SoMa Tomorrow, the city will break ground on a leather-themed community plaza in SoMa. But in the wake of a two-month delay, it won't be ready in time for the city's biggest annual leather event, the Folsom Street Fair . Eagle Plaza will transform part of 12th Street between Harrison and Bernice streets into a public gathering space, paying homage to the leather heritage and LGBTQ+ history of Western SoMa. It's expected to be a hub for events hosted by the plaza's namesake bar, the SF Eagle , as well as nonprofits working to support the local LGBTQ+ and leather communities. A community nonprofit, Friends of Eagle Plaza (FoEP), will be in charge of managing and activating the space. Some of the delay rests on the shoulders of FoEP, which voted unanimously to delay construction in order to accommodate the SF Eagle's sixth anniversary block party in late April. But after that, the developer and general contractor added their own delays, pushing the project's start date back by another month and a half. The additional delays were "due to timing on receiving a SFMTA street closure permit," said Mark Bonsignore, Place Lab project manager for the San Francisco Parks Alliance , which is collaborating with FoEP on a plan to activate and maintain the plaza. There is a plan to host an inauguration party at the plaza on the first day of Leather Week this year, SF Eagle owner and FoEP spokesperson Lex Montiel told us. "The Leather Walk will take place on September 22, 2019," Montiel said. During that event, the Leather flag is expected to be raised over Eagle Plaza for the first time, he added. Construction is being largely funded through a $1.5 million in-kind agreement for Build Inc.'s adjacent new development at 1532 Harrison St., which will add 136 residential units (22 of them affordable) to the neighborhood. But FoEP must also raise some of its own money. In summer 2018, it set a $150,000 fundraising goal to add plaques and other features commemorating leather history to the plaza. Since launching its fundraising effort last summer, FoEP has raised more than $80,000 of the $150,000, Bonsignore said. The anniversary party alone raised close to $11,000 through raffle ticket sales and donations. Designed through a years-long community outreach effort, the new plaza will feature a pedestrian-focused shared public way with green spaces. It will have seating and room for food trucks, with areas for hosting events beneath the leather pride flag, which will fly in the center of the plaza. Although the plaza itself won't be complete in time for the Folsom Street Fair, the SF Eagle will remain open and accessible during construction, according to Build Inc. spokesperson Veronica Bell. Workers will also maintain pedestrian access to 12th Street. Tomorrow's groundbreaking ceremony will take place at the SF Eagle at 11 a.m. Mayor London Breed, District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and District 6 Supervisor Matt Haney are all expected to attend, alongside representatives from the Leather + LGBTQ Cultural District and state senator Scott Wiener's office. Though FoEP declined to give a specific date, construction on the plaza should be complete by the end of the year.


Designing and building a shiny show car is a fairly straightforward affair. Developing and mass-producing a near-2000-hp hypercar with in-house components is a touch more complicated. Yet, that's exactly what Rimac is doing at the with the C_Two , making the most of its diverse team and all their software know-how. Simulations and computer-aided design play the most crucial role in engineering today, as it allows companies like Rimac to develop individual components and optimize all aspects of a car, be that packaging, aesthetics, cooling, user experience, or global homologation. By simulating every scenario and running all tests in the digital space, the tooling department can produce expensive prototypes based on already frozen designs that are proven, and ready for the physical world. As a relatively small company playing in the big leagues, perfecting processes and keeping costs low is a huge priority for Rimac, as it progresses towards volume production of the C_Two. The brand's first series production car is build around a wildly complex carbon fiber monocoque , hiding over eighty ECUs in its two-seater body. And here's how Mate Rimac's team does its magic in Croatia: Follow MSN Autos on Facebook and Twitter


Chronic inflammation increases the risk of cancer and other diseases. Fortunately, certain foods have anti-inflammatory properties and can help protect you from these conditions. Here are 30 of those foods. 30 foods that fight inflammation Inflammation is a totally normal reaction that takes place when your body is fighting a virus or an injury. In certain cases, however, inflammation can become chronic, posing a health risk. For example, chronic inflammation increases the risk of cancer. It is also associated with diseases such as arthritis and multiple sclerosis . Fortunately, certain foods have anti-inflammatory properties and can help protect you from these conditions. Here are 30 of those foods. If you suffer from an inflammatory disease, consult a healthcare professional to ensure that these foods are suitable for you. Do not stop any treatment without obtaining prior agreement from your doctor. Blueberries Rich in proanthocyanidins and anthocyanins, blueberries are a powerful antioxidant that help fight inflammation . Bake some blueberry muffins for lunch or a snack, or blend berries into delicious smoothies. Pineapple The enzyme bromelain has made pineapple a food long famed for its anti-inflammatory properties . For a healthier dessert, why not switch from chocolate cake to a few slices of pineapple? Garlic The next time you're making a salad, add a little bit of grated, raw garlic. As well as having antioxidant properties, this allium is known to reduce inflammation . Not a big salad eater? Add garlic to your soups and sauces. Make sure you're not using powdered garlic, though, as this does not have as many health properties. Morello cherries Morello cherries (also known as sour cherries) have various healthy properties. This small red fruit is particularly known for its anti-inflammatory qualities . It also reduces pain caused by inflammation in patients suffering from arthritis and gout. If you like drinking fruit juices, why not try sour cherry juice? Dark chocolate Dark chocolate is rich in polyphenols, a family of molecules known for their antioxidant properties and for combating free radicals. One study also concluded that regularly eating small quantities of dark chocolate could help reduce inflammation. To get the full benefit from this food, go for dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa content. Olive oil When cooking food, avoid using oils that are rich in omega-6 such as sunflower and corn oil. Switch them for olive oil instead. One study has demonstrated that the phenolic compounds in olive oil help combat inflammation. Smoked salmon Smoked salmon contains higher concentrations of EPA and DHA, fatty acids known for their anti-inflammatory properties , than non-smoked salmon. Occasionally eating smoked salmon, therefore, helps to fight inflammation. Avocado The next time you make yourself a sandwich, try adding a slice of avocado instead of spreading on some butter. This fruit is a great source of monounsaturated fatty acids and antioxidants. According to one study , another way to enjoy the anti-inflammatory benefits from avocado is by adding some to a burger. Almonds As well as helping to decrease your risk of contracting heart disease, almonds have well-known anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties . The easiest way to get almonds into your diet is by chopping them into your breakfast cereal or salads. Always go for unsalted almonds. Cashew nuts Perhaps you're not in the habit of eating cashew nuts. After reading this, you just might start making sure they feature on your weekly menus! One study concluded that frequently eating nuts, including cashew nuts, helped to reduce inflammation. To mix things up a bit, why not try cashew milk ? Flaxseed These seeds may be small, but they are a mighty source of lignans , phenolic compounds that are known to have anti-inflammatory properties. Ground flaxseed can be sprinkled over cereal, salads, yogourt, or even into juices. They can also be used as an ingredient in cookies, breads or muffins. It's best to start by eating small quantities ( one- half to one teaspoon per day) t o give your body time to get used to them. Chia seeds Rich in omega-3 fatty acids, chia seeds have wonderful anti-inflammatory properties and are great in desserts or jams. Mixed with water, chia seeds can be used in place of eggs in lots of recipes . Apples No need to go miles out of your way to find foods with anti-inflammatory properties. One study reports that the quercetin and pectin contained in apples can help to fight inflammation. To boost the anti-inflammatory effect of apples , cut them into slices and spread them with nut or seed butter, or bake them into apple crisps. Cranberries When thinking of anti-inflammatory foods, cranberries aren't necessarily the first things that come to mind. They tend to be associated with preventing urinary tract infections, although they are actually less effective in that regard than is widely believed . Luckily, this little red fruit can be put to use in combating inflammation. Regularly eating cranberries helps to reduce levels of C-reactive proteins , a marker of inflammation. If you're not keen on juices, why not get cranberries into your diet by eating them in granola bars ? Lemon As well as being a natural antiseptic used for decades, lemon has strong anti-inflammatory properties and lemon zest helps reduce joint pain . A lemon juice-based tonic is a good way to get the benefits from this fruit. Turmeric Turmeric is a spice that is widely used in Indian cooking. As well as making food taste good, it has an anti-inflammatory effect and helps ease swollen and painful joints . Turmeric tastes great in a wide range of dishes and is also very good when added to milk . Ground cherry The ground cherry might not be the sweetest of fruits, but don't let that put you off. This fruit has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties . It's great raw in fruit salads or chocolate fondues. They can also add zest to your jams or crumbles. Broccoli Long thought to be a rather unremarkable brassica, broccoli actually has wonderful anti-inflammatory properties . The best way to get the most out of broccoli is by eating it raw, lightly steamed, or cooked in the microwave. Red chili Rich in the chemical compound capsaicin, red chilies are known to have anti-inflammatory properties . In pharmacology, capsaicin is even used to ease joint pain caused by osteoarthritis . Hot pepper sauce is an easy way to integrate this food into a wide variety of dishes (vegetables, chicken, pasta, rice, seafood, etc.) and is a good starting point for those unused to spicy food. Black pepper Next time you season your dinner, don't forget to add a bit of black pepper. The piperine in this spice helps reduce inflammation . You can use it alone, with other anti-inflammatory spices such as turmeric, or even as an essential oil. Black pepper oil can even help ease joint pain. Onion Onions are one of the most widely used foods in the world, but did you know that they have anti-inflammatory properties? This allium is rich in an antioxidant called quercetin that helps ease symptoms associated with arthritis and asthma . Spinach The glycolipids in spinach are known to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects . If you're not a fan of raw spinach, try eating it in Greek spinach pie or in spinach bites . Black beans Widely used in Mexican cuisine, black beans are something we should all be eating more of. This wonderful source of fibre, protein, and antioxidants helps to prevent inflammation . If you buy your black beans in a can, though, be sure to always give them a good rinse . Black beans are delicious added to salads or made into a burger . Sardines Sardines are certainly not the most popular of fish. However, they contain high levels of omega-3 , making them great at reducing inflammation. To get the most out of sardines, buy those that are caught wild rather than farmed . Sardines are great in all sorts of dishes. They are just as tasty grilled as in pasta dishes . Tofu Looking for another good reason to cut down on red meat? Did you know that soy-based foods, such as tofu, are known to reduce markers of inflammation ? Tofu can be used as an alternative to meat in most dishes , such as hot dogs, Bolognese sauce, and even soups. Grapes Rich in antioxidant polyphenols, grapes are well known to reduce markers of inflammation . It's best to eat fresh grapes , as most jams and juices contain higher levels of calories and sugar. Strawberries Strawberries aren't just a delicious fruit. They also have surprising anti-inflammatory and cancer-preventing properties . Researchers have discovered that strawberries ease pain and inflammation among obese adults suffering from osteoarthritis of the knee. To make your strawberries last longer, freeze them or turn them into jam. Ginger Don't be put off by the strong flavour. The phenolic compounds in this root (gingerol, shogaol and paradol) help prevent various cancers and reduce muscle pain after intense physical activity. Ginger is often used in veggie burgers , smoothies , and even ice pops . Green tea Green tea is an ideal drink for those wanting to combat inflammation. Green tea leaves contain antioxidants called polyphenols that help fight oxidative stress. If you can't decide between black or green tea, go green, as it has much more powerful anti-inflammatory properties . Red wine When drunk in moderation, red wine can be a great help in the fight against inflammation. Resveratrol , an antioxidant, is known for its anti-inflammatory properties and for helping reduce the risk of contracting heart disease .


