hear his name called at some point, but it seems like a long shot to happen before the final few rounds. Sam Hartman, QB, Notre Dame The highlight of Hartman’s predraft process has been the visual of his hair flowing through the air during his 40- yard run at the NFL scouting combine. Not a great sign when that’s the biggest buzz that a quarterback prospect creates. Despite finishing his six-year career as one of the most prolific passers in college football history, Hartman doesn’t seem like he’ll warrant much more than a late-round flier. When in a rhythm, Hartman demonstrates an impressive ability to put the ball in prime position for his receivers. But that talent will be mitigated at the next level by pedestrian arm strength, which will leave him little room for error. With a track record of spotty decisionmaking and erratic, turnover proneplay, Hartman is difficult to trust as a No. 2 option. If he finds a level of consistency, however, he could hang around thanks to his quick trigger, savvy and toughness. Cody Schrader, RB, Missouri That the former walk-on made it onto the pro radar at all should be considered a triumph. After transferring from Truman State, Schrader broke out in 2023 with a 1,627-yard, 14-touchdown campaign that earned him first-team AllAmerican honors. Still, it’s hard to sell NFL teams on a 5-9, 214-pound back who lacks the long speed or agility to consistently break big plays. Schrader’s determined approach should help him stick on a roster early in his career as a physical runner who could be a significant special teams asset. But he’ll again be playing the role of the long shot as a likely late Day 3 pick. T’Vondre Sweat, DT, Texas The 6-4, 366-pound man in the middle for Texas became college football’s latest supersized presence, winning the Outland Trophy and being named a unanimous All-American last fall. Sweat is truly a force and demands an offense account for his ability to move blockers backward and hold his ground. He’s far from the current prototype at defensive tackle, but the appeal of adding a singular defensive presence up front should be readily apparent. Still, there are significant drawbacks to Sweat’s outlier build, too. Conditioning will be a persistent concern, and his effectiveness might hinge on coaches keeping him fresh. His limited initial explosiveness also suggests that his impact against the pass will top out with pushing the pocket, especially given his underdeveloped arsenal of moves. Additionally, an arrest earlier in April on suspicion of driving while intoxicated could raise a red flag for some teams. Ultimately, making it into the first three rounds could be tough for Sweat. Tommy Eichenberg, LB, Ohio State A two-time first-team All-Big Ten selection, Eichenberg set the tone for the Buckeyes defense as a two-year starter and team captain, racking up 200 tackles in that span. He’s at his best when diagnosing run plays and meeting the ball carrier in the hole, as he’s a reliable tackler whenever in position to make the play. But coverage is another matter for the 6-2, 233-pounder, who looks out of sorts when asked to drop back. Eichenberg might gain a better feel for the nuances of operating in zone with some additional work, but it likely will never be one of his strengths. Those overall fluidity problems likely signal a middle-round landing spot. Jeremiah Trotter Jr., LB, Clemson It didn’t take long before the son of four-time Pro Bowl linebacker and former Philadelphia Eagles standout Jeremiah Trotter stepped out of his father’s shadow. The 6-0, 228-pounder made his mark at Clemson as a consistent downhill playmaker, collecting nearly 180 tackles with 28 1 ⁄2 tackles for loss and 12 sacks over his two years as a starter. Taking his game to the NFL, however, could be tricky. Finishing plays against the run might prove more difficult at the next level, as his range is not extensive and he can be too easily shaken in space. And while his instincts could help him become a solid contributor in zone coverage, he could be exposed in man-to-man matchups. The middle rounds seem like a sensible starting point for his pro career. Kalen King, CB, Penn State At this point last year, King earned premature buzz of a potential top 50 pick thanks to his hypercompetitive style and impressive ball production (21 passes defensed in 2022). Then, things started to unravel, as the 5-11, 190-pound cornerback suffered several shaky outings, including one in a showcase matchup with Ohio State wide receiver and projected top-five selection Marvin Harrison Jr. The disappointing season heightened concerns about King lacking the recovery speed to replicate his playmaking prowess at the next level. His struggles at the Senior Bowl and 4.61- second 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine further sunk his stock. Being dropped into a zone-heavy scheme or moving to safety could help hide some of his shortcomings, but he still has to become a much more composed player when working downhill, particularly as a tackler. The middle of Day 3 seems like a reasonable range. Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis was on a roll before he was injured in November, but he may have already been facing an uphill battle. KEN RUINARD/USA TODAY SPORTS Seven college standouts who may face long wait Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz USA TODAY Missouri running back Cody Schrader broke out in 2023 with a 1,627-yard, 14-TD campaign that earned him All-American honors. KIRBY LEE/USA TODAY SPORTS

8C ❚ WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2024 ❚ USA TODAY SPORTS The months leading up to the 2024 NFL draft have been replete with cautionary tales of unfulfilled potential and botched player development. Just before free agency opened, the New England Patriots struck a deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars to send former starting quarterback Mac Jones off in a trade for a mere sixth-round pick. And on Monday, just three days before the first round is set to kick off in Detroit, the New York Jets finally brought an end to Zach Wilson’s tenure with the team, trading the former No. 2 selection to the Denver Broncos in a late-round pick swap. The disappointing fates for the two signal-callers taken in the 2021 class served as a reminder of how easily things can go awry for once-promising prospects. Yet for all those who earned the dreaded bust label, there have been plenty of others who had a shaky outlook entering the pros and still went on to find significant success. Figuring out which players present the most volatile range of potential outcomes isn’t always easy, but each draft class tends to produce at least a handful of picks who offer both higher risk and greater upside than most of their peers. These are the 11 biggest boom-orbust players to watch in this year’s draft: Drake Maye, QB, North Carolina Finding the next Josh Allen or Justin Herbert is one of the optimal routes for any franchise to flip its fortune. Easier said than done, of course. There are only so many passers who can attack the entire field thanks to top-notch arm strength and comfort throwing on the run, and even fewer who can still patiently operate from the pocket when defenses try to take away the big play. Often compared to both of the star AFC quarterbacks, Maye hopes to follow those two’s trajectories as NFL sensations who found their footing after uneven college careers. At North Carolina, the 6-foot-4, 223-pound signal-caller often looked the part of a future No. 1 pick, dazzling with deep shots and offplatform throws on the move. But an overreliance on those rare tools seemed to create a tendency for Maye to play hero too often. Bad habits followed, from iffy decision-making and fluctuating footwork to erratic ball placement and poor processing. All that makes Maye an uneasy projection, especially for any team investing a top-five pick. A good number of his most pressing problems should be resolvable with proper coaching. It’s on Maye and his future team, however, to sort out his shortcomings in order to get him on the same track as Allen and Herbert. Jaylen Wright, RB, Tennessee The 5-10, 210-pounder’s big-play credentials were already evident in a 2023 season in which he averaged 7.4 yards per carry, but Wright underscored his explosiveness by posting a 4.38-second 40-yard dash and 11-2 broad jump at the NFL scouting combine. He’s more than just a linear threat, too, as he regularly shakes defenders in tight quarters to open up daylight. Running between the tackles is a bit dicey for Wright, however, as his patience and vision are lagging behind the other elements of his game. While it’s distinctly possible Wright carves out a career as an all-purpose threat who can readily rip off big gains, earning a starter’s workload could depend on his ability to be a more instinctive, hard-nosed inside runner. Johnny Wilson, WR/TE, Florida State A 6-6, 231-pound target who can threaten defenses down the seam should be a sure thing to carve out a valuable role in any passing attack. Between his size and knack for adjusting to haul in off-target throws, Wilson might seem like a natural red-zone weapon. But that’s just not his game – at least not at this stage. Despite the advantages afforded to him by his build and massive wingspan, Wilson has a mixed track record at best on contested catches, and only two of his 41 catches last season were for scores. Drops also have plagued him, as he too often looks uncomfortable securing even the easiest passes. Wilson still can create mismatches downfield, but he might require a coaching staff that can use him creatively and help him become a more precise and focused pass catcher. Tyler Guyton, OT, Oklahoma What’s not to like about a 6-8, 322- pound offensive tackle who moves like a tight end? A former H-back before transferring from TCU, Guyton puts together all the requisite characteristics of a premier pass protector. His frame and fluidity give him a chance to hold his own against even the NFL’s most athletic edge rushers. With only 15 career starts, however, Guyton is still learning to tap into his abilities. Leverage issues could hinder him throughout his career, particularly in the run game. The best plan for his development might be easing him in on a team like the Philadelphia Eagles, who are set with their offensive tackle starters but could use someone like Guyton to serve as the successor to Lane Johnson, who already has taken the fellow former Sooner under his wing. Amarius Mims, OT, Georgia After making his first two career starts in the 2022 College Football Playoff for the champion Bulldogs, Mims looked squarely on track to follow in former teammate Broderick Jones’ footsteps in becoming a top-15 pick. But a left ankle injury limited him to playing just six games last season. Now, evaluators have to balance his overall inexperience against the raw ability of a 6-8, 340-pound blocker who moves much more nimbly than one would expect from a blocker his size. Those physical tools should still earn Mims a ticket to the first round. He might need to be brought along more slowly than some of his peers, however, which could be difficult if he lands with a playoff-caliber team looking for an immediate starter at offensive tackle, such as the Pittsburgh Steelers or Dallas Cowboys. Kingsley Suamataia, OT, BYU Any five-star recruit will face heightened expectations. So, too, will an offensive tackle who is a cousin of Penei Sewell, the Detroit Lions’ two-time All-Pro right tackle. It was no surprise, then, that Suamataia arrived at Oregon – Sewell’s alma mater – touted as a future standout NFL pass protector in the making. After one season, however, the Utah native transferred to BYU. And despite spending the last two years as a starter – first at right tackle, then on the left side – Suamataia’s biggest selling point is still rooted in what he has yet to accomplish rather than what he has shown. Though he has the agility and strength to stop a variety of imposing edge rushers, he could be exploited by savvy linemen who can get him off balance or work back inside. Playing him early could prove problematic, especially for any legitimate contender. Chop Robinson, DE, Penn State The combine numbers speak for themselves. The 6-3, 254-pounder recorded the fifth-fastest 40-yard dash time (4.48 seconds) and 10-yard split (1.54) since 2003 of any player weighing 250 pounds or more, according to Next Gen Stats and ESPN. He continued to highlight his explosiveness with a 10-8 broad jump, tied for the best mark among all edge rushers. That elite package of physical traits has some envisioning the next Micah Parsons, Robinson’s predecessor at Penn State. Naturally, that lofty comparison falls short in several areas. Robinson didn’t produce at the same level that Parsons did for the Nittany Lions, recording just 9 1 ⁄2 sacks in two years after transferring from Maryland. Whereas Parsons demonstrated he could disengage blockers to free himself up to make plays, Robinson still is too easily neutralized when he doesn’t beat linemen instantly with his first step. Still, he has all the trappings of a double-digit sack artist. For now, however, he projects as a high-upside pass rusher who could flash on one snap and disappoint on the next. Darius Robinson, DE, Missouri At 6-5 and 285 pounds with a massive wingspan and a forceful approach, Robinson is a nightmare one-on-one matchup for any blocker. A first-team All-SEC pick in 2023, he walked back linemen to repeatedly disrupt offenses, racking up 8 1 ⁄2 sacks and 14 tackles for loss. His extensive reach helps him to rip past blockers and corral opponents, making him a significant asset in stopping the run. That unique makeup, however, also has its downfalls, as it could leave Robinson with the unwanted tweener label. While his breakout season last year came after a move to the edge, Robinson might lack the fluidity and burst to consistently win there at the next level. He could prove plenty disruptive in the right role, but Robinson won’t be a fit for every defensive scheme. Braden Fiske, DT, Florida State When Fiske beats opposing offensive linemen off the ball, look out. The sixthyear senior and transfer from Western Michigan excels at tracking down ball carriers, using his high-energy approach and closing speed to notch six sacks last year. Everything about Fiske’s play is relentless, and he can exploit opponents who let up even for a moment. The 6-4, 292-pounder can experience trouble, however, when he’s stonewalled out of the gates. Fiske lacks the counters to keep his rush alive and the sheer strength to disengage from bigger blockers with longer reach. Teams seeking more of a stout presence on the interior likely will turn elsewhere, but any defense looking to enhance its disruptiveness up the middle likely will gravitate toward him in the first two rounds. Trevin Wallace, LB, Kentucky It’s not difficult to figure out the appeal of a linebacker who was a former track standout and weightlifting champion, especially in a weak year at the position in the draft. The 6-1, 237-pound Wallace comfortably chases down ball carriers all over the field and can hold his own in a variety of man coverage matchups. As a blitzer, he’s not afraid of charging past or through much bigger blockers to create disruption in the backfield. All those descriptions, however, capture Wallace operating at his peak. There are still far too many occasions – both against the run and pass – in which he is caught out of position, as he regularly misdiagnoses plays and lets his aggressiveness get the best of him. Seeing the field consistently early in his career might hinge on him adopting a more disciplined style of play. As it stands, Wallace seems equally likely to vex opposing coaches as his own. Khyree Jackson, CB, Oregon Jackson’s football career has been nomadic, as the cornerback attended three different junior colleges before enrolling at Alabama. He then transferred to Oregon for his lone season as a starter and flashed the promise many had been waiting to see, recording three interceptions and 10 passes defensed. At 6-4 and 196 pounds, Jackson has an ideal makeup – both physically and mentally – for press coverage. His ultracompetitive and physical demeanor routinely surfaces when he’s smothering receivers at the line of scrimmage and attacking at the catch point. It comes as little surprise, however, that a player with his limited experience still needs polish. Jackson’s footwork can give him problems, and savvy route runners too often break free from his coverage with a simple change of direction. His disruptiveness is worth harnessing, but even teams that utilize him heavily in press man coverage could be in for a bit of a wild ride as he develops his technique and hones his instincts. Buyer beware: Boom-bust prospects Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz USA TODAY North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye stiff-arms Clemson linebacker Trenton Simpson in the ACC championship game last year. BOB DONNAN/USA TODAY SPORTS Defensive back Khyree Jackson attended three junior colleges and Alabama before breaking out at Oregon. MARK J. REBILAS/USA TODAY SPORTS

K1K1 We pick 10 stores that celebrate the written word and provide unity and inspiration. Page 2D Independent Bookstore Day offers a chance to get literary Four-legged friends can be a lifeline for people with schizophrenia and other illnesses. Page 4D Psychiatric service dogs are key for mental health patients USA TODAY | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024 | SECTION D LIFE LIFELINE HOROSCOPE | SANCTUARY More: www.sanctuaryworld.co Aries (March 21-April 19). Face fears via inner reflection today. The moon helps stabilize intense feelings and transform them constructively. Taurus (April 20-May 20). Mulling over a recent reaction? Talk it over with a friend. They can be the voice of reason you need. Gemini (May 21-June 21). Emotionally invest in your work. Have a plan in place? Make decisions that feel good and align with your goals. Cancer (June 22-July 22). Have a spiritual practice in place? Your inner child is nourished when you ritually connect with something larger than you. Leo (July 23-Aug. 22). Focus on your security today. The moon aims to support you through the intense emotions you’re experiencing. Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Take the lead on negotiations. Need to come to a solid agreement? Messy boundaries firm up. Libra (Sept.23-Oct. 23). Have patience with yourself. Finances are morphing, and there are still unknown factors at play. Ready to surrender? Scorpio (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Does your creativity have a container? If you’re allowed unlimited ways to express yourself, it can become overwhelming. Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Sober vibe washing over you? Your jolly demeanor is on vacation. Allow for reflection. Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). A negative mindset will not nurture your aspirations. Tempted to go to the dark side? Faith may be the problem. Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Feeling an intense ambition? Create a financially minded career plan. Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20). Look off into the distance. What do you envision for your future self? Start today to realize this dream. NEW YORK – “Mary Jane” is impossible to shake. h In Amy Herzog’s miraculous and gutting new play, which opened April 23 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, Rachel McAdams gives what is arguably the best performance of the Broadway season as an ordinary woman facing the unimaginable. The show begins on a seemingly monotonous day, as Mary Jane (McAdams) chats idly in her kitchen with Ruthie (Brenda Wehle), the superintendent of her cramped Queens apartment building. Cheerfully sipping a can of Coke, Mary Jane rattles on about subway buskers and a clogged sink until she’s suddenly interrupted by beeping from the next room. She calmly gets up and walks inside as a machine begins to whir, followed by the slurp of a suction tube and then silence. As people float in and out of her home – a devoted nurse (April Matthis), a Facebook friend (Susan Pourfar), a college misfit (Lil5y Santiago) – Mary Jane trickles out details about her toddler-age son, Alex, who is incapacitated as the result of a brain bleed during a premature birth. Suffering from lung disease and cerebral palsy, Alex receives around-the-clock care from his unflagging single mom and a small community of caregivers. But Mary Jane bullishly refuses to let his ailments define him. Although the audience never sees Alex, she paints a vivid picture of her son: describing his palpable joy and occasional stubbornness, as well as his deep love of animals and wintertime. When he receives visitors with a glassy stare, Mary Jane waves it off with a self-deprecating joke. (“I think I wiped him out with 12 hours of mom time,” she shrugs.) Her constant reassurances – that she’s doing just fine; that Alex will turn a corner – are more for herself than they are for others. In less capable hands, “Mary Jane” could easily slip STAGE REVIEW While at a hospital, Mary Jane (Rachel McAdams, left) finds kindness and connection with a fellow mom (Susan Pourfar). PHOTOS PROVIDED BY MATTHEW MURPHY Rachel McAdams is a revelation in ‘Mary Jane’ Patrick Ryan USA TODAY Sherry (April Matthis, left) is among many who are on hand to help Mary Jane (McAdams), who sleeps on a fold-out couch just outside her son’s bedroom. See MARY JANE, Page 4D After her three-year relationship ended in 2023, 28-year-old executive assistant Kelly Carlson did as many young adults do: She downloaded a popular dating app to put herself out there again. And, like many others, she found the experience disappointing. Feeling a lack of romance with the app, Carlson wanted to find a better way of meeting people. So, when she saw a flyer at a nearby California brewery advertising $35 for a night of speed dating, she figured she’d give it a try. “I wanted to be excited about dating again,” Carlson says. Speed dating is “almost like going back to the time when we were all in office a lot more and you have a work crush, or you’re in school and you have a crush. You kind of get a sense of someone ... instead of just looking at people online and you have no sense of who they are and how they really relate.” Carlson is not alone. Amid an epidemic of loneliness, speed dating is making a comeback, especially, experts say, among Gen Z and millennials who are experiencing dating app fatigue. Dating experts say speed dating is a great option for those looking to get off their phones and meet people who may shine more in person than they do online. “I’m a fan of anything that is going to get you meeting more single, like-minded people who are looking for relationships,” Blaine Anderson, a dating coach for men, says. “So, if that’s speed dating, I am all about it.” We shouldn’t be surprised that speed dating is booming Speed dating has surged in popularity over the past three years, according to Eventbrite, a global events marketplace where many speed-dating events are hosted. The company saw a 63% surge in speed dating events from 2021 to 2022. According to data shared with USA TODAY, that trend seems to have continued, with the company reporting a 30% increase in singles and dating events in the United States from 2022 to 2023 and a 43% increase in attendance at these events over the same period. Organizers for these events also are getting creative. Recent singles events on Eventbrite include board game speed dating, tantra speed dating, outdoor strolls for singles and singles karaoke. Game-based and athletic dating events also increased from 2022 to 2023. It makes sense people, particularly young adults, are gravitating toward speed dating, says Damona Hoffman, a dating coach and the author of “F the Fairy Tale: Rewrite the Dating Myths HEALTH AND WELLNESS Turn off the app and try speed dating Charles Trepany USA TODAY See SPEED DATING, Page 4D Dating experts say the return of speed dating can be a great option for those looking to get off their phones and meet people who may shine better in person than they do online. FIZKES/GETTY IMAGES Queen Elizabeth II and her love of dogs are being celebrated in her native England. The British monarch, who died in September 2022, was honored with a statue in Oakham, England on Sunday, which would have been her 98th birthday. The statue marks “the first permanent memorial to Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,” per the Rutland County Council (Oakham is based in Rutland County.) The bronze statue shows Elizabeth striking a formidable pose while donning a gown, regal cape and crown. She is surrounded by corgi statues, a tribute to Elizabeth’s lifelong love of the Welsh dog breed. CARL COURT/GETTY IMAGES ROYALS REPORT QUEEN ELIZABETH II STATUE Barbra Streisand is 82. Kelly Clarkson is 42. Djimon Gaston Hounsou is 60. IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY WHO’S CELEBRATING TODAY

2D ❚ WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2024 ❚ USA TODAY LIFE Spoiler alert! We’re discussing important plot plots and the ending of “Sasquatch Sunset” (in theaters now), so run away if you haven’t seen it yet. If you’ve ever been intrigued by the myth that is Sasquatch, also known as Bigfoot, then “Sasquatch Sunset” is your kind of film. What kind of film? Think slapstick nature docudrama: “The Office” meets “David Attenborough Presents.” Written and directed by David and Nathan Zellner, the 90-minute movie imagines what it would be like to take cameras and follow a family of Bigfeet (is that even the right term?) around the prehistoric forests and alleged Bigfoot stomping grounds of northern California. There’s anger, humor, sex and death throughout this one-year journey, which stars (though you won’t recognize them) Jesse Eisenberg (“Zombieland”) and Riley Keough (“Daisy Jones & The Six”), as well as Nathan Zellner and Christophe Zajac-Denek. We asked the Zellner brothers to explain the meaning of this offbeat movie, their choice to set it in modern times and why there’s a lot of poop throwing. Do the filmmakers believe in Bigfoot? Among Bigfoot fans, “there are believers and there are those who want to believe,” says David Zellner. “But regardless of where you stand, we humans need these stories.” Because scientific advances “essentially now have an explanation for almost everything,” Zellner says, humans more than ever need to be able to connect to the unknown and the natural world, which Bigfoot represents. “So much is mapped and explained now,” he says. “We need to have that sense of wonder, which hopefully you get watching this film. Folklore has been with us forever for a reason.” What does the ending of ‘Sasquatch Sunset’ mean? At the beginning of “Sasquatch Sunset,” it is unclear when the movie is taking place. All we see are ape-like creatures in a primordial forest. But about halfway through, the Sasquatch family stumbles across a redwood tree marked with a red “X,” a sign that logging is taking place nearby. They’re baffled. Then they come across a camper’s tent, a paved road and finally in the last scene, they’re left standing in front of a giant building that says Bigfoot Museum. “We wanted the beginning of the movie to have that Garden of Eden feel to it, but then gradually as they make their journey, the family intersects with the human world,” says Nathan Zellner. “It seemed very logical for us to tell the story that way.” Why do the stars of ‘Sasquatch Sunset’ throw poop around? There are a few scenes in “Sasquatch Sunset” where the protagonists get upset and thrown their poop. One instance is when a cougar is munching on the remains of one of their Bigfoot friends. Another is when they encounter an asphalt road and become enraged, which the Zellners says is their nod to the Looney Tunes cartoons of their youth. “We wanted to normalize Bigfoot behavior and make them relatable in a way many animals are,” says David Zellner. “That includes things like marking their territory, often with excrement, as we know from cats and dogs, and, yes, throwing their poop as apes do.” It wasn’t hard to get the actors to go along with the scatological humor, he adds. “That yelling vocalization from Riley, that was all her, screaming,” says Nathan with a laugh. Adds David: “Riley said that (poop-throwing) scene was her favorite. She told me, ‘You better not cut it!’” MOVIES ‘Sasquatch Sunset’ leaves Bigfoot believers thinking big Marco della Cava USA TODAY Riley Keough is a Sasquatch matriarch in “Sasquatch Sunset,” a wildlife documentary-style film that follows a family of Bigfoot creatures around northern California. PROVIDED BY BLEECKER STREET Changing Hands Bookstore Too popular to be called a hidden gem, this Arizona jewel recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. It first opened in a 500-square-foot space in 1974. After several moves, Changing Hands now operates two large stores in Tempe and Phoenix. Both locations host author events, poetry and discussion groups and offer a Trade Counter where customers can bring in gently used books for store credit. At the Phoenix bookstore, you’ll find the First Draft Book Bar, which serves coffee, wine, beer and snacks in the middle of the brick-walled store. Details: 6428 S. McClintock Dr., Tempe, Arizona. 480-730-0205. 300 W. Camelback Road, Phoenix. 602-274-0067. Changinghands.com. Off the Beaten Path Bookstore First opened more than 30 years ago as tiny used bookstore in Colorado, Off the Beaten Path has been through three sets of owners and three locations. Current owners Mike and Danielle Skov say one thing has never changed: The commitment to being a welcoming and inclusive space. They partner with local schools, libraries and nonprofits to reach as much of the community as possible. The store is well-known to locals and visitors alike for its cafe, which serves from-scratch giant muffins, Italian sodas, soups and salads and literary themed drinks. Details: 68 9th St., Steamboat Springs, Colorado. 970-879-6830. Steamboatbooks.com. Books on Main Books on Main feels like you’re reading inside a treehouse inside a Wisconsin forest. It opened in June 2023 inside a commercial space that had been vacant for more than 10 years. Now, residents of Friendship and the surrounding area have a magical place decorated with wood, leaves and comfy furniture to gather and discover new and beloved books. Another highlight is the sci-fi/fantasy section that’s displayed prominently in the middle of the store. Details: 301 Main St., Friendship, Wisconsin. Booksonmain301.com. Shop Around the Corner Books Amber Treat opened Shop Around the Corner Books after six years of working at her local library. Her Northern California city didn’t have an independent bookstore, so she created a charming 500-square-feet shop in the revitalized downtown’s Cultural District. Treat sells apparel, candles, sweets and other bookish merchandise. Her favorite part of the shop is the children’s section – a cozy nook where she hosts story times – and she loves recommending nature and hiking guides to visitors who come to discover the nearby mountain ranges. Details: 1430 Butte St., Redding, California. 530-410-4596. Shoparoundthecornerbooks.com. The Last Chapter Book Shop You’ll find steamy reads and hot, stylish merchandise at this all-romance bookstore in Chicago that opened in 2023. The Last Chapter cultivates an inclusive, welcoming environment no matter your trope of choice. With the mission to support the many members of Romancelandia, the store hosts author events along with community mixers such as Blind Date With a Book, where you wrap one of your favorite books and swap it with a fellow bookworm in hopes of finding a new favorite and a new friend. Don’t miss the photo booths or the themed bags, drinkware, stickers and apparel that are expertly curated for lovers of romance. Details: 2013 W. Roscoe St., Chicago. 773-407-0610. Thelastchapterbookshop.com. Midtown Reader Sally Bradshaw opened Midtown Reader in November 2016 in Florida’s capital, among two major universities and a diverse community of readers. The shelves spotlight books from all genres as well as local authors and books about Florida’s political, social and natural history. The bookstore hosts author events, Kidtown Reader story hour, Read to Lead panels, book clubs, workshops and community readings. It also is home to the Piebrary, a cafe and pie shop that sells slices of chocolate, apple and lemon meringue pie along with flavored lattes, cappuccino and teas. Details: 1123 Thomasville Road, Tallahassee, Florida. 850- 425-2665. Midtownreader.com. The Novel Neighbor This women-owned-and-operated store in Missouri is a beacon for community and hosts themed book clubs, grown-up book fairs, large scale author events, cocktail classes, stitch-club meetings and more. It spans multiple rooms and has a whimsical vibe complete with a wall with photos and touring authors’ signatures that acts as a living photo album. Novel Neighbor offers summer camps, book-themed parties and personalized book gift boxes. It even has a nonprofit, The Noble Neighbor, to bring free books and author visits to systemically underserved schools and students across the St. Louis region. Details: 7905 Big Bend Blvd., St. Louis. 314-738-9384. Thenovelneighbor.com. P&T Knitwear Corporate fixer Bradley Tusk opened this bookstore in May 2022 in New York City’s Lower East Side and named it after the knitwear shop his grandfather, a Holocaust survivor, ran in the neighborhood in the 1950s. Along with a packed calendar of book events, the store is home to a podcast studio that locals can use April 27 brings Independent Bookstore Day, the biggest bookstore celebration of the year when indies around the country host events, offer discounts and generally feel loved by the communities they provide with fair access to literature, ideas and safe spaces. h USA TODAY celebrates the role independent bookstores play all year with weekly spotlights on businesses around the country in conjunction with the American Booksellers Association, a nonprofit trade association founded in 1900. The profiles show what makes each one special and include expert book recommendations. h Here’s a selection of 10 bookstores we loved writing about. Visit usatoday.com/ entertainment/books to see the full list! for free. There’s a café where baristas serve Brooklyn’s East One Coffee Roasters, specialty beverages, wine, beer and hot sandwiches. P&T Knitwear also is home to the Gotham Book Prize, created by Tusk and political strategist Howard Wolfson to recognize the culture that has made New York City special for generations. Since it began in 2021, $170,000 has been awarded to authors. Details: 180 Orchard St., New York. 212-546-7536. Ptknitwear.com. Storyhouse Bookpub Storyhouse Bookpub is in the heart of downtown Des Moines, just down the street from Iowa’s capitol building in one of the most walkable, welcoming and progressive neighborhoods in the city. Owner Abbey Paxton stocks the space with books and arts, lights and plants because she wants people to feel invited to settle into one of the cozy nooks or chat about what they’re reading. The store recently expanded to make room for a used-book program. Paxton takes pride in featuring products from local artisans such as candles, lip balms, jewelry and toys, and she filled the store with local antique bookshelves and a mural of the store’s mascot Cozy the Bear. Details: 505 E. Grand Ave., Suite #102, Des Moines, Iowa. Storyhousebookpub.com. Wild Geese Bookshop Named for Mary Oliver’s poem “Wild Geese,” Wild Geese Bookshop opened November 2016, the week of a contentious presidential election, and quickly became a much-needed space where people (who probably would not be friends on the internet) found connection and surprising friendships. The Indiana bookstore hosts events including wine tastings, book clubs, author events, cooking demonstrations, themed parties, First Friday pop-ups and more. Their Sunshine Box Care Packages are gift boxes that are curated with unique titles and gifts based on customer input then shipped to whomever the customer wants to give a boost. Details: 40 E. Madison St., Franklin, Indiana. 317-494-6545. Wildgeesebookshop.com. BOOKS Celebrate these bookstores that inspire and unite Books and gifts for sale at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Ariz. The store recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. PATRICK BREEN/USA TODAY NETWORK Jennifer McClellan and American Booksellers Association USA TODAY