ANCASTER, Ontario   Brandt Snedeker tied the RBC Canadian Open record with a 10-under 60 as an early starter, and was one stroke behind co-leaders Matt Kuchar and Scott Brown after two rounds at Hamilton Golf and Country Club. Brown and Kuchar shot 7-under 63s in the afternoon on the hilly course with sloping greens and head into the weekend at 12 under. Your browser does not support iframes. Full-field scores from the RBC Canadian Open RBC Canadian Open: Articles, photos and videos Snedeker and Carl Pettersson are the only players to shoot 60 at the Canadian Open. Pettersson did it at St. George's Golf and Country Club in Toronto in 2010 en route to a victory. Greg Norman also had a round of 10-under 62 at Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ont., in 1986. Nick Taylor shot a 5-under 65 and was tied with Snedeker at 11 under. Webb Simpson was another stroke back at 10-under after a second round 64. Brooks Koepka, fresh off his PGA Championship win, followed an opening round 70 with a 4-under 66 and was a 4 under heading into the weekend.


Looking to get in shape? From a fundraiser to a workout class, there's plenty to do when it comes to athletic-related activities coming up in Chicago this weekend. Read on for a rundown. Hoodline offers data-driven analysis of local happenings and trends across cities. Links included in this article may earn Hoodline a commission on clicks and transactions. Running for Peace Fundraiser From the event description: In honor of Dareyona L. Smith, let's honor all of our family and friends whom lost their lives to senseless gun violence. Let's Run For Peace as a group in our neighborhood to help promote stopping the violence. This will be a 5K free event and everyone is invited to run/walk with us in a peaceful manner. When: Saturday, May 11, 8-11 a.m. Where: Dawes Park, 8052 S Damen Ave Admission: $20 Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Fitbit Local Bodyweight Bootcamp From the event description: Join Fitbit Local Ambassadors Jenny Finkel and Jeremy Walton for a vigorous outdoor bootcamp along the steps of the Riverwalk followed by a stretch and cool down. Wear sneakers, bring a towel and be sure to fill that water bottle. Everyone is welcome, so invite your friends and bring a smile. Owning a Fitbit product is not necessary to participate. When: Saturday, May 11, 8:30-9:30 a.m. Where: Chicago Riverwalk, Chicago Loop., South Riverwalk between Clark and Lasalle. Admission: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets KM Living x Equinox | Workout Class From the event description: We're hosting a free workout class in Oz Park! In anticipation of their new Lincoln Park location, we've teamed up with Equinox to provide our clients and friends with one of our favorite Equinox workout classes. We'll be giving away some great raffle prizes. Whether you're a beginner, an avid gym-goer or just want to check out what the new Equinox is about, we can't wait to see you there. When: Saturday, May 11, 9-10 a.m. Where: Oz Park Admission: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets Fleet Feet Historic Run: Steeterville From the event description: The historic run series is back with both new and revisited routes. Explore historic Streeterville with the Fleet Feet Running Club through a four mile run as we dive into the neighborhood built where there was once only water and sand and has transformed from an uninhabited fluctuating shoreline to a thriving commercial and residential district. When: Sunday, May 12, 9-10:30 a.m. Where: Fleet Feet Old Town, 1706 N. Wells St. Admission: Free Click here for more details, and to get your tickets This story was created automatically using local event data, then reviewed by an editor. Click here for more about what we're doing. Got thoughts? Go here to share your feedback.


The Indianapolis Colts are expected to have an exciting joint practice with the Cleveland Browns leading into the second preseason game of the fall. That game will be airing on NFL Network, the league announced Tuesday. Following two joint practices on Wednesday and Thursday of that week, the Colts and Browns will battle in Week 2 of the preseason at Lucas Oil Stadium at 4:00 p.m. ET on NFL Network. NFL Network announces they will carry the #Colts /Browns preseason game LIVE. That game at Lucas Oil Stadium will take place Saturday, August 17th at 4:00 PM. - Kevin Bowen (@KBowen1070) July 9, 2019 Though it's the preseason, the second game will feature the starters a bit more than the preseason opener. This means we will likely get a glimpse of Andrew Luck, T.Y. Hilton and Darius Leonard possibly for a full quarter. We will also get to see a Browns roster that has quickly risen in talent with second-year quarterback Baker Mayfield and newly-acquired wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. MORE: UFC fighter Ben Askren had an excellent response to getting knocked out in 5 seconds Expected starting lineup for Lakers with LeBron James at point guard Honor thy father: Quinn Cook signed with Lakers for good reason Three Potential Trade Destinations for Russell Westbrook Mesmerizing speed could force Jon'Vea Johnson onto Cowboys roster


Tomorrow Samsung will host its Unpacked event in New York where the Galaxy Note 10 will be announced. The event will be just a couple weeks after the company announced that the Galaxy Fold would go on sale sometime in September after the phone had been strengthened . Samsung's Unpacked event for the Galaxy Note 10 takes place tomorrow starting at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It's the same place the Galaxy Note 9 was launched last year. Samsung will host a livestream of the event on its website . Join CNET before, during and after the event with a livestream hosted by Senior Editors Vanessa Hand-Orellana and Lexy Savvides along with Senior Associate Editor Patrick Holland. Watch CNET's live coverage of the Samsung Unpacked event . We'll get started at 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT -- half an hour before the actual keynote. Recent rumors about Galaxy Note 10 point to the S Pen having its own camera and that the phone could have four rear cameras . Other rumors suggest the Note 10 will have physical buttons for power and volume, a 4,300-mAh battery, a bigger aspect ratio and a 6.66-inch display -- compared with the Note 9's 6.4-inch screen. In the build up to the Unpacked event, Samsung posted a teaser video showing various shots of two devices, a tablet and a watch. The teaser ends with the two dates of July 31 for the tablet and then Aug. 5 for the Galaxy Watch . Samsung says the unveiling will happen on its Galaxy website . This is how the original Galaxy Note changed phones for good .


Joe Denly confirmed on Tuesday that he would drop to number four in the batting order for England's opening Ashes Test against Australia, with captain Joe Root replacing him at number three. Root has previously made clear he prefers batting at four but the Yorkshireman is understood to have approached England coach Trevor Bayliss after last week's Test win over Ireland about returning to his old position when the Ashes opener starts at Edgbaston on Thursday. Although England beat Ireland by skittling out the visitors for 38 in their second innings at Lord's, they only managed 85 all out themselves in their first innings. Bayliss has long wanted Root, England's best batsman, to bat at number three following a succession of top-order collapses that have seen the skipper walking out to bat at four when two cheap wickets have fallen. Root averages 48 at number four in the order but a shade over 40 when batting at number three. But with England openers Jason Roy and Rory Burns having played just eight Tests between them, the logic in having 81-Test veteran Root bat at number three is clear. Denly, speaking at Edgbaston on Tuesday, said: "Joe Root will bat at three and I'll be batting at four. "He rang me the other day and told me he wanted to bat three and for me to go in at four. I think Rooty just wanted to get involved in the game, get up there and get out in the middle." "I'm very excited. I wasn't too fussed where I'd be batting, it's just great to be in the eleven. I've batted at four before for Kent and throughout my career, so it really wasn't a big issue," he added. "I'm just happy to be playing." - Ashes Test - Denly may be 33 but the Kent batsman has played just three Tests and this will be his first Ashes series. He had a brief stint as a limited-overs international a decade ago but it seemed Test cricket had passed him by. However, a return to form and the arrival of his former Kent teammate Ed Smith as national selector saw him given a Test debut against the West Indies in Antigua earlier this year. "Everyone from a young age dreams of playing in an Ashes series and to finally get that chance, being quite an old campaigner, I'm certainly excited and up for the challenge," said Denly. "There's no doubt that the Australian bowling line-up is one of the best in the world. They have all bases covered really and, as a top-order batter, that is where you want to be, testing yourself against the best." Denly just missed out on a place in England's triumphant World Cup squad, being replaced by Hampshire spinner Liam Dawson, who did not play a game. "I think it was the right decision," he said. "I thought it might happen and it was a great opportunity for me to go back and play some red-ball cricket with Kent and get some good form going into this series."


CHICAGO   Powerful Chicago Alderman Edward Burke was meeting with a fellow alderman in October 2017 when he allegedly expressed his displeasure over the way developers of the old main Chicago post office had so far failed to throw any business to Burke's private law firm. "As far as I'm concerned, they can go f     themselves," Burke told Alderman Daniel Solis, who was working undercover for the FBI and secretly recording the conversation, according to a sweeping federal racketeering indictment filed Thursday against Burke. When Solis noted the developers would soon be before Burke's Finance Committee requesting $100 million in tax increment financing for the massive project, Burke responded, "Well, good luck getting it on the agenda," the indictment alleges. The conversation is at the center of the 59-page indictment outlining a series of alleged schemes in which prosecutors say Burke abused his City Hall clout to extort private legal work from companies and individuals doing business with the city. In addition to the attempted extortion of the old post office developers, the 14-count indictment accuses Burke   the city's longest-serving alderman and a vestige of the old Democratic machine   of trying to muscle developers of two smaller projects into hiring his law firm as well. The charges also allege that Burke threatened to oppose an increase in the admission fee for a Chicago museum after the museum failed to respond to the alderman's inquiry about an internship there for a child of a friend. The indictment does not name the museum, but details included in the charges make clear it was the Field Museum. A source confirmed Thursday that the friend was former Alderman Terry Gabinski   a protege of the late U.S. Rep. Dan Rostenkowski who was sworn in as alderman on the same day in 1969 as Burke. In an interview with The Chicago Tribune hours after the indictment was announced, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, in her second week in office, called on Burke to resign, saying that in her opinion as a former federal prosecutor, the case against him was strong. "He used the levers of government (to enrich himself)," Lightfoot said. "As you can see in reading the indictment, he was essentially calling up and muscling commissioners, line people and everything in between to get his way in order to ingratiate himself with a potential paying client for his legal business." In an emailed statement, Burke's lawyers said that "any suggestion (he) abused his position as a public official for personal gain is simply not true." "The charges are unfounded and not based on actual evidence," the statement read. "We welcome the opportunity to present the complete picture and all the facts to a jury. We are confident that when that happens, Ed Burke will be vindicated." The indictment revealed for the first time some of the secret recordings made by Solis, a longtime Burke ally who began cooperating with federal investigators in 2016 after he was himself secretly recorded in a series of alleged shakedown schemes. In one conversation included in the indictment, Burke allegedly told Solis he wasn't going to help the chief developer on the Post Office project, New York-based Harry Skydell's 601W Companies, until Skydell agreed to hire Burke's firm for tax work. "The cash register has not rung yet," Burke allegedly told Solis in the January 2017 conversation. Four months later, Burke was again recorded asking Solis about the developers. "So did we land the, uh, the tuna?" he said to Solis in May 2017, according to the indictment. He also lamented that the Post Office developers would "only work with Jewish lawyers" to appeal their property taxes unless he could offer special assistance, the indictment alleged. The indictment charged Burke with one count of racketeering, two counts of federal program bribery, two counts of attempted extortion, one count of conspiracy to commit extortion and eight counts of using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity. Also charged for the first time was Peter J. Andrews, a longtime political operative in Burke's 14th Ward office who is accused of assisting the alderman in attempting to shake down two businessmen seeking to renovate a Burger King restaurant in the ward. The indictment also named Charles Cui, who was first charged in April for allegedly hiring Burke's law firm in exchange for the alderman's help with a sign permit and financing deal for a project in the Portage Park neighborhood. Burke, 75, and Andrews, 69, were scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Robert Dow, records show Cui previously pleaded not guilty. Burke, who for decades has had his hands on many of the city's levers of power, had first been charged in January with one count of attempted extortion stemming from the alleged shakedown of the Burger King businessmen. A wiretap on Burke's cellphone allegedly captured Burke leaning on the Texas-based executives to hire his private law firm in exchange for help with permits needed to renovate the restaurant. When the businessmen didn't seem to be cooperating, Burke plotted with a ward staffer on how to play "hardball," holding up permits and sending a city worker to the site to harass them with unwarranted citations, according to the criminal complaint in January. The FBI listened in as at least 9,475 wiretapped calls were made or received on Burke's phone over at least an eight-month period, authorities revealed at the time. The complaint also alleged that Burke pressured one of the company's executives in December 2017 to contribute to the campaign of an unnamed local politician. Sources identified the politician as Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who lost her bid for Chicago mayor earlier this year by a wide margin to Lightfoot in part because of the controversy. The indictment essentially starts the legal clock ticking toward a potential trial. In the meantime, court proceedings in Burke's criminal case have essentially been on hold as prosecutors twice sought extensions, citing the "complex nature of this public corruption case, and the fact that the investigation is ongoing." Burke, who won reelection to a record 13th full term in February despite the cloud of charges hanging over his campaign, is free on a $10,000 unsecured bond while the case is pending. Meanwhile, the ongoing investigation continues to send shock waves through City Hall that began with a high-profile FBI raid six months ago on Burke's offices. Agents papered over windows with brown butcher paper before leaving down a back staircase with computers and files. Former Alderman Joe Moore, who lost the seat he'd held for 28 years in April's election, said the indictment and surrounding controversy gives Lightfoot "an upper hand against the City Council." "She's used Burke's problems effectively to basically have the City Council bend to her authority. There's been very little pushback on her efforts to rein in so-called aldermanic prerogative," Moore said. "I think there's a good chance that she'll be able to use this effectively to rein in their power over zoning." The new political dynamic was evident at Wednesday's City Council meeting. Lightfoot, presiding for the first time as mayor, silenced Burke during a tense exchange over Burke's objection over some language in Lightfoot's proposed package of Council rules. Lightfoot quickly cut him off, and when Burke tried to make another point, Lightfoot stopped him short. "Alderman, please. Alderman, I will call you when I'm ready to hear from you," she said. In her interview Thursday with the Tribune, Lightfoot said Burke's alleged conduct shows how the City Council desperately needs to reform how business is conducted. "This is why no one should be able to amass this kind of power, and this is why aldermanic power is so corrosive and corrupting," Lightfoot said. The mayor also said she's personally told the U.S. Attorney that if prosecutors have sufficient evidence of crimes committed by other aldermen, they should bring charges without delay. "This cloud of uncertainty and rumor and innuendo undermines the integrity of government," Lightfoot said. "If they have charges, bring them. If not, then we need to move forward." In charging Burke with racketeering counts   which are typically reserved for mobsters and gang cases   federal prosecutors have expanded the scope of the case to allege a "pattern" of corrupt activity and that Burke took steps to conceal it from victims of the conspiracy. While the previous charge involved relatively small developments, Burke is now accused of corrupting one of the largest projects in recent Chicago history   the more than $800 million renovation of the 2.8 million-square-foot building that straddles the Eisenhower Expressway at 433 W. Van Buren St. Crucial decisions affecting the building's development had to go through Solis' Zoning Committee and Burke's Finance Committee. The developer, 601W, had previously undertaken other big projects in Chicago, including the renovation and sale of the Prudential Building that currently houses The Chicago Tribune offices. The indictment made clear that Burke saw the company as a potential gold mine for his law firm. In one recorded conversation, Burke allegedly told Solis he was a "believer in sharing the wealth" and that if Solis helped him land legal business from the Post Office developer, he'd pay him a finder's fee disguised as a "marketing arrangement," according to the indictment. Last August, Burke entered into a contract for legal services with an affiliate of the developer that would pay Burke's law firm at least $15,000 a year from 2018 through 2020, according to the indictment. The next month, Burke voted to give a massive tax break to Skydell's company without publicly disclosing that he tried to obtain legal business from 601W Companies or had the contingent fee agreement with the unidentified affiliate, the charges alleged. In a statement released Thursday, 601W Companies said it was a "victim of a corrupt solicitation" by Burke and has cooperated in the investigation. "601W had no desire to retain Mr. Burke's firm voluntarily, and at no time throughout this matter did 601W ever pay any money or legal fees to Alderman Burke or his law firm for anything," the statement read. The indictment also contained new allegations that Burke threatened in 2017 to derail the Field Museum's proposed increase in its admission fee in September 2017 after the museum had ignored his bid to obtain an internship for the daughter of Gabinski, who stepped down in 1998. When a museum employee called Burke in advance of the Chicago Park District Board meeting on the fee increase, the alderman threatened to call the board president to object to the proposal and made a reference to the internship, the charges alleged. Three days later, an executive at the Field Museum emailed Burke offering Gabinski's daughter a full-time job, according to the indictment. The next day, Sept. 12, Burke called the daughter's mother on his cellphone   as the FBI listened in on a wiretap   to tell her of the potential job and to find out the daughter's interest, prosecutors said. At Burke's direction, his assistant then sent an email to the Field executive for additional details on how Gabinski's daughter could apply for the post, according to the charges. Less than an hour later, a museum employee emailed the daughter to detail the job opportunity and to set up an informational interview for later that week, the indictment said. The next day, the park district board approved the $2-a-person hike in the entrance fee for the Field. A few days later, Gabinski's daughter declined the full-time job, according to the indictment. Reached by phone Thursday, Jesse Ruiz, who was president of the Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners at the time, said he had no recollection of any pressure coming from Burke on the Field Museum entrance fee request. "As I recall, we went ahead and passed it," Ruiz said. "I do not recall ever being contacted by Ed Burke about any museum fees."     (Chicago Tribune's John Byrne and Jeff Coen contributed to this report.)     ©2019 Chicago Tribune Visit the Chicago Tribune at www.chicagotribune.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.