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ĂªĶµűĽ AAµµó ÎʼnŘÎ © WIGGLES 3D GAMES DON’T QUOTE ME ® Italian fashion designer Rearrange the words to complete the quote. Elsa Schiaparelli talks about clothes. ALIKE ANNOYING OTHER OVER WOMEN WORLD ___________ DRESS ___________ ALL ________ THE ___________: THEY DRESS TO BE ______________ TO ___________ WOMEN. 4/24 Tuesday’s Answer: “Age is no barrier. It’s a limitation you put on your mind.” - Jackie Joyner-Kersee (Answers tomorrow) Now arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, as suggested by the above cartoon. THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME By David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek Unscramble these Jumbles, one letter to each square, to form four ordinary words. ©2024 Tribune Content Agency, LLC All Rights Reserved. Get the free JUST JUMBLE app • Follow us on Twitter @PlayJumble RNFOT CUPHO SGPOIS CEJRTE KIOSK SHIRT WETTER CRISIS <HVWHUGD\·V Jumbles: Answer: The best pitcher in the league signed the new contract so that he could — STRIKE IT RICH ” - “ WORD ROUNDUP QUICKCROSS UP & DOWN WORDS LIFE ■ I USA TODAY CROSSWORD TXTPERT 49 SO 51 57 I 60 63 I 48 54 55 56 r r □□□□ □□□□ □□□□ □□□□ □□□□□ □□□□ peg !□□□ ■pOQDl □□□□□□□□□□ □□□ §□□□□ □□□□ anas □□□□ □□□□ □□□□□ □□□□ □□□□ □□□□□ □□□□ □□□□ □□□□□ D f ' l I I I n t I s I t I o n I e I @ ON YOUR PHONE Across 1.2287848 4.75328 6.944 7.843 8.4663 9.37377 Numbers SUDOKU @ ON YOUR PHONE KENKEN 2-r 4+ 5+ 3 8X 2-r 1- 7+ 02024 KenKen Puzzle, LUC www.kenken.com YESTERDAY’S SOLUTION 4 4 3- 1 6X 3 2t 2 6+ 3 4 2 1 2 4+ 3 1 7+ 4 1 2 T 2 4 3 KUBOK 16 50) ;24 (23) (39 @ 29 16 4 6 7 10 14 9 2 1 14 9 3 15 16 12 4 6 10 5 7 2 8 11 13 Words WORD ROUNDUP QUICKCROSS mo DCO mn □CO @ ON YOUR PHONE UP & DOWN WORDS 't/1' ©PUZZLES.USATODAY.COM éé 7 Little W©rds Find the 7 ivords to mnfch tho 7 chje®. TVc numbers in wvcri roses > roccscrt the number ot tellers in each solution Each lettci occnbinatbn car bo uccd only once, but all lotto' ocmbinaiiona ■ will bo rvocossaiy to compcto tho pu«so. CLUES 1 outrageously wicked (10) 2 Oscar winner Hutton (7) 3 adding numbers (7) 4 to the saine degree (7) 5 people going to the office (9) 6 get back together (7) 7 they live here (11) SOLUTIONS LLY THY LI Dl Tl ABO ING INH SU COMM MO UTE EQUA CAL REUN RS ANTS ITE ABIT MM Tuesdays AnsAflrs: 1. RICHARD 2. CHANDtaieRS 3. OLYMPICS ■t.0A3Ccv6LL G. HAtOCUFFS 0 «NITTCR 7. DI3QN «tt* BONUS CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Clenched hand 5 Shirts and blouses 9 Tableland 13 Song 14 Pentateuch 15 On--------(equal) 16 Let the Sun Go Down on Me” 17 Actress — Witherspoon 18 Resilience 19 Hire 21 Hypnotic states 23 Soft food 25 Therefore 26 Tip 29 Cried out 33 Best bud 34 Hideout 36 Vacuum tube 3 7 arms 39 Singer — Costello 41 Blood-related 42 Pry 44 Video game maker 45 Med. specialty 46 Antebellum 48 Domed building 51 Jazz singing 53 Stand 54 Acknowledge 57 Badminton item 61 Field 62 Angry 65 Thereby hangs a — 66 Fourth planet 67 Fire remains 68 Spaghetti — carbonara 69 Conspire 70 Not very fatty 71 500 sheets DOWN 1 Grow dim 2 Golf club 3 Belt out a tune 4 Straw matting 5 Shoe part 6 Mineral 7 Fake gems 8 Wine from Spain 9 Creamy-white llower 10 Long story 11 Rescue 12 Greek god 14 Bridge support 20 Revolver 22 On in years 24 Gets better 26 Gazette 27 Martini fruit 28 Waterway 30 Jabbed PREVIOUS PUZZLE SOLVED L A S E L U L S E M ■ G O G C A R L 0 L I 0 A U D 1 R M E N B A 7 R 0 M A A V E R T E N D L A R U A L R 1 E > A D A 4-24-24 © 2024 UFS. Dist by Andrews fteMeel for UFS 31 Village near Minneapolis 32 Fender mishap 33 Fiction” 35 Strictness 38 Radio report 40 Parodies 43 Go very fast 47 Tire type 49 Mex neighbor 50 Delicious drink 52 Laconic 54 Summer getaway 55 Evangelist — Roberts 56 Roman emperor 58 Cabbage 59 Singer — Fitzgerald 60 Worker group 63 “I knew it!” 64 Decimal base 10 11 12 1 58 59 60 65 68 71

4D ❚ WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2024 ❚ USA TODAY LIFE Kody Green started having auditory and visual hallucinations, as well as paranoia and delusions, during his freshman year of college. His symptoms drove him to drug abuse that ultimately landed him in prison. At age 21, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia: a brain disorder that affects how people think, feel and behave. Although medication and other treatment helped control some of Green’s symptoms, his hallucinations persisted. Little did he know that four years later, a different type of help would give him the confidence he needed to live the successful and fully functional life he knew he, and many others with schizophrenia, deserved – this time it came with four paws and a tail. Luna, a Jack Russell terrier mix, helps Green identify his visual hallucinations; if he says “greet” and Luna doesn’t respond, he knows that what he’s seeing isn’t there. She also prevents Green from self-harm during auditory hallucinations. Luna will jump on his lap and put her head against his, preventing Green from hitting his face and bringing him back to the present. “My wife and I took a chance with Luna because there’s no guarantee a dog can learn some of these tasks, but she was great,” Green, 29, said. “People with schizophrenia, we lose a lot of freedom because of our illness. But Luna has helped me be more confident and comfortable in my everyday life.” Service dogs can be game changers Dogs have been helping people of all ages with varying disabilities for centuries, boosting independence, sense of safety, peace of mind and confidence. Research has found that service dogs also help in many ways, such as reducing suicide attempts and improving an owner’s ability to attend medical appointments. Dr. Xiaoduo Fan, a psychiatrist and professor at UMass Chan Medical School who studies schizophrenia, said dogs in general can provide the social interaction some people with the illness need but lack. This notion is based on the “biophilia hypothesis,” which states that people are intrinsically drawn to other living things for feelings of safety and connection. “People with schizophrenia have trouble relating to people so that affects their social relationships,” Fan said. “Humans are social animals with needs for love, friendship and acceptance, and schizophrenia patients are no different. Having an animal around can satisfy those needs with nonverbal communication.” Interaction with dogs may be less stressful than interacting with other people, said Malene Kalsnes Tyssedal, a psychiatric doctor with the University of Bergen in Norway, who studied how dogs help adults with schizophrenia. As beneficial as service dogs may be, some people with schizophrenia may not be able “to take care of the physical, cognitive and emotional needs of an animal,” Tyssedal said. That could include the potential for harm to the dog, said Fan, who called it “a possible but very rare scenario” considering people with schizophrenia are no more violent than the general population. “This is the most common misconception from society,” Fan said. Access to such dogs is lacking Green didn’t plan to train Luna to help him better handle his symptoms, but he got her just as his social media presence as a schizophrenia advocate skyrocketed, which connected him to several certified dog trainers who taught Green how to train Luna to be a psychiatric service dog via FaceTime. Training Luna himself was a more accessible option than buying a dog that was already trained or having a professional train Luna directly. The alternatives were too expensive, plus Green lives in rural Wisconsin where there aren’t many service dog trainers around – a reality that many people with disabilities face when seeking help to supplement their other treatments. “We really couldn’t afford anything else, so having that help for the training was amazing,” Green said. “It was just a lot of luck. If I didn’t have social media, none of it would have been possible.” Psychiatric service dog training can cost anywhere between $20,000 to $30,000 on average. Medicare and Medicaid do not cover service dogs, and most private insurances don’t either. The Veterans’ Affairs Administration and Department of the Army only provide financial support for dogs trained by an Assistance Dogs International or International Guide Dog Federation accredited facility – psychiatric dogs are excluded. Fortunately, service dogs aren’t required to be certified or complete a professional training program, so people have the right to train their own service animal, according to the Americans with Disabilities Act. Businesses also aren’t allowed to request documentation that a dog is registered, licensed or certified as a service animal, although some airlines may require owners to complete paperwork. It’s more of a bonding experience to train your own dog anyway, said Julie Morrissette, a training consultant at Service Dog Training School International, which provides online courses for owners for about $300. Finding opportunities to train your own service dog can be confusing because the U.S. lacks a mandatory process for the selection, training and placement of service dogs, unlike other countries that regulate the industry, a 2017 study in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science says. That’s where Green hopes to step in. His goal is to work with service dog trainers to help make these animals more accessible for people. “People with mental illness have the most trouble getting help, are the ones in poverty, the ones that struggle getting doctors appointments,” Green said. “I always say I’m the luckiest schizophrenic because I had a ton of resources and access to insurance and medication, but other advocates and I are just trying to make the resources we all had more accessible to others.” One of the ways to do that, Green said, is to get rid of the stigma associated with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. Even though Green was caregiver to his mother, who has schizoaffective disorder – a chronic mental illness that causes similar symptoms as schizophrenia – he still didn’t recognize something was wrong when he had his own psychotic break. When Green sought medical attention three years later, his diagnosis “felt like a death sentence,” he said. Research shows that people who feel their schizophrenia is stigmatized can have worse depression, social anxiety and quality of life, as well as lower selfesteem, social functioning and support from loved ones. Stigma can also lead to social exclusion, fewer education and employment opportunities, and worse housing conditions. “I just want to be the voice that I needed when I was first diagnosed,” Green said. “I want to be a face to the illness, that way the next time someone hears the word schizophrenia, they don’t think of a corny show or tragic news event, but an actual person. “And maybe they’ll realize that with the right help, this diagnosis isn’t a death sentence.” HEALTH AND WELLNESS Dogs are a lifeline for people with schizophrenia Katie Camero USA TODAY Luna helps her owner, Kody Green, handle certain schizophrenia symptoms as a supplement to his other treatments for the condition. PROVIDED BY KODY GREEN into Hallmark card sentimentality. But Herzog (“4000 Miles,” a 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist) brings aching nuance and lived experience to the wrenching subject matter. (Her daughter was born with a rare muscle disorder and died at age 11 last year.) When Alex has a seizure midway through the play, the mounting dread and panicked 911 call are distressingly familiar. So, too, is the purgatory-like state of the hospital waiting room, which is brilliantly conveyed through Ben Stanton’s stark lighting and Lael Jellinek’s deceptively simple scenic design. (We won’t spoil the set reveal, but it’s breathtaking.) Herzog thoughtfully poses big questions about faith and uncertainty and leaves the audience with much to chew on after the spiritual, ambiguous final moments. The play is beautifully directed by Anne Kauffman (“The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window”), with an outstanding ensemble playing dual roles. But the production would crumble without a compelling Mary Jane to latch onto, and McAdams is nothing short of extraordinary. We’ve long known she’s an accomplished dramatic actress, with remarkably understated turns in “Spotlight,” “Disobedience” and “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.” But in her radiant Broadway debut, the Oscar nominee unleashes every skill in her dizzying arsenal. Her Mary Jane is immediately endearing, navigating each new hurdle of the American health care system with disarming humor and grace. The character frequently is forgetful and apologetic, and McAdams grounds her with a sort of awkward charm that feels completely lived-in. The A-lister finds the weary human being behind Mary Jane’s chipper optimism: her voice cracking, eyes holding back tears as she recalls how Alex’s father abandoned them. (“I hope he finds some peace, I really do,” she stammers with wounded tenderness.) With McAdams, the pain is always lingering just beneath a cracked halfsmile, only ever boiling over during one devastating encounter with hospital staff. “I don’t know what to hope for anymore,” she says afterward, grasping for any semblance of control in a world thrown off its axis. Broadway is teeming with marvelous performances this spring, from Sarah Pidgeon in the Fleetwood Macindebted “Stereophonic” to Sarah Paulson in the pulpy and provocative “Appropriate.” But in an overcrowded season for new plays and musicals, it would be a damn shame to miss the sensational work that McAdams is doing in “Mary Jane,” which reminds us yet again why she’s one of the finest actors working today. April Matthis, left, and Rachel McAdams star in Amy Herzog’s “Mary Jane” on Broadway. PROVIDED BY MATTHEW MURPHY Mary Jane Continued from Page 1D and Live Your Own Love Story.” Because of COVID-19, many people moved most of their lives online. This is especially true for Gen Z, many of whom started dating just as the world shut down amid the pandemic. “Many of them have never had that IRL dating experience really ever,” Hoffman says. “So they kind of have this almost fantasy view of what it must have been like to meet someone at a bar or club or speed-dating event. It almost has this fantasy story around it that may not really exist in person when they get there, but the idea of it still feels fresh and new, and it’s something different than what they’ve been doing the last four years.” So are dating apps canceled? Not so fast Despite growing enthusiasm for speed dating, dating apps continue to reign as one of the most popular ways daters meet. According to a 2023 Pew Research Center report, 1 in 10 partnered adults met their current significant other on a dating app or website. That figure is 1 in 5 for those under 30. Still, that doesn’t mean everyone’s happy with dating apps. In that same report, 46% of people said their experiences using a dating app or website were very or somewhat negative. Gen Z in particular seems less enthusiastic about online dating services. According to a 2023 Statista report, people between the ages of 30 and 49 make up 61% of online dating users, while people between 18 and 29 make up only 26%. For Carlson, one of the biggest downsides to online dating is the amount of users who aren’t honest about their intentions. In contrast to dating apps, speed dating often requires more money and effort to participate. Though that’s likely to deter some daters from trying it, it also means those who do invest in speed dating are more likely to take it seriously, Hoffman says. “If they’re going to sign up for a speed-dating event, they’re not just looking for likes and pen pals,” Hoffman says. “They’re actually wanting to make some sort of a connection.” Andrea Ramirez, who hosts the Los Angeles speed-dating event Love in LA, says her event boasts an 80% match rate, meaning participants have an 80% chance of meeting someone there whom they want to see again. One pair who met at the event last March became engaged nine months later, she says. “It used to be seen as this outdated method, and it was almost like a last resort that you would go to a speed-dating event,” Ramirez says. “Now, it’s turning into a fun thing for girls to do together.” Meg Wray, 35, attended a speed-dating event with her friends in Vancouver, Canada, in March. She says the experience gave her an opportunity to consider people she may have otherwise passed on while online dating. “I liked kind of the randomness of it all,” Wray says. “Sometimes online I might overthink things a little bit. ‘Is it a yes? Is it a no?’ There’s a lot of filters that we put people through before we actually make it to a date, and there wasn’t a lot of filters on this (event).” Interested in speed dating? Here are some tips Experts offer the following tips: h Show up as you would on a normal date: That means looking your best and doing any pre-date rituals to feel your best, Anderson says. h Keep the conversation interesting: Ask interesting questions. Otherwise, it can feel like a series of interviews, Hoffman says. h Treat it as practice: Speed dating draws on a lot of skills most people who are used to online dating don’t get to practice often. Like anything else, know speed dating takes time to get good at and don’t put too much pressure on yourself, Hoffman says. Carlson says she ended up matching with someone “really nice” at the speed dating event she went to. The two haven’t scheduled a second date yet, but she thinks she might see him sometime within the next week. Carlson encourages fellow singles to give speed dating a try. After all, what’s the worst that could happen? “You only have such a short amount of time,” she says, “so, even if it goes terribly, you’re only with that person for about five minutes.” Speed dating Continued from Page 1D

NATION & WORLD EXTRA - USA TODAY NETWORK | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024 | 1NN SUBSCRIBER-EXCLUSIVE SPECIAL EDITION INSIDE Pro-Palestinian camps spring up on more college campuses. 5NN NEW YORK – When Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s hush money trial began in a Manhattan courthouse on Monday, cable TV news coverage of the case was as divided as America itself. A Reuters review of 2 1 ⁄2 hours of daytime coverage showed the distinctly partisan approaches of the Fox News Channel and MSNBC News to the trial taking place in the midst of an election campaign pitting the former president against Democratic President Joe Biden. Fox News, which is the country’s most watched cable television network and leans Republican, gave significantly more air time to other national news including protests on U.S. college campuses against the war in Gaza. Liberal-leaning network MSNBC, a home for anti-Trump voices, focused solely on the trial. The split-screen-like coverage reflects a U.S. cable news ecosystem that creates alternate realities for viewers, reaffirming existing beliefs, say U.S. journalism experts. Cameras are not allowed in the courtroom, forcing Americans to rely on media outlets for news of what is unfolding out of public view, including cable channels Fox News, MSNBC and CNN. Trump trial coverage reflects divided America Some public opinion polls suggest some voters may choose not to vote for Donald Trump if he is convicted. BRENDAN MCDERMID/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES Much could be at stake in November election Helen Coster and Kanishka Singh REUTERS See COVERAGE, Page 6NN The U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday approved a rule to ban agreements commonly signed by workers not to join their employers’ rivals or launch competing businesses, which it says limit worker mobility and suppress wages. The five-member FTC, which enforces antitrust laws and currently has a Democratic majority under President Joe Biden, voted 3-2 to approve the rule during a public meeting. The rule, which was first proposed in January 2023, will take effect in August. Democrats, the commission and worker advocates who support the rule say it is necessary to rein in the increasingly common practice of requiring workers to sign so-called “noncompete” agreements, even in lower-paying service industries such as fast food and retail. The FTC on Tuesday said that banning noncompetes will increase worker earnings by up to $488 billion over the next decade and will lead to the creation of more than 8,500 new businesses each year. FTC Chair Lina Khan during the meeting said noncompetes not only restrict workers’ opportunities but can infringe on other fundamental rights by blocking them from changing jobs. “Robbing people of their economic liberty also robs them of all sorts of other freedoms, chilling speech, infringing on their religious practice, and impedUS bans worker ‘noncompete’ agreements Business groups vow legal action Daniel Wiessner REUTERS FTC Chair Lina Khan said noncompetes not only restrict workers’ opportunities but can infringe on other fundamental rights by blocking them from changing jobs. CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES FILE See NONCOMPETE, Page 4NN WASHINGTON – A sweeping foreign aid package easily passed the U.S. Congress late on Tuesday after months of delay, clearing the way for fresh Ukraine funding amid advances from Russia’s invasion force and Kyiv’s shortages of military supplies. The Senate approved by 79 to 18 four bills passed by the House of Representatives on Saturday, after House Republican leaders abruptly switched course last week and allowed a vote on the $95 billion in mostly military aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan and U.S. partners in the Indo-Pacific. The four bills were combined into one package in the Senate. The largest provides $61 billion in critically needed funding for Ukraine; a second provides $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones around the world, and a third mandates $8.12 billion to “counter communist China” in the Indo-Pacific. A fourth, which the House added to the package last week, includes a potential ban on the Chinese-controlled social media app TikTok, measures for the transfer of seized Russian assets to Ukraine and new sanctions on Iran. Biden has promised to sign the measure into law as soon as it reaches his desk, and his administration is already preparing a $1 billion military aid package for Ukraine, the first to be sourced from the bill, two U.S. officials told Reuters. The Senate’s Democratic and Republican leaders predicted that Congress had turned the corner in putting Russian President Vladimir Putin and other foreign adversaries on notice that Washington will continue supporting Ukraine and other foreign partners. “This is an inflection point in history. Western democracy perhaps faced its greatest threat since the end of the Cold War,” Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in the Senate. The aid package could be the last approved for Ukraine until after elections in November when the White House, House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate are up for grabs. Much of the opposition to the security assistance in both the House and Senate has come from Republicans with close ties to former President Donald Trump, a Ukraine aid skeptic who has stressed “America First” policies as he seeks a second term. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, a strong advocate for Congress passes foreign aid bill Biden has promised to sign measure into law Patricia Zengerle and Richard Cowan REUTERS The aid package could be the last approved for Ukraine until after elections in November. MANDEL NGAN/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES See PASSAGE, Page 6NN

2NN | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024 | NATION & WORLD EXTRA - USA TODAY NETWORK Honolulu 82/71 Hilo 79/67 Anchorage 48/36 Fairbanks 62/35 Juneau 50/36 Monterrey 89/67 Chihuahua 95/63 Los Angeles 68/54 Washington 72/49 New York 69/39 Miami 81/68 Atlanta 74/55 Detroit 51/29 Houston 83/68 Kansas City 69/50 Chicago 49/35 Minneapolis 60/44 El Paso 89/68 Denver 76/45 Billings 73/48 San Francisco 66/52 Seattle 57/49 Toronto 49/30 Montreal 45/27 Winnipeg 65/41 Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation for Wednesday. Temperature bands are highs for the day. In the digital e-edition, you can click anywhere on the US map to get up-to-date forecasts, radar, MinuteCast® and more. Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice. High/low/W High/low/W High/low/W High/low/W High/low/W High/low/W High/low/W High/low/W Cold front Warm front Stationary front TODAY IN HISTORY WEATHER TRIVIA™ INTERNATIONAL CITIES NATIONAL CITIES -10s -0s 0s 10s 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s 100s 110s Showers T-storms Rain Flurries Snow Ice NATIONAL (for the 48 contiguous states) INTERNATIONAL (excludes Antarctica) NATIONAL SUMMARY High/low/W Air Quality High/low/W Air Quality High/low/W Air Quality High/low/W Air Quality O Denotes possible travel delays O Denotes possible travel delays Wednesday Air Quality Index: 0-50, Good; 51-100, Moderate; 101-150, Unhealthy for sensitive groups; 151-200, Unhealthy; 201-300, Very unhealthy; 301-500, Hazardous A storm moving off the Northeast coast today will bring rain and wet snow to New England. Spotty thunderstorms will spread farther south through the mid-Atlantic. A developing storm will trigger showers and thunderstorms in the central and southern Plains. Thunderstorms can occur from Northern California to southern Wyoming. On April 24, 1908, a series of tornadoes moving from Louisiana to Alabama took more than 300 lives and leveled many communities. Wednesday Thursday Wednesday Thursday Wednesday Thursday Wednesday Thursday ©2024; forecasts and graphics provided by High: 97 at Pecos, TX Low: 14 at Daniel, WY Precip: 1.10” at Lafayette, IN High: 115 at N’guigmi, Niger Low: -23 at Coral Harbour, Canada Precip: 4.62” at Christmas Island, Christmas Island TUESDAY EXTREMES Q: At what temperature do most tornadoes occur? 75 percent occur when the temperature is A: between 65 F and 84 F Acapulco 89/72/s 88/72/s Addis Ababa 76/56/pc 79/57/c Algiers 66/40/s 72/52/s Amman 94/69/pc 97/69/pc O Amsterdam 50/38/r 49/38/sh O Ankara 88/61/c 78/55/c O Asuncion 82/72/t 92/72/t Athens 76/60/pc 71/54/s Auckland 65/50/pc 67/57/c Baghdad 96/66/s 98/66/s Bangkok 101/85/pc 103/85/s Beijing 79/49/s 86/58/s Beirut 91/78/c 95/70/pc Belgrade 61/41/sh 59/42/pc Berlin 49/32/sh 49/36/pc O Bogota 69/48/r 69/51/r Brussels 49/37/pc 51/41/c Bucharest 71/48/pc 62/39/c Budapest 51/35/sh 59/35/pc Buenos Aires 64/58/s 67/61/pc Cairo 106/76/pc 93/66/c Cape Town 71/58/pc 72/60/pc Caracas 91/76/t 91/77/r Casablanca 79/53/c 76/54/s Colombo 92/78/pc 91/80/t Copenhagen 48/33/pc 48/37/pc Damascus 94/61/pc 97/63/pc Dublin 52/37/c 51/40/c Geneva 50/35/r 54/37/pc Guatemala City 85/62/t 85/61/t Hanoi 84/77/c 93/77/pc Harare 89/53/s 87/53/s Havana 86/66/t 87/64/s Helsinki 39/34/pc 39/35/sh Hong Kong 85/78/t 87/79/t Jakarta 93/77/t 92/78/t Jerusalem 95/72/s 96/63/pc Johannesburg 83/60/pc 83/55/pc Kabul 72/51/c 72/50/t Khartoum 107/81/s 110/83/s Kyiv 57/46/r 68/51/t Kingston 90/78/s 89/79/s La Paz 63/38/pc 65/35/pc Lagos 92/80/pc 93/80/pc Lima 76/66/c 75/66/c Lisbon 74/55/pc 66/54/pc London 52/37/pc 54/42/c Madrid 68/43/c 65/43/c Manila 97/82/pc 96/82/s Mexico City 85/57/s 84/58/s Milan 64/44/pc 61/46/pc O Mombasa 87/76/t 86/76/r Montevideo 64/46/s 68/57/sh O Montreal 45/27/r 49/33/s Moscow 56/46/pc 66/55/r O Nairobi 77/62/t 78/62/t New Delhi 101/78/pc 102/78/pc Panama City 89/76/t 86/75/t Paris 52/35/pc 55/42/pc Port-au-Prince 89/72/t 92/72/t Rio de Janeiro 85/74/pc 81/74/pc Riyadh 95/69/pc 96/67/pc Rome 59/41/pc 64/47/s San Jose 86/69/sh 85/68/t O San Salvador 91/70/t 91/69/sh Santiago 72/42/s 72/45/c O Sao Paulo 86/67/pc 79/66/sh Sarajevo 54/38/r 56/37/r Shanghai 81/55/c 80/56/c O Singapore 91/81/t 89/80/t Stockholm 47/30/pc 39/32/sh O Sydney 77/58/pc 70/54/s O Taipei 72/67/t 79/69/c Tegucigalpa 87/67/t 88/63/pc Tehran 69/54/pc 76/59/s O Tokyo 62/59/r 75/61/pc Toronto 49/30/c 49/34/pc O Tunis 64/48/pc 71/57/pc O Vancouver 55/46/r 52/46/r Vienna 50/39/r 55/38/pc O Warsaw 47/40/sh 54/35/c Yerevan 73/53/s 78/56/s Zagreb 49/38/c 54/35/sh Zurich 46/35/r 51/32/pc Aberdeen, SD 69/49/c 42 Abilene, TX 84/69/pc 40 Accomac, VA 69/49/c 50 Adrian, MI 52/29/pc 31 Akron, OH 51/32/pc 61 Alamogordo, NM 86/59/pc 57 Alexandria, VA 72/48/pc 52 Alliance, OH 52/32/pc 54 Amarillo, TX 70/53/pc 47 Ames, IA 64/42/s 53 Anderson, SC 78/49/pc 56 Appleton, WI 50/30/s 43 Asheville, NC 69/44/pc 54 Ashland, OH 48/30/pc 54 Athens, GA 75/50/pc 54 Augusta, GA 80/52/pc 62 Austin, TX 85/69/pc 31 O Bartlesville, OK 70/57/t 54 Battle Creek, MI 51/29/s 32 Bedford, IN 61/37/s 44 O Binghamton, NY 51/27/sh 49 Bluffton, SC 78/61/s 62 Bremerton, WA 57/46/c 26 O Brockton, MA 61/30/sh 45 Brownwood, TX 84/67/pc 36 Burlington, IA 61/40/s 38 Burlington, NC 72/46/c 50 O Burlington, VT 48/30/r 38 Cambridge, OH 57/36/pc 42 Camdenton, MO 70/51/pc 41 Canandaigua, NY 49/27/sh 46 Canton, OH 52/34/pc 52 Carlsbad, NM 90/61/pc 63 Chambersburg, PA 68/40/sh 48 O Cherry Hill, NJ 70/42/sh 59 Cincinnati, OH 60/38/s 51 Clarksville, TN 72/43/pc 54 Coldwater, MI 49/28/pc 27 Columbus, OH 53/35/pc 41 Corning, NY 55/25/sh 46 O Corpus Christi, TX 85/73/pc 41 Daytona Beach, FL 80/59/s 61 Deming, NM 86/55/pc 53 DeRidder, LA 82/61/pc 45 Des Moines, IA 65/45/s 57 Detroit, MI 51/29/pc 34 Devils Lake, ND 63/44/pc 42 O Dover, NH 55/26/sh 39 El Paso, TX 89/68/pc 52 Elmira, NY 55/25/sh 46 Erie, PA 49/30/sh 46 Eugene, OR 64/49/c 41 Evansville, IN 68/40/s 52 O Fall River, MA 62/30/sh 45 Farmington, NM 82/46/s 66 Fayetteville, NC 77/54/pc 56 Fond du Lac, WI 52/30/s 41 Fort Myers, FL 85/65/s 70 O Fort Smith, AR 72/60/t 44 O Framingham, MA 60/28/sh 47 Freeport, IL 55/32/s 53 Fremont, OH 48/33/pc 30 Fort Collins, CO 73/42/pc 65 Gadsden, AL 72/48/pc 55 Gainesville, FL 82/53/s 65 Galesburg, IL 59/36/s 39 Gastonia, NC 75/46/pc 50 Glen Rose, TX 82/68/pc 33 Gonzales, LA 83/60/s 63 Great Falls, MT 73/42/c 56 Green Bay, WI 49/28/s 43 Greenville, SC 75/48/pc 57 O Hackensack, NJ 69/37/sh 55 Hagerstown, MD 67/41/sh 49 Hattiesburg, MS 83/58/s 55 Henderson, KY 67/41/s 48 Hendersonville, NC 70/44/pc 53 O Herkimer, NY 51/22/r 52 Hillsdale, MI 48/27/pc 28 Holland, MI 45/34/s 46 Hornell, NY 51/26/sh 47 Houma, LA 81/62/s 60 Howell, MI 49/25/pc 33 O Hutchinson, KS 70/54/c 48 O Hyannis, MA 57/34/sh 39 Indianapolis, IN 56/37/s 40 Iowa City, IA 61/38/s 38 O Ithaca, NY 49/22/sh 48 Jackson, MS 81/60/sh 59 Jackson, TN 75/49/pc 52 Jacksonville, FL 81/56/s 67 Jacksonville, NC 76/54/pc 56 Kent, OH 50/31/pc 73 Kewanee, IL 58/35/s 36 Keyser, WV 66/43/sh 58 Kinston, NC 75/52/pc 59 Knoxville, TN 70/47/pc 60 Lafayette, IN 53/33/s 32 Lafayette, LA 81/63/s 58 Lakeland, FL 86/61/s 70 Lansing, MI 48/26/pc 39 Las Cruces, NM 88/62/pc 51 O Lebanon, PA 68/37/sh 52 Leesburg, FL 83/61/s 65 O Levittown, PA 69/40/sh 57 Lincoln, IL 60/36/s 31 Louisville, KY 68/40/s 63 O Lubbock, TX 80/63/pc 61 Manitowoc, WI 42/29/s 45 Mansfield, OH 48/30/pc 51 Marshall, NC 66/41/pc 49 Marshfield, WI 54/32/s 41 Massillon, OH 52/33/pc 56 McLean, VA 71/46/pc 49 Melbourne, FL 80/62/s 62 Memphis, TN 77/56/pc 57 O Middletown, NY 61/27/sh 54 O Milford, MA 60/27/sh 47 Milwaukee, WI 45/33/s 42 Monroe, MI 50/29/c 31 Monroe, LA 81/61/pc 54 Montgomery, AL 80/60/s 55 Muncie, IN 50/35/s 32 Murfreesboro, TN 73/43/pc 57 Naples, FL 85/67/s 70 Nashville, TN 75/47/pc 57 O Neptune, NJ 67/41/sh 55 O New Bedford, MA 62/31/sh 44 New Bern, NC 76/53/pc 56 New Philadelphia, OH 55/33/pc 49 Newark, OH 54/33/pc 40 O Newton, NJ 65/31/sh 55 O New York, NY 69/39/sh 53 O Norwich, CT 62/28/sh 47 Ocala, FL 83/56/s 66 O Oklahoma City, OK 61/58/t 45 Opelousas, LA 81/60/s 53 Oshkosh, WI 50/31/s 41 Palm Beach, FL 79/71/s 59 Palm Springs, CA 87/56/s 57 Panama City, FL 78/62/s 58 Pekin, IL 61/38/s 36 Pensacola, FL 78/61/s 59 Peoria, IL 60/38/s 39 Petersburg, VA 73/50/c 48 Phoenix, AZ 94/63/s 67 Port Huron, MI 43/26/pc 36 O Portsmouth, NH 55/28/sh 46 Poughkeepsie, NY 64/30/sh 58 O Providence, RI 62/30/sh 48 O Pueblo, CO 82/43/s 51 O Quincy, MA 59/31/sh 51 Redding, CA 75/56/c 42 Reno, NV 70/44/t 56 Ravenna, OH 50/30/pc 72 Richmond, IN 51/35/s 41 Rochester, NY 50/30/sh 51 Rockford, IL 57/30/s 46 Ruidoso, NM 74/52/pc 61 Salem, OR 64/48/c 44 Salina, KS 72/55/c 47 Salinas, CA 67/50/c 41 Salisbury, MD 73/47/sh 51 San Angelo, TX 88/69/pc 38 Sarasota, FL 82/63/s 74 Savannah, GA 81/58/s 66 Sheboygan, WI 41/31/s 43 Shelby, NC 74/45/pc 50 Sherman, TX 78/68/t 35 Shreveport, LA 85/65/pc 58 Silver City, NM 79/46/pc 55 Sioux Falls, SD 66/52/pc 50 Somerset, PA 55/38/sh 53 O Somerville, NJ 70/37/sh 56 South Bend, IN 50/30/s 28 Spartanburg, SC 74/46/pc 58 Springfield, IL 62/38/s 34 Springfield, MO 72/53/pc 52 St. Augustine, FL 78/60/s 64 St. Cloud, MN 63/41/s 41 St. George, UT 84/55/s 60 Staunton, VA 70/41/pc 56 Stevens Point, WI 54/29/s 41 Stockton, CA 72/50/pc 41 O Stroudsburg, PA 65/28/sh 59 Stuart, FL 79/61/s 66 Sturgis, MI 49/30/s 26 Tallahassee, FL 81/56/s 69 Thibodaux, LA 81/60/s 62 Topeka, KS 72/53/pc 62 Tuscaloosa, AL 76/59/sh 55 Utica, NY 50/22/r 52 O Ventura, CA 64/53/pc 44 O Victorville, CA 71/49/s 56 O Vineland, NJ 71/42/sh 59 Visalia, CA 74/52/pc 49 Washington, DC 72/49/pc 55 Watertown, SD 65/48/pc 50 Wausau, WI 54/31/s 40 Waynesboro, PA 69/42/sh 48 O White Plains, NY 64/34/sh 53 Wichita Falls, TX 80/67/pc 33 O Wilmington, DE 70/42/sh 55 Wilmington, NC 78/58/pc 62 Wisconsin Rapids, WI 55/30/s 40 Wooster, OH 50/31/pc 47 O Worcester, MA 57/29/sh 51 York, PA 69/39/sh 56 WEDNESDAY