The Kansas City Chiefs have made a trade to acquire linebacker Darron Lee from the New York Jets in return for a 2020 sixth-round draft pick. A former first-round pick, Lee had been rumored to be on the trade block for a while, but the Jets today fired general manager Mike Maccagnan . Now, under head coach/interim GM Adam Gase, the Jets have finally moved on from Lee. Lee was drafted by the Jets in 2016 and has been one of the top tacklers on the team each season, including having the second-most tackles on the team in 2017. In 2018, Lee finished the season with 74 total tackles, three interceptions and five passes defended. The Chiefs had interest in reinforcing the linebacker position during the draft, but the position group was thin and ran out before the Chiefs came on the clock. Lee upgrades their position group significantly without having to give up much in the way of draft capital. This feels like a good move for GM Brett Veach and the Chiefs, especially if Lee goes on to be a major contributor for the team. If he doesn't it isn't a big sweat either, because the Chiefs can cut Lee with no charge to the salary cap. Also, Lee is already friends with the MVP. Just in time for the GOT finale @DLeeMG8 #ChiefsKingdom - Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) May 16, 2019 Lee will be in Kansas City just in time to watch the season finale! MORE: Zion Williamson still has options if he doesn't want to play for the Pelicans Report: Browns rookie RB L.J. Scott decides to quit NFL after just 2 days NBA Free Agency 2019: The top players Cowboys News: Prescott's circle of trust questioned, Kris Richard RKGs Pro Football Focus names Raiders CB Isaiah Johnson as a steal of the 2019 draft


Potatoes may be life, but for many Americans, mayonnaise is...well, let's just say it's not for everyone. This means the standby classic, potato salad , typically a combo of the two ingredients, gets tossed aside during summer picnics . Whomp, whomp. Since we never want to see food go to waste, why not provide a dish, even a potato salad, that everyone will enjoy whether they are pro- or anti-mayonnaise? We've rounded up ten mayo-free variations of the classic potato salad that are drowning in flavor and not in sauce. Try them out for yourself and let the tubers do the talking. Warm German Potato Salad with Bacon The German potato salad isn't novel, but making it warm and tossing it with bacon is the upgrade we never knew we needed in life. Take a bite out of this salty, tangy heaven. Get our Warm German Potato Salad recipe . Italian Potato Salad Garlic and olive oil are simple, yet elegant ways to class up your potato salad. Try this Italian staple at your next picnic. Get the Italian Potato Salad recipe . Herbed Potato Salad Seeing green is a great thing when it comes to money and fresh herbs. Toss those herbs with potatoes and you've got a picnic side dish that will have everyone talking (and needing a toothbrush). Get our Herbed Potato Salad recipe . Marinated Potato Salad with Fennel Don't fear fennel! If eating black licorice sounds more like punishment than pleasure, you may love its less offensive, herbaceous counterpart. And if that flavor is still too potent, roast it in olive oil for some added sweetness. Get our Marinated Potato Salad with Fennel recipe . Mediterranean-Style Mustard Potato Salad Frankly, mustard is the superior condiment to mayonnaise. Getting rid of the latter means you should absolutely double up on the former. Pairing it with capers, red onions, and herbs also makes too much sense. Get the Mediterranean-Style Mustard Potato Salad recipe . Roasted Sweet Potato Salad Flip the script by introducing a bright and orangey sweet potato with spicy Southwestern flavors. A serving of this pretty stuff will have you saying "yeehaw." Get the Roasted Sweet Potato recipe . Greek Tzatziki Potato Salad We love a good Tzatziki sauce and this dish is smothered in it. Greek yogurt > mayonnaise any day. But if you come across Mr. Hellman, you didn't hear that from us. Get the Greek Tzatziki Potato Salad recipe . Lemon, Rosemary, and Sun-Dried Tomato Potato Salad If you're looking for something light and refreshing, lemon serves as an excellent base. The rosemary and sun-dried tomato serve as the figurative cherries on top. Get the Lemon, Rosemary, and Sun-Dried Tomato Potato Salad recipe . Avocado Potato Salad The creaminess of mayonnaise can be imitated with the mighty avocado. Seriously, is there anything that avocado can't do? Get the Avocado Potato Salad recipe . Related video: How to Pack a Cooler the Right Way


A man who pretended to be a federal agent so he could scam undocumented immigrants out of tens of thousands of dollars was sentenced to up to 10 years behind bars on Tuesday. Schoen Michael La Bombard, 51, claimed he could help immigrants get legal status, but he had no actual ability to do so and just took their money. Prosecutors said he charged $1,700 in cash per client. He pleaded guilty last month to grand larceny, scheme to defraud, possession of a forged instrument and criminal impersonation. In court Tuesday, La Bombard declined to speak when given the opportunity by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Ellen Biben. La Bombard "exploited the fears around shifting immigration policy to target primarily Spanish-speaking immigrants with the promise to help them achieve 'the American Dream,' " Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. said at the time of the plea. La Bombard and his partner in crime, Francesca Bradley, 44, fleeced at least 14 people over five months in 2018, pocketing about $24,000. La Bombard said he was special agent "Commander Sean Michael Lombardi" and claimed to be an employee of the Diplomatic Security Service, a division of the U.S. Department of State. Bradley posed as his "liaison" and helped recruit victims. She previously copped to a count of immigrant assistance services fraud and was sentenced to a year. Word of the swindle made its way to Make the Road New York, an organization that assists immigrants, and the case was referred to prosecutors for investigation. It was handled by the DA's Immigrant Affairs Unit.


There's nothing wrong with wanting to exercise - it's good for you! - or eat healthier . But one registered dietitian and personal trainer is making a strong case for why you need to check yourself: What are you really eating that salad or taking Orangetheory for? Registered dietitian and personal trainer Lauren Cadillac, CLT, calls herself the " Feel Good Dietitian ." That's because her approach to food and exercise is about how you feel, not how you look. It "focuses on turning your attention inward rather than outward," she told POPSUGAR, "learning to listen to what your body is telling you and asking for." Thinking in Extremes: the 1 Mistake You're Making When It Comes to Weight Loss Lauren said that most people focus on food and exercise as a way to "get thin and shrink their bodies rather than a way to nourish and celebrate them." This, in turn, leads to unrealistic goals that are either unattainable, or attainable but not easily sustained. An example of an extreme goal would be going from zero exercise to CrossFit five times per week, she said, and going from ordering out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner to prepping home-cooked keto meals around the clock. When you go from one extreme to the other or simply think of food and fitness in extremes - people are being "good" or "bad;" on a diet or "off the wagon" - this can create a vicious cycle. "People feel like they need to make a change, so they start working out every single day and cut out entire food groups," Lauren explained. "Then, they either get hurt or burnt out, or inevitably crave something that is 'off limits.'" Guilt ensues - which, again, isn't what you want - and the cycle continues. This establishes an unhealthy relationship with diet and exercise. Instead, the goals that Lauren sets with her clients focus on ways to improve their physical and mental health, she said, and she named the SMART acronym as a good place to start for behavioral changes: goals are S pecific, M easurable, A ttainable, R ealistic, and T ime-oriented. Lauren continued, "When every single meal becomes about how you look, it disconnects you from how you actually feel. It diminishes the trust you have in your body and can lower self-esteem." And when people are exercising just for aesthetics and they don't achieve that "standard" our culture has set, it's easy to give up. We also forget how fun movement can be, she said (think childhood bike rides and tag on the playground). Working out doesn't just aid in weight loss or help you get that six-pack ; there are so many other health benefits like stress relief and reduced mortality risk , Lauren noted. When asked about the " look good, feel good " mentality, Lauren said, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We are taught that once we look a certain way, we will feel better. The truth of it is, our insecurities are in our heads, and if we don't address them, no amount of weight loss or 'sculpting' will ever be enough." She has her clients focus on intuitive eating and hunger/fullness cues as well as fitness that's, well, downright enjoyable. Though everyone is different and goals will be specific to you, ahead check out some of her top tips for how you can maintain this perspective, too. How to Maintain a Healthy Relationship With Food and Exercise Ditch the diet mentality. "Let go of the idea the there is a magical plan that will finally be 'the one," Lauren said. Instead, start to make peace with food and see some food as more nutritious than others rather than "good" or "bad." Eat when you're hungry and stop when you're full (which she talks about more here ). Think of a hunger/fullness scale from one to 10 - one being you're so hungry you could pass out, and 10 being you're sick to your stomach. Try to eat when you're somewhere around a three, when you want food but aren't so hungry that you eat fast and overshoot to 10. Do your best to stop around a six or seven when you're comfortably full and satisfied. Learn to cope with emotions without using food. Choose food you enjoy eating so you actually feel satiated, and choose food that feels good in your body (food that gives you energy and is easy on your digestive system ). Find a type of exercise that you like doing. "Let go of the idea that unless it's a 60-minute HIIT class or power-lifting session, it doesn't count," Lauren said. "All movement adds up and should bring you joy." Related video: This Workout is Intense (Provided by Men's Health)