NATION & WORLD EXTRA - USA TODAY NETWORK | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024 | 3NN WIMEREUX, France – Five migrants, including a child, died in an attempt to cross the English Channel from France to Britain in an overcrowded small boat on Tuesday, hours after Britain passed a bill to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda in a move to deter the dangerous journeys. The deaths occurred when a boat carrying 112 people set out to cross one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world and panic took hold among the passengers not far from the shore. Rescuers picked up 49 people, with four taken to hospital, but others stayed on the boat, determined to get to Britain. The French coast guard was still searching for any survivors. “A tragedy occurred on a boat overloaded with migrants early this morning. We deplore the deaths of five people, a 7-year-old girl, a woman and three men,” local prefect Jacques Billant told reporters. “The engine stopped a few hundred meters away from the shore and several people fell into the water,” Billant said. The coast guard said 58 people had stayed on board. “They did not want to be rescued, they managed to restart the engine and headed toward Britain,” Billant said. The boat had left from Wimereux, about 20 miles southwest of the French port of Calais. More than 6,000 people have arrived in Britain this year via small, overloaded boats – usually flimsy inflatable dinghies – that risk being lashed by the waves as they try to reach British shores. Tens of thousands have made the journey since 2018, and Britain has responded by spending two years trying to overcome opposition to a divisive policy to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda which it hopes will deter people from making the crossings. Further challenges The British parliament finally passed legislation overnight to allow the deportations and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said he expects the first flights to take off in 10 to 12 weeks, giving time for further legal challenges from charities, campaigners and unions. Human rights groups and other critics say the policy is inhumane but Sunak told reporters on Tuesday that the government was acting out of compassion, wanting to prevent people smugglers from pushing vulnerable people out to sea. “They are packing more and more people into these unseaworthy dinghies, you’ve seen an enormous increase in the numbers over the past few years,” he said. “This is what tragically happens.” Several British border force boats were seen arriving in Dover, southern England, on Tuesday, carrying large groups of migrants. A Reuters witness estimated that around 200 people believed to be migrants disembarked at Dover – about 26 miles across the water from Calais – on Tuesday. It was not clear if the migrants on the boat involved in the Wimereux incident were among them. Under the Rwanda scheme, anyone arriving illegally in Britain after Jan. 1, 2022, will be sent to Rwanda, some 4,000 miles away. More than 50,000 people have arrived since that date, according to official figures. Campaigners said deterrence policies simply would not work. “I know that when you’re running for your life, not even the risk of death can stop you trying to reach safety,” said Kolbassia Haoussou from the British-based Freedom from Torture group. The mayor of Wimereux, Jean-Luc Dubaele, said migrants could still get jobs in Britain, which made it an attractive destination regardless. “The English are responsible for the situation,” he said. The first deportation flight to Rwanda in June 2022 was blocked by European judges. Britain’s Supreme Court then upheld a ruling that the scheme was unlawful because migrants were at risk of being sent back to their homelands or to other countries where they would be at risk of mistreatment. Migrants drown hours after UK passes bill Rwanda policy will soon allow deportation of asylum-seekers Yves Herman and Hannah Ellison REUTERS People carrying bags walk up the gangway into an accommodation barge at Portland Port in England last year. The British parliament passed legislation to allow deportations of asylum-seekers to Rwanda in a move to deter dangerous journeys across the English Channel. BEN STANSALL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES FILE Migrants wait for a bus to return from the beach to their camp at a train station in Calais, France, on Tuesday. ABDUL SABOOR/REUTERS More than 6,000 people have arrived in Britain this year via small, overloaded boats – usually flimsy inflatable dinghies – that risk being lashed by the waves as they try to reach British shores. Fed-up Ecuadorians granted their president more powers to crack down on crime – including the deployment of troops on the streets – in a referendum Sunday that underscores the desperation in the country that is battered by gang violence, the Wall Street Journal reported. Early returns showed that at least 65% of Ecuadorians approved measures allowing the government to deploy the army along with the police to keep order on the streets, increase sentences for those convicted of terrorism or drug trafficking, and let law enforcement use weapons confiscated from gangs. With overwhelming support for his anti-gang policies, President Daniel Noboa pledged to “restore peace to Ecuadorian families.” Noboa, who took over the presidency in November after President Guillermo Lasso resigned, pledged to get the country back on track: Criminal gangs have terrorized the oncestable country over the past few years, killing political candidates and derailing the economy. Noboa instituted a state of emergency shortly after taking office last year after the country saw its highestever number of homicides. In the past few months, gangs have escalated their terrorizing of civilians, carrying out attacks in malls and hospitals and invading a television studio. In the past week, two mayors and a prison director were killed, CNN reported. Ecuador was once known as an “island of peace,” although nestled between the world’s two largest cocaine producers, Peru and Colombia. But the country’s deep ports have made it a key transit point for cocaine making its way to consumers in the United States and Europe. Rival criminal organizations are locked in a battle to control these trafficking routes. DAILY CHATTER FOLLOW THE QR CODE TO SUBSCRIBE TO NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD DAILY CHATTER’S EMAIL NEWSLETTER ECUADOR More power to you MOZAMBIQUE Breeding ground A jihadist insurgency with links to the Islamic State terror group has plagued Mozambique’s lawless Cabo Delgado region for more than six years. Recently, however, an upsurge in violence has forced more than 70,000 people to flee the area, News 24 reported. Local officials, however, say it’s much ado about nothing. Defense Minister Cristovao Chume played down the crisis, saying the terrorist threat was not as large as many might believe. “If, say, two or three armed terrorists arrive in a village where there are no police or armed forces, and shoot in the air, burn two or three cars or houses in the area … the message is spread very quickly and creates panic not only in those villages but also creates national and international panic,” Chume said. Emilia Columbo, a scholar at the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, disagrees with that assessment. Writing in World Politics Review, she believed that the Islamic insurgency in the country is making a comeback. In 2021, for instance, jihadists struck in Palma, a town where French energy company Total was building a $20 billion natural gas facility. The attack led to the project’s suspension. That year, Rwandan security forces and international troops with the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) entered Mozambique to help the government of President Filipe Nyusi fight the insurgency. The SADC forces are now withdrawing, however, wrote African Intelligence, because, as Bloomberg reported, SADC commanders felt as if they had “paralyzed” the jihadists in Cabo Delgado. But local officials in Cabo Delgado told Voice of America that the terrorists had gone quiet for a while but now had returned with “great fury.” Josefina Gabriele, 40, can attest to that. She and her family were sleeping when the insurgents arrived in her village in the north of the country. “The sounds of gunshots woke us up, the (terrorists) began to chase people, we watched as they cut off the men’s heads with machetes, and we ran away with the little we had,” she told Agence France Presse. “They are evil.” She was one of thousands who walked in the rain, carrying what they could, south to safety. DISCOVERIES Picking sides Scientists recently discovered that a gene variant may play a role in determining if a person is a leftie or a rightie, the Smithsonian Magazine reported. The prevailing research has attributed the determining factors to brain asymmetry, with left-handed individuals exhibiting dominance in the right hemisphere. This asymmetry develops in the womb and manifests in various ways, but researchers haven’t clearly established the exact mechanisms – until now. In their new study, a research team analyzed genetic data of around 350,000 people collected from the United Kingdom’s Biobank database. The team explained that past studies came across genes that influenced left-handedness, but they mainly focused on common genetic variants. The new analysis looked into rarer ones as well as variants coded for proteins. Their findings showed that the TUBB4B variant was more common in left-handed people than in righties. TUBB4B is present in less than 1% of people and is related to proteins that provide structures for the cells that are called tubulins. The latter are made up of filaments known as microtubules, which act like cells’ skeletons. The study team and other researchers noted that these findings support the role of tubulins in determining the brain’s asymmetry, as well as how microtubules impact whether a person prefers to use their left or right hand. Co-author Clyde Francks said the study can give clues about how genes affect the developmental mechanisms of brain asymmetry. “We think that most instances of left-handedness occur simply due to random variation during development of the embryonic brain, without specific genetic or environmental influences,” Francks told Reuters.

4NN | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024 | NATION & WORLD EXTRA - USA TODAY NETWORK U.S. stocks closed higher on Tuesday following positive earnings from top-tier companies and as investors were focused on quarterly results from Magnificent Seven and other megacap growth stocks. Tesla kicked off the earnings cycle for technology heavyweights after markets closed on Tuesday, announcing the launch of new electric vehicle models and quarterly revenue that missed analyst estimates. That will be followed by results from other tech majors, including Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta Platforms, later this week. Markets were also buoyed by upbeat earnings from companies such as General Motors, which closed up 4.4% after the automaker’s better-than-expected quarterly results. Ten out of 11 S&P 500 sectors were advancing led by gains in equities in communication services and technology sectors. The S&P Materials sector ended lower dragged by steelmaker Nucor Corp, which lost ground by 8.9% after a first-quarter earnings miss. “We’re having a continuation of an oversold balance that started yesterday and the catalyst today is that markets are now refocused on earnings reports across a wide array of sectors that were strong,” said Keith Lerner, co-chief investment officer at Truist Advisory Services in Atlanta. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 263.71 points, or 0.69%, to 38,503.69, the S&P 500 gained 59.95 points, or 1.20%, to 5,070.55 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 245.34 points, or 1.59%, to 15,696.64. Data on Tuesday showed that U.S. business activity cooled in April to a four-month low due to weaker demand, while rates of inflation eased slightly even as input prices rose sharply, suggesting possible relief ahead for rising consumer prices. Investors will be eyeing the release of the March Personal Consumption Expenditures index – the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge – which is due on Friday. Money markets are now pricing in just about 43 basis points of interest-rate cuts, down from about 150 bps seen at the start of the year, according to LSEG data. “The PMI report was a little bit weaker and the employment was a little bit weaker and the market at this point is taking that is a bad-news-there-is-goodnews, meaning the people are becoming too hawkish on Fed expectations,” Lerner added. Bullish full-year profit forecast helped to lift GE Aerospace shares by 8.3%. Danaher gained 7.2% after the life sciences firm beat quarterly profit and sales expectations. Shares of JetBlue plunged nearly 19% as the low-cost carrier trimmed its annual revenue forecast following lukewarm first-quarter revenue. FINANCIAL MARKETS Wall Street closes higher as investors digest earnings Chibuike Oguh REUTERS ing people’s right to organize,” Khan said. But the agency’s two Republican commissioners, Melissa Holyoak and Andrew Ferguson, said federal law does not allow the commission to adopt broad rules prohibiting conduct that it deems anticompetitive. “We are not a legislature,” Ferguson said. “I do not believe we have the power to nullify tens of millions of existing contracts.” Legal challenges Major business groups representing an array of industries have criticized the rule, saying noncompetes are a crucial way for companies to protect trade secrets and that they promote competitiveness. Shortly after the vote, tax services firm Ryan LLC filed a lawsuit in Texas federal court challenging the noncompete ban and claiming that the agreements can benefit businesses, workers and the economy. The Chamber of Commerce, the country’s largest business lobby, said in a statement that it will also file a legal challenge to the rule. “This decision sets a dangerous precedent for government micromanagement of business and can harm employers, workers, and our economy,” said Suzanne Clark, the Chamber’s president and CEO. The rule would require companies with existing noncompete agreements to scrap them and to inform current and past employees that they will not be enforced. Daryl Joseffer, chief counsel at the Chamber’s litigation arm, said during a Monday call that the rule’s retroactive nature also makes it invalid. Unions have backed the FTC’s vote in favor of the ban. “Noncompete agreements trap workers from finding better jobs, drive down wages, and stifle competition,” the AFLCIO, the country’s largest labor federation, said in a social media post in response to the announcement. “We commend the FTC and (Lina Khan) for finalizing a strong rule to ban these exploitative practices and level the playing field for American workers,” it added. Left-leaning advocacy groups also praised the change, calling it a major victory for workers that will bolster the national economy by spurring entrepreneurship. “The FTC has abolished a modern form of involuntary servitude,” said Sandeep Vaheesan, legal director of the Open Markets Institute, a think tank that focuses on antitrust issues. “Big business lobbyists are already vowing to sue the FTC to stop the noncompete ban from going into effect,” Bharat Ramamurti, the former deputy director of the Biden White House’s National Economic Council, wrote on X responding to the lawsuits. “They love noncompetes as a way to keep workers under their thumb and suppress wages.” The rule does not exempt any specific jobs or industries, but will not apply to existing agreements signed by senior executives. The FTC does not regulate certain industries, including nonprofit organizations, some banks and insurance companies, and airlines. California, Minnesota, Oklahoma and North Dakota have banned noncompete agreements and at least a dozen other states have passed laws limiting their use. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, in December vetoed a bill that would have banned virtually all noncompete provisions in the state. Hochul said she would consider signing a bill that exempts higher-earning employees and executives. “Robbing people of their economic liberty also robs them of all sorts of other freedoms,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said as the commission voted to ban “noncompete” agreements. BASTIEN INZAURRALDE/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES FILE Noncompete Continued from Page 1NN Tesla said Tuesday it would introduce “new models” by early 2025, sending its shares soaring nearly 11% in afterhours trading. Tesla’s talk of new vehicles, which it said would include “more affordable models” using current production lines, lifted investor confidence in the EV maker. The company has been struggling with fierce competition and shrinking sales that left it with quarterly results that missed Wall Street’s estimates. Chief Executive Elon Musk told investors on a conference call that production of new models would start early in 2025, if not late this year. In January, he had cited the second half of 2025 as the target for the launch of a widely anticipated next-generation affordable car, often called the Model 2. Reuters exclusively reported on April 5 that Tesla had scrapped plans for the Model 2, which investors had expected to cost $25,000 and to drive Tesla’s growth into a mass-market automaker. Tesla on Tuesday did not directly address the Reuters report. Instead, it discussed unidentified new models that appeared to be different products. The new models would be built on Tesla’s current manufacturing lines and use “aspects” of its current platform and a next-generation platform. It cautioned that this plan may “result in achieving less cost reduction than previously expected.” It also mentioned a “purpose-built robotaxi product” that it planned to build with a “revolutionary” manufacturing process, without offering a timeline for its release. The April 5 Reuters story reported that Tesla planned to continue developing a self-driving robotaxi on the same platform it had been developing for Model 2. The automaker said its plan for new models would let it better control capital expenditures during “uncertain times.” Musk declined to answer an analyst’s question about whether the new vehicles would be all-new models, or tweaks to existing vehicles. “I think we’ve said all we will on that front,” he said. One observer took Tesla’s comments on new models as a confirmation that it had halted plans for the Model 2. “It seems clear that the new vehicle platform has indeed been shelved for now,” said Sam Abuelsamid, an analyst at Guidehouse Insights. “The next gen vehicle was supposed to use fundamentally different production processes from current models. With no desire to spend billions on new production facilities or retool existing factories, it seems like we will see Tesla continue to build the current products.” Musk devoted much of the call with analysts to outlining ambitious visions for diversifying Tesla’s business into artificial intelligence, humanoid robots and operating a fleet of millions of autonomous vehicles – all based on software and hardware products the automaker has not yet fully developed. Tesla “should be thought of as an AI robotics company,” not a car maker, Musk said. The statement implies a substantial change in Tesla’s fundamentals. More than 80% of Tesla’s revenue in the first quarter came from selling electric cars. Musk said Tesla’s self-driving vehicle fleet will be “like a combination of Airbnb and Uber.” Some vehicles will be owned and operated by Tesla, others will be vehicles owned by individuals but rented out on Tesla’s network. The comments echoed a presentation from Musk in 2019, when he said a “robotaxi network” would be operating by 2020. Tesla’s plan for more affordable cars pleased investors despite its weak quarterly results after the bell. But some remained skeptical. “Sounds promising, but Tesla is becoming more of a show me stock based on how many delays we’ve seen in previous roll outs. If they can deliver, then this is a great development,” said Jay Woods, chief global strategist at Freedom Capital Markets. Tesla’s decision to tap the brakes on new capacity mirrors similar decisions at General Motors and Ford Motor in response to slowing growth in EV demand in the United States and intensifying competition from Chinese EV makers in the world’s largest auto market. “Global EV sales continue to be under pressure as many carmakers prioritize hybrids over EVs,” Tesla warned. The recovery in Tesla’s stock late on Tuesday added nearly $50 billion to its market capitalization and helped reverse a plunge of over 40% so far in 2024. Tesla’s quarterly revenue fell for the first time since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hampered production and deliveries. The company on Tuesday reported revenue of $21.3 billion for the three months ended March, compared with $23.33 billion a year earlier. Analysts on average had estimated $22.15 billion, according to LSEG data. Tesla’s average revenue per vehicle delivered in the quarter fell by nearly 5% from a year ago to $44,926 a vehicle, reflecting the impact of repeated price cuts. Tesla to launch new models by early 2025 Hyunjoo Jin and Akash Sriram REUTERS Tesla’s talk of new vehicles lifted investor confidence in the company. CARLOS BARRIA/REUTERS FILE Musk

NATION & WORLD EXTRA - USA TODAY NETWORK | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024 | 5NN UNITED NATIONS – The United States and Russia are set to face off over nuclear weapons in space on Wednesday at the United Nations Security Council, which is due to vote on a U.S.- drafted resolution calling on countries to prevent an arms race in outer space. Russia is expected to block the draft resolution, said some diplomats. The U.S. move comes after it accused Moscow of developing an anti-satellite nuclear weapon to put in space, an allegation that Russia’s defense minister has flatly denied. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield and Japan’s U.N. Ambassador Yamazaki Kazuyuki said in a joint statement on Friday that they have been negotiating with Security Council members on the draft text for six weeks. The text affirms the obligation of states to comply with the Outer Space Treaty and calls on countries “to contribute actively to the objective of the peaceful use of outer space and of the prevention of an arms race in outer space.” The 1967 Outer Space Treaty bars signatories – including Russia and the United States – from placing “in orbit around the Earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction.” Russia and China are planning to first put an amendment to a vote in the council. The amendment echoes a 2008 proposal by the pair for a treaty banning “any weapons in outer space” and threats “or use of force against outer space objects.” ‘Unbalanced, harmful’ The amendment is not expected to be adopted, said diplomats. The amendment and the draft resolution each require at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by Russia, China, the United rity Council members only.” U.S. intelligence officials, according to three people familiar with their findings, believe the Russian capability to be a space-based nuclear bomb whose electromagnetic radiation if detonated would disable vast networks of satellites. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby has said Russia has not yet deployed such a weapon. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in February that Russia was against the deployment of nuclear weapons in space. Governments have increasingly viewed satellites in Earth’s orbit as crucial assets that enable an array of military capabilities on Earth, with spacebased communications and satelliteconnected drones in the war in Ukraine serving as recent examples of the outsized role of space in modern warfare. Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine in February 2022. States, Britain or France to be adopted. “Without our amendment, based on the General Assembly resolution adopted in December 2023, the text tabled by the U.S. will be unbalanced, harmful and politicized,” deputy Russian U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy told Reuters, adding that it would also undermine the Outer Space Treaty legal regime. Polyanskiy said “all questions relating to this sphere should be considered by the full membership of States Parties to this Treaty and not by the U.N. SecuUS draft resolution likely to be blocked by Russia Michelle Nichols and Joey Roulette REUTERS The United Nations Security Council is due to vote Wednesday on a U.S.-drafted resolution calling on countries to prevent an arms race in outer space. ANDREW KELLY/REUTERS FILE Clash over nuclear weapons in space to begin The 1967 Outer Space Treaty bars signatories – including Russia and the United States – from placing “in orbit around the Earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction.” NEW YORK – Pro-Palestinian students have set up tent encampments at more campuses across the U.S. to protest Israel’s war in Gaza, after mass arrests at similar demonstrations at a handful of mostly East Coast colleges in recent days. The expanding protests include plans by a coalition of Jewish groups opposing Israel’s actions to close the Brooklyn street where Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer resides. That protest, on the second night of the weeklong Jewish feast of Passover, is one of a dozen the coalition organized in cities around the country. Since Friday, hundreds of students and others were arrested at Columbia, Yale, New York University and other schools. Critics of the protests, including prominent Republican members of Congress, have stepped up accusations of antisemitism and harassment by at least some protesters. Civil rights advocates, including the ACLU, have raised free speech concerns over the arrests. Among the new encampments, students at the University of California, Berkeley – a school well known for its student activism during the 1960s – set up tents in solidarity with protesters at other schools. Also in California, the campus of Cal Poly Humboldt, a public university in Arcata, was shut down after pro-Palestinian protesters occupied a campus building. At the University of Minnesota campus in St. Paul, police cleared an encampment after the school asked them to take action, citing violations of university policy and trespassing law. The new protests follow the arrest of more than 120 protesters on New York University’s campus late on Monday, a New York Police Department spokesperson said. Police said university authorities reached out for help, and protesters failed to clear by the deadline given by the university. More than 100 students were arrested at Columbia last week, and the New York university canceled in-person classes on Monday in a bid to defuse tensions on campus and out of concern that Jewish students faced possible harassment. On Tuesday, the school said classes for the rest of the year were hybrid – with students able to attend either online or in person. Columbia administrators, along with state officials, some members of Congress and the White House, have alleged that Jewish students have been subjected to antisemitism and harassment by some protesters. While student organizers have acknowledged that there have been some incidents of extreme rhetoric, they have pointed out that some protesters are themselves Jewish and insisted that “inflammatory individuals” do not represent their anti-war movement. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said authorities had identified people not connected with the universities causing problems at the mostly peaceful protests. “We can’t have outside agitators come in and be disruptive,” he said in a news conference. Allegations of antisemitism in these protests in the U.S. were also the subject of a call between Vice President Kamala Harris and Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday. “The Vice President condemned this reprehensible Antisemitism as well as the rise Antisemitism around the world, and she underscored her and President Biden’s commitment to speak out against it,” the White House said after the call. On Monday, student organizers from the Columbia encampment pushed back on such criticism, noting Jewish groups in the protests and saying news outlets had focused on “inflammatory individuals who do not represent us.” A pro-Palestinian rally is held at the steps of Lowe Library on the grounds of Columbia University in New York City on Monday. DAVID DEE DELGADO/GETTY IMAGES Jonathan Allen and Kanishka Singh REUTERS Pro-Palestinian camps spring up at more colleges WASHINGTON – Israel has taken significant steps in recent weeks on allowing aid into Gaza, the U.S. special envoy for humanitarian issues said on Tuesday, but considerable work remained to be done as the risk of famine in the enclave is very high. David Satterfield declined to say whether Washington was satisfied by Israel’s moves, weeks after President Joe Biden demanded action to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying conditions could be placed on U.S. support for close ally Israel if it did not implement a series of “specific, concrete and measurable” steps. “Israel has taken significant steps in these last two and a half weeks,” Satterfield told reporters. “There is still considerable work to be done. But progress has been made.” The risk of famine throughout wardevastated Gaza, especially in the north, is “very high,” he said, calling for more to be done to get aid to those in need in that part of the tiny, densely populated Palestinian territory. The United Nations has long complained of obstacles to getting aid in and distributing it throughout Gaza in the six months since Israel began an aerial and ground offensive against Gaza’s ruling Islamist militant group Hamas. Israel’s military campaign has reduced much of the territory of 2.3 million people to a wasteland with an unfolding humanitarian disaster since October, when Hamas ignited war by storming into southern Israel. The head of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, said on Tuesday that the daily average number of trucks entering Gaza during April was 200 and that there had been a peak on Monday of 316. “We have always stressed that we were in a man-made situation and it can only be addressed by political will and decisions, and the last few days show this is possible,” he told reporters. “The more we sustain this, the more we will have a positive impact.” There was also now a focus on garbage collection, he added, especially in southern Gaza, in a bid to avoid disease outbreaks as the warmer weather approaches. UNRWA has been described by top U.N. officials as the backbone of aid operations in Gaza. But earlier this year, Israel accused 12 UNRWA staff of taking part in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks that triggered the Gaza war. Israel’s allegations led 16 countries to pause or suspend funding of $450 million to UNRWA. Lazzarini said UNRWA currently has enough funding to pay for operations until June. However, funding by the U.S. – UNRWA’s biggest donor at $300 million to $400 million a year – has been suspended by Congress until at least March 2025. “If it is a lasting suspension it will have sustainable impact on the agency. If it is a temporary suspension, I do believe we can find a temporary solution with some donors stepping in,” Lazzarini said. He also said there has been an “extraordinary kind of grassroots solidarity” with UNRWA. Famine risk ‘very high’ in Gaza, US official says Humeyra Pamuk REUTERS People rush to landing humanitarian aid packages dropped over the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday. AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES “Israel has taken significant steps in these last two and a half weeks. There is still considerable work to be done. But progress has been made.” David Satterfield U.S. special envoy for humanitarian issues

6NN | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024 | NATION & WORLD EXTRA - USA TODAY NETWORK assisting Ukraine, expressed regret about the delay, largely due to hard-line Republicans’ objections to adding more to the $113 billion Washington had authorized for Kyiv since Russia began its full-scale invasion in February 2022. “I think we’ve turned the corner on the isolationist movement,” McConnell told a news conference. Some of the Ukraine money – $10 billion in economic support – comes in the form of a loan, which Trump had suggested. But the bill lets the president forgive the loan starting in 2026. Humanitarian concerns The influx of weapons should improve Kyiv’s chances of averting a major breakthrough in the east by Russian invaders, although it would have been more helpful if the aid had come closer to when Biden requested it last year, analysts said. It was not immediately clear how the money for Israel would affect the conflict in Gaza. Israel already receives billions of dollars in annual U.S. security assistance, but it more recently has faced its first direct aerial attack by Iran. Aid supporters hope the humanitarian assistance will help Palestinians in Gaza, which has been devastated by Israel’s campaign against Hamas. Gaza health authorities say the campaign has led to the deaths of more than 34,000 civilians in the Palestinian enclave. It was the second time this year that the Democratic-led Senate passed security aid for Ukraine, Israel and the Indo-Pacific. The last bill, more than two months ago, garnered 70% support in the 100-member chamber from Republicans and Democrats. But leaders of the Republican-controlled House would not allow a vote until last week. The legislation’s progress has been closely watched by industry, with U.S. defense firms up for major contracts to supply equipment for Ukraine and other U.S. partners. Experts expect the supplemental spending to boost the order backlog of RTX Corp. along with other major companies that receive government contracts, such as Lockheed Martin , General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman. The House passed the Ukraine funding by 311-112, with all “no” votes coming from Republicans, many of whom were bitterly opposed to further assistance for Kyiv. Only 101 Republicans voted for it, forcing Speaker Mike Johnson to rely on Democratic support and prompting calls for his ouster as House leader. When asked about complaints that his party’s objections meant it took six months for the aid to pass, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell told a news conference Tuesday that “I would say better late than never.” JULIA NIKHINSON/REUTERS Passage Continued from Page 1NN Trump has pleaded not guilty to falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 to silence her about a sexual encounter she says they had and which he denies. Much is at stake. Some public opinion polls suggest some voters may choose not to vote for Trump if he is convicted. Reaffirming existing ideologies What people watch on cable news reaffirms their ideologies, Stephanie Edgerly, professor of journalism at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, told Reuters. “We start to see that having really powerful effects on how they see the world: what they think is right and wrong and who they’re going to vote for and how favorable or unfavorable they view presidential candidates,” said Edgerly, who specializes in the study of news audiences. MSNBC’s top anchor, Rachel Maddow, who was inside the courthouse during opening statements, described Trump as “annoyed” and “resigned, maybe angry.” “He seems like a man who is miserable to be here,” she said on the air later outside the courthouse. Fox News senior correspondent Eric Shawn had a different view of Trump’s demeanor, saying the former president had sat quietly at the defense table during proceedings. The ticker at the bottom of the MSNBC screen covered nearly every trial development as a “breaking news” flash. MSNBC repeatedly flashed a quote from the prosecution saying, “It was election fraud, pure and simple” and another from the defense saying “nothing wrong with trying to influence an election.” In contrast, the hourlong Fox program “The Faulkner Focus” spent less than 10 minutes on the trial, focusing in part on potential flaws in the prosecution’s case. During the Fox show “Outnumbered,” co-host and former Trump White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told a roundtable of panelists that her former boss looked “strong” and “confident” and that Democrats were misguided in thinking the case “would mire Trump in negative coverage.” Of the two Fox legal analysts who spoke on the air, one was critical of the prosecution’s efforts and the other described the case as the “weaponization of the criminal legal system.” Asked for comment on their coverage, a Fox News spokesperson said the network’s newsgathering teams had been reporting on all facets of Trump’s hush money trial. Representatives for MSNBC did not respond to a request for comment. Split cable A 2022 study published by the National Academy of Sciences that analyzed 10 years of cable television news found a growing partisan gap, particularly after the 2016 election that Trump won, as networks like Fox News and MSNBC shifted to the right and the left of the political spectrum respectively, especially in their prime-time programming. Separate research from last year, by University of California, Berkeley, political scientist David Broockman and Berkeley alumnus Joshua Kalla of Yale University, found that many Americans were in “partisan echo chambers,” where they only consumed television news that reinforced their existing political and social biases. “Most people who tune in to Fox News lean to the right, but Fox draws them further to the right,” the authors wrote. “Likewise, MSNBC is pulling those to the left further left. And neither side almost ever watches the other.” The Fox News spokesperson pointed to data from Nielsen MRI Fusion showing the network has the most politically diverse audience in cable news with more Democrats, Republicans and independents watching Fox News than any other cable news network. When the court wrapped up for the day, Trump came out to speak to the media, calling the case unfair and denying wrongdoing. MSNBC carried his remarks live for a few minutes before cutting him off, with anchor Andrea Mitchell saying the former president was trying to minimize the case against him. “This has nothing to do with the federal government,” Mitchell added, responding to Trump’s claim that legal cases against him were being driven by the Biden administration. The hush money case is being prosecuted by the Manhattan district attorney. The federal government is not involved. Coverage Continued from Page 1NN Donald Trump speaks while his legal team listens at the Manhattan courthouse Tuesday. BRENDAN MCDERMID/POOL/REUTERS PHILADELPHIA – President Joe Biden and Republican challenger Donald Trump on Tuesday easily won their primaries in the battleground state of Pennsylvania according to Edison Research, but thousands cast votes for former candidate Nikki Haley. Pennsylvania, with 19 Electoral College votes toward the 270 needed to win, is a top prize and a toss-up in the 2024 presidential election featuring a BidenTrump rematch. Tuesday’s primary was one of the last tests of voter enthusiasm in a campaign marked by both candidates’ low approval ratings. With nearly 50% of the votes counted, Biden got 491,892 votes, or 94.4%, according to state election data. Dean Phillips, a Democratic congressman who dropped out of the race, got 29,333 votes, or 5.6%, state data shows. Trump got 268,670 votes, or 79.4%, with 33% of the votes counted, state data shows. Nikki Haley, who dropped out the race, got 70,648 votes, or 20.6%, state data shows. Haley, a former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador, remained on the Pennsylvania ballot after dropping out of the race in March. Primary voting in the state is confined to registered Republicans, locking out the independent voters who favored her. Her substantive results show that some chunk of Republicans continues to be unhappy with Trump, who is on trial on 34 criminal counts in New York. Muslim and Arab-American voters mounted an “Abandon Biden” campaign in Pennsylvania to protest the president’s handling of the Gaza crisis. He faced similar efforts in battleground states like Arizona, Wisconsin and North Carolina, with the biggest turnout a 13% uncommitted vote in Michigan’s primary. Organizers in Pennsylvania were aiming to get 40,000 write-in “uncommitted” votes. Biden clinched the Democratic nomination and Trump the Republican nod in early March, and neither faces serious opposition on the primary ballot. In 2020, Biden won Pennsylvania by less than 1.5%, or roughly 80,000 votes. Trump beat Democrat Hillary Clinton there by fewer than 45,000 votes in 2016. Biden and Trump visited the state in recent weeks and focused on the general election rather than Tuesday’s vote. Biden was born and spent part of his childhood in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and has for decades been a fixture in the politics of neighboring Delaware. Incumbent U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat, and his Republican challenger, Dave McCormick, were both unopposed in their primaries. The race, which opinion polls show as close, could help decide whether Democrats retain control of the Senate. Biden on Tuesday blamed Trump for new Florida abortion restrictions during a campaign stop in Tampa, as Democrats double down on their intentions to flip Trump’s home state. Earlier this month, Florida’s Supreme Court cleared the way for a six-week abortion ban starting May 1, a timeframe before many women realize they are pregnant. Biden, Trump win in Pa.; Haley voters persist Jarrett Renshaw and Nandita Bose REUTERS A Donald Trump-themed building is pictured as Republicans and Democrats voted in primary elections in Latrobe, Pa., Tuesday. QUINN GLABICKI/REUTERS

NATION & WORLD EXTRA - USA TODAY NETWORK | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024 | 7NN Tennessee lawmakers pass bill allowing teachers to carry guns Tennessee lawmakers on Tuesday passed a bill that would allow the state’s teachers to carry concealed handguns at school, as protesters yelled their opposition from the gallery. The bill was approved in a 68-28 vote in the Republican-dominated Tennessee House. The state’s Senate passed the bill earlier this month. Tennessee has seen heated debate over gun laws since last year’s shooting at a Nashville school left three children and three adult staffers dead. Some of the Democrats in the House helped lead protests inside the state Capitol, leading to their brief expulsion from the body last year. “This is an awful day for Tennessee, our kids, our teachers, and communities,” state Rep. Justin Pearson, a Democrat who was booted from the House last year before being voted back in, wrote on social media. “Instead of protecting kids, they’ve protected guns AGAIN!” Republicans and other conservatives have often pushed for teachers to be armed in response to the numerous school shootings that have taken place in the U.S. in the past 25 years. Proponents of the measures argue that armed teachers deter would-be school shooters. Detractors say guns in school will likely only lead to tragic accidental shootings. Haiti bolsters security around palace ahead of transition PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Haitian police deployed tear gas to move people back from a security perimeter around the National Palace while soldiers gripping rifles patrolled the international airport’s diplomatic entrance on Tuesday, ahead of a planned change of government. The palace has come under repeated fire from gangs that have paralyzed the capital, Port-au-Prince. A ninemember presidential transition council is to be sworn in at the palace, and although no date has been announced, rumors circulated that it could happen this week. The council is expected to name an interim prime minister and help set up a government that will eventually organize elections in the Caribbean island nation. “Whether or not you’re installed, this message is for you: Brace yourselves,” gang leader Jimmy “Barbeque” Cherizier ominously warned in a Tuesday video shared on social media. Cherizier has called for toppling the government. The U.S. military said on Tuesday it bolstered defenses at its embassy. Italy passes plan to ‘support motherhood’ in abortion clinics ROME – Italy’s Senate gave final approval on Tuesday to a contested government plan to allow groups who “support motherhood” into abortion clinics to try to deter women terminating pregnancies. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party attached the proposal in an amendment to a bill on Rome’s post-COVID-19 recovery plan, which includes a chapter dedicated to the health sector. Meloni is staunchly anti-abortion, but pledged during her victorious general election campaign in 2022 that despite her personal convictions she would not change existing legislation on the subject. The Senate approved the bill to allow anti-abortion groups into publicly run family advice clinics by a vote of 95-to-68 in a confidence motion. North Korean officials visiting Iran in a rare public trip SEOUL, South Korea – A North Korean delegation led by the cabinet minister for international trade is visiting Iran, the North’s official media said on Wednesday in a rare public report of an exchange between the two countries believed to have secret military ties. The minister for external economic relations, Yun Jong Ho, left Pyongyang on Tuesday by air leading a ministry delegation to visit Iran, the North’s KCNA news agency said. It gave no other detail. North Korea and Iran have long been suspected of cooperating on ballistic missile programs, possibly exchanging technical expertise and components that went into their manufacture. Iran has provided a large number of ballistic missiles to Russia for use in its war with Ukraine, Reuters reported in February. Reuters IN BRIEF The administration of President Joe Biden on Tuesday unveiled a rule extending mandatory overtime pay to an estimated 4 million salaried workers, going even further than an Obama-era rule that was struck down in court. The U.S. Department of Labor rule will require employers to pay overtime premiums to workers who earn a salary of less than $1,128 per week, or about $58,600 per year, when they work more than 40 hours in a week. The current salary threshold of about $35,500 per year was set by the Trump administration in a 2020 rule that worker advocates and many Democrats have said did not go far enough. The rule does not affect overtime requirements for workers who are paid hourly. Julie Su, the acting secretary of labor and Biden’s nominee to fill the post permanently, said in a statement that the rule ensures that workers either earn more money or are paid the same to work fewer hours. “Too often, lower-paid salaried workers are doing the same job as their hourly counterparts but are spending more time away from their families for no additional pay,” Su said. Under the rule, the salary threshold will increase to $43,888 on July 1 and to $58,656 on Jan. 1, 2025. And starting in 2027, the threshold will automatically increase every three years to reflect changes in average earnings. U.S. wage law requires employers to pay eligible workers one and one-half times their regular rate of pay when they work more than 40 hours in a week. Salaried workers who earn above the salary threshold may still be eligible for overtime pay if they do not primarily perform management-related duties. Workers are generally automatically exempt if they earn a salary of more than $107,432. The new rule will raise that cutoff to about $151,000. Several states, including California and New York, have salary thresholds for determining overtime eligibility that are higher than the current federal standard. The Labor Department in 2016 doubled the salary threshold to about $47,000. A federal judge in Texas the following year said that ceiling was so high that it could sweep in some management workers who are exempt from overtime pay protections, and struck it down. The new rule is likely to face legal challenges arguing that like the Obama administration rule, it violates federal wage law by including many lower-paid supervisors and professionals who typically would not be eligible for overtime. Many major business groups had called on the department to put off any changes to overtime pay regulations, citing economic uncertainty and worker shortages that have raised companies’ operating costs. “This rule … comes as many entrepreneurs continue to struggle in today’s unpredictable regulatory climate, grappling with lingering inflation, labor challenges, and high costs of goods,” Michael Layman, senior vice president at the International Franchise Association, said in a statement. And the rule could harm workers by pushing many businesses to convert salaried jobs into hourly positions, lowering employees’ pay and taking away some benefits, according to Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina and chair of a U.S. House of Representatives labor committee. “If the administration’s goal with this rule is to improve the standard of living for workers, then it’s failing miserably,” Foxx said in a statement. Meanwhile, unions, worker advocacy groups and many Democrats have supported the rule. The AFL-CIO, the country’s largest labor federation, in a statement praised the Biden administration’s move for restoring overtime protections that it said had been “gutted” by the Trump administration. Biden rule grants massive overtime pay to 4M workers Daniel Wiessner REUTERS The current salary threshold of about $35,500 per year was set by the Trump administration in a 2020 rule that worker advocates and many Democrats have said did not go far enough. TIMOTHY AEPPEL/REUTERS FILE “Too often, lower-paid salaried workers are doing the same job as their hourly counterparts but are spending more time away from their families for no additional pay.” Julie Su Acting secretary of labor and Biden’s nominee to fill the post permanently WASHINGTON – Two U.S. senators said they hope TikTok will remain in business in the U.S. under a new owner as the chamber prepared to vote on Tuesday on legislation requiring Chinese owner ByteDance to divest the popular short video app’s U.S. assets. Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner, a Democrat, said lawmakers recognized that the short video app is used by 170 million Americans, especially young people. “To those young Americans, I want to say, we hear your concern and we hope that TikTok will continue under new ownership – American or otherwise – from Britain, Canada, Brazil France. It just needs to be no longer controlled by an adversary.” Driven by concerns that China could access Americans’ data or surveil them with the app, the House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation on Saturday that would give ByteDance nine months to divest TikTok with a possible three-month extension. If the legislation is approved by the Senate, President Joe Biden has said he would sign it into law. The company has said it would challenge the order in court. TikTok, which says it has not shared and would not share U.S. user data with the Chinese government, has argued the law amounts to a ban that would violate the U.S. free speech rights of its users. Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell said Congress is not acting to punish ByteDance or TikTok but “to prevent foreign adversaries from conducting espionage, surveillance, malign operations, harming vulnerable Americans.” She said the timeline was reasonable. “This is not a new concept to require Chinese divestment from U.S. companies,” Cantwell said. “We are giving people a choice here to improve this platform.” But Democratic Sen. Ed Markey said ByteDance was unlikely to be able to execute a divestment that maintains the app for U.S. users. “We should be very clear about the likely outcome of this law. It’s really just a TikTok ban,” he said. “Censorship is not who we are as a people. We should not downplay or deny this trade-off.” Senators say Tiktok should get new ownership to stay in business in US David Shepardson REUTERS TikTok, which says it has not shared and would not share U.S. user data with the Chinese government, has argued the law amounts to a ban that would violate the U.S. free speech rights of its users. DADO RUVIC/REUTERS/ILLUSTRATION/FILE The Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday that it had found bird flu virus particles in some samples of pasteurized milk, but said commercial milk supply remains safe. The FDA said that because the milk is pasteurized, it remains safe for human consumption as the process kills harmful bacteria and viruses by heating milk to a specific temperature. “Based on available information, pasteurization is likely to inactivate the virus, however the process is not expected to remove the presence of viral particles,” the FDA said. The agency said it has been evaluating milk from affected animals, in the processing system and on the shelves. It said it is completing a large, representative national sample to understand the extent of the findings. The FDA said it is further assessing any positive findings through egg inoculation tests, which it described as a gold standard for determining viable virus. The agency said it has seen nothing that would change its assessment that the commercial milk supply is safe, adding that results from multiple studies will be made available in the next few days to weeks. “Sound science is critical to informing public health decisions like those made by the FDA related to food safety and we take this current situation and the safety of the milk supply very seriously,” the agency said. There are confirmed cases of bird flu in dairy cattle in eight U.S. states, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said one associated human case has been linked with the outbreak in dairy cows. The case was reported in Texas on April 1. FDA: Commercial milk safe despite bird flu Manas Mishra and Jasper Ward REUTERS

8NN | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024 | NATION & WORLD EXTRA - USA TODAY NETWORK The U.S. military called on Iraq’s government on Tuesday to take steps to safeguard American troops in both Iraq and Syria after failed attacks a day earlier by Iran-aligned militia. The drone and rocket fire were the first such incidents since a near threemonth pause in what had been almost daily attacks that culminated in the January killing of three U.S. soldiers at the Tower 22 outpost in Jordan. With U.S.-Iran tensions soaring after the Jordan attack, and some calls from Republican lawmakers in Washington for a direct U.S. response against Iran, a senior Iranian commander had called on militia to halt their attacks at the end of January. Speaking at the Pentagon, Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder, a spokesperson, did not speculate about what triggered the renewal in attacks. But he called on Baghdad to act. “These attacks put coalition and Iraqi personnel at risk. We call on the government of Iraq to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria against attacks from these groups,” Ryder told a news briefing. “If these attacks continue, we will not hesitate to defend our forces, as we have done in the past.” The U.S. has some 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in eastern Syria on an advise-and-assist mission. Washington has blamed Iran in the past for funding and directing militia in Iraq and Syria that attack U.S. forces. Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali Two killed by Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon’s Hanin At least two people were killed including an 11-year-old girl, and six others injured after an Israeli airstrike hit a residential area in the southern Lebanese town of Hanin, Lebanon’s official news agency NNA said on Tuesday. “Israeli warplanes struck a two-story house with two air-to-surface missiles, completely destroying the building which was inhabited by a family that had not left the town since Israeli attacks began,” NNA said. Hezbollah said in a statement it had fired dozens of Katyusha rockets Tuesday evening on the Israeli settlement of Margaliot in response to the Hanin attack. Israeli forces and Lebanon’s armed group Hezbollah have been exchanging fire for over six months in parallel to the Gaza war, in the most serious hostilities since they fought a major war in 2006. Adam Makary and Maya Gebeily Palestinian prime minister announces new reform package Newly installed Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa announced a package of reforms on Tuesday aimed at strengthening the Palestinian Authority amid increased global pressure for a revival of political dialogue with Israel. Mustafa, appointed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas earlier this year, said his government would introduce measures to improve transparency and fight corruption, overhaul the justice system and security sectors and improve public sector efficiency. In addition, he said the health and education system would be improved, public finances strengthened and economic reforms implemented. The reform pledges largely match promises previously made by his predecessor Mohammed Shtayyeh, who announced his resignation in February as the PA looked to build support for an expanded role amid Israel’s war against the Islamist group Hamas in Gaza. The United States and other international partners have pressed the PA to implement sweeping reforms to restore confidence among Palestinians who have become deeply disillusioned with the body set up under the interim Oslo Peace Accords more than 30 years ago. Despite resistance from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Washington and its allies say the PA must be involved in administering the enclave once Israeli troops pull out. James Mackenzie Norway calls on donors to resume funding to Palestinian agency Norway called on international donors on Tuesday to resume payments to the UN agency for Palestinians refugees after a report found Israel had yet to provide evidence that some UNRWA staff were linked to terrorist groups. The United States, Britain and others earlier this year paused payments to UNRWA following Israel’s claims, while Norway, also a major donor to the organization, argued that funding cuts put the population of Gaza at risk. A review of the agency’s neutrality led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna on Monday concluded Israel had yet to back up its accusations that hundreds of UNRWA staff were operatives in Gaza terrorist groups. “I would now like to call on countries that have still frozen their contributions to UNRWA to resume funding,” Norway’s foreign minister Espen Barth Eide said in a statement. A separate investigation by internal U.N. investigators is looking into Israeli allegations that 12 UNRWA staff took part in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks which triggered the Gaza war. “Norway has emphasized that it is unacceptable to punish an entire organization, with 30,000 employees, and all Palestine refugees for the alleged misdeeds of a small number of the organisation’s employees,” Barth Eide said. While 10 countries have since ended their suspensions, the United States, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria and Lithuania have not. A U.N. spokesperson on Monday said UNRWA currently had enough funding to pay for operations until June. Terje Solsvik Hamas armed wing al-Qassam Brigades calls for escalation The spokesperson for Hamas’ armed al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Ubaida, called on Tuesday for an escalation across all fronts in a televised speech marking 200 days since the start of the IsraelHamas war in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7. In a video aired by Al Jazeera TV, Abu Ubaida praised Iran’s attack on Israel on April 13, saying the strikes with explosive drones and missiles “set new rules, drew important equations, and confused the enemy and those behind it.” He also called for an escalation in the West Bank and Jordan calling it “one of the most important Arab fronts.” Jordan, which lies between Iran and Israel, intercepted and shot down dozens of Iranian drones that entered its airspace and were heading to Israel, two regional security sources said on April 13. Abu Ubaida said Hamas was sticking to its demands at the ongoing cease-fire talks – that Israel ends its military offensive, pulls out forces from Gaza, allows the displaced to return to northern Gaza, and lifts the blockade. Qatar and Egypt have been trying to mediate a cease-fire, but Qatar foreign ministry’s spokesman said Tuesday all concerned parties should “show seriousness” in assisting those efforts. Nayera Abdallah, Nadine Awadalla and Nidal Al-Mughrabi Some Republicans call for response against Iran REUTERS A boy sits atop a concrete barrier in Al-Zahra in the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday. AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES US appeals to Iraq to safeguard troops WAR IN MIDDLE EAST Newly installed Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa announced a package of reforms on Tuesday aimed at strengthening the Palestinian Authority. MOHAMMED TOROKMAN/REUTERS FILE A motorcycle rides past the site of an Israeli strike on a vehicle in the Adloun plain area between Lebanon’s southern cities of Sidon and Tyre on Tuesday. MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES The United States has preliminarily discussed sanctions on some Chinese banks but does not yet have a plan to implement such measures, a U.S. official told Reuters on Tuesday, as Washington seeks ways to curb Beijing’s support for Russia. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was no plan to roll out sanctions on China’s banks in the near-term, and said officials hope that diplomacy will avert the need for such action. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to visit China this week. The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter, that the U.S. was drafting sanctions against some Chinese banks in the hopes of stopping Beijing’s commercial support of Russia’s military production. Blinken on Friday criticized Chinese support for Russia’s defense industry, saying Beijing was the key contributor to Moscow’s war in Ukraine through its provision of critical components for weaponry. Cutting banks off from access to the dollar – used in much of global trade – is often reserved as a last resort, as such sanctions often force banks into failure. It would also represent a particular risk for China, amid a sputtering economic recovery and growing debt. The Wall Street Journal report did not describe which types of banks might be targeted, a key distinction for how large an impact any such measure would have on China’s economy or its ability to support Russia economically. The U.S. has sanctioned smaller Chinese banks in the past, such as the Bank of Kunlun, over various issues, including working with Iranian institutions. But Washington has so far been reluctant to implement sanctions on major Chinese banks – long deemed by analysts as a “nuclear” option – because of the huge ripple effects it could have on the global economy and U.S.-China relations. “We are firmly opposed to the hypocritical practice of the U.S. side itself pouring fuel but blaming the Chinese side,” Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, said at a regular news briefing when questioned on the possible sanctions. “China’s right to conduct normal economic and trade exchanges with other countries, including Russia, is inviolable,” Wang said. China and Russia have fostered more trade in yuan instead of the dollar in the wake of the Ukraine war, potentially shielding their economies from possible U.S. sanctions. The United States and other Western nations imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia’s financial system after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Officials hope diplomacy will avert need for action Trevor Hunnicutt REUTERS Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday criticized Chinese support for Russia’s defense industry, saying Beijing was the key contributor to Moscow’s war in Ukraine through its provision of critical components for weaponry. MARK SCHIEFELBEIN/POOL VIA REUTERS US has no plan to sanction Chinese banks

SPORTS EXTRA - USA TODAY NETWORK | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024 | 1NS SPORTSEXTRA SUBSCRIBER-EXCLUSIVE SECTION Pascal Siakam recorded 37 points, 11 rebounds and six assists and the Indiana Pacers evened their firstround Eastern Conference playoff series with an impressive 125-108 victory over the host Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night in Game 2. Milwaukee was again without star Giannis Antetokounmpo (calf). STORY, PAGE 2NS NBA PLAYOFFS Pascal Siakam (43) of the Pacers shoots over Patrick Beverley of the Bucks during the first half of Game 2 at Fiserv Forum on Tuesday in Milwaukee. STACY REVERE/GETTY IMAGES PACERS EVEN SERIES WITH BUCKS Caitlin Clark is about to get even richer. According to reports, Clark, the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft two weeks ago, is set to sign an eight-figure shoe deal with Nike. Reporting from The Athletic and the Wall Street Journal said the deal is worth $28 million over eight years and will include a signature shoe. Representatives at Excel Sports Management, the agency that represents Clark, and Nike did not immediately respond to USA TODAY Sports’ request for comment. The deal would provide a nice income boost to Clark, who as a WNBA rookie in 2024 will make a base salary of $76,535. Her low pay – consider that NBA rookie Victor Wembanyama signed a four-year deal worth more than $55 million after being drafted No. 1 last summer – sparked an outcry shortly after she was drafted. The $28 million figure would be the most ever for a women’s basketball player. Only three other WNBA players – Breanna Stewart (Puma), Elena Delle Donne (Nike) and Sabrina Ionescu (Nike) – currently have signature shoes. (Ionescu’s deal was reportedly worth $24 million when she signed it in 2020, but according to the Wall Street Journal, she will not get that much. Her deal expires at the end of 2025.) According to the Wall Street Journal, while numerous brands presented potential partnerships to Clark, Nike separated itself with both the promise of a signature sneaker and the longevity of its deal. Eight years means Clark will have the opportunity to rep Nike for potentially three Olympic Games: 2024 in Paris, 2028 in Los Angeles and 2032 in Australia. The 2024 roster has not yet been set, but Clark, who will begin play with the Indiana Fever on May 14, is expected to contend heavily for a spot. Because she wasn’t able to attend USA Basketball training camp in Cleveland last month – she was busy WNBA Reports: Clark set to sign massive shoe deal with Nike Lindsay Schnell USA TODAY See CLARK, Page 8NS Clark LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are unhappy with the officiating. Nick Nurse and the Philadelphia 76ers are unhappy with the officiating. Welcome to the NBA playoffs where inevitably officiating (and controversial calls) can dominate the discourse. It’s a playoffs traditon. In two tremendous games Monday – the New York Knicks defeated the Sixers 104-101 and the Nuggets sank the Lakers 101-99 on a Jamal Murray buzzer-beater – officiating joined the players in the spotlight. In general, I don’t have much room for blaming officials for outcomes. There are 200 possessions in an NBA game, and players and referees make mistakes. The NBA prefers the discussion focus on players, but it doesn’t mean referees should go without criticism when warranted either. Let’s start with the Lakers-Nuggets game, and James’ ire. With 39.5 seconds left in the third quarter and the Lakers ahead 79-69, Denver’s Michael Porter Jr. was called for a foul as Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell drove to the basket. Nuggets coach Michael Malone challenged the call, and after a review, the call was reversed – no foul. Crew chief Scott Foster called the contact minimal, which has been used as a reason to reverse a foul or not call a foul. So it depends on your definition of minimal but it looks like Russell was hit with enough force by Porter’s arm coming down to warrant a foul. It should not have been overturned. NBA PLAYOFFS See ZILLGITT, Page 3NS Lakers, 76ers believe officiating left them in 0-2 holes Los Angeles Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell reacts during a game against the Brooklyn Nets at Crypto.com Arena. KIRBY LEE/USA TODAY SPORTS Jeff Zillgitt Columnist USA TODAY