Take time to figure out if there are skills you can add to your résumé to help you stand out. Job rejections can hurt, but the key to moving on is not to take it personally. The rejection can also open up better opportunities if you're proactive. Here are 11 ways to get over a job rejection. Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories. It's hard not to take job rejections , like any other form of rejection, personally. But separating yourself from the situation is the key to moving on after a job rejection says Erica Keswin, workplace strategist and author of " Bring Your Human to Work ." Hiring managers must look through numerous candidates at a time - assuming your résumé makes it to a human in the first place - so the tendency is to be curt when rejecting applicants. Read more: Here's the question a rejected job candidate emailed after her interview that eventually got her hired for another role While Keswin says companies should be as respectful to candidates as interviewees are expected to be , she recommends you don't dwell too much on a rejection. "The idea of honoring relationships starts with people who don't even work there yet," Keswin says. "When it comes to some of these recruiters, there's no excuse in how they are treating people, but try to keep it at arm's length." Yet even with more personalized rejection notes, the sting can be painful and lead to insecurity, says Lynn Taylor, workplace expert and author of " Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant; How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job ." "It's one of the most disheartening things, especially when you think not only about the time and effort that goes into applying, but how much emotion you've invested in the job," Lynn Taylor said. While talking about being rejected can be embarrassing, there are steps job seekers can take to make the most of a door closed. Here are Taylor and Keswin's best tips on getting over a job rejection. When you first get a rejection email, take a step back and a moment to congratulate yourself for making it this far. The time immediately after getting a rejection letter can be disheartening, Taylor says, especially if it's one you have been interviewing for. If you made it through several rounds, take the initial moments to congratulate yourself for scoring the interview in the first place, and then take a step back from your computer to go outside or distract yourself. Rushing to crank out the next cover letter right after getting rejected can also be counterproductive, as you should wait until you are in a more positive mindset to get back into applying. "The best way to move on is to just realize that you only need one job, and this is one of many job interview situations that are there for you," Taylor says. Remember that if the company did not want to hire you, you probably would not have wanted to work for them anyway. Often times when applicants submit their résumés, they go into a "big black hole, never to be heard from again." If a company did not send you a personalized rejection letter, or otherwise made you feel like they did not value your time, Keswin says there is a good chance you would not have felt welcome once you got to the company. "All of those things speak to company values and how they treat their people," she says. "I would look in the mirror and say 'Is that a really company I would be happy at?'" Set up social events with close family and friends, and reach out to mentors. For those feeling particularly stung, Taylor recommends reaching out to friends or family in your inner circle who can remind you of the bigger picture. Before you hop back into the job hunt, use the first couple of days to build up your self confidence. Reaching out to mentors for feedback or support can also be helpful, Taylor adds. Be sure to thank your interviewer the day you get a rejection. Send a thank-you email the day you get a rejection letter, as even a day later a hiring manager could be on to the next 12 candidates, Keswin says. If you moved onto the interview phase, Keswin recommends reaching out to not just your recruiter, but the specific people who interviewed you, and thank them for taking the time to meet with you. "You had a different type of connection with all of these different people," Keswin says. "You should try to make a personal connection in that email and say you hope to keep in touch. If you particularly enjoyed interviewing for the company, ask your interviewer to keep you in mind for future positions. A rejection letter doesn't have to close all doors: "Especially if it's a company you really thought you were interested in, you always want to leave things in a positive way to leave the door open," Keswin says. Sometimes, when a new manager comes in and needs to hire, companies keep record of former applicants they liked so they can fill open positions. Other times, companies will reject applicants for a full-time position, but offer them contractual work, Taylor says. Maintaining a connection with your interviewer could lead to a job down the line. You can ask for feedback on why the hiring manager didn't go forward   but be cautious. The best way to know why you didn't get a job is to ask, Keswin says. As you send a thank-you note to interviewers, she suggests saying sorry it didn't work out, but if they had any specific feedback, you would love to hear it. Taylor, however, says that this approach could backfire. Managers often don't have time to give detailed feedback to each rejected candidate, and asking them to take time out of their day for you could feel burdensome. "There's a 60/40 chance you're irritating them more than anything else," Taylor says. If you received a few rejections in a row, take the time to analyze what could be missing in your resume. Many times people apply to several jobs during the interview stage. If multiple of your applications come out unsuccessful, you might need to examine your skills more critically, Keswin says. "I would urge people to really be honest with themselves to do a post-mortem analysis on what the issue was," she adds. The first step is to figure out whether your rejections stem from missing skills or not being a culture fit. In the case of skills, it could be as simple as taking an online class and learning something new for your résumé. If you have the means, hiring a career coach could help you figure out what isn't working. If the reasons why you got rejected were because of not being a cultural fit, or if they were unclear, seeking professional help could go a long way, Keswin says. As a career coach at NYU, she helped qualified candidates during the financial crisis figure out which of their skills were transferable, then she targeted jobs that could use those skills. A career coach helped Business Insider reporter Shana Lebowitz feel more empowered, and she learned how to make a roadmap to reach her goals. Career coaches can be expensive, however, so Keswin also recommends reaching out to university alumni networks first to get the same type of support without paying a fee. When you get back into job searching, try being more flexible with what you'd consider applying to. If at first you were uncomfortable relocating or transferring your skills to other industries, the time following a rejection could be a chance to widen your horizons, Taylor says. "Especially if you're willing to be flexible on the exact job description, widen your scope just a little bit," she says. "That may help your mindset." If you're currently employed, taking on another project at work could bulk up your résumé. Taking on a new job could mean sacrificing the flexibility you earned through years of working at your current job, Keswin says. One way to get over a rejection is to focus on what you have, rather than what you don't. You can also build skills for when you do try to seek greener pastures: Take on a new project at your current job, or focus on growing your side hustle. "If you realize the job search may be taking longer than you'd like, ask what are some positives you can focus on in other aspects of your life," Keswin says. After you build up your skills, don't be afraid to try again at your dream company. If a hiring manager tells you that you were a good candidate, but they found a "rock star," and they offer to keep in touch, don't take that information lightly, Keswin says. If you can figure out the skills you may be missing, you could try reaching out to similar positions at the company down the road. "It shows you're really interested in the company," she says.


Many Americans assume their money is relatively safe regardless of where the account is located. As hackers have moved from retailers to banks, the likelihood of retirement accounts being the next target is increasing. While having access to financial accounts, including banking and retirement portfolios, has increased accessibility to consumes, it has also increased the risk of fraud "significantly," said Paul Martini, CEO of iboss Network Security, a San Diego network security provider. The recent attack on the IRS used personal data such as Social Security numbers stolen in previous breaches and cyber attackers are now "monetizing insight from personal information aggressively," said Ben Johnson, a chief security strategist of Bit9 + Carbon Black, a Waltham, Mass. security company. "Retirement accounts are squarely in their crosshairs," he added. IRA and 401(k) accounts are even more attractive targets for hackers, because most people do not track them the way they do their credit cards or checking accounts. The thefts could wind up being undetected for months. Even cyber criminals who are "semi-skilled" can access a victim's 401(k) or IRA account easily using stolen personal information and social engineering tactics, Johnson said. "Once they have access to the account, it can be emptied in a matter of minutes, but the victim may not realize it until they do their annual review of their retirement accounts months later," he said. Although retirement accounts are insured by the FDIC for up to $250,000, FDIC insurance only "comes into play if a bank fails," said David Barr, a FDIC spokesperson. "Banks carry separate insurance to cover losses or other liabilities." Vanguard, the Valley Forge, Pa. mutual fund company that has more than 20 million investors and manages $3.3 trillion globally, will reimburse funds taken from an account in an unauthorized transaction, said David Hoffman, a Vanguard spokesman. In 2014, Vanguard added two-factor authentication which allows investors to opt into a service that requires them to enter a code which is sent to their cell phone via text message before they are able to log onto the website. "Clients can choose to always receive this code for log-ins or only from unrecognized devices," he said. "This service is designed to provide added protection when accessing Vanguard, because someone will not only need to know your user name and password, but will also need access to your mobile device to obtain a one-time security code that would be sent to you during each log on once you opt-in to this service." After studying the top nine banking Trojans -- the software written to steal information from consumers that would allow the attackers to take over their bank accounts and transfer money out -- Symantec's research found that all nine of them are capable of stealing log-in and password information from customers of over 1,400 different banks, said Kevin Haley, director of security response at Symantec. "People's finances are already under attack," he said. "The threat is there today." Any data posted on the Internet is vulnerable to attacks, including that related to your 401(k) and IRA accounts. "Your money can disappear," said Sergio Galindo, a general manager for GFI Software, an IT services provider based in Durham, N.C. If it happened to JP Morgan Chase and other financial companies that invest in millions of dollars to prevent and detect "rogue access," then it can happen to any account, he said. Finding the hackers is becoming more of a challenge and can take weeks, if not longer. Cyber criminals are not giving up, especially since many consumers make hacking fairly easy for them. Industry experts estimate that half of people are using the same ID and password combination on multiple accounts. These criminals are coming smarter, and even phishing has become more sophisticated and believable, with emails claiming, for example, consumers' Home Depot accounts were accessed and asking them to log-in again to change the password, he said. Too few consumers are checking their accounts on a regular basis. Galindo recommends checking your account for charges or other changes at least once a month. "Little charges sometimes indicate bigger issues," he said. "If you don't recognize it, ask and stop the charge." Consumers can safeguard their accounts better by following these five tips: Don't make it easy for the hackers . If your browser gives you the option to remember your password, always say no. "Typing in your password also assures that you are physically the one interacting with the system," Martini said. When you are shopping online, make sure the website is one you can trust such as PayPal or Amazon, which are more likely to have "security policies in place over a small run-of-the-mill website," he said. Always opt to use your bank card as a credit card instead of a debit card , because "recovering fraudulent activity from a credit card is much easier as it doesn't lock up your bank account funds while that's in process," Martini said. Use strong passwords that are not related to your personal information . Avoid your birthday, a pet's names or other information someone can find via social media, said Shawn Marck, an executive vice president at Nexusguard, a San Francisco-based security provider. Take advantage of two -factor authentication when it is available . Some retirement account providers such as Vanguard will text a code to your smartphone before you can log-in. "IRAs and 401(k)s are no more secure than your favorite online retail account," Marck said. "The log-in processes are virtually the same, and in many cases, users do not follow good password discipline or take advantage of two-factor authentications unless they are forced to do so." The bottom line is that all of your accounts, ranging from your Dropbox to your financial ones, can be hacked because anything with a username and password connected to the Internet is "susceptible to an attack," said Luis Chapetti, a software engineer and data scientist at Barracuda, a Campbell, Calif.-based security and storage solutions company. "Nothing is safe," he said. "Proper security protocols and appliances mixed with educating users is the best way to mitigate these and any attacks." Passwords remain the "weakest links" for data theft, Chapetti said. As the industry matures, passwords need to become obsolete, because they are "dangerous to Internet security and in this case, all information relating to 401k data."