2NS | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024 | SPORTS EXTRA - USA TODAY NETWORK NBA PLAYOFFS Pascal Siakam recorded 37 points, 11 rebounds and six assists and the Indiana Pacers evened their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series with an impressive 125-108 victory over the host Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night in Game 2. Myles Turner added 22 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots for the sixth-seeded Pacers, who snapped a 10-game postseason losing streak dating back to 2018. Andrew Nembhard scored 20 points, Tyrese Haliburton registered 12 points and 12 assists and Aaron Nesmith had 11 points and seven assists for Indiana, which had 38 assists on 50 made baskets. “We played with more force and we played with more attitude,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “There were some tough stretches in the game. I like the way we kept our poise and our aggression. And we kept attacking. It’s a long series. “We’re going to have to find a way to keep our edge. Sitting on a win like this for two days is going to be challenging. “I’m proud of the guys. I’m proud of the bounce-back.” Damian Lillard scored 34 points and Brook Lopez added 22 for the thirdseeded Bucks. Each player made six 3- pointers. Milwaukee was again without star Giannis Antetokounmpo (calf). Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Friday in Indianapolis. “We’ve got to lean on our experiences in the games on their home floor,” Lillard said. “There is going to be ups and downs in every game on the road so we have to stay connected and stay together and play the game like we’ve been there before.” Siakam, who made 16 of 23 shots, established a personal playoff scoring mark for a second straight game. He had 36 points in Game 1. “That’s crazy,” Siakam said about scoring 30-plus points in back-to-back playoff games for the first time in his career. “I wasn’t thinking about that. I’m blessed to be here. … We’re back in the playoffs. I just want to compete.” Khris Middleton added 15 points and six assists, and Bobby Portis had 14 points and 11 rebounds for Milwaukee, which shot 44.2 percent from the field, including 13 of 32 (40.6 percent) from 3- point range. The Pacers made 55.6 percent of their attempts and were 16 of 36 (44.4 percent) from behind the arc. Milwaukee scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to move within 92- 88 on Pat Connaughton’s three-point play with 11:17 left in the game. Indiana answered with eight straight points and 23 of the next 27 to rock the Bucks and open up a 23-point lead. Siakam scored back-to-back baskets to make it 100-88 with 9:19 remaining. A short time later, Turner scored five consecutive points to start a stretch of 13 straight Indiana points. PACERS 125, BUCKS 108 Siakam puts up 37 as Pacers win FIELD LEVEL MEDIA Pacers forward Pascal Siakam (43) shoots the ball over the Bucks in the second half during Game 2 of their first-round series at Fiserv Forum. MICHAEL MCLOONE/USA TODAY SPORTS Jaden McDaniels scored 25 points on 10-for-17 shooting and the Minnesota Timberwolves pulled away for a 105- 93 win over the Phoenix Suns in Game 2 of their Western Conference quarterfinals series on Tuesday in Minneapolis. Mike Conley and Rudy Gobert finished with 18 points apiece for Minnesota, which seized a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. The Timberwolves won by double digits despite a subpar night from Anthony Edwards, who shot 3 of 12 from the field but finished with 15 points thanks in part to 7-of-8 success at the free-throw line. Devin Booker led the Suns with 20 points on 6-for-13 shooting, though he was 1-for-6 from 3-point range. Kevin Durant finished with 18 points and Bradley Beal scored 14, but the pair combined to shoot 12 of 32 from the field. Minnesota outscored Phoenix 55-42 in the second half to secure the victory. A 12-0 run helped the Timberwolves gain control in the third quarter. They trailed 63-60 before McDaniels made a dunk to start the surge. Edwards scored six points during the run with four free throws and a step-back jump shot. Naz Reid also scored a basket and McDaniels made a basket to finish the run, which put Minnesota on top 72-63 with 2:44 left in the third. McDaniels struck again late in the fourth quarter to put the Timberwolves ahead 102-83 with 4:41 left, sending the home crowd into a frenzy. The Suns trailed by double digits the rest of the way. Suns guard Grayson Allen aggravated his sprained right ankle and exited the game early in the second half. Allen, who averaged 13.5 points a game during the regular season, finished with three points and three rebounds in 17 minutes. Phoenix held on to a 51-50 advantage at halftime. The Suns led by as many as eight points midway through the second quarter. Drew Eubanks took a pass from Beal and finished with a dunk to make it 42-34 with 6:06 to go before the break. Minnesota scored 16 of the final 25 points in the first half to cut the deficit to one. TIMBERWOLVES 105, SUNS 93 McDaniels, Wolves seize 2-0 edge on Suns FIELD LEVEL MEDIA Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels (3) dunks against the Suns in the third quarter during Game 2. BRAD REMPEL/USA TODAY SPORTS Luka Doncic had 32 points and nine assists, and Kyrie Irving added 23 points as the Dallas Mavericks got the best of the Los Angeles Clippers 96-93 in Game 2 on Tuesday to even their first-round playoff series. P.J. Washington scored 18 points and Derrick Jones Jr. had 10 as the Mavericks recovered from a double-digit defeat in Game 1 on Sunday when they trailed by as many as 29 points and scored just 30 in the first half. Doncic and Irving combined to go 19 of 44 (43.2 percent) in the game after they struggled in the decisive first half of Game 1 when they combined to shoot 5 of 19 (26.3 percent). The Mavericks shot 42.1 percent in Game 2 after shooting 30.3 percent in Game 1. The series moves to Dallas for Game 3 on Friday. James Harden and Paul George each scored 22 points as the Clippers were unable to take advantage of Kawhi Leonard’s return. Leonard, who had not played since March 31 because of right knee inflammation, scored 15 points in 35 minutes. Ivica Zubac finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Clippers, who led by as many as six points early in the fourth quarter before the Mavericks rallied. After the Clippers dominated the first quarter in Game 1, the Mavericks took a 23-19 lead after one period of Game 2. Dallas passed the 30-point mark with 7:55 remaining in the second quarter after scoring that many in the first half of the opener. The Mavericks led 45-41 at halftime. The Clippers asserted themselves in the third quarter when they outscored Dallas 25-20 to take a 66-65 lead into the final period. A 7-2 run to open the fourth quarter gave Los Angeles a 73-67 lead with 9:32 remaining. The Mavericks answered with a 14-0 run to take an 81-73 lead with 5:18 remaining after a shot inside by Irving. The Mavericks opened the advantage to 90-81 with 1:26 remaining after a 3- pointer from Doncic, and Dallas held on from there. The Mavericks played the final 2 1/2 quarters without guard Tim Hardaway Jr. because of a sprained right ankle. The Clippers tied their second-lowest point output from the regular season, when they scored under 100 points just five times. MAVERICKS 96, CLIPPERS 93 Doncic helps Mavericks even series vs. Clippers FIELD LEVEL MEDIA Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) shoots the ball over Clippers guard Terance Mann (14) during the first quarter of Game 2. KIYOSHI MIO/USA TODAY SPORTS Indiana 125, Milwaukee 108 INDIANA (125) Turner 9-15 1-1 22, Sheppard 3-4 0-0 8, Toppin 4-11 0-1 9, McConnell 2-6 2-2 6, Walker 0-0 0-0 0, Brown 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 50-90 9-14 125. MILWAUKEE (108) Lopez 8-13 0-0 22, Connaughton 2-3 1-1 5, Green 2-4 1-1 5, Crowder 0-3 2-2 2, Beasley 2-4 0-0 4, Jackson Jr. 1-2 0-0 2, Beauchamp 0-1 0-0 0, Livingston 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 38-86 19-21 108. IND 30 30 32 33 — 125 MIL 26 29 28 25 — 108 3-Point Goals: Indiana 16-36 (Siakam 3-4, Turner 3-6, Haliburton 3-7, Nesmith 3-8, Sheppard 2-3, Nembhard 1-3, Toppin 1-5), Milwaukee 13-32 (Lopez 6-7, Lillard 6-13, Middleton 1-3, Green 0-1, Connaughton 0-1, Beasley 0-1, Beverley 0-2, Portis 0-2, Crowder 0-2). Fouled Out: None. Rebounds: Indiana 45 (Siakam 11), Milwaukee 40 (Portis 11). Assists: Indiana 38 (Haliburton 12), Milwaukee 24 (Middleton 6). Total Fouls: Indiana 17, Milwaukee 13. A: 0 (17,500) Dallas 96, L.A. Clippers 93 DALLAS (96) Gafford 0-3 0-0 0, Kleber 2-4 0-0 6, Lively II 2-5 3-6 7, Green 0-2 0-0 0, Exum 0-1 0-0 0, Hardaway Jr. 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-77 18-27 96. L.A. CLIPPERS (93) Zubac 5-12 3-5 13, Powell 2-10 0-0 6, Westbrook 2-9 2-2 7, Coffey 1-1 0-0 2, Plumlee 0-3 1-2 1. Totals 32-87 21-26 93. DAL 23 22 20 31 — 96 LAC 19 22 25 27 — 93 3-Point Goals: Dallas 14-33 (Doncic 5-14, Irving 4-8, Washington 3-4, Kleber 2-3, Hardaway Jr. 0-1, Jones Jr. 0-1, Green 0-2), L.A. Clippers 8-30 (Powell 2-4, George 2-5, Harden 2-10, Mann 1-3, Westbrook 1-3, Leonard 0-5). Fouled Out: None. Rebounds: Dallas 50 (Lively II 9), L.A. Clippers 47 (Zubac 12). Assists: Dallas 17 (Doncic 9), L.A. Clippers 17 (Harden 8). Total Fouls: Dallas 23, L.A. Clippers 19. A: 0 (19,060) Minnesota 105, Phoenix 93 PHOENIX (93) Allen 1-2 0-0 3, Durant 6-15 6-7 18, Nurkic 5-11 0-2 10, Beal 6-17 0-0 14, Booker 6-13 7-8 20, Gordon 5-9 2-2 15, O’Neale 0-0 0-0 0, Eubanks 4-8 0-0 8, Okogie 0-0 0-0 0, Bol 0-0 0-0 0, Little 2-3 0-0 5, Roddy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 35-78 15-19 93. MINNESOTA (105) McDaniels 10-17 3-4 25, Towns 3-7 5-5 12, Gobert 6-8 6-7 18, Conley 7-13 1-1 18, Edwards 3-12 7-8 15, Alexander-Walker 4-10 1-1 10, Reid 1-5 3-4 5, Morris 1-4 0-0 2, Warren 0-0 0-0 0, McLaughlin 0-1 0-0 0, Garza 0-0 0-0 0, Moore Jr. 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 35-78 26-30 105. PHX 21 30 20 22 — 93 MIN 24 26 28 27 — 105 3-Point Goals: Phoenix 8-22 (Gordon 3-5, Beal 2-4, Allen 1-2, Little 1-2, Booker 1-6, Nurkic 0-1, Durant 0-2), Minnesota 9-32 (Conley 3-6, McDaniels 2-4, Edwards 2-6, Towns 1-4, Alexander-Walker 1-4, McLaughlin 0-1, Moore Jr. 0-1, Morris 0-3, Reid 0-3). Fouled Out: Phoenix (Booker). Rebounds: Phoenix 41 (Nurkic 14), Minnesota 39 (Gobert 9). Assists: Phoenix 19 (Beal 6), Minnesota 23 (Edwards 8). Total Fouls: Phoenix 22, Minnesota 21. A: 19,310 (19,356)

SPORTS EXTRA - USA TODAY NETWORK | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024 | 3NS NBA PLAYOFFS In his first postseason as an NBA head coach, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Mark Daigneault shows no signs of shortening his rotation. Daigneault has developed a reputation for continually tinkering with his player usage and going deep into the roster during the regular season. In the Thunder’s playoff opener against the New Orleans Pelicans, a 94- 92 victory Sunday, Daigneault played 11 players. Nine of them played in the first quarter. “I have great confidence with our team, they have great confidence in each other,” Daigneault said. “There’s probably a subtle pressure to cut it down arbitrarily, but they all played well.” Daigneault figures to continue to showcase his team’s depth when they take on the Pelicans in Game 2 of their best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series Wednesday in Oklahoma City. While the Thunder’s Shai GilgeousAlexander made the late shots and Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren came up big offensively as well, the contributions came from well beyond the team’s core. Rookie Cason Wallace was part of Daigneault’s closing lineup and frustrated the Pelicans’ CJ McCollum in the final possession. First he had a deflection and then kept McCollum from getting a better look on his potential gamewinner. “I don’t think our roster really drops off in a way that makes it obvious which seven or eight guys to play,” Daigneault said. “It’s Game 1. We’ve played like that all year.” The Thunder are looking to grab a 2-0 lead in a playoff series for the first time since a 2013 first-round series against the Houston Rockets when Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were leading the charge. “I think everybody’s ready and mentally approaching the game with the mindset that they might play tonight regardless of where they sit on the bench,” said Thunder guard Aaron Wiggins, who had a key three-point play in the fourth quarter of the opener. Without Zion Williamson, New Orleans needs more production from forward Brandon Ingram, who had 12 points Sunday while going 5-of-17 from the floor. “It’s not about what we need to do to free B.I. up,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “This is going to be playoff basketball. He’s got to continue to play through it, have some gamesmanship out there, got to go to the free-throw line a bit more. This is what it’s going to be. We’re physical with them, they’re physical with us and that’s part of the game. That’s part of playoff basketball.” Ingram was just 2-of-2 from the free-throw line in the opener after averaging 4.8 free-throw attempts per game in the regular season. Williamson has missed the last two games with a hamstring strain and will be out again Wednesday, though he said a playoff return remains possible. “That is definitely realistic. That is absolutely realistic,” Williamson said Tuesday. “But I’ve got to pass tests, get back to baseline and hopefully I’ll be out there.” Thunder leaning into depth against Pelicans in Game 2 FIELD LEVEL MEDIA Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault yells to his team during a play against the Pelicans in Game 1. ALONZO ADAMS/USA TODAY SPORTS The visiting Miami Heat will attempt to pull even in their Eastern Conference first-round series against the Boston Celtics when the teams play Game 2 on Wednesday night. Jayson Tatum collected 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the top-seeded Celtics to a 114-94 victory in Game 1 on Sunday. Tatum was one of six Boston players who scored in double figures. “Just making the right play,” Tatum said after Sunday’s game. “We talk all the time about not getting bored with making the right play. … We’ve played (the Heat) enough. They’re not a team that’s necessarily going to let you play one-on-one all night.” Miami’s success Wednesday may be determined by how well it can defend the 3-point line. Boston made 22 of its 49 attempts from beyond the arc in Game 1. Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White and Sam Hauser each made four 3-pointers. Hauser came off the bench and did his damage in 12 minutes of playing time. “You’re going to need things like that to be successful in the playoffs,” Tatum said. “It’s not always going to be the guys who start the game. On any given night we’re going to count on somebody off the bench to change the pace of the game.” The Celtics outscored the Heat 31-14 in the third quarter and led 91-59 entering the fourth. Boston’s lead swelled to 34 points before eighth-seeded Miami got as close as 14 in the final minutes. “You have to give (the Celtics) credit,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “They won the big-muscle areas. Definitely won the 3-point line and the majority of the areas in between, including defensively. They were up and into us, getting us out of our normal flow, rhythm. So we have to do a much better job by Wednesday.” Bam Adebayo scored 24 points and Delon Wright added 17 for Miami, which was without Jimmy Butler for the second straight game because of a right knee injury he sustained during the play-in round. Terry Rozier also remained out with a neck injury. Boston’s Jrue Holiday was among those who did a good job defending Tyler Herro, who shot 4 of 13 from the field and was held to 11 points in 34 minutes. Herro and Butler each averaged a teamhigh 20.8 points per game during the regular season. “They came out with the intention to put a lot of pressure on (Herro),” Spoelstra said. “Whether it’s on the ball with pick and rolls or off the ball with movement, we have to find some ways to shake him free and get him to his strength spaces within the context of what we do.” Sunday’s win improved Boston’s record against Miami to 4-0 this season. The Celtics have won 38 of 42 home games during the season and playoffs. “There’s some things that we have to do better, but that’s the balance, right?” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said. “Understanding that we played relatively well, but we have to be better because we know they’re going to play better.” Heat aim to keep Tatum, Celtics in check in Game 2 FIELD LEVEL MEDIA Celtics forward Jayson Tatum drives to the basket past Heat forward Caleb Martin (16) during the second half in Game 1. BOB DECHIARA/USA TODAY SPORTS The NBA’s Last Two-Minute Report will not include this play and whether it was the correct call because of when it happened (not in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime), but for the sake of discussion, let’s say it was the correct call. The Lakers still had a 10-point lead and extended it to 82-71 with 10:50 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Lakers had opportunities in the final 10:50 to protect the lead and win. Yes, it’s easy to look at the Russell play and think he would’ve made his two free throws, and in a two-point loss, it’s easy to see why that’s frustrating for the Lakers. But that’s not the way it works. It doesn’t mean the Lakers would’ve had a two-point lead on Denver’s final possession. Too many things happen to make that assumption, and Lakers coach Darvin Ham understands that. “Some tough calls. Some tough noncalls. But you can’t use any of that as an excuse,” Ham told reporters. “You’ve got to go out there and be ready to make plays whether the whistle gets blown or not.” The Sixers had complaints, too, and filed a grievance with the league over the officiating. The grievance is more a show of support for coaches and players than it is an attempt to alter any ruling. The final 47 seconds were frenzied with the Knicks erasing a 101-96 deficit. The controversy surrounds Philadelphia’s attempt to in-bound the basketball after a Jalen Brunson 3-pointer cut the Sixers’ lead to 101-99. Philadelphia struggled to get the ball in. Nurse, the Sixers’ coach, tried to call timeout (twice), but he was not very emphatic (though he claims he was looking directly at a ref on one timeout attempt), and the Sixers turned the ball over which led to Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo’s game-winning 3-pointer. “I called timeout, the referee looked right at me, ignored me,” Nurse said. This play will be part of the Last TwoMinute report and it will be interesting to see how the league’s referee operations department sees the clutching and grabbing the Knicks did on Tyrese Maxey before he lost control of the basketball. There is clear video of Brunson holding Maxey’s jersey. “I saw Tyrese Maxey get mugged if I’m being totally honest,” ESPN’s NBA analyst and noted Knicks fan Stephen A. Smith said. Plays happen fast, chaos is part of it. And the refs are paid to sort through that in real time, no matter how difficult. But they won’t be 100% accurate. That’s part of the game, just like missed shots and turnovers, and as frustrating as that may be for the losing side, it’s 2-0 Nuggets and 2-0 Knicks, and this won’t be the last time officiating is a topic during the NBA playoffs. Follow NBA reporter Jeff Zillgitt on social media @JeffZillgitt Zillgitt Continued from Page 1NS 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey reacts to a call during the second half of Game 2 against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. VINCENT CARCHIETTA/USA TODAY SPORTS

4NS | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024 | SPORTS EXTRA - USA TODAY NETWORK MLB Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo had two-RBI hits in the first inning for the host New York Yankees, who edged the Oakland Athletics 4-3 Tuesday night in the second game of a four-game series. The Yankees have won four of six. Marcus Stroman (2-1) earned the win for the Yankees after giving up three runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out a season-high nine over 51 ⁄3 innings. He had just one 1-2-3 inning but wriggled out of jams in the first, when he struck out Tyler Nevin to strand Seth Brown, and the second, when he induced Ryan Noda to ground out with two on. Ron Marinaccio and Caleb Ferguson got three outs apiece before Dennis Santana retired both batters he faced in the eighth. Clay Holmes earned his ninth save with a 1-2-3 ninth. Oakland starter Paul Blackburn (2-1) surrendered all four Yankees runs on five hits and no walks while striking out five over six innings. Braves 5, Marlins 0 Max Fried threw a shutout and earned his fifth straight win against Miami, as the Atlanta Braves rolled to a win over the visiting Marlins. Fried (2-0) needed only 92 pitches and allowed three hits, no walks and struck out six in beating Miami for the second time this season. It was the fifth career complete game and fourth shutout for the left-hander. This season, Fried has pitched 151 ⁄3 innings and allowed only one run against the Marlins. Miami starter Trevor Rogers (0-3) continued to struggle against the Braves. He pitched 52⁄3 innings and allowed five runs (three earned) on seven hits and one walk, striking out four. Guardians 4, Red Sox 1 Ben Lively allowed one run over 61 ⁄3 strong innings, and Will Brennan’s double sparked a two-run rally in the seventh, as the Cleveland Guardians won their fifth straight, 4-1 over the visiting Boston Red Sox. After being outpitched by Boston’s Tanner Houck during Cleveland’s 2-0 loss at Fenway Park on April 17 in his 2024 debut, Lively yielded just Wilyer Abreu’s homer in the seventh, four other hits and struck out seven without a walk while again opposing the Red Sox righthander. Lively had missed the opening weeks of his Cleveland tenure due to a viral illness. Houck (3-2), who tossed a three-hit complete game against the Guardians last week, was nearly as dominant Tuesday. But in the seventh, Brennan led off with a double into the right-center-field gap for his second hit and scored on Tyler Freeman’s tying single. Pirates 2, Brewers 1 Andrew McCutchen hit a leadoff homer in the first inning, Bailey Falter threw seven-plus effective frames and the host Pittsburgh Pirates edged the Milwaukee Brewers. Falter (2-1) was working on a shutout before Gary Sanchez homered to lead off the eighth inning, cutting the Brewers’ deficit to 2-1. The was final pitch for Falter, who allowed one run on three hits and two walks. He tied a career high with eight strikeouts for the Pirates, who have won consecutive games after a six-game losing streak. Milwaukee’s Tobias Myers (0-1) gave up one run on four hits in five innings during his major league debut. Reds 8, Phillies 1 Elly De La Cruz belted a two-run homer and Christian EncarnacionStrand had three hits and drove in two to lead the Cincinnati Reds past the visiting Philadelphia Phillies. De La Cruz started an inning-ending double play in the sixth and made an over-the-shoulder grab in left field in the seventh to add to his highlight-filled night. Alec Bohm doubled twice and drove in a run for the Phillies. Tigers 4, Rays 2 Riley Greene and Mark Canha homered in Detroit’s three-run eighth inning as the Tigers rallied for a victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, Fla. With reliever Colin Poche (0-1) on the mound and the Rays ahead 2-1, Greene launched a two-run shot to right-center for his fifth homer of the season. After a flyout, Canha drilled his second homer in as many games and his fifth overall for a 4-2 lead. Tampa Bay’s Isaac Paredes homered and had two hits, while Harold Ramirez went 2-for-4 with a stolen base. Rays starter Ryan Pepiot yielded just one run on three hits over six innings, striking out four and walking two. Dodgers 4, Nationals 1 Pinch hitter James Outman doubled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and Shohei Ohtani homered to lead off the ninth inning as the Los Angeles Dodgers used late offense to defeat the host Washington Nationals in the opener of a three-game series. Freddie Freeman and Miguel Rojas each had two hits as the Dodgers played their first game of a nine-game road trip. Ohtani has six home runs this season, with his blast going an estimated 450 feet into the upper deck beyond right field. He has homered in back-to-back games for the second time this season. Nationals starter Patrick Corbin pitched 51 ⁄3 scoreless innings with three hits, three walks and three strikeouts. The bullpen failed to protect the lead. Hunter Harvey (1-1) took the loss after he was charged with both eighth-inning runs. Matt Barnes surrendered Ohtani’s homer. Cubs 7, Astros 2 Mike Tauchman hit two home runs and drove in four runs, Cody Bellinger added a two-run homer, and the Chicago Cubs opened a three-game series against the visiting Houston Astros with a win. Bellinger and Tauchman each homered against Astros starter J.P. France (0-3) during a five-run first inning for Chicago, which has won seven of its past 10 games. Jordan Wicks (1-2) allowed two runs on five hits with zero walks and four strikeouts over a season-high six innings. Ben Brown, Mark Leiter, Jr., and Yency Almonte combined for three scoreless innings in relief. Jake Meyers hit a solo homer, and Jose Altuve and Kyle Tucker had two hits apiece for Houston. Royals 3, Blue Jays 2 Bobby Witt Jr. doubled in two runs as the host Kansas City Royals rallied past the Toronto Blue Jays. Trailing 2-0 with two outs in the fifth, the Royals took advantage of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s error. On a potential inning-ended grounder, Guerrero failed to catch third baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s throw, allowing Michael Massey to score Kansas City’s first run. After Maikel Garcia’s single, Witt followed with a two-run double to give Kansas City a 3-2 lead. The Blue Jays flooded the basepaths early against Royals starter Michael Wacha, putting eight runners on over the first three innings via five singles and three walks. However, Toronto stranded six while managing only one run on Justin Turner’s run-scoring infield single in the third. Diamondbacks 14, Cardinals 1 Pavin Smith drove in a career-high six runs with a grand slam and a tworun double as the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks rolled over the St. Louis Cardinals. Christian Walker added a three-run homer, Kevin Newman hit a two-run shot and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. went 3- for-5 with an RBI and three runs for the Diamondbacks, who scored 12 or more runs for the fourth time this season. Cardinals starting pitcher Steven Matz (1-2) allowed seven runs on six hits and three walks in 41 ⁄3 innings. He issued three walks and fanned four. Zack Thompson gave up seven runs on seven hits in 22⁄3 innings as St. Louis lost for the fifth time in six games. Willson Contreras put St. Louis up 1-0 with a 439-foot homer in the first inning. Twins 6, White Sox 5 Alex Kirilloff delivered a game-ending RBI single with two outs in the ninth and Byron Buxton had three hits to lift the host Minnesota Twins to a win against the reeling Chicago White Sox. Minnesota scored two runs each in the eighth and ninth innings as the White Sox lost for the fifth straight game. Buxton led off the ninth with a gametying home run against Steven Wilson (1-2). Wilson recovered to get the next out before walking Carlos Santana. Ryan Jeffers followed with a bloop double, benefiting from a misread by Chicago left fielder Andrew Benintendi. That set the stage for Kirilloff two batters later. Eloy Jimenez had two hits, including a three-run home run, and Erick Fedde gave up one run on three hits in six innings for the White Sox. Mariners 4, Rangers 0 Julio Rodriguez hit his first home run of the season and Logan Gilbert pitched 62⁄3 scoreless innings as the Seattle Mariners moved into first place in the American League West with a victory against the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas. Cal Raleigh also went deep for Seattle, which won for the sixth time in its past seven games to nudge a half-game ahead of the defending World Series champion Rangers. The Mariners also won at Globe Life Field for the first time since 2022 after going winless in six games there last season. Rangers right-hander Dane Dunning (2-2) took the loss. He gave up four runs on four hits in 41 ⁄3 innings. Rockies 7, Padres 4 Brendan Rodgers hit the first grand slam of his career in a five-run fourth inning and the struggling Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres in Denver. Elehuris Montero had three hits and Ezequiel Tovar and Brenton Doyle had two hits each for Colorado, which snapped a six-game losing streak to San Diego dating back to last August. The Rockies won for just the second time in the past 10 games and improved to 4-7 at home. Jake Cronenworth had three hits while Ha-Seong Kim, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill had two hits apiece for the Padres, who didn’t score after the third inning. Giants 5, Mets 1 Logan Webb outdueled Luis Severino with eight shutout innings, Mike Yastrzemski capped a three-run fifth with a two-RBI single and the San Francisco Giants made it two in a row over the visiting New York Mets. Michael Conforto had two hits against his former team for the Giants, including a single leading off the fifth that ended Severino’s perfect-game bid after he had retired the first 12 batters he faced. For the second night in a row, the Mets saved their best offense for the ninth inning, scoring on DJ Stewart’s infield out after Pete Alonso had doubled and Brett Baty had singled off reliever Tyler Rogers. Angels 7, Orioles 4 Mike Trout hit a leadoff home run and the Los Angeles Angels ended a five-game losing streak with a win against the visiting Baltimore Orioles in the second game of the three-game series. The bottom four hitters in the Los Angeles lineup – Logan O’Hoppe, Jo Adell, Luis Rengifo and Zach Neto – combined to go 8-for-14 with five runs and five RBIs. Gunnar Henderson hit a solo homer and drove in two runs, and Adley Rutschman had three hits and a run scored for Baltimore, which had won three straight and seven of eight. Orioles starter Grayson Rodriguez (3-1) allowed seven runs and 11 hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked one. Trout hit a 1-2 pitch to right-center field for his first leadoff home run since 2012, giving the Angels a 1-0 lead. TUESDAY’S ROUNDUP Stroman, Yankees turn back Athletics FIELD LEVEL MEDIA Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo hits a two-run home run during the first inning against the Athletics at Yankee Stadium. VINCENT CARCHIETTA/USA TODAY SPORTS

SPORTS EXTRA - USA TODAY NETWORK | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024 | 5NS MLB L.A. Angels 7, Baltimore 4 Baltimore.... 000 030 100 — 4 8 0 LAA .............122 200 00x — 7 11 0 Baltimore AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Henderson ss 4 1 1 2 0 0 .287 Rutschman c 5 1 3 0 0 1 .323 O’Hearn 1b 1 0 1 2 2 0 .281 a-Mountcastle ph-1b 1 0 1 0 0 0 .333 Santander dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 .216 Mullins cf 4 0 0 0 0 3 .243 Cowser lf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .345 Westburg 3b 4 1 1 0 0 0 .316 Kjerstad rf 4 0 0 0 0 3 .000 Holliday 2b 4 1 1 0 0 2 .059 Totals 34 4 8 4 3 11 L.A. Angels AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Trout cf 4 1 1 1 0 2 .237 Schanuel 1b 4 0 1 1 0 1 .197 Ward dh 3 1 1 0 1 2 .278 Sano 3b 3 0 0 0 1 3 .281 Moniak lf 3 0 0 0 0 2 .135 b-Hicks ph-lf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .140 O’Hoppe c 4 1 2 1 0 0 .329 Adell rf 3 1 2 1 0 0 .314 Rengifo 2b 4 2 2 1 0 1 .297 Neto ss 3 1 2 2 0 0 .205 Totals 32 7 11 7 2 12 a-was announced for O’Hearn in 7th. b-was announced for Moniak in 7th. 2B: O’Hearn (3), Ward (4), O’Hoppe (3), Adell (1), Rengifo (5), Neto (5). HR: Henderson (7), Trout (9). RBI: Henderson 2 (17), O’Hearn 2 (8), Trout (12), Schanuel (7), O’Hoppe (8), Adell (6), Rengifo (6), Neto 2 (8). SB: Adell (3). SF: Henderson. Runners left in scoring position: Baltimore 3 (Santander, Mullins, Cowser), L.A. Angels 1 (Schanuel). RISP: Baltimore 1 for 7, L.A. Angels 5 for 10. DP: Baltimore 1. Baltimore IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Rodriguez L, 3-1 4.1 11 7 7 1 7 82 4.45 Tate 1.2 0 0 0 0 1 14 3.38 Akin 0.2 0 0 0 1 2 15 4.35 Ramirez 1.1 0 0 0 0 2 21 7.20 L.A. Angels IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Canning W, 1-3 5.0 5 3 3 2 4 85 7.50 Cimber 1.0 0 0 0 1 2 20 3.97 Moore 0.1 2 1 1 0 0 16 3.24 Garcia H, 2 1.2 1 0 0 0 3 27 3.48 Estevez S, 4 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 16 2.57 Inherited runners: Tate 1-1, Ramirez 1-1, Garcia 1-1. HBP: Adell. Umpires: HP-Jimenez, 1B-Barksdale, 2B-Morales, 3B-Lentz. T: 2:45. A: 22,803. San Francisco 5, N.Y. Mets 1 NYM ............ 000 000 001 — 1 9 0 San Fran...... 000 030 20x — 5 8 0 N.Y. Mets AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Nimmo cf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .193 Marte rf 4 0 3 0 0 0 .305 Lindor ss 4 0 0 0 0 2 .174 Alonso 1b 4 1 2 0 0 0 .264 Baty 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .268 Stewart dh 4 0 0 1 0 0 .190 McNeil lf 4 0 2 0 0 0 .257 Wendle 2b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .250 Narvaez c 4 0 1 0 0 1 .188 Totals 35 1 9 1 1 5 San Francisco AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Lee cf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .272 Wade Jr. 1b 3 0 1 1 0 1 .357 Soler dh 4 0 0 0 0 3 .239 Conforto lf 4 1 2 0 0 0 .281 Chapman 3b 4 1 1 0 0 1 .227 Bailey c 4 0 0 0 0 1 .298 Estrada 2b 3 2 2 1 0 0 .237 Yastrzemski rf 3 1 2 3 0 1 .208 Ahmed ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 .284 Totals 32 5 8 5 0 7 2B: Marte (4), Alonso (3), Narvaez (2), Wade Jr. (4). 3B: Estrada (1). RBI: Stewart (11), Wade Jr. (7), Estrada (12), Yastrzemski 3 (9). Runners left in scoring position: N.Y. Mets 4 (Nimmo, Lindor 2, Narvaez), San Francisco 2 (Soler, Bailey). RISP: N.Y. Mets 1 for 7, San Francisco 4 for 9. GIDP: Lindor. DP: San Francisco 1. N.Y. Mets IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Severino L, 2-2 6.0 5 3 3 0 5 91 2.67 Smith 1.0 3 2 2 0 0 25 2.70 Diekman 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 12 3.38 San Francisco IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Webb W, 3-1 8.0 6 0 0 1 4106 2.33 Rogers 0.1 3 1 1 0 0 14 3.38 Doval S, 4 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 5 3.52 Inherited runners: Doval 2-2. HBP: Wade Jr.. WP: Smith. Umpires: HP-Barrett, 1B-Ripperger, 2B-Ortiz, 3B-Marquez. T: 2:10. A: 25,453. Colorado 7, San Diego 4 San Diego . 202 000 000 — 4 12 2 Colorado .....010 510 00x — 7 13 0 San Diego AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Bogaerts 2b 4 1 1 0 1 0 .198 Tatis Jr. rf 5 1 2 0 0 1 .270 Cronenworth 1b 4 0 3 1 1 1 .264 Profar lf 4 0 0 1 0 2 .275 Kim ss 4 1 2 0 0 0 .228 Campusano c 4 1 1 1 0 0 .288 Merrill cf 3 0 2 1 1 0 .329 Pauley dh 4 0 0 0 0 3 .095 Wade 3b 2 0 1 0 0 0 .229 a-Rosario ph-3b 2 0 0 0 0 0 .265 Totals 36 4 12 4 3 7 Colorado AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Blackmon dh 5 1 1 0 0 2 .240 Tovar ss 5 0 2 1 0 1 .312 McMahon 3b 4 0 1 0 1 1 .311 Diaz c 4 1 1 0 1 1 .301 Montero 1b 4 1 3 1 1 0 .242 Jones lf 4 1 1 1 0 1 .148 Cave lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .238 Doyle cf 4 2 2 0 0 1 .313 Rodgers 2b 4 1 1 4 0 2 .197 Bouchard rf 3 0 1 0 1 0 .333 Totals 38 7 13 7 4 9 a-was announced for Wade in 6th. E: Rosario, Cronenworth. 2B: Campusano (7), Tovar (6), Diaz (3), Montero (2), Doyle (7). HR: Rodgers (1). RBI: Cronenworth (15), Profar (15), Campusano (14), Merrill (10), Tovar (12), Montero (4), Jones (7), Rodgers 4 (7). SB: Cronenworth (2). SB: Kim (7), Bouchard (1). SF: Profar. Runners left in scoring position: San Diego 3 (Tatis Jr., Profar, Campusano), Colorado 7 (Tovar, McMahon, Jones 2, Cave, Doyle, Bouchard). RISP: San Diego 3 for 6, Colorado 4 for 18. GIDP: Campusano. DP: Colorado 2. San Diego IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA King 3.2 8 6 4 3 5 83 4.11 Kolek 1.0 2 1 1 1 0 23 4.50 Morejon 2.1 2 0 0 0 3 36 1.35 Cosgrove 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 15 9.31 Colorado IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Feltner 4.0 10 4 4 2 4 93 5.68 Beeks 3.0 0 0 0 1 2 32 2.25 Bird H, 2 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 16 3.55 Lawrence 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 10 6.23 Inherited runners: Kolek 3-3, Morejon 2-2. IBB: King (1). Umpires: HP-Whitson, 1B-Miller, 2B-Moore, 3B-Eddings. A: 0. Seattle 4, Texas 0 Seattle ........202 000 000 — 4 6 0 Texas ...........000 000 000 — 0 3 1 Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Crawford ss 3 1 1 0 1 0 .198 Rodriguez cf 3 1 1 2 1 1 .278 Raleigh c 4 1 2 2 0 2 .271 Haniger rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .256 Polanco 2b 2 0 0 0 2 1 .169 France 1b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .254 Garver dh 3 0 0 0 1 2 .150 Raley lf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .205 Rojas 3b 4 1 1 0 0 0 .306 Totals 31 4 6 4 5 10 Texas AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Semien 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .267 Seager ss 3 0 0 0 1 0 .262 Carter lf 4 0 0 0 0 3 .200 Garcia rf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .315 Lowe 1b 4 0 2 0 0 0 .364 Smith 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .292 Langford dh 2 0 0 0 1 2 .235 Heim c 2 0 0 0 1 2 .257 Taveras cf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .211 Totals 29 0 3 0 4 9 E: Lowe. 2B: Crawford (1), Rojas (3), Lowe (1), Smith (5). HR: Rodriguez (1), Raleigh (6). RBI: Rodriguez 2 (10), Raleigh 2 (13). SB: Polanco (2). Runners left in scoring position: Seattle 3 (Raleigh, Haniger 2), Texas 3 (Lowe, Langford, Taveras). RISP: Seattle 3 for 8. GIDP: Haniger, Garver, Smith. DP: Seattle 1, Texas 2. Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Gilbert W, 2-0 6.2 2 0 0 4 6100 1.87 Stanek H, 3 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 4 2.16 Speier 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 11 1.04 Munoz 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 16 3.24 Texas IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Dunning L, 2-2 4.1 4 4 4 3 7 89 4.61 Urena 1.2 1 0 0 1 0 21 3.18 Latz 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 22 3.97 Leclerc 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 19 7.20 Winn 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 14 0.00 Inherited runners: Stanek 2-2, Urena 2-2. Umpires: HP-Carlson, 1B-Merzel, 2B-Baker, 3B-Gibson. T: 2:29. A: 27,295 (40,518). Arizona 14, St. Louis 1 Arizona.... 004 064 000 — 14 15 0 St. Louis...... 100 000 000 — 1 6 0 Arizona AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Marte 2b 5 2 1 0 1 1 .324 Moreno c 5 1 2 1 0 2 .262 Gurriel Jr. lf 5 3 3 1 0 2 .300 Walker 1b 4 2 2 3 1 0 .258 Suarez 3b 5 0 1 0 0 4 .244 Grichuk rf 3 2 1 1 1 0 .250 Smith dh 5 2 2 6 0 0 .200 Newman ss 5 1 1 2 0 1 .189 McCarthy cf 4 1 2 0 1 0 .300 Totals 41 14 15 14 4 10 St. Louis AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Donovan lf-3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .205 Contreras c 2 1 1 1 1 0 .292 Pages c 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Arenado 3b 2 0 1 0 0 0 .293 a-Crawford ph-ss 2 0 0 0 0 1 .077 Goldschmidt 1b 4 0 0 0 0 3 .186 Nootbaar rf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .216 Winn ss 2 0 0 0 0 1 .313 Burleson lf 1 0 1 0 1 0 .255 Gorman 2b 4 0 2 0 0 1 .195 Walker dh 3 0 0 0 0 1 .155 Siani cf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .167 Totals 32 1 6 1 2 8 a-grounded out for Arenado in 6th. 2B: Marte (8), Moreno (5), Gurriel Jr. (5), Smith (1), Gorman (4). HR: Walker (4), Smith (1), Newman (1), Contreras (3). RBI: Moreno (12), Gurriel Jr. (22), Walker 3 (16), Grichuk (7), Smith 6 (7), Newman 2 (7), Contreras (8). SB:Gorman (1). Runners left in scoring position: Arizona 1 (Gurriel Jr.), St. Louis 5 (Donovan 2, Contreras, Winn 2). RISP: Arizona 7 for 12. GIDP: Grichuk. DP: St. Louis 1. Arizona IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Henry W, 1-1 6.0 5 1 1 1 6 93 5.55 Allen S, 1 3.0 1 0 0 1 2 34 1.17 St. Louis IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Matz L, 1-2 4.1 6 7 7 3 4 92 5.55 Thompson 2.2 7 7 7 1 5 66 9.53 Robertson 2.0 2 0 0 0 1 24 0.00 Inherited runners: Thompson 2-0. HBP: Grichuk, Walker. Umpires: HP-Clemons, 1B-Reyburn, 2B-Miller, 3B-O’Nora. T: 2:37. A: 32,875 (44,383). Minnesota 6, Chicago White Sox 5 CWS.............000 300 020 —580 Minnesota...100 000 122 — 6 10 1 Chicago AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Lopez 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .203 Mendick 3b 5 2 2 0 0 1 .444 Sheets rf 2 1 1 0 1 1 .262 b-Grossman ph-rf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .178 Jimenez dh 3 2 2 3 1 1 .216 Vaughn 1b 3 0 1 0 1 1 .165 Benintendi lf 4 0 1 2 0 2 .163 DeJong ss 4 0 0 0 0 2 .216 Fletcher cf 2 0 0 0 0 2 .203 a-Pillar ph-cf 2 0 0 0 0 1 .150 Maldonado c 4 0 0 0 0 2 .048 Totals 34 5 8 5 3 13 Minnesota AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Kirilloff dh 5 0 1 1 0 4 .271 Julien 2b 4 1 0 0 0 2 .200 Larnach lf 4 2 2 2 0 0 .350 Kepler rf 4 0 1 1 0 2 .143 Buxton cf 4 2 3 1 0 0 .247 Castro ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 .169 Santana 1b 3 0 1 1 1 2 .149 d-Martin pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 .244 Farmer 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .073 c-Jeffers ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .258 Vazquez c 4 0 1 0 0 2 .150 Totals 36 6 10 6 1 14 a-was announced for Fletcher in 7th. b-was announced for Sheets in 8th. c-was announced for Farmer in 9th. d-ran for Santana in 9th. E: Lopez. 2B: Mendick (1), Sheets (6), Larnach (2), Buxton (7), Santana (2), Jeffers (5). HR: Jimenez (2), Larnach (2), Buxton (1). RBI: Jimenez 3 (6), Benintendi 2 (4), Kirilloff (5), Larnach 2 (6), Kepler (4), Buxton (10), Santana (3). SB: Mendick (1), Jimenez (1). Runners left in scoring position: Chicago 1 (Jimenez), Minnesota 3 (Castro 2, Farmer). RISP: Chicago 2 for 5, Minnesota 3 for 6. GIDP: DeJong. DP: Minnesota 1. Chicago IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Fedde 6.0 3 1 1 0 11 95 2.73 Leasure H, 3 1.0 2 1 1 0 0 20 1.93 Kopech H, 1 1.0 2 2 2 0 2 19 4.38 Wilson BS, 1 0.2 3 2 2 1 1 25 2.79 Minnesota IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Lopez 4.0 4 3 3 2 6 76 4.39 Funderburk 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 15 1.93 Sands 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 18 0.84 Okert 1.0 1 1 1 0 1 11 5.14 Jackson 2.0 2 1 1 1 4 41 4.97 Okert pitched to 1 batter in the 8th. Inherited runners: Jackson 1-0. HBP: Lopez. WP: Leasure. Umpires: HP-Bacchus, 1B-Diaz, 2B-Tomlinson, 3B-Estabrook. T: 2:46. A: 11,223 (38,544). Kansas City 3, Toronto 2 Toronto ........ 001 010 000 — 2 9 1 Kansas City.000 030 00x —380 Toronto AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Springer rf 5 1 3 0 0 1 .220 Guerrero Jr. 1b 5 0 0 0 0 2 .217 Bichette ss 4 0 1 0 1 0 .241 Turner dh 4 1 2 1 0 0 .310 Varsho lf-cf 3 0 1 0 1 1 .250 Schneider 2b-lf 3 0 1 0 0 1 .216 Kirk c 2 0 0 1 1 0 .172 b-Jansen pr-c 0 0 0 0 0 0 .214 Kiner-Falefa 3b 3 0 1 0 1 0 .262 Kiermaier cf 2 0 0 0 0 0 .193 Biggio 2b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .263 Totals 32 2 9 2 4 5 Kansas City AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Garcia 3b 3 1 2 0 1 0 .194 Witt Jr. ss 4 0 3 2 0 0 .316 Pasquantino 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .253 Perez c 4 0 1 0 0 0 .337 Melendez lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .219 Hampson lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .207 Frazier dh 3 0 1 0 0 0 .184 a-Velazquez ph-dh 1 0 0 0 0 1 .257 Blanco rf 3 0 0 0 0 1 .143 Massey 2b 3 1 1 0 0 0 .214 Isbel cf 3 1 0 0 0 0 .188 Totals 32 3 8 2 1 4 a-struck out for Frazier in 8th. b-ran for Kirk in 8th. E: Guerrero Jr.. 2B: Varsho (5), Witt Jr. (8), Perez (4), Frazier (2). RBI: Turner (12), Kirk (9), Witt Jr. 2 (10). SB: Varsho (3), Witt Jr. (5). SF: Kirk. S: Kiermaier. Runners left in scoring position: Toronto 6 (Guerrero Jr., Bichette, Kirk 2, Kiner-Falefa, Kiermaier), Kansas City 6 (Witt Jr., Pasquantino 3, Perez, Blanco). RISP: Toronto 2 for 10, Kansas City 1 for 13. GIDP: Guerrero Jr., Kiner-Falefa, Pasquantino. DP: Toronto 1, Kansas City 2. Toronto IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Gausman L, 0-3 6.2 7 3 0 1 2 99 5.57 Pearson 0.1 1 0 0 0 1 12 2.25 Mayza 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 12 7.27 Kansas City IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Wacha 4.1 8 2 2 3 4 96 3.81 Stratton W, 2-1 1.2 0 0 0 0 1 13 3.27 Schreiber H, 5 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 14 0.82 McArthur S, 5 2.0 1 0 0 1 0 20 3.09 Inherited runners: Pearson 1-1, Stratton 3-2. HBP: Schneider. Umpires: HP-Knight, 1B-MacKay, 2B-Additon, 3B-Guccione. T: 2:33. A: 11,357 (37,903). Chicago Cubs 7, Houston 2 Houston .......000 110 000 —261 CHC .............. 500 001 01x —760 Houston AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Altuve 2b 4 0 2 0 0 1 .357 Alvarez dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 .277 Tucker rf 3 1 2 0 1 1 .286 Bregman 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .203 Diaz c 4 0 1 1 0 1 .287 Pena ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 .330 McCormick lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .246 Abreu 1b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .065 Meyers cf 3 1 1 1 0 0 .227 Totals 33 2 6 2 1 5 Chicago AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Hoerner 2b 5 0 0 1 0 0 .272 Happ lf 3 1 1 0 1 1 .244 Bellinger cf 3 1 1 2 0 1 .226 Canario rf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .286 Busch 1b 4 0 0 0 0 3 .292 Morel 3b 2 1 0 0 2 0 .200 Madrigal 3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .231 Swanson ss 3 2 1 0 1 2 .235 Tauchman rf-cf 3 2 2 4 1 1 .283 Mervis dh 3 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Amaya c 2 0 1 0 2 0 .273 Totals 29 7 6 7 7 10 E: Diaz. 2B: Tucker (7), Diaz (4), Happ (5). HR: Meyers (3), Bellinger (5), Tauchman 2 (2). RBI:Diaz (10), Meyers (8), Hoerner (7), Bellinger 2 (17), Tauchman 4 (7). SB: Tauchman (1). SB: Hoerner (1). Runners left in scoring position: Houston 2 (Bregman, Pena), Chicago 3 (Happ 2, Busch). RISP: Houston 1 for 4, Chicago 2 for 6. Houston IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA France L, 0-3 5.0 5 5 5 4 6 96 7.46 Scott 1.0 0 1 0 2 1 31 2.38 Martinez 2.0 1 1 1 1 3 42 2.57 Chicago IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Wicks W, 1-2 6.0 5 2 2 0 4 86 4.70 Brown 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 7 3.72 Leiter Jr. 0.2 1 0 0 1 0 15 0.00 Almonte S, 1 1.1 0 0 0 0 1 13 3.60 Inherited runners: Almonte 2-2. WP: France. Umpires: HP-Fletcher, 1B-Muchlinski, 2B-Visconti, 3B-Thomas. T: 2:37. A: 30,643 (41,649). N.Y. Yankees 4, Oakland 3 Oakland........ 110 100 000 —370 NYY .............400 000 00x — 4 5 0 Oakland AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Ruiz cf 4 0 1 0 0 2 .350 Noda 1b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .167 a-Toro ph-3b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .232 Rooker dh 3 1 0 0 1 1 .178 Brown lf 4 0 1 1 0 1 .214 Nevin 3b-1b 4 0 2 0 0 1 .292 Gelof 2b 4 0 0 0 0 3 .196 Butler rf 4 1 1 1 0 2 .190 Langeliers c 4 1 1 1 0 0 .174 Allen ss 2 0 1 0 0 1 .190 b-Bleday ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .235 Schuemann ss 1 0 0 0 0 1 .100 Totals 34 3 7 3 2 13 N.Y. Yankees AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Volpe ss 3 0 1 0 0 0 .287 Soto rf 4 1 1 0 0 2 .319 Judge cf 3 1 1 0 0 0 .180 Stanton dh 4 1 1 2 0 1 .233 Rizzo 1b 3 1 1 2 0 1 .231 Torres 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .186 Verdugo lf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .247 Cabrera 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .278 Wells c 2 0 0 0 1 1 .086 Totals 28 4 5 4 1 5 a-grounded into a fielder’s choice for Noda in 7th. b-walked for Allen in 7th. 2B: Brown (3), Judge (6), Stanton (4). HR: Butler (2), Langeliers (5), Rizzo (2). RBI: Brown (5), Butler (5), Langeliers (11), Stanton 2 (12), Rizzo 2 (10). Runners left in scoring position: Oakland 4 (Noda 2, Nevin, Langeliers), N.Y. Yankees 1 (Stanton). RISP: N.Y. Yankees 2 for 4. GIDP: Soto. DP: Oakland 1. Oakland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Blackburn L, 2-1 6.0 5 4 4 0 5 98 2.03 McFarland 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 10 4.82 Adams 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 26 2.16 N.Y. Yankees IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Stroman W, 2-1 5.1 7 3 3 1 9 97 2.93 Marinaccio H, 1 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 22 1.80 Ferguson H, 4 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 14 5.59 Santana H, 1 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 7 5.06 Holmes S, 9 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 9 0.00 Inherited runners: Marinaccio 1-1, Ferguson 1-1. HBP: Volpe, Judge. WP: Stroman. Balk: Marinaccio (1). Umpires: HP-Tumpane, 1B-Mahrley, 2B-Hudson, 3B-Wendelstedt. T: 2:29. A: 30,060 (46,537). L.A. Dodgers 4, Washington 1 LAD ..............000 001 021 — 4 9 0 Washington . 010 000 000 —171 L.A. Dodgers AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Betts 2b 5 0 1 0 0 0 .347 Ohtani dh 4 1 1 1 1 0 .364 Freeman 1b 4 0 2 0 1 0 .297 Smith c 4 0 0 0 1 1 .329 Hernandez rf-lf 4 2 1 0 1 2 .258 Muncy 3b 2 0 0 0 2 1 .225 Hernandez lf 3 0 1 1 0 0 .208 a-Outman ph-cf 1 1 1 1 0 0 .191 Pages cf-rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .182 Rojas ss 4 0 2 1 0 0 .281 Totals 35 4 9 4 6 4 Washington AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Abrams ss 5 0 3 0 0 1 .316 Thomas rf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .184 Rosario rf 1 0 0 0 1 0 .120 Winker lf 4 0 0 0 1 1 .310 Meneses 1b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .224 Adams c 3 0 0 0 1 0 .273 Vargas 3b 3 1 1 0 1 0 .297 Senzel dh 3 0 0 0 1 2 .182 Garcia Jr. 2b 3 0 1 0 1 0 .318 Young cf 3 0 1 1 0 1 .267 b-Gallo ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .143 Totals 31 1 7 1 8 5 a-was announced for Hernandez in 8th. b-was announced for Young in 9th. E: Young. 2B: Freeman (7), Outman (3), Vargas (4). HR: Ohtani (6). RBI: Ohtani (14), Hernandez (5), Outman (8), Rojas (5), Young (3). SB: Abrams (2), Senzel (1). SB: Hernandez (2), Rojas (1), Thomas (11). Runners left in scoring position: L.A. Dodgers 6 (Betts, Ohtani, Smith 2, Hernandez, Pages), Washington 5 (Thomas, Winker 2, Meneses, Adams). RISP: L.A. Dodgers 3 for 10, Washington 3 for 9. GIDP: Pages. DP: Washington 1. L.A. Dodgers IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Paxton 4.2 5 1 1 3 1 89 2.61 Grove 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 18 6.00 Vesia 1.1 1 0 0 0 1 16 2.19 Hudson H, 5 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 27 2.45 Phillips 1.0 1 0 0 3 2 32 0.93 Washington IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Corbin 5.1 3 0 0 3 3 86 6.51 Law BS, 1 0.1 2 1 1 1 0 11 4.26 Weems 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 11 2.16 Harvey 1.0 2 2 2 1 0 37 3.75 Barnes 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 7 0.00 Barnes 1.0 1 1 1 0 1 17 3.86 Inherited runners: Grove 2-2, Vesia 1-1, Weems 2-2, Harvey 1-1, Barnes 1-0. WP: Paxton. Umpires: HP-Rackley, 1B-Vanover, 2B-Walsh, 3B-Segal. T: 3:10. A: 27,806 (41,380). Detroit 4, Tampa Bay 2 Detroit........ 001 000 030 —463 Tampa Bay ..000 002 000 —270 Detroit AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Greene dh 3 2 2 3 1 0 .247 Perez rf 3 0 1 0 1 0 .304 Canha 1b 4 1 2 1 0 0 .260 Carpenter lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .293 Vierling 3b 2 0 0 0 0 1 .258 a-McKinstry ph-3b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 c-Kennedy ph-3b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .333 Baez ss 4 0 0 0 0 2 .192 Keith 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .165 Meadows cf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .086 Kelly c 3 1 1 0 0 0 .205 Totals 32 4 6 4 2 6 Tampa Bay AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Diaz 1b 3 0 1 0 1 0 .225 Palacios lf-rf 3 0 0 0 0 1 .286 Rosario rf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .346 Siri cf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .178 Arozarena cf-lf 4 1 1 0 0 0 .154 Paredes 3b 4 1 2 2 0 1 .274 Ramirez dh 4 0 2 0 0 1 .256 Rortvedt c 4 0 1 0 0 2 .316 Mead 2b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .226 b-Shenton ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .143 Caballero ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 .269 Totals 34 2 7 2 1 8 a-was hit by a pitch for Vierling in 7th. b-struck out for Mead in 9th. c-lined out for McKinstry in 8th. E: Baez, Kelly, Keith. 2B: Canha (6). HR: Greene 2 (5), Canha (5), Paredes (6). RBI: Greene 3 (11), Canha (12), Paredes 2 (16). SB: Perez (1), Ramirez (1). SB: Baez (6), Ramirez (3), Caballero (8). Runners left in scoring position: Detroit 2 (Carpenter, Meadows), Tampa Bay 4 (Palacios, Rosario, Arozarena, Mead). GIDP: Arozarena. DP: Detroit 1. Detroit IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Maeda 5.0 3 0 0 0 5 88 5.96 Faedo W, 1-1 BS, 2 2.0 3 2 2 1 1 28 2.87 Lange H, 1 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 20 1.08 Foley S, 7 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 9 0.00 Tampa Bay IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Pepiot 6.0 3 1 1 2 4 80 3.77 Maton H, 7 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 18 6.97 Poche L, 0-1 BS, 2 1.0 3 3 3 0 0 13 6.75 Kelly 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 8 5.40 HBP: McKinstry. Umpires: HP-Dreckman, 1B-Blakney, 2B-Barber, 3B-Porter. T: 2:20. A: 13,648 (25,025). Atlanta 5, Miami 0 Miami..........000 000 000 —031 Atlanta.......020 003 00x — 5 10 1 Miami AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Arraez 2b 4 0 2 0 0 1 .284 De La Cruz lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .262 Bell dh 3 0 0 0 0 0 .187 Garcia rf 3 0 0 0 0 1 .229 Chisholm Jr. cf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .247 Anderson ss 3 0 0 0 0 1 .241 Rivera 1b 3 0 1 0 0 2 .233 Lopez 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .154 Fortes c 3 0 0 0 0 0 .109 Totals 29 0 3 0 0 6 Atlanta AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Acuna Jr. rf 4 0 1 0 1 0 .291 Arcia ss 5 0 0 0 0 1 .317 Riley 3b 3 1 1 0 0 1 .253 Olson 1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .212 Ozuna dh 3 2 1 0 1 2 .326 d’Arnaud c 3 0 2 1 0 1 .293 Duvall lf 4 2 2 2 0 0 .216 Harris II cf 4 0 2 1 0 0 .315 Fletcher 2b 2 0 1 1 0 0 .250 a-Kelenic ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .319 Guillorme 2b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .188 Totals 33 5 10 5 2 6 a-struck out for Fletcher in 8th. E: Lopez, Riley. 2B: Acuna Jr. (5), d’Arnaud (6), Harris II (4). HR: Duvall (2). RBI: d’Arnaud (15), Duvall 2 (8), Harris II (11), Fletcher (2). SB: Harris II (5). SF: d’Arnaud, Fletcher. Runners left in scoring position: Miami 1 (Garcia), Atlanta 6 (Acuna Jr. 2, Arcia 2, Olson, Harris II). RISP: Atlanta 1 for 11. GIDP: Bell, Lopez. DP: Atlanta 2. Miami IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Rogers L, 0-3 5.2 7 5 3 1 4 84 4.10 Bender 1.1 1 0 0 0 1 20 7.20 Cronin 1.0 2 0 0 1 1 16 1.93 Atlanta IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Fried W, 2-0 9.0 3 0 0 0 6 92 4.97 Inherited runners: Bender 1-1. HBP: Riley. Umpires: HP-Drake, 1B-Parra, 2B-Libka, 3B-Hoye. T: 1:54. A: 33,533 (41,184). Cincinnati 8, Philadelphia 1 Philadelphia 100 000 000 — 1 5 3 Cincinnati .....104 020 01x — 8 9 1 Philadelphia AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Schwarber dh 4 0 0 0 1 3 .200 Turner ss 4 0 0 0 0 2 .327 Realmuto c 4 1 1 0 0 0 .232 Bohm 1b 4 0 2 1 0 0 .305 Castellanos rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .184 Merrifield 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .143 Pache lf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .154 Sosa 3b 2 0 0 0 1 0 .250 Rojas cf 3 0 1 0 1 1 .267 Totals 32 1 5 1 4 7 Cincinnati AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Fairchild cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .229 Steer lf 5 1 0 0 0 0 .277 Stephenson c 4 1 1 0 1 1 .193 Candelario 3b 3 0 0 0 1 1 .188 Encarnacion-Strand 1b 4 2 3 2 0 0 .216 De La Cruz ss 3 2 1 2 1 1 .295 Martini dh 4 1 0 0 0 2 .196 Espinal 2b 4 1 3 2 0 0 .178 Benson rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .189 Totals 35 8 9 6 3 6 E: Sosa, Pache, Bohm, Candelario. 2B: Realmuto (2), Bohm 2 (7), Encarnacion-Strand (6). HR: De La Cruz (7), Espinal (1). RBI: Bohm (19), Encarnacion-Strand 2 (16), De La Cruz 2 (17), Espinal 2 (7). SB: De La Cruz (12). Runners left in scoring position: Philadelphia 5 (Schwarber, Realmuto 2, Castellanos, Pache), Cincinnati 3 (De La Cruz 2, Benson). RISP: Philadelphia 1 for 9, Cincinnati 3 for 6. GIDP: Pache. DP: Cincinnati 1. Philadelphia IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Sanchez L, 1-3 3.0 4 5 1 3 3 74 2.96 Marte 2.0 4 2 2 0 1 33 2.31 Kerkering 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0.00 Strahm 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 12 1.86 Pinto 1.0 1 1 1 0 1 12 10.97 Cincinnati IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Abbott 4.1 2 1 1 4 3 79 2.60 Cruz W, 1-1 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 6 1.86 Farmer 2.0 1 0 0 0 1 29 3.55 Pagan 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 8 3.60 Moll 1.0 2 0 0 0 2 15 0.00 Inherited runners: Cruz 3-3. HBP: Sosa, Fairchild. WP: Sanchez 2. Umpires: HP-Cuzzi, 1B-Randazzo, 2B-Tosi, 3B-Bellino. T: 2:37. A: 13,653 (45,814). Pittsburgh 2, Milwaukee 1 Milwaukee .. 000 000 010 — 1 3 0 Pittsburgh ... 100 001 00x —270 Milwaukee AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Chourio rf 3 0 0 0 0 3 .218 b-Bauers ph-rf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .167 Contreras dh 3 0 0 0 1 0 .341 Adames ss 4 0 0 0 0 3 .287 Hoskins 1b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .213 Perkins cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .309 Ortiz 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .279 Sanchez c 3 1 1 1 0 0 .167 Wiemer lf 2 0 1 0 0 1 .200 c-Frelick ph-lf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .278 Turang 2b 2 0 1 0 1 1 .319 Totals 29 1 3 1 3 11 Pittsburgh AB R H BI BB SO Avg. McCutchen dh 4 1 2 1 0 1 .233 Reynolds rf 3 1 1 0 1 0 .261 Hayes 3b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .277 Tellez 1b 2 0 0 0 0 1 .197 a-Joe ph-1b 2 0 1 1 0 1 .299 Suwinski lf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .176 Triolo 2b 2 0 0 0 1 0 .221 Cruz ss 3 0 1 0 0 0 .237 Bart c 3 0 1 0 0 2 .316 Taylor cf 3 0 0 0 0 0 .267 Totals 29 2 7 2 2 6 a-singled for Tellez in 6th. b-struck out for Chourio in 8th. c-struck out for Wiemer in 8th. HR: Sanchez (2), McCutchen (3). RBI: Sanchez (3), McCutchen (7), Joe (13). SB: Triolo (1). SB: Turang 2 (12). Runners left in scoring position: Milwaukee 3 (Contreras, Adames 2), Pittsburgh 2 (Cruz, Taylor). RISP: Pittsburgh 1 for 5. GIDP: Perkins, Hayes. DP: Milwaukee 1, Pittsburgh 1. Milwaukee IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Myers L, 0-1 5.0 4 1 1 1 4 83 1.80 Koenig 2.0 3 1 1 0 1 28 1.59 Uribe 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 13 3.97 Pittsburgh IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Falter W, 2-1 7.0 3 1 1 2 8 85 3.33 Holderman H, 2 1.0 0 0 0 1 2 19 1.69 Bednar S, 4 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 11 9.00 Falter pitched to 1 batter in the 8th. WP: Myers. Umpires: HP-Vondrak, 1B-Wegner, 2B-Hanahan, 3B-Rehak. T: 2:14. A: 9,107 (38,747). Cleveland 4, Boston 1 Boston......... 000 000 100 — 1 6 0 Cleveland.... 000 000 22x — 4 7 0 Boston AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Rafaela ss-3b 4 0 0 0 0 3 .154 Duran cf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .270 O’Neill dh 4 0 1 0 0 2 .308 Abreu lf 4 1 1 1 0 1 .278 Refsnyder rf 3 0 3 0 0 0 .438 Valdez 2b 3 0 0 0 0 2 .152 Wong c-1b 3 0 1 0 0 0 .320 Dalbec 1b 2 0 0 0 0 0 .031 b-McGuire ph-c 1 0 0 0 0 1 .250 Reyes 3b 2 0 0 0 0 1 .167 e-Yoshida ph 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 d-Hamilton pr-ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 .182 Totals 30 1 6 1 0 12 Cleveland AB R H BI BB SO Avg. Kwan lf 2 0 0 0 2 0 .351 Gimenez 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .279 Ramirez 3b 4 1 1 1 0 0 .240 Naylor 1b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .321 Brennan rf 3 1 2 0 0 0 .246 c-Laureano ph-rf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .174 Freeman cf 3 2 1 1 1 0 .222 Florial dh 3 0 1 1 1 2 .243 Naylor c 2 0 0 0 0 0 .179 a-Fry ph-c 0 0 0 0 2 0 .303 Rocchio ss 3 0 1 1 0 1 .209 Totals 29 4 7 4 6 6 a-walked for Naylor in 7th. b-struck out for Dalbec in 8th. c-struck out for Brennan in 8th. d-ran for Yoshida in 8th. e-was hit by a pitch for Reyes in 8th. 2B: Refsnyder (4), Brennan (3), Florial (2). HR: Abreu (2), Ramirez (4). RBI: Abreu (8), Ramirez (19), Freeman (12), Florial (6), Rocchio (4). SB: Refsnyder (1), Wong (2). SB: Freeman (3). SF: Rocchio. Runners left in scoring position: Boston 1 (Dalbec), Cleveland 4 (Gimenez 2, Naylor, Rocchio). RISP: Cleveland 1 for 7. GIDP: Valdez, Gimenez. DP: Boston 1, Cleveland 1. Boston IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Houck L, 3-2 6.0 5 2 2 3 4 91 1.65 Bernardino 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 14 1.08 Booser 1.0 2 2 2 2 2 24 9.00 Cleveland IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA Lively 6.1 5 1 1 0 7 89 2.38 Barlow W, 1-2 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 6 4.09 Gaddis H, 6 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 14 0.00 Clase S, 7 1.0 0 0 0 0 3 13 0.75 Houck pitched to 3 batters in the 7th. Inherited runners: Bernardino 2-1, Barlow 1-1. HBP: Yoshida. IBB: Booser (1). Umpires: HP-Beck, 1B-Iassogna, 2B-Barry, 3B-Ballou. T: 2:18. A: 13,543 (34,830). TUESDAY’S BOX SCORES Braves pitcher Max Fried delivers against the Marlins during the ninth inning at Truist Park. DALE ZANINE/USA TODAY SPORTS Angels center fielder Mike Trout (27) rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Orioles. GARY A. VASQUEZ/USA TODAY SPORTS