The Minnesota Twins have been hitting home runs at an historic clip . They entered Saturday's action against the Texas Rangers with 165 homers, one shy of last season's mark. With Minnesota up 5-4 in the eighth inning, Marwin Gonzalez took Shawn Kelley deep to match the Twins' total from last season. We're not even at the All-Star break yet. . @marwinGF9 just hit our 166th home run of the season. We hit 166 home runs in all of 2018. #BOMBASQUAD ! #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/pcjgqzuf10   Minnesota Twins (@Twins) July 6, 2019 This was Gonzalez's 10th homer of the season. He's now the 10th member of the Twins with double-digit homers this season. Minnesota is on pace for 306 homers, which would crush the New York Yankees' all-time mark of 267 from last season.


Fortune Magazine has released its annual list of the 500 top companies in America, which represent two-thirds of the U.S. GDP and have a total of $13.7 trillion in revenue, the magazine says. Of those 500 companies, 12 are based in North Carolina. Fortune explains that it ranks companies by total revenue and Walmart topped the 2019 list, followed by Exxon Mobil and Apple. Berkshire Hathaway and Amazon ranked No.4 and No.5, rounding out the top five spots on the list. To put the list in context, Fortune writes that just a tenth of the companies on the list are responsible for nearly half of the total $13.7 trillion in revenue. ( You can read more in detail about the list via Fortune here. ) In North Carolina, the following companies made the Fortune 500 list: Bank of America   No. 25 Lowe's   No. 42 Nucor   No. 120 Duke Energy   No. 126 BB&T Corp.   No. 248 VF   No. 252 Laboratory Corp. of America   No. 278 IQVIA Holdings   No. 305 Sonic Automotive   No. 316 Advance Auto Parts   No. 326 Brighthouse Financial   No. 342 Hanesbrands   No. 444 The top 10 companies on the list are: Walmart Exxon Mobil Apple Berkshire Hathaway Amazon.com UnitedHealth Group McKesson CVS Health AT&T AmerisourceBergen See the full Fortune 500 list here.


CHICAGO (AP) Cheyenne Parker came off the bench and scored 18 points with 11 rebounds and the Chicago Sky held off the Seattle Storm 78-71 on Sunday night. Stephanie Dolson added 15 points and Courtney Vandersloot 11 with seven assists for the Sky (2-2), who had their best defensive game of the season after giving up 105 in their last outing. The defending champion and short-handed Storm (3-3) continued their pattern of following a win with a loss, three of the losses on the road. Natasha Howard and Jewell Loyd had 20 points apiece. Chicago got off to a strong start, leading 29-16 after one quarter and 43-17 early in the second but Seattle scored 17 straight points and closed with 44-34 at the half. The Storm were as close as six in the third quarter but a 9-0 run early in the third quarter pushed the lead to 71-55. Seattle shot 38 percent and was 3 of 18 from distance. Chicago, which had 20 turners, had eight 3-pointers but only had eight points from the foul line while the Storm was 16 of 19.


HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Yale University and a former basketball captain have settled a lawsuit stemming from his expulsion over sexual misconduct allegations that he denied. A federal judge in Hartford on Tuesday dismissed Jack Montague's lawsuit. Details of the agreement were not disclosed. Yale spokesman Thomas Conroy declined to comment. Lawyers in the case issued a statement saying only that ''the parties have resolved the case to their mutual satisfaction.'' Montague sought monetary damages over his February 2016 expulsion. He also sought readmission to Yale, but went on to attend Belmont University in Tennessee. Montague was expelled after the woman testified before Yale's Unified Committee on Sexual Misconduct that much of a 2014 sexual encounter with the player was not consensual. No criminal charges were ever brought. Montague's lawsuit alleges that the accusations against him were brought by a Title IX officer who coerced the woman to cooperate with the complaint by informing her that Montague had received sensitivity training in another case. His lawyers contend that is a violation of the school's own confidentiality rules. That earlier case had involved an argument in which Montague allegedly shoved a folded paper plate down a woman's top. Montague also asserted that the woman told Yale that he likely didn't hear her when she asked him to end the encounter. Yale's attorneys have said the woman, identified only as Jane Roe, made it clear that she did not want to have intercourse and that the school and its officials acted appropriately. Montague also argued that his accuser was allowed to give a lengthy, emotional statement to the committee, while he was denied a similar opportunity. Because of the expulsion, Montague, a guard, missed the end of his senior season at Yale, which included an Ivy League championship and first ever NCAA Tournament victory for the Bulldogs, a first-round upset of Baylor.


San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón on Monday questioned the police raid of a journalist's home earlier this month, saying he "can't imagine a situation in which a search warrant would be appropriate." Officers executed search warrants at freelance videographer Bryan Carmody's home and office on May 10 as part of their investigation into who in the department leaked a police report on the death of Public Defender Jeff Adachi. The search has drawn rebukes from First Amendment groups and a growing number of city officials who have questioned whether police violated the law, including the state shield law that protects journalists from being compelled to reveal their sources and specifically prohibits searches. "My office has not seen the warrant or the facts upon which it was based, but absent a showing that a journalist broke the law to obtain the information that police are looking for, I can't imagine a situation in which a search warrant would be appropriate," Gascón wrote on Twitter. He continued: "Even if there were such a showing, however, no search should have been conducted without the use of a special master. Journalists have multiple sources to whom they owe confidences, similar to an attorney who has multiple clients whom they owe attorney-client privilege." Special masters are court-appointed attorneys who assist in searches and determine whether the material falls within the scope of a warrant. They are often used when police search the records of attorneys, doctors or other professionals with privileged information, in order to protect the confidentiality of clients or patients. Police have not said whether they used a special master when conducting the search. "Seizing the entire haystack to find the needle risks violating the confidences Mr. Carmody owes to all his sources, not just the person who leaked the police report," Gascón wrote. Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky


It doesn't appear Tigers right fielder Nicholas Castellanos is going to get a contract extension before the July 31 trade deadline, which means the impending free agent is likely to find himself in another uniform by Aug. 1. Castellanos said in March , a few weeks before the season started, that he and the Tigers hadn't engaged in extension talks. That may have been true at the time, but it turns out the two sides regarded a new contract as "likely" for a short period in the spring, Chris McCosky of the Detroit News reports. The length and value of the extension the Tigers and Castellanos thought they'd strike are unknown, but it was the team that "pulled back," per McCosky. Castellanos hired the Boras Corporation to represent him April 19, and it doesn't seem as if the Tigers and the agency have had any meaningful talks since then. Considering Detroit made a spirited effort to trade Castellanos in the offseason, it's not surprising the rebuilding club was reluctant to pull the trigger on an extension in the spring. Castellanos' previous agent even publicly stated in January that his client would prefer a trade, though general manager Al Avila couldn't net an offer to his liking. Avila admitted then that trying to find a taker for Castellanos had been "frustrating." Seven months later, the frustration has likely persisted for Avila in regards to Castellanos. The 27-year-old's offense has gotten rolling of late after a slow start to the season, but he hasn't done much to boost his trade stock. Castellanos is a good hitter who doesn't offer much in the field, which has been the case since he broke out at the plate in 2016. Through 366 plate appearances this season, Castellanos has slashed .282/.342/.468 (113 wRC+) with nine home runs. Notably, there's almost almost no gap between his weighted on-base average (.344) and expected wOBA (.346). Diligent work to improve as an outfielder actually has paid off to a degree for Castellanos, though he has still only managed minus-5 Defensive Runs Saved, minus-5 Outs Above Average and a minus-4.0 Ultimate Zone Rating in the grass in 2019. The former third baseman's best fit, at least if a playoff-contending team acquires him for the stretch run, may be as a designated hitter. The trouble is that Castellanos' output this year hasn't been much better than that of an average DH (110 wRC+). Given his flaws, Castellanos is unlikely to fetch much for the Tigers prior to the deadline. Assuming a trade does come together, though, Castellanos will be on track to reach free agency after the season with zero chance of a qualifying offer hurting his earning power. Once he hits the open market, Castellanos will try to build on the $9.95M he's making this season.