6NS | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024 | SPORTS EXTRA - USA TODAY NETWORK NHL PLAYOFFS Carter Verhaeghe scored on a backhander 2:59 into overtime as the Florida Panthers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 in Game 2 of a first-round Eastern Conference playoff series at Sunrise, Fla. The Panthers lead the best-of-seven series 2-0. Game 3 is set for Thursday night in Tampa. Florida won its 11th consecutive playoff overtime game, eight of those since the start of the 2023 postseason. Sam Bennett and Verhaeghe each had a goal and an assist, Vladimir Tarasenko also scored and Matthew Tkachuk had two assists for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves for the victory. Bennett left the game in the second period due to an upper-body injury, and he did not return. Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos scored for Tampa Bay, and Victor Hedman added two assists. Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 34 saves. Florida opened the scoring 6:16 into the first period. Bennett, skating on the right wing, started the play by centering a pass just before looping around behind the net. As that was happening, Tkachuk drove to the net only to be pushed from behind by Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel. Tkachuk crashed into Vasilevskiy as the puck fell to Bennett, who scored on a backhander into the open right side of the net. The Panthers finished the first period up 2-0 thanks in part to a tripping penalty on Tampa Bay’s Mitchell Chaffee, who clipped Eetu Luostarinen. From there, the Panthers scored with their second power-play unit. Oliver Ekman Larsson started the sequence with a shot from the point. Bennett dug out the rebound and made a quick pass just a few feet to his right, where Tarasenko was wide open for the goal. Tampa Bay got on the board 48 seconds into the second period. Anthony Duclair, a former Panthers forward, earned the primary assist as his shot from just beyond the right circle deflected in off the right leg of Point, who was battling Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad for position in front of the net. PANTHERS 3, LIGHTNING 2 (OT) Panthers maintain OT excellence, down Lightning FIELD LEVEL MEDIA Panthers center Carter Verhaeghe celebrates with left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) after an overtime win against the Lightning in Game 2. SAM NAVARRO/USA TODAY SPORTS Anthony Beauvillier and Filip Forsberg each collected one goal and one assist to pace the visiting Nashville Predators to a 4-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday and even their Western Conference first-round playoff series at one win apiece. Colton Sissons and Kiefer Sherwood also scored for the Predators. Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros made 17 saves, including a few highlight-reel efforts while the Canucks pushed frantically in the third period to draw even. Collectively, Nashville’s skaters also blocked 30 Vancouver shot attempts. Nikita Zadorov had the Canucks’ lone goal. Casey DeSmith, who was in net with No. 1 goalie Thatcher Demko out due to an injury, stopped 12 of the 15 shots he faced. Vancouver was also without towering defenseman Tyler Myers. Game 3 of the best-of-seven series will be Friday in Nashville. Beauvillier opened the scoring only 74 seconds into the clash, the second time in as many games the Predators scored first. Forsberg sent a long shot that Beauvillier deflected into the cage on the game’s first shot on net. Forsberg doubled the lead at 6:29 of the second period by showing off his quick hands from in close on a golden chance he created by driving to the net. Sissons tallied 95 later to stake the Predators to a 3-0 edge. Taking advantage of a turnover at the Vancouver blue line, Sissons pounced on a rebound after Beauvillier’s shot was denied. PREDATORS 4, CANUCKS 1 Predators defenseman Luke Schenn (2) checks Canucks forward Dakota Joshua (81) during the third period in Game 2. BOB FRID/USA TODAY SPORTS Defense carries Preds to victory in Game 2 FIELD LEVEL MEDIA Jack Roslovic and K’Andre Miller scored on special teams 4:26 apart in the second period and the host New York Rangers hung on for a 4-3 victory over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday in Game 2 of an Eastern Conference first-round playoff series. The Rangers lead the best-of-seven series 2-0 heading into Game 3 on Friday in Washington. As was the case in New York’s 4-1 win on Sunday, the Rangers took control in the second period, but this time they had to survive a shaky final 10 minutes. With eight seconds left on a crosschecking penalty to Washington defenseman John Carlson, Roslovic snapped a 2-2 tie with 7:34 remaining in the middle frame. Roslovic cut to the left faceoff circle and got a pass from defenseman Erik Gustafsson. Roslovic finished off the play by lifting a hard snap shot over Washington goaltender Charlie Lindgren as the puck clanged off the crossbar and in. While the Rangers were killing off a delay-of-game penalty on Gustafsson, New York’s Chris Kreider stole the puck from Alex Ovechkin near the neutral zone and passed to Mika Zibanejad. Miller jumped into the rush in between the circles and one-timed Zibanejad’s pass over Lindgren. With 8:15 remaining in the third period, Tom Wilson deflected a shot by Hendrix Lapierre to get Washington within 4-3. New York’s Vincent Trocheck and Zibanejad netted goals in the first period. Alexis Lafreniere and Gustafsson collected two assists apiece. Wilson finished with a goal and an assist while Connor McMichael and Dylan Strome also scored for the Capitals. New York goalie Igor Shesterkin made 22 saves, including a stop on Martin Fehervary shortly after Washington tied the game in the second. Lindgren allowed four goals on 27 shots. Washington opened the scoring 5:09 into the game after New York defenseman Ryan Lindgren fumbled the puck in the slot trying to pry it from T.J. Oshie. McMichael gained possession and lifted the puck over Shesterkin for his first career postseason goal. Nearly three minutes later, the Rangers converted a faceoff win by Trocheck into the game-tying goal. After winning the offensive zone faceoff from Lapierre, Trocheck cut to the crease and easily redirected Gustafsson’s pass from near the blue line over Charlie Lindgren. RANGERS 4, CAPITALS 3 Special teams lift Rangers to 2-0 edge over Capitals FIELD LEVEL MEDIA Vincent Trocheck of the Rangers celebrates his first-period goal against Charlie Lindgren (79) of the Capitals in Game 2 at Madison Square Garden. BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES Alexandar Georgiev made 28 saves and the visiting Colorado Avalanche beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 in Game 2 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series on Tuesday. The Avalanche evened the best-of-seven series 1-1. Game 3 is in Colorado on Friday. Artturi Lehkonen had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, who rallied from a 2-1 deficit with three goals in the final 5:44 of the second period. Georgiev bounced back after allowing seven goals on 23 shots in a Game 1 loss. David Gustafsson and Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets, and Connor Hellebuyck made 27 saves. Gustafsson gave the Jets a 1-0 lead at 3:15 of the first period. His tip-in attempt off Brenden Dillon’s shot was blocked by Georgiev, but during the ensuing scramble, Gustafsson knocked in the loose puck. Miles Wood tied it 1-1 at 1:59 of the second period, scoring on a one-timer from the left circle off a faceoff win by Ross Colton. Shortly after Wood tied it, the Jets killed off a four-minute Avalanche power play to keep the score tied. Scheifele gave the Jets a 2-1 lead at 8:37. Gabriel Vilardi entered the zone 2- on-1 and passed across the ice to Scheifele, who extended his stick with one hand and redirected the puck past Georgiev. AVALANCHE 5, JETS 2 Jets forward Mark Scheifele (55) scores on Avalanche goalie Alexander Georgiev (40) during the second period in Game 2. TERRENCE LEE/USA TODAY SPORTS Avalanche get even with Jets in Game 2 FIELD LEVEL MEDIA Florida 3, Tampa Bay 2 (OT) Tampa Bay 0 2 0 0 — 2 Florida 2 0 0 1 — 3 First Period—1, Florida, Bennett 1 (Tkachuk, Verhaeghe), 6:16. 1, Florida, Tarasenko 1 (Bennett, Ekman-Larsson), 15:12. Penalties—Tampa Bay bench, served by Eyssimont (Delay of Game), 6:16. Bennett, FLA (Cross-checking), 8:57. Chaffee, TB (Tripping), 13:16. Second Period—1, Tampa Bay, Point 1 (Duclair, Hedman), 0:48. 1, Tampa Bay, Stamkos 2 (Hedman, Kucherov), 5:46. Penalties—Verhaeghe, FLA (Goaltender Interference), 5:14. Cernak, TB (Hooking), 7:58. Tarasenko, FLA (Interference), 8:44. Third Period—None. Penalties—Luostarinen, FLA (High-sticking), 0:31. Paul, TB (Interference), 8:04. Verhaeghe, FLA (Slashing), 8:08. Overtime—1, Florida, Verhaeghe 2 (Lundell, Tkachuk), 2:59. Penalties—None. Shots on Goal—Tampa Bay 3-15-5-0—23. Florida 13-14-7-3—37. Power-play opportunities—Tampa Bay 1 of 6; Florida 1 of 4. Goalies—Tampa Bay, Vasilevskiy 0-2-0 (37 shots-34 saves). Florida, Bobrovsky 2-0-0 (23-21). A—19,484 (19,250). N.Y. Rangers 4, Washington 3 Washington 1 1 1 — 3 N.Y. Rangers 2 2 0 — 4 First Period—1, Washington, McMichael 1, 5:09. 1, N.Y. Rangers, Trocheck 1 (Gustafsson), 7:56. 1, N.Y. Rangers, Zibanejad 1 (Trocheck, Lafreniere), 14:28. Penalties—Trouba, NYR (Interference), 10:26. Aube-Kubel, WAS (Hooking), 13:02. Oshie, WAS (Holding), 15:57. Kreider, NYR (Cross-checking), 16:25. Second Period—1, Washington, Strome 1 (Wilson, Pacioretty), 4:14. 1, N.Y. Rangers, Roslovic 1 (Gustafsson, Lafreniere), 12:26. 1, N.Y. Rangers, Miller 1 (Zibanejad, Kreider), 16:52. Penalties—Rempe, NYR (Roughing), 3:44. Fehervary, WAS (Interference), 4:34. Carlson, WAS (Cross-checking), 10:34. Gustafsson, NYR (Delay of Game), 15:40. Third Period—1, Washington, Wilson 1 (Lapierre, Carlson), 11:45. Penalties—McMichael, WAS (Roughing), 6:47. Dowd, WAS (Roughing), 9:30. N.Y. Rangers (Too many men), 10:51. Shots on Goal—Washington 7-9-9—25. N.Y. Rangers 12-7-8—27. Power-play opportunities—Washington 2 of 5; N.Y. Rangers 2 of 6. Goalies—Washington, Lindgren 0-2-0 (27 shots-23 saves). N.Y. Rangers, Shesterkin 2-0-0 (25-22). A—18,006 (18,200). Colorado 5, Winnipeg 2 Colorado 0 4 1 — 5 Winnipeg 1 1 0 — 2 First Period—1, Winnipeg, Gustafsson 1 (Dillon, Pionk), 3:15. Penalties—Colton, COL (Goaltender Interference), 8:34. Jones, COL (Tripping), 12:56. Niederreiter, WPG (Hooking), 14:23. Second Period—1, Colorado, Wood 2 (Colton), 1:59. 1, Winnipeg, Scheifele 2 (Vilardi, Connor), 8:37. 1, Colorado, Lehkonen 2 (Makar, Toews), 14:16. 1, Colorado, Parise 1 (Cogliano), 17:20. 1, Colorado, Manson 1 (MacKinnon, Lehkonen), 19:53. Penalties—Connor, WPG (High-sticking), 4:05. Manson, COL (Roughing), 17:48. Vilardi, WPG (Roughing), 17:48. Third Period—1, Colorado, Nichushkin 2, 19:03. Penalties—Duhaime, COL (Roughing), 8:54. Stanley, WPG (Roughing), 8:54. Duhaime, COL (Interference), 12:25. Shots on Goal—Colorado 15-14-3—32. Winnipeg 12-10-8—30. Power-play opportunities—Colorado 0 of 3; Winnipeg 0 of 3. Goalies—Colorado, Georgiev 1-1-0 (30 shots-28 saves). Winnipeg, Hellebuyck 1-1-0 (31-27). A—15,225 (15,294). Nashville 4, Vancouver 1 Nashville 1 2 1 — 4 Vancouver 0 1 0 — 1 First Period—1, Nashville, Beauvillier 1 (Forsberg), 1:14. Penalties—Sissons, NSH (Slashing), 5:27. Nashville bench, served by Evangelista (Too Many Men), 7:42. Juulsen, VAN (Interference), 14:42. McDonagh, NSH (Holding), 19:14. Second Period—1, Nashville, Forsberg 1 (Nyquist), 6:29. 1, Nashville, Sissons 1 (Beauvillier, Zucker), 8:04. 1, Vancouver, Zadorov 1 (Cole, Di Giuseppe), 15:33. Penalties—Juulsen, VAN (Slashing), 2:36. Zucker, NSH (Slashing), 17:36. Third Period—1, Nashville, Sherwood 1, 18:07. Penalties—Hughes, VAN (Tripping), 15:01. Zadorov, VAN (Roughing), 18:30. Shots on Goal—Nashville 4-8-4—16. Vancouver 4-8-6—18. Power-play opportunities—Nashville 0 of 4; Vancouver 0 of 4. Goalies—Nashville, Saros 1-1-0 (18 shots-17 saves). Vancouver, DeSmith 0-1-0 (15-12).

SPORTS EXTRA - USA TODAY NETWORK | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024 | 7NS NHL PLAYOFFS Star forward Auston Matthews made his presence felt to help the Toronto Maple Leafs capture a road split of the first two contests of their Eastern Conference first-round series against the Boston Bruins. Matthews and the Maple Leafs will look to ride that momentum into Game 3 on Wednesday when the best-of-seven series shifts to Toronto. The 2021-22 Hart Trophy recipient was held in check during the series opener before scoring the go-ahead goal in the third period in Toronto’s 3-2 victory on Monday. Matthews also notched two assists, recorded eight shots, delivered six hits and won 69.6 percent of his faceoffs (16 of 23) in 23 minutes and 24 seconds of ice time. “Auston, a goal and two assists and he’s all over the stat sheet tonight in so many regards,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “He’s affecting the game positively for us. But to me, just the way he worked. He competed, he was hard. Physical. Winning puck battles all over the ice.” Maple Leafs captain John Tavares, who scored a power-play goal late in the second period, also was quick to give Matthews praise. “He’s just world class, everything he does,” Tavares said of Matthews, who erupted for a career-high 69 goals during the regular season. “When you see the drive every single day, and the passion for the game, and wanting to be such a difference-maker night in and night out. “At this time of year to have the night like he did was massive for our group. It puts us back on level terms going home, so big win for us and he certainly led the way.” Matthews slipped behind Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy to score on a breakaway with 7:54 remaining in the game to give Toronto a 3-2 lead on Monday. The Maple Leafs held on to snap an eight-game losing skid to the Bruins. “It’s an important time of year for our team,” Matthews said. “These moments obviously are emotional. I’m really happy about the win. Going home split 1-1, we’ve got to continue to stay focused.” David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie each scored a goal on Monday for the Bruins. “Next game you try to focus, don’t focus on home or away, obviously the home fans help a lot, but at the same time you have to maintain the focus and focus on your game,” Pastrnak said, per the Boston Globe. “So, we’ll regroup and it’ll get better.” Linus Ullmark allowed three goals on 33 shots after Jeremy Swayman turned aside 35 of 36 shots in Boston’s 5-1 win in the series opener on Saturday. “No second guesses. (Ullmark) was terrific. He made multiple, big-time saves,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “It’s a strength of our team. Both of them played really well, right? We only scored two goals.” Toronto’s William Nylander has missed the first two games of this series after sustaining an undisclosed injury in the team’s regular-season finale last Wednesday. The availability for Game 3 is unknown for Nylander, who recorded career highs in assists (58) and points (98) to go along with his second straight 40-goal season. “Obviously no update today, because not much happening for us here today except for getting ready to travel. But he’s a possibility for us tomorrow, I guess, is all we would say,” Keefe said Tuesday. The Bruins will be without defenseman Andrew Peeke, who won’t make the trip and is considered week-to-week after taking a puck to his left hand in Game 2. Leafs focused on Game 3 after split in Boston FIELD LEVEL MEDIA Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34) skates against Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm during the second period in Game 2. BRIAN FLUHARTY/USA TODAY SPORTS The Dallas Stars no longer own home-ice advantage after dropping the opener of their best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series 4-3 against the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights on Monday. Despite the turn of events, there was no sense of panic among coach Peter DeBoer’s squad as the Stars head into Game 2 on Wednesday at Dallas. The Stars have been in this position before. Twice last season, en route to the Western Conference final, Dallas overcame an early series deficit. Dallas bounced back from home overtime losses in Game 1 to defeat both the Minnesota Wild in six games and the Seattle Kraken in seven games before falling to the Golden Knights in the 2023 Western Conference final. “Been here before,” said Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger, who stopped just 11 of 15 shots in Game 1. “It’s not the end of the world. Not an ideal start, but everyone is going to look at our game and try and be better. It starts with me. Try and be better and go from here.” Said DeBoer: “It’s all about your response. If you’re going to win this time of year, you’ve got to respond.” There were some positives for Dallas, which finished as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference with 113 points. After falling behind 3-2 in the first period, the Stars clamped down defensively, allowing just a Brayden McNabb goal the rest of the way. Dallas, which had a first-period goal wiped away after a coaches’ challenge for offsides, outshot the Golden Knights 29-15, including 19-7 over the final two periods. “I definitely felt like we were getting to our game the second half of the game,” said Stars forward Mason Marchment, who scored to make it 4-3 midway through the third period. “It’s going to be a good battle. This series is a long ways from over. We’ve got a lot of believers in this group and no quit here.” It was a storybook start for Vegas, which scored on two of its first three shots. Captain Mark Stone, playing for the first time since a lacerated spleen on Feb. 20, scored a power-play goal on a deflection after Dallas center Sam Steel was whistled for a high-sticking penalty just 26 seconds into the game. “I was actually pretty nervous before the game,” Stone said. “Haven’t played hockey in a while, but once you get into the flow of things, you remember why you do it. That was awesome. Rest and get ready for Wednesday. We’ve got to bring our A-game because they’re going to be coming.” It was Stone’s 35th career playoff goal, 30 of which have come with the Golden Knights. Vegas finished 2-for-2 on the power play while Dallas finished 0-for-2. “It was a pretty tightly contested game,” Stone said. “I think the difference in the game was special teams. Did a good job on the power play … and killed penalties and stayed with it.” Stars in familiar territory heading into Game 2 FIELD LEVEL MEDIA Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger reacts to giving up a third goal to the Golden Knights during the first period in Game 1. JEROME MIRON/USA TODAY SPORTS The Los Angeles Kings will not even bother trying to fool themselves: The Edmonton Oilers were the superior team en route to claiming a 7-4 victory in the opener of their Western Conference first-round playoff series. With Game 2 coming Wednesday in Edmonton, the Kings expect the biggest difference to be their own performance. “It’s a seven-game series, and you have to win the first to four. We’re down 1-0, but we can easily win and make it 1-1 next game,” Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. “We have to put it behind us and learn from what we did wrong and fix what we did wrong and bring it into the next game. That’s not our model. That’s not the way we play. It’s frustrating. We just have to put that game in the past and get back to doing what we do best.” Led by their usual suspects, the Oilers staked a 4-0 lead by the game’s midway point. The Kings pulled within two by the second intermission, but a couple of costly penalties led to a pair of Edmonton power-play goals early in the third period and it became a coast to the finish line for an Oilers team that scored three times with the man advantage. “It was a couple of borderline (calls),” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “When you could look at it and say you gave them a chance to make that call. There were two for sure that can’t be in our game. … You can’t put yourself in a position where the referee’s got to make a judgment call.” Aside from surrendering a pair of late goals that made the score appear tighter than it actually was, the Oilers opened their Stanley Cup chase with a textbook performance. Connor McDavid became only the 13th player in NHL history – Wayne Gretzky did it twice – to record five assists in a playoff game, and the first since 1998. Zach Hyman collected a hat trick in a four-point performance. Evan Bouchard netted four assists, and both Leon Draisaitl and Adam Henrique collected one goal and one assist. A huge key was taking the early lead and building on it, notably against a Kings team capable of strangling a team upon taking a lead. “Starts are really important, especially against a team as well-structured defensively as the Kings are,” said McDavid, who has collected 29 points in 14 career playoff games against Los Angeles. “It helps if you can score the first one, and it kind of forces them to open up a little bit.” This being the third consecutive opening-round meeting between Edmonton and Los Angeles, the Oilers only need to look at their one-on-one history to understand the value of Game 2. In the first two series, Los Angeles won the opener, but Edmonton took Game 2 and, ultimately, advanced. “It just helps you in the sense that now, you’ve only got to win three instead of four,” Hyman said. “You’re not behind the gun, so it’s good. We’ve got to defend home ice, so it’s important to take care of business here.” Kings see bigger picture after Game 1 loss to Oilers FIELD LEVEL MEDIA Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl celebrates after scoring a goal during the third period against the Kings in Game 1. PERRY NELSON/USA TODAY SPORTS

8NS | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024 | SPORTS EXTRA - USA TODAY NETWORK playing in the Final Four – her early WNBA play will serve as a tryout of sorts for the senior national team. Nike, which had signed Clark to an NIL (name, image, likeness) deal during her time at Iowa, is on a long list of brands that wanted to be associated with the 22-year-old. In addition to Nike, Clark has sponsorship deals with State Farm, Gatorade, Buick and Bose, among others. Clark became a household name over the last year after rewriting the record books at Iowa. Tickets to see her play during the regular season went for as much as $1,000, and millions tuned in to watch her in the Final Four for the second consecutive year. Her appeal seems to only be growing as she starts her professional career: Just an hour after being drafted on April 15, Clark’s jersey was nearly impossible to find online, having sold out in most sizes. Email Lindsay Schnell at [email protected] and follow her on social media @Lindsay_Schnell Clark Continued from Page 1NS MELBOURNE – There have been concerns that the Olympic triathlon might be postponed or even reduced to a duathlon due to water quality problems in the Seine but Australia’s Matt Hauser says he will gladly take the plunge at the Paris Games. Paris has been working on cleaning up the river so that people can swim in it again, as was the case during the 1900 Olympics. But a sewer problem last summer led to the cancellation of a pre-Olympics swimming event along with the swimming legs of triathlon and Para triathlon events over water quality concerns. Hauser, who won a triathlon bronze at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, said the Seine held no fears for him. “To be honest, for me, I’d swim in anything to try and get a medal,” the 26- year-old said in comments published by the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper on Wednesday. “Give me a swig of Coca-Cola and some Gastro-Stop tablets and just put me in there. “Obviously, the race organisers and World Triathlon have our safety and interest at heart, and they’ll be doing all they can to ensure that that is the case. “But I’ve got no doubt that no one would hesitate to jump into the water.” Several French officials have promised to take a dip in the Seine before the Olympics to show the water is safe, including President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. h Safety inspectors have halted some of the construction work on the temporary stands in Versailles for the equestrian events during this year’s Olympics in Paris as there is a risk of employees falling. French newspaper L’Equipe quoted those inspectors saying there was a serious and imminent danger of workers tumbling from a height of up to 20 metres due to a lack of necessary safety devices. According to L’Equipe, GL Events, the builder of the stands, claims the works have not been halted but merely reorganised, adding the deadline would be met. “These temporary stoppages concerned only certain operations, allowing work to continue without impacting on the Paris 2024 assembly schedule,” Paris 2024 told Reuters. “These temporary stoppage procedures are extremely common on construction sites, and are fully integrated into operations schedules. Paris 2024 and GL Events have cooperated fully with the Labour Inspectorate to provide answers to all the questions raised with the highest possible level of precision.” The Games begin on July 26 and the equestrian events start the following day. OLYMPICS Aussie triathlete shrugs off Seine concerns REUTERS Purdue basketball star Zach Edey may have fell short of a national championship earlier this month, but the 7- foot-4 center is ready to take his talents to the next level. He’s heading to the NBA. Edey, the two-time Naismith Player of the Year, has field paperwork to enter the 2024 NBA Draft, which is set to take place in late June, according to EPSN. Edey told the outlet that he “felt like it was time.” “I showed that I’m a physical presence on offense this season,” he said. “I also showed I can play defense. I can guard in space, even defend guards.” That means Edey’s prolific career at Purdue has come to an end, although it’s not much of a surprise. In February, Purdue head coach Matt Painter confirmed to CBS Sports that this would be Edey’s final season with the Boilermakers. (Edey had an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic that he opted to forgo.) Edey leaves Purdue as “the winningest player at Purdue,” Painter said earlier this month. Edey holds the all-time record in both points (2,516 points) and rebounds (1,321) and is fourth all-time in career blocks (232). He averaged a nation-high 25.2 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks this season and led the Boilermakers to back-to-back regular season titles in the Big Ten, in addition to a No. 1 seed in the 2024 NCAA Tournament after Purdue was upset by a No. 16 seed as a No. 1 seed in the first round the previous year. Purdue fell one win short of coming all the way back to win a national championship in a 75-60 loss to the UConn Huskies, despite Edey’s double-double (37 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks). Following the final game of his collegiate career, Edey said he wants to be remembered as the guy who gave “100% every time I stepped on the floor.” He added: “You can say whatever you want about me. You can say whatever you want about how I play. But you can never say that I didn’t give it 100%.” During the six-game run in the NCAA Tournament, Edey tied Bill Bradley of Princeton from 1965 in amassing the second-most points in a single tournament (177). Painter said Edey is in the conversation for the greatest collegiate basketball players of all time. “When you look at his numbers against the greats, there’s no question he’s in the conversation. But he’s also the winningest player at Purdue,” he said. “I’d always say, ‘when is he going to have a bad game? When is he just not going to show up?’ He always showed up. He always competed. He always played though physicality. He’s a very unselfish player.” On Tuesday, Edey told ESPN that he’s not worried about what number he is drafted. “The number doesn’t matter,” he said. Instead, Edey said he’s “focused on the teams that believe in me. I want to find a coaching staff that believes in me and what I can do.” Purdue’s Zach Edey averaged 25.2 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.2 blocks this season. BOB DONNAN/USA TODAY SPORTS ‘It was time’: Purdue star Edey declares for NBA Draft Cydney Henderson USA TODAY Omaha forward Frankie Fidler, who put up 20.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game last season, is transferring to Michigan State, he announced Tuesday. The 6-foot-7 Nebraska native just completed his junior season and chose the Spartans over Wisconsin and a pair of home-state options, Creighton and Nebraska. In 33 starts in 2023-24, Fidler also averaged 2.6 assists per game while totaling 52 3-pointers and 41 steals. In 94 career games at Omaha (91 starts), Fidler has averaged 16.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists per contest. Fidler is the first transfer coach Tom Izzo has accepted to Michigan State since adding Tyson Walker in 2021. h High-scoring guard RJ Davis is set to return to North Carolina to use his fifth year of NCAA eligibility, CBS Sports reported. Davis put up 21.2 points per game and shot 39.8 percent from 3-point range last year. He added 3.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.2 steals per contest over 37 games (all starts). A potential NBA draft pick, Davis had yet to announce his intentions as of Tuesday. The report followed guard Seth Trimble’s announcement that he is withdrawing from the transfer portal and returning to the Tar Heels. Trimble averaged 5.2 points and 2.1 rebounds in 35 games last season, his second in college. He came off the bench in 34 of his 35 games. h Ugonna Onyenso is the latest Kentucky player to enter the portal following coach John Calipari’s departure to Arkansas, according to multiple reports. The 7-footer from Nigeria dealt with a broken foot over the summer of 2023 and saw limited playing time when he returned. In 24 games (14 starts), he averaged 18.8 minutes per game and put up 3.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocked shots. Onyenso is the seventh former Wildcats player to hit the portal following Aaron Bradshaw, Jordan Burks, Joey Hart, Zvonimir Ivisic, Adou Thiero and D.J. Wagner. h Mike James is transferring to N.C. State after two productive seasons at Louisville. The guard/forward was a rare bright spot for the Cardinals over coach Kenny Payne’s two seasons in charge. James has averaged 11.3 points and 4.1 rebounds per game over 64 career games, all starts. That includes 12.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists – all career bests – in 2023-24. The Wolfpack and coach Kevin Keatts are coming off a Cinderella run to the Final Four following a surprise ACC title that required them to win five games in five days. h Dayton guard Kobe Elvis announced he will spend his final year of eligibility at Oklahoma. Elvis posted career highs of 9.4 points and 3.5 assists per game in 2023-24 while starting all 33 games he played for the Flyers. He also averaged 2.4 rebounds and hit 47 3-pointers on 37 percent shooting from deep. In 105 games (84 starts) over one season with DePaul and three with Dayton, Elvis has career averages of 8.3 points, 2.8 assists and 2.1 rebounds while shooting 36.2 percent from the arc. h Cornell grad transfer Chris Manon is headed to Vanderbilt, he announced on Instagram. “Committed to excellence and thankful for the opportunity to represent this prestigious university,” the first-team All-Ivy League selection posted. Manon put up career bests of 12.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in his senior campaign and also grabbed 63 steals for the second year in a row. The wing has career averages of 11.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.1 steals in 83 career games (58 starts). COLLEGE MEN’S BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK Michigan State lands high scorer Fidler FIELD LEVEL MEDIA Omaha forward Frankie Fidler passes against Texas Tech in a non-conference game in Lubbock, Texas. ANNIE RICE/LUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

SPORTS EXTRA - USA TODAY NETWORK | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024 | 9NS New BetMGM customers can sign up today and get a First Bet Offer up to $1,500 using bonus code USATSPORTS. Just download the BetMGM app, deposit at least $10 and place your first wager on any game. If your first bet loses, you will receive bonus bets in the amount of your bet (up to $1,500). Just make sure you use bonus code USATSPORTS when you sign up. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (Available in the US). Call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY). Call 1-800-327-5050 (MA). 21+ only. Please Gamble Responsibly. Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-981-0023 (PR). First Bet Offer for new customers only. Subject to eligibility requirements. Rewards are non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire in 7 days. In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. See BetMGM.com for Terms. US promotional offers not available in North Carolina, New York, Nevada, Ontario, or Puerto Rico. Odds available as of print deadline. Gannett may earn revenue from sports betting operators for audience referrals to betting services. Sports betting operators have no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. Terms apply, see operator site for Terms and Conditions. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER CO, DC, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MD, MS, NJ, OH, PA, TN, VA, WV, WY. Call 877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY) Call 1-800-327-5050 (MA). 21+ to wager. Please Gamble Responsibly. Call 1-800-NEXT-STEP (AZ), 1-800-522-4700 (NV), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-270-7117 for confidential help (MI), 1-800-981-0023 (PR). In partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel. Visit BetMGM.com for Terms & Conditions. US promotional offers not available in DC, Nevada, New York or Ontario. All times Eastern MLB American League East Division W L Pct GB N.Y. Yankees 16 8 .667 — Baltimore 15 8 .652 ½ Toronto 13 11 .542 3 Boston 13 11 .542 3 Tampa Bay 12 13 .480 4½ Central Division W L Pct GB Cleveland 17 6 .739 — Kansas City 14 10 .583 3½ Detroit 14 10 .583 3½ Minnesota 9 13 .409 7½ Chicago 3 20 .130 14 West Division W L Pct GB Seattle 12 11 .522 — Texas 12 12 .500 ½ L.A. Angels 10 14 .417 2½ Oakland 9 15 .375 3½ Houston 7 17 .292 5½ National League East Division W L Pct GB Atlanta 16 6 .727 — Philadelphia 15 9 .625 2 N.Y. Mets 12 11 .522 4½ Washington 10 12 .455 6 Miami 6 19 .240 11½ Central Division W L Pct GB Milwaukee 14 8 .636 — Chicago 14 9 .609 ½ Cincinnati 13 10 .565 1½ Pittsburgh 13 11 .542 2 St. Louis 10 14 .417 5 West Division W L Pct GB L.A. Dodgers 14 11 .560 — San Diego 13 13 .500 1½ Arizona 12 13 .480 2 San Francisco 12 13 .480 2 Colorado 6 18 .250 7½ Monday’s Scores Oakland 2, N.Y. Yankees 0 Philadelphia 7, Cincinnati 0 Pittsburgh 4, Milwaukee 2 Detroit 7, Tampa Bay 1 Atlanta 3, Miami 0 Toronto 5, Kansas City 3 Minnesota 7, Chicago 0 St. Louis 5, Arizona 3 San Diego 3, Colorado 1 Baltimore 4, L.A. Angels 2 San Francisco 5, N.Y. Mets 2 Tuesday’s Scores Cleveland 4, Boston 1 Cincinnati 8, Philadelphia 1 Pittsburgh 2, Milwaukee 1 L.A. Dodgers 4, Washington 1 Detroit 4, Tampa Bay 2 N.Y. Yankees 4, Oakland 3 Atlanta 5, Miami 0 Chicago 7, Houston 2 Kansas City 3, Toronto 2 Minnesota 6, Chicago 5 Arizona 14, St. Louis 1 Seattle 4, Texas 0 Colorado 7, San Diego 4 L.A. Angels 7, Baltimore 4 San Francisco 5, N.Y. Mets 1 Wednesday’s Games Arizona (Montgomery) at St. Louis (Gibson 1-2), 1:15 p.m. N.Y. Mets (Manaea 1-1) at San Francisco (Snell 0-3), 3:45 p.m. Baltimore (Kremer 0-2) at L.A. Angels (Anderson 2-2), 4:07 p.m. Boston (TBD) at Cleveland (Carrasco 1-1), 6:10 p.m. Philadelphia (Turnbull 2-0) at Cincinnati (Lodolo 2-0), 6:40 p.m. Milwaukee (Peralta 2-0) at Pittsburgh (TBD), 6:40 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Hurt 0-1) at Washington (Irvin 1-1), 6:45 p.m. Detroit (Flaherty 0-1) at Tampa Bay (TBD), 6:50 p.m. Oakland (Boyle 1-3) at N.Y. Yankees (Schmidt 1-0), 7:05 p.m. Miami (Puk 0-4) at Atlanta (Sale 2-1), 7:20 p.m. Houston (France 0-2) at Chicago (Wicks 0-2), 7:40 p.m. Toronto (Rodriguez 0-0) at Kansas City (Marsh 2-0), 7:40 p.m. Chicago (Crochet 1-3) at Minnesota (Ryan 0-1), 7:40 p.m. Seattle (Miller 3-1) at Texas (Dunning 2-1), 8:05 p.m. San Diego (Waldron 0-2) at Colorado (TBD), 8:40 p.m. Thursday’s Games Milwaukee (Hall 0-1) at Pittsburgh (Keller 2-1), 12:35 p.m. Philadelphia (Wheeler 0-3) at Cincinnati (Ashcraft 2-1), 1:10 p.m. Boston (Bello 3-1) at Cleveland (McKenzie 2-2), 1:10 p.m. Chicago (Soroka 0-2) at Minnesota (Ober 0-1), 1:10 p.m. Toronto (Berrios 3-0) at Kansas City (Ragans 0-1), 2:10 p.m. Houston (Verlander) at Chicago (Taillon 1-0), 2:20 p.m. Seattle (Castillo 0-4) at Texas (Heaney 0-2), 2:35 p.m. San Diego (TBD) at Colorado (Hudson 0-3), 3:10 p.m. L.A. Dodgers (Knack 0-1) at Washington (Gore 2-1), 4:05 p.m. Oakland (Wood 0-1) at N.Y. Yankees (Cortes 1-1), 7:05 p.m. NBA Playoffs First Round (Best of 7) Monday, April 22 Cleveland 96, Orlando 86 N.Y. Knicks 104, Philadelphia 101 Denver 101, L.A. Lakers 99 Tuesday, April 23 Minnesota 105, Phoenix 93 Indiana 125, Milwaukee 108 Dallas 96, L.A. Clippers 93 Wednesday, April 24 Miami at Boston, 7 p.m. New Orleans at Oklahoma City, 9:30 p.m. Thursday, April 25 Cleveland at Orlando, 7 p.m. N.Y. Knicks at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m. Denver at L.A. Lakers, 10 p.m. Friday, April 26 Milwaukee at Indiana, 5:30 p.m. L.A. Clippers at Dallas, 8 p.m. Minnesota at Phoenix, 10:30 p.m. Saturday, April 27 Cleveland at Orlando, 1 p.m. Oklahoma City at New Orleans, 3:30 p.m. Boston at Miami, 6 p.m. Denver at L.A. Lakers, 8:30 p.m. Sunday, April 28 N.Y. Knicks at Philadelphia, 1 p.m. L.A. Clippers at Dallas, 3:30 p.m. Milwaukee at Indiana, 7 p.m. Minnesota at Phoenix, 9:30 p.m. NHL Playoffs First Round (Best of 7) Monday, April 22 Toronto 3, Boston 2 Carolina 5, N.Y. Islanders 3 Vegas 4, Dallas 3 Edmonton 7, L.A. Kings 4 Tuesday, April 23 N.Y. Rangers 4, Washington 3 Florida 3, Tampa Bay 2, OT Colorado 5, Winnipeg 2 Nashville 4, Vancouver 1 Wednesday, April 24 Boston at Toronto, 7 p.m. Vegas at Dallas, 9:30 p.m. L.A. Kings at Edmonton, 10 p.m. Thursday, April 25 Florida at Tampa Bay, 7 p.m. Carolina at N.Y. Islanders, 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 26 N.Y. Rangers at Washington, 7 p.m. Vancouver at Nashville, 7:30 p.m. Winnipeg at Colorado, 10 p.m. Edmonton at L.A. Kings, 10:30 p.m. MLS Eastern Conference W L T Pts GF GA Inter Miami CF 5 2 3 18 22 15 New York Red Bulls 4 1 4 16 13 9 FC Cincinnati 4 2 3 15 10 8 Columbus Crew 3 1 5 14 12 9 Toronto FC 4 4 1 13 9 12 Philadelphia Union 3 0 4 13 14 9 Atlanta United 3 3 2 11 13 9 NYC FC 3 4 2 11 9 9 Charlotte FC 3 4 2 11 9 11 CF Montreal 3 3 2 11 12 16 D.C. United 2 3 4 10 12 14 Orlando City 2 3 3 9 10 15 Chicago Fire FC 2 4 3 9 11 18 Nashville SC 1 3 4 7 9 16 New England 1 6 1 4 5 14 Western Conference WLTPtsGFGA LA Galaxy 5 13 18 21 15 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 52 1 16 17 9 Real Salt Lake 423 15 15 8 Colorado Rapids 423 15 15 13 Minnesota United 422 14 13 9 Houston Dynamo FC 43 1 13 9 8 Los Angeles Football Club 333 12 15 14 Austin FC 333 12 12 13 St. Louis City SC 2 16 12 15 14 Sporting Kansas City 225 11 17 16 Portland Timbers 234 10 18 18 Seattle Sounders FC 143 6 9 9 FC Dallas 152 5 7 12 San Jose Earthquakes 180 3 13 24 Saturday, April 27 LA Galaxy at Austin FC, 1:45 p.m. CF Montreal at Columbus, 7:30 p.m. Seattle at D.C. United, 7:30 p.m. Colorado at Cincinnati, 7:30 p.m. Real Salt Lake at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m. Vancouver at NY Red Bulls, 7:30 p.m. Inter Miami CF at New England, 7:30 p.m. Charlotte FC at NY City FC, 7:30 p.m. Toronto FC at Orlando City, 7:30 p.m. Houston at FC Dallas, 8:30 p.m. Sporting KC at D.C. United, 8:30 p.m. San Jose at Nashville, 8:30 p.m. Atlanta at Chicago, 8:30 p.m. Portland at Los Angeles FC, 10:30 p.m. AUTO RACING NASCAR Cup Series Schedule April 28 — Würth 400, Dover, Del. May 5 — AdventHealth 400, Kansas City, Kan. May 12 — Goodyear 400, Darlington, SC May 26 — Coca-Cola 600, Concord, NC June 2 — Enjoy Illinois 300, Madison June 9 — Toyota Save Mart 350, Sonoma, Calif. June 16 — Iowa Corn 350, Powered by Ethanol, Newton June 23 — Race at New Hampshire, New Hampshire June 30 — Ally 400, Nashville July 7 — Grant Park 165, Chicago July 14 — NASCAR Cup Series Race at Pocono, Pocono July 21 — Brickyard 400, Speedway, Ind. Aug. 11 — Cook Out 400, Richmond, Va. Aug. 18 — FireKeepers Casino 400, Brooklyn Aug. 24 — Coke Zero Sugar 400, Daytona Beach, Fla. Sept. 1 — Cook Out Southern 500, Darlington, SC Sept. 8 — Quaker State 400 Available at Walmart, Hampton, Ga. Sept. 15 — Go Bowling at The Glen, Watkins Glen International, NY Sept. 21 — Bass Pro Shops Night Race, Bristol, Tenn. Sept. 29 — Hollywood Casino 400, Kansas City, Kan. Oct. 6 — YellaWood 500, Talladega, Ala. Oct. 13 — Bank of America ROVAL 400, Concord, NC Oct. 20 — South Point 400, Las Vegas, Nev. Oct. 27 — Race at Homestead-Miami, Homestead, Fla. Nov. 3 — XFINITY 500, Martinsville, Va. Nov. 10 — NASCAR Cup Series Championship, Avondale, Ariz. IndyCar Series Schedule April 28 — Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix, Barber May 11 — Sonsio Grand Prix, Indianapolis May 25 — The Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis June 1 — Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, Streets of Detroit June 8 — XPEL Grand Prix at Road America, Plymouth June 22 — Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey, Laguna Seca GOLF PGA Tour Statistics Through April 23 Season Points 1, Scottie Scheffler, 3,215. 2, Wyndham Clark, 1,555. 3, Xander Schauffele, 1,442. 4, Ludvig Aberg, 1,340. 5, Hideki Matsuyama, 1,325. 6, Matthieu Pavon, 1,127. 7, Sahith Theegala, 1,118. 8, Byeong Hun An, 1,060. 9, Chris Kirk, 1,028. 10, Will Zalatoris, 943. Scoring Average 1, Scottie Scheffler, 68.84. 2, Xander Schauffele, 69.92. 3, Alex Noren, 70.01. 4, Billy Horschel, 70.14. 5, Matthieu Pavon, 70.27. 6, Akshay Bhatia, 70.29. 7, Ludvig Aberg, 70.32. 8, Doug Ghim, 70.38. 9, Keith Mitchell, 70.40. 10, Wyndham Clark, 70.41. Driving Distance 1, Cameron Champ, 316.40. 2, Chris Gotterup, 314.70. 3, Kevin Dougherty, 314.30. 4, Rory McIlroy, 313.10. 5, Carl Yuan, 311.80. 6, Alejandro Tosti, 311.60. 7, Wyndham Clark, 310.10. 8, Vincent Norrman, 309.60. 9, Taylor Pendrith, 308.90. 10, Min Woo Lee, 308.80. Driving Accuracy Percentage 1, Shane Lowry, 85.00%. 2, Tommy Fleetwood, 81.21%. 3, Si Woo Kim, 79.72%. 4, Sepp Straka, 79.32%. 5, Collin Morikawa, 77.61%. 6, Lucas Glover, 76.27%. 7, Grayson Murray, 75.51%. 8, Matthieu Pavon, 75.17%. 9, J.T. Poston, 75.12%. 10, Will Zalatoris, 74.64%. Greens in Regulation Percentage 1, Scottie Scheffler, 74.55%. 2, Corey Conners, 72.65%. 3, Alex Noren, 72.63%. 4, Victor Perez, 71.79%. 5, Kevin Yu, 71.78%. 6, Keith Mitchell, 71.27%. 7, Patrick Rodgers, 70.92%. 8, Billy Horschel, 70.73%. 9, Aaron Rai, 70.66%. 10, Vincent Norrman, 70.63%. Total Driving 1, Rory McIlroy, 41. 2, Ryan Palmer, 60. 3, Carl Yuan, 64. 4, Rafael Campos, 69. 5 (tie), Patton Kizzire and , 71. 6, Austin Eckroat, 67. 7, Hayden Springer, 72. 8, Taiga Semikawa, 82. 9, Harrison Endycott, 83. Total Putts Per Round 1, Raul Pereda, 26.88%. 2 (tie), Aaron Baddeley and Taylor Montgomery, 27.47%. 4, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, 27.55%. 5, Denny McCarthy, 27.59%. 6, Maverick McNealy, 27.74%. 7, S.H Kim, 27.84%. 8 (tie), Brian Harman and Brendon Todd, 27.89%. 10, Hayden Springer, 27.95%. Birdie Average 1, Scottie Scheffler, 5.43. 2, Byeong Hun An, 4.89. 3, Chris Kirk, 4.88. 4, Sam Burns, 4.84. 5, Wyndham Clark, 4.68. 6 (tie), Jordan Spieth and J.T. Poston, 4.65. 8, Adam Hadwin, 4.61. 9, Justin Thomas, 4.60. 10, Thomas Detry, 4.57. Sand Save Percentage 1, Russell Henley, 73.47%. 2, Carl Yuan, 73.33%. 3, Martin Laird, 69.70%. 4, Nico Echavarria, 69.64%. 5, Rickie Fowler, 67.31%. 6 (tie), Brendon Todd and Raul Pereda, 66.67%. 8, Aaron Baddeley, 66.07%. 9 (tie), Andrew Novak and Wyndham Clark, 65.85%. All-Around Ranking 1, Wyndham Clark, 164. 2, Xander Schauffele, 244. 3, Ludvig Aberg, 247. 4, Sam Burns, 268. 5, Scottie Scheffler, 293. 6, Byeong Hun An, 310. 7, Matt Fitzpatrick, 343. 8, Si Woo Kim, 354. 9, Akshay Bhatia, 358. 10, Cameron Young, 362. TRANSACTIONS BASEBALL Major League Baseball ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS — P Miguel Castro Placed on 15-Day IL Right shoulder inflammation. P Merrill Kelly Placed on 15-Day IL Right shoulder strain. Andrew Saalfrank Called Up from Minors. P Tommy Henry Called Up from Minors. 3B Sergio Alcantara Traded for cash considerations. P Joe Jacques Sent to Minors. P Joe Jacques Acquired Off Waivers. Paul Sewald Sent to Minors for Rehabilitation. BALTIMORE ORIOLES — Heston Kjerstad Called Up from Minors. David Banuelos Sent to Minors. BOSTON RED SOX — P Joe Jacques Acquired Off Waivers to Arizona Diamondbacks. DH Tyler Heineman Placed on 10-Day IL Strained right hamstring. RF Tyler O’Neill Removed from 7-Day IL Concussion. CHICAGO CUBS — P Drew Smyly Placed on 15-Day IL Right hip impingement. P Kyle Hendricks Placed on 15-Day IL Low back strain. P Hayden Wesneski Called Up from Minors. P Luke Little Called Up from Minors. DH Garrett Cooper Designated for Assignment. Matt Mervis Called Up from Minors. CINCINNATI REDS — Sam Moll Removed From 15-Day IL Left shoulder impingement. Sam Moll Recalled From Minors Rehab. P Casey Legumina Sent to Minors. LOS ANGELES DODGERS — Blake Treinen Sent to Minors for Rehabilitation. NEW YORK METS — Max Kranick Sent to Minors. Max Kranick Removed From 15-Day IL Strained left hamstring. Max Kranick Recalled From Minors Rehab. NEW YORK YANKEES — DJ LeMahieu Sent to Minors for Rehabilitation. PITTSBURGH PIRATES — 3B Sergio Alcantara Traded to Arizona Diamondbacks for cash considerations. SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS — P Landen Roupp Sent to Minors. SEATTLE MARINERS — P Collin Snider Sent to Minors. P Collin Snider Removed From 15-Day IL Left knee contusion. P Collin Snider Recalled From Minors Rehab. TEXAS RANGERS — P Johnny Cueto Signed to a Minor League Contract. P Josh Sborz Sent to Minors for Rehabilitation. C Jonah Heim Reinstated from Bereavement/Family Medical Emergency List. WASHINGTON NATIONALS — C Keibert Ruiz Sent to Minors for Rehabilitation. P Robert Garcia Placed on 15-Day IL Influenza. Jacob Barnes Purchased From Minors. LF Jake Alu Designated for Assignment. FOOTBALL National Football League ATLANTA FALCONS — QB Logan Woodside signed/unrestricted free agent to Cincinnati Bengals One-year contract (through 2024). CINCINNATI BENGALS — QB Logan Woodside signed/unrestricted free agent One-year contract (through 2024). QB Jake Browning re-signed/exclusive rights free agent Two-year contract (through 2025). CLEVELAND BROWNS — LB Jacob Phillips signed/unrestricted free agent to Houston Texans One-year contract (through 2024). DENVER BRONCOS — CB Pat Surtain II team exercises option Fifth-year option on rookie contract. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES — CB Isaiah Rodgers Sr. suspension lifted. HOCKEY National Hockey League ARIZONA COYOTES — RW Jakub Voracek Retired. BOSTON BRUINS — D Mason Lohrei Called up from minors from Providence-AHL. COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS — C Luca Pinelli Signed Three-year, entry-level contract. PHILADELPHIA FLYERS — G Ivan Fedotov Contract extended Two-year contract extension. WASHINGTON CAPITALS — D Hardy Haman Aktell Called up from minors from Hershey-AHL. SCOREBOARD ODDS SPONSORED BY BETMGM.COM LONDON – Ruthless Arsenal threw down the gauntlet in the Premier League title race with a 5-0 thrashing of London rivals Chelsea to roar three points clear at the top of the table on Tuesday. Any remaining doubts about Arsenal’s staying power were answered emphatically as Leandro Trossard gave them an early lead before Ben White and Kai Havertz scored two each in a dazzling spell after the break to sweep aside a dazed Chelsea. It was a powerful statement by Arsenal who have recovered impressively from a home defeat by Aston Villa and bowing out of the Champions League and with four games remaining they are piling the pressure on Liverpool and Manchester City. Arsenal have 77 points from 34 games with Liverpool, who face Everton on Wednesday, on 74 from 33. Reigning champions Manchester City have 73 points but have two games in hand starting with a trip to Brighton and Hove Albion on Thursday. It was the sixth time Arsenal have scored five or more in a Premier League game this season without conceding and in such a tight race they now have a huge goal difference advantage which could prove crucial to the outcome. “Very happy with the win, with the amount of chances and goals we scored,” Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta, whose side face arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, said. “And with the clean sheet as well it shows the consistency. “We will enjoy it and rest and get ready for the next one.” For ninth-placed Chelsea it was a humbling night as they suffered their heaviest ever defeat by Arsenal and a hammer blow in their bid to creep into a European place just days after their narrow FA Cup semi-final defeat by Manchester City. “The team showed a lack of capacity to resist, that is what is the problem,” Mauricio Pochettino, who gave a first Premier League start to young right back Alfie Gilchrist, said. “Arsenal are a very good team. But I think we allowed them to play.” Arsenal were brimming with energy in the opening half, peppering Chelsea’s goal with 13 attempts and would have led by more than one at the interval but for Chelsea’s Serbia goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic. Roared on by a fired-up Emirates Stadium crowd the hosts needed only four minutes to settle any nerves as a marauding Declan Rice drove into the heart of the area and weighted his pass perfectly for Trossard to fire home. Petrovic would have been disappointed to be beaten from a narrow angle but made amends with a flurry of saves in quick succession to deny Bukayo Saka and Trossard and then reacted incredibly to keep out a close-range deflection. Despite being under siege, a Chelsea side without 20-goal Cole Palmer had their moments and Axel Disasi somehow failed to connect from in front of goal from a flicked on corner. SOCCER ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE Arsenal moves 3 points clear at top Martyn Herman Reuters Arsenal defender Ben White celebrates after scoring their fifth goal during the match against Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium in London on Tuesday. GLYN KIRK/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES Erik Jones will not compete in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Dover Motor Speedway after being diagnosed with a compression fracture in a lower vertebra of his back. Corey Heim, the reserve driver for Legacy Motor Club, will pilot the No. 43 Toyota Camry. It will be Heim’s debut in the Cup Series. There is no timetable for Jones to return to the seat. He will travel with this team to Dover. “Erik’s long-term health is our number one priority,” said Jimmie Johnson, co-owner of Legacy Motor Club. “It will be great to see him at the track Sunday and we intend to give him the time it takes to recover properly. I know Corey will do a great job behind the wheel for the Club. In the meantime, our thoughts are with Erik and his wife Holly – they have our total support.” Jones was injured from a head-on crash in Turn 3 during Sunday’s race at Talladega Superspeedway on lap 157. The Legacy Motor Club driver was in a seven-car draft with his Toyota teammates when the pack tightened and contact sent Jones spinning to the right. “I don’t know if I’m all right,” Jones radioed to his team after the crash. “I need help; my back.” After being released from the infield care center, Jones said he was sore and his back had been stretched in the crash. He later returned to the infield care center and was transported to UAB University Hospital for further evaluation. Jones was released at 11:30 local time and returned to North Carolina. NASCAR took the No. 43 car from Talladega Superspeedway for further evaluation. Legacy Motor Club has requested and been granted a medical waiver for Jones. It keeps him eligible for the Cup Series playoffs. NASCAR Erik Jones, shown during the April 6 race at Martinsville, fractured his back during a crash at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday. JARED C. TILTON/GETTY IMAGES Jones to miss next race after fracturing back in Talladega crash Kelly Crandall RACER | USA TODAY NETWORK