Editor's note: The opinions in this article are the author's, as published by our content partner, and do not necessarily represent the views of MSN or Microsoft. Shouts broke out on the Alabama Senate floor last Thursday when Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth tried to rush through a motion without a roll-call vote. If that sentence bored you even with the shouting you've already grasped something basic: The dullness of these procedures is why most of us have trouble understanding them or paying attention, even when there's cheating involved. We should try. In this case, the motion would have removed an amendment supported by some Republicans to exclude cases of rape and incest from an abortion ban that had already passed the House. Ainsworth believes Americans impregnated by rapists should be made to give birth, so he tried to rush the motion through without a roll-call vote, bending the rules to get his way. State Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton stalled the attempted circumvention through sheer force of will, shouting his objections until the vote was delayed. But this is not a happy story: The controversial bill ended up passing the Senate on Tuesday night  with no exceptions included and will go to Gov. Kay Ivey's desk. Its intention is to strip Americans of a constitutional right, on the assumption that a friendly Supreme Court will soon declare that removal legal. The path to that end point is not short, but neither is it far-fetched. It will take only one of these abortion bans to survive the ultimate judicial challenge for Americans with uteruses to be forced by the state to carry fetuses against their will. If Alabama's turns out to be the one, we'd do well to remember that one link in that chain of events was Republicans trying to proceed without a roll-call vote. That's a simple procedural violation, the sort one might hesitate to get too upset over. But those kinds of violations stack up. They stack up until they form a basis for disenfranchising half the country. And at a certain point, there's nothing to be done but insist that what few rules remain be followed. After last week's fracas, the New York Times quoted Democratic state Sen. Vivian Figures as saying to her Republican colleagues, "You all are going to get your way, but at least treat us fairly and do it the right way." This is where we are in a nutshell. Those who wish to preserve constitutionally protected abortion rights are left appealing to the denatured process that got us here: At least have the decency to strip our rights fairly. Alabama isn't alone. Just a few days ago, Georgia passed a law criminalizing abortions after six weeks, set to take effect in 2020, and Gov. Brian Kemp signed it. It's a total abortion ban for reasons you can read here . It's the most extreme law ever passed, and it's supposed to be: GOP members across several states have said they're " excited " to pass illegal laws that defy a settled Supreme Court ruling so that the current court can overturn it. The Georgia bill redefines fetuses as legal persons with rights while, again, stripping the rights and bodily autonomy of citizens who actually exist. Though some activists on both sides want to believe this unlikely, the bill clearly allows for those who actively refuse to give birth to face lifelong imprisonment or the death penalty. Even those who leave the state to abort would be subject to punishment. Then there's the Ohio bill, similar in structure and passed in April, which will condemn an 11-year-old child who was raped to forced birth which must be understood as rape in reverse. Kentucky and Mississippi passed similar bills this year (Kentucky's was struck down, as was Iowa's, passed last year). These bills aren't just astonishing and punitive and misnamed (the "heartbeat" is not a heart but a collection of cells in the fetal pole that may one day become one). They're ignorant even of the actual reproductive biology they purport to regulate. Several would criminalize miscarriages, and one invents a medical procedure whereby ectopic pregnancies which tend to be fatal could not be aborted but would be "reimplanted" in the uterus. That is not a medical procedure you can get; it's a suggestion that doctors experiment on women whose lives are in danger. Never mind. That is not, at least for the moment, the point. The rights of women and the marginalized seldom are. The point is this web-like convergence, across multiple states, that's closing like a net around Americans capable of getting pregnant. Multiple states, with multiple paths to the Supreme Court. A law passed to invoke the high court can't be dismissed as a "strategy" or a "tactic" the law is exactly what it says. And it was passed to satisfy the beliefs of a minority. Take Georgia: 70 percent of Georgians and 68 percent of Americans don't believe Roe v. Wade should be overturned. It doesn't matter. That isn't stopping Georgia's government. We're long past democracy working, even if many have yet to realize it, because so much of its dismantling has been invisible to the public thanks to dark money, gerrymandering, voter suppression, and maneuvers like Ainsworth's, all of which we've been encouraged to consider merely improper. A long campaign to hobble and constrain our representative government at every turn is now paying off dramatically. For decades, extremists have been seizing control through the kind of procedural malfeasance that gets continually mislabeled as assholery or poor etiquette. Over and over, Americans have made the mistake of responding to Republican misbehavior by treating each case as an isolated insult to be transcended. The mature thing, we've been told, is to "rise above." The Georgia bill in particular reflects the cost of letting individual instances of Republican overstepping go unchallenged in the name of bipartisanship. (I'm not saying that it would have been easy to challenge, or that no one has.) But cheats and transgressions accrue like compound interest, and the technical wins Republicans gained and keep gaming have given them a stranglehold. That most Americans didn't see this as a crisis isn't shocking: There's nothing Americans like less than detail-oriented bureaucracy. A lot of us confuse that impatience with an ability to see through B.S.; there's a lamentable tendency to see procedural violations as dull or unimportant. This is dismissiveness at worst and civic confusion at best, but it has led many of us to think that the citizens' groups and organizations that have been calling attention to these violations and bringing lawsuits and doing their best in this whack-a-mole fight to stop a takeover by an extremist minority are overreacting. They weren't. And the best proof is that a bill seeking to legalize executing women for their reproductive choices was signed into law by a governor who was elected after a massive procedural campaign to disenfranchise voters less likely to support him. As Georgia's secretary of state, Brian Kemp presided over an election in which he was a candidate . In the former capacity, he stalled more than 50,000 voter registrations for predominantly black voters. His office was found to be using amateur "handwriting analysis" by untrained people to reject absentee ballots, voiding the votes of disproportionately black voters. He launched an investigation into his opponent Stacey Abrams' New Georgia Project, which was registering black voters. (No wrongdoing was found.) You might wonder as many Americans who think "the system" still works do how Kemp got away with closing 214 polling locations in Georgia, most of them in disproportionately poor and minority communities. Or how county boards in Georgia could get away with dispatching deputies with court summonses demanding that (mostly black) voters give proof of residence or lose their right to vote. The answer is that a conservative Supreme Court struck crucial portions of the Voting Rights Act, which used to protect southern minority voters from measures like these, in 2013. The court has grown even more conservative since then thanks to another "procedural" violation that was seen more as a rupture with norms than a soft takeover. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to hold a hearing for President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland. Democrats objected strenuously at the time, but there was nothing much they could do: Thanks to the structure of the Senate , Republicans hold a dangerously durable majority. McConnell took pleasure in this: "One of my proudest moments was when I looked Barack Obama in the eye and I said, 'Mr. President, you will not fill the Supreme Court vacancy.' " My theory is that partly because McConnell took obvious pleasure in it, that loss is remembered more clearly as an asshole move than a government-changing upheaval that would cost many Americans their rights. Republicans have encouraged this perspective: "Get over it" has become a kind of GOP mantra. The opposition is supposed to "get over" everything from Merrick Garland to Russian interference to child separations and plenty more. That's smart framing by the dominant party: It encourages a personal response to a public offense. You're supposed to "get over" Republican overstepping rather than, say, retaliate. You don't feed the trolls, and when a jerk flips you off in a parking lot, you let it go. You rise above. This, ultimately, is the problem with talk of bipartisanship among the Democrats, and of asking or begging to be "treated fairly" even as the other party holds all the cards. (Or indeed predicting that Republicans will have " an epiphany " and seek consensus, which appears to be Joe Biden's plan.) "Get over it" is a spiritual recipe, not a political one. And it doesn't work against the parliamentary politics McConnell excels at, which consists, in part, of choosing battles too recondite and fiddly for the public to get angry about. For instance, he has now made a standard practice of defying the "blue-slip rule" when it comes to confirming judicial nominees. Given how little the public knows about the protocol, they're primed to miss the effect. McConnell has been advancing nominees without the approval of their home-state senators, locking out the minority from the process, and stocking the judiciary with radical right-wing conservatives. These are not matters of etiquette. Individually they haven't seemed like enormous changes (well, maybe the Garland denial did), but they are serious and consequential, and together they are changing history. And there is no recourse for any of this . Yes, a judge found that Kemp's practices raised "grave concerns for the Court about the differential treatment inflicted on a group of individuals who are predominantly minorities." It didn't matter. He's the governor now. In the name of what he called "voter maintenance," the man canceled 1.4 million voter registrations in his tenure as secretary of state. He "won" his election by 55,000 votes. The thousand cuts he inflicted on Georgia worked: By the time that court decision came around, it was only a week before the election. Too much damage had been done. Kemp won technically, but technical wins are all you need and that yearslong series of cheats has empowered him now to sign a bill that would authorize punishing women for exercising their constitutional right to an abortion. Women will die because of laws like these that became possible thanks to stacks of technicalities. It wasn't enough for Republicans to legalize "crisis pregnancy centers" that give women dangerously inaccurate information about their options. Or to force doctors to lie to their patients about abortion. Or to try to force patients get transvaginal ultrasounds for no medical reason. Republicans are now doing everything in their power to drag a tragic past into the present. We are moving closer to a world where reproductive health moves underground, and where women are afraid to seek care or as in the past, get interrogated by police when they do . But never mind: The point is how we got here. After decades of accruing small technical advantages, it's not crazy to say that the modern GOP is on the precipice of achieving one of its highest aims made possible thanks to some closed polling stations here, a gerrymandered district there, judges confirmed against tradition and precedent, a president who lost the popular vote. Some of these were obvious and later camouflaged by suggestions that we "get over it" but the bulk of those strategic advantages were secured more quietly, distributed across statehouses and carried out without arousing too much public alarm, because none of this is what the public wants. It doesn't matter. And it's almost too late. As the net closes in, we must remember how it was made, strand by strand, by extremists wishing to impose their religious doctrine on a country founded on the separation of church and state. We can be grateful that these laws have so far been struck down in two states thanks to suits brought by the American Civil Liberties Union. But there will be more. Stemming the tide would require an absolutely massive outpouring of voters to overcome a deck this stacked and that alone will not be enough to reverse course. Redundancy is built into this strategy, and the judiciary is immune to those votes. More restrictions will pass. Some will fall. Appeals will be filed. And the Supreme Court, with its new, young, and life-tenured justices, will wait patiently for the chance to subordinate women to fetuses and bring the full power of the state against those who would refuse to comply.


It was not only a good week for Brooke Henderson, who won the Meijer Classic by one over a group of players, including Lexi Thompson, Su Oh, Nasa Hataoka and Brittany Altomare, but for Canadian sports as a whole. Consider that earlier in the week the Toronto Raptors won the NBA Finals, a victory that resonated with Henderson, a native of Smith Falls, Canada. "You know, I think it really boosted the whole country when they won, and I was just trying to do something similar this week," Henderson said. Much like a Raptors fast-break, Henderson shot out of the gates at Blythefield Country Club in Grand Rapids, Mich. a course she has had success at before as she won the event in 2017 with rounds of 64-64. A final-round 70 proved to be just enough for her ninth LPGA Tour win. Related: Brooke Henderson becomes all-time winningest Canadian pro Henderson can thank her ball-striking for the win. One of the tour's longest hitters, she averaged 272 yards off the tee with her Ping G400 driver and hit 56 of 72 greens with her Ping i210 irons , which he used to hit a couple of beauties on the par 3s on the inward nine, where she knocked a 6-iron to about eight feet on the 11th (she missed the birdie try) and to about the same distance on the 13th, one that she converted for her final birdie of the tournament, which proved to be the winning margin. The i210 irons boast a large elastomer port in the back that improves feel and increases perimeter weighting. The irons also feature milled grooves with a different geometry for the pitching and gap wedges to accommodate the type of shots hit with those clubs. What Brooke Henderson had in the bag at the Meijer Classic : Ball: Titleist Pro V1 Driver: Ping G400 , 9 degrees 3-wood: Ping G400 Stretch 3 , 13 degrees 5-wood: Ping G400 , 17.5 degrees Hybrid: Ping G400 , 22 degrees Irons (5-UW): Ping i210 Wedges: Ping Glide Forged (52, 60 degrees) Putter: Ping Sigma 2 Fetch See the video.


Former five-star recruit Quentin Grimes announced his decision to transfer from Kansas to Houston on Twitter on Thursday. The 6'5", 210-pound guard started all 36 games for the Jayhawks during his freshman campaign. Grimes averaged 8.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 27.4 minutes per game during an up and down season in Lawrence. Grimes initially entered the NBA draft this spring but withdrew and announced his intention to transfer from Bill Self's squad. He will be eligible for the Cougars beginning with the 2020-21 season after sitting out the upcoming year per transfer rules. #ForTheCity 🤘🏽 pic.twitter.com/9RP3MeiMQf   Quentin Grimes (@qdotgrimes) June 27, 2019 "We've all enjoyed coaching Quentin this past year and certainly appreciate his efforts," Self said when Grimes announced he would transfer. "We initially anticipated him staying in the draft but he and his family decided to return to college but not return to the University of Kansas. We totally support and respect Quentin and his decision and wish him the very best moving forward. We believe Quentin will have a long professional basketball career and look forward to watching his development." Grimes was a five-star prospect coming out of high school and was the No. 1 ranked recruit out of Texas and the No. 2 combo-guard recruit following his tenure at College Park (Texas). Houston finished atop the AAC last season at 16 2 in conference contests. The Cougars season ended with a last-second Sweet 16 loss to Kentucky in the 2019 NCAA tournament. Following the departure of leading scorers Corey Davis Jr. and Armoni Brooks and the graduation of Galen Robinson Jr. all guards Grimes will join Dejon Jarreau and Nate Hinton as a small-ball style, guard-heavy Houston does a bit of rebuilding.


Rays righty Jose De Leon has at long last returned to active duty, the club announced. But he'll return to Triple-A on optional assignment as he looks to get his injury-addled career back on track. De Leon, once a top prospect who is now almost 27 years of age, underwent Tommy John surgery last March. His rehab assignment was twice extended, as is permissible for hurlers working back from TJ procedures, extending it to a total of 90 days. With that time up, the club swung a deal earlier today to clear a 40-man spot for De Leon's activation from the 60-day injured list. During his lengthy rehab stint, De Leon threw 34 innings over 11 outings. He worked to a 3.97 ERA with 11.4 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9. That's not a perfect showing, by any stretch, but it seems promising that he was able to generate swings and misses from top-level minor-leaguers. It's certainly possible that De Leon will be seen as a MLB option in the near future. Odds are he'd be utilized as less than a full-fledged starter, much like most of the rest of the Tampa Bay staff. In De Leon's case, he has only once topped 100 innings in a given professional season (2015).


An undersea volcano about 300 miles (480 km) off Oregon's coast has been spewing lava for the past seven days, confirming forecasts made last fall and giving researchers unique insight into a hidden ocean hot spot, a scientist said on Friday. Researchers know of two previous eruptions by the volcano, dubbed "Axial Seamount" for its location along the axis of an underwater mountain ridge, Oregon State University geologist Bill Chadwick said on Friday. But those 1998 and 2011 eruptions were detected months or years afterward, Chadwick added. Last year, researchers connected monitoring gear to an undersea cable that, for the first time, allowed them to gather live data on the volcano, whose peak is about 4,900 feet (1,500 meters) below the ocean surface. "The cable allows us to have more sensors and monitoring instruments than ever before, and it's happening in real time," said Chadwick, who also is affiliated with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In the past, researchers left battery-operated monitoring stations in place for several years, but were able to analyze the data only by retrieving those devices. Pressure sensors detected that an eruption was underway on April 23. After monitoring hundreds then thousands of small earthquakes each day near Axial Seamount, they detected more than 8,000 tiny quakes over a 24-hour span on April 23, Chadwick said. As midnight approached, pressure sensors detected the seafloor dropping - a sign that magma was erupting - and the swollen volcano was deflating like an emptying balloon. In total, the seafloor has dropped 8 feet (2.4 meters) in the past week. Though the eruption has slowed, the volcano still seemed to be expelling magma as of Friday, he said, leaving Chadwick and scientists working with him wondering where the lava was going. "We know it didn't erupt in the caldera, or crater, because that's where most of our sensors are, and they all survived," Chadwick said. Temperature fluctuations and seismic readings are consistent with an eruption north of the volcano's crater, he said. "But we probably won't know until this summer, when we get out there with a ship and are able to look around." (Editing by Eric M. Johnson and Will Dunham)


President Donald Trump claimed not to have seen the large groups of anti-Trump protesters during his trip to the United Kingdom this week, and then falsely labeled media reports of those protests "fake news." In reality, images and video support reporting by major news organizations that "thousands" of people attended demonstrations against Trump, who first arrived in London on June 3 for a three-day state visit filled with a series of ceremonies and meetings with members of the royal family and British government officials. But the following day, in a joint press conference with outgoing U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May, Trump said he had only seen a "very, very small group" of protesters. Trump, June 4: As far as the protests, I have to tell you, because I commented on it yesterday: We left the Prime Minister, the Queen, the Royal Family   there were thousands of people on the streets cheering. And even coming over today, there were thousands of people cheering. And then I heard that there were protests. I said, "Where are the protests? I don't see any protests." I did see a small protest today when I came   very small. So a lot of it is fake news, I hate to say. But you saw the people waving the American flag, waving your flag; it was tremendous spirit and love. There was great love. It was an alliance. And I didn't see the protestors until just a little while ago, and it was a very, very small group of people, put in for political reasons. So it was fake news. It's possible Trump didn't see the mass of protestors, as he said. But that doesn't mean they didn't exist, or that reports of such crowds are "fake news." USA Today reported that "[t]he protest route ran from London's Trafalgar Square, past No. 10 Downing St.   Prime Minister Theresa May's official office and residence   and on to Parliament Square, a large open green space across the street from the British Parliament." But "because of the way British police placed security barriers," the newspaper explained, "[m]ost of the demonstrators were out of his sight." In response to Trump's claims, the Guardian , a British news publication, posted a short video of interviews with some of the protestors who gathered in those locations. (It also posted a longer video of people marching and listening to speakers criticize Trump.) ABC News and CNN also published stories including a video and photos of more than a "very small" number of protestors holding signs with messages denouncing the president. There also was a parade-sized balloon depicting Trump as a baby, and a giant statue of Trump wearing an "impeach me" hat and sitting on a toilet with a phone in his hands. NBC News reported that "[t]ens of thousands of protesters assembled in the streets of London on Tuesday" in what it said was the "largest of more than two dozen anti-Trump protests planned around the U.K. this week." One of the groups that organized the demonstration claimed "some 75,000 people" attended the June 4 protest. If so, that wouldn't even be London's largest ever gathering of Trump protesters. "While thousands turned out, the protests were significantly smaller than the anti-Trump demonstrations that emerged during the President's visit to the U.K. last July," Time reported . The magazine said that time "[a]bout 250,000 people flooded the center of London, and an estimated total of 400,000 people protested across the U.K, resulting in a large-scale police and security operation, in which more than 10,000 police officers were deployed." As we have written before , the president has a habit of labeling accurate news stories as "fake news." This is yet another example. The post Anti-Trump Protests in London Not 'Fake News' appeared first on FactCheck.org .


NASA said its Kepler spacecraft has spotted "Earth's bigger, older cousin": the first nearly Earth-size planet to be found in a "habitable zone."